(A/N: It's vacation! And I'm sick again. So I've been up all night, and just this morning thought… "Why not get that third chapter of "Poor Baby" started?" And I started it. Then I finished it. So everyone enjoy reading… and review. Input is good.)

Disclaimer: Hm… Would I even think of disclaiming this if I owned it? Hm… I'd have to say… most likely not.

A bell went off and we were all herded into a barn for dinner, just like cows. It wasn't a barn; I was just trying to be funny. You get it right; cows, herded, barn? Uh, never mind then. You poor, poor city folk have no idea what I'm talking about. I remember what it was like two days ago to be living in the hustle and bustle, to choke on dirty air, always in a rush… It all seemed so far away. Alright, so I exaggerate, but I'm already living a different life, or so it seems.

The meal we were offered wasn't much either; cows wouldn't have to eat it. I was informed it was stewed beef, steamed vegetables, a slice of fresh bread, and a single serving of warm milk. It was stale, moldy, and unappetizing… and that was only the bread, the good part of the meal.

The only distinguishable thing between the vegetable and the meat was the color. The vegetables were a dark green, while the meat was pale brown. Both of the dishes were soupy and lumpy, and they gave off a strange, revolting smell. But at least they looked warm; fresh was another thing altogether. The milk was warm, and most of them were lumpy. It was probably a month old, but the expiration date was scratched out, most likely to avoid a huge commotion. The boys drank it down like it was cool, refreshing water from an oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert; I merely pushed it aside.

In all actuality, I pushed it all aside, suddenly not hungry. I thought if I ate it, I would probably barf.

"I don't know how you boys do it. If I eat any of this food, I may be sick," I told them. They had no problem keeping it down, in fact, they couldn't get enough. I almost gagged just thinking about them eating it. I almost gagged when I thought about me eating it.

"We all thought that our first few days; so we didn't eat any of it. But eventually, you get so hungry and weak, you have to eat it. It's no treat, but without it, you die," X-Ray told me from his seat at the head of the table. I was sandwiched between Magnet and Squid.

"But I am starving," I told them. "I still don't want to eat that."

"Going a day or two without food isn't starving," Zigzag said. "I almost went six days without any food at all. I lived off water. But, once I ate, I realized how much easier to dig it becomes."

"Yeah; no food, no energy," Magnet said.

"Thanks for the input Mr. Brain," I mumbled.

"What I meant was, if you eat, you'll have an easier first day," Magnet revised. Sometimes using more words clears things up a little better; the English language is just amazing.

"Fine," I said. "If I try this dinner, and I'm able to keep it all down, I'll eat it. But, if I barf or I'm sick, I don't have to eat."

"What's so great about that?" Squid asked. "You don't win or lose, and neither do we."

"Yeah, but if she doesn't eat, we get to scrap her shriveled up body off the lakebed," X-Ray said, laughing. Everyone laughed, but I rolled my eyes.

"I was getting to that! If you hadn't interrupted me, I would be eating by now," I said. "If I don't barf after cleaning off the tray, I answer one question from each of you. But if I do barf, you guys have to tell me something about yourselves, and it has to be interesting. And I'll be the one to decide if it's good enough."

"Deal, as long as I get your food if you don't eat it," Armpit said. I smiled and nodded. So, I ate one bite of the brown mashed with the green. There was no taste at all. So, I ate it all. The bread was easiest to eat. I had to eat stale bread at home all the time, when there was food to eat that is. There wasn't always food at home. I had to buy what I needed.

But then I got to the milk.

"Maybe I shouldn't even try to drink it," I said. I swished it in the carton and could hear lumps. I mean come on, I had already eaten it all, but this was threatening everything I had done. Eating rotten food at home was one thing, but sour milk was a total different thing.

"Well, you never did mention drinking anything," Zigzag pointed out in my defense.

"But it's on the tray. You sad you would clear off the entire tray," Squid pointed out.

