Jeremy smiled bashfully at me, “And I have you.”
………………………………………………..
After school Isabelle, Clarissa and Jeremy all met me by my locker. We were thinking of ways to slip out of school. As we brainstormed Clarissa waved hi to her many male adorers as they passed and said hello to her with sweetness in their voices.
“Me being a clone doesn’t seem to affect them,” Clarissa quipped with a big smile on her face.
Jeremy smirked at her and Isabelle shook her head.
“Do we just go out the front door?” I asked knowing the hordes of people that were outside waiting for us.
Rain, whose locker was a few down from mine, overheard what I said. She closed her locker and walked over. “Hey,” she said shaking her shoulders and adjusting her backpack into place. “Do you guys want a ride home?”
“Oh, thank you,” I said, “but you don’t have to do that.”
“No, it’s all right,” she nodded. She pointed at Jeremy. “He can come too.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it’s cool. Then you won’t have to go through all that craziness cuz we’ll go out the back right into the parking lot and the reporters and crazies and such can’t get close enough cuz they have to stay on the public sidewalk. Then we can zoom outta here,” she said making like a rocket with her hand.
“That would be so fantastic. Thanks,” I crowed with much appreciation.
“C’mon,” Rain nodded waving over her shoulder.
We all followed her out of school to her car which looked like an old police cruiser. Clarissa hopped up front with Rain and Isabelle, Jeremy and I all sat in the back.
We were barely able to drive down our street when we got there. There wasn’t all that much room to begin with, with cars parked on both sides like normal, but then there were also TV vans double parked.
“There’s no where I can pull in or over or anything,” Rain marveled looking at the buzz of activity on our street. “How do they even know where you live?”
“I’m sure our supposed father has something to do with it,” I sputtered through my gritted teeth. “Just let us out here I guess. We’ll just have to plow through them all.”
“Sure,” Rain said stopping the car and putting it into park.
We were a couple buildings away from our house, but we couldn’t get any closer.
“Can you go through the back?” Rain asked.
“No, we have to get buzzed in through the front,” I responded not really wanting to get out of the car.
“That sucks,” Rain remarked looking over her shoulder at me.
“Okay, here it goes,” I mumbled under my breath as I opened the car door. I said thanks and we all got out.
As soon as I opened the car door the reporters and photographers were quick to know it was us. A flood of people rushed towards us. Jeremy led the way holding my hand and I held Isabelle’s and she held Clarissa’s. Besides all the reporters, camera crews and photographers there were more crazies with signs and people shouting things. We tried to run, but there were too many people obstacles in our way. We got to our front gate and hit the buzzer. Waiting for Ms. Dunderfeltz to buzz us in felt like an eternity. Reporters with microphones shouted stupid questions at us.
“Did you know all along?”
“Do you feel proud being the first cloned human children?”
“Are you really from another planet?” And so on and so forth.
The gate buzzed. We pushed it open and all of us ran to the house without looking back. Ms. Dunderfeltz opened the door and held her hand up when Jeremy was about to walk in.
“I was told not to let him in,” Ms. Dunderfeltz said with finality.
I still held Jeremy’s hand. I looked from Ms. Dunderfeltz to him. “I’ll call you later,” I said as I was pushed into the house by Ms. Dunderfeltz. Jeremy waved and walked towards the mob that awaited him. The three of us were inside. Ms. Dunderfeltz shut the door and went straight to the alarm to set it. Once again we were imprisoned. I went into the front room, pulled back the drapes and watched as Jeremy was assaulted by reporters. He held up his hands in front of his face and dashed through the pool of bodies. I sighed, went straight upstairs and ripped off my coat and bag and collapsed onto my bed. I dozed off and went straight into a horrible nightmare. I couldn’t even call it a dream anymore. The screaming was so loud and I wanted to wake up so badly. My whole body was paralyzed in fear. I couldn’t breathe. I kept spitting something out of my mouth, something organic like dirt. My lungs were being filled with it and finally when I couldn’t take anymore my eyes snapped open and I couldn’t stop screaming. I sat up trying to calm myself down, but I couldn’t stop screaming. I pulled at my hair. I pulled down at it hard trying to stop the screaming. Isabelle and Clarissa ran into the room.
