June 1969

"Here you are sweetheart." The old lady behind the concession stand handed me a paper bag full of fresh, hot doughnut bits.

"Yum! Thanks Mrs Giovenelli!" I turned with a wave and headed toward the end of the pier. Summer break had started a week ago and I was loving the freedom.

It was 4:30pm and all the attraction lights were beginning to flicker into life. Stopping to take a look at the carnival posters, I popped a doughnut bit into my mouth.

"Ow, ow! Too hot, too hot!" I gasped and fanned my mouth before managing to swallow. I sucked in a breath of cool air. My throat felt like it was burnt. I heard someone laugh and turned around to glare at them. It was Stanley Pines. When he realised I was glaring at him, he ducked behind a nearby stall. I noticed Stanley's twin brother Stanford not too far away. He was also looking for Stanley.

"Stanley? Where'd you go? Are you hiding from Carla again?" Stanford was suddenly jerked to the side as Stanley reached out and dragged him behind the stall too. There was a clatter as Stanford's glass fell off. Stepping forward with a slight smile, I picked up the glasses and was going to hand them back when another voice called out to me.

"There you are Carla!" Did you know that dummy and the six-fingered freak are staring at you again? Isn't it pathetic?"

It was Cathy Crenshaw, the most popular girl at school and the biggest bully. She was surrounded by several other friends from high school. I glanced over at Stanley and Stanford. Stanley had gone red and was holding his brother's arm as Stanford struggled to see without his glasses. Cathy sniggered.

"Maybe the dummy was finally going to ask you on a date Carla?"

I felt my cheeks flush. It was no secret that Stanley Pines had a crush on me. Cathy had made it public and reminded me whenever she could. I was just glad she didn't know about my crush on him.

Cathy laughed and everyone else joined in with her. She eventually noticed the glasses I was holding in my hand.

"Oh look? You have the freak's glasses. Here. Give them to me. I'll hand them back." She smirked. I bit my lip and glanced over at the Pines twins. Stanley met my eyes and shot me a pleading look. My grip tightened around the glasses as I took a deep breath. I hoped what I was going to do was worth it.

"No." I whispered. Cathy narrowed her eyes at me.

"What did you say?" She asked dangerously. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

"I said no. You won't give them back to him. You'd probably toss them into the ocean." I walked over to Stanford and gently pushed his glasses into his hand. As he rushed to put them back on, I squared myself in front of the twins and faced Cathy.

"What do you know... little Carla is a freak sympathiser." She jibed. A few of the others joined in.

"Freak lover!"

"She fits in since she's so small."

"Weirdos!"

Something in me snapped.

"Hold these." I ordered, handing Stanley the paper bag I was still holding. Stanley took it in shock. I stomped over to Cathy and planted myself in front of her, hands on my hips.

"You listen to me, you're a bully and no one has the guts to tell you. Well I will. You are the biggest bully there is Cathy Crenshaw and I won't stand for it anymore. So what if Stanford has 12 fingers? What does it matter? He's smarter than all of you combined! And he's a fantastic artist. I've seen your drawings Rori," I pointed to one of the other girls, "six fingers still wouldn't be enough to help you! And as for Stanley, just because he's not as smart as his brother doesn't mean he's stupid! And I bet you 20 bucks none of the boys at school could beat him in the boxing ring!" Silence fell as I stood there, panting slightly to get my breath back. They all glared at me but no one had a reply.

Until Cathy recovered.

"Wow Carla, it takes real guts to make yourself as unpopular as those two," she pointed at the twins, "but maybe now they will have a friend who's human. And maybe the dummy will get that date after all."

"Go away and leave us alone Cathy. I'm done pretending to like you."I said evenly, still staring her in the face. Cathy bristled and gave me an ugly look.

"Have fun being a social outcast." She spat at me before turning and leaving. After a few moments of stunned silence, the rest of the group followed her.

A hand tentatively tapped my arm. It was Stanley.

"Thanks for sticking up for us Carla, but you didn't have to do that... Me and Ford, we're kinda used to that you know..." he trailed off, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. I smiled and gave his shoulder a playful punch.

"Are you kidding? I've hated Cathy's guts since I met her and you two don't deserve all the crap you get. Besides, I think I might have gone too far now... So when school goes back, you two might be the only friends I have."

"F-f-friends?!" Stanley stuttered, Ford looking at me in shock. My smile faded.

