Summary: One of the boys receives shocking news. He doesn't know what to think of it, and neither do the others. What will he do about it? What can he do about it, if he can't take back the past?

Author's Note: Hey ya'll! Here's chapter two. I hope you all like the story so far. Thank you to all my reviewers. I can't believe I got this many. Thanks you guys! They really inspire and encourage me to keep writing. So, keep those reviews coming!

Disclaimer: I do not own Holes. Louis Sachar is the creator of the magnificent book, so all credit goes to him.

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Chapter Two: Family Bonds

"What?"

"You heard me. Are you happy now?" Magnet asked, looking at X-Ray.

"I didn't know. I'm…I'm sorry," he wasn't too good with apologies. He didn't usually make any, but he knew he had pushed too far.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Zigzag asked. He wasn't as shocked as the rest of the boys had been. He knew Magnet had a girl back home, well…he used to. He had seen a postcard that had been sent to him once. But he never saw another one after that.

He expected that Magnet had done things with girls, especially by the way he didn't brag about what he had done with girls, like most of the other guys at the camp did.

"I don't know, Zig. What the hell can I do?"

Everyone stood silent, deep in thought. No one could think of a reasonable answer for him. They each took a seat on their cots, not knowing what else to do.

Magnet looked around at the boys, all of them obviously struggling to think of a solution. He sighed, "Listen guys, I don't want you to think about it. It's not your problem. It's mine. I don't want no one stressin' about it, alright?"

No one responded. "I said alright?" he repeated once more. He didn't know why no one was saying anything.

"Man Mag, you know we'll be here for you. Whether you want us to or not, we're going to try to figure out a way to help," Squid placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

The other boys seemed to feel the same way. They all went to Magnet's cot and sat down. "Thanks guys," he stood quiet awhile, then added, "Now, don't be gettin' all mushy on me. I don't want your guys' sympathy. I'm still the same, no reason to be actin' different around me."

"Awww," the boys all chorused, pretending to wipe away tears.

They heard a creak, though they didn't know where it was coming from. Of course they soon figured it out when the cot collapsed, making the surrounding dust from the floor swirl around the room.

It was silent for a few seconds, then all that could be heard was their laughter. "Man, Armpit. Look what you did!" Squid joked.

"Hey, I resent that," he retorted, laughing along.

However, the laughter was cut short when Mr. Pendanski walked into the tent.

"Now, what's all this racket about? I could hear ya'll-" he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the broken bed.

"How did this happen?" he demanded.

All of them pointed to Armpit, who looked around wildly, looking for someone else to blame. However, Mr. Pendanski knew it wasn't just Armpit who was to blame.

"I'll just talk to the warden about this," and he walked away.

They laughed some more, until Magnet got a bit more serious, "Where am I gonna sleep now?"

They shrugged their shoulders. "You can't sleep on the floor, that's for sure. Think of all the bugs and…things that'll crawl all over ya," Zigzag pointed out.

"Naw, they wouldn't make me sleep on the floor, for exactly that reason. They wouldn't want me sent to the hospital and not dig. No, they'll just give me some old, used cot," Magnet shuddered.

"Well…seeing as it's mostly our fault your cot's broken, we'll just take turns sleeping on whatever you get, right boys?" X-Ray asked, knowing they were going to agree with him whether they wanted to or not.

They were hesitant at first, but then nodded their heads in agreement. "No, you guys don't have to. I'm not going to get much sleep anyways, thinking about…everything."

They all stood silent, it had slipped their minds for a moment. Magnet was in a serious predicament and no one knew what to do about it.

"If you guys don't mind, I kinda want to be alone right now," Magnet asked nicely. He thought he'd ought to be good to the boys; after all, they were taking the situation better than he thought they would. They could have been complete jerks about it, but they weren't.

"Yeah, sure. Come on," Squid lead them out of the tent.

Magnet went in search of the letter, desperately wanting to read it again and again to make sure he didn't read anything wrong.

He flipped the cot over, figuring it must of landed somewhere in the mess. He finally found the letter. It was torn a bit at the edge, but none of the words were gone. He read the letter again:

Dear José,

       I hope you're okay at that camp. I've really missed you, and so has the rest of the gang. This is the hardest letter I've ever had to write. God, I'm so nervous. I have no idea how you're going to react. I just thought you should know that I'm pregnant. Yes, it's your baby, I was faithful and you were my first. But you already know all that.

       I'm four months in. I found out when I was three months, but I didn't know how to tell you. I understand if you don't want anything to do with this baby, but I just thought it's your right to know you are going to have a child.

       I'm staying with Linda right now. If you want anything to do with our child, you know where to write. If I never hear from you again, I understand and wish you the best in your life anyways.

                                                 Forever and Always,

                                                                        Charisma

He reread the letter, what felt like, a hundred times, making sure his eyes were not deceiving him. They weren't.

Did she honestly think he wouldn't want to be a part of his child's life? How could she? Sure, he didn't want to have to take care of a kid at sixteen, but he would. He just didn't know how. How was he going to be able to help while still at Camp Green Lake?

He knew he had to find a way. He needed to, for Charisma, and for his coming child.

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Author's Note: Did you like? Be sure to click on the little button that says 'submit' on the bottom, left-hand corner. Once again, thanks to all you reviewers.

XOXOXO – Lilac Bloom