Short, yet important chapter. Don't be insensitive in the comments. Enjoy.

Jon and Kellin stood next to each other at the end of the line-up, right outside of Jon's cell by the wall. Jon slapped Kellin's thigh lightly, leaving the long haired boy to laugh and shove Jon towards the wall. Jack, Joshua, and Pete were next to them, laughing at Pete's wet, curly hair as he shook his head roughly, trying to knock the water out of it. Joshua tugged at the dark locks, fascinated at how the curls bounced back. Pete chuckled lightly, allowing the other boy to have a good time messing with his hair. Zack, Harry, and Spencer were a makeshift band as they stood near the door. Zack was drumming against Spencer's back, and Spencer made beats by stomping his bare feet against the floor. Harry was singing some song the guards had never heard before.

"What even is the point of this," Otto asked Awsten as they watched the boys interact with each other. "Why don't we just let them spend the nights in their cells?"

"They'll never learn like that," Awsten replied.

"And what exactly are you trying to teach them?"

Geoff shrugged. "We just need to make the experiment work. Let's make this into an real prison so that Mr. Joseph can have some actual results to look at."

Awsten nodded, then took his baton and slapped against his opposite hand until all the prisoners' attention was on him.

"It's time for counts. You have a number on your clothes and on your cell. We're gonna go down that line and you're gonna say that number. Understood? Starting with you, Lennon," Awsten said, pointing at Harry.

The boy turned to look at his cell. "Ah, 8616."

Zack turned his back to Spencer. "Hey, what's my number?" He whispered, then repeated the number he was told loudly. "888."

Zack returned the favor for Spencer, who then called out, "8302."

Jack twisted and contorted his body, trying to look at the numbers on his back. All the prisoners laughed at him as he finally shouted, "Oh! 843!"

Joshua played off of Jack, but amped it up a little. He twisted his smock around, then lifted it in order to see the number, allowing the entire room a full view of his dick and ass. "Oh no," he shrieked sarcastically, "my extremities!" The prisoners were in stitches as Joshua finally called out, "878."

Instead of doing something silly or calling out his number, though, Peter looked the guards in the face. "Yo, what's the point of this?"

"Excuse me, prisoner?" Geoff asked, stepping forward a bit. Otto put a hand in front of him, encouraging him to calm down and avoid confrontation without a single word.

"No, I mean, ya know this ain't a real prison, right? Y'all need to bring it down. Why y'all got on those sunglasses anyways?"

From their office, Donald, Tyler, Skyler, and Mike watched the goingson.

"Fuck," Skyler muttered.

"No," Tyler said, hushing him. "Let's just see how they react."

Otto looked at Awsten. "He's right. It's not real. Let's just calm down-"

"Say your number, inmate." Awsten commanded. He sounded unsure of himself as he deliberated the intensity of the situation. What could he do? What was off limits? Could he hit people? How mean was too mean?

"I just don't understand why I have to. Lighten up, my man," Pete said through a laugh.

Awsten hesitated, but finally allowed the words he was planning to come out of his mouth. "Look here, nigger, I'ma give you one more chance to say your number before we have problems."

The humor was sucked out of the room immediately. Otto's mouth dropped open slightly, as did Pete's.

"What the fuck, man?" This was from Joshua. "You can't fucking say that! Take it back!"

Awsten shrugged, slightly pleased at the reaction. "Maybe if he would say his number, I wouldn't be able to tell that he ain't nothing but a little nigga."

"Fuck you, dude! Fuck you," Jon and Kellin nearly screamed from the end of the line-up.

"8612," Pete whispered amidst the chaos. Somehow, it was louder than any scream could have been. He cleared his throat and said it louder. "8612."