So, I hope you like it, I had fun writing it, and thank you for all the reviews, they're the reason why I try to get my chapters out fast - I love to see them. I'm a review-whore what can I say?
After Rosalie and Alice had both had their showers, it was almost time for dinner and Bella realized she wouldn't have time to shower herself. She sighed. Too bad she wasn't more assertive with other teenagers, maybe if she was she could have told them to hurry up. Something weird crossed her mind, and she turned to Alice curiously. "Why do you guys put a sock in between the door and the frame?" she asked.
"Because we got the lucky room with the bathroom door that randomly opens if you don't…" Alice grumbled irritably. Clearly this did not amuse her. "But I don't think Rosalie would mind if such an incident occurred with you…" she trailed off suggestively.
"I heard that, little one," Rosalie growled, but more playful than irritated. Bella grinned at Alice's words. Clearly Rosalie's interest in Bella hadn't gone unnoticed by the other patients either.
Bella blinked, realizing something. "Oh Rose!" She jumped off her bed, checking the pockets on her jeans. She pulled out a couple dollars. "Uh, for the cigarette…" she explained, handing it to Rosalie.
Rosalie shook her head. "Nah Bella, forget about it. It's fine."
"Thanks Rose!" Bella exclaimed with a grin, happy she'd gotten away with not only bumming a cigarette from the other girl, but also assigning her a nickname. Rosalie didn't really seem like the type to allow someone to call her by another name, exemplified by her little outburst with the nurse earlier.
This theory was further proven as Alice giggled. "Jeez, Rose, I think that's the first time I've ever seen you give one of your cigarettes away. You're so kind, Rose."
"Alice, only people with fantastic asses can call me that," Rosalie flirted, gazing seductively at Bella with her violet eyes. "And only people with amazing tits can bum cigarettes off of me."
Bella blushed, not used to being flirted with by such an attractive girl. It was flattering. It was new. And it was really fucking hot. She felt like she should say something, but she didn't really know what to say, so she just changed the subject. "What do we usually have for dinner?" she asked, mentally slapping herself for being such an idiot.
She felt even more stupid as Rosalie's face fell, and she got off of her bed, walking to the door. "They're probably going to leave soon."
Bella nodded, following her awkwardly. Alice must have sensed her discomfort. She placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "She's like that, don't worry."
What does that mean? Bella thought to herself worriedly. Did Alice mean that she flirted a lot, or did she mean that Rosalie ran hot and cold? Or both? The brunette sighed, realizing it shouldn't matter to her anyway. She wasn't there to find a new girlfriend. She'd be out of there in a few days anyway hopefully. "You never answered my question," she reminded the smaller girl, changing the subject. "What do we usually eat for dinner?"
Alice made a face that suggested dinner would not be to their liking. "Well," she started. "We've had basically every kind of cheap grade D meat they could serve us… The salad bar isn't so bad, but it's not really great food. I usually just get a thing of peanut butter and some bread."
Bella shuddered jokingly. "Any food to stay away from?" she asked with a laugh, but still somewhat serious.
"The meat…" Alice warned. "But then again, I am a vegetarian." Bella laughed following the shorter girl to the rest of the group. She spotted Rosalie next to Victoria and Tanya, Tanya clearly forgiving her for what she'd said earlier, as she smiled flirtatiously at the other blonde. Bella felt a pang of jealousy, but shook it off and looked away right as Rosalie caught her eye.
"Bella," Rosalie greeted, beckoning her over. Bella complied hesitantly, still feeling kind of awkward around the other patients. They seemed nice enough, but considering she was in a mental institution, she decided she couldn't be too careful. She shrunk under the jealous gaze of the other girls.
Bella blushed, shaking her head in discomfort. "That's okay Rose, I'm just going to hang back here…" she looked down at her feet, shuffling them awkwardly. Rosalie shrugged, looking slightly insulted, but she didn't say anything else.
"I think her feelings are genuinely hurt," Alice pointed out, much to Bella's dismay. "She doesn't really get rejected much. She's a bitch and everyone just kind of forgives her right away…" Alice trailed off and Bella briefly wondered what Rosalie had done to her for the shorter girl to think that.
"It's not really about her," Bella explained as they started walking to the dining hall, staring unsubtly at the blonde. "I don't think her friends like me."
Alice shook her head. "They're bitches Bella," she whispered under her breath. "Victoria thinks she's better than everyone else because she's so small, and Tanya thinks she's hot shit and that everyone wants to have sex with her. She's a nympho so anyone that doesn't show interest or takes attention from her, she automatically hates."
