Thorne's POV
'Teddy , teddy, teddy, teddy..." The new girl muttered to herself over and over again. I gave her a weird look and tapped Zigzag on the shoulder. He looked down at me.
"Hmm?" he asked. We were sitting in the "Wreck Room" on the floor, watching X, Pit, Magnet, and Zero play a game of pool. Well, I was watching the pool game...Zigzag was 'watching TV'. Satellite didn't even deter him from his daily dose of broken tube. I pulled on his shirt and motioned to the door. He gave me a puzzled look and we stood up. On our way out of the door I accidentally kicked Rhythm (who was sitting beside Squid and also watching the pool game). She looked up and said.
"Where are you guys going?"
I shrugged. "Dunno, come with us if you want" I said. She stood up and looked back at Squid who was still watching the game intently.
She waited for a second and then finally she pulled on his shirt and said "SQUID!!" he jumped and stood up reluctantly. Zigzag grinned at me. As we were walking out I saw Diamond in the corner of my eye sitting in the corner, watching Magnet intently.
When we reached the boys' tent we all sat down in a circle. "Sooo..." I said staring at them all by turn. "How about...we talk about ourselves?" I asked. Nobody looked too thrilled so I kept going. "I feel like I don't know any of you at all," I told them. Zigzag gave me a sad look.
"I'll go first" he offered. (AN: I have two stories about Zig'z past. Read them to fill this hole or submit your own Zig'z past version here.) When he was finished I sucked in a jagged breath and touched his face gently with my fingertips. "Zigzag..." I whispered, feeling a little guilty for never asking before. He flinched and I hugged him, letting his head rest on my shoulder. I touched his hair with one hand and his chest with the other.
Squid started telling his story (AN: Captivation of the Sea: Squid's Past or your own) and a saddened look darkened his features like a storm cloud was settling in front of his eyes. I looked at him curiously and took a hand from Zigzag to touch his arm gently. Rhythm flinched. She always hated it when I touched him. But I'm a touchy-feely type person. He shook my hand away from his arm. "Its no big deal," he muttered, keeping his eyes on his shoes. I put my hand back on his arm and this time he didn't shake it off. Zigzag, too, was staring intently at his shoes, pulling his head from my neck. For a minute we all stared at our feet in silent melancholy.
I bit my lip after a second and said, "So I guess...its my turn, huh?" I asked. Everyone looked at me. My hand dropped from Squid's arm and Zigzag moved back to look at me. "I guess I should start with the day I decided to become a counselor," I said trailing off into the wave of memories that were flooding my mind.
Flashback
A small, pale, black haired girl in a satin midnight blue dress sits in a pew. Her eyes focused on a disadvantaged child and her counselor. She watches as the counselor calms down her charge. "Emily...Emily...Emily...EMILY" the black-headed girl's friend says, brushing a few golden curls out of her face. Her hair is held back in a barrette but a few fly-away curls frame her face. Her hazel eyes sparkle as she smoothes out her frilly pink dress. "Emily, were you even paying attention? You HAVE to stop drifting off like that," she tells her friend 'Emily'. 'Emily' grins.
"I'm sorry...daydreaming again I guess" she says. The golden-haired girl smiles at Emily.
"You always have your head in the clouds." she says.
"I guess I do Stephanie, I guess I do" Emily says standing up. As they make their way out of the church a lady in a white dress with many missing teeth and a scraggly baby grins at them. The girls both look at her disgusted, and make their way out to the parking lot.
End Flashback
"But I didnt' start getting in trouble till I was fourteen" I told them sighing.
Flashback
"MOM!! I WANT TO BE A COUNSELOR!" an older version of the Emily before says. She focuses her deep, baby blue eyes on her mother. "You can't stop me" She says venomously. Her mother gives her an equally venemous stare.
"Emily, any other girl would be PLEASED if her parents were giving her the oppurtunity to be a movie star in the future" her mother tells her. Emily gives her a mean look and walks out of the door, slamming it loudly. She walks out onto the porch where a boy with green hair and eyes is waiting. They walk down the steps together.
"Lets do something worthwhile tonight Mark," she says grinning.
That night Emily walks in bruised on her left cheek and sporting a very black eye. Her mother is sitting at the table waiting for her. "I can't believe you got in a fight with Laura Smith! Laura is going to be an actress! See if she isn't!" her mother complains. Her husband comes into the living room.
"Thats the fourth time Emily...we're going to New York...pack your bags" he says. Emily's eyes widen in shock.
"NO" she says.
End Flashback
"But that is just how I got in New York...I guess I have to tell you what happened..." I said. Squid's eyes met mine, slightly afraid of what I was going to say. Zigzag avoided my gaze, but his fingers found mine and tightened on them reassuringly.
Flashback
"GET OFF OF ME!" Emily screams. Now she is fifteen and no match for the 18 year old native of New York that is trying to force her shirt and bra over her head. "STOP! JESS! STOP!" she screams. Finally in a fit of panic she pulls a pocket knife out and stabs him in the arm. He staggers back.
"BITCH!" he screams. She looks at the point of the knife, wet with blood, and drops it. Jess continues to scream and his mother runs up the stairs. She runs to her son, looks at the wound and proceeds to call the police. Emily doesn't say a word, she just lets the cops take her and pretends like it wasn't self defense.
End Flashback
"Thorne...you never told us the whle story" Rhythm said looking at me.
"Would you have listened?" I asked. "Nobody would have believed me if I told them what had really happened. What had almost happened to me," I spat. Squid grabbed my Zigzag-free hand and gave it a rough squeeze.
"That type of guy is gross, I can't believe that happened to you..." he muttered. Zigzag squeezed my other hand and the four of us passed the next half hour in silence, staring around the circle with a new found sense of really knowing each other.
