"Nine hours. Nine hours!" Magnetic moaned.

"And only three pit stops!" Static complained: she looked as if she were about to burst.

"Would you guys shut the hell up?" Rogue snapped, she looked more pissed off than usual. "It's bad enough without all your god damn complaining!"

Magnetic stuck her tongue out at Rogue, who in return flipped her off.

"Aw, this ain't so bad!" Fidget said, she was frantically wrapping the ends of her braids around her fingers. "Just think about all the hot boys we'll soon be introduced to!"

"Oh Fidget!" Lei said, shaking her head. "No boy at Camp Green Lake is gonna be hotter than Whipped Cream!" 'Whipped Cream', as they called him, had been one of their camp counselors at Camp Lakeway. He had been in his early twenties and just about every girl at Camp Lakeway had had eyes for him. But Whipped Cream, or Ryan, had been fired when Camp Lakeway had been closed down.

"DUH!" No boy will ever be cuter than Whipped Cream!" Magnetic shouted. She was sitting in the front seat of the bus, yelling back at everyone. All seven girls were sitting in a big yellow bus that was taking them across the desert, east, towards Camp Green Lake. The girls had it bad, not only had they been traveling for nine hours in one hundred and forty-two degree weather, but they had also been stuck with the dreaded images of what was to happen when they arrived at Camp Green Lake. At least the girls of D tent had been lucky enough to get their own bus; the other two buses were crammed, each filled with two tents. How miserable.

"Friction is lucky," Lei said, turning in her seat to watch a small truck that followed the bus. "She gets to sit in her nice, air conditioned truck, radio and all."

'Friction', or Sarah, had been another camp counselor at Camp Lakeway. She too was in her early twenties and was loved by a lot of the criminal girls. But unlike Whipped Cream, Friction had offered to come along with all the girls of Lakeway, as Camp Green Lake would probably be overwhelmed with twice as many juvenile delinquents. Friction had been D tent's counselor, and so it was the D tent girls who knew and loved her the best.

"Hey bus driver!" Magnetic shouted—even though she was just a seat away from the tired looking man who sat in the driver's seat. "Can we get some tunes playin' here? Like I'm totally dying of boredom!"

But the bus driver ignored Magnetic, making her spit her chewed gum at him.

Lei shook her head at this, then started singing to herself. She was singing an old Hawaiian song her mother had taught her years and years ago. But Magnetic wasn't into old songs that she couldn't understand, and it made her even more annoyed.

"Hey, Chase is a good singer!" Fidget said, sitting up really fast. She was now fidgeting with some of the bus seat's stuffing that had come exposed.

"Chase is not a good singer!" Magnetic cried with a heartless laugh. "She's not good at anything!"

"She can do anything better than you can!" a girl at the back of the bus cried, standing up at her seat. It was Zippy, the youngest member of D tent. She and Chase were sitting at the back of the bus, their heads had been bent as they had been talking for a long time, ignoring the other girls.

"Phhhhh!" Magnetic spat, glaring at Zippy.

"You even know she's better than you!" Zippy cried defiantly.

"Zippy, zip it!" Chase said, pulling Zippy back down onto the seat. She didn't like it when Zippy—or anyone for that matter—tried sticking up for her.

"Magnetic deserved it!" Zippy said, a big grin spreading across her face. She started bouncing up and down on the seat; she could never sit still for very long. "What if we meet really cute guys at Green Lake?" she said, smiling again.

"What if we don't meet any cute guys at Green Lake?" Chase said sarcastically. "Don't worry, I'll manage to live somehow." Chase had never been too fond of dating or being in relationships. She much preferred being free and independent.

"Sheesh! Why so sour?" Zippy said—it was as if her big grin never left her face. "Be happy! We never have to go back to stupid Lakeway again!"

"Oh goody, I'm so excited," Chase said, looking out the window. "Goodbye Lakeway, hello Green Lake."

"Oh don't worry," Zippy said, standing up again. "Green Lake will be much better than Lakeway! Who knows, you might even make new friends!"

"I bet they'll be annoying," X-Ray said, glaring at the dirt beneath his feet.

"I bet they'll be hot!" Twitch said, his fingers drumming quickly against the step he was sitting on.

"Yeah, well, whatever they'll be they'll be getting' here real soon," Squid said, looking out at the road that started at Camp Green Lake and disappeared into the haze beyond.

