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Post by jay on Jun 12, 2009 0:45:18 GMT
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Post by Ashleigh Summers on Jun 12, 2009 14:34:23 GMT
ashleigh summers !  Ashleigh walked into the room, dressed in simple jeans and a red t-shirt, a open grey hooded sweatshirt over it. Her hair was up in a pony-tail, as opposed to her normal plain, down her back, and her face was expressionless. She had awoken about two hours ago, at seven, and spent most of that in the art room, but half an hour in the gardens, under the cloudy sky. Clouds never really did bother her. She didn't like the sun too much, it made her skin burn. Plus, she couldn't handle too much heat, it made her feel faint and very tired. But Ashleigh was a morning-person, usually up at around seven, and often went outside for walks. But Michigan State made her depressed. She had been told that this place was to help her 'heal', but so far it had done nothing for her. Well, except get her away from bulliest at school and her mother, where she felt most trapped. She missed life when everything was easy, when her parents were happy, when she was happy. It seemed like so long ago. It was long ago.
Ashleigh loved to draw. She spent most of the time ever since she got her in the art room, whenever allowed, but today it had been too crowded for her taste. Usually it was just her and one other patient whose name she didn't know, but today there were at least five patients in there, chatting too loudly for her taste. As if they were only there to chat. There were other places for that. Such as the social area, but thankfully that place was empty now. Or almost. Her eyes wandered around the room and fell upon a taller boy, sitting in the corner of the room, eyeing her cautiously as if she were someone interesting. She made eye-contact for only a brief moment, but eye-contacts were something Ashleigh had never been too comfortable with. When people stared her into the eyes, she felt as if she was revealing something she knew she shouldn't. Her secrets.
She looked over at the large TV, which was on but muted. It was a show she'd seen before, but didn't recall the name of. She averted her gaze down on the table she sat at, and drew her left leg up onto the chair, and up to her chin. She reached out for a pencil and a small smile formed on her face as she noticed it was one of those bendable pencils, a security precaution. It was a wise move, but still made her grin. But as she started doodling on the margin of a newspaper lying open on the table, her face went smooth and emotionless again.
She doodled for a minute, before becoming curious of the other patient. She looked carefully to her left and looked at the boy. He was still staring at her. She'd seen him around, but never spoken to him. Mind, she hadn't spoken to any member of this institute since she arrived her about two months ago.
As stated before, she was glad to be rid of the bulliest at school, but even here she had become a target again. She blamed the fact that she was so clumsy. On the second day after her arrival, someone had obviously marked her as a possible victim, and tripped her in the cafeteria. Most had laughed at her, and she knew this was only the start of a miserable stay here in Michigan State. But still, it hadn't been nearly as bad as she thought it would be, she realised after about a month. She could walk past a group of patients without being tripped or called bad-names, but still, there was a small part of her that was wary of everyone. She spent all her time alone, except during group sessions, but she rarely talked. Ashleigh didn't like attention, of any kind, focused on her. She preferred to be unnoticed by the rest of the worl, it felt best like that.
She realised she had been staring at the boy for more almost a minute, and quickly shrugged it off, focusing her attention back on the newspaper. It was the financial pages, and she doodled a mustache and a clown-afro on a random politician whose face was dull and boring in the picture.
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Post by jay on Jun 12, 2009 16:45:15 GMT
[/b] he said finally, not too loud but loud enough for her to hear. Whenever he spoke the nurses would listen, they did that too all the patients that rarely spoke though, like they'd say something historic or crazy. "I'm Josh.." he introduced himself politely, feeling a small burst of safety in the moment, like she wouldn't be a bad person to talk to. But that could change, everyone could seem harmless enough but turn out to be the very definition of wrong. [/size] [/ul] |
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Post by Ashleigh Summers on Jun 12, 2009 19:45:52 GMT
ashleigh summers ! Ashleigh found an A4 paper and started drawing a picture of an elephant on a ball, you know, the one you sometimes see with circus-related drawings, but she added a little twist to it. In the background was a mafia-looking mouse with a tommy-gun, pointed at the ball. She would sometimes get in that mood where she didn't really care what the doctors thought of her, and to add a little panic around them concerning her state of mind, she'd let images like that, some pictures more macabre than others, lying around and just waited for the doctors to pick it up and see her name on the page. She remembers once drawing a picture of a young dark haired girl, lying in a tub with her wrists all slashed out and after one of the nurses found it, she had been rushed into an emergency therapy session, and she couldn't go anywhere alone for around two weeks, because they were all afraid she was sinking into depression again. But over her stay here in Michigan State, she'd shown some progress, but they still weren't quite there.
