Just One Chance [Open]

[merrick james charlotte]

Rick sat up on one of the picnic tables with his feet planted firmly on the bench beneath him. He leaned over, taking bites out of his sandwich while trying not to get any mayo on himself.

It was a sunny afternoon and classes had been over for at least an hour. Things were different here and Rick was still in the process of getting used to it all. He was used to getting whatever he wanted but at Hawthorne it just didn't work that way.

Sure, he had an addiction or two to get over but was this really necessary? Though in retrospect, his parents could have done worse. It could have been military school or even rehab which he heard wasn't all that fun. What he didn't understand was why he had to be here with the addicts and scary violent types.. So maybe he could relate to the addicts but the scary violent types? Were his parents trying to get him killed?!

Either way, Rick was beyond complaining about it by now. That all ended the moment he had his bags in his dorm room. He had resigned to his fate and was willing enough to give this a shot, for now at least.

OUTFIT

[sasha marii heart]

Sasha sat on the top of a table, not anything fancy. Her hair was put up, she didn’t feel like doing anything with it when she woke up this morning. A few stray hair’s wouldn’t stay up, and found herself pushing them back with a shaky hand. She wore a pair of old jeans, torn in a few places but not in a bad way. A ‘Ramons’ band tee and an old pair of sneakers. No make-up. May hated make-up.

She sat there, and watched the guard who was suppose to stop them, the crazies from getting out. There was only one of them right there, but she knew there were more, watching a waiting for someone to try something. She cursed to herself under her breath for a moment before placing her cigarette back in her mouth. It took some effort, with the amount of shaking that was going on with her hands. She hadn’t had a fix for a day or two and she was starting to feel it’s effects.

“Fuckin’ A” She muttered as she placed her empty hand into her hoodie pocket to touch the small baggy carrying everything she needed at the moment. No way would she get away with it out here though, with that guard and the number of doctors currently walking around the picnic area. And she couldn’t so just go in early… she never did. It would look weird.

She sighed to herself again, and turned around only to see another student sitting by himself. She grinned to herself, happy to find something to keep her mind busy other than the knowledge she had perfectly fine Meth just chillin’ in her pocket. So she pushed herself up and off the table top to walk towards the figure, and finishing her cigarette in the process she put it out with her foot and let the smoke come out through her nose.

“New here?” She asked with soft tone, taking a seat next to him but on the table top of his own table.

[merrick james charlotte]

Merrick finished his sandwich and brushed the crumbs off his hands. This place was no fun at all but he figured it would just take time. If things didn't sort themselves out and his parents didn't change their minds then he'd just have to find a way to make things interesting all on his own. So far with no way to get alcohol in, Merrick was a little stuck. He had the money to get it in just not a person to go through the trouble and risk getting caught. All in time though and he had a little while before it would start to get to him and annoy him.

Glancing out at the rest of the place, it seemed pretty quiet. There were a few security people and some doctors, even a few students but that didn't bother him one bit. He was used to being in a room full of people. Even following the security guys around had helped him learn ways to get around them. Things were much easier here. There was no high tech security system. The head of security wasn't an ex-navy seal and things were just a little simpler here and Rick liked that.

"top o' the mornin' to ya," he said in a perfect Irish accent when a blonde girl approached. Merrick even smiled at her, he was going to assume she was safe until pr oven wrong. It was just easier to give people the benefit of a doubt unless you have a very good reason not to trust them.

Rick just smiled and nodded when she asked if he was new here. "How'd ya guess?" he asked rhetorically. He didn't really expect any kind of answer since he'd have been able to pick him out of a crowd in a second for being new.

[sasha marii heart]

Sasha pushed some stray hair from her pale face back with a shaky hand. She watched him as he talked, and turned her head a little to the side and when he did talk she raised an eyebrow a little. It was funny, and she let out a little laugh. It wasn’t anything to insult, May just wasn’t use to hearing such an accent.

