Saint Jude
Chapter 2:Getting Settled
Yay! Reviews!
nightwingluver: Thanks, I hope you continue to read and review as I write.
BlackDove682: Well well well, if it isn't my favorite reviewer. I really hope this lives up to your high expectations, I appreciate your confidence in me. The whole idea is different too. So it's not going to be like Bad Memories. In that fic Raven was doing everything she could to hide her cutting and drinking, but here she's trying to stop. (The only problem I have is that I have no idea what the ending to the story will be...)
Graciously Taken: YUP, I AM
IwuvMyKenshyPoo:Thanks, and yes I cut...I've got a lot about it in my profile page. What's with the Billie Joe reference...
Okay I'm warning you that I'm having computer problems, I write all my fics on an old laptop I have and then put them on floppies to load them on my living room PC with the Internet. Problem is the living room PC is down so I'm actually uploading this chapter from my school. Add that to the fact that I didn't write nearly as much over the summer as I thought I would and it all adds up to you guys not getting another update for awile...sorry...
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"Well that should about do it" They were finishing up the evaluation now.
"Do you want me to show you around?" Selene asked this as she finished scribbling in Raven's psych. report.
Raven wanted nothing more then to say that she could find her own way around...but she knew she better not..."Sure..."
"Kay, just give me a moment to put down my recommendations then we're off" Selene was now almost franticly writing the report, she obviously didn't want to keep Raven waiting.
"Recommendations?" I thought you chose all the stuff yourself" Raven said this without really caring, she was just curious.
Selene stopped writing and looked over to Raven"...well officially I do...but not really. I say where I think you would be best off...but the higher ups can reject what I say without so much as an explanation, so it's more like a recommendation..."Selene just shrugged and got back to writing before adding "It's not like they over turn my decisions on a regular basis or anything...but they can..."
"Ok!" Selene said with a smile as she put all the file's under her arm and started walking to the door "Time for your tour finally"
When they exited her office Selene quickly ran over into the lobby which was right next to her office, and when she came out she no longer had Raven's psych. report. As soon as she returned to Raven, who was waiting in her office door way, she pointed down the hall past the doors that led to the lobby to a pair of doors that led further into the building and said "That's the dorm...we'll go there last, they should have your room ready by the time we make it back around here."
As they started walking Selene gave a quick explanation on the layout "It's like a giant egg...this hall way is like the shell, it goes all the was around. The rooms that lead outward are mostly people's offices" She pointed to a few of they doors ahead of them "Others are just things like storage closets and laundry rooms"
Raven was paying a moderate amount of attention to this, she would after all be living here for awile...it would be for the best if she could find her way around...still, she couldn't bring herself to give it her full attention.
"Most of the space on the inside is the dorm...like the first two thirds. And where it ends there's a hall way that cuts through the middle section...the remaining area is a multi-purpose room that we use for a lot of different stuff..."
The rest of the tour was uneventful, the only other things Raven remembered were the cafeteria and the secondary entrance to the garden.
"Well that's it" Selene said as they reached the door to the dorm.
"Thanks for the tour Selene...I appreciate it..."Raven normally wouldn't have said anything...but if she built a relationship with someone as important as her, well she would probably get out sooner...and it wasn't so bad, Selene was a hell of a lot better then she expected from this place.
"Don't mention it, your room should be ready by now, it will have your name on the sign outside it" Selene looked at Raven for a moment and then said in a compassionate voice "I know your not to happy about having to come here...but I honestly think it could help you...your timetable will be givin to you tomorrow...good luck"
And with that she left Raven to go off and find her room. The dorm was ok in the hallway, the walls were painted a great yellow, not to bright and not to pale. One of the first things Raven noticed was that none of the rooms had doors, she cursed inwardly at this, she knew this was a possibility, still...she really valued her privacy. The signs were on either side of every door, again Raven cursed inwardly 'Great!' She thought bitterly "I also have to put up with a roommate...'
Raven stopped when she reached a door halfway down the hall.
She read the sign closest to her.
Roth, Rei
Age:16
Substance abuse and behavioral issues guest
Raven stopped on the word 'Guest' she wondered what that was suppose to mean.
After she was done with hers Raven looked over to her roommates sign.
Yolkin, Collette
Age:16
Substance abuse and food issues guest
"Interesting name..."Raven said to herself
"That's a nice way to put it" A female voice said as a young woman appeared from the room. The girl was obviously Collette, she had black hair that was only a little longer then Raven's, she had baggy navy blue cargo pant's and a black t-shirt that had the word 'Korn' on it, but the K was backwards. That shirt spoke verses on this girls personality, Korn was a heavy metal band that Raven actually liked, Raven hated heavy metal, but she related a lot to what they sang about. This girl was almost as pale as Raven and the bags under her eyes rivaled her own.
