Hello again, everybody! Sorry I haven't updated! I had a bad case of writer's block, but I think it's almost gone now! I'm starting to get my writing mojo back! LOL Anyway, here is Chapter 11! Hope you will like it! Please don't forget to review, it lets me know if you guys like the story or not, and it keeps me going! It lets me know people are reading! If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them! Anyway, on with the show!

Chapter 11 – Eleven Yellow Spots

After lunch, we continued digging, as usual. X-Ray still hadn't let up with his bragging. Hadn't all that shaking taught him anything? It would seem that X-Ray was a slow learner.

"...and when I saw that gold tube glistening in the sun, I knew it was a gift from God!" X-Ray's voice echoed throughout the digging site.

Oh my God, his stories just keep getting worse!

I stopped digging and walked over to X-Ray. I was hot, tired, and my nerves were frayed. His behaviour was beginning to get ridiculous, and I had had enough of it.

"X-Ray! Do you ever know when to let up?" I yelled at him.

X-Ray turned around, a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh, not you again!"

"A gift from God, really? Really?" I cried. I couldn't believe what he was saying!

"Listen, Kitty, don't test me!" X-Ray threatened, poking my chest.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed, pushing him onto the ground. X-Ray fell onto his back with a thud, a cloud of dust engulfing us.

"Jenny!" Mr. Pendanski yelled, running over to us. "That's enough! I've had just about enough of this fighting!"

"Man, she's crazy!" X-Ray said, getting up. His glasses were covered in even more dust than usual.

Mr. Pendanski turned to me. "Jenny, apologize to Rex!"

I sighed. There was no use in arguing. It would probably get me in more trouble, anyway. And God only knew I didn't want to visit the warden anytime soon. "Sorry," I huffed.

"Good. Now no more fighting! This was the last time!" Mr. Pendanski yelled and walked away, muttering something that sounded like, "I don't get paid enough for this".

X-Ray gave me a dirty look and went back to his digging spot.

"Get back to work! This ain't no kindergartners in the sandbox!" Mr. Sir yelled from above us.

"Jenny, leave it alone," Zigzag said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "It's not worth it."

"You're right. He's just a jerk," I replied, picking up the handles of the wheelbarrow and making my way towards the ramp. When I had dumped my dirt, I heard Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski talking. I made my way back to the ramp as slow as possible, hoping I could hear what they were saying.

"Probably ain't nothing down there. We would have found it by now," Mr. Sir muttered.

"I wouldn't tell the queen bee that," Mr. Pendanski said.

"What are you two jawing about? If you can't get 'em to dig any faster, you can take a shovel and join 'em!" the warden yelled, hands on her hips.

I made my way down the ramp, lost in thought. So the warden was looking for something. There was something in this dirt. I wondered what it was. Well, I would do my best to figure out exactly what the warden was looking for. I would just have to be extra careful about it – there was no way I was going to let myself get caught.

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed, and made my way to the Library. The rest of the boys were already there, shovels in hand. Mr. Sir stood on the porch of the mess hall, facing us.

"Listen up!" he said, taking a sip from his coffee mug, "After the behaviour exhibited these past several days, the warden and I have decided that your character-building be best served by returning to the digging of individual holes."

"Well, I'm glad that's over," Zigzag said, coming to stand beside me.

"Yeah, well, it looks like the warden didn't find what she wanted," I said sleepily. I went to the Library and grabbed the last shovel. I was glad we weren't digging in the trench anymore. I had had enough of the warden – she was at the digging site almost all the time.

"Alright, lets go dig, boys, and Jenny! Let's go! Let's go!" Mr. Pendanski hollered, raising his thermos in the air.

When we got to our digging site, we each picked a spot to dig. I picked a spot next to Zigzag. We dug in comfortable silence for a few hours until Mr. Sir arrived with the water truck.

"Girl, Scouts! Come get your water!" he called, and we all dragged ourselves to the truck. I got in line behind Zero, and waited for Mr. Sir to begin filling our canteens.

