Your Guardian Angel Chapter 3: Sweet Escape, a holes fanfic

A/N: Well, this chapter took me some time to write since I didn't know what kind of approach i wanted to take and where I should end it. Plus I think I made it painfully obvious about Vanessa's past.. the bad part about it. Hmm. 3 cheers for anyone who can guess: Except Kate since I told her the whole plot already. Pleeease review, thankerss.

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this for every chapter? Whatever. I don't own Holes.

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Your Guardian Angel
Chapter 3: Sweet Escape

"Nessa."

Was someone saying my name? Nuh uh. It's just part of a dream…

"Nessa."

There it was again. Maybe it was an angel come to rescue me from my days at Camp Green Lake? Hah. I wish.

"Nessa." This time, whoever it was started to shake me. Ugh. Be gone, evil spirit! I have done nothing wrong to you!

"Nessa's not in right now. Please leave a message. BEEP!" Hah. Like I would listen.

The shaking stopped. "You guys, she's acting like an answering machine! See, I told you she's an alien trying to brain-wash us!"

That sounded vaguely like ZigZag. Wait. ZigZag? Right. Camp Green Lake. Digging holes. D-Tent. I groaned. Too much information re-entering my brain all at once.

"Acting like a what now and trying to do what's-its?" I mumbled, slowly awakening from my peaceful slumber. Well, as peaceful as it could have been.

"Nessa," a tall figure said, taking a hold of my hands and pulling me out of my cot. "It's 4:30. Time to rise and shine and get to digging."

"Hmm. Odd. I've always been taught that 4:30 in the a.m. was a time for sleeping and dreaming," I said, voicing my opinions. That was when my eyes focused to the lighting and noticed that Squid was standing in front of me. Everyone else in D-Tent was milling about, getting their icky orange jumpsuits on and giving me wary looks.

Squid looked at me with what seemed to be sympathy in his eyes. "Well, here at Camp Green Lake we have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to start digging as early as we can so as to spend less time in the scorching hot sun during the midday," he explained.

I blinked. He sounded smart for a second there. I looked up to say something witty in return, something I had not thought of yet and hoping that in one second, would come to me, but as I gazed into his chocolate brown eyes, all thoughts that were once in my head vanished and the only thing in my mind was that he was looking at me.

Funny. I had never noticed his eyes like that before. I had given him long, hard stares all through last night while he was playing poker with the others, but I never had a reaction like this until now. My gaze lowered and saw that he was still holding my hands. Why hadn't I felt them? Why couldn't I feel them now? Had I gone numb from his touch? It was amazing that I had only met him yesterday and he already had this kind of power over me. Butterflies in your stomach wasn't supposed to come until much later, wasn't it?

Hesitantly, I let go of his hands, missing their touch as soon as I let go. Why was I feeling this way? I couldn't have fallen for him already, could I? This was just ridiculous. I was being such a… teenager. Well, technically I am, but this kind of behaviour is just not acceptable. Not yet. Not now. Abandoning all thoughts of having a witty respond, I resorted into reluctantly turning away from him and gathering the clothes that I planned to wear that day. Stupid, teenage behaviour would have to wait… at least until I got dressed.

I turned sheepishly to the others. "Do you mind?" I asked.

Everyone shook their head. They said something about starting to leave for the library. I was sure my face showed confusion again. Library? Weren't we supposed to dig? No one said anything about reading.

Noticing the expression on my face, Squid offered to stay behind outside the tent. He would show me where the library was. Oh great. If having him look at me when there were 5 other boys in the tent made me have butterflies and cause me to have a loss for words, imagine what being alone with him would do. I'd probably die, and not just because of embarrassment.

I hurriedly put on my orange jumpsuit after throwing on a pair of boy shorts and a black tank-top right after the boys left. Not wanting to have to bother to look for my brush which lay in my one suitcase, still unpacked, I quickly ran my fingers through my hair. Afterwards, though, I still felt that I looked absolutely horrible, but decided that this was the best I could do with my appearance with the little time I had.

I took a deep breath. This was my first full day at Camp Green Lake. I was silently pleading that it would be a good one, but I somehow had the feeling that things weren't going to go well. With me, it never did.

