Chapter 10

The bell rang after what seemed like forever. Cameron was the first one out the door. "Hey! Wait up, man." I got my stuff together and rushed out. "Where were you going to so fast?" I asked. To me, I sounded a bit too much like a teacher. I made a mental note not to talk like that again.

Cameron just shrugged.

What was up with him? I mean, so what if this whole thing was changing our lives? The rest of us were in it. It was okay with us. We could help other people. Help them to live like free people or something. Was Cameron too good for that? Or was he just scared because this was important stuff and he didn't think he could cope or whatever?

I tried not to show that I was angry. "Well, I think we should get the vote done." I lowered my voice. "It works, Cameron. It really does. Hardy and Laurel morphed cats this morning. And I morphed Presley. I was Presley. It was so cool. You should change your mind."

I realized Cameron wasn't beside me anymore. I turned around. "What's wrong?"

Cameron stared at me. "What's wrong? What's wrong? Gee, want me to make a list? This is crazy! I don't even know why you're telling me all of this. I already told you! I'm not doing it. Got it? I'm not doing it!" Then he ran past me.

As for me, I just kind of stared after him. He couldn't give up so easily! Who did he think he was? He hadn't even tried!

Eventually the people around me lost interest and went about their own lives. Was that what was wrong with Cameron? I mean, so we weren't like other people anymore. We never would be. But who cared? Something big had happened. We knew about it. We couldn't just sit back and watch everybody we knew be turned into slaves of the Yeerks one by one. We couldn't.

I started out slowly for Samantha's house. Even though it wasn't actually her house, I had gotten into the habit of calling it that.

"Hey, Chris! A little slow, aren't you?" I looked up and saw Alexis on her bike, riding with Laurel.

I faked a smile that I hoped seemed real enough. Then I started running. I couldn't help it though. I wasn't in the mood. We were a group. It didn't seem the same with one less. After a block, I slowed down and let the girls pass me. The talk could wait.

Hardy rode by, pedaling hard on his bike. He rode by so fast I don't think he even recognized me. "Laurel! Alexis! Come back here! I'll get you! Hey! HEY! Listen when I talk to you!" A second later, "If you don't come back, I'm gonna tell mom! Laurel! Did you hear that?!"

Alexis laughed, though I could have sworn it was more like a cackle.

Then Hardy looked behind him. I had slowed to a walk now. "Chris? Chris? What are you doing back here? The girls are beating us." By now he had turned around and was riding back in my direction. "Good heavens, man," he said, imitating a British man, "where's your dignity? Where's your pride? By Jove, one ought to think-" I guess then he saw an expression on my face. I mean, I knew I wasn't in the best of moods, but I hadn't known I was showing it. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Everything," I said simply.

He turned around again and rode slowly beside me. Any details to go with that?"

"Yeah. Cameron isn't in. He blew up at me a few seconds ago in the hallway."

Hardy nodded. As if he understood. "I guess we'll have to give him a bit of time with no pressure. Go by his house in really cool morphs sometime. We'll win him over eventually."

"I hope so. I just hope 'eventually' isn't too late."

We walked/rode in silence the rest of the way to Hardy's grandparent's house. And when we got there, or rather, near there, Alexis was screaming at the top of her lungs. Hardy and I finally managed to discern what she was saying. "It's all your fault Chris! You told her!"

"Told who?" I shouted. We were still half a block away.

"Mom and Dad, you imbecile!"

"What did I tell them?"

"That I sneaked out! DUH!!"

I looked at Hardy. "She's a bit ticked," I explained. "I didn't tell them," I shouted, half as loud now. I saw Samantha come out of the house. She took one look at Hardy and I walking across the street, Alexis yelling at us with her face red like an overripe tomato, and Laurel standing silently nearby, shaking her head and groaning a bit. She smiled.

"Yes you did! Yes you DID! YES YOU DID!!" Alexis screamed, oblivious to Samantha standing right behind her.

I shook my head. "Whatever."

Samantha smiled again. "Are we going to the mall again, I guess?"

"Yeah."

This time we got to the bus stop without trouble. And Alexis stuck to us like glue. Just our luck. Alexis and Laurel kept talking to Samantha, and neither Hardy nor I could get a word in edgewise. I might have been mistaken, but it looked like Samantha was about to puke. Instead, I talked to Hardy.

"Have you seen the new Star Wars movie?"

"No. My dad's working on tickets." Hardy's dad is one of the owners of an insurance company. Let's just say that the business is very successful. "We might be able to go tomorrow. If we get tickets, we're going to take the whole gang."

"By 'the whole gang', do you mean us and..." I stared meaningfully at Alexis.

"Yeah. The whole gang. Or as my mom and dad say, 'the gang'"

"Feels great to be part of a group, doesn't it?" I asked dryly.

"Yeah."

When we got to the mall, I still hadn't figured out how to ditch Alexis.

I dropped back to talk to Samantha. Laurel and Alexis had gotten into some sort of fight about whether the Backstreet Boys or *NSync was cooler.

"I've got to figure out how to ditch Alexis. Any ideas?"

She thought. "Not really. I mean, unless her mom, by some miracle, shows up again, you're the one who will have to get her away long enough for whatever you have in mind."

I groaned. "Why me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Let's see. You're the big brother. She's the little sister. One. Two, I have the feeling that your parents wouldn't be the least surprised if you did something mean."

