FALLING DOWN |Spencer White

ONE|Painted with Bruises

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Jack was lying on her back in her agonisingly uncomfortable bed, staring up at the bottom of the rusting bunk above her as she tried to stay as still as possible to avoid adding to her pain. Her entire body ached as there was very few places not painted with vibrant bruises in varied shades of purple, blue, yellow and brown, which made it almost impossible to get comfortable no matter how still she lay.

Her eyes stung as they welled with tired tears that she wouldn't allow to fall while she stared straight ahead, taking in the sight of grey paint which was beginning to peel away from the metal that she'd grown accustomed to in the past month.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the sound of the metal bed above her creaking as its occupant moved and she mentally readied herself for what was to come. The woman sat up, purposefully swinging her legs as hard as she could over the edge until her heels made contact with Jack's already bruised side. The girl gritted her teeth, letting out a small involuntary grunt at the contact. Her side ached as the woman swung her legs up again and brought them back down, harder this time, jolting the girl slightly and once again Jack stayed as quiet as she could, not wanting to give the woman the satisfaction of showing how much she was suffering.

"You up Piggy?" The woman, Kylie, shrieked, "Oink Oink bitch! Time to wake up!"

Jack squeezed her eyes shut as the shrill sound of Kylie's voice bounced around in her skull, adding to her already unbearable headache. After a third kick to the side, Jack let out a slow breath as Kylie jumped down, feet landing on the stone floor beside the bed.

The brunette woman turned to face the girl, unruly curls sticking up in all directions as a result of her not brushing her hair regularly. She dropped to her knees and leant her forearms on the bed beside Jack's head, grinning maliciously at her, "Rise and shine you piece of shit." She spat in the girls face. Like, literally spat.

Jack slowly reached up her hand to wipe away the woman's saliva from the side of her face, wincing as she did so. Kylie chuckled as she watched the girl struggle to even move her arm before she gripped her bicep and dragged her out of her bed, eliciting a small cry of pain from Jack as she tumbled to the cold hard floor from her bed.

At the sound of the morning buzzer, alerting them it was time to go get some breakfast, Kylie stood up and would have crushed Jack's fingers had she not quickly pulled back her hands and tucked them beneath her.

"On your feet Piggott," came the voice of a guard as the door to the small damp smelling cell was opened and Kylie left. At the sound of Jack's name, a woman passing by in the hallway jeered, yelling out, "Oink Oink!"

Jack dragged herself to her feet, wincing as she went but she fought the urge to cry out again. She walked towards the door, eyes following the other inmates passing the room as they headed out for breakfast before turning to the guard standing by the door, "I'm not hungry, could I just stay here?"

The guard, as he did everyday when she asked, shook his head, "Nope." He denied, popping the 'p', "If you starve yourself to death, I have to fill out a lot of paperwork. Out you go."

Jack sighed deeply before stepping out into the hallway and immediately receiving a shove from a woman she didn't know the name of. The guard gave the woman a warning but Jack didn't acknowledge it, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she begrudgingly walked towards the food hall.

The first few days after her arrest were quite quiet, nobody really paid her any attention except for an older woman named Fiona who called Jack cute and talked her ear off about her daughter but then someone found out what she'd been arrested for and since then she'd been something of a pariah. Not everyone was violent towards her or verbally abusive but absolutely nobody wanted to be positively associated with her. If Amerie thought she had it bad after the Incest Map, Jack had a reality check for her.

After struggling through breakfast, forcing down the inedible mush they called scrambled eggs and dry toast Jack made her way outside to the yard as did a few others who thankfully left her alone and sat down on a cold metal bench bolted to the floor by the wall. She gripped the edge of the bench and stared out at the large building across the way; the adjacent men's prison where Ca$h was.

She hoped he was doing better than she was. He probably would be fine, considering he wasn't a girl who was arrested for a sex crime against another girl like his sister was. He did have Jayden and Tiller to worry about though, but she doubted they had the guts to do anything unless Chook asked them to. Speaking of, the worst part about it all was that since Chook's face wasn't in the video he hadn't been arrested like the rest of them, so Jack was paying the price for a crime he orchestrated.

Got to love justice, she thought bitterly.

After a while of sitting, unable to do much else as a result of her injuries, she glanced over at the outdoor clock on the wall of the building to check the time. She got up from the bench and made her way inside again to use one of the phones, knowing there was normally a hefty queue of people wanting to speak to their loved ones so by the time she got to the front it would be the time she'd arranged to call the day before.

She eventually got to the front of the line and made her way over to a free phone, opting to not sit down in the chair before dealing the familiar number she had memorised. It rang for a painfully long time before the familiar voice came through, "Sorry, sorry, I wasn't ignoring you, SLTs ran a bit long."

"No worries Montgomery, it's not like I've got anywhere else to be," she sighed, "How's your first day back?"

"Eventful," Malakai said sparingly and she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Eventful how?" She pried, "Come on don't spare the details, I've got the world's most boring life right now."

Malakai chuckled on his end, "Um, let's see. The head of PE is back, Mr.Voss or something." He told her and she hummed, recalling the weirdo teacher who nobody really liked, "There's a new kid, Rowan, who looks like a farmer. Spider is on one about Harper being a witch or something and he also walked out of SLTs today and got the rest of the guys to go with him...oh, and Ant tried to cut his dick off with safety scissors in the quad."

Jack's eyes widened slightly, "Was he successful?" She asked.

"No. Voss tackled him before he could do it."

"Why did he try to cut his dick off?"

"I don't actually know," Malakai admitted, "I think he was high."

"Makes sense," Jack nodded, "What's going on with Spider?"

Malakai sighed deeply, "If you ask me, he just seems bitter about you being locked up." He told her and she audibly scoffed, "Really? Then tell him to answer my calls once in a while I haven't heard from him lately." She huffed leaning her head against the glass divider, "I don't get what's going on with him. One minute he's giving me this speech about doing better and trying again and the next he's radio silent."

"Maybe it's the prison thing." Malakai suggested like it was obvious and Jack squeezed her eyes shut frustratedly, "Yes, I know but why can't he just say that to me? I'm not going to force him to come visit me in prison and call me everyday for three-to-five years, we're not even dating, but he could at least have the decency to tell me he's not interested anymore." She sighed deeply, squeezing her eyes shut, "I feel like I'm losing my mind in here."

"Okay drama queen," Malakai chuckled at her, "I have to go but I'll wait for your call tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, speak to you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye."

A/N
First Chapter of Season Two. Thoughts? -H