The Secret of Zormna Clendar by Julie Steimle (best ereader for pdf TXT) 📕

the corner near their house. It was convenient living near the bus stop.

“Bye,” Zormna murmured with a brief wave. Her eyes were still on the TV. A faint smile remained on her lips.

Shaking her head, Mrs. McLenna went back to her work.

Jennifer and Todd got breakfast and sat where they could watch the TV also. Corn flakes for them both.  

“Jennifer,” her mom said as she sealed up a baggie and placed it inside a paper lunch bag, “I need you to help Zormna find her classes. Introduce her to your friends. Make her feel as comfortable as possible.” She handed Todd one of the lunch bags, looking him in the eye. “You too, Todd.”

“No problem,” Todd said, not taking his eyes off the TV. He then broke into a laugh.

Jennifer looked. The pig just gave Marvin the Martian a dynamite stick, saying ‘Happy Birthday.’ Then it blew up. The Loony-Toons alien ran back to its ship with just its feet and helmet. Jennifer chuckled.

But Zormna huffed, rising sourly to her feet. She pushed the power button on the remote, muttering, “Ba’nark, ska’de, amumbak gaisalb,” as the TV went off.

“I was watching that!” Todd protested.

“You have to go to school soon anyway, Todd.” His mother waved his lunch bag in front on him. Oddly, though, she seemed relieved that Zormna had only turned the TV off. Zormna looked inclined to kick it in for some reason. Probably it reminded her that her great aunt thought she was a Martian.

Todd took the sack and stuffed it into his backpack. He then turned to Zormna with a smile. “Ready to go?”

Zormna shrugged, still casting the TV a dirty look.

“These are for you.” Their mother handed Zormna a lunch sack, along with a three-ring binder that looked stuffed full.

Jennifer peered over at it as Zormna opened the binder up and thumbed through it. Lined paper, pens, erasers, pencils, and whatnot in a clear zip bag—the usual back-to-school stuff, though all of it was just the plain, ordinary, office store stuff.

Letting out a loud sigh, Zormna looked up at Mrs. McLenna pleadingly. “Are you sure I must do this? I will eventually go back home, and this will all count for nothing—”

“It counts. Trust me.” Mrs. McLenna smiled wryly. “Now make sure you get help finding your classes. If Jennifer or Todd are not around then find a teacher to help you.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Zormna is going to look so stupid asking a teacher.” She spun around on her stool toward Zormna. “Ask someone sitting next to you. You’re new, and they’ll treat you nice just because you’re new.” She did not add, and pretty. That part was obvious.

Todd nodded, lifting his eyebrows.

“Well, whatever you do,” their mother interjected, “Don’t throw a fit if no one treats you the way you’re used to.”

Zormna rolled her eyes.

Jennifer stifled a laugh.

“Jeez, Mom,” Todd said, standing a little too close to Zormna with an overtly winning smile. “Cut her some slack. She’ll do fine.”

Jennifer about gagged. He was trying to put on the charm. And Zormna, despite being peevish, glanced up at him with a return of amusement. Obviously she had spent a lot of time among boys. Male posturing was clearly familiar territory to her.

How annoying.

But Todd then led Zormna quickly to the front door, leaving Jennifer behind.

Swallowing the last bite of cereal, Jennifer dropped her spoon in the bowl, and ran after them. She would not let Todd take over.

“Good luck!” Mrs. McLenna called out, but she watched them with unease as she closed the screen.

Walking to school through the half-asleep suburb was an experience. Besides being in the middle of the strangest tug-of-war ever—between Jennifer and Todd—Zormna stared at the changing colors in the sky listening to the morning birds and breathing in the dewy air. It was indescribably beautiful. The closer they got to the school, though, the more natural sounds gave way to human chatter and roaring automobiles on the roadways.

Zormna recognized the school grounds easily, but Jennifer and Todd led her to a picnic table in an area between buildings that she had not gone to before. The concrete there was painted red, which was odd. Clusters of kids loitered at some of the other tables before class. Already people were staring.

“Hand me your schedule, and I’ll read it for you,” Todd said.

Jennifer lingered next to him, unsuccessfully hiding her gloating over how Zormna could hardly read English. Zormna passed her schedule to Todd without even a look to Jennifer.

“Ok.” Todd gestured to the main building. “Most of your classes are in there. If you look here, you’ll see that it says room 215. That means you go to the second floor—that’s the two—and look for this number. Got it?”

Got it? Zormna just wanted to turn around and go home.

“Look,” Todd said more compassionately. “How about Jennifer and I pick you up in between classes and show you where to go. Ok?”

Zormna cringed. “That would be embarrassing.”

“Just for the first day,” he added. “It is better than getting lost.”

Poking her nose over Todd’s shoulder, Jennifer critically scanned the schedule. Zormna had purposefully hid it from her since she had made that snide remark about her intelligence.

 “Hey!” Todd broke into a grin when his eyes set on one line. “You have gym the same hour I do!”

Jennifer’s eyes also lit up on one detail, though she looked mostly disappointed. “My first hour class is near hers.”

 “Ok, how about this,” Todd said. “You take her to her first and second hour classes. I’ll pick her up from her second and third hour classes, and I’ll go with her after the fourth hour. You get her after her fifth and sixth hour. Sound fair?”

Nodding, Jennifer took another look at Zormna’s schedule.

