Chapter 12 – School Fights
"Up and at 'em Zack!" Nicholas shouts as he closes the bedroom door.
I roll over still half asleep. "What time is it?" I squint because of the open blinds.
"Time for your first day of school." He reminds me as he throws a shirt onto my head.
"Maybe later…" I throw the shirt back at him and close my eyes. I feel terrible this morning. Must be an aftereffect of being shirtless in the rain.
"Why do you sound all nasally?"
"I think I'm sick. Must be from staying out in the rain yesterday." I sniffle as I remain lying down.
After a few seconds of silence, I hear the creaking of the staircase from outside of the bedroom. "Hurry up you two! We have to go." Christopher yells from the other end of the door. I immediately hop out of the bed and pick my shirt back up. I forget that Christopher is a pastor sometimes. He seems more like a military officer or something. I guess you can say that Mr. Moseby is equally as demanding, but Christopher is far more intimidating than that five foot dwarf could ever be.
"Haha, so my dad scares you too?" Nicholas smirks at my reaction to his father's irritable behavior.
"No way! He just caught me off guard." I roll my eyes in an attempt to not look like a wimp. Who am I kidding though? That guy scares the crap out of me.
"Oh come on Zack! People that are caught off guard can jump up, but to run over to that shirt and put it on shows that you were more than just startled."
"Whatever." I put my hands in my pockets and turn my head away from Nicholas. I hate that he's right.
After getting ready, Nicholas and I eat a nice breakfast prepared by Katherine, including gigantic pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a variety of drinks to choose from. It actually surprises me to see that she is even up at this hour let alone preparing a full course meal.
Nicholas and I stuff our faces as fast as we can and head out to school. Nicholas normally has to walk with his sister, but today she went with her friends so it's just the two of us.
After practically sprinting for a few minutes, Nicolas and I finally arrive at school. I guess the fact that I'm sick really takes the wind out of me when I try to run. I usually don't feel so exhausted from a little running, but today I feel like collapsing.
The school building doesn't look like any school I've seen before. It's much smaller than most schools. There can't possibly be more than one class per grade attending this school. On top of that, it looks more like a house than a building. It's white and even has a roof with a chimney on it.
As we enter the "house", I immediately notice that there isn't even a security desk in the front. For all I know, any random creeper could just walk in here and do what they please. Are people around here really that naïve?
I also see a good amount of girls shuffling through the hall. Nicholas wasn't kidding when he said there were no guys around here. Not that I mind at all though.
"It's like I died and went to heaven." I smile as I watch all the girls go about their business.
"Ummm, I don't think they're exactly the datable type." Nicholas warns me.
"Haha, well you just haven't seen the Zack magic in action."
"You mean that same magic you used on the ship the other day?" Nicholas sarcastically reminds me of the situation where I made an utter fool of myself the other day.
"Oh please. Just watch and learn." I raise my eyebrow as I advance toward a lovely blond haired girl.
"Why hello there." I wrap my arm around her. "So, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
"Do I know you?" She looks at me, disgusted.
"Not yet, but that's what introductions are for. I'm…"
"Skip the details. I'm not interested." She pushes me away and continues.
I look back at Nicholas who's grinning at my failure. I sigh and lift my head back up. I can't let him be right. "Wait, don't…" I follow after her as my nose begins to twitch.
*ACHOOOO*
I sneeze on the back of the girl's neck. "EWWWWW! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU JERK!" She runs away as I stand still, completely mortified at how I made a complete idiot of myself just now. Darn this illness and it's ability to make me sneeze more often.
I turn around to find Nicholas in hysterics over the situation. "Haha, very funny." I roll my eyes.
After a few more seconds of laughing, Nicholas finally calms down. "I told you that you stood no chance. The people around here are not interested in dating because that's what we're taught. We're taught that you shouldn't try to start a relationship with someone before you're 18." Nicholas informs me.
"Well that's just stupid. You're gonna waste all of your young years without being able to enjoy the experience that is love."
"Oh, no. I don't agree with the people of this town on that one. Heck, I don't agree with a lot of things that this town drills in our heads. If the philosophy of this town were to my liking, things would be a lot different around here…" Nicholas sighs. Apparently we touched a bad topic.
