The Secret of Zormna Clendar by Julie Steimle (great reads .TXT) 📖

described him. Trouble, especially with the thin scar slashed over his once-broken nose and right cheek.

“The hottest of hotness,” Mark said, sighing once more, gesturing to where Zormna had gone. “A total babe.”

Jeff lifted his eyebrows. “Really?” He tossed his bangs aside and peered over the railing where his friends were looking, but Mrs. McLenna and Zormna were already gone.

“…With Mrs. McLenna,” Brian added.

Chuckling, Jeff glanced over the rail one last time. But eventually he gave up. “You guys had better not be talking about Jennifer. She’s got a boyfriend, and Todd would get ticked off if you said anything about his sister.”

“By the way,” Jonathan looked around. “Where is Todd? And for that matter, Alex?”

“Alex is at work,” Jeff said.

“Todd said something has come up. He had to get home early,” Brian replied. Then he slapped his own forehead, shaking his head. “I’m so dumb. Of course he’d rush home if that girl’s there.”

Mark and Jonathan sighed. “Yeah….”

Jeff leaned on the rail. “Really? She was that hot?”

Brian nodded. “Totally your type. But then I think she’d be just about any guy’s type. Blonde. Perfectly shaped…”

“A goddess,” Jonathan murmured again.

“…exotic green eyes…”

“Hair like fire,” Mark added.

“Like fire?” Jeff lurched up from the rail.

All three nodded, though Brian added, “A babe above all babes.”

Jeff set a hand to his mouth, blinking in thought to himself. He shook his head. “Nah. It couldn’t be.”

“It couldn’t be what?” Mark asked, peering at him.

Shrugging with a lighthearted smirk, Jeff replied, “It couldn’t be possible that such a girl exists and Todd hasn’t told us about her. We should bug Todd about her tomorrow at school and get an introduction.”

All three boys agreed, slapping Jeff on the shoulder. They steered towards the Italian fast food place. They had to get some cannolis.

*

 

Jennifer rushed home after flag practice to see how everything went. To be honest, the day had just dragged on and on. She needed to know. Would Zormna be in any of her classes? More to the point, would she be in any of Kevin’s classes? She had told Kevin about Zormna, emphasizing what a little prima donna the blonde was. Jennifer had to make it clear Zormna was not interested in high school boys.

Scrambling up the attic stairs to Zormna’s little room, Jennifer quickly wrenched the door open and hopped right in.

And there was Zormna, cramming everything she and her mother had bought straight into the cedar chest at the end of the bed—like an idiot. Didn’t she have any sense?

“What. Are. You. Doing?” Jennifer marched straight to the chest and yanked the clothes right out. “There are places for these things! Like the shirts. You don’t put those shirts in there. You hang them up.”

Zormna let go, rising to her feet and lifting her hands in surrender. “Fine.”

“What is the matter with you?” Jennifer shook her head with so much exasperation, she felt like exploding.

Zormna set a hand over her face. Closing her eyes, she was breathing in and out—but it was more like she was struggling not to pound Jennifer on the head and kick her out of the room. It made Jennifer pause, if only a little. Perhaps she had been too hasty, but there was no point in stopping now.

Jennifer lifted out the blue dress, shaking it out then staring at it with a drawn breath. “Wow. This is nice…. Why couldn’t Mom have bought this for me?”

“Do you want it?” Zormna asked, not even opening her eyes.

Grunting, Jennifer lowered the dress. “It’s not my size. Why do you have to be so stinking tiny?”

The blonde sighed, dropping to the end of her bed. She shook her head, saying nothing.

Jennifer continued to unpack all the clothes they had bought. Most of it was boring ordinary. Blue jeans. Plain colored tee shirts. Plain shirts with collars. No tank tops. Nothing sexy, thank heavens. Including the underwear. Jennifer looked over at Zormna and asked, “My mom didn’t get you anything pretty besides that dress?”

Zormna shrugged. But her gaze flickered to under the bed as if she had hid a bomb there.

Going there, Jennifer crouched down and found a couple bags crammed in the gap. Snorting, she pulled them out. Here were the pretty shirts and skirts. And another dress. It was like the blonde only wanted the plain stuff.

“What are you, Amish?” Jennifer asked.

Of course Zormna stared without any comprehension, as usual.

Jennifer shook those clothes out and hung them up. The rest she folded, putting them into the bureau. Once done, Jennifer turned with a smile. “So, what classes did you get?”

“The records did not transfer,” Zormna groaned, looking away. “I will be taking basic courses this term.”

Nonplussed, Jennifer said, “Basic? You mean General Ed?”

Zormna shrugged.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart,” Jennifer said. “Some kind of genius. Didn’t you take a test?”

Sighing, Zormna turned so her gaze was straight on Jennifer. “I only know what I studied. And I did not study English writing or reading. Understand?”

Jennifer didn’t. Zormna’s English was erratically fluent, like a walking thesaurus with some pages missing.

“What are you saying?”

Sighing rather loudly, Zormna replied, “I cannot read English.”

Jennifer’s eyes widened. “No kidding?”

Zormna shook her head, frowning.

It was too funny. Jennifer laughed.

“Shut up,” Zormna muttered.

“And you…all going…” Jennifer laughed harder without meaning to, “‘I already graduated. I don’t need school.’ Ha!”

