IAN Three days.
Three days had passed, and I was spiraling into madness just like the rest of the inmates here. The nurses warned me about my new roommate, but he hadn’t shown up yet. Something about a plastic fork and a stabbing incident—apparently he’d been sent to isolation, where they probably broke the sanity out of you. Whatever they did, it wasn’t a place anyone wanted to end up. He was scheduled to return today, and I was nervous, but I forced my face into a mask of indifference. I couldn’t let anyone see weakness, just as Maddie had drilled into me.
I silently grabbed a tray from the stack and moved through the cafeteria line. I suppressed a grimace at the slop they called food, offering a polite nod to the lunch lady.
“Someone with manners, finally,” she smiled, her eyes twinkling as she surreptitiously scooped another helping of the grey mush onto my plate. “Don’t tell the others, they’re beasts.”
“Tell me about it,” I exhaled. “I don’t think I—” I was cut off as someone shoved me hard from behind. I stumbled, nearly dropping my tray. Luckily, it landed on the steel counter, saving it from a messy fate. I glared up at the pusher. He was grinning, while his friends roared with laughter. A surge of rage—dumping the entire tray on his head—flashed through me, but I quickly quashed it. I didn’t have a death wish.
“You’re holding up the line, dickwad,” he snarled, glancing back at his friends to ensure they were still entertained. They were.
I righted myself, grabbed my tray, and found myself regretting everything. The nice cafeteria lady’s voice boomed, startling me. “Cut the shit, Chris! You know I’ll send you back to solitary!”
What the hell was she doing? She was setting me up as an enemy on my first day! I wanted to snap back, but I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to be on anyone’s bad side, and even though I hadn’t *done* anything wrong, this asshole was the one to blame.
Chris’s friends laughed again as his face flushed with anger and embarrassment. He subtly glanced at another boy across the cafeteria, who had been watching the whole thing. The boy was biting his lip, struggling to stifle a laugh. Chris’s rage flared.
He was trying to impress him. The toxic masculinity of teenage boys. Being a jerk wasn’t going to win anyone over; it just made everyone hate you.
“You’re just a pathetic middle-aged woman working at a shithole like this,” he spat at her, “so who’s winning?”
That was when my fists clenched. I was too scared to let the anger show—but someone yanked me back. I heard the lunch lady yell for the guards as they quickly tackled Chris to the ground, overly aggressive.
“Let go of me!” he barked, thrashing. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
One of the guards slammed his head into the ground, knocking him out cold. Chris managed one last, venomous glare at me before he went silent.
And that’s when I knew I’d screwed up. Chris wasn’t huge, but he was significantly bigger than me—not that that meant much. He could crush me if he wanted to, and he looked like he wanted to.
I was pulled back to reality when the person who had yanked me back waved a hand in front of my face.
“New kid, you there?” I blinked stupidly, realizing it was the boy Chris had been trying to impress.
“Yeah,” I coughed, glancing down at his hand still gripping my arm. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
He stepped back, chuckling. “You know how stupid that was, right?”
“Incredibly stupid,” I agreed.
He smiled. “Do you want to sit with me?” he asked, out of nowhere. “You look like you could use a friend. I’m Miles.”
I hesitated. An ally would be good—especially now that I’d been targeted—but I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of hanging out with a crazy person. They all ended up here for a reason.
He tilted his head, puppy dog eyes. “Please?”
He didn’t seem too crazy.
Slowly, I nodded. “Okay.”
I grabbed my tray and offered the cafeteria worker a grateful, strained smile. Miles and I walked side-by-side to his usual seat. I poked at the slop on my plate, debating whether to toss it or not.
“They won’t let you,” Miles said, reading my mind. “They monitor everything you do. If you don’t eat, they’ll literally force it down your throat.”
My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
He nodded, taking a bite of his own. “You get used to the taste.”
“How long did it take you?” I asked.
“I’ve been here three months. Took a week or two.”
I grimaced at the plate. The mashed potatoes were watery and clumpy, the chicken was charred to black, and something else was so disgusting I couldn’t identify it. It was a dark green swamp sludge.
“How is everything else in here?” I asked softly after a moment of silence. “I know it’s not exactly a five-star hotel…” I trailed off. He ran a hand through his curly brown hair.
“The only decent thing is that no one outside can bother you. Everyone here has a bad past, a million problems. You can get away for a while.”
I thought about it. He was right. I wouldn’t have to deal with my parents or the police, not yet. My brain needed time to unscramble and process everything.
But knowing Maddie was left to deal with everything alone… that wasn’t worth it.
“Do you like it?” I asked. “Getting a break from reality, I mean.”
He thought for a moment. “I love it.”
I was baffled. How could he smile in a place like this? Dark, haunting, terrifying—I didn’t get it at all.
I watched his expression as he explained how he’d been bullied at school. He managed to look happy while talking about how awful his life was.
“There was this guy at my school, Nolan, who was the worst. Your stereotypical football captain fuckboy, no emotions or remorse,” Miles spoke, gesturing wildly. “He beat me up, called me names, but it turned out he had a crush on me.”
As Miles went on, I found myself laughing. He had that effect on people, it seemed. I was about to ask how it related to his being here, but we were interrupted by a shout. A nurse was beckoning everyone to clean up and return to the day room. I stayed next to Miles. He was my best shot at a companion here. I still couldn’t trust him, but at least he’d be someone to talk to. God knows how long I’d be held hostage in this place.
Remembering where we left off, I spoke, “So, what are you in here for?” I asked casually. Miles looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“You can’t ask people that here!” he whisper-yelled, loud enough for others to hear, but no one was listening. Teenage boys were the worst. Never mind the mentally inept ones.
I stared at him, confused. “Why not?”
Miles scoffed. “How about *you* tell me why you’re here?”
My stomach twisted at the reminder. “Okay. I get why I can’t ask that now.”
When we reached the day room, a guy was sitting in a chair, looking bored. His expression was cold, devoid of emotion. Everyone noticed his presence—it was as if the room collectively held its breath.
I certainly did, but I wasn’t sure why. His long legs were spread out, arms crossed over his chest. His hair was somewhere between black and brown, fitting with his tan skin. His eyes were so dark they were almost black. I couldn’t tell if I found that terrifying or undeniably hot.
“He’s back,” Miles shivered.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Draven,” he whispered, barely audible over the noise of the other patients. “Draven’s back.”
Fuck. Draven was the guy I was supposed to room with!
“Oh my god, that’s him?” I asked frantically. Everyone had settled into the room, keeping a wide berth from Draven, who continued to act as if no one else existed.
“Yeah, he’s the most terrifying guy I’ve ever met. Barely talks to anyone, never shows any emotion. He just got back from solitary, I guess,” he answered with a sigh. “Not going to lie, he’s pretty hot.”
I wanted to agree, but I decided not to reveal my sexuality to anyone here. Miles seemed normal on the outside, but who knew what he was like on the inside?
“Dude,” I choked. “He’s my roommate!”
Miles stared at me for a second, then burst into laughter. I glared at him as he doubled over, clutching his knees.
“What’s so funny?” I crossed my arms.
“You’re going to fucking die, that’s what.”