Chapter Four:
"Your time is now up, please bring your tests to the front teaching desk," Mr. Mkonge said.
The test had been ridiculously easy. It was all on what the guy had just taught. Seriously, all you had to do was be able to understand words and retain information for ten minutes to pass. I really don't know why they even bothered giving the test. Except maybe to make sure none of the students were high.
No, I take that back. You could pass that test high.
We crushed out of the room in a pack. Cassie stayed behind for a minute to talk to Mr. Mkonge, like she did every night.
It was the fourth day of DE. Since we were still waiting on any word from Tobias or Erek on whether there were any commonalities among these swarms of new Controllers, we couldn't make a plan. And since we couldn't make a plan, we didn't have to break into anything or bleed. Not bleeding is my preference, so I was happy as a flea on a warm-blooded mammal. Which, speaking from personal experience, is pretty happy.
Rachel was, of course, going stir-crazy.
Down in the parking lot, Jake and I were hanging out, trying to act normal. Jake, Cassie, and Rachel were waiting for their rides. I was staying until I felt like flying home.
Sometimes it's really convenient to have my dad for a dad.
Jake was sitting on the sidewalk, watching a spider crawl along the pavement. A little weird, but war will do that to you, if you're not really, really careful. Like me. I laugh so I don't have to scream.
Rachel and Cassie were arguing about some boy band with Melissa Chapman. They were pretty animated about it, which is a good thing. It's a very good thing Rachel didn't hear J.I. talking to me.
J.I. is a guy who goes to my school. What was his last name? Oh, yeah. Nakochan. J.I. Nakochan. Anyway, he sort of sidled up to me, and glanced towards Cassie and Rachel. "Hey," he mumbled.
"Hey," I responded.
We sort of stood there for a couple seconds.
"Are you, like . . . with them?"
I wondered what he was talking about, until I realized he meant Cassie and Rachel. "Oh, yeah," I snorted. "Both of them. We go out on dates for three every Saturday. It can get tense, sometimes, but they try and keep their jealousy at bay."
Like I would ever fall for Cassie or Rachel. Sure, I'd joke about it, but actually going out with them? Only in a really whacked reality. Maybe in a world where we tried making another sixth Animorph, even after what happened with David.
"No way," I said. "They've both got . . . they're both interested. And I wouldn't mess with either of the guys involved if you value sweet life."
It was at that point that J.I.'s parents came. I suspected he might be feeling pretty dumb. Lucky for him he asked me instead of Rachel. That way, he was only embarrassed instead of embalmed.
I was hoping that Tom, Rachel's mom, and Cassie's dad would delay in picking them up, so we could talk about this new problem. But Cassie's dad was right on time, and Rachel's mom arrived just a few minutes after that. The rest of the kids drained away, until only Jake and I were left.
"Is there some Sharing meeting tonight?" I asked, still a little suspicious that some controller might be listening in.
"Yep," sighed Jake, standing up and brushing off his jeans. "He dropped me off on his way there. Said he won't be back until about . . . " he checked his watch, " . . . twenty minutes from now."
"An evening in the life of Tom's Yeerk," I said, after making sure nobody was snooping around. "Drop Jake off at driving school, plot and plan the enslavement of the human race, slip a couple brothers and sisters into the ears of a few unsuspecting Sharing members, grovel to Visser Three for awhile, dash off to pick up Jake."
"Marco," Jake growled.
"Easy, Jake," I soothed. "I'll joke about Visser One next."
Jake backed off. It helps, after I joke about Tom, to remind Jake that he isn't the only one with a family member that's been infested.
How about I spare you that joke, O fearless leader? A red-tailed hawk dove from somewhere in the night sky to perch on the dumpster beside us.
"Thanks, Tobias."
"You know, it still amazes me that I would be cracking jokes about alien slugs with my best friend, be interrupted by a talking bird, and not find that at all strange," I commented.
"We've gotten a little used to strange," Jake said, smiling.
Right, Marco, confirmed Tobias. We have to deal with you all the time.
"Oh, ouch," I groaned. "You prick me and I bleed. You tickle me and I laugh. You wrong me. Shall I not revenge?"
"Huh?" asked Jake, clueless.
Shakespeare. Merchant of Venice.
"I thought it was Hamlet," I said.
Nope. He ruffled his feathers smugly
Jake stared at Tobias. "You read Shakespeare?"
I have to do something with all my free time, he said.
"Unreal," he groaned.
Unfortunately, Shylock is the least of our worries.
"Who?" I asked.
You quote Merchant of Venice and you don't know who Shylock is? demanded Tobias, feigning shock.
"I told you I thought it was Hamlet. I read it in a book of quotes, okay?"
Cheater, he grumbled.
"Tobias," Jake said, cutting through our chatter, "why is Shylock the least of our worries?"
Tobias shifted his weight from talon to talon. It's something he does when he's not comfortable or happy. I talked to Erek after you told me to watch the new influx of Controllers, he said. A few are adults, almost all of them are teenagers. There's one big link throughout the whole group, though.
"Which is?"
They all go to Driver's Ed.
We stared at him.
"Oh, man," I said. "Oh, man."
"That means they're using DE as an infestation point."
"Don't drive drunk," I said. "Don't drive at all. Let a Yeerk do it for you. Jake, old buddy - for the next day and a week we are at ground zero on the new Yeerk membership drive."
Membership *drive*, repeated Tobias, with special emphasis.
"Yeah. Drive," Jake snorted. "Hah. Hah. The irony is killing me."