“Because, your actually eating the food from here…” She laughed a little bit and then shook her head. “And I haven’t seen you yet, which isn’t something that happens unless your new” May gave him a little grin then leaned forward using her hands to hold up her head by placing her chin on them. She stuck a nail in her mouth as she did so, eating away at the black chipped nail polish. They kept telling her that he was bad for her, but her body wanted Meth and chewing her nails helped with her patience.

“So what did you do get stuck in this hell of a place that they call a school?” She asked watching him. She noticed his eyes first, it something she always had. May had a thing for eyes, and she decided that his were really pretty.

[merrick james charlotte]

"Oh yeah, it was deee-licious," Merrick told her. There was sarcasm in his words but he was still smiling like he thought the whole thing was funny some how. He just prefer living on the lighter side of life where there weren't any problems or anything to really worry about. It was all easy street right up until his mother decided he needed to be in a place like this.

"Well, now that you've seen me, I guess I'm not new anymore," he said with a smile. Rick was fine with new people and situations. He was used to meeting his dad's business partners and various people of interest so he knew how to stay on their good side, at least for the first five minutes.

"Er... a couple things," he said, thinking back on what it was that drove his parents to make this decision. It might have been all the drinking and the gambling he got away with right up until mom decided enough was enough.. Or maybe it was cops his dad had to bribe to get him out trouble.. All the times he crashed his car.. Or cars in his case before he was drinking..

It was a lot to explain so Merrick decided to go with the easy introduction. "Hi my name's Merrick and I'm an alcoholic.. I also enjoy gambling and various other less than legal activities," he told her, mocking AA meetings with a smirk. It was funny to him because he didn't think he had a problem.

"You can call me Rick or Ricky though," he told her with a smile, bright green eyes staring back at her warmly. She seemed to be shaking a little and the first thought to pop into Merrick's head was drugs. It didn't bother him though, half the women he hung out with at clubs did cocaine so it wasn't a big deal. Besides, who was he to judge.

[sasha marii heart]

Just a little gambling? Some alcohol abuse? Jesus, this kid might as well be perfect. “Well fuck..” She muttered to herself with a sorta-sigh.


“Well, I’m May. Actually, I was named Sasha, but I don’t like it so everyone just calls me May” She looked at him again and gave him a small smile before shoving her hands back into her hoodie pocket. That little bag was taunting her, and all she wanted was to get high with it. Looking around, she glared a small bit before looking back at Rick.


“So your just a person who takes things to far… and they count that was criteria to be in here now?” She laughed a little and shook her head. “Well, as I said I’m May.. But I’m not always May” She used her hand and shook a finger at him in a teasing kinda way.


“I have that DID shit but whatever. I like having more then one me ya know? It’s useful, if I ever just want to get away…” She sighed again, then took another cigarette to smoke. “Oh, and apparently” She rolled her eyes a little as she spoke about it. “Meth isn’t a good substance to be on either but fuck it. I do what I want…” May shrugged a little bit before getting off the table top and sitting next to him, but still facing outward. She used her elbows on the table top to hold her small body up. “Your practically normal compared to some the quakes in here.”

[merrick james charlotte]

Rick wasn't the worse person here, he knew that. This was more like a scare tactic his parents worked up to get him to stop doing what he was doing. Rick figured they'd get over it eventually but he had done some damage, crashing a few very nice, very expensive cars. Drinking, gambling, generally partying and skipping classes all the time. It wasn't a big deal to him but his mother didn't like it.

"May, huh? Alright," he said, making sure to remember the name. There was a big difference between Sasha and May but whatever, it was her name so she could change it to whatever she wanted.

"Yeah I guess so," Merrick said. It wasn't much of a reason but he was here so clearly it was enough. Merrick paused for a second, watching her for a moment. "What? Like a second personality or something?" he asked, truly curious about why she wasn't always May.. It sounded kinda odd.

