Chapter 10: Little Known Facts

This is what came of that long-awaited conversation: I learned what Stanley had been convicted of. The dinner bell rang after that, which meant he had to go choke down some glop the cooks had heated up and I had to face my aunt's sulkiness.

For those of you who are reading this and don't know the details, here's why Stanley was sent to Camp Green Lake.

Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston is probably the most successful infielder in Texas. He donated a pair of his shoes to a homeless shelter. They were stolen. According to Stanley, the shoes fell from the sky and hit him on the head. According to the police, they saw him running down the street with the shoes and not looking very innocent. He had two choices: going to jail, or spending a year and a half at Camp Green Lake.

Stanley's never been to camp before. I wonder if he ever figured out that this wasn't an ordinary camp.

He didn't give me time to react to his story. And the truth is, I didn't believe him at first.

(What? You thought I was going to be the supportive girlfriend or something? That story was nuts.

Lillian...NOT YET. I will get to it, alright? Just stay in your seat! Do you want the story or not?)

Maybe I would have given him the benefit of the doubt if I'd known him better, but there was no way I would believe that the shoes magically fell from the sky. That only happened in fairy tales. It didn't happen to ordinary boys.

But as it turns out, he was right. Sort of.

Of course, I learned that long after the story was relevant, but I suppose knowing the truth is better than thinking he was crazy.

But I guess the truth isn't always the best thing to hear. Especially if the truth ends up biting you in the ass.

Which I would learn all too well soon enough.


With my focus suddenly on Stanley, I had nearly forgotten about Zero and how I was trying to figure him out. But he was brought back in the day after my near-conversation.

I was behind the Rec Room, reading like I always was. And the same beat-up boots appeared before me.

Remember how I said the campers each dig at their own speed? Zero's like the Speedy Gonzales of everybody at camp. And I do mean everybody. He's here a good half-hour before anyone else starts to show up. And, checking my watch, I realized that this was the case now.

"Hey," I said, frowning a bit. What did he want? He usually went off to sit in the tent or do something else that didn't involve talking. Why did he want to hang around me?

Wait, how did he even know where I was? I had been fairly confident that this spot was unknown to the campers - until now.

He continued to just look at me, then he looked at the book in my hands.

"You like fairy tales?"

He shrugged. Okay...it was better than him just standing there.

"You ever heard of Maid Maleen?" It was one of my favorites. Not many people know of it. Maid Maleen's father locks her and one of her ladies in a tower because she's in love with a prince he doesn't like. Seven years later they manage to break free and find her kingdom in shambles. So they go to the prince's kingdom, where they're hired as servants, and discover that he's betrothed to an evil, ugly woman. Since she's so hideous, she forces Maid Maleen to do a lot of pre-marriage stuff for her, which results in her not remembering a thing when the prince asks her about it later. In the end, Maid Maleen is revealed to be the true bride, and the ugly chick is beheaded, and Maid Maleen and her prince live happily ever after.

To my surprise, Zero nodded his head.

"I like it a lot," I told him. "But that's probably because the couple knew each other before the story takes place, and they don't instantly fall in love with each other."

In response, he plopped himself down next to me on the steps. At first, I had no idea what the heck he was doing, but he kept glancing at my book, then back at me, and then it clicked in my head what he wanted.

"Do you...want me to read it to you?"

He just looked at me, and that's all I needed to start.

Reading to someone wasn't entirely strange for me. I used to read to my little brother, Alex, all the time before he got old enough to read by himself. I was a little shy at first, since I hadn't read out loud to anyone in a while. But Zero was such a good listener, and the more I read, the more confident I became.

So confident that I got through three more fairy tales.

That's when someone walked by, giving me a near-heart attack. And, of course, that someone was Stanley.

He waved awkwardly. "I...I heard someone, so I..." He cleared his throat and nodded.

Zero stood up at that point, gave me what I could have sworn was the tiniest smile in the world, and walked around the corner.

"Sorry if I was interrupting," Stanley said. "I, um, didn't mean to."

I shook my head, my breathing returning to normal. "No, you weren't..." I was cut off by the blasted dinner bell.

"I guess I should..." Stanley jerked his thumb over his shoulder, looking slightly disappointed.

I shrugged. "Look at it this way. Yesterday, I got to learn why you're stuck here. Today, you got to learn that I still read fairy tales. Now we're even."

He gave me a funny look. "I...wasn't aware we weren't."

"Oh." Well, then...

"So is this a regular thing with you two?"

I shook my head. "No. He just found me back here and sat down, and I asked if he wanted me to read to him, so I just...did."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is this your secret hideout or something?"

"If that's what you want to call it." I looked around, suddenly suspicious.

"No one followed me, alright?" He checked over his shoulder after he said it, making me believe he himself wasn't sure about that.

"Can't be too careful. The guys are determined to make it hell for me here, it seems."

"That makes two of us."

I chanced a small smile at him. "It'll get better for you. You're a guy, they have to live with you. They always get used to new kids. Just...give it time."

He nodded, returning the smile.

I pointed to the Mess Hall. "You'd better go eat something before all the edible portions are gone."

He laughed and started to walk away when he turned around. "You know, the guys don't hate you. I think they miss having you hang around with them."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. They're glad I'm not -"

"They asked where you've been today," he cut in. "Something I thought you should know." He walked off, leaving me to wonder if he'd been telling the truth.