Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or logos included in the book "Holes". Enough said…

Chapter 9: What's that?

Terry's new name was decided. It was going to be Lazer. X-Ray said it suited her, because of her stare. 'When she glares at someone, her eyes burn strait through,' He had said.

'At least it's not Barfbag…'

"I still think we should play I-Spy." Said Zigzag, with a smile. No one answered.

"Yeah, go play I-Spy with yourself, the rest of us want to sleep." Grunted Magnet. Lazer closed her green eyes and rested her head on her bare knees. Slowly, ever so slowly, she fell asleep. But no one was aware of the steady dripping through the jumpsuits.

The next day

She shifted, waking up. It was still very dark, but everyone was illuminated with a soft orange glow seeping through the orange jumpsuits. Something had been on her shoulderblade. Oh well…She opened her green eyes and looked around. They were all sitting in mud. Thick, dark, oozy, goopy mud. Lazer's feet were cemented into the ground. The mud must have been at least half a foot deep. The other boys were all still asleep, and to her surprise, Squid's head was resting on her shoulder. His face was calm and relaxed, and for a second, she thought she saw a smile flicker across his face. His body was fairly close to hers, and she liked it. So she pretended to still be asleep, closing her eyes and putting her head back down. But she could not get back to sleep, for the mud was much too cold and slimy. She wanted to get up and wipe her butt off. But that would wake the others.

'No…I'll just stay here…'

And with a smile Lazer ran her fingers through his dusty hair.

Squid's Point of view

He tried to open his crusty eyes, but they were stuck shut with mud and dust. Through his groggy thoughts, Squid realized something. He was leaning on something. It was someone's shoulder, smooth and bare. He raised his hands up to wipe the crud out of his eyes. After doing so, he put his hand on the person's back and opened his eyes. It was someone wearing a grey tank top. Terry!

'Eeeeek!'

Quickly, Squid pulled his hand away.

'Damn you idiot, she's waking UP!'

He kept very still, his head still resting on her shoulder.

'Aww man, what the hell is she gonna think NOW?'

Her body moved slightly, and he felt her raise her neck. She tensed suddenly.

'Great, she hates me!'

But instead of her pulling away, she relaxed again. Squid felt her eyes on him. He tried to relax his face to make it look like he was sleeping, but it was too hard. He failed to suppress the slightest oncoming smile. He felt gentle fingers smooth his hair back. It felt just like the way his mom used to when he was a little kid, back before she started drinking. Back in the good old days when everything was fine. He instantly felt sleepy again, and hopefully, so did Terry.

Terry's Point of view

She could hear rustling around. Caveman cried out.

"Whoa! Where did all this mud come from? I can get up!" Anyone else who was sleeping was awake by now. Except for Squid. He was still resting against Terry, sleeping like an angel. She kept her eyes closed. There were some whispers going around. Everyone had noticed the rather "odd" position that Lazer and Squid were in. Not liking all the attention, she decided to move. She snapped her eyelids open and looked around. Six pairs of curious eyes were on her. Blushing deeply, she wrenched her shoulder free of the boy's head, and rubbed her neck. They were all still staring, wide eyed and open-mouthed.

'This must seem so perverted…'

After his head had been shoved into the mud, Alan started to suffocate. He coughed and pulled his face out. After wiping it thoroughly with his sleeve, he opened his eyes and saw what was going on. Terry was turned away from him, her head in her hands. Was she crying? Everyone was looking from him to her, and Zero was smiling slightly. Pretending that he didn't know, Squid asked:

"What's going on?"

"You and Lazer were slumped up against each other… it was weird." Replied Armpit.

"Well, don't want to waste time gabbing. Let's get ourselves out of this mud!" Chirped Caveman, purposely changing the subject. There were a few eyebrow cocks but they set to work anyways. Caveman got up first, and when he finally did, the mud made a sucking sound. Kind of like when you brake the vacuum seal in a coffee can. He helped Zero to his feet, and then Zigzag. By now it was quite crowded with three people standing up, so Zigzag pushed the orange suits away. Just as he did so, a whoosh of muddy water dumped in. It splashed all over Terry and soaked her tank top.

'It's always ME isn't it?'

"Sorry there, Lazer!" He said apologetically. He didn't sound very apologetic, that was for sure. He clambered up into the bright sunlight. It flooded the hole, revealing the strap of Squid's watch poking out in the mud. Squid had pulled himself up. He scooped a handful of mud away, and picked it up.

"Does it still work?" Asked Caveman.

"Yep, but one of the buttons is jammed. I'm afraid we won't be able to use the chrono." He said, with a smile. Terry was struggling to get out. Her feet and butt were cemented, and wouldn't budge. And the extra water to moisten the vacuum seal didn't help, either. She jammed her hand under her foot and pulled with all her might. But it was no use. (A/N: Science lesson coming up!)It reminded her of something her science teacher once said:

Flashback

'There was once a time when people didn't know why many things worked the way they did.'

Mr. Greenfield walked down the aisle of desks, looking each student in the face.

'One of which, was why things got stuck in the mud. This was caused by something called suction. A few hundred years ago, a renaissance scientist put together two large copper basins. Then he pumped all the air out. He tried to pull them apart himself, but it didn't work. Then he attached a team of four big horses to each basin to try and pry them apart. Those copper basins didn't even budge in the least. Inside the basins was something called a vacuum, where the pressure outside was much greater than the pressure inside. The air inside always tries to find a way out, but the air outside is pressing the basins so hard together, that there aren't any cracks to escape in.'

End of flashback

Terry smiled. She hated Mr. Greenfield, but his lectures were always interesting. She pushed the mud away from her foot, like a crowbar. There was a squelchy sucking sound. Her sneaker was soaked through with mud. The shoelaces were plastered into the side.

"Yuck!"

After standing up, Terry managed to squeeze past Armpit and clamber out of the hole. It wasn't much better up top. There was puddles everywhere and absolutely no sign of life. Zigzag, Squid, Magnet, and X-Ray were up too. They were all looking at something in the distance. It was a human figure, making it's way through the mud. And with difficulty, too. X-Ray spoke only two words.

"What's that?"

Alright. Cliffhanger-ish…please review! I made this chapter a bit longer than normal hehe I hope you enjoyed it.