Reality is a Fleeting Moment

Chapter Ten

No one POV

Eliza and Zed conversed after school. "This looks really good. How'd you get the application done so fast?" Eliza asked.

"What can I say," Zed smiled. "I got friends in high places."

"Now, all you got is the home interview, right?"

"Yep."

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(Izzy POV)

Music keeps me calm, that's a fact. So, I removed my cello from the case, the wood and strings feeling familiar to my hands, even after a couple years. I took a moment to take in the familiarity before I played. The wood felt smooth against my palms and the strings hurt my fingers a bit.

I breathed in a deep breath and started to play. I was shaky at first, due to so many years of not practicing. But, after a moment, I relaxed and played well. "Wow..." I looked up at the doorway to see Leila standing there, still as a statue, seemingly unbreathing. "You're really good."

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(No one POV)

"Everything's all set for cheer practice tonight, Addison." Stacey smiled at Addison as they took a seat in the restaurant.

"Great! Thanks, Stacey!" Addison looked back towards the window to see one of the aliens, A-spen, sat in the seat across from her. Addison and her other friends yelped.

"Ooh! Fear! I recognize that emotion!" A-spen folded her hands together and leaned closer across the table. "Oh, great leader of cheer, I need your help."

Addison raised a brow. "What is it?"

"I have a feeling I cannot define..." A-spen looked... almost worried? "My palms are sweaty, and it feels like space moths are in my stomach."

A few faint voices were heard outside the door. "Leila, I'm so hungry! Let me eat!" The door to the restaurant opened slightly, before shutting again.

"Stop lying, Izzy! You just wanna pick a fight in there because you're bored!"

"No! I just wanted to confirm a rumor I had heard, Leila! And I really am hungry!"

"Really? Tell me. What's the rumor?"

"That A-spen is down bad for Zed."

Addison glanced at A-spen, who looked confused. "You like Zed?"

"What does 'down bad' mean?" A-spen asked at the same time. The door burst open.

"Ah-ha!" Izzy plopped down at the table. "I knew it...!" Leila yanked Izzy out of her seat and marched out the door... again.

"Uhm... A-spen... down bad means you... uhh... like-like someone. You know, love." Addison explained

A-spen looked more confused. "I do not know."

Addison elaborated. "It's when you connect with someone in a really strong way."

A-spen seemed to understand. "And desire, somewhat irrationally, to be with them?"

Addison nodded. "Yes, that's it."

A-spen smiled. "Then I suppose I do love Zed!"

"Uhm... A-spen... uh... I love Zed."

"We both love Zed. How wonderful!"

Lacey interjected. "Yeah, you can't like her boyfriend..."

"One must control who they love?" A-spen asked as she turned to face Lacey, who nodded.

Addison was quick to correct her. "Uh, well, no. You can't control love. But Zed and I are a couple, and we wanna be together for..."

"Forever?" A-spen finished.

Addison smiled. "Well, if he gets into Mountain College then, yeah, forever."

A-spen smiled too. "Or maybe he will not get in, change his mind, and love me when you go away!"

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(Izzy POV)

Their music was positively dreadful. It was just yapping about 'Utopia' during the aliens' "cheer routine," if you could even call it that. It took every ounce of my restraint to "watch peacefully" like Bucky, Lacey, and Stacey wanted, but I managed. "What the heck is this?" I whispered to Lacey, not taking my eyes off the stage.

"Honestly," She whispered back, handing me a lollipop, "I don't know either."

I unwrapped the lollipop and shoved it in my mouth. "This could possibly be a good routine..." I stuffed the lollipop stick and wrapper in my pocket. "If it were scientifically and physically possible."

Lacey nodded. "Also, if it had better music..." As if on cue, the music faded out to silence when it finished, prompting... most of us to clap. I just rolled my eyes and put my headphones on so I could tune out my peers. Lacey nudged me with her elbow as a silent reprimand for my "rude behavior," but she didn't really care.

As I was about to turn on my music, Stacey slid one of the speakers off my ear because, "They're trying to talk to us," She told me, "Even if you don't care, you should at least be polite..." I quickly shot her a look, but decided that Stacey was one of the few people who deserved happiness, so I didn't move the speaker back onto my ear.

"Our telepathic grouplink makes cheer so..." A-spen struggled for the word(or something), "Easy."

'Much offense taken...' seemed to be the thought in everyone's mind as A-lan nodded. "Yes. We are much, much better than you, and you've all practiced your whole lives."

"Thank you for inviting us to practice. It was very fun." A-spen and the other aliens tried to walk away as if nothing had happened, but I decided to follow them. How dare they blatantly insult Seabrook's pride and joy(the Seabrook cheer team), even after most of us have been so hospitable to them?

"Cut the BS, aliens..." I mumbled quietly. "I know what you're really up to..." Lacey grabbed my hand and pulled me back before I could follow the aliens further.

"Hey," She whispered in my ear, "it's us against them, and we are gonna win. We're not gonna let them take what's ours."

"You're talking about the Seabrook Cup, right? Or Seabrook in general?" I matched her whisper as I pulled my hand out of her grasp.

Lacey grinned. "Why not both?" Then, she turned back to Addison and left me to my own devices, honestly a stupid idea.

"Now that they're distracted," A-spen explained to A-lan and A-li in a not-quite whisper, "we can see the moonstone."

"Vaporize them." A-li said at the same time as A-spen and A-lan, who both looked at A-li as if she had three heads. "Don't look at me like that..."

I didn't listen to the rest as I shoved past them, physically and mentally prepared to rip off their heads if they dared to approach the moonstone.