by Rich Scribes
being proactive about this.” Trent said as he pulled out his laptop.
“You didn’t even know I was going to say yes, very optimistic of you to bring it in.” Trent smiled, and handed me his laptop. “I have a free period next period, so I will look at it and give it back to you.” I told him. He nodded. I placed his laptop gently into my backpack. I didn’t have any books since I really didn’t have any real classes anymore, and all the text books had been handed into our teachers. Being a geek did have its advantages.
After lunch I walked into the computer lab again, and of course Ms. Hayes was happy to see me.
“I know, Ms. Hayes. You look low on caffeine.”
“You are such a wonderful child,” she replied.
“Too bad I can’t say the same for you as a teacher,” I muttered. I think she heard me because she turned and gave me a dirty look, but the coffee won the battle, and she left the room. I took out Trent’s laptop and pressed the power button. And was greeted by a background of busty vixens. I knew right away what the problem was.
I managed to fix his laptop in ten minutes. All it had was a spyware virus. I cleaned it out amped up the security to his computer and it was up and running. I had to tell him to give his computer some time off from busty vixens. Since I’d forgotten to arrange a meeting place to give him back the laptop I’d have to find him after school. I must have zoned out because I heard someone sit down to use a computer. I looked up and… it was Ziora. Out of all the days that we had alone time together, today had to be the day.
“Bryce!” Her face lit up. I had no clue why, maybe she was going to say sorry for her boyfriend’s actions.
“Wow, right on the first try.”
“Well, it isn’t every day that I put a name to a face and then that face gets punched. Are you okay?”
“Well I had to make sure you remembered my name somehow. And yeah I’ll live. Maybe it’ll improve my looks.” She smiled at me, and moved to the computer next to the one I was sitting at.
“I’m sorry about that, really. Sometimes he can be an asshole.”
“Sometimes is an understatement. But if you want to keep insulting him I’m not going to stop you,” I replied, and she looked at my face and seemed surprised.
“You don’t have a bruise or anything,” She remarked as she gently touched my face.
“What can I say? I can take a hit.” I said as I reached up to take her hand away, but instead of letting go she held it. We both blushed. “Am I safe? Is he going to come in here in a roid rage?” Ziora smiled as she let go of my hand. I couldn’t stop staring at her. This was the girl I had a crush on almost my whole high school life and here she was, looking back at me. “Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you one of those cool kids that have to hand in late work?”
“Yep you guessed it. I was one of those kids that thought I was too cool for school, well school work at least.” She smirked.
“Well, it finally caught up to you. So what is your assignment?”
“I have to write a paper for my economics class: current events. How this recession will affect us in the long term.”
“That probably wouldn’t take that long to research. Would’ve been a good paper too, along with a decent grade, if you weren’t too cool,” I said playfully.
“I know I slacked off big time.” She said as she logged onto the computer. “How are you doing on your finals?” I didn’t want to brag or anything to her.
“Well, you know I had to pick my favorite letter when it came to some multiple choice questions. Or, I’d make an interesting pattern, on the scan sheet.” I replied. I didn’t want her to know that I was exempt from every final I had. And as soon as I said that Nelson walked into the room. This guy had the worse timing ever.
“Well, here’s Mr. I-don’t-have-to-take-one-final.” Nelson said. I just shook my head.
“Oh, he was just telling me how he liked to wing it on multiple choice,” Ziora commented.
“Hi, Ziora,” he stammered. She smiled and raised her hand in greeting.
“So, you’re a genius? I just thought you were good at English.”
“Genius is an understatement for him,” Nelson blurted.
“What my publicist is trying to say is that I study hard, and cheat off the right people,” I said. Ziora smiled at me. “But don’t you actually have to get your paper done, instead of wasting time talking to a geek and a half?”
“You’re right.”
“Hey, that is why I’m exempt from my finals.” I playfully said. She smiled and began to work on her paper. Talking to her was so easy. All these years I’d spend afraid of her were wasted. I could’ve said ‘hi’, and she would have said hello back. I guess it was a little too late.
