PR150N

Chapter 3

I stirred groggily to someone or something prodding my arm.

"Alexandra..."

I fidgeted and tried to turn away, annoyed that someone was trying to wake me up during the night. Sleep was precious in this place, I needed as much of it as I could. I pulled my cover up closer to my chin only for it to be whipped out of my grip.

"Alexandra, get up now!" The 'now' was barked with such aggression that I jumped up and out of bed quicker than I ever had before. It reminded me of school mornings, when I'd snoozed my alarm as long as I could, and also ignored the calls of my mum as she got progressively more annoyed with my laziness. Eventually, after many shouts and alarms, when I'd left it far too late, she would storm up the stairs and burst into my room to pull me out of bed. Her anger would cause her to bark her orders at me as she yanked me to my feet and got me ready. At first, I thought it was fun to try and test her, to see how much I could get away with it but after a few times of being yelled at and dragged out of bed, I feared hearing the noise of her feet coming up the stairs. When I heard those stomps, I panicked. My heart sped up as I often tried to leap out of bed and make it look like I was getting myself ready even though we both knew very well I was just trying to cover up the fact I'd been so lazy beforehand. I'd be trying to throw my uniform on or quickly duck into the bathroom to pretend that I didn't hear her because I was brushing my teeth. That fear, the heart racing and the feeling of my blood pumping around my body, that's what I felt right in this moment as this male voice barked at me. I had never leapt out of bed as quickly as I had just then, and the voice was not one I recognised which made it even more terrifying. I held my head as I went dizzy, trying to steady myself with a banging headache ensuing as soon as my brain had woken up enough to let me know. My skin felt cold, and my cell felt breezier than it normally did. Something was thrown at my chest, which I caught in my arms.

"Put it on." The same aggravated voice said.

I blinked forcefully as I tried to stop my vision being so blurry, and finally into my sight came two guards. I jumped back out of fear, knowing they didn't leave the comfort of their cctv rooms unless something big had happened. Memories crashed back of me breaking that guy's nose in the shower and panic filled me. They were about to send me to the isolation rooms, or worse, to my death. Looking down in my arms, I held my towel. Realising these guards were seeing me in my bikini, I quickly wrapped myself up in my towel and tucked the corner in.

"I can explain..." I held my hands out in innocence. In front of me, my arms shook with the fear that was radiating my whole body. "He was trying to-" The guard held a finger up and silenced me mid sentence. His face was stern, almost as if he had forgotten any other emotion. I bit my lips together as I waited for his response. The seconds felt like hours.

"We know." The second guard interrupted, stepping out from the shadow of the stern guard. "We were informed our choice to shock you may not have been the best and looking back over the tapes, we saw that he was trying to attack you." I slowly lowered my shaking hands back to my sides as I let out a big breath of relief. This feeling reminded me of when I'd been arrested the first time and the nervousness I had felt as they took all my details and interrogated me.

"You have been granted an extra ten minutes today to do something of your choice for our error." The stern guard said, his expression not changing at all other than his eyebrow raising as he waited for me to reply. I already knew what I wanted, the thing I missed the most of all things. It was so stupid, and cosmetic, but I couldn't stand how I felt.

"I want to finish my shower that was rudely interrupted, and I would also like to shave. Please could I have a razor?" The two guards looked at each other for a second before the stern one replied.

"You will need to be g-"

"Guarded at all times by a female guard, I know. That's fine, I'm not going to try and attack anyone. I just want to shave." The stern guard only became sterner because I interrupted him. His mouth scrunched up as he turned to the meek guard and nodded at him. The meek guard scurried away like a small field mouse to grab a razor and a guard.

"Your timer will begin the moment the water is turned on. The guard will count it. Another guard will be outside of the showers just in case." He narrowed his eyes at me as if he was trying to work out my intentions. It was very rare that people were granted extra time out of their cell, but if anyone did they chose to meet up with a prisoner, go for a smoke or something exciting. I chose to have a shower. Truth be told, having a shower by yourself was now unheard of. Each section always showered with the rest of their prisoners. I dreamt of times when I'd visited hotels and had a nice comfy bed and a bathroom with bright lights framing the mirror and a fancy shower with loads of different buttons that I barely knew how to function. I miss that relaxed feeling, the fact I could enjoy your time. If I wanted to take a half hour shower I could, if I wanted to take two hours to do my makeup I could do that too. I'd actually forgotten what it felt like to wear makeup, or to spend time doing my hair ready for an event. Now I just run a towel over my hair and that's it. There's no hairdryer, no nice scented cream to put on my skin after my shower, no nice clothes, nothing fancy at all. I was thankful for my toothbrush and toothpaste, and I was thankful for my deodorant. Suddenly, all the times I'd spent loads of time getting ready felt like a waste. It was crazy to know just how comfortable I was in my own skin now that I was here. The only thing I was still not comfortable with was the unnecessary hair in places that we, as women, would always shave.

"Ready Alexandra?" A female voice pulled me from my thoughts. I glanced up to see the guard holding a razor in her hand and I smiled.

"Ready." I nodded. With excitement now taking over, I grinned as I was escorted to the showers and for the first time, I walked in to silence. I headed over to the water and turned it on as I hung my towel on the hook and wasted no time jumping under the warm water. The guard stood mere feet from me, watching my every move which normally would have made me feel really awkward. However, today, I was just happy to be enjoying the peace. I made quick work of washing myself and my hair and rinsed off before I held my hand out for the razor. The minute the handle of the razor was in my hand, the guard had a baton outstretched and ready just in case.

"Jesus. I just want to shave!" I said to myself as I ran the razor head until the water before I began to shave my armpits. I tried to do it as fast as I could, knowing I only had ten minutes to do it all. I followed that up with shaving my legs and then quickly did my bikini line, all under the gaze of the female guard. Once I'd finished, I ran the razor under the water to clean it and I handed it carefully back to the guard. Turning the water off, I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me.

"Thank you for behaving." The guard said quietly as she walked me back to my cell. As soon as the door was locked behind me, I quickly dried myself and got dressed into my orange outfit once more. I sat on the bed, still a little disorientated, and waited for the robot voice to tell me what was next.

"Section A, lunch time. Please be ready to head to the lunch hall."