Sorry I haven't written in a looooong time. I just forgot all about this story but I'm starting to write again. I hope this chapter is good. crosses fingers

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that pertain to the movie/book "Holes". They belong to the writer of the book, Louis Sachar.

Chapter 5

Squid looked down at his shoes. He felt like he was handling too much for one person. His friends were popping out of no where with problems and he felt it was his responsibility to help them. Squid sighed. "Well," he began and looked at Magnet.

"Sorry man," he responded. He had baffled him with his problems. He didn't mean to do this to Squid. He just needed to know what to do. He felt lost and alone.

"Here you go Jose," Squid's aunt handed Jose a white t-shirt. Magnet smiled and nodded.

"Thank you. Where's your bathroom," he looked at Squid then his aunt. She pointed upstairs and Magnet went. Squid looked at Nayel. She shrugged not sure what to say to him.

"I don't know," she shook her head and headed back to the table. Squid sat next to her and ran his hand through his hair. "Alan...," she looked at the plate she was eating from. She poked at the food with her fork.

"Nayel just don't," he shook his head and heard the phone ring. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey. Where are you," Bridgette asked in giggling tone of voice. "I'm like waiting here and like you're not here."

"I'm sorry Bridg," he looked at Nayel who was still poking at her food. "I can't come something came up and I just can't leave right now," Magnet came downstairs and sat next to Nayel. They were carrying on their own conversation.

"But Alan you promised," her smile began to fade.

"I know. I know but I can't," he looked down and knew he couldn't tell her what exactly came up.

"All right fine," she sighed. "Call me later," she hung up without a good-bye. He looked at the phone as he placed the cordless phone on the base. He returned to his seat and looked at his friends.

"Was that your girlfriend," Magnet joked. Nayel began to giggle and looked at Squid. He just looked at them with no expression on his face. "Okay bad joke," he looked down.

"You guys shouldn't be worrying about my problems. You guys should figure out what to do about yours," he leaned back into the chair and rested his hands on the table. He began to form fists and felt like pounding them on the table until his knuckles got red.

"Alan....," Nayel looked at him. "We didn't mean to dump this on you...I just feel like," she looked down as she began to choke on her words. She couldn't continue her sentence.

"We could trust you," Magnet finished as his voice cracked. Squid looked at them knowing that their situation was hell of a lot worse then his date with his girlfriend that he sees everyday.

"I should go," Nayel got up. Magnet did also. She felt like she was just being a burden to Squid.

"Don't go," he grabbed her wrist. "I want you to stay," he looked up at her with begging eyes. She turned away.

"I'm going to stay at Stanley's," she said reassuringly. "No big deal," she forced a smile on her face and looked at Squid.

"Nay," he didn't want her to go. His feelings for her began to return. He thought those feelings were dead and buried. They were buried when they buried Zig. "Zig," he said to himself. Magnet and Nayel heard him.

"What," Nayel pulled her wrist away from him and looked at him. She just felt a rush run through her. "Why the hell did you say that," she began to raise her voice.

"Nayel," Magnet said as he grabbed her arm trying to restrain her.

"No," moved away from Magnet. She stared at Squid.

"About two years after I got out of the hospital I went to see him," he looked down. "I owed it to him. It was my fault he died. I just felt it was the right thing to do," he locked eyes with Nayel. Her eyes were beginning to water.

"Nay," Magnet bit his lip. Squid looked at Magnet not sure about what to say.

"Before my dad died...he went to see Zig's grave...he blamed him for everything. He said that it was his fault that I had a shitty live. He was the reason why I was falling apart. He was the reason why he...was dying of cancer...He despised Zig. Everyday I went to see him in the hospital he made sure to say that it was Zig's fault," tears were running down her cheeks. "I told him it wasn't but he never listened. It's not his fault," she reassured herself as she crossed her arms over her chest. Squid walked near her. "No," she shrieked and moved away from Squid bumping into a chair. "I hate him," she began to cry. She quickly wiped away her tears. "It's my dad's fault I'm with Eddie! Not Zig's! It's my dad's fault I have a shitty life!" She cried harder. Squid wanted to comfort her but she would just move further away. He lost her.

"Nayel," Squid began. "I'm sorry," he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say.

"No. I'm tired of that. You shouldn't be sorry for anything," she headed to the door. Magnet and Squid followed but before they could reach her she had left.

"I'll look for her," Magnet walked out of the house and headed to his Jeep.

"I'm coming with," Squid grabbed his jacket and left. He forgot all about telling his aunt he just had to find Nayel.

Nayel stood over Zig's grave. She just stared at the tombstone. Reading the words over and over again. She wanted to change them some how. She didn't want to his name there. "Don't strain your eyes," a voice from behind called to her.

"I can't," she responded and turned to see Caveman standing there. He was wearing his Element hoodie and a pair of faded blue jeans. He walked over to her and stood next to her. "I blew it with Alan," she shook her head. "I just blew up," she kept staring at ZigZag's tombstone. "I don't know why I did it. I couldn't keep it inside anymore. I felt like he should know everything." She sighed and looked at Caveman.

"Well I mean you were honest with him. It's what he would of wanted," Caveman said. He was meaning Zigzag. Nayel grinned and looked back at the tombstone.

"How's Crystal," she asked.

"Let's not talk about that right now," he felt weak whenever he talked about her. Crystal was the name of the girl loved so much. He barely knew her but he knew they were destined. He could feel it every time they locked eyes. Every time they bumped into each other. He knew it.

"All right," Nayel nodded and looked at Caveman. "Mind if I stay over tonight,"

"Not at all. If anything it will make me feel so much better," he smiled and kissed her on the cheek lightly.

"Thanks," she looked back at ZigZag's tombstone and kissed her index and middle finger and pressed them against it. "I love you," she whispered. Caveman got her hand and headed to his car. She followed close behind.

"Don't worry these people are kind of dead," he joked.

"That's not nice," she hit him lightly and grinned. He rolled his eyes and watched a car go by then he concentrated on one particular car, a red BMW. He watched as a girl with long blonde hair got out of the car and headed into the coffee shop. She was like a breath of fresh of air.

"Crystal," he said under his breathe. "I want coffee. You want," he looked at Nayel.

"Sure," she nodded and smiled. They headed into the coffee shop. Caveman kept his eye on Crystal. She meant so much to him but she didn't know how much.