Chapter 15

If X-Ray hadn't been there for Squid when he first arrived at Camp Green Lake, Squid would have hated him. He was so smug and always seemed to come out on top no matter what happened to him. X-Ray had eased into his position in D-Tent when Squid first arrived. They clashed upon their first meeting; X-Ray poked and prodded at him until he lashed out and threatened to snap his arm. Which, he was quick to find, was what X-Ray wanted.

He had a mouth and a mouth like his needed to be protected. Armpit was his first recruit; his intimidating size kept people away from him but when it came to a fight Armpit had the power but he lacked the speed. X-Ray needed someone else and that's where Squid came in. X-Ray sniffed out Squid's offensive nature almost right away; Squid spoke with his fists rather than with his words and if X-Ray had a few layers of protection around him, he could keep his mouth and his brain safe while simultaneously getting what he needed done.

In this particular case it meant getting the unidentified object from Caveman. All Squid had to do was stand next to X-Ray and he'd reap some sort of benefit as X-Ray worked the camp. When it came to getting days off, it was every man for himself and X-Ray knew when to use them and when to dump them. No one crossed X-Ray, not even Squid even though he wished he could. But he was in too deep and he knew it. X-Ray getting the day off would be better than X-Ray sulking and being personally offended that Caveman got it instead.

With a mighty yawn, Squid pulled his jumpsuit up over his legs and stomped his feet into his boots. Another day, another hole. At least he knew what he was getting himself into as the sun rose each day. In fact, he preferred it to the uncertainties of his civilian life. At least at Camp Green Lake he didn't have to worry about police busting down his door, the power shutting off, his mom dying before his eyes, or disappointing someone else. Being at Camp Green Lake was easy. Being at Camp Green Lake gave him room to breathe.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Pendanski shouted as they shuffled towards the Library for their shovels. "Today's another day, boys! Grab those shovels and let's attack the day!"

"Wish someone would attack his face with a shovel." Squid snorted. He covered up his smile by brushing his hand across his nose and then locked eyes with Mouse. Her face remained blank but her eyes gave away that she was responsible for the quiet comment. A second later she averted her eyes and shoved breakfast into his hand—honey covered tortillas again.

He licked the excess sticky substance off his hand and turned away from her. Honey and tortillas combined he hated, honey by itself he loved. Always had, ever since he was a little kid. Not that he had a choice, it tended to be his snack whenever they were running low on food. His mom would open a jar, hand him a spoon, and let him have at it. He briefly wondered, once, if that was the reason he ended up with diabetes. That'd be a cruel twist of fate. Just like his life.

He glanced back at Mouse as he went for his shovel. It was still weird seeing her every day. It didn't feel like it used to, though. Not even close. He wasn't even sure if things could go back to the way they used to, if he wanted them to. There were too many words flung between them, too many gritted teeth and icy stares and accusations.

Not that he missed her.

Every time he looked at her a surge of anger was the first thing to burst through him, like a geyser, but then it faded and he felt…unsettled. Like he was wobbling off balance and there was nothing for him to reach out and hold onto until he got his feet back on the ground. It bothered him, how disarming she was. One moment she'd be sitting back, quiet like she always was, just taking everything in and then the next he'd find himself laughing at one of her surprisingly snarky comments. Just like he used to. Because it was so odd coming from her. Or maybe it was normal and it was just odd to him.

He used to know everything about her, used to be able to tell how she was feeling with even the slightest change in her facial expression or even the way she sighed. But now he knew nothing about her. About Mickey. But she wasn't his Mickey anymore, she was Mouse. A juvenile delinquent, just like him.

The thought made him snort and then frown and then stop walking altogether. St. Mickey—as others called her at school—was a juvenile delinquent. The girl who stayed out of trouble, tried to keep him away from it, and who let others walk over her rather than appear troublesome. It just wasn't right.

