Andy sat quietly in one of the arm chairs in the grand room. The room felt almost stuffy from the asylum’s heating system as well as the roaring fire in front of him. Everyone was asleep. Jake and Ella had curled up in chair in the corner of the room. Jinxx and Sammi had made themselves a pallet near the fire where Lee and Pressley slept in a sleeping bag. Tyler was asleep on the couch with Kellin asleep at the other end of the same couch. Marci had found a small love seat in the corner and had curled up on it. Andy was the only one awake. He kept thinking of that girl, Naomi. She had been so hurt when Lee said those things. No one had seen her for hours, but her friends assured them that this was normal and she would turn up eventually if not tomorrow.

Feeling his ADD kick in, Andy decided to get up and walked around. He grabbed a flashlight and began looking around. He had made it about two hundred, almost three hundred feet down the long hallway when he heard music. He quickly found the right door and opened it. He stepped inside and saw Naomi asleep in this big, leather, office chair. She had her arms wrapped around her legs and her head rested on her knees. The office was warm due to the fire in the huge fireplace.

She had music playing from her laptop.Being nosey, Andy decided to see what she was listening to. He slid his finger across the mouse pad, and the screen lit up illuminating his pale face with blue light. She had her iTunes account pulled up and was listening to a band named Seremedy. They were a band from Sweden that had the whole ‘visual kei’ look. The song ‘Siren (Falling Down)’ was playing softly from the speakers sitting on the desk. It was a pretty good song, he had to admit.

He began to hum the song under his breath, softly to his own ears, but loud enough to wake Naomi from her sleep. She blinked blearily up at him then scowled. “What are you doing in here?”

Andy jumped at her voice, blinking at its harshness. “I’m sorry, I-

She sighed. “No I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just that, no one but me comes into this office.”

“How come?” He asked as he kneeled down beside her before sitting Indian-style.

“This was my dad’s office,” she whispered as she turned her face away from him and stared into the fire.

“I’m sorry, about your dad, and your boyfriend. I know we just met like twelve hours ago, but you can talk to me if you need to.” Andy smiled.

Naomi sighed, “Thanks. I’m sorry if I don’t seem grateful…it’s just that I’m sick of this. I am so tired of being here. I’m tired of being depressed and I’m mad at myself because I keep causing problems for the others.” She chuckled, sardonically, under her breath. “They must be sick of me now. I was really close to Tyler and Marci before all this happened, and I was on pretty good terms with Kellin, but not much. I’m pretty sure that if it weren’t because of all this shit going on, we wouldn’t all be as close as we are now. We’ve survived together, and have grown to know each other and take care of each other, and yet I can’t stop myself from feeling alone in a room full of people.”

Andy placed his hand gently on top of hers. “I might not understand everything you’re going through, but I see where you’re coming from. Like I said, I know we just met, but I’m here for you and so are my friends. I promise we will get through this, it might not be tomorrow, it might not even be in a few months or in a year, but one day we will leave this place and see the outside world again.” He smiled as he looked up into her tear-streaked face.

“Thank you Andy,” Naomi smiled.