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 3
That night was quiet. Hector half expected Pendanski to try something else, but he slept through the night. His dreams were strange though. There had been an old woman with no left foot. A handsome young man who looked a little bit like Stanley, with a pig. A tall black man with a mule-pulled wagon. And a beautiful blonde woman with bright red lips. And a strangely familiar melody playing throughout.
His eyes shot open, and he slid off his cot to get dressed. He knew he'd heard that song before. It was so close he could feel it. But then, he heard Stanley humming as he got dressed, and Hector felt like slapping himself. It was the same tune, almost. He must have heard Stanley humming it before... but it still didn't sound right.
Mr. Sir was driving the truck that day, and Hector was relieved. But he knew something was going to happen though, and he was right. As they lined up, he felt X-Ray grab his arm, and drag him back so he was behind Stanley. Now that he had been accepted, he was one of them, and worth more than 'Zero'.
He really wasn't bothered by the move. He'd been expecting it since the night before. But seeing Stanley looking sorry really bothered him. It made him realize that Stanley really noticed him... that if he did disappear, there would be one person here who just might care. True, it might not last past Pendanski's explanation, but Stanley would at least want to know. It almost made him want to cry, and he had turned away.
That night they had one of their 'group counseling sessions'. They had one every month, so Barf Bag had told him. He'd been ignored at the last one, once he'd proven that he wasn't going to talk. But now they knew he could. What would Pendanski do this time. The man walked in, and sat down, wearing a tank top instead of his usual 'uniform', and Hector felt his stomach clench. Now he really understood why Lewis had earned the nickname 'Barf Bag'.
He made it through Magnet's explanation of what he'd done to get him in here, even smiling a little at his 'If my pocket didn't start barking!' line. But then he froze again, as he heard Stanley say he knew who was the reason he'd come to Camp Green Lake. He glanced at him, hardly daring to breathe. Did he know. But then he breathed, as Stanley blamed his troubles on his 'no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather'.
'Wait, pig?' Hector flashed back to the dream he'd had that morning. Was it possible? Nah, it had to be a coincidence... right?
Pendanski had corrected him, like he did for all of them, and then his gaze had swung to Hector. The boy froze, his gaze dropping to the floor, his heartbeat speeding up as the man spoke. "Even Zero here isn't completely worthless. What about you, Zero? What d'you like to do?"
He knew that if he looked up, he would see the expression on Pendanski's face. The man knew how he made Hector feel, how revolted the boy was by just thinking of what had happened. He was using that experience to try to put 'Zero' in his place.
"You just won't talk with me, will you?" Hector could hear the hatred dripping off his every word. He was almost surprised that the others didn't hear it. They had to have known what happened to Barf Bag... But then he heard the surprised conversations in his head again. 'It must have been all the digging.' And he knew that they either didn't know... or didn't want to know.
He heard Armpit joking about how he only talked to Caveman, and almost smiled again. If they only knew why he talked to Stanley.
"You think you're better than all this?" And that did it. He looked up at Pendanski, his anger hot enough to set the Camp on fire. He did think he was better than this, better than Pendanski anyway. At least he didn't get off by forcing himself on someone weaker than he was.
He saw Ziggy's eyes widen just a fraction, as if expecting something. The boys really seemed to think he was going to say something.
He glanced at Stanley, almost as though asking permission, but really to see what Stanley thought of the conversation. And then he blinked. Stanley knew... or he guessed. And he was furious. He could feel the anger, almost as bright as his own. Stanley nodded slightly toward Pendanski, almost as if he was giving him permission to let the anger loose. And somehow, it calmed him. He glanced up at Pendanski and almost smirked at him. "I like digging holes," he said sarcastically.
"Then you're in the right place for it, Buddy boy." Stanley's head shot up at the tone, and he glared at Pendanski for a long moment. The others seemed to feel the tension in the room as well, but after a moment it broke as Pendanski got up and walked out.
That night he heard a rustling. He turned, and caught Stanley watching him.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.
Hector shook his head. If he told, then he knew his other feelings would come out... the ones that he had to keep quiet for fear of the other boys. He knew they would probably hurt him. Plus, Stanley would probably hate him, and right now, Stanley was the only friend he had.
Stanley shrugged. "If you do, I'm here."
Hector rolled back over, trying once again not to cry. He wouldn't let Pendanski win.