Mairi Luke could not be touched. Not in athletic ability, Not in her average but nice features, Not in her quick thinking either. Not even physically, well you could physically touch her, you'd just get hurt after.
Mairi Luke sat in the court room, staring expectantly at the judge as he read through her files. "mairi Luke, please rise" he said and she stood up and she did just that. she looked up at the judge who looked away from her files and nodded as a hello. ". you have been found guilty of several different changes of vandalism and under age driving. do you understand how bad this is?" he said and mairi nodded. of course she knew it was bad, its illegal for a reason. he put down her file. "i have two options right now. i could send you to jail, or, i could send you to a juvenile detention camp." he said clasping his hands together. she thought for a second. she thought of what would be better in this sense. camp? or jail? the answer was clear to her because who would want to waste their day away in a stupid jail cell. not mairi.
"detention camp" she said stoically. not showing the slight anxiety on her face. he nodded. he picked up his gavel.
"24 months in camp green lake. meeting adjourned." he said before hitting it on his high and mighty perch. she was ushered out of that courtroom by her very dissapointed mother.
"Mairi Katheryn Luke!" her mom yelled as they were in the car. mairi Katheryn. mairi always thought it was stupid and basic. "what is wrong with you, i didn't raise you to be like this! i raised you to be respectful and polite!" her mom yelled and at that point mairi began to ignore her mom until she SPOKE to her and didn't yell at her. "your going to leave me here with these kids? you are a selfish little brat, who's going to watch them when i'm at work huh? WHO MAIRI LUKE, WHO?!" she yelled even louder, making mairi wince a bit from the headache she was getting from her mom's annoying and awful voice.
"I don't know, get a baby sitter. i'm just a kid" she said quietly. her mother huffed out angrily as they pulled into the driveway.
"mairi, you are 15 now. you need to be more responsible.i know whats best for you. i dont know what the world did to hurt you but you need to fucking step up and pull your head out of your ass." her mom said sternly. "when we get inside your brother and sister are going to ask what happened, you are to tell then you are staying with auntie Claire. then you can go pack a bag. got it?" she asked but meant it rhetorically. all mairi did was nod and get out of the car, slamming the door behind her.
mairi Luke now sat on the bus to the dreaded camp green lake. with her phone already taken away and her bag having been searched for any contraband, she had nothing other than her old iPod and a a few books she couldn't quite reach in her bag. she groaned and looked over to the officer next to her.
"so" she said looking to the officer. "anything i should know before i get off this bus?" she asked and the officer didn't look at her but responded.
"its an all boys camp" he said and mairi's jaw dropped.
"WHAT?!" she yelled and the officer shot her a glare.
"you'll be fine." he said then relaxed his face. "they're taking some precautions to keep you safe" he said turning back to the front of the bus. mairi groaned again and looked outside the very dusty window. she could make out the shape of tiny huts and holes. she looked to the front of the bus and saw they were turning to the camp entrance. the officer went to touch her shoulder but she whipped her head around to look at him.
"dont touch me." was all she said as she stood. she didn't say it rudely but it definitely got the point across. she grabbed her bags from under her seat and began to make her way to the front of the bus. she heard several hollers from the boys outside the bus.
"new kid!"
"probably a weakling"
"fresh meat" were the first one she heard then as she stepped off the bus the hollers became more hostile. she heard catcalls and whistles along with the new calls she heard. she took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. the officer walked her to a weird office looking building. there was an old man with horrible side burns and a mustache who was chewing on what seemed to be sunflower seeds. he looked at a pile of manila folders and sifter through them until he found hers. he opened it and looked at the first paper.
he had tried to say her name but butchered it by saying mah-rye.
"its mairi, like the name Mary. just spelt differently" she said. she hated when people mispronounced her name. it was so annoying to her. he looked up at her momentarily then back down at the paper.
