Lost, Lost, Lost

Zach, Chris and I were walking together in the gym on the 8th floor of this hospital. There were screened-in windows all around us, begging for everyone to please jump out and get away from this awful place. Was it really so awful though?

Seth walked up to us, mumbling something to me. I didn't hear what he said but I didn't really care; all of a sudden I had a huge annoyance towards him. "Go away, Seth. I'm not here to think about you anymore." I waved him away and he stopped in place with a frown. The rest of us kept walking.

"That was kinda mean," Chris said. I picked a leaf off of one of the trees planted in the huge vases and threw it at him. He moaned and asked why I always did that.

"Because you can be mean sometimes, too," I said. "Plus I like throwing leaves at you. Your reaction is usually funny." And it was true. Chris usually tackled me after I threw a leaf at him, getting us both in trouble by a nurse. Physical contact wasn't allowed here. This place sucked, especially when you had someone who liked you that you liked back. I wished to myself that maybe Chris would make an effort to see me when we got out of this place.

Like he read my mind, he asked, "So where are you going after this horrible place?"

"Let's see..." It surprised me that he knew what I was thinking about. Suddenly I became paranoid that he could read my mind. "Home."

He pulled my hand toward his and squeezed it before letting go again. "You're lucky, I have to go to fucking rehab."

That was a huge disappointment. "I'm going to the beach," Zach piped up. Chris and I both decided that Zach was the luckiest one out of the three of us.

*****

"You and Seth are on peer restriction from now on," my doctor told me. I was perfectly happy with that though, at the moment. I didn't want to talk to Seth or think about Seth or have anything to do with Seth ever again. He was too... distracting.

"Fine with me," I replied.

"Good. Well, that's all we had to talk about I guess." Our conversation today was pretty long, I had to admit. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ren!" Her cheery voice seemed somewhat fake to me. But I left anyway,

Out in the hall, I passed Seth. He didn't look at me or make any move that let me know he noticed me. It was kind of depressing not being able to talk to him anymore, but maybe I could squeeze my way out of this. Seth was too irresistible to ignore while I saw him. Or so I thought.

In my room, Kae and I gossiped about people here that would make cute couples. She mentioned Chris and I. I decided maybe she should know. "I like him a lot," I told her.

"Really? I never would have guessed," she said sort of sarcastically. But she wasn't meaning to hurt my feelings. I knew my roommate pretty well now. After all we'd both been living in the same room for about a week. "I think he likes you too," she said.

"I think so too," I said excitedly. "Should I give him my number?" Wait, what? That came out of nowhere, although I know it had been lurking around the back of my mind for a while now. Kae looked at me then looked at the window, thinking.

"Yes," she agreed. "I think you should."

So I made a deal with myself that the last day I was here, I would give him my phone number.