David rested on Sunday from the stress of the situation and was back in school Monday. He was happy to see Jason was back. He had to go meet with Mr. Loran.
As a counselor, David felt he could ask him questions that he couldn’t ask other adults since he wasn’t able to tell others without David’s permission unless there was a threat of harm to another person or self. He felt a little uncertain though because Dr Loran could be rather overwhelming with his opinions, and sometimes David regretted telling him things. As he walked into the office, Dr. Loran gave his usual warm friendly smile, and David took a seat. “What’s your take on UFOs?” He asked soon into the conversation.
Peter briefly thought about it and then stated, “Well, that’s a hard one. I believe that most UFO sightings are simply hoaxes, then some are from people that are delusional, and some are things such as the military setting off flares. I remember when I was younger, I lived near a military base, and one day they were shooting off flare guns into the sky and from a distance it appeared to be big orange lights. Some interpreted it as UFOs. Fortunately, the next day’s newspaper gave the story before some people went into hysteria,” Peter chuckled.
“That makes sense, but what is your take on those who have been abducted and even under hypnosis and lie detectors they told the same story and sometimes in more vivid detail?”
“Wow, it looks like you have been looking into UFOlogy, a very intense but uncertain field of study.”
“I find it intriguing, but I have never really believed in it.”
“Me either, it’s interesting though if you think about it. First, some people struggling with psychological disorders may have delusions that may convince them that UFOs truly abducted them. Another interesting point is, most reported abductions occurred within the last several decades. There has been a substantial increase in the amount of use for drugs that cause hallucinations.”
Mr. Loran continued, “Now imagine that someone had taken these drugs and had a hallucination of a UFO abducting them. Normally hallucinations can be enhanced by strong emotions that a person feels when they are not on the drugs. Think of yourself as having a fear of spiders. If you were to do the drug, you may have a hallucination of a giant spider chasing you. To you it would be real and you may be able to pass a lie detector test if it wasn’t common sense that spiders don’t get that big. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”
“Yes, I do, it makes sense to me.”
“Anyways, I have this strange vibe that you or one of your friends is starting to believe that the student murders are somehow connected to UFO activity.”
David was stunned at Dr. Loran being able to pick this up. Then again, Dr. Loran spent years in studying the mind and how to read people.
“Well, I guess you could say that the thought was put on the table but to be honest, I really didn’t buy it. I just wanted to see what you thought.”
“David, in reality you did buy into it, at least a small amount, otherwise you wouldn’t have even bothered to ask me. You may not know it, but your subconscious can be quite revealing.”
The bell rang and David was relieved to get going. It seemed like Dr. Loran was an expert at pinning people in a corner.
He walked his way through the hallway. He could tell that students seemed to be more paranoid and afraid than usual. The feeling of being unsafe in the normally safe village increased with the brutal murder of two police officers. Students figured that if the police couldn’t protect them, no one could. Even David was feeling a bit insecure as he struggled to trust in God.
He found Sarah in the hall. She seemed more secure than anyone else in the school, even though she was attacked and threatened. David admired her strength, however, he knew that sometimes she didn’t care whether she lived or not. She was not suicidal, but also wasn’t always a happy girl. David had never known her to date anyone, even though she was very pretty. It seemed that most guys liked girls who were more superficial, yet Sarah was real. She never was one to hide behind a mask; she was not one who would win an award on knowing how to win friends.
Before David got a chance to speak to Sarah, Luke Dilton and his buddies approached Sarah saying; “You need to quit your witchcraft, you are bringing the evil to this town.”
“Me? If you actually read your Bible, it was the hypocrites that gave Jesus problems! If anything, people like you have brought this on us!”
“Shut up you stupid witch!”
“You shut up!” David said, as he stepped in.
“What? You should know better than anyone that witches bring evil!”
“Well, if you weren’t such a hypocrite maybe God would protect you!”
“Now it is your turn to shut up Kurtland, or maybe you’ll need to learn to turn the other cheek.”
“Then you need to leave her alone.”
“Screw you!” With that Luke shoved David into the lockers. David pushed him back and Luke delivered two punches. David ducked the first one and blocked the second one.
By that time a couple teachers intervened and stood in between them, and they both were instructed to go to the principle’s office.
Upon arriving Mr. Wood, the principle, sat them both down and had both David and Luke explain their side of the story. Mr. Wood was a balding middle age man with woodchuck teeth surrounded by a fake air of pleasantness. He was known to have favorites from what David had heard. This was his first time being sent to the office, so he was hoping that he wouldn’t be in too much trouble.
