Danger Magellan's Invasion of Earth

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

One week later, I found myself sitting in World History, wishing that I could be anywhere else. I wasn't exactly interested in the reasons why ancient civilizations developed, and apparently, Dan wasn't either. He hadn't been to this class since the first day of school. However, he was always miraculously back in time to sit through Algebra II with Arthur and I.

As I listened to my teacher talk about some important battle in the Second Punic War, I wondered where Dan was. Was he sitting in some other class? Was he studying in the library? Was he at home, playing a game or taking a nap, or was he up to something far more sinister? There was no way to tell what Dan was doing, but it didn't really matter. Although Mrs. Perez was constantly frustrated by Dan's absence, she had gotten used to it, and everyone in class would be surprised if Dan ever did show up.

All of a sudden, I felt something crawl over my feet. I looked down, and spotted a familiar spiny creature. "Blaze?" I whispered. "Is that you?"

Blaze didn't seem to be paying me attention as she continued to trot across the classroom. Nobody else seemed to notice her, so I assumed that I was hallucinating. It's never good to be hallucinating on audition day, I thought. I desperately needed to clear my mind before school ended.

The bell rang, and I walked to Algebra II. When I got to the classroom, I took a seat next to Arthur. "Hi Nora," Arthur said. "Good luck at auditions today."

"Thanks Arthur," I said.

Right before the bell rang again, Dan sprinted into the room. "Sorry I'm late," he said. I glanced towards his backpack, and saw that Blaze was poking her head out. There was no way that Blaze had been able to get from World History to Dan's backpack that quickly.

I didn't pay much attention to my teacher's lecture on exponential functions that day. I rehearsed my audition song over and over in my head, hoping that this would give me an advantage over Leona's months of practice.

Who was I kidding? There was no way I could beat Leona during auditions. I was going to get some minor role, or worse, end up in the ensemble. Maybe I wouldn't even get a callback. What would I do if that happened?

"Nora has auditions today," Arthur told Dan. "That's why she's so moody."

"What's the big deal about auditions?" Dan said. "I just don't get it. I've listened to Nora play every single one of her show tunes, and I don't understand the appeal."

"I don't understand the appeal of your Albanian dance electro punk rock, Dan," I replied.

"It's not even...whatever, I guess that is one way to describe what I listen to," Dan said. "Just don't insult the Aeronauts."

I wasn't even certain if Dan's music was Albanian, since the accent that I heard in those songs was so different from what Dan's accent sounded like. However, it was some bizarre form of foreign synth punk that I couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Algebra II passed far too slowly, although it was somewhat amusing to watch Dan and Arthur chat about everything from how exponents worked to Dan's hedgehog. It appeared that Arthur had managed to find someone even crazier than he was.

As soon as school ended, I ran to the drama room to start my audition. Hopefully, if Mrs. Oswald saw my audition before Leona's, she wouldn't compare me to her. When I got to the room, however, it was too late. Leona was already in the drama room, and she would almost certainly audition before I did.

A few more freshmen piled into the drama room before Mrs. Oswald started the auditions. I watched the first few auditions, all of which were awful, before I began to zone out.