"Who, Henry? Or Jay?" Chloe asked, though she was being deliberately obtuse. She cleared her throat and lifted a shoulder. Her cheeks got pinker, if that was even possible, her hair standing further on end. She smoothed it down and realised that she hadn't purged any energy in a while, but she had sucked it out of her alarm clock twice recently, so she was a little overcharged. That was a recipe for disaster. "He's cute and sweet," she repeated, "and he makes me laugh, and I kinda need that." Besides, she'd told him why she was in jail and he'd just hugged her. "It's stupid," she added a moment later.
She drew in a breath. "Maybe we should try, y'know? And say hi to some of the others? Like, to make friends?"
Liking kids was different to raising them but it had been Amber's life. "Well, maybe when we get outta here you can find them and say hi or somethin'." She shrugged. "You don't gotta be their blood momma to be loved, right? Or to love them."
She nudged Amber again, gently and affectionately. "See? You can do anythin' you wanna, ain't like you gotta walk the path everyone else has. Not if you don't wanna."