Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

tell me about the elusive Harry,” she said after the waiter walked away with our drink and appetizer order. “Did you know him as a kid?” I shook my head, folding my arms casually against the table. “Nope. I met him in prison.” She didn’t even bat a lash. “Was he an inmate too?” I smiled and chuckled at the thought of Harry doing anything bad enough to put him behind bars. “Nah. He’s one of the officers at Wayward, and he kinda took me under his wing.” That took her aback a little. A line formed between her brows as they pinched with curiosity. “You actually made friends with an officer? Isn’t that, like, frowned upon or something?” “Eh … I mean”—I lifted a hand with my shrug—“there’s appropriate relationships, but then there’s inappropriate ones. Like, this guy I knew, Zero—” “Not his real name, I’m assuming?” “I never thought to ask. He was just always Zero.” She pressed her lips together, stifling a giggle, and nodded, gesturing for me to continue. “Anyway, he was hooking up with one of the lady officers, and …” I pinched my lips and shook my head. “Yeah, that was one of those inappropriate ones. We all pretended not to know, but, I mean, it’s hard to ignore the people fucking in the dorm bathroom, you know? Not exactly the most private place on the planet.” Ray sniffed a laugh as she propped her chin in the palm of her hand. With a serene look on her face, she listened like I was telling her about cherished Sundays in my childhood or something. And I didn’t care to wond...