The Rebellion of Cora Hart

*Cora's POV*

The dark-suited burly men shoved me into me "dorm", which was basically a 10m by 10m room enclosed by thick grey concrete slabs. There were two windows in the room, barred over with iron rods, making the 'dorm' seem like a jail cell, which is fundamentally was, despite its mis-matched name. I had arrived about an hour ago, but had to go through gruelling procedures, including getting my piercings out, forcing a very angry me into the navy blue full length jumpsuits they made us wear, re-dye my hair black since they couldn't get it back to my natural colour, and then they made me read through a thick as book regarding regulations. I didn't even understand why they made you read it- its not like you could remember the billions of rules in it.

The men closed the door, but didn't lock it in case of a fire or an emergency, which was made of metal, adorned with huge bolts. There was a slit in the centre of the door, which was for the night staff to check if we were actually in our rooms. I was told that the cells, as I'm going to refer to them as of now, were made for two people, and as I scanned the barren room I noticed a girl about my age sitting with her legs crossed on her bed, eyeing me curiously.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked sarcastically, and she shrugged, sliding off her bed, pulling out her earphones. The only personal items we were allowed were toiletries, not including make-up, our pencil case and our iPods. Sure, they screened our iPods and deleted movies and explicit songs, but that was basically it. IPods were the one thing that we could have that would tell us who we were.

"I'm Stephanie, but just call me Steph," she said, sticking her tanned hand out. I looked her up and down, and noticed that she was quite pretty, and if she weren't in this institution she would have had the boys lined up at her feet kissing her shoes. She had long blonde hair, that was long and fell in perfect waves down her back. Her eyes were clear, piercing blue and looked at me kindly. She was short, shorter than me, which was surprising since I was basically border-line midget, and had a small smile on her face that suggested she was confident and didn't take shit from others, but appreciated everyone who spoke their mind. "Welcome to Hell."

"Not glad to be here," I said, and her smile widened as my lips mirrored hers. "And I'm Cora."

"Well, Cora, my bed's this one, obviously," she said, pointing to her bed. We were also allowed only a few pictures of family and friends, and of course I didn't take a picture of mum, since she was a bitch with a stick shoved up her ass. I got one of dad though. I wondered if he knew that mum sent me here. I had accidentally bumped into him once, when Jett and I were going out on a movie date, and had begged me to come home, because mum was apparently being a PMS-ing terror. I didn't doubt him. I loved dad, but he was a bit of a pussy, cowering against the evil power of my mother. But I loved him nonetheless, because he honestly didn't care about how I acted as long as I was happy, which I wasn't until I met Jett.

Oh, Jett.

I tried to push away the sinking feeling in my chest as I unpacked my single duffel bag, containing my second jumpsuit, exactly the same as the one I had on now, a pair of teddy print pyjamas, a sports outfit which was basically grey shorts and a white T-shirt, a novel and the few pictures I managed to nab from Jett's apartment which the men took me to before being sent here. I grabbed as many photos of Jett as I could, and hugged the pillow he slept on for a minute, before scribbling a short note, leaving it pinned to the fridge. I had tried to hold back my tears as I took one last look at that apartment that was home, but I couldn't supress the waterworks.

I pinned up the pictures of my dad, Gabe and Jett. I smiled sadly as I pinned up the five photos I had of Gabe, wishing that I could see that sunny smile of his and taste his delicious cooking again. My heart ached for him, and nearly broke when I pinned up the 20 or so photos I had of Jett and I. My fingers brushed over my favourite photo of all- one of Gabe, Jett and I, the three of us smiling like there wasn't a care in the world. We were sitting on a picnic rug, me in the middle of the two of them, with the serene backdrop of tall oaks and colourful flowers lighting up the dull grey of the cell. I felt tears prick my eyes as my fingers brushed over Jett's face, as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, wishing that when I did I would see my wonderful Jett, but met with Stephanie's eyes, filled with understanding. My lip shook, and she sighed, pulling me into a tight hug.

"I know, Cora. It's hard, but it gets better, I promise, even if it's fucking shit right now," she said, as we held onto each other, both of us sitting on my newly made bed.

"When does it get better?" I croaked, when we pulled apart, both of is leaning on the wall next to my bed, our heads by the pictures I just put up.

"I came here last year, and it got better today?" she joked cruelly, and we both laughed dryly, as I wiped the tears from my red eyes. "Just kidding. It gets better once you make friends, and I'll be your first one here, if you want." Steph grinned, and I rolled my eyes, shoving her lightly.

"I'll take you up on that," I replied, and she laughed, looking up at my pictures. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, boyfriend," I said glumly, and she hopped up, moving over to her bed, picking a picture off her wall and coming back to me, shoving it in my hands. It was a picture of Steph, her hair with bright pink streaks and a lip ring, getting a piggy-back ride from a guy. They were both all smiles in the picture, and I looked up at her, our faces both having that same, lonely expression of longing and love. "Your boyfriend?"

"Mhmm. He visited yesterday during visiting hours. He drove 4 hours just to see me for fifteen minutes... but he only came over to tell me that he's breaking up with me. He was a jerk, but I liked him. I am so over it now though. He went out with some other chick while I was locked up in this shit-hole," she sighed, as I handed the picture back to her. I was suddenly really worried- what if Jett... no, he won't. I almost laughed at my stupidity. Knowing him, he'd be beating up everything that moved in frustration, and then Gabe would calm him down to talk about how they would get me out of here.

"That sucks. I guess we're both lovesick then, eh?" I teased, and we both giggled.

"You never said which of the two guys was your boyfriend," Steph then prodded, pointing to both Gabe and Jett. "They're both mighty fine, but which one's your lover-boy?" She wiggled her brow humorously, making me poke her. "But seriously, which one?"

"The blond one is my ex and one of my best friends," I told her, and she interrupted me with a sly "Ooh, kinky. Threesome?" to which I laughed at. "The dark haired one is the one I love and my boyfriend."

"Yeah, you two look like a cute couple," she said, then her eyes lit up. "Then can I shot gun the blond? He's fucking sexy." She looked dead serious, and I snickered.

"Sure, but trust me, he looks harmless but he's scary as hell when he's pissed. But Gabe's one of the best friends I could ever ask for."

"Sounds like he'd be hot in bed and his name is such a turn on," she groaned, winking at me, as we both burst out laughing.

"I'll introduce you to him some time," I said, and she nodded.

"So, are they coming to next week's visiting day?"

"Hopefully, if my mum doesn't murder them first," I hissed, mentally cursing my mum to hell.

"Witch of a mum?" Steph asked, and I nodded. "Same. Mine's a fucking old hag. Just because I set the house on fire doesn't mean I'm fucking deranged." I gave her a doubtful look, which she replied with a good-natured finger. "But I understand where you're coming from, Cora. I think we actually have a lot in common. We'll get along just fine."

"Yeah, I think we will too," I said, as she pointed to a picture of Gabe.

"So, when can I meet him?"