Camp Green Lake
There was nothing but holes all around the yellow bus. Some of these holes had boys digging within, while some lay dormant and useless. There was so much dust around them, especially behind the bus that created a sand storm as they drove on. Then, a little while later, the two teenagers' eyes caught the camp itself in front of them. Yet only Star's eyes lit up more than they already were.
She was here.
She was actually here.
There was Camp Green Lake, and all around here were the holes that never uncovered anything. Star could only feel pity for the boys and the Warden, though. If the granddaughter was still looking for Kate's treasure after all these years, even deciding to force "bad boys" to dig the holes for her, that Warden must have been desperate.
That was probably her grandfather's doing, Star thought. Greed could drive anyone mad.
Somewhere, Kate's treasure was buried. Somewhere, the power of the Yelnats' curse had been hidden for many, many years. The probability of either of them finding it after all these years was slim, but that optimistic attitude of Star's told her this could be different. Stanley was finally here - Camp Green Lake would be the closest he could ever get to his lost treasure. And that fact must have meant something.
"Kate, Great-Grandfather…" Star whispered this name under her breath, staring out at the desert. "Please be watching over him."
And finally, as Star continued to stare out this window, she noticed the bus had entered the camp itself. All around her she saw tents, wooden-cottages, and boys in orange jumpsuits walking or standing around. Though, even though there were smiles on some of their faces, their words were anything but…strange to Star.
"Hey, baby!" one of the boys on Stanley's side yelled.
"Welcome to hell, new kids!" another said.
"We got another one!" one last boy laughed.
Hiss! Then the bus hissed to a stop, prompting the scary gun-man to instantly stand up and the bus driver to open up the doors. Stanley stood up first, albeit a little clumsily, before showing Star a small smile. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Star sighed and then stood up as well. She showed the bus driver a smile of her own while Stanley did the same; they even talked at the same time yet again. "Thanks for the ride."
The bus driver only glared at them in response, however. But then they had to remind themselves of who they were now to the rest of the world.
Criminals.
"Yo, fresh meat!"
"Wait… Is that a girl?"
"No way, dude!"
"What the hell is a girl doin' here?"
"I think I've gotten too much sun…"
"Move over! I wanna get a better look!"
The comments and eyes focused mainly on her made Star's heart beat faster, so Star did what she did best: keep her head down and be insignificant. These boys would eventually see how unattractive and boring she was, so… She had nothing to worry about, right? Yeah, nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. She was just another person at Camp Green Lake.
While, on the other hand, Stanley felt the same way as Star. Not for himself, but for her. He didn't like watching her scrunch her body into a ball, look down shamefully, and shake with anxiety. She was in this predicament for his sake, so he needed to do everything he could to make her feel just a little better. His new friend deserved at least that.
"So, uh, where's the lake?" Stanley eventually asked with his eyes squinting from the bright sun above. And, happily to Stanley, Star's head turned upward at the question, making her walk up to stand beside him. However, the scary gun-man did not take interest in that question at all.
"Hey, what did I just tell you?" he said angrily. "Don't be a wise guy. Follow me."
Neither Stanley or Star said anything back to that, merely showing one another a glance while the older man walked into one of the wooden cottages. They followed after him shortly, both of them wanting to get away from the multiple stares of their future campmates, and walked in to find an even older man sitting at a desk. But this man, somehow, was scarier than the man with the gun.
Grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds, the man in question plopped them into his mouth right when Star and Stanley entered. He turned around in his chair with a menacingly curious look in his blue eyes; the man also had blond, brownish hair with sideburns going down his red-skinned cheeks. And even with her vast knowledge on this place, Star had no idea who this man was. All she knew for certain was…that she would not want to get on his bad side.
"…Sit down," the man ultimately ordered the two after staring them up and down. He motioned toward the other side of his littered desk, making the two quickly sit on either chairs there. The gun-man leaned on some filing-cabinets behind them as the newest man showed Stanley a stare before giving Star a longer, more judgemental one. "So yer the girl, huh?"
"Y-Yes," Star stuttered instinctively. "I'm Star."
"I'll be honest when I say I was shocked to hear the news from the Warden that a little girl was coming to our little oasis," the man acknowledged while chewing merrily on his sunflower seeds. "You do know what you'll be put through, right? Just because yer a girl don't mean yer gonna get it any easier than the boys. Yer still a criminal."
