Jailbreak •Maxian•

.03

The process of changing the new guy's cell takes a few days, and for those few days he's forced to stay in Greg's cell.

I saw the new guy (or maybe I should call him the new boy because of how young he looks) around and I can tell just from his demeanor that he's living in a constant state of fear.

On his third day, I finally approach him.

He sits alone at the cafeteria during dinner, blankly staring down at his lap. I sit across from him, causing him to jump. He gazes at me with eyes that compare only to blue-green gems or pure ocean water.

"What do you want?" He tries to intimidate me with words, only to have his voice tremble like a lost child.

"Why are you here?" I ask him calmly.

"I didn't do what they say I did," he jumps defensively.

"Yeah, you and every other person in here," I roll my eyes. "If anyone asks you, tell them because they'll be a little harsher than I am. Now why are you here?"

He bites his lip and looks down again. "Possession of drugs and illegal firearms."

"That's better," I tell him. "But don't be so political about it, say something you'd hear in normal conversation."

"What are you my fucking prison coach?" He snaps, looking up with fiery eyes. "Just leave me the fuck alone!"

His shouts cause other inmates to look and gasp. I hear my name start to be murmured and I know I have to give them a show.

I stand up quickly, making my chair fall. His gemstone eyes grow wide and I see him start to shake. I continue, walking up to him and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. All eyes on me now, including his. His eyes make this feel wrong and I want to just let go and say I'm kidding but I know I can't.

I quietly whisper to him something before I have to put on my act, "just play along, I have a reputation to keep up here." He gives a confused look before I start to yell "Don't fucking yell at me, kid! I'll break your god damn neck if you ever talk to me again!"

Before letting go, I whisper one last thing "meet me in the hall after dinner."

I let him go and and walk out of the cafeteria.

Outside the doors, guilt washes over me. I feel bad for him in the same way I felt bad for Ryan when he first got here. They're young and don't know how this place works like I do.

But something about this boy was different than Ryan. This boy (who I literally just met and don't even know the name of) made me want to protect him and not let anything hurt him, I wanted to sit down and talk to him until I knew him better than myself, I wanted to look after him for as long as I lived. Sure Ryan's great but he didn't make me feel even close to this strongly about him.

Inmates pour out of the cafeteria and down the halls to either their cells or to the shower block if it's their night.

The boy is one of the last ones out, keeping his head down as he goes. He looks up and meets my eyes and I see a deep sadness behind their blue-green mix.

"Are you going to beat me up?" He asks.

"No, I'm not," I shake my head. "I don't hurt people."

"Why did you yell at me?" He reminds me of a small child, asking why their parent is angered with them.

"If people knew I was nice they'd harass me until I die," I tell him. "You can't be nice if you're here for life."

"For life?" He gives me a sympathetic look, like I'm a hurt puppy or something.

"Yes, for life. Not all of us can only have two year sentences."

"How did you know that?" His eyebrow goes up in confusion.

"A friend told me," I inform him. "He's also working on getting your cell changed but he hasn't told me your name."

"I'm Max." He looks like a Max, I think that name suits him well. "Did he tell you where they're trying to move me as well?"

"Into my cell," I say simply.

"Oh, I'm sorry." From the way he's acting I can tell he thinks I'm only approaching him to try and get him to stay out of my cell, when in reality it was under my suggestion. "You can tell your friend that I'll stay in my current one, it's not-"

"It was my idea," I interject. "I know what your cell mate is like, I don't think anyone should have to be stuck with him, no matter how long their sentence is."

He looks shocked. "Oh, wow, uh thank you then."

"Don't mention it," I say with a halfhearted smile. "And I'm Ian by the way."

Max nods and smiles. A guard comes by and tells us to get where we need to be, cutting our exchange short.

"See you tomorrow, Max," I say before parting ways with him.

"See you tomorrow, Ian," he smiles.