Rachel spat in her hole around 3 or 4 o'clock in
the evening, and half dragged, half carried her shovel back to camp
with her. Not many of the girls were holding conversations as they dug
today, because it seemed to Rachel that the heat had risen overnight.
Rachel changed into clean clothes after she took a shower. Now she had on tan shorts with a white shirt that said "Puppy Love" on the front in red lettering.
She slipped on her CGL boots and walked into G-Tent. She paused as she just got in the tent. She backed up and looked up at the sign that she had seen the other day with Zero. A smile crept across her face.
She ran back into the tent and searched each of the girls' bags for any kind of makeup to write on the sign that Mr. Pendanski had put up. No luck.
"Shoot!" Rachel said sarcastically. She shook her head like a failure, then just ran over to the sign and pulled it off. She threw it aside, and laughed.
Just as she was getting settled on her cot, Honey comes running in, panting hard.
"Whoa slow down girl, what's up?" Rachel asked.
"You have to come quick! Behind A-Tent." Honey answered.
"Why? Where's everyone else?" Rachel asked.
"Just come on!" Honey exclaimed. She ran over to Rachel's cot and grabbed her hand, "Come on!" she said again.
Rachel looked at her, not knowing what the heck was going on.
"Yikes what happened to the no boys sign?" Honey asked as she looked at the sign on the ground, not letting go of Rachel's hand.
"I tore it off." Rachel said forcing back a smile. It didn't work, and she broke into a huge grin.
Honey gave her a bespectacled look.
"What?! The boys don't got no signs saying we aren't allowed in there, so it's only fair!" Rachel said, and laughed.
Honey rolled her eyes with a smile. Finally they reached the back of A-Tent.
"Okay, you wanna tell me what's going on here Honey?" Rachel asked, once they were behind the tent.
"Just wait." Honey said excitedly.
"You know I can get it out of you." Rachel said.
"Yeah that's why I'm praying that you'll shut up!" Honey exclaimed. Both of the girls burst into laughter.
Someone whistled loudly.
"Okay we can go." Honey said and started walking back to G-Tent.
"Go where? Back to G-Tent?" Rachel sighed, "What's going on Honey --"
"SURPRISE!!"
Rachel's mouth went wide as she walked into G-Tent.
"Oh my gosh! What's all this for?" Rachel asked with the biggest smile on her face.
"It's your birthday of course!" Magnet exclaimed.
"Oh my gosh!" Rachel shouted again.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everybody yelled.
Everybody was there….X-Ray, Armpit, Zigzag, Magnet, Caveman, Zero, Shorty, Banana, Cate, Courtney, Lucki, Strings, Babygirl, of course Honey, and even Squid. And they all had something in their hands to give Rachel.
"I don't believe this!" Rachel said, "I forgot my own birthday, and now yall are remembering it for me!"
"O'course we are Rachel! We're your friends and we love you!" Cate said, running up to her and giving her a big hug. They both walked to the group of campers.
"So how does it feel to finally be 18?" Squid asked with a smile.
Rachel shook her head peacefully, "I--I don't really know, I feel like I've grown and weakened in these past months. I feel a lot older." she nodded.
"Yeah." Squid whispered.
Even X-Ray had given away this day to make it a good one. He had a smile on his face and he looked as energetic as ever, having fun with everybody.
Magnet laughed at something Caveman and Zero were talking about. Rachel laughed at Magnet, his laugh was hilarious.
"Okay we all got something for ya," X-Ray said, and tossed something. Rachel caught it, to see that it was a CD.
"X-Ray, how'd you get this?" Rachel asked smiling.
"X-Ray and I went to Pendanski and asked him if we could have more music for the Wreck Room. But we made it sound like it was his idea." Shorty said.
"Wow!" Rachel said, opening the CD.
"Yeah, but then he started going on and on about this one band, someone ancient and boring. The Rolling Rocks, I think." X-Ray said.
"It's The Rolling STONES you moron!" Squid laughed.
"Shut up!" X-Ray said, the independent look never leaving his face.
"Anyway, we told him they were our favorite group, too. He started naming songs we'd never heard of, and we'd say stuff like 'Rock on' and 'Awesome licks.' Made him feel like he was the coolest cat in the state of Texas." Shorty said. Everyone laughed.
"So he let us in to the little room where there's the computer, ya know, where all the campers' files are. And we downloaded some. I got Cate to tell me some of your favorite Rock songs," X-Ray explained.
Rachel opened her mouth, "Thank you X-Ray. Shorty! I don't know what else to say. I absolutely love it." she smiled.
"No problem, you can listen to it in the Wreck Room tonight." Shorty said.
Rachel hugged the both of them.
"Hey hey hey…check this out Rachel." Caveman said, with Zero, Honey, and Babygirl right behind him.
