Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind

by Kim Harrington

  We were almost home free when Bob came careening around the corner and blocked the door. He sneered and his lips curled back, revealing a line of short but pointy teeth.

  “Oh, corn nuts,” I croaked.

  Willa aimed the flashlight beam directly into his eyes, which would have blinded any human and make him turn away in pain. But it didn’t bother Bob. His eyes didn’t even blink. In fact, they never moved away from me. Why was he staring so hard at me? What did he want?

  His three legs bent at their knobby knees like a runner gearing up for the start of the race. Then he launched forward. But I didn’t even have time to gasp before Marcus came barreling over, catching the alien by surprise and pushing him into an open locker.

  Marcus swung the dial, locking him in, and then he turned to the rest of us. “He’ll bust out of there soon enough, but at least this will give us a head start.”

  I mentally apologized for complaining about kids leaving their lockers open earlier. Totally changed my mind on that one. Open lockers were the best!

  I stood outside my house, waiting for Charlie in the cool morning air. My breath made puffs of white as I yawned for the fourth time. That must have been some sort of personal morning record. I was mentally and physically exhausted. My arms were sore from running around the school while carrying a sleeping alien. And my brain was foggy from not enough sleep. Constant nightmares about Bob had kept me tossing and turning. Why was he so focused on me? What did he really want?

  I glanced over my shoulder at the backyard. My eyes scanned the shadows along the tree line, expecting Bob to emerge from the morning gloom any moment. But he didn’t. So far, he seemed to prefer the darkness of night.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Charlie said, jogging up to my side. “I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning.”

  “Join the club,” I groaned. “We should walk fast. We don’t want to miss the first bell.”

  Jason came running outside. He put a hand up as he neared us. “I don’t want to know what kept my brother up half the night. I really don’t. Leave me out of it.” Then he ran toward the high school.

  I shrugged. It wasn’t like we wanted to involve him anyway. We moved quickly, not even bothering to play our kick-the-pebble game.

  Charlie shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. “Now that we know they’re looking for oranges, I have an idea about where we can search after school today for the last two Vegans. The grocery store.”

  I’d thought of that, too. It was the best lead we had. If they were hunting oranges, it would make sense that they’d be there—or that they’d already been. I just hoped no one else caught them in the meantime. I wanted to send them home, not have them experimented on.

  “Don’t you have practice after school?” I asked.

  “Not today. Coach is going to Runswick to meet with their coach about his kids’ behavioral problems.” He winced guiltily.

  Blaming the whole thing on the Runswick Martians team was a smart idea, but we couldn’t keep using it. Sooner or later, people would figure out that Runswick hadn’t been pulling pranks. And then they’d start looking for the real aliens.

  We reached the school with a couple of minutes to spare. The buses had come and gone, but parents were still dropping kids off and driving away.

  “So we’ll meet after school, then,” I said. “I’ll tell Willa and Marcus.”

  Charlie’s expression changed, and he narrowed his eyes.

  I crossed my arms. “I really don’t want to hear any more thoughts about including Marcus.”

  “It’s not that.” Charlie pointed at something behind me. “It’s here again.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. That same plumbing van from the other day was parked a bit down the road. “Maybe they’re working at the school today?”

  “Then they’d be parked in the school lot,” Charlie said. “But they’re not. They’re down the road where there are no houses, no nothing. Just a sight line to us.”

  I wanted to call Charlie paranoid. I’d thought he was the other day when we saw the van twice. But a third time? Maybe something was going on.

  Charlie squinted like he was trying to read the advertisement on the side of the van. “Have you ever heard of Meleski Plumbing?”

  I thought for a moment. “No, but it’s not like I keep track of all the local plumbers. If we have any problems in our house, my uncle comes over and fixes it.”

  The school bell trilled loudly. Oh, no!

  “We have to go,” I said, tugging the sleeve of Charlie’s sweatshirt.

  He came with me but kept one eye on the van until we were inside the school and could no longer see it.

  After two quizzes, one exhausting game of floor hockey in gym, a moderately gross lunch, and several lectures, during which I almost needed to prop my eyes open, the school day was over. Willa and Marcus met me in the parking lot. We were just waiting for Charlie. Which was strange because he usually walked out of school at the same time as I did.

  He came a minute later, eyes scanning left and right. I knew he was looking for that van again.

  “Ready to head to the grocery store?” I asked.

  “Sure,” he said, without as much enthusiasm as usual, like his mind was elsewhere.

  Wolcott had a weird bylaw that said we couldn’t have any chain stores in town. Sometimes it stank, like when you wanted a fast-food burger. But other times it was pretty cool. Like how everything was located downtown in our quaint center. A magazine had even done a feature on us once. They called Wolcott a “quintessential New England town filled with mom-and-pop stores.”

  And the law was convenient now because we only had one grocery store, and it was located right in the town center near Bodhi’s Diner, a short walk from school.

  We reached the store in no time and started moving our way down the main row to the fruit aisle, which was, of course, the last one. We passed the breakfast cereals, the candy aisle, pasta, and more.

  “This store is making me hungry,” Marcus said.

