Counseling night. Every camper at Camp Green Lake hated counseling night. No one wanted to spend two long hours of their free time talking about their lives. The counselors were especially keen on asking about their plans when they were released from camp, and next to no one wanted to answer that.
But no matter how much the inmates begged for mercy, Counseling Night remained on the schedule. So once a week, a group of girls and a group of boys gathered into one tent and endured two hours of each other's presence.
But out of all the counseling nights, Dr. Pendanski and Miss Ida dreaded this one most: Group D and Group H were assigned to the same group. Squid and Gill and Eel would be in the same room, and nobody wanted that.
On the floor of D-Tent, they sat in to separate halves of a circle, the girls on one side of the tent, and the boys on the other. Dr. Pendanski, D-Tent's counselor, and Ida, H-tent's counselor, whispered in the corner. Everyone knew they had the hots for each other.
The boys were viciously ignoring Group H by playing a card game, and anytime someone said a joke, they would force their laughter out harder to irritate the girls.
The girls kept to themselves, occasionally shooting glares across the room. They whispered amongst each other, ready for the night to be over. Walker, Catwoman, and Karate were taking bets on whether it would be Gill or Squid to start an argument. Gill, Eel, and Hollywood where discussing the possible topics of Pendanski and Ida's conversation.
The counselors soon returned to the circle, sitting with their respective groups.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Pendanski said brightly. Probably happy about his new date.
"No thanks," snapped Eel, earning a glare from Pendanski.
Despite their hatred for the other group, a few of the boys grunted in agreement. They didn't want to be in counseling either.
"Don't be rude," Ida scolded. "I know you and the boys have had trouble getting along, but it's really important that all of you learn to co-exist." She made wide motions with her hand and clipboard. She always had a clipboard with her, for some reason, but no one ever really knew why.
"Now, girls," Pendanski said. "Last week, the boys and I discussed their futures and what they wanted to when they left Camp Green Lake. I would be mighty interested to hear what you girls have to say. Sage? What about you?"
Hollywood heaved a great sigh, as if he'd just asked her to do some laborious task, and set down her nail file. The glamour girl of Camp Green Lake (or the closest you could get in an orange jumpsuit) had been arrested for shoplifting designer clothes and accessories. Her arrival at Green Lake was like a red carpet even – her clothes were expensive (and stolen) and she waved to everyone who stared.
"I'm gonna marry a billionaire and have her buy this place so that I can fire you." She shot him a bright smile and went back to filing her nails.
A vein on his forehead started to pop out. Pendanski kept smiling though. "Lily? Anything from you?"
"I'm legally changing my name to Eel so idiots like you don't call me Lily." Smirking, Eel propped her arm up on a bed. The nerve of this guy.
Eel might not have been her real name, but, at Camp Green Lake, calling campers by their nicknames was a sign of respect. Since hazing was technically against the law, they campers had to figure out a legal way to give newcomers an initiation (even if they were already juvenile delinquents). Each nickname had meaning behind it, whether it was based off someone's personality, appearance, or whatever else.
On her second day at camp, Eel had earned her nickname. The former Robotics Team Captain had been working on the television for Zigzag, but when some nimrod started patronizing her, she provided him with a well-deserved electric shock. Amused and impressed, Gill suggest "Eel" and it stuck.
Pendanski's smile disappearing, he turned to Gill and asked, venom laced through his tone, "How about you, Sophia? What will you be doing when you leave Camp Green Lake?"
Before she could reply, one of the boys spoke.
"Haven't you heard? She's already gotta sugar daddy lined up for when she gets out."
The boys' side erupted with laughter. The girls glared across the room at the culprit. Squid smirked back, his usually toothpick held between his teeth.
"Sugar daddy's still better than no daddy," Eel shot back, earning a snicker from Gill and Hollywood.
That wiped the grin of his face. The noise died down. Pendanski dropped his head into his hands in defeat. Walker slid two shower tokens to Karate. Barfbag shook his head.
"The fuck did you just say to me?" Squid demanded.
Eel cocked her head, a smug grin on her face. "You heard me."
They were both up in a second, chest-to-chest and in each other's faces. He stood half a foot taller than her, but Eel had no trouble holding her own.
He shoved her, but she grabbed him by the hair and took him down too. Eel landed on her back, with Squid over her. It should have hurt, but adrenaline curbed the sensation.
Her vision went red, but she had enough sense to knee him in the stomach and push him away. Recovering quick, Squid flung himself at her, his fist balled.
Before Eel could lash out with her fingernails, an arm wrapped around her front, hauling her back. She strained, wanting nothing more than to leave a mark on Squid.
"Stop it," Karate ordered in her ear. Eel complied with the martial arts expert said. She had seen the tiny Japanese girl take someone down just by using pressure points, and she decided against getting on the receiving end of that.
Squid struggled against Armpit and Zigzag's grip, but they held steady.
"Better keep that bitch away from me!" Squid shouted, spit spraying from his mouth, his entire upper body flushed with rage.
"You think I wanna come anywhere near you, you piece of shit?" Eel screamed back. Someone grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her backwards. Karate and Catwoman both grabbed an arm and shoved her out of Tent D.
"Goddamn, girl, you gotta a death wish," Gill said, releasing Eel's shirt.
Eel growled and jerked away from Karate and Catwoman. "He started it." She adjusted her jumpsuit. The top two buttons had completely ripped off, allowing a bit of cleavage to show.
"I know, baby," Gill said, throwing an arm over Eel's shoulders as they started walking to their tent. "But you're a good girl, aren't you, sticking up for me like that?"
The remainder of group H filed out of Tent D, followed by Ida. They could sense the lecture coming.
