The Journal Of Chloe Saunders (Part 4)

Hey everyone! Thanks for taking your time to read part 3 of "The Journal of Chloe Saunders". Here's part 4.

I was getting out of the car when I got my first, real look of Lyle House. It's a huge white Victorian house perched on an over-sized lot. It has a yellow trim and a swing on the wraparound porch. I saw many pictures in the brochures, but it looks totally different up close. It actually looked like a normal house, instead of those with bars on the windows and doors, but it didn't feel like one. It feels like there's something wrong and dangerous about this house, but I'm not sure what it is. That I’m sure of.

The feeling I felt reminds me of the ocean. The waves looks nice and peaceful, but can easily turn into a dangerous storm at any moment. I mean sure it looked cozy, but that doesn't mean it is. My aunt and dad were beckoning me toward the front door, when two women came out of the house.

The one with the gray hair and wide hips came to greet us while the younger one's dour eyes followed my every move with her arms crossed like she was expecting trouble. The older woman was Mrs. Talbot, and she's one of the nurses. She gave the grand tour of the place. My room was white and yellow, decorated with daisies, smelling of hair gel. The far side had a twin bed. Over the bed on the wall were decorated with pages ripped from magazines. The dresser was covered with makeup tubes and bottles. The tiny desk was the only one left bare. My side was a sterile mirror image.

The tour was finally over and it was time for dad and aunt Lauren to go. I gave a hug to aunt Lauren ignoring the tears in her eyes and gave a sort of an awkward hug to dad. He kissed the top of my head and mumbled that he would stay in town and visit as soon as possible. He then pressed a roll of twenties into my hand.

I was tired, so as the nurses were putting my things away, I crawled into bed to sleep. The last thing I remembered was seeing dad's silhouette in the doorway with the younger nurse, Miss Van Dop, behind him with her face set in disapproval. My dad moved to my bedside one last time and pressed something soft in my hand and said, "Oops, I almost forgot to give you Ozzie. I wasn't sure if you would sleep without him."

Ozzie was my koala bear that I outgrew two years ago, banished onto my shelf. I buried my face into his soft and fake fur that smelled like home.

***

I awoke and saw that I was asleep for 4 hours. I heard someone snoring and looked over at the bed next to me. There was someone sleeping under the quilt. I turned onto my back and felt a tear roll down my cheek.

I was ashamed of myself. Dad and aunt Lauren didn't know what to do with me. Their actions are being carried out with the feelings of fear leading them. They were scared and they had every right to be. I was a freak with schizophrenia.

How stupid could I be? Ghosts aren't real, and yet I can see them. They look so real, how am I suppose to learn what's real and what's fake? I think the fastest way for me to get back to my normal life is to be the perfect patient they want me to be. All I have to do is keep telling them, "I want to get better. I know I have a problem, but I won't let it ruin my life. I will do anything to get better." I will also just pretend I don't see ghosts anymore, and try not to make a scene. If I treat everybody like they didn't exist, then I won't make a scene. I won't accidentally talk to a ghost and people won't see me talking to an empty space. It was a perfect plan.

Just then, there was a knock on my door. A voice, a lady’s voice, says, “Chloe, Liz? Are you awake?”

The figure on the bed groaned then said, “Now I am. And who’s Chloe?”

“She should be on the bed next to you.”

The girl sat up and looked at me grumpily. She looked like one of those teen models with her long, beautiful blond hair. I waved and said, “Hi, I’m Chloe. Chloe Saunders. I just got here today.”

The girl rubbed her eyes and said, “Hi, I’m Elizabeth Delaney, but everyone calls me Liz. Sorry if I sound mad. Normally I’m nicer, but that’s after I’m fully awake. Wait an hour then you can come see me and I’ll introduce you to the others.”

“OK.”

“Are you girls done yet? It’s time for school. Hurry up and get ready. Liz you know what to do. Chloe, just come out when Liz is ready and I’ll introduce myself. We’ll just talk about the rules and schedules here and then you can go back to bed or hang out in the pit. You won’t start your lessons until your teachers send in their notes and homework. See you in a few or I’m coming in to get you guys,” said the voice on the other side of the door.

I asked Liz, “Who’s that? And can you please refresh my memory on what the pit is. That would totally help a lot.”

“That was Dr. Gill. She usually forgets what she calls, ‘the minor details’, but we call it ‘the major details’ of most things. You’ll get use to it eventually. And what everyone calls the pit is the recreational room. There’s a very slow laptop, but you need one of the adults to log on before you can use it. You also need them to type a password in if you want to email someone. There’s also a T.V. with a playstation, a foosball table, beanbag chairs, and a lot of other stuff. Check it out. It’s a nice place to hang out, especially when you have it all to yourself. No one to hog the remote.”

As Liz was getting ready, we were telling each other about ourselves. I learned that she is 16 years old and very, and I mean very, talkative. And she was completely OK with telling me the reason she was in this place. She got straight to the point, “I have a poltergeist.”

I was starring at her and decided if she isn’t afraid of what other people might think about her problem, then I shouldn’t either. And isn’t accepting what I have part of my ‘perfect plan’? And now that I’m back on the topic, wasn’t I suppose to ignore everyone just in case they were a ghost? But then I realized how much I needed a friend in this place, so I simply banished that part of the plan and said, “And I have schizophrenia. Putting that aside now, shouldn’t we be going now?”

She stared at me for a second, smiled and said, “Yep, lets go. After my lessons, I’ll come find you and you can meet the others.”

She went to the door and left. I walked up to the door, took a deep breath, and dived in.

That’s all I have for you this week. Come back next week and meet the other teens at Lyle House. Until then, see ya!