Chapter 21

The boys stopped to eat lunch at a fast food stand. Carlos ordered a two corndogs, Logan ordered Caesar salad, James ordered pizza, and Kendall got a hot dog. After they all gulped down their food in hungry bites, they got drinks. All four boys got lemonade, since it was their favorite drink ever.

Everyone was busy sipping on their lemonade as they walked to the next... wherever they were going to go. Mrs. Mitchell said they couldn't go on roller coasters right after eating, or they would all throw up. James and Kendall didn't believe it, but it sure kept Logan and Carlos away from the rides for an hour or two. Instead, they played carnival games. The first one they played was called 'Camel Hit'. You had a bunch of balls, and you had to try and roll the balls into a hole. The holes, depending on how far away they were, were either 1 point, 3 points, or 5 points.

The camel moved one step when you got one point, three when you got three points and five when you got five points. The path your camel was going to travel was 20 steps long. Whoever's camel got to the finish first won.

Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos played the game with four other boys. Only three people would win. First place got a huge stuffed animal, second got a medium, and third got a small one. The rest didn't get anything.

"Ready, Set, GO!" The boys all started rolling the balls. They were all different colors. Kendall just rolled the balls without looking at where they went. James paid attention to the balls but didn't put much spirit into it. Logan was determined to win this. Carlos wanted to win, but didn't think he could. As for the other four boys, who knows what they were thinking?

Finally, the buzzer announced, "First place!" The boys kept on playing without looking up, except for the winner, of course. Then second place was announced, then third. The buzzer beeped, and the boys all looked up. 5 were disappointed; 3 were not.

"First place: Green!" Logan! He had won! Logan jumped up and down, and chose a huge stuffed bear. It was black and had white paws.

"Second place: Black!" That was James. James just grinned and took a stuffed ostrich. That was his favorite animal, right?

"Third place: Red!" That was Carlos! Carlos cheered and got a small little giraffe, with a bunch of designs on it.

The four unknown boys walked away, heads down. But Kendall weren't happy for the other, he was angry. So angry, he started screaming his head off. "Why didn't I win!" He wailed. Kendall was real sensitive to these competitive things, and would think he was useless if he didn't win something. Kendall Knight started sobbing, and ran away. Into the huge crowds of people. To an unknown place. Logan and James just stood there wide eyed. Carlos told them to stop staring and start looking for Kendall.'

The boys all split up, and Mrs. Mitchell and Mr. Diamond kept a lookout for Kendall in case he came back. Little kids were little kids, right? But they didn't know the whole story.

Carlos looked through all the toy stores and candy stores. That's where he'd go. But Kendall wasn't there. He wasn't up the trees, either.

Logan looked in the book stores and restaurants. Kendall was not there, nor was he in the bathrooms. Logan peeked under all the doors, but didn't spot Kendall's red and black Nike sneakers.

James looked in the girl's fashion stores, in case Kendall thought being in crowds of girls would hide him. Then, James went into a clothes store. James didn't find Kendall there, either. He was about to leave, when he heard a sobbing noise. James quietly followed it until he found Kendall. He had locked himself up in a dressing room. James didn't know what to do. So he climbed under the door, and saw Kendall sobbing into a blue T-shirt.

"Kendall? What's wrong?" Kendall just shook his head, not saying anything.

"Kendall? Answer me! I'll give you my ostrich." But Kendall still shook his head. What was wrong with him.

"James? You know why I'm mad? Cuz I'm stupid! I can't even win a stupid game like that!" Kendall sobbed. James felt so bad for him; Kendall wasn't stupid! He figured out all of their troublesome plans.

"Kendall, that's not true..." James trailed off, not sure of how to comfort Kendall when he was sobbing into a shirt.

"Yes it is! Even stupid Carlos won third in that game! So why can't I?" James winced as he heard Kendall calling Carlos stupid. He hoped Kendall didn't mean it. Although James had to admit that Carlos wasn't that smart, and was surprised that Carlos won third, too.

Kendall went on. "All my life, doctors have been telling me that I have some stupid sickness called ADHD. They said I wouldn't be the same anymore... that I'd be... I'd be..." Kendall started hiccupping.

"That you'd be what, Kendall? Tell me!" James said quietly. Kendall looked at him with red puffy eyes.

"That I'd be dumber and more unfocused than everyone else!" Kendall started sobbing again. His tears soaked through the shirt. James sighed. Doctors had told him that? James didn't even know what ADHD was. But based on Kendall's description of it, it wasn't something James would want to have.

"And my mommy and daddy doesn't have the money to pay for the treatment that will help me get better. When Katie came, they started getting broke. Because it takes a lot of money to care for a perfect baby like her!" Kendall sobbed. James rubbed Kendall's back in circles, hoping Kendall would stop crying.

Kendall was their leader, and he never cried unless he had to. James was so scared that Kendall was crying, because he didn't know what to do. "Shhh, stop crying, Kendall. To me, you're the most perfect boy I've ever known. Even more perfect than Logan and Carlos. Just because you can't win the camel game, doesn't mean you're stupid. It just means that you're bad at those types of games. Just like Carlos is bad at all school subjects, and Logan is bad at sticking up for himself at school." Kendall stopped crying, and started sniffling.

"But what about you? There's nothing bad about you." Kendall said. James bit his lower lip. There was so much imperfect about him that he couldn't even name all of them at that moment.

"I'm bad because I have no hair. All my hair is fake." James pulled off his wig. He felt the air on his bald head. "I have no hair, Kendall." James started to feel tears prickling on the edge of his eyes. He wanted hair so bad, just like the other kids he knew.

"You know what, James? I feel better now. Thanks for comforting me." James looked into Kendall's eyes, and took in every detail of it.

"Anytime, buddy, anytime." James whispered.

"James? I purposely went into a clothes store because I know only you would come looking for me in here. I wanted you to help me, James." James just nodded. When Kendall's sniffles faded away, they grabbed the shirt and headed out of the dressing room.

Surprisingly, everyone else was waiting outside for them. "How...how did you guys get here? How'd you know where I was?" Kendall asked quietly. Logan just shrugged, speaking for the others with his one movement.

"It was the only store we didn't check." Mr. Diamond added.

"So is Kendall okay now?" Carlos said, his eyes wide. James couldn't help but smile when he saw Carlos. He brightened up everyone's day with his eyes. And Logan brightened up the day too, with his cute comments about nerdy stuff.

"Yep. James and I had a talk. I'm all better now." Kendall smiled.

"How about we just go home for today? I don't really want anyone crying anymore. It harms your brain and your eyes." Logan pointed out. Everyone all laughed, and agreed. They should all go home, and come back some other day.

As they walked out, Kendall stopped.

"What's wrong, Kendall?" Mrs. Mitchell said, looking concerned. Kendall just held up the shirt, now soaked with tears.

"Can I buy the shirt?"

A/N- Lame ending, but you know... Please read and review! I'm getting sad cuz the review number is low now. Please review? And thank you SO SO SO much for the people who don't give up on this story and review! I love you all!

ReRy's:

emmyloser- Thank you so much for the compliments!

mandy124- Thank you! I'll update as much as I can! And thanks SO much for sacrificing your sleeping time to review!

MiiMyselfandTime- Really? How do you not like roller coaster? I mean, they are SO much! And I would LOVE to read yours! Thanks for reviewing!