"I'm sorry. It's just that we've been going to school together since we were little... I figured now might be the time to actually get to know each other." I bit my lip anxiously. "If you don't want to..."

An unfamiliar silence settled between us. Stanley scuffed his shoes together and Ford cleared his throat.

"Hi. I'm Stanford Pines. I have 12 fingers. This is my twin brother Stanley. He's not that bright but he's an excellent boxer. Oh, he also had a pet possum named Shanklin." Ford offered his hand to me with a shy smile.

"Ford!" Stanley hissed, going red again. I started to giggle and grabbed Ford's hand.

"Hi there. My name's Carla McCorkle. I'm unusually short and love to dance." I offered my other hand to Stanley. "And I think Shanklin is a fantastic name for a pet possum." Stanley grinned and took my hand in his. We did a three-way shake.

"So, friends?" I asked as we let go. Stanley and Ford looked at each other.

"Friends." They said in unison.

"That's creepy... But awesome!" I grinned. Looking between the two boys, I saw Stanley was still holding my food. Stanley noticed and quickly held the bag out to me.

"Thanks." I took it back and glanced at them again. Everyone knew that their father was pretty stingy with his money and that the boys didn't get any sort of allowance... Opening the bag, I held it out to them.

"You wanna share?" I asked. The boys looked dumbstruck.

"We couldn't... they're yours..." Ford muttered. I shook the bag a little.

"Exactly. Which means I can do what I want with them, and I want to share them with my friends. So go on. Dig in." I encouraged. The twins glanced at each other again and tentatively reached in and took a couple of pieces each. Taking a few for myself, I nodded toward the end of the pier and soon all three of us were ambling along in contented silence, passing the bag between us.

Stanley crumpled the bag up and tossed it into a trashcan.

"So what do you guys normally do around here?" I asked, hopping up on the pier's hand rail. Ford shrugged.

"Stay out of trouble... thought that gets kinda hard with Stanley around."

"Hey!" Stanley cried out indignantly. "I only start fights I know I can finish."

"You also start fights just because you can." Ford retorted. I giggled at the exchange. Both boys looked at me in surprise.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, drumming my heels against the railing. "It's just you two are funny that's all. In a good way." I added, seeing the strange look on their faces. "I'd give anything to have a twin sister or even just a brother." I sighed. "It sucks to be an only child."

Stanley leaned up against the railing next to me.

"Is that why you were out here by yourself tonight?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, my dad had a couple of heavy weights coming in for training tonight. So he gave me five bucks and told me to amuse myself until 7."

"That's kinda rough." Stanley said quietly.

"Nah, it's fine. I don't mind it. Besides, if I hadn't been here, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So I consider it a good thing!" I smiled. Ford smiled at me.

"Is that how you knew Stan is such a good boxer? Have you seen him at your dad's gym?" he asked.

"Yeah. I normally help out with cleaning when I'm not doing homework or training myself." I admitted. Stanley looked at me in surprise.

"You box?"

I laughed at his surprise.

"Yeah... dad always wanted someone he could teach to box and as the only child, I was it."

"But- but you're so small..." Stanley was clearly at a loss. Ford groaned and covered his eyes with his hand. I hopped down and squared off in front of Stanley.

"Oh yeah? Wanna try me big guy?" I jibed, curling my hands into fists. "Don't let my size fool you. I will fell you like a tree." I swung a light punch which Stanley deflected easily but missed the second punch that jabbed him in the side. Stanley looked shocked but recovered when he saw my grin.

"Ahahaha!"

Stanley and I turned to see Ford struggling to keep his laughter in.

"All those times you teased me for being an inch shorter than you..." Ford gasped for air. "And I bet Carla could knock you flat... and she's smaller than I am!" He collapsed into giggles and I couldn't help but join in. Stanley watched on in amusement as Ford and I slowly stopped laughing.

"Alright, you two... I get it. I'm a big dumb idiot." Stanley said . I wiped my eyes and shook my head.

"You're not an idiot Stanley." I reassured. "Just big." I grinned and gestured to myself. "But then again, anyone is big compared to me!" I spun on the spot, making both boys smile.

"How short are you anyways?" Ford asked.

"Five foot 3!" I announced cheerfully. Stanley gave a low whistle and nudged me softly.

Tiny but deadly right?" he teased. I stopped and stared at him seriously.

"You have no idea." I said in a low tone without blinking. Stanley looked a little unsure and I winked at him. A slow grin spread over his face.