"Do they like you?" Bella asked.
"Victoria and I don't have a problem. Tanya's jealous of me because I'm Rosalie's roommate and best friend here and she probably thinks we're having sex…"
The brunette frowned, biting her lip. "Are you?" she squeaked anxiously, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
"Bella," Alice started. "I'm straight." Bella glanced at her in surprise, looking her over once again. The short hair and kindness had made her assume. She felt like such a dick. "I know sometimes I act kinda gay, but I'm not."
"Is Rosalie?" Bella asked, mentally slapping herself once again for being so dumb and obvious. Then again, it shouldn't really matter. She was positive that Alice had noticed her attraction to the blonde already. And the maybe attraction that Rosalie had for her.
Alice nodded. "She's bi I guess. I'm not sure, I don't think she really does the whole relationship thing… Unless she's just fucking with someone. That's what she did with her roommate before me. At least, that's what I heard." Alice paused, hesitating for a moment. "I heard from Victoria that Rosalie had been fucking with Tanya too… You know, flirting and then ignoring her or being a bitch to her. I think they might have like… Hooked up or something. Then Rosalie basically told her off and called her annoying and a whore and stuff. Tanya tried to hang herself with her sheets and a pair of jeans." She shook her head. "Rosalie laughed. I think she was proud."
Bella shuddered, despite knowing Rosalie was the way she was, it was still difficult to hear. Still, she wasn't afraid of the blonde like many of the other patients and some of the staff seemed to be, and she still didn't believe she was a monster. "If Rosalie is so cold and cruel to others, why do people cling to her like that?" Bella asked, gesturing to the two girls basically attached to the pretty blonde.
"Rosalie is a master of manipulation. And let's face it, she's fucking sexy." Bella laughed. "Seriously though," Alice continued. "I'm straight and even I've thought about it…" She sighed. "Joking aside though, Rosalie might be cruel and she might be considered a bad person by some, but she's also pretty cool and fun to be around. I won't say she's kind, but she does look out for people sometimes. She doesn't like to see people hurting unless that pain was inflicted by her I guess."
"That means she's got a little good in her," Bella concluded, pausing at a turn feeling unsure where to go. "Damn how big is this place?" she asked, feeling irritated by the distance they had to walk just to eat.
Alice laughed. "We're almost there, don't worry Bella." The group stopped in front of a door, and one of the people supervising them once again pulled out a key card and swiped it against the electric lock. Bella shot an irritated look to Alice. "I know," the pixie haired girl agreed. "It's ridiculous."
Bella took her seat next to Alice as Rosalie glanced over at the two of them expectantly from the table across from theirs. "You're not going to sit with them?" Alice asked Bella, noticing her longing expression.
"I'm sitting with you." Bella looked over at Rosalie's table again. "Why aren't you sitting with them?"
"Tanya. Doesn't like me. Remember?" Alice seemed genuinely upset by this. Bella wondered why she didn't just ignore the whore or tell her to fuck off. Alice didn't seem like someone who would just sit back and take verbal abuse. As if reading her mind, Alice explained; "I used to cuss her out or Rosalie would say something, but after a while of just really bitchy shitty lunches, I decided to be the bigger person and sit at this table. Tanya's on Rosalie's dick too much to move." She said the last part loud enough for the other tables to hear, causing Rosalie and several other people in the cafeteria to chuckle. Clearly Tanya was less favored than Rosalie.
"When do we get to get our food?" Bella asked. She felt like kind of a fatass for continuously changing the subject to dinner, but she hadn't eaten since the day before, having been a fairly picky eater and not being a fan of hospital food.
"Well, the adult wards, the boy's ward and the children's all go before us…" Alice grumbled, glaring at the people lined up for food. "Ugh. Meatloaf day."
Bella laughed. "You wouldn't eat any of the entrées anyway, they're probably all meat."
"Yeah, but I eat fish!" Alice corrected.
"You told me you were a vegetarian," Bella countered, feeling confused. "Isn't that a pescetarian?"
Alice watched as the last person in line walked up to the chef to get his food, shooting out of her chair to get the front place in line. Now Bella didn't feel so bad about wanting food. "Yeah," Alice agreed as they walked up to the servers. "But no one knows what the fuck a pescetarian is."