"Your time is now up, please bring your tests to the front teaching desk," Mr. Mkonge said.
The test had been ridiculously easy. It was all on what the guy had just taught. Seriously, all you had to do was be able to understand words and retain information for ten minutes to pass. I really don't know why they even bothered giving the test. Except maybe to make sure none of the students were high.
No, I take that back. You could pass that test high.
We crushed out of the room in a pack. Cassie stayed behind for a minute to talk to Mr. Mkonge, like she did every night.
It was the fourth day of DE. Since we were still waiting on any word from Tobias or Erek on whether there were any commonalities among these swarms of new Controllers, we couldn't make a plan. And since we couldn't make a plan, we didn't have to break into anything or bleed. Not bleeding is my preference, so I was happy as a flea on a warm-blooded mammal. Which, speaking from personal experience, is pretty happy.
Rachel was, of course, going stir-crazy.
Down in the parking lot, Jake and I were hanging out, trying to act normal. Jake, Cassie, and Rachel were waiting for their rides. I was staying until I felt like flying home.
Sometimes it's really convenient to have my dad for a dad.
Jake was sitting on the sidewalk, watching a spider crawl along the pavement. A little weird, but war will do that to you, if you're not really, really careful. Like me. I laugh so I don't have to scream.
Rachel and Cassie were arguing about some boy band with Melissa Chapman. They were pretty animated about it, which is a good thing. It's a very good thing Rachel didn't hear J.I. talking to me.
J.I. is a guy who goes to my school. What was his last name? Oh, yeah. Nakochan. J.I. Nakochan. Anyway, he sort of sidled up to me, and glanced towards Cassie and Rachel. "Hey," he mumbled.
"Hey," I responded.
We sort of stood there for a couple seconds.
"Are you, like . . . with them?"
I wondered what he was talking about, until I realized he meant Cassie and Rachel. "Oh, yeah," I snorted. "Both of them. We go out on dates for three every Saturday. It can get tense, sometimes, but they try and keep their jealousy at bay."
Like I would ever fall for Cassie or Rachel. Sure, I'd joke about it, but actually going out with them? Only in a really whacked reality. Maybe in a world where we tried making another sixth Animorph, even after what happened with David.
"No way," I said. "They've both got . . . they're both interested. And I wouldn't mess with either of the guys involved if you value sweet life."
It was at that point that J.I.'s parents came. I suspected he might be feeling pretty dumb. Lucky for him he asked me instead of Rachel. That way, he was only embarrassed instead of embalmed.
I was hoping that Tom, Rachel's mom, and Cassie's dad would delay in picking them up, so we could talk about this new problem. But Cassie's dad was right on time, and Rachel's mom arrived just a few minutes after that. The rest of the kids drained away, until only Jake and I were left.
"Is there some Sharing meeting tonight?" I asked, still a little suspicious that some controller might be listening in.
"Yep," sighed Jake, standing up and brushing off his jeans. "He dropped me off on his way there. Said he won't be back until about . . . " he checked his watch, " . . . twenty minutes from now."
"An evening in the life of Tom's Yeerk," I said, after making sure nobody was snooping around. "Drop Jake off at driving school, plot and plan the enslavement of the human race, slip a couple brothers and sisters into the ears of a few unsuspecting Sharing members, grovel to Visser Three for awhile, dash off to pick up Jake."
"Marco," Jake growled.
"Easy, Jake," I soothed. "I'll joke about Visser One next."
Jake backed off. It helps, after I joke about Tom, to remind Jake that he isn't the only one with a family member that's been infested.
How about I spare you that joke, O fearless leader? A red-tailed hawk dove from somewhere in the night sky to perch on the dumpster beside us.
"Thanks, Tobias."
"You know, it still amazes me that I would be cracking jokes about alien slugs with my best friend, be interrupted by a talking bird, and not find that at all strange," I commented.
"We've gotten a little used to strange," Jake said, smiling.
Right, Marco, confirmed Tobias. We have to deal with you all the time.
"Oh, ouch," I groaned. "You prick me and I bleed. You tickle me and I laugh. You wrong me. Shall I not revenge?"
"Huh?" asked Jake, clueless.
Shakespeare. Merchant of Venice.
"I thought it was Hamlet," I said.
Nope. He ruffled his feathers smugly
Jake stared at Tobias. "You read Shakespeare?"
I have to do something with all my free time, he said.
"Unreal," he groaned.
Unfortunately, Shylock is the least of our worries.
"Who?" I asked.
You quote Merchant of Venice and you don't know who Shylock is? demanded Tobias, feigning shock.
"I told you I thought it was Hamlet. I read it in a book of quotes, okay?"
Cheater, he grumbled.
"Tobias," Jake said, cutting through our chatter, "why is Shylock the least of our worries?"
Tobias shifted his weight from talon to talon. It's something he does when he's not comfortable or happy. I talked to Erek after you told me to watch the new influx of Controllers, he said. A few are adults, almost all of them are teenagers. There's one big link throughout the whole group, though.
"Which is?"
They all go to Driver's Ed.
We stared at him.
"Oh, man," I said. "Oh, man."
"That means they're using DE as an infestation point."
"Don't drive drunk," I said. "Don't drive at all. Let a Yeerk do it for you. Jake, old buddy - for the next day and a week we are at ground zero on the new Yeerk membership drive."
Membership *drive*, repeated Tobias, with special emphasis.
"Yeah. Drive," Jake snorted. "Hah. Hah. The irony is killing me."