United We Stand, Divided We Fall:

A Holes Fanfiction

Chapter One - The Boys

"What do you think this meeting's about?" X-Ray, the leader of D-Tent, asked his two best friends, Armpit and Squid. Both of the other boys shrugged. All of the juvenile delinquent boys of Camp Green Lake were sitting at their respective tables, waiting for the Warden to enter the Mess Hall. The Mess Hall was loud and noisy as usual but the D-Tent boys were having a quiet conversation. "I mean, the Warden doesn't schedule these things a lot." The muscular bespectacled black boy looked around the room as if looking for a sign.

"Can they be closing down the camp?" Armpit asked, hopefully. He was also black, but was overweight and smelled HORRIBLE, because he hadn't taken a shower since arriving at the camp. Well, he did occasionally, but that was only when the others made him. "Or maybe Mr. Sir got fired?" Armpit was the "gangsta" of the group, and he put up a tough façade around the camp, but he truly did have a heart of gold, even if he didn't show it.

"Naw, they can't be closing down the camp," said Squid, chewing on a toothpick as usual. He looked thoughtful. "Last time the Warden set up one of these things it was when Barfbag got bit, and she had to go over the safety procedures and crap like that." Squid was white with dark brown eyes and dark brown hair that he usually hid under a do-rag and a baseball cap. Of all the D-Tent boys, Squid was one of the two boys who had a fairly traumatic past. His father had abandoned he and his mother when he was little and his mother had turned into an alcoholic. In fact, it was because of her that he was at Camp Green Lake.

"What? You think somebody got bit?" X-Ray asked him, and then scanned the faces of the other tents' tables. Everyone else seemed to be there so that couldn't have been it, at least he didn't think. "No, if someone was bit, we would have heard about it by now."

"Maybe-" started another one of the D-Tent boys, Zigzag.

"I'm sure it ain't got nothin' to do with Communists, Zig," Armpit chuckled.

Zigzag frowned. He was definitely "the weird one" of the group, forever talking about Communists, aliens, and other odd things. Zigzag watched the broken T.V in the Wreck Room and always said that the Warden had the entire camp bugged. Zigzag was also white and his blonde hair stuck up on his head every which way like he had been electrocuted multiple times and his ice blue eyes were nervous, like he expected someone to run up to him and shank him. However, he tentmates were cool with, if not tolerant, of his eclectic ways.

"Maybe the Warden's pregnant with Mr. Sir's baby," Magnet, the comedian of the group, joked. The five other boys gave him looks of disgust. Magnet was Mexican and was kind of conceited because he always talked about his days as a successful thief and shoplifter. He also put on a tough act at the camp, but again he was sweeter than he seemed. He was an avid animal lover, and it was because of this he was at the juvenile detention camp.

"That's disgusting, Mag!" Armpit exclaimed, gagging. "Bad images, bad images!" He yelled, massaging his forehead to get the images out of his head.

"What about you, Zero?" Squid asked. Zero ignored them as usual. Squid shared an amused look with Magnet and X-Ray. Zero had just arrived at Camp Green Lake a while ago, but he hadn't said a word since. The other boys figured that he must have been stupid or retarded or something. Even Mr. Pendanski made fun of him, which probably led the way to the other boys making fun of him. Zero was black with a mini 'fro and hazel eyes. There was more to this quiet boy than met the eye.

"Aww, Zero don't know anymore than we do," X-Ray chuckled. "Hey, wait, I think the Warden's coming."

Indeed, the door to the Mess Hall opened and the red-headed woman who owned the camp walked in followed by her right hand man, Mr. Sir. The Warden looked very distraught and there were tears streaming down her pale face. She stood in front of the Hall and was dressed from head to toe in black. The entire camp was shocked into silence that you could have heard a pin drop. They had never seen the Warden cry EVER. "Who died?" Zigzag asked Squid, leaning across the table. Squid shushed him into silence.

"As some of you may know, I have a brother has a juvenile detention camp for girls across the state," the Warden said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. "He died early yesterday morning, bitten by a yellow spotted lizard. May we have a moment of silent for my brother Thomas David Walker?" They respected the Warden's wishes and was quiet for a few seconds and then she started talking again. "Now, because there is no one else to take the camp over. The girls' camp will have to merge with ours until someone can replace him. They will be arriving on Friday."

"Wait….girls, real live girls?" a boy from B-Tent asked aloud.

"Yes, EZ, real girls," the Warden answered him, and then was immediately back to her normal self. "And they are to be respected and you are not to form relationships with them. They are juvenile delinquents as you boys are and they are there because of crimes from shoplifting all the way to murder. If you do, you will be punished severely. I will go into more details by Friday. You are all dismissed."

There was an excited chattering on the way back to their tents. "I wonder what we'll do with 'em when they get here," EZ, the leader of B-Tent, a white boy with peroxide blonde hair, snickered. X-Ray rolled his eyes, as did the only D-Tent boys. There had been an ongoing rivalry between the two tents for as long as they could remember.

"You heard what the Warden said, EZ. Besides, I doubt they'll be any girls in your tent cuz of the crimes you were all arrested for," X-Ray said, sullenly.

"Whatever, hypocrite," said EZ, and he nodded for his fellow B-Tent boys to follow him. X-Ray did the same.

The D-Tent boys entered their cabin. "Girls! Real live girls are coming to Green Lake!" Magnet shouted in delight. "It's a miracle!"

"They'll probably be murderers or something," Zigzag said cautiously, lying on his cot.

"But they'll be hot murderers," Squid replied, happily.

"You guys heard what they Warden said," X-Ray reminded them. "No girl is worth getting into trouble over."

"So, let me get this straight," Armpit told his friend, "You're not even the least bit excited about a whole lot of girls coming to the camp? We all haven't seen a girl in months."

"Okay, yea, I am, alright?" X-Ray admitted. "It's just…nothing. Let's just get to sleep. Just cuz some girls are coming isn't gonna get us out of diggin' holes." With that, the boys got ready for bed and X-Ray turned out the lights, each of them falling asleep at their own time, but not without thinking about the company they would be receiving. Only three (X-Ray, Zigzag, and Zero) seemed wary of the newcomers. Yea, I admit. I'm excited that these girls are coming, but not one of them will talk to me, I bet, not if they find out what I'm in for, X-Ray thought. Huh, then they'll really hate me. Besides, who would like a four-eyed freak like me? Even though I am quite sexy if I do say so myself.

Just keep telling yourself. They're murderers and they'll kill you, Zigzag repeated to himself. It wasn't that he didn't think they would be hot, but his paranoia was really kicking in.

They're gonna be just likes the guys are, and they're gonna treat me like dirt, if they treat me like anything at all. I'm gonna be invisible as usual, and besides if the guys don't make their minds up for them, then Mr. Pendanski will, Zero thought to himself. He went to sleep long after the others as he was taking a few moments to analyze the situation. I could run away tomorrow and no one would say anything about it. That's just how it's been and always will be.