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

she continued on each time with a moan. This went on until she reached school grounds. There she halted on the curb, looked back at the man in the jogging suit, and with a sardonic bow, she said, “I am here safe. You do not need to follow me anymore.”

The jogger retreated, if only a half-step. Then he started into a trot again down the road, though his cheeks were faintly redder than before.

Poor guy. He had been trying so hard to be inconspicuous.

“They’re supposed to protect you,” Todd whispered when they entered the school grounds. “Why would you blow his cover?”

She turned her tired gaze to him, half between a silent scream and a weeping look. “Todd…I don’t want people following me everywhere. Would you?”

Todd frowned, conflicted about both sides of the issue. “If I knew a murderer was after me, I’d want to be safe.”

She sighed wearily. But she didn’t say anything else as they went onward.

Jessica, that Goth girl from Zormna’s first hour met her near the doors. She rubbed Zormna’s curly head, grinning with mischievous pleasure as she asked, “What’s going on?”

Zormna jerked her head away from Jessica’s hand, though she looked not so much annoyed as playful. “Oh, nothing.”

A bewildered smirk remained on Jessica’s face as she trailed after Zormna to their class on the second floor. It bothered Todd at how at ease Zormna was with someone like Jessica. And he went on to the morning breakfast window.

“Morning,” he said when he saw Brian there.

Joy and Jeff were in the middle of a thumb war, which she was winning with cackles.

“Something up?” Brian peered in at Todd’s face.

Should he tell them? Todd wondered if the Pennington rumor mill would be able to survive another FBI invasion. He glanced at Joy, watching to see if she was listening. So far, she was giving Jeff another chance to redeem himself at thumb-war. Alex was sitting on the near picnic table working on some homework.

“Remember what happened to the crazy lady two years ago?” Todd asked.

Brian nodded.

Alex lifted his head, listening.

Taking in a breath for strength, Todd decided to just get it out. “The FBI stopped by our house last night to talk to Zormna about it.”

Both Brian and Alex stared.

“What?” Jeff let go of Joy’s hand, rushing over.

And that meant Joy came over too.

Moaning, Todd looked directly at Joy as he said, “This must not go beyond us. But they came over last night and requested that she let them, I guess, use her as bait or something.”

“Bait?” Jeff repeated.

But Todd shook his head. “No. More like help them in their murder investigation. But that means she has to let them follow her.”

“The FBI are following her?” Jeff’s eyes widened.

Todd nodded.

Jeff and Alex shared a panicked look.

Lifting his hands, Todd said, “I know. I know. Freaky. The fact is, they have been following her for the past week. She’s been pointing them out to us.”

Alex covered his mouth with his hand.

Brian stared even wider.

Joy whispered, “She can tell?”

Todd rolled his eyes. “Actually, it was pretty obvious. Car on the street. Men in suits. The point is, Zormna said something this morning about how they’ll probably have operatives here on campus.”

“No way.” Brian gasped.

Todd nodded.

Jeff and Alex took a step back and shared another of their secret looks.

“Um, guys,” Jeff said, “I think it is about time we told you about this trip to Europe. You see, we—”

Alex clamped his hands over Jeff’s mouth, tackling him. “No! No! We are not telling them that!”

Jeff jerked away. “We have to!”

But his older brother feverishly shook his head. “No. Stick to the plan.”

“The plan is awash,” Jeff said. “They need to know.”

“No, they don’t,” Alex said.

The brothers broke into a wrestle. Jeff tried to get out something about Europe, while Alex restrained him, hands over Jeff’s mouth again.

Finally, Jeff jerked free and said, “Fine! But with her around, you know eventually it is going to fall out!”

“We can handle it!” Alex retorted, panicked, panting, and white. “Just lay low.”

“Laying low has never worked for me,” Jeff snapped then stormed away.

His older brother moaned. With a fretful look, he turned to them with an apologetic smile. Shrugging, he said, “I’m sorry, it’s just…”

“Did Jeff ever—you know—tangle with the FBI?” Todd asked. He glanced to Brian. “Because we know he was into some pretty dangerous stuff before—”

Alex shook his head, lifting his hands up in surrender. “No. No. The gang he was involved in wasn’t ever investigated by the feds. But this whole thing makes him nervous.”

“You said Zormna made him nervous,” Brian said.

Cringing, Alex hunched his head in between his shoulders. “Yeah…”

“And why is that again?” Brian asked.

Todd wanted to know that too.

Alex merely sighed as he said with a low shake of his head. “Bad memories.”

 

Jeff freaking-out aside, Todd’s day went pretty much the same as usual. Except, at lunch Zormna pointed out the new janitor. And some new security guards, recently hired the week before.

“They’re FBI?” Mark whispered back.

The word had spread anyway—among their group at least. Brian had to tell Jonathan and Mark. And Todd could tell Jennifer had told Kevin. Kevin stared with disbelief from under their tree, almost shell-shocked about it.

Zormna nodded, turning her eyes back to her meal. “Pretty sure.”

Todd frowned. It was most likely that she was right.

*

Then the next day came. And it started all over again.

And the next day, more of the same.

And the next day.

Jennifer found it freaky how Zormna could spot an FBI agent in a crowd of people with relative ease. Freaky and alien. Jennifer had also seen the jogger the first morning and ignored him. That was what normal people were supposed to do.