"So you must the new girl..." Collette turned to read the sign with Raven's info on it "Rei...nice name"She complemented
"Thanks..." Raven said as she sized her up.
"Hell of a lot luckier then I was...Collette isn't to bad...but Yolkin? Makes me sound like an inbred hic" Collette then chuckled and said "Well you don't really care..."
"Do you have any questions?" Collette asked as she leaned against the doorway
Raven thought for a moment" What's with the word 'guest' on the signs"
Collette looked surprised "I'm impressed" She said as she smiled "I didn't notice that for over a week...they don't call us patients, or inmates...instead they try to make us feel more human by calling us 'guests'...it doesn't work on anyone with an IQ in the three digits...unfortunately that's pretty much you, me and only about two of the other girls here"
Raven thought it was best to fake a smirk at her new roommates joke.
"Sooooo..."Collette said as she read the rest of the sign "Substance abuse?" She asked questioningly "You don't look like a druggy"
"Alcohol" Raven said simply, Collette nodded and motioned Raven in "After you" She said in a bit of a mock seriousness, though she did allow Raven to enter first.
The room wasn't really big, or really small. On either side of the door was a dresser, just past them were desks with chairs and then a good sized bed on each side with a bedside table next to them. Each side was identical, with the exception then the right side was barren, while the left side looked very much lived on.
Raven knew she shouldn't bring this up, but it was going to bug her" You aren't going to ask me about the behavioral issues?"
Collette looked at her as she sat on her bed and smiled "That is by far the least specific thing they say, I like to have a good chance to guess what it is if you don't answer."
"If it says you have 'Substance abuse issues' there are only three things that could refer to, Prescription drugs, street drugs, or legal drugs like alcohol. If it says you have 'Food issues' like me, it again can only mean three things, Anorexic, Bulimic, or an overeater...and you can usually rule out at least one of those by how much they weigh..."
Raven pondered for a moment whether Collette was anorexic or bulimic before she continued
"But behavioral?...that's basically a widespread proxy. It can refer to anything from manic depression, but only if it's bad enough to interfere in your everyday life, to severe anger management problems"
"And there's a lot in-between too...Bipolar, and pathological liars too and then there's self-destruction..."
This caught Raven's attention, though she hid it "This is the one category that has a lot of stuff from the other's, there the people who abuse drugs to a point that after a month they have all but killed themselves, or someone who is taking an eating disorder to an extreme degree...and then there are my favorites...the people who engage in self-injury..."
Raven's heart stopped a moment before she could respond "Favorite's?"
"Don't get me wrong" Collette said quickly "I like the druggies, cause there like me but..."
"...I like the people who self-injure more, especially cutters"
Again it seemed like a very odd viewpoint to have.
"Why?" Raven asked, surprised slightly visible on her face
"There smart and creative" Collette said as she brought a hand up to scratch her chin, then quickly added "Plus, they provide the majority of the entertainment around here" After seeing Raven questioning look she elaborated "Way before I came here some cutter freaked out and stabbed herself in the wrist with a pencil, so the staff looked around for what they thought could be used as a weapon, they ended up taking away all the pencil's and pens. Because of that we now have to use felt tipped markers to do our homework. But one day, about two weeks after I first arrived another cutter freaked out and broke one of those little metal clips of the cap of her marker and slashed her arm. So once again the staff had to re-evaluate what could be used as a weapon. They now special order special markers that have no metal clips."
Collette took a moment before continuing "There are other things too...we are only aloud to use electric razors, and only under supervision because some girl broke a razor apart and used one of the blades on her wrist, she messed up some of the tendens or something and they had to amputate a finger..."
Raven was a bit in shock, she had never heard stories of real life cutters, only fictional stories.
One thing weighed on her mind the most though "If because of the cutters you've lost so much...why are they your favorites?"
Collette smiled and held in a chuckle "Its boring as hell in here...I'm willing to give up some stuff for a day of top-notch entertainment as all the highly skilled doctors scurry around looking in every nook and cranny to find what they could use to hurt themselves"
Collette looked Raven straight in the eye and asked her "Can you imagine anything funnier then a highly trained, highly skilled, and highly respected doctor on her hands and knees franticly looking under a bookcase?"
Raven just shrugged and asked "Why don't they have the caretakers do it?"
"Because" Collette said so fast she must have been anticipating the question "The caretakers have no idea of what to look for..."
"So...anything you want to do?" Collette asked after a few uncomfortable moments of silence.
"Sleep" Raven said in a tired voice, the car ride, then evaluation, then tour, then the explanation had Raven pretty damn tired.
To Raven's surprise Collette smiled and nodded "Most people do"
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Authors Note:There you go, I should probably have the next chapter up in a reasonable amount of time, though after that….