CHAPTER 8
Things started slowly between us. A nod in the hallway, a half-smile passed between our trays at lunch.
If we did sit together, it was never for long.
She hardly spoke in front of the others, just perched herself beside me as if I were the wall that could shut off the noise.
Malik was as subtle as a brick to the face, shooting knowing smirks my way.
Think he was just excited to see a real girl up close.
But things just slipped into a weird rhythm. Finding each other during downtime, she would be in the library mostly, flicking through dusty ass books about the human body or some crap. There weren’t many places to hide in this shit hole, and the library was a ghost town.
That was until they gave me a permanent posting in the laundry room.
Every Wednesday. It was either that or the kitchens, and I'd prefer not to know what goes into that slop they give us daily.
The guard on shift mostly just sat on his arse, ordering us around while he sang out of tune to his ridiculously tiny radio.
It wouldn’t have been so bad, but that fucker was belting it out like he was some overweight superstar. The worst part about it, was that fucking song had wormed its way into my skull.
‘I wanna taste your… something-something… yeah, yeah, baby…’
Argh, kill me now.
I wanted to slam my head in the washing machine to drown it out. When he eventually called time, I headed straight for my cell. Malik was perched at the doorway, his towel gripped in hand.
“Took your sweet ass time,” he said, clicking his tongue. “Shower call’s been on for, what—five minutes? You wanna be fusty for the rest of the week?”
I snorted, brushing past him into the cell to drop my laundry badge onto my bunk.
“They kept me late. Again. Prick wouldn’t shut the fuck up to notice the time.”
“Nah,” Malik drawled, following me in. “You're just slow.”
“Oh, totally,” I said, grabbing my towel. “I enjoy spending quality time with crusty cum socks and broken dryers.”
He smacked the back of my head lightly. “Hurry up. Before all the hot water’s gone.”
“Hot water?” I scoffed. “Since when do we have hot water?”
“Exactly why you should move your ass.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped out into the corridor with him. The noise from the showers already echoed down the hall—slamming metal, shouts, laughter, pipes clanging. The usual chaos.
And underneath it all…
Yeah, yeah, baby, wanna taste your— I grimaced. Malik caught the look.
“You good?”
“Song stuck in my fucking head,” I muttered.
By the time we hit the showers, half the guys were already done, wrapped in towels, slapping each other, yelling insults. The cubicles were mostly full. I hesitated, scanning for an open one, but every time I moved toward a corner, someone beat me to it.
Great. I was gonna be one of the last ones in. Again.
Sitting my ass down on the bench, I waited, drifting off into my own thoughts, not noticing when the crowd had started to dwindle down.
“Ey, daydreamer, cubicles free,” Malik called, pulling me back as I stood to my feet. It wasn’t long before I found myself in there alone. Repeating that fucking song over and over again.
Cutting the water, I stepped out into the steam-filled room, ruffling the towel over my wet hair.
“Nice voice.”
A voice chimed in the silence, a female voice, causing me to jolt backwards wide-eyed, before swiftly shifting my towel down to cover myself. Through the haze, her outline on the bench was unmistakable.
“Jesus Misfit. I’m getting you a fucking bell,” chuckling to herself as her gaze returned to me. My grip on the towel stiffened in my naked state. “What the hell are you doing in here?”
“Hiding.”
“Hiding, or trying to sneak a peek? You could’ve just asked,” A smirk breaking free on my face.
She scoffed, “Don’t fucking flatter yourself, Screech. I’m not interested in—”
“Mia?” Our eyes snapped towards the door in unison.
“Fuck,” she hissed, scuffling up onto the bench out of view of the door.
The door creaked open as Misfits officer appeared, “Mia?” Her eyes fell onto me, averting quickly when she noticed my lack of clothing. My dignity shattering as I stood between the two women.
“Have you seen Mia?” She asked.
“Hmm,” I pondered, fighting the smile back with everything I had. My eyes drifted back to Misfit, her finger gliding over her throat gesturing that she would kill me if I gave her up.
Oh, the temptation.
I let the silence build, making her squirm before letting out a breath. “Nope, I’ve been showering.” Her officer scowled at me, sussing me out as I gestured down at myself, water still clinging to my skin.
“Are you allowed to be in here while I’m in such a vulnerable state?” I asked, breaking her from her suspicion.
“Hurry up, McCabe. Shower times over,” her head retreating as the door fell shut once again.
Letting out a forced breath, she jumped down from her hiding place, jabbing me in the shoulder.
