Forogt to include this before, so lets just say this counts for all chapters. Anything you recognize belongs to sqare, anything else (AKA: anything crappy) comes from my own twisted mind.


I usually get up at about seven fifteen, except on Wednesdays when I'm rudely awakened by the rubbish-men. This morning was like a Wednesday only thirty-seven times worse. I was having a glorious dream about the last two weeks (my arrest, conviction and punishment) only being a dream, and so when I awoke to the sound of a foghorn and the curses of nineteen other young men the moment of confusion I felt was blissful.

Then I remembered everything. Evil rehabilitation camp, crazy girl up tree, dinner that looked like puke on a plate and 5am awakenings. Oh joy.

People around me are coming to life, groaning and rolling out of their beds, I try very hard not to notice the many scars which adorn my room mates bodies. Party because I dread to think of how they got them and partly because I don't want rumors about my sexuality only on my second day here.

As I begin to kick off my scratchy blanket I can't help but be thankful for the small blessing that is summer. If the sun weren't heating the simple dorm there'd be no way in hell I'd get out of this bed. I lean over to the crate that contains the few personal belongings and items of clothing I was allowed to bring and grab a pair of worn denim jeans and a black T-shirt. Reluctantly I also retrieve the mandatory gray jumper that identifies me as an unwilling guest at camp perseverance.

Breakfast here is eaten in the small kitchens attached to each 'cabin' as they are laughingly called. We each receive a piece of plain toast and a glass of orange juice, a meal that just barely reaches government regulations. I sit and chew the dry toast opposite from Cloud in some kind of twisted companionship. Vincent sits down and makes a small nodding gesture towards me. This is the first time he's acknowledged my existence. For some unbeknownst reason I suddenly feel extremely self-conscious as I break the silence asking

"So, umm… What are we meant to be doing today?"

"It's Thursday, right?" Cloud says, looking to me and then Vincent for affirmation.

"Yeah." I answer, wondering how mind numbing this place can be that it makes you forget what day it is.

"We're rebuilding the Western Wall then, it's been a project for the last month or something."

"How did it get knocked down?" I dread the answer expecting stories of riots and mass escape attempts.

"It was a storm. Probably the only thing here that's ever been destroyed unintentionally." I can't think of an answer so I go back to my toast.

Afterwards we are given various low quality foodstuffs and are instructed to make ourselves a packed lunch, everyone else seems to know exactly what they're doing. I try to seem competent; I hate to feel left out. I've been left feeling like a strawberry or a kiwi or whatever that expression is since Sora and Kairi got together. It was bad enough with my own best friends but now here with complete strangers I don't think I can handle it. Especially not this early in the morning.

A thought jumps into my head and I want it to go away because it makes me feel like a three year old but I've thought it and it's out there and…

'I wanna go home…' but I can't think about that because-

"Awright kids, time ta go." I can't think about that because it's time to go build a wall now. Mimicking everyone else I push back my chair and follow the middle aged man in charge of our dorm. The weather is great, even in summer its not usually this good. I ask Cloud

"How far is it?"

"Just over there, we've got to pick up bricks and cement first though." The whole group heads towards a shed where we're each given a wheelbarrow of bricks and a bucket of cement, as I wheel it towards the derelict wall now in sight my arms are screaming in protest. I ignore them; nobody else seems to be struggling after all.

People start organizing themselves so they're working with friends, I see Cloud and Vincent walking along the side of the wall with their wheelbarrows towards a large group of girls who've just arrived. Despite my heavy load I speed up to catch them, if there's one thing I really need here it's people I can talk to.

Quickly we meet with Tifa and Yuffie, the latter giving me an odd feeling of happiness combined with utter desperation in my stomach.

"Rikkidoodles!" She shreiks, Tifa is chuckling at her childish display, I sigh as if annoyed but we all know I don't mean it.

"Hi Yuffie, Tifa,"

"Hey, you lot, get to work!" A supervisor shouts at us, Yuffie opens her mouth and it's obvious she's going to shout back

"Yuffie, don't. It isn't worth it." Cloud interrupts her. To my amazement she closes her mouth. She angrily slops cement onto the wall slamming a brick down on top so it squidges out from underneath. I would not like to get on the wrong side of Yuffie.