Opening the tent flaps to make my way outside, I immediately saw Squid leaning against the side of the tent. Smiling widely when he looked up, I walked over to him. The butterflies came back when he smiled back at me. Seriously, this wasn't at all fair. I've blocked out most males for quite some time now, and then one boy comes along and just breaks down all my effort. What a waste.

"Time to go to the library," he said when we had started walking. I still had no idea why this library was so important. From some of my digging experience, which was mostly digging sand from the beach, I had never needed a book once.

We walked silently the rest of the way there. I wasn't sure if it was an uncomfortable silence or not. It was a bit of both if that worked. I tried desperately to think of something to say but my mind came to a blank. But after a while, the silence didn't bother me. The more I didn't talk, the less I would have to make a fool of myself by saying something stupid.

My stomach growled just as we reached a building with a sign saying 'Library' at the top. Pushing my thoughts aside on how it looked too small to be an actual library, I blushed. My hunger had no problem communicating. Although I was embarrassed beyond belief, Squid just smiled at me again. I guess he thought my hunger was cute. Or maybe he was just secretly laughing at me. It was hard to tell.

"You know, most people would complain about being hungry," he teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm not like most people."

"I can see that. So hopefully, since you're not like normal people, you'll like breakfast," he said in his usual drawl.

I made a face. So obviously breakfast here wasn't much better than dinner. I guess the people who sentenced me here were counting on me to starve to death. My suspicions were confirmed when Squid handed me a honey-covered tortilla that Mr. Sir, who was standing near us, had given him. I made a whole show of smelling it first before actually taking a bite. The rest of D-Tent had walked to us by now and were all gathered around me, waiting for my reaction. Of course, they were all satisfied when I made another face and spit out the remaining contents of the tortilla that had been in my mouth.

"Ew! That's disgusting!" I yelled out.

All the boys burst into laughter. Most of them had the disgusting breakfast in their hands also, and I noticed that most of it were eaten already. Did they really expect me to get used to this kind of food?

"You better eat up, chica. If you don't you're gonna wish you had once we start diggin'. We wouldn't want ya to faint," Magnet said.

"Or throw up on us," ZigZag added, imitating a person barfing.

"Yeah, we don't need another Barf Bag in our tent," X-Ray agreed. I could only imagine why this person was called Barf Bag. I felt like gagging myself when I put two and two together and realized that I was probably sleeping on his old bed. Ew. That was what the stench was. I thought I was beginning to become another Armpit.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quit yer yappin." Mr. Sir said as he headed for the doors of the library. When he opened them, realization dawned on me why coming to the so called 'library' was so important. There, in front of me, were shovels. Tons and tons of shovels. I quickly made a grab for one of them once I saw the other boys taking one. And just as I had, X-Ray stood in front of me and grabbed it out of my hands.

"Hey! Rude much?" I said.

"Don't pay attention to that. That is and always will be X-Ray's shovel. At least until he gets out. It's smaller than all the others," Armpit said.

"Smaller shovel, smaller hole," Squid explained. I stared at the shovel in X-Ray's hand intently. It seemed the same as all the others to me. I rolled my eyes. Boys. I will never figure them and their stupidity out. I quickly grabbed another one just as the rest were starting to head out to their digging destinations. While walking, I shoved the rest of my breakfast into my mouth, trying as hard as I could as to not actually taste the disgusting food.

When Mr. Sir had finally gotten us to our digging spots, which was pretty far away from the actual camp, he led me to some ground that wasn't covered with holes already. He marked the place with his shoe and gave me one final look before muttering, "Start diggin'." Then he turned and started to walk back to the camp, not looking back once.

Everyone already had a small hole dug when I had finally got my shovel into the dry earth. I figured that it wouldn't be easy to dig a five foot by five foot deep hole, but I never knew how hard it was just to get started. By the time I had a small hole dug, blisters were already forming on my hands and I could see the first signs of bleeding. It had gotten so bad that everytime the boys looked up from their digging, they would smile at me sympathetically. Some had even offered to help me dig when they were finished. Even though I smiled back at them whenever they looked at me, inside I was fuming. I didn't want to become D-Tent's charity case.

