COSMIC

11 - Rebel Rebel

A sinking feeling overwhelmed me. The tone of David's voice was condemning, and as he looked amongst us, I dreaded the moment his eyes would rest on me. I feared disappointing David and ruining our chance to meet together in the woods. Immediately, I tried recalling everything I had done that day and where I could have slipped up. Did Mom overhear me on the phone?

I glanced around at my friends, searching for their reactions before turning to Nancy. She looked just as anxious as I felt. I swallowed before being the first to speak. "Who?"

Then, to my surprise, David smirked. I thought I noticed him shake his head but it was so slight, I wondered if I had imagined it. I furrowed my eyebrows in response. What was he trying to do?

"I didn't say anything," Lisa said. "I swear. I didn't say a word to anyone about this all day."

"Me, too," Scott added.

The gang and I glanced around at each other again, waiting for more confessions. But they only shook their heads in denial. The silence and tension in our group, especially emanating from David, was beginning to bother me. He acted as if he knew. Why was he refusing to speak?

However, the focus of our attention shifted. "Wait," Kyle said. "So you're like...an actual alien?"

David nodded but remained silent with his hands clasped behind his back.

Kyle scoffed. "I can't believe this. Is this for real?" He turned to me. "I mean, I understand who this guy is. But this whole alien thing-really?"

"Yes," I said. "I know it's weird, but I have reason to believe that David really is an alien. Even so, he's told us he can prove it."

Another scoff escaped Kyle's lips. "And here I thought this was all a joke. Now David Bowie of all people is standing in front of me."

Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. "You," I said softly. "It was you!"

"What?" he said, but the panic in his eyes only reinforced my assumption.

"It was you. You're the one that told our secret." I turned to David. "Am I right?"

He looked at me sheepishly, as if he hated to confirm because he knew it would cause an argument. Finally, I understood why he had held back. But his expression quickly hardened to mirror mine. We both knew the issue had to be confronted. Then he nodded.

"How dare you," I shouted at Kyle, taking a few steps toward him. Scott and Josh also stepped forward, ready to act as if I would attack Kyle, but I refrained when I saw him flinch. "He told you to keep this secret. Everyone else did! Why couldn't you?"

"Kyle," Nancy added, exasperation in her voice. "I thought you believed us. You told me so this morning."

"Yeah, and that's a very different story than what you gave me on the phone," I said.

"Guys, wait a minute," Kyle said. "Don't get upset. That was just a lie, Nancy. Jamie said I didn't have to come here tonight if I still wasn't convinced. And I thought if I came anyway, you would turn me away like the other night. Well, I knew something was going on and I wanted to know what. Plus, I couldn't miss watching you guys make fools of yourselves again." He laughed, but no one joined in. "So I just pretended to believe. But hey, looks like the joke's on me."

"I can't believe you lied to me," Nancy said.

I shook my head in disappointment. "That still doesn't explain why you told."

"Because I thought it was harmless."

"Harmless? Telling others about this is not harmless. Do you think whoever you told will just drop it like it's no big deal? David wanted this secret for good reason-and I did, too."