Of Jenny and the Aliens
by Ryan Gebhart
Ten years after Earth sent messages out into deep space, there has been an answer. Music from distant planet Pud 5 has reached the world's radios. Are aliens about to invade? No one knows, and almost-eighteen-year-old Derek doesn't really care, because at a wild end-of-the-world party, Jennifer Novak invited him to play beer pong, and things, well, progressed from there. Derek is in love. Deeply, hopelessly in love. He wants it all — marriage, kids, growing old on a beach in Costa Rica. For him, Jenny is the One. But Jenny has other plans, which may or may not include Derek. So Derek will try anything to win her — even soliciting advice from an alien who shows up in his hometown. This alien may just be the answer to Derek's problem, but is Derek prepared to risk starting an intergalactic war to get his girl? Just how far is he willing to travel to discover the mysteries of the universe — and the enigma of love?