Oh. My. God. I did chapter nine! -singing- Celebrate good times, come on! Yeah.

I am so sorry I haven't updated in , like, a MONTH. What happened to all the reveiws? They dissapeared or sumthin.

I am so flipping tired. Running on seven hours of sleep, I took a massively long walk and wrote this chapter. WITH NO COFFEE!!

I'm amazed I can even keep my creative eyelids open.

Yeh. School is also a major slowing- down point.

Thanks again for all the reads, and please enjoy this chappie.

The Name's Ashlyn. Chap. 9!
Robby gasped. "Are you actually eating the food?! I'm shocked." He said, putting a hand on his chest.

"Yeah well, it isn't so bad if you don't think about it." I said through a mouth full of what I think was a tortilla in honey.

"That's the spirit!" Robby yelled and he pulled on his jumpsuit.

"Morning campers!"

Oh god no.

"Sup, Dr. P?" Said Lyle after giving a huge yawn.

"It's Doctor Pendancski, Lyle. NOT Dr. P."

"Whatever, dude."

Pendancski just sighed and shook his head.

"Finish dressing and come out side to get your shovels, we've got work to do."

And with that, he left.

Odd.

"Strange dude." Said Michael, reflecting my thoughts.

"Yup." Said Robby, putting on his shoes.

"Come on, gang, like the man said, we've got work to do." Trent said and walked out of the tent.

I glanced at Gregory, and he glanced back.

His eyes seemed to tell me, 'Don't worry.'

I sighed, and stepped out side.

A blast of chilly, crisp morning air hit my face as I started walking over to the other barely- conscious boys. Over to my left, Mr. –snicker- Sir was handing out shovels, while 'breakfast' was being served over to my right.

I walked over to the shovel shed and randomly picked out a shovel with orange tape around the handle.

I was about to join the rest of A-tent when my shovel was almost yanked out my hand.

"Hey! Let go!" I shouted to a Black kid who was a couple inches taller than I was. He was in the process of trying to steal the shovel from me.

Idiot.

I was not amused by his actions, so I accidentally- on purpose, gave him a swift kick in the stomach. Not enough to hurt him but knock the breath out of ya really fast.

He gave a grunt, and grabbed his abdomen with on arm, while still not letting go of the shovel.

Ah… a stubborn idiot.

What looked like the rest of his tent came running towards us and tried to pry me off of the shovel. I had no idea why he and I were so stubborn about this stupid shovel while there was twenty just like it.

"Let go, Man!" Said a tall lanky kid with a white kid's equivalent to an Afro.

Pretty impressive.

I would have admired his head for longer, but I was sorta busy at the moment.

"What the hell is your problem?" Yelled a kid wearing a baseball cap. He had a toothpick in his mouth and he had the same southern accent like Robby's.

"I'm not the one with the problem! It's your friend who has the problem!" I yelled, pulling on the shovel.

"Hey! Hey! HEY! BREAK IT UP!!" Yelled Mr. Sir, running over.

He pulled us off of each other with the help of a couple other counselors.

"What are the problem here boys?" He looked at me. "And girl."

"This… PUNK tried to steal my shovel!" I spat, now fuming.

"X-ray was just trying' to help the girl, no harm done." Said the kid with the toothpick.

"Good one Squid." Said a VERY big black kid, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"There's no problem Mr. Sir, just a little grumpy from getting up." The kid nicked named X-ray mumbled.

"Good, don't let me find you fighting again. And Hotshot, this ain't a Girl Scout camp. Don't be doing things like this again." He paused, "You might get hurt."

I rolled my eyes. Me? Get hurt? Owner of a black belt and numerous trophies for judo tournaments? As. If.

"Yes, Mr. Sir. I won't Mr. Sir."

He scowled at me and walked away.

I shoved the shovel at the kid who tried to take it from me and said, "Here. I'll just go get another one. Not. A. Problem."

I started walking to the shovel shed when a voice behind me said, "Hey! I'm sorry. I'm not really a morning person."

I turned around and looked at the speaker.

He was holding the shovel out to me, offering it.

I shook my head. "No it's okay, I can get another one. It's no big deal."

The kid blinked through his extremely messed up glasses.

