One of Them

It started off as just another typical day at school. Cliques roamed the halls in search of prey, and the jocks shot spitballs at the nerds in Calculus; Nothing out of the ordinary. Danny had a hard time getting readjusted to waking up this early in the morning. To compensate, he dozed off in History class, a small drop of drool looming on his lips.

“Mr. Jackson!” bellowed a voice that could rival an elephant. The speaker was none other than Mr. Wellman, the history teacher.

Danny nearly jumped out of his seat, sending his books flying off his desk.
“I’m sorry sir, I-“

“Sorry won’t cut it this time. I’ll see you in detention after school. Winter Break hasn’t made you forget where to serve it, has it?” Like I could forget, thought Danny.

“No sir.” Danny replied, forcing himself not to shout at him about his dwarfish stature or puffy red face. He retrieved his book, and Mr. Wellman continued with his lecture as if nothing ever happened. Great start to 2009. It’s like I never left.

Lunch rolled by around noon, and the students filed into the cafeteria, eager to hoard down the fat-dripping food that was served today. Danny always had eaten lunch from a brown bag all his school years. Danny was a vegan, so a typical lunch for him consisted of something tofu, an apple, some crackers, and his favorite, red Jell-O. Danny spotted a jock who was taking twice as many helpings than he could possibly consume. Danny’s money was on a food fight today. “Hope you choke,” grumbled Danny.

“Hey there, sunshine,” said a voice across from him. His best friend, Chris, joined the table. Chris was about 6’2”, and why he didn’t play a sport, Danny never knew. Chris always slumped down to not stick out like a sore thumb, but that only made people believe he was hunch-backed. On the scrawny side, he was almost a constant target for bullies, but he always held this aura of happiness around him, trying not to let things get him down. His greasy black hair was like a mop on his head, and his black rimmed glassed made him look more like a target then ever.

“Bad day?” he asked.

“Detention. With Wellman.”

“Lucky you. Sounds like you’re making a great start.”

Danny forced a chuckle. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a grrrrreat year.”

“Now there’s the spirit!” Chris said, his smile wide. Danny sighed, looks like everything is going to be normal again…

However the next day, something was very wrong. There were no jocks in the parking lot trying to peg windshields with snowballs as faculty and students alike made their way to school. In fact, no other cars were pulling into the school; the parking lot was already full. “Am I late again?” muttered Danny. He checked his watch. 20 minutes early. “This is weird.”

Things didn’t get much more normal as he walked to class. The hallways were barren. No trace of student life whatsoever. “Now this is really weird,” mumbled Danny, unable to fully comprehend what was going on, or rather the lack of activity.

When Danny reached his classroom, he found himself wishing for something normal. When he opened the door, 23 sets of eyes, including the teacher’s, fixated on him. The jocks fill one half of the desks, the other half the girls. Not a single person sat in the choice back row, which really surprised him. As he walked to the back the jocks greeted him.

“What’s up Danny?” said a guy, offering a high-five. Danny walked past.

“Hey Dan the Man!” said another, presenting a fist to bump. Danny declined.

“Dan the Man! How’s it goin’?” said the one closest to his seat. Danny said nothing, retrieving his books out of his bag. He put his head down on his desk to get some sleep, but the eerie quiet made him look up. All attention was focused on him, all smiles with glittering white teeth. Danny froze.

“W-what? Do I have something on my face or something?” stammered Danny. Hollow laughter echoed in the classroom, each voice sounding almost identical. Now granted, the guys still sounded like guys, and the girls sounded like girls, but the tone and pitch of each gender’s laugh was exactly alike.

“That was hilarious!” said one of the girls.

“Dan the Man! You are one hilarious dude!” said the jock in front of him. The bell rang and the class snapped forward in unison. No announcements came, and class began. The English teacher droned on about the importance of literature and how it has affected mainstream society. Danny daydreamed about being a rock star and having thousands of worshipping fans, when the bell rang. Danny judged that he really would never actually use Advanced Calculus in real life, and texted Chris to meet him at his locker.

