R_S: Happy Halloween! As a treat (hehehe) I thought I'd post another edited chapter. Thanks to the couple of people who started following this- I'm really happy with how it's turning out, actually, compared to what I had before. This chapter is still only lightly edited, but I have some really cool changes coming and finally picked out what I think is a great ending.

Crystal Kat

Chapter 2

Not The Real Story?

After Dr. Pendanski left, nobody moved. Everyone's eyes were locked on her. She shifted uncomfortably before daring to take her eyes off the ground. Their expressions were not hard to read, full of everything one would expect. Nervousness prickled at the back of her neck, and she lifted a shaky hand to sweep her side-bangs over. She bit her lip when they still looked, but that only seemed to draw attention to her mouth. The boys had seemed so put together earlier during the session, but now she felt cornered. She knew it had been a while since their last encounter with a female, but this was scaring her. She cleared her throat, and X-Ray stood abruptly.

"Enough! This ain't a goddamn side-show, give the lady some space!" He snapped, as though he had not partaken in the staring just seconds before. "Jesus, it's like you never seen a girl before."

"Not in the past few months…" Squid explained hesitantly, "This is a lot to take in, X." The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Magnet continued, addressing Katrina, "it's weird chica." She could only nod before turning toward her cot. She placed the obese backpacks on the bed and unzipped one, boys watching her every move. She paused and looked back over at them. The group had the decency to look sheepish when they turned away. It was quiet for a few minutes, a stiff silence falling over the tent.

"… Did you really shoot somebody?" asked Armpit, finally breaking the silence. The boys paused, before continuing what they were doing as though they could feign casualness. Katrina turned towards them, tears brimming in her eyes, and nodded.

"Were they… ya know, hurt?" he continued. A pregnant pause filled the air.

"He… he didn't make it." she answered, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. She roughly tried to wipe them away, but more only replaced them. A few of the guys moaned when they saw and walked over.

"Shit, now you done it, Armpit." X-Ray chastised.

"Aw, don't cry." Begged Zigzag. The others nodded.

"Man, I hate it when girls cry." Squid continued, sounding slightly angry. The others showed signs of agreement. "Listen, crying ain't gonna do you much good around here. Mr. Sir, he'll strike at any sign of weakness like that, so it's useless. And we've got no patience for that either." His tone was stern, and the others glanced to the side but made no effort to intervene. They must have agreed, she figured.

"S-sorry." she stuttered, dropping her gaze and turning away. She decided to let them return to their cots and try to distance herself as much as possible. Flying under the radar would be the best way to survive, it seemed. In the distance, some kind of bell sounded. Katrina practically jumped out of her skin. When she looked up, the boys were leaving.

"Hey, um, Magnet, right?" The tall boy standing up from his cot turned to her.

"No," he answered cautiously, "Zigzag."

"Oh," Katrina looked to her feet once more, not at all pleased with her current predicament. "Sorry." It was silent for a moment as the tent emptied.

"…What is it?" he asked finally.

"Oh, um, what's going on?" he stared down at her.

"Dinner." He turned away from her, but stopped after a few steps. Without turning around, he advised, "You'd better get changed. The warden's strict about uniform." On that final note, he walked away and out of the tent.

Sighing, Katrina heeded his warning and unpinned the flap for her mini-tent. She stripped off her top, jeans, and sneakers (from which they had removed the shoelaces- suicide watch and potential strangling device and all that), pulling on the ugly orange jumpsuit. At first she'd closed it up all the way, but upon realizing how hard that made it to breath, she reconsidered her options. Taking her arms out of the sleeves, she copied what most of the other boys did and tied the upper half around her waist, before pulling on a plain white shirt. Adjusting her new clothes, she exited the tent and looked around to gain her bearings. The mess hall was one of the only actual buildings and full of noise, so it was easy to find, but she hesitated. There was no going back after this, no way to go unnoticed. She was terrified and perhaps a little bitter that the boys had left her but not surprised. She was not really going to be their problem; she could sense that from the beginning. This was all on her, she figured and licked her lips. Eventually hunger won out over fear, and she tentatively stepped inside.

