Camp IX | ✓

15

     I found Blaze first. He was talking to someone near the gym. As I drew closer, I saw the person flip a black ponytail over their shoulder. A girl. Blaze was talking to a girl. I pushed down the small seed of jealousy that was beginning to grow in me. There were more important things to worry about then Blaze and the strange girl.

     I walked up behind Blaze and cleared my throat. He jumped.

     "Hey Blaze," I said cheerfully like I'd bumped into him on a stroll rather than having snuck up behind him in a school hallway. "And..."

     I trailed off looking the girl up and down. She was short, shorter than me and her long black hair reached almost to her waist. Her green eyes were wide and her mouth hung slightly open staring at me. I wanted to tell her to shut it because she looked like a fish.

     It was then I recognized her. She was a part of the cheer team. I'd seen her plenty of times cheering on the sidelines for the football players. When she wasn't doing that, she was working herself into the pants of different guys every week like clockwork. All the more reason Blaze shouldn't be around her. She was trouble.

     "I'm just filling Reilly in on what her part of the Spanish project is," Blaze said turning ever so slightly towards me.

     "Thank you for doing that," fake honey dripped off Reilly's tongue and she moved a little closer to Blaze.

     I bristled and moved forward as well.

     "There's a party on Friday at Brad's house. Maybe you'd like to come with me," she reached out and rested a perfectly manicured hand on Blaze's arm.

     Her glossy lips turned up in a smile and her eyes glittered. I wondered how many poor boys she'd dragged to parties using that same smile.

     "Actually," Blaze snatched his arm away from her and looped it instead around my waist. "We've got plans. Big plans."

     "Oh." A storm cloud passed over her face and then it was gone. "I understand. Call me if you change your mind."

     She gave me a quick glance over before huffing and walking away. Both Blaze and I watched her go.

     "It's just my luck I got partnered with her," Blaze shuddered. "A class full of guys that want to be with her and I'm the one that gets chosen."

     "Good thing I found you when I did," I replied watching the black ponytail disappear around the corner.

     Blaze let out a sigh. "Thank god you did. Let's go find Ali."

     He spun me around, his arm still looped around my waist. I was oddly aware of Blaze's closeness as we marched down the hall in search of Ali. People milling around in the halls glanced at us as we walked by, eyes never leaving Blaze's arm around my waist. I'd give the rumors until lunch to start flying.

     "There she is," Blaze pointed ahead to where Ali leaned against the door of the theater.

     Her earbuds were in and she was reading something on her phone.

    "Hey, Ali what's-" I began but was cut off by Ali's finger in my face.

     Her eyes kept scanning over her phone screen for a few seconds before she put it down and looked at both of us. Before either of us could speak, her gaze went to Blaze's arm and he let it drop. Instantly his familiar weight was gone and I missed it. Sure we were just friends but some nights I wondered if that was all we would ever be.

     "Uh...what were you looking at on your phone?" I quickly asked trying to deflect attention from Blaze and me.

     "I was reading an article on the spaceship."

     She didn't need to say anything else. We knew what she was referring to. I still hadn't chosen a side on whether or not I believed there were aliens hovering near Earth. But I was beginning to lean towards believing it after my night of pondering. From Ali and Blaze's faces, I knew where they stood on the matter.

     "You know it's a hoax right?" Blaze asked on the verge of laughter.

     "It's not a hoax," Ali insisted. "I've been reading about it all morning."

     "On what? The conspiracy theory website?"

     "Nova tell him the spaceship is real," Ali pleaded.

     "Nova tell her she's being ridiculous," Blaze looked pointedly at Ali.

     I opened my mouth but was saved the trouble of answering as Ali's boyfriend appeared. I had never been so happy to see him in my life. He distracted Ali long enough for the bell to ring. At which I quickly excused myself for class. I knew the topic would come up again at lunch but maybe by then, I'd have a solid answer regarding the spaceship.

     I slipped into the French classroom and sat in my usual seat. The corner seat in the front by the window. Though the upper half of the window was obscured by the French flag, I could still see out of it.

     We were on the third floor and facing the parking lot so I could watch all the stragglers run towards the school hoping to make it to class on time. Across the street, there was a large open field in which nothing had been grown in years. Currently, the patches of grass growing there shined bright in the morning sun.

     As the last of the class took their seats, the teacher assumed his position in front of the whiteboard and started his morning lecture. And so the day began and went without incident up until 8:30.

     "Mr. Wilson please put your phone away. It's rude and distracting," the French teacher pushed his glasses up his thin nose.

     "But-"

     "Butts are for sitting." One of his favorite lines. "Put it away or I'll take it."

     Wilson looked ready to burst. Not out of anger, however, he was far from it. He was scared. He didn't move to put it away. His dark face was drained of blood and a small shine of sweat had broken out on his forehead.

     "Mr. Wilson," the teacher sighed and held out his hand for the phone.

     When Wilson still didn't do anything with the phone, the teacher started down the aisle. Just when he reached him, Wilson shoved the phone in the teacher's face, forcing him to read it.

     The teacher visibly paled. He read over what was on the screen one last time to make sure he read it right then started for the front at a small sprint. With trembling fingers, he turned on the TV that we usually used for presentations and pulled up the news. With one click, the screen was filled with a live broadcast.

     Flames and mayhem filled the screen. Buildings burned and collapsed. People screamed, a harsh empty sound reserved only for your nightmares. Smoke, thick as tar rolled into the air above the city skyline. In the distance, I could just make out the Empire State Building. It looked like a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie.

     The camera, obviously in a helicopter, panned down to look at the streets. There were people running all over. Cars were abandoned all over the streets, their doors flung wide. All the people seemed to be running in one direction, away from something.

     The camera zoomed in and then we could see them. Their pale, hollow faces watched the running people in front of them. Across their backs were slung guns. Not standard rifles or semi-automatics. No, they were something Earth had never seen before. Their silvery hair blew in the wind and stood out from the smoke like a beacon. They looked beautiful and terrifying all at once.

     Suddenly, one of the figures pointed up at the camera and brought her other hand close to her mouth. She mouthed a few words. I couldn't read lips but whatever she had said into her wrist came to pass. The screen in front of us rocked and then went black so suddenly all we were left with was our own scared reflections looking back at us.

     And that was how we learned that Earth had been invaded.