Soulmates

"Watch where you're going!", I angrily blurt out as I look at all my papers scattered on the floor. " "Oh, I'm so sorry", the girl that just bumped into me says, almost with tears in her eyes. I sigh as I kneel down to collect my papers. I was expecting her to help me but to my surprise, she only backs away from me. Wow, way to go Talia. You just scared someone you just met.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you", I tell her, making the anger in my eyes slowly disappear. "It's okay", she answers but I just feel the uncomfortableness. "I'm Talia", I say as I hold out my hand. She hesitantly grabs and shakes it. "I'm Aubrey." "You're probably the new girl. Let me warn you, the other kids are going to eat you alive", I say before she quickly retracts her hand from my grip. I can see the fear returning. I sigh, again. Why am I so mean?

"Don't worry. I'll tell you everything you need to know", I say as I hook my arm in hers, putting the stack of papers under my other arm. Aubrey grabs her little suitcase and forces a smile. "Relax. You're lucky you ran into me. I'm the most harmless one here", I tell her but I can see that is not really comforting. Mental note, maybe just shut up.

I lead her upstairs to the second floor. That's where my bedroom is and it so happens that the new girl's bedroom is next to mine. I open the door to her room and let her in. "Welcome to Waterdale Mental Hospital", I say triumphantly. She looks around the room and puts her suitcase down. "Okay, I'll tell you the secrets. But only because you're begging me", I say as I walk into her room. I can see she's speechless but frankly, I don't really care.

"Firstly, you might be wondering why we're allowed to sleep on the second floor. What are they even thinking giving us, mentally insane teenager, rooms high up in the building? Well, even though we're on the second floor, don't even think about jumping out of the window because you can't. They don't open all the way. Not even patients from the eating disorder unit are able to squeeze through the tiny space.", I tell her and I can just see her nodding her head.

I sit myself down on her bed and continue. "Secondly, cutting yourself is a real challenge in here. They check your body every two days and hiding blades, scissors or even something coming close to being sharp is practically impossible. If they think you're hiding something, they will search your room when you are in the cafeteria eating dinner." "Any advice on that front?", Aubrey asks me. Alright, she talks.

"Hide your blades in the soles of your shoes. Don't even think about scissors because that's an impossible challenge that you will not win." "Okay, what about pills?", she asks me. Okay, I think we're getting somewhere.

"They mentor that very carefully. You're not allowed to have any in your room. If you're already on medication, the nurses will hold on to it and hand it to you when it's time to take it. Of course, other kinds of drugs and pills go around but I wouldn't let you in with those people if I were you, unless you're planning on staying here forever." "Well, maybe I am", Aubrey says back to me with a lot of sass. Where did that sudden confidence boost come from?

"Why would you even want that?" "Because I hate the world", she tells me and I nod my head understandingly. "I can already tell that we're going to be great friends", I say back to her, a small smile forming on my face. A chuckle escapes her mouth as she sits herself down on the bed next to me. "You hate the world too?", she asks me. "Kind of..." "What's your story?" I sigh and roll my eyes at her question. Isn't that obvious? Aren't our stories all the same. We're either crazy or suicidal and no-one can deal with us anymore. But okay, if she really really really wants to hear it, I'll tell her.

"I lost my mother to cancer when I was 8 years old. After that, nothing has ever been the same. My dad never really cared about me so when my mum died, I was left with someone that could care less about what happened to me. I started becoming depressed. The first few years were pretty easy to hide it, up until the point my dad killed himself. I was 11 and lost both of my parents. That's when I started cutting myself and thinking about suicide. I just wanted to be with my mum." "What happened then?" "I was forced to live with my aunt and uncle. And if I say forced, I mean it. They didn't want me living with them and that feeling was mutual. They didn't care at all and they still don't. They never acknowledged that I was hurting. Obviously, they saw it, but it felt like they didn't want to see it. They never actually believed that I had problems. They just told me to act normal." "I know what that's like. My parents are just the same", she tells me and I give her a smile that says 'I'm sorry'.

"How did you end up here then?", she asks me. "One of my teachers at school. I broke down in class once and because of that, I was obligated to tell my English teacher everything. She saw what everyone else didn't want to see and talked to my aunt and uncle about being hospitalized. They absolutely didn't want that, but my teacher wasn't about to let it go. They actually went to court and the judge decided that it would be in my best interest to get hospitalized. I was not even thirteen." " You've been here since you were thirteen?", Aubrey asks me, kind of shocked. I let out a deep breath. I can understand her reaction. I would be shocked too.

"Yes, I've been in and out of this place for about four years now." "No way!" "Yes way... But it's not that bad. Even though this place looks like a prison and I don't always agree with the staff here, it's better than living in a place where they don't even acknowledge you exist.", I say before I feel two arms being wrapped around my fragile body.

"What are you doing?", I ask her confused and kind of uncomfortable. I'm not really a hugger. "It's called sympathy and compassion. You should try it sometimes", she answers be back cocky. I sigh. "Where have you been all my life", I say back to her as I put my own arms around her.

I think I found my soulmate, and I can already feel that we’re going to have lots of fun in here together.