"It's from Babygirl, Caveman, Honey, and I." Zero said, handing her a folded up piece of paper. Everyone sat around on the cots, even Rachel who was sitting on her own. They all eyed Rachel as she unfolded it.
"Since you're so good at digging holes, we thought we'd give you a hard time about learning how, even if you don't need to. Besides, it'll give you a laugh." Caveman said, smiling.
It was a hand-drawn picture that said 'HOW TO DIG A HOLE' on the top. There were six pictures, all of them were numbered and in order. The first picture was of the ground, dry and slightly cracked. The second had an arrow pointing toward the earth with a shovel stuck inside of the ground. The third picture was the same thing, but with two arrows, and somebody's feet standing on the top of the shovel blade. The fourth had an arrow as well, but this time pointing toward the sky as the shovel was filled with dirt, standing parallel with the ground. The fifth had another arrow, this time curving backwards, with a picture of somebody holding a shovel and tossing the dirt through the air. The last picture merely said 'Repeat.".
Rachel burst into laughter, "It's brilliant! I love it so much! That's so sweet of yall, it's cute. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Zero said as Caveman and Honey nodded. Babygirl smiled at Zero shyly.
"By the way, uh, Rachel, sorry about what happened that day. I don't know what I was thinking." Caveman said so only Rachel could hear. He was referring to when he had tried to kiss her.
"Don't worry about it Caveman." Rachel said. Caveman grabbed Honey's hand as they walked over to Babygirl's cot, where her and Zero continued glancing at each other shyly.
"Let me see it again!" Babygirl exclaimed. Honey and Babygirl both cooed and said, 'aww, how sweet' as they glanced at Zero and Caveman, even if they had already known about it.
"These are for you Rachel," Magnet said, tossing her a small mini bag of sunflower seeds.
"You didn't…" Rachel said, smiling as she opened it.
Magnet nodded guiltily, "Lucki and I stole em. But it was for a good cause!" Rachel laughed as she took a handful.
"Thanks Magnet and Lucki! Anyone want some?" Rachel asked.
Some of the guys and girls walked over to grab a handful.
Lucki batted her eyelashes in Magnet's direction. He looked at her and winked, only to blush afterwards and look away. Lucki walked over to where Magnet was sitting on Strings' cot, and she sat down next to him.
Zigzag carefully hid something behind his back as he began walked over to where Rachel was sitting. He handed her a TV Guide with the cast of Star Trek on the ripped front cover. It was dated March 22, 1998.
"Oh my gosh, Zigzag! Isn't this like, your lifeline? You can't live without it?" Rachel asked, shocked that Zigzag would even let her touch it.
"Yeah, but I don't care about that anymore. I have a different lifeline." he said.
"And what's that?" Rachel asked, curiously.
Zigzag pulled Cate over to her, holding onto her elbow.
"Whoa!" Cate said as she almost fell down.
"She is." he said, pointing at her. He looked at Cate and smiled.
Cate gave a small giggle with the biggest smile, and blushed slightly.
"Aww!" Rachel said. Cate nodded at Rachel in agreement. She smiled up at the tall Zigzag. The walked with their arms around each other's wastes over to Cate's cot.
"And I didn't really get you anything that you can have right now, but I did put in a suggestion in Mr. Pendanski's new suggestion box that could help you if The Warden listens." Armpit explained, "and Banana helped me." he added.
"That's ok Armpit, thanks." Rachel said smiling, "What was your suggestion?"
"It was for the showers. If our suggestion works, then you'll be able to benefit from the shower better. It will shut off for 60 seconds while you apply the soap, so you don't waste anymore water than you need to." he said. Banana smiled excitedly.
"That's really nice of you guys! Thanks!" Rachel said smiling.
He started walking across the tent to sit on a cot. Then he paused, turned back around and said to Rachel, "Uh, that doesn't mean that you stink or anything. And even if you did, nobody would ever realize since I drown out all the smell, good and bad." he winked. Banana grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a cot. They sat down, hand in hand.
Rachel smiled and laughed. She looked up and saw Squid walking toward her with something hidden behind his back. She could easily tell that he was doing everything he could to hold back his excitement and enthusiasm. Rachel looked up at him innocently and sweet.
"For the new CD you got," he said, and handed her a Walkman, "I stole it."
"Oh my gosh, you stole this from Mom?" Rachel exclaimed.
"Yeah, I uh…switched it with your broken one. I kept his precious little sticker on the side too, which said 'Mr. Pendanski, Counselor of D-Tent' on it."
Rachel laughed, "I'd like to see his face when he finds out that his is broken." she said.
Squid nodded.
"Thanks Squid." Rachel said. It meant a lot more to her than it would most people. She couldn't understand why. Maybe it was because he was there when she ruined hers, since it almost hit him when she threw it.