“Charlotte, Charlotte, it’s okay,” Isabelle said trying to pry my fingers open to release the grip on my hair.
Clarissa came and sat next to me and rubbed my back. With their company I finally relaxed some and started breathing and stopped screaming.
“The dream,” Isabelle concluded.
I nodded yes looking down at my hair I held in my hands. “This all has to stop. I can’t take it anymore,” I cried stating the truth. “Not just the dreams, everything.”
“I know,” Isabelle affirmed hugging me.
“And this is just the beginning. I just don’t know.”
“We’ll get through this together,” Isabelle said, but she didn’t sound too sure of herself.
“Hey, we stole Ms. Dunderfeltz’s TV,” Clarissa quipped with a wicked smile trying to lighten the mood.
The rest of the evening we spent watching the little TV in my bedroom, most of what we watched wasn’t very uplifting. Some reported if the claims were true or not and others talked about how people are playing God. The ones I didn’t like the most were the ones that talked about how we are the first, so nobody is still too sure what the end result would be. I was starting to wonder if some of the stuff they were saying on TV was true. Were we really being robbed of the chance to be our own unique individuals? Did we qualify as real humans or were we just some manufactured sub-species? I mean what is it exactly that does make one human? Next to complex though processes and the ability to feel emotions, what makes you human? Since we weren’t conceived like everybody else were we out of the running?
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning we were greeted by a flood of madness outside the house. The water started to spread as word got around, TV cameras, photographers and random onlookers all greeted us, along with signs that said, Stop playing God, and signs saying, The girls are the future, and people still shouted the same questions as the day before. The only glimmer of comfort for the morning was Jeremy waiting on the other side of the fence in the midst of the madness, swatting away microphones that were being shoved in his face and bouncing on his heels while he anxiously waited for us to depart.
I didn’t want to go outside. I was afraid I was going to drown in the flood, but Jeremy was my life preserver in a way. As we opened the gate we were enveloped by bodies. Jeremy put his arms around Isabelle and I and Clarissa held my hand as we forged ahead through the crowd. We tried not to look at anybody, just the path that lay in front, but peripherally I could see the people that were craning their necks to get a glance at us, but you could tell some of the people crowding the sidewalk looked genuinely angry. One of them screamed out that we were abominations and would burn in hell. I’m pretty sure he was with one of the religious groups that were out there.
We got a couple houses away when Jeremy said, “Um, we’re picking up the pace.” The four of us started to jog down the block. I glanced over my shoulder and saw why we were quickening our pace. People armed with cameras were following us and then chasing us as we set out into a full run. Jeremy held mine and Isabelle’s hand and I had Clarissa’s as we were being chased down the sidewalk. I couldn’t believe that
people were actually chasing us and that Reginald did nothing to protect us or our identities or anything. He was probably just thrilled that he was getting so much recognition for his accomplishment. He had no cares that we were about to be devoured. There were sharks in the flood water. As we neared the corner where we cross for the bus the sharks slowed down. They were just probably going to their cars so they could drive to our school and set out on attack once again while there.
The light changed in perfect time. We ran across the street. We paused at our normal bus stop and decided to run down to the next just to get a little farther away. We ran past a fast food restaurant, a small golf shop and some residential buildings and crossed a side street, went some more until we got to the safety of the next stop, all the while not letting go of each others’ hands. We stopped at the bus stop pink and breathless. It seemed we had lost the sharks.
“This is insane,” I cried out loud to my sisters and Jeremy. They all nodded in agreement. We seemed safe for a moment, but then I spotted a photographer across the street stealing snapshots of us. We only waited a few minutes for the bus, but it seemed like an eternity.
