Bones in the Sand, Julie Steimle [best books to read for students .TXT] 📗

burial. With all the wild stories and even crazier history Zormna had, their classmates were not sure if they should disbelieve it.

Mr. Humphries came in at two minutes to the first bell.

Their teacher walked in, placing his pile of papers on the desk, then glanced directly at Zormna and Jeff's desks. Expecting them to be empty, he blinked when he saw the two alert faces staring back at him.

"Mr. Streigle and Miss Clendar, what are you doing here?" Mr. Humphries asked in a loud stern voice.

Zormna glanced at Jeff and shrugged. "We're here to study English?"

Her teacher frowned at her. "No. You are not. You two will pick up your belongings and go straight to Mr. Vicksler's office immediately."

Jeff blinked. He glanced at Brian and the rest, who shrugged at him with an almost we-told-you-so look. He stood up. "Won't you even hear our excuse?"

His teacher glared at him. "You two. Out now."

Flustered, Zormna slumped in her chair. Jeff shrugged with another resigned sigh. He picked up his notebook and textbook and crammed them back into his backpack. He hiked it all back onto his shoulder. Zormna was still sitting in her desk.

"Come on, Zormna, let's not keep Herr VP waiting," Jeff said, motioning for her to get up.

Appearing distressed, Zormna had to make a concerted effort to get out of her chair. She slid her belongings off the desk and back into her book bag, glancing once or twice at her teacher who sat with arms folded on his desk like an irate bookkeeper. She sighed and followed Jeff to the door where he went out and waited for her in the hallway.

Stopping at the door, Zormna looked back. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"Go!" Mr. Humphries pointed out to the hall.

She scowled at him. Then lifting her head high, she hoisted her book bag strap onto her shoulder. She marched past him in the hallway. Jeff shrugged and followed her march down the hall to the administrative building.

Zormna and Jeff sat in Mr. Vicksler's office for the good half of the morning listening to his lecture on his disappointment of their behavior (that part lasted most of the first half of the lecture), and the importance of school attendance (which was the second large chunk of the lecture). He also ranted about their hedonistic behavior, which was so visible to the impressionable freshmen and the admiring student body. Of course Zormna wouldn't listen to that part. She lost her temper when he accused them of taking "riotous jaunts" to hotels to they could "steam up the windows." Jeff just glowered furiously at Mr. Vicksler as he listened to Zormna defend his and her honor, chiming in several times with her protests that they didn't do anything at all except leave together. Of course the Vice Principal didn't take kindly to students arguing back about anything.

"That is enough!" Mr. Vicksler bellowed.

Jeff and Zormna scowled at him, seething in silence. Zormna sat with her stubborn arms folded. Jeff was clenching the arms of his chair, either to hold himself up, or to keep himself from rising from his seat and pouncing on the school administrator.

"Streigle! This next week you will attend in-school suspension!" Mr. Vicksler shouted.

"But - " Jeff rose in protest, feeling like a child again.

"After that you will see your counselor every afternoon after school for the rest of the year," the vice principal continued.

"But what about wrestling?" Jeff cried.

Mr. Vicksler frowned fiercely at him. "Suspended. You will not wrestle for the remaining month. If you really cared about the sport then you wouldn't have jeopardized your standing in it."

Jeff narrowed his eyes at him.

"And you, young lady," Mr. Vicksler said, frowning at Zormna now. "You will go to the nurse immediately. After that, I want to see you back in my office to determine your punishment."

"But - " Zormna's mouth dropped open in protest.

"Now!" Mr. Vicksler pointed toward the door.

She stood up, jerking her bag onto her arm, then stomped past the chairs out the room.

Once he was alone with Jeff, Mr. Vicksler sat on the corner of his desk and frowned down in silence at the boy. They said nothing for several minutes, both hearing the hum of Mr. Vicksler's computer and the slight buzz of a fly that somehow escaped the winter cold.

"Can I go now?" Jeff at last ventured to ask.

Mr. Vicksler glared at him. "No, you may not."

Jeff sighed and stared at the walls. The vice principal said nothing. He just glared at Jeff and folded his arms in silence.

Jeff let out another sigh. "Is there anything else you want to say to me then?" 

Mr. Vicksler huffed and stood up. He walked back behind his desk and sat down.

"You think you are so - cool - don't you?" the vice-principal said.

Jeff shrugged. "I dunno."

"You think you can get away with anything, right?" the vice principal said, leaning in across the desk.

"What?" Jeff sat back, looking the vice principal in the face.

"That girl, Zormna. Was it worth it?" the VP asked.

"What?" Jeff didn't want to see what the vice principal was getting at, knowing quite well where it led.

"She's such a naïve, honest sort. Sometimes too honest. Her mouth gets her in trouble. I've watched her. But you've got her fooled, don't you," Mr. Vicksler leaned in, asking.

Jeff could feel his ears getting hot. "What are you talking about?"

The vice principal smirked. "Do you think that girl is unprotected?"

Jeff jumped up from his chair. "Shut up! We didn't do anything!"

Mr. Vicksler glared at him. "You have been manipulating that girl since the day she got here. I've been watching you. I've watched the way you've watched her. You know she's alone and defenseless..."

"Defenseless..." Jeff murmured, shaking his head and sitting down. "She's a martial artist. She can kick my face in."

