Blessing in Disguise

"Do you understand how the game is played?"

The male's voice was detached and apathetic, casting a gaze over his shoulder towards the guards. He was attractive, in my humble opinion, dark hair spilling over his shoulders as his eyes went from each of my newfound friends in turn, and then finally back to me. I held eye contact for a good handful of seconds, but the intensity of his presence drove mine down to the grass.

Everything about the past few days didn't feel real to me, from getting arrested down to my current predicament. I, Desna Kinsley, am about to break out of juvie. Engleton's Juvenile Correction Facility, to be exact.

I know how it sounds but I'm not a criminal. All I did was break my town's strict 10 o'clock curfew . . . six times. Juvie was the state's disciplinary solution to me wanting to see my boyfriend who lived down the street from me. A bogus solution if you ask me, but even if that were the case I think a jailbreak was a pretty severe reaction.

Each person in the circle gave their reply.

"Yes." It was the only serious answer the man should expect as the affirmation was spoken by my personal favorite juvenile delinquent Tomoya. Everyone called him Tomo, for a reason that seemed pretty evident to me. He was serving time for vandalism. Statement art, as he called it. His school banned anime from the property, hindering his ability to create the comics he so loved in art class, so Tomo decided to use his artistic skills to turn an entire hallway of lockers into his manga canvas.

Brilliant.

The man, who I guess I should mention is named Kian nodded, turning his eyes on Dakarai. His name was also appropriately shortened to the nickname Daka. "Listen man, I'm with the antics. This code shit ain’t necessary."

Daka and Tomo, from what I could tell during my short time here, had formed a special bond. They were both artists, and Daka was serving time for his version of statement art. He'd discovered that a teacher of his was a closeted racist through a series of social media posts, and went on to expose the teacher by covering the teacher's classroom in her own slurs against the African American community.

Genius.

Even though Kian didn't seem to appreciate Daka's constructive criticism, he moved on to Camila. She was this Spanish fireball of a girl, and the celebrated kleptomaniac of the bunch. "Claro que si, ¿Crees que me voy a quedar en este infierno?"

Kian obviously didn't understand Spanish, made evident by the way he continued to stare at her. Not in a rude way, per say, but with that demanding aura that seems to follow him around. "She said yes . . . More or less. And even though I think you're gonna get us all in trouble with your sketchy, broody, villain-type self, I'm saying yes too." Which brings me to the final member of our ragtag team of misfits: Riley.

Riley is the oldest of us all, and perhaps my least favorite. All he's told anyone about the reason he's in juvie is that he had assault charges brought against him.

With my four friends all having agreed to "the game," Kian brought his attention back to me once again. Something always seemed different about the way he looked at me versus the others, but maybe that's just my anxiety talking. His eyes were such a deep shade of brown that I could see my own reflection in them.

My dark roots had just started to come in, contrasting the grey dye that I worked hard to stay on top of. I don't think I look bad without makeup but I wasn't used to having a completely bare face. My lips were dry, because apparently juvie didn't agree with chapstick, and my untamed curls were thrown up into a messy bun. I looked like any other average person in juvie, minus the unnatural hair.

Kian's voice broke through my trance, having come to the realization that I'd been staring at him in the process of observing myself. "Do you understand, Desna?"

Oh look, my anxiety has returned.

The idea of breaking out of juvie was unfavorable for the obvious reasons, yet so tempting. Assuming the break out was a success, I wouldn't have to worry about being jumped by a bunch of girls for my hairbrush or watch out for one of the older boys when the guards weren't around.

On the other hand, if I stayed for my entire three month sentence and the others left I would lose the protection my group offered. Camila brought me to her friends on my first day here a week ago after I got cornered in the showers. I don't want to go into detail on the threats she made to those girls, but let's just say that "fireball" is an accurate description.

Riley had explained the social inner workings of the facility, and it was made very clear that I would be heavily bullied until I made some friends.

I really don't want to go back to not having friends.

"Hey, come on now," Tomo encouraged me as he reached a hand out to bump my shoulder. I didn't share his passion for anime but we'd bonded over our desires to travel. He even promised me that he'd take me to Japan one day, and that I'd get to meet all of his extended family. "You didn't forget the pact already, did you?"

It was Camila who chimed in next, a sultry smile brightening her features. "Ai, we stick together. We have each others backs."

"No matter what," Daka finished, all of us sharing mirrored grins. Even Riley managed a smirk, which was more emotion than we could ever ask of him. "Now come on best friend . . ."

None of them could resist the squad anthem that Daka set them up to complete, minus Kian who, if you couldn't guess by now, wasn't one of us. No one had seen him before today, when he approached the group promising freedom. I don't know why we're even trusting him aside from the very elaborate and well-thought-out plan he presented.

"That's my bestie, my bestie, my best friend," Camila started, everyone chiming in loudly for the, "Go best friend!"

Wise words spoken by the poetic Young Thug.

One of the guards took a warning step towards us, making sure everyone's eyes were on him before he spoke. "Keep it down over there before you get more laps."

No one said anything, but we all still wore our shit-eating grins. When the guards attention left our huddled group, I realized my decision had been made for me. "You guys are right. All for one and one for all."

My eyes found Kian's once more, and if I wasn't losing my mind then there were definitely remnants of a faint smirk lingering behind.

"Fuck laps. I'm in."