"You haven't been using your journal." It was another therapy session with Mrs. Greenstein, which meant that it was another day of being judged by Mrs. Greenstein.

I was pretty sure she hated me.

"I didn't have anything good to write down, I guess." I was sitting on the couch, finding its seams much more interesting than what Mrs. Greenstein was saying.

"Giovanna," formal as always, with her use of my full name. "I understand that you've been stressed lately, but you need to work with me here. I'm here because I want to help you."

"You're here because the government assigned you to work with me, and asking to leave my case could get you fired." I didn't try to sugarcoat it. I wasn't falling for any of the sappy things she tried to come up with.

"Actually, you know that I'm supposed to be specializing in young children, right?"

"And?"

"I could've dropped you off to some other therapist after you turned, let's say, ten. They even asked if I wanted to drop the cases. I said no." This stopped my sarcastic remarks in their tracks. "I know it may sound a bit crazy, but I care about your wellbeing, Giovanna."

"I highly doubt that." I looked away, not really sure how to feel about what she said. "What if I don't want to write in the journal?"

"Then you need to talk to me. Do you even realize how much you've been through?" Mrs. Greenstein lowered her laptop screen to try and get me to focus on her.

"I'm making food." I got up quickly, making sure I was out of Mrs. Greenstein's reach as I sprinted to the kitchen.

"Always distracting yourself..." Mrs. Greenstein muttered as I ran, but I pretended not to hear her.

I was just making pasta with a simple sauce, which on a normal day would just take me fifteen minutes, but I made sure to go painstakingly slow, just so I didn't have to talk with Greenstein.

Greenstein didn't push me at the moment.

When I finally finished with making the pasta, I almost debated eating at the dining table, just so I wasn't near Greenstein.

But, then I realized she'd see right through it.

So, I walked back over to her, looking down at my feet as I sat down and began eating.

"When can I go back to school?" I asked between bites, hoping to keep the topic away from my mental sanity.

"You might be allowed to go in on Monday," she said, typing away at her computer. "Why, are you bored?"

"A little." I stabbed at my pasta. "Sick of the landowner being my only company."

"Strange man, isn't he?" Mrs. Greenstein put down her computer. "He hasn't been particularly strange to you lately, right?"

"Huh?"

"It's basically, you know what never mind. It's not something you need to be worrying about at your age." She crossed arms, leaning back stiffly. "Have you been sleeping well?"

I tensed up.

"I have homework to do." I said quickly, standing up and getting ready to sprint to my room. This time, though, Mrs. Greenstein stopped me.

"We're in a session right now. Sit down." I followed her directions, sitting back down and hollowly eating my pasta. She sighed. "Giovanna, I want to help you. But you need to tell me what is wrong."

"And if I don't?"

"Then one of these times, I will literally sit here until you do."

"You always say that. And then you never do it." I accidentally stabbed one of the pieces of pasta too hard, making a clanging sound. "Jesus, why can't Nadia be here?" I said that louder than I probably should have.

"So, you miss her a lot." Mrs. Greenstein gave a small smile, before picking up her computer and clicking on a few things. "You know, she misses you too. And probably for the same exact reasons."

"You annoying us?"

"Exactly." Mrs. Greenstein eyed my sketchbook on the table. "I see you're drawing more."

"Adriana got it for me, so decided I better just use it." I shrugged, hoping she didn't push about Adriana. I still didn't know how I felt about her.

"So, the landowner wasn't your only company?" In Greenstein fashion, she was able to poke holes in my answers that I didn't even mean to have.

"She wasn't around much." I finished my pasta, walking over to the kitchen to put it in the sink.

"You really aren't going to talk, are you?" I heard Mrs. Greenstein stand up, noticeable by her cracking ankle. "Fine. Get some shoes and your jacket on."

"Why, exactly?" I turned around, looking at her quizzically.

"I'm taking you to see Nadia."

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The place Greenstein took me to had a dark, dingy exterior, its bricks covered in a thick layer of ivy. It was a stark difference to its interior, though, the bright, white lights nearly blinding me as I walked in. I didn't listen to much of what Greenstein and the other adults were saying as she led me up to Nadia's room, since I was having such a hard time adjusting to the brightness.

When we got up to her room, though, Mrs. Greenstein stopped me before I was able to walk in, making me face her so she knew I was listening.

"Okay now, I'm going to let the two of you catch up a bit first, okay? I'll come in after a bit, if you two actually want to tell me things. But, I won't be listening as you two talk now. I'll even go back down to the lobby." I nodded in response to her, wanting to get out of the bright, almost hospital-looking hallway. "Have fun."