"Well hey, it's more of you to love, right? Can't complain about that," he said with a smile. He tended to stick to seeing the bright side of things. If there was any good in a situation, Rick would be the first to point it out. DID, whatever. It didn't matter.

"So I hear," he said with a slight smirk when she mentioned the meth. So that was her drug of choice. He figured it'd be something like that. Though, she seemed nice enough so it was all good.

"I don't doubt that. I am exceedingly normal," Rick said, almost laughing at how funny that sounded to him. Back home he wasn't exactly average. People who worked there new exactly who he was and Rick had a tendency of standing out in a crowd with the drinks and parties and throwing money around etc. It was all fun up until the moment he found out he was coming here.

[sasha marii heart]

Crossing her legs, she moved her neck and winced a little bit when it cracked. That was all Franks fault, he thought that cracking his neck made him look like a hard ass. She looked back at Ricky and grinned a little bit with his ‘more to love’ comment.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone think of it like that. But yes, it’s more then one personality. Besides myself, I have three others. I don’t know… apparently I went through some tramatic event as a kid or something. But I can’t remember it, my other personality does” She shrugged, and stuck the cigarette in her mouth.

“I was in school one day, when I totally switched and went nuts on a kid or something” She raised an eyebrow at him, lighting a match and bringing it to the cigarette in her mouth. Once it was lit she took it from her mouth and blew the smoke out, a little towards Ricky but not directly in his face.

“I don’t remember it though, because apparently I’m not allowed to” She shook her head and watched him. It was confusing, even to herself and she had been living with it for awhile now but that was alright. She grinned again and looked at him.

“But I’m sure that if I do randomly get kicked, you’ll notice a change. It’s apparent that I’m not me when I’m not me” She laughed a little and put the cigarette back in her mouth. The funny thing was, was that this was normal conversation for this place. It was light, carefree and to most people that would be odd but all she had was her sickness and addiction. And only having that makes a person not want to give it up, because then what would she be?

[merrick james charlotte]

"Cool.. And they've all got different names I guess?" he said, it sounded interesting and it wasn't as though he had ever met anyone with DID before so this was all new and different. "There isn't a personality that's gonna hate me and wanna kick my ass or something, is there? Cause I don't do violence," he said, suddenly wondering if he was gonna be walking in trouble if he ever says hi and it's not May he's talkin to.

"It happens," Merrick said with a shrug at the comment about the kid at school. He'd seen a lot of crazy drunk people doing much worse things so what she said didn't really seem like that big of a deal.

Merrick just looked confused. How was she not allowed to have her own memories? That just sounded weird but then he figured it was probably just part of that DID thing she mentioned.

"Good, I guess that'll make it easier for me.. But does this mean I'll have to ask if you're May, every time I see you.. Ya know, just in case?" he asked. It was so odd and like something you'd only see on TV or in a movie but then Merrick had lived a pretty sheltered life. He hadn't seen or met anyone like her and the most he had seen in terms of a mental condition was that old homeless guy talking to himself.

[sasha marii heart]

May smiled at the guy in front of her. She couldn't tell if he was really interested in her problem or only being nice but it felt good to talk about it for once. They never actually talked about her problem at her sessions, but instead about what might have caused it. May couldn't tell him, because she didn't know. It wasn't apparent to her why she had multiple personalities.

But as nice as it was to talk about it, and tell someone about the technical things of it she felt bad that they were only talking about her.

"Well yes..." She said with a soft laugh. She thought about if one of them would try to beat him and she bit her lip. It was hard for her to say, because sometimes they did things completely out of there character. She looked back at him, as she stuck the cigarette back in her mouth and thought about it for a moment. "That would depend on a few things I guess. First off, it would depend on who you run into but honestly if you look at me" May let her hands strretch out from her body as she looked down at her stature "And then at yourself" She nodded towards him, "How much damage could anyone do if there using this body?" She raised an eyebrow at him then laughed again.

