Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind

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  © 2017 by Kim Harrington

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  ISBN 978-1-4549-2617-7

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  I was going to be late for school if I didn’t leave soon, but I couldn’t move from my spot. The alien invasion had begun. I watched through my phone’s screen as UFOs drifted down from the blue morning sky onto my front yard below.

  I banged my finger against the screen, firing lasers at every enemy spaceship until they were all gone, and the words YOU SAVED THE EARTH flashed on the screen. Smiling broadly, I looked up to high-five my best friend, Charlie Tepper, but he wasn’t there.

  “Hey, Bex, did you win?” he called from his front yard next door.

  At some point, he’d stopped playing and had wandered over to toss a football with his older brother, Jason. That was a sight I’d never get used to. Until recently, Jason’s only contact with his brother was to bully and insult him. But after we nearly lost Charlie in an, um, monster incident, Jason had been nicer. And it helped that, once he actually began spending quality time with Charlie, Jason realized that his nerdy little brother had a secret. Surprisingly, Charlie had quite an arm on him. So Jason had made it his life’s mission to teach Charlie everything he could about football. I didn’t think Charlie would be interested for longer than a day. But it had lasted the rest of the summer, and he’d even joined the middle school football team. Though I still clung to the hope that the whole thing would be a passing fad.

  “Of course I won,” I said as I strolled over to them.

  It wasn’t as conceited as it sounded. I’d be the first to admit the things I was bad at (which were many). But gaming wasn’t one of them. I was an awesome gamer, and I’d even started to teach myself how to code using online apps. It came easy to me, like science did to Charlie. Though he spent less time doing chemistry experiments in his basement these days.

  “Heads up!” Jason yelled.

  I ducked just in time to avoid getting a football lodged in my nostril.

  “We should go,” Charlie said. “See you later, Jason.”

  Jason was a freshman and thankfully the high school was in the opposite direction. I liked walking to middle school with Charlie alone. Lately it seemed like the only time we got to really talk. We only shared one class together—science. And lunch was so crowded that sometimes in all of the chaos, we didn’t end up at the same table.

  Things had been so much simpler in elementary school.

  “So what did you think of that science homework?” I asked, hefting my backpack higher on my shoulder.

  “It was pretty easy.” Charlie kicked at a pebble and it flew a few feet in front of us. “The field trip tomorrow night sounds awesome.”

  “Yeah, it does.” I kicked the pebble farther. This was a game we played most mornings. We’d find a pebble and take turns kicking it all the way to school.

  He took a turn, launching the pebble ten feet down the sidewalk. “You’re really into Alien Invasion, huh? Do you think it’s as good as Monsters Unleashed?”

  The makers of Alien Invasion, Veratrum Games, had previously created a game called Monsters Unleashed. We’d been totally obsessed with it over the summer. Until some of the video game monsters got really unleashed and we had to save the town from real live snarling beasts.

  “It’s not quite as good, but it feels safer.” I laughed, and he joined in.

  Both of us had vowed never to play Monsters Unleashed again. But I was happy when Alien Invasion came out. It was another augmented reality game, which meant that when you were playing, it looked like the game was taking place in the real world. It used the phone’s camera and graphics card to do the trick. And there was nothing like battling video game aliens in your school parking lot.

  Even our science teacher, Mr. Durr, liked the game. If you played at night, there was a really cool extra feature that “was actually educational,” he said. When you held the phone up to the sky, a star map filled in, showing exactly what stars and planets you were looking at. I’d learned a lot about astronomy while I protected our planet from fake aliens.

  “You still haven’t played at night yet,” I pointed out.

  Charlie’s parents had finally agreed to get him a cell phone after he’d joined the football team, so that he could text them when it was time to pick him up from practice. When we used to play mobile games together, he always had to borrow his mother’s phone. It was great that he now had his own—if he ever had free time to use it.

  “I’ve heard the game’s ten times cooler at night,” Charlie said.

  My face lit up as I thought of an idea. “How about tonight? Eight p.m. My backyard. The weather app this morning said it was going to be clear skies. Perfect for playing!”

  Charlie held the school’s front door open for me. “I can’t. I have football practice after school. And then I’m going out for ice cream with the team. And then I’ll have to do all my homework.”

  My heart sank into my gray Converse sneakers. I followed him into the school, feeling like I was losing my best friend. We’d been inseparable since I’d moved in next door when we were five. We didn’t even mind when other kids teased us about being boy/girl best friends. But since we started middle school three weeks ago, things felt like they were changing. Or, more specifically, Charlie was changing.

  “Hey, do you have any new science jokes?” I asked. “You haven’t told me one in a while.”

  Charlie raised his eyebrows. “You hate my science jokes.”

  “I don’t hate them.”

  He gave me a look.

  “Okay, I used to think they were a little annoying,” I admitted. “But, strangely, I miss them.”

  His science jokes were totally dorky, and he sometimes came out with them at inappropriate times. But everything was suddenly moving too fast. I just wanted one thing to stay the same.