"well, mairi. i am " he said standing up walking to a mini fridge. "you will refer to me as such" he said and mairi had to hold back a laugh. who's last name is sir she thought. she pinched herself to stop her from laughing. he handed a soda to the officer and sat back down. he put away the files slowly and locked them away in an old filing cabinet. "stand up girl" he said walking past her. she quickly stood up and slung her bags over her shoulders. she walked out and the cat calls began again as they walked to a run down shed. shot the boys glares and the boys quieted down. they weren't silent but they were quieter now. she looked around the shed as two boys stared at her. she saw a bunch of orange jumpsuits. he threw two at her and she caught them before they hit the floor. "these are your clothes, one for work, the other for relaxin' when laundry is being done your relaxing clothes become your work clothes." he said looking at her and she nodded. " you will dig a 5 foot deep and five foot wide hole. your shovel is your measuring stick" he said gesturing to a shovel before itching his neck. "c'mon" he said walking out of the shed. they were doing alot of walking. "tell me girl, do you see any sort or security? fences? even?" he asked her and she looked around.
"no " she said and he turned around to face her.
"good, because there are none. so run if you'd like, i wont stop ah. but we have the only water for miles" he said and mairi looked around as a short man started to walk up to them both.
"just because you did some bad thing, dont mean your a bad person" he said. he wore sunscreen on his nose and had a large hat. he looked like he was the leader of some wimpy safari. he put out a hand for her to shake and she looked at it disgusted as if he had some sort of disease. "i'm your counselor for the next two years" he said and she ignored his hand.
"names mairi Luke" she said as he sighed and awkwardly put his hand down to his side.
"welcome to camp green lake! this is our own little oasis." he said and she looked around at the raggedy buildings and tents. "that there is the mess hall, that's where dinner is served. that's the wreck room, a lot of the boys like to hang out there when they're done digging. and that is your tent" he said pointing at each individual one as he talked. "you are in the D-tent, D stands for diligence! the boys in there are the best you will get around here" he said and she looked at the tent that the boys were walking into.
"um, where do i shower?" she asked adjusting the bag that's been on her shoulder for what seems like forever.
"oh yes, you have your own shower stall behind your tent" he said and she nodded as he began to walk to the tent. "lets go meet the boys" he said as he opened the flap to the tent.
"hey mom" one boy said and his blonde hair stuck out every which way. all the boys looked in their direction and they got up to walk over to the two. mairi was standing in a firm stance but you could see that she was slightly anxious.
"who's the pretty lady ma'?" one boy with a buzz cut said.
"this is mairi" said as he put a hand on her shoulder. mistake on his part. she grabbed his wrist and hit a pressure point that made him let go and pull his hand away. the boys looked at her confused as to why she did that.
"dont touch me" she said and looked back to the boys. the doctor shook his head and held his wrist as he spoke.
"mairi, these are the d-tent boys, Rex, Theodore, Alan, Ricky, zero, and Jose" he said gesturing to them and Rex stepped forward.
"those aint our names" he said looking at mairi not even sparing a glance at pendanksi. "i'm x-ray, that's armpit, squid, zigzag, zero, and magnite" he said and the girl nodded along with what he said. "and ' mom" he said pointing at pendanski and she chuckled at the name.
"ha, ha, ha. they have their own nicknames. but i prefer to use their real names" he said and she shrugged. "okay" he said walking over to a cot that had a little track around it with a curtain dangling from the ceiling. "this is your bed" he said gesturing to the raggedy cot. she squeezed her her lips into a line and sighed.
maybe jail wouldn't have been so bad she thought to herself
"alright, squid here is your mentor. if you have any questions ask him" he said and she looked at the incredibly dirty boy and waved. "she if all of your guyses responsibility, if anything happens to her you will be to blame" he said and the boys groaned.
"really mom!" x-ray said and mom just shrugged it off and walked out. the boys looked back to the girl and rolled their eyes, other than magnite and zero who didn't seem all too bad.
"hey chica, you should change into your jumpsuit. boss lady is really strict on those around here" magnite said and she looked up at him.
"thanks" she said nicely and she closed the curtain. the boys stared at the closed curtain for a second and looked back and forth between each other. they hadnt heard her voice other than when she told mom not to touch her. she changed into the jumpsuit and tied her shoulder length hair back and out of her face. she finally realised that she could barely see out of her glasses from how much dust had collected on them. she whipped of her glasses and opened the curtain again. the boys looked at her and went back to what they were doing.
"lookin' good girly" magnite said, but not in a bad way. more in an encouraging way.
"you dont have to lie. these jumpsuits are hideous" she said and he and a few other chuckled.
"she aint wrong" zigzag said looking at his own jumpsuit.
"alright girl, lets get a few things straight." x-ray said standing up walking to her cot that she was sitting on.
