Must Be Something In The Water

I lied on my bedroom floor. My dreams were vivid and even more real than the last nights. I saw a giant auditorium and there was a pool and inside of the pool were giant glowing bulbs. I didn't know what was in them but I knew whatever they were they weren't normal.

The water damage in the high school was taken care off. Classes were back and life was suppose to go back to normal. Keith and I rode our bikes to school. We were extremely paranoid about every single car. Black, white, broke down, fancy. I even jumped when I saw a pink VW beetle stop in front of us.

"I can't take it any more Keith." I said to him as I locked my bike to the railing.

"What can't you take?" he asked.

"The fact that at anytime the ELA will come and get me." I said.

"It doesn't seem like they even know where you live." Keith said.

"Well it doesn't mean that they won't learn sooner or later. Since they know all my personal facts as it is." I said.

He nodded.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked.

I clenched the strap to my backpack.

"I don't know what can I do? I'm going up a creak without a paddle worst of all they'll probably tell my mom what's going on." I said.

"So, what about the whole turning into a Shelby thing?" Keith asked me.

"Yeah, I have like six holes in my back, I'm freaking out now." I said to him.

"Do you think we should run some tests?" he asked.

"Why to prove that I'm changing. We have the proof all ready." I said and sighed.

The bell for first period rang. We walked into the school and to my surprise. A lot of the girls that were sick did come to school. Keith and I weeved through the crowd of pregnant girls.

"You would've thought they'd stay home." Keith said.

"Probably can't." I said to him.

We went to our health class and took a seat in the back. I took off my backpack and sat it on the floor. Keith sat next to me pulling out his homework. Our teacher walked in pregnant as well.

"This is definitely ridiculous." I said to Keith.

"It's like having class in a maternity ward." I said to him.

"Okay the first thing we're going to start on is survival." she said.

"What is she talking about?" I asked Keith.

He shrugged. "I thought we were still learning about healthy eating habits.

"As you know there are many girls in this class that were affected by whatever was in the lake including myself. And I just want to say that it's okay and everything is perfectly normal." Mrs. Mertz said.

"Is she off her rocker?" I asked.

Keith just looked at me and shrugged.

"I want to explain how very important it is to make sure you don't take the medication the doctors give you." she said.

I saw almost half of the class which was girls nodding. A lot of the guys were looking around a little confused. One of them raised their hands.

"Yes?" my teacher asked him.

"Uh, aren't you suppose to take the medication to uh... help with the problem?" he asked.

The look that Mrs. Mertz gave the student was similar to the look my sister gave me when I made that Godzilla joke. Strangely enough every other girl glared at him.

"This has nothing to do with you! This matter doesn't even concern you! I am the teacher and you are the student and we're keeping that way!" she said in a quick stern voice.

He and a couple other guys shrunk back in their seat.

Keith and I looked at each other and shrunk back as well.

"Okay, so Mrs. Mertz is definitely not herself." I said.

"Could be her hormones." Keith said.

"Yeah, everyone else is very hormonal." I said looking at one girl as she pushed a boy away.

"Maybe if we stay out of the way no one will get too upset with us." he said.

"Good idea." I said to him.

Our first classes ended and Keith and I went to lunch. In the lunch line the lunch ladies seemed very hostile to feed the boys but very happy to feed all of the girls with the big bellies. Not including me.

"Keith, I'm worried everyone's become I don't know more prejudice and in every class the teacher have talked only about survival and to make sure the 'babies' are happy." I said to him.

"Something has definitely gone wrong it's like Village of the Damned." he said to me.

"What?" I asked him.

"This old movie from the sixties I think. About a time when there was an alien invasion and every women of childbearing age got pregnant, and after they gave birth the children controlled everything. It's like that except the children that are controlling everything aren't even born yet!" he said taking a seat at the table.

"What happened at the end of the movie?" I asked.

"They thought that by setting the place where the kids conversed on fire would stop them. But at the very end you could see their eyes. Alien eyes not human eyes still looking at you through the fire. Scared the hell out of me when I was younger. Now the graphics just look fake." he said to me.

"So we're in a modern day Village of the Damned?" I asked.

"Yeah and.... Hey do you notice that everyone's staring at us?" he asked.

I pulled my eyes away from him and turned around and saw a couple of the girls staring at me.

"Should I be worried?" I asked him.

"Why aren't you pregnant?" one senior asked behind me.

She wore an over sized black tee shirt and a pair of baggy torn ripped jeans.

"I didn't go into the lake." I said.

"That's a lie." she said to me.

"Does it matter?" Keith asked.

"Who asked you? Do you want me to come over there and show you what matters?" she asked slamming her hand into the table.

"Hey just relax okay, take your hormonal behind back to your table." I said to her.

She looked at me and shrinked back.

"Sorry." she said quietly and then walked away.

The cafeteria seemed to grow quiet and then conversation picked up.

"How did you do that?" Keith asked me.

"What?" I asked.

"You told a senior, to go sit down at her on table. For one thing you're a sophomore and for another thing she looked like she would've beaten you up." Keith said.

"I don't know. Have you noticed that the school seems to be running out of boys?" I asked him.

He looked around.

"Should I be worried?" Keith asked.

"Maybe they went home early. I guess stuff for guys are kind of traumatic huh?" I asked Keith.

"Probably." he said and then looked down at his lunch tray.

"What is this slob?" Keith asked slidding a plate of black goop at me.

I dipped my finger in it and licked it.

"Tastes like seaweed." I said to him.

"Seaweed?" he asked.

I picked up a blade of it and showed it to him and then popped it into my mouth.

He gagged.

"It doesn't taste bad." I said to him.

"Well, I don't want to eat any grass from the sea." he said to me.

"I can have it?" I asked.

"Sure." he said.

I picked up a fork and began to eat it when we heard a sound come from the over head.

"Would all the girls from ninth to twelfth grade meet in the gymnasium who are sick. At this time." the announcer said.

"Not me." I said to Keith.

Almost every girl got up including my sister and followed in a single line to the gymnasium.

"Wonder what they're doing." Keith said.

"Don't know." I said.

"Maybe there's a vaccine or medication be given to them." he said and then glanced at me. I licked the plate.

"This is like one of the best lunches ever." I said to him licking my lips.

"Yeah, I bet it is. I want to check out that gymnasium thing." Keith said to me.

"I'd rather not. I don't want to be late for history." I said to him.

"We'll just peep and see what's going on and then we'll leave okay?" Keith asked.

"Fine." I said to him getting up.

We walked away from our table and I reached over and grabbed someone elses seaweed and followed him out the door finishing their plate.