Dig It Up *A 'Holes' Fanfiction*

An Old Friend

Chapter 16

Strangely there weren't many boys inside. I walked straight over to the television set and found the plug that Squid was talking about. I put my charger in and attached my iPod. It instantly came back to life. Then I hid it underneath the television and relaxed on the torn up couch. Boys entered and left all giving me weird glances, I just stared at the ceiling. Half an hour went past and I checked on the iPod. It was almost done. Good enough. I unplugged it and stuffed it and it's charger into my pocket. As I walked outside I was greeted with the sound of a grumbling engine. I looked down the lane of cabins to see a familiar yellow school bus. I stopped and gazed at it. The boys were all outside waiting for it to stop, which explains why so few were inside. The girl is here!

"Fresh meat!" X-Ray called, his eyes following the old yellow school bus that was about to arrive at Camp Hell... I mean Camp Green Lake. As it parked, I caught a glimpse of blonde hair through the filthy windows then a turquoise and blue checked long-sleeved top. I felt sorry for her because she was going to be very hot but I recognized the pattern. Where have I seen that? "Dude, it's a chick!" X-Ray yelled, which caused even more yells across the desert to occur.

"I know, it's exciting, isn't it? I'm not the only girl anymore!" I shouted at him as I entered D-Tent. I laughed a little and sat on my bed as I plugged into my iPod. It was getting dark outside, but the boys came in eventually. "Did you see her?" I asked.

"Yeah we saw a glimpse of her, but she looked sick. You know really pale... like a vampire!" Magnet said as he turned to Zigzag and made a scary face. Zig flinched and looked away, his paranoia kicking in. He came and sat next to me. I patted his back.

"Does this mean that she's gonna come in here at night and suck all our blood out?" He stuttered. The boys laughed, but I didn't.

"No, no she's not a vampire so you don't have to worry," that seemed to calm him down, "What does she look like? Besides the paleness?" I asked.

"We didn't really see her face...but she has blonde hair, about the same length as yours but really straight." Zigzag said.

"I saw blue eyes!" exclaimed Squid. I have to admit when I heard that I was a little jealous. All of a sudden a new girl comes and they all just forget about me. I sighed and thought of that night when Squid comforted me. Will he just do that to this new girl too? Just as I finished my little thought about Squid the dinner bell rung. The girl still didn't show up, she was probably in a different tent anyways. I trudged past the boys and entered the Mess Hall. Instead of the deathly silence that usually greeted me the noise kept going. They have gotten over me! That made me kinda depressed. Usually I was never the centre of attention and now I was here and I was the main event. Not anymore. Now all I could hear was the boys' different observations of the new girl although when I scanned the tables for long blonde hair, she wasn't there. I sighed deeply and walked over to the lunch line behind Squid. Mr. Sir was behind the counter arguing with one of the cooks about onion soup. As Squid and I pushed out trays along the counter, Mr. Sir leaned over the soup bowl and was about to take a sip of the brown liquid. Unhygienic much! I thought.That's when Squid said something bad...

"Whoa, what happened to your face?" Squid leaned in close to Mr. Sir's frozen face and observed three long gashes going up his cheekbone. They were red and swollen with puss around the edges. I noticed them too, but I didn't want to point it out. Mr. Sir got pissed. He dropped the soup spoon back into the pot and reached over to Squid. He grabbed his collar with both hands and lifted him off the ground. His eyes were wild and crazy. Squid looked frightened. The room went silent.

"Something the matter with my face? Huh?" he growled.

"No! N-No Mr. Sir!" Squid said.

"You got that right..." muttered Mr. Sir as he flung Squid across the floor. The tray Squid was holding flipped through the air and spilt mush everywhere. Squid landed in a heap beside one of the tables. He held his hands up in defense as Mr. Sir walked out from behind the counter, his eyes flashing with fear. "Anybody seen anything wrong with my face? Huh? I think I'm quite pretty don't you?" he screeched with rage.