Moments later he followed the mass of campers as they made their way out onto the lake once more. The air already felt thick and hot even though the sun hadn't peeked over the horizon yet. He could see the shapes of the mountains off in the distance as the sky steadily eased away from its inky black appearance. Once upon a time the darkness would be something that he would avoid, was afraid of even. Monsters lived in the dark, they thrived in the dark, they fed in the dark. The dark was where his mother liked to play, it's where she came alive but then it's also where she changed and where she disappeared and was replaced with someone else.

But now he loved the darkness and he wished it would last longer. Then he wouldn't have to face the day, wouldn't have to feel the blistering heat on his skin, wouldn't have to wake up and remember that he was right where everyone predicted he would end up.

The sound of shovels slicing into the dirt and dropping it into piles filled the air as time slowly moved along. He bet, if there were clocks out there, they'd be all warped and melted like that one picture. But it was for the best; bringing a clock outside with them would be the worst idea in the world. Instead of focusing on digging their holes they'd be focusing on the clock instead, making time move even slower. A sort of saving grace occurred while he was out there, the more he dug holes the faster time flew and, who knows, maybe tomorrow he'd be released.

And go where? A voice asked in his mind. He ignored it and spat a thin stream of spit onto the ground, a trick he picked up when he traded in his cigarettes for tobacco chew. He was the runner up in a spit distance contest in D-Tent; Armpit took the top honors. His throat felt as if it were coated in dirt and by the time Pendanski came around with the water truck early in the morning he practically steamrolled Magnet to get to his spot in line. Part of it was for water and part of it was to remind him where his place was in line.

X-Ray moved up in line. Armpit moved up in line. Squid's fingers twitched as he waited for Pendanski to finish his conversation with Armpit to get to him. He could already feel the lukewarm drops of heaven sliding down his throat. Pendanski called next and Squid eagerly stepped forward, holding out his canteen. Finally!

"Hey Mom, come here! I think I found something!" X-Ray called from his hole.

Goddamit! Squid reluctantly took his canteen back as Pendanski went over to where X-Ray was shouting. Usually he finished his canteen before the water truck arrived so he was sure he had an entire bottle of new water. Now he regretted it as he squeezed his empty bottle, getting a pathetic gurgling sound in response.

"It's nice, right?" X-Ray asked as Pendanski surveyed the gold tube in his hands. "So, I get the day off now, right?"

Squid rolled his eyes and drew up whatever spit was left and spat it onto the ground. He couldn't blame X-Ray, not out loud anyway, for asking to be sure that was the reward he'd get. After Caveman tried to get a day off for a fossil of all things, they couldn't be sure what the Warden wanted or would find interesting. But something made of gold, even if it was just some sort of tube, was better than the roots or the rocks that they've found by far.

They all stood around and watched as Pendanski turned the tube around in his hand a few times. Pendanski calmed X-Ray's inquiries about getting the day off but Squid knew his lucky fate was sealed judging by the smile on Pendanski's face as he radioed for the Warden to come over. The Warden never came out to the lake. Hell, the Warden barely left their cabin.

This was big.

Squid eagerly gulped his water after Pendanski finally got back to filling their canteens. He and the rest of the tent went back to their holes but no one dug. They just sat and waited for the Warden to come by, spotting the dust cloud from their car in the distance. Squid braced himself on the edge of his hole as a wave of dizziness smacked into him. He shook his head and drank more water. If he had his glucometer on him it'd probably read a little over 80 if not right on the dot. He grumbled as he thought of how long it was until lunch but he pushed it aside a moment later when Zigzag spoke.

"Five-0, five-0," Zigzag said. The wind carried his comment to Squid's ear. He laughed only to choke it off a second later when the cloud of dust caught up with the Warden's car and the engine shut off. The door creaked open a boot covered foot stepped onto the ground. In one swoop, the Warden slid out of the car, stood, and sauntered her way over to Pendanski.

"What the…fuck?" Mouse's utter of pure bewilderment made his lip twitch. His reaction to first meeting the Warden hadn't been that far off. Though his for a very different reason. Warden or not, she was like an oasis in the middle of the desert when he first spotted her. She was a tall drink of water, as Zigzag once said. But that mirage was quickly replaced when he first witnessed her snake-like demeanor. She even made rattlesnakes tremble before her and, rumor has it, she kept venomous snakes all around the cabin to keep people out. Whether that was true or not, it was enough to keep them all away.