“Fucking dick, you nearly got me caught.”
“Excuse me, but I'm the reason she didn’t storm in here and drag you out.” I laughed to myself at her audacity.
“Whatever, McCabe,” she dropped herself back down on the bench. “Do you have any idea how exhausting it is being followed around all the time.”
“I’m starting to get the gist,” I bit down on my bottom lip in amusement as she shot me a burning glare.
“Fuck off, I don’t follow you around. And you find me as much as I find you.”
“I do not.”
“No? Tell me, how many times you set foot in the library before we first started talking?” her brows arching. She had me there, I hadn’t stepped foot in the creepy library since I got here.
“Whatever, Parish.”
“It’s like you want me to steal your things at this point.”
“What? You said I can’t call you Mia. You said nothing about Parish.”
“Yeah, well. I’m adding it. And you just got your first strike.”
“Fuck off, you called me McCabe.”
“Ah, but you didn’t make it part of the deal.” Flashing me a sarcastic smile.
Just another one of our delightful interactions where she always has to be right.
I rolled my eyes as I fought against my humour in it. “Turn around so I can get dressed at least. I feel all exposed, you can’t take your eyes off me.”
“You talk so much shit.”
My eyes not leaving her as she averted hers squeezing them shut. “Trust me, if I wanted to sneak a peek, then I’d aim higher than…” my smile widening as she stumbled.
“Go on, you can do it,” I said, pulling up my trousers as her brows furrowed frantically searching for an answer.
“A wet… scarecrow.”
I burst out laughing at her comeback; it was inventive to say the least. “Was that the best you can do?”
“No,” Seeing the corners of her mouth lift, holding back her own laughter.
I dragged my shirt over my head sitting myself down opposite her, “You can open your eyes now. The goods are put away.”
She chuckled bringing her dark eyes back towards me, “You’re so fucking full of yourself, it’s not even funny.”
“And yet you’re laughing.”
A beat passed as questions started drifting into my mind.
We had never really discussed what got us sent here.
And in all honesty, I was getting sick of the guys pestering me for the answers to why she was moved over to our side of juvie.
All because we hang out from time to time, meaning that I knew everything, including her fucking blood type. When in reality, it was mostly banter.
“So, some of the lads have been talking.”
“Oh. Talking. And there was me thinking you lot just grunted at each other and puffed your chests out.”
“Ha, ha, funny. No, they were coming up with reasons you got moved to this side.”
“I dread to think.”
“So?” I pressed.
“So, what?”
“What did you do?”
She shifted in her seat, staring towards the tiled wall as she lowered her tone. “Does it matter?”
“Not really,” I shrugged. “But it must have been pretty bad.”
“Maybe. I don’t feel bad. I’m sure Brenner would have a field day with that admission.”
“Yeah, maybe don’t mention it to him.”
After letting out a long sigh, the words that followed from her were not what I was expecting. “Bitch was throwing her weight around, so I smashed her face in with a fire extinguisher.” Shrugging it off as if it were an everyday thing. I couldn’t hold it back, letting out a sharp laugh.
“Can you even lift one?”
“It wasn’t a big one dickhead. It was one of those compact ones. Did what I needed it to, though.”
“Shit, Misfit.”
“Yeah. Then I got dumped in here because other girls didn’t want to swap cells or share with me, the warden was concerned that forcing girls to move would cause more issues, blah blah. So until they come up with something, I’m stuck in here.”
“For how long?”
“No idea. Did you even know it was legal? I didn’t. Apparently so, though, as long as they have things in place to accommodate me.”
“What did you do to get in prison at all?”
“More of the same. Guy got far too handsy, so I gave him a rock to the face. Broke his nose and his eye socket, I think. He told the police I was mugging him, and I got slapped with GBH charges.” Scoffing to herself as her eyes lowered to her fumbling hands.
“I’m starting to wonder if your guard is for your protection or ours.”
Her smirk widening as she kicked out towards me, “Fuck off.”
My own smile faltered, my thoughts running back to the first time I saw her, grubby and fleeing the shop as if her life depended on it.
It was strange for her to be so open with me.
I mean, we had hardly spoken two words to each other apart from mocking banter.
Never delving into anything real anyway.
“You were homeless. Weren't you?” I said.
Her eyes snapped up to mine. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I was thinking about it, after you came over to threaten me and make your little deal. Thought back to the shop.”
“You saw me shoplift, big deal.”
“No. I saw you clutching onto food for dear life. How messy and skittish you were.”
“That means nothing—"