A/N:

Hey! Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Feel free to review, feel free to ask questions, and if you have any suggestions, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Bold italics are when the POV is reading, Italics are thoughts, and Bold is author's note.

Disclaimer: I do not own Holes. I only own the characters I make up.

Mr. Pendenski says that my "tent mates", or whatever, are respectful and won't try anything. Although I'm not 100% on board with the fact that I'm supposed to sleep with six hormonal boys. I'm skeptical just thinking about it. I think Dr. Pendenski can sense my discomfort because he said, "Like I said, you shouldn't be worried about the other boys in your tent. But that doesn't mean you should have your guard down."

Well, make up your damn mind.

We continue walking. Still hearing the damn whistling and comments. Annoying the hell out of me. We stop in front of a big tent, which I would say is the D-tent.

"Welcome to the D-tent." Pendenski welcomed me with a smile. Seriously, how is he so damn happy all the time? Inside there are rows of cots. Not even neat-looking ones. They all looked worn out and uncomfortable. Next to each cot, there was a bag. And all the covers were messed up, except one. I know that's mine because it was untouched. But I still asked, just to be sure.

"Which one's mine?"

"This one, up front here," he pointed to the one I knew was mine. It was obvious. I was in the front of the tent, only a few feet away from the entrance. The cot next to mine had a bad on it. My guess is that it belong to my "tent mate." A boy was going to sleep right next to me. That's a first. Even Adam made sure, when we got the apartment, that I got my room.

"Who is sleeping next to me?"

"Oh! Uh, Alan! Alan is sleeping in the cot next to yours." I look at his cot again. Oh joy...

"Alan's not a bad kid. I'm sure you'll get along great." Wow. Just so optimistic.

I put my pack on the bed and sit on it. Yup, I was right. It's so uncomfortable and the padding is so thin. I can feel the metallic springs of the cot.

"Hey, mom! Who's the chick? And why is she here?"

I look up to the voice. Three boys came into the tent. They looked shocked to see me. Their faces were full of surprise, no, make that disbelief. I had no idea who was calling who "mom." There are no moms here. Probably Pendenski. Hehehe, suits him.

"Hello boys! This is Sara Rudden," I stand up in front of them," Sara, meet Rex, Theodore, and Alan. They are in the D-tent."

I looked at the three boys. The one thing they all had in common was that they were covered head-to-toe in dirt. It was in their hair, face, neck, and practically stuck on their clothes. Other than practically gawking at me, the dirt was the only thing that they all had in common.

The first one had thick glasses with the lenses covered in dirt and a long rag tied around his head. Looked like bandanna. How can he see with those on?

The second one was fat. He had a hat which was also covered in dirt. He also had a rag, a dirty one, over his shoulder.

The third one...Alan was either glaring at me or squinting. I couldn't tell. He was tall, just a little taller than the one with glasses. He had a towel wrapped around his head and a tan cap on the top. But what really stood out to me was the toothpick he had in his mouth. So this is Alan. Well, he doesn't look like he'll give me a hard time. He looks decent.

They all stared down on me, like I was a little kid. They look my age. But Alan looked a year older.

I muster up all the courage to say hello. "Hey." Damn, that was weak. Mental kick.

"Yo my name is X-Ray. That's Armpit," he nudged his head towards the fat one," and that's Squid," he said towards Ala-um, Squid. When X-Ray said Squid's name, Squid put his hand on the tip of his cap and tipped it. I don't know if it was the heat or something but I felt my face grow hot.

Squid looked at Pendenski,"That's mom." He had a strong, low Texan accent. It gave me chills. He sounds like he's from Texas, like me. Huh, wonder where's he's from.

Calling Pedenski "mom" just fit so well. The thought of it made it hard to stifle my giggling. "Hehehe..."

"They all have their little nicknames, but I prefer to use the names their parents gave them. The names society will recognize them by," Pede-MOM said seriously. X-Ray rolled his eyes.

I rolled my eyes as well. 'Society will recognize them by' Pssh! Yeah, right.

"I'm pretty sure they'll give you a nickname as well, Sara. In time." Mom beamed at me. I raised my eyebrow at him. Never had a nickname before.

I look at the three boys again. They were still staring at me, probably figuring out what the heck I did to get myself at this place.

Mom started talking to the boys again. Something about respect or being polite or some stuff like that. I wasn't paying attention. I was looking down, at my worn-out, over sized boots.

I felt a pair of eyes on me. I mean, EVERYONE was staring at me, but I suddenly felt a strong, sharp gaze. I glanced up to see who it was.

