For the
first time in two months, a school bus pulled up to the corner of Wrigley Lane.
Seefer Elliot waited from his mother’s car near the end of their cul-de-sac. He
watched as all of the curious faces stared back at him from the bus windows.
Unlike
his classmates, Seefer hadn’t been at class since Harrison Middle School, was
destroyed in the wake of an extraterrestrial invasion. Amorphous skin blobs
called glokes and a giant alien gigaverm wrecked the place in their
attempt to capture Seefer. The building crumbled during the final showdown
between Seefer and the gigaverm. The battle left Seefer in a full leg cast,
home-schooled, and missing all of the fun that two-legged kids get to have
around Christmastime.
With
the cast finally off, and an air-boot in its place, Seefer prepared to become
mobile again. It would be a new year and a new school as he joined the rest of
the student body for classes. Must
approach it with a new attitude. I don’t need to be the loser anymore. Seefer
sought to use the opportunity as a stepping-stone to less loserish ways. Sure, all the kids from Harrison might remember the
dorky outsider, but there was a completely new audience from the new school he wanted
to win over.
“Good
luck, honey,” his mother said. She leaned in for a kiss.
“Mom,
in keeping with my plan to not be a
total social outcast at this school, I am going to request a rain check on that
kiss.”
His
mother smiled disappointedly, but honored the request. “Okay, don’t stress
yourself out today. Got it?”
“Got
it. Love you, mom.” Seefer exited the car and limped over to the bus’s open
doors. With a quick bound off his good foot, he leaped up to the driver excited
to start his day. For a moment, he looked back at the kids in their seats. He
smiled at the possibilities. So many new
faces! Who do I start with?
“I
can’t move until you sit down, kid,” barked the bus driver.
Seefer
quickly looked for an available seat. Near the back, a familiar face waved to
him. Cassy! He was about halfway back
to her seat when something tripped him up. Seefer fell forward. His extended
arms couldn’t prop him up. He fell flat on his belly. His backpack slid up his
back and clunked him on the head. Naturally, the bus erupted in laughter.
Seefer’s
face turned beet red. He didn’t want to turn around. Maybe they didn’t see it. Please let there be some people who didn’t
see it. The bus driver yelled back, “Everyone! Get to your seats!”
Cassy
jumped out of her seat and helped Seefer up from the floor. The chuckles
subsided a little, but they were far from over. When he looked down to see what
tripped him up, he saw a leg sticking out into the aisle. When he followed that
leg up to its owner, the face he saw didn’t surprise him. “Hector! We’re on the
same bus again?”
Hector
turned with dramatic flair and said, “Welcome back, Seefy!” Then he pursed his
lips and delivered kissing noises. Other kids found this hysterical. Seefer
looked confused.
“What
are you doing? You want to kiss me?”
Now
Hector’s face turned red as he clammed up. Some of the laughter turned in
Seefer’s favor. Hector tried to save face, “try not to be such a dork at this
school, Elliot. It’s been nice not having you around for two months.”
Seefer
and Cassy sat down and the bus pulled away to continue its route. “So, how is
it going?” she asked.
“It was
going fine until a minute ago. Not exactly the way I wanted to start my first
day back.”
Cassy consoled
him. “Ignore him. Hector is just mad because he is not the rooster of the new
school. He is only trying to put himself up a peg.”
“Still.
I’d rather not have to deal with him,” Seefer lamented.
“Do not
let it get you down. I am glad to see you! How is the leg?”
“It’s
okay. Been better. Obviously. How about you? How’ve you been?”
Cassy
took the opportunity to catch Seefer up. “The new school is crowded. They
squeezed as many of us into it as they could. Some of the old teachers moved
into the school too. So far, there have been no occurrences.”
“Yes.
You know…” Cassy slanted her eyebrow. “Occurrences.”
“Oh,
right. I forgot that we aren’t supposed to remember that stuff. Does anybody
else talk about Harrison?” Seefer asked.
“No. It
is crazy. The halo Korvus used should only have wiped their memories from that
day,” She pauses to make sure she isn’t talking to loud. “But they act like
their whole time at the school did not exist. No one likes talking about it.”
“What
about Pavo? Have you heard from him?”
Seefer
lit up. “No. I just assumed he was in contact with you. You haven’t?”
