Chapter 5: *sings* there's gotta be more

In the morning I didn't wake up from the sound of Moms yelling, but from a bus being driven into Camp Green Lake. I sighed and put my pillow over my head. When that didn't drain out the sound I gave up and went outside to see who it was.

He looked tall, and he was cute, he had long muscles and light blue eyes. His hair was a blondish brownish and as soon as I saw him he reminded me of someone.

I ran back into D-Tent and shook Flame. "GET UP! You wont believe this!" She stared at me but I dragged her off of her cot and outside. She gasped as she finally realized what I was talking about.

"Oh my god!" she screamed as danced around excitedly, waking many of the boys from D-Tent. Zero, Squid, X, and Twitch all walked outside. Twitch rolled his eyes and walked back inside while Zero shook his head in confusion. We laughed at them and continued to dance until we saw the warden's door swing open.

The boy started walking towards D-Tent and stopped when he reached us.

"This D-Tent?" He asked.

"Yea." Replied Flame smiling. He nodded and walked through the door, throwing his things down on my cot.

"Hey! Hey! That's my cot!" I yelled to him. He looked at me.

"So?"

"So MOVE!" I yelled, throwing my hands angrily in the air.

He continued to stare. "Okay, just because you're a hottie and you look JUST like one of the cutest Newsies around, and you have amazing blue eyes…what was my point?" I said, leaning in on him.

"That's he's a jerk!" Twitch yelled.

"Right! That's my cot, so you'll have to move. Now." I added when he didn't move. HE leaned in and kissed me and I jabbed him in the stomach.

"What the hell?" I screamed, throwing his things on the floor.

"I didn't think you'd mind, since you were flirting with me." He stated.

My mouth was hanging open when Flame jumped in.

"She was NOT flirting with you, you…Spot Conlon look-alike!" She brought up her foot and dropped it on his toes. I laughed at that.

"Ow!" He yelled. We laughed harder. He looked up and threw his fist at me, hitting me across the face and sending my over a cot and onto the floor.

This is when X stepped in, but he was too late. Flame had already tackled him the Spot look-alike to the ground and was making his nose bleed. It took Twitch and X to get her off him, and when he stood up I punched him in the lip, making him stumble backwards and topple over the cot. I flung myself down on him and only got in a few good punches when Zig and Caveman were pulling me back.

I glared at him. "What's your problem?" He said, trying to stop his nosebleed. I laughed at him and thanks Flame.

"You're my problem, get away from my cot!" I screamed, noticing he still hadn't moved.

"There will be no need for that." Mom said as he walked into D-Tent.

I rolled my eyes at him, and realizing that Caveman and Zig were still holding me back I pried myself away from them.

"What?" I asked sourly.

"Gabriel here," He said, putting his hand on Gabe's shoulder, "Isn't in D-Tent but F-Tent, he's just got confused, he's not all there." HE added in a whisper while pointing to his head. I smiled smugly as did Flame.

"Ta-Ta Gabe." I said his name with an accent, making him flinch. Flame laughed along with the other D-Tent delinquents.

I lied down on my cot and sighed.

"What are you? We have to go dig!" Twitch told me.

I groaned. "I forgot it was this early…" My voice trailed off as we went to the Library.

I picked up my shovel and walked past our usual digging spot. My hands had yet to turn to calices and I had tied the orange sleeves around my waist showing my newest sunburn.

Caveman jogged to catch up to me and tapped me on the shoulder.

"Ow! Burn…!" I said stating the oblivious.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "can we talk?" I nodded my head yes, but was confused.

He scratched his head, "Its about Flame," I smiled. "Could you tell her that you and I have to talk at lunch, or…make sure she wont come up and talk to us?"

"Yea." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Thanks." He said in a whisper and I looked at him confused.

"Heya!" Flame said, now standing beside me. I looked over at her and when I looked back at Caveman he was talking to X.

"What was that all about?" She asked innocently.

I smiled. "Nothing, but Caveman and I have to talk alone at Lunch, is that okay?"

"Yea, I'll just eat with Zig and Twitch." She answered back to me.

I sighed heavily as we started to dig, and I hummed a song in my head.

"Yeah, yea…ooo…yea." I sang quietly.

"I've got it all, but I feel so deprived

I go up, I come down, and I'm emptier inside.

Tell me what this thing that I feel like I'm missing

And why can't I let it go?"

 I hadn't noticed but Flame was leaning on her shoulder and humming the words with me.

"There's gotta be more to life

Than chasing down every temporary high

To satisfy me

'Cause the more that I'm

Trippin out, thinking there must be more to life

Well it's life but I'm sure

There's gotta be more"

Flame started dancing in her half-dug hole as I did the same, while she sang the next verse.

"I've got the time, and I'm wasting it slowly

Here in this moment, I'm half way out the door

Onto the next thing, I'm searching for something that's missing."

By now many, if not all of the boys who could hear us had stopped to listen, and we hadn't noticed as we both sang the chorus again.

"There's gotta be more to life

Than chasing down every temporary high

To satisfy me

'Cause the more that I'm

Trippin out, thinking there must be more to life

Well it's life but I'm sure

There's gotta be more"

"I'm wanting more!" Flame yelled, throwing her hands in the air, I laughed but continued to sing.