Mr. Sir stood in front of us with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face.

"Fishies, get your lake water! Get it? Lake water? Its a joke."

I groaned, and Mr. Sir gave me a dirty look. Magnet giggled. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he began to fill our canteens.

When it was my turn, instead of Mr. Sir immediately filling my canteen, he looked at me suspiciously. I noticed that he had a few tiny red dots on his cheek. Probably from the sewing needle. I tried my best not to look at them.

"Are ya thirsty, Wolf?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Sir. It must be hotter than yesterday," I answered, brushing the sweat from my brow with my jumpsuit sleeve.

Mr. Sir squinted at me. "Any more trouble from you, Wolf, and you're outta here. You understand me?" He turned around and filled my canteen.

I gulped. If they sent me somewhere else, God only knew what kind of a place that was. Better not find out. "Yes, Mr. Sir."

Mr. Sir spat out a sunflower seed, and handed me back my canteen. "Get back to digging." He got in his truck and drove off, leaving us in a cloud of dust.

I walked back to my hole lost in thought. Mr. Sir looked like he meant what he said. If he was serious, I couldn't afford to misbehave anymore. I didn't want to get sent away – the thought of being apart from Zigzag was unbearable. I couldn't make anymore mistakes. I would do anything to stay at Camp Green Lake. Suddenly, the camp didn't seem so bad. It had almost become home. I made great friends, had a great boyfriend, and even though I had to dig everyday, I got to spend time with people I cared about. It was something I hadn't done in a long, long time. Being sent away from Camp Green Lake wasn't an option.

Weeks later...

I walked into the Wreck Room after a long day of digging, hoping to get some rest. I dragged myself to the couch only to find Zigzag and Armpit arguing in front of the TV.

"Zigzag, this is drivin' me crazy," Armpit said, struggling to fix the TV antenna.

Zigzag tried to take the antenna out of Armpit's chubby hands. "What are you doing? No, I'm watchin' that!"

Armpit pulled the antenna out of Zigzag's reach. "Not today, you ain't."

The picture on the TV went from being mostly static, to being just static. Zigzag slammed his hand on top of the TV in frustration. "Look, you broke it!"

I crossed my arms and watched the scene before me. "Tsk tsk, Armpit," I muttered, taking the TV antenna to the window. The picture immediately went back to normal. Well, as normal as it can get since the TV was so old.

I plopped down on the couch and Zigzag pecked me on the cheek. "Thanks, Jenny."

"Wolf, you've got mail!" Mr. Sir's voice echoed throughout the Wreck Room, and I turned around and saw him walking through the door, waving a letter in his hand.

"What? For me?" I said, shocked.

"No, it's for the president," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I ran over to Mr. Sir, eager to see who had sent me a letter. Who could it be from? I snatched the letter from his hand and tore it open. It was from Brad! I couldn't believe it. I slowly sat down in a beat up armchair, not taking my eyes off the white and blue lined sheet of paper in front of me.

Jenny,

I was surprised to get your letter. I wasn't expecting you to write. I heard they sent you to a camp? Is it like a work camp? Anyway, my family was really pissed off and devastated after the accident. They were glad I wasn't hurt worse, though. I can't say that they like you, but they accept your apology. I accept your apology too, and I would also like to apologize to you. I'm sorry for cheating on you. I heard you're getting out next year. When you get out would you like to hang out again? It could be like old times. We can forget any of this ever happened.