“Shut up!” This time Zormna scooted away from her. “English was just a useless elective back home. I never actually planned on coming here.”

But Jennifer wasn’t listening. “‘I’m so smart, I passed our GED when I was twelve.’ Take that, snotty pants.”

Zormna clenched her teeth.

“And now you are in classes lower than me,” Jennifer said. “Of course, you are a freshman, since you are only fourteen.”

“Your mother enrolled me as a sophomore,” Zormna said darkly.

Jennifer stared. “She what?”

“I will be taking self-paced English until I get up to speed,” Zormna continued darkly. “Then I will take the assessment test at the end of the year, if I am still here. Then we will see who laughs.”

Squaring her shoulders, Jennifer drew in a breath. “Oh yeah? Little miss, I’m-better-than-everyone-else—”

“I never said that!” Zormna quickly stood up.

“Yeah, right,” Jennifer shot back. She put her hands onto her hips. “I got a 130 on my test and I went to a military school that’s so much better—”

“Get out.” Zormna pushed Jennifer to the door.

She toppled straight down the stairs onto the carpet.

Zormna slid the latch closed before Jennifer could get to it. For a small girl, she had a lot of strength.

Jennifer glared at the shut attic door for several seconds before regretting the things she had said. It was just that looking at that blonde’s stupidly perfect face was too much to bear.

“I’m sorry,” Jennifer weakly called through the door, knocking.

“Shut up,” came Zormna’s reply from the other side.

Shrugging, Jennifer shook her head and went back to her room. She’d see Zormna’s sulky face at dinner. No biggie.

Besides, that girl needed her.

*

Zormna stared at the ceiling.

She really hated that she needed Jennifer. Hated it.

 

 

 

Chapter Six: An Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Some things have to be believed to be seen”—anon—

 

 

Point of view and attitude. That was what mattered.

Zormna stared at the ceiling Tuesday morning trying to psyche herself up so she could take on the day with the proper mental outlook. She needed something to get her through it. After all, she was stepping back into the adolescent educational realm where peer pressure and popularity reigned—two things she had despised when growing up. The adult world may have been fraught with ego and lots of politicking, but at least she could stand on her own merits and speak out for justice.

Ugh. To be a kid again. To have to bow to incompetent authority again. To have to fight for respect again. Dread filled her gut, thinking about it.  

Yet, breathing in and breathing out, Zormna closed her eyes and attempted to change her attitude. It was an adventure. That was what the Kevin had always said. An adventure is often mistaken for a bother. Trouble was, this one was really bothering her.

*

Jennifer hurried out of bed and dressed quickly for school instead of going through her usual struggle, which generally consisted of hitting her snooze button about four times then kicking at the covers. A positive mental attitude. That was all it took. Stop thinking about the blonde possibly stealing her boyfriend. It wasn’t going to happen. Besides, Zormna was more like a new toy. A new toy that just might get her attention from people like Michelle Clay, who was the head JV cheerleader.

She just had to wake the new toy first.

Yet, as soon as she was dressed and ready to go, Jennifer hesitated at the attic door. Zormna had been crabby all though dinner the night before. Jennifer could not quite meet her eye. Still sore about that remark about her intelligence, Zormna did not linger with the family after the evening meal. Instead she locked herself into her room for the rest of the night. So, thinking the better of it, Jennifer turned to go downstairs for breakfast. Todd or Mindy could wake her instead.

Or so she thought until she reached the bottom of the stairs.

There was Zormna, watching cartoons with Mindy and Andrew, fully dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white button-down shirt. Empty bowls of Cream-of-Wheat sat on the coffee table next to them. In an odd way, it was like Zormna had chosen a new military uniform to wear. It was prim and crisp. Mindy and Andrew sat with her, their backpacks in their laps, explaining the show they were watching to the girl.

Todd accidentally bumped into Jennifer as he descended the last step. His eyes had been on Zormna and nothing else. He went past to get breakfast.

Their mother bustled about the kitchen, dressed in one of her power suits, ready for the office. But she was assembling lunches.

“Good morning, Jennifer, Todd. Have some breakfast.”

 Their mom turned toward Zormna, whose eyes were still glued to the TV. The blonde was giggling at the cartoon humor.

“Now, if you need any help just ask Jennifer or Todd. I won’t be home all day.”

Zormna hardly reacted, too caught up in the cartoon.

Their mother then said to Mindy and Andrew, “Oh, and kids, you will probably get home before I do. You know where the key is, so let yourself in and don’t play in the front yard.”

Andrew and Mindy did not respond either, still staring at the screen.

*

“Kids?” She raised her voice, seeking some sign of life.

“Gotcha’, Mom!” Andrew gave her a thumbs-up before turning back to the TV screen.

He and Mindy laughed out loud. The duck in the funny suit landed with a squat stuttering pig inside a cigar shaped rocket on a desolate planet that had been marked with a large X. Zormna smirked. She shook her head, watching the duck claim the planet in the name of the Earth.  

The school bus screeched to a halt outside with a honk of his horn.

Mindy and Andrew sprang up, grabbing their bags. Kissing their mother on the cheek, they ran out to the street. “Bye, Mom!” “See you after school, Zormna!”

They rushed to catch the end of the line of children that had been standing on