“No,”
she responded. “It does not surprise me though. I never trusted him.”
Cassy
and Seefer’s debriefing was cut short by a shout from up front. “Zombie!” A
commotion ensued as the kids leapt out of their seats to get a better view of
the right side of the bus.
“What’s
going on?” Seefer asked.
Cassy
rolled her eyes. “Nothing. Just these kids being stupid about some homeless
man.”
Despite
Cassy’s objection to the behavior, her description was enough to pique Seefer’s
interest. He stood up from his seat and crossed over to the other side. He
wedged his head in between some others to get a better view.
A downtrodden
man walked along the street’s paved walkway with a slide in his step. His two-piece
suit was torn apart and dirty. His beard was nappy and layered in filth. His skin looked chapped or even frost bitten
from roaming the streets in winter without proper cover-up. Seefer looked upon
the man with pity. What could have
happened to this guy? Reduced almost to nothing. Not that kids should be
yelling out “zombie” when they see him, the man certainly appeared to be a
member of the walking dead.
“I
heard he was a vice president at Blockbuster,” one smart alec quipped.
“Nah, I
heard he was a game show host that was bitten by one of his contestants,”
another said.
“Brains!
I want brains!” someone shouted above growing giggles.
Another
kid repeatedly banged on the window attracting the attention of the drifter.
Then in a forced southern drawl he yelled, “We don’t take kindly to your type
‘round here, zombie.” The others burst out in laughter.
Seefer’s
bleeding heart ceased when he noticed something about the man he didn’t catch
before – purple tinted glasses. The man’s emotionless face looked up at the bus
windows, scanning back and forth, noting each child. When his eyes landed on
Seefer, the man stopped looking elsewhere. He reached his hands out and
approached the bus.
“He’s
coming for us!” someone shouted.
The man
could not keep up with the speed of the traveling bus. A large distance quickly
grew in between them. As other kids returned to their seats, Seefer remained
standing. He kept an eye on the zombie
the whole time until he was well out of sight. Finally, when there was nothing
left to see, he sat back down next to Cassy with an air of unease.
“What
is it?” Cassy asked. “He is just a homeless man.”
“No,
he’s not,” Seefer said.
“I’ve
seen that man before. He works for the government – or so we thought. Remember
Officer Booth? He approached me about a month ago and told me that these guys
were starting to put things together about what happened at the school and our
part in it. He warned me that if there was any evidence that linked me to
Korvus or any of his shenanigans, that I would be in danger. I told him about
Pavo’s case and how he took a blood sample from me. I didn’t know whether that
case was still in the school or not, but he went to find it. I went there too,
but along the way, these guys started chasing me. They were dressed in suits
and wore those tinted glasses.”
Cassy
quickly punched him in the arm. “Shut up!”
Seefer
looked around. “Oh right. Got to be quiet.”
“No, shut up that you did not tell me! You
could have been killed. I am supposed to protect you,” she said sternly.
“And the
cop knows everything on top of it?”
“He
kind of, sort of already knew,” Seefer rationalized.
“But
you confirmed all of his suspicions?”
“Yup. I
did do that,” he said while stretching his neck. “Anyway, that’s the guy we
just passed back there.”
“Did he
look like a zombie the first time you saw him?”
“No! He
was cleanly shaved, dressed nicely, but still had those glasses on. I don’t
know what happened to him. Booth handcuffed him to a pipe in the school’s basement
and said he would go back to get him.”
“Do you
think he ever went back?” Cassy asked.
Seefer
looked at her with guilt all over his face. “I don’t know. I actually haven’t
heard from him. He was shot. He said he was going to get himself fixed before
going over there.”
“They
were shooting at you?” Cassy gave him a violent shove.
Seefer
stared forward with his eyes moving back and forth, computing something in his
brain. He was lost for words.
Cassy
consoled his guilt. “I would not worry too much. It would have been big news if
something tragic happened to a local police officer. I have heard nothing of
the sort.”
Seefer
nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
As the
bus pulled into the front driveway of Buchanan Middle School, Seefer beheld his
new stomping ground. Buchanan was the original high school in Camden. Over the
years, as population grew, new buildings (like Harrison) were built to cater to
the expanding student body. Buchanan became one of the town’s two middle
schools. Now with Harrison in disrepair, the building would be seeing its most
crowded days in decades.
