I'm Not Insane (Heaven Help Me)

There was a large blond guy smiling at another patient with a big brown curly fro and an awkward smile. They were joined by a bad-ass looking little dude with an awesome haircut, gauges and a lot of tattoos. There were two guys sitting with each other of in a corner talking quietly. One had blond hair and glasses and the other had black hair that draped in front of his face and hid his eyes. There was also a smaller group of patients off on the other side of the room. She chose a corner opposite the two guys that had now stopped their quiet conversation to study her and sat down with her small bag of belongings beside her. She noticed that all the people had noticed her entrance and were looking at her as if they were trying to see why she was there. Her clothes said a lot about her personality and they took it all in. She was wearing a pair of shredded black skinny jeans, the plain white, long-sleeved shirt she had been given, hospital socks, her lip ring (which she had convinced the nurses to let her keep) and a small black heart necklace. She suddenly felt self-conscious so she reached into her bag, pulled out her notebook and pencils and drew as she tried to make herself invisible. She looked up after a while and saw a pair of eyes, partially hidden by black hair staring back at her. She gave the owner of these eyes a small, polite nod of recognition and quickly looked back down at her drawing pad. It was very quiet and awkward in the common room now. No one spoke until the little dude stood up and half-walked, half-bounded across the room to her. Everyone was watching him including her. He offered her his hand accompanied by a small, friendly grin and a “Hi…I’m Frank…Frank Iero.” She took his hand cautiously and shook with him. “I’m Savanna… Savanna Griffin…” She returned his gaze a little more confidently adding her own small, shy smile. Frank nodded happily and returned to his spot near his friends. He looked at them expectantly. “Well go say hi…” He finally huffed “She didn’t bite me or anything. His friends blushed slightly at the thought of this. The guy with the awesome fro was the first to stand and the big blond fellow shortly followed him. They both walked over to Savanna as the conversations gradually returned to the room. “Hey … Savanna right? Sorry about the awkward silence thing … we just don’t get to meet new people here a lot. I’m Ray Toro.” Ray held out his hand and his fro bounced as she shook it. He looked at his friend who had been leaning against a wall looking embarrassed beside him. “I-I’m Bob… Bryar…” He stammered. She shook his hand and told him that she liked his ear piercings, pointing out her own. He laughed and Ray smiled a little brighter. They did not leave her sitting there, as Frank had, to encourage other people to say hi. They didn’t talk to her either. They just sat there quietly and watched her draw. Soon the dark haired dude stood up and helped the blond guy with the glasses to his feet they came over to Savanna and the one in black introduced himself as Gerard. He also introduced the blond who seemed a little shy. His name was Michael but he didn’t seem to like being called that and growled slightly when he heard the name. Ray laughed and explained that they all called him Mikey and that Gerard was his brother. “That would explain the poking fun about the name thing.” She thought. Frank bounded of once more and flopped down happily “I’ve started a trend! Ha motherfuckers!” The others laughed at this. In all the excitement of meeting everyone Savanna had set her drawing pad down on the floor. She didn’t notice this until Gerard made a swoop for it and looked at the page that it had been open to. His eyes widened and he glanced down at Frank who was sitting on the floor next to where he was standing. Savanna blushed and hid her face in her hands “Oh God!” she muttered in embarrassment. Gerard was still looking back and forth from page to Frank when he said “ Frank I think you should see this.” It was impossible to tell what he was thinking or feeling because she couldn’t see his eyes and his voice was completely expressionless. Frank stood up looking a little worried when he saw what was on the paper. “Whoa!” he breathed. “That looks just like me!” Ray, Bob and Mikey congregated with them facing Savanna and the sketchpad. On the page was an almost perfect likeness of Frank. He was standing there with his hair going down the side of his face and his tattoos clear on his arms. His piercings glinted in a stream of light coming from an unknown source and shadows swirled around him in the background. They exchanged glances and looked back to Savanna who was now trying as hard as she possibly could to blend in with the wall. They all slowly started to sit down around her. As Frank flopped down he asked “How the fuck…?” but she cut him off with a shrug of her shoulders and her small shy smile. “Practice.” She said plainly. Gerard smiled a smile quite like her own and nodded. The nod caused his hair to flip out of his face revealing his eyes for a split second. He quickly brushed it back onto his face and blushed a bit. A split second was all she saw of the hazel eyes but that was all she needed. She grabbed her book and pencils and started drawing. “ So Savanna…” Bob began but a long, slender finger pressed to his lips and a pertinent “One second, please” cut him off. She finished her drawing and held it away from her to look at it. Ray who was sitting beside her caught her eye and then looked back down at the paper and said “Okay now how the fuck do you take a look at something so complex for like, a split fucking second and then draw it that perfectly!” It was more of an exclamation than a question. Ray looked at her once more “May I?” She was hesitant but she nodded. Ray took the sketchbook, stood up, and walked purposefully to Gerard.