Copycats, Volume 1
Chapter 2

Micheal stood outside the classroom door, hesitating to enter. From the muffled sounds he could make out, it sounded like the teacher was wrapping up the first day of school introductions. He didn’t really want to participate. But looking through the window, he was only focused on the seating arrangements. Double desks. There was an empty desk, but it was in the back of the classroom. If timed right, he could try to reach his seat before anyone noticed him.
“Go on, Micheal.” Ms. Mendoza whispered, “It looks like you haven’t missed much.”
Startled by the voice, Micheal turned to see his vice principal standing behind him. He had hoped that after speed walking towards the sixth-grade hallway, she had gone back to her office. Although, it wouldn’t be too surprising if she didn’t trust him to go to class. It wouldn’t be the first time, just a new year.
He took a deep breath, opened the door, and was met with a loud applause. Slightly surprised, he quickly realized it was directed towards someone standing in the middle of the classroom. Likely, they were the last of the introductions. With the students occupied and the teacher busy looking at the computer, Micheal dashed to the back of the classroom. He was almost there when—
“Dr. Reed! We have another student.” A girl yelled.
Micheal stopped dead in his tracks. He felt as though a spotlight was beaming down on him. The teacher then looked up from his computer.
“Ah, good morning. You must be…Micheal Goss, is that correct?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“You came in quiet as a mouse, son. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Sure. You too.”
Immediately turning his attention back to the empty desk, Michal returned to his mission. But Dr. Reed stopped him before he could get too far.
“Actually, Micheal, why don’t you take a seat next to Zuriya over there?”
Micheal faced Dr. Reed with confusion. But the teacher pointed to a girl waving her hand. She sat alone in the second row, next to the window. Seeing her overly excited face, he recognized her.
Zuriya Thomas, art prodigy. She was part of the visual arts program at the school. And, as such, she was one of the more popular girls in the school. Although he hadn’t had many interactions with her directly, Micheal knew she was an overachiever when it came to school work. Getting grouped with her would mean nonstop talking and participation in almost every assignment. A year next to her would be a nightmare.
Thinking of how he could secure that empty desk all to himself, he got an idea. He did his best to look weak and started coughing into his elbow. Some of the students around him leaned away. Some even started moving their desks.
“Sorry. I’m actually a little sick. I don’t want accidently infect someone on the first day.”
“Oh, is that so? Well, I assume it must not be too serious. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let you come to school today. May I ask what it is?”
“It’s…umm.”
“Of course, if you’d rather not talk about it here, I’d be more than happy to discuss it with you out in the hall.”
“No!” Micheal said.
He didn’t mean to shout. He just thought that Ms. Mendoza could still be nearby. What would he do if she heard him talking about being sick? How would he explain himself out of this one?
“Then could I ask you to humor me, just for today? And I will take your sickness into consideration when I assign seats tomorrow.” Dr. Reed said, pointing back towards Zuriya.
Defeated, Micheal felt the spotlight on him again. He felt everyone watching him as he made his way to his new seat. After plopping down in his chair, holding his head in his hands. Dr. Reed continued with the lecture.
“Thank you. Unfortunately, we’ve run out of time for introductions. So, let’s move on to our lecture.”
As Dr. Reed began writing something on the chalkboard, Zuriya turned to Micheal. Her face lit up with excitement. She smiled, extending her hand towards him.
“Hi. I’m Zuriya. I’m looking forward to being partners with you this year.”
Micheal turned his head away from her, and ignored her outstretched hand.
“He said he was assigning seats tomorrow. It’s highly likely we won’t actually be partners.”
“We are today, at least. Oh!”
Her suddenness made Micheal jump. Confused as to the reason, he turned and watched her as she rummaged through her backpack for something. When she finally removed her hand, she held a handful of something. The little, wrapped pieces resembled candy. She then scattered them on the desk in front of Micheal.
“I have some cough drops. You’re welcome to have them. It may help your throat feel better.”
Micheal didn’t have time to refuse. Before he could say anything, Zuriya shifted her attention to Dr. Reed.
“Now, let’s talk about the summer reading assignment. Everyone, please take out your books.”
He had nearly forgotten about the reading assignment. But Zuriya quickly began rummaging through her backpack, retrieving a book, a notebook, and a pencil case. She opened the notebook, flipping past pages of notes, finally coming to an empty page. Micheal unwrapped one of the cough drops and popped it in his mouth. While crumbling the wrapper, he felt someone poking him in the shoulder.
“Do you have a copy of the book?” Zuriya asked.
Micheal shook his head. Smiling, she pushed her copy of the book over to him.
“I already took a bunch of notes. You can use mine to refresh your memory, if you want.”
“Gee, thanks.” Micheal said.
As she turned her attention back towards Dr. Reed, who was busy writing something on the board, Micheal skimmed through the book. He was supposed to read this over the summer, but he had been far more preoccupied with other matters. Although, he had managed to read a few chapters. It was a story about a kid who was falsely charged with robbery, and was then sent to a boy’s juvenile detention camp in the desert. It was supposed to help them build character rather than serve jail time.
He tried to look busy. Perhaps if he did, the teacher wouldn’t try to call on him for anything. Dr. Reed had finished writing something on the board. He then turned his attention to the class.