And with that, she knocked on the door, before walking away to leave me with the result.

"Come in." I heard Nadia's muffled voice through the door, and I felt myself tense up. I had thought about this interaction for a while, but it was still really hard, now that it was happening.

Opening the door slowly, as if I could honestly scare her, I walked into her room, my legs trembling slightly.

"Hi." It was dumb, but it was the only thing I could think of saying. I saw Nadia on a bed, one of two in the room. Her hijab was wrapped tight around her head, and she was wrapped in a thick blanket. And, it was her. It wasn't even that she was gone for that long, but I still felt emotional seeing her again.

"Gi?" She didn't move, but her eyes went wide. "How did you..."

"Greenstein took me here." I closed the door behind me, forcing myself to move slowly towards her. When I approached her bed, Nadia moved over for me, and I sat down. "I got your letter."

"Gi, I nearly killed someone." I froze as she said that. She seemed her normal, determined self in her letter.

"It wasn't, I mean, I..." I was at a loss for words. I didn't know how to comfort her. Instead, I just wrapped my arms around her. "I don't hate you."

She was quiet for a bit, but slowly sank into my hug.

"So, uh," I looked over at the other bed, "I'm guessing you have a roommate?"

"Yeah, her name's Amanda. She's okay." She didn't elaborate.

"Well, I talked to Adriana a little bit." I tried to come up with something that we could have conversation with.

"She told me." Nadia laughed, though it sounded a little hollow. "She said you were annoying her."

"Yeah, I was trying to be." I rubbed Nadia's shoulder, wondering what else Adriana said about me. "I think next time, we'll need you as the buffer."

"Or maybe you could just try to not piss her off." She nudged me with her shoulder, and I finally found myself relaxing.

"That's hard when she randomly shows up and forces me to have a serious conversation." I leaned into Nadia, smiling at her. "But, um, are you allowed to do anything here?"

"Well, there's TVs in certain places, but we always have to watch what they put on. And it's usually cra—I mean, stupid stuff." I raised my eyebrow. Usually, Nadia doesn't censor herself. Why did she there?

"Well, at least you, actually, can I just tell you about something real quick?" I wanted to get the Agnidev incident off of my chest, and I didn't want to tell it to Greenstein. She would probably keep me home from school longer.

"Sure."

"Basically, one day, my dad took me out to the roof to get me outside, since I was forced to stay home for a bit. And, well..." Remembering the state my dad was in as I led him back inside sent shivers down my spine. "Agnidev showed up. He tried to hurt my dad, and I don't know what he said to my dad but..." I paused as I felt Nadia's hand against my cheek.

"A few people have talked to me about him. People that you shouldn't mention to any of the staff here, by the way. They basically broke in." A small laugh found its way out of my throat as she spoke. "But, I heard he's nasty. Make sure he doesn't go for you."

I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but I nodded anyway. Nadia shuffled out of her blanket cocoon, before wrapping it around both of us and pulling me closer to her. We stayed like that for a while, me almost falling asleep underneath the strange heaviness of the blanket.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

"It's Greenstein. Am I allowed to come in?" Nadia pulled away from me, wrapping the blanket around only herself.

"Yup!" I sat up straight as Nadia allowed Greenstein in, looking down at my shoes.

"Sorry to intrude, it's just that they won't let us stay for much longer." Greenstein stayed by the door. "Do you two want to talk with me?"

"Um..." I looked at Nadia for the call, feeling as if it was best if she took it.

"We're fine. Can we hang out for a bit longer?" Nadia asked, and she was answered with a nod and with Greenstein leaving the room.

"You know, I can leave if you want--"

"Stand up." Before I could make a fool of myself by trying to constantly apologize, Nadia grabbed my hand and pulled me off of the bed. "I never got to teach you how to slow dance. Let's do it now, before I can't."

She gently took my other arm, placing my hand on her shoulder before placing her hand on my waist. I kept my eyes down at our feet, trying to follow her steps. I was always late, though, and nearly fell over a few times. Her hand gripped my waist tighter as I stumbled again, helping me regain my balance. I could hear her humming some song under her breath, but I didn't recognize it.

I slowly relaxed as we danced, starting to get used to the feeling of it, when there was another knock at the door. Nadia didn't answer it at first, instead pulling me into a tight hug. I hugged back, burying my face into her shoulder.

"I don't know when I'll see you again," she whispered, her voice breaking slightly. "I love you."

"Bye." I held onto Nadia for a few more seconds.

Then, I had to leave.