Note: I've revised chapters one and two (because I am never satisfied). Also I'd kind of posted on a whim, and I realized that they sucked. Chapter three will be up soon. Oh, and the Andalites are not gone. It's just in this universe they've been a little bit, well, wiped out. =) The Ax equivalent will be here eventually. He will be an Andalite. Yeerks are here too. You'll see what happened to them.

Loveanimorph10468: Thanks for the review. =) I assume you're asking where I came up with the alien names? Whatever pops into my head when I think of what they look like is what I call them. And if you mean the names of the kids, they were just names that seemed to fit.

Note 2: One more thing, I would never hold my story for review ransom, because it's annoying, but I can see why people do. No reviews can be quite discouraging. Constructive criticism would be great. I could defiantly stand to become a better writer.

Chapter One

My name is Dustin.

Just Dustin. No last name. Not one that I can freely give. I could tell you my last name. Really, I want to tell you. In fact I would like nothing more than to tell you, because revealing my last name would mean that everything in my life was okay. It would mean that I was normal.

However, I am not normal.

And my life is not okay.

My last name is so much more than just that. For me, it is either freedom…or death. Not only that, I can't tell you what school I go to, the name of my favorite hangout, not even where my family plans to vacation this summer. I can expose nothing of myself, because the Paquiin are everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I do mean everywhere. If they knew anything about me, they could find me. You can just assume that that would be a very bad thing. What the Paquiin do to those who oppose them is too horrible to imagine, and we oppose them in a big way.

When everything is all over, I want those left free to know the truth.

It's interesting, keeping a journal. Writing down and elaborating on my thoughts and feelings. Before now it's never been a priority. My days came and went and I never felt a need to record or reflect on them. Why bother? Now I have no choice. At least that's how I feel. If I…well, in case something happens to me, I guess I just want those close to me, whether they're themselves or not, to know the truth. The truth about what I've been through, what I've done. And maybe with writing I can keep myself from going completely insane. Keep it together long enough for the Gowon to come and help us. That's what they said they would do, help us.

They'll come.

They have to…

You know, despite what you're probably thinking, my life used to be normal. I used to be normal. It's frightening to think how quickly life can jump from one path to another. One small event leads to the next and suddenly everything you've become familiar with is altered. The life you had is replaced by one you don't want. One you couldn't possibly have prepared for. At one point, so long ago I hardly remember, I was your standard teenage guy: average grades, a messy room, girl trouble, too many video games, good friends and a pile of homework up to my forehead. That was my life. That was me.

Now, I am a soldier, seeing the world through the eyes of a stranger. A stranger who's cold, slowly becoming lifeless. I can feel it sometimes. Like a light in me is slowly dying. And I know that sounds corny, but in this situation it seems to fit. I don't feel much like myself anymore.

I'm a soldier in an impossible war that spanned galaxies just to reach it's peak on our planet. A war, I'm ashamed to say, on which we may be the losing side.

My friends and I fight alone, risking it all for a world that has no clue. I will admit I'm afraid. I'd have to be crazy not to be. Fear and death haunt me every day, and without the others…I honestly don't think I could have taken it for long.

So, now that I've sufficiently ruined your day, let me explain the origins of this gloom and possible doom. Everything started after a Friday trip to the mall.

Miller and I were hanging out, something we do every Friday. He and I have been best friends since the playpen and during the course of our friendship, when we were older of course, it became a given that we would head to the mall after school before the weekend. A tradition we upheld for years no matter what: money, no money, homework, no homework…grounded, not grounded. That last one was mostly a problem for Miller. That night we weren't doing much in the way of anything interesting. I wasn't really in the mood to hang out. I hadn't exactly had the best day ever.

Earlier that day my girlfriend of about a year had broken up with me. She thought the middle of fourth period was the best time to mention that she thought we'd be better seeing other people. Her exact words?

"I think we'd defiantly have more fun not seeing each other anymore." She'd ended the sentence with a smile, like she'd just told me I had a nice shirt.

I'm not an idiot. I knew who it was she wanted to see and would have been surprised to learn she hadn't already started. I said okay and went on with my day, but it wasn't until the mall that it really caught up with me.