"Anyway, you wanna head to class now?" I try to change the subject after seeing the discouraged expression on Nicholas' face. Not that I'm excited to get to class or anything.
"Okay… but first let's go pick up your schedule." Nicholas escorts me to the office. On the way there, I try to lighten the mood by discussing how I just made a complete fool of myself. As planned, Nicholas begins to smile and laugh again.
After receiving my class schedule, Nicholas observes it for me and tells me that the only class we have together is "Bible Study" at the end of the day. Why is that even a class. Since when were there religion courses in school? As if the other subjects didn't waste enough of my time…
The majority of my day goes by extremely slow. I kind of doze off in every class. At least I get to catch up on the sleep I wanted this morning though. Before I know it, however, lunchtime arrives. Not even having lunch with Nicholas is kind of a bummer, but the fact that there's going to be food makes up for it.
I enter the dining hall, immediately smelling the aromas before me. I look at the buffet display across the back of the hall. Who knew school meals could consist of such good food?
I immediately notice the blond girl from earlier and instinctually make my way to her table. "Hey there." I greet her as I take a seat on the other side of the table. "What was your name again?"
She ignores me and takes a sip of her drink. I rest my chin on my hand. "Look, I'm really sorry for sneezing on you before. I have a slight cold and it kinda just happened."
"Why are you here? Didn't you get the message that I'm not interested before?" She replies.
"Melanie, what's happening girlfriend?" A darker skinned teen girl takes a seat beside the blond one.
"Oh, so that's you're name. Melanie. It's a lovely name." I smile. She still refuses to look at me, but I keep my head held high.
Suddenly, hands cover my eyes from behind. "Guess who?" An extremely identifiable voice asks from behind.
"Theresa! Hey!" I smile as she lifts her hands and takes a seat beside me. Finally, a familiar and welcoming face to speak with.
"Zack, guess what?" Theresa begins to go through her bag. "I got 100 on my Math Test!"
As little as I care, I pretend to smile. "That's great…" I say, not meaning it at all. School is definitely not something worth bragging over in my opinion. I then turn back toward Melanie. "So, Theresa, have you met my good friend Melanie?" I state as Melanie glares at me.
"Good… friend?" Theresa asks, seeming somewhat upset. Not sure why though.
"No, we're NOT friends!" Melanie slams the table. "You're just an annoying, persistent jerk who doesn't know when to leave someone alone!"
"Hey, don't talk to him like that! Zack's an awesome guy!" Theresa shouts back.
"Who the heck are you?" Melanie asks, looking at the small girl before her.
"I'm Theresa. And I say that you'd better stop acting so mean to Zack. He's the best, and it should be an honor for you to have such a guy want to be friends with you!" Theresa gets in Melanie's face.
"Well, if you like him so much, then why don't you take him to a different table?" Melanie proposes this idea.
"I'd be glad to. Come on Zack!" Theresa screams. I hesitate as I look at Melanie. "ZACK!"
"Coming…" I get up and run to Theresa. Was Theresa always capable of being so intimidating?
The rest of lunchtime consists of me socializing with Theresa. Well, most of the talking is from Theresa, but I still consider it a conversation between the both of us nonetheless. I do glance over at Melanie every so often though. I can't help but wonder what it is with her that she wants no part of me like this. Guess I might as well not kill myself over her though, or anyone else in this school for that matter. Nicholas was right, I shouldn't waste my time on these girls.
After lunch, it's time for the last class of the day: Bible Study. At least Nicholas will be with me for this one.
As soon as I enter the classroom, Nicholas waves his hands to call me over. I quickly take a seat beside him in the back of the classroom. Good thing he picked the back of the classroom though because much like the rest of my classes today, I have the feeling I'll be dozing off shortly.
"Okay class. Today's lesson will be on tolerance. As Christians, we should learn to be accepting of those around us, no matter who they are or what they do. However, there is a fine line between tolerating these people and permitting their sinful behavior!" The teacher practically shouts to the class. Wait a second… is she saying NOT to accept people that aren't Christian? "Let's discuss, as an example, a prostitute. Clearly not a follower of God's word, hence clearly not a Christian. If such a person happened to walk into our church though, we should accept her with open arms. We should be grateful that such a person is seeking help by stepping foot into our beloved chapel. Even though we accept this person, however, we must make it abundantly clear that we do not tolerate their sinful behavior."
