Disclaimer Note- I do not own Holes. Various recognizable things mentioned are from the cast commentary. And other various recognizable things belong to their respective owners. Anything else is mine.
The judge, an older man in a deep black robe with graying hair and tired eyes that cry out to the world 'please cruel world, alleviate me from this job of having to judge children', speaks out in a voice laden with the burden of this job, "Will the defendants please stand?"
Obediently my friends and I rise slowly to our feet. The soft clank of the metal links of the handcuffs does nothing to reassure me. I can tell by the looks on the faces of my friends that it doesn't relive them either. They glance at me and I smile weakly back.
Marcus, the only boy in our group of four, is silently crying small trails of tears falling down his brown face, small hiccups the only sound from him. Jackie who could be Marcus' twin sister is silent and quite for once. I think the gravity of the situation has hit her because her face is a mirror of Marcus'. Heather, the shortest and palest with skin snow white and bright red hair is trembling looking very close to tears. I stand the tallest of our group with blond hair blue eyes and pale skin, generic American white female.
I take a deep breath and look at the judge waiting for him to continue. "The court has found all four of you guilty of murder two." Heather buries her face in Jackie's arm, Jackie and Marcus both jump and sniff, tears running freely. I bite my lip and tears well up in my eyes threatening to fall. "Now I have two options; I can send you all to jail for a year or I can send you to Camp Green Lake for two years, the choice is yours.
I quickly say, ÒCamp Green Lake, sir"
"Do you represent all of you?" I turn to look at my friends and receive nods from all of them.
I turn back to the judge and reply with a yes. "Good, two years, Camp Green Lake"
I sag with relief and turn to my friends and we envelope each other in hugs as much as we can with hand cuffs on. Sobbing freely I smile and gasp out "We're not going to jail. We're not going to jail."
Each of us is lead out to the prison transport and taken to our homes and we pack our things. I gathered my shampoo and conditioner, toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, tampons, clean clothes, bathing suit, laptop, headphones, Diablo II, cell phone, a bunch of blank cds, a rechargeable battery charger, and throw them in to my back pack. I glance at my bed and decide to take bankie with me, my baby blanket from before I was born. I also grab my school bag with all my school stuff in it such as paper, pens, and pencils. When the guard isnÕt looking I grab my knife that I normally use for whittling and stuff it down my bra were it is hidden.
I give my younger brother, my only brother a huge hug and kiss and say, ÒI'm so sorry; I'm not going to see you for a very long time. Please, remember to write your Sissy email."
He looks at me with a face that shows a deeper understanding and says ÒI will, I won't forget. I love you."
"I love you too, Dale. Goodbye," my parents and I have already said goodbye and shed our tears. I can only image that some where my partners in crime are doing the same. If only they would believe us when we said we were framed.
The policeman handcuffs me and puts me in the back of the police car. We travel to the police station in silence. The guard pulls me out of the car and ushers me on a decrepit old school bus. I see that my best friend, Heather, is already on and I move to sit next her in the seat. The policeman grabs my arm and moves me to a seat across from her.
When I look at her I can see that her hands are cuffed in front of her to a bar on top of the seat. The policeman uncuffs one of my hands and pulls it around to the front. I pull my other hand to the front as well. He loops the thin chain through the bar and recuffs my hand.
Jackie comes on carrying two huge suitcases and Marcus follows carrying one big suitcases. They quietly sit down where the policeman instructs them sit. When they sit down the policeman handcuffs them the same way he handcuffed me. Each of us has our own seat and we are, luckily, seated next to each other. Once situated we all say small 'hi's to each other.
The bus lurches to a start and I begin to talk, ÒSoÉ How did your parents except it?Ó
Jackie answers with a smile, ÒHa! My mom says they should have locked me up!Ó I grin at this and the others do as well.
ÒMy parents threatened to disown me,Ó Marcus said desolately.
I frown at this, and then brighten up, ÒHey! If you are already disowned they can't disown you for being gay.Ó
Heather smiles then starts quietly, ÒMy parents said that they believe me when I say that weÕre innocent and that they are going to write me every day.Ó Everyone smiles.
ÒMine said that too. Although going to camp for two years and getting out of school for two years should be fun as well,Ó I grin wildly as I say this. ÒAll in all I think we got the better bargain."
ÒHey! You kids back there! Shut it up,Ó the guard shouts. We Ôshut it upÕ immediately. We look at each other with uncertain glances; the fragile aura of cheerfulness is shattered.