Upon her entrance, a hush spread across the room as all took notice. The members of Camp Green Lake only stared, eyes never leaving the new female occupant. Katrina stepped into the line with other boys waiting to get their meal. She was thankful to find that in front of her was the tiny D-Tent boy that kept to himself. Whispers began to drift through the room.

"…Holy crap, that's a girl…"

"…He wasn't lyin'…"

"…I wonder what tent she's in…"

"…Dang she's hot…"

"…I'd definitely like to hit that…"

Katrina shook her head in order to block out the voices. Taking her tray, she looked around. Boldly tilting her chin up to feign confidence, she began to advance towards D-Tent's table. Catcalls followed her the entire way. She tried not to focus on how many of the boys around her were gang members or rapists, but it did not work. She could not help but wonder how many of them had been put away for sexual assault- surely at least some, considering it was an isolated, fully male facility. A hand collided with her backside, causing her to pause in shock before continuing onward. There was nothing to be done about that sort of thing. She stopped in front of D-Tent's table. She stood there, silent and uncertain as she looked for an open space. Two of them began to part at X-Ray's authoritative hand gesture. Before they had a chance to fully move aside, a hand shot out from another table and wrapped around her wrist.

"Hey sweetie, you can sit with us." A husky voice emanated from the owner of the hand's grinning mouth. The other occupants of the table whooped and hollered, looking her up and down or smirking suggestively.

"Uh, t-that's ok. I'll just go eat… outside." She assured them, trying to pull her wrist from the boy's grip. No such luck as he just tightened his hold.

"You can't go yet, we ain't been… acquainted." Once again, the table was in a gleeful uproar. She frowned and pulled again, but no luck. The table chuckled.

"What tent are you in?" One asked.

"… D-Tent."

"Aw, what a shame. Well, you can come n' visit A-Tent anytime you want. Like now." He yanked her down to the bench, "We'd love to have you."

"L-let go-" she shook as a hand snaked its way up her thigh.

"Don't be like that," another boy said, arm encircling her waist, "We just want to spend time with you."

"No, please-"

"Aw c'mon honey…"

"Stop it!" her lunch teetered dangerously on the tray as she struggled to stand.

"Why don-"

"I believe the lady said no." At X-Ray's words, A-Tent looked up to find that all of D-Tent had walked over and stood not a foot away, glaring down at them.

In the midst of their confusion, Katrina pulled away. She was pushed behind Squid and X-Ray with Magnet to her left, Armpit to her right, and Zigzag behind her. Zero had remained seated, but glared in the table's general direction. X-Ray surveyed the room with a dark expression, his gaze cutting through the now silent air.

"Anyone who messes with D-Tent's girl is gonna hafta answer to us, got it?" He ground out menacingly. No one even dared to breathe, but it was a silent confirmation. Turning, the group returned to their table and sat down, this time making room for Katrina. People stopped staring and returned to their dinner, wrapping themselves up in their own private conversations- most of which were likely about her.

As they sat, she heard Zigzag mutter, "A stands for Assholes" under his breath.

"Thanks you guys." She whispered appreciatively. Squid snorted.

"We didn't do it for you," he pointed out rudely, "we just didn't want to get blamed when something bad happened. You heard Mom."

"I know," she answered sincerely, voice soft, "but I didn't expect it." They sent her some odd looks, but didn't reply. A silence fell on the group, until Armpit finally broke it.

"So, Katrina is it?" he asked, trying to still sound tough. She nodded.

"You can call me Kat." She offered delicately, but he did not respond. Apparently, he had not thought his words through enough to actually think of what he was going to ask, so he just returned to his food. She used it as a chance to take a good look at her new companions. Seeing them together en mass made it easier to pair the face with the ridiculous nickname, so she made a point of memorizing features to avoid another awkward encounter like earlier. Zigzag had been patient, but there was no telling how any of the other criminals would react.