Why do I even listen to this nonsense? Then again, how could ANYBODY listen to this nonsense? I immediately throw my hand into the air to give my retort.
"Yes. Zack, was it?" The teacher points at me.
"Yeah, I'm a bit confused as to what you're saying. Are you saying that just because someone is a prostitute they are instantly against God and going directly to hell?" I ask. I have the feeling I know what she's going to say, but I feel like playing a little dumb to get the truth out of her.
"Well, yeah. Any follower of God would never resort to such darkness." She informs me.
"What if she is a single mom with kids who will starve if she doesn't get money and prostitution is the only way for her to get this money." I propose to her. Yup, just what I expected.
"She is a not a follower of God. No ifs, ands, or buts on the matter. If she trusted God, then she would give up her prostitution and know that God will help her through whatever hardships she may have."
"That's just ridiculous. I thought that we all do bad things. Why is this prostitute punished for doing something bad when we all do something bad ourselves on a daily basis? Shouldn't it be equal punishment? Are you saying that there's some sort of ranking for how bad a sin is?" I watch as I begin to get on the teacher's nerves. It's actually quite humorous. I also glance at Nicholas who's just observing like the rest of the class.
"Of course there's a ranking system. Do you really think someone who murdered their brother will have equal treatment as someone who stole a piece of gum from their friend?" She replies. Hmmm, an interesting response with a point that I can actually understand.
I look back at Nicholas and a question instantly pops into my mind. "How bad of a sin is marrying someone of the same sex?"
The teacher's face becomes clearly disgusted as she begins to speak. "That is certainly one of the worse sins on the list. About the equivalent of rape." She states. And there goes me being able to accept what she says…
"You can't be serious. So you're saying that if a guy is a follower of God, but is married to a dude then he's…"
"Impossible! No true follower of God would willingly form a marriage with another man!" She begins to raise her voice. Sorry lady, but your lesson's gonna have to wait until another day because this isn't ending anytime soon.
"How do you know what other people think? Being attracted to the same sex for some people is like being attracted to the opposite sex for us. It's an uncontrollable urge. Whether or not they actually get married to the same sex won't change how they feel every waking second of everyday when an attractive person of the same sex walks by." I fight back. I look at Nicholas for a final time to find his mouth wide open in shock.
Before the teacher gets a chance to reply, the bell rings. She begins to turn a boiling red color. "Zack, I want to speak with you. Now!" She slams her book on the table in frustration.
I begin to walk to the front of the classroom. "Should I wait outside?" Nicholas questions.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a second." I wink at him. He seems a bit worried, but I don't know why. He has to learn to be more lax.
I walk up to the teacher who begins to speak once all the other students leave. "I don't know what you call what you did today or why you're even here, but I do NOT want you speaking in my class ever again. I have a class to teach and you are an interruption. Do I make myself clear?" She glares at me.
"Got it. I'll just take a nap in this class from now on." I wave me hand carelessly in the air as I walk out the room. I'm not sure why, but I feel sort of proud about what I did. I may have aggravated a teacher, but I also got my point across to an entire class while feeling victorious at the end of the day.
After meeting up with Nicholas, he immediately asks me what the teacher said just a few seconds ago. I clue him in, only to have him worry about me some more. He's such a worry wart sometimes. I just reassure him that nothing bad will happen which makes him somewhat calm. He then begins to thank me for what I did back there. Apparently he saw it as me defending him. That wasn't necessarily the intention, but I guess I sort of did.
When we arrive back at the house, Nicholas' key doesn't work. "That's odd. Apparently it's double locked. My parents don't usually do that though."
I begin to beat on the door, resulting in Christopher answering after a few strokes. He immediately stares at me. "I just got a call from the school that you had a few problems with what was being taught in class."
"Dad, he was just curious about…"
"Nicholas, I don't want to hear it. Go to your room for a while. Zack and I are going to have a LONG talk!"
What will be the outcome of the discussion between Zack and Christopher to come? Find out in the next chapter!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry that I haven't been updating as fast as I used to. I will try to speed my updates back up in a few weeks when my schedule clears up!
And as always, PLEASE review. If you want faster updates, a quick review will always inspire me to do so!