Chapter 2
The Science Class
The first class of the day was science lab. "You mean you've NEVER EVER been to school before!" Greg said after I told him my story. "Man, are you lucky!" "Oh really," I was quite offended, "You think that not being able to talk to or meet anyone or even walk outside is lucky!" "Hey, Zeke, chill out. He didn't know," Kevin responded to my outburst. "Sorry," I said softly, half ashamed at myself and half annoyed that Greg would even think I was lucky. Man did he need to know how I felt. At that moment, I thought I felt something burn within me. It was really strange. However, the burning sensation did not last long. "It's just that I've been so alone and I'm just upset. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." "Hey, man, it's cool. I'd be upset too if my parents were keeping something important from me." "No he wouldn't." I thought, "He doesn't care." Once again, that burning sensation flickered inside me. Just then, the spirit of a janitor crossed my path-of course I had no idea that it was a spirit at this time-. "Hi," I said politely. "Oh! Hello. Are you new here?" the janitor replied. "Yep. The name's Zeke." "Well nice to meet you, Zeke, but I've got to get going. See you around?" "You bet!" And with that, he walked away-or I think it was more like floated away. I turned to face Greg and Kevin when I found them exchanging puzzled glances. "What is it?" "Hey, Zeke…uh…who were you talking to?" "The janitor that just passed by. Why?" Greg looked at me mysteriously. "Are you feeling okay, Zeke? Maybe you should see the nurse?" "Why? I feel just fine." There was a moment of silence. "Well…uh…there was no one there." I thought about what he just said for a moment. "What do you mean?" "I mean you were talking to the air." I heard a group of girls giggling, and when I turned to the group they tried to hide it. "Forget it, man. Come on. Class is starting." For some reason, I thought I felt something burn inside me.
"Okay, class, settle down. Take your seats and take out your books. Quickly now." Our teacher for science class was Mr. Moreno. "He's the strictest teacher EVER!" Greg whispered to me once we found our seats. "Okay, class. Today we will be learning about chemistry." "Aww!" the class whined. "But be warned, these chemicals are extremely flammable. Once it makes contact with a flame, this whole school can go up in flames." "Oh please." Kevin moaned, "How on Earth would a fire break out in a classroom!" "I heard that remark, Kevin. You never know what could happen. Anyway, I will split you into groups of two. Your partners will become your permanent partners for chemistry." "Um...Mr. Moreno?" "Yes, Lily." "Since we have a new student and all, don't you think that Diana should be his partner-considering she's aced all her chemistry lessons." "Good idea, Lily. Diana, would you and Zeke please sit at the back table?" "Lily!" I heard Diana whisper to Lily as she got up. "What? You said you would talk to him." "Yeah, but not so soon." "Hurry up now, Diana. We don't have all day." "Yes, Mr. Moreno." She got up, turned around, and started walking toward me and the back table. It was as if we couldn't make eye contact. Like each one of us was Medusa to each other, and if we made eye contact, we would turn to stone. Soon she was sitting behind me with her hair covering her face as if she were shielding herself from me. I had to break this silence. "Hey, Diana thanks-" "Yeah, yeah. Just don't get any smart ideas, boy." "First of all, my name is Zeke. Second of all, what are you talking about?" I said innocently. "You know perfectly well what I mean!" I thought I saw Lily give Diana a stern look. This look must have done something to Diana because, right after it, Diana seemed to let go of all her tension. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "For what?" "For being so mean like that to you." I thought she would never look at me, but I was wrong. She turned to face me, her beautiful blue eyes deep with compassion. "I saw what happened in the hall," she said. I tensed. "What? Are you gonna make fun of me too. I' m telling you, there was someone was there." She stayed silent after that and never again brought up the subject again. What's weird though, is that, in her eyes, it looked like she believed me but was afraid to say anything in front of everybody. For the rest of the class, Diana and I stayed silent. We never talked unless Diana was giving me a tip on the lesson. Two boys, a redhead and a brown-haired, walked toward our table. "Aww! Look at this cute couple, George," the redhead began. "How are you doing, lovebirds?" This remark annoyed me, but I tried to just ignore him. Diana, however, had to get all frustrated and snap back at the remark. "Shut up, carrot top! I don't see you with a girlfriend. In fact, Joe, I don't think there's a girl on this planet that would want to date YOU!" "Hey! I was just foolin. Anyway, why you hangin out with him? He doesn't look like much to me." I felt the flicker of heat burn inside me again as I grew more annoyed. "What's that supposed to mean," I snapped back as I rose from my chair. "I mean that little Diane here should be hangin with me. Gotta problem with that, tough guy?" I felt the heat burn hotter the more I grew angry. "Maybe I do!" I shot back. "You wanna take this outside?" "Maybe I do!" My anger rose even more. Joe walked over to Diana and grabbed her arm. "Come on, Diana. You don't need to be around this loser." "Let go of me!" This was the final straw. "Let her go!" I said sharply. "Make me." I felt the heat rise to its highest degrees. As the heat rose to its peak, I felt something suddenly break out of me. I'm pretty sure that it was all the heat building up in me. The last thing I heard was the fire alarm ringing and people screaming. Then, all went black.
