CH. 2---------------------------------------------

He turned his eyes to hers which were spilling
over with tears.
"But...that can't be...possible," She knelt beside
her friend, lifting back a lock of hair.
"She's...she's de-"
"GOTCHA!!!"
"AHH!!!" Serena leapt into Darien's arms, screaming
hysterically.
Raye's eyes popped open, and she shook harshly with
wild laughter.
As Serena clung to Darien, she viewed the
cackling girl--whom she had sworn been minutes before
a corpse--disbelievingly. Her vision blurred with anger
and aggravation, but before she could act on her
thoughts, two murky creatures entered the scene,
laughing as well.
Serena slowly let her grip on Darien's neck
loosen, and he gasped for breath. She ignored
his ragged breathing and stepped closer to the
"swamp things."
In a circle of murky brown mud, two clear,
green eyes poked out at her. Their owner clutched
its stomach, bending over in its hysterical laughter.
"LITA?!" Serena fell back in her shock. The
muddied person standing next to Lita wiped a layer of
mud from her face, letting her sapphire eyes shine
through.
"Don't forget about me!" Mina seemed irritated
that Lita was getting all her attention.
"What...why--HOW did you get here?" Serena's
eyes focused on the body that was no longer dead. She
gritted her teeth and let out an inaudible growl.
"Raye! I should *really* run over you for doing
that to me!" She made a jump for her but was held back
by a pair of strong arms she'd forgotten were there
before.
"Let me go, Darien! I need to have a little
talk with my FRIEND!" Serena writhed within his grasp,
but to no avail, "I can do it nice and quick. It's
just like in that movie Double Jeopardy, right? Everyone
already thinks she's dead, so if you just let-me-GO--"
"Would someone please explain before Meatball
Head goes crazy?" Darien strained against Serena's
writhing body and pinned her flailing arms behind
her back.
Lita cleared her throat and stepped forward,
hands drawn behind her back. "We would like to welcome
you to Camp Kiwachee!"
"Huh...?" Serena stopped flailing and took on a
some-what dumbfounded look.
"This is your initiation as a counselor, Sere!" Mina
exclaimed, "They do it every year to the new counselors,
DUH," Her muddy hands were placed on her hips.
"But, since when have you been counseling here?"
Serena inquired.
"Since yesterday," Raye supplied from her position
safely behind Lita. She would take no chances of Serena
making good on her threat.
Mina removed a dripping twig from her ear and
stuck her tongue out disgustedly. As she continued to
de-twig her self, she mumbled to Serena, "Yeah, my mom
knows this guy, who knows her cousin, who knows his
best friend's brother's girlfriend's sister's nephew
who works here part-time."
*cricket*
Her eyes flicked around, seeing the stupor
on her friend's faces. "Alright, let me try that
again. This guy got us the jobs, and even though
*we're* new counselors, too, they let us do the
initiation thingy on you guys! Isn't that great?"
Mina started to giggle again, "They
usually TP their bunks and everything, but we
figured we'd use the element of surprise since
you didn't know we would be here, and what better
way than to make you think you ran over RAYE?"
She paused to laugh, "Kind of ingenious, if you
ask me." Obviously she had been the blonde
behind the operation.
"Yeah, we wanted to spend time with the kids,
too. Plus, Grandpa's holding a martial arts class
right across the lake," Raye--feeling more brave
now that Serena was being held back by Darien--stated.
"Not to mention the four HOTTEST guys in the
ENTIRE world are working as senior counselors," Lita
closed her eyes and sighed. Suddenly, she remembered
who was holding Serena back and smiled mischeviously,
"Oh, don't worry, Sere, Darien's all yours."
Serena let her body go limp in Darien's grasp,
and his eyebrows raised at Lita's remark. Serena
untangled her arms from Darien's and folded them across
her chest. "Alright, so let's say I buy all this," She
eyed the culprits, "Then where is Amy? And don't think
I didn't hear that, Lita, because I did, and you'll be
paying *dearly* for it later," She smiled sweetly
through gritted teeth.
"Whew, what have you been feeding her, Darien?
Cannibal vitamins?" Lita held up her hands in an 'I
surrender' manor, and shied from Serena's menacing glare.
Mina smacked her forehead and gasped.
"Oh, crap! I forgot all about Amy! Lita go get
the scissors, hurry!" Mina commanded and turned back
to Serena, "You know Amy. She was dead set against
this whole thing from the start, so we had to sort
of keep her...occupied, if you will."
"Be right back, you two!" Mina and Lita zoomed
off, quickly followed by Raye.

"Un...believable," Darien murmured.
"Tell me about it," She massaged her aching
shoulders, "Did you have to hold me so tight? My
arms are killing me now."
He shrugged and turned back to the bus, "I'm
gonna go tell Karen that everything's fine, and that
she might want to make sure this camp has good insurance.
Those girls will probably burn the place down before
two weeks is up."
"You do that...I'll just stay here and plot
my friends' deaths." Visions of throwing Raye over a
cliff floated casually in her mind, and she rubbed
her hands together deviously.
"Heh heh heh...hey! What do you think
you're--OW!" She squirmed as Darien draped her
over his shoulder and carried her to the bus.
"*You* are coming with *me* before you kill
somebody," He replied.


