Tell Me I'm Different (Finished!)

(11) Understand Me

Skye ran her hands over her new blue cotton tee-shirt. It was plain and really wasn’t much to look at, but it was the first tee-shirt she had since she came here. She pushed the fabric up to her nose and sniffed the factory smell that she used to never notice before. Skye smiled to herself and slid the shirt over her head, it on her body and fit loosely on her slim frame. It was so comfortable, so unlike all the sequined costumes she had grown used to wearing from her stay here.

How long had it been? Six months? A year? She shook her head. It was hard to keep in touch of reality when you lived in a prison.

Skye crossed her arms over her new shirt, trapping her body’s warmth. She hadn’t really been thinking of escape plans ever since she met Ace.

Ace, Ace, Ace.

Even his name was intriguing. He was certainly something. A mystery. It was funny, Skye wanted to kiss him and punch him at the same time. She had such strong conflicting feelings towards him. He was everything Skye hated. A rich, drug addict who worked for Elvis, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him and the way she felt when he had touched her. It was pure euphoria. Bliss. No, it was way more amazing, but Skye could not describe it for the life of her.

She sighed and sat on her small, stained bed as Dolly came in.

“Hey girl everything alright?” Dolly asked as she slid into the bed’s thin sheets. Her wet blonde hair stuck to the side of her small, defined face as she stared at Skye. Skye could practically smell the bargain soap off her skin.

“I’m fine, just thinking,” Skye replied, smiling at Dolly weakly.

“What about?” Dolly asked nonchalantly. Her blue eyes seemed adrift, and she struggled to pay attention to Skye.

Skye looked around her to make sure neither Anita nor Elvis were anywhere around. She leaned closer to Dolly and whispered,

“Remember how I told you I wanted to escape?”

Dolly eyed her suspiciously and nodded.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you were serious about it,” said Dolly growing angrier than she should have.

“Well, I was and I still want to.”

“How are you going to do it?”

Skye sat on her cold hands and shrugged. She didn’t really think about how she would really do it. She could always leave from the rooftop, but without any money or place to go they would end up back here pretty quickly.

“I haven’t quite worked on that part yet,” she responded. She couldn’t help but feel slightly defeated.

“Skye, escaping is just a fantasy. Plus, if Elvis even heard that you were even thinking about it, I don’t know what would happen,” Dolly said, shrugging her narrow shoulders.

Her blue eyes were suddenly narrow with mistrust. She glanced at the thin, blonde girl that lay in bed a few feet away from them.

Skye nodded and drew the sheets up to her chest. Just as she closed her eyes a loud bang followed by equally thunderous footsteps filled the large room.

“Bed time! You vill vake up early tomorrow. New dance routines for all!” boomed the heavy set Russian lady. Girls scattered to get to their small beds before Anita got mad. She had a very short fuse, and no one wanted to be at the end of that bomb. Her beady eyes scanned the girls for any sign of protest.

She spotted Dolly, and instantly a mocking grin appeared in the midst of her deeply wrinkled face. She walked over to Dolly and knelt down.

“You vill also clean bathroom,” Anita yelled in Dolly’s face. Dolly tried not to flinch as flecks of spit traveled from Anita’s large mouth onto Dolly’s face.