A lot of the boys of Green Lake (all the ones who had finished digging already) were hanging around the porch in front of the Mess Hall, waiting for "the girls", as they called them. The D tent boys; Squid, Zigzag, Twitch, Armpit, X-Ray, Zero, and Magnet, were all standing together, eagerly awaiting the new arrivals.

Suddenly the Warden burst out of her cabin, closely followed by Mr. Sir.

"Where are they?" she snapped at Mr. Pendanski, who had been waiting with the boys. "They're an hour and a half late! Have you got all those extra tents set up? Have you found a lot more jumpsuits? We're gonna need a lot!"

Yes, everything has been taken care of," Mr. Pendanski said, taken aback by the Warden's frantic attitude. Usually she was calm, collected and tough—today she seemed worried and unready.

"Dum dee dum dum," Armpit said; they were all really bored and tired of waiting.

There was silence for a few minutes as everyone watched the road, then—

"There they are!" a boy from B tent shouted out, pointing at three large dust clouds that were gathering speed as they zoomed down the road.

Twitch jumped to his feet, his hands twitching violently with excitement.

"What if they all turn out to be enormously overweight girls who all have head gear and cow bells?" Zigzag said, as the dust clouds slowed down right in front of them.

What happened next almost seemed like a royal ball, only dusty and without any wigs, as one of the male counselors walked up to the first bus and named each girl as they got off. The boys of Green Lake thought that was very bizarre.

The first girl of A tent off the first bus was overweight, but there was no cow bell or head gear to be found. After her though came a rather scrawny girl who looked like she was on a starvation diet. Her matted dark hair and sunken eyes gave her a very sinister look that the Green Lake boys weren't used to.

"Can you see anyone?" Zippy cried, bouncing around the bus as all the other girls crowded around the windows.

"No, the damn windows are too covered with dust and grime," Magnetic said disappointedly.

"Why can't we get off the bus yet?" Static whined. "I really gotta go! I hope I don't accidentally go in front of the boys!"

"Just whatever you do, don't go now," Magnetic said; she was standing very close to Static.

"Tent B," the male counselor called, finishing up with the first group. So far none of the boys in D tent found any of the A tent girls to be hot—or even very pretty. But when Olivia Danker of B tent stepped off the bus everything changed.

"Wow!" Magnet said, gaping at the girl. She had long legs, tan skin, light brown hair, and beautiful curves.

The D tent boys scowled as a bunch of the B tent boys whistled and hollered.

"Oh goody, they all love Olivia!" Lei said darkly, pressing her ear against the window so she could hear what was going on.

"Well, all that will change when I step off the bus," Magnetic said, flipping her hair away from her face. "That damn Olivia doesn't have anything over me!"

"I think it will change their minds when Lei steps off the bus," Fidget said. She was now fidgeting with Lei's beautiful long hair, but Lei didn't mind: All of the girls—except Rogue—were used to it.

"I think Chase will have them on the ground!" Zippy cried, grinning.

"Me?" Chase asked, surprised. "What are you talking about? You're the cutest one!"

"I am, aren't I?" Zippy said, then she walked down the aisle of the bus like a model on a runway.

Magnetic rolled her eyes.

The boys watched eagerly as the girls from C tent loaded off the bus. So far they had seen six very beautiful girls, but there were still two more tents to get off the buses.

"Cameron, Jena, Vanessa," the male counselor said.

"Wow, Jena's hot!" Squid said, licking his lips.

"I like Vanessa!" Magnet said.

"The girls in our tent better be hotties," X-Ray said.

"Yeah, I hope they don't have cow bells," Zigzag said, his eyes widening as a girl named Savannah walked by him and winked.

"Kate," the male counselor paused as the last girl from C tent jumped down out of the bus. "Now for D tent," he said, as he moved over to the third bus and the doors opened.

"Allie," the male counselor said first. The boys watched as a thin girl whose hands were shaking stepped off the bus. Her dirty blonde hair, that hung past her shoulders, was braided into two thick plaits. Her nose was sprinkled with freckles and her big green eyes were bright with excitement and curiosity.

Twitch straightened his back.

Fidget looked around at all the boys staring at her, she was now fidgeting with the bottom rim of her shirt. She wasn't quite sure where to go though, so she just stood there looking from face to face of each boy.

"Allie, move along," the male counselor said, directing her toward the other Lakeway girls who were now crowding around the Warden, giggling as Fidget made her way toward them.

"Mahina," the counselor continued.

