It Was One Time (OITNB Fanfiction)

Chapter 18 - Furlough.

Clementine's POV: I walked into the cafeteria again at Lunch with Nicky. I had tear stained eyes and the smell of lunch was smelling worse than usual. I ended up sitting next to Chapman. "Hey, you look a little rough. You okay?" She asked. "My aunt died." I said plainly. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is to lose someone in here." She said. "Oh fuck that, Ms. Furlough." I heard Vause say. "Furlough?" I repeated. "It's when you get to leave the prison for a day or two. There's like all kinds of stuff you can't do like drink and have sex. But, barely anyone ever gets it. It'd have to be a fucking miracle." Nicky explained. "But, possible?" I asked. "I mean sure." She said. "I'm gonna ask about that." I said. My mood had improved vastly. I knew it was a slim chance, but any chance to truly say goodbye to my Aunt Lauren was a good one. 

After lunch was done I went directly to Mr. Caputo's office. "Mr. Caputo?" I asked. "I'm very busy, Clementine." He said. "It really can't wait, could I please spare some of your time?" I asked. He sighed. "Sit down." He said. I smiled and sat down. "Mr. Caputo. My Aunt Lauren passed away this week. The funeral is next week and I've heard that there's this thing called Furlough?" I asked. "Yes, it's given out very rarely." He said. "Yes, I recognize that. But as you know, I've been very well behaved in this prison. I've only gotten one shot and it was for...throwing up. Because of an anxiety attack. Not to say that the rules here aren't fair but...Mr. Caputo. I want to say goodbye to my Aunt." I said. "I'm sure you want a lot of things, Clementine. But unfortunately this isn't Burger King and you cannot have it your way." He said. I teared up. "Mr. Caputo. I've been a pretty okay inmate. I've kept my head low, I've done all the right things, my crime was a first-time offense as you'll see in my records, I-" "If I grant you furlough will you leave me alone?" He asked. "Yes." I said. "Okay. Done." He said. "Oh my god, are you serious?" I asked. "Are you leaving?" He asked. "Yes. Sorry. I'm leaving. Thank you." I said.  

I walked out of the office and closed the door behind me. I couldn't believe what was happening. I was gonna be out. I leaned against the wall and smiled. "Not even I could give you that smile, Clementine. What's up?" Nicky asked as she leaned against the wall next to me. "I'm gonna let that comment slide because nothing can ruin my mood right now Nicky, because....Mr. Caputo said he'd grant me furlough!" I said while jumping up and down. "No shit?" She said. "Be elated with me!" I said. She did the smug smile she always does and said, "I'm happy for you.". "I wish I could take you with me." I said longingly. "Ah yes, what a day. You, Me, and your entire family at a funeral." She said. "Well, not to the funeral of course. But we could go to my hometown and I could show you all my memories. Where I met King, my old house, my old church.." I trailed off. "You went to church?" She asked. "Well yes, I'm a Christian, Nicky." I said. "You?" She repeated. "Yes. What makes you think I'm not?" I asked. "Well, I don't know. You're gay, and you're in prison for drugs." She remarked. "Well, the drugs were a mistake. The bible talks about your body being a temple, and not doing anything to it that could cause harm. Obviously, the smoke inhalation would harm my body. But being gay isn't a sin." I said. "Pennsatucky would disagree." She said. We walked down the hall to the dorms and I said "Pennsatucky has a very interesting view on the bible. The bible does mention some things that could make people believe homosexuality is wrong, but I interpreted those verses differently. Almost everything is up to interpretation." I explained. "Well, okay. So how does the church feel about your time here?" She asked. "I don't give a shit." I said. 

I sat on my bed with Nicky and looked at my ukulele. "I feel like I should tune it." I said. "Go for it." She said. I grabbed it and tuned each string. "Can I play you something?" I asked. She nodded. 

"I've never heard that. What is that?" Nicky asked. "Umm, it's called Tourist, by Jon Cozart." I said. "It's beautiful." She said. My eyes widened. "What?" She asked. "Nothing. It's just, you don't use words like beautiful and...I don't know. I feel like you're a different person when it's just you and me." I explained. "That's because I am a different person when it's just you and me." She said.  I looked down and frowned. I didn't like that I was changing her. I always hated it when Renee acted different when her boyfriend was around. I felt her hand on my knee. "It's a good thing. I feel free. I feel like I don't have to be butch Nicky. I can just be 100 percent me." She said. I smiled. I looked in her eyes and all I wanted to do was kiss her. "Whenever I'm around you, I feel the most normal I've ever felt." I said. "I feel the same." She said.  
"You guys are going to miss lunch." I heard Chapman say from across the room. "We should go.." I whispered. Nicky sighed and got up off the bed and helped me up as well.