Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind Read online

  A little closer, I thought, watching the intense look on Charlie’s face. The trap had to be timed perfectly or the salt could miss. If the aliens ran away, they’d never fall for a trap like this again.

  They stepped cautiously, their neck eyes focused on the yummy-looking fruit and not at our shadows in the distance. We stayed completely still. I even held my breath.

  Finally they were in perfect position. They each grabbed an orange and began devouring it with glee. Charlie let go of the rope. It slipped through his hands and rose up the tree. The open sack of salt fell down. By the time the aliens even sensed that something was happening, it was too late. They were covered in salt.

  The two little Vegans exchanged shocked looks with each other and then smiled blissfully as they slipped to the ground, sleep taking over.

  “It worked!” Marcus cried.

  “Woo-hoo!” Charlie yelled.

  I ran over to the Vegans, mentally trying to figure out which would be the lighter one to carry. I pushed some of the oranges out of the way, made sure my phone was in my front pocket, and then leaned over to scoop one up.

  I couldn’t believe the whole plan worked. I’d found the line of code—hopefully fixed it—and Charlie’s pulley system went without a hitch. I was grinning and feeling so happy, even the alien in my arms felt light.

  “Um, Bex?” Charlie said from behind me, his voice trembling.

  My smile dissolved as I slowly turned around. Bob stood between the boys and me, his muscles tensed, hands clenched into claws. Now I knew what had made the sounds behind me when the little Vegans were to the right. It was Bob stalking us.

  “Do you have any more salt?” I asked Marcus from the side of my mouth.

  “No. It’s all on the ground there.”

  A raspy, threatening noise came from Bob’s throat. He bared his pointy teeth, saliva dripping from his mouth. Again he seemed focused on me. But not on my face. And not on the alien in my arms either.

  Realization struck me like a lightning bolt, and for the first time, I understood everything. I knew why Bob had been hanging around my property. I knew why he seemed to be focused on getting me. I knew exactly what he wanted.

  And it wasn’t me after all.

  Bob’s eyes were on the phone sticking out of my front pocket.

  Charlie had pulled out his phone and activated the Alien Invasion game so they could speak. “Leave her alone!” he yelled. “You can’t have Bex!”

  Bob snorted. “I don’t want her. She’s a lowly human. I want her device.”

  “Her phone?” Marcus said in disbelief. “Why?”

  “I will use it—like she did—to bring others here,” Bob sneered. “I will bring all my people, and we will take over Earth!”

  Oh, this was bad. Like, really, really bad. He wanted to use my phone to start an actual alien invasion. This was worse than when I’d thought he wanted to eat me for dinner. He wanted to destroy all of humanity.

  With a roar, Marcus charged at him, but Bob saw him coming this time. Growling, Bob planted his feet—all three of them—and easily knocked Marcus to the side. Marcus hit the ground with a thud and rolled into a patch of moss.

  Bob was too strong to fight when he saw the attack coming. We had to catch him by surprise. But how would we do that? He could see all of us.

  And then I thought, we’re not all here. Willa had whistled from her lookout position to let us know she saw something. She may have made her way back here. She could have been hiding anywhere in the darkness.

  Marcus pushed himself up to his knees and was doing something on the ground by the orange pile, but I couldn’t tell what.

  Bob inched closer to me, hands outstretched. I gripped the little Vegan tighter in my arms. I couldn’t drop it. It could hit its head or something. But I couldn’t let Bob just walk up and grab my phone. I had to take a risk.

  “Sorry, bud,” I whispered. Then I bent to the ground, dropping the little alien from a safe height.

  I tried to pop back up to my feet to protect my phone, but Bob was too fast. He whipped the phone out of my pocket with one hand and shoved me backward with the other. I flew through the air a few feet and winced as I landed on a tree root.

  Bob was running now. He had my phone and a plan to take over the planet. Charlie chased him, but Bob and his three legs were too fast. Charlie would never catch up. I watched helplessly from the ground. We’d lost. Bob had gotten what he wanted. All of humanity would be destroyed.

