Matching Scars

Chapter 10

Fitting In

Maka awoke in a cold sweat. Her heart was pounding inside of her chest and her breathing was ragged. Another nightmare had eaten away at her. Shivering, the teen drew the bed covers tightly around her, not wanting to be exposed to the darkness of her dorm room. She then turned on the lamp that sat on the nightstand between her and Tsubaki's beds and saw that her raven haired roommate was soundlessly asleep, unaware that Maka was up and about and very troubled.

It was the same exact nightmare. It was the same exact nightmare in the same location with the same two people, her Papa and Mama. Why was it so repetitive? What did this twisted dream mean? This time her parents had knives growing out of their hands instead of fingernails, they pinned her down and torn open her skin while shouting horrible things at her. Maka shuddered; she would have to try and find a book on dreams so that she could figure out what was going on.

The blonde then turned to look up at the clock hanging on the wall and what she found surprised her. She expected it to be around three in the morning or something but instead it was only 6:30, 30 minutes till she had to get up anyway for roll call. She obviously couldn't get back to sleep after that mess of a dream so instead to pass the 30 minutes she took out the MAKA NOTE that she had stashed under her pillow and started a new entry.

This morning I woke up from another strange dream. This time my parents were cutting me open with knifes. I'm kind of scared and I want to know why this is happening but I'm afraid to tell Marie about it. I don't want her to be annoyed with me. I still feel really bad about waking her up that last time I had a nightmare. I know it's her job to help and stuff but I don't want her to worry about me. The other girls that she has to take care of have real problems and I don't really have a problem. That's another thing besides these dreams that's been bothering me. Why am I here? I still don't understand. And I also have to wonder what those awful people I have for parents are doing right now. They couldn't have gone to marriage counseling like Dr. Yumi said right? They're too stubborn to admit that their relationship has major problems….On a brighter note today's Friday which means only one more day until Soul tells me about his life before being sent to the hospital. I wonder where he comes from? Which part of the city does he live? He obviously doesn't come from the Southern part of Death City because then he would be in my high school but is he possibly from the North side? He just strikes me as the kind of guy that comes from North High, you know, considering the way he dresses and all. I'm a little nervous to hear the truth though, he keeps warning me about himself like he's a danger to me or something and he wants me to keep away. I don't know maybe kids in mental facilities are just weird…I must go now, Tsubaki's up.

"What are you writing?"Tsubaki yawned, sitting up in bed.

Maka slipped the MAKA NOTE back under her pillow. "Eh just a little rant about whatever," she told her. "I woke up a little before roll call so I was just passing the time."

Tsubaki groaned as she left the warmth of her bed, getting up to dress for the day. "Passing the time by writing? Don't tell me you've run out of books to read already?"

"Nah I get a bunch of books delivered to me each day. My school just loves to keep me busy," Maka answered as she watched Tsubaki pull on a cute skirt. Tsubaki's outfit choice made her think about her own wardrobe. Maka missed wearing her little plaid skirts but she couldn't wear them unless she shaved her legs, which meant showering in the morning in front of somebody, which meant her cuts being exposed. No, that wasn't happening. But still, her supply of jeans was dwindling and when those were gone she'd have to wear the skirts. Until the hospital did the laundry that is, 'whenever that is,' she thought dryly as she got up to get dressed herself.

After dressing, the two girls joined their fellow Troubled Teens out in the hall for roll call and took the meds provided by Stein. They then went and got breakfast which ended in an intense thumb wrestling battle between BlackStar and Kid. When the meal was over all the girls went to go take their showers and Soul walked Maka to her appointment with Marie. And plopping right down in Marie's leather chair the teen asked her therapist a question that had been bothering her for quite some time.

"Marie, why am I even here?"

Marie gave a soft smile, "you want to know why you're here?"

Maka nodded. "Everyone here has a problem, a disorder of some type. But I don't have OCD like Kid or anxiety like Tsubaki, I'm just Maka, just me and I honestly think this whole thing has been a mistake."

"You think this is a mistake and you want to leave? Don't you like it here with us though?" Marie asked the teen.

"No I do," Maka assured her. "At first I wasn't so sure but now I feel really comfortable and kind of happy."

Marie wrote something down on her notepad. "What about this place makes you happy?"

"Well there's the fact that there's always someone to talk to…" Maka began, a small smile making its way onto her face. "And all the teens and the things we do together, everyone's really welcoming."

Marie nodded and then asked, "Maka, do you know what kind of medicine you're taking each morning?"

"No," the pigtailed girl shook her head.

"You're taking Prozac and Lexapro. You do know what those drugs are for?"

Again the teen shook her head no.

"They're for depression. You're here because you suffer from depression, Maka," Marie said as gently as possible.

Maka stared at Marie for a while before the therapist started to talk again. "You're not alone in this; teenagers everywhere have problems with depression. But you're getting better, Maka. You say this place makes you feel happy, you say you're making friends. You're making progress and that's wonderful. If you stay here a little while longer hopefully you'll feel better again."

"How much longer is a little while longer?" she asked. "I thought Dr. Yumi said this would be a two week program."

"It is a two week program," Marie nodded. "But if you're making progress and want to stay longer you can. Well, if your parents agree to it that is."

