In Otsego County Women's, the body wash, the shampoo, the soap all came in generic, unbranded packaging. Chase picked up the bottle labled BODY WASH, squirted some into her hand, then stepped back from the spray of warm water from the shower head to lather herself up.

It felt good. It reminded her of being in the locker room at cheer practice. Especially the sound of the other girls chatting. In prison, they were only required to shower twice a week, but Chase had gotten used to doing it at least once a day. She liked the shower. She liked being clean, she liked the hot water, she liked the mild fragrance of the soaps and shampoos. After spending her whole life washing herself in a mountain stream, she would take advantage of this luxury whenever she had the chance.

The big difference between this and the showers at Sunnycrest High was that she was alone. By the time she and Miss Cha parted ways and Chase made it to the showers, Tatum was already done and gone, leaving no sign of her presence except the wet floor beneath one of the shower heads. Where the showers were filled with the giggles and chatter of her friends back home, here there was no sound but the water splashing on the cold cement floor beneath her feet. That was fine with Chase. After what Miss Cha had told her, she didn’t feel like seeing anyone. She just had too many raw, open wounds. Her heart was in too many pieces. And she was still continuously teetering on the brink of tears. Despite it all, she was still conscious of not looking weak in front of the others.

And that brought her to the other big difference between the two showers: the company she kept. The illusion that things here would be the same or better in H-Block than at home had begun to fade from that first shower she’d taken here.

There were other girls that first night. Not as much laughing or chatter as there was with the cheerleaders, but still some. It was a comfort and a welcome change to Chase after being in solitary for most of her first week.

Louise was with her, and they talked while they washed. Chase was lathering shampoo into her blonde hair when she heard a voice from behind her.

“Hey, Chase,” said Liz.

Chase looked over her shoulder and smiled while her fingers scrubbed. “Oh, hi Liz.”

Liz didn’t bother to be discreet as she looked Chase up and down. “Want me to do your back?”

“Do back?” asked Chase. “Oh, with wash?”

Liz took a step toward Chase and put her hands on her shoulders. “Yeah, that's right,” she said. “Ah'll be real thorough. Ah'll get every inch.”

“Oh! That sound nice, thanks Liz! Much hard reach back,” said Chase.

“Don't ah know it,” said Liz. She gave Chase’s shoulders a squeeze and snuck a glance over them at what the newbie had on the other side. “Heck, if ya want, ah can even do your front. Might as well, while ah'm at it, right?”

“Hey,” snapped Louise, from beneath the shower head next to Chase's, “You leave her alone. Git lost.”

Liz looked up at Louise, unimpressed. “You talkin' to me?” At the sound of raised voices, some other heads around the showers turned their way.

“Damn straight ah am. Fuck off.”

Liz smirked, then gave Chase an incredulous look. “What gives, Chase? Don't tell me this freak staked her claim on you already? Ah thought we was scrappin’ buddies.” She moved her face close to Chase’s. “You wanna wrassle me again, don’tcha? Ah been just achin’ for a rematch...”

Louise shoved her. “Ah said, fuck off.”

“Alright, alright,” said Liz with a huff. She winked at Chase. “Once ya realize you can do better, ditch the freak and come find me, Chase. Ah'll blow your mind.”

As she walked away, Louise turned back to her shower head. Looking annoyed, she turned up the heat. “You should be more careful, Chase.”

“Care?”

“Yeah. Yer good lookin', yer new, an' the gals in here are mighty lonely. They don't give us no constable visits.” She looked around the shower at the other prisoners of H-Block. Chase followed her gaze. Those who had been distracted by the brief confrontation had resumed their showers. Sisler had her glasses off, folded and placed on the ledge beside her shampoo while she lifted a foot off the floor to wash her leg. Irene glanced at them from the corner, then tilted her face up toward her shower head and closed her eyes. “They could get all kinds o' funny ideas about you.”

Chase had no clue what she was talking about, but got the idea. Obviously Louise had picked up a cue from Liz that Chase hadn't, suggesting that washing Chase's back was actually a pretense for some kind of trick.

“Wash back some at home,” said Chase. “Leash wash back and Lin wash back.”

“Yeah, but that there's different. You can trust them,” said Louise. “This is prison. You can't trust nobody here. Least not that much.”