  But then Willa came soaring from behind a tree. She perfectly executed a ballet rond de jambe with her leg extended and tripped Bob.

  The evil alien lost his grip on my phone, and it went soaring through the air. Charlie, who’d never stopped running, caught it in two outstretched hands, then tucked it under his arm like a football.

  Hissing and growling like a cornered animal, Bob jumped back up to his feet, only to find himself hit square in the face by a handful of salt from Marcus. That’s what he’d been doing on the ground! Scooping up as much fallen salt as he could hold in his hands. Bob’s eyes rolled up and he slumped to the ground.

  I scrambled back up to my feet, in shock at how quickly the situation had gone from hopeless to handled.

  Willa smiled. “Now that’s what I call teamwork.”

  I carefully placed the last alien from Grandpa Tepper’s garage into the back of the SUV. Jason and Caleb, his friend with the license, inspected the inventory. I knew Charlie would think of something, but this plan was brilliant. And even though Charlie was stuck doing two weeks of Jason’s chores as part of the deal, Charlie thought it would be worth the extra work.

  Caleb held up a bag. “I’ve also got that rock salt you wanted. What’s that for?”

  “The less you know, the better,” I said, taking the bag. True words in so many ways.

  “They feel so real.” Caleb poked Vera, the only alien who wasn’t unconscious. Thankfully, she faked it well. Then Caleb laughed and punched Jason in the arm. “Dude, you were right. This is the prank of the century! They are so scary and real looking. Those Runswick Martians will never mess with us again. Where are you going to put all these fake aliens?”

  “In the Runswick boys’ locker room,” Charlie said, crossing his arms and attempting to act all tough-dude-like. “We just have to stop by the observatory first.”

  I tapped my wrist as if I had a watch on. “We should really get going.”

  “Yeah, totally, dude,” Caleb said and dashed to the driver’s side.

  Marcus and Willa had already settled into one of the rows of seats. I closed the rear door.

  Jason turned to Charlie and whispered, “What are you going to say when Runswick doesn’t get pranked?”

  Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “That I got caught, but I didn’t roll over on anyone else. I claimed it as a solo job and took all the heat.” He grinned. “But the idea for the prank will still make its way around the gossip mill. And when Runswick’s pranks on us suddenly stop, it’ll be because they were obviously scared of my creative retaliation. I’ll be legendary. A team hero.”

  Jason shook his head. “Your mind is a brilliant and scary place.”

  We all piled into the SUV, and Caleb started the engine. He seemed to be a safe driver, following all the rules. Which was good. We did not want to get pulled over right now.

  I craned my neck to look at the aliens. I didn’t need anyone waking up halfway there. Especially Bob. But they slept soundly in the back. For now.

  “Why are we going to the observatory first?” Caleb asked as we rolled to a stop at a red light. “Why aren’t we going straight to Runswick?”

  “We have to pick up some other alien-themed junk for the prank,” Charlie said.

  “What kind of junk?”

  “Don’t ask, dude,” Jason muttered.

  Charlie leaned forward from the back seat and his voice turned serious. “If you don’t know the details, you can’t be ruled an accomplice if things go b
ad.”

  “Whoa.” Caleb’s widened eyes were visible in the rearview mirror. “Jason, you were right. Your little bro is supersmart.”

  Charlie’s face beamed with pride. He glanced at Jason, who rolled his eyes and shrugged, as if to say, Yeah, I bragged about you. Whatever.

  I held a bag of salt on my lap and was surrounded by unconscious aliens, but the moment still warmed my heart.

  By the time we reached the observatory, though, my nerves had overtaken. I was breathing fast and my hands were shaking.

  “Dr. Maria is working, right?” Charlie whispered in my ear.

  “Yeah.” I’d called earlier and was told that they had no public viewing tonight, but Dr. Maria was working her office hours. With the cargo we brought, she had to let us in this time.

  We squished four Vegans into the double stroller. The two other little Vegans, plus Vera and Bob, barely fit into a red wagon.

  “That is one crowded wagon,” Caleb said with a low whistle.

