I am officially dead. Okay, not literally but metaphorically, yes. My dear old mother grounded me. For two weeks! Come on! How am I supposed to do anything? Like, stop Zaroho, and stuff? I mean, really, I'm only on the second day, and I'm practically in prison all over again.
I sigh and slump further down on my rough, wooden desk. I am supposed to be doing the homework that I missed (which, by the way, is a lot) but I can't focus. I stare down my dividing decimals worksheet, which I don't even remember how to do because guess what? I WASN'T HERE FOR THE LESSON!
"Ugh!" I shout into my scarlet locks. "Thanks a lot, Mom," I mumble through the mass. The homework that I am supposed to be doing is this: For math, I have dividing decimals, for science I have to work on the anatomy of a frog. For reading, I have to read this book called 'Sunshine to Hold the Fear' by Kailey Tan and do a report on it. Social studies, well, I have to take a test, make an immigrant map of California, and do a presentation on a certain city. I just count myself lucky for not having any Language Arts homework.
"Hey Lupo, do you know how to divide decimals?" I question half-heartedly.
"Yes, would you like me to help?" His being asks me.
"Wait, hold up, you can divide decimals?" I inquire in astonishment.
"Yes, did you really think I was that uneducated?" he responds, sounding slightly offended.
"Uh, no, of course not!" I hastily glaze over my mistake. I can practically hear his pout, but I don't pay any mind.
"So, ya going to teach me or what," I state.
"Do I have any choice?" He sighs. I grin.
"Nope! Not really." So he proceeds to tell me this, and that, and everything I need to know about dividing decimals and more. Very soon, my mind is mush and I can't possibly learn any more information.
"Hey, shouldn't you already know how to divide decimals?" He says, suspicion lacing his voice.
"Hey, I'm lagging a little in math okay? Mom's already making me get a tutor for it so don't go harping on me too," I snap back. I feel him withdraw ever so slightly and I sigh. "Listen, I know that was a little harsh, but I get very stressed when I work on math. Right now, I have a C- in that class, so, yeah," I apologize.
"That's okay Sabrina," he tells me. I breathe a sigh of relief. I don't want to lose Lupo along with all connections to the outside world, excluding school.
"Sabrina! Breakfast!" Jago calls from downstairs. I lick my lips. Yum, in my opinion, breakfast is the best part of the day. I just love waffles, and orange juice and...okay, I'm very hungry now.
"I'm coming!" I reply, hurrying out of my small room. The smell of delicious bacon fills the air and I practically melt into my chair. On the table is a plate of bacon, a bowl of scrambled eggs, and a large platter of amazingly yummy waffles.
"How far are you in your homework, honey?" My mom asks, bustling over with a glass of milk. Ugh, I hate milk.
"Pretty good," I lie. I have only just started on my math, but I need to gain her trust so I can maybe get out a little earlier. Yesterday, Christi called. She told me about her little adventure involving a pool, and a laundry chute.
"Ths wfles are good!" I mumble through a mouthful. Jago nods in agreement. I have only been back for one day, and everyone is just treating it like nothing ever happened! I mean, I thought they would blow up at me for way longer than a day.
"Thanks, sweetie," Mom says, focusing on the dishes that she was washing. I down the glass of milk she gave me (choking a little because it's so nasty) and race back upstairs.
Technically speaking, I don't have my phone. Because it died. You know, water can do that to a phone! But Christi and I have walkie-talkies, and they work over the distance of our houses. I shut the door to my room, and quietly reach under my mattress, for the communicating device. I press my thumb to the little rubber button, and it beeps on.
"Christi, are you there?" I whisper, trying not to make too much noise. I release the speaking button and wait for a response. Nothing. We really should come up with some times where we can talk so that one of us isn't always waiting for the other.
"Christi?" I ask again. Silence. I sigh, I guess I will try later.
Slap, slap, slap my feet go as I plod unhappily back towards the desk of doom. I reach for Lupo, but he must be busy because I can't feel his presence. Ah well, I suppose I'll just have to suffer in solitude.
I gaze down at the map of California and decide that I might as well do my homework so I don't fail 7th grade. Social studies is my least favorite class in middle school and I have always found history boring. I'm not kidding. Once, I fell asleep in 6th-grade social studies. Predictably, I got sent to the quiet room, and I had to call my dad. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal but, nope!
"Who even cares about Fresno anyway?" I mutter angrily. Fresno is the city that I picked for social studies and it (in my opinion) is very boring. Maybe not the actual city, but the project in general. Blah, school work. Normally I kinda like school, hanging out with my friends, and lunch. But now, I despise it.
"Let's see," I shuffle my papers to find other homework besides social studies.
"Oh gross! Ugh," I exclaim, seeing the worksheet of frog anatomy. I shiver, and groan at the thought of having to fill it out.
Crackle— "Sabrina, you there?"—Click. I rush over to my bed where I left my walkie-talkie. My mom took away my phone after she found out I was talking with Christi.
"Yeah, I'm here," I respond quickly.
"Good, guess what?" Christi asks excitedly. I shrug.
"I dunno, what?" I say.
"Drumroll please... I got the mentelavar!!" She exclaims happily.
"Yes!!!!" I shout, forgetting all caution.
"Sabrina, what's going on up there?" My dad yells from downstairs. Oops, my mistake.
"Sorry, I, um...finally got a math problem!" I hastily tell him. I turn back to my walkie-talkie, and whisper into it,
"Sorry Christi, I gotta go. Call again at 12:00?"
"Yeah, see you then!" I quickly turn it off and plod back to my desk. I am very happy that Christi found it, but how are we supposed to use it? Is it a liquid or a solid? Or even a gas for that matter.
🎔
"Sabrina! You got invited on a picnic with Christi and her family!" My mom tells me. "And we're coming too!"
"Yay!!" I exclaim excitedly. This must be Christi's plan to brainwash them. You know, I still don't like the idea of it, but we need to in order to defeat Zaroho.
"Do we need to bring anything?" My dad pops his head around the corner. My mom shakes her head.
"They said they would bring everything."
"Am I coming too?" Jago asks hopefully.
"Yep!" I inform him. He grins broadly and bounces down to get his sneakers.
"One minute, I just need to change," I say, glancing down at my current outfit. I am wearing my 'lazy' outfit, and I suspect I'm gonna need to spruce up a little if we're actually gonna do this.
I dash upstairs to my room and hastily throw on some more suitable clothes. That is if jean shorts and a tank top are more suitable.
"I'm ready!" I inform them as I arrive downstairs. We all pile in my dad's red Nissan. Mom and Dad get to sit in the front, with Jago and me in the back. I buckle my seatbelt and lean my elbow against the window. The radio clicks on as the car engine starts and I relax into the music. Jago starts to chat about the next cross country race, and I just tune it out. I can only hope that Christi knows what she's doing.
"We're here!" Mom tells us. I look up, expecting to see Christi's house, but we're in the middle of a field. Jago hops out of the car, and a few yards away, I can see Christi and her family. Without bothering to unbuckle, I jump out of the car.
"Oomph!" I mumble as the seat belt catches me. It knocks the wind outta me, but I can't waste any time.
"Christi!" I shout racing over. Everyone else gives me a weird look but I don't pay any attention. I need to speak to her and fast.
"How are we gonna do this?" I whisper to her urgently.
"I laced the food with it, it should work pretty fast," she whispers back.
"Okay, let's do this," I say.
"Let's do this," she agrees. I nod and we return to our picnic. I try to act relaxed and calm but inside I'm shaking. I really hope this works, it needs to work. It has to.