Chapter 25

                                    

                                          
  Stick season by Noah Kahan
Chaeyoung spent the entirety of the car ride texting Mina back and forth. They comforted each other and then the oldest sent Chaeyoung a playlist for the ride. She listened to it knowing the lyrics were ones that made Mina think of her. After writing long paragraphs to each other, Chaeyoung put her phone away as soon as she had arrived. 
The night was cold, extremely cold now that she was in the northern part of her state. Chaeyoung went through the check in routine that she had high hopes never to experience again. A bracelet was placed on her wrist after she had changed into a night gown and socks. The nurse had given her a not so surprised look after spotting the new scars. 
"These were a long time ago I swear. I shouldn't even be here, I didn't do anything I'm okay"  Chaeyoung said. 
"Your mother says other wise and so does that bruise on your neck" the nurse said.
The girl was caught off guard having forgotten to cover it. It was extremely hard to miss. "I didn't put that there" was all she could say. "I really didn't self inflict a bruise onto my neck."
"Teenagers these days" the nurse offered a smile "Your mother was afraid you'd take your own life" 
"Yeah right" the girl scoffed. "She's just afraid that I have a girlfriend" 
"That isn't any of our business" she said to her. "You can be out in a week if you show progress and participation. No sneaking up to the roof, skipping meals, or losing sleep. Show that you're healthy and you'll be good to go"
Fuck you. 
Show that I'm healthy? 
I am. 
Chaeyoung was taken to her room where her two other roommates were already asleep. She situated her self in silence and laid down.  As she stared at the roof, tears began to build up in her eyes. All she thought about was Mina. Her sweet and warm Mina. How much she would give just to have her by her side in this moment. It had only been three hours and she already felt a void building up inside of her. 
The next morning she had breakfast and cleaned up her plate. She had found Niki and Soojin and sat with them. The three caught up on each other's life. Both of her friends agreed that it had been unfair to Chaeyoung to end up back in this place just for being with another girl. After spending some time in the art room drawing with a group of kids she headed back to her room. 
She only thought of Mina throughout the entirety of the day. Even during art when she was supposed to be sketching the snowy outdoors, she had added the two girls sitting on a bench. Sure they weren't the best drawing skills, but it was enough to make Chaeyoung smile.
At the end of the day, the other girls she was sharing the room with introduced themselves. The youngest one was Dahyun and the other one was Yuqi. Chaeyoung shared a short conversation before going to sleep. That night, she dreamt about what had happened inside Mina's car before she was forced back into this place. She dreamt of the way they desperately pulled each other closer and how Mina had looked at her with such darkened eyes it drove her insane.
First thing she did the next day was take a warm shower. She couldn't be in there long other wise someone would have to check on her. After switching back into the gown and socks, she was off to breakfast. 
"Hey Chaeyoung" Soojin happily greeted. "We want to sneak up to the roof tonight with some other kids. Are you up for that?"  
It was tempting, it really was but she wouldn't risk it. "No, I'm trying to get out of here as soon as I can. If I get in trouble they might find something else wrong with me and I'm in here longer. You know how it is"