I rub my eyes and stretch. then I hear faint snoring beside me. It takes me a second to remember that I stayed in Colby's room. I see Shadow sleeping at the foot of the bed. I pet him and put him in between Colby and me. I hug him, he's so fluffy! he's like a perfect pillow. I look at my phone. It's currently 7:38 am on October 5th. I'm still tired. I yawn. I sit up and look at Colby. I try to climb over him, but he wakes up. Shadow licks his face. He squints his eyes. I giggle and his eyes slowly open.
"Good morning," he says in his groggy morning voice. It gives me butterflies.
"Good morning" I reply. he moves and wraps his arms around my waist.
"Sorry, I should have asked. Is it okay if I hold you?" He asks.
"Don't apologize, yes it's ok. You know you don't have to ask right?" I say and scoot closer to him. Shadow jumps over Colby onto the floor.
"Oh, I just wanted to make sure, Also do you want me to take him out?" Colby asks.
"We can both go, I wanna go to the cafeteria before anyone gets there," I say with a smile.
"Okay! let's go then." He gets up and throws on a hoodie. I get up put Shadow's vest on and hold his leash. Colby turns to me and smiles. He throws me a hoodie. I fix his hair because his hoodie messed up his emo swoosh. I walk towards the door. Colby grabs hold of my hand, it startles me and I jerk my hand away from him.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to flinch so hard," I say opening my eyes.
"It's okay, I understand, let's go." He says with a smile. I open the door and a shadow is walking at my right side, Colby at my left. I look down at my phone—7:57 am. The cafeteria opens at 8.
"let's go to the cafeteria first since it's on the way," I suggest.
"great idea. What are you going to get?" He asks.
"Probably a Pumpkin spice coffee and some donut holes," I say knowing it's my favorite thing to get during this time of the year.
"what about you? What are you getting?" I ask him.
"Probably a Hot chai and a cinnamon roll, or two." He says with a smile. We walk a little bit further till we reach the cafeteria. I have one of Colby's hoodies on, it's black and purple. He looks at me and holds out his hand. I take it, his hands are warm and soft. I offer him an earphone, and I turn on my playlist. Dance like a stripper comes on and I start bobbing my head to the beat swaying as well. Music gets me. We are still walking, and we finally make it to the cafeteria. We walk in and no one is there. I checked my phone it was 8:02 am. Wow, I love it when the cafeteria is empty.
"Can I get a pumpkin spice latte and 12 donut holes please?"
"yes of course, Can I get you anything else?" The woman behind the counter asks. I look at Colby and he nods to her
"Can I get a Chai Latte and 2 cinnamon rolls please?" He asks
"Of course, Can I have a name for the order?" She asks.
"Alie," I state and pull Colby to a table.
"Alie?" he questions
"that's my nickname. What all my old friends used to call me." I say, not paying attention that Colby can't keep his eyes off me i start playing with Shadow.
"Alie!" The woman calls from the counter. I hand Colby Shadow's leash and go grab the food.
"Thank you," I say politely and smile, I grab the two drinks Colby's two cinnamon rolls and my bag of donuts, which I'm holding with my teeth. I set down the drinks and his cinnamon rolls.
"Bleh," I put my bag of donuts down on the table. "That didn't taste great, but here's your food," I say and push his food towards him. He smiles and chuckles
"Thank you," he says while shoving a cinnamon roll in his mouth. I smile and giggle.
"you are very welcome," I say.
"So where to next?" He asks.
"Well outside to take Shadow out. Then we can go wherever we want!" I say with a smile.
"Okay let's get going before there's hella people." He says and I agree. We take the elevator to the lobby.
"Good morning Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Brock" Mrs Thorne greets us.
"Good morning Mrs Thorne!" I say and walk over to her desk, "This is Shadow, my therapy dog!" Shadow sits next to me and looks at her.
"So where are you off to today?" She asks Colby and I.
"Just to take Shadow out then back upstairs," Colby says with a smile.
"How lovely!" she smiles. I let go of Shadow's leash and hug Mrs. Thorne. Shadow follows me. She gives him a pet on the head. Colby still standing in front of her desk, smiles at him.
"Well we are going to take Shadow out now so we will be right back," I tell her, she smiles and waves us off.
"have fun you two." She smiles at me. Colby and I walk out of the doors. the cool morning fall air hits my face. I love the fall season. We walk a little way and find a park. The leaves are orange and scattered across the ground. We walk in the grass areas in front of the psych ward. I check my phone at 9:03 am. I walk up to the fence with a shadow. I let him off the leash since the ward is fenced in.
"So what's your favorite color?" Colby asks
Colby's question lingers in the air, and I find myself pondering it for a moment before responding.
"Purple is my favorite color, but there's something about black that draws me in. It's like an invitation to explore the depths of the unknown, to embrace the mysteries that lie beyond the surface," I respond
Colby nods in understanding, his eyes reflecting the shifting hues of the leaves around us.
"I agree," he says softly, "there's a certain tranquility in the absence of color, a sense of freedom in the boundless expanse of darkness." His words resonate with me, and I find myself smiling in response.
In that moment, surrounded by the quiet beauty of the park and the warmth of Colby's presence, I feel a sense of peace wash over me. Despite the challenges we face, there's solace to be found in simple moments like these, where the world fades away and all that matters is the connection we share. Although that sense of peace doesn't last very long it feels nice. I grab Shadow's leash and hook it back to his vest. We walk in through the sliding doors.
"Ms. Sanchez, This was dropped off for you by your mom." Mrs. Thorne brings out my skateboard from behind her desk.
"NO WAY!" I scream, I run and hug my board. Shadow sniffs the board and then jumps on me.
"You skate?" Colby asks from behind me.
"yes, I've been skating since I was like 12," I say and walk back towards him. I turn to Mrs. Thorne "Thank you so much!" I give her a huge hug
"You welcome just be careful." She smiles and turns to Colby.
"I've never seen her this happy. You guys have something and it's beautiful. Take care of her." she hugs him. We walk over to the elevator and wait for a few minutes. Colby holds the elevator door so that it doesn't close on Shadow.
"so where to now?" Colby asks and puts his chin on my shoulder.
"back to one of our rooms," I say
"Dibs on yours," he says
"Awh come on yours is better. mine is filled with bad memories." I say
"Well so is mine. so yours is better." he retorts
"ok ok whatever we can go back to mine." I say and playfully roll my eyes.
"YAY!" Colby shouts like a little kid.
*DING* The elevator stops on my floor. 10. We walk out of the elevator and straight down then we bank a right and my room is the second one.
YOU ARE READING
Psych Ward Lovers
RandomA story of a mentally ill girl (Allison Sanchez) who falls for a mentally ill boy (Colby Brock) Her past was traumatizing, and he wants to know everything about it. Shes shy, but also energetic, loud, funny, weird, and over all a great person. She d...
