"i really dig you."

Mom

Author's Note;
[Hey! Thanks for checking my story out! I really hope you enjoy. Heads up that this is a shipping fanfiction of the book Holes. If you don't like the ship, don't read. Before you read, know that this is more of a prologue. Alright! Seeya!]

Zero was the first to call him Mom.
Pendanski had been in the Wreck Room, early in the morning when all the campers were still digging. Staring at a wall. Thinking about a certain someone he had on his mind. That certain someone?
Marion Sevillo.
Or rather, Mr. Sir.
He had been talking with the other councelour quite frequently, and he was much more interesting than Pendanski had thought. He hadn't even known his real name was Marion. He had been afraid to admit his name, saying it was feminine. But Pendanski truly thought it was a pretty cool name.
Maybe even cu-
His thoughts of Marion were cut off by someone opening the door. He didn't have to even look to know it was X-Ray.
"Hello, X-Ray."
The councelour had said, not breaking his gaze from the wall. The teen had walked up to him, sitting down next to Pendanski on the couch. He shuffled away from X-Ray a little, glancing down to his sneakers.
"Hey, Mom."
He had tensed suddenly as X-Ray spoke, his blue eyes widening. The teenager didn't seem to notice his shock until he spoke.
"Don't.. call me that."
Pendanski's voice was barely over a whisper, his tone serious yet wavery. His pupils darted over to X-Ray, who was sitting with a smirk on his face.
"Alright."
Somewhere deep down, Pendanski knew that he was lying.

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"Morning, Mom!"
X-Ray said as he walked by Pendanski. Each camper repeated as they passed by, ending with the new boy, Stanley. Each one then went to get their breakfast. Nobody noticed, but he just barely winced as they said the nickname. He wrote each boy's name down on the attendance list, his blue eyes glazed over.
"Morning, boys."
He spoke after a moment, sighing gently. The councelor had never voiced that he disliked the nickname since he had first been called it. Not like they would stop anyway.
Breakfast was over quick, and the boys went out to dig their holes. Pendanski had nothing much to do but watch over the children and make sure they all dug their respective holes.
And wait for Marion.
It had become habit for him to wait for the other councelor on the days he drove the water truck. Which was more often than not, considering it was his water truck.
But there was one other thing.
Pendanski looked around, making sure nobody else was looking. Of course, nobody was. He slipped away into the tent, and then into his office.
His office was in the tent, since he was the assigned councelor for D Tent. It was extremely organized, but considering how empty it was, that wasn't any surprise. The few things in it were simply an office chair, a bookshelf that was in one of the corners, a small desk, and a bed. The bookshelf was filled with different novels, but upon closer inspection of the books, they were mostly either art books or romance novels.
The bed was just as neat as the room. Just one blanket neatly stretched along the length of the bed, and three pillows. To substitute actual people.
Pendanski slowly walked toward his desk, sitting down in the office chair. It let out a small creak as he did. He opened one of the two thin drawers that lined the top, rolling up his long sleeves. Everyone always asked why he wore long sleeves in such awful heat.
Decorating his arms were drawings. They were neatly etched in pen, scattered along his arms. On his left arm was an unfinished drawing that looked to be a small sack, along with a mountain range on his forearm. Along his bicep was a large raven, shaded and beautiful. On his right arm was another unfinished drawing that went from just above his elbow, to right above his wrist. It was a snake.
To be specific, a replica of the snake tattoo Marion had.
Pendanski took out a black pen from the drawer, holding it in his right hand. He brought it toward the sack, deciding to work on that from the moment. Slowly and gently, he began to etch a stem blossoming from inside the sack. Leaves blooming from the leaning stem. And then, a sunflower's petals, facing toward the sky.
And that's why he wore long sleeves.
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Author's Note;
Thank you for reading this first chapter! This one's a bit shorter than usual, since it's only a prologue of sorts. There's gonna be more action next chapter ;)
Thank you again! Any criticism is welcomed in the comments. See you next chapter!