Bella laughed, grabbing a tray and walking up to the selection of sloppy looking vegetables and starches. Nothing looked appetizing. She could tell she was going to get over her picky eater thing very soon if she wanted to eat at all while she was there. She asked politely for the most edible looking thing, and followed Alice to the back of the cafeteria, where she picked two pieces of bread and a packet of peanut butter.
"A bit of advice," Alice started as they walked back to their table. Bella saw her slip a couple packs of peanut butter into her pocket. "We only get one snack between breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I gotta tell you, them apples do not fill my tummy." She took her seat and Bella followed a few seconds behind. "Most people sneak peanut butter back to their rooms, because it's the only good thing here…"
Bella looked over at Rosalie's table and saw that they all had similar trays, except for Victoria who had only a piece of bread and some lettuce. "They don't check your room?" Bella asked, surprised. "Or keep cameras there?"
Alice shook her head. "Nah, they don't really care. They do room checks the second they hear someone might have something bad though. And no, they don't have cameras in the rooms. They like us to have a sense of privacy I guess." She shrugged. "They check on us every fifteen minutes though, during our room time. Even when we're sleeping. You'll get used to that though."
"This place seems so terrible," Bella sighed. "How do you just… get used to it? How long have you been here?"
"Tomorrow will mark my sixth month here actually," Alice confessed, looking somewhat uncomfortable. Bella had assumed that the shorter girl hadn't minded staying there as much, but maybe she just put on a cheery façade to help brighten the other's days. Bella liked Alice though, they were already starting to become good friends, she didn't want her to leave.
"Damn," was all Bella said. She'd begun creepily watching Rosalie eat a piece of cake, as she made eye contact with her and licked the frosting off of the tip of her finger. Alice rolled her eyes, nudging the brunette gently.
"I won't mind if you want to go over there," she suggested with a laugh. "Dinner is almost over. Then we have art and a movie. We can sit together then, since we usually sit in a big group."
"You sure?" Bella asked, feeling guilty, but really wanting to go over and see Rosalie. Alice nodded, and without giving her a chance to change her mind, Bella got up and walked casually over to the other table. "Hey," she managed, waving her hand shyly.
"Oh, look, my stalker is back," Rosalie smirked, gazing at Bella with a look of contempt. Bella froze, taken aback by the blonde's coldness. She finally understood. The flirting and then bitchy remarks; Rosalie was fucking with her. And Alice, Alice her best friend, was helping her do it.
Bella gritted her teeth, refusing to give the sociopath the satisfaction of seeing her lose it. She began searching her mind for something clever and sophisticated to say back to the blonde, before realizing she'd been standing there silently like an idiot for several seconds. "I'm sorry to bother you," she muttered, realizing that was all she could say. She felt like an idiot for falling into Rosalie's little game. Alice had told her this was what she did to amuse herself. Hell, Bella saw it. She glanced back at Alice who had currently moved over and was talking and laughing with someone else. Deciding she couldn't trust the smaller girl anymore, she walked pathetically over to a secluded table in the corner and sat there for the rest of the miserable dinner.
As Bella walked silently in the back of the group to Creative Art, Alice slowed down to walk beside her. "If things didn't work out with sitting with Rosalie, why didn't you come back to sit with me?" she asked, sounding legitimately upset.
Bella sighed. "Look Alice, you don't have to pretend to be all nice and shit… I know you're just helping Rosalie fuck with me and I really don't fucking need that right now, okay? So just leave me alone." Alice didn't look guilty, like someone who had been caught in a practical joke. No, she looked confused and hurt, and Bella almost felt bad, well, she did feel bad, but that didn't rebuild any of the trust that the pixie girl had shattered.
"Bella, I didn't mean to let you walk into a situation where you were going to get hurt," Alice whispered, her voice shaking. "Don't be mad at me, I'm sorry. I didn't know, I promise I didn't know."
Bella frowned, realizing that maybe Alice was just a ball of sweetness and optimism stuck in a shitty place with shitty people. "Sorry I freaked out on you," she finally huffed, looking away from the shorter girl. She felt kind of guilty about snapping at her.
"It's fine. I'm sorry Rosalie upset you…" Alice said worriedly. "Sorry, I would have come to your table, but you looked pretty pissed off." She laughed, glancing downward. Their conversation stopped as the group came to a halt at, once again, another locked door.
Several annoyed huffs resonated from the crowd, and Bella couldn't help but chuckle at their lack of enthusiasm for art. Bella wasn't particularly a fan of arts and crafts, but she couldn't help being glad to have something to take her mind off of all the dramatic bullshit that had accumulated in the course of a day.
