"That's different, we're on the same level, you know,"
"Who said we were?. You're brand new here and you have no idea what I did to get locked up."
"True," she said, "What did you do,"
"I don't need to answer that," I stated simply.
"Well no, I guess you don't, but it would make it a whole lot easier to get along with you."
"You don't need to get along with me, you just need to understand boundaries and not piss me off, got it?"
"Yeah yeah, I got it,"
~~~~~~~~~~
The next day I learned something else that I miss about not having a cell mate.
Shower time.
Everyday each cell gets a knock on the door from a CO asking if they're ready to shower and you better say yes otherwise they're not coming back for you. The CO's have you grab all of your stuff, cuff up, and take you to essentially another cell with two shower heads and a drain in it. Yesterday Perrie didn't move fast enough so she didn't get to shower but today she seemed to learn that when I start grabbing my stuff, it's a good idea to do the same.
As soon as the door to the showers was closed and the cuffs were off, I realized I wasn't exactly accustomed to someone else being in the small space with me. I knew when the other girls said I was lucky to not have to share but I hadn't truly understood until this exact moment how lucky I really was.
Perrie looked at me nervously, hugging her soap and towel to her body obviously not sure what to do with this situation as much as me. I shrugged, thinking about how we were definitely wasting our 10 minuets.
"I won't look if you won't" I suggested. Perrie nodded and turned on her heel to undress and I mirrored her actions.
I've never particularly taken long showers, but I could tell that Perrie wasn't used to this time crunch thing. By the time I was fully dry and dressed I could still hear the water running from Perrie and I could bet that she had around a minuet left before the CO's shut off the water and opened the flap for us to get cuffed up again.
"Blondie? You might want to finish up before you're walking back to the cell soaking wet," I said, still facing the other wall.
"How much time do I have left?" The CO answered by slamming her fist on the door yelling how we have 30 seconds. "Jesus!" She finally shut the water off and I could hear her scrambling to get clothes on. In definitely less than 30 seconds, the CO opened the slot for us to get handcuffed. Perrie clearly wasn't ready, so I went first. But I didn't think that through at all. Because in order to get cuffed, you have to turn around. And behind me, Perrie still wasn't fully dressed. In fact, her top half was completely bare when I stuck my hands behind me through the slot in the door. And I don't think that I have ever been so red in my life. I felt like the tomato in a show I used to watch as a kid.
This was my first time really seeing her. Typically her figure is completely hidden by the baggy clothing they force us to wear. She was a lot more, shall I say, in shape than I thought she was.
The officer pushing my hands back inside snapped me out of the weird trance I got caught in and I moved out of the way. Perrie barely threw her shirt on before doing the same. When she passed by me, I was vaguely aware of how close we were standing to each other. And then I thought about how not too long ago, we were showering back to back. Extremely close to each other. God what is wrong with me.
~~~~~~~~~~
Normally, I eat every meal as far away from everyone else. I've been surviving in this place by making sure I don't cross anyone and stay on everyone's neutral to good side. However, my wonderful new cellmate (note the sarcasm) didn't know anyone else so she sat with me. And didn't. Shut. Up. And this has been going on for the past week.
chapter 1
Start from the beginning
