Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing everybody. Sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter. I was banned from the computer (eek!).
Chapter 4: Dining with D-Tent
Just as the boys were asking the newbies why they were sent to camp, a loud alarm sounded off. Stanley and Chance just looked around confused as if they were silently asking 'What was that?'
"It's dinnertime," Squid smirked. He rubbed his hands together as if he couldn't wait to eat, "Wonder what delicious gourmet meal our lovely chefs have prepared tonight." He joked, knowing it would be the same exact "stuff" they had every night. It was so awful they called it "stuff" instead of food. The older campers knew he was joking, but Chance and Stanley thought that the food would actually be good. In fact, Stanley's mouth watered at the thought of food. He was so nervous about camp he hadn't eaten dinner the night before, or breakfast that morning.
The boys walked out of the tent, one-by-one, with the new kids in tow. They all shaded their eyes with their hands from the hot sun. It was only about 4:30pm, "How come ya'll eat dinner so early?" Chance asked.
X-Ray, the so-called leader of D-Tent, spoke up first, "We do everything 'round here early. We wake up early, we eat early, and we go to sleep early. Everything we do is timed around the sun."
"Yeah," Magnet chimed in. "We wake up early to beat the sun. It's easier to dig without the heat poundin' on you."
Squid nodded and added a few words himself, "And we go to bed early, 'cause we gotta wake up early. And a'course we eat early because we gotta sleep early."
Chance only nodded, "Oh."
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They walked into the mess hall in a small cluster.All the campers were scattered in a zigzagged single-file line, waiting for the pig slop to be plopped onto their plastic trays. Squid lead the tent and took his place in the dinner line. Everyone followed his lead and stood in line also. As soon as Stanley took a glance at the food he almost vomited. 'No wonder that kid's name was Barfbag. He must've took one look at this food and lost his lunch,' Stanley thought.
'This is what they consider "gourmet"?' Chance thought as she remembered Squid's comment about the food. She was wedged between Squid and ZigZag. The server, who was also a camper, slapped the food onto her tray so hard that it splattered little specks of "stuff" on her army-green shirt. 'Ugh,' She ended the thought of the food and looked down at her now freckled shirt.
Once they were all served, they strode to their table. The guys nodded and made small hand gestures toward other campers, as if they were saying "Hey" or "Sup?" to them.
X-Ray patted the seat in front of him on the right, "Sit here," he commanded Chance. She gave him an "I-don't-take-orders-from-boys" look, but sat down anyway. ZigZag motioned for Stanley to sit in the seat between him and Magnet.
Chance began to dig a moat in her beans… or whatever they were, and Stanley poked at them and lifted them to his nose. Stanley really felt sick when the "stuff" bubbled up and popped, spreading the goop over parts of his plate.
"You might as well eat up, guys. Breakfast ain't much better," X-Ray informed as he took a bite out of his bread.
Armpit gulped down the not-so-clear water from his canteen, "So why you guys here?" He inquired.
"Stealing," Stanley and Chance said in unison.
"Both 'a you guys stole stuff?" Magnet asked, now interested in the conversation. His accent came out more whenever he talked about theft.
They nodded their heads. Chance talked on both of their behalves, "Yeah. Well, we "plotted" a crime together. I dunno why we were sent to court, though. They're just shoes. I mean, people steal shoes everyday, right?"
Magnet nodded, "I sure as hell did." He laughed. Everyone chuckled, but Zero just looked at him not amused.
"Maybe it was because they were Sweetfeet's," Stanley added. All the guys let out small gasps; even Zero looked up and gave Stanley a bewildered look.
"You know you didn't steal no Clyde Livingston shoes," X-Ray said.
Chance chuckled and Stanley shook his head. No one believed what they said when they were innocent, and now, nobody believes that they stole them.
'I can't win for losing,' Stanley thought to himself as he took a long drink of water.