"You're up early." The warden said to Lucie, poking her head in the bathroom door. It was seven o'clock and Lucie was standing in front of the sink brushing her teeth.
She nodded. She spit toothpaste out and then wiped her mouth with a hand towel.
"I thought I'd go out and help where I'm needed today."
The warden smiled a little. "I'm glad to hear that. We could use your help out there."
"I didn't mean I was going to dig." Lucie said shaking her head. "Because I'm not doing that for another week."
The warden's eyes narrowed a little she put her hands on her hips. "Then what exactly are you planning to do?"
"Whatever there is to do. You and Mr. Sir and Dr. Pendanski are always working on something. Can't I help y'all?"
"No. You can't." the warden said in a sharp tone.
"Fine." Lucie turned back around to face the mirror. She looked up at her aunt's reflection in the mirror. The warden was staring back at her with a slightly annoyed look on her face. She finally walked away and Lucie took one last glance at herself in the mirror and walked out of the bathroom.
She roamed around the campgrounds searching for something interesting to explore. She walked around the tents and peaked inside occasionally to see what they looked like. Most of them looked the same except for the belongings that were strewn about each of them. Lucie finally came up on D-tent. She stood outside the door and peaked inside the slightly opened doorway. She looked around the make sure no one was around and then quickly slipped inside. She glanced around at all the empty cots. One of the beds was made and she remembered it was the one Caveman had been sitting on when she brought them the snacks. Lucie made her way across the tent and stood next to Caveman's cot. She glanced down at the backpack next to his bed and carefully picked it up. She hesitated before reaching inside but her curiosity got the best of her and she reached in and pulled out a small journal. Opening it up, she found several letters postmarked to Stanley Yelnats from his family.
"Letters from mom." Lucie said to herself, shuffling through them.
She flipped a few pages of the journal and noticed that the journal had been started before Stanley had arrived at Camp Green Lake. She kept going and flipped to the last few pages of the journal. Her eyes were drawn to one page in particular. She saw her name on the page.
"The warden's niece came to Camp Green Lake. She is here for the summer and has been assigned to dig with D-tent once a week. She is beautiful. When I first met her, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. With her long, flowing blonde hair and her big blue eyes, she looks like an angel. I wish I had the courage to talk to her, but I am too shy. Squid has already moved in. Right away he set his sights on her and I'm afraid she likes him back."
Lucie's mouth fell open a little and she gasped. She shook her head.
"Wow. I can't believe he wrote that."
She decided not to read anymore, closed the journal and put it back in the backpack. She walked around the other cots, glancing at the belongings but not touching any of them. She suddenly felt bad about reading Caveman's journal and decided she should go back to the cabin before she did anything else to feel bad about.
As Lucie was walking back to the cabin, she saw Mr. Sir walking toward the pick up truck with the water tank on the back.
"Mr. Sir!" she called.
He slowly turned around and looked at her.
"What do you want?"
She ran a little closer and said, "I was wondering if I could go with you to give out the water."
He grunted and shook his head. "I don't need no help."
"But-"
Mr. Sir turned away from her and started to open the door of the truck.
"But Mr. Sir I-"
"I said, I don't need no help." He hollered looking at Lucie over the top of the truck.
"Excuse Me."
Lucie and Mr. Sir looked over to see the warden standing there looking at Mr. Sir with an annoyed look on her face.
"Did you just say no to my niece?" She took a few more steps forward and continued, "Because I distinctly remember telling you that you were to treat her just as you would treat me. And I don't think you would refuse to let me do something I wanted to do, would you?"
Mr. Sir looked almost panicked. "No, no, I wasn't telling her no. I was just-"
"Just get in the truck, Lucie."
Lucie smiled at her aunt and ran to the truck door.
"Just don't talk." Mr. Sir told her as they drove away.
They stopped first where the A-tent boys were digging. Lucie looked out the window as they all lined up for their water. One short boy with bleach blond hair pointed at her and the other six boys looked up. A couple of them waved at her and she waved back. Her mind seemed to have been opened a little to the idea of the boys at Camp Green Lake. By getting to know the D-tent boys she had realized that just because they were there, didn't mean they were bad kids.
When they stopped at the B-tent area, Lucie opened the door and stuck her head out to catch a better glimpse of the campers.
"Hey, aren't you the warden's niece?" a tall boy with red hair asked, coming up to the truck door.
Lucie nodded. "Yea, that's me."
"I'm Red." He said, sticking out his hand.
Another boy, this one with black hair and big, almost pointy ears came up beside Red.
"That's Spok."
Spok nodded at her and said, "Ain't you Squid's girl?"
Lucie felt her cheeks flush pink. "Where'd you hear that?"
"People have just been talking. You know, ever since we all saw y'all playing pool together in the wreck room."
Lucie shook her head. "We're just friends."
Red shrugged. "Whatever. Girls always say that."
Lucie was a little offended by his remark and stood up to face him.
"Excuse me. If I say we're just friends, that's what I mean. You don't have to believe every stupid rumor you hear."
Red and Spok both shook their heads and went to take their places in line.
Lucie sat in the truck at the C-tent stop, not wanting another encounter with rude boys. No one noticed her because she quietly watched them in the rearview mirror, not moving much.
When the truck stopped at the D-tent area, Lucie immediately got out and all the boys greeted her with smiling faces.
"Hey, Luc."
"Hey Hey."
"'Morning Lucie."
She smiled back at them and stood to the side of the line waiting for all of them to get their water.
When Mr. Sir had filled all the canteens, he looked at Lucie.
"You coming?"
She shook her head and said, "I'll just walk back."
Squid came up to Lucie and smiled at her.
"Hey."
"I need to talk to you." She told him, nodding toward ZigZag and Magnet who had also walked up.
"Oh, I see." Magnet said. "You don't want to talk to us." He walked away but ZigZag stayed there.
"Hey, man, I think she just wants to talk to me." Squid told him.
"Whatever, dude." ZigZag walked away too, dragging his shovel behind him.
"What's going on?" Squid asked, shifting his canteen to the side.
"I was making water stops with Mr. Sir a few minutes ago and some of the B-tent boys, Red and Spok I think were their names, said they heard I was your 'girl'." She used her hands to insinuate quotation marks. "Do you know anything about that?"
Squid raised his eyebrows. "If you're asking me if I told everyone that, no."
"Do you know who did, and why they did?"
"Nope. I don't. This is the first I've heard of it."
"So, you had nothing to do with it?"
"No. I mean, just because I wish it was true doesn't mean I told everyone that." He smirked at her and took a step closer to her.
Lucie blushed again and looked down at her feet. Squid reached up and put his hand on her waist.
"Are you gonna say something?" he asked.
Lucie put her hand on his and moved it off her waist. "Yea. I gotta go."
She walked by him and shook her head.
"Caveman." She said when she spotted him about to jump back in his hole.
He looked back at her and stopped. "Hey, Lucie."
"How are you?" She asked him, smiling.
"I'm ok, and you?"
She nodded. "Fine.
She thought back to the journal entry she had read and debated whether or not
she should ask him what she needed to ask him.
"Umm, have you, uh, heard anything about me and Squid being, you know, together?"
Caveman scratched his head and shrugged. "I heard a little bit of talk about it. Not from anyone in D-tent, it was some other guys."
"You don't know who it was?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Ok, well thanks."
She turned around and started to walk away, but she stopped and looked back at Caveman.
"Hey, Stanley."
"Yeah?"
"Maybe I'll see you in the wreck room tonight?"
He smiled at her and nodded. "Yea, see you there."