Kevin.

Lunch in prison, I soon realized, was not that different from lunch in High School. Thanks to Scott, that noodle of a man, I got my meal much earlier than most people; he advised me to better get going before the other inmates got hungry and I did.

As I sat there, on the same table as Scott, Mitch and Avi, his friends, I watched what could only be described as a systematic mess.

The poor guy that gave out the food looked extremely stressed out, people shouted at him out of every direction, but he could only work so fast. He too, I noted, was shorter than most people and his icy blue eyes stood in contrast to his dark, messy hair.

Every now and then the guy flinched, only to relax again when one of the inmates actually thanked him. Well, that didn't happen a lot, but it did and he looked thankful for it.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Foust with his friends and nearly choked on my water as that skinny guy leaned in to kiss him. I didn't mind homosexuality, it just looked really funny how their hair tangled together.

"Well, would you look at dem cuties," Mitch, one of Scott's friends, exclaimed as he noticed me watching Foust and co.

"Brown is so gonna be... like pissed when he finds out that Foust got a new cell mate. Poor Kirstie will probably have a new patient in a while," Avi, the bearded guy, added with a slightly amused tone. He didn't know that I would be at the receiving end of Brown's wrath, but I surely knew who to be extra nice to.
Quietly I sipped at my drink and tried my best to appear as non-threatening as I could. I was reluctant to, but I forced myself to take another bite of that disgusting stuff they called cooking just to get rid of the sour taste of my fear.

"We should totally ask them over. You know, I won't pass up that chance to talk to Austin," Mitch cackled and calmly watched my expression change to horror as I tried not to choke (again). He was much smarter than I initially thought, but that just made me more curious how he got here.

Avi hummed in agreement while he shoved food into his mouth, he actually looked like he didn't even stop to breathe or chew while eating and it was somehow fascinating and calming at the same time, but I was still uneasy.
Okay, maybe I was more than just a bit uncomfortable, but who could blame me? I lived among murderers and one of them would surely be mad at me for rooming with his boyfriend.

Scott put his fork down; he looked like he wanted to nod and agree with Mitch and Avi, but stopped himself as soon as he looked at me.

"Austin isn't that scary, he usually just wants attention and flirts with everybody around."

I let out a huff and looked over to Foust again. He and his friends were still waiting for their food, which gave me the perfect opportunity to figure out who was who. I knew Foust and judging by what Mitch and Scott had said Brown's first name was Austin, which meant that I still had no clue who the other three were. I noticed the bald man next to Foust had some similarities to the blond men next to him. Somehow that guy had a rather blank stare as his default expression and still looked attractive.

But I never got to make assumptions about any of them, since Avi had finished his plate and started to take from mine while I didn't look. On instinct, I slapped his hand away with a bit too much force and immediately regretted it. A horrible silence lay over us and for half an eternity nothing happened.

That was until Avi started to laugh loudly, clapping his hands and covering his mouth with them. I hit a madman, he would kill me in my sleep and I already knew it. Oh dear Lord.

"I like you," the madman pressed out between laughing fits. For a long time nothing, but his laughs could be heard until he finally calmed down. "Didn't think you had guts at all."

His already deep voice seemed to have lowered itself one or two octaves more and it did nothing to comfort me. I dry swallowed and swore to myself to learn how to read people while being here. If I continued misinterpreting things, I surely wouldn't be able to survive my stay here.

I sat up straighter and squared my shoulders just a tiny bit, but it did the job. Mitch's lips curled into a smirk and Avi and Scott actually looked proud of me. I didn't like being intimidating and my façade soon feel as Avi once again tried to get some food off of my plate. Just how did he still look fit with that huge amount of food inside him?
Once again I swatted his hand away, gentler this time not really in the mood to make him mad at me and honestly, the stuff they called food already gave my stomach a hard time.

I didn't know why, but I liked him and his friends, they just seemed to work for me. Somehow I was proud of myself for making friends on the first day. It really did feel like High School all over again, okay, maybe a bit more dangerous and less dramatic, but it surely had some parallels.

"So no Austin?" Mitch asked after a while. He seemed to be genuinely disappointed, but the overly strong pout on his face put me off. I really would need to learn a lot, if I wanted to understand these people better.

"Maybe later, when our Kev here has his first therapy session," Scott suggested and put an arm around my shoulder. I needed a full minute to understand what he had said and when I was ready to ask their conversation had long gone to a new topic. I should've been informed about getting therapy, I thought bitterly and made a mental note to talk about this to one of the authorities around here.

I forced down the rest of my lunch and quietly listened to the light banter between Mitch and Scott. What exactly they were gossiping about was beyond me, but I really liked the way their voices sounded together. Every now and then Avi would throw something in the discussion and their joined voices would create a somehow soothing melody, but that never lasted for long.

Before I truly could enjoy my new friend's company the guard, 'Summers' his name tag read, came up to me and guided me to my first session with the shrink. Just for good measure, I complained about the missing information while we went through the cafeteria, but the only reaction from the guard I got was a slightly tighter and somewhat painful grip on my arm.

Shortly before we left and the door closed behind me I turned around to scan the room for my friends, but they were already gone. And so was the lunch guy.

I didn't think much about the missing lunch guy, well, he surely had nothing better to do, maybe he was cleaning up already, but I still wondered about his absence. Scott and the others surely had left earlier because they didn't want to get caught up the mess of inmates, but it still gave me an uneasy feeling. I just liked a bit of moral support, but that felt like it was too much to ask from them.

When we finally arrived at the shrink's office, Summers let go of my arm and knocked against the glass part of the door. He waited for a moment and opened the door before the man inside could answer.

"Geez Baxter, you ought to learn how to properly manage your time," Summers joked, however, it somehow sounded less like a joke and more like an insult, but the guard always seemed to talk like that judging by the lack of reaction the shrink showed. Instead of being offended he simply crooked an eyebrow and walked closer to us.

Baxter, as it turned out, was a kinda familiar looking short man with bright blue eyes and dark messy hair. I stared at the lunch guy for a moment until the penny dropped. The lunch guy doubled as a shrink.

Wow.

°^°

Yes, this is how my prison works. Don't question me, we don't have that much money.

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