Sitting on my bed alone I heard a PA announcement, "Inmates dinner is at six pm today. Everyone must be in the cafeteria. EVERYONE." My ears stung at the sound of the microphone feedback. Uhh fucking assholes. I hate that sound.

I looked at my wrist out of habit for the time. I weakly smiled at my wrist. The simple joys.

It had to be almost time for dinner, because it has felt like a lifetime already. My first day is slightly overwhelming.

The dinner bell rang.

It took me awhile to find the place. There are no clear cut signs in prison with arrows. So you free people living in society better appreciate that shit. I took in the sights of the cafeteria. There were girls sitting at tables with their food, there were girls standing in line, and there were girls staring at me. I looked at all the different types of girls in one room. Skinny, tall, short, old, hairy, fat, former druggies, brunettes, bald, black, white, mexican, and the list could go on. The room was a melting pot. Suddenly, I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. I wasn't sure where to start in this feeding cage.

"Hey! Pierce!" I looked in the direction where I heard my new name.

It was Morello. The girl who gave me the tour. She hasn't stopped being nice to me. Maybe everyone is like her and only my roommate is like...well I don't even know what she is like.

"Go get your food. We have a spot for you here." She spoke as she poked at her food with a fork and nodded at the empty seat.

I'm not sure what words to use in this place, so I gave her an acknowledging nod and walked towards the feeding hole. And what I saw was absolutely revolting, but I grabbed my tray and waited for the food-or what closely resembled food.

"NEXT!"

I placed my tray under the glass and watched the slop scooped onto my plate. First a white glob followed by a green glob, and finally a brown glob topped with what I could only assume to be gravy. A bread roll was firmly placed on my plate by the last worker in line. "You're new."

It wasn't a question. I nodded at her.

"Yo, Red! New girl." The girl wearing the hair net shouted towards the back of the kitchen. I couldn't see the person she was addressing.

I started to walk away until a new voice emerged, "Hey, new one. What's your name?" The older red haired lady asked me in a thick Russian accent.

"Pierce." I firmly stated.

"How you like my food?" She leered at me.

I looked down at my plate, then back at her. "I haven't tasted it yet."

She snickered, "Honest one, eh?" The girls in the kitchen next to her laughed with her. I am getting a Russian mob wife vibe in this kitchen, and it is wigging me the fuck out.

"Come here, pretty one." The Russian lady named Red said to me as she curled her finger at me.

Cautiously, I walked towards her with my tray and leaned over the counter. I didn't say anything I just kept eye contact with Red.

"Special treat on your first day." She winked at me and placed a cherry yogurt on my tray.

Unsure if I should accept or deny the gift, I just smiled and said, "Thank you."

Red leaned over the counter a bit and spoke quietly in her thick Russian accent, "Remember it's tit for tat in here. Freebie on your first day." She winked again and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Completely confused by the generosity of the Russian cook, I quickly walked back to my table. I plopped down on the seat next to people I didn't know, but I didn't seem to care.

"Hey Red gave you a treat!" A girl with curly hair pointed at me. She sat across the table from me, next to Morello.

Morello chewed her food as she spoke, "You betta' cherish that, kid."

I looked at my cup of yogurt then back up at the group, "Does this mean I'm her bitch?"

The group of girls looked at each other then burst out in laughter. One of the girls spoke as her laughter simmered down first, "I'ma Big Boo. And it's called wife here." She winked at me.

All these winks. I'm not sure how to take them. There could be so many different meanings behind a simple wink.

"You ready to lick some pussy?" The curly haired girl spoke as she stuck out her tongue and imitated the action.

Morello punched the curly haired girl in the shoulder, "Don't scare the girl. This is Nichols. Don't mind her. You ain't nobody's wife. Just eat the damn yogurt before Big Boo beats you to it."

"Oh, fuck you." Big Boo choked out.

"And wouldn't you like that." Morello smiled and gave Big Boo a wink. There's that wink again.