It wasn't a big deal. Or that's what I kept telling myself. I hadn't been in love with her, but I'd gotten comfortable with our status and it just seemed to end so suddenly.

Well, like I said, not a big deal. She lingered in my thoughts though.

After a short while Miller and I ended up hanging out in the food court staring at empty food trays. Well, I was starring and Miller was just being annoyed.

"How long do you really expect me to watch you mope around?" Miller's arms were crossed, his eyes narrow. "Really, dude, I think it's for the best. You should be happy Godzilla dumped you." I glared at him.

"Can't I be aloud at least one day to think about it before I just block it out?" I asked sarcastically. He adjusted his glasses.

"I just don't think dating daemons from hell is such a good idea." he whispered defiantly. I'd heard him. And normally I would have said something to defend her. But it was all nothing I hadn't heard before.

Miller and Carla, my ex, had never gotten along. Where I found Miller entertaining, she saw him as a complete waste of space. I've never fully understood why and when one day I asked she'd only said, "I just don't like him. He thinks he's funny, he's not funny." When I questioned Miller all he said was, "Because she doesn't like me. She thinks I'm not funny. I'm hilarious." I tried once to explain to her that Miller could be a little outside of the box when it came to some of the things he says. She got angry and told me he was out of visual contact with the box. In that moment I knew that he'd said something to her, and that it hadn't been any good. Thinking it would eventually fade I left it. The decision turned out to be a huge mistake because the animosity between them continued to grow. So much so that when I told Miller that we were done with each other, he'd actually done a dance…right in the middle of the hallway. One he'd obviously been saving for just this occasion. When I didn't join in the celebration he went sour. We were both in a funk when we reached the mall.

"Don't want to talk about it." I said standing up. "Let's get out of here."

Without moving he said, "I swear you're hair gets ten shades darker when you're angry. You're like a…" he thought. "Like a hairy mood ring." Suddenly my mood lightened. When Miller says things like this out of the blue, he gets a specific look on his face. Like he has no clue he's saying what he's saying, and the universe just feeds him the words whenever appropriate…or inappropriate.

"Let's just get out of here."

"No way," He stayed seated. "We haven't even hit the arcade yet. Just because you want to go cryin' to mama about your break up with Lucifer…"

"I'm just not in the mood, alright?" I said too quickly slipping back into angry. "And, dude, stop calling her crazy names. I just don't want to talk about it at all." Expecting to be called a Drama Queen, I turned ready to leave whether he followed me or not. No sooner had I taken a step I bumped into a kid from my school, Adam.

Adam was…I mean, I guess he still is a weird guy. Since we were in kindergarten he'd been a complete outcast. He didn't talk much, he watched his feet when he walked as if they were interesting. He was picked on a lot. But then again, he was weak, an easy target. I'd never seen it with my own eyes, but it was obvious. That was, until the day we actually met.

I'd first met him when I pulled his small body out of a locker. Instead of the half-a-lockers most high schools have, our lockers are jumbo sized. For what reason I've never been sure. We threw in no more than a backpack and an unfortunately high and heavy pile of books. Nevertheless they can easily fit a person and are not difficult to climb in and out of…not that I've tried. Miller has. Anyway, his voice was small, but noticeable. He gave me the combination and I got him out. Adam actually hugged me and since then he thought we were friends. I don't mind, except he thinks we're better friends than we are. I hate to use the word pathetic, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't what I thought of him.

"Hey, guys." Adam said. He looked at me, his freckled face holding sympathetic eyes. Here it comes, I thought. "Hey, man, I heard about you and Carla. Sorry." I gave him a nod. I was in no mood to have it brought up. He picked up the hint. "So, what are you guys up to?" I shrugged.

"Not much, man. Just heading home."

"Yeah, Mr. I-Can't-Live-Without-Her and I haven't been doing much." Miller commented. "Better he stew at home alone instead of making this mall full of innocent people watch." I rolled my eyes but said nothing.

"That's cool. Maybe I could walk with you guys then?"

I said yes. Why not. Miller gave me a look.

