cellmates

the boys

josh's pov

as soon as the guard opened the door that lead out to the courtyard, i started fast-walking towards our table. tobi was still sitting there, but he was now accompanied by some of our other prison buddies.

simon minter, a tall, blonde and mildly sassy boy, lay sprawled out on the table top, tossing a ping pong ball he had somehow managed to purchase at the commissary up and down. only a year before, he'd joined us in prison for having sex with twelve of his high school students. he claimed that none of them were underage, but we didn't believe him.

harry lewis, a smaller, blonde and very sassy boy, sat cross legged on the bench next to tobi having what looked to be a casual conversation with him. harry joined us the same day as simon for multiple charges of prostitution. at first, most of us were pretty hesitant to talk to him because he was gay, but once tobi started to befriend him, we decided to make an effort to actually get to know him. we quickly realized how wrong we were to judge someone solely on their sexuality and he became a really close friend for everyone.

ethan payne, a loud, ginger boy, sat on the bench opposite tobi and harry's, his back facing me as i approached the table. he was one of the firsts to join our little friend group, back when he was only seventeen. he was charged with vehicular manslaughter after drunkenly running over an elderly woman. he tries to claim that he doesn't feel guilty at all about it, saying things like, "hey, she was gonna die anyway soon. i just sped up the process a bit." but we all know it actually really effects him, so we would try not to bring it up.

olajide olatunji, or jj, sat next to ethan, his back to me as well. jj was the first to start hanging out with me and tobi, joining us in prison about a year after we first arrived. in the beginning, whenever we asked what he did to end up in prison, he would always mumble about how he didn't like to talk about it, until we stopped asking all together.

"so, what'd you do?" tobi asked me, after noticing i was back from my little excursion to the warden's office.

"nothing. i'm apparently getting a cellmate though." i responded, sitting down next to simon's head. everyone turned their attention to me, clearly intigued by the idea of a new possible friend. or a new possible threat. no one really knew at this point.

"odds on him being like a child rapist or some shit." ethan said, chuckling a bit. i knew he was joking, but it was definitely possible, and i was kind of scared. not that i would ever admit that to anyone.

"i thought simon already had a cellmate?" i joked, before jumping off the table to avoid being punched by simon.

"oi," he sat up, clutching his ball tightly in his hand. he hated when we joked about his past of fucking teens. "fuck off. you know they were all of age."

"sure they were." ethan chuckled, before being whacked in the arm.

"you all suck dick." simon frowned, crossing his arms across his chest like an angry toddler.

"nah, that's just harry." jj retorted, causing the rest of us to laugh. we all loved harry and none of us had any problem with him being gay, but it was still fun to joke about.

"hey!" harry protested, before realizing his protest was pretty pointless. "well, i mean you aren't wrong."

"so, josh, do you know who this guy is?" tobi asked, bringing back the original conversation.

"my cellmate?" tobi nodded and everyone returned their attention back to me.

"no clue. he could actually be a child rapist for all i know." i shrugged. i was pretty worried, even if i didn't show it. we did get pretty fucked up men coming in and out of prison all the time, so the chances that my cellmate was gonna be one of those fucked up men weren't that small.

"i have a feeling he won't be." tobi reassured me. he had a way to always sense when i was sad or scared when no one else could tell. i guess, that's what happens when you've been best friends for so many years. we shared a quick smile, and my nerves calmed a bit. but my mind still raced with millions of questions i had about my future cellmate.

it took 20 years, (my exaggerations keep getting longer and longer) but here's chapter four.

hope you liked it, and i swear i'll try to stop being such a lazy cunt and update this book more often. :) thanks for reading!