The truth of Louise's words sank in. It surprised Chase, in hindsight, to think she would have turned her back to Liz, somebody who had already pulled a sneak attack on her once before. She was quite sure she had not always been so blindly trusting. Was this a behavior she'd learned from her friends back in Sunnycrest?

“But want trust,” said Chase. “Like trust. Like close with friends.”

Louise looked confused. “Ah unnerstand.” But she didn't, really. Life in Lawman Creek was a lot closer to prison life than life in Sunnycrest was. “Ya can always trust me. We're good lahk that.”

“Trust Lou?” asked Chase hopefully. She squirted some of the body wash into her hand. “Wash Lou back?”

Louise hesitated. She hesitated, and Chase saw from this pause and the look in the taller girl's eyes that even Louise did not really trust her. Not fully. “Sure. Thanks, Chase,” she said finally. She turned her back to Chase, and Chase felt very alone as she began to wash her.

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That was when her doubts about this place began, and things had only gotten worse since. But she had to make it work. She had to keep trying. Because it was obvious to her now that there was no going back to Sunnycrest. The only way out of the dark place she was in was forward.

…………..

Olivia was sitting on her bed in her cell when Chase returned from the gym, hair damp from the showers.

Molly was there with her, cuddling her. She noticed Olivia was distracted, and asked. “Wh-what's wrong?”

Olivia nodded at Chase, and Molly raised her head to look. “That new girl is changing things around here.”

“Changing things?”

She watched as Chase got distracted by a football game on TV, then sat down to watch it. She sat down on the floor some way away from the screen, keeping her distance from Heidi, who was yelling at the on-screen running back.

“She's hanging out with that Louise freak, and now she's getting together with Tatum,” said Olivia.

“She is?”

“Yeah. They left together for the gym, and now they came back at different times so we wouldn’t know they’re together.” She stroked Molly's hair thoughtfully. “Those are three of the strongest girls in here. If they start working together, that would be a big shift in the balance of power here.” She smiled at Molly. “By which I mean, it would be harder for me to protect you in here.”

“O-oh...that's not good.” Molly hesitated. “But Angel and Crystal…”

“They’re strong too. Stronger maybe. But we have to be the strongest. Strongest is safest.” Gently, Olivia let the hand which stroked Molly's hair stray to her cheek. “Don't worry. I'll figure something out.”

Molly returned Olivia's smile. “G...good.”

Then, Olivia leaned in and kissed her. She lowered her hand to Molly's chest, feeling her through her orange jumpsuit.

Molly pulled away. “N...W-wait,” she said breathlessly.

“What?” asked Olivia delicately, looking concerned. “What's wrong?”

Their eyes met for a moment in an uncomfortable staring contest. Molly lost. She looked away and swallowed. “Nothing.”

And she let Olivia lower her to the bed.

….......…

Lunch the following day was fish sticks with green beans, and a little plastic jell-o pack for dessert. Chase couldn't say she really enjoyed fish sticks all that much, but it was better than starving.

She looked around the cafeteria at the other girls from H-Block. Maybe fish sticks were better than starving...but they couldn't compare to something freshly caught. Her stomach grumbled.

“What? What is it?” asked Louise, sitting across from her, following Chase's gaze.

“Oh...” Chase said, shaking her head. “Just want eat girls, that all.”

“That's all, huh?” asked Louise. “Well shoot, why don't you? What're they gonna do, arrest ya?”

Chase sighed. She picked up a fish stick and took a crunchy bite. “Miss Cha say be good.”

“Who?” asked Louise. “Oh yeah, that li'l Japanese gal you come in here with. Or is she a Chinese?”

Chase wasn't sure what she meant, but she did remember taking a class in something called Chinese when she was back at Sunnycrest. It seemed like a million years ago now. “Ni hao.”

She looked across the cafeteria at Tatum. The ponytailed girl was eating alone, as always. Chase had invited her to sit with them, but Tatum did not seem to trust Louise, or have any interest in developing a trust with her. She was fine spending time with Chase, but only Chase.

While hunting elk and deer in the woods, Chase's parents taught her that you can learn a lot about a herd from how they eat. In the cafeteria, Chase was beginning to realize that humans were the same way. She could see that Olivia's gang was very close. She, Crystal, Molly and Angel ate together every day.

Brianna and Heidi usually sat together. Irene and Monica ate alone, Monica with a guard supervising her at all times. Sisler moved around. She always sat with someone different, and she and her partners always played cards while they ate.