Timidly Marcus starts up, ÒExcuse me Mr. Policeman sir, where is Camp Green Lake anyway?Ó
The guard glares at Marcus and my eyes fall to the guard's rifle. ÒTexas,Ó he states simply.
My eyes widen and out of the corner of my eye I see Heather and Jackie gasp. I groan and let my head fall forward on to my hands. Now that my hands are hidden I work one of my hands free. I fumble around in my backpack and take out my laptop. I start up my computer and try to go online. Thankfully somewhere close by someone has a wireless connection that I can hack into. Quickly I break through their codes quietly and receive Internet access. I go to an address engine and type in Green Lake, Texas. I find out that itÕs four to five hours away. My computer starts to go glitchy and I realize my Internet access is going away. I shut down my laptop and put it away to conserve batteries. I turn to my friends and show all ten of my fingers two times and to signify 20 hours. They understand. I put my hand back into the handcuff and would you believe that it's harder to get back on than off? I settle back into my seat and try to go to sleep. Hey IÕm already going to have a messed up sleep schedule anyway what with the time difference and all.
I awake periodically when the bus stops for the two drivers to switch. Sometimes I sleep through it. Sometimes I don't. Who knew being convicted of murder was so tiring.
I am jolted awake when the bus suddenly stops. ÒWeÕre here,Ó I hear the gruff voice of the guard say. I yawn and rub the sleep from my eyes. The guard comes back here and uncuffs me and my friends. All of us free at the same time? Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. I follow my friends off the bus. They are yawning as well so I figure they must have slept also. I glance at my watch. ItÕs six oÕclock at home. It looks to be around five here.
The guard tells us to follow him. He leads us to a wooden old building. We get a few cat calls and whistles along with Ôyo, fresh meatÕ. Inside is a gruff middle aged man with a slight beer belly. The stench of cigarettes clings to him like a second skin.
ÒAmora eh?Ó he says looking at me. From what it says on your record you must be the ring leader. I nod hesitantly. I donÕt think of myself as the leader.I think back to school and group projects. Yup, IÕm the leader. ÒI expect you to keep your little gang in line,Ó he glares at me. ÒEven if youÕll are murderers,Ó IÕm not a murderer, we were framed, ÒYou still are women so youÕll be assigned to D- tent, the only tent with out offenses against women,Ó IÕm puzzled by this. ArenÕt all the girl tents ones without offenses against women? ÒYou too,Ó he glances at the files, ÒMarcus. My name is Mr. Sir. When you speak to me you will call me by my name.Ó
ÒYes Mr. Sir,Ó we answer in unison. IÕm trying to keep the smile off my face.
ÒDo you find something funny about my name?Ó Obviously I failed.
IÕm saved from having to answer when a short man in shorts, tall socks, straw hat and a clipboard comes up. ÒHi! IÕm Mr. Pendanski. If youÕre having trouble remembering itÕs just three simple words. Pen dance key! IÕll be your counselor.Ó
Mr. Sir whispers something to Mr. Pendanski which I just happened to over hear, ÒThe blond one, sheÕll be trouble.Ó I roll my eyes at this. IÕm only trouble if you make trouble with me, my family, or my friends.
ÒI'm sure we'll be fine! Now if you follow me IÕll introduce you to your tent mates,Ó Following the way too hyper counselor I lean over and whisper to Heather.
ÒHe reminds me of you. No brain,Ó I smirk.
ÒHey! Just because IÕm a baka doesnÕt mean I donÕt have a brain!Ó she retorts angrily.
ÒUmmÉ Heather, dear. Hate to remind you of this but baka means stupid.Ó Jackie comes up and joins the conversation.
ÒIs there a problem back there?Ó Mr. Pendanski turns back with a frown.
ÒNo sir.Ó I smile and say. I feel better now that the stifling aura has pasted and we all are in a lighter mood. We come to a tent with a big letter D painted on the side. We enter a bright and airy gray tent. Even though I can feel the breeze it does not remove the sweaty smell from the tent. Nobody is in the tent though.
