"Okay everyone, time to put all the treasures in the centre." Sienna said and all the cellmates shuffled to their beds and brought back different possessions.
Luna watched as they piled them up in the centre of the circle they were sitting in.
Jade had told her about the trade, how every two months all the girls of a cell would put forward a possession and trade it with another cellmate's of their choice.
She had heard that it was the juvie therapist's idea as an attempt to stop the stealing problem, but that didnt happen, yet the trade stayed.
And every four months it happened between the cellmates of two different cells too, it had become tradition.
The order by which everyone chose from the treasure pile was determined by who was written off the least, and thanks to Jade, Luna had been written off once.
Brie - the second youngest cellmate - brought her hands together and searched the pile quietly, she as always had contributed a book.
Had Luna looked at advantage and likeness, she would've befriended petite and vivacious Brie.
She was the most sane one there, quiet, nice and her parents brought her books on every visit, which she silently read all the time.
Brie picked up the blood red nail polish, one of the three Jade had thrown in.
Next up was Luna and she was quick to reach for the book But Jade gripped her wrist.
Luna looked at Jade questioningly but Jade simply moved her hand away from the book and towards the metallic blue mp3 Sienna had put in.
When Luna resisted a little bit Jade said, "Trust me."
Luna sighed and picked it up.
As the trade commenced, Luna longingly looked at the book and watched as Jade picked it up.
☾
Later when the lights were out and the doors had been locked, the four girls lay in their beds, some awake some asleep.
Jade climbed the ladder to Luna's top bunk and saw that she was sitting on her bed, with her back to the wall, handling the mp3.
"Have you listened to anything yet?"
Luna shook her head and Jade sighed, "Come on kid, its not rocket science. You put the earphones in and hit this button."
"I know how it works." Luna fired back, "Its just that... I dont know if I want to."
"Why on earth would you not want to?"
"Well you see, Iv always avoided this kind of music because its addicting and distracts you when you're trying to study."
Jade gaped at her, " You've got to be kidding me. You mean to say that you've never listened to music?"
"I have listened to soothing sounds and sequences that help you relax and focus" Luna muttered.
Jade face-palmed herself, "I swear sometimes I think you're from a different planet." She muttered under her breath, "Look, things arent the same anymore, no more overbearing parents forcing you to study, so its okay now right?"
Luna wanted to correct her that she never had any overbearing parents and that she studied because she wanted to but Jade was right about one thing.
None of it mattered anymore, Harvard wasnt going to take her now.
She looked at her lap and nodded slowly.
Jade took the earbuds and put them in Luna's ears, she turned it on and Party Anthem by LMFAO started playing.
Jade patiently sat besides her and waited for the song to finish.
When Luna was done, she turned the mp3 off.
"Tell me honestly, for a few minutes did you not forget that you were sitting in jail?"
Luna didnt answer and Jade continued.
"You need to close your eyes and let your mind wander off to the place the music creates."
Luna nodded slowly, "Iv never been much of a mind wanderer, but Ill try."
Jade put one earbud in her ear and put the other in Luna's.
She turned it on and clicked it a few times until she reached an Arabic song.
Luna could definitely figure out that this was Sienna's playlist, the epitome of diversity.
She was 16 years old and madly in love with exploring, people from other countries absolutely fascinated her.
Luna later found out that it was probably genetic because her mum was Egyptian and her dad was Thai and both of them had met on a hiking trip in Nepal.
But settling down and raising kids isnt cheap so they couldnt afford the expenses when Sienna begged them to send her on a trip around the world.
And that's why she decided to take matters into her own hands and started stealing money.
She stole from her parents, she stole from her friends and even robbed a few drug stores.
Her techniques had been perfected, her plan had been working and her dream had started to seem less and less impossible day by day, until she got caught by her maths teacher.
And that's why she ended up here.
It was a bright song.
"She sounds young." Luna said after the song ended.
"She is. She should be your age, maybe even younger. Her name is Hala Alturk and this song is called Live In The Moment. She won a singing competition or something."
Luna listened interestedly.
"Okay now tell me what you saw, what you felt when you listened to this song." Jade perked up and looked at Luna eagerly, "The place this song created, tell me about it."
"Mmm lemme think. Well, its sunny, theres gleaming sand and a sparkling ocean." Luna smiled and so did Jade.
"This song just took you to a beach. Isnt that so cool?" She said.
But Luna wasnt done yet, "Its really bright, but not the kind of bright that would hurt your eyes. And... my brother's there." She added wistfully.
Jade's face fell.