The group of girls flooded inside the tiny art room, squished uncomfortably close together. Bella noticed a huge grin on Alice's face despite the discomfort. "You like art?" she asked the other girl.
Alice nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It's the most fun thing to do here…"
Bella shuddered. "Man, this place must be pretty fucking boring," she joked, pulling out a chair to sit down, the back of her seat awkwardly close to the back of Jane's. The younger girl jumped, looking like something had just burned her, and Bella felt a pang of pity for her. How awful it must be to live in a world where you feel like everyone wants to hurt you. Especially here, where chances were someone was out to hurt her.
"You have no idea," Alice agreed seriously, grabbing a piece of paper and some colored pencils. "But hey, at least you met me." She grinned, showing off a set of the brightest white teeth Bella had ever seen.
"Yes, you made this whole trip worth it," Bella agreed laughing, grabbing her own paper and a few pencils. "Now shut up, I'm trying to be creative over here." Alice complied, and the two of them worked on their sketches, forgetting about the troubling thoughts that brought them there.
It took a moment for Bella to realize what her mind had unconsciously lead her to draw, but after a few strokes of her pencil, she noticed that the abstract figure she had begun to sketch had started to transform into a trumpet shaped flower. She shuddered, disturbed by how the plant was still on her mind. Next to it she began another drawing, this time of a person. Not Rosalie, but they looked somewhat similar. The woman in her sketch was tall and thin, her face and bones showing through her skin. Her eyes were dark and narrow, different from the blonde's pretty and wide eyes. Her hair was wild and untamed as if she'd been living somewhere desolate of other human beings.
Bella recognized the girl in her drawing as the woman she had seen while under the influence of the datura's seeds. She'd heard stories about other people seeing a similar entity. The woman in these legend's was labeled Lady Datura. She ruled the world of the Angel's Trumpet and decided who would live and break out and who would suffer in her realm forever. She was so captured by the eerie beauty of the drawing she created, she hadn't noticed her hand had begun to move, scribbling down other images from her journey into the other world.
Looking down, she realized how detailed the drawing really was. The dark, ghostly eyes in the shadows, the black cat with its blank dead stare. Bella saw the white flower in the center of the picture, and next to it, the monstrous yet beautiful woman. It was probably one of the best non-professional pieces of art she'd seen. She shuddered, glancing at Alice, whose face held a look of amazement. Rosalie stood over them, looking surprised and impressed as well.
"You know," she murmured into Bella's ear, so low the brunette doubted Alice would be able to hear. "I think artists are fucking sexy," she breathed, before walking slowly away, waving her ass seductively all the way back to her friends.
"Holy shit…" Bella panted, staring at the sexy girl as she teased her, completely forgetting about how the blonde had just humiliated her, no more than an hour ago.
"Damn," Alice commented, oblivious to the exchange her roommates just shared. "You seemed really unimpressed with art, I didn't think you'd be this good…" She ran her fingers down her own picture, a skillfully drawn fire surrounding a shoddy drawing of a house. Alice had downplayed her talent in both artistic dexterity and symbolism.
Bella leaned casually over her drawing, uncomfortable with the other girl seeing her visions. They felt strange, private. Like a secret she could only share with a choice amount of people. "Yours is good too," she complimented Alice with a smile. "It's really… deep." She couldn't think of another word and she felt extremely lame.
"Thanks!" Alice chirped, and began to go off on a long tangent about how she came up with the idea. Bella laughed to herself. The smaller girl had such a short attention span it was comical.
Fifteen minutes and twenty doors later they were back to the ward, all carrying pieces of paper like fourth graders back to their rooms. Even Rosalie, who Bella didn't think would lower herself to something so simple, so childish and young, was carrying a small painting of a white flower. A white flower… Bella gazed at Rosalie's painting unsubtly, realizing she too had painted a white, trumpet flower, and other things imbedded in the darkness. She shuddered. Rosalie definitely hadn't seen her drawing until the very end of their art time. And she too had a beautiful woman by her flower, but she was portrayed in a dramatically different view. She was soft looking, warm and meek. She looked broken though, and like the woman in Bella's own picture, she looked lost.
Bella felt another level of connection to the blonde, looking away from her painting. Rosalie really was the perfect girl for her. Minus the whole fucked up sociopath thing.