He really is quite handsome I thought to myself. Feeling my cheeks heat up again, I turned to look at the horizon. The sun was finally starting to set.

"So what shall we do with the last remaining hour of light?" I asked out loud.

"We could go to the House of Mirrors." Ford suggested.

"Or the penny arcade." Stanley joined me at the railing.

"What about the Ferris wheel?" I asked. Stanley shook his head violently.

"Oh no. Not that thing!"

"Stanley has a fear of heights." Ford explained, standing on the other side of me.

"I don't fear anything." Stanley tried to bluff.

"So why don't you look down then?" Ford quipped. Stanley gritted his teeth and forced himself to look down off the pier. After a second, he snapped his head up and backed away a couple of paces.

"See? Not scared." He protested.

"You're shaking." Ford pointed out. I gave Stanley a smile.

"No Ferris wheel then... House of Mirrors sounds fun though."

"Eh... I can't go back in there for a while..." Stanley admitted sheepishly. "I broke a mirror... or two... or five..." I suppressed the urge to laugh while Ford just shook his head.

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that." He muttered. Clicking his fingers, Ford grinned triumphantly. "What about the boat?" he suggested.

"Boat?" I looked between them curiously. Stanley chewed his lip.

"You really wanna to show her Sixer?"

"Sixer?" I was thoroughly confused.

Ford pointed at his hand helpfully.

"Oooohhh. I get it. That's a cool nickname." I said. Ford smiled widely.

"That does it. We're showing her the boat." He said.

"Come on Carla. This is gonna be awesome."Stanley grabbed my wrist and all three of us ran back towards the beginning of the pier.

xxxx

"Can I see where we are yet?" I asked, stumbling over a rock.

"Nope. We gotta make sure you don't know where our secret hide out is." Stanley replied from behind me, his hands still over my eyes.

"Stanley, I can still hear the boardwalk. I doubt it's that secret." I said sceptically. Ford chuckled and reached for my hand.

"Let go of her Stan, I think she's got a point."

"Spoilsport." Stanley mumbled and uncovered my eyes. Blinking rapidly, I noticed we were close to the Barrens.

"Oh hey! I haven't been down here in ages. My grandma always scared me with stories about the Jersey Dev-" I stopped short, spotting an almost complete boat nearby. "Is that it?" I asked.

"Yup, we found it years ago." Stanley said.

"Cool."

"What are we waiting for then?" Ford crowed. With a laugh and shout from Stanley we all charged down through the sand and scrambled onto the boat. Flopping onto my back on the deck, I grinned happily.

"This is way better than the House of Mirrors." I sighed.

The boys got comfortable themselves. Ford sat with his back against the mast and Stanley sat next to me, propped up against the railing. We sat in silence for a while. Eventually I sat up and scooted closer to Ford. Meeting his eyes shyly, I twisted my fingers together.

"Hey Ford... don't take this the wrong way or anything, but could I see your hands?"

Ford reddened and looked over at Stanley who shrugged.

"You better let her Sixer. We both know she could just beat you into showing her."

Ford nodded and nervously held his hands out to me, spreading his fingers. Getting up on my knees, I was amazed by Ford's hands.

While I had caught glimpse of them over the years, it was fascinating to see them up close. Reaching up, I hesitated before looking at Ford who nodded. Cradling one of his hands in mine, I gently touched each fingertip, lingering on the extra little finger. They were perfectly normal hands... or as normal as they could be with six fingers. But each finger was a proper finger. Not the mutated stumps the kids at school had whispered about. I immediately felt guilty for ever having believed them, or worse, laughing at the jokes they had made.

"They're amazing." I breathed. "What's it like having 6 fingers?" I asked. Ford laughed nervously.

"I don't know... what's it like having five fingers?" There was an awkward pause. I heard Stanley shift behind me and saw the look of anxiety on Ford's face.

I realised how dumb my question had been and started laughing.

"I'm sorry Ford. My question was stupid." I shook my head and gave him a smile. "I think six fingers are better than five, no matter what anyone says." Ford looked gratefully at me and I sat back down. Stanley relaxed as well and I realised just how protective he was of his brother.

"So do you guys just come out here and hide?" I asked. Stan shook his head.

"We're trying to make her sea worthy again. We've already named her." He said with a grin. "The Stan'O War! Whaddya think?" he gave me a sidelong glance. I mused it over.

"Stan'O War... I think it's brilliant."

