Trust me to get landed with the worst bunch of people in the world. I was stuck with Mairie MacDonald, a solid wall of flesh that resembled a bad clay sculpture rather than a human being, Michelle Nicholson, a thin, weedy girl with the IQ of a paper clip, and random smelly boys that thought I was one of their species. It was quite late, and they hadn't finished digging, so all of us (I.e.. Hartforders)had to stay in our tents. Along with Mairie and Mick there was Louie Fisher, a short guy with hardly any teeth, and a guy called James who I had never really seen before. He was about eleven, a year younger than me. I remember because he was a new entrant at Hartford. And then there was this girl called Annabelle Gates. She was quiet, but not shy. You know, you're probably thinking about how these people don't really seem like delinquents. That's because we aren't. Hartford Hall was a home for children who didn't have anywhere to stay for a period of time. I honestly don't know why we were sent here, to a juvenile delinquent camp. It worries me. I sighed and walked over to the french doors. They were the doors that would be closed to separate the girls and the boys during night time. So I would be locked in a room with a bunch of criminal boys. Hoorah for me. I took the bed in the corner, next to the window. Pulling out my notebook, I started another entry.

Friday November 10 2005, 4:52PM

Here's me, stuck in a camp for young criminals. Knowing Ms. Hartford, it's probably the only place she would pay to come to. Stingy cow. You know, There's one thing that I'm wondering ab-

I stopped writing and put my pen down. Not for any interesting or particular reason,I'm just that bloody lazy. My bandana was covering my nose and my mouth, and at the back it was covering my short ponytail. I could hardly breath! I was busy swearing to myself when a little man strutted through the door. He was wearing one of those hats that you see in the western movies, and on his nose was a huge blob of sunscreen. Oh yeah, it was Dr.Pendanski. He was the one who brought us to this D tent.

"All right, the boys are finished, they'll be coming in a minute." He chirped, in a voice indicating drug use. We all murmured responses, and got back to whatever we were doing. In my case this was 'Fuck this shit. Whoever invented this thick fucking bandana is a fucking asshole!'. Dr.Pendanski continued.

"Now, just because you've done some bad things in your life,doesn't mean you're bad people. I want you to know that I respect you."

None of us bothered to mention that we weren't delinquents. Realising that he wasn't wanted, he flounced off, in a way that indicated drug use. Hell, everything about that guy indicated drug use! I flopped back down on the bed that was now mine, for the remainder of my time here, at least. I lay there for about ten minutes, just thinking, when I was disturbed by a girly shriek.

I shot out of bed, holding my bandana to my face. In front of me were half a dozen or so boys, in bright orange jump suits and layers of dust on their faces. The girly shriek came again! And the screamer surprised me. A chubby African-American boy stood with his mouth open, staring at the girls on the other side of the room. If he hadn't just screamed I would have thought him incapable of producing sounds that high! The other guys were also quite odd. There was a short kid that looked like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons, a boy with curly hair and a round figure, a guy with a toothpick in his mouth, and a hat covering his hair, a dark boy with dirty glasses, a really, really tall guy with hair that resembled a small living creature and a Hispanic guy. I'd never actually seen a Hispanic person before, so I surveyed him with interest. But I stopped, because they might have though I was gay. And that would ruin my plan...Suddenly I realised it had been at least two minutes since the boy had last screamed. No one said anything. All the guys that had walked in were staring at Mick, Annabelle and Mairie. Annabelle, I could understand. She was decent looking. But Mairie and Mick? These guys had to be desperate.

Finally someone spoke up. The black boy with the glasses.

"Yo, you're girls!" He spluttered.

"Yeah. So? Got a problem with that?" Mairie growled back. Even her voice made people cry. But not this guy.

"I haven't seen a girl for!six months!" He mused, or said. Whichever tickles your fancy. "I'm X-Ray." He made a gesture to himself, and began pointing out the other guys. "That's Armpit, excuse his creaming. Over there's Zero. He don't talk to anyone 'cept Caveman, that guy. And Squid," He pointed to the toothpick fairy, "Zigzag," animal guy,"And Magnet." He finished off proudly. He sounded like a gangster. A real American gangster! I giggled inwardly. Yep. I'm going mad.

Louie decided to introduce us.

"Well,I'm Louie Fisher III, and my friend's James Grant. Those girls are Mairie MacDonald, Miche-Err-Mick Nicholson and Annabelle Gates. And This guy's Logan Von Barron."He said, chucking a pen at me. Darling little boy, he is. Everyone grunted, and got aquainted.

"So, what're you in for?" Asked X-Ray? It wasn't really a question, he was just telling us to give him the details. Friendly chap.

"Not in here for nothin'." Mairie started, showcasing her complete disregard for the rules of grammar. "Dad's in jail, mum pissed of last year. The social workers shoved me off to Hartford Hall as soon as my dad was sentenced. It's like, they pretend to care 'bout you,but they don't".

Honestly, I didn't know that. But she seemed to be taking it quite well. Annabelle and Mick both just said they were sent to the Hall by their parents, and Louie and James were their while their parents were on holiday. Yeah, what a bunch of criminals. Finally the scary X-Guy turned to me. "What about you?" He growled.

"I-I...I erm...Well, there was this really nice...lederhosen...No...Um...Dad died when I was 2 months old. M-mum's in h-hospital f-for getting beaten up." I lied, quite unconvincingly. It took me almost a second to realize they were laughing at me.

"Is something wrong?" I spluttered...

"Dude talks like a ladeh!" The one called Squid hiccuped through guffaws.

Shit. I forgot to disguise my voice.

"Something wrong with your throat man?" The Armpit guy asked drunkenly.

Shut up and die, you foul beast!

"I have an infection." I whispered.

"He sounds posh. Like the Queen." Said the one with weird blonde hair. Great. I'm stuck with a bunch of idiots who think I sound like the Queen. Couldn't I have been sent to somewhere in Surrey? Where everyone would talk like me? I picked up my notebook and headed outside.

I probably looked like a mess. I don't do too well on buses. I hadn't seen a mirror in five days. I wondered if I still looked the same...Usually, I had brown hair. Just brown, not chocolate brown, not crap brown, just brown. Most people say I have pretty brown eyes, but I diverge. I shall remain by my statement they are an obscure shade of dark green. I plopped down onto the deck. I had some writing to do.