  “They don’t need to go far,” Charlie said.

  Just through the parking lot, up to the telescope, and across the galaxy. No biggie.

  “Should I go in, too?” Caleb asked eagerly.

  Jason put a hand on his chest. “Nah, bro. We’ll wait here. Remember, if they get caught, we know nothing.”

  We knocked on the glass door like last time. And eventually Dr. Maria came up to answer it, like last time.

  She frowned when she saw it was us. She opened the door a crack. “You know I can’t let you in. We’ve talked about this.”

  Charlie, Willa, Marcus, and I had been standing like guards in front of the stroller and wagon full of aliens. Now, we broke apart and watched as Dr. Maria took it all in.

  I laid out my case. “I have six sleeping alien-kids, one unconscious evil alien, one conscious nice one, and a working translator. You can ask whatever you like for a few minutes if we get to use your machine.”

  Vera sat up in the wagon and waved.

  Dr. Maria’s eyes widened to the size of moons. Then she nodded fervently, apparently unable to speak as she opened the door wide.

  “Can we take the elevator up to the observation level?” I asked, pulling the wagon.

  Dr. Maria nodded again, pressing the button for the elevator and holding the door while we loaded it up with ourselves, the wagon, and the double stroller.

  After a short ride up, we piled out. I almost gasped at the telescope, even though I’d already seen it during the field trip. It was just so impressive. The dome was open as it had been then, the clear night sky twinkling with billions of white lights.

  “We need the telescope focused on Vega,” Charlie said, getting right down to business.

  “Is that, um, is that where they’re from?” Dr. Maria asked, finally finding her voice.

  “A planet orbiting Vega, yes.” I pointed at the machine my phone had fallen into. “Have you made any changes to your device?”

  She shook her head. “No. I haven’t had the chance to work on it this week.”

  I blew out a breath. “Good. We need everything to be the same as it was the night our class was here.”

  As Dr. Maria pointed the telescope at the required coordinates, I briefly told her what had happened, from my game accidentally summoning aliens to town, to Bob trying to steal my phone to take over the world.

  “And you think reversing the code will teleport them back?” she asked.

  “That’s our hope,” Marcus said.

  “Well, it’s ready.” She stepped back from the telescope. “May I have a few moments like you promised?”

  “Of course,” I said.

  The game had already been open on my phone, so Vera had understood everything. She climbed out of the wagon and held out her hand to Dr. Maria. “Hello.”

  Dr. Maria’s trembling hand reached out and shook hers. Her mouth formed a giant O as she stared at Vera in awe.

  “We only have a couple minutes,” Willa reminded her.

  Dr. Maria nodded. “Wh-what is the secret to space travel?” she stammered.

  “We do not yet know,” Vera’s robotic translator said. “The child’s device teleported us here unexpectedly. Our current space program cannot teleport or reach the speed of light.”

  “Have you been watching us from afar?” Dr. Maria asked with a catch in her voice.

  “We’ve been looking,” Vera said. “We were at our own observatory when we were brought here. But we didn’t know that Earth had life-forms. In our world, you are referred to as Planet Blue 436F. We have never made contact with life-forms from another planet. Until now, that is.”

  Dr. Maria blinked back tears as she whispered almost to herself, “They’ll never believe me.”

  I moved close to her and put my hand on her arm. “That’s okay. At least you know now that it’s true. We’re not alone. Your work, your machine … it’s worth it.”

  “But now,” Vera said, “we really need to get home.”

  I stared at Vera. When I first saw that upside down face, it was straight out of a nightmare. But now, I loved it.

  My voice cracked. “I’ll miss you, Vera.”

  “I’ll miss you, too, my friend Bex.” She looked at us, one by one. “And your friend Charlie. And your friend Marcus. And … Willa.”

  I coughed into my hand. “Actually, Willa is my friend, too.”

  Willa’s face brightened, and I even thought I saw a single tear in the corner of her eye.

  “And your friend Willa,” Vera amended.

  The little Vegans started to stir, which meant Bob wouldn’t be too far behind.

  “We need to do it,” Charlie said. “Now.”

