The second she was let out of her cell for lunch, Katy went straight to the four-bed dorm in search of Beth Bayliss. She knew that it had been her who'd pushed her and the teenager was keen to make sure the woman knew she knew it.
"Oi, you." She spat, pushing the cell door closed behind her. "I want a word."
"What, Mitchell?"
"You try a stunt like that again and I'll kneecap you, yeah?"
"You and who's army?"
Katy was about to reply that she didn't need an army, when the door opened and they both glanced up. Pat looked at them, her face a mask of annoyance.
"Oh, that army."
"I don't need Pat to fight my battles for me." Katy snapped, glaring at her friend and sending her silent signals to leave. "I can handle you myself."
"I ain't here to fight anyone's battles." The lifer said seriously. "I'm here to make sure there aren't any battles that'll get you into trouble."
She looked at Katy and nodded her head towards the door before turning and leaving. Katy set her jaw and glared at Beth for a moment.
"Watch your back, Bayliss." She warned in a low voice, before turning abruptly and leaving the cell.
Pat glared at her as she joined the line for lunch. Rolling her eyes, the teenager leant against the wall and sighed. She knew what was annoying the older woman, but she was refusing to acknowledge it.
"What?"
"You, picking fights! What's the point of it? You're just getting yourself into trouble."
"She started it!" Katy complained, knowing she sounded like a child.
Pat rolled her eyes. "This isn't the school playground, Katy."
As she stalked away, the teenager stared after her. Deciding she suddenly wasn't hungry after all, Katy slammed her tray back down on the pile. She carried her plates back up to her cell, dropping them on the table and throwing herself onto her bed. Her head was starting to ache and she assumed that the painkillers the doctor had given her were starting to wear off. Screwing her eyes closed, Katy turned on her side and curled into a ball, wishing that she could sleep away the time she had to spend in this place.
x-x
The voice in her head was coming in and out of focus, like a badly tuned radio. Katy sighed and tried to swat it away with her hand, clinging onto the last shadows of sleep. When she realised that she was fighting a losing battle, the teenager rolled over and opened her eyes.
"Bloody hell!" She exclaimed, sitting bolt upright and scrambling backwards.
Mr Jackson held up his hands and backed away quickly. "Sorry, sorry!"
"What the… what were you doing, leaning over me like that?" Katy demanded suspiciously.
"I was worried… well… I thought you might have had concussion after this morning."
"You stupid… screw." She muttered, rolling her eyes and sliding off the bed. "I was tired… do you realise how hard it is to sleep round here with that load of nutters shouting out at night? I thought trying to sleep with a baby around was hard…"
Walking over to the mirror in the corner of her cell, Katy carefully rubbed the smudges from under her eyes. She reapplied her eyeliner quickly. When that was done, she turned, leaning against the sink and folding her arms over her chest. Katy fixed the prison officer with a hard stare.
"Was there anything else you wanted?"
"If you've got somewhere else to be, Miss Mitchell, don't let me detain you." He told her, a small smirk on his face.
In spite of herself, Katy found that a smile was forcing itself over her face too. "Well, actually, I was going to have a late lunch with some friends before doing a spot of shopping and then going out for a drink or three tonight."
"I'm afraid there's a problem with your transport for this afternoon, so you'll have to rearrange."
Katy sighed theatrically. "Oh well, I suppose I can find something to do; perhaps an afternoon of folding sheets and ironing tea towels?"
"Followed by a slap-up meal of lasagne and chips and an evening of pool and gossip and picking fights with Beth Bayliss?"
"Is that's what we're having for dinner, then? Lasagne and chips?" Katy asked, dropping the make-believe scenario in an instant.
"Is Beth Bayliss who you've been fighting with?"
Looking at him for an instant, Katy gave a growl of disgust and stalked past the prison officer out of her cell. He tried to speak to her as she caught up with the others who were lining up for afternoon work in the laundry, but she ignored him and glared furiously at the floor instead.
"Mitchell?" Henderson called, striding towards her. "Miss Betts wants to see you in her office."
"Why?" The teenager demanded, immediately suspicious of the man approaching her.
"Your exam results are in."
Katy blinked at him, not having any idea what he was talking about. Gradually it dawned on her. With everything that had been going on over the last few weeks, she'd completely forgotten that today was A Level results day. She wasn't sure how or why, but obviously the results had been sent to Karen.
Suddenly nervous, the teenager followed the prison officer through the corridors. She kept her distance from the man, not wanting to get close enough to him for him to reach her. He stood in the gateways so that she was forced to squeeze past, clenching her jaw and ignoring his hands on her as she passed.
"Katy, come in." Karen smiled as Henderson knocked on her office door and opened it. "Thank you, Liam."
"I can't believe I forgot about my exams!" The teenager muttered, shaking her head. She was too nervous to sit in the chair in front of the desk, bouncing from foot to foot.
"Nervous?"
"This is worse than that pregnancy test." Katy joked.
Karen chuckled and held out a large manila envelope. Her hands shaking, Katy took it and opened the top, sliding the papers inside it out. She hesitated, her hand clutching the top edge of the paper and glanced at the woman in front of her.
"Can you look?"
"Me?" Karen raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
The teenager nodded and handed her results back to the wing governor. Pulling the paper fully out of the envelope, Karen glanced at the writing on the cover sheet quickly. She looked up, her eyes meeting Katy's and whistled.
"I didn't realise you were this brainy!" She admitted. Then a broad smile broke over her face. "Two A*'s, an A and a B."
Katy couldn't take it in. "What?"
"You got two A*'s, an A and a B." Karen repeated, holding out the papers.
Snatching them from her hands, Katy's eyes roved over the writing on the sheet in front of her. She couldn't believe what the woman had said until she saw it in black and white for herself; two A* grades in English Literature and Politics, an A in Geography and a B in General Studies. Now Katy did sit down, sinking into the chair in front of Karen's desk in total shock.
"Jesus… I never actually thought I'd manage to get A's, let alone A*'s… Ron and Rox will be so happy!"
"Why didn't you apply to University? You're obviously clever enough." Karen asked interestedly.
The teenager shrugged. "Never wanted to go. I was gonna drop out of school after my GCSEs, but Ronnie persuaded me to go back. Then I missed some time having Ruby, so I had to redo my last year. I was a year older than everyone else, but I didn't care. But going to University? No thanks. Until all this shit started I was running a club."
There was a pause as Karen considered her words. Katy could almost see the cogs turning in her mind. Then she smiled.
"D'you want to phone your sisters and tell them?" Karen gestured towards the phone on her desk. "Help yourself."
