A Different Kind

by Lauryn April

  “She totally blew it with Ian,” Hailey said.

  Jo cast her a harsh look.

  “Sorry,” Hailey said. “Honestly I don’t blame you for letting him go. I’ve heard he’s been talking to Jenna a lot lately, and I’m sure you saw them at the dance and…now.”

  I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m not all that heartbroken about it.” Truthfully, thinking about my former crush still stung a little.

  When we were walking out of the lunch room, Hailey left to catch up with Darren, leaving Jo and me alone.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Jo asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t know. I just don’t feel the same about Ian as I did a few weeks ago.”

  Jo was silent for a moment. “Is that all that’s bothering you?”

  “Why?”

  “You’ve just seemed distracted all day, and you’ve never been late to class. You look like you didn’t even have time to straighten your hair. Personally I think it looks good wavy, but that’s just not like you.”

  I looked down at the limp, wavy locks of blond hair lying over my shoulders. Then I thought about how my hair had looked as it floated around me, the bright light illuminating every strand. I thought about them, and I wanted so badly to tell Jo all of it. I knew if I did she’d think I was crazy.

  “Jo, do you believe in supernatural stuff, like…ghosts and aliens?”

  Jo laughed. “That’s kind of a random question.”

  “Well, do you though?”

  “Um…I don’t know. I had an aunt once who swore her house was haunted. I guess I wouldn’t rule that kind of stuff out. I never really thought about it. Why, do you think your house is haunted?”

  I laughed. “No, I’ve just had some weird dreams lately, that’s all.”

  Jo looked at me, concerned. I think she could see how truly rattled I was beyond my false confidence. “Hey, would you wanna hang out with me and Nikki after class? We were just going to bum around the park, maybe get ice cream at that little shop on Main.”

  It’d been a while since Jo and I had done anything relaxing. “Yeah, why not,” I said, hoping some down time would help me clear my head.

  “Good.” Jo smiled.

  I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze brush through my hair. The merry-go-round spun. I took another bite of my ice cream, getting a large chunk of strawberry. Jo sat on the other side of the carousel, digging into her chocolate ice cream and smiling as Nikki gave us one last push before jumping on.

  I hadn’t hung out at Eastside Park since eighth grade. When I started high school I became so consumed in the clubs and activities that I didn’t have time to hang out like this, to just sit around and do nothing. Once Jo and I joined the squad every part of our lives revolved around cheerleading. We became close friends with the girls on our squad and planned our activities around the things we could do together. We started running to get in shape for football season. Even shopping and going to parties were related to our social status and keeping up with the rest of our teammates. Nikki’s life was different.

  “I love this park,” Nikki said. “The band and I come here to write music sometimes. Joey will bring his guitar and we’ll all just hang out.”

  “You’re in a band?” I asked.

  Nikki nodded.

  “They’re really good,” Jo said. “You should come with me to one of their gigs sometime. Nik plays the drums.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, sure, I’m up for that. What do you guys play?”

  “All different stuff; right now we’re pretty much a cover band. We’ve got some of our own stuff, but nothing that feels finished enough to play at a show. We play a lot of ‘80s and ‘90s rock. Right now we’re learning this one song by the Misfits, called ‘I Turned Into a Martian.’ It’s not really one of my favorites, but Frank, our singer, has this thing about aliens.”

  My ears perked up and I dropped my spoon into my half-empty ice cream cup. “Aliens, really?”

  “Frank’s a little…out there,” Jo said.

  Nikki laughed. “He sounds a little crazy sometimes, but he’s a true believer.”

  “What about you,” I asked, as a slight stutter shook my voice. “Do you believe in aliens?”

  Nikki shrugged. “Yeah, I mean I’m not obsessed with that stuff like Frank, but I find it hard to believe that in the entire universe we’re alone. There’s got to be something else out there.”

  “Something else like plants or microbes, right?” Jo asked. “You don’t really think we’re being visited by intelligent creatures from other planets?” She laughed nervously.

  “Yeah, why not? Frank says some crazy stuff, but some of his stories are like freaky real.”

  “What kind of stories?” I asked. The last of my ice cream was now completely forgotten and left to melt at the bottom of the plastic container.

  “Well, he’s got this theory that they visit earth to implant microchips in us and then later take us back to their planet. I laughed when he said that one, but then he showed me some articles about people that went missing. They’d all claimed to have had bad headaches and suffered from these creepy dreams.”

  Jo looked to me, her brow creased. I wondered if she remembered that I’d told her I was having weird dreams. Or that I’d told her that right after I asked her if she believed in the supernatural. She shook her head and looked away.

  “Some of it’s kind of hard to ignore.”

  “Has he ever said anything about how someone could remove one of those microchips?” I asked.

  “Alright, you guys are freaking me out now,” Jo said. She gave me a worried look.

  “Sorry,” Nikki and I said in unison.

  Our conversation shifted in a different direction after that. Jo and I shared stories with Nikki from when we were growing up. We told her about the time we went to Rachel Spencer’s thirteenth birthday party. During a game of truth or dare, Jo’s crush, Stephen Cooper, accidentally bit her nose when he tried to kiss her. I’d laughed so hard the soda I was drinking came out my nose.

