a/n - Well, here's the next one! I hope you guys like it! Thanks for the favs and alerts and reviews. Please read and review!

Chapter 6

Her muscles screamed in pain so she had to drop down in the chair that had been set up in the now empty Dining Hall. Why Pendanski insisted on having their tent meeting in there, she didn't know but it wasn't as hot as the tent so she didn't complain. She brushed the back of her hand across her forehead and shifted in her seat, anything she could do to make herself feel comfortable while she waited for the painkiller to kick in. it was the second one she took today and just seeing the small while pill made her get whacked by another wave of guilt.

Maybe it was a bad idea to give X-Ray the pills. But how else was she supposed to be sure that she would make it out of there alive? Besides dying of heatstroke or dehydration or being bitten by some lizard and by malnutrition. Hell, she was surprised to know she lasted as long as she did now. Sure, it was only a couple of days but that was a couple of days longer than she—and everyone else, she guessed—expected her to last.

She took a swig from her canteen and curled up on her chair as best as she could to avoid the boys. Which was hard when she had to sit in a circle with them but she was feeling bloated, her lower back hurt—more than usual anyway—and her head was pounding. The last thing she wanted was to smell them, have to talk to them, and have to deal with them any longer than she already did. And yet, here she was. Thankfully Stanley took the empty seat next to her. It would save her from a night of harassment.

"It's great to see you, boys!" Pendanski greeted them all as he entered the room. He got blank, tired stares in return. That didn't seem to deter him or make his smile falter. It was almost as if he didn't notice he didn't get a reply. He sat down in his chair, closing out the circle and sighed. "Well, who wants to start today? We can talk about anything you want."

Mickey gulped. She didn't have to look up to know that some of them were looking in her direction. She could feel their gazes swivel in her direction. The hair on her neck and arms stood up and a ball of dread rolled around in the pit of her stomach. Nothing good could come from the meeting.

"I have an idea, Mom," X-Ray spoke up. She could hear the smile in his voice. "Let's talk about Squid." Wait, what? Her eyebrows crinkled and she looked up at him. As she suspected he had the largest, shit-eating grin on his face that she had ever seen in her entire life and he was patting Squid on the back who looked as if he had eaten a lemon. "We don't know that much about him. And he's my tentmate. He's my bro. And we need to trust each other, right? Well, how can you trust someone you don't know that well?"

"X has a point," Magnet spoke up, ignoring the middle finger that Squid had extended in his direction. "We've never talked about him like we talked about the rest of us. It's only fair."

"And now we can talk about him, with our expert here," X-Ray continued, now smiling over at Mickey. She wished she could shrink even more in her seat but she was already small enough. Anymore and she'd disappear completely. "Mom, these two have known each other since they were kids," he continued, pointing between Mickey and Squid who looked anywhere but at each other. "Isn't that fascinating?"

"Really now!" Pendanski said, rubbing his chin. The gap between his two large front teeth was now on full display. "What a coincidence!"

"Yeah! Mickey, tell us what Squidly was like as a kid," X-Ray said, ruffling Squid's hair. Squid shoved him away and rolled the toothpick between his teeth from one side of his mouth to the other. His hard gaze stayed on Mickey, watching her; waiting.

"Who gives a fuck about that?" Zigzag spoke up, turning his smile to Mickey's direction. "I want to hear about her."

"Yeah, if you can get her to talk," Armpit commented. "She's so quiet!"

"And then she squeaks. Like a little mouse!"

Mickey's cheeks burned. Well as much as they could with the beginning stages of sunburn forming on her face. She tugged at a loose thread on her thick socks and spun it around her finger, watching the tip slowly change to a bright red and then a light purple the longer she held it. It pulsated in time with her heartbeat. Maybe if she ignored them long enough they'd leave her alone.

"Aww, the mouse is shy!"

"Nothing to squeak about, Mickey?"

"Hey, layoff," Stanley spoke up, cutting the ribbing short. "If she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk."

"First Zero, and now her," Magnet sneered. "I'm beginning to get a bit insulted, guys."

"Yeah! What does he have that we don't have?" Armpit asked.

"Is it because he's nice? We can be nice, too," X-Ray said. He feigned spitting into his palms and smoothing down his hair. He smoothed out the wrinkles on his jumpsuit, patted away some of the dirt, and leaned forward with a charming smile. "How are you doing on this fine day?" The snorting laughter from the other boys—save for Zero and Stanley—stopped him from being able to hold up his act for long.