But it wasn’t always joggers following Zormna in the morning. Sometimes it was a mailman on an uncharacteristically early route. Or a street sweeper. Or a delivery truck. And on campus, the janitor was often nearby. Zormna cringed with her jaw set every time she spotted the agents. And unfortunately, it was often.

But the FBI seemed to enjoy sitting and watching the most from their car. Zormna called them old lechers.

Jennifer had to look that word up in the dictionary.

Truth was, Jennifer noticed Zormna’s preoccupation long before she noticed the actual agents.

And Zormna never did stop that cat-and-mouse game with them either. In fact, when she could, the blonde frequently messed with the agents by sneaking off. Sometimes Zormna would follow the bewildered agents with her hands behind her back, going at a stroll. In those moments, Zormna’s vixen grin spread out between those dimpled cheeks. Then she’d tap the agents on the shoulder. A good number of undercover operatives whipped around, startled to heart-attack levels as the alien blonde grinned at them with an innocent questioning expression. And then she had the gall to ask what they were looking for…as if she didn’t know. It was despicably funny.

Jennifer caught herself laughing at it too many times.

Of course turnabout was fair play. Right?

Which was why Jennifer also took great pleasure in watching Darren Asher do almost exactly the same thing to Zormna. Not that he could sneak up on her like Zormna could the FBI. But that Zormna was always running from him.  He was the only thing that rattled her.

Darren followed her in gym class. He would find her during lunch and sit next to her until Todd shoved him off. Darren would call out to Zormna if he ever saw her in the halls, and he would often cut through lines just to bug her about some random thing her crazy aunt had told him once. Of course, as soon as Zormna spotted him coming, the blonde usually quickened her step and started up a conversation with the nearest boy she knew. And almost always that boy would happily shove Darren away.

But that tall geek was relentless.

And the FBI were watching.

And why not?

Besides being connected to Zormna’s great aunt, Darren Asher was, of course, the biggest big blabber-mouth when it came to his theories about their ‘alien visitor.’ Jennifer only wondered if the FBI were listening for the alien stuff, or for the murder stuff.

 And it was never quite clear if Darren was aware he was also being watched. If he was, then he was probably reveling in it. Besides, everyone was watching them, really. It was hilarious, like an Abbot and Costello show.

That particular Thursday Zormna had succeeded in rattling the nerves of the new ‘janitor’, ducked out of the view of the interning school staff administrator, and was attempting to go to her locker for her books when Darren spotted her with the intent to corner her with yet another embarrassing Martian question. The halls were crowded as usual. Zormna had barely grabbed her folder and her English book when she attempted to squeeze through the mob to the second floor stairwell—until she spotted Darren.

Immediately, Zormna spun a complete one-eighty to avoid the nutcase, hopefully to take the other stairwell. Where Jennifer was standing, she had a full view.

It was hilarious watching Zormna’s lips go white with a glance over her shoulder. Funnier, watching her predator advance. He had not yet seen the tiny blonde, but he was searching. Breaking into full run, Zormna took a quick peek over her shoulder. And BAM! She crashed into Jeff Streigle.

Classic hallway collision.

Papers flew up. Their books tumbled out of their arms. And both dropped back, dazed, onto the linoleum.

Jeff rubbed his forehead, moaning.

Zormna scrunched her eyes closed, groaning, almost cursing under her breath. Her folder lay open on the floor with Jeff’s book flopped on top of it, pages side down and crunched together. Then, slowly regaining their senses, both apologized as they tried to stand up, attempting to gather their papers that had been mixed together on the floor.

They did, but something happened.

After the three words—‘I am sorry’—both lifted their eyes. Both stared at the other.

Jeff took in a sharp breath.

Zormna pulled back, her eyes going even wider. She shook her head and grabbed his book off her folder. She slammed it shut.

“Jafarr.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jeff Streigle narrowed his midnight blue eyes at her with contempt. He snatched his book from her. “My name is Jeff. You must have confused me with someone else.”

Zormna laughed once, the way she did when she got cynical. “No. Your face I would not forget.” Then Zormna glance around, not so much searching for onlookers as appraising the location. She shook her head. “And I must admit, I did not expect to see you again. And certainly not in this place.”

Jennifer’s heart caught in her chest. Wasn’t anybody else seeing this? She spotted Darren who was approaching. The janitor was not in sight. And Zormna had ditched that other person. So it was just them.

But then Jennifer realized that most people just walked along, laughing at the scene, but not listening to what they were saying as the hall was too noisy. And also, Jennifer realized, that Zormna had not been speaking loud. Smugly, Jennifer mentally patted herself on the back. Her lip-reading was getting pretty good. And the rest of what she saw had to be lip-read.

Right now, Jennifer saw Jeff mutter something. But she knew what he had said. The guy glanced tightly to the floor where their papers were scattered, and then up at Zormna, as he replied, “Neither did I.”

And he immediately stooped over to pick up the rest of his papers. Conversation over.

But, apparently, it wasn’t over according to Zormna. She grabbed Jeff’s arm, yanking him back up to face her. No one in a billion years would have done that—not anyone with sense at least. ‘But then again, no one else was a super Irish-alien ninja,’ Jennifer’s paranoid thoughts replied. Zormna had taken on Ted ‘Lead weight’ Hamilton after all.

Of course Jeff reacted exactly as Jennifer expected the state champ wrestler would. He stared the five-foot blonde down, one of his homework assignments gently crushed in his hand.

“What are you going to do?” he