“What are you doing here anyway?” I directed my attention to Nelson.
“I just made a interesting pattern for the scan sheet for the biology exam and left. I didn’t study and probably will have to go to summer school for that class.” He shrugged.
“Great strategy to get out of the house during the summer time.” I was multitasking: talking to Nelson and searching the web. I logged into my email account. There they were again. Three emails all with the subject line: ‘you’re in danger’. This was the best time to ask Nelson why he was sending these to me. “Did you also send these wonderful emails to me during the ten minute final from your phone?” Nelson glanced at my computer screen but a look of confusion crossed his face.
“Those aren’t from me, man.”
“I have received a bunch of these emails within the past few hours. I guess whoever is sending this is spamming me.” I said as I logged off my email account and started scanning the web again. I glanced at Ziora to see if she made any progress, and she only had her name on top of the page.
“You know…this isn’t the S.A.T. right? You are not going to get any credit for spelling your name correctly.” I sensed something bothering her, but didn’t ask. “How about I help you through this tedious task.” I smiled. She smiled back. Nelson offered to help as well, but I told him that she wanted to get an A not a D-. Nelson just sat and surfed the web. I hacked the firewall that he could get into any site that he wanted to.
Surprisingly, we got through her paper quickly. She hugged me as a thank you, and, of course I turned red.
“Look at you! Working overtime with Ziora. It was only yesterday she didn’t know your name. Now she is hugging you. Tomorrow she will be yours. Not that you’ll know what to do with her.” Nelson said as we continued to make our way to gym class.
“Yeah, and I will be the new tackling dummy for the football team if that ever occurred. I like looking less like a piñata believe it or not. Besides, she will not go for a guy like me. She is dating Mr. Popular or Pack a Punch.” I rubbed my face absently. Even though my bruise was gone and all pain of the punch was gone, which I would really like to know how that happened, because he punched me pretty hard.
Once I got on the bus I took my regular seat. I’d quickly gotten the computer back to Trent, because I wanted my own seat on the bus. I zoned a little bit until I heard now a familiar soft voice:
“Is this seat open?” Ziora asked. I struggled to un-tie my tongue. What was she doing on the bus again?
“Uh, no, but almost all the other seats are also open.” I replied. Then called myself an idiot. This was Ziora. This was a girl that you let sit with you even if the seat was full.
“Well, you know, if I’m sitting with you then I’m not going to have to sit with those little freshmen.” She said playfully as she sat next to me.
“Freshmen are people…” I paused briefly. “So, why are you on the bus again?” I wanted to ask about her boyfriend but…Ziora looked down and sighed.
“Well, he and I got into an argument after he…”
“Beat me like I kicked his sister?”
“Something like that.” She winked at me playfully. “But, I did t
ell him his behavior was uncalled for, and that he should apologize to you.” She finished. Wow, something must be going on here.
“Am I on some TV show? I mean, you have lived across the street for years and we never spoke. All of the sudden you are chatting while we ride the bus, and even defending me.” This was all just so out of the blue. I glanced at her, and her face was crest fallen. Way to go. “I’m sorry. Trust me: I don’t mind having you talk to me. Not at all. It’ll boost my popularity at school. We all know I need that.”
“Well, maybe you can help me get a little geekier like you then I can skip final exams next year,” she grinned. “Oh, help me finish up my English project, tonight?”
“I knew you were working some angle.” I rolled my eyes playfully but nodded. We talked all the way to our stop. I guess she was really trying to make up for lost time.
From being punched in the face at the beginning of the day to a wonderful bus ride with Ziora I decided the day wasn’t that bad after all. However, when I entered my house I felt that feeling dwindle down to nothing. Something wasn’t right.
“Hey, mom?” No answer. A big clue that something was wrong that I hadn’t notice until now was that she wasn’t outside hugging any trees. “Mom…” still there wasn’t an answer. I heard a strange noise from the kitchen. I discovered her curled up on the floor. She looked up at me. She’d been crying. “Mom, what’s wrong?” I knelt on the floor next to her.