Danny waited by Chris’ locker for what seemed twenty minutes when Chris finally showed up.

“Dan the Man! What’s up dude?” Chris said. His voice boomed in the empty hallway.

“Chris, keep it down!” Danny shushed, checking left and right for any eavesdroppers. He found none. “Have you noticed everyone acting differently? Like, like…”

“Like what?”

“Like they’re not themselves!” Danny shouted, immediately covering his mouth. Danny had seen plenty of science fiction movies to know that this kind of stuff doesn’t happen out of pure coincidence. Something was up. Danny reiterated his morning to Chris, skipping the dream about the rock star, though.

“Are you okay, Danny?” Chris asked, though Danny wasn’t too certain about his sympathy.

“Fine. Thanks for asking.” Danny replied. After a beat, Chris suddenly straightened up stiff. His pupils grew large, and then shrunk back again.

“Daniel, I think you should go to the nurse’s office.” Chris spoke in a voice that wasn’t his. He sounded just like the guys from this morning. Something was up…What was he thinking?! Everybody talking the same? That only happens in cheesy, poorly animated sci-fi flicks! I gotta have a screw loose or something, thought Danny, maybe something is wrong with me…

“I’m gonna go to the nurse…see you at lunch?” asked Danny. Chris winked and pointed his finger at him.

“Dan the Man! See you at lunch dude.” And then he turned and walked away.

Danny headed to the nurse’s office. Danny hadn’t visited the office since he barfed all over Cindy Miller’s cheerleader outfit, for which she had never forgiven him, immediately telling every girl to spread filthy rumors about him. Danny hadn’t had a girlfriend since.

He recalled Ms. Irina was a Russian immigrant, but he only knew that because of the way her thick R’s rolled off her tongue. When he stepped into the office, he saw someone who was definitely not Ms. Irina. Sitting at a desk, focused on a piece of paper, was a short black woman with her hair perfectly done up in a bun. She took no notice of Dan entering her office. Dan coughed. She spun around, smiling bright, her eyes soulless spheres of hazel.

“Can I help you?” she spoke in a voice that sounded familiar.

“Umm, yeah. I need to go home. Not feeling good.” Danny said.

“Very well then. Let me take your temperature.” She replied, standing up to retrieve a disposable thermometer from the cabinets above her desk.

“It’s fine. I’ll just be going home now.” Danny said, trying with all his might to keep his voice from shaking.

“That won’t be necessary. Let me take your temperature.” Danny backed towards the door, glimpsing the piece of paper on the desk. It was blank.

Danny’s eyes raced to the cabinet, where the nurse was reaching into a box. She didn’t pull out a thermometer. Instead she unsheathed a scalpel, glinting in the fluorescent light.

“Now, let me take your temperature.” She spoke in a voice that Danny realized was exactly like the girls from 1st period.

Danny whirled and flung the door open, racing out into the office nearly running into the receptionist’s empty desk. He ducked underneath the large piece of mahogany, nearly hitting his head in the process.

He barely heard the click-clack of high-heels approach him over his shaking breath . Danny froze in terror. His heart beat in his ears. The footsteps receded, the door swinging to a shut. Danny realized he was holding his breath, and let it out in a relieved sigh. Definitely not normal, thought Danny.

Voices could be heard faintly behind the principal’s door. Maybe he’s still got some sense in him. Still hopeful, he crept on the floor to the principal’s office, daring to kneel with his ear pressed against the wood.

“So, how is the serum working for you?” A man spoke. Danny was relieved. A normal voice...but not the principal’s. The voices continued.

“Excellent! All the students are completely under its control.” Spoke the principal in a harsh tone. Danny’s jaw dropped, and he listened on.

“I’m glad. Soon preparations for Operation Jericho will be complete.” Operation? Great, just after I thought the psycho nurse was the worst of it!