………………………………………………………
I was standing in front of my locker pulling my coat off trying to ignore the penetrating stares of my classmates. Jeremy was coming back down the hall. He went to drop his stuff off at his locker. He threw me a smile from the end of the hallway, walking his usual slouchy walk. He strolled towards me wearing jeans that were long past their day of death and a striped shirt.
A couple of kids I didn’t know cut in front of Jeremy’s path and started heading my way. They were both rather big, close to Jeremy’s height, but much heftier. The one had a face that looked like a ham and the other had a rat tail for a mustache. They quickly strode up to me and stopped next to my locker smiling. I did my best to ignore them hanging up my coat.
The one with the rat tail smiled just showing his top teeth and the ham faced one said, “I hear you’re an alien or something.”
In my head I cursed Reginald and his cult.
“Are you really green and scaly under your clothes?” Ham faced guy asked reaching out and trying to pull up the bottom of my tee-shirt.
Jeremy quickly appeared and shoved the guy backwards. “Don’t you touch her.”
Ham faced guy, who was named Mike, shoved Jeremy back, right into the lockers. Jeremy straightened himself up. “Dude, I don’t wanna fight ya. Just leave her alone.”
“Oooh, the sensitive boyfriend,” Mike taunted waving his hands around in the air.
Jeremy took a step forward. They were pretty much eye to eye. “Just get out of here,” Jeremy threatened with his voice rising in volume a bit.
“Don’t want people near your freaky ass girlfriend. She shouldn’t even be alive.”
Jeremy’s whole head turned bright red and he bit his lip. His hands were balled into fists at his side. He was breathing deeply through his nose. At that point people in the hall started to turn and look in our direction. They weren’t staring at me.
Mike’s friend, who was named Austin, stood near with his arms crossed and his stupid grin. I stood back in my locker not sure what to do. Jeremy glanced in my direction. Mike shoved Jeremy again, as if saying hey, did you hear what I just said about your girlfriend. Jeremy flexed his fingers on his right hand, re-balled them and then punched Mike square in the jaw. Mike looked quite stunned as he stumbled backwards reaching up and touching his face. Jeremy looked stunned too, as with all the other people that were gathered around watching. Nobody actually thought that Jeremy was going to punch him. Mike attempted to swing a punch back, but Jeremy ducked out of the way and stepped to the side. Jeremy then turned in my direction and nodded with his head as in saying let’s get out of here.
In that brief moment that Jeremy turned towards me Mike’s friend Austin, grabbed Jeremy from behind reaching under his arms and over his shoulders locking Jeremy in place up against his body. Mike was quickly upon Jeremy, punching him in his left cheek. Jeremy and Austin stumbled back some, but Austin kept his grip. Mike punched Jeremy again, his fist landing on the side of Jeremy’s mouth. Jeremy looked up at Mike, then to the ground and in an instant he bent over forward flipping Austin right over him onto the ground. Jeremy hopped back surprised by his own actions. Austin lied on the ground with his mouth hanging wide open and looked up at Jeremy.
A couple kids in the crowd watching were nodding their heads and smiling at the provided entertainment. My heart was racing. I was scared for Jeremy and wondering where the school security guards were when you needed them. I’m sure they were outside fending off all the camera crews and photographers making a safe path for all the students to get into school.
I thought that was going to be the end of it, but Mike had a different opinion. He jumped over Austin, doing some sort of football move with his shoulder ramming Jeremy into the wall. He then started to repeatedly punch Jeremy in the stomach and ribs. Nobody was doing anything to stop the fight. They were just all enjoying watching it. I needed to do something, so I grabbed one of my text books off my top locker shelf, ran up behind Mike and hit him across the head with it. He shook his head like it barely fazed him and turned towards me with his eyebrows drawn down, eyes looking directly at me. He reached up his arm as if he was about to punch me, but instead placed his palm over my face and shoved me backwards. Right after he shoved me someone jumped on his back. It was Jeremy’s friend Ron. Mike stumbled forward and Austin was about to lunge at Jeremy when we heard a whistle blow. It was one of the gym teachers, Mr. Erickson. He was a younger guy, mid twenties, physically fit and always hit on the female students. Everybody froze in place.
