Harleigh was sitting on the lower bunk when a woman around twenty-five approached her. She looked at the file in her hands before approaching, almost as if she was afraid to approach the wrong person.
"Reid, you're bunking with Richards from now on," the woman clad in a black pencil skirt and white blouse said with a snide look on her face. Her blonde hair was tied back, her dark brown eyes glaring at her as if she committed some type of crime. "Jameston said she didn't want you below her anymore, something about what happened last time?"
Harleigh thought about the tiny, toothpick slim teenager who used to share the bunk above her. She was a wildcard, always looking to get someone else hauled off to solitary – or the Pit – as they called it. The Pit was a tiny room with no windows, nothing but toilet and a worn out mattress on the floor. Harleigh had spent a week in the Pit the last time she was there, all because Jenna Jameston decided to plant drugs under her mattress when she wasn't there.
"Fine by me," Harleigh shrugged. Richards. Scottie Richards. Somehow she felt as if the known junkie had paid the little broad off to make that arrangement work out.
"Good. Keep your nose clean this time, Reid. I mean that in the nicest way possible," the woman nodded. "Olivia, in case you're wondering."
Olivia wasn't new to the home, but she wasn't there the last time Harleigh got taken from her home. She was used to the rough and tumble girls that wound up on level 4. The ones with records, the ones with known addictions, the ones society gave up on. When Olivia got there, the guards and employees alike knew very little about the girls. They didn't give a rats ass about their whereabouts or habits. That all changed when she took over two years prior.
"Welcome to level 4. You're expected to sign in and sign out daily. You're expected to attend school if you are enrolled, you are expected to have signed bus passes and signed statements saying you have worked your shift if you hold a job. You are allowed to visit with family on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and only if they are not currently on probation. You will be drug tested at random. Should we find drugs in your system, you will be reprimanded accordingly. Do you understand?" she droned on. "If you miss curfew, you will lose your privileges, this includes access to phones, television, and transportation. If you become involved in criminal activity, you will be transferred to the juvenile holding center where you will await trial. Seeing as you are only months shy of eighteen, I highly suggest you keep yourself out of trouble this time around, Miss Reid. I have your file here and you've already got a record down at the station. It all goes away when you turn eighteen. Now might be a good time to get your act together and think about your future. Before you settle in, we're going to have the doctor take a look at your face and make sure you're clear to be with the normal population. Care to share what happened?"
Harleigh rolled her eyes. She had heard this speech before. More times than she cared to recall. She wasn't afraid of this bitch. She was too uppity to really do anything and pose any kind of threat.
"None of your business," she scoffed. "And I've already been checked out."
"Tina informed us that you were sick when she picked you up, we just want to ensure you're not communicable is all," she tried to reason gently.
"Concussion, bruised ribs, bruised everything else, fractured wrist," Harleigh rattled off. "Tina has my medical records, I'm fine."
"Alright then," Olivia nodded. She scribbled something down in the file she was carrying. "Make yourself comfortable then."
"When do I get to make a call?" she asked, looking at the woman with blank eyes.
"You can have one call tonight, then you have to earn them," she sighed. She glanced at the watch on her wrist, a very expensive watch. Too expensive to be wearing in this place.
Harleigh wasted no time. She tossed the blanket and pillow that was provided to her down on the lower bunk before following Olivia down the hallway towards the line of payphones. She dug into her pocket, retrieving a few quarters. She waited until Olivia was dealing with someone else before dialing.
"Hello?" the voice on the other line picked up.
"Lip?"
"Harleigh?" she could hear the relief in his voice. "Skip's been pacing all damn afternoon, are you okay?"
"I might as well be in jail, but sure," she sighed. "Tell Skipper to find that lawyer Monty used last time. I can't stay here again. I'm going to lose it in here."
"I will, but you have to keep your head down. It's only three months max," Lip said cautiously. Harleigh sounded off. "Are you…did they hurt you?"
"Lip, I'm a big girl, I'm good. Just tell my low-life brother to figure out a way to get me out of here," she snapped, annoyed. She was so tired of people trying to protect her; his tone irritated her. Her features softened when she remembered that that was just how Lip was. He actually gave a rat's ass about her. "I promise, Lip, I'm fine. Tuesday family can come down, but seeing how my family is full of people on probation, if you or Ian want to come, I'd appreciate it," she added. "I guess I'll see you at school Monday. Low and behold, this place is forcing us fuckups to get an education."
"You aren't a fuckup," Lip murmured. "Please, promise me you'll be safe?"
"Always am, Gallagher," she said, smiling into the phone. "Hey, any word from Tess or Cody?"
"Skip said they're in a decent enough foster home," Lip said. She could hear how tired he sounded.
"Good, thanks," she said with a sad smile. "Hey Lip?"
"Yeah?"
"Take care of yourself for a change. You and Fiona spend so much time taking care of everyone else, I think you guys forget you're only human too. It's Saturday, go out, have fun, unwind and take your mind off everything. Your family isn't as screwed up as mine is, you have nothing to worry about. The state only tears apart the really bad families these days," she said as lightly as she could. She knew that the Gallagher's had all spent quite some time in foster homes over the years. Their parents were no better than her own, but the state lightened up on them once Fiona turned eighteen. Harleigh could only hope that it stayed that way. Those kids didn't deserve the hell the system put them through. Her family on the other hand? Well they didn't even try to keep shit together anymore, so nothing surprised her.
Once she hung up, she nodded towards Olivia who waved her hand, signaling that she was free to return to the room that currently housed thirty-plus girls, ranging from thirteen to seventeen. She patted Scottie's legs as she reached for her bag on the lower bunk.
"Storage closet in twenty," Scottie hissed, looking up from the book in her hands. "I've got you, girly."
"Low key shit," Harleigh muttered. "Just somethin' to take the edge off these fucking ribs," she added as she lifted her shirt up just enough to show her the deep bruising. "This shit's killing me."
"Oh, honey, I can make sure you're good and numb for the next couple days," Scottie nodded. She looked over towards the hallway that led to the storage closet. "They don't really piss test us, just so you know."
"Good to know, but I sort of learned that last time, remember?" Harleigh shrugged.
"Olivia seems like a hard ass, but she's terrified of us. She almost got shanked her first day, hasn't really tried to do much of anything since. All bark, no bite," Scottie explained. "Just lay low, we got some of south side's finest underage criminals in here this go 'round."
"No shit," Harleigh chuckled. She laid down on the bunk, not caring about anything but the ache in her side and the constant throbbing of her head. She would have fallen asleep if Scottie hadn't kicked her mattress after twenty minutes passed, signaling that it was time to dip before Olivia did her afternoon rounds.
An hour later, Harleigh was smiling weakly as the pain finally subsided just enough for her to fall asleep.
A/N: I was honestly going to skip this chapter and save it for a flashback later, but decided it was better to share it now. Mind you, as stated before, we're going to stray from Canon for a while. I haven't decided how much of the Karen/Mandy/Lip love triangle I'm going to add in nor how much of the Monica part 1 and 2 I'm going to bother with just yet. Remember, while Harleigh is close to the Gallagher's, she also has a life outside of them which we will be seeing in the coming chapters!
I promise though, we don't miss out on everything ;)