Page 9 of Freshman

“You know who I am; no need to ask, but you still do. You like our little chats just as I do.”

Alfie narrowed his eyes, then pressed the pen hard enough to spear through the paper. He walked away but still caught Nate’s chuckle. He shivered, then tightened his face in anger. Nate toyed with him like a cat with a mouse. A cat that was muzzled and chained but still managed to make the mouse squeak and scuttle away.

The first few weeks passed without incident. As soon as he heard the word Freshman, he ticked Nate from the list and walked back down the stairs, but his eyes stayed on Nate’s cell door.

The word freshman stirred something in Alfie’s chest, but he quickly fled the cell door before his cheeks pulsed red and his body got jittery. Marie always noticed his change in skin tone and offered him a sympathetic smile.

“Just ignore Nate and be thankful we don’t work days.”

She thought the redness to his face was out of fear, and she was half right.

Nate terrified him, but not for the obvious reason. After a week, he trusted the door not to fall under Nate’s whisper. He was safe from the triple murderer, but his heart still jumped into his throat, and his skin still tingled at the sound of his voice. That was the effect of his alluring speech pattern. The soft wisp of ‘Freshman’ through the seams of the door.

Alfie scrolled through every prisoner on the computer, and although Queenie’s appearance surprised him, it was Nate that made the biggest impression. Alfie found himself staring at the front page of his file at least once a night, but never clicked down for the next page.

It was the most uncomfortable realisation that Alfie found Nate attractive.

If Nate weren’t a criminal and they’d met in a bar, Alfie would’ve relished in the attention. He would’ve salivated at the crotch and offered himself up for the taking. He would’ve gone home with him and stayed for breakfast like Nate had joked about.

But Nate was a criminal, and although Alfie wasn’t ready to read the details of his crime, he felt the unease in the other prison officers whenever he was mentioned. There were other murderers on the wing, but whatever Nate did had stuck in the minds of all who read his file. They were afraid of him for the right reasons, not Alfie’s messed-up ones.

Nate’s blue eyes stared at him from the screen. His lips were pressed in a serious line. The hair on his head was a few shades brighter than the stubble of his face, and even though it was a head and shoulders shot, the muscles of his neck highlighted just how huge the man was.

“Ah, you finally read it then. Evil, through and through,” Henry mumbled.

Alfie didn’t answer. He glared at the screen into the suffocating eyes of Nate Mathews.

The gates opened and closed in the distance and footsteps came close, but Alfie continued his staring contest with the photo.

“Not my best shot.”

Alfie flew from his chair at the voice, whipping around with his hands up, balled into fists.

Nate stood with his arms behind his back and a huge smile on his lips. The T-shirt he wore clung to his pectorals, and the black colour deepened the intensity of his eyes. The image on the computer had nothing on the real Nate. Two prison officers stood on either side of him, both shifting and breathing erratically.

“Come on, Nate. Let’s get you back on the wing.”

He didn’t move, and the officers didn’t try to lead him away from the office. Without taking his eyes off Alfie, Nate spoke to them in his gravelly, low voice.

“You’ve both had a long shift. Why don’t you clock off now, get these two to take me up?”

The two prison officers flanking Nate immediately nodded, and Alfie turned to Henry, who shrugged. Marie and Glen had sneaked off, and it wasn’t Henry’s job to help with H-wing, but he nodded anyway.

“Yeah okay. Me and the fish can handle him.”

Nate’s eyes left Alfie for the briefest of seconds and attached to Henry. The old man’s throat bobbed with a dry swallow, and he immediately glanced away.

The two officers rushed away, and the gates clunked behind them.

Alfie heard laughs of relief as they faded down the corridor to freedom.

Henry flicked his chin out for Alfie to go out first. Nate didn’t move to allow him passage, so he was forced to squeeze through the doorway and Nate snorted in amusement.

As soon as the gate was open to H-wing, Nate rushed through, marching with a fierce pace up to the top walkway.

“Hey, slow down,” Alfie growled.

Nate ignored him and continued his fast stride. Alfie half-jogged behind, matching his brisk pace. It was only when they were outside the cell door that Alfie realised the mistake he had made. He glanced over the railing to find Henry.

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