They all waited with baited breath as the Warden examined the hole X-Ray had "discovered" the tube and then praised him for his find. Squid sighed. They'd never hear the end of it now. But still he kept quiet and kept X-Ray's back because that's what he had to do. They had asked each other what they would do if they found the tube and the answer all came back the same: they'd give it to X-Ray. Staying on X-Ray's good side was better than looking out for themselves.

Sitting back and watching as Pendanski drove X-Ray back to the camp sent a grumble through D-Tent but, otherwise, they all stayed quiet. Their canteens were refilled and then they were instructed to dig differently. Now they were told to dig in X-Ray's hole, Armpit's hole, and Squid's hole. Caveman, Armpit, and Squid would shovel dirt into a wheelbarrow and Zero, Magnet, and Zigzag would wheel the dirt away until they were told to switch. Mouse was assigned to work with someone from C-Tent whom the Warden ordered over along with F-Tent.

Squid took his time preparing to dig again. He adjusted the shirt tied around his head, making sure his neck was covered properly. He took off his gloves and put them back on, stretching his fingers out in each individual section.

"What is she doing?" Magnet asked.

Against his better judgement, Squid looked up. His eyes widened and then he gave a pitying shake of his head at the sight of Mouse talking to the Warden. "Looking for a quick death wish," Squid replied. He extended his leg and dropped back down into his hole. He shoveled a few scoops of dirt out, noticing Magnet staring off every now and then. "Dude."

Magnet turned his attention at the disapproving expression on Squid's face. "I just don't get it."

Squid rested his arm on the tip of his shovel. "It's easy. You lift the wheelbarrow with your hands and you use its wheels to carry it over there," he said slowly.

Magnet gave him an unamused look and then flipped him off. Squid mimicked he gesture and went back to shoveling. "I meant I don't get why she's here."

"To torture me, apparently."

"Sure. But why would the Warden keep her? Not once has a girl been sent here."

"What's it matter?" Squid stomped on the end of his shovel and looked up at Magnet through squinted eyes. "A hole gets dug."

"Yeah, but you'd think the Warden would send her right back. Couldn't the government, like, get her for imprisonment or something?"

Squid laughed aloud at Magnet's comment. "Did you forget where we are? If they get her they'd get all of us. Which they won't. Free labor and all that."

"Keep diggin' boys!" the Warden called from a few feet away. She looked in their direction, at least Squid thought she was looking at them. It was hard to tell with her sunglasses on. "You're doing fine but just keep diggin'. We don't want to miss anything."

Squid reached up and dumped his shovel full of dirt on the edge of the hole. His pile was steadily growing bigger as Magnet continue to sit by, not bothering to touch it. "Man, the Warden'll get you if you don't start helpin'. And then I'll get you too." The flare up of his accent truncated his sentence in a few areas.

"I'm just saying, Mouse—"

"Will you get off this subject?"

"Dude, c'mon. Even you think it's weird she's here." Magnet glanced over his shoulder and then dropped his voice. "This is a guy's place. Camp Green Lake's not a shining facility but even I don't think they could mistake her for a guy. They have our files. They have to see on there that she's a girl."

Squid pressed the tip of his shovel against the floor of his hole but he didn't shove it down. Instead he hummed. "Magnet, buddy…I think that's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say," he commented.

Magnet sat up tall, beaming at the comment. A second later he blinked and the expression fell off his face and was replaced with one with confused indignation. "Thanks, I think."