Back in Tent H, Eel collapsed onto her cot. She massaged her throbbing head with her knuckles. Now that she was calm, guilt and concern settled in the pit of her stomach. She regretted hitting him, even though she knew he'd had it coming. No one spoke to Gill like that without consequences. Fighting with Squid was the last thing she wanted to do, but she couldn't let Gill down.
"Every week," Ida said, fuming as she walked across the tent. "This happens every single week." She went quiet, scribbling away on her clipboard. "Last week it was Sage and Rudy. And now it's you and Alan, Lily."
"They were all asking for it, Blondie," Hollywood said. (Sometimes counselors had nicknames too. Pendanski's was Mom. An old H-Tent member, Rook, nicknamed Ida Blondie.)
"What does it matter?" Ida demanded. She nearly threw her clipboard across the room. "Just keep your mouths shut. If someone says something you don't like, just don't respond." She whirled on Eel. "And you. You and Alan. You are the worst out of everyone. It's every damn day with you two."
"Hah!" Catwoman scoffed. She had removed her shirt for bed, revealing the tattoo on her stomach that had named her. "You know what they say – when boys and girls pick on each other, it's because they like each other."
Eel glared across the room, her arms crossed over her chest.
"That's bullshit," Gill stated. "She hates him because he's an asshole. Isn't that right, Eel?"
Everyone looked at her expectantly. She nodded stiffly. "Yeah, he's an asshole. I hate him," she echoed. Catwoman shook her head in disbelief. "I'll try not to fight him so much, okay, Blondie? But I can't stop myself if he starts being a dick."
Ida shook her head, stalking to the tent flaps. "You girls are absolutely useless. It's no wonder you ended up here!" She glanced over her shoulder at Eel. "Lily, you will be receiving punishments for your actions tonight."
"You know what the best punishment for me would be, Blondie?" Eel asked. "A permanent ban on group counseling." She meant it. Counseling was shit.
"Nice try," Ida said. She wrote something on her clipboard.
"Whatever," Eel grumbled. Without getting up, she peeled off her jumpsuit and tossed it into her cubby.
When the lights shut off, her mind drifted back to her and Squid's fight from earlier, and then the ones from throughout the week. There was quite a few of them, although they didn't always get in trouble for them. She wished she could take them all back. The fighting always upset Barfbag. He would always remind her how disappointed her brothers would be if they knew she had resorted to fighting boys. She told herself that was the only reason she hated fighting.
Eel turned onto her side, falling asleep in minutes. Before Camp Green Lake, she had never been able to fall asleep on command. But now there was nothing to keep her awake. There was just a hundred miles of desert and a hot sun she wanted to avoid.
In Tent H, Eel was the second-in-command to Gill, who had a yearlong sentence for drug dealing in Abilene and had served ten months of it. Having spent the most time at Camp Green Lake, she was the leader of Tent H. Sometime before arriving at camp, she had been in an accident that left her with two parallel scars on the side of her throat, which had been the inspiration for her nickname.
Something about her friendly demeanor kept her in charge. When she talked, it sounded nice, but there was something sinister that stuck to the underside of her words. For the most part, Tent H never had reason to worry if they did what she said. But every once in a while, a nightmare slipped into the tent at the dead of night, and an inmate woke with the afterimage of blood dripping from razor-sharp teeth and down a neck with two slits on each side…
Several tents away, Squid fumed in his cot.
He glared at the ceiling, his fist clenched at his sides.
No matter what Pendanski said, he refused to apologize to Gill. He didn't care if it meant he had to work in the kitchen for the next several weeks. That bitch wouldn't win.
He rolled onto his front, his hands gripping the corners of his pillow. He cringed, his stomach still sore from Eel's knee. He refused to move. Somehow, if he gave into the pain, he was forfeiting to her, and he wouldn't ever do that. Even though it had been Eel that fought him, she did so for Gill.
Closing his eyes, he forced himself to think about something else. He didn't get much sleep.
There hadn't always been a feud between Tents D and H. Before Eel joined the ranks, X-Ray could remember a boy from his tent being a little more than friendly with an H-Tent girl.
In fact, the source of the rift could be traced right back to Gill and Squid. Somewhere along the line, the pair had met and come to a mutual feeling of disdain. Whenever they came within speaking distance of each other, they were arguing and yelling.
When Eel arrived was when the fighting started. Gill had never been physically strong, but Eel had been an athlete and could defend herself without help. So, Eel became Gill's unofficial bodyguard, biting back with her snarky mouth and lightning fast temper. She fought Squid, and Gill repaid her by making sure the girls at Camp Green Lake liked her.
The fights sent a fracture between the two tents. The tension had the boys and girls on edge for weeks. Maybe the girls feared Gill and what her new friend would do if they were seen talking to the boys of Tent D.
The day Hollywood showed up was the day all hell broke loose. Gill noticed X-Ray trying to hit on the new girl and the rest of Tent H interjected. There was nothing but chaos for a week straight. Several fights a day between Group D and H were being broken up. Who even knows who started them – but it was the Warden ending them.
She finally emerged from her cabin, furious. She assured the campers that if they continued to behave like animals, they would be treated as such.
Fighting continued, but only between Squid and Eel, urged by Gill. The rest of the two groups kept their distance.
But the worst thing about the fighting, though, was that Eel and Squid didn't even want to hurt each other. Everyone could see the worried eyes stealing glancing across the room. Eel only did what Gill wanted, and Squid knew that.
And sometimes, when Gill wasn't looking, Eel would catch his eye. Usually it was when the groups dug together and Gill didn't realize the exchange from her hole. They would stare at each other for a moment until tentative smiles creeped onto their faces. For a short minute, Gill didn't exist and all was forgiven.
But only for a minute.
Oh boy. Looking back on this is super cringey, but I'm just gonna upload it before I try to edit it more... I hope you like this first chapter! Please let me know what you think!