“We’ve worked too hard to let this operation fail. Make sure to double the amount of serum, just in case.” After a pause, he continued. “Although, I must commend you on your plan doctor. True brilliance! Who in their right mind would fight an army of youths?” Danny froze. All the pieces had fallen into place. The principal and this doctor person were starting some war, and using teenagers as the soldiers! But how were they giving the kids this serum…

“Well, I best be going doctor.” Danny hopped to his feet and sprinted out of the office, down the hallways he had spent the last three years of his life at. The lunch bell rang. It’s that late already?

Danny was heading to lunch, mulling over the sequence of events that had happened today, when he saw a circle of jocks talking. Despite his quest for normalcy having been thrown out the window when the nurse pulled out the scalpel, Danny walked slower in order to make out their conversation.

“Stan the man!” a jock from this morning had said, fist bumping with a fellow peer. “Chris, dude!” he said, highfiving Danny’s best friend. Anger exploded through Danny’s veins. How could Chris do this to him? His fists soon untensed and a tear slid down his cheek. His only friend had deserted him. He wanted to hit Chris so hard that it would send him to the hospital, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Another tear fell down his cheek, not you too…

When lunch came, Danny was all alone. His whole life had fallen apart in less than six hours. He wanted to scream at Chris. He wanted to scream at all of those brainwashed fools. He wanted to life to be normal again.

A group of girls sat at the end of his table, chatting about something Danny couldn’t quite make out. He mournfully picked at his Jell-O. He glanced at the lunch the girls were eating today. Something about it seemed…different. He shuffled as unsuspicious as he could so he could get a closer look. The food….was glowing?! The final piece of the puzzle fell into place. The serum was in the food!

Danny’s eyes shifted around the cafeteria, searching for Chris. He spotted him with the same guys he saw earlier in the hallway. He raced over to Chris, who was eating the drab, grey, sludge like everyone else.

“Chris! It’s me! Danny!” No response from Chris.

“Don’t you remember me? I’m your best friend!” Chris swallowed, finishing his last bite. He got up to get seconds. Danny’s eyes shifted to the guy across from him.

“Don’t you remember me? You gave me a swirlie freshman year.” The jock gave no response. All he did was shovel another bite into his mouth. Danny raced over to the girl’s table.

“Cindy! Remember me? I puked all over your lap last year! Don’t you remember?” No response.

“Answer me dammit!” She said nothing, only continuing to eat her gray, glowing goop on her food tray. He picked up the food tray and threw it at the wall, shattering the plastic and splattering the serum filled food all over the wall.

“Look at me! Say something! Laugh at me! Tease me! Call me names like you always do! JUST DON’T IGNORE ME!!” Danny screamed, hurling trays in all directions. Goop flew everywhere, landing in some girl’s hair, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. Danny slumped to his knees and sobbed. No one comforted him. No one called him crybaby or queer. He just sat there, alone while everyone else continued what they were doing.

Danny took his head from his hands, his eyes red and teary, and noticed a half-spilled tray of goop in front of him. He looked at the students around him. They all seemed so…in place. So accepted. Danny thought about his experience with Chris in the hallway with his new friends. He glanced at the goop.

“I could be just like everyone else. Nobody would exclude me any more.” The idea of joining the other kids was becoming more and more appealing to Danny. “No more bullies, no more teasing girls, no more exclusion.” Danny grabbed the tray and stood, staring at the glowing goop. “No more cliques or separation. No more crap to put up with.” By eating this, Danny knew he would be going against everything that he stood for, which at this point seemed like such a fool’s paradise. “I never got any respect acting as an individual. Like being myself ever made me a person.” Danny scooped a handful and gulped it down.

At first, he felt nothing. Then Danny’s whole body went numb, then exploded with pleasure. Then…WHAM! Danny felt as if he had been punched in the back of his head. His isolation and fear were gone, replaced with artificial warmth. He felt the collective thoughts of all the students in the cafeteria buzzing in his brain, all content. He looked around, smiling. He was one of them now.