ÒAh! Well! Since nobody is here weÕll just get you set up with your tools first!Ó He says everything with such a hyper voice. What tools though? He leads us to a supply shack and pulls out eight orange jump suits, four hats, some coins, and four water canisters. Which are just reused and hopefully clean containers. He hands them out to use. ÒOne will be your work clothes and one will be your rest clothes which you will were for three days, Òhe holds up three fingers, ÒThen your relaxation clothes will be your work clothes and your work clothes will be washed!Ó Work? What work? Speaking of which whereÕs the green? WhereÕs the lake? ÒYou will dig one hole each day five foot wide five foot deep, your shovel will be your measuring stick.Ó Ah. That would be the work. ÒUmmÉ You can get changed in the tent.Ó Loser! I get to keep my knife then.
We go back to the tent and get changed but first. ÒOkay Marcus out!Ó Jackie says as she shoves Marcus out the door. I notice that the beds are cots; I am secretly thrilled with this because when I last went to camp they had cots and they were so comfortable. I hurriedly get changed and Jackie and Heather do the same. We finish changing and peek out the door. Mr. Pendanski is talking to a camper in an orange jump suit. I figure those must be the uniforms here. I see Marcus and usher him in. We exit the tent leaving Marcus alone to get changed.
I hear snippets of the conversation between Mr. Pendanski and the camper. ÒWhy do I have to wait before going into my tent?Ó
ÒItÕs not your tent Rex and the new campers are changing.Ó Others join the Rex and I slow my walk up to Mr. Pendanski. I really donÕt want to mess with them. Mr. Pendanski must have heard my footsteps because he turned around. ÒAh, you're finished! WhereÕs Marcus?Ó
ÒChanging,Ó Heather replies the orange clothing clashing with her bright red hair. However Jackie looks good with it on. I can just imagine I look as bad in it as Heather does.
ÒOh, girls these are your tent mates. Rex,Ó he gestures to a well muscle African American, ÒTheodore,Ó a chubby African American, ÒJose,Ó I say in my mind Jose part four, who is a Hispanic guy. Jose part one, two, and three we're kids who went to my school, ÒAlan,Ó the Caucasian with something heÕs chewing one. I think itÕs a piece of straw or a toothpick or something, Òand Ricky,Ó he gestures to the tallest one of the group a guy with frizzy blond hair and mismatched eyes, one blue and one green. All boys.
ÒYo, my name is not Rex itÕs X-ray! And this is Armpit, Magnet, Squid, and Zigzag.Ó Rex err Armpit, I mean X-ray says. This is too many names. ÒAnd this is mom,Ó he finishes pointing to Dr. Pendanski.
ÒI prefer to call them by the names that their parents gave them. But you can call me Mom is it makes you feel better.Ó
ÒGah! Too many names!Ó I glance at Heather who said it and has a very confused look on her face. I must have the same look because Jackie does too and so does Marcus, who just joined us. My ÔgangÕ as Mr. Sir called it looks at me. Guess IÕm the unofficial spokes person.
ÒUmmÉ IÕm Amora and this is Jackie, Heather, and Marcus.Ó I resist the temptation to call Marcus by his nick name, Gayboy, ÒUhhÉ Nice to meet you.Ó I hope I donÕt sound stupid.
ÒOkay, now that introductions are done. Ricky I would like you to be AmoraÕs mentor, Alan you will be HeatherÕs mentor, X-ray with Jackie if you please, and Jose if you would be MarcusÕ mentor,Ó the words say you can refuse but the tone says you canÕt. ÒAnd Theodore if you please, go to the shower.
As Theodore walks by I can tell why heÕs called Armpit. So thatÕs why Mr. Mom asked him to go to the showers. Everybody turns to go to the tent so I follow. There are ten cots five on each side of the tent going long wise. The boys point out which cots are free. The free cots are the second, third, and fifth and the left side when entering and the second one on the right. I put my stuff in the box next to the second one on the left, Heather the one next to me, Jackie the one across from me on the right side, and Marcus in the last free on the left.
ÒUmmÉÓ I turn to the boy who Mr. Pendanski said was going to be my mentor. ÒWhere can I fill up my canteen?Ó
ÒNear the showers,Ó I nod my thanks. That would be more helpful if I knew where the showers were. ÒDo you know where the showers are?Ó I shake my head. ÒOh, IÕll show you.Ó
ÒThanks,Ó I smile at him. He probably needs a shower too. HeÕs covered in dust. Now that IÕve spent a little time with him I can see he keeps glancing around, his eyes zigzagging across the floor. Ah thatÕs his nick name! Zigzag. I follow him out and I can see the showers.