  That night after I’d gotten home, I thought about the aliens again. When Nikki brought up the microchips I was reminded of how these things were tracking me. Logan said there wasn’t a way to remove the chip, but maybe there was, maybe he just didn’t know how. If I could find a way to remove it, they wouldn’t be able to find me and take me again. It was just an idea, but it gave me that little bit of hope I needed.

  I took a breath and started getting ready for bed. I was reminding myself that everything was going to be okay when I heard the doorbell ring. Through my open bedroom door, Mom’s voice echoed. It was followed by Jo’s voice, soft and trembling. She sounded like she’d been crying. I walked out of my room, listening as my mother told her everything would be alright. I picked up my pace. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Jo was wiping her face. Her eyes were red and she had a bag slung over her shoulder.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Payton, why don’t the two of you go up to your room? I’m going to give Mrs. Mitchell a call.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I said with a nod.

  CHAPTER

  18

  I shut my bedroom door. When I turned around Jo sat at the edge of my bed. She was hunched over, her hands gripping my comforter. River-like streaks ran through her make up. She tried to smile, but her sadness bled through.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  I nearly burst into tears myself at seeing her eyes well up. Jo shook her head: No.

  I rushed to her and hugged her. She squeezed me tightly.

  “What happened?” I asked, pulling away to sit beside her on my bed.

  Jo took a deep breath, but her voice still wavered as she spoke. “My mom was on my laptop.” Jo hiccupped. “She said she was just checking her e-mail because her computer has a virus or something, but I think she was snooping. Anyway, my Facebook page was up and there were messages from Nikki, and she read them and….” Jo’s words became incomprehensible. “M
om freaked out on me when I got home. We got in this huge fight and were yelling at one another. Then Dad came in and she told him everything. They told me they didn’t approve of my choices, and so I told them it wasn’t a choice.” Another sob broke Jo’s speech. Her next words were so shaky I barely understood them. “They told me to get out.”

  I pulled Jo into another hug. “Oh my God, Jo, I’m so sorry.”

  We talked for a while. Then I went downstairs to get Jo a glass of water and to give her a minute alone to call Nikki. When I walked into the kitchen I overheard Mom talking with Mrs. Mitchell on the phone.

  “Just let her stay here the night. I’ll make sure she gets off to school tomorrow,” Mom said. “I understand you want her home, but maybe it’s better to give her a little space right now.”

  Then, as I left the kitchen, I heard her say something about this just being a phase and to give it time. I rolled my eyes but didn’t say anything.

  The next day at school Jo did her best to pretend like everything was okay. She was almost as good at it as I was. It went without saying that she didn’t want anyone to know her parents had kicked her out. Although, from what I’d overheard of my mother’s conversation, they’d already changed their minds about that. I think she also felt like if she told anyone her parents had kicked her out, they’d ask why, and considering how her parents reacted to finding out she was gay, I doubted she was ready to tell anyone else.

  After first hour Logan dragged my mind back to my own problems. He pulled me aside in the hallway after English.

  “Hey, where were you yesterday? I stopped by your house, but your mom said you were out.”

  “Yeah, I was hanging out with Jo and Nikki. Why, what’s up?”

  “Not much, I was just thinking of ways we can keep them from taking you again, and I think I have an idea.”

  “I was thinking about that too. Logan, there’s got to be some way we can get this chip out of my head. If they can’t find me they can’t take me.”

  Logan nodded. “I really don’t think there’s any way to remove it, but we might be able to find out more about it in the ship. I was thinking about going there today after class. Can you come?”

  “I’m supposed to have practice.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how little cheerleading mattered in comparison to what I was facing. “I’ll skip.”

  Logan nodded. “Good, I’ll meet you at the forest after class.”

  “Yeah, sounds good.”

  We were about to part ways when Logan spoke again. “Hey, um, think maybe we should swap numbers? You know, so we can contact each other in case something comes up.”

  “Oh, um, yeah.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

  As I told Logan my phone number, and in turn typed his into my cell, it felt like it more than something we were doing simply out of practicality. Giving him my number meant something.

  I was still thinking about that at the end of the day when I ran into Hailey on my way back to my locker. She bounded up to me with this excited smile. I sighed, bracing myself for whatever she was about to say.

  “So, remember how we were talking about seeing that movie?”

  “Which movie?” I opened my locker.

  “You know, the one with that blond actress and the guy has his shirt off in the trailer, I forget his name. Anyway, Darren has a friend who works at the theater, and he said he could get us in free and score us some popcorn. He works tonight, so I was talking to some of the other girls on the squad and we’re going after practice.”

  “Oh…that’s cool.”

  “You’re coming, right?”

  I sighed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go, I just didn’t have the time, and I couldn’t tell Hailey why. “I can’t. I’m gonna miss practice too. I’ve just…I’ve got some stuff I have to do.” Lamest line ever, I thought as I shut my locker, hoping Hailey would drop it.

  “Stuff?” Hailey asked. “What kind of stuff?”