For the first hour or so people worked in near silence, but soon enough the heat started to makes us lazy, luckily the instructors were only human, so they all buggered off. God knows what for, probably a game of cards and a wank.

Talking casually while we worked what struck me as a particularly odd conversation arose between Tifa and Yuffie. They were discussing weather or not having been coated in cement with only an air-hole you could survive.

"I'm telling you Yuffie, the cement would stop you from being able to inflate your lungs! You'd suffocate!"

"No, no, you're wrong. You don't need to move your chest to breathe."

"Uh-uh."

"Yuh-huh."

"Uh-uh"

"Yuh-huh."

"You would drown in the cement before it was even set." Vincent said from the other side of the wall (which still only came up to his waist).

"Oh Vinnie, you're no fun." Yuffie scolded, but she was smiling. She lidted another brick and slopped cement onto the wall. I jumped back as it splashed up into my face.

"Hey!" I said indignantly "Be careful."

"Aww, I'm sorry Riku." She leant over the wall and wiped it off my cheek and as she did whispered "I need to talk to you, meet me here at 10, bring Cloud." Then very much as if she'd said nothing at all she put the brick down and reached for another. I opened my mouth about to ask her what for but she immediately silenced me with a glare.

'Jesus, some people…'



I have almost everything planned now. I just have to get Cloud and Riku to agree, Cloud should be easy enough but I need to think of some line that'll get Riku on my side.

Riku's going to claim the shed's been left open and get the keys, then he's gonna steal a few maps, a compass and anything else I tell him to grab. Then, at dinner (the one time of day all the qualified stall are busy) we're gonna make a break for the outside. That's where Cloud comes into play, he got sent here for stealing multiple cars. In other words he's a very accomplished hotwirer. After that I'm not sure, we need to head for civilization I guess. I have friends all over the country from back when I went traveling with my dad in the summer. Even after I stopped seeing him lots of the people I met kept in touch and they all still seem pretty sound. I'm not entirely sure where we are, everyone knows were up in the North though, and the South is far more populated, so we should probably head down the way. I wish I hadn't skived so much Geography… I think we can probably get a train or hitch a ride, I hope so. I don't wanna walk all the way. We'll have to steal some money. I'm quite an accomplished theif but I don't usually go for money – but it's not like I haven't before.

I'm not proud of the things I've done, but I don't regret them either. Shoplifting is a victimless crime, when it comes to drug taking, drinking and skipping school I can choose to screw up my own life if I want to and anyway, dope isn't really bad for you, neither are mushrooms. Fair enough, I've stolen people's money, I've gotten into numerous fights, smashed windows and destroyed cars, but… I'm young and its societies fault? I'm not sure about my excuse for those yet, I'm sure there is one though…

We won't be able to stay here at ten, it'll still be light. We can go into the edge of the wood. If we're too obvious the eleven o'clock round will catch us. That's one of the reasons I'm not taking Tifa and Vinnie, sure – the more the merrier but we'd be so easy to spot. I'd go alone if I could but I need Riku and Cloud if this is gonna work. Of course I'd like to take all my friends, it makes me feel really bad. Just cause I'm a delinquent doesn't mean I don't feel guilty about leaving my friends behind, it's just not practical.

"Yuff, you alright?" Tifa asks, snapping me out of my daze.

"Yeah, just thinking."

"Try not to dear it gives you wrinkles." We both giggle. Normally we'd get funny looks but people know us here, this is my third year, it's Tifa's first but hanging round with me has gotten her lots of attention, that or her double D's. I tried to escape last year too, I ended up breaking my leg and getting caught. It sucked.

Wall building slowed down considerably as the morning wore on, arms were tiring and it was getting hotter by the hour. Many people were just siting around, having and chat and waiting for it to be lunchtime. We were still kinda working, if a brick every ten minutes counts as work. Cloud and Tifa were explaining to Riku that it's not usually this easy but Wednesdays are a skive.