The showers are open. As in no curtain. I keep my eyes to the ground as I follow him. The water spickets are on the side of the shower stall. Do not look up. Do not look up. I repeat in my head. Nice chest. Gah! I looked up. I quickly fill my canteen and leave. I wonder if Zigzag has as nice a chest. Gah! No I don't, no I don't. I reach the tent and hurry back inside.
AN- Here is the rest of the chapter. Let me make it pretty so you can tell.
Ah... Safety. I don't have to worry about relieving chests here. I move over to my cot and plop down it. A few seconds later Zigzag comes in.
"Why did you run off like that?" My! What a nice Scottish accent you have Zigzag.
"I- umm- well- ah- eh- meh," Great. I sound brilliant, "I- I looked up."
"Oh," Man of few words are we Zigzag?
"Amora, when you blush you're redder than Heather's hair!" Thank you for that brilliant statement Jackie. Do you see the sarcasm dripping from every word?
"Well boys and girls, since everybody is now here I will explain the camp," Wait. Wasn't everybody here already? "Louis, these girls will be your tent mates." Oh. He's new. I think. He looks like he just came from the shower.
"Barfbag," Heather's mentor directed towards her. But hey, I heard anyway. It's not like he said it quietly.
A quick glance, or glare I can't tell from Dr. Mom, to the boy who spoke to Heather, "Anyway, girls you will be expected to dig one hole each day. Five foot by five foot, your shovel will be your measuring stick." Dr. Mom pause a moment to let it sink in.
"Is that all?" I ask hesitantly.
"Believe me girl that's enough," X-Ray said very much in my face. Okay. What did I just learn? That leader man is very touchy.
"That's enough Rex. Now girls did Mr. Sir check you're stuff?" My friends and I shake our heads. "I guess I have to then," Dr. Mom then grabbed my bag of school stuff and dumped it out. The guys all crowded closer. I was a bit peeved that he just dumped it out. I mean come on it could be my purse or something. "This looks clear. You won't get to keep your bags though." He then grabbed my bag of clothes. And guess what he did. He dumped it! All my clothes spilled on to my cot. "Clear," he reaches for my purse. He then dumps it. Brushes, hair ties, deodorant, electronics, everything fell to the cot. A lone tampon rolled off the edge of the cot and on the floor. It continued to roll some more until it touched the tip of Dr. Mom's shoe. All of the guys recoiled. Serves them right. "Eh, you can keep your purse." He then moved on to my friend's stuff. He didn't dump their stuff out. As he was doing this I put all of my stuff away except for bankie. Him I put on my cot.
"Hey, yo, Mom, I've got a question."
"What is it, Theodore?"
"If this is a boys camp why they send girls here? And it's Armpit,"
"Well, Theodore," Dr. Mom said, emphasizing the Theodore, "This camp is co-ed but it received a reputation of being a boys camp so all boys get sent here. They must be from out of state if they were sent here,"
"Hey, Mom, that don' make sense. I'm from outta state. Dey sen' me 'ere," I knew Toothpickman couldn't speak with that thing in his mouth. I have decided that it is a toothpick not a piece of straw. Where would they get straw anyway?
"Alan, you are a boy so it doesn't really matter now does it?" Dr. Mom is stating the obvious here. I can tell that Toothpickman is a boy. Not that I looked or anything. You don't believe me do you?
"Oh," Another person with an earth shattering answer. You and Zigzag are both tied, Toothpickman.
"I'll leave you all to get acquainted. Be nice to your new tent mates boys," Dr. Mom state as he left the tent.
Everybody either sat or laid on their cots except for Zigzag. He just stood there at the front of the tent staring at me, Heather, Jackie, and Marcus. Finally he spoke, "Do you work for them?"
"Work for who? Mr. Sir and Dr. Pen Dance Key? Of course not," Hey, his name is easy to remember but I'll be damned if I can spell it.
"It's Mom," Yes, Mr. Leaderman is very touchy.
"Not the counselors. Them," Zigzag waved his arm and looked up as he stressed the word Them. He's creeping me out.
"No, no. We don't work for them," I stressed the them as well.
"Good," he said as he smiled big and bright. My friends let loose a collective sigh of relief and a few nervous chuckles. "Mom didn't tell you about the lizards did he? Or Mr. Sir?" That big and bright smile turned very creepy.
"Nooo," He's getting creepier. I wonder if I could change mentors. Louis or Barfbag as he's called by his tent mates seems perfectly fine. Or Armpit. I could brave the smell. I'm sure I could.
