'food for thought [Open]

[Miranda Sutton]

Mia hummed happily to herself as she took a tray of food, making sure it was average sized. An apple, a corned-beef sandwich and a bottle of water; nothing to draw attention to her. If anything, she wasn't eating enough -it was lunch and she had the rest of the day to go- but it was better than binging. And then, of course, the purging that always followed...

With her tray held at chest level, she looked around the mostly empty room. Woah, highschool flashback... There were a few members of staff, but if she was completely honest, they all scared her. The only one that looked anywhere close to her age was Hazel, the security guard she'd said hi to upon arrival, that morning. Mia was sure that the psychiatrists were nice enough, but the thought of being psychoanalysed while she tried to eat didn't appeal. Was it the done thing to go and sit with the kids? She took a brief look around the room, realizing that there weren't many kids to sit with. It was early, only five minutes into the lunch period. Crossing the room quickly, all her concentration on not dropping her tray -not on her first day, how humiliating- she plopped herself down at a table in the middle of the room, examining her apple with care.

As she began to eat, she reflected on her first day; she hadn't actually worked yet -that was after lunch- but had just been unpacking. With some guilt, she thought about her supposedly unpacked room, the only boxes she'd actually opened containing her posters, photos and CD's, which she'd danced to as she papered her walls (using only BluTack, sticking to the rules she'd been given in her staff handbook). Well, she could always unpack the rest after her shift, that evening... The thought of actually working -working! and not as a waitress in some crappy diner- made her smile, sitting up straighter. It was going to be so fun... Mia had enjoyed her old volunteer work, at the special school, but it hadn't been...fulfilling. She always had the feeling that she'd been there more to entertain the kids than actually helping them. But here, she'd be helping the students, if they got hurt, actually being useful, and getting paid for it! It sounded wonderful to her.

She began to hum again, a bouncy, popular song -Kiss Me, Avril Lavigne- swinging her hair over her shoulder as she opened the plastic packet of her sandwich. It didn't look very appealing; actually, it looked a little like she'd already eaten it and thrown it up. Why had she picked corn beef? Mia decided that she was starting a new diet -vegetarianism was healthy, right?- and moved to push the sandwich aside, before realizing that she wouldn't have anything to eat if she did. Oh. Well, she could go vegetarian after lunch. She continued eating, wrinkling her nose at the taste, and gazing happily around the room as it began to fill up, students coming from classes.

It was only her clothing that set her aside from the rest of the students; as it was a school day, during hours, they were all wearing uniform. Mia had on a bright pink, plain t-shirt, which jeans; she was aware that she stood out, and resolved to wear something more...grown-up the next day. Did she have anything grown-up? Not really. Well, any reason to go shopping! Leaning back in her chair, she nibbled her sandwich and began to plan what she'd go looking for; hopefully, there were some decent shops around here. It was a shame that she'd have to go by herself, unless she befriended Hazel... No, the girl was a little scary. She could go alone.

Outfit.

[Layla Whitney]

Layla sighed, balancing her tray on one arm, the other holding the plate still to stop it sliding. It wasn't the most practical way of carrying her lunch, but she wasn't really thinking about that. What she was thinking about was where to sit. There were plenty of free tables, but she was really looking for some... company. She couldn't see anyone she knew; it would be nice if Tylar was there, especially with the mood Layla was in right now, but she couldn't see hide nor hair of the blonde girl who Layla had become rather fond of in the past few days. Smirking at the thoughts, she wound her way in between tables, glancing down at their occupants as she walked, dismissing each one. She was more than happy to sit with people she didn't know, but people she didn't know meant she had to get to know them before she could shag them, which was a pain.

Finally, she gave up looking for someone she knew would be... receptive, and flopped down on the nearest seat, dumping her tray with it's contents on the table. The apple rolled off the edge of the table, and she caught it one handed, while trying to steady her water glass, in an impressive display of reflexes. Looking up to see who she was sitting next to, she took in the brightly coloured clothes and raised an eyebrow. Not a student here, then. Just her luck. She couldn't get up and walk off now - well, she could, but it would make a bad impression and if she ever had classes or something with this woman, it might be a little awkward - so she had to stay, endure lunch with this woman, and find someone after she'd eaten. She could handle that. After all, she wasn't all that desperate... yet.

Smiling at Mia, she took a bite out of her salad, chewed, swallowed, and asked her, "Hey, are you new here? I haven't seen you around much." She speared another forkful of salad with the stupid plastic fork and ate it, still watching Mia out of the corner of her eye. Would she... no, she was a) a staff member and b) probably straight. Layla reminded herself what happened when you slept with staff members, and turned her attention back to her lunch, smiling at the memories that came flooding in.

