"Lucie," Squid whispered, his breath becoming labored.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure about this?"
"No," she responded, honestly. "I'm not sure…but I still want it."
"But if you're not sure." Squid was trying desperately to be a gentleman, but his hands kept moving, slipping her shirt off and fidgeting with her bra hook.
"I'm tired of always thinking everything through, Alan. For once let's just do what feels right, right now." Her breathing had become so heavy she had to struggle to get the last few words out. The tingle in her stomach had become a pounding and her hands were shaking as they landed at his waist and began untying the orange jumpsuit while he unbuttoned her blue jeans. Squid kissed her neck. Her breath caught in her throat as his lips explored her upper body. There was no turning back now.
Lucie returned to her room just minutes before the wake up horn sounded, carrying her sweatshirt, and her blue jeans on but not fastened. Her white camisole was sticking to her with sweat and the strands of hair that had wriggled lose from her ponytail were sticking to the back of her neck. She dropped the sweatshirt on the floor beside her bed and slid between the cool sheets, hoping to get a few minutes of sleep before she had to get up again. She knew, though, that even if she had all night to sleep now, she wouldn't be able to. When she closed her eyes images flashed through her mind that made her want to smile and cry at the same time. But this was normal, right? A girl's first time was supposed to be emotional. She heard the wake-up call and her eyes suddenly felt very heavy. How would she get through a whole day of digging with literally no sleep? Her thoughts went again to Squid, who would just be getting back to the tent when the call sounded. The guys would be up before Squid could even get back in bed. Would he tell them? Would they know? Armpit and X-Ray had been there when Squid stayed. They knew where he was. She didn't really care, she decided. She wasn't ashamed of what she had done. At least not yet. She wondered how it would be between them today, and every day after this. Would it be awkward? Would they just want more of each other now? Then a terrible thought crossed through Lucie's mind. What if Squid would blow her off now? Maybe he had gotten what he wanted all along and now he would be finished with her. She quickly pushed that thought away. He wasn't like that.
"Lucie, get up!" Her aunt's voice pierced through the closed door. "Do I have to wake you up every day?"
Lucie stood in front of the mirror longer than normal. She surveyed her face and her body carefully, expecting something to be different. It just seemed logical that after something so momentous there would be a visible physical change, but it was just the same old Lucie. She looked tired with dark circles under her eyes, but that was all. She half dreaded seeing Squid. Of course she wanted to see him, she always wanted to see him, but she was afraid of how they would react to each other. And she was afraid of the reactions of the other guys. Would they notice a change in her or in him that she couldn't see? Her aunt interrupted her thoughts by bursting in the bathroom door. She cast a strange look at her niece.
"You look awful. Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine, Aunt Lou. Just tired." That was all she offered before she politely pushed by a puzzled looking Lou and hurried outside to join the ranks. Squid was the first person she spotted as she approached the line for shovels. He was standing off at the back, apparently waiting for someone…she supposed that someone must be her.
"Hey," she said when she was standing right in front of him. He looked at her wholly, taking in everything as if making sure she was all in one piece.
"How are you?" He asked, almost shyly, but concern was apparent in his voice.
"I'm fine. And you?"
"Fine."
Oh no, Lucie thought, an awkward silence. What have we done to our relationship?
But Squid came to the rescue yet again and took her hand, pulling her a little further away from everyone.
"What happened," he started, "are you still okay with it? I mean, do you regret it?"
Lucie smiled at the carefulness in his voice. She shook her head. "Not at all. Do you?"
"Definitely not," he said without hesitation. They hugged and joined the line.
Lucie noticed that no one was acting any differently around her. They all smiled at her when they saw her, but it was a smile that said they shared a secret…the secret that lay hidden under Lucie's bed. She smiled at them and tried to focus her mind on what they were going to do next with the treasure. They would surely want to talk about it once they all got out in the lakebed, and she wanted to be ready with some ideas.
