Tom K

Prison was my home, not because I liked it, but because I'd been here too long to remember what freedom was. The days were long, the nights even longer. The routines were always the same: fights, clandestine gambling, and shared cigarettes in the hallways.

But everything changed when they announced overnight that the prison would become mixed. At first I thought it was a joke, women here? It made no sense. But when they arrived, I understood. They weren't ordinary women, they weren't innocent. They were criminals, just as fucked up and dangerous as any of us.

And there was Jessica. From day one, I knew she would be a problem. Not because she was fragile, but quite the opposite. She was dangerous. I saw it in her attitude, in the way she held her gaze without fear, the way she smiled arrogantly when someone challenged her. We hated each other from the beginning. She couldn't stand my attitude, and I couldn't stand hers. The words between us were cruel and cold, every conversation between the two of us was a battle where neither of us wanted to give in. But there was also something else, something neither of us wanted to admit: Attraction.

It was fucking crazy, I knew it. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't help the way my eyes followed her in the yard, the way my body reacted every time she was near. And she knew it.

And on that cursed night we were cleaning the dining area. Why? All because of him, for provoking me in the hallways and yelling things at me. And in the end, as punishment, they made only the two of us clean the dining areas.

"—What are you looking at?" she snapped when she caught me staring at her. "Stop looking at me and hurry up and clean."

I rolled my eyes and threw the rag in his face.

— I wasn't even looking at you, idiot. And shut up already, because it's all your damn fault we're here.