X-Ray was nothing special to look at, but it wasn't hard to see that he was the leader. He was cocky and self-assured, holding an air of pride that made you not want to mess with him. He seemed the most willing to look after her (or, at least, order the other boys to look after her), which was a welcome reverie from the rest of the camp, but Kat strongly suspected it stemmed from a healthy sense of self-preservation. Still, she could respect that.

Armpit seemed a bit like a bully, but he had an obvious soft side underneath his hard shell. Clearly X-Ray's closest confident and right-hand man, she had already seen them whispering asides to each other multiple times. He had expressed the second kindest demeanor toward her thus far. She filed it away, thinking him to be the safest. If she needed anything, she would probably ask him, she thought.

And if Armpit was X-Ray's right-hand, then Squid was his left. In stark contrast to their indulgence, however, was the cruelty with which he handled her. He postured like an angry rooster, shooting her furtive, distrustful glances. Despite being third in command, she had a feeling that he was set up to take control of D-Tent following X-Ray's release, whenever that would be. He was handsome, she thought, perhaps the most so of the group by her tastes, but he was too intimidating to fully express it. He seemed to be the one to distance herself from most.

On the other hand, Zero felt the safest. He small, perhaps smaller than her, and he was just quiet, obviously the silent and observing type. Then again, maybe he was just slow, she thought- the others had certainly implied such. Maybe she was just drawn to him because they were both outsiders to the tent. Either way, Kat liked that he kept to himself but worried he would not intervene were she in trouble, despite the warnings that her safety was on their heads.

Magnet definitely would though, if only to show off. He was a joker with an interesting sense of humor, and his suavity added to his handsomeness. He was nice, she felt more at ease with him than the other 'in' members, she thought. He seemed handsy but otherwise unthreatening.

Zigzag was a bit of an enigma, though. She wasn't entirely sure what to think of him. The most objectively attractive of the group, his eccentricities detracted considerably from his appeal. He seemed so distant and untrusting yet helpful, even kind, when they were in the tent. And just earlier in the group meeting he had spoken up for her and called her a lady. She wondered what his deal was.

Content with her analysis of each boy, she began listening to D-Tent's current conversation. Magnet was bragging about his thieving abilities while he and the other boys swapped detailed accounts of how they were caught.

"… So, about a foot from the door, some guy drops this huge bag of kibble n' it spills everywhere. The dog must'a smelled it 'cause he started barkin' up a storm, man. I took off runnin', but the cops caught up just five blocks away." Katrina hid a grin at Magnet's story. She'd caught bits and pieces earlier, so she knew what he was talking about.

"Hey, if you'd been able to keep the puppy, what would you've named it?" One of the boys asked. He shrugged at the question.

"I don't know… I guess if I had him now I would call him 'El Stupido' for getting me caught." Everyone chuckled at this.

"Hey Kat," Squid called out, sizing her up with a heavy, obvious gaze, "wanna give us your play by play?" she froze. What if they saw through her lie? For a moment she was too scared to remember the story she'd come up with.

"I, uh… not really…"

"C'mon, girl," X-Ray ordered, "out with it. We'll all hear it eventually anyway, better not to give Mom the satisfaction of letting his group circle-jerks be successful." She pulled a face at his frank and crass commentary in an effort to buy time. Thankfully, her memory came back with a jolt, and taking a deep breath, she reticently told her tale, twiddling her fork around the slop before her with eyes downcast. She told them between nibbles of the unappetizing substance.

"I just… I'd always carry this gun with me- for self-protection, ya know? I didn't… I didn't ever want to use it, a-and I never had before. I never meant to, but… One day last winter I was out walking and wanted a place to warm up for a bit, since it was so cold out. I ducked into this little mom n' pop store and started looking at little trinkets and things. But- I mean, I couldn't afford any of them, so I figured I'd just stick one or two in my pockets and walk out of there, no harm no foul. I mean, I know it was wrong, but I was bored and I just… anyway, there wasn't anything for theft prevention so I figured I'd have nothing to lose.