*Lunchtime the next day*


"Are we going to be forced to eat this pathetic
excuse for food for an ENTIRE week?" Green eyes viewed
a forkfull of spaghetti disgustedly, and Brianna let
the steaming noodles slide from her fork and plop
ungracefully on to her plate.
Serena rolled her eyes but instantly sobered.
Her famished tummy was getting rather annoyed at its
only partially filled self and wasted no time in
rumbling its disapproval. Swooping her eyes across
Brianna's full plate of pasta, she licked her
hungry lips and smiled sweetly.
"I'll have it!" Her greedy hands fumbled for
her plate, snatching it cleanly and toppling its
contents onto her empty one.
Brianna sniffed and narrowed her eyes at Serena's
munching mouth. "Honestly, you'd think they would be
able to keep stray animals out of camp quarters. I'll
just have to call Daddy about getting better animal
control out here," She 'tsked' thoughtfully and slid
from her seat, swinging her hips invitingly as she
passed Darien and whisked out the mess hall door.
"Whoa, who pissed her in her corn flakes this
morning?" Lita mumbled against a mouthful of bread.
Darien stifled his laugh and downed the rest of
his coke. Across from him, Kyle, a fellow senior counselor,
raised his eyebrows toward the door Brianna had moments
before disappeared through and looked at Darien
speculativley. Darien shrugged his shoulders dismissively
and focused on Serena. She obviously hadn't heard
Brianna's smart remark and was happily cleaning
her fork as Mina stood to leave.
"Time for kiddy-room patrol!" She lifted her
plate and beckoned for the other girls to join her.
As a part of camp regulations, each camper's bunk
had to be at least partially habitable or said
camper would be suspended from participation in
arts and crafts--a favorite of most--for one day.
Raye stood so fast that the table shook. "Yes,
well I guess we have to go then. Those kids sure are
um...messy...yeah, let's go, girls," Her hair whooshed
past them, sending a slight breeze across the table.
Disappointed blue eyes followed her. Her odd
behavior had been driving Jason up a wall the entire
day. He inconspicuously puffed a cloud of air into his
hand to check his breath--slightly garlic-y, but otherwise
not too hazardous. He silently wondered if he'd remembered
to put on deodorant that morning.
"What's up with Raye?" Lita inquired,
swatting a hand from her arm. Matt furrowed his
brown eyebrows and feigned hurt. Lita patted
his head and rose.
"Who knows, all I care about is getting
this over with so we can FINALLY have some fun
with the kids. All this first day boringness
is getting to me," Serena hopped from the bench
and waved goodbye to the five males, save for
Darien who she was still at odds with over an
earlier bout about her infamous tardiness.

"Ah, Meatball Head's late as usual.
Did you fall down the stairs again or are you
aiming for a world record in tardiness?"
"Nope, just hoping that you'd be GONE by
the time I got here."
"Ooh, harsh."
"Ooh, asshole."
"Launguage, languge."
"Shove it, shove it."
"Looks like you do enough of that for the
both of us, huh?"

