Page 39 of Freshman

“Yeah, they’re both my type. That’s what I’m into.”

Nate laughed. “You’re trying too hard, Freshman. We both know there are no boyfriends, and if there were, they should be worried. You flirt with me like you’re single.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Maybe it’s ’cause you know I can give you what your imaginary boyfriends can’t.”

Alfie scrunched his face and took a step back from Nate’s cell.

Nate laughed into the door, and a chill wrapped around Alfie’s neck. A scarf of cold that left him feeling exposed and vulnerable. He was the one with the keys on his hip, the one who would leave the prison in a few hours, but Nate’s smug voice told him otherwise. Even with him blinded by the cell door, Nate could see straight through him.

He distanced himself from the smirking but still felt the prickle of unease at home hours later. He stared through his living room window at the sign for Larkwood, forever reminding him of Nate, of the prison, and the caged feeling that had infused itself into his bones.

Alfie thought about Tia and her insistence they’d find him someone good.

That was the problem though.

He didn’t want someone good. He wanted the meanest of the mean.

10

It didn’t just rain, but it poured down on Alfie as he walked toward the prison. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and occasional flashes lit up the sky. The day had been a hot one, but Alfie had missed it. Like some nocturnal creature, he rarely saw the sun. The air smelled of hot pavement, and the drops hissed as they struck the concrete. The drains couldn’t cope with the downpour. Water bubbled from them, making channels along the edges of the road. The humidity left Alfie feeling sticky and itchy, and he longed to be in the forever cool prison interior.

Alfie recognised Marie’s car, but she didn’t pull up and offer him a ride. She splashed through a puddle that narrowly avoided him. He didn’t know if that was her intention, but he stared bitterly at her fading car, hoping his glare would ignite it.

By the time he reached the prison, his trousers were soaked and his coat was damp around the collar. He shook his hair like a wet dog and shivered his way toward the radiator.

“It’s raining,” Henry said.

Alfie gestured to himself. “You don’t say.”

He shrugged his jacket off and flopped it on the back of a chair. The collar of his shirt was damp, but apart from that, his top half had avoided the rain. His legs, on the other hand, were drenched. He pinched the material away from his knee with a grimace.

“There are some spares in the locker room. Get some now before Ryan briefs us.”

Alfie huffed, then nodded and walked through the several gates to get to reception. A rumble of thunder growled overhead, and he watched as the lights struggled, then recovered.

He grabbed the first pair of trousers in his size and gave them a sniff. They smelled stale but not unclean. He turned at the tap to his shoulder.

Marie stood smiling brightly. “I would’ve given you a lift if I’d seen you.”

Alfie smiled tightly. “Next time maybe.”

She nodded. “Come on, Ryan will chew you out for being late.”

Alfie sighed and followed her with the trousers flung over his shoulder.

Ryan droned on longer than normal, as if he knew that Alfie was desperate to change. None of his words sunk in. Alfie was too preoccupied with his uncomfortable clothing. The trousers were heavy against his skin, and a deep ache settled in his limbs, adding to his misery.

“You listening, Rookie?”

Alfie snapped his eyes to Ryan and nodded. He inwardly prayed Ryan wouldn’t ask him to repeat his last words like a child.

“Yes, I’m listening.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Good.”

He stared at Alfie for a few tense seconds, then started talking again. He was a man who clearly liked the sound of his own voice. All his observations of the day shift could have been condensed down to five minutes, but instead he repeated himself and recapped everything he said. He waited for each growl of thunder to subside, eyes raised to the swinging ceiling light, then huffed and continued.

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