Apocalypse Before Finals, Julie Steimle [black authors fiction txt] 📗

the crowd, he did a brief double take on Zormna's and Jeff's exhausted expressions. It wasn't the first time Zormna had nodded off in his class, but Jeff had always been alert...until recently.

"I see you are all ready to hand your essays in," Mr. Humphries started.

A general rumble of disagreement erupted at his last word.

"We need more time," Michael Peterson called from his corner of the room, raising his hand over the growing mob-like grumbling and glowers of his classmates.

More voices were crying out, "Give us another week!" and "That novel was hard!" Then like a flood, nearly everyone in the class exploded in protests at the assignment, begging for at least two days more to work on it.

"Isn't anyone done with the assignment?" Mr. Humphries asked, gazing with dismay at his students.

Jeff and Zormna both raised their hands.

It was impossible for their usually cynical and strict teacher to not smirk at the pair, especially since these two had frequently been in trouble for ditching school and he had been the harshest about it. Both had previously missed assignments because of their past truancies. Yet he nodded to them. Walking over to Jeff and Zormna's desks, he picked up their essay sheets and flipped through them.

"Decently thorough," he muttered to himself as he read through their answers. Lifting his eyes to their faces with surveying glances, he nodded once more to himself, taking their papers.

"Alright," he said at last to the general group. "I'll give you two more days. It appears that those who have finished it have utterly exhausted themselves in the attempt and deserve a good rest."

Brian and the group around Jeff and Zormna chuckled. Yet the remark itself was entirely lost on both Zormna and Jeff who were both staring into space just trying to keep their eyes open. Both were startled by the group laugh. Jeff looked up, glassy-eyed. He blinked to see what was so funny.

"What?" Zormna said, jerking up her head, which had nodded onto her desk when the teacher had walked back to the front of the room.

The class laughed again.

Mr. Humphries sighed. Then he gestured for them to stand up. "Mr. Streigle, Miss Clendar, you both deserve an applaudable break. You can go to the study hall and rest there."

Jeff blinked, not sure what he was hearing.

Zormna shook her head to wake herself. She rose from her seat. Jeff looked like he was about to pass out in his chair, however Zormna seemed to be able to operate while groggy, and she tugged on Jeff's sleeve for him to follow her. She passed Mr. Humphries an appreciative smile and waved goodbye to Joy who waved back weakly. Jeff followed her, comprehending now what had been said. Blinking his eyes open as best as he could, He stood up, straightened up a bit and pulled by Zormna to the door and into the hall.

Both students were seen walking, half asleep, from the English corridor to the study hall. They didn't go much farther beyond the door of the study hall though. Both teenagers dropped into the first table they came to and fell asleep.

"Excessive grogginess," Agent Palmer recorded, glancing at his partner who was inspecting the tapped CCTV feed they were watching. "The both of them."

"I wonder what they've been doing to make them tired like that?" Agent Powell replied. "Late night chats?"

Pentagon also wondered.

Miss Bianchi wasn't thrilled when Zormna arrived to class late, saying something about not hearing the bell. One side of Zormna's face was red and striped from being squashed against a desk and her folded arms. Her shirt was wrinkled and a little sweaty. The teacher also didn't like how Zormna slept through most of her lesson - but Zormna was awake for the latter half. Yet that was mostly because Jessica had pinched her and hissed for her to open her eyes when their teacher moved to swat her with her textbook. At the time, Jessica had been sketching Zormna's sleeping face in one of her notebooks, though now she was unable to finish the picture.

Michelle Clay peered over with a superior smirk, nudging Stacey as she watched Zormna wipe her eyes and the corner of her mouth to check for drool. Stacey whispered back a pornographic suggestion that Jeff clearly had an all-night 'sleepover' at Zormna's the night before - not quite in those words. The girls tittered in agreement.

Around lunch both of them managed to wake up fully, but their friends were still laughing at them. Within the same time, the Henderson twins had showed up, purposely annoying Mark and Adam exactly like a pair of monkeys hopping around.

"Mr. Humphries had literally given them the class off because they were ahead of the whole room and had worn themselves out doing it," Brian recounted for Jonathan and Mark who had not been there. He tried to shoo his little brothers away. Unfortunately, they kept coming back, making sure they were out of his reach.

"Mr. Humphries must have thought they were trying to exonerate their 'truant behavior' from February," Adam cut in, pushing Ammon off of him as the boy was pretending to pick fleas out of Adam's hair.

"And November," Jonathan reminded, meaning the time Jeff and Zormna both went to Florida twice, ducking away from the twins in case they tried to target him next.

 But Brian eyed Jeff with a crooked smirk. "What? You couldn't sleep so you decided to do your homework instead?"

The twins paused, staring at Jeff whom they secretly admired and feared.

Shrugging sheepishly, Jeff finally nodded. "Basically."

Mark and the others laughed, a little surprised, though Jonathan not so much. He nodded with Brian and peeked at Zormna.

"Are you nuts?" Ammon murmured, staring at Jeff with his twin brother.

Brian shook his head wearily. "I would expect it from our overachiever here," pointing at Zormna who was often sleepy in class and frequently ahead of the other students. "But I thought you were not that desperate."

