Just at that moment Squid walked into the tent.
All of the D tenters looked up at him, Magnet hid the box behind his back. There was an awkward silence. "What?" Squid asked, feeling very uncomfortable at the many eyes which were boring into him.
No one answered him, Magnet just got up and walked over to him. He gave him the box.
"Explain," he said.
Squid stared down at the box, he then looked up at all them all. They were watching closely, waiting for him to explain what the box was all about.
"IF YOU JERKS TOUCH MY STUFF AGAIN I'M GONNA FUCKING POUND YOUR HEADS IN!" Squid yelled, surprising all of them.
He ran out of the tent, he could hear X ray calling after him but he kept running.
He ran until he was out of the camp compound. He ran to where they had been digging holes that day. He lowered himself into his hole and sat with his knees clutched to his chest. He found that tears were pouring down his cheeks.
Do they know?
He noticed that he still had the box in his hand. He thrust open the lid and took out his favourite photo. It was the one which had him, Yasmin and Alex in it.
He hugged it close to himself, his tears dropped onto the floor of his hole but were quickly evaporated by the thirsty sun.
I miss you so much, Yasmin and Alex.
Squid felt like staying in his hole forever. He couldn't face going back to his tent. There would be questions…. Questions he'd be forced to answer. But when his throat was so dry he could not stand it any longer he gave in. He put the photo back in the box and secured the latch before making his way back to Camp.
When he got back to Camp it was rather dark. Everyone would have ate dinner by now. Squid's stomach rumbled loudly.
Well, he'd just have to do without for tonight. When he entered the tent all of the guys, who where lounging on the cots, looked up at him.
They looked kind of worried. Squid hadn't meant to get so angry with them. He just felt confused and was annoyed that they'd stoop so low to go snooping into his personal stuff. He was also frightened in case they knew.
He'd kept it from them for so long. The main reason he hadn't told them wasn't because he was ashamed. It was because he wanted to fit in with them. If they knew about it, there would be no way he would fit in. He wouldn't be like the rest of them, he'd have responsibilities. He had so desperately wanted to fit in. He had never fitted in before. Not at school. He had only one friend… Yasmin… but they had grown more than friends.
He had felt accepted at Camp Green Lake, well, he was 3rd in the filling- of- the- canteen line. Squid stuffed the box under his bed.
"We understand that you may not want to talk about the box," X ray was the first to speak (obviously) "But remember we are always there for you, D tent sticks together, right,"
"And when you feel ready to tell us," Zigzag said, "We'll be all ears," Squid nodded.
"Mom was looking for you, I think you better go see him," Armpit said, "He wanted to talk about why you weren't at the meeting with him tonight,"
"We tried to cover for you," Magnet said, "We were saying that you had just gone toilet and stuff,"
"But Mom went looking and he couldn't find you anywhere," Caveman said, "Where were you?"
"Doesn't matter, I'd best go find mom then," Squid sighed as he left the tent.
He assumed Mr Pendanski would be in the rec room, he normally was this time in the evening. As he walked towards the rec room he was thinking about what the guys had just said. They were being really supportive, this surprised him. Hey, it isn't everyday that a bunch of juvenile delinquents do the 'sensitive thing' on you. It freaked Squid out a little bit.
Maybe he should tell them… they would only get curious otherwise…. Start making assumptions. Besides it was about time they should know. He couldn't keep this big secret from them forever.
If he stayed friends with them after Camp Green Lake, it would be certain they'd find out then anyway. Maybe they could help him… he needed a lot of moral support most of the time…. He needed someone to talk to… to think things through… sometimes he felt like just ending it all and forgetting about this HUGE responsibility he had back at home.
He opened the rec room door which squeaked melodramatically. He peeked inside and saw that Mr Pendanski was monitoring a game of pool. Mr Pendanski looked over when he heard the door open. His emotionless face turned to a frown.
"Squid, where have you been and why weren't you at my meeting?" he asked.
"Sorry mom," Squid sighed, "Needed to think about things," Mr Pendanski raised his eyebrows.
"And what sort of things are more important than my character- building meeting," he asked, he sounded kind of hurt.
"You know mom… the thing… the thing back at home," Squid said, trying not to talk too loud as some B tent boys who were playing pool where listening closely.
Mr Pendanski's face turned from confused to realisation, "Ooooh, the special circumstances," he said, nodding.
"Yeh, that," Squid said, turning red. He hated that the Warden and all the counsellors knew about it. He thought it was none of there business but it was on his file so obviously they found out about it. They treated it like it was a massive deal. He'd get more privileges then the rest of the boys, such as a phone call home once a day. Not that the boys ever found about them, or any of his other privileges.
"Still I know it can be troubling for someone as young as you but you should have thought things through properly and taken the right precautions, then this would never of happened…" Mr Pendanski started his lecture about it all over again.
Squid sighed and tuned out. He was glad it had happened in a way. It bought him and Yasmin closer and it made him feel as though his life was complete.
Sure, it had it's down parts, such as him not being able to do stuff that normal teenagers do, but it was worth it on the whole.
When Mr Pendanski finally stopped lecturing him, he let Squid go. Squid breathed in with relief and quickly hurried out of the rec room before Mr Pendanki said something else about it.
He walked back to his tent, it was pretty dark now but he knew none of D tent would be asleep. They'd all be waiting for him and he didn't want them to be all sensitive and everything again. It was really uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as having to explain everything to them.
He walked into the tent, although he kept his eyes glued to the floor he could feel all the guys eyes staring at him. He flopped down on his cot and stared at the ceiling.
None of the guys spoke at first but then X ray said, "So, what did Mom say,"
"A load of crap… as usual," Squid murmured still glaring at the tent ceiling, intently.
There was silence, Squid grew red, he knew their eyes were still boring into him.
He couldn't take anymore… he knew what he had to do.
He sat up quickly which startled some of the guys.
"I know what your waiting for," Squid said, looking at them and frowning slightly.
"What?" Magnet said innocently.
"You are waiting for me to tell you about the box," Squid said, rolling his eyes.
Well it's sooo obvious.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Caveman lied through his teeth.
"Well, I don't, not really," Squid said, "But I know I'm going to have to tell you sometime so it might as well be now," The guys drew closer, listening carefully.
"I'm not sure what you guys saw in the box… I'm not sure if you even got to look at everything… but, well the thing is…. I'm a dad," Squid said, slowly.
There was a stunned silence in the tent…