Lucie slipped in the wreck room unnoticed and joined Caveman in his usual place, on the couch in the corner. He and Zero were presently her only friends and, in her opinion, she didn't deserve their friendship.
"Hi." She said to Caveman and she gave Zero a little wave as he walked over to them.
They both said, "hey" and Zero asked how she was holding up.
"I'm fine. I can't really complain, seeing as how I brought all this on myself."
Caveman shook his head. "Stop saying that. It's not true. Just relax and don't worry. Squid will get over it eventually and when he does, the others will follow his lead."
Lucie looked at him with wide eyes. "You know, you are being very nice about this whole thing. You should be mad at me, too."
"I don't get mad that easily. Plus, I know you don't owe me anything. Being your friend is a privilege."
Lucie sighed and lightly touched his hand. "Thank goodness for people like you, Stanley."
She leaned around Caveman to look at Zero. "And you, too, Zero." She winked at him and he smiled at her.
"I just wish I knew how to made Squid listen to me. I think he misunderstood what I was trying to say, but he won't listen to me long enough for me to explain."
Caveman shrugged. "You'll just have to give him time."
Suddenly there was a commotion near the foosball table. Two boys Lucie recognized as Justin Campbell and Red were shoving each other violently and yelling things at each other. Some of their tent mates were egging them on and some were trying to calm them down, knowing the warden would punish them all if they were caught.
Lucie shook her head. "Not another fight."
Caveman stood up and stuck out his hand to help Lucie up. "Maybe you should go. Things get a little wild when there's a fight."
She took his hand and pulled herself up. "I'll see you later. Maybe I'll come eat dinner with y'all." She said shrugging.
He nodded. "Better bring your own food though."
Lucie began walking back across the room, staying as far away from the fight as she could. Squid stepped in front of her as she about to walk out the door. He had a piece of wood sticking out of his mouth as usual.
"This is not your wreck room, you know. It's for those of us who dig every day." With that he started back to the scene of the fight.
"Alan, I-" she started.
He whirled around and took the stick out of his mouth, pointing it at her. "The name's Squid."
Lucie felt very sad as she went back to the cabin. She hated that Squid hated her. But what was she supposed to do to change that?
The warden met Lucie on the porch of the cabin. She looked stressed out and in a hurry to get somewhere.
"Lucie, I need for you to eat dinner with the boys tonight. I am not going to have time to make anything for us."
Lucie shook her head. "I can make myself a sandwich or something," she offered.
"No, I need you to be out of the cabin for a little while anyway. This is something you don't need to be in the middle of." She looked around Lucie as if she was watching for someone.
"Aunt Lou, is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," she snapped. "Now, go into your room until I tell you it's time to go to the mess hall."
Lucie nodded and obeyed her aunt, not willing to get in any arguments with her today. She paced the floor when she got in her room, a million thoughts running through her head. What was going on with her aunt? How was she going to get Squid to listen to her? Was she going to be able to keep a platonic relationship with Caveman? She thought about how Caveman was able to just open up to her and tell her how he felt and about how comfortable she felt with him. She knew that if she needed it, he would sit and hold her for hours while she cried. She connected with him on a level she normally didn't connect with people on. Then there was Squid. Despite his rudeness toward her and his bad boy attitude she was still very much attracted to him. Physically, mainly, but she was also attracted to the sweetness of his soul that has shown through before all this had happened. She had hurt him, she knew, but she didn't know how to take back what she said or even how to explain what she had meant. She didn't quite understand it herself. She occupied herself by showering and changing into clean clothes. She pulled her hair back into a loose, messy bun while it was still wet. As soon as she did this, she heard the warden come loudly into the house through the front door.
"Lucie, supper!" she called and then went back onto the porch, letting the door slam behind her.
Lucie entered the mess hall timidly and took her place at the back of the line of orange suited boys. Looking around, she saw X-Ray, Magnet, Armpit, and Zig Zag seated at a table by a window and Caveman, Squid and Zero at the front of the line, just getting the last kind of beans dumped on their plates. Some people stared at her as she picked up a plate and began going through the line. There were some whispers and points but Lucie ignored them all. As she was getting her drink, she looked over at the D-tent table. Caveman was saying something to Squid and Squid had a fixed look on his face. He wasn't showing any emotion at all so Lucie couldn't tell what was being said. His eyes darted up to her momentarily and then went back to Caveman. His face softened a bit but he shook his head.
"Um, you're kind of in the way." A voice said behind her.
"Sorry," she said absently and then realized she was standing at the end of the line holding her plate and drink and had nowhere to go. Looking back at the D-tent table she saw Caveman turned around looking at her and waving. She had to really make herself walk over and sit down beside him, but the next thing she knew, she was seated amongst the D-tent boys and they were all looking at her, except Caveman and Zero, who were busily eating their dinners, pretending as if nothing was weird.
"What are you doin' in here?" Squid finally asked. He had a spoonful of beans and was holding it halfway between his mouth and his plate.
"Um, Aunt Lou said I needed to come in here and eat." She said looking down at her plate. She had been waiting for an opportunity to talk to him, but this wasn't what she had in mind. What she had to say didn't need to be said to the whole group.
"You mean you had to give up your golden platter and your grilled steak and all that?" X-Ray asked, laughing a little and looking around at the other guys as if telling them to laugh too. They did.
"I don't get steak or a golden platter." Lucie spat, rolling her eyes.
"You used to bring us snacks." He continued. "What happened to that? You to good to come to the tent anymore?"
Lucie shook her head and fidgeted with her bread. "I- I just haven't gotten around to it lately, that's all."
"Oh yea, what with your busy schedule and all." X-Ray continued the torture.
Lucie looked up at Squid with pleading eyes. Used to, he would have jumped right in and saved her. This time, he just looked away and added, "Yea, you're busy schedule of sitting in the air conditioning watching television."
"Enough, guys." This time it was Caveman who came to her rescue. He spoke to Squid when he said, "What did I tell you, man?"
Squid rolled his eyes and took a bite of his dinner.
Lucie stood up quickly, leaving her plate behind and went out to sit on the porch of the mess hall. It wasn't long before Caveman came out and sat beside her.
"I'm really sorry, Luc." He shook his head, "God, they're just jerks. They don't know when to stop."
Lucie felt her eyes fill up. Everything in front of her became blurred. "I can't do this anymore. I just want to go home."
Caveman put his arm around her and pulled her close. She lay her head on his shoulder and cried. Just like she had thought, he was there for her when she needed him.
"It's okay." He said occasionally.
When her tears finally stopped flowing after a few minutes, she brought her head back up and looked at him.
"What did you say to Squid earlier?"
"I told him you were really upset that he was mad at you. And I told him he misunderstood you and you wanted to clear things up."
"And he didn't care?"
"He did. I could tell he did. It's just harder for him to deal with things like this."
Lucie nodded.
"Like I said, just give him time. Eventually he'll come around. In the meantime, I'm here for you." He told her, rubbing her shoulder.
"Thank you so much, Stanley."
They sat there for a while and watched the sun sink lower in the sky. They saw the warden, Mr. Sir and two other men they didn't recognize leave the cabin and head for the shed. Caveman asked what was going on, and Lucie told him everything she knew, which wasn't much. That was all they said, though, and before too long, the boys began heading back to their tents. They all walked around Caveman and Lucie without saying anything to them. Squid went by almost last. He stepped around them and off the porch. He took a few steps and then turned around to face them.
"Lucie, can we talk?"