Mortality

Chapter 3: Zarah

September 9th

English class, English class, I’m here to focus on English class. Come on, Zarah. Get it together. I am not here to eye stalk the new boy. He looks at me, and I duck my head down to hide how red my face has turned. I start frantically scribbling words onto my vocabulary sheet and pretending that I have much more important things to think about than the new guy.

It’s only the second day of the new school year and I’m already getting a little obsessive. We have three classes together and I’ve done enough asking around to figure out that his name is Liam. What I can’t figure out is if he’s actually watching me too or just starting to get weirded out that the only Indian girl in class keeps gawking at him. But damn, the boy is gawkable.

Mr. Simmons is sitting at his desk, reading something by Charles Dickens and not paying any attention to what the rest of us are doing. This time last year I would have been sitting here getting a head start on my homework, but that was probably part of being a freshman. Now I have much more important things to worry about. Liam.

“Hey, Mr. Simmons, can you turn on the TV?” My study of Liam’s blond stubble ends as Ellie shoots up from her seat. She’s holding her phone and doesn’t seem remotely concerned about the school’s no cell phone policy. She’s walking toward the television screen before our teacher even puts his book down.

Mr. Simmons’s eyebrows shoot up as he clears his throat. “Miss Cornack, can I help you?”

“Oh, sorry. Um, there’s something big going on. I think we should check the news.” She doesn’t seem sorry at all. The unflappable Ellie Cornack actually looks worried.

“Alright, I’m intrigued. Feel free to take your seat again, and I’ll pretend like you aren’t on your cell phone in my class. Deal?”

“Uh, right.” Ellie pauses for a second but sits back down.

When Mr. Simmons turns the TV to our local news station, everyone in the class stops pretending to work on the assignment. Most are leaning in to see what’s going on. The rest stare down at their smartphones.

We tune in to the middle of a news broadcast taking place in a park a few blocks away from City Hall. “We have increasing reports of an unknown disease spreading throughout the city and into surrounding communities of Cleveland,” a well-known news reporter speaks matter-of-factly, her voice droning on. I let myself relax a little after imagining worse things than some outbreak. “We are currently waiting for a statement from the local government on how the disease is being spread and if there are any precautions the public needs to take.”

Maybe she should try explaining what she’s talking about. Should I be worried? Everyone else looks kind of worried.

There are two groups of people sitting in the park behind her as she talks. Two guys who look about my age are hamming it up for the camera while an older woman on a park bench reads a book, seemingly oblivious to the news report.

I’m only mildly interested in what the news is reporting; it’s a strange man who wandered into the camera shot that is holding my interest. He is dragging one of his feet behind him as he approaches the two teenagers. He’s moving slowly and it’s a little funny to watch. He seems so focused on reaching the two guys who are probably cutting class.

One of the boys looks up at this strange man coming up behind them, but he doesn’t seem too concerned. It’s only as the reporter starts reassuring the public that there is no need to panic that the man grabs hold of one of the teenagers and sinks his teeth into the boy’s neck.