A/N- Okay, the second chapter is up. I want to thank all my great reviewers here- kaz456, Tigerlily-2250, Tabatha, DH, panthergirl, Meethrill, morph, and AngelMorph. If I skipped anyone, I apologize. This is another quick update, so I hope you're all satisfied.

*          *          *

My name is Bri, and my life is one of the most insane, un-normal lives anyone could lead. Okay, so my name is really Sabrina, but I prefer Bri. Nicknames are easier to say than long ones. And the day I was having might appear to be normal, from the looks of it. My best friend and me were going riding at my sister's ranch. Normal, right?

Wrong. First of all, my friend and me were riding in a horse-trailer. With no horses in it. This is strange on its own, 'cause you'd think we would take a car, right? Well, we can't. My friend won't fit in a car for the simple reason that he's an alien. And oh, by the way, my sister and mom are too.

I'm adopted, by the way. How did I get hooked up with all these aliens? Well, mom and Sam were kind of exiled from their home, because mom loved an alien from another species and had Sam with him. Long story short, the came to earth, disguised themselves as humans, and found Zantar and his adopted human parents. Zantar is my best friend, and he's and Andalite, like Sam's dad. Mom is a Kelbrid, a feline/human type of alien. Andalites look more like centaurs. I've grown up with all of this, so I'm used to it, but to the average kid it must sound pretty insane.

Zantar is adopted as well. His parents were killed in the crash that stranded him on earth. When his mom, Jess, found him in the ship, she convinced her husband that they should raise Zantar. Unfortunately he can't disguise himself like my family. They use a type of morphing technology to change their DNA and forms, but Zantar doesn't have that. And sadly mom can't give it to him. So that's why we were using the horse-trailer.

"Zantar, we have got to shorten your name."

Why? It's shorter than yours.

"Not shorter than Bri. I have a nickname, so you should have one too."

Why do I need a nickname?

"Zantar, Zantar, Zantar. Do you see how long it took me to say that? If someone needed you in an emergency, they might not be able to say your full name. And we can't shorten it to Zan, or Tar. Zan is plain weird, sounds Japanese, and Tar is pretty bad. So…"

But…

"What was it your mom was going to name the baby she had before she found you?"

Zachary, but…

"Zak then. We'll call you Zak for short. And no buts."

I ignored Zak's protests as we pulled up to the ranch. Sam got out, looked around, and then told us it was safe to come out. The ranch was closed today, so we wouldn't be found. Zak clopped down the ramp, and I followed. When we come to the ranch, I don't usually ride horses. Since Zak's sort of like a centaur, he's easy to ride. And he doesn't mind me riding, so that's what we do most of the time.

I hoisted my self up, with a little help from Sam, and we galloped off on our favorite trail. Zak and I were just enjoying the scenery, not talking. Actually, Zak has no mouth, so he communicates through telepathy. But it's easier to say talking. Anyway, like I said we were trotting along when suddenly there was this big boom, like a thunderclap, except much louder. Well, it stopped Zak right in the middle of a field, and he turned his stalk eyes upward.

"What was that?" I asked, pulling my hands away from my ears.

Zak looked troubled, and he said, A sonic boom. At least is sounded like one. But I don't see anything.

"Oh."

Now I understood why Zak was troubled. A sonic boom means a spaceship has entered earth's atmosphere, and I doubt a human spaceship was entering so far away from NASA. So that meant whatever ship it was had to be alien.

*          *          *

A/N- Sorry to all of you who hate cliffhangers, but that's the way I choose to end most of my chapters. DH, Zantar finally has a nickname. Tell me what you guys think. Is first person better than the third person I used in my last story?