BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!

"Huh!? Wha-Ahh!"

Flora landed with a thud on the floor as she rubbed her back in pain. She quickly stumbled and shut off her annoying alarm.

"I'm up, I'm up!" She picked herself up and rubbed her eyes, her hair was down in long strands of auburn, hazel, and caramel colors. Her signature curl was subdued as it decided to remain pasted to her forehead.

She yawned as she walked to the bathroom conveniently placed by her bedroom. She started the shower and waited a bit for it to get warm. She undressed and hopped in only to yelp in surprise. The shower was ice cold! She quickly washed herself and jumped out, shivering.

As she was wrapping herself in a towel her cell rang. She rushed to get the call, almost completely slipping as her wet feet glided across the floor.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Flora!" Luke's voice beamed through the phone followed by another voice, "Morning, Flora."

She smirked and slightly rolled her eyes playfully, "Professor, you don't need to call me this early in the morning! I just woke up." Her voice glowed through the phone and the professor chuckled.

"Apologies, Flora, but we just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry! I told you i can take of myself now." She said as she dried off her hair

She knew he was worried at her moving away from him. She was the closest thing to a daughter he had.

She heard him sigh softly, "I know...it's just gonna take me awhile to get used to."

She smiled and opened her closet to pick an outfit, "Well...i have to go. School awaits! I'll call later, Professor, I promise!"

"Bye Flora!" "Goodbye, Flora."

"Bye." She hung up and smiled, he was always gonna worry. He figured she was very delicate but in fact she was stronger than he thought. After she got dressed and made herself a decent meal(her cooking skills improved a little but still needed improvement), she grabbed her small totebag and headed out her door.

She turned and nearly jumped out of her skin when someone was standing directly in front of her.

"G-Goodness! You scared me..."

The pale woman looked at her skeptically, "Right..."

She was visibly aged but not old. Her hair bore small grey streaks along her brown hair. Her face never moved from that skeptic look through they're whole conversation.

Flora stood there awkwardly before remembering something, "Oh! You're the owner of these apartments right?"

The woman nodded and held out her hand, "Hilanda Holland."

Flora shook it in return, "Flora Reinhold."

Flora smiled nervously as she turned away to begin heading to the bus stop, "Please excuse me! I-I have to go now." And she was off.

When she arrived at the stop, she noticed someone sitting on the bench. She didn't think much of it and just stood by the stop.

"Flora?" A feminine voice rang out.

She turned to see who it was but then was tackled before she could say anything else.

"It's been so long! You look good!"

Flora regained her breath as the woman let go of her. She focused her vision on the short, blonde-haired, make-up covered figure in front of her.

"Rosetta?"

Of course, Flora could recognize those half-lidded hazel eyes from anywhere.

"Yes! My, have you grown. Catch any bait yet~?" Her voice seemed oddly suggestive.

"Bait...?" Flora tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh, come on. Don't act so innocent! I know there has to be a few men who have their sights on you, Flora."

Flora blushed and fiddled with her fingers, "Oh...umm...no! N-Not really...not that i know of anyway."

Rosetta giggled, "No need to be shy! Oh! The bus is here!"

The familiar cherry red bus toited its way to the stop. Flora and Rosetta entered and took a seat next to each other. The whole way Rosetta talked about "honing her flirting skills" and even talk of the professor came up but was quickly dropped by the stop of the bus.

"Oh! We're here!" Flora sprang up frantically. "I-I'd better go! Bye!" Without another word she burst out of the bus.

"Phew. Thank goodness that's over..." She said, turning to the gigantic school before her eyes.

The university was swarming with new students and professors alike. It was a new school year and freshman were getting registered while the seniors prepared to leave. The air even smelled anew! In her chest her heart beated excitedly, ready to start. She takes a deep breath and walks up to one of the booths just outside the school doors.

By the time Quinn woke up, Clive was already wide awake. He always was and doing his usual daily sketching. Quinn stretched his arms and cracked his neck.

"I swear these beds will be the death of me."

Clive chuckled a bit and continued drawing, "I don't think they care enough for us criminals to be comfortable."

Quinn got up and looked over Clive's shoulder, "Yeah, probably."

He was drawing a cute squirrel just outside their cell window. He seemed to be invested it it, taking his time to get the details just right. Before he could finish though, the squirrel was startled by a sudden noise and scurred away.

"Darn...he got away."

Clive shook his head, "No...i'll remember what he looks like." He tapped his head with the pencil, "I have a...very good memory you could say," smiling as he said this.

Then, a loud buzzing sound could be heard throughout the hallway and the doors to their cell opened up along with the other cells on the floor.

Clive stood, him and Quinn walked along their usual route to get to their "playground session". The noise bothered Clive as all the inmates were finding their cliques, like they were in high school or something. Quinn was talking about his wife and what she sent him this month as a gift. Clive was listening, nodding and smiling at some parts, but still, he was on another planet, still.

When they finally reached the keeper grounds they were meet by two officers who didn't really look up to par for this job. They were tall, yes, but not very muscular at all. They were perspiring from the usual humidity around there and they both had a look of caution on their faces. Like one of the prisoners was going to attack them or something. They searched Clive, then Quinn. Once they were cleared, a large metal door opened and allowed them inside.

Clive ran his fingers through his hair as he felt the humidity personally stick to his face. On the other side of the court a group of guys called Clive over. He smirked and ran over to them.

"Heya, Clive! Ready to play?" A rather short gentleman-well, he wouldn't be called a gentleman since he was in jail and all-shouted out with a makeshift bat in his hand.

This was Clive's favorite part of the day, playing baseball with the boys. It all started about a year ago, an inmate-Joe Gerr-who was madly in love with the sport suggested it. They were all disapproving at first but when they played it for the first time, they all loved it. And so it became tradition. The grounds were just the right size to play a decent game. Even though they didn't have all the equipment, the guards were nice enough-or scared enough-to lend them some supplies to use for the games. Clive, of course, was captain of one of the teams, "The Surge" they called themselves.

They set up the field and Clive meet up with the other team captain, acting a bit cocky, "Ready to toss, Gerr?"

"Tails," Joe called out.

Joe flicked out his only coin and flipped it on the ground. Heads. Clive smiled proudly and made his way to the batting place. The pitcher stared intensely at him as he held the ball firmly in his grasp.

"Come on now! Toss it!" Clive called out impatiently.

With that, the pitcher tossed the ball at a rapid speed.

WHACK!

Clive hit it right on the mark, sending it flying on the other side of the grounds.

That night in the cell, Clive stayed up for a bit, thinking. He grabbed some paper and quietly sat down by the window. The moon's light reflected through the bars, giving him enough light to see what he was doing. He thought about writing a letter, but instead grabbed only a single sheet in which he only wrote a name.

I hope this wasn't too boring. I just wanted to establish Clive's surroundings on the first chapter. Any advice would be super helpful though! Thanks for reading! :D ANNNND i just realized how hard this is gonna be to create a romantic setting while he's in jail. Gahh...what have i done to myself?