Brad

I sighed and sank into the armchair, confused and relieved at the same time. Confused because I wondered why Brad still thought we could work things out, and relieved because he had forgiven me. I was glad that part of my life was somewhat patched up, and I could move on to other things. I could move on with my life. I would finish my time here, and look forward to a future with Zigzag. Sitting up, I glanced at Zigzag, who was sitting in front of the TV. But, he wasn't watching the TV. His bright blue eyes were locked with mine, question showing in them. He probably wondered what was written in the letter, but he gave me my space. As I looked into his eyes, I wondered if we did have a future after Camp Green Lake. Did he want to see me after? Did I want to see him? I knew I did, there was no doubt about it. Zigzag had become such a big part of my life – something that I hadn't seen coming, and something that I hadn't planned when I got to Camp Green Lake. I got up and walked over to Zigzag, sitting down next to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked in his Texan accent that I loved, and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him.

"I... I got a letter. Its from Brad."

"What does it say?"

I opened the letter so he could see it. I had nothing to hide from him. "He said he forgives me."

Zigzag looked at the letter quickly, then at me. "That's great, isn't it?"

I sighed. "Yes, but he also wants to know if I want to get back with him when I get out."

Worry flashed across Zigzag's eyes. "Well, do you want to?"

I smiled a sad smile at him. "No, of course not. I'm happy with you."

Zigzag beamed at me and kissed me, smiling into the kiss. When we pulled apart, he studied my eyes, and his happy blue ones became sad. "Something is wrong," he commented.

"I'm just scared..."

"Scared of what?"

"That we will break up after all this is over," I said sadly, avoiding his gaze.

He cupped my chin and lifted my head. "What ever gave you that idea?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just worried that you will move on with your life and forget about me."

Zigzag shook his head. "I don't want to move on. I still want us to be together after this. Jenny, you don't know how much you mean to me."

"You've become a big part of my life, Ricky."

"And you've become a big part of mine. I wasn't planning on leaving you after this," he said, kissing my nose, "I love you, Jenny."

My eyes widened in shock. "You...what?"

"I love you."

I could feel tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe what he had said. I looked into his eyes, searching for a hint of doubt, but his eyes were filled with love, gentleness, and hope.

"I love you too, Ricky. So, so much."

Zigzag's soft lips touched mine, and I gasped as he moved his mouth with mine. The kiss wasn't lustful, but full of love and passion. He slowly kissed me, memorizing every inch of my mouth. My mind whirled with Zigzag's scent, a mixture of desert and a scent that was uniquely him.

"Jenny," he whispered into my lips and broke the kiss, "Don't you ever think of something like that again. We're in this together, and we will stick together even when this is over."

"Man, get a room!" a voice yelled, and we both turned to see Armpit looking at us with a disgusted look on his face.

I picked up the pool triangle that was lying at my feet and hurled it at him. Armpit ducked, and the triangle crashed into the wall.

"Hey!" Armpit cried, "No need to get violent!"

Before I could reply with a nasty comment, Mr. Pendanski walked into the Wreck room, clipboard in hand.

"Listen up, boys, and Jenny," Mr. Pendanski said in his usual cheery voice, "Mr. Sir told me this morning that he has been seeing quite a few yellow spotted lizards around the camp lately. I thought it would be a great idea if we all learned the dangers of yellow spotted lizards. Better safe than sorry!"

"Mom!" Squid interrupted, dropping a pair of dumbbells, "We already know everything about yellow spotted lizards!

"Yeah," X-Ray spoke up, "I see at least one a week, and they haven't attacked me yet!"

"Mr. Sir told me about yellow spotted lizards when I first got here," I told Zigzag, "But I haven't seen one yet."

"Then you're lucky," he replied.

"We're going to have yellow spotted lizards week," Mr. Pendanski said, taking a piece of paper from his clipboard and sticking it on the unused billboard on the wall. The piece of paper had a picture of a lizard on it with the words, "Yellow spotted lizard awareness" on it in bold letters. "We will practice drills, and emergency procedures, if someone does get bitten."

"I thought that if you get bitten, you're dead," Caveman said quietly.

"Yeah, ese," piped up Magnet, "Once one of those guys bites you, you're a goner."

"That's right, that's why this is so important! Yellow spotted lizards are very dangerous! We all need to be prepared!" Mr. Pendanski said seriously.

