Abbey's POV: Squid and I were sitting on the bus together. He left his backpack with his school stuff at my house up in my bedroom, and I didn't have to leave a note for my father that I would be at the fair with a friend. That would've made him proud mentioning I had a friend. But I didn't need to, it was early October and he was away on a business trip till late December.

"Can I come over for tutoring tomorrow as well?" Squid asked me while I was staring silently out the window.

"Tomorrow? Well, first I have a proposal for you Squid" I replied.

"Ooh, I never knew the full of your love Abbey" He joked.

I laughed, "pfft. Not that proposal. I mean a deal or opportunity." I sat up straight and faced him. I took off my glasses and wrapped them in a protective cloth. I put them in one of my coat's pockets. "You have seen the yard haven't you?"

He nodded.

"Well my father would kill me if I tried to do something about it, because he doesn't want me messing around with a machete. Not literal when I say kill. Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me with it. The house I live in is the oldest in the town, so people just call it a piece of dumb history. I was thinking, maybe you and I can fix it up? The lawn, the leaks in the roof, the creaking stairs and breaking floor boards. I will pay you $30 for the job every week you work on it. Please, Squid?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'll come back to you on that. But the pay is good I'll tell you that." He winked, "is food included?" He laughed.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Yes. After school till early sunset every day and if you come on weekends I pay extra working from 10:30AM to 6:30PM."

"How much extra?" He smirked.

"$10 each day. And if you want to stay afterwards for some tutoring, I could make that work."

"$50 for 7 days? Count me in. I'll stay later than usual though, cause without you tutoring me my grades are going to drop." He laughed.

"It is a deal." I smiled and held out my hand for hand shake. He shook it and smiled at me. His hands enveloped mine, they were bigger, and his skin was rough and scratchy feeling. He has callus maybe from all the blisters that have been on his hands. I could still feel more blisters. I squeezed his hand softly and he grimaced in a small shrivel of pain. I must've made one of his blisters worse. "Oh I am so sorry Alan! I mean Squid! How's your hands? May I see them, please?"

He showed me his open palms. On the heel of his hand, callus made it hard and rough. His fingers felt like sandpaper due to blisters and his knuckles bulged out red. I never noticed that. I carefully run my index finger around his hands. "How'd this happen?" I asked worriedly.

He sighed and took his right hand away from me and used it to rub the back of his neck instead. "Diggin' holes all day in the hot desert sun for a year and three months. The sun gives you sun burn," he carefully slid his hand through the hood of his jacket and pulled his shirt away to reveal a broad, red, sore left shoulder. "Never leave your shoulders uncovered in the desert, that's why the rest of the time before Caveman bailed us all out, I wore T-shirts. Makes it harder to dig, especially if you're you, and the hole's only three inches shorter than you Abbey." He laughed.

"Why would you have done that?" I asked curiously.

"Oh right I never told you about 'Hell' yet," Squid said sarcastically. "Well you see Abbey, I'm a delinquent. I come from a juvenile detention center called Camp Green Lake where every delinquent was sent to with a choice of jail or the Camp. You are sentenced eighteen months there, but about 15 months in some guy in my tent got the place shut down for good. The name was a lie because there absolutely was no lake. It was a desert, a dry, dry, dry desert. I was the second toughest guy there and me and Magnet stayed in D-Tent. You can ask Magnet if you don't believe me" he said, proud.

"I believe you" I giggled. "Seeing you fight like that; amazing. I would hate to see the toughest guy." I winked and bumped my fist playfully to his arm.

Did she, she… did she just really… wink? It was adorable, her right chocolate brown eye winking at me… I guess this really is a date and she does like me…, Squid thought to himself. He smiled, "thanks." He nudged my shoulder softly. "Ya' think so?"

"I know so Squid!" I smiled at him and he smiled back. There was a silence where I swore I could hear my heart beat. I was scared that maybe he could hear it to. I could stare into his brown eyes forever. Then all of a sudden, Squid leaned in closer to me. I thought we were going to actually kiss when the bus stopped abruptly and my head knocked into his chest. "Sorry!" I said.

"It's alright" He said, blushing. "Do you have any medication or something for my hands and shoulders?" He wondered if Abbey could also give his body a break from being sore and aching from all the holes he'd dug.

I nodded. "Oh yes, I will help you out with that Squid! When we get back I can apply some on you."

"I also wondered if I could stay the night. Ma' said she won't be back till 2am due to late working hours and she got the house key. So she told me to find a place to crash before she left... sorry I didn't tell ya' earlier," he asked.

"You are going to crash my house!?" I asked confused.

"No! I mean stay over the night; sleep, eat, bathe?" He said. "Its an expression. Anyways, its just for tonight. I'll try not to bug you too much."

"I guess. Dad's away on a business trip till late December," I shrugged.

"Alright! Spending the weekend with my best friend." He said laughing happily.

I blushed. "Best friend?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Thanks, Squid. You are mine to." I said, scooting closer to him. "Oh yes, I have something for you." I took a toothpick out of my coat pocket and handed it to him.

"Whoa its real, I didn't rip it off of some wood log with a knife or anything!" He looked at me and did a tough guy nod, "thanks." He said, gaining his tough guy demeanor again.

I smiled. "Hey look, it is our stop." I pointed outside the window to the tents and rides.

"I'm going to have to teach you more slang" He laughed.

"Slang?" I tilted my head side ways. What I said caused him to slap his forehead and laugh afterwards.

We got off the bus and walked to the fairgrounds.