CHAPTER 3

Remember?

Carrie glanced around the room, waiting for the first cat calls to erupt, but none came. Her and Zigzag got into the food line. Carrie noticed with disgust that Zagzag's description of the food had been pretty accurate.

Zigzag lead her over to a table where 5 other boys and Armpit were sitting. Carrie shyly sat between Armpit and Zigzag, amidst the stares from the other boys.

"Hey Carrie. Yo, guys, this is Carrie," Armpit introduced. "This is X- ray-"he pointed to an African-America boy with thick, dirty glasses. "Squid-"he pointed to a tall boy with thick, dark hair partially hidden under a bandana and baseball cap. 'He's cute!' Carrie noted with glee. "Magnet-"he pointed to a hispanic boy with big ears. "Twitch-"he pointed to a skinny boy with a twitching eye. "And Zero." The last boy was tiny, with a dark afro and dark skin.

The boy called Squid was the first to snap out of his stupor. "Hey," he greeted with a wave.

"Hola Chica," was the next greeting from Magnet. The other boys gave quick greetings, then went back to their food. Zero didn't bother to even acknowledge her existence.

Over the dinner of "Mashed Potatoes" and "refried beans", the 6 boys discussed regular "getting to know you" topics with Carrie. Zero just continues eating his food. Zigzag, of course, knew everything that they were discussing, and kept mostly quiet throughout the whole meal.

But that might not have been the only reason.

Carrie knew that she was flirting with all of the boys. She knew, but couldn't help it. She wasn't used to all of the attention and was enjoying being the center of it. But every once in a while, Carrie would glance over at Zigzag and see a look of pure jealousy spreading across every one of his features.

'I wonder why,' Carrie thought. 'Maybe he was enjoying all the attention I was giving him. Or maybe he likes me.' Carrie quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. 'Don't be stupid! You've known the guy for less than 12 hours.'

She finally tuned her mind back into the conversation.

"So, Carrie," X-ray began with a mischievous glint in his eye. "What's the weirdest thing people call you?"

"Care bear," she promptly responded. "Or sometimes just bear, because I they say I remind them of an overgrown teddy bear."

"Bear it is," X-ray said with a toothy grin.

The boys immediately burst into laughter.

"What?" Carrie asked. "What are you talking about?"

"It's what we're going to call you. Bear." Squid replied, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Did you actually think these were our real names?" Twitch asked with wide, twitching eyes.

"Well, I thought it would be rude to ask..." Carrie grinned sheepishly. "What can I say? I should have been born blonde."

"I can see that," X-ray responded. "What are you in here for, anyways?"

Carrie went silent and looked at the table. Zigzag gave X-ray a death glare before changing the subject. "Ready to go dig tomorrow, Carrie?"

Carrie looked back up, the sparkle returning to her eyes. "Well, sure. I have decent upper body strength and I did a lot of yard work back home."

Zero looked at her but said nothing. Carrie was beginning to wonder if he ever spoke.

"This'll be interesting," Twitch said, standing up and leaving his tray.

"What will?" Carrie asked.

"Seeing you dig," He replied with an evil grin.

Carrie laughed and began walking towards the tent with him. Suddenly, she froze, clutching her head. A vision sliced into her mind.

_______________________________________________________________________

A large, buff boy was advancing on Carrie with a baseball bat. She laughed, not knowing why, or even what was going on. Suddenly, she realized the seriousness of the situation and tried to run, still laughing. She felt a crack as the bat hit her head and felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull. She fell to the ground.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Hey, Carrie? Are you ok?" Twitch asked, concerned.

"I'm great." Carrie smiled. Her head was still throbbing and she wasn't sure what exactly she had witnessed, but she didn't give it another thought.