"You're welcome." Squid glanced over in Mouse's direction again, an eyebrow raising at the sight of her speaking with the Warden. Compared to the Warden's confident stance Mouse looked like, well, a mouse compared to her—she bit her lip, rocked on her heels, and twisted her fingers together. The Warden said something, making Mouse flinch, and then she walked off. Mouse stared at the ground a moment before she picked up her shovel and scooped more dirt into the wheelbarrow. It took a few more shovels of dirt until it was full. She set her shovel down, grasped the handles of the wheelbarrow and tried to lift. The muscles in her neck became visible and strained, her lips pressed together and her cheeks puffed up as she tried to lift it. Her feet slid against the dirt until she let go of the wheelbarrow. Her partner, the C-Tent guy, said something to her as he held out his hand. He recoiled a second later as she said something to him. She gripped the wheelbarrow handles again and tried to lift; the muscles in her arms clenched and once again her feet slid against the dirt but then, they stopped, and she took a step forward. And another one, and another, until the wheelbarrow easily rolled and bounced along the dry lakebed as she wheeled it away to dump the dirt.

Squid's mouth quirked up at the corner before he could stop it. "She doesn't quit, huh?" Magnet's voice tore his eyes away.

"Most stubborn chick I've met," Squid replied. "If she had a superpower, that would be it." Magnet laughed. "Like yours would be lifting." Magnet turned to look at him. "How'd you like to put that superpower to good use? Today."

Magnet's eyebrows lifted. "You need me to steal something?"

"I need you to borrow something."

"Why can't you get it?"

Squid spat and rubbed the saliva into the dirt with the tip of his tongue. He removed the toothpick from his mouth and used it to gesture as he spoke, "Man, Mr. Sir's been on my ass since the day I got here. Dunno what I did to him. He's got me marked. S'why I need you to do it."

"What do I get out of it?"

"I'll talk to X-Ray about moving you up in the water line." His voice hardened as he added, "So you quit tryin' to cut in line."

Magnet gulped.

# # #

"Okay, maybe this isn't a good idea," Magnet said.

Squid sucked inn a breath and let it out slowly so as not to curl his fingers into fist and slam them into his face. "Don't be a wuss."

"I'm not! It's just—stealing a file?"

"You're not stealing the file, you're just—just temporarily removing it from the cabinet so we can look at it and then we'll put it right back," Squid explained. Honestly, he was acting as if he hadn't stolen anything in his life. The puppy, the tvs, the CDs, the ipods, and the watches the police had found couldn't be more incriminating. But this he had a problem with?

Magnet rolled his eyes and peered through the slatted blinds into Mr. Sir's office. It was empty but he may as well have been standing there, glaring at him with his steel-like eyes with the way Magnet was hesitating. "What if we get caught? The Warden has cameras and stuff, remember?"

"She's more concerned over us finding more of whatever it is that X-Ray found in the first place than she is of us looking at some words on paper."

"Caveman."

"What?"

"Caveman found it. Not X-Ray."

Squid waved his hand. "Whatever. Point is"—he grabbed Magnet by the sleeve and gave him one, hard shake—"you're wasting time. Now get in there."

Magnet pried Squid's fingers off his shirt. "Why do you want to see Mouse's file so badly, anyway?"

"Doesn't matter. Go."

But Magnet didn't budge. Instead he stared hard at Squid, as if trying to see past him and look right through him. "You know, you've been weird since she got here."

Squid twisted his mouth to the side. For once he didn't have a retort or some sort of words to shoot back at him. So he didn't hide his disdain for her, why'd that make him the weird one? If they had to deal with the constant pity in her voice and in her eyes every time she even caught a whiff that something was wrong became more troublesome than he could bear. But at least someone cared… He cleared his throat. "Just get in there, Magnet. Before he gets back."

He grabbed Magnet by the shoulder, wheeling him around and gave him a hard shove to the office. Magnet stumbled a couple feet before muttering something in Spanish under his breath—Squid made a mental note to ask about it later—and grasped onto the doorknob.

"What're you doing?" Both Squid and Magnet jumped at the added voice and whirled around to see Mouse looking at them, one eyebrow arched high. "Besides being weird."

"See?" Magnet said, nudging Squid on the shoulder.

Squid ignored him. "What're you doing here?"

"…Working. Like I always do after digging," Mouse replied. He didn't miss the massive amounts of duh oozing from her words. She adjusted the pot under her arm to show that it was full of unpeeled potatoes.