She looked at everything in her hands. Simple little items that mean so much to her now, because each and every one of them had a lot of love and thought put into it. She looked up at everyone, and finally felt at home. For the very first time since her mother had died, Rachel felt at home.
Rachel changed into clean clothes after she took a shower. Now she had on tan shorts with a white shirt that said "Puppy Love" on the front in red lettering.
She slipped on her CGL boots and walked into G-Tent. She paused as she just got in the tent. She backed up and looked up at the sign that she had seen the other day with Zero. A smile crept across her face.
She ran back into the tent and searched each of the girls' bags for any kind of makeup to write on the sign that Mr. Pendanski had put up. No luck.
"Shoot!" Rachel said sarcastically. She shook her head like a failure, then just ran over to the sign and pulled it off. She threw it aside, and laughed.
Just as she was getting settled on her cot, Honey comes running in, panting hard.
"Whoa slow down girl, what's up?" Rachel asked.
"You have to come quick! Behind A-Tent." Honey answered.
"Why? Where's everyone else?" Rachel asked.
"Just come on!" Honey exclaimed. She ran over to Rachel's cot and grabbed her hand, "Come on!" she said again.
Rachel looked at her, not knowing what the heck was going on.
"Yikes what happened to the no boys sign?" Honey asked as she looked at the sign on the ground, not letting go of Rachel's hand.
"I tore it off." Rachel said forcing back a smile. It didn't work, and she broke into a huge grin.
Honey gave her a bespectacled look.
"What?! The boys don't got no signs saying we aren't allowed in there, so it's only fair!" Rachel said, and laughed.
Honey rolled her eyes with a smile. Finally they reached the back of A-Tent.
"Okay, you wanna tell me what's going on here Honey?" Rachel asked, once they were behind the tent.
"Just wait." Honey said excitedly.
"You know I can get it out of you." Rachel said.
"Yeah that's why I'm praying that you'll shut up!" Honey exclaimed. Both of the girls burst into laughter.
Someone whistled loudly.
"Okay we can go." Honey said and started walking back to G-Tent.
"Go where? Back to G-Tent?" Rachel sighed, "What's going on Honey --"
"SURPRISE!!"
Rachel's mouth went wide as she walked into G-Tent.
"Oh my gosh! What's all this for?" Rachel asked with the biggest smile on her face.
"It's your birthday of course!" Magnet exclaimed.
"Oh my gosh!" Rachel shouted again.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everybody yelled.
Everybody was there….X-Ray, Armpit, Zigzag, Magnet, Caveman, Zero, Shorty, Banana, Cate, Courtney, Lucki, Strings, Babygirl, of course Honey, and even Squid. And they all had something in their hands to give Rachel.
"I don't believe this!" Rachel said, "I forgot my own birthday, and now yall are remembering it for me!"
"O'course we are Rachel! We're your friends and we love you!" Cate said, running up to her and giving her a big hug. They both walked to the group of campers.
"So how does it feel to finally be 18?" Squid asked with a smile.
Rachel shook her head peacefully, "I--I don't really know, I feel like I've grown and weakened in these past months. I feel a lot older." she nodded.
"Yeah." Squid whispered.
Even X-Ray had given away this day to make it a good one. He had a smile on his face and he looked as energetic as ever, having fun with everybody.
Magnet laughed at something Caveman and Zero were talking about. Rachel laughed at Magnet, his laugh was hilarious.
"Okay we all got something for ya," X-Ray said, and tossed something. Rachel caught it, to see that it was a CD.
"X-Ray, how'd you get this?" Rachel asked smiling.
"X-Ray and I went to Pendanski and asked him if we could have more music for the Wreck Room. But we made it sound like it was his idea." Shorty said.
"Wow!" Rachel said, opening the CD.
"Yeah, but then he started going on and on about this one band, someone ancient and boring. The Rolling Rocks, I think." X-Ray said.
"It's The Rolling STONES you moron!" Squid laughed.
"Shut up!" X-Ray said, the independent look never leaving his face.
"Anyway, we told him they were our favorite group, too. He started naming songs we'd never heard of, and we'd say stuff like 'Rock on' and 'Awesome licks.' Made him feel like he was the coolest cat in the state of Texas." Shorty said. Everyone laughed.
"So he let us in to the little room where there's the computer, ya know, where all the campers' files are. And we downloaded some. I got Cate to tell me some of your favorite Rock songs," X-Ray explained.
Rachel opened her mouth, "Thank you X-Ray. Shorty! I don't know what else to say. I absolutely love it." she smiled.
"No problem, you can listen to it in the Wreck Room tonight." Shorty said.
Rachel hugged the both of them.
"Hey hey hey…check this out Rachel." Caveman said, with Zero, Honey, and Babygirl right behind him.
"It's from Babygirl, Caveman, Honey, and I." Zero said, handing her a folded up piece of paper. Everyone sat around on the cots, even Rachel who was sitting on her own. They all eyed Rachel as she unfolded it.