They spent five minutes in their rooms before going to the day room to watch a movie. The movie, of course, was selected through an approved film list that the hospital had made, resulting in the viewing of Finding Nemo. Bella didn't really care though, too focused on the confusing thoughts she had about the blonde.
She could make a list of reasons why she shouldn't want to be with Rosalie. One, she just landed herself in a mental institution after her previous relationship ended, two Rosalie was clearly a verbal, and sometimes physically abusive person, and Bella was pretty sure that sort of thing would continue even in a relationship, three, they're in a mental institution… The list went on and on. But sadly, she did want Rosalie. It was more lust at first sight, but something drew her to the blonde, and she felt like she had to know her. The feeling was so similar to that of the datura, that she was almost convinced that the woman in her drawing was not Lady Datura, but Rosalie. Or maybe Rosalie was Lady Datura…
After the movie was over, the nurses came over carrying cups of pills. One handed Bella a tiny cup. The brunette looked down in confusion. She didn't need to take any medication… "I don't need these, I'm not sick." She attempted to give the cup back to the nurse.
"They'll help you sleep," the nurse replied gruffly, standing in front of Bella expectantly. "Take them now please." Bella hesitated before bringing the cup to her mouth, swallowing the pills without water to chase them down. "Open your mouth," she commanded. Bella complied, feeling slightly annoyed. The nurse nodded her approval, moving to the next person.
After all the girls completed their ritual, they were sent back to their rooms. Rosalie sat on the end of her bed, glancing blankly at the wall, clearly lost in thought, as Alice burrowed like a bunny under her covers until only the spikes of her hair were visible above the blankets. Bella stared at the lump under the sheets that was her roommate, unsure if the girl was asleep or not. After a few minutes, she began to breath softly and evenly, slipping into what seemed like a very comfortable sleep.
Rosalie looked over at Bella, noticing her observing the other girl. "She usually falls asleep as soon as she hits the bed. She's really peaceful when she sleeps. It's different."
"Oh," Bella squeaked. "I wasn't like, watching her or anything, I just didn't know if I should be quiet or whatever…"
"Don't worry about it," Rosalie laughed, acting more natural than before. Not flirty, not bitchy, just Rosalie. "I liked your drawing earlier," she complimented Bella sweetly. "It kind of looks like mine. Did you copy me?" she accused jokingly.
Bella grinned. "Nah, but great minds do think alike." She glanced at Rosalie's shelf, but didn't see the painting there. "I'm curious," she started. "Have you ever done datura? You knew what it was, and your drawing was kind of similar to mine…"
Rosalie shook her head. "I wouldn't say I've done it," she said cryptically. She sighed, looking slightly upset, like something on her mind was really getting to her. "It was kind of… Forced on me," she stopped, gazing at Bella with a look of mistrust, unsure if she wanted to continue.
Bella encouraged her. "Forced on you?"
"Never mind," Rosalie hissed, closing Bella out with a quick and icy glare. "Look, go to bed okay?" Bella watched her take three small blue football shaped pills she identified as Xanax before she felt sleep take her, obeying the blonde's harsh words much to her dismay.
Author's note:
Alright, so I'm trying to get these out as fast as I can... I'm basically writing whenever I'm home, sooo... Yeah, just bear with me, if my chapters aren't coming as fast, it means I'm simply not at a computer nor am I home at all. Anyway, if you enjoyed it, review, or if you didn't enjoy it, tell me why in a review.
The writing quality kinda went downhill halfway through, and it kinda felt rushed and I'm sorry about that... My name is just an honest description.
Anyway, I thought I'd give you more insight on the plant Datura/Lady Datura if you're interested, so here are some quotes I dug up:
"Datura is a gateway to hell...It will open you up to the darkest side of your being...and don't ask me why...but do not ever consume datura on a full moon, or during the preceding hours before 3-5am...Unless you would like to meet lady datura"
"We're talking, pissing themselves, forgetting who each other is, ripping the posters off all the walls in fits of rage, talking to parking meters, throwing cutlery around the place and at people, eventually ended up in a hospital situation where they were restrained (strapped down on hospital beds) for three days."
"The most common hallucination for a Datura user is talking to people that aren't there. If a user reaches this point, they are totally disassociated with reality. The User will not know they are under the influence of Datura and will continue a dialogue with these imaginary beings. Also lycanthropy and seeing a spirit known as Lady Datura are another common hallucination, usually during a full moon."
"I've had acid heads who've probably consumed tabs by the thousands tell me '...But I wouldn't touch datura, man'"