The Mars Project by Julie Steimle (i can read with my eyes shut TXT) 📕

had lingered at the back of their group, remaining in the booth while gazing up at the ceiling in annoyance. She could hardly see over their shoulders anyway. Moments like these, she hated being barely five feet tall.

“I didn’t come alone,” Jeff responded.

Damon’s other friends stepped up behind them, cocking their heads while posturing for a fight. They flexed their muscles as the sound in the eating establishment hushed down.

“Bring it on,” Jared said, cracking his knuckles again.

The entire establishment had gone entirely silent. All eyes watched them, knowing this rivalry too well. Only a few whispered, wondering what was going on. Adam glanced at Sam, and Sam shrugged, deciding to back up Jeff and his friends. They took another step forward.

But Jeff broke into a laugh and looked around the burger place, especially at the desperate expressions on the faces of the workers. “Give me a break. Do you think I’m going to fight in here?”

Jared glared at him. And he would have pounced on him then, but Damon grabbed Jared’s shoulders to hold him back. “We’ll take this outside,” Damon said to Jared. Then to Jeff, Damon growled, “Won’t we?”

Jeff smirked as if he didn’t care. He waved toward the door. “After you.”

Damon shook his head. “No. After you.”

Shrugging, Jeff headed out first. Brian and friends quickly guarded his back to keep the other boys off while Sam and Adam followed along, though the new boys peered at the enormous size of their opponents’ chests. The Monroe guys stood equally tall but were somewhat more in bulk than those boys from Pennington. The Monroe boys followed them straight out.

Only Zormna did not go. She hung back, just watching them walk out together, dumbfounded really that it had come to this. The Monroe boys hadn’t seen her at all. Their eyes were only for the Pennington wrestling champ. In a way, that annoyed her more, as at least four of those boys would have remembered her from camp.

Grabbing the remaining hamburgers and fries, Zormna dashed to the front counter for a few bags to carry their meal. Those around her rushed to the windows to watch the fight as soon as the Monroe wrestlers went out the door, knocking Zormna aside. And the crowd got thicker. It was a struggle to even get through the door with her bagged food before they blocked the way out with their staring faces. Pushing to the outside, shoving the door open, Zormna looked back and shook her head at the voyeurs as they gaped at the ensuing scene in the parking lot.

To her, it was like looking at a bunch of gorillas in some kind of Tarzan flick (She had seen the film with Jeff and Al just the other day after Jeff had shown her how to operate their computer surveillance system at the Streigle house). The Monroe boys bristled, puffing up their chests as they followed Jared and Damon outside between the cars. Opposite them, Jeff and his friends stood, bracing for a serious wrestle—though, there was a look in their eyes that said fists would fly. Only Jeff appeared tired as if the rivalry really was too exhausting to care about. He glanced once over at Zormna who stood on the curb.

She folded her arms across her chest, shooting back an annoyed look as she shook her head. Shrugging, Jeff got ready to face Jared who apparently wanted to take revenge.

It was well-known throughout Pennington and Monroe that Jeff had broken Jared’s knee when Damon and his friends jumped Jeff outside the Monroe gym after a wrestling match Jeff had won, a match that unseated Damon from his state champ title. Ever since then it had been serious war between the two schools. Zormna thought the whole thing was stupid—and for that matter, so did Jeff.

“Prepare to die, jerk,” Jared said, springing at Jeff with a punch.

Jeff dodged it, stepping to the side.

Shaking her head again, Zormna moaned with a hop off the curb. “Jeff, would you hurry it up. I need to get home.”

Damon, and his friends turned around with a jump. Her voice had frightened them, but upon seeing her, they blenched as if they would pee their pants.

Jared also turned to see who was calling to Jeff, but all he saw was the tiny blonde Pennington cheerleader holding takeout bags. He didn’t know her as he hadn’t gone to camp that summer due to his bad knee.

Thumbing back toward Zormna, Jared said, “New girlfriend? When I’m done with you she’ll be begging me take her.”

Jeff looked nauseated. “Oh, gimmie a break….”

Before he could say anything else, Jared lunged at him again.

Jeff dodged as Jared swung punches. Yet Damon and his friends inched away from Zormna, yet also itching to break into the fight. And all the while, Brian and his friends remained on guard to keep the Monroe boys out of it. Fact was, this standoff was something of a spectacle for those watching from inside the DZ burger. Most were waiting to capture an all-out brawl on their cell phones to post online. But to Zormna it looked stupid.

Finally, with a disgusted huff, Zormna walked right in between the two brawling boys and grabbed Jared’s punch. She flipped him over with his own momentum, and tossed him onto the asphalt.

“Hey!” Jeff stepped back, arms out, his mouth opening at Zormna’s interference.

Zormna turned dryly towards Jeff. “Now can we go?”

Already the crowds in the burger place were buzzing. Several had captured a recording of Zormna’s amazing throw.

Damon and his friends bristled, their chests heaving as if winded from a long race despite that they took no forward steps. And why would they? They knew from a fight during summer camp not to mess with her.

However, Jared did not.

Jared scrambled back to his feet, snarling at her. “What’s wrong with you, witch?”

Zormna glanced wearily at him. “Go home.”