At this, Star gave the man a solid nod. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
"…Good," the man said, slightly impressed by the confidence in her eyes. Most of the boys here couldn't even do that. Furthermore, the man spit out the pit of the sunflower seed into a clear jar. "That kind of attitude could get you through your sentence… Possibly."
"What's with the sunflower seeds, though, man?" the man with the gun suddenly asked from behind the teenagers, causing the man himself to glare at him.
"I quit smokin'."
Quit smoking, huh? Star thought. Good for him.
"Hmph. And you're Stanley Yelnats…the fourth?" But when the sunflower-seed-man also asked this with a clipboard in hand, Star's eyes immediately turned toward Stanley. Once more, she started putting together the pieces of the puzzle, proving to her once more that her mother's stories were true all along. Not that she didn't believe them, but it was just so cool to actually meet the characters themselves. And now she was a part of it.
"Yeah…" Stanley then said after nodding to the man. "Everyone in my family names their son Stanley, 'cause it's Yelnats spelled backwards. It's like this… It's this little…" However, the boy trailed off after seeing the man's glare. "It's a, uh, tradition."
Bam! In response, the man merely placed down his clipboard loudly and seemed to disregard Stanley's words completely. "My name is Mr. Sir. Whenever you speak to me, you will call me by my name. Is that clear?"
Stanley held back a snicker, while Star gulped. "Yes, Mr. Sir."
"Do you think that's funny?" All of a sudden, the glare on "Mr. Sir's" face deepend into something much more threatening. He stood up, and pointed this glare right at Stanley. "Huh?"
"N-No, Mr. Sir," Stanley immediately stuttered, the smile vanishing from his face.
"This isn't a girl scout camp, you two!" Mr. Sir then stated while walking over towards his mini-fridge behind his desk. He took out a glass of cold Coke before reaching it over to the direction of Stanley. Regardless of how this looked, though, Star instantly knew what Mr. Sir was about to do; Mrs. Sirius had done this trick to her multiple times. So, when Stanley slightly started moving to grab the Coke, Star grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. In response, Stanley showed her a confused look before his eyes widened in realization after…Mr. Sir handed the drink to the gun-man behind them. Still however, Mr. Sir noticed the quick action and showed the boy that intimidating stare of his. "You thirsty, Stanley?"
"Yes, Mr. Sir," Stanley replied a little shakily, making Mr. Sir shrug his shoulders and put on his cowboy hat.
"Well, you better get used to it. Yer gonna be thirsty for the next eighteen months."
The group of three then headed back outside by Mr. Sir's orders. He led them off of the creaky, wooden porch and onto the sandy ground below. Star and Stanley could feel everyone's attention immediately focus on them after exiting, but they tried their best to distract themselves by listening to Mr. Sir's words. Especially Star, who could still hear the strange conversations being spoken about her and the eyes eyeing her in…very different ways.
"Look around ya, Sirius and Yelnants!" Mr. Sir said through his thick country accent. "What do ya see? Any guard towers? How about an electric fence? Hmm?"
Once Mr. Sir had stopped walking and turned toward the two teenagers, they both shook their heads. "No, Mr. Sir."
"You wanna run away?" Mr. Sir also questioned and then motioned the two away. "Go ahead. I won't stop ya…" Just then, however, right when the man had turned away completely, he pointed violently at a boy leaning against a door frame a little ways away. "I'm warnin' you!"
The man had a short temper, Star understood only knowing him for a few minutes. He also liked to tease people for their naive nature and/or confidence. Mr. Sir wanted to break people down until the coward within was finally shown - he loved being in a place of power over people. Though, that probably meant he had power-problems of himself to deal with.
Huh… And that gun strapped to his waist was also eye-catching for sure. Of course, it wasn't as big as the guy's before, but it still made Star and Stanley share yet another worried glance. But Mr. Sir, being the type of person to point out everything, obviously saw this exchange and shook his head. "Oh, don't worry. This here's for yellow-spotted lizards - I wouldn't waste a bullet on you."
"...We're not gonna run away, Mr. Sir," the two eventually answered Mr. Sir's previous jest, causing the first victorious smile to spread across the old man's face.
