Staying Silent
Whyteroze28
Why is Hector Zeroni so quiet, and why does Pendanski seem to hate him so much? Zero/Stanley I hope you like the story, please R/R
I obviously don't own these guys, but I think they're so cute together
Chapter 2
It was funny, Hector thought, how the sound of a gunshot sounded so different in the quiet. He heard Mr. Sir's gun go off, and then two minutes later, Stanley was racing into D-Tent, telling everyone how Mr. Sir had saved him from a yellow-spotted lizard. Ziggy had started in with his psycho bullcrap, and the others were quick to tell Stanley how close he'd come to being killed. Hector watched Stanley sit down shakily on his cot. The boy glanced at him, and Hector shook his head slightly, not really certain whether he was trying to comfort Stanley, or tell him not to draw their attention to him.
He'd finally realized, after a long evening of thinking, that he felt drawn to Stanley. And it wasn't just the shoes. The boy had a clumsy, and clueless way about him, that made most of the guys pissed off at him. But Hector realized that Stanley didn't understand... most likely because he was one of the few boys here who actually had a real family. He'd seen Stanley starting to write something earlier. He figured it was a letter, because he knew that was what you were supposed to do... write letters from camp. But none of the others did.
Then, a few days later, things changed again. They were in the 'Wreck Room' playing pool. Hector was kicking X-Ray's ass, and X knew it. Hector was good at pool. It let him express the anger that burned inside him. And this wasn't just anger most days, it was blind killing fury, so he had to let it out somehow.
Then he caught sight of Squid harassing Stanley. He pushed past X, and moved to the center of the room, not realizing until he got there that he was still carrying the pool cue, positioning it like some kind of weapon. His fingers were clenched around the stick so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
But then he saw Squid decide that Stanley wasn't worth getting into trouble over. His fingers relaxed on the cue as Squid crumpled Stanley's letter and threw it in the trash can. He watched Stanley pick it up, as he put the end of the cue on the floor, crossed his hands over the top, and put his chin down on them. Then Stanley flattened out the letter on the side of the mailbox, and kissed it before mailing it. Hector's mind sputtered for a second, as a thought crossed his brain... He wanted to be that letter.
The next day though, he was back to his normal routine. Until the water truck came. He stood in line patiently, quietly, until Pendanski finished filling up his water bottle, but then the man practically threw it at him. Hector saw the leer on his face again, and his anger rose. He hurried back to his hole, the dirt flying as he dug. He imagined every time he dug the shovel into the ground that it was striking Pendanski's face.
He was finished in record time, and he stalked back to camp, racing to the showers, so he could get clean, and go take a nap before dinner. He just wanted to be alone. But, if he had known... Just as he finished getting undressed, something caught his arm. He looked up... right into the evil, grinning face of the 'camp doctor'.
That evening, he was restless. He knew that it would happen again, probably soon. He had been told so. After all, no-one cared about 'Zero', the little nobody. He wasn't good for anything, he had no-one. All it would take was one mistake, and he could disappear forever. So he just set his mind on getting by, and praying that his time at Camp Green Lake passed quickly. Not that he really believed anymore that he would ever leave.
So he went back to the pool table. He was really kicking ass today. They played for shower tokens, and he really wanted a long shower, to wash away all reminders of what had happened.
Then he saw Stanley come in. He still didn't know how to explain that he always seemed to know where the other boy was. His eyes tracked the bigger boy, even as he sunk another ball. But then, some guy bumped into Stanley, and he fell onto a guy known as Lump. Lump was one of the laziest guys at camp... and one of the meanest. Lump kicked him across the floor.
Stanley apologized, and for a moment Hector thought everything was ok... Then Stanley tried to get up, and slipped, knocking over the radio Lump was listening to, and landing on the guy again... Looking for all the world as if he'd jumped him.
Absently, Hector felt that anger rise up again as Lump prepared to beat the shit out of Stanley. But then, all the D-Tent guys raced over, trying to break it up. Hector wondered if something had happened out at the digsite while...
Amazingly enough, the guys cooled things down, and Hector turned back to the pool table, his eyes still blazing at Lump. Then he felt his fingers relax, and something fall from them. He glanced down in amazement. He had picked up the number 6 ball without even thinking about it. He caught a slight widening of Stanley's eyes as he looked at the ball too.
Then the guys started talking about 'Caveman', and Hector sighed inwardly. Something had happened all right. Stanley's eyes widened even more, realizing that HE was 'Caveman'. Hector knew then that Stanley had been accepted... more than he had been. He'd had his name before Camp Green Lake after all. He wondered what it would have been if he hadn't... probably Mole, if the teasing was anything to go by.
He heard Stanley ask if he was 'Caveman', but wasn't sure if his response was to the question, or his thoughts on his own non-existent possible nickname. 'It's better than Barf Bag.'