"What about the rattlesnakes?" I shake my head. "The scorpions?" I shake my head. "The tarantulas?" Marcus let loose a sob and I shake my head. "Oh man Mom didn't tell you anything." At each animal he came a little bit closer.
"I guess not." He is definitely creeping me out here. He is invading my personally space. He is in the bubble. He is creepy. Creepy with a capital C. Creepy to the max.
He sat down right next to me. So close we were almost touching. Then he shifted to face me better and started talking using his hands for emphasis. "Tarantulas are okay. They won't bother you and if they do you can brush them away with your shovel or something."
"Or squish them right?" I question timidly.
"No," He looks confused that I even asked it. Okay. Very creepy. "Scorpions are okay too. You just pick them up at the joint at the tip of the tail," I think I'll just run away. The creepy level is going down a bit. He is still to close though, "The rattlers are sick," Nods and comments of agreement from his tent mates. "All you can down is stay away from them and if they get close move slowly." I think I'll stick with the staying away part. "If you get bit don't worry. The warden has a first aid kit and you get a day off from digging. But if it's really bad you might have to go to the hospital. You might even die. "Buggy eyes at the die part." That would be really sick." Creepy level is going way up.
"The lizards are the sickest. If you get bit by one you will die. Always. A slow and painful death. You get these convulsions and your eyes go big and you can breath. They are so sick," You're sick, buddy. "The lizards are green with yellow spots. They have exactly eleven spots. They have sharp pointy these little black teeth and a thin white tongue and they're about this big," he moved his hands about a foot a part to show the size, "And this tall," he moved his hands one above the other about four or five inches apart, "You should be safe when you're digging your hole. They don't like the sun. But at night- BAM!" He clapped his hands together causing Heather, Jackie, Marcus and myself to scream. And the boys laughed at us. After the short scream Marcus sobbed a little and put his head in his hands. "They come out at night."
"Yeah, dey're knock turn all," Hello Toothpickman. Congratulations on the big word.
"When they come after you they hiss," Back to Mr. Creepy. "And stick their tongue out and they have this frill around their neck that comes out and shakes." I am picturing the poisonous dinosaurs in the movie Jurassic Park that got the fat man. "They can climb near vertical surfaces and can jump five feet in the air." I am very scared now. And he is the epitome of creepiness. To think I wondered if he had a nice chest. I want to go home. I think I'll take jail next time. As I am in the middle of my morbid thoughts a shrill whistle pierces the air.
"Hey come on Zig it's dinner time." Armpit said as he thumbed Zigzag on the back. Mr. Creepy stood up as all the boys rushed out of the tent towards the mess hall.
"Hey, you comin'?" Mr. Creepy asked as he stood next to the tent door about to step out.
I force myself to smile, albeit weakly, "Actually I think I'll find a hole and hide."
"I wouldn't do that. They live in the holes." Byebye smile. And he laughed as he stepped out leaving me scared for my life. I'm never going to be able to sleep at night. And I am never speaking to him again. I turn to look at my friends. Heather has gone so ashen she is translucent and Jackie and Marcus look like tan white people.
"I'm going to die here," Heather states very simply.
"I'm too cute and adorable to die," Jackie whined as she bounced up and down on her heels.
"Let's just go eat." Only you Marcus would be able to eat after that.
My friends and I stumble out of the tent and head to where all of the campers are gathering. Once inside the rickety wooden building we see all of the kids lining up at a counter. It reminds be of a lunch line at school which is what it is basically. I grab my tray and get in line. My friends do the same. The first stop is brown goop. Splat. Not eating that. Second stop; green goop. Splat. Third stop; orange brown goop. Splat. Fourth stop; drinks of some kind packaged in an indiscernible wrapper. Fifth stop; white bread. Seeing the only recognizable bit of food sitting in front of causes my stomach to remember it was on a long bus ride with no food. And I get two pieces of it.
I muffle a shriek as Mr. Creepy appears from nowhere and grabs my arm. Don not appear out of nowhere after just telling me about the lizards. I am going to die from a heart attack. He drags me over to where my new friends, heavy sarcasm on the word friends, are sitting. He sits down near Mr. Leaderman. "You sit here," He says as he motions to the spot next to him. No no no no! I do not want to sit next to him. Thanks to him I will have nightmares for the rest of my life. Or at least the rest of my stay here which will be the rest of my life the way he told it.
