Zip It, Lock It

Rabbits are Afraid of Snakes

Philomena couldn't help but grin as she stepped outside into the chill morning air.

It was always the highlight of her day.

The only time when she was free from the threatening gaze of her mom and it was just her and her father.

"C'mon, Phil! You're going to be late for school!" Her father called out from his car window.

"Coming, Dad!" She called back.

Philomena slipped into the passenger seat of her father's boxy black car with a grin and shut the door behind her.

"You were cutting it close this morning, Phil. Did you sleep okay last night?"

"Of course I did, Dad! I always sleep well!"

Her father didn't reply with words, but simply smiled and nodded, his eyes twinkling behind his bifocal glasses.

Aside from her father, no one was allowed to call Philomena by her nickname of Phil. Her mom did, once upon a time, but dropped the name after meeting Fredrick who promptly picked up on the name and expected her to reply to it.

Putting her arms behind her head, Philomena smiled as she felt the cool breeze run through the car.

"Nice weather, huh? I think it's warming up. It's not bad for early June weather," Philomena's dad said, making it seem like he was acting casual. But Philomena could recognize the distance between them.

"It's nice. I hope that it warms up a bit more by tomorrow, though. I was hoping to go running."

"Agreed. Well, bye Phil. Have a nice day."

"Bye, Dad! Love you!" Philomena grinned as she stepped back into the fresh air.

Thomas Lassen High was a nice school. If you were into schools.

Compared to the rest of the town, Thomas Lassen High was on the modern side with glass windows and skylights galore. It was almost like the man who designed it said, "It hails in the mountains, right? Well then, I guess that means that we need sky lights!"

The people were okay, the teachers always a bit odd, and the lunch food was gag worthy.

Just your average school.

Philomena confidently strutted towards the entryway. People, like they usually did, stared after her in her flashy clothing and noisy high heels. Some even braved a "hello."

Philomena couldn't lie.

She was popular.

A confident smirk playing on her lips, the strawberry blonde strutted into her home room class. The final day of school was tomorrow, so yearbooks had to be distributed.

Exactly four seconds before the bell rung, a short, cinnamon haired girl burst into the room and sat down at a desk in the back row.

After the girl was seated, Mrs. Brown stood up with a smile.

Aside from her trademark grin, Mrs. Brown was known as the funniest teacher at Thomas Lassen High.

"Well, it looks as though I'll be free from torture for three months starting tomorrow at lunch," Mrs. Brown grinned, earning a few chuckles from students in the classroom.

"Now, let's cut to the chase and give you what you all came to school for: yearbooks."

Mrs. Brown pulled out a box from under her desk and plopped it down on the closest student's desk.

"Jewel Amberly," the girl who had arrived late stood up and ran to the front of the classroom, accepting the book from Mrs. Brown with a slight nod.

"Amanda Hertz," a tall girl (earning most of her height from obnoxiously tall high heels) sashayed towards Mrs. Brown.

Amanda was one of the most popular girls in the ninth grade. Second only to Philomena. Her money and good looks made it so she was considered a treasure among male students, but her snotty attitude made relationships last a week, and rivalries last a lifetime.

Philomena's eyes were glued to Amanda, and she noticed the frightened look in Jewel's eyes when Amanda walked by.

"Philomena Zetzby? Philomena Zetzby?"

Philomena shot up and walked briskly towards Mrs. Brown. She accepted her book with a smile and sat back down at her desk.

"Now, I know that you're all excited, but keep in mind that yearbook signing begins tomorrow. It'll be your last chance to get my autograph before I become famous and refuse to sign anything."

A few students giggled and the bell rung to dismiss everyone to their next class.

Philomena stood up and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, she grabbed her books and binders and strutted out into the hallway as she began the trek towards science class.

---

Jewel took her usual spot by the window in Mrs. Xavier's science class room and sighed. The person she sat by just had to be Amanda.

Amanda, the student body president candidate that was going to run for office at the beginning of the next school year.

Amanda, the Itchy to her Scratchy. Meaning that most of the time, she'd be the one who was killed in the most disturbing way possible.

The bell sounded and Mrs. Xavier smiled at her students. Amanda was nowhere in sight. Even her makeup faced followers were absent.

In Amanda's usual spot was a strawberry blonde with hazel eyes. Jewel recognized her as Philomena Zetzby, the girl from her home room class.

Mrs. Xavier announced that the next fifty minutes would be free time and students immediately pulled out cellphones and scooted next to friends. Except for Philomena.

"Hey," Philomena said casually.

"Um, hi?" Jewel said nervously. It wasn't often that popular kids like Philomena talked to people like herself.

Jewel had a tendency to bury herself in fanfictions and school work, making it so she had no time to converse with people like Philomena. Not that they'd want to hang out with people like herself.

"Listen, I saw you in home room today. Jewel, right?"

Jewel nodded.

"You looked like a frightened rabbit."

"Gee, thanks," Jewel said flatly, her sarcasm mode activated.

"Anyway, I noticed that it was because of Amanda Hertz."

At a loss for words, Jewel simply nodded.

"I'm no Amanda fan myself. Especially if she's causing people to cower in fear."

"Oh, Amanda Hertz?" Jewel stammered as she tried to put together a quick lie.

"Yeah. How many other Amanda's are there?"

"Uh, a lot. I mean, I'm not an Amanda fan, but I wasn't cowering because of her. I was cowering because... I was uh... Thinking about my cousin's pet snake!"

"Your cousin's snake?"

"His snake. You see, I'm deathly afraid of snakes, and thinking of them makes me look like a scared rabbit. But it's even worse thinking about my cousin's pet snake. Especially since I have to pet sit him this weekend."

It wasn't a total lie, Jewel's cousin did have a snake, and she would have to watch him, but she loved his snake.

Philomena didn't look convinced. Instead of trying to figure out what was being said, she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it.

"Well, if you ever actually feel like talking about it, give me a call."

"Um... Thanks, I will."

Jewel took the piece of paper and slid it into her pocket as Philomena stood up and walked towards a cluster of people in the front of the room.

Apparently, if a popular person approaches you, it's not good news.