Heartbreak Hotel

S I X

"JESUS CHRIST, BELLBOY!"

Orion narrowly missed the hairbrush Ophelia had thrown directly at him with a scowl. He stood upright, eyes scanning over her, taking his time to analyze her from head to toe, narrowing at her chest and exposed legs. His hands tightened into fists, clenched at his sides as he swallowed the boulder of desire lodged in his throat.

"Look away!" Ophelia shrieked, tightening her hold on her towel. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as he held his hands up in defence, a smirk accompanying his face as he turned around. She shuffled a bit, grabbing clothes and running back into the bathroom where she shut the door. "Pervert," she muttered to herself.

Ophelia sighed, leaning against the wood as she slid down, her wet hair slipping against the door that separated them, her heart racing with humiliation. After changing, she wished she could bury her head into the hood of her sweatshirt, but she swung the door open again and walked back into the room, head held high despite the deep pit in her stomach.

She placed her hands on her hips with a sharp glare, "Walk in on me like that and I'll throw much more than a hairbrush at you next time." She walked around to dump her dirty clothes in the laundry basket.

Orion snorted, not taking her threat seriously. "And how are you going to hurt me? You're, what, four foot nine?"

"Five foot," She corrected snappily, "Why are you here? To convince me to get with you again?" Ophelia's tone was snarky, referring to the incident that had happened almost a week ago. She turned to pick up her hairbrush that she had thrown at him so she could detangle her dark tresses.

Orion frowned. "No. There's someone outside waiting for you."

"Who?" She asked, keeping the excitement out of the way she spoke. Ophelia couldn't help the hope that flourished, wanting it to be Jude knocking on her door to look for her. The thought in itself had her pursing her lips shut with irritation. Why was she thinking of him like that? Sure, he was cute, and sweet and enjoyed listening to her talk, but there was no room for romance. She couldn't even think of anything like that. Romance was the whole reason she was in here.

He's just a friend! She screamed at herself.

"Claudia," Orion replied, sounding disapproving.

Ophelia felt disappointment simmer in her gut but she chose to ignore it. "Can I go hang out with her?"

"Yeah, but on one condition." He replied, "You go apologize to Clementine right after."

Ophelia's eyes rolled back into her head with annoyance. "I already told you, I'm not apologizing. She tried to hit me first." She didn't stop to rephrase, she was aware how childish she sounded, but she couldn't find it in her to care.

"How old are you, five?" He scowled. "You have a choice here, Ophelia. Don't be stupid. You can either go out and enjoy yourself until therapy and then apologize to Clementine or you can sit in here until you've realized how ridiculous you're being." Orion raised a daring eyebrow, waiting for her to act on her stubbornness.

"Fine," Ophelia grinned. He didn't say it had to be a genuine apology. Ophelia figured she'd just fake a 'sorry' to get out of the whole room arrest situation. She walked around to the side of her bed, pulling on socks and shoes before striding towards the door. "What time do you need me back?"

Orion glanced at the silver watch wrapped around his wrist, "Six o'clock. Be in the cafeteria for dinner at five thirty." He told her. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the floor, wishing she had just chosen the perverse route and instead stayed inside the room. That way, he would have her all to himself, away from everyone else. His eye twitched slightly and his teeth ground together, molars clanking against each other in irritation.

He needed to get laid. Desperately. The only problem was, though, he worked in the facility around the clock, slept in the patron quarters and intimate relations with patients and patrons were prohibited. Orion cursed and looked back up, clenching his jaw when he saw that Ophelia was long gone.

--

"Wait, tilt your chin to the right," Ophelia directed Claudia, holding up the camera to snap the picture. She was frustrated- she couldn't seem to capture the angles as well as she did a little over a week ago. It was a bad photoshoot day. The lighting inside the building was terrible and did little to accentuate Claudia's stunning golden brown skin.

"It's going to rain soon," Claudia worried her lip, peering up at the darkening sky. She feared the water was going to frizz up and ruin her hair that she had taken so long to perfect.

Ophelia shrugged, letting out a sigh. "It's Seattle, what do you think?" She adjusted the lens, scowling when she held the camera back up and a boy randomly decided to start playing with a basketball right behind Claudia. "Can you move?" Ophelia bit out at him, eyes glaring figurative daggers. Although she was relieved to be out of her room, it was short-lived.

"Sorry," He muttered, inching away. He was tall and lanky, his arms and legs awkwardly thin. Dark wavy hair fell onto his forehead, just above his thick, undefined eyebrows. Ophelia watched his retreating figure that was hidden under a hoodie as he walked away, bouncing the basketball meters away.

Ophelia smirked when she saw Claudia gawking, staring at him with her mouth slightly parted. "Oh god," She whispered.

Ophelia tittered, "What?"

Claudia closed her lips firmly together, "I think that boy just made me straight."

"I don't think you can just suddenly turn straight, Claudia," Ophelia laughed, amusement dripping from her words. "Now pose for me, babe."

Claudia turned back from her staring and tilted her chin just as Ophelia directed, turning her face a bit closer to the remnants of natural light peering through the thick clouds. The click of the camera resounded before a dozen more, every few pictures holding a pause between where Ophelia would instruct her to adjust her position slightly.

