Priya woke up at 5:00 a.m. the next day to be at the school before the other students arrived. Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. was the weekly remote student test time. She studied well into the evening the night before. She met Sophie and Amy on the way.
“Are you ready?” Priya said.
“Yes,” Sophie said. “Are you Amy?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. I wish I could absorb the amount of information you guys can. You’re a few chapters ahead already.”
“That’s true but we have an artificial edge. You studied as hard as we did and that’s what counts,” Priya said.
“Thanks,” Amy said. “You’re right. All I can do is my best.”
They walked to school and found a teacher’s assistant. She let them into the test room and administered the test. They first took the genetics test. Priya and Sophie finished the 30-minute test in 15 minutes. Amy finished in 25 minutes. While the assistant graded the tests by hand because the grading system hadn’t been set up to auto grade the catchup tests, they took the biology test and the Algebra II test. Priya and Sophie had time remaining, so they asked the assistant to administer next week’s tests. They finished those too.
The assistant finished grading the tests, recorded the scores and gave the test back to them.
“You guys are disgusting,” Amy said. “How can you get 100% on next week’s tests?”
She paused as she saw Priya and Sophie’s smiling faces.
“Sorry, sometimes I wish I’d been abducted like you guys.”
“Sometimes I wish I could live a normal life like you will,” Priya said.
“Touché,” Amy said. “I need to be happy with my circumstances.”
“We’ll always be friends,” Sophie said. “Let’s go home before school starts. I don’t want to be noticed.”
The three of them walked out the front gate of the school. A few early students arrived. They casually meandered off the concrete walkway to avoid getting too close to the perceived mutants.”
Priya asked, “Hah, as if we didn’t notice them avoiding us. It’s never going to stop, is it?”
“No, we’re going to have to get used to it,” Sophie said.
They arrived at Priya’s house as Quinn and Sanjay were getting up. Priya made breakfast for all of them.
“How did the tests go?” Quinn said.
“Okay. Do you want some OJ?”
Amy glanced at Priya with one raised eyebrow.
“What do you mean okay? Quinn, they both got 100% on all the tests including next week’s tests.”
“Next week’s tests?”
“Yes, they finished early, so I think they got bored or something, so they took next week’s tests. They finished them in only a few minutes.”
Quinn also raised an eyebrow.
“Is this true Pree? A week ago, you were a month behind.”
“It’s no big deal. We studied extra so we can get ahead. Are you ready for some pancakes?”
Quinn smiled at Amy and shook his head.
“Sure.”
After breakfast they walked upstairs to Priya’s room to watch their classes.
“Can you believe it? The class is packed,” Priya said.
“I can,” Amy said. “Check out the other classrooms.”
“Incredible,” Sophie said. “Attendance at the school is back to normal. I guess they know we won’t be attending.”
“I’m not surprised,” Priya said. “I’m going to post this to our social network. Everyone needs to realize what’s happening and what we’re up against. I think we’ll never live a normal life, even as adults. This is a lot more than a short-term scare. This is deep rooted.”
Amy looked out the back window.
“Hey guys, there’s something near the top of San Gabriel Peak.”
They both ran to the window.
“See that?” Amy said. “The sun is reflecting off it. It’s so bright that I can’t tell what it is. I’ve never noticed anything like that before.”
“Me neither,” Priya said.
She blinked to activate her eyepiece and looked for any available information.
“Well, there’s an energy relay station up there, but that structure isn’t a relay station.”
“It’s probably the Omanji,” Sophie said. “They’re up to something. You watch, by the end of the day, it’ll be at least half built. Their towers are about the same height as San Gabriel Peak itself.”
“Whatever,” Priya said. “I don’t want to acknowledge the tower, or anything related to them.”
Then she smiled.
“Except for Bok, he’s different.”
“Okay, let’s watch our classes,” Amy said.
They monitored each class and studied well into the afternoon, ate dinner, and continued studying until they were done for the day.
Amy looked out the window again.
“Hey guys, I think you better come over here.”
“Do we have to?” Priya said. “I don’t want anything to do with—”
“Get over here.”
Priya walked over and looked up to the peak.
“Okay fine Amy. Don’t be such a— No way, there’s no way.”
“There is a way,” Amy said.
“I can’t believe it took them eight hours to build it.”
“It must have. As the cliché goes, seeing is believing.”
“It’s as tall as San Gabriel Peak, which is 6,000 feet,” Sophie said. “The top might be 12,000 feet above sea level.”
“Great, just what I want,” Priya said. “It’s a permanent reminder of the Omanji. I wonder if they built this to intimidate us.”
“Maybe they want a pleasant view,” Amy said.
“That might be,” Sophie said. “I don’t like the tower looming over us. If they were in the desert on the other side of the mountains, I could pretend they didn’t exist.”
They studied for a short while longer. Sophie and Amy stayed over, and they soon fell asleep.