Hi!
First off, I am so very sorry that I haven't updated in forever. So sorry you have no idea, but I have excuses! My internet didn't work for days, and then I was in iowa for three days, and the last three days have been busier for me than you can imagine. Alrighty, now we can get back to the story. For those of you that were sitting there going, 'Where's the romance?' It starts here! So good luck, and let me know what you think!
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For a while, everything went smoothly in my corner of the world. Yes, it was so boring I almost gnawed my own arm off for entertainment, but I knew what to expect, and everything went as expected. Daily threats from Mr. Sir? Check. Awkward lectures from mom? Check. Showers with Zero standing guard? Check. Holes? Heat? Bad food? Check, check, and check. It was patterned, easy, and I got stronger and tanner by the day. The time without training certainly hadn't weakened me, and I could tell by the hardening of my muscles, and the stripping of any remaining fat on my body, that I was in tip top condition. And of course, right when my life was going right, something happened to throw it off track.
Another boy was let into Camp Green Lake. I hadn't been expecting this, now I would have to make my impression upon him. Recently, I had been smiling more, laughing with the boys, and joking freely, but all of that would have to change. If I wanted the same level of respect from him, I would have to be the wall of steel again, impenetrable. Zero and I were lounging near the water tap when they brought him in. We were swapping stories about our past, but something caught our eyes in the distance. There was a dust cloud moving towards us, and though I'd never seen the sight myself, I knew what it meant. In silence, we watched the bus barreling towards us, curiosity tangible. Quickly, I threw my wall back up, and Zero noticed immediately. After all, it had been months since I'd felt the need to protect myself from my tent, even longer from Zero. When the bus skidded to a dusty halt, the door opened, and our eyes were glued to it as the guard's shoes appeared. I checked my façade, and realized with satisfaction that my bandanna was up and my chest bound, my coverall zipped. The guard stepped off and pulled a boy off by the cuffs. Once the boy's feet touched the ground, I reeled.
He was an Adonis, a god amongst humans, gorgeous. His eyes swept over the land, and he saw Zero and me staring at him. Calm, he met each of our gazes for a minute, and then followed the guard into Mr. Sir's office. Where the door closed, I stared for a solid minute, waiting for my heart to re-start. Zero actually waved his hand in front of my face to see if I was okay.
"Zero, he's adorable!"
Zero rolled his eyes, used to my girlish reactions to certain males.
"What is it this time? The face?" He mimicked me, "The eyes?"
I was fanning myself now, "The whole package." But I remembered where I was: Camp Green Lake, the camp for juvenile delinquents, and felons. He must have done something bad to be here. Gradually, I got back into the swing of answering Zero's earlier question, the one about how I spent my summers usually. I was demonstrating the one thing I'd retained from gymnastics camp, the back bend, when the door swung open. Quickly, I dropped to the ground, and acted absorbed in my conversation with Zero, trying for some reason to conceal my gender. The boy, though he was closer to a man really, walked out of the room, and I scanned his appearance. He was tall, and muscular, short brown hair, and dark, almost black eyes. I was immensely distracted by him; he was exactly my type, and the kind of guy that I could fall for. At least he walked the way one did. I pulled my attention away from him and back to Zero. Reluctantly, I dropped the subject; sorry I didn't have a girlfriend to share it with.
--
Later, we were all sitting in the tent, leaning back, chatting, and waiting for dinner. Zig Zag was animatedly explaining his theory that the warden had cameras everywhere in camp and was watching us all the time. Wildly, he gesticulated, eyes wide. I was shaking my head and Magnet was sitting on the floor next to my bed. Out of the blue he turned to me.
"Hey, why'd you cut your hair?"
I froze, mentally scanning all of the conversations I'd had with Magnet. Not once had I mentioned that I'd sheared my hair before I came. I'd told only Zero, and I was confident that he hadn't told anyone.
"How'd you…?"
He held up the brown bag full of hair and grinned sheepishly.
"My fingers are like little magnets!"
I sighed and swatted his head, taking my bag back. I'd already impressed upon the boys the importance of telling me the truth, so confessing his crime lowered his punishment.
"I was trying to blend in."
I was leaning on my stomach now and pulled my bandanna off, running my fingers through my hair. It had grown since I'd come, and it was now close to two and a half inches long. It was shaggy and flopped everywhere, but I liked it. It suited my purposes for the moment.
"Well, that didn't work out very well." Squid muttered, and Zig nodded.
