Johnny recognized who she was. "Hey Shelby! You're going to be late for dinner."
Shelby just giggled. "Pfft! I know! Mommy said I could wear my new costume this year! I will be a star!"
"Did you make it yourself?" Johnny asked, casting his eyes at her outfit. The little girl was dressed as a smiling alien with a blue dress. It was an unusual design, and it was made out of an odd material that looked like plastic. Shelby just shook her head, still giggling, and puffed out her chest.
"Oh, I know it will look great on me."
Johnny chuckled to himself as he watched her pull on her boots.
"So, do you have a date?" Shelby asked me, with a bright smile.
"Date? Oh. Yeah - I'm going out with that new girl at school."
I nodded half-heartedly, already concentrating on the next part of the conversation.
"It's so wonderful having another boy to be friends with! You make all the girls jealous. Connie and Shawn said that they think you might start dating right now. What do you think?"
I gave her a strange look, and shook my head.
"What would you say if you were human?" Johnny looked at me while he asked her, and I was already thinking about the new history lesson, the blue book hidden in my backpack. I knew he was thinking about the pictures in that book as well.
Shelby just laughed as she picked up her antenna. "Wait, why wouldn't you and the new girl date? Everyone says you both like each other..."
My eyes shot towards Shelby. I was going to say that she was crazy, but I couldn't. Last term, I had said that one of the girls I knew was pretty. Now that I thought about it, that sure had gotten around, and when I saw her later she said that guys were now more interested in her than they used to be.
I looked at her antenna with interest. It was a long golden rod that curved into a question mark shape at the end. It was attached to her head with a simple arrangement of elastic and paper clips, and her auburn hair was pinned at the other side. Her mother had said it would make her look more like a star, and had bought the equipment at the local dollar store. Apparently, it had an amazing sale, and they got so many items for a dollar.
"Um," I paused. "I don't know about that revelation."
Shelby frowned at me, pushing the antenna up and down behind her ear. "But you two should date, it really makes your friendship so much better."
I nodded, thinking that Shelby was kind of right - in a sense. I hadn't really noticed the new girl - what was her name - Lydia, I think. She was nice. She and I used to talk a lot when school first started and she had a speech impediment that everybody found hilarious.
I could see the wheels turning in her head as she searched through my memories.
"What's the girl's name?" she asked abruptly. I froze, and Shelby dug her hands into her pockets, shuffling awkwardly. When she spoke to us last term, with that speech impediment, she was really cute. I didn't really think about it before, but in retrospect, it's kind of obvious she was flirting with me.
She cleared her throat. "What's the girl's name?"
"Oh! Um, Lydia."
Shelby jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "Hi Lydia! Hi Lydia! Can I come over and visit you?" As she spoke, her mouth moved faster than any human's, and her voice was high-pitched enough that I was sure that we couldn't hear her properly. It was kind of hard to understand her sometimes.
I looked at her speak again. It was all garbled, but I could still make out that she was hard to understand.
She cleared her throat again, and spoke louder. "Can I come over and visit you?"
I nodded my head as I tipped my head back at Johnny.
"Okay, that's great! Oh, please invite me over as well. I'd love to come, Shelby!"
I looked at Johnny.
"What's she talkin' about?"
Shelby's eyes were wide. "I can't tell! Can I come over and visit you?"
I laughed. "Sure!"
She cheered again, and ran off towards the ruins, jumping up and down in front of the bus stop. "I can't wait to see you! Good luck!"
She bounded off into the trees, sniffing the air like a dog and wagging her antenna. "Smells like a storm coming!" she yelled before she disappeared behind a tree.
"Well, what else is new," Johnny said, giving me a sly look. "They're all crazy." He glanced out across the main center. The moon shone down, reflecting all sorts of strange shapes and patterns off the big glass windows.
"You're right. It's definitely a good thing. I'd hate to have to move all my stuff out here."
Johnny nodded. "I haven't checked the water yet, but if it is contaminated -"
He noticed me tutting. "Yes, yes... I know."
I walked over and sat with Johnny in front of our house. We were right on the edge of the center - an old farm that people had moved here from for the past few years. The water was cleaner than it ever was in town, but we had just moved here, and I was pretty sure that this place was impossible to live in. It was an old farmhouse that people had lived in for hundreds of years, and the glass windows were chipping away at the wood on the outside. It was storming now, the trees occasionally moving against the wind. A few branches hit the window, a dark color in the moonlight.
"Any news on the water?" I asked.
Johnny shrugged. "Nothing in the last couple of days. The weather guys are talking about it now, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
I nodded. We had other things to worry about. I glanced out at the road. Everything was quiet.
"Let's check the water," Johnny said.
I grabbed my backpack and followed him. We headed through the bushes, past the trees, out onto the barren land.
The grass here felt like it was burning my feet. I walked on the side of the road, making sure to watch where I was going as cars zoomed by. I looked back at Johnny, who was inspecting the trees.
"Did you see that?" he asked.
I looked around. "See what?"
"Over there." Johnny ran up to me. "I saw two people run into the trees. I thought that they might be following us."
I looked back at the trees, but they seemed empty and broken. I shook my head. "I don't think so."
Johnny grinned. "Close call. I know that they were following us. The guards are too distracted by the weather."
I nodded. "Maybe."
He looked out at the road again. "We should head back. The water might get contaminated."
"Right."
We started to walk back into the trees, but I heard a shotgun pop over the wind. He looked over at me and smiled. "They're out there," he said.
"Any idea where?"
He shook his head. "No. They could be anywhere."
I frowned. "What's going on?"
He shrugged. "Who knows? It could just be some kids, messing around."
I looked back at the road, but I couldn't see anything. "We should get back."
He nodded.
We walked back through the trees, then into the sloping hills. We scouted the place, searching for any sign of the intruders. The cars were still going by, but they seemed to be driving slowly.
We heard a twig break.
I jumped as something pounded on the door of the bus stop. "Let me in!"
I jumped again. I could feel someone jolt through the woods, their feet hitting the earth. I felt really trapped in these woods. I turned around and saw nothing.
"Let me in!"
"They're back there!" Johnny whispered.
"You mean, they're miles away?"
"No, they're back there!" Johnny said, pointing back at the trees.
"Should we go back?"
"No! I heard them run into the trees. I think we should check the water."
"The water."
"Yeah."
"Right."
We walked back into the trees, following the path that we thought the intruders had taken. We passed the bus stop and the road, and then we changed directions. We were walking along the road now. I stopped in my tracks. Johnny stopped.
Someone was sitting under the tree.
There was a guy, and he was sitting in the mud, picking his nose and looking off into the other side of the trees.
"You really think they're behind us?" I said.
Johnny looked over his shoulder. "I think so. Would he be over here if he wasn't?"
I shrugged. "Maybe he's just a confused old man."
Johnny glanced over again. The guy adjusted his hat, then the hat blew off his hand. He watched it roll away in the wind.
Johnny turned to me. "I think we should make a run for it."
I nodded. Johnny ran off, and I followed close behind. I ran for about a hundred feet, then Johnny was right behind me.
We focused on the wall, sticking close together. Johnny slipped, but I was there to hold him up. We spread out in a line, and I could hear yelling from the other side of the wall.