"So, get back to it. Mag and I are busy."

She pursed her lips. For a second he wasn't sure she was doing to say something, she even started to turn away. But then she turned back and asked, "Do you ever get tired acting tougher than you are?" Squid chomped down on the toothpick hanging in his mouth; he simultaneously heard and felt it splinter. "I mean I get why X-Ray puts on the whole air of importance thing but you…you, I don't get."

Magnet whispered a soft "damn" that lit a flame in Squid's stomach. One sharp look thrown Magnet's way and he all but turned and scurried into the forbidden office. Squid shoved his hands into his pockets, mainly to keep himself from giving into the urge of using them as he stepped closer to her.

"You know, I'm so sick and tired of you acting like you're better than me," Squid said, his voice dropping to dangerously quiet levels, "better than the rest of us. Newsflash, Princess, you're here just like us. You are what you and your mother lift your nose at. Get off your fucking soapbox and accept that you're the scum beneath your own shoe." Her jaw clenched and her eyes hardened. The sight made the corner of his mouth lift and he closed the space between them. "Sucks, doesn't it? Becoming what you've tried so hard help. Like you were doing yourself and the world a big favor offering up your pity." He spat the word, quite literally. Mouse flinched when she felt spittle land on her face but she didn't move to wipe it away. "Man, I only wish I could've been there to see your fall from grace. To see that look on your mother's face when you were sentenced. To see how much it hurt you to fall off your damn pedestal and slam into the ground." He paused and pretended to think. "You were charged for assault. What happened? Someone didn't kiss your feet when you demanded recognition? Huh? Or, maybe, they didn't kiss your ass right. Didn't hold a mirror up to your face high enough. Didn't thank you enough for earning your precious attention?"

Mouse slammed the pot down on the nearby table. The sound bounced around the empty room. The sound of Magnet's rifling paused for a second but then it continued a second later. "Talk about looking your nose down on someone, you've hated me from the day we met," she shot back, "just because of where I live and who my parents are. I can't help that! Stop punishing me for it!"

"No, I fucking hated you for the way you looked at me and the way you talked to me and the way you used me like everyone else does."

Mouse's eyes widened briefly and she let out a laugh like he had said something foolish. His nostrils flared. "I never used you!"

"Does Brett ring a bell?"

"Oh my God, you don't even know what happened that night!"

"I know you used to have a crush on him—"

"Keywords: used to."

"—and I know that you slept with him."

All the emotion drained from her face. Her shoulders slumped and she took in a long breath. "Is that what he told you?"

The monotone way she spoke caught him off guard. His eyebrows furrowed. "That's what went around school."

"Because rumors are the best thing to trust."

"I saw you come out of the room with him."

"You didn't see what happened in the room, did you?" The bite returned to her words. She turned to the pot and grabbed the potatoes that were in them. He didn't have a chance to move when she threw one at him. It hit him hard in the arm and dropped to the floor with a thud. "You just rely on the stupid stories and the pictures thrown all over the internet!"

It felt like fire shot up his arm. On a normal day, the hit wouldn't have hurt. But this wasn't a normal day. After digging for hours in the same spot and lugging a wheelbarrow all over the place his arms and legs felt like lead. Caveman said he thought it made digging easier; Squid thought that Caveman had been in the sun too long. "Ouch! Fuck, you bitch!"

"No! Fuck you!" Mickey threw another potato at him. And another. And another. "You don't even know what happened! I'm sick of you blaming me!" Her throws came one right after another and Squid cursed himself for convincing her to try out for the baseball team. She became the reserve pitcher for a reason; her aim was true and her throws were powerful. She may as well be throwing knives at him. "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't steal from me!"

"I never stole from you! How many fucking times do I have to tell you?" Squid shouted.

"You're the only one who knew about the ring my mom got me for my birthday. And then, out of the blue, it goes missing! Who the hell else could have taken it?"

"I didn't," Squid insisted. "But you'll never fucking believe me."

"Like you'll never believe that I didn't sleep with Brett." She grunted as she threw another potato at him. This one hit his shin.

