The 'wreck' room was normally packed, but it never had every single boy from the camp in it. It was weird. What was even weirder was that no one was playing any games or watching television. They were all just sitting around. Not talking. Every once in awhile there would be whispering.

"I wonder what's going on?"

"Why did they make us come in here?"

"How long will we be in here?"

"I'm hungry."

Squid, X-Ray, and Armpit gave me a look while Magnet nodded in agreement. I was sitting between Squid and X-Ray on the couch with Squid's arm around my shoulders. Armpit was sitting with Magnet at a table near us, and Zigzag was sitting on the other side of X-Ray staring into space. Oh, yeah, and our newest D-Tent member was chatting it up with some other boy about Corvettes.

Even though some of the delinquents were sitting on couches and chairs, there were a lot more on the ground. We've been sitting in the 'wreck' room for quite a long time now. All of us were starting to get fidgety.

"Hey, I thought of something!" Magnet said in an excited whisper. "We can play Truth and Dare!"

"I told you," I said, "it's Truth or Dare! And I dare you to go sit on The Lump's lap."

"We haven't started yet," he protested holding up a hand. "I go first since I thought of it."

"Then I'm not playing." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Don't be a stubborn brat," Squid said.

"I'm not!" I replied...stubbornly. He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," Magnet said. "Hurry up and go."

"I already gave you the dare."

"I didn't pick Dare!"

"I'm making you pick Dare!"

"Yo, will you two lower your voices?" X-Ray said.

We both glanced at X-Ray before turning back to each other. "Do you want me to get killed?" Magnet asked in a whisper.

I shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe."

"Go do it so we can get this game rolling," Armpit said.

Magnet sighed and nervously stood up. He spotted The Lump in his usual recliner chair. Magnet made his way slowly toward him. When he reached him he stood there for a moment, looking worriedly between The Lump and us.

Noticing him standing there, looking like a goober, The Lump eyed him. "What you looking at, huh?"

Magnet rubbed the back of his neck. "Por favor, no me maten."

"Wha-?" As The Lump was about to ask what he just said in Spanish, Magnet went to jump onto his lap. It didn't work out too well. Before he could even sit all the way, The Lump had him by his collar and stood up from his seat, jerking poor Magnet with him. "I'm gonna kill you!" Boys that were sitting on the floor around that area scattered.

"Ayúdame!" Magnet shouted as he tried to run away. "Ayúdame!"

"What's going on in here?" A counselor stepped into the room and gave us all the evil eye. He spotted The Lump holding onto a frightened Magnet. "What're you two doing? Let the boy go."

The Lump gave Magnet a hard push away. "Stay away from me, freak." He continued to glower at Magnet's retreating figure and sat back down.

"Happy now?" Magnet said to me with a frown. He had to sit on the floor since a boy from a different tent took his chair.

"No," I said, trying to keep the smile away from my face. "You didn't even sit on him." He threw his hands up and started to mumble angrily in Spanish.

"Shut your mouth, fool. It's your turn."

With Armpit's reminder, a sly grin slid on Magnet's face. "Fuse, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

He let out a frustrated groan. "You can't pick Truth!"

I raised my eyebrows. "I think I just did."

"Well, I'm making you pick Dare!"

"Don't make me kick you."

"Quit arguing and ask her something," Squid said.

"Fine," Magnet sighed. "Do you and Squid have a thing going on?"

Both, Squid and I, rolled our eyes and answered. "Obviously." We looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Squid, Truth or Dare?" I asked.

"Dare, of course," he replied cockily.

I swatted his hand. "I dare you to..." I stopped to think for a of couple seconds. Looking around, I noticed there weren't any counselors in here. "I dare you to go outside and find out what's going on." It wasn't that great of a dare but I wanted to know why we were stuck in here, and I didn't want to be the one who got caught and get yelled at.

Sighing, Squid removed his arm from around my neck and stood up. He maneuvered his way through the group of boys scattered out on the floor. We all watched him as he opened the screen door and stepped outside. Not two seconds had passed before he swung the door back open shouting, "They're alive!"

All of D-Tent exchanged glances before we rose from our seats and hurriedly made our way to the door. When I spotted Stanley and Zero, relief flooded through me, as I was sure it did with the boys. We greeted them with big smiles and told them we thought they were goners. I hugged Stanley and noticed how strongly he smelled of onions. I know what they've been living off of, I thought briefly.

The next moments passed quickly. Basically Camp Green Lake was going to be closed for awhile as they did an investigation. I was happy for that, but I was still hung on the fact that Mr. Sir's name was Marian. And the fact that Dr. P wasn't really a doctor. And the fact that Stanley and Zero had found a treasure chest full of golden treasure. And the fact that it had STANLEY YELNATS engraved on it. And also the fact that it started to rain.

Everyone, including the boys from the other tents, ran out into the rain, dancing and shouting with joy. It felt so good as I stood there, looking up at the sky with my arms spread. A few D-Tenters ran by me, giving me quick hugs and thumps on the back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stanley and Zero get into a car. We waved at them as they drove off.