  “Well, I can’t think of any right now,” he said with a shrug.

  Then the bell rang so loudly it made my ears ache.

  “Gotta go!” Charlie called.

  Kids darted left and right, squealing with their friends. I shuffled toward my classroom, head down, feeling like a lost puppy. Then I felt a shove, like someone had pushed my backpack. I looked around, but the hall was chaos. It was probably an accident, some kid bumping me while trying to squeeze by.

  I settled into my seat in English class and put my backpack on the floor. But then I noticed something. A white piece of paper had been shoved into the side pocket. I glanced around. No one was paying any attention to me, as usual. So I slipped the note out and unfolded it. When I saw what it said, my heart did a cartwheel.

  YOU’RE INVITED

  TO JOIN TGS. TONIGHT,

  THE COMMON, 7 P.M.

  What was this? A secret group? I had no idea.

  But I couldn’t wait to find out.

  School passed in a blur, and I sped through my homework all afternoon. I couldn’t wait until seven. I was so excited to find out what TGS was. It was definitely taking my mind off the way things were with Charlie.

  I slid into my seat at the dinner table a
s my father put out a platter of chicken and potatoes. My dad was an incredible cook. Even plain old chicken and potatoes tasted awesome. And he loved coming home from the office and slipping on his apron. He said cooking helped him “decompress.” I didn’t really understand, but his process ended with tasty noms, so that’s all the mattered.

  Mom settled onto the seat beside me, typing wildly on her phone.

  “A phone at the table?” my dad said with a wink. “Really?”

  Mom chuckled but continued typing. “One second. I just have to finish this last email.”

  The “no phones at the table” rule had been created for me, so that I’d stop gaming long enough to put food in my mouth. But now that the personalized jewelry business Mom had started out of her home office had taken off, she broke the rule more than anyone.

  “Okay, I’m done!” she announced and pushed the phone away.

  I stabbed a roasted potato with my fork and blew on it until it cooled. “How was work?”

  Mom let out a breath that made her bangs flutter. “Busy.”

  “My day was nonstop meetings,” Dad said with a sigh. “But I’m home and decompressed! How was school?”

  See? He really liked that word. I held up a finger as I chewed through a bite. “Pretty good. I’m excited about the field trip to the observatory tomorrow night.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Dad said. “Is Charlie excited, too? I know he’s always been into the sciences.”

  At the mention of Charlie, I felt my shoulders sag a bit. My parents knew that he’d joined the football team, and I was sure they’d noticed we were spending less time together. But I tried not to show how much it was bothering me.

  “Yeah,” I said, my voice cracking. “I think he’s excited.”

  My parents shared a look.

  “We’ve been thinking,” Mom said carefully. “Maybe you need to … widen your circle of friends.”

  I could tell by the way they tiptoed around the conversation that this was something they’d discussed ahead of time. Something they were worried about. I hated it when my parents worried about me. I mean, I knew it was their job and all, but I was fine. Everything was fine.

  I cleared my throat. “That’s a good idea. Actually, I’m meeting some kids from school at the common tonight after dinner.”

  “Great!” Mom said.

  “Wonderful!” Dad echoed.

  The rest of the dinner conversation spiraled into current events and politics, like it sometimes did. But I was glad the spotlight was off me. Having to talk to my parents about my social life was always so awkward.

  I helped my mom with the dishes and grabbed a light jacket. September in Massachusetts was unpredictable. It could feel like summer one day and midwinter the next. I didn’t know what to expect when I went to the common. And I wasn’t just talking about the weather.

  The walk was quick and uneventful, though strange. I hardly ever walked downtown without Charlie. Wolcott Common was an open, grassy area where kids played and people had picnics and stuff. There were always at least a handful of people milling about. So I was surprised when I got there and found … no one.

  I glanced at my phone. It was seven o’clock. I wasn’t late. Was the note a trick of some kind? Did the TGS people change their mind, whoever they were?

  “Psst … ”

  The sound came from the pretty white gazebo. I squinted and could make out someone’s shadow. As I walked toward it, my nerves prickled. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to go meet a stranger, even in a public place.

  But when I got closer, I realized the sound wasn’t coming from a stranger after all. And then I got even more nervous.

  Marcus Moore stood in the center of the gazebo, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking super cool in his black Veratrum Games T-shirt. I’d had a crush on Marcus since, well, since I knew how to have crushes. He was one grade ahead of me, wicked smart, and the best gamer I knew. Of course, along with those skills came an unfortunately large ego. And the fact that he didn’t care what anyone thought of him was both adorable and horrible because he could be annoyingly sarcastic at times.

  “Is this … the TGS meeting?” I asked.

  “No. It’s a sewing circle.”

  Like now. This was one of those times.

  I rolled my eyes. “If you’re going to be a jerk, I’ll just leave.”

  He quickly descended the steps of the gazebo to the grass. “Come on. I was just joking. You’re so serious, Bexley Grayson.”