She hadn't laughed a real laugh in awhile, and it felt amazing to just be herself for once. She wasn't hiding anything from him, why should she? He wasn't her doctor, and he didn't know her. He wouldn't even notice if she did something that wasn't herself, and that was good. Though, she hoped they would be good friend.

"Hmm.. Well If I were you, I would mostly watch out for Frank or Rose" May bit her lip for a moment and then continued. "I mean, I can get angry but I'm not one to really go after anyone physically ya know? I hardly weigh anything, and personality I have some sort of thing with self preservation. Frank has none. He would attack a Rhino if he felt the thing was going to hurt me" She winked at him for a moment, then stuffed her hand back in her pocket.

"The only thing their really concerned with is my well being. So don't be a jerk, and I'm sure you'll be fine, but I get to talk about myself enough in Therapy, tell me some things about you"

[merrick james charlotte]

Merrick raised an eyebrow but had a smirk on his face when she had to stop and think about it for a second. He wasn't being completely serious, he never was but her having to seriously think about it actually made it a little funny to him. Still, were he anyone else he might have been slightly concerned about the potentially violent personalities but Merrick didn't really think about the future so until that moment came he would just laugh and smile and talk to the girl who seemed really nice.

"Hey, I dunno, one of your personalities might go all Bruce Lee on me.. Maybe it learned kung fu when you weren't lookin," he said with a grin, showing her he was just kidding. He wasn't actually afraid of getting hurt. Merrick could actually handle a fight he just didn't like to and with security always around him back home, he never had a need to.

"Whooa, hold up.." he said, learn back slightly, an exaggerated subconscious move to back away from the conversation for a second while he processed this new information. "One of you's a guy?" he asked with a smirk. Cause she looked way to much like a girl to even act like a guy that to him would just look so odd but at the same time it was kinda cool.

"Damn, definitely don't want to mess with Frank. That's not such a bad thing.. Unless you wanna live I guess," he said thinking about it. She seemed real nice and Rick definitely didn't want this Frank guy to go and accidentally get her killed or hurt or something.

"Me? Jerk? Never!" Rick said with a grin. He had none of the anger issues some of these people had and he definitely wouldn't intentionally go out of his way to say anything mean to someone. Provoking people, especially in this place just seemed like a crazy idea an done that Rick wasn't gonna try anytime soon.

"Me.. Hmm," he said, thinking for a second. "I was born and raised in Las Vegas. My dad owns a couple hotels, casino etc.. I dunno.. I kinda like my life I guess. Cars, women, alcohol, money," he said with a shrug, not really sounding like he loved it a whole lot. Rick had these things but he never really had very close friends. Most people were there to party with or spend his money and that he figured was one of the downsides but he didn't like to dwell on that.

[sasha marii heart]

May decided she was done with her cigarette, and using her foot she stomped on it to put it out as she continued to talk to Rick. So far, he seemed like a good guy. If he had told the truth about his problem, then she didn’t really have any reason to be cautious around him and she couldn’t think of a reason that he might have lied about his problem. Who was she to be lied to anyway? They didn’t know each other before this conversation so he couldn’t have been worried about losing a friend in any way. She looked back at him and grinned just because she could.

May heard what he had said about Bruce Lee and started cracking up. May wasn’t a person that laughed a lot, and during this conversation she had laughed a lot. For a moment, she wondered why that was but then decided she didn’t care. That was something she would dwell on when she was alone, and had nothing else to think about. For now, she would just enjoy just spending time with someone she could see being a good friend to her in the future.

She found his comment really funny, and eventually had tears coming from her eyes due to the laughter it brought to her. All of her doctors kept telling her that she should try and laugh more because it’s good for the brain but up until now she hadn’t believed them. May felt good, even with her body wanting more Meth but it was easier being here with someone then by herself. Maybe she would try and spend more time with people if it made her life easier.