" (I'm always) waiting on something,

Other than this

Why am I feeling like there something I missed?

(Something I missed) yeah…"

"There's gotta be more to life

Than chasing down every temporary high

To satisfy me

'Cause the more that I'm

Trippin out, thinking there must be more to life

Well it's life but I'm sure

There's gotta be more"

 Flame sang, now out of her hole and grabbing me by the arms to make me dance into open area.

"There's gotta be more to life

Than chasing down every temporary high

To satisfy me

'Cause the more that I'm

Trippin out, thinking there must be more to life

Well it's life but I'm sure

There's gotta be more"

 I sang, throwing my hands up and swing my hips from side to side while Flame slowly faded out the words to the ending.

"More…to…life…

More to…More to…life."

By the time we were done singing the water truck had come to give us lunch. I had been digging faster than normal, as if that would make time go by so I could talk to Caveman.

Right away he got his lunch and sat with his legs dangling into the hole, while I sat down and joined him.

"What about her?" I asked him suddenly.

"I like her." He spit out. I stared at him wide-eyed, not expecting him to be so straight forward.

"R-Really?" I said stuttering.

"Yea, could you talk to her for me, ya know, find out if she likes me?" He was shifting his feet around now, and kicking the sides of my 5-foot wide hole.

"She does." I said nodding my head, as if agreeing with myself.

He smiled. "Really? I'm gonna go talk to her." I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Do you usually talk to her now?" He shook his head no.

"Then don't, you don't want it to oblivious."

"Uh-huh, so I should go talk to X?"

"Now you understand, yes, go." Said, shooing him away and going back to digging.

15 minutes later Zero was done and twenty minutes after that X and I walked back to camp.

"What'd Caveman wanna talk to ya about?" He asked me, slinging his shovel over his shoulder.

"Nothin…much…" I mumbled, mindlessly kicking a pebble on the ground. He shook his head, knowing I wasn't telling him something, but gave up after a few more tries.

I walked into D-Tent and fell on my cot. As soon as I hit it, it collapsed beneath me. I growled as X and Twitch, just walking in, laughed at me. I rolled my eyes and dropped my head back, thinking things couldn't get worse. Twitch pulled me up as X set up my cot. I said thanks under my breath, but was hesitant to sit down.

I pulled out my journal and started to write as soon as Twitch, X and Zero were all on their cots.

Dear Journal,

I don't believe it! Camp Green Lake? Who gets sent here? Ugh, its soooo boring! At least Kkay,

Now known as Flame is with me, but I wished it rained. A lot of the guys here aren't that bad. I

was talking with Squid, one of the boys from my tent, and he says he's got a girl back home. He

said when she found out he was leaving for this hell hole, that she'd try to get here too. I think her

name was Rain, but I'm not sure. I cant think about that now, I'm too busy thinking about Flame

and Caveman, they've got the hotts for each other, but…I don't know…I guess that's all, I just

hope I don't…lose her?

Flare. *New D-Tent Name =) *

Just as I was about to put away my journal Zig grabbed it out of my hands.

"Zig…" I warned him, he was smiling menacingly. I tore after him and he led me into the wreck room. I chased him over the couch and around the TV when Flame had snuck up from behind him and grabbed it, rolling her eyes.

"Too easy Zig, you're losing your touch." She said to him.

"Hey! I've still got the touch." He said, wiggling his fingers, causing the D-Tent boys to laugh. She hit him upside the head and sat down on the couch, staring at the broken TV.

"Oh my god! Flame! Your just as bad as he is!" I said, as Zig sat down beside her. She waved her hand at me.

"Not now…later…good show." I stared at her as if she were mad but walked back over to D-tent to put my journal away.

When I walked back in I started playing a game of pool with Twitch and Zero. I don't know why, but I couldn't take my eyes off Zero. He didn't talk to me much anymore, but he seemed sweet.

When Zig and Flame started laughing and pointing at the TV I screwed up my last shot and Zero won the game.

"Good Game." I said as he was walking away back to the tent. He made a light glare at me, and my smile faded.

I looked back at Flame, asking her with my eyes if she saw what had happened, but she was still laughing. I jogged to catch up with him but he was already in the tent.

"You okay?" I asked him uncertainty. He didn't say anything.

"Zero, whats up? You can tell me…" I said raising my eyebrows, trying to assure him that I was right. He just shook his head and headed off to the showers.

"You only get 4 minutes! You cant hide from me forever Hector!" I yelled to him. He stopped dead in his track and turned back to face me. His deep chocolate eyes were burning into me. I quickly smiled and walked away slowly, remember one of my friends stating that walking fast made you look nervous.

I had skipped dinner, hoping to avoid Zero, when I saw him come in and shut my eyes.

"I know your not asleep." He told me. I opened my eyes slowly.

"How'd you know my name?" He asked.

"I've just heard about you okay?" He looked at me confused.

"You weren't the ONLY orphan! I yelled to him, but realizing how harsh I was quickly said sorry.

"I still don't get it…"

"Flame and I were orphans, we used to raise money with other orphanages…and we had a type of…auction one day. With Clyde Livingston's sneakers, and I saw you take them."

He looked at me dumbly and I buried my face in my pillows.

The next thing I know I heard the springs of his cot squeak as he lied down, and I was drifting off to sleep.