Wait a minute. "Why wouldn't they?"

She smiled and looked at Alexis and Laurel. "Earlier, before they were arguing about Nick or Justin or whoever, they were arguing who had the meaner brother."

"They argue that much?"

"They argue about pretty much everything. Laurel called me last night to ask me what color I liked more. Yellow or green. She said she and Alexis had made a bet."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I hung up."

I laughed. Then I remembered. "To end this conversation on a gloomier note, Alexis told me at breakfast that she sneaked out the night when we... Well, you know."

"So?"

I made a face. "Remember the newspaper article? They're looking for kids. For us. We can tell everyone we went to the mall. Maybe they'll believe us, maybe they won't. But Alexis is the one who'll look the most suspicious. Anyone who sneaks out of the house, no matter what, looks suspicious."

She nodded. "You have a point. And believe it or not, there are a few things that could happen here."

"Such as?"

"Well, in politics, things usually just blow over. Pass without causing that much damage. I'm not saying that's going to be the case here, but there are still things that could happen. Two. We could get caught."

I made a face. "That sounds great. Tell you what, why don't we go with that one? It would certainly be a lot easier."

"Or three. We could go and do the right thing and do what the alien said and blah, blah, blah."

"'Blah, blah blah?'"

She brushed a bit and smiled a crooked smile. "My dad says it a lot. Or at least he used to."

"So, I guess, to begin with, what are we going to do about Alexis?"

She thought a bit. "Well, the only thing I can think of doing is to wait until she can't come with us."

I sighed. "You know, this is going to be hard even without a menacing little sister."

Samantha laughed right as Alexis looked back at us and glared at me. "Hey, Samantha!"

I heard her mutter "Uh-oh" and then shout "What!"

"Come here. You still have to tell us which color you like more. Yellow or green."

"They're both ugly."

"Oh, come on." Alexis skipped back to where we were walking and grabbed Samantha's arm. I could have sworn her eyes looked huge for a second and before I could help it, I had started laughing. She and Alexis glared at me. I looked at them innocently.

Hardy dropped back. "Good news."

"About time."

"When Alexis was dragging Samantha into the argument, and came back to get her, you know, Laurel told me that if we needed Alexis off our backs, she and Alexis would go off shopping and we would promise not to tell our parents. Laurel says Alexis will be glad to do it."

"Great. Samantha and I didn't have a clue what to do."

Hardy smiled and gave me a look as if he knew something I didn't. "I figured you two were trying to figure the iAlexis Angle/i out. All that worrying for nothing."

I laughed. "Yeah. Nice name for it. 'The Alexis Angle.'"



Chapter 11

"Well, we know it works, so what do we do?" Samantha asked. She took another sip of her Coke.

"Right now, we have a rough plan," I explained. "Laurel had a good idea in the beginning. We go on a spy mission, find out how powerful these Yeerk creatures are, than make our next move."

"When?"

"Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Should we vote?"

Hardy shook his head. "No time. We're down to four people as it is. Samantha leaves in a few days. It's either now or never."

"I can probably sneak out. After all, Alexis did."

"Laurel and I can bust out, too. But, guys? I think we've forgotten one major point."

Samantha and I looked at him. Once again, we were in the food court at the Falls while Laurel and Alexis shopped.

Samantha and Hardy looked at each other in that strange way.

"Uh-oh," Samantha muttered.

"What?"

Hardy pressed his lips together for a second. "Chris, we don't know where this so-called Yeerk pool is."

"Well, the Yeerks have to return there every three days. I doubt they're on some sort of schedule. Just pick some people and follow them."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Yay. Sounds like fun. Select some John Does and follow them as... As animals, I guess."

Hardy cut in. "You know what we'll have to do if we get away with this? One, we'll need some costumes, because I am not going to be wearing a leotard for boys or something. And we need a name."

"A name?" I echoed.

"Yeah. Like Superman of Batman. The Fantastic Four. The X-Men. Thor. Pick one."

I rolled my eyes. "To return to the important issue at hand, is it going to be okay following around random people?" I looked at Samantha.

She shrugged. "Hardy, why don't you ask Laurel if she has any ideas tonight, huh? She's come through so far."

"Okay. I'll ask."



iMarco

I didn't like the barn anymore. Too many bad memories, for one thing. And I'd gotten sprayed by a skunk last week. I couldn't even stand the sight of tomatoes anymore.

I sat on a bale of hay, far away from the not-so-defenseless animals. Everyone else was there, though Erek was out somewhere. We were just waiting for Cassie to get here, and then we could start arguing and plotting- I mean, discussing and planning.

Cassie came into the barn, looking slightly struck. "They found them. The Chee found them," she said breathlessly.

"Wow. Those guys are good," I said. "I knew they were good, I mean that they're fast. I like the service."

Cassie shook her head. "They found them in the mall. They overheard a conversation about Yeerks and finding the Yeerk pool."

"In the mall?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "Are those kids stupid or something?"

Like us in more ways than one doesn't mean they're careful, Tobias told her quietly.

"Yeah, or smart," Rachel said crossly. "At this rate, they won't be alive very long."

"The Chee covered for them," Cassie said. "And they got a positive ID on one of the kids and are checking out the other two. Two are missing, though."

Jake nodded. "That's okay. We'll follow the one they know for sure and that one will lead us to the others."

I sighed. I didn't like that barn at all. Too many unpleasant memories./i





Copyright 2001