Adam is what Miller likes to call a "popper." This means that no matter where we go, no matter what we do Adam always seems to be there. Regardless of what that sounds like, Miller isn't just being a jerk. It's true. After I'd "saved" him, but before we started really hanging out, Adam always seemed to be where we were. For a while I played with the fact that he could be following us. A simple kid lonely enough to turn stalker. That can happen, right? He wasn't the type though. He is easy to read and from what I could see, he was lonely, but not desperate in a freakish way. Together we all headed toward the exit that led out of the food court to the outside.

Before we could reach the door I caught a glimpse of someone familiar. I recognized my cousin Sara and her best friend Nicole. At a glance it looked as if they were simply exiting a store called PINK! A ridiculously girly store decorated in every color save the one it was named for. Looking closer though I could see that Nicole was actually trying to escape the store while Sara tried unsuccessfully to stop her.

"Prison break," Miller said having also spotted them. We laughed. Adam laughed along, though I don't think he really understood why it was funny.

They were headed toward us. Nicole was practically speed walking. I watched them.

Sara is kind of pretty. That's a lie, actually she's beautiful. But, as I've mentioned, she's my cousin so I don't spend time thinking about it. She has shoulder length blonde hair, the color of a peeled banana, dark blue eyes and a very clean and strait look. Looking at her you would think she'd just walked straight out of some popular fashion magazine. Sara is the world's ludicrous idea of perfection. She's the only one that doesn't see it.

Sara's one complaint about herself is her height. At five, she started mentioning how important it was to be tall. She wants to be 5' 10", but at thirteen she halted at 5'5". A "disaster" she calls it. But as short as Uncle Neil and Aunt Amanda are it was kind of inevitable. Nevertheless what she lacks in height she makes up for in grace. Sara is a dancer and as such is very lithe. She's completely comfortable with and aware of her body (minus height). She moves with ease and never trips or stumbles. Miller told me once that when she walks, it's almost like a dance…with minimal movement of course.

He's got a thing for her if you can't tell.

Sara of course knows this. Mostly because what guy at our school doesn't have a crush on her except for me? She pays them no attention. At this point in her life Sara is looking for everything but a boyfriend. I didn't blame her. In high school we're all no good anyway. Guys I mean. At least, this is what I've heard her tell Nicole.

Nicole—she prefers Nic—is almost Sara's complete opposite. Nicole is African American and her dark hair runs half way down her back. She gets a little pissed when asked if it's real…it is by the way. She wears it down occasionally, but mostly it's in a ponytail which is how I like it best. She's tall, at least 5' 10", (Sara's only reason to hate her) and very thin with a pretty face.

Looking at the two of them together, people would probably say that Sara was the prettier one. But I think more so because she is confidence incarnate and people seem to like that. Nicole however has a quiet confidence that comes with a subtle beauty. Her brown eyes are big and warm, her smile is always welcoming. Along with her chocolate skin, you feel like you can trust her.

One of their biggest differences is Sara's favorite topic, clothes.

When it comes to what she wears, Sara is always on top of what's popular. Nicole is simpler than that. Don't get the wrong idea, she doesn't dress like pauper. You're just more likely to see her in a fitted tee than any of the frilly shirts girls usually like to wear. Button up flannels are her favorite, collected from her father's side of the closet. She has at least six or seven of them (yeah, I counted) all different colors. She had one wrapped around her waist, the grey one. It made her look very 90's. I liked it.

Sara's made it her life's mission to find and destroy those shirts.

Nicole and I were becoming closer as friends. In between the fact that I had a girlfriend and I wouldn't just hang out with my cousin, I'd never gotten a chance to really talk to her. Especially since Carla could be the jealous type. But I did consider her a friend. She was in a few of my classes, and sometimes we sat together on the bus. She's a little quiet. Recently I'd been spending more time with Sara, and in turn more time with Nicole. Like Miller and I, they couldn't be separated.

Nicole saw us first and you could see the relief wash over her. We heard clearly what she was running from.

"Nic, you can't just try on one dress? Just one little sundress? I won't make you buy it, not this time, I swear." Sara pleaded endlessly. Nicole ignored her.