"C'mon, boys, be nice," Pendanski said. "She's one of us, now. Well, for as long as she's here. Let's try to make her feel comfortable." He patted Mickey's knee.

The thread around Mickey's finger broke.

She dropped her leg, removing her leg from beneath his hand although she could still feel his fingers tapping against the bone. "Alan liked to push boundaries when we were kids," Mickey spoke up, looking up from her shoe. Her voice trembled slightly as nerves jumped around in her stomach but she continued on. "But it was only to test how far he could go before someone stopped him. Because people hardly did. He didn't have malicious intent in it. Unsurprisingly, this made him a bit of a trouble maker in school. But as much as he got in trouble, he was also the most loyal person you could ever meet. He always stood up for his friends."

A sad sort of smile formed on her face. "It's why we were friends from the get go, he'd stop people from making fun of me because I was small as a kid. He liked being known as tough. He never cried, never let anyone in on what was bothering him, he kept his wall between himself and anything that could bring him down. As much as the wall kept things in, it kept things out too. I could tell we were drifting as we got older. We'd still do homework together or hang out if he wasn't busy with his friends or I wasn't busy with mine. We travelled in different circles but I always made time for him. And then…things changed. He got arrested…and now you know Squid." She cleared her throat. "Squid, I know nothing about. I don't know him at all. He's a mystery. I just know Alan…and Alan's long gone."

She unraveled the strong from her finger and fluttered them to let it fall to the floor. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the silence that followed. So that's how to get them to shut up. Too bad she didn't have dirt on anyone else; that would be enough to get them quiet for a few more days. She could just keep it in her pocket and use it whenever she wanted. Though she knew she'd abuse the hell out of it.

"Well, what was she like, Squid?" Magnet asked, pressing his elbow into Squid's side. She looked over at him, curious to hear what he had to say. He stared back at her, his arms crossed tight over his chest, his toothpick clenched tight between his teeth. She saw a muscle jump in his jaw.

"Don't leave us hangin', dawg," X-Ray added.

Squid sucked in a breath. It sounded almost like a vacuum in the silent room. He let it all out at once and tapped a boot covered foot on the ground. "She was quiet and timid and tended to follow people around. If anyone challenges her she would shrink away but in certain situations she would stand her ground when needed." He then scoffed and added as an afterthought, "Too bad her need for popularity got in the way."

Biting on her lip didn't stop the words from bursting from her. "Oh, you're way off!" she declared.

He scoffed. "Yeah, that's why you dumped me at that party to go with my boys."

She sat up straighter in her chair. "I was at that stupid party in the first place because I was looking for you."

"Well you found someone else. Congratu-fucking-lations." He spat in her direction. It landed on the floor between her feet. He ignored the admonishing that Pendanski shot his way about keeping their buildings clean. "You're just like everyone else."

"That is not my fault!"

"Bullshit!"

"Fuck you!"

She jumped up from her seat so quickly that it toppled backwards with a loud clang, making the boys jump. She turned on her heel and stomped out of the room. The Dining Hall door slammed shut behind her and she held her hand over her nose and mouth as pressure built in her chest and behind her eyes. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry. She refused cry over him. But dammit, why couldn't he just leave it alone? She didn't say anything bad about him and yet here he was being an asshole for no reason. No, not no reason. Not to him. All because of that stupid party. No matter how many times she tried to explain what happened to him he wouldn't listen.

Her fast pace slowed. Her shoes crunched against the dirt beneath her feet and her shoulders sagged. But how much of his side did she listen to? How many times did she accuse him without hearing what he had to say? She swallowed the lump in her throat. How was it that she could feel guilty when all of this was his fault? She had no part in it.

But he felt slighted. Burned. And when he was burned it was hard to cool him down. She knew that. But she still felt herself trying. Why? To salvage a friendship lost? To revisit her past? But through all the questions, she knew the answer, deep down.

To get a sense of home.

It was all she had left before her arrest. She had been ripped from her family and her home and her comforts all for self-defense. All to try and keep her name and reputation and exact revenge. Too bad it didn't work. And maybe she was a bit happy to see Alan again and maybe she did hang onto the hope that things could go back to how they were before. But she wouldn't hope that now. She'd allow it to die.

She only had herself to worry about now. It was the only way she would be able to get out.