"You will have two sets of clothes. One will be your work, the other your relaxation. After three days your work will- Hey, girlie, you listenin' to me?" I slowly brought my eyes back to the rough looking cowboy man who insisted on being called by the ridiculous name of Mr. Sir. My sister nudged me in the ribs with her elbow, urging me to pay attention. Normally it was the other way around, what with her ADHD and ADD, but I just wasn't having any of this right now.
"Yeah, yeah okay continue." I nodded, my arms crossed in front of my chest. I didn't want to be here, if that wasn't bluntly obvious from my actions. The fact that I was practically incapable of concentrating in this heat and the absolute dryness of the air, were contributing factors of my distaste for Camp Green Lake. With its orange jumpsuits and clunky boots, both of which were in my hands, I knew that this wasn't exactly the place for me by any means. And two shower tokens for a whole week? That's disgusting! But, honestly, there was no real place for my sister and me. We lived with my mom's sister in a little town in Texas called Bedford. It wasn't a bad town. Its population was small, its schools public, and the parents who wanted a better education for their children sent them to Catholic school a town over. And my Aunt Tessie wasn't mean to us; she loved us. But that might have been only because we were my mother's children.
And I didn't blame her. My sister and I were absolutely rotten. We embarrassed her something terrible. We were arrested multiple times, for multiple things. But in a small town like that, people have connections. And people like my Aunt especially. Because she was married to the mayor, her family was in with the law. Somehow, she got me out of charges of underage drinking, alcohol possession, and tagging. Well, technically, the tagging, which is technically graffiti, thing was my last offense. The one that I got busted for and sent here for… It's different when a state judge, whose job it is to obtain the law, looks at your file and sees that this wasn't your first offense. But what's worse is that I influenced my sister to follow in my footsteps. And then she decided it would be just a grand idea to steal from the general store, and the grocery store, and the one Kohl's we had in town. My sisters hands… They're like magnets. Her third strike was the "liberation" of our Uncle Calvin's car to go for a little joy ride around town. But, considering she's 15, she didn't know how to drive. This resulted in messy, swerved steering and staggered speeds, which resulted in being pulled over by Officer James, who had mistaken her for a drunk driver.
So I didn't blame anyone in town for the three strikes you're out rule. Or my Uncle for thinking we'd be better suited for a tougher detention facility. Which, after talking to a few of his high office friends, pulled some strings to get us placed in an all boys camp, or as you know it, Camp Green Lake.
Lifting my head, and placing my hand as a visor to block my eyes from the sun, I followed the man that was introduced to us as Dr. Pendanski by Mr. Sir. He was to become our counselor. We had bi- weekly feeling circles, in which everyone shared a little information about ourselves and were asked questions. But, you see, I didn't do feelings. I had never been about why's, or feelings, or the whole caring thing. Except for Noelle, my sister; that was different.
See, now I feel very rude for not introducing myself or my sister properly. My name is Amelia Sanders. I am 16 years old, and am considered a "troubled youth" by the multiple therapists, councilors, and doctors my Aunt and Uncle have had me sent to. My sister, Noelle Sanders, has ADD and ADHD, and takes Ritalin once a day. She is 15, and likes to talk. Very often. Whereas me, I'm more on the quiet I'll-kick-your-ass side. My sister is easily influenced, incredibly naive, and always has a lollipop. Always. I guide her through life as best as I can, but hey, I'm not exactly the best influence. Our parents died when I was 7 and my sister was 6 in a car accident while driving home from a Christmas party. Yes, Christmas is sad at my house. No, I'm not depressed.
My sister grabbed my wrist and pulled, as Dr. Pendanski began to walk and speak to us. "Amelia, Noelle, I'd like you to know that you may have done some bad things, but that doesn't make you a bad person." Obviously a routine thing that was said every time the camp got a new kid. I should know. I've experienced a lot of these little speeches throughout my 16 years. "You will be staying in D – Tent. Yes, there are boys in this tent. Boys who have broken the law just like you ladies. But their crimes are more on the fighting and stealing side, nothing that could be potentially harmful to you girls." I sighed. This was going to suck. We had to wear orange, and dig a hole a day for 17 months in the hot sun, and share a tent with boys. This was going to be a whole bucket full of sunshine; I could just see it now.
Opening the flap to the tent, I glanced around. It was shabby, but not as shabby as I had imagined. Dr. Pendanski led us into the opposit side of the tent that was seperated by a flap. Inside, there were two cots parrelel eachother. They were white and uncovered, and it was a little disgusting. Rubbing my eyes as the man told us to put our items in the cubbies, which we brought with us a duffle bag each. Which had been searched a little too thoroughly by that peverted by in the equiptment tent.
"Ladies, I'll be back and let you change and settle in. The boys should start shuffling back in around half an hour, so I'll be back then to introduce and show you your mentors." He turned to walk up, and paused before turning around, "Oh, I forgot. If you see any lizards with yellow spots on them, don't approach. Or you will be bitten and die. I'll see you in a bit ladies.
After changing into our orange jumpsuits, Noelle and I decided to explore. Walking out of our little section, I crashed nose to chest with a rather tall individual. Stepping back and glancing up, my eyes met the startling ice blue eyes of a blonde, frizzy haired individual. Stepping forward, Noelle smiled up at him. "Hello, I'm Noelle, and this is my older sister Amelia. We're new here." She smiled and rocked back and forth from the balls of her feet to the heel, a very confused look on his face. "Oh, um... Hi. Nice to um... You're girls." He mumbled, his eyes trained to floor.
"Ziggy! This is the part where you say hi and introduce yourself. Hello ladies. I'm X-Ray, and this is Zigzag." X-Ray was a black boy, and had dusty, dirty glasses. He was smiling confidently. He wasn't too tall, but then again... I was only 5' 2". "Will you be staying in our tent?"
"Yeah!" Noelle said, giggling. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I gave her a "chill-for-like-10-seconds" look. "I'm Amelia, and this is Noelle." He nodded, and motioned for them to follow him.
"Why don't I introduce you to the rest of the tent, yeah?"
Just 578 days Am. Just 578 days. I tried to convince myself.
A/N Sorry it's kind of short. This will have at least 1 OC and will be missing Stanley and Zero… And perhaps someone else, but I'm not positive. I hope you enjoyed. And anything you recognize from Holes is not mine. Anything you don't, however, is mine.