  I gently placed my phone in the middle of all the wires in Dr. Maria’s machine where it had landed the night of the field trip. The game was open and ready to go. I glanced around—at Vera, the little Vegans, even Bob, and felt a hard lump in my throat.

  “Good-bye,” I said, and pressed the Summon button.

  I stepped back, away from the aliens, and toward my friends. All I could do now was hope the code rewrite worked. Marcus grabbed my hand, Charlie grabbed the other, and Willa rested her chin on my shoulder.

  I closed my eyes and held my breath.

  Get him!” I yelled. “Knock him down! Knock him down, hard!”

  “Wow, you’ve really gotten into this,” Willa said.

  I rubbed my hands together. We’d crossed into October, and a chill was in the air. And on my butt. Someone should really engineer a way to heat metal bleachers for spectators.

  “At first I thought football was boring,” I admitted. “But it’s a lot more exciting when your best friend is on the team.” Even if he spent most of his time on the bench, having Charlie on the team and finally understanding what that meant to him had given me a sudden case of school spirit.

  The bleacher shuddered as Marcus plopped down next to me. He handed me a hot cocoa. “Figured you could use this.”

  I smiled gratefully. “Thanks!”

  It had been only a few days since we’d successfully sent all the aliens back to their home planet, and I still felt a little pang when I thought about Vera. I hoped she and the younger Vegans were doing well back home. And I hoped Bob was in some sort of alien jail, charged with attempted intergalactic warfare.

  When we’d left the observatory empty-handed, Jason feigned shock at our getting “caught” with fake aliens. Caleb was truly disappointed. He’d wanted to drive us to Runswick’s school and be a part of the best prank of all time. But, as predicted, Charlie had been treated like a hero for even thinking about such a cool prank. And, also as predicted, Runswick never retaliated. No one needed to know that they’d never started the prank war to begin with, and that those fake aliens were real.

  We got our unnecessary revenge on the field.

  With one second on the clock, our kicker sailed the ball through the yellow-posty things, and everyone jumped up and down screaming, so I knew we’d won. Now that I’d stop
ped playing Alien Invasion, I had extra time on my hands. Maybe I’d learn some football terms so I could understand what was going on in these games.

  The three of us waited for Charlie outside the locker room. He came out, beaming from the team’s win (which he had no hand in, but whatever, go team).

  “Thanks for coming!” he said, his face all red and sweaty.

  Marcus patted him on the shoulder. “Awesome game.”

  “Totally,” Willa said, flinging her hair in the way that she did when a cute guy was around.

  It was really starting to seem like Willa liked Charlie. And I didn’t quite know how I felt about that. But, first things first. “Do you guys want to do something?” I asked.

  “Sure!” Charlie said. “And, actually, I have an idea.”

  “Hey, Willa!” Megan yelled as she and Chloe walked by. “We’re heading to the mall. Want to come?”

  “I can’t,” Willa called back. “Let’s do something tomorrow, though!”

  “Deal!” Chloe yelled.

  I couldn’t stop myself from grinning ear to ear.

  “What?” Willa rolled her eyes playfully. “You’re more exciting to hang with lately. It’s not a big deal.”

  “What’s your idea?” Marcus asked Charlie.

  Charlie said, “Let’s hop in my dad’s car. He’ll give us a ride.”

  I had no idea what Charlie had in mind. His dad drove us through the center of town and to the outskirts where a few industrial and office buildings stood. But when he took a right into a large lot, and a familiar red-brick building came into view, I understood. I just didn’t know why.

  Mr. Tepper put the car in park. “I’m going to head to the grocery store. I’ll pick you up when I’m done.”

  The four of us got out of the car and walked toward the chain-link fence that surrounded the headquarters of Veratrum Games. We weren’t the only ones there either. A small group of kids and adults stood around, like they were waiting for something.

  “Charlie,” I said with a tinge of anxiety. “Why are we here?”

  His voice turned serious. “It’s the unveiling.”

  “Oh!” Marcus said, excited. But then he added, sadly, “Oh.”