Hey everybody, I just wanted to tell anyone who is reading my fic that I edited chapter 2 (Dinner) a little. I don't know how much difference it'll make, but I like it better. I also fixed some typos. BTW- Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I think there was something else I was going to write, but I can't remember what it is. If I remember I'll keep you posted (I'm a ditz, what can I say) hehe TTFN

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Chapter 3: An interesting evening...

Avita stared moodily down at her feet as she walked away from the Mess Hall, kicking at pebbles as she went. The happy chatter and laughing that still reached her ears annoyed her even more in her present irritated state. She thought angrily of Robert, Mr. Sir, and then of Squid. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so mad at him, only that when he had interrupted her when she was trying to explain to Mr. Sir about her little "incident" in the Mess Hall, it had reminded her forcefully of Him again, and she didn't want to think about Him. Did Squid think she wasn't perfectly capable of taking care of herself? She knew she had probably overreacted and felt kinda bad about it, but she couldn't help. Anything that reminded her of Him in any way... it still hurt so much, she doubted if the pain would ever fade. It had reminded her of the way He had tried to control her, until she couldn't take it any longer.

Avita had wanted to leave him, but at the same time, he was the only one she could ever remember wanting her, and he had once loved her, like no one else had. He was all that she had, and she couldn't let go, even though she knew how much he was hurting her. It was like being in a cage of her own thoughts and emotions, forcing her into a kind of downward spiral of despair, until she finally hit rock bottom. It was then that she had turned to stealing, drugs, alcohol, starving and cutting herself, anything that would take her mind off of the hell that was her life.

Then, finally, one night when she was prowling aimlessly around the dark alleyways of Manhattan, a cop stopped her and searched her coat. He found the knife she had taken to carrying, along with large amounts of crack and heroin. Since she had no parents or other legal guardian, she wasn't given much of a trial. There was no space at any of the girl's correctional camps, so she had been sent here, to this stupid camp, all because of Him.

All the time she had been thinking, Avita had been trudging along slowly, not paying attention to where she was going or anything around her. Suddenly, her left foot stepped on something squashy. She heard the briefest hiss and saw a flash of fangs before a searing, white-hot pain shot through her ankle. She screamed in pain and fell to her knees, clutching her leg. Through the haze of pain, she caught sight of the diamond-patterned tail of a rattle snake whipping around the corner of the "library".

Dimly, Avita was aware of footsteps and anxious voices, though they were becoming muffled and slurred. Now people were gathering around her crumpled form, their blurry faces swimming before her eyes. She felt a strange sensation in her injured ankle, and then a pair of strong arms encircled her, swallowing her up in their warm, safe grasp. It was a comforting feeling, a good feeling. She felt as though this was where she belonged. She smiled, and then everything went black.
"No, Jose, please-"

"Where have you been, Vita? Out with Ben again? You were, weren't you? I knew it, I can't trust you anymore, can I? I-"

"No, I-"

"I'll teach you to cheat on me, you dirty whore,"

"No, please, stop, it hurts..."

Someone was screaming in fear, in pain. A girl was screaming. A pair of rough, calloused hands were shaking her, the screams diminished into terrified sobs...

"Avita! Avita, wake up! Can you hear me? Wake up!"

Avita opened her eyes to see the blurred outline of somebody standing over her, their hands on her shoulders, and several more people standing around them. She squirmed, trying to get away from the person holding her. Only then did she realize that the frantic sobbing was coming from her own mouth. She quickly shut it and sat up, still fighting to free herself from whoever had hold of her.

"Calm down, chica, we're not gonna hurt you."

Avita blinked several times to clear her vision, which she realized had been blurred by tears. She looked up, and her now bloodshot eyes met a pair of honey-brown ones that were full of concern. Squid was bending over her, still holding her by the shoulders. X-Ray, Zigzag, Armpit, Magnet, and Zero were standing around them. They were all looking anxious, and some downright scared.

Avita suddenly became aware of a sharp pain in her thigh and, looking down, saw that she was sitting on her cot, and one of the metal springs was poking up through the mattress. She groaned and rubbed her head. She was aching all over, except for her left ankle, which seemed to have gone numb.

Squid let go of her and she leaned forward to examine her injured leg. She let out a tiny gasp. Her leg was puffy and red, right down to the middle of her calf, where there was a strip of filthy yellow material tied tightly, cutting off a lot of the circulation to her ankle and foot. Her foot was paler than it usually was, but other than that, looked normal. Her ankle, however, was a different story. Just next to her bone were two small, round, close-set holes that were oozing droplets of blood. The area surrounding the bite was tinged with purple and green, and when she reached out to touch the spot gently with her forefinger, she yelped in pain and drew back quickly. Apparently, that part had not lost feeling.

Though the wound looked horrible, Avita knew it wasn't that bad. She remembered her uncle had once gotten a rattle snake bite, but she had been little and had no idea what to do. His whole leg had resembled a poisonous green ham before long, and he had died a few days later. Her bite looked as though someone had already begun tending to it.

"Well, they must not all be complete idiots," she mumbled, sullenly.

"What did you say?" asked X-Ray, eying Avita suspiciously.

"I said, you must not all be complete idiots, seeing as I'm not dead."

The boys all looked at one another, and then their eyes flicked onto Squid, who was suddenly looking a little uncomfortable.

"If it gets all infected or something, don't blame us," said Armpit.

"Yeah, Squid said he knew what he was doin'," said Magnet.

Avita looked up at Squid and, noticing how embarrassed he was looking, gave him the first truly genuine smile she had managed all day. He seemed to relax a little, and smile sheepishly back.

