Having to turn her phone in at the wellness center was her first clue that her mother had deceived her. Her second clue was when they got to their room there was only one single bed in it. That was when Kimmie’s mother confessed everything, having been too chicken to do it earlier on the plane like she had planned. She was enormously relieved when Kimmie walked over to the little framed quote over the bed, read it, and said, “It’s okay, Mom. I like this room.” Her mother started to cry and hugged her daughter, telling her that everything was going to be better soon. Danielle explained she was staying at a nearby hotel and would be coming to visit every day, even sitting in on the first few therapy sessions to make sure Kimmie liked her new therapists before heading to Canyon Ranch to meet some of her friends.

“You need to know you’re not a prisoner here, Kimmie,” her mother explained. “If you want to go see a movie or eat at a restaurant you can just take an Uber and go. You’ll just need to sign out and be back before your curfew.” She pulled out the booklet about the Desert Vista Wellness Center and left it for Kimmie to peruse at her leisure. “Dr. Becker said this is a wonderful program, and the patients he’s sent here always came back rested and ready to tackle life again.” Kimmie nodded and reassured her mother once again she wanted to feel better and was ready to work toward that goal. The last week at home, she had been feeling so low she had even googled “cutting.” The videos she saw online were very upsetting, and what disturbed her even more was that when she read the blog posts of girls who were cutters, a lot of them said they did it to stop feeling pain, as opposed to inflicting it. When Kimmie thought about how she was feeling, it wasn’t pain exactly, but more a fuzzy numbness, like she was underwater, or trapped behind thick glass.

“Does Lolly know I’m going to be here for a month?” Kimmie asked. Her mother said she hadn’t yet told her sister anything but would explain everything to her once she returned home. Kimmie’s only request was that she tell Lolly not to update her on gossip from home. Her mother agreed that Kimmie needed a total break.