Watchers

Flowers

Sometimes I get really mad at myself. Like, so mad I just wish I was outside of my body so I could kick myself. I tried slapping my face one time, but it didn't work because my brain knew it was me and I could never actually hurt my own self. But that day when I got home from Sloppy Soldiers, I was totally angry that I had been such a jerk to Adam. I mean, it wasn't his fault those papers had been about me. And who even knew if they were about me? There was no proof. Maybe everything had been some freaky coincidence. Anyway, all that I really knew was that I had been stupid. Adam was my only friend, and he was just trying to figure things out. How could I blame him for that? We went way back, to preschool, when Adam's dad had disappeared on him and his mom. There were things Adam would never tell me about that time and I swore never to bother him about it. He'd been through a lot more than me, so I couldn't stay angry at him.

Corey cringed when I walked in through the front door and passed him in the hall. Scuzz was, for some reason, in the house, and I practically tripped over the stupid cat going up the stairs. Corey screamed like a maniac, afraid that I'd step on his precious furrball. That made me actually want to do it, just to make him mad, but Scuzz was too fast for me and slithered down the stairs and under the sofa like a multi-colored snake.

"He'll get you if you're mean to him!" cried Corey.

"Well I'll just shoot lightning bolts out of my eyes and skewer him to the ceiling if he does," I muttered loud enough for my brother to hear. I'm sure he was too shocked to answer, and actually, I was a little surprised at myself, too. I mean, was I going to start playing along with all that getting-struck-by-lightning junk? Because I didn't believe a word of it. My own parents would've known if something like that had happened, I figured. They had to be right about it.

Then some funny thing rang in my head. It was what Adam had said about my eyes. I'd sort of forgotten he'd said it at all, but it had kind of creeped me out when we were in the woods. I mean, if he'd said my eyes looked like comets with his normal face, I wouldn't have thought anything of it. But seriously, he'd said everything so honestly, with such a straight expression, that it had made me think he was telling the truth. It could've been that the sunlight caught my eyes at a weird angle. That was definitely possible. And Adam had just seen it kind of sideways and thought the whiteness was coming from the inside. I'd been really angry, too, so who knew what sort of things were showing on my face? It hurt my head to think about it too much, so I tried to shake everything loose as I trooped into my room and started to change out of my sweaty clothes.

Everything would make sense, eventually. Next time I talked to Adam, I'd suggest going to look through the rest of the papers in the trunk. That way, we could see what was really going on.

A phone call came the following morning for my mother, but I could tell it dealt with me by the way she looked angrily in my direction the whole time she talked. The Goldenrock School District was quick when it came to doling out torture—they'd seen enough of my grades to believe I was going to need an extra helping of school. Summer school, to be exact. In math and gym, to be precise. Or I wouldn't pass the seventh grade, to be painfully particular. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. Well, all right, I could. I knew I wasn't a genius in school. In fact, I'd been surprised for the past two years that I'd never been stuck in summer school. I'd gotten lucky. The Gods of Education had been merciful, but now, for some insane reason, they had decided to take action.

I wanted to take action, too. Don't tell anyone, but I seriously wanted to break down and cry. Sometimes I cried in my sleep, and sometimes I cried if I hurt myself, but that was it. I hadn't cried over school in a long time. Right then, though, after hearing my mom agree over the phone, I just about burst into tears. Only the burn-outs went to summer school! Only kids who were too busy being punks to have time for school! Them and the nerds who just went for extra credits to get ahead. Oh! I remembered with sudden relief. Adam, too.