[Miranda Sutton]

Mia raised her eyebrows at the one-handed catch on an apple; not something she would have been capable of. Enviously, she looked at the girls salad; why couldn't she get something like that, instead of stuffing herself with bread? Bread was carbohydrates, and that was practically pure fat. For a moment, she struggled with herself, before defiantly taking another bite of sandwich and immediately regretting it. But she'd decided she wasn't going to throw up after eating anymore; it was unhealthy. And just plain gross. She sighed, knowing that she was going to, and giving up the pretence to herself, continuing to eat.

"Yeah, I'm new... I started today. Well, I technically start in half an hour, or so." She looked up at the clock on the wall, frowning for a second before the numbers made sense. Yep, half an hour. "I'm Mia! And I'm gonna do nursing...stuff here." She took a quick glance at the other girls uniform. "You're a student, right? What's it like here?" She was hoping for a semi-honest opinion. Not a complete lie -yeah, it's amazing here, best time of my life- but not holy shit, this place is awful, get me out. Somewhere in-between, seeing as the first (unfortunately) didn't sound like reality. "What's your name?" She studied the younger girl, wondering how old she was. Whatever her age, she was bigger than Mia, something that irked her, especially as she'd stopped growing and most of the kids here were still going.

What could she be there for? Mia considered. She obviously wasn't antisocial -she'd just approached her and started talking- but she might have something like conduct disorder, IED, all that scary stuff... It was probably unethical to look up her file out of pure curiosity, but tempting. No, she wouldn't do it...it was just mean. She'd hate it if the students could all read her file (or would, if she had a file). "And how long have you been here? Are there lots of other kids?" She knew she was asking a lot of questions, and smiled brightly, finishing her sandwich and wishing she had something else to eat. It just wasn't enough...

[Layla Whitney]

Layla listened to her, smiling slightly. She was the happiest staff member Layla had seen around... aside from her shrink, who she'd seen with some of the younger kids, seeming like she was about to take off. Taking another mouthful of salad, she nodded in answer to the woman's question. When she had finished her mouthful, she thought for a moment. "Well... it's OK, I guess. I mean, it depends on why you're here and stuff. Some of the kids can't take it, some of them get on fine. 'Cause the other students don't all... get on-" understatement, "and it all depends on how well you take it, really," she told her after a pause. It was the most truthful answer she could manage.

Picking a sunflower seed out of her salad and popping it in her mouth, Layla leaned forwards on the table, hands cupping her elbows, listening to Mia properly now. "I'm Layla. I've been here... nearly two months, now. There are a fair few, not as many as you'd expect, but we do get new ones quite regularly." Sitting back, she ate the remnants of her salad and pushed the plate to one side, picking up the apple. She didn't eat it, simply sat there, watching Mia curiously, as though she was a whole different species, throwing the apple from hand to hand as she appraised the nurse. "Nursing... that's pretty cool. I have to warn you, you'll have a lot to do," she told her, only half joking, smiling. Then a thought occurred to her. "D'you have to wear a uniform and everything?" the innuendo was sufficiently hidden that the words seemed quite innocent, but Layla was fairly sure the woman would get it, unless she was completely clueless. And if she did get it, how would she react? Hopefully, she wouldn't just storm off. A bit of flirting was harmless, wasn't it?

[Miranda Sutton]

Mia continued the song she'd been humming earlier, before remembering that she could be in the prescense of a musician and stopping abruptly. If she was younger -and being sentence to time in a psychiatric hospital- she wouldn't have been sent to St. Dympha's, due to her complete lack of talent. Well, she could dance, but it was more...the sort of dancing one did at parties, after consumming a ridiculous amount of alcohol on an empty stomach. As it, not something the teachers would approve of. The thought of alcohol made her wonder how soon she could leave, running for the bathrooms... No, she couldn't go to the kids. They were watched or something, because of eating disordered students. Well, she could go to the teachers, but someone might hear her... Mia sighed, resigning herself to being late to her first shift, as she would have to sprint up the stairs to her room, do...that, and run back down. Damn it.

"Some kids can't cope?" She frowned, concerned. "How come?" She bit her nail, worried at the thought of kids not coping, and assuming Layla was one of the kids that got on fine, due to her being...weirdly well adjusted. Mia smiled as Layla introduced herself, nodding, and raised her eyebrows at the length of time she'd been at the hospital. "Two months? Don't you...miss home or something? I was really homesick when I left my parents." Of course, the homesickness had gone away after a short while, though; once she'd gone home a couple of times, she'd got fed up of listening her parents moan about how she was wasting money on a college course, and slowly increased the number of weeks in between visits. She smiled at the nursing comment, shaking her head. "It's not that cool. I'm only doing it for it gets me some money while I train in psychology. That's what I wanna do..." A lot to do? "Is there lots of fighting here, then? I can imagine..."