  “It’s Bex. You know that.” He probably also knew that I hated my full name. And that was probably why he used it. But I wouldn’t crack a smile or give him any sort of reaction. I stood, stone-faced.

  “You’re probably wondering what that note was all about,” he said.

  “Nah. I came here to look at the stars.”

  The side of his mouth lifted up. “Looks like two can play that game.”

  Dang it. I couldn’t complain about him being sarcastically rude if my reaction was to do it right back. “So,” I said, evening out my voice. “What does TGS stand for?”

  “The Gamer Squad,” he answered. “It’s an invitation-only, elite group of the top gamers in town. And after how you handled the Monsters Unleashed debacle, we think you’re the perfect fit.”

  My eyes widened. Was this heaven? Had I died and gone to a perfect place?

  “Th-that sounds incredible,” I stammered. “What do you do?”

  “Well, we’re relatively new. But we game together, obviously. We try out betas. Play around with some coding so we can build our own apps.”

  I had to stop myself from clapping with excitement. “That sounds awesome. We’re in. We’re totally in!”

  Marcus raised an eyebrow. “We?”

  “Charlie and I.” I almost added a duh because it should have been obvious.

  Marcus’s expression turned serious. “The invitation was only for you.”

  All of that excitement drained out of me like a dead battery. I couldn’t join a gamer group without Charlie. We were gaming partners. Even now, when he was busy with his new hobby, I couldn’t imagine heading off to secret gamer meetings without him. Would I have to lie about where I was going? If the group found an awesome new game, would I have to play it without him? All summer I’d been worried that middle school would tear our friendship apart. Whether that happened or not, it certainly wasn’t going to be my doing.

  “I’m out, then,” I said sadly.

  Marcus’s mouth dropped open. “You’re rejecting me? I mean, us?”

  I shrugged. “I can’t join without Charlie. He’s my best friend.”

  Marcus snapped his jaw shut and his eyes flared. “Have fun playing games by yourself, then. Because your supposed best friend has already moved on.”

  He stormed off in a huff. I couldn’t believe he’d gotten so upset. I wasn’t rejecting him personally; I just couldn’t join his group if they weren’t also inviting Charlie. It wasn’t the right thing to do. Marcus should understand that. He knew what Charlie and I had been through last summer with the monsters.

  As I turned to watch him march away, I saw what he’d meant when he said Charlie “had moved on.” A bunch of kids, including my best friend, ambled down the sidewalk past the common in their football gear. Practice had ended and they were walking to the Ice Cream Shack. It wasn’t a surprise, really. Charlie had told me about it. That was why he couldn’t play Alien Invasion with me tonight.

  It hadn’t bothered me too much at the time. But watching him now with his new buddies, laughing and shoving one another while I stood in the darkened common alone …

  I couldn’t help but wonder if Marcus was right.

  The bus was packed. My stomach tightened as I glanced at all the rows of seats. I’d been so excited all day about the field trip that night. But I’d totally forgotten we’d have to take a school bus to get there. Buses gave me anxiety. Trying to find a seat, fear of being rejected, feeling the pressure of stickin
g to the rules of bus placement (nerds in the front, troublemakers and cool kids in the back). It made me glad Charlie and I lived close enough to walk to school every day.

  I spied Charlie alone in a seat halfway down. His face lit up, and he gave me a wave. Immediately, my anxiety released, and I exhaled a deep breath.

  But then, before I could reach Charlie, Robbie Martinez sat down next to him. Robbie was another seventh grader on the football team. He seemed nice, and Charlie had been talking about him a lot lately. But that was my seat! I looked at Charlie, waiting for him to tell Robbie that the seat was taken. But he didn’t even glance at me. He stared, with rapt attention, as Robbie told some story from gym glass.

  I felt a shove in the center of my back.

  “Come on!” someone yelled. “Move!”

  My heart sped up as I slowly made my way down the aisle, frantically looking for somewhere to sit. None of my other friends were on this field trip—only Charlie. Each seat was either already taken with two people or one person and the universal sign for “don’t even try it,” a hand or backpack saving the second spot. As far as I could see, it was rejection after rejection. What would I do? Push a kid’s hand away and insist that I sit? Grab a spot on the floor? Just keep on going right out the back emergency exit door?

  “Excuse me,” a girl said, squeezing past. I didn’t have to look to know who it was. I recognized the voice of Willa Tanaka, my friend, then enemy, then maybe friend, but we hadn’t really figured it out yet. If you’re confused, don’t worry. So was I.

  Willa pushed by me to sit with Chloe Forte, who had been saving her a spot. But then another girl who’d also been saving a spot for Willa got mad and insisted on pushing into the same seat, squishing three in a row. The good news was she’d left a completely empty seat. I launched myself into it like it was the last lifeboat on a sinking ship. Then I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes.

  I couldn’t believe Charlie had dumped me for Robbie. Was he really changing? Was he leaving me behind? My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to read the new text.