R_S: The moment of truth for Kat! It's taken her 10 chapters, but she's there…

Chapter 10

Named

"God damnit!" The curse was followed by a loud thud as X-Ray kicked aside his cot. Earlier that day, part of his glasses had broken. The warden ordered him new ones, but it would be a while before the shipment got into camp. In the meantime, he was having a hard time keeping the broken pair in one piece. Some kid in E-Tent supposedly had some kind of glue or tape or something that would make a good temporary fix, but nothing at Camp Green Lake came for free. The kid drove a hard bargain, and nothing her tent leader could offers seemed to be considered a worthy price. It was all making him a nightmare to be around.

"No luck with Slingshot, man?" Magnet asked, and Kat winced. Dude, she thought, clearly not. And do not talk to him when he's like this. He really should know better, she mentally chastised, really.

X-Ray grabbed him by the collar, "Do I seem like I had any luck?" The other boy put his hands up at the growl, only to be shoved away.

"How many shower tokens he want?" Squid asked, lounging leisurely on his cot. The black boy seemed incensed at his devil-may-care attitude and glared.

"He don't want shower tokens; shower tokens he's got. He's drivin' up prices since he's gettin' out soon, said he wants something from Mr. Sir's stash- somethin' confiscated. How the hell am I supposed to get that?" Another solid kick was delivered to the bedframe as the other boys let out low whistles of sympathy. The motion only knocked his glasses further askew, adding to his rage.

"Maybe you don't need to," the toothpick bounced in his mouth as he spoke, and Kat wondered how he kept it from falling, "maybe you can just pass somethin' else off."

"Yeah, smartass? Like what?"

Squid shrugged, "Just an idea." With a snort of derision, X-Ray stormed out of the tent.

As close as the D-Tent was with one another, Katrina was picking up on something key to her survival at Camp Green Lake: as much as your tent had your back, your problems were yours and yours alone. They were not going to let you get yourself pummeled in a fight, but they also were not going to go out of their way to defend you. X-Ray could maybe get one of the boys to do a little favor here or there as the leader they all deferred to, but again, nothing came for free in that place. It made her sad in a way, remembering all the small gestures and gifts that were second nature back home. If it had been one of them with the problem, Mel, Bree, and she would have already been sitting with their heads together to figure it out. These boys, though… they did not have anyone to rely on in that way. She really should not, she knew, let them take advantage. But was it taking advantage if she volunteered of her own volition? It was a risk, but one she felt inclined to take.

Pausing to root through her bag, Kat followed him out. She jogged up beside him carefully, trying to ignore the looks of other campers. He shot her the coldest glare she had ever seen when he noticed her presence, so frigid it nearly caused shivers despite the heat. She backed off slightly.

"What they hell do you want, girl? I'm in no mood; find someone else to hold your hand." He turned away and rounded the corner to brood behind the tents. It was out of eyeshot for most, luckily, so she didn't have to pull him away. Reaching into her pocket, she fished out a bag and caught his hand, slipping it in. X-Ray's first instinct was to jerk away from her touch as though burned, but he looked down to see what she had put in his hand. He stared at it for a moment, then back at her with a dark, questioning gaze. It felt as though he was staring right through her, into her soul- trying to figure out what made her tick and why she even existed in the first place.

When he said nothing, she felt the need to fill the silence. "I don't think it's a good idea to try and pass it off… he'll probably know and get mad. But maybe this will get you what you need."

"So why give it to me?" He asked bluntly.

She shrugged, "Because we're tentmates. Because you guys have looked out for me, even if it was just for your own benefit… Because right now you guys are the closest thing I have to friends, even if you don't like me, and I need that here." He glared in response to that.

"We ain't friends. You don't have that right yet." Her gaze dropped, and she nodded. With a final shrug as if to say 'I tried,' she shuffled back into the tent. A couple of eyes flicked up when she walked in.

"Where'd ya go?" Magnet asked, flicking something around between his fingers.

"Bathroom." She answered softly.

Squid did not even look up at her when he asked, "Anyone bother you?"

The other campers were continuing to grow increasingly forward in their treatment of her, the novelty of her appearance wearing off and the untouchable aura that surrounded her dwindling in the presence of reality. As much as she noticed, sometimes Kat wondered if maybe the D-Tent boys noticed even more- especially Squid. He always seemed to be glaring at the guys surrounding them or observing her quizzically. It must be annoying for them, she realized, to be constantly stared at as a result of her presence. Zigzag was always looking around and staring at her too, but that, she figured, was more of a link to his paranoia. Everyone knew he was crazier than a cat in a sack full of puppies; her appearance had only compounded on that problem. Now the sensation of being stared at was no longer just in his head, it was an actual reality that ground constantly on his nerves. And Magnet, who used to be able to pilfer anything, had hardly stolen anything in the last couple weeks since her arrival. The group was observed far too closely to get away with anything.

She answered Squid in the negative and sighed. No wonder her tent hated her- she had brought them nothing but problems.

That night, X-Ray slipped out of the tent between supper and lights out. It was that quiet in-between period when you were allowed out of your tent for necessities but expected to be readying for bed. Katrina did not see him go, but she knew when he got back. He marched directly over to her cot and crouched before her with a discerning look.

"Your glasses are fixed." She stated obviously, staring at the corner of the frame to avoid looking him in the eye.

"Made the trade." He answered simply. "So… what do you want?" Her eyes flicked to meet his for a brief moment.

"What do you mean?" Kat asked. He held his impassive gaze.

