Free The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray Page A

Juliet.” I expect them to laugh, too, but they don’t. Their faces are hard, without a trace of a smile.
    Ana’s voice is guarded. “We thought it was funny, too, until Teo warned us never to laugh about the names.” She shivers, reaching for a piece of celery in the folds of her skirt.
    While I had figured our names are somehow tied to literature, I can see a pattern taking shape. Lance, Gwen: Lancelot, Guinevere. Marc, Cleo: Marc Antony, Cleopatra . We aren’t just classics; we’re some of the most famous, romantic stories ever known. I am not entirely sure about a few of the names, like Ramus and Bee, and Abe and Eloise.
    I open my mouth to ask Bee and Ana what their real names are as it occurs to me that, if Teo chose these names, their former ones must be forbidden. He, no doubt, wants to start over in this world, obtain perfection by starting again as someone else.
    Bee’s frowning at me like she wishes I’d share my thoughts, but I can’t tell them now, so I smile at the girls, desperate to express my thanks. Without them, I would be on my own. Bee’s willingness to help me meet the others, then Ana’s quick thinking in creating this list, has enabled me to accomplish my goal. Teo will be so impressed. And with the pairing, I think I can remember everyone well enough. Part of me wants to grab the girls and swallow them both in a hug.
    Bee seems to accept my little offering, because she says, “You’d best be off.” She brushes her freckled fingers against the back of my hand. Keeping her voice low, she adds, “Be careful, lady.”
    Bee… Bee ! Pyramus and Thisbe! I’ve just figured her out. She’s from A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Ramus is Pyramus. I love this story! But there isn’t time; I need to get back to Teo, so I give her a look that says she has absolutely nothing to worry about. “Don’t worry about me,” I say. “I know Teo is nontraditional, but he cares for me in his way.”
    Ana leans in, her shawl slipping. “And you, him?”
    I shrug, keeping my eyes on the list stretched out in my hands. “I can’t help it. My feelings for Teo—they didn’t happen because I wanted them to. I just do.”
    Both girls are silent for a moment before Bee finally speaks up, moving a stray curl behind my ear. “I hate that I sound like my mother, but just because you love someone doesn’t mean you should.”
    There’s a soft crunch as Ana works her celery between her teeth. I can’t help thinking she must be wondering how I could care for someone who could treat others the way Teo treated her just now. I hope that, with time, Ana and Teo will come to love each other the way I am coming to love them all. Well, most of them, anyway.
    Of course, I didn’t like the idea of Teo and me at first. Those first few weeks my second year at Khabela, when I noticed my irreversible, growing attraction to my teacher, I tried to stop my feelings. I even tried talking the secretary at the front office into switching me to another class, but seniors were supposed to take calculus at my school. I needed it for college, and no other teacher taught calc.
    And the longer I stayed in that class, the less I was able to look away. I was sure Teo knew of my obsession; it would have been futile to try to hide it. And none of the other students ever said anything, not that I didn’t wonder why. Were they scared of Teo? Scared of me? Or maybe I really wasn’t that obvious. I guess I will never know. None of my classmates are with us now in Elysian Fields, and who knows how long there will be survivors on the outside?
    Reaching for both Ana’s and Bee’s hands, I offer them my most sincere thanks: “Anytime you need anything, just ask. I’ll vouch for you with Teo.” A twinge inside of me says I shouldn’t have to vouch at all, but no one is perfect. That’s just how Teo is.
    The girls nod their heads a bit too eagerly, like bobble heads in a moving car. But neither of them has anything to worry about. With Teo,