OJAI MENTAL INSTITUTE

BEDROOM 13

Saturday, September 8th

10:03 am

"Vanessa Boyd?" The intercom buzzed as Vanessa was laying on her bed, reading Pride and Prejudice that morning. Four days and she was almost done with the book. There wasn't much to do in her room except read, considering she was computer-less, television-less, radio-less, and they had confiscated her phone on the second day. But the low-tech-ness didn't really bother her. Pride and Prejudice, which she had gotten from the institute library, was pretty interesting.

"Yeah?" Vanessa said to the speaker on her wall.

"We have a few visitors for you in the lobby," the intercom told her. "Would you like to come down?"

Vanessa put her bookmark in the book and wondered whom it could be that was coming to visit her. But four days of "therapy" with Emma Starr (who used air quotes whenever she said the word) had left her much more open-minded and well, non-suspicious. "Sure," Vanessa told the intercom. "I'll be down in a minute."

She went over to her dresser and swiped a coat of gloss over her mouth. Straightening her cotton dark blue tank top and pleated jean skirt and slipping her feet into her black ballet flats, Vanessa headed out the door. She usually stayed in her room until eleven, when she met Emma in their clearing in the woods for "therapy." Then they would get lunch at one and head downtown to do something or another that Emma had planned out. At four in the evening, Vanessa met with the tutor, Mrs. Thornton, to do some schoolwork so she didn't fall behind. Dinner was always at six, and then Vanessa could do whatever she wanted until lights out at ten. She actually kind of liked it at Ojai, but she knew it would get tedious after four months, which was how long her mother had planned for her to stay.

Visitors would make the day a little more interesting, though, for sure. Vanessa knew she couldn't be more right about that when she saw whom it was waiting for her at the front desk.

Claire, Abby, and her mother.

"Vanessa!" Claire's face lit up when she saw her, and Vanessa smiled back.

"Claire! I'm so glad to see you. Are you here for Labor Day weekend?" Vanessa hurried to her friend and gave her a hug. Without waiting for an answer to her question, she went on, "They took my phone on the second day. I felt so guilty at telling you to call me back and then not having my cell."

"Oh," Claire said, pulling back from the hug. "Well, I forgive you."

"Thanks." Vanessa laughed a little. Then she turned to her other two visitors. "Abby. Mom."

Abby looked at her younger sister. "Vanessa," she began, "I want to apologize. I know this sounds corny, but I want to apologize for all the terrible things I've done to you over the years."

Vanessa blinked at Abby, not believing her ears. Her mouth dropped open a centimeter. "Uh, did I hear you right?" she finally asked.

"I'm sorry." Abby's brown eyes were filled with sincerity.

Vanessa smiled gently at her older sister. She could tell that Abby was being honest, and decided that she would trust her for the time being. "Apology accepted," she said graciously.

Abby's face lit up in a grin. "Okay. Now, to business. Claire and I are here to convince Mom that you're ready to get out of rehab."

"Really?" Vanessa felt her heart skip a beat.

Claire nodded. "Yep."

"Oh my god, thank you!" Vanessa gushed, feeling happiness flow through her. She had a chance to get out, three months and three weeks early!

"Wait a minute," Abby said, holding up a finger. "We haven't convinced her yet." She glared at Delia.

Vanessa and Abby's mother had been standing there with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at her daughters and Claire. Now she spoke. "Prove it to me, Vanessa, and maybe I'll let you come home early."

Vanessa wanted to point out that she wanted to go back to Westchester, not home to the family's mansion, but she decided to stay quiet about that. Back to Bel Air was better than staying here, no matter how nice Ojai was. Instead, she said, "Okay. How are we going to do this? You wanna talk to my counselor?"

"No." Abby answered for their mother. "She wants to talk to you."

"You do?" Vanessa raised her eyebrows.

"I do?" Delia sounded genuinely confused.

Abby nodded confidently. "Yes." She stepped forward, taking her mother's shoulder in one hand and Vanessa's in the other.

Claire watched as Abby steered them towards the door. The actress pushed them outside and closed the doors behind them, saying, "Don't come back in until you've reached an agreement!" Then she sauntered back to Claire.

"Is this going to work?" Claire questioned.

Abby gave Claire a small smile. "Well, we'll have to wait and see, won't we?"