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There’s a reason I haven’t been down to the rec room. I can’t relax anywhere here, and there are too many variables of danger, so I’ve kept myself isolated and in my cell. You can’t say the wrong thing to anyone, or accidently look at someone and have them take it the wrong way if you’re alone.
I nearly jerk back when Lexi slides her arm through mine, waiting for the trick she’s playing to come to light. Yet, as we walk through the wing and into the rec room, everything seems fine.
She leans in close and lowers her voice, saying, “You need to wipe off that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Easy for her to say. People look away from her when she enters a room.
When she slips her arm out of mine, I take a shaky breath, attempting to get my shit together. She nods toward a chair at a table where the two women she hangs about with are seated at, and I try to smile.
“Evie, this is Grace and Lisa.”
They both return my smile, but it doesn’t help to settle my nerves. I take my seat and clock the two screws sitting in the corner. One is watching the TV, and the other is nodding off. Great. If anything happens, they’ll be useless.
Lisa blurts out, “So what are you in for?”
“Shoplifting. It was stupid. I—”
“Hey, you don’t need to explain yourself. You give an inch, she’ll take a mile,” Lexi advises. Lisa shrugs and goes back to writing her letter.
“How are you finding it in here?” Grace asks.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” I huff, wringing my hands together in my lap.
She snorts. “I don’t think anyone would.”
“It’s so noisy, like, all the time.”
“Some get used to it, most don’t. Like me, I’ve been here for eight years, and I still haven’t had a full night’s sleep. I’d kill to have one night with no interruptions,” Lexi tells me.
Eight years. I couldn’t imagine in my worst nightmare being stuck here for years. I’d love to know what she did to get herself put in here, but I’m nowhere near comfortable enough to ask.
“We know nothing’s happened to you in here, because Lexi hasn’t given anyone the nod. Why are you so scared? You look like you’re about to piss your knickers,” Grace says, and Lisa glances up from her letter.
“I’m f-fine.”
Lexi sits forward, leaning her forearms on the table. “Seriously, Evie, relax.”
Again, easier said than done.
“You’ve got a couple of weeks left, right?”
I nod.
“They’ll fly by if you’re distracted.”
And that’s what I’m afraid of. What does she have in mind to keep me distracted?
At the thought, my eyes widen, and Lexi laughs. She laughs so hard, she holds her stomach and wipes tears of laughter from her eyes.
“You’re seriously terrified of me—of us—aren’t you?” she questions, sobering up.
“I don’t know you,” I murmur.
“There’s only one way to change that, and that’s by showing you we’re not all bad.”