After the hour of photography and photoshoots was finished, the two of them were famished and decided to head to the cafeteria for dinner. Claudia plopped down in her seat right across from Ophelia, popping a cherry tomato from her salad into her mouth. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Ophelia craning her neck, turning her head as her eyes scanned the large room.

"Who are you looking for?" Claudia asked, taking another bite of her salad.

Ophelia's cheeks burned with crimson. "Did I ever tell you how gorgeous your hair is, Claud? " She was deflecting the question now, heart hammering in her chest. Looking, waiting, analyzing, her pupils darted around the room, still.

"Thanks, thank God it only drizzled a little bit, otherwise-" Claudia began but narrowed her gaze when Ophelia didn't answer. "You can't distract me, spill it."

Ophelia shrugged, tugging on her lip between her teeth. "I just made a new friend, and because I kind of bailed on him because I had room arrest, I feel bad."

"Wow, Ophelia has another friend that isn't me? What a surprise!" Claudia snickered jokingly. "Since when?"

Ophelia picked a baby carrot off of her tray and threw it at her, "Screw you," She laughed.

"What happened with you and that girl you spiked a ball at last week?" Claudia asked.

Ophelia let out a frustrated groan, rolling her eyes with annoyance. "That tangerine b***h?"

"Clementine," Claudia corrected, choking on a piece of lettuce, reaching out to take a sip from her glass of water.

"Same thing," Ophelia scoffed, waving her off. "Hate her. Anyways. My stupid patron is making me apologize to her even though I was just retaliating because she attempted to hit me like three times." She could feel irritation bubbling in her stomach like lava. She tucked her tongue on the inside of her cheek when she felt like cursing.

Claudia picked at her salad with her fork, raising an eyebrow. "You going to do it?"

"I don't have a choice," Ophelia sighed.

--

"Behave yourself," Orion warned, glancing warily at Ophelia as she gritted her teeth together, fists clenched at her side just as he had done hours ago. "I'm serious, Ophelia. This could get us both in trouble if you don't watch it."

"Stop repeating yourself," Ophelia snapped, "You sound like a broken record player." She raised her fist and rapped her knuckles against the door to Clementine's room. "I can't believe you're making me do this." She muttered, glaring at the wood until it opened, displaying a short girl with black hair chopped at her shoulder.

"I'm here to see Clementine." Ophelia's tone was bored and clipped, ignoring the scowl of the girl in front of her.

"Clementine," She squeaked out, "That girl that threw the ball at you is here to see you." The girl muttered, opening the door further for Ophelia and Orion to make their way into the room. The walls were plain white, a standard for the hotel, decorated with splashes of orange and yellow. Hand-drawn art hung proudly in all of its grey dullness. Ophelia's eyes drifted to the figure strewn across the white sheets of the bed that were accented with tangerine colored pillows.

"I have a name," Ophelia snapped, immediately rolling her eyes when Orion threw her a pointed look.

At least four or five cushions all lay under Clementine's head to prop her up, a massive wad of bandage taped to her nose, covering almost a third of her pale face. She had her head resting back, looking up at the ceiling.

You've got to be kidding me, Ophelia grumbled, nearly rolling her eyes at the sight of the overly exaggerating girl. Clementine was laying on her bed like her whole body was broken, stiff as a board as she faked a sniffle. "Tell her to go away," Ophelia wanted to cover her ears at the sound of Clementine's whiny voice.

"Too late for that, princess." Ophelia bit out, pursing her thick lips into a firm line when Orion glared and elbowed her in the ribs. "You going to sit up so we can do this?"

"I can't," Clementine whimpered, "My nose hurts too much to move my head."

"Jesus Christ," Ophelia sneered, "God, you are so-" Dramatic, she wanted to say, but another elbow to the ribs had her shutting her mouth. It was hard to control the anger from pouring out of her mouth when the girl was acting like she had been hit by a bus instead of a dodgeball. Ophelia bit her tongue before opening her mouth again to speak. "I'm sorry. There. Can we go now?" She sounded far from apologetic. Her tone was condescending and patronizing, but she didn't care.

Orion looked to Clementine for confirmation. The redhead smirked, but hid it with a fake wipe under her eye, as if she were crying. "I don't accept your apology, Ophelia. You didn't mean it."

Ophelia sighed, sharply exhaling through her teeth to calm herself down. She always had a quick temper, but this was anger. She felt it burning through her veins as she tightened her fists so hard that her fingernails drew blood from her palms. "I'm sorry, Clementine." Her voice was a bit softer this time, but still impertinent.

Again, Orion looked to Clementine for confirmation, but she shook her head, sniffling. "I still don't think you meant it."

"You know what?" Ophelia said brusquely, and Orion braced himself for the words that followed, knowing that they were very far from an apology. "I am sorry, Clementine," She sounded soft for a moment, "I'm sorry that you are such an over-dramatic, two-faced, whiny, injury-faking dumbass. I'm sorry that you cant take a small tap to the nose without crying like a baby. I'm sorry for hitting you even though you aimed at me twice, even though I told you very clearly to stop."

Ophelia smiled brightly, from ear-to-ear, and although she knew she was going to be in trouble, she still chirped, "I hope you feel better!"