"And milk helps build strong bones," Magnet said. I glared at him. We were silent. If the room had been empty, there would have been cricket noises. "What I meant was that-"

"That wasn't even remotely funny," I said, cutting him off. "Fine, I'll just answer your questions; I don't want to risk barfing."

"No; you either have to clear the tray or barf. Not finishing the meal wasn't an option in the bet," X-Ray said. I made puppy-dog eyes at him. But that didn't even faze him. Talk about a hardened criminal.

"Fine, I'll do it. But when I do barf- because there isn't even a question in my mind about barfing now- who is cleaning it up for me?" I asked sweetly. All of them looked repulsed. "What goes down will come up. Man, will barfing up that meal be raunchy or what?!" I picked up the milk, popped open the top, and raised it to my mouth, and was about to drink-

"No don't," they said, almost simultaneously. Squid hit the carton from my hand, knocking it on the ground.

"Ha, I was kidding!" I yelled. They all looked at me, totally dumbfounded. "That wasn't slightly old; I faked it all to see what you guys would do. I even started to convince myself that it was old, lumpy, and I would barf from drinking it. I'm too good. Man, you should have seen your faces." I reveled in my brilliance as they started to put everything together. I was smiling as I retrieved the spare milk from Armpit's tray across the table from me. "I had that planned from the start. Why would my carton of milk be lumpy when yours aren't sour?" I asked.

"It happens," Armpit said. "One carton of milk is forgotten, then found one day and given to some poor, unsuspecting camper. It can end badly." He was a melodramatic person at times I assume.

"But you swished it and there were the noises-"

"From empty spaces being filled by the sloshing milk," I said, cutting off Magnet. I began to laugh as I drank my new milk.

"You're a liar!" Zigzag said.

"A good liar," Armpit said as he tried to get the milk from my hands. I handed it back when I was finished with it.

"I'm also a thief and criminal among many other things. Boys, you have a lot to learn about me. But, that will be later. Right now, we're going back to the tent. You've all got some storytelling to do," I said. I took my tray and threw it away in the row of trashcans by the large doors.

As I left the Mess Hall, I knew I was going to get the respect I deserved. For once, my plans were going as I hoped they would. Let's just see how long this will last.

-Back at the Tent-

We were all sitting on out cots inside the small, smelly tent. Before the smell was enough to make me gag, but after that meal, I was all set. And the meal actually wasn't that bad. You probably think I'm a freak for saying that.

"Okay boys; the deal was that if I don't barf, you tell me a little something about yourselves. I decide if it's good enough to be considered an intriguing story," I told them. The silly boys fell for my trick; they were bound to have forgotten the actual deal. They didn't know that, I had switched it around a little. I was the one who was supposed to be answering the questions, not them. What they don't know won't hurt-

"But you were supposed to answer the questions," Zero said quickly. My jaw dropped in shock; everyone else had the same exact reaction. There were three reasons for that. One, Zero actually talked! Two, he actually remembered the deal, and realized I switched it! And three, Zero talked!

After the initial shock, I gritted my teeth.

"He's right; you ask the questions, I respond. Let the torture commence," I said. So my plan didn't work. I knew it was too good to be true; it always is. "I said go!" And obviously the geniuses don't know what the word commence means.

"Seeing as I'm the leader, I'll go first," X-Ray said. I rolled my eyes, and was surprised that no one else did when he said that. They must be used to it by now. He's got a Napoleon complex. "A'ight, what was your crime?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"So that's the best you can do? What a great leader you are X. Pathetic," I mumbled. X-Ray glared at me. "Okay, among many things, I was arrested for smoking, getting caught smoking on school ground with a lighter and carton of cigarettes, getting caught stealing a billion times, evading arrest, missing my court date, running away from home- even though that isn't really a punishable offense, that's on my record- having an alcoholic beverage on school grounds, and being in possession of alcohol when I was arrested," I said in one breath. "And that's only the tip of the iceberg," I added. Yeah, there were still a few things I didn't mention… and didn't plan to. "I'm sure you've all done worse, but that's fine. I'm not exactly proud of what I've done."

