Chapter 27
“Four minutes until the bell,” Mark observed to himself. It seemed like an eternity. What was he so anxious for? The only thing that the bell represented was that he would have to go to English class. He hated English even more than history. His grades had been slipping the last couple of weeks. Sheer boredom was the only reason. Nothing in school intrigued him. Home life was boring. And Steve hadn’t sent him any word in a couple of months. He had expected to hear something from his brother. Finally he had given up hoping, but now he had nothing to anticipate in life. Gramps was going to sleep earlier, and Mark just watched whatever stupid show was on TV.
Finally the bell rang and he could at least walk outside for a few minutes. The weather was starting to get crisp, and he only wore a tee-shirt, but he actually enjoyed the sensation. It wakened him a bit, and gave him a touch of life for the day. The only thing good about English was Tess. She was a very pretty brunette, who loved pink. She always had something pink on. Today it was a pink flower in her hair. Mark and Tess hadn’t really hit it off yet, but she was at least nice to him.
“Hey, Tess.”
“Hey, Mark.”
That was about it for today, but it was better than nothing. Class dragged on. Tess sat in front of Mark, and all he could do today was stare at her hair and the pink flower. He loved those soft brown curls.
“You are going to have a book report due by the end of the semester,” Mark’s teacher droned. Mark only half-listened. ”It will be on H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds. It’s one of the first books written about earthlings and aliens. Both this book, and a later radio show taken from it, have caused quite a stir at times. Today, the world is focused on alien contact again. I’m sure that a lot of you have been following the news about the Space Force. So, I hope that you will find this book interesting.”
Once Mark heard the words ‘alien’, and ‘Space Force,’ his consciousness to reality returned. He hadn’t actually heard what this was all about.
“Hey, Tess,” he whispered. “What’s this about aliens and the Space Force?”
“Boys,” she whispered back.
“No, really—I wasn’t listening.”
“What were you doing?”
“Checking out the flower in your hair.”
She turned briefly and scrunched her nose at him. He shrugged and gave a half smile.
“We’ve got to read a war book about aliens, and do a book report by the end of the semester,” Tess explained.
“Awesome!”
“It’s an old book, though.”
“Oh.”
The next thing he knew, the teacher was passing out copies of the book. They were hardback, and very worn. Tess got one that was practically falling apart in her hands. She had passed back a newer one to him. “Eeeww,” she said, holding the book like it would cause her some kind of a disease.
“Here, give it to me. I’ll trade you.”
She agreed readily, and they swapped books. Marks book was pretty disgusting, but he didn’t care—especially since he got to make a trade with Tess. I think that I’m going to like this book, Mark thought. His life was currently so dull, that even this assignment was a significant pick-up. Plus, Tess was being cool today.
School ended, and he walked home with a little spring in his step. The cool air added to his brisk pace. He actually considered opening the book and starting to read it as he walked in the door. Gramps was already home, and looked like he was just settling in for some news. “Hey, Gramps.”