“So, what kind of themes do you think are present in the book?”
Zuriya’s hand shot up.
“Stories!” she shouted.
“Interesting. Care to elaborate?”
“There are three different stories going on at once, all connected to each other. And the one about their ancestors involved magic, curses, and fighting for love. It was kind of like a fairy tale.”
“That’s a great interpretation, Zuriya. What about anyone else?”
“Friendship.” someone shouted.
“Ooh, that’s a big one,” Dr. Reed said, “can you give an example?”
“The two main characters become best friends by the end.”
“Alright. Can anyone add to that?”
Dr. Reed eyed Micheal, still flipping through pages.
“How about you, Micheal? Do you remember anything about friendship in the book?”
Micheal skipped to the end of the book, searching for anything he could say.
“Umm…well, they are all still friends at the end, with the other guys too, not just Zero.”
“Good point.”
Dr. Reed circled the three phrases he had written on the board earlier.
“What messages do you think of after reading these phrases? And how can you relate them to the novel?”
Micheal looked at the phrases:
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” (John 15:13)
“You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:14)
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.” (John 15:15)
He recognized the first of the phrases as one his mother used to say: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” She said it meant that no matter what, those who loved you would be there for you, to protect you. His parents had promised that they would be there to protect him forever. The phrase reflected Jesus’s love for his followers who he thought of as friends, and that he would die for their sins. Micheal sometimes wondered if his parents died in that fire for his sins.
He shut the book and pushed it back towards Zuriya, who was too focused on the lesson to notice.
“Love,” someone shouted.
“Patience.”
“Sacrifice.”
“Who said that?” Dr. Reed asked.
Micheal looked around and saw a goth-looking girl raising her hand.
“Thank you…LaNiye. Care to elaborate?”
“Well, Jesus showed his love through sacrificing his life for others. He loved them all enough to do whatever it took to protect them. And, uh…”
LaNiya skimmed through her notebook as though looking for something.
“That’s okay. Can anyone else give an example of how sacrifice is seen in the novel?”
Zuriya raised her hand back up again.
“Stanley and Zero’s friendship arose from them both sacrificing something for one another, over and over again.”
“Excellent point.”
Micheal glared at Zuriya. Did she just enjoy showing off and being right all the time?
“Our two protagonists’ relationship goes from one of contractual exchange to that of a blossoming friendship as they no longer are only interested in the relationship based on what they themselves can get from it, but because they value the other and wish to help them through their obstacles. They learn to trust one another. They rely on one another.”
“But that’s not death, Dr. Reed. They didn’t risk dying for one another.” Someone said.
“What about when Zero had to help Stanley over the ledge? Zero had cuts from holding the shovel. That was kinda like life or death.” Someone else answered.
“Or when they were surrounded by lizards. That was life or death.” Another student added.
“Well said,” Dr. Reed continued, “but a sacrifice doesn’t always have to be life or death. It can be anything as long as—”
Rrrriiiinnnggg!!!
A loud ringing sound blared throughout the room. Micheal wondered how the fire alarm could have been tripped already; he had only been at school for about an hour. The other students seemed to share his confusion. Dr. Reed’s face turned serious as he immediately moved towards the door. A siren could be heard from outside. Micheal quickly stood up and peaked out the window. Sure enough, a fire truck was seen coming speeding downhill towards the school.
“Alright, children. Please line up at the door in an orderly fashion. We are going to walk down towards the parking lot exit.”
Everyone stood and made their way towards the door. But no one was in a straight line. Instead, everyone crowded around with their friends, gossiping about what could possibly be the reason for such an event.
“You think that the lunch people burned a pizza again?”
“Maybe it was in the tech lab. Who knows what kind of stuff they have in there.”
“I bet the chemistry lab. They are always making the hallway smell toxic. Maybe some kids made something dangerous while the teacher was not looking.”
Micheal joined at the back. Dr. Reed quickly moved to the front of the line, ready to lead everyone outside. But the moment he opened the door, we could tell why the alarm sounded. There was a heavy odor of gasoline throughout the hallway, as though someone had spilled gasoline on the ground. Before he could even get out the door, Micheal could smell it. It poured into the classroom. Kids pinched their noses, some even used their jackets like masks.
“Everyone cover your nose!” Dr. Reed shouted as he ushered us out into the hallway. “Move quickly. Follow the teachers.
“See, I said it was most likely the chem lab fault.”
Micheal wished they would be quiet and keep moving. He kept trying to cover his nose with his jacket sleeve, but he could still smell it. He knew gasoline fumes were dangerous. They needed to get outside quickly.
“It could still have been the tech lab.”
“Why would the chem lab have gasoline?”
By the time everyone had finally made it outside, the fire squad had arrived and were suiting up to head inside. One of them caught Micheal’s eye, and rushed over. He tried to hide amongst his classmates, but the man grabbed him by the arm.
“Micheal? Micheal, is that you? Are you alright?”
Micheal pulled his arm away from the firefighter.
“I’m fine.” He said quickly, running back off to join his classmates. Stunned but seemingly relieved, the firefighter rejoined his team, ready to head inside.