She was startled at the sound of a chair being dragged towards her table, and her head snapped up. She noticed it was the boy whose eyes had followed her as she walked into the room. She said nothing, and focused her attention back to her drawing, now working on the elephants trunk. After a few minutes, the boy spoke, commenting on her drawing.
"Thank you," she said, avoiding eye contact still. She felt slightly uncomfortable having him around her. Mind, she felt uncomfortable with most people around her. She preferred solitude, but still liked having someone to talk to. It wasn't often fellow patients even gave the effort into starting a conversation with her.
"Ashleigh. Leigh if you like," she said quietly, still wondering why he had decided to come speak to her.
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Post by jay on Jun 15, 2009 17:49:57 GMT
[/b] he continued, trying to work through the now awkward setting. "How long have you been stuck here?" it was maybe not the best question to ask. He'd seen her around, but he wasn't sure how long she'd been here. He hadn't been here long, two years maybe. He'd lost count. When he first arrived he counted each day as if it was some kind of religion to him. But after a while it only brought him down and made him feel as worthless as he seemed. He wanted to ask her the oh so typical question of 'what are you in for' in a way it seemed fine, everyone was in here for a reason. It's not like it was an insult. But in the back of his head he saw it to be rude. He knew he wouldn't like it too much if random people started asking him what his crazy or crime ridden issue was. As usual though, Josh thought on the question to long, and couldn't stop himself. "So.. Are you crazy or suicidal or something?" he asked only judging her by her drawings. Quickly after the words left his mouth he felt like a jerk. "Sorry, I just meant.. what are you in for?" He wasn't sure why he made everything out to be worse than it was. He'd turned a simple question into an accidental insult. [/size] [/ul] |
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Post by Ashleigh Summers on Jun 19, 2009 22:56:20 GMT
ashleigh summers !
Ashleigh looked back down on her drawing, now picking a yellow-ish color, more leaning towards brown. She would've thought this boy would bother her, most people did for some reason, but he wasn't pushy or anything. He was just here trying to start a conversation. Ashleigh decided to try and participate. "Er, about... four months, or so. Almost five. W-what about you?" She felt nervous to ask, but managed anyway. Wow, had it been almost five months? It felt like so much longer. Years, even. She just wanted this all to be over for good.
She was taken aback by his next question, the way he phrased it. But she shrugged it off, now wondering how she should answer it. "My mum has abused me since I was nine, I got bullied at school and I attempted suicide."
No, she wouldn't say that. At least not for first impressions. It wouldn't sound too good; he might not wish to talk to her again, and he seemed like a person Ashleigh would enjoy hanging around. Not that she did much 'hanging around', but after all her time in here, she hadn't really talked to many people here.
"I'm, er..." she didn't know what to say, so she stopped and focused her attention back to her drawing, in a child-like manner, like a stubborn child. She didn't really feel like talking about what had happened to her. She had enough trouble thinking about it herself, let alone tell anyone about it. An person she'd never talked to before. But still, there was something about Joshua that felt different, he felt like a person she ought to be able to trust. But looks can be deceiving. She had once witnessed the most innocent looking person in this institute - she couldn't remember the name - lash out at one of the nurses and bit her nose, as if she were possessed.
She wanted to tell him, it'd be such a personal victory for her if she finally talked - actually talked - about it, but something stopped her.
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