I bolt up out of bed as a loud horn could be heard throughout the whole cell block, making my eardrums ring and head pound.
"What the hell?" I groan as my back starts to ache, confirming that the mattresses are secretly made out of wood.
"RISE AND SHINE LADIES! BUNK INSPECTION!" An officer shouts through the megaphone, which I think is completely un-necessary to do.
"Come on kid I don't want to get a shot because of you." Taylor, my cell-mate, starts to walk out of our room, or as they call it 'cell', and I follow his tall form.
He is pretty tall considering I am over 6 feet.
"Don't call me kid." I grimace and start to fiddle with my orange uniform, trying to ignore the somewhat sexual or menacing glances that the other prisoners are giving me. "What the fuck is a shot anyway? Do you mean they inject you with something?" My hand starts to clam up as I imagine myself getting a shot.
Taylor turns his head and glances at me up and down before snickering a little, making me knot my eyebrows in embarrassment and confusion.
Why the hell did he just laugh at me?
"Oh kid, how the hell did you even manage to get in here? You won't survive if you wander around this horrid place." Taylor looks at me again and just slowly shakes his head, like pitying me.
This angers me so much, I hate it when people pity on me, it makes me feel so childish and pathetic.
My eye twitches a little as I take deep breaths, trying to prevent an outburst from my big mouth.
Come on Dan, don't get in trouble..
"I said.. Don't.. Call.. Me.. KID." I grit my teeth and accidentally speak too loudly and an officer has to yell at me to shut up or else I will get this so called 'shot' which I still have no idea what it is.
Since I have been yelled at now everybody has their eyes on me, making me feel extremely uncomfortable.
Forget about high-school being hard, this is something I would never wish upon anybody, well except Jake because he is the one that got me into this whole mess in the first place.
"Dan, don't look at them. You will only intimidate them." Taylor's low voice tells me as an officer rummages through our bunks, checking every crevice.
I gulp and nod, shuffling a little in place as I just glance down, looking at my own feet.
The floors are so fucking dirty that dry blood can be visible throughout the tiles, the janitors obviously not caring about their job.
"Dan, don't look at the ground either you stupid fuck, hold your head up high, cause you look like an easy target." Taylor whispers to me again, this time a little harsher then last time.
My jaw clenches as I lift my head up, glancing at the clock opposite from me, not daring to look at any prisoners.
I am honestly so petrified if one of them decide to talk to me, cause these are people that have probably killed other people, and that scares the crap out of me. I wouldn't be surprised if someone woke up dead next morning.
I let Taylor talk to me only because he is my cell-mate and I have to live with him for a while, that's it. I don't trust him, I really don't, but I do listen to what he has to say because he has spent more time in here than I have so he knows what he is talking about. He does sound like he is from the North, his thick accent giving it away, and those northern people will fuck you up if you mess with them.
A screeching horn rings through my eardrums once more and the officer shouts that the inspections are over.
Jesus fucking christ what are they trying to do make us deaf??
Some of the prisoners go back inside of their rooms and some just start talking to eachother, like nothing happened.
Taylor is already organizing the things the officer knocked over on his side of the cell meanwhile my side hasn't been wrecked considering I don't have a lot of stuff.
I plant my arse on the hard mattress and just look at how Taylor curses under his breath and messily fixes his things.
"What is a shot?" My horse voice echoes through our cell and his movements completely stop, and he turns his whole body to face me, griping onto his book that he was going to place on his shelf of things.
I start to sweat a little as his eyes stare into mine, his jaw clenching and un-clenching as seconds pass by.
I probably shouldn't have said anything oh my god Dan you idiot.
I subconsciously face-palm myself for being such a stupid person, and Taylor scoffs and places his book onto it's correct place before sitting in front of me on his bed, and tapping my knee to get my attention.
I look up and see the pity in his eyes but at the same time, concern.
I never noticed but he has really nice green eyes.
Kind of like Hayley's..
IDIOT!
I face palm myself even harder and Taylor has to grab my wrist to stop me from hurting myself any further.
"Dan calm the fuck down, you look like a lunatic. You can't let this place get to you so soon.. And about your question, a shot is something that is written on your record if you act badly, and if you get 3 shots you get sent to the self confinement prison, where you get locked up in a room with nothing but a cement bed and toilet. People go crazy in there, so I suggest you don't get shots and stay out of trouble." Taylor looks at me and for the first time, I actually relax a little. I feel as if he is just trying to let me know what it's like in here.
I nod quickly and wipe at one lone tear that got stranded in my eyelashes without my notice.
I need to compose myself, if I keep this up then I won't survive this whole year.
"Thank you Taylor, and sorry about being such a wimp." My fingers twist my baggy orange pants and Taylor just scoffs a little, reaching over to my shoulder and placing his hand sternly on it, squeezing a little.
"Dan, you can't make friends in this place, ya hear? These people in here are not friendly, and they got in here because they did something that was definitely not fucking friendly. Some people here killed others, so you have to watch your back. You have to keep to yourself, and you have to only trust yourself, you can't trust them. I can't be your friend Dan, but I can be your guide. I have been in here for 2 years so far, so I know this place by heart, and I haven't lost my mind yet. I only have 3 months left, and I will only be here for you in those only remaining months. So don't fuck around in here, it's not fun and it's not worth it. Just do you're time and get it over with." His wide hand pats my shoulder with enough force to make me shake, which makes me wonder...
"How did you get in here..?" I ask him curiously as he slowly removes his hand from my shoulder, looking down to the floor, as if his whole body started to crumble.
He looked so weak..
"I... Dan, I don't think it's a good idea to talk abo-"
"I think I deserve to know the reason I will be sharing a room with you." I can feel my teeth grinding in my mouth as I wait for his response.
But the response that I get is something that makes my blood coil through my veins and face start to grow pale.