I am going to have to get a good wink down. One that could mean anything. All I could think about was winking. I think I started practicing at the table without knowing, because Nichols spoke, "Yo, Pierce you having a stroke or som'in?"

"No, she's just a little slow." Morello whispered to the curly haired Nichols.

"I'M NOT SLOW!" I snapped out of my wordless state. That was just a tad over dramatic, even for me. The conversation changed and no one seemed to care about my outburst. Nichols spoke again, "So is the world missing out on hot blondes or did we all get lucky? Cause this the second privileged blondie we got in a matter of months!"

I start to drown out the conversation and poke at my food. Boy does this look revolting. The only way I am downing this food is if I just eat as fast as I can. I start shovelling the food into my mouth. It tastes better that way. The taste of the food is exactly what you imagine it to be. Remember cafeteria lunches in school? It's worse.

"Here is your toothbrush and your roll of toilet paper." Morello smiled at me. "Now don't say I never gave you nothin'."

"Than-" I was cut off by another inmate shouting in the hallways.

"GOD! He speaks to me! YOU! He says YOU are going to hell until you stop eating pussy!" The yelling faded as she walked through the hallway.

Strangely, I looked at Morello, "What the hell was that?"

She folded her blanket as she spoke, "That? You just ignore that. We call her Pennsatucky. The God thing never stops."

My first day is finally coming to close around here. I can't believe it has only been one day when it has felt like fifty. I am certainly in for a treat here, if time passes like this every single fucking day.

"Pierce, you better get to the bathrooms before it's time for role call for closed quarters." Morello shooed me out of her room.

"Thanks again." I politely smiled and started walking towards the bathrooms to brush my teeth and get ready for bed.

"HEY! Watch where you are going, gringa." The group snickered at me.

I accidently bumped shoulders with my scary roommate Lopez, and one of the girls that was walking with her yelled at me. Does she not speak? Shrugging off the altercation I continued on to the bathrooms. Brushing my teeth, I couldn't help but stare at myself. When did I start looking so tired? This day has clearly taken a toll on me and all I can do is stare at how it shows all over my face. My brushing began to slow down, the more I stared, the more I thought how I could end up looking like an old hag in seven hundred and five days. And that fucking scared me.

I. Will. Not. Cry.

Quickly, I shut my eyes with my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth. I could feel the toothpaste foam leaking from my mouth. But I didn't care. I couldn't look at myself for another second. I need a moment in the dark. Which was interrupted by a smack on my shoulder blade. I am learning you don't even get a fucking moment alone to compose yourself around here.

"Hey, you alright over there?" The voice was unfamiliar. I still had my eyes shut.

I opened my eyes and continued brushing before I answered. I spit out my toothpaste, "Yeah, just taking it all in." I start to feel exhausted as I looked at the girl's features standing next to me, and try not to concentrate on how the circles around her eyes look like mine only bigger. Cute. Blonde. Tall. Thin. This must be the other hot blonde Nichols was speaking about.

The blonde smiled with perfect teeth, "I was like you a few month ago. Name is Chapman. We don't have much time to talk here, come eat lunch with me tomorrow. Us blondes must stick together." She winked at the end of her sentence. I really don't understand winks anymore. Maybe I am "slow or som'in."

I finished rinsing out my teeth while she was speaking to me. Ah, a clean mouth. It's the best. But back to the girl standing next to me, "Chapman. I'm Pierce in here. I'll see you tomorrow." After I finished speaking, I just walked out with my bed in mind. I wasn't in a mood for any more conversations. I'll deal with all of that tomorrow.

Now was time for bed. Where I am hoping not to get shanked in my sleep tonight. Lopez was laying in her bed reading a book when I entered our cell. "Hey." I said out of human nature. She didn't bother looking up from her book, as I expected. I plopped into bed and covered myself with my blanket, that was lacking any sort of thread count.

Just as I was about to get comfortable I heard the bell ring and the guards that were suddenly in the hallways shout, "ROOM CHECK!"