"Did you know that each one's got exactly eleven spots?" asked Zigzag quietly, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, and if you get close enough to count 'em, you're dead!" Squid made a disgusting gagging sound, and ran a finger over his throat.

I shuddered. "I hope I won't be seeing any of those."

"Tomorrow we'll go through an emergency drill! You won't know when it's coming – it will surprise you! So be prepared!" Mr. Pendanski said, wagging his finger.

"Mom! This is so dumb!" Squid yelled.

"We don't need no emergency drills!" X-Ray said, "Armpit will just sit on them!" He burst out laughing, clutching his sides.

"Rex, will you calm down? This is no laughing matter!" Mr. Pendanski still tried, but failed, to get his point across. After he realized not many people were paying attention, he left the Wreck Room in a huff.

"I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow?" I asked Zigzag.

"He's probably gonna throw lizards at us, and we've gotta dodge them!" Armpit laughed.

"Yeah, ese, hard core training!" Magnet laughed, slapping Armpit on the back.

"Armpit, we're gonna use you as bait!" I joked, and I got up off the couch. "I'm going to get ready for bed guys, see you later!" I called, and walked out of the Wreck Room, Zigzag following me. A few minutes later, Zigzag and I were at the sinks, brushing our teeth.

"Yuh ookh suh cuhth," Zigzag said through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Huh?" I said, watching myself and Zigzag in the mirror, toothpaste foam dripping down my chin.

Zigzag spit and wiped his mouth. "I said you look so cute brushing your teeth."

I leaned over and kissed his cheek, leaving a smear of toothpaste. "Thank you."

"So what do you think Pendanski has in store for us tomorrow?" Zigzag asked, rinsing his face.

I spit the toothpaste out. "No idea."

"You think he's going to whip lizards at us that implant memory chips in our brain the second they touch us?" he asked, his blue eyes wild.

"What?"

Zigzag shrugged his shoulders.

"Ziggy, you've gotta chill out. I'm sure Pendanski isn't that smart to think of something like that."

Zigzag sighed. "I guess you're right."

I pushed him gently towards the tent. "You go to bed, I've still got to finish up here."

I pulled out my face-wash out my cosmetics bag and washed my face slowly, taking my time. When I had finished, I grabbed my bag and turned around to head back to D Tent. I was shocked to see Camp Green Lake completely deserted. What time is it? I thought to myself as I looked around the camp. A few flickering lights illuminated the camp, but beyond the camp's borders, a thick, dark night loomed.

"Creepy," I muttered to myself and proceeded to make my way to our tent.

I heard a soft flickering sound by my feet, and I looked down to see what it was. A small, brown lizard with yellow spots was looking up at me with curious eyes. I looked at it for a moment, thinking how cute it looked just sitting there, watching me, when something in my mind clicked.

Yellow spots... oh, no! A yellow spotted lizard!

My heart raced, and it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I broke out in a cold sweat, and I stood there, frozen. I wasn't sure if I should run, or stay put. I thought back to what Mr. Sir told me on the first day of camp...

"Don't worry about that," Mr. Sir said, patting the gun, "This here is for yellow spotted lizards. I wouldn't waste a bullet on you. You get bit by one of those, you will die a painful death. Always."

So, this was it. I was as good as dead. I could picture Zigzag standing by my lifeless body, wiping the tears from his eyes. Mr. Pendanski saying, "Don't worry, boys, life goes on." X-Ray holding up Kissin' Kate Barlow's lipstick tube and smirking at me. Mr. Sir pulling his pistol out of his holster – wait, what?

In my panicked state, I didn't notice Mr. Sir in front of me, pistol drawn, aiming at the lizard. His eyes twitched as he pulled back the hammer of his pistol.

Oh God, if he shoots me in the foot...

Without warning, a shot rang out, echoing throughout Camp Green Lake. The sound pierced through the thick dark, travelling far into the desert, followed by deathly quiet.