Project Sleeper

Chapter Five

Today is Juliet Michaels' first day of school.

Her VERY first day.

And to be clear, her name isn't Juliet anymore. Her name is Lydia Richmond.

"Mr. Salazar, I'm kinda nervous," she says as she smooths out her dress, an old floral thing that makes her look younger and smaller than 10 years old.

"Lydia," Zeke emphasizes her new name. "I keep telling you to stop calling me that. I'm Dad, remember?" Juliet huffs.

"I'd love it if you actually were my dad, but I've been calling you Mr. Salazar for months." Zeke sighs.

"I know. I know it's hard, but you have to understand: This is very important. It's important that you don't tell anyone your real name, and it's important that you call me 'Dad'. Okay?" Juliet nods sadly.

"Yes, Daddy," she agrees, compliant. Zeke smiles.

"Good girl. Now, there's no need to be nervous."

"But I've never met any other kids before. I don't know what they're like, or what they talk about. Do they like James Bond?" Zeke thinks.

"Well, I'm sure some of them do. That would be a really good conversation topic! Why don't you ask them if they like James Bond?" Juliet seems to like that idea.

"Okay!" Zeke squeezes her hand as they walk down the sidewalk to the school.

"Hey." She looks up at him with those bright green eyes. "You'll be great. The kids will love you."

"Why?" Such an innocent question.

"Because you are fantastic and funny and beautiful," Zeke says as he kneels down in front of her. She beams at him.

"You make a much better daddy than my daddy." He bows his head.

"That is the highest compliment you could offer me." Juliet cocks her head to the side.

"Compliment?"

"A compliment is when you say something nice to or about someone else," Zeke explains. She thinks for a moment.

"Okay... then I think you are really beautiful, too, M- Dad!" Zeke laughs out loud.

"Oh, honey. Thank you, but when you want to tell a boy that he's pretty, you call him 'handsome'." She nods.

"Handsome. Sorry. You're very handsome!" Then she leans in and whispers in his ear. "But I think you're beautiful, too."

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It had been easy for Zeke to make up new identities for the two of them. It's common-place now for people to lose their identifications and have to receive new ones. So Zeke just claimed his were stolen/lost, and he changed their names to Barry and Lydia Richmond.

"Hi, I'm Principal Barnes. I assume you are Miss Lydia?" Juliet nods shyly. "Well, welcome to our school. This is Karen, and she's going to escort you to your classroom."

Karen is tall for her age, and she's stocky, her bronze hair in a tight pony tail. Already, Juliet feels intimidated, but she shoots Zeke a nervous smile and follows Karen out the door and down the hall.

The principal turns to Zeke.

"Mr. Richmond, I'm sure she will feel at home in a few days. It takes time to settle in and make friends." Zeke nods.

"Of course. She's a good kid. She's just not used to other kids. I've homeschooled her until now since we've moved so often. I'm finally settling down here, and I thought some companionship would do her good." The principal smiles, her lips tight.

"Very good. I'm sure she'll do fine."

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"The principal wanted me to go over Plague Safety with you before we went into class," Karen informs Juliet as they near the classroom. She sounds annoyed to have been stuck with this job.

"Okay," Juliet replies softly. Karen rolls her eyes.

"Okay, so, like, if the alarms go off, that means that someone has the plague, and that we are supposed to freeze in place and stay, like, exactly where we are. Mmkay?" Juliet nods. "When the alarms go off, it means it's okay for you to move, and you're supposed to call your parents and have them pick you up immediately so that the building can be cleaned and stuff. Got that?"

"Yes," Juliet nods, trying to appear confident.

"You're small for a 10 year old," Karen reflects. Juliet's face reddens. "'Kay, this is our teacher's room."

No good luck, no instruction on what to do once inside the classroom. All she knows how to do is run away from the plague.

Juliet is thrust into the world of 4th grade without any guidance whatsoever.