A Crazy Phase

CHAPTER TWO: More Bars, More Cops

November 3, a place I have been only once before

I stared at the metal bars in front of me.

It wasn't that idiot's gate bars. No, these bars meant a life without freedom. It meant watching sunlight without ever being able to feel it's warmth on your skin. It meant-

"Come on, it's really not that bad," the idiot said. "Especially since I'm here."

I glared at the boy sitting on the other side of the holding cell. I mirrored his position - criss cross applesauce.

"Remind me again why you're here," I said clearly annoyed at his presence.

He had hopped in the passenger seat of the cop car after the police had arrested me and ruthlessly pushed me into the back of one of their cars. The idiot had tried to tell them that there was no reason to arrest me but then they had searched me and found my-

I shook my head to clear the memory. They weren't supposed to find that.

Looking back and the boy in front of me, I realized he hadn't answered my demand.

"Now you're staring," I rolled my eyes. "Why are you staring?"

"Only because you look like a girl now," he said smiling. "That's weird. I could have sworn you were a guy when I first saw you."

"That's because the soap washed away the evidence of my awesome makeup skills."

That was a whole other matter. It had taken about half an hour to work my head head from between the bars with the soap. When the soap hadn't worked by itself, the guy had pulled over a water hose. Nothing good came from that except for the fact I was no longer stuck between bars. But I had emerged from the gate looking like a wet dog that had trampled through a field of evil little kittens. In the process of unsticking my head, the combination of soap and water had washed away the remains of my contouring.

But I guess I did look like a girl again. Even if I were sitting in a holding cell with wet, frizzy hair and battered ninja clothes.

"You didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"Why are you here?"

"Because you need me, of course," he said jokingly, but I didn't buy it.

"Really, why are you here?"

"Let's just say I'm not unfamiliar when it comes to jails. And I know just how bad people in jails can be, and we can't have harmless little Ree being frightened by the big bad criminals."

I scowled when he got my name wrong and called me harmless. As soon as I got out of here, I'd show him just how harmless I could be. I pushed down my anger and made a different comment.

"You seem to speak from experience."

"No, just from someone else's experience," his eyes lost focus, but after a second or two, he looked at me again, this time with a slight smirk. "So, are you on first name basis with these bars, or should I just say bars in general. I don't know you all that well, but I think you have a fetish with metal bars. But I'm not judging."

I ignored him, and my eyes widened as I realized I didn't even know this guy's name. "What's your name?"

"Like I'm going to just give you my name. You'll call the police on me," he said in a high pitched girly voice that sounded nothing like me.

My eyes narrowed into slits. I crossed my arms and said, "I'm still mad at you for calling the police on me."

"I did not call the police on you."