I was confused, I looked around and saw everyone getting up out of bed.

"Ay! Stand up." Lopez spoke to me.

Slowly, I turned and looked over at her and then flung the blanket off me. It was the first time I saw everyone in my block. We all stood at the edge of our cell waiting to be counted off like cattle.

The guard hit both of our shoulders as he walked into our cell and counted us on his clicker. He looked around and then stared at my bed, "Pierce!"

I turned around to address him. "Yes?"

The guard looked at my bed then at me, "Pierce, you've been here for one day and this is how you keep your living quarters? Disgusting." He held up my blanket. I looked over at my roommate's bed and her blanket was folded pristinely. What the fuck, are you serious?

"Uh, uh. I didn't know..." My head fell in shame. I stared at my feet.

The man with the moustache, squinted his eyes at me, then chuckled out his words, "Ha didn't know. Ha. Was that your defense when you broke the law? Oh uh uh I didn't know. Ha. No wonder your pathetic ass is locked up in here." He walked up to me with my blanket in his hand and towered over me. He licked his lips, like the pervert he was. He dropped my blanket on the floor, walked over to the desk, took his arm and swept everything onto the floor.

"Pierce. Now you know. Keep the room clean." He smirked and continued to the next cell.

I went back to standing on the edge of my cell. The girl in the cell next to me whispered at me, "Well call him Pornstache. He's an asshole. I'm Alex and your roommate is a fucking bitch for not telling you how to keep a room for a check." She smiled at me and then went back to standing up straight waiting to be counted off and inspected.

The count was over and the next thing I heard was, "LIGHTS OUT IN FIFTEEN."

Great. I had fifteen minutes to clean up all the shit off the floor that isn't even my fucking shit. Most of it is my awesome roommate's books. I think two items on that desk were mine and I don't even see them. Lopez went back to reading in her bed. I started reading the titles of the books she had stacked in here. "How to write an appeal." Well that's interesting. "Yoga poses for dummies." Normally, if I saw a girl with her features I would absolutely want to know what her yoga body looks like under that jumper. She may be attractive, but she's a bitch. It throws any attractiveness out the window. I finished cleaning up the mess, grabbed my blanket off the floor, and curled into bed.

As I faced the wall the lights finally went out. I was left in the darkness to stare at a concrete wall. The entire day's events simultaneously hit me as soon as I closed my eyes. All I saw was that girl in front of the mirror. The girl I barely recognized after a day.

Me.

I felt my eyes filling up with water as I kept them shut. Don't, you fucking dare. I took in a deep breath, praying that would hinder my oncoming tears. I laid in bed with tears on the verge of expelling. The more I thought about how I was forced to clean up a mess I didn't create, the more upset I became. My mind was racing through the thoughts of the next seven hundred days. I don't know if I can bite my tongue for that long of a period with that asshole as our guard.

After a few hours had passed, I started sobbing. No longer could I hold everything inside of me. It was all too much. Every emotion imaginable hit me all at once in that cold, dark cell. I felt a kick to my bed, which made me yelp in my sobs. What the fuck does she want? I didn't bother to turn around or acknowledge her. See how the bitch likes it. I continued to sob in my corner as I curled up in the fetal position.

Another kick came, then I heard her whisper, "Stop crying, it's depressing."

Refusing to acknowledge her existence, I shifted in my position and pulled the blanket closer to my body as I sniffled. After a few minutes, my loud sobbing turned into quiet sniffling. I just couldn't help it.

Lopez placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, which startled me, and whispered in my ear, "This is your reality now chica, you have to accept it. Pornstache is here to break you down, make you feel like nothing. Don't. Let. Anyone. Make you feel like that in here. Now stop crying. It's depressing all of us."

She got up and walked back to her bed.

So, Lopez isn't as much as a cold hearted bitch as I thought. That makes my plan of hating her difficult. About not wanting to see her yoga body...