"You coming, Ames? We all know how much
the kids love it when *you* check their bunks,"
Serena giggled mockingly. Amy always seemed to
have her white glove handy when it came to
checking a room's cleanliness. That morning
she had kept Timmy and Tommy in their rooms
for all of After Breakfast T-ball scrubbing
their bedposts free of silly putty and
play-doh.
Amy raised her head far enough to send
a glare in Serena's direction before rising.
"I could help!" Zach, a tall male with blonde
hair and light green eyes, shot up and smiled exuberantly
at the blue haired teen's blushing face.
Amy seemed unsure of how to reply and
sent a longing glance at her friends' retreating
backs.
"U-um...no, that's--that's OK," Her mouth
slid easily into an appreciative grin and she
moved towards the door.
Zach, however, blocked her path. "Are you
sure? Because I, for one, firmly believe that a
cleanly room is a friendly room," His pearly
teeth practically blinded her as he waited
expectantly.
Behind him a muffled grunt sounded giving
Amy an excuse to focus her eyes on anything
other than the intruding ones eyeing her
intently.
Matt cleared his throat, "Oh, um...s-sorry,
must've sw-swallowed that the wrong way," He pursed
his lips to conceal the laughter aching to be
unleashed.
Kyle's face remained rigid, the confines
of his self-restraint almost at their breaking
point. It wasn't everyday Zach Kiner made a
total ass out of himself around a girl.
Darien turned his head from Amy's pleading
gaze. From what he gathered, Zach tended to come
on a bit too strongly when he liked a girl, and
Amy wasn't one to know how to react to his
outgoing nature.
Turning her eyes back to Zach's, Amy smiled
slightly. "That's okay, really, the girls and I
can handle it. See you later," She brushed past
Zach's disappointed frown and through the nearest
exit.
Zach sighed and plopped backwards on the
bench, using the edge of the table for support.
"I don't get it," He ran a flustered hand through
his cropped, blonde hair.
"'I, for one, firmly believe that a cleanly room
is a friendly room.' What the HELL were you thinking,
Kiner?" Matt rewarded him with sound smack on his head.
Zach rubbed the stinging section of his
skull and glared maliciously at Matt's mocking
smirk. "What?"
"Do I have something in my teeth?" Jason
stretched his lips as far left and right as he
could without rendering any permanent damage.
Four heads turned to him and stared.
Jason backed up slightly. "What? I do?!
Damn, no wonder Raye was freaking out all morning.
I'd been hitting on her with spaghetti in my
teeth." He rubbed his front teeth roughly
and stood.
"I gotta go brush, and by the way, Zach,
nice move with Amy there. I really think you're
warmin' up to her. She might even let you make
her bed. Chances are that's *all* you're gonna
get to do there anyway."
"You want me to serve you your teeth on
a silver platter, Jay?" Zach smiled menacingly
at Jason and watched him recoil.
"Chill, Mr. Clean, all I'm saying is that
you gotta lay off the heavy junk you're using on
her. You're just scaring her off."
On that philosophical note, Jason fled the
scene before Zach had a chance to counter his Mr. Clean
remark and headed for the pool.
Swimming lessons were beginning that
afternoon and a graveyard of insects was currently
residing in the sickly green waters of the pool.
He silently figured that a few bottles of blue
food coloring would solve the slight coloration
problem. Besides, didn't kids like green gooey stuff?

"You know, he's right. Amy's not like
the girls you're used to. She's...different," Darien
offered to Zach after Jason disappeared through the door.
He began to clear his place.
"What? Did you date her or something?" Zach's
defenses were rising as he spoke, and he readied himself
to break the steady ties that were forming between
Darien and him in order to protect his chances
with Amy.
Darien immediately recognized the signs of
suspicion arising in Zach's eyes and laughed it off.
"We didn't date. I've just been around her and the
girls for a while. Don't worry about it."
Zach relaxed and sat back in his seat again.
"Yeah, you were probably too busy tryin' to get
Serena alone, huh?" He smirked.
"I have no clue what you're talking about,"
Darien walked towards the door, tossing his paper
plate into the garbage as he passed.
Zach and Kyle followed suit. "Sure you don't,"
Zach clapped him on his shoulder and walked off.
He needed time to tone down his approach if he
ever wanted a chance with Amy.
He left Darien and Kyle in an uncomfortable
silence. The tension emitting from Kyle's presence
was driving Darien crazy as he tried to sort through
his own muddled thoughts. The counselor's quarters had
long since passed by them, and all previous intentions
of visiting Karen were left in its wake.
His eyes were cast ahead, focusing on
nothing in particular but the image forming in
his mind. The meatballs he had earlier scarfed
down were taking on an odd golden color, and
the spaghetti attatched to them were also
changing, flowing out...
"All right, I'm dying here. You have GOT to
tell me how to get Mina," Kyle grabbed Darien's shoulders
roughly and jerked.
"Come on, I know you know about her. You said
you've been around her, right? Give me something to
work with, here, Dare," He plead pathetically. Mina's
carefree personality had shocked him unexpectedly,
and continued to chip away at his secluded character
ever since breakfast.
Darien wriggled from his grasp, "You guys really
don't know who you're dealing with here, you know,"
he laughed.
Kyle's shoulders slumped, and he frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Darien sighed as if it were already blatantly
obvious, "The girls are...they just aren't...you'll
have to see for yourselves. They're like a colt or
something. You hurt one of them and the rest will be
after you. It's weird. I still get chills whenever
Lita looks at me after I make fun of Serena," He
involuntarily shivered.
Kyle's features shifted from confused to
elated, and he broke out triumphantly, "So that's
it! All I have to do is get in good with the rest
of them," He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "That
way, Mina will have to give me a chance," He
slapped Darien's shoulder, "Thanks for the
info, Chiba."
Darien only stared as Kyle ran off,
probably to begin sucking up to the girls.
He smiled inwardly. With Andrew across seas
visiting Rita, he'd been without a reliable
source of male friendship for a month now,
and Jason, Kyle, Matt, and Zach were obscene,
grotesque, loved football, and considered
burping to be an olympic event.
They were great.

-------------------------------------------

Ta da!

You guys seriously need to get a MOVE ON w/ the
reviews! :D I need inspiration...purpose for writing...
a nice shove in the ass, you know what I'm sayin?

I have a tendency to become preoccupied..wouldn't want
*that* to happen now would we?

*TGP14 is still in the works, I'm sorry for the wait!*

--Adrial

Adrial_06@yahoo.com