Jen and Liz also moved around, but they were not as widely welcomed as Sisler. They just seemed to land with whoever was willing to tolerate them that day. Today, Jen was playing cards with Sisler. As for Liz, after emerging from the lunch line with tray in hand, she looked around the cafeteria, spotted Chase and Louise, smiled in a friendly manner, and walked over to them.

“Oh, here we go,” bemoaned Louise.

“Hiiii y'all!” said Liz cheerfully, sitting down beside Chase. “How's it goin' today?”

“It good,” said Chase. “Eat fish stick.”

“Awesome.”

“Let me know if she's botherin' you, Chase,” said Louise toughly. “Ah'll hold her while you hit her. Ah'd relish the operatunity.”

Chase looked at Louise, hesitated, then made a decision. “No, not need,” said Chase. “Liz stay.”

“Well, thank you, Chase,” said Liz. “Ah wasn't sure if you'd let me sit with you or not. Seems like you been avoidin' me lately.”

Chase nodded. She took another bite of her fish stick. “Lou say not trust Liz. Not show Liz back.”

Liz looked at Louise. “Is that right?” She sighed and took off her cowboy hat, setting it on the table before picking up a fish stick of her own. “Ah know ah spooked ya a little, Chase. Wrasslin' with ya on yer first day was one thing, but ah guess ah crossed a line in the shower. Ah'm sorry about that. Ah ain't a danger to ya. Ah just got all excited at yer perty new face.”

“Ex at face?”

“Ah miss mah boyfriend, that's all. Ah wanna feel somebody,” Liz explained. “Once you're in here long enough you'll feel the same way, trust me.”

Chase smiled, understanding. “Oh! I have boy friend too! Tor!” She paused, then corrected herself. “Had.”

“Oh, really?!” asked Liz excitedly.

“Tor? He sounds hot,” said Louise. “What's he look like?”

“Hmm,” said Chase thoughtfully. “Tall. More tall than me.”

“Wowww,” said Liz.

Chase wasn’t sure how to describe him. “Um...face is nice,” said Chase. “Eyes nice to look at.” She pointed at herself. “When they look, feels nice too.”

“Uh huh,” said Louise.

“Like to kiss…and like to hug!” Chase concluded.

“Yep, he sounds hot,” Louise confirmed.

“Did y'all do it?” asked Liz.

“It?”

“Yeah. Sex.”

Oh yeah, that. Chase remembered learning about that. “No. No sex.”

“Did ya ever had sex with anyone, Chase?” asked Louise. Chase shook her head.

Liz laughed. “Ah, that explains it. No wonder yer so stuck up. Ya can't miss what ya never had.”

Chase was about to ask what she meant when they were interrupted by the sound of raised voices. They looked and saw that Olivia’s gang had crowded around Irene’s table.

“I said fuck off,” snapped Irene from her seat.

“Aw, that’s not very nice,” said Olivia. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re just trying to be friendly.”

“Yeah, let’s smokeum da peace pipe,” grinned Angel. Her face was intimidatingly tattooed with a cross over her right eye, a teardrop coming out the corner of her left, and a band of thorny roses across her neck. Her brown hair was asymmetrically parted just above her right temple.

Irene was on her feet in an instant. “The fuck did you just say, bitch?” she asked.

Angel shoved her back down, but Olivia raised a hand to stop her subordinate from going further. “Pardon her,” she said. “We come in friendship, Irene. Really.”

“Yeah. Honest injun,” said Angel. Irene glared at her, but said nothing.

“So then, in the interest of friendship…” smiled Olivia. “How’d you like to share your jell-o with me?”

Irene looked up at her. “Fuck off,” she said again.

Olivia held out her hand. “Now now, don’t be like that,” she said coyly. “We’ve been over this before, haven’t we? It’s better to be friends than to be enemies...and to be friends requires a gesture of goodwill. If we had to take it from you, well...that would undo all the progress we’ve made, wouldn’t it?”

Liz scowled and turned back to her tray. “Cunts. They think they’re so tough-”

Suddenly Chase stood up. Louise and Liz looked up at her, startled. “Chase?” asked Louise. “What’re you-”

But any question she could have asked was answered by Chase’s expression. “Not nice,” she said gravely, clenching her fists. “Liv not nice.”