Getting Close

The arrival:

Alyssa looked out the ambulance window then sighed. she had been on her way to Gerard Academy, Residential and treatment facility and it seemed to be taking forever to get there. "How many more minutes"? asked Alyssa to the kind ambulance man. The man smiled, "about 15 more minutes", he relied.  I have really got to pee, thought Alyssa to herself.  Alyssa looked out the window again, this time thinking what life would be like if she lived with her mom again.  Alyssa's mom had been caught doing drugs in the apartment where she used to live at. she remembered the police bursting in with a search warrant, guns drawn. They arrested her mom and her moms boyfriend. After her mom got arrested Alyssa and her younger sister, Malorie, moved in with their grandparents- Dean and Jean. they were nice people, but they got tired easily. . . tired of lots of things. This is why, at this moment, Alyssa was on her way to Gerard. Her grandparents couldn't handle her, couldn't handle the cutting and her depressive thoughts and actions.  At this moment, Alyssa felt unloved.  Finally the ambulance stopped in front of a big building with picnic tables and a basketball court. "Here we are"! said the driver lady up front. The two paramedics helped Alyssa off of the stretcher when all of a sudden she heard she heard her moms voice. Alyssa looked over to see her mom, her social worker, and some other lady standing up by the two front double doors. "Is this a locked facility"?, Alyssa asked her mom, walking up to her. "No, its not. Don't try any funny business", relied Alyssa's mom. Alyssa hid her relief. The last thing Alyssa wanted was to be locked up like a caged animal.  "Hi, my name is Pam- I'll be doing your intake meeting and introducing you to the campus", said the lady who was talking to Alyssa's social worker and mom. "Nice to meet you", relied Alyssa. Pam seemed okay, she was nice enough. "Please, follow me. we still have lots of paperwork to sign", said Pam kindly. Following Pam's directions, the three of them followed Pam. It was a hot summer day, and Alyssa was sweating loads. Finally, the four of them walked into a conference room with a big table with snacks and pop in the center of it. "help yourself to anything you like", said Pam. Alyssa grabbed a root beer and some cookies, nobody else grabbed anything. 

After two hours of paperwork, Pam told Alyssa's mom and social worker to meet them up front. Pam was going to show Alyssa around the campus and introduce her to the others on her unit. walking out of the conference room, Alyssa noticed that there were two other buildings that were units. "Which one is my unit"?, asked Alyssa. "your unit is the smaller one right over there", replied Pam. Feeling scared to meet other people, Alyssa fidgeted with her fingers in her pockets. when they got to the door, a kind young teen answered the door. "Hey, i'm Katie. Whats your name"?, asked Katie.  "I'm Alyssa", replied Alyssa. Pam and Alyssa then walked onto the unit and teens of all ages looked over at them. "Everybody, listen up. We have a new resident here, so i would like you all to be very welcoming and kind. Her name is Alyssa.", said Pam. Some of them nodded their heads, others just continued on playing games like just dance, or connect four. Pam nodded at Alyssa to follow her. Walking around the row of red couches, Alyssa was introduced to her roommate, Crystal, and shown to her bedroom. It was a decent sized room for two people. It had a wooden wardrobe and a bunk-bed and two windows. 

Alyssa and Pam walked back outside to say goodbye to her mom and social worker. "So, how do you like the unit"?, asked Pam. "Its okay", replied Alyssa quickly. Honestly, Alyssa didn't want to be there though. She didn't want to be here at all. I'll just run away, tonight, thought Alyssa to herself. Her mom waved to Alyssa and smiled a polite smile. "How was it sweetie"?, she asked. Alyssa couldn't do anything but shrug to her mom. Then, without warning Alyssa started crying and ran over to her mom and hugged her. "I don't want to be here",  whispered Alyssa desperately.  "I know, but it will only be for a little while- as long as you follow the rules", replied Alyssa's mom.  "Times up", said Alyssa's social worker. Alyssa and her mom hugged each other goodbye. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" said Alyssa's mom. "K", replied Alyssa, more depressed than she meant it to be.  Alyssa stood by the picnic tables with Pam, watching as her mom and social worker got into their cars.  I will run away tomorrow, thought Alyssa to herself once more.