Heartbreak Hotel

S E V E N

"I CAN'T BELIEVE you."

Ophelia looked at Orion with a bored expression on her face, her hazel eyes darting around him before they met the floor. Her shoulders lifted up in a shrug as she fiddled with her fingers, "What? I apologized genuinely twice. It's not my fault she's petty." Ophelia's small feet padded against the white linoleum flooring as they walked towards Ms. Armento's group therapy.

Orion glared at her, "She's the petty one? You're ridiculous, Ophelia. You're lucky Clementine isn't reporting you. This whole incident was your first strike."

Ophelia's steps slowed momentarily. "First strike?"

"Troubled patients in the hotel have three strikes of misbehaviour before they are placed in solitary confinement." He stated, head held high as he recited the laws that he had memorized because of his job. He kept walking even when he felt Ophelia fall behind, standing in the same place he had been just seconds ago.

Orion could hear the sneer in Ophelia's voice, "So I was right. The more f****d up you are, the more you get treated like a prisoner."

"Language," He warned.

Ophelia marched towards him, practically jogging to keep up with the long sauntering of his legs. "Screw you and your stupid rules. I hate you and this entire place." She stopped moving when she felt his hand clamp around her tricep and yank her to him. Ophelia's breathing was laboured and she had to crane her neck up to look at him properly. She found his towering height threatening, but she daren't make it known.

"Let go of me." Ophelia's molars ground against each other as she vocalized her threatening tone. She was secretly daring him to do something. At this point, she had nothing left to lose. No one to lose.

Orion leant down, close enough to her face to get his point across. "Mind your goddamn language, Ophelia. Next time, I won't be so nice." The harsh, angular cheekbones and sharp jawline only accentuating his intimidation. Dark, sullen, hooded eyes hid under straight eyebrows, glaring into her soul. His grip tightened, fingers digging into her skin, causing her to wince.

Ophelia tore her limb away from his grasp, rubbing it and sending him a scowl. "Touch me again, you perverted bellboy, and see what happens." She didn't wait for him again and strode off in the direction of the psychiatric ward. Ophelia was in a terrible mood now, she felt as if one of the dark clouds hanging high in the Seattle sky was now hovering over her, following her around as she desperately tried to escape the rapid beat of her heart. Her thick lips pressed together firmly as she raised her knuckles to Ms. Armento's fire red door.

She knew she was late but couldn't find it in her to care. She pulled her hood around her head, tightening the drawstrings and entering when she heard Ms. Armento telling her to come in. Too consumed by her own gloom, she didn't even feel like meeting the gaze of Jude that was burning into the sides of her head as she sat in her regular spot, dead across from him.

"Hood off, please, Ophelia."

Ophelia emotionlessly pulled down her hood.

"Okay. Today, we're going to be listing all of our strengths. You are all very strong people to have survived through the things that you did, but I want you to believe that, too." Ms. Armento began, reaching down from under her seat to pick up the stacks of clipboards with a paper pinned to them along with a handful of pencils. "Jude, will you hand these out, please?"

Jude nodded timidly, taking the stationary from her and standing up to hand them out. He stood in the middle of the circle, making his way around, until Ophelia. His hand shook as he reached to give her one, and when she took it, their fingers brushed. She met his eyes and he froze in his place, his hand still clamped around the clipboard while she held the other end.

Jude found himself staring into her hazel eyes before he blinked. Once. Twice. Reluctantly, he let go, his heart pounding in his chest when he felt her looking at him as he continued to hand out the clipboards. Within two minutes he had completed the task assigned to him, and he found his way back to his seat across from Ophelia. He kept his eyes trained on the words printed on the paper, a bitter taste settling on his tongue.

"Okay, now I want you to write all of your strengths down, then we're going to read them out."

Jude stared at his page blankly. He raised his green eyes from the printout and watched as Ophelia tapped the lead of her pencil on the paper, biting the inside of her cheek. It didn't seem like she was going to write anything, but he knew what her strengths were, they weren't hard to identify. Like a fire, she burned bright and bold, threatening to burn her enemies and provide warmth to those she cared about. He watched as she dragged her pencil around the page, lazily drawing doodles across the sheet.

