The situation was incredibly unusual. When people were arrested, they were technically, supposed to be booked into jail. Flora hadn't been booked into jail. Instead, she had been hanging out in a cell at the police station and losing her mind. All alone, she was finally reaching her breaking point.
When an officer in uniform came into her cell, she thought that she might finally be moving to jail. Sure, it'd suck, but at least she'd be around other people again. The officers weren't the kindest towards her. They weren't mean, but they were cold. They didn't talk a ton and it was killing her.
Her entire body itched relentlessly. Whatever soap that they had let her wash up in the bathroom with, it was cheap. It made her hands peel and caused her to itch non-stop. It wouldn't fully wash the grease from her hair. The red roots sat soaked in grease.
The cop cuffed her wrists in front of her instead of around her back. He grumbled that someone was here to see her. The interior of the entire place was cold. Cold and dreary; a dreamless place without color. Dreams came here to die, she was sure of it.
Everyone was so strict and the food was lukewarm. It had been nuked in a microwave, but only half. Without proper seasoning, everything was bland. Bland, lukewarm, and nauseating. Every word used to describe the place wasn't nice.
A hand remained on her shoulder as she walked forward. She was rather rudely shoved in the direction she was supposed to go in. When she started to turn down the wrong hall, the cop slightly shoved her and she shuffled over her two feet. A small huff escaped her nose, she adjusted, and continued to walk.
When the pair reached a door, the cop turned the knob and began to open the door. "Remember that you're not allowed to touch them. If you disobey the rules and attempt to harm them, you won't get another chance to speak to them."
"Is it a lawyer?"
"No."
The cop pushed her through the door and Flora froze when she saw Cynthia sitting at a table. Her dewy eyes looked incredibly sad. Her satin cheeks were a little fuller from eating properly with the guys. She blinked in shock, wondering if she was seeing her correctly.
"Cynthia?" She spoke in a daze.
"Flora," Cynthia responded back. Her voice was cold and without remorse, but Flora didn't care about that. Cynthia observed her as she jerked away from the cop and rushed towards the chair to sit down. The cop rolled his eyes, crossed his hands, and stood off to the side of the room.
A small square card table had been set up to the side of the large conference room. The cop had no plans to leave because Flora was still in police custody, she had no way to leave. Even if Cynthia wanted her to, Flora wasn't allowed. The interrogation was still ongoing and nothing could happen until after Cynthia and Seungmin's witness statements. Now that everything was set in stone, Flora's jail experience would continue after this.
"Did you come to get me out? Please get me out, Cynthia. They don't care about me here." The cuffs on Flora's wrists rattled as she placed them on the table. Cynthia glanced down at them and then slowly looked up. "I want to go home."
"And so do I."
"What?"
Cynthia sucked in a sharp breath and readjusted herself. She hated that she felt guilty for seeing Flora here. Flora didn't give two shits about her from her previous actions. Flora had smashed her phone to pieces while Cynthia cried. She held a knife to her own neck while Cynthia crumbled to her knees begging her to stop because she needed her.
"I came to ask where you put my money."
"Your money?"
"My money. The sage green wallet that had all my money. Since you had all my stuff, you should know where it's at."
"Oh..." Flora trailed off.
"So where is it?"
"Probably in one of the boxes back at my apartment, but..."
"But what?"
Flora's shoulders slumped, "I used it. Your money, I used all of it. You had a bunch from your parents' inheritance. I had to fund the trip to Hawaii and get the house somehow and..."
Cynthia stayed quiet as her eyes filled with tears. Everything was gone. All her hard earned money and the money from her parents' deaths, gone. Snatched out of her hands and never to be seen again. How was she ever going to pay for things? How was she supposed to know how much she originally had?
"Cynthia, please don't be mad. I-I can get it back if I can get out of here. I just-" She reached out to touch Cynthia, but she jerked away.
"Hey!" The cop spoke up, "keep your hands away from her or you're going back to the cell!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Flora pulled her hands back to herself. "Seriously, I'll get it back, just please I-"
Cynthia's voice came out in a whisper. A single tear streamed down the side of her cheek. "Why? What for? Why did you have to ruin my life?"