  “It’s nothing really. I’ll tell you about it later. Hey, did you see Andrea Reynolds today?” I said, trying to change the topic. “She was wearing the cutest sweater. We need to plan a day to do some shopping.”

  Hailey looked at me skeptically, but she let it go.

  “Yeah, I could use some new boots,” she said.

  I smiled. “Good, I wanted to hit up that new shoe store at the mall, but hey, I’ve got to get going. Keep an eye on everyone at practice for me.” I started to walk away.

  “Yeah, I will,” Hailey called after me. “Call me later or something, kay.”

  I nodded and waved, but didn’t say anything back.

  The first time we visited the wrecked spaceship in the woods, I stared at it in awe. The utter disbelief was gone now, the amazement, the wonder, all of it had disintegrated. This time the sight of the ship sent chills down my spine. Now I understood perfectly what this ship was. Despite that it had been stolen by the hybrid rebels to free their people, it was still one of the Greys’ ships. It was just like the one they’d taken me in, and it was the same kind of ship that would be coming for me again.

  I took a deep breath as we walked inside.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” I asked as we walked through the maze-like hallways of the ship.

  “Yeah, I spent a lot of time wandering around this place as a kid. The DOD, or whoever, picked through it pretty well after we first crashed, but I found a few things they missed. There’s a few rooms they didn’t or couldn’t get into. I don’t know if you noticed, but the doors in this place don’t exactly have knobs. One of the other hybrids must have led them through.”

  A thought occurred to me. “Will I be able to open doors with my mind and float spoons and stuff too?”

  Logan laughed. We stopped before one of the black metal doors.

  “I don’t know, let’s see. Open it.”

  “What?”

  “Go on and open it.”

  “How?”

  Logan shrugged. “You just, I don’t know, you just make it move. Go on, try.”

  I stared at him incredulously for a moment, then I sighed and thought what the hell. I stared at the door. I pictured it opening. My eyes squinted and my brow puckered, but the door didn’t move. I tried harder. When I realized Logan was smiling, then laughing at the face I was making, I gave up.

  “Well, maybe you can’t open it,” he said with a chuckle. He turned his attention on the door. Within seconds it opened.

  He walked in and I followed. As soon as I passed the doorway, I froze. We were in the center of the ship. On the ceiling hung a huge light made of this strange reflective material I’d never seen before. On the floor a circle of metal tiles, curved in a scale-like fashion, made it easy to see how they would retract to allow for something or someone to be sucked inside. On the outskirts of the room were metal tables and strange instruments, some of which I recognized.

  A shiver ran down my spine. I closed my eyes to force the flashes of memory away. When I opened them Logan was looking at me with concern.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “This room never meant much to me, but I guess it doesn’t exactly bring back good memories for you.”

  I took a breath. I didn’t want to talk about it. “Why are we in here?”

  “I remember seeing some files in here that looked like they talked about the chip.”

  “Makes sense,” I said. “Seeing as this is where they implant them.”

  “If you don’t want to be here, I understand. I can do this myself; really, I never should have–”

  “No…no, I want to find this.” I took a deep breath. “Just tell me where to look.” I glanced around the room. “I don’t exactly see any papers, or charts or anything.”

  Logan smirked. “Yeah, the Greys aren’t big on killing trees.” He walked over to what appeared to be a metal desk or station of some kind.

  “How earth-friendly of them,” I said flatly, walking to him.

/>   Logan waved his hands in the air before us, feeling for something I couldn’t see. It didn’t seem like he was finding what he was looking for. Then he put his hand flat, and it was as if it rested on something solid. The air rippled around his fingers and symbols, lit in green light, appeared in the air as if there were some giant invisible touch screen before us. My eyes went wide as I tried to interpret the curving and twisting cyphers of the Greys’ language.

  “Shit, how are we going to find anything in there? Can you read that?”

  Logan laughed. “You didn’t think it was going to be in English, did you?”

  I gave Logan an evil glare. He only laughed harder.

  “Can you read it?”

  Logan shrugged. “Like whole sentences, no, but I know a few symbols.” Logan pointed to a series of marks on the far right. “When I was a kid my babysitter, Michael—he was like me obviously – he used to teach me some of them. This symbol here,” Logan pointed to the screen, “is for the Greys. This one though…this one is for the humans they’re tracking.” Logan pressed his finger forward, and the marks lit up in a brighter green.

  The imaginary screen was filled with an endless list of strange symbols.

  “What is this, some kind of directory?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Logan touched a random set of squiggles and dots. A new page appeared.

  Before us was a three dimensional green hologram of a man. His skin was translucent, showing all of his organs and veins, outlines of muscles and bones. Logan touched the man’s head, and the screen zoomed in on his brain. Surrounding it were what appeared to be notes written in the unfamiliar language. As the hologram brain rotated I could see the chip behind his right ear. It sparked and tiny flashes of light flickered across its surface.

  “It’s not as deep as I thought it’d be.”

  I pulled out my phone and took a short video of the hologram. “So, how does this help me?”

  “When they take you to their planet the chip stops working. I don’t know why, but that’s why they can’t track the rebels on their planet or find us now that we’ve returned.”