Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
I sighed. “On second thought, maybe I am hungry.”
His whole face lit as if it were Christmas morning. Moving fast, he retrieved them from his bag. “Which one? The peanut butter and jelly probably tastes better, but I’m awful at spreading the peanut butter, so I think I tore the bread a few times. The turkey is good too though, but I don’t know if you like sour cream and onion chips. Especially not on your sandwich. I thought about just going for regular turkey, but we were out of mayonnaise, and it seemed too plain.” Grinning from ear to ear, he thrust two baggies toward me. “Anyway, I’m not picky. So whichever one you want, I’m good with the other.”
I bit my bottom lip. Deep down, I didn’t want either of them and not because of anything to do with torn bread or sour cream and onion chips. It was because taking his sandwich felt a whole lot like charity.
I didn’t know the situation with Camden’s life. I’d gathered they didn’t have a ton of money and his grandparents were hard on him. But I knew myself and if I was going to take a sandwich from him and not choke on every single bite, I had to feel like it was tit for tat.
“What’s your favorite kind of sandwich, Cam?”
He shrugged. “Whatever. I’m easy.”
“No. You gotta tell me. Or I’m not taking either one of those.”
He slanted his head to the side with confusion that was so cute it made me even more uncomfortable. “Why not?”
“Because you’ve been doing a lot of nice things for me and it’s freaking me out. Just answer a question for once, would ya?”
“I like doing nice things for you.”
Dang, he was smooth.
“Not an answer,” I said firmly.
“Okay, okay. Fine. I think my favorite would have to be chicken salad.”
I curled my lip and finally looked back at him. “Ew.”
He laughed. “Hey, you asked.”
“Well, I’m no chef, so do you like anything else?”
“I guess ham with pickles and mustard would be my second favorite.”
Now, that I could do.
I took the peanut butter and jelly from his hand, because let’s be honest, turkey with potato chips sounded disgusting. “Tomorrow, I’m bringing lunch.”
He opened his mouth to object, but nothing came out.
“And two Cokes.” It would take almost all of my money for the day to afford it, but whatever. Ramsey and Thea would eat a ham sandwich with pickles and mustard too. They’d have to buy their own Cokes though.
“Nora, you don’t have to do that.”
I took a big bite of the sandwich and peanut butter covered my hands because he wasn’t wrong. He had shredded the bread. I talked with my mouth full. “I know I don’t. But you brought lunch today. I’m bringing it tomorrow.”
I felt his eyes boring into the side of my face, but he didn’t argue as he unwrapped and ate his sandwich.
Things went back to normal after that. I broke out the batteries for his radio and we listened to music on the other side of the creek for a change in scenery.
We laughed.
We talked.
We played.
I beat him three times in a row at Slapjack, leaving the backs of his hands bright red.
Then, right as the sun started to fade, he took off with his bucket of worms, running home in time for dinner.
I smiled watching him go because I knew he was doing it with the ten-dollar bill I'd snuck into the front pocket of his backpack.
The next few months were pretty uneventful for Camden and me.
We fell into an easy routine together, arriving every morning at nine, alternating who brought lunch and the occasional Coke, and then we did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.
Sometimes we’d lie in the sun, reading magazines Thea had snagged from the waiting room at her dad’s barbershop. Other times, we’d play hide-and-seek, which was really just a nice way of saying I’d hide and then jump out to scare the crap out of him.
The one thing that always remained consistent though was the ten-dollar bill we’d secretly swap each day.
We were always together, so hiding it in each other’s stuff could be hard.
The majority of the time, I put it in the front pocket of his bag, and his go-to spot in a crunch was to wrap it up in my wet clothes. But every now and again, we’d get creative. Once, Camden used fishing line to sew it into a hole in the lining of my backpack. I searched for days before I found that thing. In retaliation, I used a safety pin to attach it to the back of his shirt. He’d told me he was halfway through dinner before his grandpa pointed it out.
I had very few things to look forward to about going home each afternoon, but giggling like a fool while trying to figure out where he’d stashed the money always made the nights brighter.