Ophelia was quiet today, he noted. Ophelia was never quiet. Even in therapy, where she kept her mouth closed the majority of the time, she always made a tapping noise with the tips of her feet against the linoleum. She wasn't tapping her feet today, and Jude hated the worry that flourished upon noticing this. Aeonian minutes passed until Ms. Armento decided it was time for everyone to read out what they had written, but it was then that he had noticed his paper was blank. Jude glared at the printed letters, wishing that it would just burn up into ashes and blow away with the next passing breeze, but they sat stubbornly on the white sheet on his lap.

"Jude, you're next. What are your strengths?"

Jude felt eyes burning into his body, more specifically, hazel ones. His gaze darted from the floor to the page, back to Ophelia, with his mouth parted slightly. He was choked up on his own words for some reason, and his heart was beating erratically beneath his ribs. He heaved a harboured breath, "Uh," His voice came out more airy than he preferred, "I didn't know what to write."

"Okay," Ms. Armento said softly, "That's okay. Let's ask people in the group then. What are Jude's strengths, everyone?"

Jude cringed, knowing that no one would raise their hand to answer her question. But when he saw a small, porcelain hand raise, he blinked in surprise. He stared at Ophelia with furrowed eyebrows, watching as Ms. Armento pointed at her to answer.

"He's kind, a good listener and a good friend. He's been through a lot but is still here with us," Ophelia stated, sending him a scarce smile. All of a sudden, Jude's face felt as if it were on fire. Crimson flooded his cheeks as he thanked her. Although she didn't exactly know all of the things he had experienced, she knew that it had to have been difficult if he had a patron with him. Only the more troubled patients in the facility had patrons.

Ms. Armento grinned slightly, waiting for Jude to write it down. He followed the hint and scribbled down on his paper, staring at the words with unfamiliarity.

I'm kind, a good listener and a good friend.

--

"Jude, wait up!" Jude turned around sharply when he heard the sound of Ophelia's voice. Dark, hair fell onto his forehead and into his eyes, causing him to brush it backwards with anxiousness. He squeezed his fists together when he saw her jogging slightly up to him, her raven tresses falling behind her and down her back. His heart was racing again, he could feel it as his ribs curled around the organ.

He waited for her and when she finally joined him by his side, he continued walking, not really knowing where he was going. "Hey," She was a bit out of breath. "Listen, I'm really sorry-"

"It's okay." Jude didn't intend for his tone to be snappy, but it was. He was disappointed by her sudden disappearance. He didn't know what to think, all he knew was that this was the result of having expectations. You'll only be let down in the long run.

She frowned at him, "I didn't intentionally stand you up, Jude. I was in room arrest."

His eyes widened, "What?" Although he hadn't been here long, he knew you had to

"You heard me," Ophelia sighed, "I hit this dodgeball at this girl who had tried hitting me first. I hit her on the nose but she was acting as I broke it. Anyway, I was in room arrest for a week." She fiddled with the drawstrings of her hoodie as they continued ambling down the hallways.

Jude furrowed his eyebrows. "Then why didn't you come to therapy?"

"I didn't want to," She answered simply. It was nothing but the truth- although she had been given the opportunity to attend therapy, she found it hard to drag herself out of bed to do so, so instead, she remained in her room during her punishment. Now that she thought of it, though, she could've found a way to make sure he didn't think he had been stood up.

She suddenly laughed, breaking the silence, causing him to turn towards her in confusion. "Oh god," She chuckled, "You should've seen her face." Ophelia giggled again as she recalled the incident. "She was propped up on at least, like, eight pillows, and had this massive wad of bandage on her nose."

Jude tittered a bit upon imagining the situation, "I'm assuming you were forced to apologize?"

She sighed, "Unfortunately.

Jude was silent before he nodded, "Okay." Secretly, though, he was relieved. He, too, felt remorseful for assuming the worst in her. He hadn't meant to, but cynicality was one of his many cursed traits. He couldn't help but think of worst case scenarios when the time came, and for that, he scolded himself.

"Jude?"

He turned his head towards her.

"Can I photograph you?"

--

"OPHELIA, ARE YOU sure about this?"

Ophelia raised a thick, fluffy brow at Jude as she adjusted her camera. "You'll be fine, Jude. It's just a photo." She shifted on her feet from side to side. "Okay don't move, I need to fix your hair. It's in your face." She sighed, placing down her camera as she walked towards him. Her heart was pulsating against her ribs in the most nervous way possible. She had to crane her head to meet his face, and shakily, her hand reached up to brush away an inky strand that had fallen onto his forehead.

