Faker

That night, Trey struggles to sleep as he ponders the implications of the email from the unknown sender. He knows that the message must be about El Capitan, and he is terrified of what it could mean for his dad and their family. However, he has no proof that the email refers to the con, and he refuses to do anything that would cause his family to flee from this enjoyable new lifestyle he has at Boxelder Middle School. Trey knows that if his family skips town, he will be forced to “[throw] away the first life [he has] ever had that actually feels real” (100). Before he can decide what to do, he falls asleep. By the time he wakes up and runs downstairs, his dad is meeting with the neighbor who wants to invest.

Trey is nervous and distracted during his social studies debate. When he botches his portion of the assignment, his teammates can’t recover from the mistake, and Kaylee’s team wins easily. After class, Trey checks his email. The unknown sender has responded with a message that reads simply, “There’s no such car as an El Capitan” (104). Trey sends back a link to the El Capitan website, and the sender asserts that the site is also fake.