"Hey," she said finally reaching us. "Someone please kill me." I laughed and Sara said,

"Oh, come on. Just one, please? Then maybe you might actually be noticed by guys instead of mistaken for one." though she meant it as a joke, I couldn't help but think that Nicole could never be mistaken for a guy. I opted for a rescue mission.

"You two headed out?" I directed the question at Nicole letting her know I was trying to change the subject. She smiled. Sara was still pleading in the background. A small, high pitched "Please, please, please!"

"I'm trying. And you?" she glanced at Miller and Adam. Miller answered.

"Yep, got nothing better to do. Staring into space has become the main activity and frankly, I'm bored to death." Nicole gave me a look. She knew about the breakup. Of course she knew. "You two should walk with us. Might not be safe for you all alone, being delicate and all." He laughed and suddenly there was silence. It took me a second to realize that Sara had stopped harassing Nicole, her eyes narrowly focused on Miller. She was giving him a death glare. His mistake? He suggested that Sara was weak.

Sara is beautiful, blonde and very into fashion, makeup and a number of other things that don't matter. She's a mallrat, and an unbelievably girly-girl. She is all of those things. But if there is one thing she isn't, it's weak. And if you wanted to keep living, you would never even imply that she was. Nicole stood next to me and subtly whispered, "Miller's gonna die." I would have laughed, had it not been so very true.

Sara took a few steps toward Miller.

"You aren't seriously suggesting that I can't take care of myself?" She got in his face. "And what, you're going to protect me? Keep me safe from the horrors of the night? Who the hell do you think you are?" Another thing about Sara. She has a temper. "Don't you dare, for one second, think that I won't knock you to the ground little boy…"

Miller got a confused look on his face. Most likely wondering what he'd said wrong. Of course.

"I don't see why not," Nicole stepped in quick sensing that Miller was about to receive a beating. "We're all leaving. We can all just happen to leave together." Sara sighed and rolled her eyes but said nothing else. Nicole gave me a wink then placed her arm around Sara. Sara shrugged out of her embrace and headed towards the exit, angry she'd been deprived of a fight. Especially one with Miller considering she and Carla had similar feelings toward him. It's that way with most girls when it comes to Miller actually. Nicole seems to tolerate him, but I can tell she tries really hard. Miller and Adam followed behind Sara. Nicole sighed.

"Sometimes I really think you might want to keep a muzzle on hand for him. Maybe only around Sara." Nicole said half joking. I thought about that.

Miller really does have a big mouth. Often he speaks without thinking, and in my experience he still does no thinking afterwards. It doesn't help that, to Miller, everything was one big joke. There wasn't one thing on this Earth Miller couldn't turn into a punch line, and Sara hated that.

I'd like to say that it's some kind of defense mechanism. That his jokes really reflect some deep seeded fear he has of accepting reality. That's something his shrink had said anyway. The reality though is he's just a crazy guy. He only wants to laugh, and he wants those around him to join in. Unfortunately he seems to want that all of the time. Finally we followed the others out.

"So, I heard about you and Carla." Nicole voice brought me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, I suppose everyone and their mom knows." when I sighed she gave me a friendly shove.

"Yeah, probably." she joked. I was in no mood to be lighthearted about it. Hearing her laugh made me smile regardless.

"Yeah." was all I said.

"I know we don't talk much, and I know this is a little cliché, but if you need someone to listen…" she let the sentence fall. I gave her a genuine smile and nod which she returned. Without another word we caught up with the rest of the group.

And so, there we were. The five of us—Miller, Sara, Nicole, Adam and myself. Five completely normal, utterly boring teenagers walking home from the mall.

Sometimes I think about that last moment, the bunch of us just normal. We were all in the middle of our freshman year in high school, pretty much just glad that the most awkward part of life was over. That feels like a million years ago though, as if it was some completely different group of people. And you know what I was thinking about, right then? How was I going to face Carla at school Monday while she traipsed around with her new boyfriend. That was as bad as life got for me back then.

Had I known just how bad our lives were about to get, I'd never have believed it.

We walked through the parking lot in silence. I looked over at Nicole. She was staring straight ahead, a small smile on her face. I was going to ask what was so amusing when Miller cut in.

"So," He slid next to me. "We taking the long way or what?" Sara turned so that she was walking backward.