"i have a name" she said looking up to him. "its mairi" she said and he looked at her a little annoyed.
"so?" he asked bending down in front of her to get to her level.
"so use it, you have a brain so use it" she said not having it with his entitled ego. he stood back up and took a breath before looking up at the sky.
"god give me strength" he said looking back down at her. "whatever mairi, i'm the boss 'round her. before you do anything, tell me. i know whats best for you right now. those boys will et you alive and we dont feel like getting in trouble because you want to stop and smell the roses" he said and that one phrase reminded her of her mom. 'i know whats best for you' she mentally gagged at him. "its our job to make sure your okay, so you cant just be wondering got that?" he said and she sighed.
"if its that bad for you guys i can handle myself. im not a toddler" she said looking at him. he gave a angry sigh and walked away.
"your lucky my momma told me never to hit a girl" he said walking out of the shrugged at that and layed back.
"girl, your lucky he didn't sucker punch you" squid said sitting up and looking at her. she just ignored him and went to reading a book on her cot.
it had been a while since x-ray came back after his little temper tantrum. he had been sending glares at the girl as she minded her own business. reading, talking, taking naps.
"so, what are ya in for?" armpit said to her as she rummaged through her bag.
"small things, vandalism and under age driving. nothing to serious" she said grabbing a rubber stress toy out of her bag and she sat back down on her bed.
"how does coloring on stuff your not supposed to land you time here?" magnite said and she just kept playing with her stress ball.
"my stuff was all over town, so they kinda grew over time" she said and he nodded.
"can i see that?" armpit asked her and she looked up at him and threw it to him as he sat on his cot.
"sure" she said as it flew through the air. he caught it and began squeezing it. his face lit up as he played with it and she began to chuckle at his childishness.
"gimme that" x-ray said snatching it from armpit and he ripped it, little did he know it was full of a weird liquid that smelt horrible from being in the toy for so long. it spilt all over his front and he yelled "WHAT THE HELL" he yelled flinging the stress toy to the side as the liquid began to soak into his clothes. mairi began to laugh at him. he looked up at her and stormed over to her and grabbed her jumpsuit, yanking her up from her cot. he lifted a fist up as the other boys got up and grabbed his arm to hold it back. he tried to swing but she punched him in the stomach, making him stumble back and let her go. he held his stomach a bit as she got into a fighting stance. the boys grabbed x-ray as she stood there hands up. he groweled and yelled angry before walking away grabbing his towel and walking out. the boys looked at her and shook their heads.
"you need to learn to hold your tongue girl" squid said sitting back down onto his cot. she looked at him and sighed.
"not my fault his ego is bigger than him" she said and they all chuckled softly and went back to what they were doing.
"hes been here the longest. you gotta respect'm" zigzag said as he picked up the stress toy skin.
"respect is a two way street, and so far he hasn't shown me the slightest bit of respect. so until then he can kiss my ass" she said sitting looking up at the ceiling. she grabbed a few of her shower tokens though and set them on x-rays bed before leaving to fill up her canteen. zigzag had followed her out to make sure the boys didnt try and do anything to her. and she also didnt know where the spigot was. she bent over to fill up her canteen and she heard a series of whistles. she shuddered at the sound of all those boys.
"hey sweetheart! wanna stop by my tent?" one boy yelled.
"beautiful view!" another barked at her, she huffed out.
"hey, move out the way!" she heard from behind her.
"giant is blocking the view!" a group yelled and when she looked behind her she saw zigzag standing with his back to her. she smiled and looked back to her canteen as she finished filling it. she stood up and turned around patting his arm.
"i'm done" she said cheerfully as she walked back to the tent. "thanks zigzag" she said as she entered the tent, him close behind her.
"no problem, mairi" he said and she smiled even more.
"finally, someone uses my name and didn't call me 'girl'" she said sitting on her cot drinking some of her water. x-ray walked back in with his towel wrapped around his waist. mairi squeaked and closed the curtain quick. she felt her face heat up with embarrassment.
"eyo man, theres a girl in here. you cant just come waltzing in here half naked anymore" said armpit and x-ray just scoffed as he continued to get dressed. after a second everyone began talking like she wasnt there.
"hes done getting dressed, mairi" zigzag said and she opened the curtain again.
