Above me, I could see the stars shining brighter than in the city.
It was amazing there could be such beauty in a place like this.
I sat up and pulled my arms around my legs, and I started to sob.
Painful, mournful sobs.
My body shook with them.
I don’t know how long I was there, before I realised I wasn’t alone.
It was just a sound, like an inhale. I looked up and saw a few hundred metres from me a dark figure, the small spark in front that of a cigarette.
It was a male, from what I could see in the dim light. He was sitting on a bench.
He wasn’t looking at me, but I could feel him.
For a moment I wondered if he could feel me too.
I stood up on shaking legs and wiped my face. I brushed myself off. And I watched the water.
“I’m sorry,” I said finally.
For what, I didn’t know. For crying? For intruding?
For existing.
Then I turned and walked away.
Chapter 12
Seph
I hated this uniform.
The skirt was too short. It fell above my knee. The blouse was fitted.
I pulled the sweatshirt on anyway. I didn’t care how hot it got.
And then I pulled on my gloves.
Fuck the warden.
Sheknewwhat I was.
“They won’t let you wear those,” Jess said from behind me, her voice quieter than yesterday.
“I have a medical condition. They’ll have to.”
I yanked my knee-high socks up as far as they would go, but there was still a strip of bare skin exposed.
Too much.
Way too much.
I had to go see Wild. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—force me to wear this. Not if she had any idea how dangerous it was.
I swung the door open—
