Stay with me

An exaggerated sigh escaped me. “I understand. Solitary confinement.”

“This is your only chance. If you ca

I stared, allowing the words to sink in when he pressed me with a glare. “No, sir.”

Lynch nodded. “Stanley, she’s all yours.”

I followed Stanley to the nurse’s station, the only sounds in the empty halls being the heels of my combat boots against the marble and a jingle of keys attached to Stanley’s belt. I debated back and forth on whether or not to try to get Stanley on my good side with casual conversation and charm, but the moment I opened my mouth, we arrived.

The sizeable sterile room was blinding. All the walls were a crisp white under the fluorescent lights. Three hospital beds with the same fresh white bedding sat in a row, each having the option of enclosure by a thin white curtain. White machines covered in buttons stood against the walls, along with various wired baskets filled with different-sized blue gloves. The smell of hand sanitizer knocked my nose senseless.

“Do you need to use the loo before we get started?” a dark-ski

“The loo?” I asked, turning back to face her. “Oh, that’s right. You guys call it that here … no, I’m good.”

“Let’s get right to it, then. Drop your bottoms and knickers and lie back on the table. I’ll wait behind the curtain until you’re ready.”

With pap smear, fingerprints, and blood work completed, I was violated in all ways possible. The nurse explained it was routine to check for sexually transmitted diseases, physical abnormalities, and disabilities as we went over my medical history. We talked about my birth control, which I no longer had control over. She would regulate it from this point forward.

Just as I had expected, Stanley greeted me right outside the door. We stepped up a flight of curved marble stairs with a black iron railing and walked down a corridor lined with the same board and batten before we turned a corner. “Classrooms are located on the third level. Living headquarters are stationed on the second. There is a map in your dorm.” We made another left. “Here you have the community bathroom, and the mess hall is located straight ahead and to the right,” he said, explaining with hand motions. “You will be staying in the fourth wing, sharing this bathroom with the third wing.”

“Community bathroom? As in both genders sharing the same facilities?”

“We are gender neutral and don’t discriminate. You will get used to it.”

He paused to check for understanding from my part before he turned on his heel. Heavy steel doors lined the hall on each side. The floor was the same swirly gray marble, but the walls were now a cloud blue cement. We approached a door on the right as Stanley came to a stop. “No classes for you today. Get familiar with the handbook. Di

Stanley grabbed the ring of keys from his belt and opened the door before entering. After thoroughly sca

And the door slammed behind him as I stood in my new prison.

The walls of the room were gray-blue and cemented like the hall I’d just walked down. I hadn’t been expecting this, though I really hadn’t known what to expect. I suppose a white room with padded walls crossed my mind on the plane ride here. A twin bed without a headboard and a footboard sat against the left wall with a single gray sheet and pillow over a thin mattress, and an empty desk sat against the parallel wall with a single black metal chair. I approached the small window across the room to see a view of the back of the school behind the bars. Nothing but sparse woods and the brick wall in the distance.

My suitcase waited for me next to the door, but I didn’t care to unpack. There wasn’t a dresser, anyway, only a rolling cart under the bed. I sat on the bed and ran my fingers across the thin sheet. How many had slept in this room before me? A clock hung above the only door in the room that read 3:16 PM. I lay back on the bed, folded my hands behind my head, and stared at the ceiling as I thought back to what had put me in this hell-hole to begin with.

Me. I did this.

I’d caused multiple fights in school and landed myself in the principal’s office more times than I’d attended a class. The day I’d lit Principle Tomson’s car on fire was the day I was expelled and arrested. After hours of community service and therapy, I’d graduated with a perfect GPA under a home-school program. I’d hammered my own nail in the coffin when I drove Diane’s BMW through the garage intentionally. My father negotiated with the judge and offered to send me here so I could pursue a college degree in lieu of being forced into the mental institution.

I was smart, but most sociopaths were. The judge wanted to make an example of me, but I knew better. No one ever did anything out of the goodness of their hearts. The only reason the judge agreed was to add another success story to his resume at my father’s expense. I suppose it was better than the mental institution.

I grabbed the handbook beside me and dangled it above my head before flipping it open to the first page when there was a rap at the door.

Ignoring it, I flipped over to the second page.

Another impatient knock.

My feet found the floor, and I cursed my way toward the door.

On the other side stood two individuals; a girl with medium-length curly black hair and a ski

“See, Jake … I told you someone came in here,” the girl said to the boy, smacking him on the arm. She wore a black choker around her neck and a small, admirable mole to the side of her mouth.

“Not interested,” I said and began to close the door.

The boy wedged his foot in the door. “Not so fast.”

I opened the door again and rested against it with my hand over my hip, waiting for the purpose of this intrusion.

“I’m Jake. This is Alicia.”

“And let me guess, you’re fucking gay as a two-dollar bill, and Alicia here feeds off that shit, both looking for another member of your pity party by showing the new girl around?”

Alicia and Jake exchanged glances before a laugh broke out between them.

My eyes rolled. “Well?”

“We don’t see too many Americans come through these doors, but you’re right,”—Jake giggled between breaths—”we could use someone like you in our ‘pity party.’”

I waved them both off. “Go suck a dick.”

My comment didn’t faze them. Jake leaned over with his hands on his knees, and his giggle grew loud and obnoxious. Alicia patted her friend’s back as she came back from my comment. “I get it, you’re a badass who hates the world,” Alicia said, and I was sensing sarcasm in her tone, “but, if you’re looking for a fun time tonight, find us at di

Alicia and Jake turned away and proceeded to mock my accent down the hall. “’Go suck a dick,’” one of them said, shoving the other in the shoulder. Their laughs continued to echo through the wing before I slammed the door harder than I should have.