Chapter Three - Breathe

As she was walking, another wave of dizziness came over her and suddenly everything went black.

Zero was walking a few feet away from her when he noticed her eyes suddenly close and her body go limp. He quickly caught her before she hit the dirt ground.

She awoke a couple seconds later.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked, standing up with his help.

"You fainted."

"I did?"

"Yeah... are you gonna be okay? We have a counseling session with Mom tonight," Zero said. Madeline blushed and absentmindedly pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, a habit that she had picked up from her mother at an early age.

"Yeah I'm fine... I guess I'm just tired and not really used to this yet," she said, keeping her voice low. He smiled at her, something that totally caught her off guard. He had an amazing smile, but she could tell that it wasn't something he did very often.

"Yeah but you'll get used to it in a couple days. You're a pretty quick digger," he commented. She laughed and smiled.

"Not really... one of my jobs for awhile before I got arrested was planting trees in some park or something and I got pretty used to digging. But it was almost a year ago, so yeah."

He nodded and looked at the ground.

"So umm... I'll see you at the session tonight, okay?" she said, giving him a small smile.

"See you there," he said, returning the smile before he walked towards the Wreck Room.

Madeline sighed and smiled to herself. She didn't know why, but something was attracting her to Zero. And she liked it.

***

After getting her shower, Madeline changed into her orange jumpsuit and headed to the session.

"Madeline, nice of you to finally join us," Pendanski said when she walked in. She rolled her eyes and sat in the only empty chair in the small circle, in between X-Ray and Squid. Zero was sitting across from her, looking at his feet, his arms folded across his chest.

"Okay... now tonight we're going to discuss the things you miss now that you had before you came to camp. We'll start with José," their counselor said, motioning to Magnet.

"Let's see... I miss... hmmm," he thought outloud with a grin on his face.

"I'll tell you what he misses - he misses those widdle itty-bitty puppies that he loves so much!" the boy said with a baby voice. Everyone started laughing except Zero, who was still staring at his feet.

They went around the circle haphazardly until only Zero and Madeline were left.

"Well... Madeline what do you miss?" Pendanski asked.

"Softball," the brunette said. "I played it all the time in Jr. High and my freshman year. I was the only freshman to make the varsity team because they thought I was that good. And my music... I love music."

Zero looked up from the floor and stared at her. She was twirling her hair around her finger and looking up at the ceiling.

"But I stopped playing after I dropped out and well, we don't have music here so I guess I'm outta luck, huh?" she said, looking at the group. They rolled their eyes and smiled at her.

"Alright Zero... not that I should even bother asking you anything, your turn."

His gaze returned to the floor. He said nothing.

"Do you think you're better than all of this?" Pendanski asked, his voice low and slightly dangerous.

Zero looked up at him for a second, then at Madeline.

'Just say something,' she pleaded in her mind.

"Nothing worth missing," he said quietly, almost in a whisper. For a split second, a hint of emotional pain ripped across his face. Madeline looked around the room, but no one else seemed to have noticed. She looked back at him, but he was looking at the floor yet again.

***

Later that night, everyone was in their cots, sound asleep. Everyone that is, except Madeline. She couldn't sleep. She kept seeing Zero's pained expression whenever she closed her eyes. The words "nothing worth missing" echoing in her mind.

She sighed, frustrated, and quietly as she could, got out of bed and walked out of the tent. She sat down outside, a couple feet away from the dark green canvas, and looked up at the starry sky.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Madeline looked behind her and saw Zero standing a few feet away from her.

"Hey Zero... yeah I guess I couldn't. Did I wake you up?"

"No. I couldn't sleep either," he said, sitting down beside her. They just sat there in silence for awhile, staring at the stars.

"I remember when I was little, my mom would take me and my little sister out into the country every summer - just to see the stars. I love it... night is so much better than the day...," she said softly.

"Yeah... especially around here," Zero said, smiling to himself.

***

Around noon the next day, Madeline was almost finished with her hole. Squid was in total disbelief.

"How the crap do you dig that fast?" he asked as they lined up for lunches. "You've only been here three days!"

She shrugged and grabbed a sandwich.

"I guess I'm just a fast digger."

Madeline finished a little before the rest of her tent, besides Zero, who had finished twenty minutes after lunch, and walked back to camp by herself. Personally, she couldn't wait to get back to the tent, because she knew Zero would be there and it was sure to be quiet.

When she thought about this, she laughed quietly to herself.

But much to her dismay, Zero wasn't lying on his cot when she entered the tent.

'Oh well,' she thought with a sigh. 'I'm sure lying in here for the afternoon does get boring after awhile.'

She changed out of her dirty orange jumpsuit and deposited it in her crate. She had also taken to wearing a red bandana around her hair while she was digging to cover her head, which gave her some relief from the stifling heat of the day.

Tired, her muscles aching like they had the day before, she lied down on her cot and closed her eyes and tried to breathe without her head spinning.

"If I just breathe... it'll fill the space between. Oh no, everything is alright. Breathe, every little piece of me. You'll see, everything is alright... if I just breathe," she sang softly to herself.

"That's really pretty."

Her eyes snapped open and she looked over and saw Zero lying on his cot, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't even heard him come in.

"Umm... thanks. It's from a song...," she said, her cheeks growing red from embarrassment. She had never thought of herself as much of a singer, but Zero didn't seem to care.

"I like it," he said, looking over at her. She smiled.

"Seriously?"

"Yep," he said honestly, giving her a small smile. "Can you sing the rest of it?"

Madeline was about to say yes, but at that exact moment, ZigZag and Magnet came in, followed by Armpit, Squid, and X-Ray. Zero's attention quickly went back to the ceiling.

Song Credit: Michelle Branch - "Breathe"