Zane sighed as he rested his head on his arm. He had recently taken up literature class, and was totally into it, but his mind slowly drifted away. He had been so overtaxed lately that he’d become completely hostile towards anyone unlucky enough to cross his path.

So overtaxed he had been that Zane has neither been sleeping nor eating well. My life’s so different now, Zane realized as he took a deep breath.

I used to worry about my studies and my social life, he thought. And my love life, of course. But now I’ve got to think about a whole universe of evil. About how to use my powers for good. About coping with the tedious working life. And I still have to worry about my studies, my social life, and my love life.

An unsettling and unusual feeling suddenly rushed through him. A sensation of weightlessness – of being pulled irresistibly upwards through a long, dark tunnel…

Ms. Marquis made her way to the front of the class. Marie noticed that she had a piece of what looked like curry sauce on the front of her shirt. The woman should wear a bib, she thought.

Marie craned her neck, searching for Zane, who was also taking the same Julius Caesar class as her. She found Zane sitting a few rows behind her, his head tilted slightly forward, his eyes closed.

"Time to get started," Ms. Marquis said. "We left off at Antony’s speech, so begin, Antony." Nobody began to read. Marie glanced around the room. She didn’t see anybody looking for their book or trying to find the right page or anything.

"Same role as last week’s," Ms. Marquis said. "Who’s our Antony?"

"It was Zane," a scruffy student called.

"All right then, Zane," Ms. Marquis called. "No more time to get in character. We’ve got a lot of pages to cover."

When Zane did not begin to read, Marie twisted around in her seat and stared down the row.

Something was wrong. Zane held the play in his hands. But his eyes were still closed, his head was still tilted slightly forward, and he was sitting perfectly still – too still.

"Zane?" Ms. Marquis prodded.

"Uh, Zane isn’t feeling very well," Marie said quickly, standing up. "I’ll take him to the infirmary."

Marie didn’t wait for Ms. Marquis to answer. She grabbed Zane’s arm and practically hauled him out of the classroom and down the hall to a restroom.

"Zane?" she whispered into his ear. "Are you okay?"

Zane did not answer. His head had tilted forward a bit more – no signs of movement. Marie’s heart began to slam against her ribs. What was going on? She knew that Zane had been rushing an appraisal late last night, and because of that he had lost quite a bit of sleep, but other than that she saw no reason as to why he was sleeping like a log.

"Zane," Marie shouted. Her voice echoed off the restroom’s tile walls. But the sound got no response from Zane.

Marie wanted to run and get Zack, or Scott or Kit or Jean. But she didn’t want to leave Zane alone. You can deal with this, she told herself. Zane needs you.

She pulled in a deep and shuddering breath, then reached out and rested her fingers on the side of Zane’s neck. Yes, she could feel a pulse. It was faint and sort of erratic, but it was there.

Marie took Zane by the shoulders and gave him a little shake. "Zane, come on. Snap out of it!"

Zane didn’t even move an inch.

She shook him harder, shook him until his head was jerking back and forth.

Just then, she saw Zane gave a slight start, as if he had just caught himself on the verge of nodding off. His gray-blue eyes snapped open.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"You’re okay!" Marie stared at her cousin.

Zane frowned. "Of course I’m okay," he answered. "But what are we doing in here?"

Marie felt her spine turn to ice. "Don’t you remember?" she asked. "You just fell asleep in class and I couldn’t wake you up."

"Uh huh," Zane shook his head to clear the fog in his head. "I, um, I knew I should have slept earlier last night." He let out an uneasy laugh and grabbed Marie by the arm. "Come on, we better get back to class."

"Zane, what’s going on?" Marie pressed.

"Nothing. Nothing, I’m fine," Zane insisted. "Let’s go."

Frowning, Marie followed him out into the hall. Zane sounded completely fine. But there was no way losing a little sleep could have gotten that reaction – no way.