Chapter Twenty Five

The next morning, out on the lake, I listened as Mr. Sir told Twitch the requirements for his hole: "…as wide and as deep as your shovel."

Twitch fidgeted. His fingers drummed against the wooden shaft of his shovel, and his neck moved from side to side.

"You won't be twitching so much after digging all day," TC told him.

"You won't have the strength to wiggle your pinkie," Hype chirped in.

The water truck came shortly after sunrise. Twitch was sent to the back of the line by Squid. We all watched as Mr. Sir filled Squid's canteen. The image of Zero crawling across the hot dry dirt remained in my head. But what could I do about it? Zero probably wasn't even alive, and if he was how would I find him? I watched as Caveman slowly backed away from the line, and then circled over to the side of the truck. He flung open the door to the truck and climbed quickly inside.

"Hey!" shouted Mr. Sir.

I heard the engine rev, but the truck didn't move. Then the engine roared, but the truck was still motionless. Mr. Sir ran around the side of the truck. The door was still open.

"Put it in gear!" shouted Twitch.

The truck lurched forward. It started going faster and faster across the dry lake bed. It bounced over a pile of dirt, and landed in a hole. The girls and I gasped. The guys were cheering Caveman on. Caveman got out of the truck and started running in the direction Zero left. I couldn't believe it. What is this? Every-Other-Day-Somebody-Run-Away week? I looked at TC; she looked like she was going to cry.

"TC?" I said trying to get a reaction out of her.

"He. Is. Such. An. Idiot. He is going to die in three days. He could have a least waited to refill his canteen," TC said with a tear running down her left cheek.

"I know," I said.

"Why? Why did he just run off?" TC was starting to cry. It was really freaky. She always seemed the most collected out of all of us.

"He is going after Zero, and nothing we would have said would have made a difference," I said walking up to her. "Are you going to be okay?"

TC flung her arms around me and started to bawl. I was thrown off by her and was only still standing because she was holding me up.

"It's going to be okay," I said awkwardly patting her back. "He'll come back. Caveman's a big boy."

TC let go of me and tried to get control over herself. "Yeah, your right. He's a smart guy, he'll be back. I'm just overreacting." She went back to her hole and started to dig.

"TC?" Hype said.

"He's coming back. Don't you worry, he'll be back," TC said looking up briefly. We could all see she was still crying.

Nobody wanted to push her back to crying, so we just left her to dig. She needed sometime to just think to herself. I hope she would be okay. Today was the only day I had ever seen her break down. I think she bottles up her emotions, and then every once in a while; she just cracks. I hope I never see it happen again. I was dangling in the air for about three minutes. I looked up from my hole to see all the guys staring at TC.

"Hey, are your feet melted to the ground? Get back to digging," I yelled at them.

That seemed to bring them out of their stunned gaze. Squid looked at me and I gave him the We-Discuss-It-Later look. He seemed satisfied because he went back to his hole.

Mom came after a while with lunch. We all lined up and received a warm bologna sandwich, a bruised apple, two gram crackers, and a warm carton of orange juice. All of us, sat around TC to make sure she was okay.

"So, I wonder if anyone is coming to replace Caveman?" Armpit said trying to make conversation.

"Why would they replace him? He is coming back," TC snapped.

"Of course he is TC. Armpit was just kidding, right?" Princess said worried about another outbreak.

"Yeah. Haha. Caveman will probably be back in less than a week," Armpit said.

"TC, me and you will wait for Zero and Caveman to come back together," Stranger said patting TC's arm while she got up to go back to digging her hole.

"Hey, we can plan their welcome back party," Dutchess said cheerfully.

"Yeah, that will make the wait that much shorter," Hype said bouncing up to go back to digging.

"Sure, but Stranger and I get to plan most of it," TC said happily.

Slowly, but surely the rest of us finished lunch and got up. I was the last one to leave, and TC pulled on my arm before I got all the way back to my unfinished hole.

"Twist, he is coming back, isn't he?" she asked me.

I looked into her poor face and told her, "Of course, TC. Why wouldn't he? I bet when he gets back, he'll give you a big hug hello." I felt bad for lying to her, but I didn't want her to sulk around. My response seemed to satisfy her because she let go of my arm and went back to digging.

When we were all showered, we went to the Wreck Room. Squid and I were playing pool against Twist and Hype. Princess and ZigZag were watching TV. And Magnet, Lewis, Armpit, Dutchess, TC, and Stranger were watching as Squid and I were losing. And sadly, it was all my fault. I tried to convince Squid that I was a horrible partner and that no matter what we would lose.

"And there goes the 8 ball in the corner pocket," Hype said.

"Well, y'all won. Just like I said. But, somebody doesn't care if he wins or not," I said looking up at Squid.

"Would you rather I play with TC?" he asked.

"No, I'd rather you play with ZigZag," I said. I trust Squid and TC, and everybody else. But, I have jealousy issues. Yes, even I have problems.

"Well, we don't care who you play with, but now it's now mine and Barfbag's turn to beat TC and Stranger," Magnet said shooing us away from the pool table.

"You wish," TC said setting up the game.

"Ladies, would you like to break?" Lewis said.

"Sure, Stranger, you can do it," TC said stepping back from the table.

Stranger stepped up the table and took her shot. The result was amazing, something not everyone gets to experience in a life time. Every single ball except the white one went into a pocket. Magnet and Lewis stood their with their mouths open wide.

"We win. That was fun," Stranger said handing her cue stick to Armpit.

I looked at Squid and Squid looked at me, there was a moment of silence and we burst out laughing. We were laughing until the dinner bell rang and then I had to lean on Squid for support because I was trying to catch my breath.

"Okay, you two shut up. You guys lost too," Lewis said very annoyed.

"Yeah, we lost, but we actually got a chance to play," Squid said smiling.

We ate dinner and went to bed. I had a lovely dream of the day Squid taught me to play pool.

Running to Stand Still : You should feel very special. Let Squid go, set him free. But, then again, he might never come back. Sorry, no chances of Twist disappearing. I'm very proud you saw them getting together, maybe you have a second sight? Thanks for reviewing!

JainaZekk621: Thank you very much.

Magenta Stone: Thank you very much as well.

Thanks to everyone who reads this. Please review, I want to know what you think.

Love always,

Dee