  My own stomach grumbled in response.

  A giant “Fresh Fruits and Vegetables” sign greeted us at the last aisle. We cut past the lettuce and cucumbers and the surprising variety of tomatoes. Seriously, why was one kind of tomato so cheap and the other so expensive? Did one taste like candy? That was the only explanation that made sense to me.

  We searched the bins, but couldn’t find the oranges. Even the blueberries and strawberries looked picked over. Though the apples were still piled up.

  “You guys,” Willa said. “The oranges are gone. So either everyone in town decided they wanted them and the store sold out or—”

  “The Vegans already got them all,” I finished.

  “Can I help you kids?”

  I turned to face a short man with a mustache that looked like a giant caterpillar. His name tag said “Bob.” Thankfully he wasn’t the Bob we were hiding from.

  “Where are all the oranges?” Charlie asked.

  Bob looked around, then leaned in toward us and whispered, “There was a robbery.”

  Willa fake-gasped. “And only oranges were taken?”

  “Some other fruits, too. But all our oranges were wiped out. Even the extra inventory we had in the back. Strange, right?”

  “Very strange,” I agreed. “When did this happen?”

  “Overnight,” Bob said. “The place was trashed, too. Boxes tossed around, food on the ground. It was like someone had a party.”

  Marcus spoke up. “Were you able to see anything on security-camera footage?”

  Bob shook his head sadly. “We’re a small, family-owned business. It would take a chunk of change to install cameras all over the store. But we might have to do it after this wake-up call.”

  “Do you know anywhere else in town that sells oranges?” I asked. “My mom asked me to get some on my way home.”

  “The only other place is the little fruit stand near the common, but the stand isn’t always open. Good
luck.”

  Bob wandered off, fixing an apple pyramid on his way.

  Charlie stared at me. “You have that I-have-an-idea look on your face.”

  My stomach growled embarrassingly loudly. “I do. Let’s grab something to eat and I’ll explain.”

  “Breakfast all day at Bodhi’s?” Willa suggested.

  All of our grumbly stomachs heartily agreed.

  Only one parking lot separated the grocery store from the diner, but Charlie lagged behind us as we walked. He was never one to dillydally when pancakes were involved. I glanced over my shoulder and watched as he furiously typed on his phone. He was so focused that he nearly tripped over a speed bump. We all stopped to wait for him to catch up.

  “Charlie, come on,” I said.

  He narrowed his eyes at his phone as he scrolled, ignoring me.

  “Hey!” Willa snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Are you with us or were you also transported to another planet?”

  He looked up from the phone but not at us. His eyes scanned the lot and the cars parked along the street.

  “Are you looking for the van again?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t seem to be here now.”

  I turned to explain to Willa and Marcus. “Remember that plumbing van we saw the other day in two separate places? It was parked by the school this morning.”

  “Like it’s following you,” Marcus said. “Creepy.”

  “It gets worse.” Charlie waved his phone. “I just did some searches and Meleski Plumbing does not exist.”

  “What do you mean it doesn’t exist?” Willa asked.

  Charlie squared his shoulders. “There is no such company. That advertisement on the side of the van is fake.”

  Vanya’s mom seated us at my favorite table by the window, and we all put in our pancake orders.

  I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table and whispered. “If that plumbing company doesn’t exist, then who’s in the van? And why are they following us?”

  Charlie fiddled with his napkin. “I don’t know. But we should be careful to make sure we don’t lead them to the Vegans.”

  It couldn’t be a coincidence that a strange, fake plumbing van had started following me right when I’d begun to shelter aliens in town. It must have been one of those government agencies Mr. Durr had talked about. They wanted the Vegans. They would keep them in cages, maybe experiment on them. Tears threatened to fill my eyes at the thought.

  “Are you okay?” Willa asked, her voice soft.

  I gazed down at my paper placemat. “I’m worried. What if we don’t catch the Vegans in time? What if something happens?”

  Marcus reached across the table and patted my hand. “We’re all here together. We’re going to find them.”

  Charlie shot up in his seat, his eyes staring at something out the window. We all watched as a slow-moving black SUV with tinted windows slid to a stop in a parking spot right outside the restaurant. My throat went dry. Were they here for me? Were they going to force me to give them the Vegans?

  All the doors of the giant SUV opened and a bunch of enormous dudes piled out. My nerves went into overdrive. Then Jason climbed out of the backseat.

  “Isn’t that your brother?” Marcus asked.

  Charlie blew out a relieved breath. “Yeah.”

  “He has a friend who can drive?” Willa asked.

  “My brother’s a freshman but he’s on varsity, so he has some older friends,” Charlie explained.

  The little bell on the front door jangled as Jason walked in. His eyes went right to our table. He stared for a moment at our hunched over, worried looks. Then he put a hand out, stopping the crowd of guys behind him.

  “Too many little kids here,” he said, leading them out. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

  “Wow,” I said. “He really wants no part of this.”

  “This summer, a fire-breathing monster you released from a game nearly ate him,” Willa pointed out. “Can you blame him?”

  I shrugged. “I guess not.”