"Good thinkin', you two! Doesn't nobody run away from here. You know why?" Mr. Sir walked closer to the two and leaned down to their eye-level. "We got the only water for hundred miles! Our own little oasis! You wanna run away? Them buzzards will pick you up clean by the end of the third day."
Next, the two teenagers were led to a wooden cabin by Mr. Sir. Once again, the floorboards creaked underneath their feet, and Star couldn't help but notice how rundown the entire place was. Don't get her wrong: she didn't think that Camp Green Lake would be a five-star hotel or anything. It was just that…this place was much different than her home. Star knew that home and that home only, and loved that home more than her own life. Any other place just felt sour to her.
Gosh, she had only just got here and was already feeling homesick.
"You get two sets of clothes: One for work, one for relaxation," Mr. Sir started to explain as he snatched four orange jumpsuits and two sets of black boots from some shelves. He threw both pairs over to Star and Stanley. "After three days, your work clothes will be washed, while yer second set becomes your work clothes. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Mr. Sir," Star and Stanley said at the same time.
"You, girl, there's a room to your left to change in," Mr. Sir stated gruffly. "Change quick. And you, Yelnats, change out here."
Quickly doing as she was told, Star found the door leading to the backroom. However, she couldn't escape the eye-contact made between the boy seemingly looking over the clothes storage and herself. She sent the stranger a polite smile, being that she had been curious what job he had in here, prompting the boy to give her a smirk back. He was confused by her presence, yes, but he was also very much intrigued.
A girl at Camp Green Lake?
This would get interesting.
Nonetheless, Star speedily took off her only flannel and jeans to then put on her "criminal" wear. She kept on her t-shirt underneath the orange jumpsuit she was slipping on, and Star couldn't necessarily seem to care how horrible this situation actually was. Buttoning up the jumpsuit as high as she could, Star only felt familiarity toward it. She had never been one for fancy clothes - Mrs. Sirius and her daughters usually had that luxury - so there wasn't very much change. So, even though most people would be disgusted and scared to put on this infamous-colored suit, Star felt unnaturally yet naturally calm.
Then, after slipping on the black boots, Star placed her old clothes into her backpack. And, for the first time in about ten minutes, she could feel her anxiety lessen. "Hey, you three. How's it going in there?"
Squeak, squeak! Fido, Jaq, and Gus each squeaked in response. And Star being Star, knowing exactly that those squeaks meant they were okay, she carefully stuffed in her old clothes. Now inside her backpack, she almost had a comfortable bed for the three, so she knew she was ready to say goodbye once more. "Okay, I gotta zip you back up, alright? I'll see you again soon."
Star said goodbye to her three precious friends, before zipping the backpack back up and putting it back on her now orange-colored back. Right when she exited the room, though, and the scene of Stanley getting his backpack taken away from him (Stanley was already done changing), Star almost had a full-blown panic attack. "W-Wait," Star stammered almost instantly, shooting Mr. Sir a terrified stare. "I'm sorry, but do I need to give you my backpack too? Is that a requirement?"
What would happen if she did give them her backpack and found three animals inside? Would they let them lose? Hurt them? Kill them? If that ever happened, Star would have never been able to live with her-
"No, the Warden specifically stated not to take your pack," Mr. Sir interrupted her frantic thoughts, causing Star to have to hold in a sigh of relief. "Yer a lady, I guess. She wanted you to have at least some…privacy in an all-boy camp."
"Wow, I…" Star then whispered to herself. "Maybe the Warden isn't so strict after all…"
"Now, you are to dig one hole each day!" Mr. Sir acknowledged once Star and Stanley stood side-by-side again. "Five-foot deep, five-foot in diameter. Your shovel is your measuring stick - the longer it takes you to dig, the longer you'll be out in the hot sun." Suddenly, Mr. Sir's expression turned dark. "You need to keep alert for lizards and rattlesnakes, too."
And upon hearing this, a fear flickered in Stanley's brown eyes. "Rattlesnakes…?"
"You don't bother them, they won't bother you… Usually," Mr. Sir said in a dire tone. "Being bit by a rattler ain't the worst thing that can happen to ya. You won't die, usually… But you don't wanna get bit by a yellow-spotted lizard." Star's eyes widened in response to the mention of…that lizard. "That is the worst thing that can happen to ya. You will die a slow and painful death… Always."
"Mommy, how did Kate die?"
