IAN
Three days.

Three whole three days passed by and I was becoming insane because of it, just like the rest of the psychopaths here.

My roommate, that the nurse had warned me about, hadn't shown up yet. Something about stabbing another patient with a plastic fork, so he was taken down to some isolated room where they probably tortured the crazy out of you. Whatever it is, it isn't a place you want to end up in. He was scheduled to come back today and I was nervous, but I couldn't let it show. Especially if his reputation is as bad as I've heard. I couldn't show weakness- just like Maddie said.

I silently took a tray from the stack and followed the cafeteria line for lunch. I held back a grimace at the food that looked like the equivalent of diarrhea and thanked the lunch lady politely.

"It's about time someone with manners showed up." She smiled at me and secretly scooped another serving of formless mush onto my plate with a wink. "Don't tell the other boys, they're beasts."

"Tell me about it," I exhaled. "I don't think I-" I was suddenly shoved onto the floor with a loud thud from the harsh contact. Luckily my tray was resting on the steel counter so I didn't spill it all over the place. I glared up at the guy who had pushed me. He was smirking while his friends were howling with laughter. I had the sudden urge to dump it all over his head but I didn't have a death wish.

"You're holding up the line, Dickwad," he snarled, glancing back at his friends to make sure they were still laughing. Which they were.

I stood back up and grabbed my tray. I found myself regretting my entire existence, gulping nervously at the pissed look on his face.

The nice cafeteria lady's voice boomed, scaring me a little. "Cut the shit, Chris! You know I won't hesitate to send you back to solitary!"

What the hell was she doing? She was about to secure me an enemy on my first day! I wanted to freak out but I couldn't. I didn't want to be on anyone's bad side and, even though I technically didn't do anything wrong, this asshole was the one to blame.

Chris's friends burst into laughter again as his face reddened in anger and embarrassment. He subtly glanced back, eyes meeting with another boy from across the cafeteria who had been watching. No one else noticed, but I sure did. The boy was biting his lip, trying not to laugh as he watched the situation, And that made Chris so much angrier.

He was trying to impress him. Stupid teenage boys and their toxic, overbearing masculinity. Being a cunt isn't going to win anyone over, it just makes everyone hate you.

"You're just some pathetic, middle-aged woman working at a shithole like this," he snarled at her viciously, "so who's winning here?"

And that was when I curled my fists, anger rising in me that I was too scared to show- but someone yanked me back. I heard the lunch lady yell for the guards as they quickly ran over and tackled Chris to the ground, overly aggressive.

"Let go of me!" he barked at them as he thrashed around. "I'll fucking kill you!"

One of the guards suddenly slammed his head into the ground, knocking him out cold, but not before he gave me the dirtiest look I've ever seen.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was when I knew I fucked up. Chris wasn't huge, but he was significantly bigger than me (not that that's much of an accomplishment) and half the other guys in here. He could crush me with ease if he wanted to, and he seemed like he wanted to.

I was pulled back to reality when the person who had pulled me back waved their hand in my face.

"New kid, you there?"I blinked stupidly, realizing he was the boy Chris had been staring at from across the cafeteria.

"Yeah," I coughed uncomfortably, glancing down at his hand that was still holding onto my arm. "Yeah. I'm fine."

He stepped back from me before chuckling, "you know how stupid that was, right?"

"Incredibly stupid," I agreed.

He smiled, "do you want to sit with me?" the boy asked out of nowhere. "I know you're new and you look like you could use a friend, I'm Miles."

I hesitated, not sure whether I should accept or not. Sure, having an ally would be good in case I was ever spontaneously jumped, which was more than likely to happen now, but I wasn't thrilled with the idea of hanging out with a crazy person. That's why all of them are here.

He tilted his head at me and gave me puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

But he doesn't look too crazy to me.

I slowly nodded, "okay."

I grabbed my tray and offered the cafeteria worker a grateful, strained smile. The boy and I walked beside each other to where he had been sitting. I poked around at the nasty looking food on my plate, debating whether I should toss it or not.

"They won't let you," the boy told me, reading my mind. "They monitor everything you do, If you don't eat they'll literally force it down your throat."