Very nerd looking, but his attitude made up for the geek ness.

"No, I want you to have it. It's shorter than all the rest; I thought it would be easier for you. Being a girl and all."

He did not just say that.

I placed a hand on my hip and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Are you saying that girls are weaker than boys?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Ooh, boy. He's gonna regret that.

I smirked, and quicker than you could blink, I had him on the ground and my foot on his chest.

"Whatta you say about taking a second guess, hm?" I said looking down at him.

"Holy- okay! Some girls are stronger than boys. Please don't kill me."

I smirked and took my foot off of him. He stood up and brushed off dirt from his jumpsuit.

Like it made a difference.

"I'm X-ray." He said and stuck out his hand. I grabbed it and gave it a firm shake.

"This is Armpit, Zigzag, Squid, and Magnet." He said pointing them out, "We're from D- tent, which stands for.."

"Diligence." The boys chorused. I grinned.

"I'm Hotshot. The only flipping girl in the camp and I'm from A-tent. Which stands for arson." I introduced.

"What are ya in for?" Said Zigzag.

"Buried my ex-principles car, the I blew up his house." I said my grin getting bigger at the memory.

"Holy- crap! Was he still inside?" Said Squid, his eyes wide as dinner plates.

I shook my head. "No, he was at school. I was playing hooky with one of my friends that day."

"Very impressive, chica." Said Magnet with a thick Mexican accent.

"Thanks, I gotta go meet up with the rest of my tent, see you later?" I said picking up the shovel.

The boys nodded. "Yeah, later." Said X-ray and he walked off, tent mates in tow.

I sighed happily. More friends I could tease. Yippy.

"I see you've met D-tent." A voice appeared next to my ear, making me jump.

About three feet in the air.

"Gregory! Holy crap, nearly gave me a heart attack!" I said.

He chuckled, and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I've seen them. They are not a violent as the other tents. I approve."

"What are you, my mother? And not here, people might see us." I looked around nervously.

"Relax. They've already gone."

"What? How are we gonna find them?"

"I know where they are. I saw what you did to that kid. Impressive."

"I have a black belt. Took it up because someone had to protect me from the jerks at school. Nobody else was gonna do it, so I figured, what the hell."

"Hmm, no wonder you are so fit. I like a girl who can stand up for her self."
He kissed my ear and shivers raced down my spine.

"Urm, I don't mean to break the romantic moment, but don't you think we should head out before it gets too late?" I said, my voice really breathy.

"Yeah, you're right. Damn, I hate being so responsible. Gets in the way of what I want."

I could feel his smirk as he dragged his arms from around my waist.

I grabbed my shovel and started walking out of camp, when Gregory took it from me.

"Let me guess, "It's not polite for a lady to carry things.'" I said folding my arms.

"You guess correctly, my fair maiden."

"You are weird."

"Why, thank you. Now, hop onto my back."

"Um, why?"

"Because I want to. Get on.

"Okay, I'm not going to give you arthritis, am I?"

"If you were about two hundred pounds heavier, you might, but you aren't, so you won't."

"Oh, ok. Bend down."

He got onto one knee and I used his thigh as a step to climb onto his back.

"You are so light, I'm in shock. Have you been eating right?" He said as he adjusted me position on his back so he was more comfortable.

"Yes! Well, no. I was before I came here. I do work out you know."

"Yeah. Well, okay. I guess I'm just used to lifting more."

He walked down a dust trail made by shoe prints.

This reminded me of an old western movie I saw a couple years ago that I forgot the name of. At the end, the hero guy rides of into the sunset in the Nevada desert.

I guess it remained me because it was just like that scene, except I was in Texas, it was morning, and I was riding Gregory instead of a horse.

Yeah. I really have no idea how I came up with that comparison.

Although I was being supposed to be being punished, I was having the time of my life.

With my new friends, location, and most important of all, Gregory.

Quote of the day: People who think that they've never felt happy, don't even know what happy is.- Myself, Sept. 2007.

You'd BETTER be gratefull for this chapter. I worked my ass off.

Kidding. But not really.

Reveiw and i give you a virtual bakery item of your choosing.

Or maybe a chicken.

REVEIW!!!!!!!