Chapter 3

                                    

                                          
"Is this edible?" Valentina looked at the goo on her plate.
                          
"I know it might to hard to believe but it is." Juliana replied with a smile. "Okay, look." She continued upon seeing Valentina's look of absolute disgust. Juliana filled her fork with the food and pushed it into her mouth. "See, I'm all fine. Trust me, it isn't as bad as it looks." She spoke with her mouth full.
                          
"I don't know." She hesitantly picked up her fork but allowed it to hover above her plate.
                          
"Hey, do you trust me?" Juliana placed her hand on Valentina's arm to catch the girl's attention. In a swift movement Valentina scooped up a bit of goo and pushed the cutlery in her mouth. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
                          
"It's pretty bad." The other girl responded while swallowing the food.
                          
"Well, at least I can promise it will get better. You will get used to it. And I still have about half the kitchen in snacks in my room if you don't want to eat this." Juliana pointed at the plate.
                          
The thought of going back to Juliana's room both frightened and excited her. Being near her made her feel a little more carefree, like she didn't have to carry the burden of losing her parents. Like her boyfriend, Lucho, hadn't dumped her right before she got here. Like nothing mattered anymore. Here between these four walls she could be anyone she wanted to be.
                          
The frightened part came with the fact that she didn't know Juliana. She had been hurt and used too many times before to trust someone carelessly. Even though she did trust Juliana, she did, but she had to be careful. She just couldn't be first to share who she was. That was if Juliana didn't already know. It could be the reason she was being so nice. But Valentina couldn't believe that, she wouldn't allow herself to think like that.
                          
"Earth to Val." Juliana waved her hand in front of the girl next to her.
                          
"Sorry, excuse me, what were you saying?" Her own bright blue eyes locked with brown ones and for a second her walls dropped. She didn't know if Juliana noticed, it was just a flash of emotions that passed through her before the walls were pulled back up.
                          
"Nothing really, it's okay. Should we go to my room?" Her smile was the opposite of Valentina's facial expression. Juliana couldn't help but laugh when she noticed how the other girl was looking at her. "I meant so you could eat something."
                          
"Of course." Valentina sighed. A sense of relief washed over her.
                          
"I have to say though, I feel a little flattered that your mind goes there."
                          
"Maybe that's because you keep flirting with me. Maybe, Juliana, maybe I just assume your mind would go there."
                          
"Maybe it does, but what goes on in my mind will remain my little secret. Come on."
                          
The two girls got up from their seats. The walk to Juliana's room was silent but not the uncomfortable kind. It was a kind of silence that you could enjoy, it was peaceful.
                          
"Tell me about yourself." Valentina nearly demanded once they had settled on the bed.
                          
"Well, we have a curfew in this place, I don't think I'll have enough time."
                          
"Just tell me something, please?" An adorable pout flattered Valentina's face.
                          
"Okay, let's see, I'm really close with my mom. Not that she comes to visit like ever but I miss her. My dad on the other hand, he abandoned us a while ago. I don't know much about him beside that he was an awful person. What about your parents? Are you close with them?"
                          
"My parents are gone, they died." Valentina played with Juliana's blanket, twisting and turning the corner between her thumb and pointer finger.
                          
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." The brown eyed girl leaned towards Valentina and stroked her arm. "To be honest sometimes it's better to not have parents than to have a father like mine. At least you have good memories about yours. You should focus on the good, not the bad. Was it recent?"
                          
"It's the reason I'm here." She couldn't believe she had admitted that. She had just broken her first rule of opening up first, she knew nothing of the girl in front of her yet she had given away her biggest secret. The one thing she had promised herself she wouldn't share. She stood up from the bed. "Let's talk about something else. Anything else. Like for example, why weren't you in the arts therapy session?"
                          
"Good question, I didn't think anyone would notice. I was being scolded for apparently ruining your chance of recovery, or at least slowing it down or something."
                          
"Is that why you are helping me? Because you think I was upset with you interrupting me? Cause that is stupid, I didn't want to talk about my life and about my drinking which I don't see as a problem, I'm not hurting anyone, am I? So no, I was not upset and you didn't ruin my chance of anything, I was glad you made that joke." Valentina was yelling, shouting the words. As if she wouldn't be heard if she spoke softer. She hadn't even noticed how her hands had started shaking.
                          
"You should sit down." Juliana replied calmly, walking towards her.
                          
"I don't want to be here." And in that moment the walls were gone, the walls she had tried so hard to build up seemed to evaporate when Juliana's soft hands touched her bare skin. Tears started to well up in her eyes. But deep down all she felt was anger. She didn't want to stand in some stranger's room with tears in her eyes. She wanted to be home, she wanted her dad to comfort her.
                          
"Val, listen to me, okay? This is completely normal, you are gonna go through a really tough stage right now. Your body is used to the alcohol so it will crave it but you won't be able to give it that. And that might cause you to get angry, angry at yourself or angry at the people around you. You will be overly emotional. But I can help you."
                          
"I don't want help. I just want to go home." She could feel a tear slip and fall down her cheek.
                          
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Juliana opened it revealing the man from the meeting earlier. "Hi, Valentina, it's you I was looking for." He said looking past Juliana. "I will have to ask you to go to your own room."
                          
She threw the door closed behind her. Now, finally alone, she allowed herself to start crying. The pain that formed in her chest and had left an empty hole had always been covered by the alcohol, now that they had stripped that away all she felt was pain. She didn't bother getting changed, she just crawled under the covers, hoping the sleep would drift her away and take away the pain.
                          
Time seemed to pass by slowly. Valentina had nearly drifted into a nice slumber, even though she was still crying, when she could hear the door open and close. There was a shift of weight on the bed and an arm being draped around her waist.
                          
"What are you doing?" Valentina asked with a shaky voice.
                          
"I remember my first night, I wouldn't stop crying. I felt alone and terrible and all I wanted was someone to hold me. But there was no one there for me. At least I can be that person for someone else. You seem like a really good person, Valentina. And you opened up today, even if it was very loudly and I think filled with anger, it's a wonderful first step."
                          
It didn't take long before her breathing calmed down and her eyes fell shut.