𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 | 𝙺𝙳𝙶

𝟶𝟼; 𝙿𝙰𝚆𝙽𝚂

"It's not easy to keep track of time. There are no calendars, but I've been here the longest, about two months. Melly's one month. Malu, three weeks, and Yaya is new. It's sometimes hard to keep track of the date if no one new has arrived in a while."

"What date is it?" Malu asks, her voice soft and clear. "July twenty-fifth," I tell her. "I thought so. I've been trying to keep up with the days."

"How?"

She looks up. Above us is a small window, way too small for someone to crawl through. It barely even lets in light. "I've been tracking the days, making a note of them. I was only a day off when Yaya arrived."

Wow. "Fuck no!" Kayla snaps. "Ain't no way y'all think imma be watching the sun fucking rise and set like i'm in da fucking country!" She pulls her hand out of mine and spins, pounding her fists on the door behind us.

"Let us out right now you weird ass niggas! Let us out!"

"Shut her the fuck up." Melly snaps. I ignore him. Kayla is only doing what I want to do. I'm worried she'll hurt herself if she keeps slamming the door. I grab her wrist and tug her backward.

"Kay, shh. It's okay. It's going to be okay." Her legs give way, and we both slide to the ground. Her shoulders slump, and she sobs against my side, gripping my arm like I can somehow protect her. I hope I can. I wish my confidence, my strength, my stubbornness were enough to break down all the doors in this building. Why so many doors? And so many locks?

"Are we going to die? Bro what the fuck is going on?" she cries. "Yo." I grip her upper arms and turn her so she's facing me. "Fix yoself bitch. We gon figure this shit out."
There's a hard determination to my voice that surprises me.

"You don't know that." she whines.

"And you can't know it's hopeless. There's a way in, so there's got to be a way out. Okay?" She nods, but she looks as defeated as the rest of them here.

Melly and Ja have been here for so long, and they haven't found a way out. But that doesn't mean there isn't one. Maybe someone could play dead, and when Toosii , Nardo, and Kd retarded ass come to investigate, we could jump them.

Ja kneels on the floor beside us. "Come and sit. We'll get you some water. Then you can change, and we'll answer all those questions I can see in your eyes."

"Change?" I ask. Oh, the bag on my back. He smiles weakly, almost in apology. "They require it." That's when I notice they're all wearing the same plain, dark-gray sweatshirt and sweatpants.

I close my eyes. Nardo and his friends are trying to strip us of our identity. Like we in fucking prison. They've chosen the wrong bitch. I've never been into dressing up anyways . I always wear jeans and a hoodie with some J's. I don't care what I'm wearing, so this ain't shit.

They are not going to break me by making me wear some ugly ass uniform. I look at the camera dead in da face as I stand and drop the bag from my shoulder. Kayla rises to her feet as well, her body visibly trembling. She's scared. I am, too. But I won't be used as some sick form of entertainment. My life...our lives are worth more than that. She doesn't want me to anger them, but I'm not about to give in.

"Let's get changed, Kayla." I turn to Ja. "Is there somewhere private we can do that?" He shakes his head. "There's a bathroom through there, but it has a camera, too."

Closing my eyes, I nod because my voice isn't working. There is nowhere we won't be seen. Nardo and his friends will see me in the bathroom. I know in the bigger picture, with us being trapped here, someone seeing me pee isn't the biggest issue but it's still dayroom.