At about noon the instructors came back to supervise lunchtime. They used to just come, tell us we could eat and then leave but people always got into food fights so…

Eagerly we take out our plastic bags of food. Lunch is the best meal of the day cause you get to make your own. I have a cheese sandwich, and apple and some more of their low quality orange juice. If you wet to any normal gathering of adolescents, especially among the girls you would find people scrutinizing their food more than eating it. They'd leave about half of it too, and there'd probably be some fat kid who ate whatever anyone else left. Not here. I think we could probably set some kinda record for the quickest mass eating of packed lunches. Basically the rule is you eat fast or somebody else eats it for you. I'm about half way through my sandwich when I notice Riku has only taken a few bites of his. He has tuna. I love tuna…

"Quit staring at my lunch Yuffie, you're freaking me out!" I realize I've been gazing at his food.

"Why? Does it scare you?"

"No, it just freaks me out."

"Only doing my job." I tell him, trademark grin splitting my face.

"I'd much rather you didn't…" Riku mumbled taking another bite of his sandwich. I put down my sandwich and prop myself up on an elbow, raise one eyebrow and say

"Are you suggesting that my amusing behaviour doesn't please and entertain you?"

"And what if I am?" Riku asks me, smiling - he's just asking for a wedgie.

"Then you have to suffer the consequences." I tell him as if this is obvious. I've already given Tifa the signal.

"And what might these consequences be-eeaaah!" Tifa's pulled the back of his boxers right up to his head. Seeing the look on Rikus face makes me collapse back to the ground in laughter. We even got a chuckle out of Vincent.

My entire vision is screened by the flawless blue of the sky, I know far over above the woods there are some of those wispy little clouds but I can't see them so they may as well not exist. Wisps of grass tickle the sides of my face and I wish I had some alcohol so I didn't care so much. If all goes to plan I should have some soon enough I suppose.

I'm not worried about them talking to my mum, about half the time she can't remember she has a daughter, the other half she just doesn't answer the phone. Despite the similarities between us I have vowed to never end up like my mother.


We spent the next few hours working extremely leisurely until the instructors came back and told us we had free time until group 6C (6C and 6B had been working on the wall today and each group consists on ten boys and ten girls) had a counseling session at four o'clock. I'm in 6C, so is Cloud, Yuffie and Vincent.

The five of us headed toward the wood on Yuffies orders as we were allowed to leave the wall. The next two hours or so were spent clambering through branches, (this seemed to be by far Yuffies favourite activity) rolling down a small slope 'till we felt sick and generally having a good time. For a detention camp it was really quite idyllic.

We (minus Tifa) turned up for our meeting on time (I was guessing this was quite a rarity). It took place in a grungy common room filled with uncomfortable gray chairs and faux wood tables stacked by the walls. Everyone was sitting on the floor in a vague circle reminding me Primary school 'circle time'. We sat down joining the group just as possibly the biggest woman I have ever seen came in. She pulled out a chair and joined the circle, flaps of her flesh making a quiet squidging noise as she sat down.

"They have to reinforce her chair." Yuffie whispered into my ear leaning over, her breath sending a chill down my spine.

"Now Yuffie, I think you're in quite enough trouble already without talking out of turn." Scolded the woman who I assumed was out councilor. "Now then, if Miss Kisaragi is quite finished we'll get started. First I'd like to welcome our groups newest member, Riku Morrison. Perhaps he'd like to tell us something about himself?" She phrased it as a question but from the way she looked at me I knew fine well it was a command.

"Well… I'm fifteen, an only child and-"

"An available homosexual! Looks like you're in for a treat guys!" Yuffie announced grinning, cutting me off in mid sentence. A tide or laughter carried round the room and I struggled to keep my face its normal shade.

"Alright that's enough. Riku, my names Audry and I'm going to be your councilor during your stay here. If you ever need anything it's me you talk to."

"Okay." I said, staring at my feet utterly embarrassed.

"Right then." Audry began, smoothing her floral skirt "We'll do good thing/bad thing and then talk about our targets for the next week. Cloud, would you like to start?"

