I am getting VERY tired of receiving PMs and "reviews" that just say "I liked your story, please hire me to do artwork" with no further details. If anyone has REAL feedback, I would appreciate it - whether you like the story, or dislike it, or just find it too confusing to follow. Just don't advertise art commissions without any indication that you've actually read the story, because I'm not going to respond.

And now back to our irregularly scheduled programming:

The barn was a convenient meeting place for us. Cassie already lived there. Rachel was her best friend, and Jake was her... well, I guess they weren't officially dating, but everybody knew they liked each other. Both of them were regular visitors to begin with. Cassie and Marco weren't exactly friends, but they weren't total strangers either, and he was Jake's best friend, so he'd come along with Jake to visit a few times. The only one who seemed out-of-place was Lee, and that was just because he was new in town. As far as Cassie's parents knew, they were a completely normal bunch of teenagers hanging out after school.

I flew in through the open hayloft door and perched in the rafters to wait for everyone to show up. As soon as they arrived, we'd head out to the clearing in the woods, where there was absolutely no chance of Cassie's parents walking in on us talking to a bunch of space aliens. Even if they weren't Controllers, there would be too many awkward questions if they found out what we were up to. Cassie, Rachel, and Marco were already there, casually chatting as they waited.

"I think it's just a matter of time before Hyde and Jackie start going out," Rachel said, "I mean, Jackie and Kelso have terrible chemistry. There's no way that relationship is going to last."
"Oh, I get that, but... you really think Hyde is where she's going to go for a rebound crush?" Cassie asked.
"Well, the only other option is Fez, and she's way out of his league," Marco explained. "So she'd have to be really desperate to... to..." He jumped up off the haybale he'd been sitting on and clapped his hands together.
"I think I just figured out why they call him Fez," Marco explained. "See, it's an acronym. FEZ means Foreign Exchange Ztudent". I could hear him carefully mispronouncing the last word.
(What are you guys talking about?)
"That 70's Show," Marco said, somewhat unhelpfully.
(Which one? Happy Days, CHiPs, or-)
"No, that's the title," Cassie said, "It's a show about the 70s, so it's called That 70s Show. I guess it's kind of like 'Happy Days', but with mood rings, lava lamps, and polyester."
(Oh. I don't think I've seen it.)
"Probably not. It only started a few weeks ago," Rachel said. "I think the first episode broadcast the weekend before we saw the... well, back when things were still normal."

I felt my stomach tighten into a knot. At least, I think it was my stomach (it's not like I was a complete expert on avian anatomy). Just a little feeling of unease. Annoyance that I was missing out on something. It's not like I'd spent most of my life in front of the TV. Especially not if it meant I'd be around Uncle Carl. But there were still shows I liked enough to try and tune into. Mostly I liked sci-fi shows like Star Trek, and I'd listen in sometimes when other kids at school would start talking about whatever shows were on, see if there was anything worth checking out. It helped me feel connected to the rest of the world. Less isolated. But after all these weeks of being stuck as a hawk, I was starting to lose that. There were only five people I could talk to about what new TV shows were on, and my ability to even watch those shows was extremely limited.

A new voice interrupted my depressed inner thoughts. Lee was there, grinning from ear to ear.
(Sorry. I spaced out for a second.)
"I said, thanks for the save at lunch today! You really sent those pendejos running."
(No problem. What was that all about, anyway?)
The smile vanished from his face.
"I'd rather not get into the details, but the short version is they thought it would be funny to harass the weird, creepy Indian girl."
It took me a moment to realize that he was talking about himself. As far as everybody else knew, Lee was a girl. Our fellow Animorphs were the only people who knew that he was transgender - a boy born in the wrong body. It was something he'd kept secret his whole life and had only told us about it a few weeks ago.
(Weird and creepy? They don't know what they're talking about.)
Lee tried to smile again, without success.
"They're not exactly wrong about 'weird', but they don't know I can turn into animals. Anyway, that was the polite part of what they were saying."
"That's the first time I've ever heard Andy and Tap-Tap accused of being polite," Jake said as he walked in through the side door.
"Well, it backfired on them. Not only do they look like jerks for picking on a... well, for picking on me, but now everyone saw them run away from a bird."
"Maybe we'll get lucky, and they'll die of shame," Marco said. "Anyway, now that we're all here, let's go say hi to E.T."

Author's Note: My parents have claimed more than once that That 70's Show is directly based on their lives. Season One was one of the first DVDs my family ever had - it was a Christmas present in 2006. I'm absolutely certain about the year, because we were watching the episode about President Ford coming to town the same day he died.