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

that temper of hers, or it is going to cause us all trouble.”

“His parents won’t sue,” Todd’s voice lifted up in response. “Ted would be way too embarrassed if it got out that a five-foot-blonde had beat him.”

Their father chuckled weakly. And that was all they heard from them until dinner. Staying out of the way seemed sensible to both Jennifer and Mindy, so they remained in their room until then.

But Zormna did not come down for the evening meal. She remained upstairs in a self-imposed exile. Which was fine. The tension across the dinner table had become palpable. And though their parents dutifully steered the conversation away from the events at school and Zormna, they shared furtive looks that asked the same question Jennifer had been asking herself for weeks now. What kind of trouble had they really brought into their home?

 

Chapter Nine: Suspicion, Stars, and Stupidity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The prickly thorn often bears soft roses.” –Ovid—

 

The rumor about the fight quickly spread throughout the school. If Zormna had been a nameless entity before, she was no longer. She had become the most talked about individual on campus since the football quarterback, Bradley Hershott, got arrested for underage-drinking after the Homecoming game. How people reacted to the rumor varied. Most who had seen her walking around campus were too overblown by the rumor. Many did not believe it at all. Not until Coach Baker protested Ted’s suspension from the team. From there on, everyone knew about it.

Those who ended up in detention with Zormna took every opportunity to pry the true story from her. Or tried to. Zormna, they soon discovered, was a ‘wet blanket’. Without even a response to their questions, the tiny blonde purposely flagged down the room monitor to end the barrage.

Of course Darren Asher had plenty to say on the subject.

“The only reason she could beat ‘Lead Weight’ was because she’s a military grade Martian. She’s gotta be on their Surface Patrol. She might even be a high ranking officer.”

Alex Streigle rolled his eyes, exchanging a look with his brother Jeff as he and the other wrestlers walked by. “That guy is an idiot.”

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense anyway,” Brian muttered. “Even if there were aliens on Mars, Mars has 30% less gravity than Earth. Ted would be the one with the advantage.”

Jeff chuckled, casting Brian a side-glance. “You calculated all that up? What for? Darren is a nut.”

Brian shrugged. “You gotta keep an open mind.”

Todd shook his head, snickering. He slapped Brian on the shoulder. “Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”

Jonathan and Mark laughed.

Brian only shrugged. “I got a sci-fi mind. Sue me.”

Everyone on the team snickered over that, as Brian had more than a sci-fi mind. He believed in possibilities.

Mark then nudged Jeff. “So, Jeff, now that she’s bested Lead-Foot, she might come after you next. You’re the state champ.”

His pals guffawed. But Jeff lurched to a stop as if Mark had punched him in the gut.

“Hey,” Alex gripped his brother’s shoulder, “He didn’t mean anything by it.”

But Jeff ran his fingers through his long black mop of hair, pulling it up from the roots.

“It’s just a joke,” Jonathan said. “She’s not actually coming after you.”

“Nah,” Mark continued with a laugh, not noticing Jeff had stopped. “She’s stuck in detention. And you haven’t met yet.”

Jonathan and Alex shoved him hard to make him stop. Mark turned back in protest.

“Which reminds me,” Brian said, eager to change the subject. “How long is this project in Auto Shop going to take? We never see either of you at lunch anymore.”

Alex shared a look with Jeff and shrugged. “Jeff’s the genius with cars. I need him, you know.”

“But this is your project,” Brian said. “Isn’t him helping you cheating?”

Jeff shot his older brother another terse look as Alex cringed. “Al took on a bit more than he can chew is all. I’m not doing it for him.”

“Whatever,” Brian said. He then looked to Todd. “When do you think Zormna will get out of in-school suspension?”

Shrugging, Todd said, “Next week? Mom and Dad are also grounding her.”

“Grounding?” Jeff lifted his eyebrows. A smirk returned.

Todd nodded. “Yep. Which means she has to come straight home after school. No hanging out at that old house alone like she’s been doing before. And she is to come down to dinner and put on a ‘happy’ face.”

Jeff blinked at him.

“She scowls a lot these days,” Todd said with a shrug.

Shaking his head, Jeff said, “She sounds like a brat.”

*

It was unfair.

Zormna had never ranted, or kicked, or screamed over the lousy circumstance she had ended up in. But she was sick of being told what to do. Told, ordered, bossed, but never allowed to decide her own path. Yes, she had been raised military. Yes, she understood why soldiers took orders—to avoid chaos by following the guidance of someone who could see the entire scene. A soldier was part of a big plan, a bit in a strategy. But banishing her to the U.S. did not feel like a military strategy. It was more like taking her out of the action entirely. It wasn’t fair.

She was an Alea. A ranking Alea. Of Zeta District!

And it had been ripped from her.