“Is that not okay? That one of me is a guy?” She laughed a little, and pushed some more stray hair back. “I know it’s hard to believe, I’m not very butch but give a girl a break. I gotta have some guy I in my life I can trust right?” She wondered if that would hurt his feelings, but when it came down to it, it was true. May didn’t have any real guys in her life that she felt she could really count on or trust. It was this place, it made good people hard to come buy. “And yeah, he can be a hard ass but at the end of the day he does just try and keep me safe” She shrugged a little bit as she reached into her bag and took out a bag off Doritos.

“Cool Ranch” She said with a grin as she opened them. Taking out a chip and sticking it into her mouth, she grinned a little when he joked about being a jerk. As of right now, she doubted he could be jerk. Rick just seemed to nice to be a jerk to anyone, but she knew well that a person usually weren’t what they seemed to be the first time you meet them. Watching him talk, and she put another chip into her mouth and hoped that wasn’t true about him.

“Women huh?” She asked with a slight wink before offering him the open bag.

[merrick james charlotte]

"Yeah maybe not," Rick said when she started laughing, "You look more 'Kill Bill' than 'Enter the Dragon' anyway," he added with a smile. They both had th yellow jumpsuit thing going so that was a similarity he could draw on, not that it mattered. Though Rick could probably picture it if i wanted to.

"Well you know," Rick began, feigning serious though,"I'm.. pretty open minded.. I guess I could probably work with that," he decided, before throwing in another smirk.

"I guess so and hey, if you can't trust you, who can you trust, right?" he said. It was kinda cool but surreal at the same time. Course, Rick hadn't seen any other sides of her so this was all still hypothetical in his head.

"A built in body guard. That actually sounds kinda cool and very useful," Rick admitted. Instead of having them follow you around, you could just flip a switch and turn Jet Li on their ass and get away safely. It sounded like a pretty good deal.

Rick just laughed and took a chip from the offered bag, "thanks" he said, "And yeah, they're kinda everywhere in Vegas but about 3/4s of them cost money," he told her with a grin. It was fun times but Merrick had always been more into the partying than the women anyway.

[sasha marii heart]

May only raised her eyebrow at his kill bill statement before shoving another chip in her mouth. She nodded in response to his thank you afterwards before realizing she should have done it the other way then laughed again. May couldn't control herself right now, she was in too good of a mood to even try and stop herself from laughing.

He had interesting views on her disorder, and she was intrigued by the way he thought about them but she wasn't sure why she hadn't thought about them the way he was. It was different she supposed, living with it then just knowing that it exists. And as much as he seemed to except her DID now, she had no idea how he would react during a personality switch. it wasn't as easy as turning a switch on and off but she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"I don't know..." She muttered when he mentioned paying someone money for sex. May liked sex, rather a lot but it was rarely just casual sex. she tended to have those types of relations with someone she knew on some level.

"I guess you gotta get it where you can" The topic of sex made her uncomfortable. Not because she was embarrassed by it, but because she had had some awkward experiences no thanks to Rose. "I don't really think theres anything wrong with that, as long as your careful you know?"

She grinned again, and put another chip into her mouth.

[merrick james charlotte]

Merrick just shrugged. He never really had a problem. They find out who his dad is and just come knockin' on his door. Though a night out with Merrick Charlotte could get pretty crazy. Everything was paid for and the alcohol never stopped flowing. Hell, he could shut down a club in a heartbeat in he wanted a private party. One phone call got a lot done but those days were over for now.

"Yeah I guess you're right," he admitted. "But I do sometimes wonder what it'd be like to meet women who didn't hang around me for material reasons.. I'd guess it'd be a lot like right now," he mused, thinking about it. She didn't know all that stuff. There was none of that background information and it was kinda nice. Things were goin' real well, not that Merrick had ever doubt they would.

"So tell me more about you.. Or.. the other you's," he said, looking back at her with a smile. He wondered what her personalities were like or why she needed so many.. Course, it probably wasn't like it chose to do it or anything, but it was still interesting.