My eyes widened, "are you serious?!"

He nodded, taking a bite off of his plate, "you get used to the taste."

"How long did it take you?" I asked.

"I've been here for three months, but it only took a week or two."

I grimaced at the plate. The mashed potatoes were watery and clumped together, the chicken was so burnt I could've mistaken it with charcoal, and there was something else so disgusting that I couldn't even tell what it was. It was a dark green color that looked like something you'd find in a swamp.

"How is everything else in here?" I asked softly after a few moments of silence. "I know that it isn't exactly a five star rated hotel, but..." I trailed off. He ran his fingers through his curly brown hair with a sigh.

"I guess the only half-decent thing is that no one outside of this place can bother you. Everyone here has a bad past with a million different problems, so at least you can get away for a while."

I thought about it. He was right in the sense that I wouldn't have to deal with my parents and the police just yet. I didn't know if I was exactly ready for that or not. My brain needed time to unscramble and process everything that went down.

But knowing that Maddie would be all alone to deal with everything herself wasn't worth it. Not in the slightest.

"Do you like it?" I asked. "Getting a break from reality, I mean."

He thought about it for a moment, "I love it."

I was baffled at how he could manage to smile in a place like this. Somewhere dark, haunting, and terrifying- I didn't get it at all.

I watched his facial expressions as he began to explain a little bit about his situation and how he didn't have to put up with bullying at school. He pulled off looking happy while talking about how awful his life was, well, is.

"There was this guy at my school, Nolan, who was the absolute worst. He was your stereotypical captain of the football team fuck boy with no emotions or remorse." Miles spoke with his hands moving all over the place as if he were animating his story, "he would beat me up, call me names and stuff like that, but it turns out that he had a crush on me."

As Miles went on, I found myself laughing. He just kind of had that effect on people, it seemed. I was about to ask how that related to him being sent here but we were interrupted by a shout. It was another nurse who was walking into the cafeteria, beckoning for everyone to clean up so we could go back to the main room. I decided to stay next to Miles. He was my best shot at a companion here. I still couldn't trust him but at least he'd be someone to talk to. God knows how long I'll be held hostage in this place.

Remembering where we left off, I spoke," so, what are you in here for?" I asked casually, Miles looking at me like I'm mental.

"You can't ask people that here!" he whisper-yelled at me, clearly loud enough for other people to hear but no one was listening, causing ruckuses instead. Teenage boys are the worst. Never mind the mentally inept ones.

I looked at him, confused. "Why not?"

Miles scoffed at me, "how about you tell me why you're here?"

My stomach twisted at the reminder. "Okay. I get why I can't ask that now."

When we all got to the day room, a guy was sitting in one of the chairs, looking bored. His expression was cold like he was void of any emotions at all. You could tell when everyone else noticed his presence because it was as if the room all lost their breath at once.

I certainly did, but I wasn't sure why they did. His long legs were spread out in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. His hair was a color somewhere in between black and brown that seemed to fit in perfectly with his tan skin. His eyes were a shade so dark that they were close to black. I couldn't tell whether I thought that was absolutely terrifying or undeniably hot.

"He's back." Miles shivered.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Draven," he whispered to me, this time so quiet I could barely hear him over the noise of the other patients, "Draven's back."

Fuck. Draven was the guy that I was supposed to be rooming with!

"Oh my god, that's him?" I asked Miles frantically. Everyone had settled back into the room and was scattered about, making sure they were a good distance away from this Draven dude who continued to act as if no one else existed.

"Yeah, he's the most terrifying guy I've ever met. Barely talks to anyone, and never even shows any emotions at all. He just got back from solitary, I guess," he answered with a sigh. "Not going to lie, he's pretty hot."

I wanted to agree, but I decided not to disclose my sexuality to anyone here. Miles wouldn't be an exception. Even if he seemed normal on the outside, who knows what he looked like on the inside?

"Dude," I choked, "he's my roommate!"

Miles stared at me with parted lips for a second in utter disbelief before bursting into laughter. I glared at him as he bent over, clutching his knees as he tried to stop and stifle the sound.

"What's so funny?" I crossed my arms.

"You're going to fucking die, that's what."

A/N
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