“Hi, Todd.” Some brown-haired guy passed by, his eyes caressing Zormna’s figure with interest. “Are you ready for the quiz?”

“Just a minute. I’ll be there.” Todd smirked. He stood closer to her like a protective yet also possessive beau—which made Zormna moan inside.

Here it starts, all over again.

He beckoned Zormna towards the doors. “Come on. We should get to your locker.”

Jennifer went along with them with a grudging eye-roll.

Inside the main building, the halls bustled with activity. And they were packed. And unlike Home, which was racially homogenous, this place was filled to the walls with all sorts of people. Zormna tried not to stare at all the strange faces. For the first time she was glad Todd had taken on this protective friend posture. She willingly let him navigate her through the long-legged boys in sportswear, past the wide-eyed Asians who chatted in a dialect she did not recognize at all, and around this cluster of girls dressed in extremely short matching skirts of red, black, and white with what looked like a skull and crossbones on their chests. Todd grinned at them all with nods. And many smiled back at him. When they reached somewhere in the middle of the hall, they stopped in front of a row of lockers.

“Here’s your locker,” Todd said, tapping the number plate on the door as so many staring eyes watched them. “Usually we leave our books and things here in between classes. Do you have your combination?”

Zormna handed back her schedule, trying to ignore the looks. “Is it on here?”

Todd shook his head. “Didn’t they give you another paper?”

Shrugging, Zormna opened the notebook Mrs. McLenna had given her. She had stuffed the extra paper that had come with the schedule into the small clear pocket with all her pencils and erasers. It was nothing but numbers. She passed it over.

Taking it, Todd paused, giving Zormna a side look. “Have you ever used a combination lock like this before?”

She peeked at Jennifer. “Once. You turn it three times to the right, twice to the left then directly to the right. Correct?”

Jennifer snickered.

Todd nodded, holding the paper up for her.

So, tackling the lock, Zormna did her best. When she stopped on the last number, she stepped back. Nothing happened. The safe at least popped open.

“Lift the handle up,” Jennifer said.

Zormna was getting sick of Jennifer’s know-it-all tone, but she slid the handle up. The catch let go. She swung out the door then peered into the small compartment. It wasn’t much. And examining the mechanism, Zormna was sure it would be easy to break into.

Todd lifted in her lunch bag. And that was all. She had not gotten her books yet. The registrar had told her she would receive them in class. Todd handed back the combination.

“Here you go. Memorize it.”

There were lots of things to memorize, Zormna thought as she took the paper from his fingers. She was, after all, starting over.

Todd said to Jennifer in a rush, “I gotta run. You take her to class.”

Jennifer nodded.

Todd hurried off.

“Well, let’s go.” Jennifer jerked her head in the direction of the stairs.

Back the way they had come, Zormna then followed Jennifer up the stairs. They navigated around the hordes of onlookers like they would mines in the sea.  

Zormna never liked this kind of attention. Boys didn’t change much, and neither did girls. Here, the girls in the matching red, white, and black short skirts stared at her with the same savage jealousy Jennifer had the first time she set eyes her. The only difference was that these girls did not attempt civility except to smile. But Zormna knew that smile was not in kindness. It was a challenge. A petty, let’s-see-how-we-can-torment-you-for-being-too-pretty, kind of challenge. At least Jennifer attempted to be decent.

Further along, she noticed a collection of boys gathered together holding up a smartphone. They followed after her as she walked by, staring into it with slack jaws and wide hungry eyes, not masking their lust in any way. Zormna hid behind Jennifer before they recorded any more of her like she was some porn actress.

Jennifer cast her a weary look, but said nothing.

On the second floor, it only continued.

Jennifer pointed to a door a few yards away. “Look, I’m late, and Mr. Dawes marks down if people come late. Just go in that door and wait until the teacher comes. Hand him your schedule, and he’ll sign it. Ok?”

Zormna drew in a breath and nodded. That hallway was crowded also. Eyes already turned in her direction. She snuck looks to all the windows and doors. Maybe now was a good time to simply cut out of there. She could hide out at her great aunt’s house until it was over.

“See you after class,” Jennifer said with a knowing look.

Forget it, Zormna thought petulantly. There was no sneaking off. The nosy fink just might call her mother if she was not in class when Jennifer returned. Ugh. With no other choice, Zormna set her shoulders back and marched straight to the door Jennifer had indicated. It was open.

Yet she halted in the doorway.

Arranged in five rows of six orange plastic, cheaply-made, chairs with flimsy particleboard desk-attachments, sat a small and spread-out collection of kids. Some of her classmates looked older than others, like they had been held back a couple years. The majority of the seats were still empty. A dusty green chalkboard hung at the front of the room, and situated in front of it was a battered wooden desk and chair. At the back were worn, sun-bleached displays of simple life-science vignettes, covering a bulletin board. Everything showed her that the school was either old, or just poorly funded.

Most of those in class sat alone, each preoccupied with a different activity. One boy was reading a paperback. Another scrambled with panic to finish an assignment. A cluster of guys sat together, chatting and laughing. This group looked up when Zormna entered. They stared a full minute before lowering their voices into gossip. It took about a minute for Zormna to get over that initial awkward moment. But she did it with a bold step into the room. She went straight to an orange chair where she sat down and preoccupied herself with her