  They all piled back into the huge SUV and drove away. No plumbing van took its place. No one suspicious came into the diner. It was time to get down to business. No more distractions.

  Our waitress brought our plates, filled with pancakes bigger than our faces.

  Okay, I was now slightly distracted. But I could eat and plan.

  “So,” I said, chewing a bite. “We know the Vegans are hunting oranges. What if we lay a trap?”

  “Like put a pile of oranges in your backyard and wait?” Charlie asked.

  “Yeah.” I stabbed a piece with my fork. “We buy out the fruit stand and then we’re the only orange game in town.”

  Charlie nodded as he chewed. “There’s no school tomorrow, because of that professional development day. We should be allowed to stay up late tonight. We could all wait for them together, like a stakeout.”

  “What if Bob shows up instead?” Willa asked.

  I thought for a moment. “Then we salt him. Tie him to a tree.”

  “And then what?” Marcus asked.

  That was the problem that had been stewing in the back of my head all day. Even if we did catch the last two Vegans and Bob, then what?

  I shifted in my seat. “Even if we catch them all and corral them in Grandpa Tepper’s garage, they can’t stay there forever. I have to figure out how to send them home.”

  Willa pointed at my phone that lay on the table. “You brought them here somehow using the Alien Invasion game. Can’t you use it to send them back?”

  “No, I’ve tried that. All the game functionality just works normally.”

  Charlie squirted a ridiculous amount of maple syrup onto his plate. “That must mean you need that astronomer’s machine. Your phone was in the middle of it when you hit Summon and brought the aliens here.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But if we retrace the same steps, we’ll just bring more aliens here, not send the existing ones back.”

  Marcus stopped with his fork in midair. “Then what if you reverse the functionality?”

  I shook my head. “I broke into the app and checked it out, but there are too many variables. I don’t know what’s what.”

  “I have a decompiler on my laptop that can turn the APK into source code,” he said.

  I sat up straighter. “Can you bring it tonight? If we can find the line of code that caused all of it, we could rewrite it.”

  Marcus’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “And then recompile, install it on your phone, and bam!”

  Charlie’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m one of the smartest people I know and I have no idea what you two are saying.”

  “Yeah,” Willa agreed. “I got the bam part, but that’s it.”

  My mind churned with anticipation. This was a great plan. We would lay a trap of oranges for the Vegans and while we waited, Marcus and I could try to reverse the code in the game. But then my heart started to sink as worries crept in.

  I chewed on my lower lip. “What if we can’t find the right section of code to reverse? What if we’re in over our heads? It would be great if we had help from people who … ”

  My voice trailed off as a thought occurred to me. I didn’t know why it hadn’t also occurred to Marcus. It was obvious.

  “Had help from who?” Charlie asked.

  I looked at Marcus. “I know you don’t want to reveal their identities, but we’re in deep here. I think it’s worth breaking the secret. We need the Gamer Squad.”

  Willa nearly choked on a sip of water. “The what?”

  Marcus’s confident smile crumbled like an overdone cookie. He didn’t say anything. He seemed to be involved in an intense staring contest with his plate. So I explained. “The Gamer Squad is a private, secret group of elite gamers and programmers in town. I got an invitation to join, but I refused because they weren’t also inviting Charlie.”

  Charlie’s mouth dropped open and a light blush colored his cheeks.

&
nbsp; “Is that so?” Willa said in a strange tone, her eyes darting from Marcus to me and back again.

  I ignored her weirdness. “Yeah. And Marcus didn’t want to reveal the identities of the other members of the group before, but I think it’s important now because we’ll need all the help we can get to reverse this code.”

  Willa tapped her fingernails slowly on the table. “I think that’s a great idea, Bex. Marcus, tell us the names of all the other people in your little secret group.”

  Charlie looked just as confused as I did, but the wheels were apparently turning in Willa’s brain—and for some reason Marcus still wouldn’t speak.

  “Marcus, come on,” I said, frustration leaking into my voice. “This is important. Tell us the names.”

  “Yeah, be honest,” Willa said teasingly.

  Marcus put his fork down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Then he looked up at me. “There are no names. There is no Gamer Squad. It never existed.”

  There is no Gamer Squad,” I said slowly as if sounding out the words would help me understand them. “There is no group of elite gamers. Just you and me?”

  “Yes,” Marcus croaked.

  “Then why make a big deal out of it? Why the note and the secret meeting?”

  Marcus stared down at his hands. “I wanted to hang out with you.”

  “And you couldn’t, like, ask me to hang out? You had to create a fictional secret group of gamers?”

  Marcus wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Well, I thought you and I could be the first, and then we’d add more over time.”

  “But you wouldn’t let me add Charlie.” I was so confused. None of this made any sense.

  Willa groaned and threw her hands up. “He likes you, blockhead!”

  I blinked quickly. “What?”

  “How can someone so smart be so stupid?” she muttered, shaking her head. “Marcus didn’t add Charlie because he was worried that you liked Charlie, and he wanted you to spend time with him instead.”

  My head snapped back toward Marcus. “Is that true?”