AllFreeNovel
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6:30 P.M.
This was an excellent idea,” Russell said as he looked over at me from where we were sitting across from each other, sprawled in the very center of the football field. It hadn’t been very far to Jesse High—just a few blocks over from the parking lot. I’d thought that maybe we could eat on the benches by the front entrance—but then I’d seen the goalposts and had had a better idea.
The football field was AstroTurf, with the white lines of the gridiron spray-painted on. It wasn’t a stadium or anything, just the field and some bleachers set up on either side. And right now, we had it all to ourselves.
“Why, thank you,” I said. “I’m glad it’s not offensive.” Russell groaned, but in a way that seemed appreciative. I set the bag down between us and opened it up, unpacking our dinner and spreading out our football field picnic.
There were lights at all four corners of the field, turned off at the moment. It wasn’t dark out yet, but the sun was thinking about setting. The moon was already rising, and a neon sign I could see beyond the football field was just beginning to glow. So even though the light was fading, I could still see everything I needed to—our tacos, the scoreboard, Russell’s face.
“What do you think happened there?” I asked, nodding toward the scoreboard. It was an older kind, nonelectronic. Right now the score was Home: 69 and Visitor: 0.
Russell looked at it and then laughed. “I think some kids were having fun.”
A second later, I got it and felt myself blush. “Oh, right. Anyway. Thanks again for dinner. I will pay you back.”
“There’s really no need. I was happy to do it.”
“You’re missing an opportunity here. You could really hike up the prices.”
“You’re unstoppable.”
“I’m done now. I promise.”
“Not on my account. I’m impressed. You must have loved the chapter with all the rejected names for the bakery.”
“Yes!” I unwrapped the foil around my taco. “That’s one of my favorite sections.” We’d done this on the whole walk over to the high school—talked about Theseus’s Sailboat, our favorite chapters, our favorite lines, our theories about the characters. Just finding anyone else who loved this pretty obscure book and getting to talk to them about it would have been miracle enough. But here, in the middle of nowhere, for this boy to pull it from his bag like a magic trick?
It meant something. It had to.
I breathed in the taco aroma for just a moment before taking a bite. “Okay,” I said around a mouthful of carne asada. “That’s good.”
“As good as Leo’s?”
“Not quite. But what is?”
“So,” Russell started, then he bit into his own taco, and his eyes widened. “Uh-huh. Okay. Yep.”
“Good, right?”
“Excellent. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.”
I nodded and took another bite. It was better than anything I’d had at the festival, both food-wise and experience-wise—no waiting with crowds of people for overpriced, mediocre food that I was going to eat alone. “Okay,” I said as I took a paper napkin from the bag, glad Russell had thought to grab a handful. “Explain to me your camp theory. You think the kids don’t exist?”
“They exist. They’re just in a different timeline than the rest of the story. It’s Will, when he was a kid. He’s the camper everyone calls Billy, the last summer that the whales were there.”
“I don’t know…”
“Think about it. It’s too random otherwise, right? And this way, the whole thing comes full circle.” Russell stopped to take a breath and shook his head. “I just can’t believe I have someone to talk about this with.”
“I know! Even if some of your theories are unsound.”
“Unsound?”
I laughed as I lifted the top paper plate from my quesadilla, broke off one of the triangles, and offered it to him. “Want some?”
“You sure?”
“Of course.”