"Since you're so good at digging holes, we thought we'd give you a hard time about learning how, even if you don't need to. Besides, it'll give you a laugh." Caveman said, smiling.
It was a hand-drawn picture that said 'HOW TO DIG A HOLE' on the top. There were six pictures, all of them were numbered and in order. The first picture was of the ground, dry and slightly cracked. The second had an arrow pointing toward the earth with a shovel stuck inside of the ground. The third picture was the same thing, but with two arrows, and somebody's feet standing on the top of the shovel blade. The fourth had an arrow as well, but this time pointing toward the sky as the shovel was filled with dirt, standing parallel with the ground. The fifth had another arrow, this time curving backwards, with a picture of somebody holding a shovel and tossing the dirt through the air. The last picture merely said 'Repeat.".
Rachel burst into laughter, "It's brilliant! I love it so much! That's so sweet of yall, it's cute. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Zero said as Caveman and Honey nodded. Babygirl smiled at Zero shyly.
"By the way, uh, Rachel, sorry about what happened that day. I don't know what I was thinking." Caveman said so only Rachel could hear. He was referring to when he had tried to kiss her.
"Don't worry about it Caveman." Rachel said. Caveman grabbed Honey's hand as they walked over to Babygirl's cot, where her and Zero continued glancing at each other shyly.
"Let me see it again!" Babygirl exclaimed. Honey and Babygirl both cooed and said, 'aww, how sweet' as they glanced at Zero and Caveman, even if they had already known about it.
"These are for you Rachel," Magnet said, tossing her a small mini bag of sunflower seeds.
"You didn't…" Rachel said, smiling as she opened it.
Magnet nodded guiltily, "Lucki and I stole em. But it was for a good cause!" Rachel laughed as she took a handful.
"Thanks Magnet and Lucki! Anyone want some?" Rachel asked.
Some of the guys and girls walked over to grab a handful.
Lucki batted her eyelashes in Magnet's direction. He looked at her and winked, only to blush afterwards and look away. Lucki walked over to where Magnet was sitting on Strings' cot, and she sat down next to him.
Zigzag carefully hid something behind his back as he began walked over to where Rachel was sitting. He handed her a TV Guide with the cast of Star Trek on the ripped front cover. It was dated March 22, 1998.
"Oh my gosh, Zigzag! Isn't this like, your lifeline? You can't live without it?" Rachel asked, shocked that Zigzag would even let her touch it.
"Yeah, but I don't care about that anymore. I have a different lifeline." he said.
"And what's that?" Rachel asked, curiously.
Zigzag pulled Cate over to her, holding onto her elbow.
"Whoa!" Cate said as she almost fell down.
"She is." he said, pointing at her. He looked at Cate and smiled.
Cate gave a small giggle with the biggest smile, and blushed slightly.
"Aww!" Rachel said. Cate nodded at Rachel in agreement. She smiled up at the tall Zigzag. The walked with their arms around each other's wastes over to Cate's cot.
"And I didn't really get you anything that you can have right now, but I did put in a suggestion in Mr. Pendanski's new suggestion box that could help you if The Warden listens." Armpit explained, "and Banana helped me." he added.
"That's ok Armpit, thanks." Rachel said smiling, "What was your suggestion?"
"It was for the showers. If our suggestion works, then you'll be able to benefit from the shower better. It will shut off for 60 seconds while you apply the soap, so you don't waste anymore water than you need to." he said. Banana smiled excitedly.
"That's really nice of you guys! Thanks!" Rachel said smiling.
He started walking across the tent to sit on a cot. Then he paused, turned back around and said to Rachel, "Uh, that doesn't mean that you stink or anything. And even if you did, nobody would ever realize since I drown out all the smell, good and bad." he winked. Banana grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a cot. They sat down, hand in hand.
Rachel smiled and laughed. She looked up and saw Squid walking toward her with something hidden behind his back. She could easily tell that he was doing everything he could to hold back his excitement and enthusiasm. Rachel looked up at him innocently and sweet.
"For the new CD you got," he said, and handed her a Walkman, "I stole it."
"Oh my gosh, you stole this from Mom?" Rachel exclaimed.
"Yeah, I uh…switched it with your broken one. I kept his precious little sticker on the side too, which said 'Mr. Pendanski, Counselor of D-Tent' on it."
Rachel laughed, "I'd like to see his face when he finds out that his is broken." she said.
Squid nodded.
"Thanks Squid." Rachel said. It meant a lot more to her than it would most people. She couldn't understand why. Maybe it was because he was there when she ruined hers, since it almost hit him when she threw it.
She looked at everything in her hands. Simple little items that mean so much to her now, because each and every one of them had a lot of love and thought put into it. She looked up at everyone, and finally felt at home. For the very first time since her mother had died, Rachel felt at home.