Squid was staring at me, not even paying attention to mom. His mouth was ajar with the toothpick still there. I kept looking everywhere except his eyes, just to avoid his gaze, but it was very hard to.

Then I just straight up just stared at him. This was the first time I was actually paying attention to him. He had his arms crossed and his head leaning to the side. Dirt covered his hair, eyebrows, make that his whole entire face. Except for two dark brown eyes peering into my light blue ones.

"Sara, Alan here," he pointed to Squid,"will be your mentor." Mom snapped me from my gaze.

"Wait, huh?" I looked at mom like he was a madman. I'm not so sure about this.

"Come on, mom! Why me?" Squid whined to mom. He had his arms down to his sides now, his fists in tight balls.

"Because, Alan, her cot is closest to yours. You will show her around here, show her the ropes." Mom turned to face me. "Well, I'll leave you in Alan's hands now, Sara. Now, I gotta get back to Mr. Sir. 'Scuse me." He patted my shoulder before he left. He left me. He left me here with them!

I looked back at them. "So, um, you all are from the D-tent, huh? Well, nice to meet you guys."

They didn't say anything. They all just continued to stare at me. It's pretty obvious they don't like me.

X-Ray was the first to say something. "Well, we better get back to the holes. Or else the Warden will get mad at all of us. C'mon Armpit, let's go." X and Armpit both leave the tent.

Soon as they leave, I hear X-Ray say from far away, "Have fun, Squid!"

Squid and I were the only ones standing there now. I didn't wanna feel more uncomfortable than I already am so I tried saying something.

"So, uh, hi. I'm Sara. Nice to meet you, Alan." Shit, I said Alan instead of Squid! I stick out my hand.

He just glances at my hand and scoffs. He comes close to me. His face is inches from mine. Whoa! You are in my bubble, man.

He's glaring at me while he says in a low voice, "My name is Squid, girl. Don't know no Alan. Don't ever call me that again, ya hear?" His voice was low and rough. I felt a cold sweat going down my back. Oh shit. I get it, my bad! He moved back, making space between us.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," I said softly. Boy, he sure is intimidating. I retract my hand from the gap between us.

Squid turns his back to me and starts walking. Wow, he sure has broad shoulders-wait. WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYIN'?! He continues to walk until he turns his head to me and says "You commin' or what?!"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." I run to catch up to him. Man, talk about first impressions.

I stayed a few inches behind him. He showed me anything, the "wreck" room, where we eat, bathrooms, the water spigot, the showers where some boys were still shower so I averted my eyes(still listening to the whistling and calling out to me), but what made my eyes lite up was a little shack labeled "Library."

I was an avid reader. I brought books by some famous authors. Some were over 900 pages. I read the Webster dictionary in Second grade but my friggin' brain forgets every little thing. Every morning, I would go to my school's crappy library and checked at least five books out, which I'd be done within a day. My absolute favorite book was "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger. I used to check it out everyday but I finally bought it myself.

I kept staring at the Library shack, wondering what kinds of books are in there, until Squid said,"Ain't no books in there, Babydoll," BABYDOLL? Is this some southern TV drama?! Oh no, Is that my nickname?! ",that's where the shovels fer diggin'. You'll go here first thing in the mornin'."

I frowned when he said that. Damn, I was excited to check out all the books too.

Squid noticed my frowning and chuckled to himself. I glanced at them and said "What's so funny?"

"You looked like I just crushed your dreams fer a second there." He kept chuckling when he put his hands in his pockets, turned around, and started walking away.

"Where you goin'?" I called after him.

"None of your goddamn business!" He shouted over his shoulder. WELL!

"Well, the hell am I supposed to do?!" I shouted at his back.

"I don't care!" he shouted back at me. Isn't he lovely...

I sigh and look around, wondering what I should do. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lump again, grinning like an idiot and licking his lips. Screw this shit.

I decided to head back to the tent. I didn't want to be watched by Lump or anybody.

When I got back, I saw a small boy,maybe 14 ,with poofy, curly hair. He was lying on his cot, staring at the ceiling, across from me. Okay, maybe this kid will be nice.

"Hey, I'm Sara. What's your name?" No response. His eyes are glued to the ceiling. Hmm..

"I'm new here," Duh, Sara,"and my mentor, Squid, just walked off and I have no idea where the hell he is. You mind if I hang around here for a while?"

Still no response. He's just staring off into space. Oh well, it's clear he doesn't want me to bother him.

