Crystal gasped at the abupt touch but not loud enough to be heard by anyone unless they were close. Her heart was pounding as they ducked behind the cabin. She had had to do pushups almost her entire first week there and it was hell on her small body. She had lost several pounds that she hadn't needed to lose and she didn't need a scale to tell her that.

When the shock of the abrupt movement wore off, she responded, "I'm Crystal." Her voice was a bit hoarse from not speaking for awhile but after a second she added. "I was just thinking." she said trying to explain her earlier actions. Her mind raced trying to think of anything else to say.

The grass underfoot tickled her hands as she squatted behind cabin and she quickly scratched them, leaving angry red lines behind. She jammed her hands into her pants pockets to stop scratching.

She supposed that the small woman hadn't thought about how to sign their names. Names hadn't been important back in the day, in fact it was easy to forget them. Charmayne had forgotten her name quite a few times while being part of the organization. She surprised herself by even remembering it enough to tell the other woman. She surprised herself even more that she knew how to speak or that she had a voice at all. After years in the organization, she figured those things would have been long gone.

She gave a nod, acknowledging the other woman's name. Crystal. It had a nice ring to it. She even looked like a Crystal, with the funky hair. The hair also gave away that she wasn't an old member. Dyes were forbidden and since the blue from the ends weren't gone, she had to be newer.

"You don't get much time to think here. You better watch out, thinking like how you were could have gotten you in trouble. It was rather suspicious looking," She gave a light warning, leaning against the cabin. They didn't have much time to speak, she could feel it. Nonetheless it felt nice to use her voice again.

"So what are you here for? What did innocent looking you do?" She had a faint hint of a tease in her tone. Everyone that hadn't been here for more than a year had an innocent look to them. They sure didn't look battered or rough like she did.

Crystal was a bit stounded by the questions. Even before she came here, no one really chose to talk to her. She had always been alone with her imagination and no one had cared.

"I- uh- they think I robbed a store. I didn't though. Whoever it did it tied me up in the back." Crystal admitted shyly. She didn't like to think about it because it brought back sad memories. She had loved her job. "It was a small family store. The most useful thing was the little bit of cash in the register. They even paid me well. There was no reason for me to steal more." She added trying to defend herself.

A little bit embarressed for speaking so much, she quickly looked away. "I-I'm sorry. I talk to much." She apoligized. She knew they were already going to get in trouble for being somewhere out of sight but even more so if they were caught talking and she really didn't have the energy for pushups.

Charmayne thought asking her what she was in the organization for was a rather innocent question. It was a common one that she had seen some sign language talk about. She personally hadn't bothered asking anyone else that before. She hadn't really pulled anyone aside to talk to them. It had been years since she talked to anyone.

She felt kind of bad, watching Crystal become quiet and more shy as she began explaining what happened. It sounded like she wasn't the only one the police and court system had done dirty. She listened in silence, letting Crystal get it off her chest.

"Hey it's okay," She reached out and gently took Crystal's hand. She gave it a light squeeze,"Sometimes a person just needs to get things off their chest."

"And if it makes you feel better, I'm here on a murder charge," She gave a small smirk. She wanted to say more but knew there wasn't time. She let go of Crystal's hand and snuck back onto the path, walking into the dining hall cabin. She wasn't going to get caught a second time. One day of push-ups were bad enough.

Crystal caught her breath when the other woman touched her hand. She didn't like physical contact. Espesially from someone she had just met. Not to mention this person had been charged with murder! How did she know if it was true or not?

Crystal looked around the corner of the building to make sure the path was clear before slipping out into the open once more. Behind her, she heard a cabn door slam shut and she jumped invouluntatrily. Was it a supervisor that was coming to punish her? She resisted the urge to turn around but instead quickened her pace and entered the dining hall.

She collected her small tray of food and sat down at a table at the back of the room so she could face the door. She quickly dug into her meager portions, trying to cut the edge on her hunger. She was always hungry because the amount of food they were given was hardly enough to feed a child. Not to mention that the quality wasn't very good. None of the women who had been there for longer than a month complained though. They knew they would never get anything better and if they weren't careful what they did have would all be taken away.

As she swalloed the last of her food, Crystal lifted her head and looked around. Across the room with her back towards her was that woman. 'Charmayne.' Crystal thought to herself. 'That's a weird but cool name. I wonder if she really did kill someone. She seems too nice but maybe she's just trying to get out.' Her mind switched tracks and continued into her fantasy of her and her mother. Even though she had never seen her mother, she had a vivid picture in her mind of what she looked like.

During eating times, everyone had to sit with at least a chair between them. She personally could never grasp the reasoning behind that. There were supervisors posted all over the room. There was no way anybody could sneak a few words to anyone. After being here all these years, she had grasped the concept of the supervisors not wanting them to talk to matter what but also want them to do dirty government jobs with little freedom.