“Something has happened to your father. He died at work today,” She choked out between sobs. Then, as I sat there in shock, she began to cry again.
-3-
This was a mistake. Had to be.
“Something…happened…” She sobbed. “No specifics…”
“How?” I had heard my mom say she didn’t know. I hadn’t known that my dad worked in a dangerous field. I really didn’t know what he did for a living. All I’d known was that it was really important from what I had been told by my mother. I couldn’t ask him because I only saw him a few times a week, and that was in passing, since I got into high school.
My mom took a couple of steadying breaths before answering. “Like I said, I don’t’ know. They will let me know when they have something to tell me. The main thing is to keep you safe.”
“What do you mean: keep me safe? Dad died today, and you are worried about keeping me safe. That makes no sense, mom. This is all surreal.” My anger starting to get the best of me.
“You have no idea what this means, Bryce.” She attempted to sit up. I helped her. I hope she wasn’t worried about the money. I could care less about that.
“Yeah, I know what this means…I won’t ever get to see dad again. Even if it was a few minutes a week.” I spat out, anger pushing my voice.
“Bryce…” my mom shifted to her knees and put her hands on my shoulders. “If what I think happened is what actually happened then you are in great danger. You need to be careful.” She hugged me.
“Yep, okay, mom.” I was going to have to be strong for her. I certainly couldn’t burst out crying in front of her.
“I’m going to make some calls. See if they can give me any news. Stay in the house, please,” She pleaded before she walked out of the room. I went to my room and sat in front of my computer. I just let everything go, and just cried. How could this really happen? And, why was my mom talking crazy and saying that I was in danger? And, what was my dad into that was so dangerous that it had cost him his life? I let the tears roll down my face. What a damn rollercoaster ride today had been. I needed to take a nap. Maybe this was a nightmare. Maybe the day hadn’t happened yet, I was still really sleeping. Then the doorbell rang. I’d forgotten I’d told Ziora to come over to finish up her project. I grabbed my bath towel and wiped the tears from my face. Should I lie? Telling her that my dad was dead…I didn’t think I’d be able to get the words out. I went downstairs and answered the door.
The knot in my stomach formed, but this time I let it go. I avoided eye contact with her, because I was sure my eyes were red.
“Okay, I think we can get this out of the way quickly, and then we can just hang out if you want,” She sounded so happy and hopeful as she stood there waiting for me to allow her in. I didn’t know if I wanted to be around anyone right now due to the circumstances. I glanced at Ziora’s smiling face then quickly looked down again. How could I say no to her?
“Yeah, we did a lot the other day,” I said softly. I invited her in. We went into the living room to do the project. She sat down, and I sat next to her, but left some room between us both. She began to arrange her papers around us and then started working. She talked but I hardly listened. I nodded a lot and said ‘that is good’ or something like that. She didn’t seem to question the lack of talking from my end. Then I heard a soft voice say, ‘thank you’.
“Huh?” I jumped a little.
“We’re done,” She replied. “Are you alright? You seem a little, well, a little more off than usual.”
“Oh, yeah, you know me. I’m way out there,” I responded. I attempted a smile but it didn’t quite work.
“So, did you want to do anything?” she smiled, as her face lit up.
“You know, I’m not feeling too hot. I’m going to call it a night.” Crazy talk I know but it had taken a lot of effort to get through these last couple of hours.
“Uh, it is only 7:00.”
“Good point, but it’s been a rough day. I feel like I’m eighty seven, so I may as well go to bed as if I was.”
“Wow, I can only imagine when you get into your thirties what it will be like,” she said playfully. I smiled weakly at her and then looked down again.
“You sure everything is okay?” She placed her hand on mine. I quickly pulled it away.
“Yeah, just feeling sick that’s all. Don’t want to contaminate you or anything.”
“Okay, well, then I’ll let you rest.” We both stood up from the couch, and I walked her out. She said that she would see me tomorrow, and I said the same. Finally, I could go just lay down and cry myself to sleep.