"Wow," some of the boys whispered as the next girl got off the bus. Her eyes and skin were dark, as her Hawaiian ancestors. Her black wavy hair that dangled down her back was held up at the ear by a bright pink-fake-hibiscus. She flashed a toothy smile that she couldn't hold back as some of the boys had started whistling. Then she joined the other Lakeway girls in front of the Mess Hall and peered around eagerly.

"I want me some Mahina," Armpit said, looking her up and down.

"She's damn fine," X-Ray said, biting his lip.

"Willow," the counselor said after the noise had died down a bit.

The next girl bounded off the bus with such a force that the male counselor had to grab the side of the bus to keep from falling on his behind.

Magnet jumped to his feet and started whistling, as did a lot of the other boys. With large turquoise eyes the third girl batted her eyelashes at everyone and flipped her long blonde hair twice. She was the tallest girl of D tent and also the only one who showed off before the boys. Squid licked his lips yet again and X-Ray clapped his hands. Willow slowly walked towards the other girls, making sure all the boys could see the way her hips swayed with every step she took.

"Margie."

Zigzag was surprised when the forth girl off the bus, Margie, was a tall white girl whose light brown hair stuck out at every angle—even though it'd been forcefully pulled back into a pony tail. It was as if the static electricity in the air followed her everywhere. But Margie didn't look too comfortable as she walked toward the Warden, and some of the other Lakeway girls giggled.

"Emily," the counselor said.

The fifth girl off the bus did not smile, wave, blush, or anything. She tiredly walked down the bus steps and moved toward the other girls, not looking at any of the Green Lake boys. She had blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and an expression of mere boredom and sleepiness. When a couple of Green Lake boys, coming back from digging, hit on her with crooked smiles and small remarks, she narrowed her eyes and scowled at them.

"Hey Squid," Zigzag said, nudging Squid's arm to catch his attention. "What do you think about her?"

But Squid didn't answer. He was too busy watching Emily, with a confused look on his face. He wasn't sure what he thought about her. She was very beautiful but she seemed distant and upset.

"Nyssa."

The shortest girl of D tent jumped off the bus as though she'd been anticipating this for years. Her appearance was spunky and lively, and she looked very excited. Zero couldn't help smiling as Nyssa's eyes fell on him. She was thin and Asian looking. Her beautiful eyes were dark and her long dark hair was streaked with light brown and blonde. She happily followed the scowling girl and immediately began whispering to her—staring at each boy in turn.

"Alicia."

The last girl off the third bus was probably the smallest one yet. She was at the most an inch taller than Nyssa, but she was so thin and frail that she reminded some of the boys of a stick. She was a very tough looking black girl whose black hair was pulled back into cornrows. Her lips were tight and her eyebrows were bent in a scowl as she barely glanced at the group of boys watching her. She walked over to the other girls where she stood, waiting for instructions, as the boys still stared.

"Damn," X-Ray said, still staring at her. "She's hot!"

"She looks mean," Armpit said.

"What are you worried about, Armpit?" Squid asked. "'Fraid she's gonna beat you up?"

"Yeah man," Zigzag added. "You're like four times her size!"

The D tent boys laughed. But their laughter was cut short as another girl had just walked in front of their view. She had stepped out of a small truck that had been parked off to the side, and she now headed over to the group of girls herself.

"No way she's a juvenile delinquent," Magnet said, watching her closely.

The woman did seem to be past her teen years, and a lot of the boys were confused.

"I hope she's in my tent," a boy from E tent said.

"All right girls," the Warden said, she no longer looked worried or frantic. "Welcome to Camp Green Lake. For your first day here you will be shown around the camp by one of our counselors. Tomorrow, you begin your work, which will be just like the work you did at Camp Lakeway. So, let the tours begin."

With that, the Warden stepped aside and let the camp counselors take over.

"Follow me D tent," a short man wearing a sun hat called. "My name is Mr. Pendanski and I'll be your camp counselor here at Camp Green Lake."

"What about Friction?" Lei asked him.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Pendanski asked calmly. "Who's Friction?"

"I am," the female in her twenties said with a little laugh.

Mr. Pendanski raised his eyebrows when he shook her hand: he hadn't noticed her earlier.

"I'm Sarah," Friction said. "I was the girls' old counselor. But don't worry, I'm not here to take your job—just to help the girls along."

"Oh," Mr. Pendanski said. "Well then, let me show you around now."

"Um, could the first spot on our tour be the bathroom?" Static asked, she was now rocking slowly from foot to foot.