I heard him muttering "No." Under his breath, then he sighed and said "A good thing this week was… getting a replacement for the old TV remote. Bad thing was running out of hair gel." His last comment gets a ripple of laughter from round the circle, and I wonder if his hair always flops around his head in a shapeless clump. The group turns their heads to Vincent and after his answer to the next person and the next. Most answers were fairly mundane but a few were obviously trying to make the most of a bad situation by changing the context. Yuffie quite happily told everyone one that her good thing was that 'I'm still not letting the bastards grind me down.' In the end we didn't set any of the target things Audry was talking about because we had to go for dinner. I thought that was a good thing until I remembered the food from last night.


I wish Cloud and Riku would hurry up, it's getting cold out here. Checking my watch I see it's already ten past ten. If there's something I can't stand its lateness. I'll either turn up on time or not at all, I'm never late. Huddling further into my jacket I shift on the low section of the wall I'm perched on.

'What's taking them so long? They better not have gotten caught, if they can't deal with this then what'll they be like on the run!' Peering out across the field I still can't see them, and suddenly I feel deeply suspicious.

'What if Riku's decided not to turn up? What if he hasn't told Cloud at all?' I'm ready to get incredibly angry and start plotting my evil revenge (I specialize in evil revenges) when I see two silhouetted shapes coming towards me. I'm pretty certain it's them, if it isn't I'm screwed. Lethargically I stand up and wave my arms, signaling for them to hurry up. They speed up to a jog and satisfied I sit back down to wait, my whole stay here I've been waiting and there's not long to go now, just another day and I'll finally be free.

"What took you so long?" I ask them as they arrive, looking slightly out of breath from the run across the field.

"Did you want us to get caught or not?" Cloud replied defensively.

"Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a twist. No time for talk anyway, we can't stay here, too obvious. Quiet now, we'll go to the woods." Quickly we walk through the uncut grass by the wall until we reach a sparse few trees and eventually disappear under the leafy canopy. Now relaxed I sit on a fallen tree and gesture for them to sit on a large rock opposite. Riku looks uncertain, peering out from under his oddly coloured hair but sits down, seeming pleased that Cloud is willing to talk for him.

"So Yuff, this better be good, what have you got us out here for?"

"I've got a proposition for you."

"Oh no you don't," Cloud immediately tells me, putting his hands up as if to ward me off. "That's exactly what you told me last year right before you tried to get me sent to jail!"

"But Cloud," I whine, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes "I've got everything planned out this time, I swear it won't be like last year, this time it's gonna work, please just listen?" Looking skeptical, Clouds opens his mouth to decline but Riku beats him to it.

"Wait a minute, what're you talking about?"

"Last year we tried to escape, it was Yuffies idea and the less said about the results the better." Cloud answers, glaring at me.

"Oh Cloud you know you love me really." I tell him, a sarcastic smirk on my face, I then turn to Riku looking sincere – if this doesn't work I might as well give up. "Riku, I have a lawyer friend who lives just a quick train ride from the nearest town. If we could get in touch with her I know she could get you an appeal." Immediately, just from the brief flash of hope and desperation in his eyes I know he's on my side. As if to prove it he turns to Cloud and says

"Well, we might as well hear her plan… I mean, we're out here already and you never know, it might even be coherent." I growl, friendly-like and tell him

"You'd better not be insulting my superior intellect."

"Me?" He asks, feigning shock, "I would never to something like that." I'm about to summon up a witty comeback when Cloud gives me a little nod. Between friends it's easy to tell he's saying he's ready to hear my plan. What starts as just a little smile slowly edges across my face into a full-blown grin. Looks like we're in business.


Ack! This took ages, much longer than I'd hoped. But I was in hospital and... sadly that's my only coherent excuse and it's still not a very good one. I got everything I wanted into this chapter but I'm still not pleased with the quality. Meh. Big thanks to all my reviewers, especially Bracken-Fae who reminded me this chapter wouldn't write itself. (one day I'll invent a self-writing story and make a fortune) All that's left to say is that I'll love you forever if you reveiw...Please?

Shawna: thanks sooo much for pointing that out to me. In my original document there were page breaks between changes in POV. (I think quickedit deleted them >. ) Hope it makes more sense now.