"Desperate?" Zormna glared at him slightly.

The twins snickered, ducking out of her reach. They feared her also, but for different reasons. They never quite forgave her for besting their top score on their X-box back home on the first try.

"That's not what he meant," Jeff cut in.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Then why did he say that word? Desperate..."

"Freaky is better," Moroni murmured low, dodging away in case she swiped at him.

"Uh," Brian snatched a cringing look at Jeff. "Sorry. Bad word choice. I meant eager to...uh, impress the teacher."

But Zormna only stared wanly at him. "You think I do my homework to impress the teacher?"

The boys shared looks, including the twins. Truthfully, they knew there was no way to win this argument. And the twins scurried off before Zormna got mad.

Brian shrugged, then changed the conversation into a different direction, mostly about the upcoming school elections and its conflict with the new testing schedule. Then they talked about other things. Eventually the three boys picked up a game of hacky-sack. Jeff stayed out of it, napping on the bench. Zormna had opened up the next novel they had to read, finishing off her lunch. She had started into the introduction to The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

As much as it looked like Jeff was resting, he was actually watching Zormna with his eyes cracked slightly open, thinking about how he was going to tell Zormna about the two reported dead Tarrns. And though he had promised not to keep her out of rebellion business, in instances such as these he wished he had not made such a promise. News about dead Tarrns destroyed her. And worse, it always made her want to run directly back Home to fight. But he had promised. He hadn't gotten around to telling her that morning at her house when he picked her up on his bike. Both of them were too tired and running late for school. And though he had intended to tell her at study hall, she fell straight to sleep. At that time she had looked too restful to disturb. Now she looked too busy.

Brian broke away from the hacky-sack game and plopped back at the picnic table across from Zormna. Mark and Jonathan continued the game, kicking the small beanbag around on the redtop with such happy laughter. Zormna looked up once from her book and smiled at Brian who had begun to read the back cover.

"Don't move it, Zormna. I can't read it," Jeff heard Brian say.

She held the book up and moved her fingers from off the back writing so he could clearly get all the printed words.

Brian let out an audible sigh and muttered, "I don't see why we can't just write about the movie."

Zormna laughed, lowering the book. "Perhaps because we are supposed to be experiencing literature?"  

Jeff suppressed a chuckle as that would have spoiled the effect of his feigned nap.

Brian went awkwardly silent. He stared at the table and again at Zormna holding the book. Jeff could see that Brian was trying to bring up the nerve to say something to Zormna. This act fascinated Jeff so much that he didn't make an effort to stop it, even though what Brian was going to say seemed serious if not potentially dangerous.

"Do you have a date for Prom yet?" Brian asked, trying to sound casual. Jeff could see Brian massage his hands under the table in anticipation...and hope. Stopping himself from chuckling again, Jeff watched Zormna blink to herself at the idea and lay down her book.

"Prom?" Though she was an outstandingly smart girl, whenever Zormna blinked at foreign ideas and distant thoughts, as she was doing right in that moment, it often made her look vacant-minded - like a dumb blonde.

Brian nodded, wiping his clammy hands inside his pockets.

Zormna blinked again and shrugged. "No. I really haven't even thought about it, actually."

Brian snuck a fleeting glance at Jeff, taking courage at her words. Jeff sucked in a breath. Brian might have known he was watching, but more than likely, Brian probably thought Jeff had prior claims to her as a date...

And he had thought Brian knew him well. Apparently not.

"Would you like to go with me to the Prom?" Brian asked, quashing the tiny shake in his voice.

Zormna put her book on the table and stared directly at Brian, comprehending now what he was doing. She bit her lip, peeked once at Jeff, then glanced up at the sky in deep thought. Brian looked as if he was about catch fire. His face was flushing so red in embarrassment and anticipation, he might as well have.

"It's March," she said, looking at Brian and again peeking at Jeff.

Brian also glanced at Jeff. "I know. I just thought that I'd better ask before someone else does. You know, to plan ahead."

Zormna's expression got caught between a chuckle and a laugh. Instead, she cleared it and gave Brian a genuine grin. "I'd love to."

If Brian had been red before, he was absolutely glowing now. He grinned from ear to ear. Standing up, talking nervously like someone who had just been granted the world and didn't quite believe it, he said, "Th...well....Great! Then I'll make the arrangements!"

Scooting back as if to rejoin the hacky-sack players, he then veered off, wandering the redtop instead while gazing at the sky and tree tops with his hands stuck in his pockets. He meandered like this until he turned a corner somewhere. A happy whoop and a 'YES!' caused several heads to turn.

Zormna lifted her eyebrows and smirked. Shaking her head, she picked up her book and tried to read. She couldn't however. Mind distracted, Zormna just sat and laughed out loud. She even blushed.

"Well, you made someone happy," Jeff said, sitting up.

She turned and looked at him. "I thought you were watching."

Jeff nodded. "Hard to nap on a picnic bench."

She chuckled.

Jeff glanced around a moment, thinking that now might be a good time to tell her his bad news. She had a commitment she would feel guilty breaking, and that