"It was sorta stupid," Armpit mused, "We woulda loved you even if you had girly hair."
I blew him a kiss and every one laughed.
"I know. But I didn't know what you guys would be like, and was reluctant to remind you of my gender any more than necessary. I thought you guys might be like Thlump. Besides, it's so hot that long hair would be a curse."
They nodded slowly and the bell rang for dinner. We filed out of the tent and made our way to the mess hall, gathering with the masses of other boys. They were so used to me now, they barely stared. It was comforting, so say the least, and I realized later that I'd forgotten about the new boy. While we were waiting, Armpit started to tell a story (it was made up of course), about how a yellow spotted lizard had been about to attack him. Apparently, all he'd had to do was raise his arms and it backed down. I was in the middle of laughing when the boy walked back into the picture.
He was walking with A-Tent and I froze. Immediately my hand flew to my hair and I realized I'd forgotten a bandanna. I just shook the hair over my face and decided to hope for the best, and I went back to listening to the story. He wasn't staring yet, and I took comfort in that. Maybe he would get used to me before he found out, and it wouldn't be awkward. I took a moment to re-catalogue his appearance and I was stunned. He was big, taller than Thlump, and more muscular than Easy, though carrying both with ease. My heart fluttered and I let my eyes linger on him for a second too long, then I looked back to the group. X noticed and pitched his voice so only our tent could hear.
"Butterfly's got a crush."
They took a breath to sing song, but promptly deflated at my glare. They chuckled at my blush, and Squid sidled closer.
"Aw, what's wrong with us Butterfly? Why you gotta crush on some A-tent dud instead of us D-tent studs?"
I ruffled my own hair.
"I can't help it guys, he just caught my eye. Not that you guys aren't studly."
They laughed, but I kept my façade up. This was new; I had to deal with him the way I had with the others. I shot a glare at the new guy, only to notice he still hadn't stared at me. This made me a little more relaxed, and finally we filed into dinner. I got my food and sat down at our table, but nothing happened. Carefully, I chose a seat where I could see his face, but he would have to work at seeing me, and not once during the meal did his facial expression change. Dinner was unsatisfying, and when we finished, our table made its way to the wreck room. We were first there, and so we had first shot at all of the commodities the wreck room had to offer. For a while, I sat with Zig Zag, asking him about the programs he watched on the broken TV. We were halfway through a Spanish soap opera when my boys called me from the pool table. Forgetting the new guy, I stood and sauntered over, relaxed.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar presence stepped too close to me. He was close enough where I could feel the heat coming off of his body. I took a breath. The musky scent of masculinity flooded my senses and a tingle ran down my spine, goosebumps stood up on my arms. I was frozen. A rough hand smacked my rear, and the spell was broken. All too quickly, my temper peaked. Viciously, I spun, whipping my fist around to take advantage of my momentum. My fist smashed right into the new guy's ribs, and he let out a gasp of pain. I wished to hear cracking ribs, but I knew I'd hit a major nerve cluster, and he was in pain anyways. I was furious and I felt the guys gather at my flanks. The new guy chuckled and straightened. His dark eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul and my muscles tightened.
"Feisty. That's hot."
My lower body tightened, but otherwise I was motionless. His arm snaked around my waist, and he pulled me too him. This had happened before, with others, but there was a tone of gentleness underneath his rough hands. Lust reared its head in me and he grinned deviously. I began to panic. What happened to my wall? Was I this weak? Why would he defeat me this easily? While I was distracted, he leaned in, wasting no time, and kissed me roughly. Arousal exploded within me, but I was panicked. He broke the kiss and I stepped one leg back, now in my fighting stance. With the fire of my earlier fury, I threw a solid uppercut into his diaphragm. When he curled around the pain, I twisted and smashed my elbow into the side of his head. He reeled and landed on the ground. As he fell, his tent rushed to surround him, and mine engulfed me. Before he could stand, my tent began pulling me to the exit, our destination, the tent. The fire of his kiss still burned over my skin, and I saw him sit up. His eyes flashed to mine, and I registered with a thrill of fear, the heat of a challenge in his eyes.
--
Angrily, I collapsed on my cot, punching the sides of it. X sat on the cot next to mine, waiting for me to stop. When I finally rolled to my back, I saw the guys sitting on the cots around me.
"What happened?" Was the quiet question from X.
"I don't know."
"Go through the situation," Armpit put in, "from the second you stood up until the second you were out the door."
