Staying Silent
Whyteroze28
Why is Hector Zeroni so quiet, and why does Pendanski seem to hate him so much? Zero/Stanley I hope you like the story, please R/R
I obviously don't own these guys, but I think they're so cute together
Chapter 7
"Z... E... R... O..., that's it." Hector watched as Stanley wrote the letters, a slight frown on his face. He knew that the older boy didn't know his real name, but he felt bad knowing that this was how Stanley saw him.
He watched Stanley rub at his eyes, and spoke quickly. "I can help you dig your hole, so you won't be too tired to teach me."
He watched Stanley's gaze flick to his face, and the older boy got a stubborn look on his face. Hector thought he was worried about what the others might say. He refused.
"Look," Hector sighed, "You're a slow digger, alright." He smiled, thinking Stanley might accept it more if he acted like he was joking.
Stanley frowned, with the pencil between his teeth, then chuckled. "Ohh, you're trying to bag on me?"
"Yeah, I'm trying to bag on you. All right." His cheeks felt sore from so much smiling, but the pure rush of sitting beside Stanley made it all worthwhile. Then he made himself stop. "This way we'll be done at the same time."
Stanley looked back down at the paper. "Well, it couldn't hurt," he stated, wiping his cheek, as though brushing something off it. Hector took the pencil hesitantly, biting his lover lip in concentration, trying to focus on the paper, and not the boy sitting less than half a foot away. "Go ahead," Stanley said, and Hector set to work
Forming the letters wasn't hard, but it did take all of his effort not to glance up at Stanley when he made one. "Z..." he could hear the voice, but if he didn't look he was okay. "E..." Well, maybe. "No, this has to go out like this." He leaned back slightly, as Stanley moved forward to correct his letter. "That's an R, ok?"
"This one's easy." Stanley said, as Hector moved forward, trying desperately to focus on the paper. He could feel the tension mounting, and felt him heart jump when he heard, "O. That's it."
Hector blinked at the paper, trying to understand how just four letters could make him feel so bad, and before he could stop himself, he blurted, "Y'know, Zero's not my real name."
Stanley stared at him in shock. He knew that it would surprise him, but he hadn't realized how much. And he hadn't realized how badly he wanted Stanley to know the truth about him. "It's not? But even Pendanski calls you Zero."
Hector's eyes narrowed at that, and Stanley seemed to realize he'd said the wrong thing. He still hadn't said anything about Pendanski, and he wasn't planning to, but it was still a big wall between them. He wondered if the 'session' was replaying in Stanley's mind.
"My name's Hector. Hector Zeroni." At that he saw a spark of something in Stanley's eyes. He knew it had something to do with his name. Could almost feel a tingling in the air as Stanley repeated it questioningly. But then Stanley shifted his pencil to his other hand, and held out his right.
Hector was confused for a second, then realized that Stanley was asking for a chance to start over. "Nice to meet you, Hector," he stated, as Hector quickly grasped his hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you." Hector grinned widely. He never wanted this feeling to end. He knew that Stanley was going to get suspicious if he held on longer though, and he reluctantly released the other boy's hand. But then he realized that Stanley hadn't seemed to want to be the first one to let go either. He felt himself flush as he turned back to the paper.
Over the course of the next few days, though, he found himself regretting the offer to help dig Stanley's hole. Not because he didn't want to help, but because the other boys were constantly picking on Stanley. They treated him as though he was using Zero to dig for him. Stanley tried to brush it off, but Hector could see it really bothered him. Then he realized why.
One night, after he had finished his shower, while he was walking back to the bunk, he heard Zig-Zag and X-Ray talking loudly inside the tent.
"You know he is!" Ziggy yelled. "Why else would Zero be digging for him? The little bastard's already had it from Mom, and now he's fucking Caveman!"
Hector felt himself go cold. Was that what they thought?
"Caveman's teaching him to read, Zig. The poor kid just wants someone to be his friend." He sighed, as he heard X's reply. Maybe Ziggy was just on one of his paranoid trips again.
But then he froze again, as he heard Ziggy answer. "No, there's more to it than that. You don't always see the way he looks at Caveman. And the way Pendanski's eyes follow every move he makes. Squid read his file, just like he read everyone else's. He's lived on the street for the past four years, probably whoring himself out to the highest bidder. And who knows which one of us'll be next."
He forced himself to move. He knew that the talking would stop when he entered the tent, but it was the hardest thing he'd ever have to do. He hated the fact that Ziggy seemed to know exactly what was going on with him and Pendanski... and he thought back to that small smile during the 'session'. But worse than that, he hated the fact that everyone thought Stanley was having sex with him, just to get him to dig for him. Because somewhere deep inside he knew that if Stanley had ever offered, he probably wouldn't be able to turn him down.