David noticed that Mr. Wood was attempting to hold back a chuckle when Luke quoted what he said to Sarah. David was annoyed at the prejudice that even the members of the school’s faculty held against her.
After they were done giving their sides of the story, Mr. Wood said. “It looks like I’m going to have to give you both two days of In School Suspension. I hope you can both learn from this.”
“I don’t think that’s fair.” David retorted. “I was just defending myself. I didn’t even hit back or anything.”
“I think I’m being reasonable; you both are getting the same punishment and that’s that.”
David held his cool, but he could feel the rage build inside. Mr. Wood was never fair and understanding from what he had heard. He hoped this would give him sometime to figure out more about the investigation, and he also needed to work on Lauren’s essay. In a way, he was glad he wouldn’t be in classes for a little while. He was afraid she would ask about the homework, which he hadn’t started yet. In fact, he forgot about it up until now while thinking about what he was going to do while stuck in I.S.S. His anger was soothed, even though he felt he was dealt an unfair deck.
Mr. Wood then asked David to leave and Luke to stay. He felt that was rather strange, but decided that there was probably nothing to it.
Upon leaving David found Sarah. “Thank you for standing up for me,” was the first thing she said. David updated her on what Mr. Wood had given them for punishment.
“Geez David, that’s unfair. Mr. Wood is a real jerk. Then again so aren’t almost all the teachers in this school. If you don’t fit in with the students, even the teachers and Mr. Wood treat you like an outcast.”
“I know, I know! It’s a good thing we are seniors. I can’t wait until this year is over.” David knew that even though he had been treated unfairly, Sarah had it ten times worse.
“Me either.”
Just then Jevon located the both of them and seemed quite excited. “I found out a little more on those reptilian things.”
“Really?” Sarah asked. “Tell us.”
“OK, first of all, they tend to thrive on our stress. In other words, somehow our stresses give off some kind of negative energy which they feed off.”
“So, you are saying that the more negative energy we have, the more they grow stronger?” Sarah asked making sure she understood correctly.
“Exactly!”
“Where did you get this piece of info?”
“From the Internet, of course.”
“That’s what I thought, I wish I could trust the Internet a little more. There are so many point of views on there, and then many of them contradict each other.”
David was listening but became distracted when he saw Lauren come out of the building. He tried to stand behind Sarah and Jevon, but that did not work. As soon as Lauren saw him she walked over to them. David knew she would ask about her homework.
“Hi David.”
“Hi, what’s up?”
“Oh, not much, just came by to say ‘hi,’” she said batting her eyes at him. “Oh, did you get a chance to look at that essay?” She said trying to appear nonchalant.
“Not yet, but I will have plenty of time tomorrow in I.S.S.”
With that Lauren walked off to catch the bus.
Sarah was looking at David questioningly, and even Jevon looked a little baffled. It was Sarah who spoke. “What was that all about?”
David felt quite awkward admitting to his friends, especially Sarah, that he was doing Lauren’s homework. “Oh, nothing.”
“I know that look; you were never good at hiding things.”
David knew he would be unsuccessful hiding anything from Sarah. “OK OK, I’ve been talking to Lauren a little.”
“I see that… an essay?”
“Well…yeah, she wanted me to give her a hand with her essay.”
“Sounds to me like you are doing it for her.” David braced himself for a lecture. “You know that she is using you.” David did not want to hear this, but he wasn’t going to stop her either. “She knows you like her, and she is going to use that to take advantage of you.”
David became defensive. “How do you know? You don’t even know her?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Stop being blinded by love, and open your eyes. All I saw her care about was how you are coming along on her essay. She didn’t even ask why you have I.S.S. A girl who cares would have asked.”
“She had to get on the bus.”
“The buses are still here, she had plenty of time and you know that.”
David was at a loss of words. Deep down he knew she told the truth and was doing it because she cared for him. Yet, he did not want the truth. He had to believe that Lauren could like him back. He needed hope and security.
“I’m sorry David, I just don’t want you to get hurt. You are a great guy and deserve better.”
David thought to himself, there is no better, but he didn’t speak that out loud. Lauren already had flirted with him a couple of times, so he knew there was something there. Or was there? Maybe she was doing it so he would go through with the essay.
Just then Luke walked by and said, “Hey Davey, I hope you have fun in I.S.S. Mr. Wood let me off the hook.” With that Luke walked off, as Sarah, Jevon, and David stood there stunned.
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