Bristling, Jared reached out to knock her out of the way.

But she caught his moves in a tick. Blocking the strike, bracing it then twisting it against him, Zormna threw Jared once more down onto the ground. This time she pointed down at him, saying, “Stay there. Don’t get up if you value living.”

Flat on his back, Jared gaped painfully at her. He nearly didn’t take her advice, clenching his teeth to leap up again, but Damon stepped into the fight—or tried to.

Zormna whipped around, her finger now pointing at him. “Don’t even think about it, Damon. I beat you last time with all your cronies, and I didn’t need any help either.”

Damon flinched, frozen where he was.

Behind her, Jeff huffed, folding his arms.

“What?” Zormna glanced back at him irritably.

Shaking his head and lifting up his hands, Jeff replied with all the sarcasm in him, “You’re just too good Zormna. I quiver in fear.”

“What?” Her sour expression deepened, mixed with confusion. “Jafarr, you were taking too long, and I didn’t want this to get out of hand.”

Rolling his eyes, Jeff said quite sharply, “Sorry, but it wasn’t your fight.”

She scowled at him. “What? So I’m supposed to sit back and watch these jerks kick at you until you break one of their legs and get pulled in by the cops?” She then shook her head darkly, her green eyes piercing. “You stopped me from running off with those girls and possibly having crazy time full of delicious pranks, and I’m expected to sit back while you jeopardize your future at Pennington? Did I or did I not hear right that if you got into a fight one more time you’d get expelled? You don’t need a visit by the authorities any more than I do.”

Blowing air, though he was nodding now, Jeff relented with a look at the ground. “Suspended, but yeah…. You’re right.”

She nodded sharply at him then shoved both Jeff and Brian to head to the truck. Jeff reluctantly turned to go, his cheeks pink. The other boys stared yet went with her, almost dazed.

However, Jared climbed off the ground and lunged at Jeff again. This time, he took him to the asphalt with punches.

Zormna stood there in shock for just a second, not believing what had just happened. But Brian and the rest leapt down to pry Jared off.

Damon and his buddies sprang to Jared’s side, cheering their buddy on as the guy beat into Jeff. Here was the brawl everyone was waiting for, and those inside the DZ burger excitedly recorded it.

Yet angered beyond her capacity, Zormna stormed up to the brawl and broke through the boys, pulling them out of her way with skill. She pounced on Jared’s back, elbowing him on a tender nerve. Jared arched back, roaring aloud as pain shot through his limbs. That gave Jeff enough time to scramble backwards out of his reach.

Damon grabbed in to get Zormna off his buddy, but she kicked him squarely in the chest. As he toppled to the asphalt with an earth-scratching thud, Jared reached back for her. But instead of pulling her off, Zormna pressed hard on the back of Jared’s neck and braced his arms like she would break them. And just so, she held him down like she had twice the normal amount of strength for her size.

Breathing in his ear in her thick brogue, she said, “You keep yourself and your friends away from Jafarr. You got that? The only thing you’re getting from him, and from me, is permission to run away—far away. Got it?”

She could feel Jared shaking under her pressure. He did not move for several minutes. Eventually she felt a very mortified nod.

“Good.” She let go and stood up.

Jared wheezed as he struggled to stand. Dizzily, he turned around and stared at Zormna as if she were inhuman.

For that matter, Damon and his friends were standing back, each gaping at her with wide eyes. They were still shaking in that uncertain limbo between fighting and running.

However, Brian and his friends also hung a distance from her. All of them stared at her like they really had never known her before. Most of them had seen Zormna fight before, but not like this. Not really. Last summer, most of them had seen her beat a girl in martial arts of a sort. And they even had seen her smash Jeff into the mud during the school Olympics inside the tug-of-war pit—but this they had never conceived of. They had, of course, heard about how she had beaten Damon and his pals at camp through Jeff and Joy, but never up until now had they actually witnessed Zormna defeat someone outside of a sport. Standing as first witnesses made them realized that every rumor about Zormna Clendar was true. She really was a super ninja.

Jeff was the only one that wasn’t terrified or amazed. He even seemed annoyed, though he also appeared relieved. Of course Sam and Adam were downright flabbergasted as they had only ever seen her throw their quarterback, Bradley Hershott during lunch.

Zormna turned to Brian first. Yet noticing his stunned expression, she sighed and turned to Jeff. “So, can we go now?”

Jeff rolled his eyes at her then nodded. “Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

Brian turned his head in a gape at his friend’s casualness. But as he glanced down at Jared’s infuriated and humiliated glare, he decided to hurry. Mark and Jonathan didn’t need to be coaxed. They jumped into the truck. Only Adam and Sam glanced at each other, wondering if maybe it was better to walk home to Pennington. But one look at Zormna’s impatient glare for them to get in, they both rushed to the truck.

The Pennington boys drove out of the parking lot in a subdued silence. It was only broken when Zormna lifted up the wrapped packages she had left at the truck before the fight. “Who wants a burger?”

Jeff rolled his eyes and scratched the scar across his nose, shaking his head.

Sam took a breath and closed his eyes. Adam just blinked at her.

 

They dropped Zormna off at the McLenna’s