Jeremy looked up through his hair touching his bleeding lip. His glasses were no longer on his face. Mike stood up still with Ron on his back. I was still standing there holding my text book. Mr. Erickson pointed at the five of us. “You all are coming with me.” He then pointed to two random guys and said, “I need witnesses that weren’t involved. Everybody else go to class.”
Jeremy went over to where his glasses laid on the hallway floor. He picked them up and stuck them in his front jeans’ pocket. The seven of us followed behind Mr. Erickson who was walking at a very rapid rate. People stared as we all walked by. Jeremy held his mouth which was still bleeding.
“Let me see,” I said as we walked.
Jeremy moved his hand. “It kinda hurts,” he mumbled with a slight slur. It looked like a vertical cut going from his bottom lip up through his top. Even the bottom of his nose had a cut on it. “He had a ring on,” Jeremy said as if reading my mind.
“Must have been one heck of a sharp ring,” I said reaching up and touching the side of Jeremy’s face where he was punched.
“Does it look bad?” He asked in his sloppy speech with blood running down his chin as we entered the main office.
“Wait here,” Mr. Erickson told us as he walked through the wooden gate that separated the student space from teacher/principal/school secretary space. Mike and Austin scowled at Jeremy and Ron. Jeremy leaned on the front counter area where you check in if you’re late or need to call home or something. He leaned with his right arm and held his side with the other.
“Let me see,” I queried quietly while we waited.
Jeremy lifted up the side of his shirt and I could see a couple bruises starting to form at the bottom of his rib cage.
“Put down your fuckin shirt,” Mike snarled at us.
The secretary sitting up front looked up. “Watch your mouth sir,” she snapped at him. She then looked over at Jeremy who was leaning on her counter. “Are you okay son?” She asked.
“I’m good.” His mouth was starting to swell.
“Mr. Erickson,” she yelled.
Mr. Erickson appeared with the principal, Mr. Santiago, who looked very mad. His lips were drawn tightly together and his arms were crossed over his large body.
“This boy needs medical attention,
” she explained pointing at Jeremy.
Mr. Santiago looked at Jeremy. “Go to the nurse and come right back.”
“Can Charlotte take me?”
“I think you’re perfectly capable,” Mr. Santiago maintained giving Jeremy a smug look.
Jeremy nodded, squeezed my shoulder and left. I wanted to go with him. I didn’t want to be stuck alone with the morons who were at the root of us being at the principal’s office. Mr. Santiago pointed in the direction of his office. We filed in there one by one. There were two chairs, but nobody sat, just like how my sisters and I didn’t sit when we were in there the morning before.
Mr. Santiago dismissed Mr. Erickson and asked, “What the hell went on?”
Everybody started talking at once. Mr. Santiago then pointed at me and said, “Tell me exactly what happened.”
I started slowly with, “Well,” and then went into a full rant. “I was at my locker when these two came up to me and said something about me being an alien and that one,” I said pointing at Mike. “Tried to lift up my shirt to see my alienness underneath, which I’m sure is some kind of assault and then Jeremy came and shoved him away and said leave her alone and then he shoved Jeremy back and then Jeremy shoved him again or something and he,” I said pointing at Mike again. “Said I shouldn’t be alive and then Jeremy punched him and then that one,” I said pointing to Austin. “Held onto to Jeremy while that one punched him and then Jeremy flipped him over his back,” I said pointing at Austin and then at Mike (I pointed a lot because at the time I didn’t know either of their names). “And he started punching Jeremy in the stomach and ribs and stuff and then I got my text book,” which I was still holding and held up. “And I hit him,” I said pointing at Mike again. “In the head and then he stuck his hand over my face and shoved me and then he,” I said pointing at Ron. “Jumped on him in my defense and then that one was going to go after Jeremy and then Mr. Erickson blew his whistle.”
In the Image of Grace Page 15