"thanks zigzag" she said and he just nodded. she heard a bell ring and everyone stood up. she looked around confused and squid looked over at her.
"dinner bell" he said and she nodded, and got up. she followed a little bit behind the group of boys. all she could focus on were the boy cat calls. she heard them from every direction. the boys looked around at how many boys were just staring at her. squid turned around and walked towards her as she zoned out in order to ignore the boys that were yelling at her. when he got to her he walked next to her. zizag noticed what squid was doing and he moved to mairi's other side. squid looked down at her through the corner of his eye to see the girl who looked like she wasnt all there.
"you good girl?" he asked but no response. zigzag pushed his shoulder.
"hey. mairi" zigzag said and squid rolled his eyes as she snapped back to reality.
"hm? what?" she asked as they walked into the mess hall.
"you okay?" squid asked and she nodded.
"yeah? why wouldnt i be?" she said like nothing happened which made the boys question whether what they saw actually happened.
"oh, just askin'" squid said looking back forward. all three of them got their food and made their way to the d-tent table. mairi sat between magnite and zero. she stared at the nasty slop that they called food.
"it aint' as bad as it looks" armpit said as he shoveled spoon by spoon into his mouth.
"yeah homes, its actually pretty good" magnite said nudging her. she shot him a glare and he put his hands up in surrender. "sorry, forgot" he said and she went back to looking at the food. x-ray grabbed her bread and she looked at him angry.
"you aint dig today, you wouldnt mind giving it to someone who did. would you?" he said and she just huffed and shook her head. that was the only thing she was really willing to eat off of that whole tray.
"hey sweet thing. whats your name?" a random boy said from behind her. she turned to the boy with a emotionless expression.
"you don' need to know" magnite said turning to him.
"come on man, dont be like that" the other boy said pushing zero away, sitting next to mairi. "whats your name?" he said going to touch her face. she grabbed his wrist and dug her nails into his skin. making him bleed. he pulled his arm away which drug her nails across his skin. making him bleed more. he looked at his arm and back at her as he stod. he was about to slap her but someone caught his arm mid swing.
"i wouldn't do that if i were you" squid said pushing the boys arm away from himself. the other boy towered over him though.
"she aint' yours" he said getting in his face.
"she belongs to d-tent" armput said standing up. mairi hated the sound of what armpit said. but maybe it was for the best.
"what are you gonna do, huh?" the other boy said and zigzag stood up and walked over to the boy, stepping between squid and the other boy. zigzag was way taller than the other boy and the boy had to look up at zigzag.
"you don' wanna know stick" he said to the boy.
was that his nickname? she thought as the other boy backed up.
"whatever" he said walking away from the group of boys. the boys who stood up sat back down and x-ray stood up on his side of he bench and all the boys looked at him as he yelled over the crowd.
"YOU SEE THAT GIRL RIGHT THERE?! DONT TOUCH HER, SHE BELONGS TO D-TENT AND D-TENT ONLY!" he yelled over everyone and everyone began to whisper.
"YEAH, YOU MESS WITH 'ER YOU ANSWER TO US!" magnite said standing up. all the boys began to whisper as the two sat back down. mairi whipped the blood off her hands and looked to the boys and pushed her tray away.
"i'm not hungry anymore. thanks you guys" she said before getting up beginning to walk out of the mess hall. a boy followed her and grabbed her wrist. she pulled her arm out of his grasp and grabbed the nearest tray and full throttle swung it at the side of his head. it hit him and the force knocked him over on the ground. she flipped one of his arms onto his back as she stepped on his wrist. making it so he couldn't move. all the other boys in the cafeteria winced and looked away. probably to spare the boys some dignity.
"i dont care who you are, NEVER touch me. you got it?" she said. she squatted down next to the boy and got closer to his ear. "take this as a warning" she said standing up again shoving him away with her foot before dropping the tray on him. the silence was loud as her boots clicked against the ground. she marched into the tent and plopped onto her cot and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began writing.
'hello mom, so far camp is going good. i dont know how this is supposed to "fix" me. everyone here is a dick and no one knows of personal space and keeping their hands to themselves. my tent mates are cool, other than x-ray. his ego is suffocating and i dont know how the others have lived with him for this long without at least attempting to kill him. how is Elias and Annie? tell them i miss them and i wish i were there. send me some snacks or something, the food here looks poisoned and horrible.
much love -MK