"Then why would you do it?" Squid asked.

"That's your one question," I told him with a smile.

"But that's not fair!" he protested. I rolled my eyes; I knew I'd be able to sucker a few of them into asking dumb questions like that. It was a lot easier than I expected. I quickly debated how to answer that one.

"My life… at home… it wasn't what you could call pretty. My parents sort of weren't totally- weren't at all- in the picture. And they drank and smoked so… I picked it up; more smoking than drinking. I stole to live; they didn't work and we had no money. I really only… I wanted them to notice me for once," I explained. "And once again, I only touched the tip of the iceberg," I said. There's so much more about me they wouldn't understand. They didn't have to deal with that sort of stuff. They weren't in my shoes. "Any more questions for me?" I asked, hoping there were none.

"What would you do if your best friend was here?" Zigzag asked. These were dumb boys! How were they coming up with these questions? These were kind of deep and I definitely wasn't expecting anything like this.

"I don't have any friends. People usually avoided me simply because of the fact I got in trouble a lot. They were warned. Everyone knew about my parents and how they abu- drank and were deadbeats. That sort of thing," I said. I had almost slipped back there. I don't think any of them noticed.

"Were you in a gang?" Magnet asked with a smile.

"What the hell kind of question is that?!" I asked. I was angry with that one. "That's like asking if I sleep around just because I drink and smoke! It's stereotyping. That'd be like me asking you if your entire family swam to the United States in a fucking raft! You don't say something like that!" I yelled.

"I didn't mean it like that?" Magnet said. His tone wasn't so convincing. Maybe he didn't mean it, but it could be inferred; he couldn't read between the lines. I covered my face with my pillow to avoid further humiliation as I cursed Magnet out.

"I wasn't in a gang," I told them finally when I calmed down. "I don't trust people enough to have them watching my back or work together. If you even think of saying something about someone in the gang, you're either dead or wishing you were dead. A gang, a friendship, or anything else like that, you need to have trust in each other. The whole thing works on trust and dependability. I can't… I can't do that."

"What's you favorite food?" I'm sure you can guess who asked that one. Yeah, it was Zero. Only kidding; Armpit was the one who asked that.

"Uh, shrimp scampi I guess," I told them.

"I thought you were poor. How can you afford that sort of thing? It's pretty expensive; all seafood is up there in prices," Squid said. "Trust me I know that from experience."

"Uh, you asked your question before," I told him. He glared. "Of course, you could ask Zero to ask me that same question. Then I might just answer it. But Zero might not want to waste his question on something so dumb."

"Same question," Zero said. I frowned. I had hoped to make Squid suffer. Silly Zero obviously couldn't read my mind.

"I've got my connections," I told them. They looked like they wanted a better explanation. "I live down the street from a cheap little restaurant. They do Italian and seafood mostly. The owner needed to get some dirt- a few files- from this place about one of his workers. But they kept everything under tight security. So I did it for him, and he gave me free food. I did it about seven times, so I tried a lot of the food there."

"If he couldn't get a professional thief to do the job, then how could you do it?" Zigzag asked. "Did you get caught?" I knew he asked a dumb question already, but they were all wondering they same thing. And I hadn't mentioned this one in my criminal record, so there was a possibility I was caught.

"They still haven't caught the person who stole those files for him, so if you ever want to get me in trouble with the law, there you go. And who would ever suspect an innocent little girl of criminal activity? All I was doing was writing a report about the workings of a town hall?" I told them with a smile. I have a feeling that story would earn some trust from them, not that I trusted them.

"So you ate shrimp scampi?" Magnet asked.

"That's enough questions. And that is all you boys are going to find out about me tonight. I'll talk to all of you in the morning.

(A/N 2: Do you like or hate it? Input welcomed. How is my grammar and spelling? I'm not really awake and I'm sick, so it might be a little off. Tell me.)

Running.