As I am sitting mopping my friends come over. I notice none of us are sitting next to each other, unfortunately. I stare at my food debating if I should eat anything. On one hand I'm starving. On the other hand if I eat anything I may receive the nickname Barfbag number two. In the middle of my internal debate I hear Mr. Leaderman talk to Marcus.
"Now, since you didn't dig you won't mind giving up your food to someone who did dig. no would you," Mr. Leaderman says as he takes Marcus' bread. That that meanie! I need to think up some new insults. I stare at Marcus' empty bread spot then at my full one. His empty one, my full one. Sighing I give up the only edible looking thing on my plate and give it to Marcus. I hate being nice.
"You wouldn't take food from someone who hasn't eaten for twenty-one hours would you?" Brave little Heather. That man is nearly twice her size and spoke up to him. And Heather is not very confrontational. In fact she is done right meek.
"No," X-Ray says and tosses me his bread. Ah! Sweet normal food. "He betta eat all of his sploop." Sploop? Is that what they call this disgusting goo? I guess.
"Thank you," I beam a smile at X-Ray. He mumbles something and looks down at his plate. Awww... Is he blushing?
Everyone eats all of their food. Including me even though I just know I'm going to steal Barfbag's name. The brown sploop reminds me of beef stew. Grade: Sort of edible. The green sploop is absolutely disgusting and tastes like spinach, lima beans, brussel sprouts, and asparagus all rolled into one. Grade: Need you even ask? Failed! A big fat F. Oh my God, I am never touching that stuff again. After the green sploop I was scared to try the orange sploop. But the orange sploop surprised me. It tastes the best out of everything here. Better than the bread even. It reminds me of mashed sweet potato. Very yummy. Grade: A. With a big smily face, see:) The drink was some sort of fruit and water concoction. Grade: mostly edible. The bread is generic white bread. Doesn't need a grade.
When I finish my food I stand up to see where to put my dishes. "Over there," Barfbag says as he points. He's been so nice so far. I feel bad calling him by his nickname. I smile and say 'thank you'. On my way over to the dish pile I here a crash and thud behind me. There, on the floor, lies Heather. This causes much laughter from all of the boys. Jackie is next to Heather helping her up.
"Way to go, chicka," Hello Jose.
"Are you okay?" I question worriedly.
"Yeah, sure, fine," Heather answers as she gathers up her dishes. You know Heather blushes as red as her hair too. I'm not the only one. Ha!
"Are you hurt?" Toothpickman is there being concerned. Why can't he be my mentor?
"Just my dignity."
"As long as it's nothing important, right?" Make wisecracks so you'll feel better Amora. There you go. See? You're feeling better already.
I put my dishes on the pile praying it doesn't fall over. After backing away slowly to make sure it doesn't crash down before me I head outside. I see the some boys head over to the wreck, rec, room. The other boys head over to the tents. I reach D-tent, my new home, and enter. I plop down onto my cot and sigh a huge sigh of relief. The boys that are in here grab towels, shampoo, and some coins and head out to the showers. When the last boy leaves Marcus starts talking to all of us.
"So who do you think is cute?"
"Marcus! How can you think about that sort of stuff now?" Amen there Jackie.
"What? We should just get it over with so we don't go for someone else's guy."
"Marcus. I hate you," Amen again Jackie.
"I think Alan is kinda cute," Way to go Heather. Take Marcus' side.
"Toothpickman?" I really shouldn't say the secret nicknames out loud.
"Yeah, what's wrong with him?" No need to be so defensive Heather.
"He's like, two feet taller than you, how would you kiss?" And Jackie goes over to the dark side.
"Bah," I say as I pull my pillow onto my face.
"Oh, and who do you like, Amora?" I hate you too Jackie.
"Nobody," I say through my pillow.
"I bet it's Zigzag," Quick! Defend yourself! You do not like Mr. Creepy! I throw my pillow off my face.
"I hate you all," Brilliant! Now they are positive you like him, "He reminds me of that one Happy Bunny sticker. The one where Happy Bunny is in a straight jacket and says 'Psycho but cute, things even out'" Did it work? Yes! You are safe Amora! "I don't like anybody here. They are all delinquents, remember?"
"Right," Things calm down now and I shift on my cot so I am facing my friends away from the door. I hear the tent flap open as someone comes in. I don't care to find out who though. I hear things happening with clothes.
"OH MY GOD!"
