SOL - Open up

To talk about, wow...

"There was this girl," you say.

The girl with the guitar smiles at you and nods.

"There always is," she says.

"I was younger," you say.

She nods. You are stalling.

"I met her at school." You get more comfortable on the girl's bed and lean your back on the wall, drawing up your knees and hugging them. "I just saw her one day and knew."

"Knew what?"

"You know what," you say.

She nods, trying not to laugh. "I guess I do."

"And so I..." You stop to think. "I tried to get her attention."

"You bullied her, didn't you?"

You roll your eyes. "Yes."

"But she understood."

"No." You shake your head. "She did not understand. But she found out about me."

Actually, you had... bullied her badly. And Lucia came looking for **** one day and kicked in the door of your stall in the bathroom, finding you with your hand on your penis because you had only recently started getting... basically random erections at school, and you had to run to the bathroom to deal with them.

So she saw.

"She found out," you repeat.

"What did she do then?"

"She could have... told everyone," you say.

"She didn't?"

"No. She told no one." You... can't go on. This is hard to talk about. You kind of don't want to. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"When did you know?"

The girl plucks at her guitar and shrugs. "There was a girl at my school, of course. Her name was Riley."

"Really?" you ask, shocked. Of all the names...

"She's gone now," the guitar girl says. "You should go back. Vi will be around in a few minutes."

"Yes." You kind of... wake up. You often lose track of time in this cell. You go back through the tunnel to your own cell and cover the entrance, sitting down on your bed.

Riley.