By the time the sun had come up and I guessed it to be around 10:00, the need to sing a song came. That was something that usually happened when I was hard at work but didn't really want to pay attention to the task at hand. Completely forgetting that I was accompanied by boys, or any kind of human being, my mind came to one of my favourite songs, basically because I could relate to it a lot.

Oh no
Don't go changing
That's what you told me from the start
Thought you where something different
That's when it all just fell apart
Like you're so perfect
And I can't measure up
Well I'm not perfect
Just all messed up

I was losing myself to somebody else
But now I see
I don't wanna pretend
So this is the end of you and me
Cause the girl that you want
She was tearing us apart
Cause she's everything
Everything I'm not

It's not like I need somebody
Telling me where I should go at night
Don't worry you'll find somebody
Someone to tell how to live their life
Cause your so perfect
And no one measures up
Yeah all by yourself
You're all messed up

Now wait a minute
Because of you
I never knew all the things that I had
Hey don't you get it
I'm not going anywhere with you tonight
Cause this is my life

But now I see
I don't wanna pretend
So this is the end of you and me
Cause the girl that you want
she was tearing us apart
Cause she's everything
Everything I'm not

"Woah."

I looked up to see six shocked faces staring at me.

"Chica's got skills!"

Realization dawned on me as my face flushed again for what seemed like the billionth time since I had come to Camp Green Lake. Without even knowing it, I had started singing. No, not singing. More like belting out the song. That was how loud I was. And I hadn't even noticed it until I had finished the whole song.

"Thanks guys," I said, smiling my signature shaky smile.

"Can you teach us how to sing like that?" asked X-Ray with an awed voice.

"Dude, even if she did, you'd still suck," Squid laughed.

"Yeah, like you could sing any better," ZigZag said while shaking his head.

"Oh, and you're saying that you can?" Squid challenged.

ZigZag smirked. "As a matter of fact, I am. Just watch. Cause she's everythiiing and everythiiing I'm noooot!"

Thankfully, Mr. Pendanski came just then in the water truck. I didn't really want to drop my shovel to cover my ears to block out ZigZag's awful singing. Besides, I wasn't really sure if I could even break my hands free of the shovel. I was positive that my dried blood had glued my hands to it. Oh, what a happy thought.

I went to the very back of the line, intending to let everyone else go before me so I would have more resting time but X-Ray forced me to move ahead in front of Zero. They really mistreated the guy. I turned back to him and smiled sympathetically. "I could move back if you want," I offered.

He stared at me for a bit before shaking his head. I sighed. I guess he was used to this, which was just not right. No one should ever be used to getting treated that way.

When it was my turn to get my water filled up, Mr. Pendanski smiled at me and asked me how my first day at Camp Green Lake was going so far. I had no idea what to say. I figured that telling him that I had a major infatuation with one of my tent mates already, had blisters all over my hands, almost threw up during breakfast, and was incredibly tired from having to get up at 4:30 wouldn't go over so well. So I just smiled back and said it was going just fine. Oh, what a great liar I will be once I get out of this place.

Before I got back to my hole, I went to have a little chat with my dear friend X-Ray. He looked at me with surprise on his face when I jumped into his now 3-foot deep hole. I tried to smile as casually as I could.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he said back. His voice was filled with questions. I didn't blame him. I wasn't really an extrovert until I got to know people much better. Me starting up a conversation with one of these boys was pretty much as awkward as a dog playing a piano. Well.

"I couldn't help but notice the way all of you treat Zero. Why do you always act like he doesn't matter?" I didn't waste time with small talk.

He seemed surprised by my question. "Well, um, I dunno. He's just never really talked to us. We kind of got the feeling that he thought he was better than us or somethin'. We didn't want him to think that so I guess that's why we treat him like that."

"Huh." I said while giving a small nod. "Well, if you haven't noticed, you're making him feel bad. So please, can you just try to be friends with him? For me?"

He looked at me straight in the eye before nodding. This time, I didn't have to fake my smile. "Thanks, X-Ray!"

I jumped out of his hole and returned to mine. Back to digging, I thought miserably, all sense of happiness fading. I wasn't anywhere near finishing. I sighed contemptuously and got back to work, starting to sing another song. I had no problem with the boys hearing me now. Heck, if they thought I had an amazing voice then I might as well entertain, right?

