Alienated by Norton Jeff

Author:Norton, Jeff [Norton, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Awesome Reads
Published: 2018-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Stranded at the Drive-In

I basked in the glory of Juliet’s yes, but I still had to get through the week. I distracted myself from the excitement and nerves of my first ever date by means of a full schedule of daytime classes and nocturnal rocket building. The ship was really coming together, and despite feeling sleepy during the day, I was even keeping up with the alien subjects.

Well, most of them.

My academic black mark was Galactic Languages, GalLang. I had no ear for Earthly foreign languages, let alone alien lingos, but our teacher, Mrs Rackles, sure did. She looked like a giant, green ear – a large audio receptor on four legs.

She was patient with me as I butchered verb conjugation in dozens of alien languages, only once muttering, “It’s only Earthlings that expect all aliens to speak their languages.”

Sonya was a star pupil in GalLang. Maybe it was from her years of Balleropera training, or maybe it was natural talent, but she picked up the galactic slang like a local, effortlessly reciting poems in foreign tongues while the rest of us struggled to say, “We come in peace.”

I did, however, finally find my footing on the football field. Octo was a sharp shooter when it came to throwing the pigskin and Atawee had clearly put the word out that I was not to be maimed, so I caught the ball with panache and made spectacular touchdowns.

Did I mind that my on-field prowess was only due to an alien protection racket? Nah. It felt great. For once, Sherman Capote was the guy that everyone wanted on their team.

Dad even stopped by between meetings one day to watch part of a game. I was pretty sure it wasn’t a figment of my imagination when I saw him nodding from the stands when the final whistle blew. He wasn’t clapping, but he wasn’t shaking his head in frustration either.

It was progress.

So by Saturday night, date night with Juliet, I was actually feeling pretty confident. Like me, the drive-in pulsed with anticipation.

It was a Groom Lake tradition, and almost everyone from school was there. But unlike the cafeteria, with its strict social hierarchy, this parking lot with a view was a free-for-all. Rows upon rows of personal space cruisers, winged jet packs, and the occasional military Jeep faced a large white screen propped up by two adult-sized AJABots.

Octo had parked Hank’s Toyota for me smack dab in the center. I waited anxiously for Juliet to materialize beside me and watched the Groom Lake kids let loose.

A couple of Xenophine Reeds were playing Frisbee, a gaggle of Martians arranged lawn chairs on top of their low-rider saucer, and the AJABot kids danced to the beat of their own techno. Atawee was there, holding claws with his scorpion companion in what looked like a missile on wheels, if Ferrari made missiles.

It was definitely date night in Groom Lake. The sweet scent of frying onions and roasting hot dogs from the concession stand at the back wafted over the coupled teenagers, hoping to make out in parked spaceships.

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