As she tucked it away, her hazel eyes met his own and she sucked in a sharp breath. They were so... ethereal up close, more beautiful than seen from a distance. A dark, forest green limbal ring surrounded the emerald iris, and she found it hard to pull away. When his gaze fell to her lips, she moved away, knowing that she would act on her desires if she didn't. And the worst part was, she wasn't sure she'd regret it if she kissed him. Still slightly entranced, she moved back, the both of them breathing hard.

Silently, she picked up her camera and raised it again, counting aloud to three before she snapped another picture.

After half an hour of relentless photography, the two of them collapsed on the green grass of the facility's outdoor break area. "Ophelia?" Jude asked, eyes focusing on the blue sky. When she hummed in answer, he continued, "If we truly are here until we die, what's the point? Why are they keeping us here if we actually improve? We could be out there, working normal jobs, enjoying ourselves."

"Because the government lives off of this shit." She retorted, almost angrily. "Our families pay thirteen thousand dollars a year for this. They insist we don't improve so that we can keep paying them. There are over a thousand patients in this facility, and on average, we stay here for twenty years. Do the math and they're making around twenty-six thousand dollars per patient."

Jude looked at her, analyzing her from the way she stared at the clouds with ire, hazel eyes burning with fury, to the way she fiddled with her fingers that lay across her sweater-clad chest. She was so full of fire, of anger. And although sometimes it made him feel a particular type of dangerous thrill, he hated it. She had a good heart, from what he could tell, but she couldn't express it because of the way she had been treated. It made him feel indignant. It wasn't fair- the best people were always treated the worst.

"I wanna run away," She whispered lowly, breathily. "Far away from here."

He worried his lip and whispered. "Me too."

--

"And then, she just, like, spiked the ball at Clementine's nose. What an asshole."

Ophelia halted in her tracks, and Jude followed suit when he noticed her stop walking. They were making their way to the cafeteria line when Ophelia could feel the eyes of various other whispering patients, but one was loud enough for her to catch. She turned sharply, and Jude sighed as he acknowledged that this would end up with Ophelia in trouble. "Excuse me?" Ophelia's hazel eyes glared at the brunette girl.

"You heard me." The girl hissed back, "You practically targeted her."

"I didn't target s**t," Ophelia bit out, about to stomp her way over when Jude clasped his hand around her upper arm to hold her back. The warmth that had spread from his touch had her yanking her arm away in shock. "Keep my name out of your goddamn mouth or you're next."

"Ophelia, let's go." Jude urged.

The brunette girl cooed, "Aw, look. Jude Sinclair is coming to save the day." She laughed slightly. "That's quite unusual, seeing someone like you, trying to de-escalate a situation for once."

Ophelia scowled, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Look at him." The girl rolled her eyes, "People that look like him are only violent."

It suddenly clicked to Ophelia what she was referring to. The girl was a racist. She was saying that because of the colour of Jude's skin and his race, that predetermined his behaviour and attitude. She was grouping him in, using a stereotype to profile him.

"What, because he's black?" Ophelia hissed. "He'll act violently because he's black?"

The girl remained silent.

Ophelia through her head back and released a sound that was a mixture of a cynical laugh and a scoff. "I see. If you're going to be racist, be educated, dumbass. Keep your mouth shut." Ophelia scrutinized, "Did you know that white people commit more crimes than any other race, statistically? No, you didn't. Because people like you, talk out of their ass."

Jude looked at the floor, his limbs falling limply at his sides. He could feel his eyes burning but he didn't say anything. His heart was racing, and in some type of way, he felt like his stomach had dropped to the floor and he suddenly knew that if this situation didn't de-escalate soon, he'd heave his body's contents. His fingers were shaking as a thick boulder formed in his throat.

"I said what I said," The girl crossed her arms over her chest.

"You racist bi--" Ophelia went to stride towards her again, hand ready with her lunch tray to get a good whack at the girl, but Jude wrapped his trembling hand around her wrist, pulling her back. She turned towards him, hazel eyes still burning amber as she took in a huge gulp of air, before she faced the girl again. "If I so much as hear one more racist word come out, you're done."

"Are you threatening me?"

The entire cafeteria had halted their movements and was now watching intently, including various patrons. They were waiting.

Ophelia sighed slightly, offering her an iconically sweet smile. "No, babe. I don't threaten, I promise." Then, she turned to Jude, her anger all seemingly gone, but he could still see the fiery ire hidden under her irises. "Let's go, Jude."