"I remember, I was looking… there was this beautiful cat figurine, like the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. It was crystal and really should've been locked up, but the case was being replaced or something and it was left out. So, I just shoved it into my jacket- I knew I shouldn't, I just… But right when I was leaving- at that moment someone else had just left but hadn't held the door, like I thought they would. I wasn't paying attention and when it was closing it bumped into me. I was holding the cat in my hand in the pocket, cuz I was so nervous, y'know? I-I dropped it and the clerk heard it crack or something, I dunno, but he noticed me.

"He was this guy about our age, maybe a few years older, behind the counter. He was pissed n' went towards the phone and I just… I panicked, thinking it was for the police, and didn't know what to do. I couldn't- I don't know what came over me, but before I knew what was happening I'd already…

"I think I must've just stood there for at least a minute just staring at where he was standing. Then I just… I realized what happened. I knew they were gonna send me to jail, and I- I panicked. I grabbed the stupid cat, in case it had my fingerprints on it, and just took off… I don't know where I thought I was going. It didn't matter… somebody already heard the gunshots and called 911… I ended up cornered in an alleyway with nowhere to run, so I gave myself up. And now I'm here."

Her voice felt hollow during her entire monologue but cracked at the end. Finished with her story, Katrina stood. She had hardly touched her dinner, but it was all right. Suddenly, she was not hungry, and if that changed (doubtful, she thought), then she had some food in her pack. The boys had the decency to look guilty for demanding the information from her, at least, but it did little to offer comfort.

"Where you goin', chica?" Magnet asked confusedly. The others looked up with him.

"I'm not hungry anymore." She whispered. They stared incredulously.

"You're going to waste perfectly good food?" Squid asked. In response, she placed her tray on the table. The two solids collided with a sharp click.

"You guys can have it… you probably eat more than me, anyway." On that final note, she returned to the tent with arms wrapped around her small form, ignoring the lewd comments from the peanut gallery around her. She counted her lucky stars that everyone else in the camp was still eating, so she could have a few minutes to cry alone with no one to witness it. The boys of D-Tent watched her go.

"I don't believe her." Zigzag stated bluntly almost as soon as she had left.

"You don't?" X-Ray asked, lifting one eyebrow. The blond shook his head.

"Naw, not at all."

"Why not?" Squid asked, leaning back in his chair, snagging a piece of bread off her discarded tray. X-Ray promptly snatched it from his grasp, but he disregarded it. "I don't think it's possible to make something like that up. 'Seemed pretty torn up about it."

"Think about it," he explained, "the kind of time precision it takes to unlock a gun and do that… she's no fighter neither."

"That's not a bad point," he acquiesced, twirling his toothpick between to fingers, "and if she was so upset, how'd she think to grab that stupid cat-thingy?"

"Why was she carrying a gun in the first place?" Magnet asked, joining the conversation, "Why only use it once? Don't make sense to shoot and then run, should'a been the other way around."

The D-Tent boys looked back and forth at each other bitterly. In under two minutes, they had found numerous holes in seemingly sweet little Katrina's story. All they could do was sit there confused and, in some cases, angry. They would not be lied to or played for fools. If her safety was to become their concern, since apparently they had no say in that, then she should not have had the audacity to lie to their faces. She owed them, belonged to them even. They were getting down to what really happened, even if it was the last thing they did.

Armpit's voice rang out with a final, incriminating, albeit stupid, question, "How do you get hit by a door?"

End of Chapter

R_S: So as some of you might have noticed, I made Kat more sensitive and scared, while I made the boys more aggressive- especially Squid. He was so much meaner in the canon (as was Zigzag), and they all took so long to warm up to Caveman that I thought it was silly to give Kat an in so soon. She'll really have to earn her way into the circle in this story, just like he did.

Please leave me a trick or treat review to let me know what you think! I'd appreciate some feedback. Have a fun (and safe) night!