After much talking and promising not to say a word about what she heard, Lucie was left in her room alone. The warden had sent Mr. Sir and the other two men out of the room while she chatted with her niece. The door slammed and Lucie fell back on her bed, sighing deeply. Lots of thoughts ran through her head. What was going on with her aunt? Why was she marrying Mr. Sir? Why did they need bulldozers? And what did it mean that she and Squid had made out again? Lucie showered, brushed her teeth and climbed into bed, sure that her night would be full of strange dreams about the events of the day.
She awoke early the next morning to her aunt and Mr. Sir arguing loudly.
"Not again!" she groaned and put her pillow over her head. But it was not enough. Their arguing was loud enough to make its way through the feathers in her pillow and into her ears. She threw her pillow to the floor and stormed out of her room toward the kitchen. On her way, she stopped in the living room and glared at the warden.
"Can't you two keep it down?" She made a frustrated grunt and went on into the kitchen. She grabbed a pop tart and went back to her room.
"What are you going to do today?" The warden suddenly opened her bedroom door, startling Lucie.
"Nothing." Lucie responded coldly, still mad about being woken up earlier than she had wanted.
"I need you to watch the boys for me."
"What do you mean, watch them?"
"A couple of then have gotten wind that something is going on and I don't want any of them sneaking up to the cabin to spy on our meeting."
"Meeting?"
"I just need you to stand out there and make sure none of them sneak off."
"How am I supposed to stop them if they do?"
The warden narrowed her eyes and stepped out the room momentarily, returning with a walkie-talkie. She tossed it at Lucie. "Just let me know if they do."
When the door closed behind her aunt, Lucie threw the walkie-talkie down on the bed and grabbed some shorts and a tank top out of her drawer. Her aunt was making her very angry lately. It was her summer. She should be able to do whatever she wanted to do.
She walked outside with a very sullen look on her face and made the long trek to the digging ground. For a few minutes, she stood around a little ways back so she could see everyone. She kicked around a rock and played with the buttons on the walkie-talkie. After a little while, though, Squid spotted her and waved.
"Hey, Luc!"
She smiled and waved back. He motioned for her to come over and she looked around for a moment at the guys, considering if she should.
"Okay." She replied, and jogged over.
Squid climbed out of his hole and greeted Lucie with a peck on the lips. She felt her face blush at being kissed in front of everyone, but Squid didn't seem to mind. A couple of the guys snickered, but most of them had gotten used to it and just ignored them. Lucie looked around to make sure no one was listening and then stepped up close to Squid to whisper to him.
"You didn't mention to anyone what we heard, did you?"
He shook his head. "No, I figured the warden would find out and then it would be all over for me."
Lucie nodded. "Good. Somehow some of the guys found out though."
"How?"
"Who knows? This is a small place, I'm sure a secret can't stay a secret for long."
"Hey, Hot Lips. Nice hickey you got there." X-Ray said, pointing at her neck. "I take it y'alls little chat went well."
As usual, all the guys laughed.
Lucie slapped her hand to her neck to cover it up. Squid's eyes got big and his face turned slightly pink.
"I gave you a hickey?"
Lucie nodded, suddenly feeling even more embarrassed. She looked down at her feet.
"I'm sorry." Squid said, although there was a hint of amusement in his voice.
Lucie's head popped back up. "Oh, you think it's funny, do you?"
Squid chuckled. "A little. I mean, it's weird. I've never given anyone a hickey before."
"Well, now you have." She replied, laughing a little, too. "I tried to cover it up but-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Caveman spoke up. "Hey, Lucie. Can I talk to you?"
She felt dread build up in her and she nodded. Squid turned around and watched her walk over to Caveman's hole and sit down beside it.
"Hey."
"Hey. Um, what happened yesterday?"
"I uh, well we uh…we worked things out. He's not mad at me anymore."
Caveman frowned. "Apparently not." He said, his eyes darting over to her neck.
"Oh, about that…" She put her hand back over it and shifted her weight. "I don't really know what to say about that."
"I thought you weren't going to get in a relationship while you were here. You said it would only cause problems."
Before answering, Lucie looked over her shoulder at Squid. He was watching her, holding his shovel in one hand and adjusting his hat with the other. He smiled slightly at her.
"Well," she started. "We're not exactly in a relationship. It's more of a…um, I guess you could call it friends with benefits."
Caveman made a face. "Friends with benefits." He repeated.
Lucie nodded.
"Oh, I see. Well, I hope you and you friend with benefits have lots of fun making out in every possible place." With that, he turned his back to her and started digging again.
"Stanley, please don't be mad at me. I-"
"Go on. Squid's waiting. I'm sure he wants you to go make out in his hole with him. Then maybe y'all can go screw around in your room again."
"Stanley!" Lucie screeched. "What is your problem?"
"My problem, Lucie, is that you seem to only want to be with Squid because you like kissing him. And I think that's all he wants out of you, too. You won't get in a relationship while you're here because you don't want one. You just want to have a little fun."
"That's not-"
"I just don't understand why you weren't just honest with me in the first place. I can handle rejection."
"You don't know what you're talking about. You're just mad and I understand that but-"
"Just go." Caveman cut her off again and shook his head.
Lucie stood up and angrily kicked dirt into his hole. Squid came walking toward her and put his hand on her arm, trying to calm her down.
"God, I hate this place. I just want to leave!" She shouted. "I can't do anything right." She gritted her teeth hard out of frustration and grabbed her hair. "This is unbearable. Everything I do is wrong."
"Hey, Hot Lips." Zig Zag said.
Lucie ignored him and gave in to Squid's hug that he had forced on her. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Just calm down. Everything's fine. Really." He assured her. "You know how it goes. People get mad and then they get over it."
"But they're always mad at me."
"Hey, um. Hot Lips." Zig Zag tried again.
"Not now, Zig." Squid said with annoyance.
"Lucie!" Zig Zag finally yelled. "There are some guys running toward the cabin."
Lucie whirled around and saw three orange suits making a mad dash for the cabin. One of them looked back and saw her watching them and yelled for his accomplices to hurry up. They started running faster and Lucie, without thinking, tried to run after them. She pushed Squid aside and took off, curling her toes to keep her flip-flops on.
"Lucie!" Squid called after her.
She kept running.
"Luc, the walkie-talkie."
Right. The walkie-talkie. She froze in her tracks and looked down at the device in her hand. She started frantically mashing buttons, hoping one of them would allow her to talk to her aunt. Meanwhile, the escapees were about to reach the cabin. Squid ran up beside her and grabbed it out of her hand. He pushed on button and brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth.
"Hello? Hello? Three guys just ran up to the cabin. They're standing outside the window. I repeat, they're outside the window."
"Who is this?" The warden's loud voice came over the device and echoed out in the empty desert.
"It's Squid, ma'am."
"Why are you…Oh never mind. Send Lucie back."
"Yes, ma'am."
"With the walkie-talkie."
He handed it to Lucie and shrugged.
"I am in so much trouble." She whimpered.
Squid put his hand on her waist and kissed her simply before picking up his shovel and going back to his hole.
Lucie began the walk back to the cabin, knowing she would have to face her aunt's wrath when she got back.