A strangled wail left Flora's throat. "No, no, no!" She frantically shook her head. "That's not what I was doing. I wasn't doing that, I was just helping you and I-"
"How?"
"You needed to be protected from the sasaengs and being in a relationship with Seungmin was-"
"The sasaengs that you hired to cause the car accident? You were supposed to be my best friend. Just give me one good reason as to why you-"
"Don't say that! I-I still am!" Flora's voice grew shrill. Her own tears began to fill her eyes. "I still am your best friend! Cynthia, I-I love you. Please, I did it because I loved you. I just wanted to protect you and-"
"So you thought the only way to love me was to destroy everything I ever knew and pull me away from everyone I ever loved?"
"Stop making yourself a victim in this scenario! You're not the fucking victim here! At least, you're not in jail!"
"You're in jail because of the consequences of your own goddamn actions!" Cynthia's voice rose. "You didn't have to trap me in that stupid fucking apartment building! You didn't have to keep me in the dark about my real friends and my boyfriend!"
"Seungmin is brainwashing you!"
"Brainwashing?" Cynthia let out a small laugh and shook her head. "Are you hearing yourself?" The tears began to roll down her neck and soak the collar of her shirt. "Brainwashing? You were the one that taught me how to hate myself, not Seungmin."
"Say whatever you want about Seungmin, but at least Seungmin didn't cause me to get into a car accident. At least Seungmin didn't give me brain damage. At least Seungmin loves me as I am, unlike you."
"Don't say that! Don't say that!" Flora's hands slammed onto the table. The cuffs around her wrists rattled. "Stop it! You're too blinded by that stupid man to fully see that I love you! God, Cynthia, I've always had a fucking crush on you! Don't you understand? I need you to live!"
"Just know that I've never had a crush on you and I never will. You made your bed and now you're going to lie in it. You know what? I hate you, Flora. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. I despise you and I loathe you. I hate what you did. I hate what you took me away from. You deprived me of my mental sanity. You deprived me of love and support. You deprived me of a chance to get better."
"I might never remember the past. I might never remember the faces of my parents or their voices. I might never remember my childhood or my favorite color. I might never remember the elementary school friends and the taste of school lunch. No childhood pets or the nightmares that haunted the eight year old version of me."
"No birthday parties, no family reunions, and no high school graduation." Cynthia spat out the words straight from her heart. She was so angry and her words were like daggers. Every single one she spat, it lodged directly into Flora's heart. Knife after knife after knife.
"You can remember everything you've done in your life. I hope you ponder upon it and I hope it haunts you every single night. Take a good look at my face and try to remember it because this is the last time I ever plan on looking you directly in the eyes."
"C-Cynthia, please!" Flora's shrill voice begged. "Don't do this to me! You can't do this to me! Don't leave me here!" In a final attempt of desperation, she jerked across the table and grabbed Cynthia's hand.
"Hey!" The officer barked again. He marched over to pull Flora away, but Cynthia jerked her hand away again. The officer roughly grabbed the back of Flora's shirt and shoved her up. He began to pull her back in the direction of the cell.
"Cynthia, don't do this to me! Please!" She begged as she sobbed. "Don't leave me here! Don't leave me! It'll kill me! C-Cynthia!"
"Flora?"
The soft voice caused her to stop. Caught off guard, the cop halted. He glanced over at Cynthia. She swallowed and spoke the words that she had been holding back for quite a while. "I hope you rot."
Anger ignited Flora and she lunged towards Cynthia screaming. The cop yelled as Flora dived forward, but she didn't make it very far. The cop quickly followed and proceeded to tackle her from behind. He straddled her back and pinned her hands beneath her stomach. Over the sounds of Flora's screams, he radioed for backup to help him secure her.
Cynthia didn't stick around to watch it happen. The last view that Flora had of Cynthia was of her best friend physically turning her back and leaving her behind. The entire time, the only thing Flora could do was scream louder.
Unfortunately, Cynthia didn't hear it; she was already gone and disappeared through the thick wooden door.