Chapter 4
My head nodded forward and I forced it upright. Blinking my eyes rapidly to stop them fluttering close, I made myself listen to Miss Burke discussing 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Usually, Literature was my favorite subject, but I after my nightmare last night I didn't sleep again. Now I was finding it difficult to stay awake in all my classes.
Just then, the bell rang.
With relief, I shoved my books into my bag and stood. At the door, Miss Burke stopped me.
"Ann, are you feeling all right? You don't look too well. Maybe you should go see Nurse Harper," she said in her diffident, quiet voice.
I shook my head and smiled at her. "It's ok, Miss Burke, we just got back from the bio field trip. Just a little tired, that's all."
The next class was American History with Mr Tate. It went by in a complete blur. Stokely kept glancing across at me, and had to nudge me every once in a while, though I doubted Tate would even care if I fell asleep in his class. He was his usual bludgy self, sipping whisky from his coffee mug while droning on about the American Revolution from the text book.
After class, I met up with Zeke at the lockers. Together, we each grabbed a tray from the cafeteria. Passing tables grouped in your usual high school cliques of jocks, nerds, geeks, goths, and outcasts, we headed outside. Stokely was already sitting at our usual stone table beneath the sycamore tree in the school courtyard. Her book was open before her and she was biting into her sandwich without taking her eyes off the page.
"Hey Stokes, where're the others?" Zeke drawled, casually dropping into a seat beside her.
She glanced up at us. "Case and Stan are in the library – Stan's getting last minute tuition for his algebra test this afternoon. Delilah's got cheerleading practice, I think."
I set down my tray and took out of my bag Robert Heinlein's 'Double Star'. "Thanks for letting me borrow it, Stokes," I passed her the book. "It's got a good plot."
Lately, she'd been lending me some of her sci-fi books to read. We'd become good friends after that alien incident three months ago. She had even agreed to go shopping with me for more pastel colored clothes to accompany her straight black wardrobe, much to Stan's delighted surprise.
We talked about the new teachers replacing Mrs Olson and Mrs Brummel while we finished our lunch. After awhile, I noticed Zeke's attention was distracted by some of the other students walking around.
"What is it, Zeke?"
His eyes narrowed slightly. "There're a lot of people drinking from the fountain and carryin' bottles..." he began in his deep gravelly voice.
I glanced around. Was it just me, or was Zeke right?
"To fuck with that," drawled Stokely, shaking her head. "It's a hot day. It's standard. Besides, Casey nailed that alien motherbitch for good."
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess we're just being paranoid. There's no way there's another out there, right?"
"Damn right."
But we lapsed into silence as we mulled over that possibility. Just then, the first fat drops of rain started pattering onto the stone table and the courtyard around us. Stokely closed her book. "Hey, let's go see how Stan and Case are going with algebra."
My head nodded forward and I forced it upright. Blinking my eyes rapidly to stop them fluttering close, I made myself listen to Miss Burke discussing 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Usually, Literature was my favorite subject, but I after my nightmare last night I didn't sleep again. Now I was finding it difficult to stay awake in all my classes.
Just then, the bell rang.
With relief, I shoved my books into my bag and stood. At the door, Miss Burke stopped me.
"Ann, are you feeling all right? You don't look too well. Maybe you should go see Nurse Harper," she said in her diffident, quiet voice.
I shook my head and smiled at her. "It's ok, Miss Burke, we just got back from the bio field trip. Just a little tired, that's all."
The next class was American History with Mr Tate. It went by in a complete blur. Stokely kept glancing across at me, and had to nudge me every once in a while, though I doubted Tate would even care if I fell asleep in his class. He was his usual bludgy self, sipping whisky from his coffee mug while droning on about the American Revolution from the text book.
After class, I met up with Zeke at the lockers. Together, we each grabbed a tray from the cafeteria. Passing tables grouped in your usual high school cliques of jocks, nerds, geeks, goths, and outcasts, we headed outside. Stokely was already sitting at our usual stone table beneath the sycamore tree in the school courtyard. Her book was open before her and she was biting into her sandwich without taking her eyes off the page.
"Hey Stokes, where're the others?" Zeke drawled, casually dropping into a seat beside her.
She glanced up at us. "Case and Stan are in the library – Stan's getting last minute tuition for his algebra test this afternoon. Delilah's got cheerleading practice, I think."
I set down my tray and took out of my bag Robert Heinlein's 'Double Star'. "Thanks for letting me borrow it, Stokes," I passed her the book. "It's got a good plot."
Lately, she'd been lending me some of her sci-fi books to read. We'd become good friends after that alien incident three months ago. She had even agreed to go shopping with me for more pastel colored clothes to accompany her straight black wardrobe, much to Stan's delighted surprise.
We talked about the new teachers replacing Mrs Olson and Mrs Brummel while we finished our lunch. After awhile, I noticed Zeke's attention was distracted by some of the other students walking around.
"What is it, Zeke?"
His eyes narrowed slightly. "There're a lot of people drinking from the fountain and carryin' bottles..." he began in his deep gravelly voice.
I glanced around. Was it just me, or was Zeke right?
"To fuck with that," drawled Stokely, shaking her head. "It's a hot day. It's standard. Besides, Casey nailed that alien motherbitch for good."
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess we're just being paranoid. There's no way there's another out there, right?"
"Damn right."
But we lapsed into silence as we mulled over that possibility. Just then, the first fat drops of rain started pattering onto the stone table and the courtyard around us. Stokely closed her book. "Hey, let's go see how Stan and Case are going with algebra."