Chapter One - New Kid
Madeline's eyes looked around the cramped office. It smelled of sunflower seeds and something she couldn't quite place. There was a desk in the middle of the room and a small chair in front of it.
"Sit," the guard ordered, gesturing towards the chair. She glared at him but did as she was told.
Suddenly, the door to the office opened and a man walked in. He didn't look at her but sat down at the desk and grabbed a manila folder and a handful of sunflower seeds that were sitting at his feet.
"Hmmm... Madeline Harris. Can't say we've ever had a... girl before....," the man said to himself. The brunette noticed a snake tattoo on his right arm.
"So, do you really think you can... handle this camp, Harris?" he asked her, finally making eye contact. She stared at him, her expression not changing.
"If the damn judge thought I couldn't then he would've sent me straight to jail," she said coldly. The man's eyebrow rose and he spit the sunflower shell into a jar on the desk. Getting up, he read aloud from the folder.
"Grand theft auto and speeding at 80 miles per hour in a 40 zone. Were you just trying to get caught or something, Harris?"
Madeline rolled her eyes.
"Don't you go rolling your eyes at me, missy. Just because you're a girl don't mean you're gonna get no special privileges."
She didn't even flinch.
"My name is Mr. Sir. You will call me by that name when you address me, is that clear?" Mr. Sir said, throwing the folder back down on the desk.
For the first time in a long time, Madeline felt a sudden bubbling in her chest. It took her a second to realize what it was, but eventually discovered it was laughter.
"Yes, Mr. Sir," she replied with a slight smile. This didn't go unnoticed by him.
'This girl's gonna have a long twenty months ahead of her....," he thought darkly.
***
After Madeline had gotten changed into her clothes, her backpack was inspected and she was led to a tent with a large "D" written in fading white paint.
"Madeline Harris? I'm Dr. Pendanski, your counselor," a sunburnt man said. Mr. Sir nodded in his direction and went off in another direction.
"This is going to be your new home for the next twenty months. I'd advise you to make the best of it," Pendanski said as they walked into the tent.
Five boys were all scattered in different places among the tent. They all stopped talking and laughing when they saw the counselor and the girl enter.
"Boys, this is Madeline. Madeline, this is Rex, José, Theodore, Alan, Ricky, and Zero," he said, pointing towards all the boys. "But don't expect Zero to say anything to you."
"My name is X-Ray, that's Magnet, Armpit, Squid, and ZigZag. We call him Mom," one of the boys said, gesturing towards the others like Pendanski had done. Madeline noticed X-Ray didn't say anything about Zero. She looked over at the boy that her counselor had pointed at. He was lying on the bed, not really moving at all. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of his chest she would assume he was dead.
Suddenly Zero's eyes switched their interest from the foot of his cot to her emerald green eyes. Taken by surprise by this action, she blinked. Just as soon as her eyes opened again his gaze was back on the end of the bed.
'Geez... he's weird...,' she thought to herself, setting her backpack and clothes down on the empty cot parallel to Zero's.
***
Later at dinner, it seemed like every pair of eyes in the mess hall was on her. ZigZag motioned from over at their table and slid over on the bench.
"D tent's eats over here," he said. She sat down and looked at all of them. X-Ray stared at her intensely, as if deciding if she was a threat or not.
"So... what did you get busted for?" Magnet asked. Madeline took a bite of her bread and thought for a moment before answering.
"Grand theft auto and speeding," she said simply, as if it was nothing in the world. ZigZag whistled and Squid snorted.
"What about all you guys? You can't tell me you're in this place for nothing," she said, batting her eyelashes. She could already tell that they were hooked... this was going to be an interesting twenty months.
***
Later that night, everyone was in the tent. All the boys besides Zero were talking quietly in a corner. Madeline walked into the tent, fresh from a shower; her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail. She had a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt on it.
Magnet looked up from the group and shushed the group. They all went back to their own cots. Madeline's eyebrow rose and she rolled her eyes.
Setting her orange suit down at the foot of her bed, she grabbed the pad of paper and a pencil from the case at the foot of her bed. The boys were still staring at her.
"What?" she asked, looking at them like they had three heads. "I can't be THAT interesting, can I?"
"Usted no tiene la menor idea," Magnet said, snickering. Madeline rolled her eyes and lied back on her cot. Some of the boys resumed talking and she looked around. Chewing on her lower lip, she placed the pencil point on the paper.
***
The next morning, a loud horn awakened Madeline from her deep sleep.
"What the fuck?!" she cursed under her breath. Still muttering, she got up and quickly changed, following the rest of the boys out of the tent.
"Alright... everyone to the Library - Pronto!" the counselor from C-tent bellowed. Madeline was confused but followed the rest of her tent.
They stopped in front of a small shed marked "Library" in faded black paint. Mr. Sir suddenly appeared, a silver coffee thermos in hand, and unlocked the shed.
"Come and get 'em boys! And... girl," he yelled. Madeline rolled her eyes at his remark and grabbed a shovel.
***
During the walk out into the desert, the boys started whispering. Annoyed, Madeline decided to move up and walk beside Zero. He looked up at her for a split second before his gaze returned back ahead of him.
"Do they just not like you or something?" she asked suddenly. He looked at her again, this time longer.
"They think I'm stupid," he said quietly, this being the first thing he had said to the brunette since she arrived at the camp.
The rest of the walk was in a stiff silence, except for the occasional whistle or catcall from a boy from another tent as she walked by.
Finally, they reached a spot where Mr. Sir was satisfied with.
"You'll dig here, Harris," he said, making an "X" in the sand with the heel of his boot. "Five foot deep-"
"Five foot in diameter, I heard you yesterday," she spat rudely. He glared at her and walked away. She sighed.
'I guess I better get digging...,' she thought, pushing her shovel into the dirt.