This time, digging seemed to pass more quickly. The songs had made me forget everything about being hurt or tired. It was like a sweet escape. Before I knew it, the truck was coming again, only this time to serve us lunch. Oh joy. More food I'm just gonna hate.

I walked over to sit by Squid after I had gotten my food (a ham sandwich, apple, and graham crackers). Earlier before I had decided that there was no point in running away from my little crush. I knew I couldn't and just decided to let it take over me whole. If it would end in heartbreak, I couldn't tell. But I didn't care. I was ready for it. Besides, it wasn't like I was going to profess that I was in love with him or anything. I was sure I wasn't at that stage yet. It was much too soon, even for me. I was just curious. I wanted to know more about him.

"How's your first day of diggin?" he asked when I sat down.

"You tell me," I said, showing him my hands. He made a face.

"Ouch. Yeah, the first hole's the hardest, huh?" he said.

I shook my head. "Nuh, uh. Don't think so. Second hole will be the hardest since I'll be all sore from today."

"Oh great. She's pretty, is an amazing singer, and she's smart," he muttered. I had a feeling that I wasn't supposed to hear that comment. I decided to save him some embarrassment and not mention anything.

I ate most of my sandwich before I carried on with the conversation. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. It was the only decent meal I had gotten so far here. I finished the rest and started to eat my apple before I decided to say anything again. By that time, he was almost done with his food, too.

"So tell me more about yourself, Alan." He glared at me for using his real name.

"Well, there's not really much to know," he started. "My mom's an alcoholic. She started drinking a lot when my dad left us. That was when I was 10. I'm 16 now and she's still not any better. I don't really know what caused me to start breaking the law. I guess I was just desperate or something."

I stared at him. I hadn't seen any of that coming. I felt a feeling of sympathy wash over me and I was barely thinking clearly when I reached over and gave him a big bear hug. Call me sensitive, but his life is just depressing. He muttered a small 'thanks' when I let go. I smiled.

"So," he said. I could tell he was determined to change the subject. "How come you get to know so much about everyone and all we pretty much know is your name?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, unlike you, there's a lot to know about me. My mother died when I was 3 so my father basically raised me and my little sister, Reagan, by himself. He got re-married to my step-mom, Tricia, when I was 13. But she's not like your typical step-mom like in Cinderella. She's really nice and I bonded with her quite well. And my super best friend in the whole wide world is the bestest. She's got the spunk that I never had. Together we're like one complete person. Like you know, the sisterhood of the traveling pants. Her name's Caitlin. I also had a boyfriend. One that I'd had for 3 years. And up until a year ago, I thought I loved him…" I trailed off. I hadn't meant to go down that line.

He just sat there for a while, gathering up all the information that I had just given him. Thank goodness he didn't try to touch on the boyfriend thing a bit more. I guess he could tell that it made me uncomfortable.

"So are you gonna ever tell us why you're here? Like fully tell us?" he asked.

I nibbled on the edge of my last graham cracker before I spoke. I wasn't really sure I could trust these boys yet, no matter how nice they seemed. Even Squid.

"Not sure," I concluded. "Not yet, at least. Sorry."

He nodded, showing his understanding. "We should probably get back to digging," he said. I nodded in agreement and we both got up, separating to go to our individual holes.

I decided I would go back to my escape, seeing as it apparently made me dig faster and less conscious about time. The boys weren't at all surprised now when I started singing another one of my favourites. I guess they liked having their own personal jukebox. Before long, I would probably be taking requests. I smiled to myself. And all this time I didn't even think I was all that good in singing.

About an hour and a half later, I came to the conclusion that I was done my first hole after I measured it with my shovel. I grinned with pride as I jumped out of the hole (after a few times of trying to since I was incredibly short) and was surprised to see that Squid and ZigZag were still at our digging site even though they had finished long ago.

"We decided we would stay so you wouldn't have to walk back alone," ZigZag said. He was actually easy to get along with once he got past the whole 'the girl is trying to brain-wash us' thing.

"Thanks guys," I smiled appreciatively at them. I started to walk back to camp with either boy at my side, but not before I turned to spit in my hole, just like I'd seen all the others do.