Indifferent Confusion

Eventually, one of the guys composed himself enough to introduce the lot of them. He came forward, clearing his throat thinking I was unaware of their presence. As if that show was for my own enjoyment, or better yet, that is just the way that I always put away my clothes. I am so sure.

“We were told we were getting a new housemate, we just didn’t know he’d be so…” he trailed off, unsure of what to say and how to finish that sentence. As if he would offend me if he said something wrong.

“So utterly lacking a dick?” I interjected helpfully. My voice was flat and emotionless, enjoying the unsure look that passed between the four guys. Already, they felt uncomfortable and that was a beautiful thing.

“Well yeah, pretty much,” he admitted, rubbing his neck nervously, looking anywhere but my face. “I’m Caleb, that’s Jeremy, Ashleigh, and Riley. Welcome to hell.” He was trying to be funny, but the nervousness in his voice made him fail miserably.

I rolled my eyes at this then noticed the bulge in Riley’s pants. “Riley, you better keep it in your pants or we are going to have some serious issues, got it?” I decided that menacing and threatening would be the best way to deal with things, so they knew they couldn’t pull crap with me just because of my gender.

I could see his Adam’s apple going and knew I had him sufficiently scared. Good. Let them earn my friendship if they could get passed the bitchiness. That was a part of my personality so I figured I would let them see it.

I took a good look at the guys I would be living with for my duration at the juvenile detention center. Caleb was about six feet tall with bright blue hair that was all in his face, but I could see that he had piercing blue eyes that matched his hair. Jeremy was a bit shorter, very muscular, had a buzz, and looked strangely like Matt Sanders of Avenged Sevenfold. Ashleigh was the most intimidating looking which was slightly humorous because of his name. He was about six feet, five inches, had long black hair that covered most of his face and the most beautiful green eyes I’d ever seen. Riley stood at about six feet, brown hair with blood red chunks, and dull brown eyes.

“So what’d you do to get here?” Ashleigh asked, crossing his arms over his chest, displaying his perfectly veined forearms. I must admit that he was definitely something to look at and I was fully prepared to use that to my advantage.

“Does it really matter?” I wanted to have that leverage on them, to keep them thinking I was some weak chick. Let them wonder what I really did.

“Well, they divided this place into ‘squadrons,’” he used air quotes, “and this is squadron 5, meaning the most severe, so you are obviously not as sweet as you appear.” Did he really just say that?

“Well I am so flattered that you think I look so sweet,” I mocked that sweetness they so completely underestimated. “If that’s the case then I can assure you that you don’t know shit. What are you guys here for?”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Caleb confided bitterly. I raised an eyebrow at this. “Some shitfaced bastards thought it would be fun to go and harass a cop, rough him up a bit. I tried to stop them, but the cop assumed that I was with them. When I went to tell him the truth, he was aiming his gun so without thinking, I shoved it away and it ended up going off at his leg. He had to get it amputated so here I am. I guess assaulting an officer is much more severe than assaulting some random person.”

“I OD’ed,” Jeremy piped up helpfully. He seemed a bit too happy to admit this fact and that was a bit disconcerting.

“Shouldn’t you be in some kind of mental hospital and not here then?” I wanted to know. He just smiled a toothy smile.

“Well, I should have been, but when they were trying to pump my stomach, I punched out four nurses and the security guards that they brought in to help restrain me. They decided that I was fully aware of what I was doing so here I am. But those bitches had it coming, it’s not my fault.”

“So we’ve got a psycho on our hands, wonderful. I’ll keep that in mind.” Then I turned to Riley. “What’s your story?”

“I ravaged bodies,” he informed cynically. Well, I should have seen that coming. “My girlfriend wouldn’t sleep with me so I took it from her. But that wasn’t enough so I started with all the sluts who would give it up willingly, but it wasn’t a challenge so I went for all the innocent, good girls. They found me charming at first, but then I had them screaming for mercy when I finally took it from them.”

“Well that’s wonderful. So you should be in a mental institute as well? Fantastic.” He smirked at me, thinking he would be able to get me, no doubt. As if I was some weak-minded little girl who can’t take care of herself.

I turned to Ashleigh, very curious about him. But all he said was, “Don’t bother asking.” That was all he would give me.

“None of us know what Ashleigh did,” Caleb informed.

I raised an eyebrow, but said no more. I knew that somehow I would make him tell me. There was no way I would let it go that easily. He obviously didn’t know anything about me if he thought that was even a possibility.