"I say we take the site. I've got to get home. Beauty rest and all." she turned and kept walking without missing a step.

"Okay," Miller said. "Other than the queen herself, does anyone else mind?" I didn't object, Nicole shook her head and Adam did nothing, ready to follow the crowd.

There are two ways home from the mall, the long way and the short way. The long way, the safe way, consists of two neighborhoods and a ton of yard cutting. Or we could skip that, cut through an abandoned construction site and hope to avoid muggers and/or axe murderers.

"You know, I'll be grounded till I'm too old to walk if my dad finds out I went through there." Miller said.

"Yeah, except you're not allowed to complain since you suggested it." Sara answered.

"Not saying I don't wanna, just stating a fact." he crossed his hands behind his head and walked on…My thoughts began to wander.

The construction site is abandoned. It's a big place, mostly surrounded by woods with the highway in front separating it from the mall area. There is a broad, open field between the nearest subdivision and the site so it's a very isolated place. Nightly walks through it are an obvious bad idea.

Originally, it was supposed to be some new shopping center. Mostly fast food places and more stores for Sara to drag Nicole. For whatever reason though construction was halted and never continued. With all of the half finished office buildings and potential pet stores it was like a ghost town: piles of gravel and rusted steal beams, pyramids of giant concrete pipes, mountains of dirt and deep pits filled with muddy water from the recent rain. All-in-all, it wasn't our best bet if we wanted to get home alive.

Without warning, I began to think of Carla. I saw her on the arm of that new guy, Robert. I actually felt myself getting angry. I tried to understand why. The breakup was just so sudden. I felt almost stunned, like after receiving an unexpected pop to the forehead. But mostly I hated that she didn't seem to care, because despite what she'd done, Carla isn't a bitch. She was sweet to everyone except Miller in fact.

"You're thinking about Carla." It hadn't been a question. I turned to see Nicole in step with me. She talked low enough so the others couldn't hear.

"Yeah, how could you tell?"

"The look on your face." we'd just crossed the street to enter the site. "Plus the two of you did just break up today. Kind of obvious." I sighed.

"I just, I can't get her out of my head, you know?" she shook her head to say she understood.

"You love her?" she asked. I was shocked by her question. My face must have shown this because she said, "I mean, I'm sorry, that's none of my business." she started to walk ahead and I grabbed her wrist.

"No, it's fine. I mean, no I didn't…I don't." Nicole watched my eyes trying to find the lie. "The whole thing was just so sudden. One minute we're dating, the next we're breaking up. It's kind of like a deer caught in headlights kind of thing." she nodded again. I wanted to hear her thoughts but she said nothing else and we walked on. For a while we just listened to Sara explain the importance of the right perfume with certain outfits.

"I'm pretty sure as long as you don't smell like ass, you're doing pretty well in the smell department. No matter what you're wearing." Miller said. "I've seen some pretty nice looking women who smelled like all the wrong things. That should be illegal." Sara called Miller a moron and they argued. And then…

Adam saw it first. He was gazing up at the sky---looking at the stars I guess. Adam would often slip off into his own little world, especially during class. I was never surprised. When you're treated that badly, you've got to have some place to go. He was always like that. When he came to a halt I asked if maybe he'd seen a shooting star. He just shook his head and pointed to a spot in the sky. "Don't think that's what that is." he said. I walked to stand next to him.

"What is it then?" I said following his gaze.

"Just look." he said. His voice was strange, different. Wonder laced his words making me anxious to see what he saw. Seconds later my eyes finally found it. A beautiful bluish-white light streaked across the sky. Zigzagging and going slower as it did. Nicole must have found it then also because all she said was,

"Wow---" Lack of movement caught the attention of Sara and Miller.

"What's up with you guys?" They watched us but we said nothing. I wanted to speak. They had to see for themselves. Finally they looked up. Now we were all staring dumbly at the light in the sky. As it drew closer the light began to take shape. That's when I finally found words.

"Is that what I don't want to say it is?" I asked. We looked at one another. We were all thinking the same thing…it was scrawled across their faces and mine. However no one had the courage to voice it. Of course they wouldn't, it sounded crazy.

"It's a UFO!"

All eyes were now on Miller.