"In return, what do you want?"

She shrugged, "Hadn't thought about it, just figured I'd do something nice-"

"Don't give me that innocent bull. Everyone here wants something, got a desire. What's yours?" She shrunk away, intimidated by his aggressive tactic.

"I dunno-"

"Pick something, now."

"I-I don't-"

"Now, Katrina." He said her name as though mocking her, and she reacted quickly.

"The other guys in camp are getting worse," she blurted, "just… just make sure you and the other guys are watching out for me, I guess. You keep helping me, I'll try to keep helping you… we'll call it even." He stared her down evenly, wondering what her angle was or if she was really just that naïve that she thought she needed to ask for that. Were they being that cruel to her, he wondered? Did she truly believe they would leave her to the carnal mercy of hormonal criminals? He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Mr. Sir burst into the tent.

"Where are you, boy?" He growled. Everyone sat up, instantly alert.

"Who, Mr. Sir?" Armpit asked carefully.

"X-Ray. I saw you comin' out of E-Tent, probably tradin' contraband. Already confiscated a little something from Slingshot. I think y'all know what I'm talkin' about. Lemme see what you got out of it, now." The boy in question raised his eyebrows, widening his eyes and blinking them in faux innocence.

"I ain't got nothin', Mr. Sir. I dunno what you're talkin' about."

"Don't try to play me boy. I saw you with my own two eyes, when I was sittin' in my office- just now!"

"Why Mr. Sir, I haven't been near E-Tent all night. Have I boys?" Negatory sounds filled the tent as the boys backed their leader. Squid smirked.

"You must've been mistaken, Mr. Sir." His voice held a tone of mocking condescension he should have left out. It only served to greater irritate their accuser.

Mr. Sir grabbed Squid by the front of his t-shirt, yanking him up face to face. "Well'n maybe it was you, just lookin' darker in the night, hmm? I know you like to play games with them shower tokens."

Kat did not know what made her do it. It was as though her mouth flew of its own accord. After a yelp of fear escaped her lips in shock at the counselor's violent actions, it was as though her tongue were desperate to make more sounds. It was uncharacteristic - she never drew attention to herself in moments of tension - but she found the word cried out against the night air nonetheless.

"No!" He froze, dropping the boy and turning to her with a slit-eyed expression.

"What was that, girl?"

She shook her head, "N-no Mr. Sir, he couldn't have- neither of them could. They were walking me to the spigot to fill up my canteen… I don't like to go alone." She gave him the biggest, most innocent puppy-dog eyes she could muster. It was a risk, knowing one glance into them could tell him she was lying (not one of her skills), so she dropped her gaze after a few moments. Hopefully he would interpret it as embarrassed, coy fear.

No one was more surprised than her when that little gambit worked.

"Huh… that so?"

"Yessir, Mr. Sir."

"… Must've been Voodoo from B-Tent. You all best stay in here for the night; I don't want no more trouble. N' I still got my eye on you!" Without a word of farewell, the man stormed from the tent- likely to take his fury out on an unsuspecting Voodoo.

The boys looked utterly gob smacked.

"Damn, did y'all see that?!" Squid demanded, "He didn't even question it none, just believed her!"

"And she was lying- she ain't even good at lying!" Zigzag added. X-Ray smirked as they eyed her appraisingly, Squid and Zigzag with noticeably intensity.

"It's cuz she's so sweet n' helpless, like a baby deer. Everyone thinks she's too innocent to pull something like that. They don't expect it from you, do they Bambi?"

Kat's head shot up, "Bambi?" she repeated questioningly, "Is… is that me?" He nodded.

"Fittin', ain't it?"

"Um, sure… I loved that movie when I was a kid." The boys chuckled at her sweetness.

"Meant it more in the ratchet sense, girl, but that works too."

"Does it? I ain't never seen Bambi- it's the deer one, right?" Magnet asked. Armpit scoffed.

"Dog, how you never seen Bambi? Ain't you had a childhood?"

"Yeah," Zigzag grinned, "but he spent it makin' burritos."

"Man, shut up!" He flung his shirt at the taller boy, which Zigzag smacked away inadvertently toward X-Ray. It led to more laughter and goofing off. Zero turned over, away from the ruckus, and Armpit rolled his eyes.

"Bambi," he said, "just promise us you won't be no kill-joy like Zero." It seemed to be a rhetorical comment, so she did not respond. Instead, she looked to the leader.

"So… so what does this mean?"

"Look, girl, you've shown you got some value to this tent. You may not be what usually passes for strong 'round here, but you made it clear you got our backs, so we got yours. Ya dig?"

She nodded slowly, trying to figure out if the pun was intentional before she answered. She figured it was not.

"Yeah," she said finally, "yeah, I think so…"

"Good. Welcome to D-Tent officially, Bambi. I'd expect to start gettin' a whole lot more respect 'round here."

Dismissively, he turned away from her to finish getting ready for bed, and the other boys did the same. More respect? Frankly, Katrina doubted it, not with a nickname like Bambi. And anyway, she had seen how the boys 'respected' each other- there was still plenty of pushing and posturing, a far cry from making friendship bracelets. All she could really rely on was that they would have her back if someone picked a fight with her, which given her self-defense skills would be less of a fight and more of an attack. It was not much, but it was something, she supposed.

She drifted to sleep with that thought and the sensation of Squid's eyes still occasionally slanting in her direction.

End of Chapter

R_S: What do you guys think of her name? Does it fit? Let me know in the reviews!