Balloons and Suitcases

I woke up to the sounds of girls waking up. They sound so comfortable here in their white walls. I sound the least comfortable as I try to open my eyes. When I do, I realize a girl is watching me. She seems terrified to even move. It's strange. I try to move to find my legs restrained. I'm cuffed to the bed by my legs. Now I know why she's scared. She probably thinks I'm a psycho. "Hey there miss?" are the words I can barely crook out when we stare at each other too long. "H-hi?" she responds. She seems more nervous now than she is scared. I sit up. "What's your name?" once I asked she looked at me like I was insane. "I'm not supposed to tell you…" oh right. We are in the nut bin. "Well give me a nickname then?" she looks at the door and then back at me. "SC." the way she says it makes it sound so beautiful. "What's yours?" I sigh. This isn't my first go in the nut bin. I know my little nickname by heart. "Balloon. It's Balloon."

The girl smiled at me. "What are you in for Balloon?" I sighed for a moment before she added something: "I mean it would have been bad if they had you cuffed to the bed by the ankles." I smiled " it isn't my first time in the nut bin actually." she nodded "same here. What number are you on?" she's so intriguing "Fifteenth" I remember every day in this place. 4,562 days total so far. "Thirty-Five." I paused. She can't be much older than me right? She laughed at my expression "Yes the first time I came I was like Five!" I sighed in pure relief. "So then what are you in for this time?" This is where I get to play my trump card. "Found half-dead in a sex house." SC face lit up a bit "we have the same Fifteenth then!" She and I have the same fifteenth…? "Well, then what's your first…?" I wanted to know now that I thought about it... "set my best friend on fire by accident…." I smiled "Shot my dad in the head when I was ten." she gasped. "Woah. you're way cooler than me already!" Woah. She just called me cool for being a massive fuck up.

"I never could kill that bastard," she said to me softly. "He did himself in first." I sighed. I simply remember the way my mother looked at me after that. She would always see me as nothing more than a monster and she'd only keep me there until I turned thirteen. Then she threw me on my ass into the street. That's when I think of him. "My mom threw me out when I was thirteen." I end up saying without context. She doesn't respond. Maybe that's because my least favorite doctor showed himself. The first thing I noticed was that his once so well kept blue hair was now more curly floof the hair though I could still make out what I swear to god are devil horns. "Well well well look who's back for the Fifteenth time already and roomed with the bipolar queen of insanity no less!" SC glared at him. "Say's you doctor number what? four! maybe five? six if your lucky!." he paused when I said that before laughing, "you think you're something huh Balloon?" This was something new..?

"Of course I'm something. If I wasn't you wouldn't be here now would you?" This is the type of sarcasm I learned in school. It was only really used around me. Maybe that was because not that many people liked me. No one except… "you're going to wish you were nothing soon enough." This scared me. That's when I was uncuffed from the bed. "Go eat. Now," he ordered. Maybe if he was nicer then I would have said ok but for the sake of being stubborn I simply responded with a good old-fashioned "No." SC stared at me again. I knew exactly what she was going to say to me later. "What was that Balloon?" I could already smell my mistakes but I decided to see it through. "Who's Balloon? I don't believe anyone here has that name sir." That's when a jolt of electricity went through my whole body causing me to scream out in pain. When it ended I heard the doctor say "Consider that a warning." SC looked down and began to walk out. I would follow her willingly.

The first person who caught my eye happened to be an old friend. When he saw me he smiled and waved. I believe I first met him on day 2432. The first 150 days that I visited I had no roommate. Though it was kind of nice I would grow bored of staring at the ceiling and talking to myself. Though at that point I think the doctors assumed that if I stayed alone much longer I would lose even more of my sanity because they brought the white and blue-haired boy into my room. The problem I had with him at first was that being transferred in he was wide awake and rather calm. He didn't come in fighting like I had the first eight times. He smiled at me when the doctors left. "I'm pe- I mean my uhh nickname is Paper. It's nice to meet you!" he seemed so clueless compared to me. "I'm Balloon. Well, that's their nickname for me anyway." he nodded and began looking through the stuff they let him have. Crayons, Notebooks, An electric pencil sharpener, an actual nightlight. All of these by then were things I hadn't seen someone have with them. "Is this your first-time balloon?" he would ask as he pulled out a sketchbook and a pencil. He flipped to a page and started drawing. "Eighth time…" he smiles at me "same here! Though I believe I have warranted myself a longer stay this time around!" I stop remembering. Instead, I focus on the present again. That present is him hugging me and telling me it was good to see me for our fifteenth time around. I laughed and embraced the hug. I don't get this kind of affection often.

"So Mr. shot my dad and jumped off a bridge what are you in for this time?" That nickname almost sent me spiraling down memory lane again but I had to stay present. "Sex house." he laughed a bit "you. Balloon. Ended up in a sex house?" I also ended up laughing "yes I the magnificent king of the streets ended up in a sex house where everyone was probably on crack or something." I hadn't noticed until just then that the SC had drifted off to let me and Paper reconnect. "What are you in for all mighty school destroyer?" I noticed the way his eyes fogged over for a second. It was serious this time I could tell. "Mom attempted to kill me and accidentally stabbed my isabella." he loved isabella with all his heart. So the moment I heard her name my whole heart sank. "She stabbed your sis-" he covered my mouth "don't say it, please. It's not fully registered in my mind as the doctor put it." I sighed "ok…" then he got a smile on his face and continued " though she did burn herself too so I see it as karma." I laughed yet again. " Karma's a bitch!" he then leaned in and whispered " the biggest bitch. Wanna know where she burned herself" I realize this is going to be good and prepare myself "where? Wherever did the bitch get burned?"

He got up and put the back of his hand on his forehead before stating in a high-pitched girly voice "she got burned on…" everyone was looking now and I could tell he loved it "Her left boob!" I watched as one kid spit out his drink as SC started dying of laughter. If I'm honest I was dying too. That's when I noticed that there was one kid not laughing. He rolled his eyes and continued to eat his toast. "Knock it off Paperboy" the boy grumbled now I was looking at him. He had orange hair and lovely green eyes. Though if I'm honest I like blue eyes a lot better. Paper looked over and said "Oh come on OJ we are just having fun yah know!" the boy who I assume is OJ sighs in the purest form of annoyance. "It's AJ not OJ" paper rolled his eyes "Ok OJ" the boy got up with his toast and left. "Who was that…?" I decided to ask. "That's my new roommate."