"I saw it with my own eyes. I'm not stupid."

"Yeah, you are!"

"If you wanted to sleep with him, fine—"

"He raped me, you asshole!"

The two glared at each other, chests heaving, fire burning in their eyes, and cheeks redder than the sunburns on some campers' faces. A thick, heavy silence settled around them. Squid's heart rammed against his chest and his ears buzzed and his thoughts raced as it tried to process and comprehend the new information. He didn't dare be the first one to break their eye contact.

"Um…"

Mouse's eyes shifted from his face and to the left. He licked his bottom lip, feeling a strange surge of victory at winning the pseudo staring contest, and turned around to face Magnet. Magnet had a sort of strained expression on his face, one that was half embarrassment and half discomfort.

"What?" Squid all but barked.

"It's…weird. I found something weird," Magnet replied, removing the papers from behind his back.

"What is that?" Mouse demanded, stepping closer.

Squid replied "nothing" the same time Magnet said "your file" while holding out his hand. Squid snatched it from him and, in the next second, Mouse took it from Squid.

"That's why you're here? To steal my file?" Mouse demanded.

"None of your business," Squid said. He reached out his arm to take it from her but she leaned back, holding it out of his way.

"It's mine. I think it is my business," she shot back. "What's weird about it?"

Magnet shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Look at it," he finally uttered with a sigh.

Mouse's eyebrows came together and she instantly stood up straight. She reached her hand up to her hair, grabbed at nothing, then immediately dropped her hand. Squid's eyes briefly flickered to her hand to watch her fumble with her old habit. Then when a deep frown appeared on her face he chanced a step closer to look over her shoulder to look at the file.

The header—DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE—screamed at him from the top of the page. His eyes dropped down to her mugshot—where she looked strangely defiant—nestled next to her fingerprint and the judges signature. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on his first scan so he stared at the top and read it again. And as the information on the page registered in his mind, his eyebrows jumped up. He'd had his suspicion but he didn't think in his wildest dreams it'd be right.

Mickey's fingers dug into the paper. "Why does my file have me listed as a boy?"

a/n - Whew! Beat the two month mark! Sorry for the wait; I don't really have an explanation for it. I went through a time where I didn't like anything I wrote and tried to take a break from writing at all but I can't stay away from writing, fanfiction or otherwise, and now I'm back. Finally Mickey revealed what happened at the party and we have an idea as to why she and Squid initially had their fallout. Plus, she was marked as a boy on her file. Now the question is why? Hmmm. That, and a few other things, shall be revealed soon.

Thanks for being patient with me, guys. The next one will be up soon (well, sooner than 2 months :P). If you'd like to follow me on twitter you can find the link on my profile.

~Manning

Review Replies

Ineedaname: Wow, thanks so much for your reviews, haha! Glad to know that my writing has left you insatiable. I hope the wait was worth it! Yeah, Squid's had a rough life. Even as he tried to fix it roadblocks kept popping up in his way. Let's just hope that he finally gets a break sometime soon. The boy deserves it! Thanks again!

LittleBlueSweater: I'm glad that you had something to entertain you on that long bus ride! I love hearing what you're doing when you get the chapter. Thank you for the lovely reviews you leave. When I write a story I feel passionate about I work hard at making it entertaining and realistic and heartfelt at the same time. I hope that's evident as you read. Man, I could go on and on about Alan and his past. It's the one thing I wish Louis Sachar had expanded on; I feel liek Squid go the shaft when it came to learning about his character more than just being X-Ray's lackey. Thanks so much for your kind words!

ThornNB: Squid needs to be protected forever! The poor baby needs someone in his corner and an escape from his rough life. I hope this update was worth the wait! Thanks for the review!

Guest & Guest 2: Here's your update, I hope the wait was worth it!

39addict101: Thanks, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the opening! I wanted something that would catch the reader's attention right away in spite of this being a Girl at CGL story. I hope you view this fanfic as more than just that trope, I certainly do. Thanks so much for your kind words!