Marco

This day couldn't get any worse. Jake was depressed, Crayak had given us another of his friendly visits, Rachel had turned into a psychopath and the Animorphs were over. If there was any such thing as the award for the crappiest day, today would win. I didn't meet up with Jake. He wasn't anywhere within eye range when I walked out of the barn. He might have morphed. I walked home by myself, feeling like the unluckiest person on Earth, although I knew that wasn't true when you compared me to Jake.

I made it home and actually found my dad cooking dinner.

"Hey Marco," he said when I walked through the door. "Chicken tonight? Too bad if you don't like it, making it anyway."

I smiled, at least he seemed happy.

"How's Jake doing?" he asked, suddenly frowning.

"He's not doing great," I said, which was the understatement of the century.

"Poor kid," my dad mumbled as he stirred something in a pot.

"Yeah," I mumbled, thinking about that argument he had with Rachel.

"You think you can cope with school tomorrow?" my dad asked, looking at me suspiciously. "I hope your not taking this death as an opportunity to miss school."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "Who do you think I am?"

"Sorry," he mumbled, going back to stirring. "Wasn't really thinking. I was just remembering how your mum died."

I cringed. I hated keeping the fact that my mum was actually still alive hidden from my dad, but it had to be done.

"Did Jake tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Tom's body was stolen from the morgue."

I nearly slipped off the chair I was sitting on.

"What?"

"Yeah, the funeral is going to be missing a body."

"When's the funeral?" I asked calmly, while silently screaming bloody murder at the Yeerks.

"Friday," my dad answered. "I've got to rent a tux, I think."

This conversation was way to calm for my liking.

"I've got a date tonight, by the way, so you'll be all by yourself tonight," my dad said suddenly.

"Oh, yeah?" I said, totally not interested.

"Yeah," my dad said trying not to look pleased. "After dinner. Want to know with whom?"

"Not really."

He stared at me, shocked and hurt. I felt a bit guilty, but then again why should he find a girlfriend when my mum was still alive? Why should he have fun when there were people getting infested? Why should he have fun when the world has lost its only resistance against the Yeerks? Why should he have fun when I felt like hitchhiking with some junkie only to be inevitably beaten to death when I refuse to sell marijuana?

"You want to talk about something?" he asked me.

"No."

"Well then snap out of it."
I got up and walked slowly to my bedroom. When I got there I found a certain red tailed hawk sitting on my bed.

"Bird boy, long time no see," I said dully.

Tobias started to morph into his human morph. I waited patiently for him to finish and when he did he was a shaky boy in spandex. I laughed.

"Shut up," he said.

"So what's up?" I asked casually.

"What's up?" he shrieked. "I'll tell you what's up…"

"Keep it down will you?" I said. "My dad didn't exactly see you come into the house remember. It's not like I kept you hidden under my cloak."

"Sorry," he said more quietly.

"So how's your psychotic girlfriend?" I asked with fake cheerfulness.

"I don't know, we all left right after you and Jake left, but she has gone crazy."

"Crazy? She's beyond crazy. If I were Jake I would have slapped her back to oblivion."

"Yeah, but now we're officially screwed," Tobias sighed. "The whole group has disbanded."

"Disbanded?" I repeated, humouredly. "What are we, the musketeers?"

"We wouldn't have lasted without Jake anyway," Tobias continued solemnly as though I hadn't spoken.

Tobias was right, we wouldn't have lasted without Jake and now that we were gone you can literally say bye, bye human race.

I sat down on my bed and sighed.

"What are we going to do now?" Tobias asked.

"You're looking at me?"

"Marco! Dinner!" my dad's shout echoed around the house.

"I got to go," I said.

"Alright," Tobias said as he started to demorph back into a red tailed hawk. "I'll see you later."

He finished demorphing and flew out of the open window.