"Your great grandfather found her body against that boat, Star… She had allowed herself to get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard: one of the most dangerous lizards living on that lake."
Star could hear her mother's words in her ear once more, making a cascade of goosebumps form over her skin. If you couldn't already tell, when any part of her mother's stories came up, even if the subject wasn't even the same, it was a trigger to Star. She could hear her mother's voice like she was right next to her, and the feeling that the story brought her the first time she had heard it, came right back to her. This instance was no different.
But, at the same time, it was.
No orange prison jumpsuit scared Star, but the mention of that lizard and the holes they needed to dig… Oh, that brought her such turmoil. The Warden, the Warden's grandfather, this desert, this camp was all connected. Star just couldn't believe that the Warden's family was still searching for that treasure; that those yellow-spotted lizards that killed the famous Kissing Kate Barlow still lived here.
It was all the same, yet it was all so different.
Was it destiny that Stanley and her were here?
Was it selfish to think such?
At the end of all this, would Stanley still be considered a criminal and cursed with bad luck? Would she ever be able to help give back what her family stole from his? And Star was usually a patient person, but this made her heart race so very fast.
Star would make the most of the time she had here, she promised herself. She would try her very best!
"Stanley Yelnats? Star Sirius?" Just then, however, a man's voice abruptly entered the cabin. The two both quickly turned their heads toward it, finding a man that… honestly didn't seem to belong at a camp like this. Particularly those words of his. "I just want you to know that you two may have done some bad things, but that does not make you bad kids!" He glanced between the two, smiling from ear-to-ear. "I respect you, Star and Stanley. Welcome to Camp Green Lake!"
"O-Oh, uhm, thank you-"
"I'm Dr. Pendanski, your counselor," Dr. Pendanski interjected Star's greeting, deciding to initiate his own by forcefully shaking her hand. He stared his blue eyes into hers joyfully, his short brown beard moving with the way he smiled at her. "And a very special welcome to you, Star. Being the first girl here may be scary, but I just want you to know that I am on your side!"
"Th-Thanks…" Star said again while glancing up at his fishing cap. "It's a pleasure, Dr. Pendanski."
"...Start that touchy-feely crap, I'm outta here," Mr. Sir then sighed after Pendanski greeted Stanley as well. The man then, who was much taller than Dr. Pendanski picked up some candy from a table and walked between the three to walk toward the door. "Give them some towels, tokens. Set them up."
Oh, geez… Star gulped. Here they go.
"You'll both be in "D-Tent"!" Dr. Pendanski started rambling to the two teenagers walking behind him. Mr. Sir was now gone, and they were starting their tour of the camp with Dr. Pendanski's enthusiastic explanation. ""D" stands for "diligence"! There's the mess hall!" He pointed one way. "There's the rec room!" He pointed another way. "And there's the showers!" He pointed a third time. "There's only one knob 'cause there's only one temperature: cold!" Then, he pointed one last time toward a slightly nicer-looking cabin. It even had a cool car being cleaned by a couple of boys beside it. "And there's the Warden's cabin over there! That's the number one rule at Camp Green Lake: Do not upset the Warden!"
"Yeah," Stanley breathed once they finally stopped walking. "He seemed kind of-"
"Who?" Dr. Pendanski promptly interrupted Stanley, showing him a head tilt. "Oh, Mr. Sir? Oh, he's not the Warden! He's just been in a bad mood ever since he quit smokin'."
"But at least he stopped…" Star mumbled to herself, causing Stanley to lean in closer to her ear.
"I don't think it did much good, though."
At this, Star couldn't stop herself from letting out a chuckle. "Pfft!"
"Hey, Mom!" However, in the next instant, a voice called out to the group. It was a completely unfamiliar voice to both Star and Stanley, but not unfamiliar at all to the man the mystery boy called 'Mom'. "Who's the neander- …Hol' up. What's with the girl?"
The boy was covered in dirt, and so were his two other friends beside him. They each walked up to the newest additions, looking more perplexed than anything else. One had glasses that made his eyes look big, one was a bigger boy with a judgemental look in his eye, and the one in the middle, the final boy…had a toothpick sticking in between his teeth. Star nor Stanley knew it at the time, but these three were named names not of their own.
X-Ray, Armpit, and Squid.
Their new roommates.