There was something different about this mountain. I was standing on dirt. The sky was dark, but it wasn’t night time: it was just that the storm clouds were covering up the sun. The thunder claps penetrated the clouds and sounded off in my head. What was going on here? Why wasn’t it peaceful like all the other times? Then I heard a loud roar from behind me. I spun around to see what was making the sound. Why wasn’t I running to save my ass? That is what any logical person would do, but I didn’t. I couldn’t see what the source of the roar was because it was hovering over the storm clouds. Then I heard it again right above me. Then all of a sudden the storm clouds went from dark grey to fiery orange, and that is when I saw a flame come right at me…
I awoke in a cold sweat. I looked at my clock radio and it read 6:15 in the morning. I was making good time for school. But now back to my dream. What the hell was that thing in it? And why was I having this dream? The other ones were so peaceful. Then the dreadful feeling drenched me. My father’s passing wasn’t a dream; it was reality. I got ready to go to school anyways. There was no use staying around the house and dwelling. My mom still didn’t know what actually happened.
I went downstairs, and my mother was sipping some coffee.
“How are you holding up?”
“The best I can, Bryce.” She replied weakly. She hadn’t gotten too much sleep. I felt bad. While she was up all night probably letting family know what happened I’d gone to bed, and I’d been having crazy dreams.
“I’m going to school, mom. I can’t just sit around here thinking about all this.”
“Oh no you are not.” She quickly said looking up from her coffee.
“Why not?”
“They may be out to get you. You have to stay here until I know we can keep you safe.”
“Mom, what else did you put in that coffee?” I
understood that she wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but keeping me safe? From what? The school food? There had been that taco incident in the seventh grade, but I pulled through it.
“If anything happens to you, your father’s death will be in vain,” she continued. What in the world was she talking about? I was getting angry again.
“Mom, I’m out of here. When you start making some type of sense, then talk to me. I can’t handle this right now.” And I left the house.
I waited outside patiently for the bus. My mom didn’t venture out. She wouldn’t want to cause a scene. Ziora joined me at the bus stop a few minutes later. I gave her a weak smile, but I didn’t feel like talking to her. She must have known that something was up, but I wasn’t ready to fess up at this point and time. I was glad that the bus finally came. I let her on first, and she took an empty seat in the back of the bus, and I took the first seat. No one liked that seat, I was lucky today because a lot of the freshmen had today off so the bus was basically empty. I could sense Ziora looking at me. Her gaze was burning a hole in the back of my neck, but I didn’t look back.
Once at school I didn’t wait for Ziora to get off the bus I just kept going. Suddenly I felt a burning sensation like a million matches had been lit and held against my bare skin. I saw a figure in a black hood staring at me. I couldn’t see the person’s face, so I didn’t know if it was a student or a teacher. I shivered at the heat seemed to vanish all at once. I shook my head then continued towards the school, but then there was the figure staring at me from the entrance of the school. What was going on here? Everyone, including the security team, seemed oblivious that this person was there. I rubbed my eyes and opened them back to find the figure was gone. What was going on with me? All the stress I was under had me seeing things.
I walked into homeroom and dropped my head down on the desk. When the teacher reached my name for attendance I merely raised my arm to indicate I was there.
“You look like complete crap,” Nelson commented after everyone’s name had been called.
“Thanks I was going for that look. I’m glad I pulled it off,” I remarked. I really didn’t want to let Nelson know what was going on in my life right now.
“Have you heard the news? Ziora is as single as you and me,” Nelson said. That was not what I’d expected.
“She didn’t mention anything to me last night.”
“Last night?” Nelson questioned with his brow raised.
“Yeah, she needed help on her final paper for English, remember?”
“You are so in, you know that right?” Nelson exclaimed. The bell rang saving me from that conversation.
I decided that I was going to English class. If I didn’t I had a feeling Nelson would skip one of his classes to talk about Ziora. When I walked in Ziora wasn’t there yet. I quickly took my seat, and took out a book. I needed it