I just took his silence as a 'yes' so I sat down on my cot and grabbed my pack. I took off my cap and set it down on the corner of the cot. I opened my pack and pulled out some of my books. I brought five, The Catcher in the Rye, Treasure Island, Where the Red Fern Grows,The Yearling, and The Red Badge of Courage. I've read two of these five books. I bought the other three because I thought I might as well read something new. I laid down on the VERY uncomfortable cot and opened The Catcher in the Rye. Hey, I did say it was my favorite book.

'...Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.' Huh. Well, I won't miss anybody. Don't have people to miss anyway.

'I am always saying 'Glad to've met you' to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.' Huh, I guess.

"What're you reading?"

'People are always ruining things-'Wait. Who said that?

I look up from my book and I see the boy, who was lying down on the cot, sitting up and staring at me. I continue looking at him, probably looking like an idiot, because I'm really surprised that he spoke to me.

"Ahem." He clears his throat, which reminds me he asked me a question.

"Sorry! W-what did you ask?"

"I was just asking what were you reading." He points to my book.

"Oh, it's my favorite book. The Catcher in the Rye. It's really good. I have more books, wanna read some of them?" I try my best to be nice. Don't wanna get on everyone's bad side. Like J.D. Salinger says, I wanna stay alive.

He looks down and then looks back up at me. He slowly shakes his head.

I put my book down. Now that I had his attention, I don't wanna mess it up.

"So, what's your name?"

He hesitates before answering me, "Everyone here calls me Zero. But my name is Hector." Hector. That's a nice name.

I grin at him, "I suppose you'd want me to call you 'Zero' instead of 'Hector' 'round them, wouldn't you?"

He takes this into consideration. He's silent for a few seconds until he answers me, "If you want."

I smile, "Alright. I'll call you 'Hector' when we're alone and 'Zero' when others are 'round."

"Sounds great." He returns to lying back down on his cot. I was thinking of returning back to my book but I figured I should ask him some questions first.

"Hey, Hector. How's the rest of the D-tent?"

His head turns to me. He closes his eyes as to think about it, "They're okay. But there's this thing that they always do to the new kid. When you're digging your first hole, they'll dump dirt from their hole into yours. Something they do to every new kid, to make their hole harder to dig, which makes them stay out longer."

"Really?" I arch my eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Well, that should be fun."

He gives me a grin. I think I just made my first friend here.

"Hey."

"Huh? What?" He catches my attention again. He sits back up on his cot again.

"Did you say Squid was your mentor?"

"Yeah. Why?" I wonder where we're going with this.

"Oh, I figured anyway. His cot's closest to yours."

"I heard. Question: Why is Squid so, I dunno, so...mean?"

"No one knows. But he's the toughest guy of the D-tent. X-Ray is the leader though. He's been here longer than the rest of us."

"Huh. I see. I kinda figured he was tough, the toothpick gives it away." I remembered the toothpick in his mouth. The way he stood and his low, rough voice. What in the hell am I sayin'? HE'S KINDA RUDE!

"Hmm..."

All of a sudden, he stopped talking. I glanced at him and saw he fell asleep. Well, digging holes does sound tiring.

I was thinking of returning to my book but then I felt thirsty. Oh yeah, I forgot Mr. Sir gave me a canteen. Next to my pack was the dirty canteen. Where do I fill this up?

Them I remembered the water spigot Squid showed me earlier. Oh yeah, I know where it is.

I flung the canteen over my shoulder, got up, and exited tent. I didn't take my cap 'cause the spigot was nearby. I look around and saw it.

No one was there,probably 'cause their digging holes. But why is Hector not diggin' with 'em? I dont know.

I go over to the spigot and turn the knob. Out came flowing warm water and I filled up my canteen. I turned it off when the water was close to overflowing. I brought the canteen to my dry lips and drank. It's not cold but water's water.

"Well, lookie who we have here."

I quickly turn around to the sound of the voice. Lump. Lump was there.

Dun DUN DUN! cliff- hanger.

Okay, since it's the weekend, I might make a chapter and upload it everyday. But when it's a weekday, I'm gonna try to do the same thing and upload it before 9:00pm.

NEXT CHAPTER, we meet the whole D-tent crew, start digging and get close to Squid.

Simple answers to questions you might have:

Sara is 17.

Squid is 18.

This is taken place in 2014 not 2003, just to make it easier.

Everybody else is the same age as they were in the book/movie.

Sara has a southern accent. It's not as thick and rough as Squid's but it's there. That why, when she talks, you see stuff like "diggin'" or "somethin'".

I, on the other hand, do NOT have a Southern accent. I'm just trying my best to make them sound southern.

I know that it seems she's closer to Zero than Squid but, trust me, we're heading there. BELIEVE IN ME!

Hoped you liked it. :)