"Why are you being so nice to us Carla?" Ford suddenly asked. I stared at him in shock. I hadn't really thought about it myself. I was just so sick of Cathy putting them down when they didn't deserve it. I shrugged.

"Because I've seen you two almost every day since we were 6 and yet I didn't really know you? Because I got sick of pretending to dislike you guys when I didn't know you? Because Cathy just irritates me and I wanted her to look like stupid? Because high school is a crappy place where we pretend that there's some sort of stupid status quo? Because you guys are really nice and I've wanted to get to know you guys for years? Because... because..." I pulled a face. "I think I've ran out of reasons..."

Stanley began to shake. I looked across in concern but found he was laughing.

"Carla McCorkle, I think you're brilliant!" He managed to get out. I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach and smiled. Ford climbed down and sat with us.

"I have to agree. No one else has ever been brave enough to do that for us. We know we're the laughing stock of high school and no one really wants to be friends with us..."

I reached across and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't say that. I wanted to be friends with you guys. I just didn't want others to laugh at me. But you know what?" I placed a hand on Stanley's still shaking shoulder. "I really don't care about that anymore."

Both boys looked at me with genuine smiles. I smiled back and caught sight of the sun starting to sink below the horizon.

"Oh no! I should get home!" I cried out. "Dad doesn't like me out after dark for long."

"Hey, hey. We'll walk you home right Sixer?" Stanley asked his brother. Ford nodded.

"Of course. We can't let you walk back alone."

Thanks guys... but I don't want you to get in trouble..." I trailed off. Stanley hopped off the boat and held his hand out for me.

"Ah don't worry about us. As long as we're together, nothing can go wrong." He gestured at me, indicating for me to take his hand. I smiled and hopped down myself, landing next to him with a cocky grin. Ford let out a burst of laughter and stumbled as he hit the ground. Stanley immediately offered his hand to Ford and brushed him off. We set off back up the beach as the light began to fade. By the time we had reached the boardwalk, the dark was truly setting in.

"Hey Ford, you wanna get home and let the folks know I'm walking Carla home?" Stanley suggested. Ford looked taken back but recovered quickly.

"Uh, sure Stan. But be quick about it. I don't think pa will be that understanding." He said as he hurried away down the street.

"So which way are we heading Carla?" Stanley asked, turning back to me. I gave him a look.

"Stanley, you know I live next to the gym... and I know you know where that is."

Stanley looked away, clearly embarrassed.

"Ah, yeah. That's right... oh geez."

I touched his arm lightly as we began walking

"Don't get so flustered. It's fine you know." I reassured.

"What is? What do you mean?" Stanley rushed out, looking terrified.

"That you've got a crush on me." I admitted softly. Stanley deflated slightly and looked miserable.

"I guess it's pointless to deny it huh?" he asked as we approached my street. I made a noncommittal gesture. Stanley groaned.

"Look, I don't want you to stop talking to Ford, I think he really enjoyed having you around... You don't have to worry about me hitting on you or anything." He all but begged. I stopped and stared at him.

"Stanley..." I reached out and stopped him. "I don't mind that you have a crush on me."

Stanley looked shell shocked.

"But you're popular... and I'm, well I'm Stan Pines... And people would say nasty things and..." He struggled to speak clearly. I held up my hand.

"After tonight, I think people are going to say nasty things about me anyway. Cathy will see to that." I took a deep breath. "And as for having a crush on me, well, you know..." I blushed, glad that it was dark. Stanley stayed quiet, waiting. I sighed.

"You're not a bad-looking guy Stanley, and you're sweet." I babbled, just trying to fill the silence. Stanley said nothing but grabbed my hand in the dark. My stomach flipped and I smiled.

"I really need to get home. And so do you. I don't want you in trouble." I starting to walk again. Stanley kept up with me and as we approached my dad's gym, I stopped. The lights were still on and I didn't want him to see me walking with someone holding hands.

"Thanks for seeing me this far, but I think I can make the last few steps on my own." I said jokingly. Stanley glanced down at our hands, still linked. Smiling sweetly, he looked at me.

"Gotcha. Sleep well Carla." He leaned in and hugged me. At the end of the street, Stanley turned and waved a hand. I waved back and hurried to the side gate next to the gym. Slipping through it, I leaned against the fence and stuffed my hand into my mouth to suppress the squeal in my throat.

Stan Pines liked me and walked me home! I did a little dance in the alley way and practically skipped to the door. Totally worth losing all my other so called friends!