Maya walked very slowly on her way back to her cell, so there'd been no evidence of her tears. Nicky never knew the better, and for that Maya was grateful. Her breakdown hadn't had much of anything to do with Nicky, it was just a reaction to the well of emotions she'd been pressing down. She did feel lighter now that she'd let some of it out.

Every day in the showers, Maya continued to feel as if something were off. She got the same weird feeling when they were made to stand outside of their cells for count. At first she couldn't put her finger on it. Then it grew into a feeling of being out-of-place. Finally, exactly a week after she'd been at Litchfield, it dawned on her. She was standing behind Nicky in line for the showers, and after tossing the idea back and forth in her head, she decided to approach it.

"Nicky," she whispered, leaning in to the girl's puff of hair. "I'm getting the feeling that the girls we bunk and shower with are all..." She hesitated, instantly feeling foolish.

"White?" Nicky provided with a toothy grin.

"Well, yeah." Maya tried to conceal a smile, but finally let it show with the giggle that escaped her throat.

"Yeah, it seems weird at first, but they kinda segregate us in here. I've been wondering what they were thinking with you..." She looked the girl up and down. Maya was mixed, half-black half-white. She had very light skin and baby fine hair, but anyone who really looked at her could clearly see she had a natural brown to her skin. She often got mistaken for Hispanic, her last name being Luna, but never white. Their conversation paused when it was Nicky's turn to shower.

...

The girls took their trays of breakfast to their table. Morello and Chapman were discussing something about articles and pieces. With all of the magazines Morello was always fawning over, Maya figured they were talking about clothes.

"So, do you think I should tell anyone?" Maya asked, turning to Nicky.

"Tell anyone what?" Officer Luschek asked, suddenly right behind them. Nicky raised a brow and looked from Luna to Luschek.

"Appears Litchfield's finest may have overlooked some of Luna's paperwork."

"Impossible," he said with a condescending tone that rubbed Maya the wrong way.

"Does she look fuckin' caucasian to you?" Nicky playfully elbowed the officer's hip.

"Watch it, Nichols," he barked. She just laughed as his concentration on Maya started to bring confusion to his face. "I'll go see what happened. What are you?" He looked from Maya's face down to her ID badge. "Luna? What is that, Mexican?"

"By your standards, I'd presume black." He gave her another perplexed look. She stared back blankly. Rather than speaking further, he turned and disappeared out of sight.

"That settles that," Nicky said with a shrug. The two went back to chatting mindlessly throughout the meal. Maya had recently started indulging in small-talk with the other girls at their table. The group got up to go, Maya back to her bunk and the rest off to work. As they exited Luschek was waiting.

"Been reassigned, Luna. You've also got a work assignment, starting today." A voice came from the radio on his shoulder. "Work calls, go have Healy explain it. Nichols, get your ass to electric." As he quickly walked away Maya turned to Nicky, panic surfacing quickly.

"Hey, you'll be fine," Nicky placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "O'Neill's back that way, he can show you to Healy's." Maya's heart was jumping wildly in her chest. She was just getting used to her new little world, it couldn't be shaken up so quickly. "I'll see ya around, alright?" Maya nodded before stepping forward and hugging her. Nicky laughed.

"Sorry, I'm affectionate," Maya whispered with a smile. "See you." They parted and Maya found Officer O'Neill. He led her to Sam Healy's office, where she was asked to take a seat.

"Hello, Luna," Healy said as he laced his fingers together and leaned in towards her. "Seems we've got you into a little mix up, and I'm sorry about that." She just nodded, apprehensive of him and desiring to speak as little as possible. "Normally we might just leave you, but we just got a new inmate to place in your block and an opening for you in another block, so it's really a seamless switch." She just gave him a ludicrous look and listened on as he told her the new assignments. He gave her directions to the library and sent her on her way.

...

"You know, I've been meaning to sign up for Pilates. The studio is right across the street from my Starbucks!"

"I tire too easily from physical activity, so I just switched to a gluten-free diet. It's working wonders, MacKenzie."

"I can tell, hon. Your body is looking so bikini ready."

The fuck? Maya's face scrunched in confusion as she walked slowly through the rows and aisles of books. No one had been at the desk by the entrance, so she followed the voices further.

"Speaking of coffee, how adorable is the new shop uptown?"

"Cute, but have you seen the cupcake boutique on fifteenth? Oh, Amanda, it's simply to die for."