It kind of made her wish that she had taken the life in prison charge. Prison sounded better than this place. Nonetheless, she was here. Part of that being was that she had been young and thought that they would have discovered she wasm't guilty by now. Sadly, that wasn't her case.

She sat with her head down, picking at her food. She normally didn't touch it-only about once a week she could stomach the disgusting food. It didn't help that she was a vegetarian and lactose intolerant so crappy eggs and bacon with a side of milk wasn't ideal. But she could assume that the supervisors could care less if she continued her no-meat diet or had horrible gas during work.

A supervisor pulled out the extra chair and sat down beside her. The supervisor was eyeing Charmayne's food with the same amount of disgust that she felt.

"You don't eat much huh?" The supervisor commented. Charmayne remained quiet,"Anyway you and another girl have been reassigned today. You can skip your pushups, it's a secret job that requires the both of you."

The supervisor tuned and pointed at Crystal,"White hair, over here."

Charmayne perked up a little. Since when was she trusted to work with others? Maybe perhaps they were giving her opportunities to prove she wasn't a murderer. Maybe this meant that she was starting to gain their trust.

Crystal was jolted out of her daydream when she saw the supervisor pointing at her. Had they been caught? Had that Charmayne lady turned her in for something?

Fearfully, she riveted her eyes to her empty tray and pushed some imaginary food around while her mind raced. 'Dang it! Now I have to do push-ups!' She complained to herself. 'I don't have the energy for that! I can't even fake sick to get out of it. They'll still make me do them anyway.'

It took all of Crystal's courage to remain at the table with her head down. She knew if she got up and left it would make the supervisor more suspicious. She noticed her hands were trembling slightly and she couldn't take it anymore. When she looked up she noticed that they wer no longer looking at her and she quickly got up. She scraped the little bit of crumbs that were on her tray into the garbage before setting it on the counter with the others.

There was huge shade tree by the dining hall and Crystal went to lean against it. Not many women were done eating yet but she didn't want to sit at that table with a supervisor staring into her soul.

But Crystal didn't make her way over to the supervisor and her. Instead, the woman stayed with her back turned and continued to mess with her food. Crystal must've gotten the wrong idea and thought she was in trouble. Charmayne couldn't help but hold her breath, waiting for the sipervisor's reaction.

But the supervisor did nothing but arch an eyebrow. Normally ignoring an order from a supervisor would get you into trouble but not today. The supervisor gave an exasperated sigh as the young woman turned in her tray and went outside.

"Follow me," The supervisor ordered Charmayne who was still sitting at the table. She quickly stood up and took care of her food before following the supervisor out the door. She spotted Crystal sitting by the tree and gave the supervisor a little nudge and pointed to her. The supervisor followed her point and gave a nod before angrily stomping toward her.

"Young lady, when I say come here it means come here," The supervisor scolded, crouching down to be eye level with Crystal. Charmayne on the other hand, remained standing with her hands folded together toward the front of her body.

"I have some news for you. You are going to be reassigned to a new job. You will be working with...." The supervisor gestures toward Charmayne. The supervisor probably didn't want them both knowing each other's names,"Until further notice. Both of you also have special permission to communicate with each other during your work shift but not during any other time. This is a huge privledge. Don't ruin it-both of you."

Crystal leaned against the tree, trying to reassure herself. When the two of them came over, her heart began to race. 'I'm going to be hauled away.' She thought, wishing she hadn't followed the other woman earlier.

As soon as the supervisor spoke, Crystal jerked her head up. He had spoken to her? She had thought he was talking to the other girl. She refused to look into the supervisor's eyes and just nodded in understanding. She wanted to apoligize so much but she was afraid of getting in trouble so she kept her mouth shut.

Finnally she looked over at Charmayne. 'Did she get this for us? Maybe she's still trying to get herself out by using me.' Crystal's mind raced but she managed a tiny smile.

Charmayne returned the smile with a faint nod of her head. She wondered why they were given a job that allowed a little communication. As much as she thought it was because they thought she could be trusted, she still had her doubts over if this privilege was genuine or if there was more of deeper meaning to it.

She watched the supervisor give a dismissing nod toward the both of them and added,"You start working every morning after breakfast. Your shifts end at sundown. Meet me when the lady woman has left the dining hall." Then the supervisor was gone.

Charmayne put a finger to her lips reminding Crystal they couldn't talk before their shifts started, not that she suspected the woman would try to. She just didn't want push-ups on their first day. At least she got out of hers from before with the new job.

She sat down on the backside of the tree. She couldn't sit any closer or else it would cause suspicion and attention to the both of them from all the other supervisors. So she sat and leaned her head back, resting her eyes for a few minutes and letting herself think of reasons why she would be given a new job after years of being a part of the organization.