"Alright, boys, listen up!" shouted the man who called for an investigation. "Until we figure out what to do, we're going to schedule buses to come tomorrow morning to pick everyone up. They're going to take you home and..." The rest of his sentence was drowned out as all of us cheered and pumped our fists in the air. He let out a piercing whistle that quieted us down. He still had to shout though because of the pouring rain. "Pack up all your stuff tonight and be ready to leave early tomorrow. There'll be three buses, each with a list of names of who's going on that bus." He turned to the officer next to him and gestured to the warden, Dr., well, Mr. P, and Mr. Sir. He motioned for them to stand up and follow him into Mr. Sir's office.

All of us stayed out in the rain, talking and laughing. It was a strange sight; you wouldn't think a huge group of delinquents would be enjoying themselves, but this was probably the happiest they've been in months.

D-Tent regrouped and we all exchanged smiles. "Guys, we're leaving this place!" I exclaimed jumping up and down like a kid at Christmas. If it had been Christmas, this would've been the best gift of them all.

"This is the best day of my life," X-Ray said glancing up at the dark gray clouds.

"You mean the second best day," Magnet chuckled.

Zigzag nodded. "Tomorrow will be the best day."

My smile got bigger when Squid wrapped an arm around me, kissing me on the cheek before moving to my mouth.

That night, we were still in high spirits. Packing was fast since we didn't have a lot with us in the first place. After that we all exchanged contact information; I had to give them Stanley's since he'd left already.

"Well, I'm gonna lay down and try to get some sleep," X-Ray announced while getting on his cot and taking his glasses off. "I'm ready for tomorrow to be here."

"Same here, dawg," Armpit said and followed X-Ray's example. Soon all the boys were getting into their cots.

When Squid was getting ready to climb into his, I put my hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Can you come with me for a minute?" I asked. He nodded, so I grabbed my guitar and led him out of the tent.

For the first time here, we didn't see millions of stars in the darkened sky like we normally did. Clouds were blocking them, sending tiny raindrops down. With the sun down, the air was cool, making the water droplets on my skin cold. I sure wasn't going to complain, though.

I glanced inside a hole before sitting on the edge of it with the guitar in my lap. After Squid sat down we stayed silent for a while. Who knows what was going through Squid's head? I wasn't really thinking of anything, just relaxing and feeling the rain.

"So did you write my song?"

I smiled a bit. "Yes, I did."

He nodded and looked at me. "Is it any good?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Putting my fingers on the right strings, I began to play.

"Well, I've heard those city singers singin' bout how they can love.

Deeper than the oceans, higher than the stars above.

Well, I come from the country and I know I ain't seen it all,

But I heard that ocean's salty and the stars they sometimes fall.

And that would not do justice to the way I feel for you,

So I had to sing a song about all the things I knew."

After I finished singing to him, Squid told me he loved it. I grinned and muttered a thanks. Mentioning we should probably get to bed, I stood up and made to walk back to the tent, but Squid grabbed my elbow and turned me around to face him. We looked into each others' eyes for a couple of seconds.

"I love you," he told me. "Forever and always." Then he kissed me.

"My love is deeper than the holler.

Stronger than the river.

Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill.

My love is purer than the snowflakes that fall in late December.

And honest as a robin on a springtime window sill.

And longer than the song of a whippoorwill."

Camp Green Lake's alarm woke everyone up the next morning, making me think that it had all been a dream, but once I saw the buses parked outside I knew it wasn't. D-Tent, along with the other campers, gathered around a few adults who held clipboards in their hands. We found out that Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, and myself would be on a different bus than the rest of D-Tent. We didn't mind, but after we put our bags on the bus assigned to us, we swapped hugs and good-byes. Of course, I had to give Lisp a hug good-bye, too.

"From the backroads to the broadway shows

With a million miles between,

There's at least a million love songs that people love to sing.

And every one is different.

And every one's the same.

And this is just another way of sayin' the same thing."

Squid and I sat beside each other on the bus with Zigzag and Magnet behind us. After a couple of hours and dropping a few boys off, I started to recognize buildings and realized I would be getting off before them. I said in a half-serious, half-joking tone that they better not forget to call me. Squid said I didn't have to worry.

"My love is deeper than the holler.

Stronger than the river.

Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill.

My love is purer than the snowflakes that fall in late December.

And honest as a robin on a springtime window sill.

And longer than the song of a whippoorwill."

When they called my name, I kissed Squid and waved bye to Zigzag and Magnet. I grabbed my bag and guitar case and stepped off the bus onto the curb. My eyes stared after the bus as it drove off and disappeared around the corner. Taking a deep breath I turned around, finding a very familiar neighborhood looking back at me. Knowing that I would be getting a phone call later in the day, I grinned and took my first step toward home.

"My love is deeper than the holler.

Stronger than the river.

Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill.

My love is purer than the snowflakes that fall in late December.

And honest as a robin on a springtime window sill.

And longer than the song of a whippoorwill.

A whippoorwill."

*FINISHED*