Born in prison, in love with a cliché.

𝚃 𝚆 𝙾

I let out a huff and look at myself in the rusty old mirror. A stray of my black hair flies up and falls back in my face. I take a deep breath and look outside of my cell.

The first group is eating their breakfast. I don't know what day it is, or month. The only thing we know is the year and time in this place. It helps the time go by faster apparently. I look at the big clock. It's thirteen minutes past six in the morning. Some kids are yawing while others have gotten used to the routine. Just a few more minutes and then I can finally eat.

I put my hair up in a ponytail and lay back down on my bed and crawl under the sheets. I close my eyes and enjoy the peace until it gets disturbed by a loud sound.

My eyes fly open and I look at the bars. A guard looks at me.

"Up, Gather!" She says loudly and slowly I step out of the bed again.

Not a lot of prisoners get called by their names here. It's mostly just "You!", "Hey, there!" or something else like that. But I'm the girl that's literally been here all her life. That kinda makes me stand out.

When I got moved away from my mother the first thing the new guard here said was "You've been here your whole life? What'd you get sentenced for? Being born?" I know she didn't mean it like that but it still hurts.

In the beginning, I was okay with living here as long as I got to stay with my mom. I didn't want to live with strangers. But when I got placed to another cell away from my mother everything changed. I wanted her to sign those damn papers but she refused. I still hate her for that.

No prisoners here know that I've been here my whole life, the most just think I got a long sentence. That makes most of them think I've done something really bad, and that scares them away from me.

I sit on the edge of the bed and wait. When it's six-thirty I stand up and wait for my cell to open. I get my food and join a table. I normally sit with the same people, the quiet ones that did something dumb but innocent. They didn't mean their crimes to be bad. They just happened to have a bad outcome.

I'm trying to enjoy the food, which is very unlikely when I see Zach Bryne coming over. He's a nineteen-year-old asshole who likes to push my buttons. He puts his hand through his dark brown hair. The movement exposes his forearm and I can see his wolf tattoo there. His eyes meet mine and he smirks at me.

"Gather." He greets me with. I take a deep breath and turn fully to him.

"What kind of sad unoriginal comment do you have for me this morning Bryne?" I ask him uninterested and he grins. He sits down a little to close next to me and I give him a warning look. All too amused he holds his hands up and puts more distance between us.

"None, only an announcement." He says and I keep silent. "My guard said something to me today. His exact words were 'Enjoy your last day in prison.' I'm free tomorrow." He gives me an evil smile but I don't react. "I'm wondering how many years you still have to be here. You've already been here quite a while Gather. Such a shame for a pretty girl like you to be locked up here." He catches a stray of my hair and puts it behind my ear.

I can feel a blush creeping up my cheeks so I catch his wrist and push it hard away from. I lean in close to him and look him straight in the eyes. "Touch me one more time and I'm afraid you'll never be a free man again Bryne," I tell him in a soft but threatening voice and for just a second he's taken aback. He quickly recovers and gives me a fake smile.

"I'm going to miss those comments." He stands up, turns his back to me, and gives me one last glance. "Have a nice life Gather." He says and walks away, off to his own table and I turn back to my food. Asshole.