Blood Iris

Chapter Three

A deafening shrill ringing sounded throughout the room as the blinding white lights flashed on. I shot up quickly in my cot, the covers spilling over the side of the bed.

It had been a couple days since I had arrived and nothing had changed. It was still as boring as ever, and I still hated it.

Sitting up, I grabbed my clothes out of my locker and headed to the communal bathrooms. I arrived at the same time as Alyssa, my annoying roommate. She hadn't gotten any nicer towards me in the past week. If anything changed, she had become more brutal.

She met my gaze intensely. "I get next shower."

I looked around and saw that the showers were all full. "Okay." I said, but I knew I wasn't going to let her tell me what to do.

She strolled over to the mirrors and looked at her reflection closely. I watched carefully as she got her toothbrush and toothpaste from her small bag and lined them up on the counter neatly as if she owned the counter space. She was rummaging through her bag when one of the shower doors opened and a girl wrapped in a towel left the shower area. I snatched my things and took them with me, closing and locking the shower door behind me.

It took a couple of seconds but then a loud bang made me jump. Alyssa pounded on the shower door a couple times and I heard her shrill voice through the running water. "Hey! I said it was my turn next!" She huffed loudly, muttering some profanities and banging the door a couple more times.

Finally she growled, "You will regret this. No one disobeys me. Everyone eventually does what I say. I won't let you get away with this."

I quickly finished showering. Not too quickly though; I didn't want to cross paths with Alyssa again. No matter how much I hated her and her controlling ways, I didn't want to cause too much trouble. That wasn't in my plan. The only time things hadn't gone according to my plans was when I let my emotional side take over. I couldn't let my passionate hate and anger towards Alyssa and her mistreatment of others push me over the edge. I could easily be out of here in a couple months on good behavior and I wasn't going to let her stop me.

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My plan didn't last too long. Just two days later I found myself facing off with Alyssa in the cafeteria.

My first mistake was befriending Karen, a small, pale girl who was barely five feet. She was only in here for shoplifting because her family of nine was too poor to provide enough food and clothes for all seven children. I knew I shouldn't have let my emotions and my feeling of protectiveness surface, but ever since I met her, I couldn't leave her by herself in this awful place.

I was eating with Karen, warding off all the girls eager to bully someone. I wasn't too tall myself, but I could give a pretty intimidating glare when needed. All I had to do was let a little of my dark feelings emerge and settle in my expression and people backed off. We sat near the door. We were the first to arrive and the first to leave. We both preferred it this way.

My second mistake was when Alyssa came over to our end of the table. She had been watching me the past two days and I knew she noticed me spending more time with Karen than anyone else. I knew something was up when she stopped in front of Karen. I held my breath. This could either end very badly or it could be good for both of us. I had seen this coming and I had told Karen to just ignore everything Alyssa said. I had told her that Alyssa was just a big bully and showing her that she affected you just makes it worse. Now I would see if it helped.

Karen didn't look up as Alyssa stopped next to her. I silently cheered.

Alyssa pulled Karen's tray away from her. She looked up.

"What's the matter?" Alyssa taunted, "Afraid you won't get to eat enough?Because your family certainly won't have anything when you get out." She threw the tray to the ground, watching Karen's face fall. "Or maybe that's why you got caught. Free food and lodging. That's what I would do too, you know. Why stay with your family? They probably are glad that you left. One less mouth for them to feed."

At this point Karen was crying, her soft sobs echoing inside my mind.

I shot up from my seat across from the sobbing Karen. I let all my emotions surface at that moment as Alyssa's cruel eyes found my bright and furious ones. Her haughty expression faltered as I poured all my righteous anger and hatred toward her through my expression. I got in her face, making myself as tall as I could with my 5 foot 4 inches.

"Do you want to say that again? To my face?" I spoke with a deadly softness, my rage surging just below my quiet voice. "And why don't you throw my tray to the ground too?" The cafeteria was silent as everyone held their breath, anticipating a fight. Even Karen didn't make a sound.

Alyssa hesitated, then stood up a little straighter. "I'm not scared of you. You aren't really that tough." She shoved me back and pulled my tray off the table. Its clatter echoed throughout the  silent cafeteria and pierced any self control I was grasping. My eyes burned with rage and my breath quickened.

I swung at her face, my fist colliding with her jaw, sending her stumbling backwards. She scrambled to try to get up but I was faster. I got on top of her, forcing her down. I blocked her attempts to hit me or shove me off as I punched her in the face over and over again. I would have kept going but for the security guards pulling me off of her limp body. I struggled violently against their holds and it took three of them to keep me from escape. They immediately handcuffed my arms and legs and dragged me away, as I screamed with fury.