At Layla's innuendo, she looked down at her empty sandwich carton, blushing a little. "Actually... I think I do. I'm not sure." Rolling her eyes, she looked up again. "I'm gonna to get lots of stick about that from the students, right?" She winced, imagining it. "This will be fun..."

[Layla Whitney]

Layla finished her apple, dropped the core on the plate, pushed her tray out of the way and rested her arms on the table, hands cupping her elbows, watching Mia curiously. Couldn't she guess? It was a psychiatric hospital. "Well, you know. PTSD kids and stuff. And some of the other students here get to them. You get panic attacks, self-harmers, ones who are terrified of everything and everyone..." she shrugged, not mentioning that she was one of the ones who caused panic attacks. Well, only once or twice. A lot of kids seemed scared of her, but not many had actually met her. Jess was the only person who could really be called a victim of hers, and Jess had been asking for it.

"Miss my parents? Please. I was glad to get away from them," Layla sneered, shrugging. It wasn't as if she hadn't got on with them, but as parents, they were a pretty sorry excuse for a mum and dad. "And fighting? Yeah, there's a fair bit. 'Course, a bunch of kids left recently. One of the panicky ones, a pair of twins who were... a lot of trouble - one of them was in my music class - and a guy who caused about ninety per cent of the fights here. Dunno what happened to them all, but they're gone. Which should make your job easier," she told Mia. Shame, really. Morph had been... a lot of fun. And very convenient when she wanted a shag, since he usually felt the same... oh, well. She had Tylar now, which was just as good. Better, even. She doubted Morph would have been as happy with her beating him up as Tylar was, and that just made everything slightly more enjoyable.

[Miranda Sutton]

Mia nodded thoughtfully. "Oh..." Not the most inventive thing she'd ever said. Anxious people -or people with anxiety related disorders- didn't interest her. Mutes, cutters, all of that bored her slightly. No, bored wasn't the right word. She wasn't bored. Just...not as interested. She wasn't sure what exactly did interest her; but she had a while left before she had to write her thesis. Plenty of time to find something she liked... "How come you're here? Or...am I not supposed to ask the kids that?" She guessed it wasn't an anxiety disorder, due to her almost...callous mention of kids that had panic attacks or the like. No, Layla seemed more like someone with delusional disorder, personality disorders, sexual... Something that wasn't always immediately obvious.

Raising an eyebrow, she resisted the urge to ask more about the girls parents. She shouldn't do the whole psych thing, especially while she wasn't qualified and was likely to harm more than help. Had Layla been abused? Or just a typical teen, hating her parents? If your own mother and father sent you away -condemned you to a psychiatric hospital- you were bound to a bit a little annoyed with them, to say the least.

The mention of fighting made her smile slightly. Well, at least she'd have something to do... Kids disappearing, though? Sounded like something out of a bad movie; a predator, setting up a psychiatric hospital and preying on the trouble causing kids... No, it was much more likely that they'd either recovered -not likely, due to Layla's claims that they were trouble- or that they'd been transfered. Still, the murder theory was an interesting one. "Oh, I don't mind cleaning up the debris of fights... At least I'll be earning my money, right?" Mia laughed quietly. "So, will you be one of the kids I've gotta sort out after scrapping? Or are you a quiet, keep-in-the-shadows type?" Somehow, she doubted that Layla fit the second category.

[Layla Whitney]

Layla watched Mia, resting her cheek on one hand as she watched the other girl, wondering how old she was. She couldn't be more than twenty, Layla decided; not that much older than her, then. That surprised her; she wouldn't have thought they'd let someone under twenty-one work in a place like this, but apparently she was wrong. With a cheeky grin, she shrugged. "Nah, I always behave myself," she laughed, fairly sure that Mia would understand the sarcasm. Unlike her shrink who, apparently, didn't get it at all. There was something weird about that woman, to say the least, but Layla didn't dwell on it. You'd have to be a little bit weird to open a school like this of your own free will, so it didn't really matter whether or not she understood sarcasm.

She smiled at Mia, deciding that she liked this girl. She was nice enough, she seemed pretty smart, and she had good fashion sense. Oh, and she was pretty. That in no way influenced Layla's decision, though. "So, where did you live before?" she asked her, noting the accent. It wasn't from anywhere she recognized, although it was definitely American. She could be from San Fransisco; that kind of accent had been common there, Layla remembered. Soft, few inflections. Unremarkable. Layla wondered absently what kind of accent she had herself. She'd never really paid much attention to it, except people had sometimes commented that she sounded European when she sung. That suited her fine, seeing as most of the music she sung was from northern Europe. In fact, that was probably why. No, wait. It was definitely why. Layla blinked, and turned her attention back to Mia, hoping she hadn't missed anything the girl was saying. She needed to learn to concentrate properly...