"Yes Mr. Sir." The boys and I replied. Mr. Sir then stormed out of the Mess Hall.

"Clean this up." He said as he left. As soon as he was gone, I rushed over to Squid. He was holding a hand to his head. The loud chatter continued.

"Are you hurt?" I whispered to him.

"Nah, nah I-I'm fine..." He reassured me. I moved his hand from his head and brushed my fingers slowly through his hair. When I examined them they were slightly covered in sticky red streaks.

"That ain't fine. You must'a hit your head on the table or something." I said to him. But he just grunted and tried to get up. His legs gave way under him and he stumbled back to the ground. I grabbed his arm and hoisted him up. When he was standing, he steadied himself and walked over to the trays and took another one. I walked back over to my tray and continued down the counter. Just as I turned around to walk towards the D-Tent table, I felt a kiss planted on my cheek. I stopped in my tracks.

"Thanks..." whispered Squid as he walked ahead of me. No one in the room noticed what just happened. I blushed and continued walking. I sat down in my usual spot and was joined into the talk about the mysterious girl.

"I wonder why she's so pale. I mean, this is Texas right? Everyone in Texas has a tan!" stated X-Ray.

"Maybe she is a vampire..." said Zigzag as he shuddered.

"No she can't be, or else she would have exploded in the sunlight like in the movies." I mentioned.

"Yeah true..." said Armpit with a mouthful of bread. The others agreed. The rest of the conversation was lost in description of the new girl. All the while I thought of what touched my cheek. Does he like me? No...don't be stupid Kat, it was just a thank you present...god that sounds bad... My conscience told me. But still, could he? I glanced up at Squid. He was laughing at some joke Magnet made that I didn't get because I was still mixed in my thoughts. Suddenly they all got up to leave. I followed still drowned in thought. Don't get ahead of yourself, you could be entirely wrong! But what if he asks you out...of course you're gonna say yes! But it probably won't happen anyways. But what if he does? Will you tell him about what happened with Magnet? No...it would destroy him. That's if we were going out. But we won't be so that won't be a problem. I think. I was confusing myself. I followed the boys into our tent, almost tripping over the edge of Zigzag's bed. I hopped onto mine and unravelled my headphones from my iPod. I tuned out from the discussions of the boys to my overpowering thoughts as rock beats drummed in my ears. I started to mouth the words to 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. I didn't notice who came into our tent. Squid tapped me on the shoulder and I turned over facing the separate bed pulling the headphones out and stuffing them under my pillow. When I was truly satisfied that the iPod was out of site, I swivelled around to face...Pendanski.

"Rex, Alan, Theodore, Ricky, Jose, Stanley, Zero and Kathlyn, you must have seen earlier this evening a new member has joined Camp Green Lake. You will treat her with respect, just like you treat Kathlyn. Is that clear boys... and girl?" We nodded.

"Mom, how many times do we have to tell you? It's X-Ray, Squid, Armpit, Zigzag, Magnet, Caveman and Ember." X-Ray said.

"Well, jeez!" Mr. Pendanski threw his hands in the air. "All I ever do is make sure everyone gets along alright and you always ruin it! Just make sure she gets in fine, Kathlyn I'm putting you in charge of her. She's all the way from England you know!" That caught me by surprise. Okay straight blonde hair, blue eyes, that familiar checked shirt and also from England! This can't be...she can't be...can she? "Her name is Charlotte Akerman; help her get sorted for tomorrow. Well, see you all!" The boys snickered and he left, glaring at us all. I was in shock. A tall blonde girl in the checked shirt stepped in, she smiled nervously at the boys as she held a small bag in front of her. Her gazed fixed on me and her eyes widened. I stood up and ran towards her jumping over Squid's bed. The guys were confused as I gave her a hug. She hugged back, but then shoved me off. I defiantly know this person. I wasn't confused, I knew this girl, and she knew me! This was unreal.

"Charlie!"

"Kat?"