Chapter 3: A Sudden Longing

Olivia's POV

After finding out about my true background, the idea couldn't escape my mind. Even if I tried to focus on studying the water cycle or the formula for the volume of a cylinder, I just couldn't stop wondering about my intergalactic family. Sure, I'd somehow finish my homework eventually, but in the margins I scribbled down questions about my Hocotatian and Koppaite relatives. (Ooooops, not turning that in!)

In study hall on Thursday, Bella told me she was having the same problem. She even showed me a page and a half of comments and questions about our family—which beat out my 1 ¼ pages... I started taking notes on our situation like I do with everything—I'm going to need an eternal supply of notebook paper—and decided that we were starting to get obsessed.

"Starting to get obsessed?" Bella asked, holding up her page and a half. "You're saying we aren't overly obsessed already?"

"Trust me. I know the dictionary definition of obsession," I told her. "But yeah, this is soooo making us go crazy."

"No kidding," Bella said.

"So what questions have you come up with so far?" I asked. "You know, about our family..."

We compared question lists. As we did, something hit me: We want to meet our family.

"We what?" Bella asked.

Oops! I hadn't realized I'd said it out loud. "We're longing to visit our intergalactic relatives. Now that we know we have family on other planets, all we really want is to meet them, and to know more aobut them."

"You know, I didn't really notice that before, but now that you say it, I realize that you're totally right," Bella said.

"Aren't I always?" I grinned.

"Maybe," Bella giggled.

"You—I'm gonna get you, Bella!" I teased, holding up a fist and throwing a fake punch. Then. My eyes fell onto my clipboard, where I had written my questions about my real background. I remembered something I read about Koppai, from my research report on those Pikmin creatures. According to the Out of This World News website, Koppai had recently been saved from a food crisis. Was my family affected? Wait, no that makes no sense whatsoever. Of course they were. But, I wondered, were they involved in the mission that saved the planet? The article I read contained a familiar name, but I couldn't remember where else I'd ever heard it...

Later, I did more research on Koppai's food issue (recently solved, however.) But Earth's internet didn't offer much new information. I asked my mom how I could learn more. One moment, she was just checking her email, and the next moment, she was logging into a Koppaite internet and searching "Koppai food crisis". My eyes widened. "They have their own internet?" She nodded. "And they have internet access here?!"

"I set it up to, yes," my mother said. "Why'd you want to know about their... situation?"

"Just wondering..." I mumbled. "I wanted to know if maybe one of our family members were involved in the mission that rescued the planet." A small smile formed on my face as I again began to wonder how it would feel if they were...

My mother bit her lip. "Um," she said. "Just keep looking..."

I can tell she's hiding something again. But what? What on earth—or should I say the universe—could she possibly have to keep from us now?

...

I have to figure this out.