Lucie snuck back into the cabin early the next morning, even before the guys woke up to dig. She could hear the shower on in her aunt's room when she walked in and breathed a sigh of relief. She crept into her room and stopped for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the sudden pitch black. Jake's soft snoring was coming from the cot in the corner and she was relieved to not find him in her bed. Lucie quietly crawled into her bed and pulled the covers up high over her ears. She closed her eyes tight, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep before the morning wake up call sounded.

When she had just started to doze off, the sound of the horn filled her ears.

"Great," she mumbled.

Her door creaked open and the warden stepped in, her body a tall, dark silhouette against the bright hall light.

"Lucie, are you awake?" she whispered, apparently trying not to wake Jake up.

"Yea, I'm getting up," Lucie yawned.

"I'm letting you have the day off today."

"What?" She was sure she had misheard her aunt.

"You and Jake have some things to talk about so I want you to stay in today." The warden explained.

"I'd rather dig," Lucie snapped.

"You're staying in and that's final."

A few hours later, Lucie awoke to the sound of Jake digging around in his suitcase. She sat up groggily and pulled the covers up to cover herself up.

"What are you doing?"

"Good morning," Jake replied smiling. "I was just getting some fresh clothes out. I was trying not to wake you up."

Lucie shook her head. "You didn't wake me up." She glanced at her clock. "It's about the time I usually get up…at least, before I started digging."

"I'm glad your aunt decided to let you stay in for the day. I was hoping I'd get to spend a little time with you soon."

"Look, Jake. Don't expect me to sit around here all day and listen to your excuses or listen to you put down my new friends. I don't care to hear any of it."

Jake's shoulders dropped a little. He looked down at his feet and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about that, Luc. I know you like that Octopus guy-"

"Squid. You know it's Squid, Jake. But his name is Alan."

"Squid, Alan, whatever. I know you like him, so I'm sorry I made fun of him. It's just that I know you can do much better."

"Better how? You mean you?"

Jake shrugged. "Maybe."

"Alan is good to me. He's sweet, he cares about me, and I know he would never hurt me like you did. I think that's what really matters."

"I know I screwed up, Luc, but you have to forgive me. I was frustrated, I was confused, I was just…I was just being a jerk and I'm so incredibly sorry. I can't even begin to tell you much I wish I could take back everything I did." He dropped the t-shirt in his hand on the floor and crossed the room. "May I?" He gestured to the bed.

Lucie shrugged her shoulders. "Fine."

Jake sat down on the edge of the bed and started again. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was the biggest loser ever to let you go. But I know you have it in you to forgive me. You're a good person, Lucie. Please just give me another chance and I'll prove that I know I was wrong and I'll prove I can treat you right. I'm still in love with you and I don't want to lose you for good."

Lucie felt emotion creeping up inside her. She was trying to keep a stoic look on her face and not show any feelings at all, but Jake was beginning to get to her. She knew she had to get out of there so she threw back the covers and darted out the door to the bathroom.

"Don't do this, Lucie. Don't," she told herself, running her hands through her hair and pacing the bathroom floor. Jake's words rang in her head. "I still love you…"

Did he really still love her? Or was he just saying that so she would go back to him and he wouldn't look like a fool? What if he really had changed? But what if he hadn't? And what about Squid? Squid. She had to talk to Squid. Now.

She ran through down the hall, through the living room and onto the front porch, but stopped in her tracks when she saw her aunt and Mr. Sir talking in front of his office. If she tried to get out to Squid, they would see her. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to get out there. Her eyes fell on Mr. Sir's truck and she glanced at her watch. He would be making water rounds in just a few minutes. She watched the two adults as they argued and waited for her chance to get to the truck. When her aunt turned toward the dry lakebed to point and yell some more, Lucie jumped off the porch and ran as fast as she could toward the shed, trying not to let her feet make too much noise. Without looking back, she ran to the truck and hid behind it. Once out of view, she cautiously peeked out from around the truck. Neither of them had moved. Now she just had to get into the truck. She bent down and started slowly making her way to the back where she could climb in.

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" The warden's voice rang out and echoed off the buildings around her. Was it getting louder?

Lucie lifted her head only enough to see the two adults and to her relief, they were still right in front of Mr. Sir's office. She stopped when she was just even with the back driver's side tire and noticed she could freely stand up a little because the water tank would block her from view. With her foot firmly planted on the top of the tire, she hoisted herself up and hung onto the side of the truck. When she realized she was in view, Lucie tried to quickly to duck and roll into the truck, but she lost her footing. She lost her grip on the side and tumbled over loudly, hitting the truck bed with a bang.

"What the-" She heard Mr. Sir grunt and then he heard the sound of two sets of feet running toward her.

"Lucie!" The warden shouted. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

Lucie sat up to face them and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Aunt Lou, Mr. Sir. I was trying to sneak into the truck so I could go out and see the guys."

