Oh great.

Then again, if Aoroa had different plans for him…

No, we don't take hosts against their will.

She must have been speaking for the movement.

We walked up to my dad. Aoroa spoke for me. "Dad, it's really not going to help Rob that much if he goes to Fun for Family. It's more of a club than anything else. We don't do tutoring."

It was almost scary. She sounded exactly like me. No one, not even myself, would have been able to tell the difference. The same tone, the way she said it, everything. And it wasn't even as though she had looked through my memories yet.

I have a sense of you from being in your mind, that's all, Aoroa assured me.

"Now, Amy," Dad was saying in that infuriating "I know best so shut up" way that parents have, "I've seen people talk about Fun for Family before and it can really help your brother." He turned and glared at Rob, then continued, "For example, Robert… They stress a lot on community service and becoming a better person. Your detention record shows you're lacking in that."

"But I don't want to join!" Rob whined.

"And I don't want him to join!" Aoroa whined for me.

"The discussion is closed. I want you to take Rob to your next meeting and make sure he becomes a member. I only want what's best for him, you know."

"I know that," I acknowledged. "But it won't really help. His of attitude lets everyone down. He might not even be asked."

Apparently this didn't bother my dad.

"A donation will settle that. In addition, lunch will be ready in a half hour."

"All right. I'll be in my room," Aoroa informed my father.

"Same here." Rob rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Now what? I complained as we headed up to my room. I don't suppose there's a way to join Fun for Family without him being infested?

No such luck. The Visser would notice. I could make sure he gets a peaceful Yeerk, though… she replied as we plopped down on a chair.

Do you have any other ideas?Aoroa considered. I suppose we could, as you humans say, "fake it." Get him to pretend he went to Fun for Family and all…That's too risky. Are you sure that my dad isn't a Controller?

She laughed. I agree with you that he is crazy. However, he is definitely not under Yeerk control. A real Yeerk wouldn't be that obvious, at any rate.

"Amy!" called my dad just then. "It's time for lunch! You too, Rob!"

"I'm coming," we called as we got to our feet.

The next day, after Mass was over, we dragged Rob to the Fun for Family meeting. He complained the entire way there, and fought our dad about it even as he was heading out the door.

"It's not that bad, Rob," Aoroa said, playfully hitting him as he got on his bike. "Who knows? You might actually enjoy it."

He stared at us. "My friend Mike said that Fun for Family was this weird cult. He said that he only went once and it was just as bad as he had expected. Too happy, too perky. So, no thanks, I don't feel like belonging to some brainwashing cult that talks about 'improving our world.'"

It scared me how close to the truth what he said was. . .or could be interpreted.

"Mike?" Aoroa asked curiously. She could already tell that, while the name sounded familiar in my mind, Mike could have been anyone.

"A boy in my grade. And he has older friends 'cause his sister's popular. He says they've become perky after they joined the cult."

"Well, he obviously doesn't know what Fun for Family is really about. But in any case," we added quickly before he could interrupt, defending his idol, "it's Dad, not me, who's making you join."

You mean "us." I corrected.

Naturally, but I couldn't say that, Aoroa replied, sounding amused.

"He's not gonna make me do anything."

We smirked. "He says you're grounded big time if you don't."

He glared at us and began to push his bike faster. He ended up at the center a minute before us, but we ran and caught up to him.

"Thought you could outrun me?" We asked him, condescendingly.

He said something I won't repeat.

We ignored him and grabbed his hand, dragging him inside.

"Let me go!" he shrieked, panicking. Then he began to scream, "ABUSE!! ABUSE! Stop this woman! HELP!"

A few members turned and smiled, but no one did anything to stop us. Even so, Aoroa put a hand over his mouth.

He bit her.

"If I let go of you will you promise not to escape?"

"Maybe," he growled. We loosened our grip. "Probably not."

We proceeded to drag him into the center. He glared at us the entire time, but didn't say anything else.

We walked into the room and he sat down, looking at everyone stonily.

"Hey, Amy," Jennifer called. "This your brother?"

"Yup. Jennifer, brat. Brat, Jennifer."

Jennifer raised her eyebrows. "Really."

"Well, his given name is Robert, but his friends call him Rob. I call him "brat" when he acts like one. Which is now. Feel free to call him whatever you want."

"You will both be so sorry," Rob snarled. "Mike told me that you're weird, both you," he glared at Jennifer, "and the whole club. He says it's dangerous."

"And how would he know, Robby?" asked Jennifer, smiling. "He's not even a member, so how would he know?"

"He says you try to brainwash people into taking over the world."

There was a momentary pause. Someone started to shout, "Yes! It's tr. . " but then their Yeerk took over.

Host rebellion? I questioned, suddenly feeling sick.

Yes. Her Yeerk is kind enough, but they don't generally get along. Not all human-Yeerk relationships are symbiotic.

But I thought most Yeerks were in the Peace Movement.

They are. But they don't always get along. You have the same thing with your friends. Sometimes, they just get on your nerves. Imagine living with one inside your head all the time.

I see your point, I acknowledged. So, how do we prevent that from happening with us?

Only time will tell, Amy.

Meanwhile, the whole room was covering up the tension with snorts of laughter.

"Good one, Rob," Aoroa said, grinning. "We're also aliens. We have three eyes, you see."

Jennifer made a weird alien face. "I am ExTar from the planet Zeebo. I come to destroy earth and all of its inhabitants."

She then proceeded to act between a mix of the cookie monster and a robot. Everyone started to crack up again.

"Mike's a weirdo. Don't listen to him," Jennifer told Rob, acting normal again. "Anyway, the meeting's about to start."We saw a few other members some in. Jennifer glared at them, even though they technically were on time. "Come on, all, sit down. We're going to have a busy meeting today."

We went over some plans about a park project that we were going to do. I pretty much zoned out on most of it. Rob looked very bored and glanced at his watch a few times. Finally, it was over. Thank goodness.

"See?" Jennifer told Rob as we were leaving. "That wasn't so terrible."

"Actually, it was. Even if you aren't cultists, you're boring. Who cares about saving a dumb old park?"

He didn't wait for an answer before walking out the door.

Jennifer turned to Aoroa and spoke in a whisper. "You know, your host's brother is such a dork. Is he going to join or not? Because we really need to know soon…"

"His dad is making him. . .His dad isn't one of us, though. To be blunt, I think that giving Amy's father to one of us would be torture in itself."

Jennifer smiled broadly. "One of those. My advice is to try to stay away from mothers and fathers. I had one of those a few years ago. Thank goodness I only stayed with her for a few weeks, rumor had it that she died when the bandits first attacked the Yeerk Pool. At any rate, her body was never found. Of course, you remember what happened later when we discovered the books. . .the Visser would promote anyone who found her dead or alive to a sub Visser at the very least. She's caused us a lot of trouble, that Katherine Applegate."