Nixie sat on the stifling hot school bus, staring out the window. She would have been better off if she had just closed her eyes; there was nothing she would miss. The scenery consisted of dirt, dirt, and more dirt. Oh, and there were holes. Tons of them. They covered just about every inch of the land. It had been like that for what seemed to be an eternity

Nixie sighed and leaned forward a bit, and some of her hair covered her face. It came down to her waist, and was the color of cinnamon, with two orange stripes in the front, and tips that were also orange. She tried to brush it away, but the handcuffs that locked her to the seat prevented that. Her emerald eyes turned away from the world outside the bus and focused on the girl in the seat beside hers.

Effie was also looking out the window, and didn't seem to notice that her friend was attempting to catch her eye. Her curly, brown hair blocked Nixie's view of her face, so she couldn't read her expression. Both girls had been arrested on the same day. The night before they had gone to a sleepover that Bridget Evans was holding. They ended up being dared to do the most outrageous thing they could think of. Neither girl could resist a dare, so they accepted, and took the first steps on the path to becoming criminals.

Nixie's thoughts were interrupted when she realized that the bus had driven into a camp. There were scattered building and tents, with people in dressed in orange dragging themselves about. Nixie guessed that the orange jumpsuits were the uniform, or whatever you called it. At least they'd match her hair.

After a while, it dawned on Nixie that every person she spotted was male. She turned back to Effie, and could tell that she had come to notice this as well. Before either girl could say anything, however, the bus suddenly stopped. The guard removed the handcuffs, and led both girls off the bus. Nixie stepped off first, and had to fight off the dizziness that attacked her after sitting still for so long. She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand, and peered at the people nearby. Just as she had thought, there were no girls, with the exception of herself and Effie. The judge must have forgotten to mention that Camp Green Lake was designed for boys.

Nixie prepared to say something to Effie, but was cut off for the second time. The guard beckoned to the girls, and led them off to a cabin to meet someone by the name of Mr. Sir.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

As Effie stepped inside the cabin, she felt a welcomed blast of cold air hit her face. Poing. She jumped as something hit the small metal trash can by the door. She quickly glanced inside and saw hundreds of sunflower seed shells. The man who'd spat the seed was seated behind the desk with a bag of sunflower seeds.

"Well, well," he said with a country drawl, "looks like we've got some girls come to our little camp. Well let's get this straight girls, this ain't no girl scout camp." Effie glanced at Nixie, who returned her look of consternation. "You will address me as Mr. Sir, got it?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir," the girls said in unison, a slight note of sarcasm etched into their voice. "Right, follow me and get your uniforms," he said as he stood up from his desk and led them to another building, this one without air conditioning. He threw them each an orange jumpsuit and a pair of boots. "Er... I'll just wait outside," he said, his look of uncomfort matching his tone. When he was outside, and they had made sure to stand away from the window in the door, they both changed into their uniforms.

"You girls done in there?" called Mr. Sir from outside. "Ya," Effie called back as she finished tying her boot. Mr. Sir stepped back inside and handed them each another uniform. "You get two uniforms the whole time you're here. One is your work pair, and the other one is for relaxing in."

"Work pair?" Effie asked, her eyebrow raised in a perfect arch. "Oh yes, everyday you'll be required to dig a hole. Even on Sunday. You're hole needs to be five feet deep and five feet across. You need to be able to lay your shovel down in the bottom of your hole in any direction."

Mr. Sir was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the door opening. A short man with sunscreen covering his nose stepped in. "Hi. I'll be your counselor, Mr. Pendanski, that's Pen Dance Key. Right, follow me and I'll take you to your assigned tent; you'll both be in the D tent."

As they stepped outside into the hot Texas sun, Effie could feel everyone staring at Nixie and her. She didn't like the feeling and wished Mr. Dancing Keys would hurry up. She hoped that the rest of the campers in D tent wouldn't stare too.

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