"You did this?" she asked.

Squid was still looking a bit embarrassed, and spoke to the floor,

"Yeah," he mumbled, apparently very interested in a piece of fluff poking out of a hole in the cot's mattress, "I, I grew up around here," he said, gesturing at the open tent flap, out towards the dark, dusty wasteland that was the camp. "We leaned how to deal with this kind of stuff." He was now blushing slightly, though she didn't know why he was so embarrassed.

Avita was curious about his past, but Squid didn't seem to want to elaborate, and she thought it best not to press it. 'He'll tell me if he wants me to know.' She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, and looked into Squid's eyes, smiling.

"Thanks," she said, softly, and with such obvious sincerity that he grinned too.

"No problem," he said, looking more relaxed.

Avita thought she was pretty much better, her leg didn't really hurt any more, so she began to get up. As she tried to stand up, however, her head whirled and she fell sideways into Magnet, who caught her and helped her back onto the cot.

"Not quite well yet, I guess," Avita said with a weak laugh. She was suddenly exhausted, so she leaned back on her pillow and drifted off to sleep.

Avita slept badly, awakening several times from nightmares drenched in icy sweat. Every time she fell back asleep, she had the same dream, a dream of a cage with iron bars, and she was trapped inside. Every time she tried to escape the cage would shrink, becoming smaller and smaller until it was squeezing the very life out of her, suffocating, her, choking her, and then she would awake, gasping for air and sobbing silently into her hands.

About the third time this happened, Avita sat bolt upright, shivering all over, shoulders shaking with muffled sobs. She hugged her knees tightly to her chest, trying to block out the encircling darkness of the night.

Quite suddenly, Avita felt something on her shoulder and jumped, nearly falling off the cot. She whipped around to see what it was, and found herself face-to-face with Zero.

Avita wiped her eyes hurriedly on her sleeve, and then looked up at Zero. He was watching her with a kind of powerful intensity that made her feel as though he could see right through her, right down into the depths of her soul. Neither of them said anything for a minute, and then Zero held out his canteen which appeared to be full of cold water.

"Drink it," he said, softly. "It'll help your ankle."

She took the canteen from him and gratefully put it to her parched lips.

"Thanks," she whispered, after taking a long swig of the water, its refreshing coolness soothing her throat.

"You were having nightmares," Zero said, quietly. It was a statement, not a question.

Avita nodded, looking at the floor. She placed the canteen on the floor beside the cot, avoiding looking into Zero's penetrating stare. Again, silence fell, and then,

"Who's Jose?" Zero asked suddenly.

"What?" Avita asked, taken aback. "How did you-?"

"You talk in your sleep."

"Oh." Avita was staring at the floor again, pretending to be very interested in a nail head protruding from the wooden floor. She really didn't want to discuss this right at the moment.

"Did he hurt you?" Zero asked quietly.

"Yeah, he did." She sat there, stunned. She had never, ever talked to anyone about Jose, she had never wanted to, and yet, here she was, spilling secrets to this little puffy-haired kid who she had never even met. 'But then, what was that feeling I had when I first saw him?' Avita was suddenly feeling confused and slightly dizzy, but something about the sad, almost pained expression in Zero's penetrating eyes told her she could trust him to keep her darkest secrets, and never tell a soul. It was as though he understood her, without her having to say a word. It was an expression of sadness, of deep-seated pain, of longing, 'But for what...?'

The two of them sat in silence for awhile, and then,

"Do you miss your family?" questioned Zero, his expression growing more pained as he said it, and his tone was full of sorrow.

Avita gave a soft, hollow laugh, "My family? Yeah, right. Zero, I don't know squat about family. To me, it's nothing but a six letter word."

Zero said nothing, but stared fixedly at the floor. He looked as though he was fighting back tears.

"You miss them, don't you?"

Zero looked up, but still didn't speak. He didn't need to. Avita could read the answer in his eyes.

Avita reached over and brushed away the solitary tear trickling down Zero's cheek, and then pulled him into a hug. 'Poor kid, he's too young to be away from his family like this...' He leaned against her and put his head on her shoulder. They sat there, huddled together for a long time. Finally, Zero's breathing had become soft and slow, and she knew he was asleep. She got up slowly, cradling him in her arms, and set him down gently on his cot. She looked into his young face, so innocent in sleep, and sighed. She felt sorry for him. Then, she walked back to her own cot, her feet dragging along in tiredness, and collapsed onto it. She fell straight to sleep, feeling a lot better than she had earlier.

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I got so many reviews for chappy 3 which is really chappy 2 but anyways, YAY I have 20 now! (ok that's not much compared to some people, but not bad)
Thanks to:
X0xsnowPrincessx0x - thanx, yeah I think it'll be fun writing about a girl in a boy's boot camp, it could get very interesting...
Kirjava Deamon - thanx for the warning, I didn't know that was a rule
Picky- I like Zigzag too, he's so funny & crazy lol
Geneveva - I'm trying to make longer chappys, who knew it would be so hard? Now I can really appreciate how hard is to write long books
Skittles n' Sparky - Don't worry, Avita has her reasons for being a brat right now, all will be explained
fairbird - finding stuff can be hard lol
vega-chan1 - o, Avita and Zero go waaaay back, well, sorta...
courtsy445 - Thanx, I'm flattered, that's probably the best review I've gotten yet, and your story is sooo good
RiRiana - I wasn't really making fun of him (ok, just a little). I like Zigzag because he's weird.
Anyone else reading, please review!