Jon sighed as he left his English class. He had made it through half of his classes with no incident, though the paranoia that someone would notice something strange with him stuck with him the whole time.
He waited by the lockers as other students shuffled past. It wasn't until the hallway was nearly completely empty that he saw Karyn walking toward him. "Took you long enough." he said.
"Geeze, sorry. Had to talk to my teacher about an assignment." Karyn said. "How's the morning treated you, Ms. Madison."
Jon shot Karyn a glare because of her joke. "You're definitely enjoying this too much." Jon said. "Maybe you should lay off while we're at school. If someone heard..."
"I know, I know. I'll lay off. Just messing with you, Jon." Karyn said.
"Alright. Thanks. Anyway, the morning has been pretty normal, all things considered." Jon said.
"Well, I noticed something kinda strange." Karyn said. "Sarah McMillan is out sick today."
"Really?" Jon asked. "That is kinda unusual, but I don't see how it has anything to do with our problem."
"Well, whatever's wrong with her, it must be pretty bad. I heard Biff tried calling her, and she didn't pick up her cell phone, and her parents wouldn't give her the house phone."
"Okay. Still unusual, but still not relevant to our problem." Jon said.
"God, Jon, I'm just making conversation." Karyn said. "Have you come up with any solutions?"
"Not yet. But I was thinking about asking my sister's friend, Athena."
"Seriously? You're gonna bring her into this?" Karyn asked.
"Well, I've overheard her talking about witchcraft and stuff. I don't know how much was real and how much she was making up, but it's worth trying, at least." Jon replied.
"I guess that's true." Karyn said. "When were you gonna talk to her?"
"I'm gonna try and find her during lunch."
"Hi Jon, Hi Karyn." Jay Duncan said as he approached the two, followed by Leonard Drullers and Kyla Leeson.
"Hey guys, what's new?" Karyn asked.
"Not much, just enjoying a day without Sarah causing trouble..." Kyla said. Jon nodded, knowing that the plain and geeky Kyla was a favorite target of Sarah and her flunkies.
"Yes, seems without the queen bee, the rest wander around, knowing not what to do." Jay said. "Frankly, I wish Sarah would be absent more often, if this is what it's like without her. The way she targets others so maliciously. Poor Kyla, and Gladys. Even you, Karyn."
"Eh, they just have nothing better to do than pick on people. Once we're all out in the real world, they'll find out that won't work so well."
"I hope you're right, Karyn." Kyla said.
I wish Biff and Steve were absent today..." Leonard said. Leonard was the constant target of the entire football team, getting worse treatment than anyone else due to his overweight frame and poor appearance. Biff Meadows and Steve Farber were his two most constant tormentors, giving him grief whenever they saw him.
"Just ignore them, Leonard." Jon said, looking around as they entered the cafeteria. "They're just assholes. If you react to their taunts, they'll just keep doing it."
"You're probably right, but it just makes me so angry. I mean, they don't pick on you nearly as much."
Jon nodded. He mainly stayed off the radar, only getting dragged into squabbles when Sarah was having it out with Karyn. He was about to say something else when he saw his sister across the cafeteria. "Um, excuse me for a minute, guys. I'll be back in a bit."
Jon quickly crossed the room, approaching Zoe. She looked over at him as he approached and rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Jon?" she asked.
"I...need to talk to Athena about something." Jon said.
Zoe looked at him in confusion. "What for?"
Jon sighed, wondering how much to reveal to his sister.
