Disclaimer: I certainly do not own Zero ((but he's sooo cute)) nor do I own many other things Louis Sachar and Walt Disney have made up. HOLES belongs to Mr. Sachar, THINGS-YOU-DO-NOT-RECOGNISE probably belong to me.

My Angel, My Only

Chapter Five ll The New Boy

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Barf Bag was taken to the hospital. The seven boys in D-tent were reduced to six.

Zero had to finish digging Barf Bag's hole, because of passed-down orders from Warden.

But the next day, he only had to dig one hole.

Zero hoisted himself out of his hole. He took a drink from his canteen, replaced the cap, and spat into his hole.

He was done for another day.

He was about to walk back to the compound when Zigzag gave a shout.

"Look, there's a bus!"

All six boys looked up, and saw a yellow bus in the distance. It was travelling through a cloud of dust, and halted to a stop near Mr Sir's office.

Zero wondered what the bus was doing there. The only means back to civilisation that usually came to Camp Green Lake was the supply truck.

And then, of course, he decided he didn't care. Zero began to head back to the D-tent.

He went and took his shower, heading straight towards the Wreck Room afterwards. He found Magnet, Armpit and Zigzag in there. Zero plopped himself in the seat near them.

"Wassup Zero," Armpit said lazily. It was obvious the three boys hadn't taken their showers yet.

Zero said nothing.

Squid came in at that moment.

"Hey, you guys. There's a new dude replacing Barfy. Mum wants you guys to meet him."

Armpit groaned, "Someone help me up."

It took the combined efforts of Zigzag, Magnet and Squid to hoist Armpit up onto his feet.

"C'mon Zero," Squid said, beckoning the small boy.

Zero blew some curls from his eyes, and followed. Squid entered the tent first, then Magnet, Zigzag and Armpit followed. Zero hung at the back. He stood at the entrance of the tent for a few seconds, before going on.

"Ah, and that's Jose, Theodore and Ricky."

Zero looked up and saw that it had been Mr. Pendanski speaking. He was talking to the new kid. X-Ray was sitting on his cot, staring at the new boy.

"It ain't Thee-o-dore," Armpit said, with a frown, "It's Armpit."

"Magnet."

"Zigzag."

The new kid looked confused. He was overweight and held the expression of being timid. Zero walked right passed him and sat on his bed.

"They all have nicknames," Mr. Pendanski was saying, "However, I prefer to use the names their parents gave them -- the names society will recognise them by when they return to become useful and hardworking members of society."

"It ain't just a nickname," Zero heard X-Ray say, "I can see inside you, Mum. You've got a big fat heart."

Mr. Pendanski moved over to Zero.

"This is Zero."

"Yup, that's our man, Zero," X-Ray agreed.

"You know why his name's Zero?" Mr. Pendanski asked, "Because there's nothing inside his head."

He smiled and shook Zero's shoulder playfully.

Zero really wished he wouldn't. He hated the fact that the others all seemed to treat him as if he had no feelings. But all he did was remind himself he didn't care.

He wasn't stupid. He just hated answering stupid questions.

"And that's Mum!" Armpit said joyfully.

Zero tuned out while Mr. Pendanski began to talk again. So what, there was a new kid. All that meant was he wouldn't be at the end of the line when they went to get their water.

Zero came back to earth in time to hear Mr. Pendanski say, "You were all new here once, and you all know what it feels like. I'm counting on every one of you to help Stanley."

Stanley. Zero glanced up at the new kid for a brief moment. So his name was Stanley.

He wondered how long it would take before he got a nickname.

Zero watched them all leave the tent, obviously going off for their showers.

Vacancies don't last long at Camp Green Lake.

What a world.

Stanley... a new kid. Another digger. Another person who slept in their tent.

Welcome aboard, he thought dully, By tomorrow, you'll wish you'd never heard of this place.

---

At dinner, Stanley sat with them.

While Zero was quietly eating at his stewed beef, one of the campers asked Stanley, "What'd you do?"

There was silence for a second, and Zero looked up briefly to see Stanley's confused look.

"They sent you here for a reason."

"Oh. I stole a pair of sneakers."

That caught Zero's attention. He almost choked as his head snapped up at once.

Sneakers...?

The other boys were all laughing.

"From a store, or were they on someone's feet?" Squid wanted to know.

Zero really, really, really hoped he had stolen them from a store. Then again, that was exactly what he had done.

"Uh, neither. They belonged to Clyde Livingston," Stanley said slowly.

Clyde Livingston...

"Sweet Feet? No way!" X-Ray exclaimed.

"Did they have red X's on the back?" Zero said suddenly, staring at Stanley intently.

All the boys looked at him in amazement. Zero didn't even blink as he waited for Stanley's answer.

"Uhhh, yeah they did actually."

Zero felt his heart sink.

"Whoa, man! You made Zero talk," Zigzag exclaimed.

"Yeah Zero, what else can you do?" Armpit joked, while the boys chuckled.

Those words meant nothing to him. Zero was still recovering from the guilty feeling that he had most likely sent an innocent boy to a juvenile camp.

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----A/N: Awww! Poor 'lil Zero! Oh well. Tum te tum... thank you for reviewing. Zero's happy too, aren't you! =]

Zero: ((NODS AND WAVES HAPPILY))

Awww, isn't he so adorable. Well, Zero's stickin' around til the end of the story! You know what to say, Zero, right?

Zero: I want cwookieth.

It's always the cookies... argh. I'm going to dispose of that jar!

Zero: ((STARTS CRYING))

Eeeek! Not good. Heres your cookies... grrr. SAY IT NOW, ZERO!

Zero: ((IN BETWEEN CRUNCHES)) Pweathe review and... fank you!

Bwahahahaha. Thank you, Zero. And now, there, there readers. There's plenty of Zero to go around. JUST -- DON'T -- PULL -- OUT -- ANY -- OF -- HIS -- HAIR! ((protects Zero's hair))

Zero: ((SUCKS HIS THUMB))

By the way, it's my birthday on Wednesday! ((grins)) My birthday wish is for the Holes DVD, but I won't be getting that 'cause the next shipment in is on the 18th of August. Well... I will get it... then! Bwahahahaha! By the way... if you originally knew me in writing HP (mainly LJ) stories... well... I really miss you! But if you just knew me through Holes... well... HI! And that's it. Ta ta! --MSQ.