Staring at the ceiling, I recounted the situation, "Okay, I stood, started walking over, and then he got too close. He smacked my backside-"
"Lucky bastard," Squid muttered.
Gently, as a reminder, I punched his thigh and went on.
"--So I punched him. Then he said he liked feisty girls and kissed me. So I knocked him on his butt and you guys got me out of there."
They were pretty quiet and Zig Zag spoke, "This isn't over," he looked at me and squeezed my arm gently; "Watch out, he'll be after you."
Squid sniggered, "You're paranoid Zig."
Magnet agreed, "Yeah, no one comes after Bee after she trashes them."
"I dunno, he seems different." X was thinking aloud.
"Don't worry Fly; we'll protect you whether or not he does."
I smiled up at Armpit, then moved my gaze to Zero, "What do you think?"
Suddenly the group was holding their breath and Zero met my eyes, "I think you need to stay on your toes."
I nodded, and the group was shifting uncomfortably. No matter how much they made fun of Zero, he didn't talk for just anything; well, at least he didn't around them. When he spoke, it was important. I stared back at the ceiling and sensed everyone's unease. One thing kept playing through my mind so I said it, "If only he wasn't so hot."
They laughed for a solid ten minutes, and when they finally recovered, Magnet gasped in mock anger, "What, you don't think I'm sexy Bee?"
I grinned and Armpit swatted him, "Of course not, she's obsessed with the real man of the tent."
"You mean me?" Zig asked, and everyone laughed as Armpit put him in a head lock. They spent a long time going on like that, and finally they tried to guess my type.
A pair of fingers tugged at my hair, "I know, he cuts his own hair."
"No, he smacks her on the ass and threatens her virginity."
"Get real; her type is the kind that'll beat her up."
I was shaking my head at each one, so they were not above begging. Magnet tried, "Come on chiquita, tell us!"
I sighed, "If you're gonna know, you've got to figure it out."
They sat in solemn thought and Squid spoke up a while later, "One that dominates you."
They all looked expectantly for my head shake, and were shocked when I nodded. "What does that even mean?" Zig asked.
I took a deep breath and attempted to put my thoughts into an order.
"Well, you know how I dominated you guys? And how you know I'd beat you if you did anything wrong. So you don't do anything wrong and I don't have to beat you, and we get along?"
They nodded, and I jumped into the deep end of the pool, I was in on faith now.
"In a way, I want to feel completely helpless against him, but unwilling to resist. I want to trust him completely, and for him to dominate me entirely."
Magnet's mouth quirked up, "You want him to beat you if you touch him?"
The boys laughed.
"No, but I want to feel, I dunno, like I have no choice but to trust him."
A lazy round of applause began from the front of our tent, and our heads whipped to the noise. My eyes zeroed in on the new boy. His black eyes seemed to stare into my very soul again.
"I wouldn't have you pegged for that kinda girl Butterfly."
My boys were as stunned as I was, we couldn't move a collective muscle.
"But I promise you, if it's dominating you want, you won't find it here. If you get tired of mediocrity, my tent's only three thataways."
My heart pounded twice, and the boys sprang into action. They were all on their feet within a couple of seconds, and their hands clenched into fists. X went chest to chest with him, but the new guy was easily a head taller than him. Carelessly, he glanced down and X spoke, "You best get out of here before you get a beat down your fleas will feel."
Ignoring X, he met my eyes and I took a breath unconsciously, straining for his scent, "If you need me, my name is Beast. See ya around Ladybug." He finally left the doorway to our tent, and I was aware of my racing heart. I didn't know what was wrong with me; I'd never reacted to anyone this way, and I'd rolled around on the ground with my fair share of attractive men. Only in grappling practice of course; I wasn't that kind of girl. The guys turned, and I knew that Zero's observant eyes caught the flush of my cheeks. Luckily, the lights clicked off at that moment, and they didn't get a chance to question me. I laid in my bed staring wide eyed at the ceiling. How was it that a guy I didn't even like could freeze me with merely a glance into my eyes? It was terrifying, and exhilarating, and I fell into a deep, restless sleep.
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Whew, another chapter already? This is my fifth chapter, and guess what? I only have 14 reviews! My stats thingie says that I've had over 100 readers!! It's getting close to 200! And only 14 reviews? Come on guys, just press the little blue button, and tell me if you love or hate my story!!
Please?
Em
Ps: I'd like to thank my four faithful reviewers, especially the lovely and talented paddawhump!