Chapter 1:
Meeting Jasmine and Rebecca
Jasmine and Rebecca were sitting on a rusty, old yellow bus on their way to Camp Green Lake. They had their hands cuffed to the seats in front of them and they were both getting restless. Rebecca shook the handcuffs around her wrists and her legs were shaking as well. Jasmine closed her eyes and sang softly to herself.
"Are we there yet?" Rebecca asked.
"We're still moving," Jasmine said. "So, my guess is no."
"Hey wanna play a game?" Rebecca asked, her legs still bouncing.
"Depends," Jasmine said, shaking her right leg. "What game?"
"The Car Naming Game!" Rebecca cheered.
"I'll pass," Jasmine smiled.
"Fine," Rebecca said. "I'll play by myself. BMW, Toyota Camry, Hummer, Cadillac Escalade, Mustang Convertible(smiles), Ferrari, Mercedes Benz, Lexus-"
"What's with all the holes?" Jasmine asked, looking out the window.
Rebecca looked out the window and sure enough there were millions of holes. She looked at Jasmine.
"What kinda camp has holes?" she asked.
Jasmine shrugged as the bus screeched to a halt. The guard unlocked their handcuffs and they grabbed their bags and stood up. The girls followed the guard off the bus. They looked around the vast wasteland, taking it all in. This place was a dump. That much was clear. Rebecca went back to naming cars. Jasmine smirked. A man, who looked way too happy for his own good, wearing a cowboy hat and way too much sunscreen on his nose, walked over to them.
"Jasmine and Rebecca?" he asked.
"Yeah," they nodded.
"I'm Dr. Pendanski, your counselor," he said.
Jasmine couldn't help but stare at that man's nose. Rebecca was still muttering the names of cars as she stared at Pendanski. Dr. Pendanski led them to a small shack where they got two orange long-sleeved jumpsuits, a towel, shower tokens, and work boots. A man in a pink shirt spit sunflower seeds at their feet. Jasmine and Rebecca looked up at him.
"My name is Mr. Sir," he said. "Whenever you speak to me you will call me by my name, is that clear?"
"Yes, Mr. Sir," they replied in unison.
Mr. Sir began his speeches on scorpions, rattlesnakes, yellow spotted lizards, and other camp things that Jasmine tuned out. Dr. Pendanski led the way to their tent. As they walked he pointed to things and explained what they were.
"You girls'll be in D tent," he said. "D stands for diligence."
"Diligence?" Jasmine said. Rebecca shrugged.
"Your new tent members are here, boys," Dr. Pendanski called into the tent.
Dr. Pendanski walked in and the girls followed. As soon as they set foot into the tent all eyes were on them. Dr. Pendanski introduced each boy, pointing to them in turn.
"Girls, this is Rex, Alan, Theodore, Jose, Ricky, Stanley, and Brian," he said. "And over there is Zero."
Dr. Pendanski told the girls that if they had any questions to just ask him, another counselor, or one of the boys. He walked out, leaving them to get acquainted. The boys stared at the girls for a bit longer. Jasmine had caramel colored skin, long black and brown hair, stopping a good ways past her shoulders, in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a black tank top, that stopped about five inches above her belly button, which showed her belly ring, and knee-hole cut off jean shorts. She was sporting four earrings, one pair being hoops, in her ears and black eyeliner. Rebecca had lightly tanned skin, short hair that was dyed bright blue and green and brown eyes. She had braces, the same color as her hair, and was wearing a white see through-ish top and knee-hole jeans. Jasmine crossed her arms and blew a bubble with the gum she was chewing.
"You guys got an eye problem or somethin'?" she asked. The boys snapped out of it and Rex took it upon himself to re-introduce everyone.
"Yo, my name ain't Rex, it's X-ray," he said. "And this Squid, Armpit, Magnet, Zigzag, Caveman, Twitch, and ……Zero."
"'Sup? I'm Rebecca, but you can call me Becca or Becky! Do you like cars? I love cars! 'Specially when they're shiny!!"
The words shot out of her mouth like wildfire. The boys stared at her, gave a small smile, and glanced at Twitch, who cracked a grin. Rebecca started looking around the tent, checking out the detail. Jasmine grinned and shook her head. She always thought of Rebecca as a little sister.
"I'm Jasmine a.k.a Jas," she said. "And this is Becca, she's incredibly weird-"
"That's only 'cuz you don't like cars!" Rebecca exclaimed.
"See my point?" Jasmine said. "So, X, where do we put our stuff?"
"Over there," X-ray pointed to two empty crates on the wall.
"Thanks," Jasmine said.
Jasmine and Rebecca put their things into their crates. The boys headed out the tent. Jasmine and Rebecca changed into their jumpsuits, keeping their shirts on and letting the top half hang about their waist. Jasmine spread her Princess Jasmine blanket across her cot and Rebecca spread her Hot Wheels blanket across her bed. Jasmine looked at the bed beside her. She smiled and shook her head.
"You and your cars," she said.
"CARS!" Rebecca cheered.
"Dinner, chicas!" Magnet called into the tent.
The girls walked out of the tent and followed the boys to the mess hall. They got in line for their food. The girls watched as the cafeteria workers plopped brown, green, and yellow gunk onto their trays along with two pieces of bread. They walked over to the D-tent table, staring at their food. The two sat between Caveman and Zigzag, in front of Zero and Twitch.
"You guys actually eat this crap?" Jasmine asked, poking at the 'food' with her fork.
"You get used to it," Squid lied.
"Eeek!" Rebecca shrieked, grabbing onto Jasmine's shoulder. "I just saw it move!!"
Jasmine smirked and reached for the bread on her tray, but X-ray grabbed it. Jasmine looked at him, questioningly.
"You didn't dig today," he said, grabbing Rebecca's bread too. "So, you wouldn't mind givin' your bread up to someone who did, now would you?"
"Actually I do," Jasmine said.
X-ray smirked. He picked up one of the slices of bread, licked it, and held it out to Jasmine. Jasmine looked at him with a disgusted look on her face. Rebecca's mouth dropped.
"You're disgusting!" Jasmine said.
X-ray grinned and scooped some of the brown gunk into his mouth. A few of the boys laughed. Squid looked at Jasmine and Rebecca.
"So, what they get you two for?" he asked.
"Well, Jas stole some Diamond Neeke's and I stole our get away car," Rebecca explained.
"What kinda car was it?" Twitch asked, fidgeting in his seat.
"Convertible Mustang!!" Rebecca smiled, showing her braces.
"Ha-cool!" Twitch smiled.
"Yeah!" Rebecca said.
"I'm surrounded by car lovers," Jasmine muttered.
Rebecca elbowed her in the stomach. Jasmine grinned and pulled out her iPod nano. She began listening to music.
"Hey, d'you know we gotta dig holes everyday?!" Twitch asked excitedly.
"What?!" Jasmine said, taking an earphone out. "Did you just say dig?!"
Twitch nodded. The boys stared at her. Even Zero gave her a look. Rebecca grinned.
"You can't be serious," Jasmine said.
"Didn't Mr. Sir tell you?" Zigzag said.
"I kinda blocked him out," Jasmine said.
"Diggin' ain't that bad," Caveman replied. Jasmine gave him a look.
"Jas, isn't an outdoors person," Rebecca explained, with a smile.
"The longer you're here, the more you'll like it," Armpit said.
"I doubt it," Jasmine said.
After dinner, they all showered and went to their tents for bed. Jasmine and Rebecca had a long day ahead of them.
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