Gucci in Juvie

Chapter 14

'I like the sad guys, bad guys/ Mouth full of white lies/ Kiss me in the corridor/ but quick to tell me goodbye.'

-Ghost, Halsey

Hu Li had made a very detailed course of action that she explained to us verbally (you tend not to have a piece of paper when you're locked up in a tight cell).

'First, we have to find out as much about him as possible. And then, when we have made sure that he's new and he doesn't know why we're really in here for, I start talking to him. We get to know him better. You guys aren't too important in this step because I know he has a little crush on me and therefore it'll be easiest for me to work on him. After we become friends, in a way, we tell him why we're in here, and get him on our side. Got it?'

Nathan and I nodded.

And so it began.

STAGE 1: ASKING AROUND

'Hey, you know that guard who was here that first night, and told us what we would be doing until some decision was made for us?'

'Yes, what about him?' A different guard (one that Hu Li had seen around before) sat on a wooden chair in front of us, twirling his whistle in his right hand. His posture was slumped and legs splayed out. It was clear that he was bored out of his mind. This would help us. If he was bored enough, he would start talking just to keep himself from going insane.

'Has he been here long? Haven't seen him around before.'

'Nah, he only came in about a week ago. A newbie, we call him. They're all so inexperienced, newbies.'

'How inexperienced is he?'

'Well, he thinks this place is an actual prison.' The guard threw his head back and laughed. 'How stupid is that?'

I exhaled slowly, trying to keep calm. By calling the guard stupid, he was basically calling all the inmates of J.U.V.I.E stupid. They didn't know about this place either, after all.

'So basically he knows nothing, right?' Hu Li probed even further, giving me a look. Play along.

'Yep.' The guard grinned, showing his yellowish teeth. 'Isn't that hilarious?'

'Yeah, ahahahahaha.' Hu Li giggled and I joined in, trying to make my laugh seem normal and not forced. 

'Wait, what are you doing?' The guard stopped chuckling and glared at Hu Li suspiciously. She widened her eyes and tilted her head to the side, giving him a look that screamed innocence.

Clever girl.

'I'm not doing anything, sir. I'm bored, that's all.' Hu Li blinked her eyes at him and he relaxed, leaning back in his chair.

'Alright. But if I catch you asking any more funny questions, I'm going to have to call the warden.'

'Sure, sir.' Hu Li nodded eagerly.

As the guard returned to his whistle twirling, Hu Li and I made eye contact.

Stage 1 complete. 

STAGE 2: MAKING FRIENDS

The guards took turns in shifts to keep an eye on us, and so we waited patiently (not) for Buff Guy to make an appearance. And when he finally did, Hu Li sat up straighter in her cell, combed her fingers through her hair and mussed it up a little at the top. She then turned to look at me, and when I gave her the all-clear-you-look-hot signal, she turned her head just in time to see Buff Guy walk in and take a seat.