Maka nodded and Marie said, "Look, there's no rush. You've only just begun your stay here and you've got a long way to go before you're fully recovered and ready to go back into the real world. If you say you're enjoying yourself here then you shouldn't worry about it. You'll get better at a pace that's right for you and we're all going to be there to help you through it."

Marie really was a wonderful person, she always knew what to say and Maka was so grateful to her for wanting to help. For a second the teen wondered what it might be like to have Marie for a mother instead of her own but she quickly shook that thought out of her head. 'You'll only make yourself sad if you imagine things like that,' she mentally scolded herself. Their time was up for today so Maka headed over to the door but before she left she gave the therapist a small thank you.

Marie just nodded and smiled, "it's always a pleasure to help."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"You've been here for a while," Tsubaki said to Maka later that day in arts and crafts.

Maka nodded as she colored. "Yep, a whole 4 days have passed and this will be the 5th."

Tsubaki smiled and gestured to the markers that lay scattered on their table. "Grab a color you like."

Maka quirked an eyebrow, unsure of what the dark haired girl wanted, but reached over for the blue marker anyway. After Maka had selected her marker of choice Tsubaki led her out of the art and music room and back to their dorm. The two girls now stood outside of the camellia blossom door that read TSUBAKI in silence until Tsubaki grinned and said, "It's not just my room anymore."

Maka's eyes widened when she realized what Tsubaki meant and getting down on her knees right under her roommate's name she carefully printed AND MAKA with the blue magic marker.

"You've officially moved in," said Tsubaki happily once Maka was standing on her feet again.

The blonde stepped back to admire the door which was now partly hers and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I have."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"So I passed by your dorm earlier," Soul said to Maka on their way to the dining hall that night. "I see that Tsubaki let you add your own touch."

"Yeah, I feel like I'm apart of everything now, you know?" the pigtailed teen said, thinking back to that morning. It was like signing her name with that blue magic marker had inducted her into a secret society of some sort, a secret society where all the members had crazy mental problems. Yes, it was a little strange, but it was the first time that Maka had ever belonged to something and as she thought about it she couldn't help but smile.

"Yeahh writing your name on a hospital door does that to a person," Soul laughed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Maka laughed along with him, her soft giggle mixing in with his throaty chuckle. They continued on like that for another moment until Soul said excitedly, "I can't wait."

"You can't wait for what?" Maka asked.

"Its pizza night," he told her.

The pigtailed teen raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So? Its pizza," he said like it was the greatest thing on earth.

"Tsubaki told me that every Friday is pizza night," Maka rolled her eyes.

"And?"

"Well if it's every Friday night then it really isn't that big of a deal," she explained as they arrived at their destination.

The delicious aroma of pizza swirled through the air and took immediately to the teens' noses upon their entry to the mess hall. They both breathed the lovely Italian smells in before getting their trays and joining their friends at the back table to eat. Everyone was already digging in when they arrived; especially BlackStar who was hungrily gulping down slices like his life depended on it. Even Liz, much to Maka's surprise, couldn't pass up a little nibble of the cheesy delicacy.

"Sup," Soul greeted as he sat down next to BlackStar.

The blue haired boy stopped eating momentarily to do this bro handshake thing with him then continued to stuff his face while Maka took the empty seat next to Tsubaki who was having a conversation with the two sisters and Kid.

"So if you guys want we can all chill in my room after dinner," Liz was saying to them.

"That sound's fun," Tsubaki said. The raven haired girl noticed that her roommate had joined them and turned to her she said, "After dinner to you want to hang out at Liz's with all of us?"

"Pleaseeeeee come, Maka!" Patti begged as she slurped up some pizza cheese. "I cleaned the room and everything!"

Maka didn't know what to say. She couldn't remember the last time she had been invited to hang out with somebody, let alone an entire group of people. What did teenagers do when they hung out? In the books she had read adolescent characters usually did stereotypical teenage type things when they got together like gossiping or playing dirty games like seven minutes in heaven. But what did teenagers in mental hospitals like to do for fun? She looked to Tsubaki for help.

"It'll be fun," Tsubaki assured her.

"Yeah, the funniest stuff goes down when we all chill," Liz told her.

"You should come," Kid said.

With all of them encouraging her, saying that they wanted her to be there Maka nodded her head yes. "Okay I'll go."

"Awesome," Liz smiled. The trendy, model thin teen then threw a napkin at BlackStar and Soul to get their attention. "Hey, losers, we're chilling in my room after dinner."

"Sweeeeet," BlackStar nodded as he finished up his food.

"Cool," Soul agreed, swallowing the rest of his slice too.

And since everyone was finished eating their little group took off and headed to the dorm of Liz and Patti.

Author's Note: Hi everyone nice to see you all again! How did you like the chapter? I can't believe we've reached 10 already! XD I just really want to say thanks to all of you for reading this, you guys really make my day. All the follows and favorites and reviews are just super awesome and just ughhh group hug! *group hug to all the readers* I can't wait to see you all next time! Chapter 11 should be an interesting one mawahaha I think I see a game of truth or dare in Maka's future XD Byeee!