Mr. Sir started yelling about private property and trespassing and manners but Lucie tuned him out and watched her aunt. She had put her hands on her hips and was shaking her head.

"You're supposed to be in there talking with Jake. It's why I let you have the day off today," she interrupted Mr. Sir. Her voice sounded calm.

"I…can't. I can't talk to him."

The warden turned to Mr. Sir and said, "Go make your water rounds." She then reached up for Lucie's hand to help her down from the truck.

When the two were walking away from the truck, the warden continued. "Lucie, you are my niece. You are my baby sister's daughter. I love you. But I also know what's best for you. Trust me, know matter how charming you think Squid is, he is not the best choice for you. You can't meet your soul mate at a juvenile work camp."

Lucie huffed. "I never said Alan was my soul mate, Aunt Lou. I just like spending time with him, you know, while I'm here. He's nice to me, he takes care of me…he's a good kisser." She added quietly, looking up to see her aunt's response. To her surprise, her aunt smiled a little.

"I can understand that. I can see how you'd want a companion for the summer but I am older and wiser than you, Lucie, and I know that after the summer, you wouldn't be able to just let Squid go. You would still think about him and still have feelings for him." She paused and took a deep breath. "I checked his files, and he only lives about fifteen miles from you. He goes to a different school, but it's not far from your school at all. You would have found that out once you were back home. You would have gotten this idea that you two could be together and then you would have tried to find him. Listen, Lucie. When he gets out of here, he will get in trouble again. Boys like that always do. They can't help it. He's a troublemaker and always will be. I can almost guarantee you that he will be in and out of jail of the rest of his life. You don't want that in a guy. You are a good girl and you need a guy who will be just as successful in life as you are."

Lucie didn't reply, but walked silently next to her aunt. They reached the porch and Lucie sat down on the top step, thinking about what her aunt was telling her. The warden sat down too. After Lucie did not say anything for several minutes, the warden started again.

"My daddy started this camp, you know. He and my grandpa had talked about it, and a few years after Grandpa died, he went ahead and did it. He built the cabin, and him, Momma and me had to live here. And then when your Momma was born, she lived here too."

Lucie looked up at her aunt. "I didn't know it had been around that long."

The warden nodded. "My parents and the few other people who worked here kept it pretty much secret. Only a few juvenile delinquent centers knew about it, and they would send some of their kids here. It just sort of grew from there as the years went on."

"Where did you go to school?"

"My momma home-schooled me. But when I was sixteen, she and Daddy decided to get divorced. I was mad at Momma because I thought it was her fault. She wanted to take Becky and me with her, but I was so mad I didn't want to go. So she and Becky packed it up and left. I stayed here to help Daddy, and stopped getting schooled."

"Oh," was all Lucie could think to say.

"The point to all this," her aunt started again, "is this next part of the story."

Lucie was intrigued and sat up a little.

"I was almost 18, and one day I was in the mess hall cleaning up, and this boy came in there to get his hat that he had left. He smiled at me and I just melted. He was so cute. We started talking and he told me he was going to be 18 in three months, and that luckily for him, he would be out of Camp Green Lake one week before he turned 18, or he would have to go to real jail. He had just done something stupid, like stealing from a department store. Anyway, I was strangely attracted to him and he seemed to like me too, so we started spending a lot of time together. Before long, Daddy found out and he went ballistic. He locked me in my room and made guards watch the guys so none of them sneaked up to the cabin. That just made me want to see Michael even more, so we would wait until the guards all went to bed and my daddy was asleep, and we would meet out there behind the cabin, in that little grove of trees. We found a place that was hidden from view and we'd meet there every night. About a month and a half before he had to leave, he told me he loved me. I thought I loved him, too, but then I found out I was pregnant."

Lucie gasped. "Oh my God, Aunt Lou."

The warden nodded. "I know. I told Michael and he was really mad. He said he didn't want to be a dad and he wasn't ready for a relationship with me like that. So, we never talked again. He left a few weeks later and I never saw him again."

"What happened to the baby?"

Aunt Lou sighed and looked down at the ground sadly. "I had a miscarriage. I guess, in a way it was good, but by then I had already come to terms with the fact that I was having a baby and I was okay with it. I already had a name picked out."

"What name?"

Her aunt smiled and touched Lucie's hair. "Lucie."

Lucie felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Your mom and I started talking again shortly after that, and I told her about everything. Then, many years later when you were conceived, she asked if she could name you Lucie, and I said yes."

Lucie went back in the cabin after that, and went straight to her room. Jake was sitting at the foot of her bed, watching television. He heard her come in and looked up at her, a big smile on his face. "Hey there. I was wondering if you would ever come back."

Lucie rolled her eyes, but thought again about everything her aunt had told her. What if she was right? What if Squid really would end up in and out of jail? She shrugged a little and sat down next to Jake on the foot of the bed.