Let the record show that I wrote a chapter while still under the partial influence of anesthesia. I really believe in this story and I hope you will too. You probably won't see another update until Friday morning.
Chapter Two:
"Do you think Mikey will ask me to the spring fling dance?" Rose asked while we got our books. "We've been hanging out together a lot and he hasn't shown any interest in any other girls."
I rolled my eyes. Rose was all ga, ga, for guys these days. I liked Mikey as a friend, but I wouldn't want to date him.
"I hope he does," I said.
"What will you do if he invites me?" Rose asked.
"Skip it. I don't like dances that much to begin with."
"Oh, Astra. Your head is always in the stars."
"Yeah," I said. "One day I'll know why, but I settle for acing Woodruff's math quiz."
"Half-breed! Star freak!" Elly gray shouted at us while ensconced in her click of friends, who laughed.
I stuck my tongue out at them.
"Get a life!"
She rolled her eyes and moved on.
"Promise you'll slap me senseless if I ever become like her or one of her brainless posse," Rose said.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," I said.
…
Woodruff's math test was a breeze. It wouldn't have been worth the risk to hack her computer as math was easy for me. I was done in ten minutes while the rest of the class struggled.
No one in my family of agent aunts and uncles will ever say it to my face, but I think they're disappointed I'm not as smart as my dad. He was genius, I'm just above average. I have his wavy hair and long lines in terms of resemblance, but I also excel at sports. They look at me sometimes with a mixture of sadness and pride. It's been over thirteen years and sometimes it seems like they miss him as though he died yesterday.
I doodled circles in my notebook. I always doodle in circles for some reason. They form interesting patterns that creep around the edges of my notebooks. Just another one of my quirks.
Next was English. Mr. Kendrick is still mad at me about the assignment where he asked us to write about our dreams. I wrote about a dream where a woman with super-short hair was smashing a black retro convertible to pieces. How was I supposed to know that it was his wife he was in the process of divorcing? My parents were smiling when they came from the meeting where he accused me of spying on him. The guy was nuts.
"I hope you are excited today, class," he said. "Because today we're going to discuss science fiction."
Rose winked at me. Yes, this did appeal to me.
He went over the history of science fiction and Elly raised her hand.
"Ask Astra what she thinks of science fiction."
"Sure Astra, you're known for you love of the stars," he said. "What are your thoughts of sci-fi as a genre?"
"I think science fiction holds a piece of the universe," I said. "We truly do not know what is out there and anything is possible."
"Even little green men?" a slacker in the back said.
"Everyone deserves to be treated equally," I said. "It doesn't matter your size or skin color."
"Very interesting Astra," Hendrick said with a hint of dismal in his voice. "Let's look at some famous writers."
"Freak," one of Elly's followers coughed.
I could never explain why I find the universe outside of earth so fascinating. Not even to Rose as she tried to understand. It's like that old Frozen II song where Elsa begs the voice to reveal who it she is. I know something is waiting for me outside this school, this planet. I just don't know what.
…
Mikey asked Rose to hang back after history, so I went to lunch alone. I sat down with Layla, Andre, and Damon. I knew Layla from the track team and Rose played soccer with her. We've known Andre and Damon since kindergarten, and it's clear they're gay for each other. Damon told me they'd come out in high school.
"So, career day is coming up next week," Layla said. "Have you invited Hunky Henry to speak?"
"He's a first-year handwriting analyst for the police," I said. "It's not as interesting as it sounds, as they don't let him work on the serious stuff yet."
"I don't care about that," Layla said. "He's easy on the eyes."
I sighed.
"When I'm going to find boys so interesting?"
"You may never," Andre said. "Expand your horizons."
"I've tried," I said.
"Is there an answer to the question?" Damon asked.
"Yes, he's coming," I said with a dramatic sigh.
"Yay!" Layla said gleefully.
Rose appeared beaming with a skip in her step as she carried her brown bag lunch.
"Guess who has a date to the Spring Fling dance?"
"Larry Dormer," Damon said. "He's been asking every girl who'll like in his direction."
"Which is why I never do," I said.
She swatted him with her lunch bag.
"Mikey asked me!"
I raised my hand, and we high-fived.
"Congrats."
"Watch out," Andre said. "Admins are here."
"Who're they looking at?" I asked as I avoided eye contact.
"Us," Layla said.
"Astralina Reid," Mr. Blackwell said. "You need to come with us."
My friends gave me sympathetic looks as I got up.
"Text me," Rose mouthed.
I nodded.
They led me to the principal's office where I found Aunt Emily. She was deputy director of the FBI. This couldn't be a social visit.
"Sit down, Astra," she said.
"Aunt Emily, what's going on?"
"You're old enough for me to give it to you directly: Your father's been abducted."
I thought I was going to sink into the floor. My corny, weird dad, had been kidnapped.
"What happened?" I asked.
"He was on his way to a meeting with another captain in Columbia Heights when his car was ambushed in the middle of the street. There are no functioning cameras in the area, and no witnesses have come forward. Your dad's car had been rammed into, and there were signs of a struggle.
"But they left a note?" I said.
She looked annoyed. Her thoughts were extremely easy to read right now.
"What is it Aunt Emily?" I said. "Tell me."
"We have our best linguists working on it," she said.
"But it reminds you of me somehow?"
Prentiss pulled out her phone.
"Don't let anyone know I showed you this."
The note was just a series of circles. They were almost identical in pattern to the ones I've been doodling in my notebooks. No wonder Aunt Emily was freaked out, as she's seen them often enough as a regular visitor to my house. I certainly was. One of my quirks suddenly had a suddenly serious implication.