Wasted potential ★ holes [zigzag x oc]

Thirty-five

Life after camp green lake was quite an adjustment. Shark still found herself waking up at the crack of dawn out of habit, and then could not fall back asleep. Causing her to be tired all the time.

In better news, shark was on the right track to being able to finish out her junior year and be able to be a senior the following year. It was nice to know that she was back on track. Even though she was doing all her schoolwork from home, she was happy to return to school.

And for the d tent boys. She talked with at least two of them on the phone almost every day, especially squid and zigzag. Her mother was this close to getting her own landline just so she couldn't hog up the phone for half the day.

Shark and her parents had finished eating dinner and were winding down for the night. Well her mother cleaned dishes in the kitchen, she sat on the floor of the living room watching jeopardy well playing with Franny.

"Oh what is 1964!" Shark said to the tv, answering the question correctly, going back to petting Franny.

"Think you could get on that show?" Dave had asked her, looking up from his paper.

Shark shrugged at his question. "Probably, it would be nice to get money for knowing answers to questions."

"Well maybe she could use some of that money to help pay the phone bill..." her mother half joked peaking out from the well still drying a plate.

"Mom I promise, once summer starts I'll start looking for jobs." She told her.

"I only joke, but I think a job would be good for you this summer." Her mother said, disappearing back into the kitchen.

Shark then turned her focus back to the tv to continue watching her program, when all of a sudden there was a knock at the door, making Franny scurry away.

"I'll get it." Shark said, getting up from her spot on the ground. She was still listening to the tv for the next question. As she turned the knob to open the door, she started to answer the question. "What is—" Her answer was cut off by her seeing a familiar face when she opened the door. "Squid!" She didn't even ask why he was there standing At her door, she was just happy to see him.

She then pulled him into a hug. "Hey shark." He said, hugging her back tightly.

"Come in!" She smiled, leading him into her house. "What are you doing here?" She finally asked him.

"I was just um, passing through the neighborhood and I thought I'd swing by.." he said.

Just then sharks mother came in to see who it was. "Hi.." her mother greeted, looking at squid. "Josie who's your friend?"

"Mom this is Alan, well, squid. He was my mentor at camp, remember how I told you about him in my letters?" She reminded her.

"Oh right, nice to meet you Alan." She said, reaching her hand out for him to shake and giving him a warm smile. He shook it back.

"Nice to meet you mis dalton." He told her. Shark wanted to giggle at squid being so formal.

"Oh please call me Lottie, mis dalton makes me feel old." She joked. Squid just gave her a small nod. "So what brings you by?" She asked him.

"Well um, I'm actually headed somewhere and I remember you said you lived around here. I figured between bus stops I'd come and say hi.." He explained to the two.

When he said he was 'going somewhere' shark immediately knew something was wrong. But she didn't exactly know how to address it. "It's kinda late squid. You sure you wanna be taking the bus?" Shark asked. She worried about his safety, especially with him being alone and it being so late.

Sharks mother could sense the worry In her daughter, so she stepped in. "Why don't you have something to eat before you go? We have plenty of left overs." Her mom offered.

"Oh no I couldn't.." squid denied politely, but her mother was insistent.

"No really, I insist." She told him, gesturing for the two to follow her into the kitchen.

Shark turned to squid. "Hope you like pesto pasta.." she said.

"Anything is better than what the hell they gave us at camp."

-

Squid and shark sat at the dinner table well squid dove in to the left over pasta, it seemed like he hadn't had a decent meal in weeks.

"So where are you going?" She asked him.

He took a moment to swallow before answering. "You know how I said I had family in Tennessee?" He recalled. Shark nodded remembering the conversation. "Well it turns out I have an uncle there. I'm gonna take a couple busses there and go and stay with him for a while." He explained, taking another bite of food.

"Squid, do you even know him?" Shark asked.

Squid shook his head. "No, but I mean, it can't be worse than living with my mom.." he said.

"Getting bad again?" She asked.

"Shark I can't stand it. I gotta get out of there." He said.

"Well...why don't.." she began but then stood up. "Hold on, gimme a minute." She then went over to her mother and Dave who were standing in the kitchen talking.

"Mom, dave..I think Alan should stay here for the night." She suggested to them.

Her mother let out a deep sigh. "Honey, I know you wanna help your friend. But the truth is we don't know him, and I'm not sure how comfortable i am having him here." her mother said.

Shark knew where she was coming from, but shark really cared for squid and wanted to make sure he would be safe for the night. "Mom he's not dangerous. He's one of the reasons I survived at camp. You know that he would stand outside the showers well I was in there to make sure no one would come in and mess with me?" She told her. "Mom please.." she pleaded with her.

Her mother turned to dave, looking for some sort of look of approval. "Okay fine, but we're gonna have to figure out a more permanent solution for him." Her mother compromised.

Shark smiled and pulled her mom into a hug. "Thank you mom." She thanked, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back to squid.

"So, I talked to my mom, and she said you could stay here for a little." She told him. "Until you figure things out."

"Really?" Squid almost seemed surprised. "Thanks shark, I really appreciate it." He said, getting up from the table and hugging her.

"No problem, the least I can do for my favorite mentor."

Yall I really hope you're catching on to where I'm going with this plot!

Also, if you have any plot/scenario suggestions, I'd love to hear them!