"VIRGIN EYES! VIRGIN EYES!"
I quickly turn around to see what they were freaking out at. And I see Mr. Creepy standing there in the nude quickly pulling some boxers on. Oh my god is right. I turn quickly away, "Sorry!" I now see my friends instead of... it. Heather has face planted herself on her cot and Jackie has turn away. Marcus has- "Marcus! Stop staring!" I wait a little bit before I ask my question," Is it safe?"
My question causes Mr. Creepy aka Mr. Flasher to laugh, "Yeah, sure." I turn around and he is sitting on the cot next to me. That better not be his cot.
"No it's not! You're still in your boxers! And what are you doing there?" Rant! Rave! Am I freaking out to much? No. Best get it through their heads early.
"This is my cot," Shit. "And what do you expect me to wear to bed? My dirty dusty clothes?" He has a point. I hate that.
"At least put a shirt on or something!" I whine slash whimper slash beg. He laughs again and pulls a wife beater on.
"Happy?"
"No, but it's better," I sulk. "Why are you getting ready for bed so early?" He throws me a funny look.
"It's not early. Lights out is in fifteen minutes. Besides they are always watching," Creepy. As we are speaking, yes I am speaking to him, never lasted real long here, the rest of the tent comes in. Mr. Leaderman, Toothpickman, and Jose what was his nickname again? are all wearing towels around their waists. They move to various spots around the tent. Oh shit!
"There is a towel down! Towel down! Duck and cover people!" As I state this loudly my 'gang' all dive face first into our cots. This causes a huge amount of laughter to erupt from the boys. I hate men.
"Hey, yo, they do this to you Zig?" I think the voice belongs to Armpit.
"Yeah, yeah, they did." More laugher.
"The chickas sure are funny, eh?" I like the Joses at my school better.
"Zig, why you wearing a shirt? You don't normally wear one to bed," Mr. Leaderman.
"She asked me to."
"You gonna do everything the girls ask you to?" That is unfair!
I look up to yell at the speaker, "It was a perfectly reasonable request!" Not safe! Head back in the pillow!
"Yeah, sure it was chicka. I'm sure you asked him to do all sorts of things for you, eh? I do not like the enuendo I hear in his voice. I grab the nearest throwable thing I have. Byebye pillow. With no pillow I hide my face in the cot. I smirk in satisfaction as I hear Jose cuss as the pillow hits him in the face. The boys laugh uproariously. After a moments deliberation I have decided that the pillow smells better than the cot. "You throw like a girl chicka!"
"News flash! I am a girl!" More laughter. I have decided that I do not like being laughed at. Things quiet down after that. I sigh as my adrenaline level decreases. It shoots back up when I feel someone tap my shoulder.
"It's safe now," Mr. Creepy had leaned over from where he was seated on his cot to tap my shoulder. I smile at him. He's not so bad when he's not talking about the lizards.
"Thanks."
"You gonna sleep in that?" He motions at my jumpsuit.
"Yeah,"
He shrugs, "Okay."
I look over at my friends. They are all wearing the jumpsuit. Jackie has shrugged off the orange top and is wearing just the bottoms and a white t-shirt. Marcus and Heather are all wearing the full suit like me. As I'm debating whither or not to take off the orange over shirt like Jackie Dr. Mom enters the tent.
"Everyone settled okay? No incidents?"
"Sure thing Mom. They hid while we changed." This is the second time I heard Barfbag speak. If I could remember his real name I would call him that because he's the only nice one so far.
"Well boys and girls lights out is in five minutes. Have a good sleep girls, you have to get up bright and early to dig your first hole." A hole. Wonderful. If digging is as exciting as the after hours I don't know what I'll do.
I lay on my cot with my eyes close thinking about the day so far. Hey! Where's my pillow? I get out and go over to where Jose is lying down and grab my pillow back. I lay down on my cot and start thinking again. In the middle of my though process the lights go out. This causes my eyes to bug open. The lizards come out at night! It little noise in the dark causes me to jump a little. Finally I am lulled to sleep by the soothing darkness and the night noises.
AN- BABY! Finally I finished this chapter. Now I would like to thank Esawian for being the first reviewer. And I would like to thank dani for giving me such useful hints and positive criticism. And dani I don't know which account is yours. I checked 12 different 'dani's. So could leave a signed review or your account name if you review again. And I would like to thank the seven other people who read my story but didn't leave a review.