Once the initial excitement of their secret wore off, exhaustion took over. Zero started digging right away, but only shoveled three loads of dirt before sinking to the ground. Everyone else stood propped on their shovels, staring miserably at the ground in front of them.
"We've just got to do this. Once we're finished, we can go crash in the rec. room," Caveman offered.
"But I can't even lift my shovel," Magnet complained.
X-Ray jabbed his shovel into the ground, making a loud clinking noise as the metal hit a pebble. "If we all stand around and act tired, Mr. Sir and Mom are gonna know something's up. Just start digging, no matter how much it hurts, and keep in mind that as soon as we're done we can rest."
With that goal in mind, the eight of them began their tiring journey to five feet deep, five feet wide.
"Water!" Zig Zag cried joyously.
Lucie had been so intent on keeping her mind on her hole that she had barely drank any of her water. She opened the lid and guzzled down several big swigs before she took her place at the front of the line.
With her freshly filled canteen, Lucie decided to take a temporary break, leaning against the pile of dirt next to her hole, knowing there was a possibility she might not be able to get back up. She knew all the guys were tired—they had carried around that heavy chest and been up almost all night—but she was both physically and emotionally worn out. The guys had been quiet all morning, and with all the silence Lucie had had too much time to think. She tried to think of all the possibilities of things to do with the chest, but her mind would not stay off what happened last night. As she sat in the dirt with her water and her thoughts, they were interrupted by Squid sitting down beside her. He kissed her softly and stroked her back with his hand. She smiled at him, trying to make her thoughts go away, the thoughts that were telling her that maybe she had made a mistake.
Squid leaned in close, his mouth right at her ear and said, "Are you doin' okay?"
Lucie took his hat off his head and ran her hands through his hair, moving it off of his sweaty forehead. "I'm fine, really. Stop worrying."
Squid tugged on the hem of her tank top, pulling her in for another kiss.
Lucie saw X-Ray cast a strange look over at the two of them and gesture for Zig Zag to look, too. He whispered something. Lucie felt her stomach drop. She pressed her cheek against Squid's and whispered into his ear, "Did you, uh, tell the guys?"
Squid shook his head. "No, it's none of their business. Why?"
"Cause they're looking at us and whispering to each other."
He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to Lucie. "Well, they were up before I got back. Just barely though. I was hoping they were too groggy to realize what was going on. Nobody asked any questions."
"Okay, maybe I'm just being paranoid."
Caveman's shoulders were sagging when Lucie looked back up. He looked defeated, like he had just lost a really important ballgame or race.
Zero was shaking his head and Magnet was laughing, but trying to hide it by putting his hand over his mouth.
X-Ray picked his shovel up off the ground and walked towards his hole, but he slowed down when he got to Lucie and Squid. He grinned and said, "Somebody got some last night."
Squid was on his feet in a split second. "What did you say, man?"
All the guys laughed. "Dude, everybody knows you didn't come back to the tent last night. You can't tell me y'all were just talking."
"Yeah, plus y'all are all clingy and mushy acting this morning," Armpit pointed out.
Squid stepped up close to X-Ray, his head rising at least three inches above X-Ray's. "That is none of your business. Any of you," he said, now directing his anger to the other five guys.
Lucie felt mortified. She stood up quickly and jumped down in her hole, busying herself with the digging process, not looking at anyone. That seemed to be the cue that the conversation was over. All the guys returned to their holes. Squid tried to get Lucie's attention to give her an apologetic look, but she didn't want to see it at that moment. She was the most embarrassed she had ever been in her life. She had confirmed the preconception the guys had had about her all along. She was Hot Lips now, officially.
Caveman came and stood at the edge of her hole. "Lucie," he said quietly. She didn't acknowledge him. "Lucie," he repeated. Still, she kept her eyes down at the dirt under her feet. "I think I've got a plan for the treasure. I think I know what we can do with it."
Lucie looked up at him, shading her eyes from the sun. He bent down to be more face to face with her. "But you're the only one who has access to what we need. It's gonna take some sneaky work."