Cupcake boutique? Maya came around the corner and was shocked to see the girl from the bathroom. She was talking to a smaller girl with a grey sweatshirt and shortly shaved hair. The two were lost in a fit of giggles when she hesitantly approached.

"I'm sorry, do you two work in here?" she started. They turned to face her, their smiles ghosts of the previous laughter. "I, uh, just got assigned."

"About damn time! Man, business been booming lately." Maya glanced around the empty library and nodded. "Well, most people are working right now, but after a while, when shifts change, you'll see. Feeling better today?" Maya's eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed with pink. She glanced at the shorter girl, hoping the tale of her tears hadn't been passed along.

"Yeah, thanks," she nodded, forcing a smile. The girl nodded.

"I'm Taystee, this is Poussey. We run the library, so you get to answer to us." Her grin was full of pride. It was infectious, and Maya's smile grew true.

"I'm Maya. Or Luna, I guess? It's nice to meet you guys." The two smiled at her.

"You, too, Maya," Poussey spoke up. Her smile made Maya's chest feel warm. It was so sincere, it drew her in. She quickly looked away as she realized she may have stared too long. Taystee led her to a cart full of books a few rows over in nonfiction and explained the system. Maya was very comfortable in a library, she'd had work-study at the library in college. Taystee returned to her spot by the window with Poussey and they were back to laughing in no time.

Maya thought of Margot. They'd worked in the library together all four years of school but only began speaking to each other their senior year. Their affair had blossomed quickly and heavily. Ever since college and Johnny, Maya felt like she wasn't in her own skin. She was going downhill fast and was eager for the distraction Margot provided. It had still been going on when Maya was arrested. Maya had also still been seeing Johnny at her arrest. Thinking of the two of them now, Maya was surprised to realize she didn't really miss them. Her rendezvous with Nicky had really made her miss the sex, for sure. The exposure to that feeling made her crave it. Nicky had been spot on while discussing Maya's sexuality.

Ah, so you like sex then, eh?

Like was a definite understatement. Maya loved everything about it. She loved being so close to another person, she loved the way the pleasure made her whole body tingle, she loved how empowered it made her feel. She lost herself in her thoughts and didn't catch herself watching Poussey through a gap in the books. She didn't pay any mind to the fact that the girl was now alone. She was doing the same as Maya, pulling books from a cart and returning them to their spots on the shelves. She bit her lip as she concentrated on the titles of books in front of her and Maya found herself doing the same.

"Oh come on, boo. Don't be so down!" She jumped as she turned to face Taystee.

Down? Shit, you're supposed to be sad. You are fucking sad. Fuck.

"Working on it. One day at a time, you know," she said, placing the book in her hand into the space on the shelf.

"Yeah, I know that," Taystee nodded, giving her a knowing look. "I thought I'd come keep you company. Unless you really wanna be alone, but I'm not gonna take that shit anyway." She grinned and Maya couldn't help but laugh.

"That would be great, thanks. But if you have other things you need to do you don't need to worry about me." She retained her smile, hoping she wasn't being an inconvenience. Wallowing didn't seem to be widely accepted in prison. But to her surprise, Taystee just rolled her eyes.

"Even if they did notice me not working on my own I'd just say I was teaching you the system. Most people in here wouldn't know where to start. Be putting the books away upside down and shit. Fools," she shook her head and Maya nodded in understanding. She had been shocked when they'd told her the library was usually pretty busy.

"I'll make sure to play dumb." The two shared a small laugh as they took books from the cart.

"So why haven't I seen you around? I mean, besides..." She shrugged as her voice trailed off and she grabbed another book.

"I don't think they read my paperwork very well. I've been bunking with Nicky Nichols in cell block-" Taystee's eyes grew wide as she laughed out loud.

"They put you in the suburbs?" she cut Maya off. "That's some funny shit. We've got idiots running this joint, man!" From what she'd seen, Maya couldn't disagree with that. She laughed softly as she walked up the aisle a bit then knelt to place the book she held on the bottom shelf. The girls spent the rest of the morning getting to know each other. Taystee's bubbly personality put a pang in Maya's chest. It reminded her of how full of life Bea had been, and she longed for her friend. But Maya and Taystee were connecting really well, and that brought her happiness and relief.

Apologies for the delayed update! I had an unexpected move, then a delay in attaining internet. This was almost done before all of the craziness so I just wanted to post and start fresh with the next one. I was also being a lazy proof-reader, so sorry for any errors. Thank you for the feedback and follows, it's beyond awesome to know you're reading (: