Now that I’m on Level 2, I’m allowed to eat in the cafeteria with the rest of the girls. It’s a sea of orange; it reminds me of the time our street was under construction and there were those awful day-glo orange cones everywhere. The color hurt my eyes. But not as much as it does now.

“Psst!” I feel a sharp pain as the bony elbow of the girl sitting next to me jabs me. She has long dreads and a permanently pinched expression, but these huge blue eyes. I wonder why she’s here.

“Psst, girl! It’s time to move it! You wanna go on lockdown again?” Oh. Right. I get up, dump my uneaten meatloaf into the trash.

“So what you in for, girl?” Her tone isn’t accusatory, just curious.

Flashback to Rule #1 on the Welcome To Juvy Hall Packet – Never ask another resident what she’s in for. But she won’t quit. “It’s the quiet ones who are always in for murder…”

I run from the cell, not caring that I’ll be dropped a level.
See, I’m going to be here until I’m 21.
I shot him with his own gun.

But I’ll never tell why.