Seefer
filed out with the others onto the sidewalk leading to the school. He took a
refreshing breath as he looked around.
Cassy
sidled up next to him. “Good to be back?”
“Come.
I will show you where to go.”
As the
pair neared the building, Seefer noticed its age. Weathered bricks comprised
its walls. Each window was made of thin glass and each pane was in desperate
need of a paint job. Ivy grew up the front face of the building and nearly
reached the top. The school dated itself with telltale signs of World War II
architecture. Despite its old appearance, Seefer regarded it as fresh and new
in his mind. Anything beats one more day
of home schooling.
Upon
entering the main foyer, Cassy navigated down a narrow hallway. Buchanan was
much more claustrophobic than the wide-open design of Harrison. Hundreds of
displaced students magnified that feeling. After Cassy led the way through the
crowded corridor, she presented Seefer with the entrance to the main office.
“Here
you go. You better check in,” she said with a giggle.
“Why
are you laughing? You’re leaving?” Seefer asked.
“I have
homeroom, Seef!” she said while walking away.
“Mr.
Elliot! So good to see you again," a familiar voice called out. Seefer
cringed as he turned around. Standing in the doorway was the old chatterbox himself,
Principal Witik.”
“No,
not anymore. It’s just Mr. Witik now. This school already had a principal, but
there are perks to being the Dean of Students. I get have a lot more
one-on-ones with the kids.”
“You
must enjoy that.” You know, chewing
everyone’s ear off.
“I do,
it’s great. I’m very fortunate to have any job really. I did invite a madman
into our last school.”
“It
could have happened anywhere.” As long as
I ‘m attending there.
Witik
had a folder in his hands and gave it a pat. “Well, that’s all in the past. You
are officially enrolled here, Seefer Elliot. Would you like to see your
homeroom?”
The
school bell sounded, indicating the start of the school day. As students filed
into classrooms to begin their homeroom period, Witik escorted Seefer to his
new class.
“You will
like it here. Some students had to enter entirely new school systems, but you
will at least be staying with us in Camden.” Seefer nodded along, but didn’t
have any thoughts to add. Witik continued with the small talk. “Unfortunately,
it isn’t all good news. There are now ten more students in each class, rooms
that were dedicated to art and music are used for regular courses, and
everything is in disarray because we don’t have the supplies to handle this
many students.”
“The
Buchanan students who were here prior to our arrival have been very welcoming
to the new kids. Some of us from Harrison had been pretty shaken by those
events, but we were all treated with the proper respect. How have you been
handling the circumstances?”
Seefer
shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, I guess.”
“It’s
okay if you feel out of place. We all do. Many students have approached me with
fears of another incident happening again. They felt helpless from the last one.
Why wouldn’t you? All of our memories were taken!”
Seefer
nervously laughed. “That’s so right.”
“We are asking students to help us out as much
as possible, so we can help in return. Do not make extra work for your
teachers. Cooperate. Help your fellow students. The incident at Harrison didn’t
just affect the students there. It affected the entire community. Now we have
to act like a community.
“I may have let everyone down as principal,
but I’ll be danged if I’m not the best possible dean of students this town has
ever had.”
This
little speech was not like Witik’s other long-winded rants about his teaching
glory days. His words resonated with Seefer. Witik seemed burdened with a sense
of failure from what happened to the old school. He sounded like a man trying
to reconcile for those failures.
“I will
do my best, Princ-, er, Mr. Witik.” Seefer said.
“Very
good, young man. With that, here is your locker assignment.” He handed him a
note card with the locker number and combination. “And I present to you, your
homeroom.” Witik raised his arm with an open hand toward room 117. Seefer
peaked in through the window. “You’ll be happy to see some familiar faces from
your Harrison homeroom.”
Seefer
looked. The sight of Cassy sitting by the window brought him immediate delight.
As he scanned the room, he found Jona, Victoria and Sally. Then any happiness
he had flushed away as he laid eyes upon Hector’s mug sitting in the middle of
the classroom, right next to the only empty seat. You have to be kidding me!
“Oh,
how nice.” Seefer said with a worrisome frown.
Just
before he turned to walk away, Mr. Witik smiled and said, “Happy first day at
Buchanan, Mr. Elliot.”