Author's Note: I'm not sure if anyone reads Holes fan-fiction anymore, but inspiration struck and I wanted to write! If I get reviews, I'll continue! :) I'm just testing out the waters! This will be a ZigZag fic, because well, ZigZag/Max Kasch is love! lol

Life for me has never come easy. Not that I'm complaining, I know some people have it far worse than me. I try to look on the bright side of things even when everything in my life is a complete and utter mess. My name is Charlotte Elizabeth Sinclair. You can call me Charlie. I'm 17 years old. I have thick curly blonde hair with big, blue eyes. I've always been told I resemble Barbie, which always made me roll my eyes. I'm far from a damn Barbie doll. I may be optimistic and cheerful, but I'm not a proper "lady" and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty to complete what needs to be done.

I come from a small town in Louisiana where everyone knows everyone. The kind of town that knows everyone's business and gossips about people's vehicles in driveways. I know how the people in my town are. The whispers. The gasps.

"She was such a good student, who knew she was a thief"

"Oh, bless her heart, I know her parents don't care enough to keep an eye on her"

"Did you hear about Charlie Sinclair?! I just knew she would be trouble. That's what happens when your mama is a drunk and your daddy is the biggest meth dealer in the state"

I shake my head as if I'm erasing it from my mind. Yes, I was a good student. I studied my heart out when I wasn't taking care of my brother. My little brother, Sam, just turned four years old in March and he relies solely on me. I studied to make sure I had the grades to qualify for a scholarship and get out of that damn town, to make a better life for Sammy and me once I turned 18. But instead, I'm here. On this raggedy school bus. Being carted of to God knows where.

Sammy... oh how I miss him. I worry about him. I know how every day life was living in that house. My mother would barely acknowledge our existence. My father was never around, and when he was, it was never anything to be excited about. Our father never hit us or tried to hurt us in any way, but he abused our mother in front of us. Just about every time he would come home, there would be a screaming match between the two and a physical altercation of some sort. In the end, my mother would be crying hysterically and I could hear my father's truck tires squealing on the asphalt of the driveway. I would always hold Sammy close and cover his ears, some nights I would grab some headphones and put them on him to drown out the noise with music.

"Will daddy come back?" He asked me. He always asked me. After every single fight he would ask me. I never knew the answer. I never knew what it would be like day to day living in that house.

My mother didn't work, she was on disability and got a check every month for it. She didn't pay the bills or get groceries, she spent her money on booze. That's why I'm being sent to Camp Greenlake. I was charged for breaking and entering and theft. I admit to the crime, I just didn't have any other choice. I was caught for breaking into a really nice home on the north side of town. The house just had that "rich" appearance to it and I was almost positive I could find some cash laying around in there. I did. I was just met by police officers in the backyard during my escape. Apparently the house had security cameras as big as the tip of your finger and the couple had been alerted.

"Charlotte Sinclair, please rise," Judge Patrick Guerrero called out.

I rose as instructed and tried to keep a calm stare even though I was breaking inside. I knew what was going to happen. I knew I was going to be taken away from Sammy.

"Charlotte, you are being charged with breaking and entering, along with criminal trespassing, and theft. How do you plea?" He asked me.

"Guilty. I am guilty, Your Honor. But I promise you, I didn't have a choice," I tried to explain to him before he interrupted me.

"Miss Sinclair, that's enough. We do not need to hear your sob story. I'm sure you're a fine actress. But let's cut to the chase. I'm sending you to Camp Greenlake for 14 months. They help troubled youth build character and I certainly believe your character needs rebuilding, Miss Sinclair."

I hung my head and tried my best to not cry in front of everyone. I was losing everything. Sammy.

Thank goodness for my neighbors, Greg and Alicia Starnham. They were the older couple who lived right next door to us. Greg was a retired company man for a very successful marketing corporation. Alicia was always a housewife, even though they couldn't have children. They knew of my living situation and took me and Sammy under their wing. They gave me money from time to time to keep us from getting evicted or to keep the electricity from getting shut off. They wanted to make sure we were fed. They actually cared about us, something our real parents lacked.

Alicia cried when she found out what I had done and how long I'd be gone. She apologized profusely that I felt I had to steal from others to pay for the necessities of life. Greg didn't say much. He was always the strong and silent type, but I could tell just how much he was hiding when he hugged me goodbye. He kissed my head and told me that everything would be alright.

But what hurt me the most? Sammy. Sammy cried and begged me not to leave him. He was afraid I was never coming back. I didn't want to be yet another person in his life leaving him behind.

"Write to me," I told him, "Please. Alicia, would you please help him write to me? I need to know he's alright."

Alicia nodded and promised she would. I kissed Sammy and hugged him tight. I pulled back to look into those big blue eyes of his, eyes that were identical to my own. "I love you more than all the stars in the sky, kiddo. I'll be back before you know it. Be good for me. I promise I'll come back for you. And we? We're going to leave this town. Just you and me, buddy."

He flashed me a big smile and hugged me so tight Alicia and Greg had to pry him off of me.

I choked back tears as I stepped onto the bus and was taken to Camp Greenlake, where my world would soon be turned upside down. It was going to be a challenging, but beautiful ride indeed.