Playing school was exhausting. Playing like she cared about the latest clothing trends, and boys, and makeup was ridiculously stupid. All the chatter from the girls in school was giving her a headache—even from Jennifer who wasn’t as bad as all that.

All those kids ever talked about was the latest gossip about their favorite TV show, or movie, or some singer and what they were wearing. Or about their boobs, or hips, or being too fat or too whatever. It was like being picked at by a million little birds.

Zormna shuddered. She had watched The Birds with Todd on Saturday and could not get that image out of her head.

Lying awake on her bed, Zormna was unable to sleep. In-school suspension was a nasty piece of ingenious punishment. It was worse than getting sent to the brig or being made to do KP. If it wasn’t for the boys prying about what happened with Ted, she might have talked with them. But she had decided she wanted to put that idiot Theodore Hamilton out of her mind. He didn’t know what he was saying, she had finally told herself. He hadn’t known how cruel his words had been—especially after another round of nightmares about her mother and father getting killed. These children were just thoughtless adolescents. They did not understand the weight of certain words.

Words….

She had heard the rumors whispered about her around the school. Everyone knew now that her parents had been killed. Jennifer could not keep a secret after all. But then Zormna had not expected her to. Jennifer was pretty typical. Zormna knew for certain people were talking about her when Jessica from Science class came up to her after school and asked if what she heard was true. Even now Zormna’s mind lingered on that conversation. She stared at the dark ceiling, thinking about it.

“So they really were murdered?” Jessica’s already pale face had gone shock white.

Zormna remembered nodding, yet trying not to expand on anything. Keep it simple was the key to avoiding too much disclosure. Some secrets had to be kept.

“How awful!” Jessica had said. “Did they find the killer at all?”

Zormna had shook her head, trying to ignore the gruesome skull-on-black that adorned the front of Jessica’s tee shirt.

But then Jessica said something odd. “I’m sorry. But at least you knew your parents loved you, right?”

Zormna had nodded. “Yes. I know they did.”

Jessica smiled. “Then be glad that you are not the Streigle brothers. Especially Jeff. His dad used to beat him.”

That was a sobering thought. Zormna had heard enough about the infamous Jeff Streigle from his friends. Chicago boys. They had grown up in a rough neighborhood. Jeff had supposedly once been in a gang. He had the scars to prove it. They were living with an uncle now, in Pennington. But her parents had protected her. So had her uncle. And her uncle had entrusted her into the care of his partner on the police force in case of his death. And his partner had entrusted her in the care of the Kevin because if she had stayed with her uncle’s partner, she probably would have been found by her family’s enemies.

Yet her mind froze on the one question: Did the Kevin really care about her?

Was he really doing this for her father, as they had been old friends long ago? Or was she just one of the billion pawn pieces he had to place? The Kevin had so many orphans to sort out, so many to manage. He had shown her some favoritism. But in the end, she had to rise through the ranks with hard work just like everyone else.

Actually, thinking about it was driving her crazy. She needed to call Home.

Unfortunately, that was forbidden. It was one of their laws of emigration. Zormna believed in those laws—usually.

Sitting up, listening to the air as the McLenna household slept, Zormna rose slowly off her bed, led by a half-baked idea that had been stewing in her brain since she had inherited and explored her great aunt’s house. But, if she timed things right, she might at least get a direct answer from the Kevin—for once. Besides, he needed to know about her change in circumstances.

She soft-footed her way to the attic door, listening to the air. Little noises moved around in the night. These American homes were creaky. They swayed with the wind sometimes. And sound seemed to travel through the walls and floors, depending on the decibels of those talking. Zormna had learned a lot about this family just from sitting in her room, listening. Conversations on cell phones, choices in music, and the occasional shouted word. It was a tense family, often on edge. Currently, though, they were sleeping. All of them.

Quietly she stuffed the keys to her great aunt’s house into her pocket. Zormna slipped out the attic room, going down the hall and stairs, and out the front door without so much as a creak. A midnight bat would have noticed her walk in the shadows through the neighborhood, but that was about it. She snuck into the first trashcan alley, keeping to the shadows.

*

Bored.

He was so bored.

Darren was not supposed to stay up on a school night, but his parents had long gone to bed and couldn’t stop him. Besides, the sky was clear. Eye to the sky, his telescope was in its usual spot next to the window, pointed to that one red star.

He had always hoped to catch sight of a UFO—especially when he realized that it was all true. But he had failed to calculate that maybe spaceships came to earth during cosmic lightshows to hide their descent. After all, the morning after a meteor shower was when Zormna Clendar had showed up.

But she was so boring.

Purposely.

And mean.

That pretty girl was like one of those thorny roses. Look, but don’t touch. Like everyone, he felt the alluring sting that was Zormna Clendar. You were either jealous of her or wanted to be with her.

Asiah, the old