Third time's a charm? (C2 girls, open)

Now they were all at another new facility. More new roommates to get used to. A whole new routine to get down. Genie wondered if it would ever stop, if they were finally in a place where they could settle and not worry about being moved again. It seemed like they were bouncing around far too much. Genie had been happy to be back in New York. Now here they were, so far away from her home state. At least Green Ridge wasn't as hot as Louisiana had been. She had never quite gotten used to the heat or humidity back in Louisiana.

Even with all the changes, Genie was feeling like maybe, just maybe things might be a little better this time. It seemed like they had more freedom now, not like things had been. Stuck behind barbed-wire fences, having every single move monitored, it all got so old. At least they could go around the island now. Well, some of them. She wondered what the other girls in her dorm thought of their new home. Kiya and Megan were her new roommates. She had seen them around, especially Megan since they were both Juniors. But she didn't know either of them well.

Plopping down on her bed, Genie stared up at the ceiling. Yes, there were a few more freedoms now that they were at Green Ridge, but at what cost? Genie was so close to being able to be free, but now, would that ever really happen? She wondered if she'd ever be able to live a normal life. At Green Ridge, there was an adult ward. That thought was not sitting well on Genie's mind. Yes, they were allowed to go further than they had at the campuses in New York and Louisiana, but it was just a larger cage, wasn't it?

Genesis had no idea how long she was laying there. It could have been seconds, or it could have been hours. Somehow, though, she'd managed to fall asleep. Rubbing her eyes and looking around the room, she felt a bit disoriented and wondered how late it was.

As far as Megan was concerned, more new roommates meant more new friends. Of course, that also meant more names to try and remember, and she was rarely much good at that, but she'd get the hang of them all in time. She always remembered her friends, once they'd reminded her of their names a few dozen times anyway. This island was great for lots of reasons though, not just new friends. She was almost back at home here, just one state south of her native Washington, and right on the coast. She couldn't be happier with the location, and the freedom they were offered here compared with at Hadley was beyond amazing. She could go out, into town, and interact with real people! Not just patients and staff, but real people! She could even get a job! Not the kind of thing she actually wanted though, Evan wouldn't hire her as a cook, and she was pretty certain she'd be useless as a waitress. No, work could wait.

Lots of things could wait really, she supposed. Homework for instance. Why bother with that when she had a whole island to explore? She had so many new things to see, places to go and people to meet, why waste time cooped up in her room working on some essay she was going to fail anyway? It was proving to be much more fun to just run around, sticking her nose into stores, barns, stables, anywhere new and interesting really. The people all seemed nice too! Well, except the farmer, he hadn't been at all happy to find her poking around, but he hadn't chased her when she'd run off, and the cops hand't come for her, so it was all good really.

Eventually though, she did start to make her way back to the dorm room. She wanted to meet the roommates after all, and what better time was there than today? The only problem was that once she'd got there, the room's only occupant was asleep. There was plenty to suggest at least one other girl lived in here, but for now, there was just Genie's snoozing from. Not wanting to wake her, Megan did her best to move slowly across to her own bed, but moving stealthily was not one of her strong suits. naturally, when the dozing girl woke up, Megan assumed it was her fault. Still, she didn't seem annoyed or anything, and as she looked around, Megan gave a cheery wave. "Hi!" she said, smiling brightly. "I'm Megan, I guess we're roommates now!" she added, bouncing on the spot. If they'd met before, that was just one more of a long list of things the redhead couldn't remember. Wasn't ECT a wonderful idea?

Megan certainly seemed to be in a cheerful mood. That was good. Genie was glad to see that the whole world didn't have the unhappy disposition that she carried around with her. Even if that unhappiness was less prevalent these days, it was still there. That was something that she was working on, though. Genie wanted to be happy, she really did. Smiling at Megan, she sat up. "I'm Genie." It seemed like Megan didn't remember her, so she introduced herself. "And I guess we are roommates now." The small smile was still on Genie's face. She could have a worse roommate. This wouldn't be so bad. No, not at all. She had to admit to herself that things at Green Ridge were definitely starting to look better and better.

Getting up from her bed, Genie offered another smile at Megan. It would be a good thing to get along with her roommates, so this was a good start. In the past, Genesis had been mean to some people. That had been a mistake, and she knew that now. She regretted treating other people so poorly, but there was something inside her, some compulsion that told her it was the only way to keep them from hurting her. She took preemptive measures so she wouldn't be the one hurt in the end. The only problem with all of that was that Genie couldn't make friends, and she was tired of being alone. She was tired of pushing everyone away. So tired of the whole mess.

Somewhere along the lines, her life had gone in a downward spiral, and when she thought about it, Genie knew that it was all her own doing. Well, mostly. She did think that she would ever get the love or approval that she once sought from her father, and she was damned near certain that she would never find someone to love her for everything that she is, regardless of the things that she'd done in her past. Not the way things were now, anyway. So this had to be a place to start. Making friends, or at least not making enemies.