"...Emotionally unstable. I've seen her type. She needs a father figure. She craves affection. And you provide it for her - twisting it to have your way with her," Mr. Vicksler continued.

Jeff's mouth fell open. "I have never - "

"She's a cute kid, and I can't watch you destroy her life. Once I knew you worked with organized crime that only clinched my suspicions," the VP said.

Jeff choked on a laugh. "Organized crime? Get real. It was a small gang in Chicago. I'm not into - "

Mr. Vicksler cut him off. "Your father sent you here to be corrected - "

"My father didn't send me here..." Jeff rolled his eyes and slumped back in his chair.

"...Kept out of the crime scene. And I'm the one who is going to do it," Mr. Vicksler said.

It was hopeless. Jeff groaned. There was no way the vice-principal would believe a word he said, even if it was the truth.

"Can I go to detention now?" Jeff asked, gazing tiredly at the school's vice-principal.

Mr. Vicksler glared at him. "Not yet. If I can't talk sense into you, then no one can."

Jeff laughed mirthlessly. "Well then, go at it. But I warn you, I'm incorrigible."

The school's vice-principal frowned at him, sighing and shaking his head. "Obviously."

The two didn't meet until after school at the guidance counselor's, but that was only briefly. The vice-principal had them separated, again. He informed them that they both would have to stay away from each other after school if they knew what was best for them.

Of course, Zormna snorted at the verdict right away.... which caused the vice-principal to lecture at her for another hour about the wicked influence of boys like Jeff.

Zormna had been given detention for the rest of the week, but after school. That took her away from cheerleading and gymnastics. Her detention seemed to be more of the same old thing from the last semester, though. She had to endure lectures from the school nurse about STD's and childhood pregnancy. Zormna merely rolled her eyes and tuned her out - as it really was preaching to the choir. After an hour of hearing about the reproductive process and the dangers of sneaking off with boys the likes of Jeff, Zormna was allowed to return to class.

Unfortunately it was Biology and the lessons were still focused on evolution - only this time they were discussing the spreading of peoples across the globe using the land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. In spite of recent events, Zormna wasn't in the mood to laugh at that. Already she was overhearing whispers about her and Jeff which were less-than-flattering assessments of their characters. Only Jennifer actually asked about her trip and what they did in Arizona.

She had a small repeat of the murmurs upon her arrival in Chemistry, but she was met by eager Darren, who was also anxious to find out what had happened on the trip (Jeff and Zormna had not arrived home until late Saturday. They had taken a detour with the bikers, and had ridden around Phoenix for a while before Zormna and Jeff hopped off and took a taxi to the airport. They didn't visit Darren on Sunday).

"So?" Darren asked, leaning in across their lab desk.

Zormna smiled. "It was a success. My friends came and took the ship and the bones, and the FBI have nothing."

Darren laughed, almost a little too loud. "A ship? You didn't say anything about a ship."

She put a hand over Darren's mouth. "I'll tell you after school."

Glancing around, he nodded. "Sorry. I just get so excited."

Sighing, Zormna opened her Chemistry text.

Darren and Zormna came to lunch together. Though Darren usually went to the library on Mondays, he decided that it was ok to skip one and listen in on the gossip.

"Where's Jeff?" Jennifer glanced around Zormna.

Zormna sat down and shrugged. "He has in-school suspension this whole week."

"And you?" Jennifer asked, leaning closer.

"After school detention all week and next week. There will be no cheerleading for me," Zormna said, peeling off the plastic cap to her fruit cup.

So much disappointment was on Brian's face as he watched her casually eat as if she had just been on a small vacation and had not ditched school for the third time with a boy whom 'everyone' now considered an untrustworthy punk. Jonathan and Mark were trying not to stare. Adam was failing at it.

"Where did you go?" Adam asked, still trying to pry out a name of some hotel.

Zormna moaned. "I told you. We went to Arizona. One of my very distant relatives was in a crash, and we had to deal with the body."

"Why did Jeff go though?" Adam continued, digging for holes in her argument.

With a loud huff, Zormna scooped up the sweetened chunks of fruit. "He was my moral support. Besides, he arranged our ride with a bunch of bikers through somebody he knows over there. I couldn't have gotten there on my own."

"You went with a bunch of bikers?" Brian asked, drawing in a breath with a tone of increasing belief, and amazement.

Zormna nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeah. Their leader's name was Minas - a complete pervert. And there was a guy named Old Bill. A whole load of them."

Jonathan laughed. "What else does Jeff hide from us? He rides with bikers. He dances. He used to hang out with gangsters. And he went to an Irish military school for a week. What else? You seem to be the only one who knows."

"He sings." Zormna offered with a shrug after swallowing a mouthful of fruit.

Mark laughed. "We already know that."

"He plays a bazillion musical instruments," Adam murmured.

"Maybe next time we'll find out he is actually a covert CIA agent," Jonathan said, leaning near Adam and shaking his head.

Adam nodded.

Zormna chuckled in her fruit cup.

"Or maybe he flies planes in his spare time," Brian added, looking to the others.

"He probably does," Zormna murmured, but no one except Jennifer heard. Jennifer had to smother it.

"Or maybe he's a Martian rebel leader fighting to save his world from a totalitarian government," Darren said, glancing down at Zormna.

The four boys peered dismally at Darren and shook their heads.

"Weirdo," Adam said.

"Get real, Darren," Brian said, shaking his head and reaching out to