Out of this World Read online

  “Yes, Henry?”

  “Can my A cappella group, the Starlight City Sound Machine, sing at the dance?” Henry asked.

  “Don’t you have a concert for that?”

  “Yes,” Henry said.

  “Then let’s wait until the concert,” I said.

  Jason spoke up. “Lia, I know you’re new to all this, but student council is a democracy.”

  “Jason has a point,” Brandon said. “For these types of decisions, we usually take a vote.”

  I nodded. “Fair enough.” I took a deep breath. “Please raise your hands if you think the Starlight City Sound Machine should sing at our dance?”

  Interestingly enough, six kids raised their hands. Another six kids didn’t raise their hands. “Looks like it’s a tie,” I said.

  “Ah, Madam President, you get to vote too, Henry told me.”

  I grinned. “Yes, good point” I looked at Henry. “So, how many songs will you guys sing?”

  “Just one,” Henry said.

  “Will you donate time to charity?” I asked.

  “We can sing at the senior center.” Henri grinned at me hopefully.

  I raised my hand. “Okay, you guys have a deal.”

  Walking home from the meeting, Jason turned to me. “I noticed you used your command voice on Patti and Wendi.”

  I turned away from him. “Yep.”

  “I mean, Lia, I can’t blame you. It must be so tempting to use those powers. But until this afternoon, you’ve only used them in an emergency.”

  “I just wanted the meeting to go smoothly. It was my first one. I wasn’t in the mood for any of their mean girl stuff. I let them know who the boss was,” I avoided eye contact with Jason as I spoke.

  Jason looked at me. He started to open his mouth. He raised a finger. He considered his words. He patted me on the shoulder. “Great job. I think it went well.”

  “Thanks, Jason.”

  “It’s a great idea about the dance.”

  “Thanks again, buddy.”

  “Do you need help at the volunteer table?” he asked.

  “Of course,” I said.

  “Well, I’ll gladly work your shift with you.”

  “Okay,” I told him.

  “So we’re best friends still, right?” he asked.

  I stopped walking. “Jason, we’ve always been best friends and we always will be. No matter what. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be mad at you from time to time. I’m sure you’ve been mad at me before.”

  Jason shook his head. “Never! Lia, you were an amazing person even before you had your powers! I could never be mad at you.”

  “How about when I use my command voice to make people do what I want?”

  “Just a little disappointed, but I can’t blame you….”

  “How about when I take my shoes off and knock out the mall?”

  Jason laughed. “That, I know you can’t help. That’s just you being you. Besides, it’s relaxing.”

  We both laughed.

  Dear Diary: Okay, Zeekee still hasn’t woken up. But the docs at BMS Labs assure me he will, which is great. I can’t wait to talk to him again. My first student council meeting went well. Sure, I used my powers, but I truly believe I used them for good. After all, nobody wants to hear Wendi and Patti carry on and on and moan and complain. I think even Jason got that. I’m glad Jason and I are talking again. I know he’s a little jealous of Zeekee, but really, he doesn’t need to be. Jason will always be my BFF. Not sure what Zeekee is yet.

  The dance is on Friday. I just hope it will go smoothly. Of course it will go smoothly! I’ll be there to make sure it does.

  Dancing Machine

  Friday came really quickly. Zeekee still hadn’t woken up, but his brain activity and vitals were getting stronger. The docs assured me he would become conscious again anytime now.

  I gotta’ admit, most of the school seemed excited about the dance. I liked the idea of helping the city, plus getting a chance to listen to music and hangout with my friends and the other kids. The student council members stayed after school and worked on decorating the gym. The theme of the dance was ‘Giving’. A nice theme, but a bit hard to find decorations that would fit. So we went with the standard balloons and streamers and glitter.

  Of course, Patti and Wendi had opinions on everything we did. I thought it would be nice to go with bright primary colors like red, blue and yellow. Wendi thought we should go with green and orange because as she put it, they looked better. For a brief moment, I thought about using my command voice on her, but Jason shot me a look. So I decided to ride out the storm.

  I hung some streamers, while Wendi and Patti stood next to me, telling me to move this way or that way. I fought back the temptation to deactivate my nano deodorant and drop them both. But I didn’t dare. If I hit the room with too much power, the dance would be canceled due to half the student body being knocked out cold.

  All and all, it took twice as long as it should have to get the gym ready, but we had it acceptable by five. That gave me time to leap home, hit the showers, grab a bite to each and get ready.

  Preparing for the dance, I tossed open my closet door. “Man, I have nothing to wear,” I moaned.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Lia,” MAC said. “But I detect that your closet is filled with clothing. Most of it clean.”

  “I meant I have nothing special to wear!” I sighed.

  “Ah, Ms. Lia, the suit you are wearing is composed of nano-technology that will change to your liking. I call that pretty special. Plus, we can simulate any look. I call that mega special. In addition to that, the nanobots keep you fresh and clean, unless you are under lots of stress. And I call that uber special!” MAC said.

  I watched as the outfit I was wearing began changing. My faded jeans and t-shirt transformed into a sparkly sky-blue dress that shimmered and shone as I swished from left to right. My feet had been fitted with a pair of shiny black heels that buckled around the ankle. Although this was my chance to wear heels, something I had never done before, I knew Mom definitely wouldn’t approve. As I stared at myself in the full-length mirror, the dress was abruptly replaced with a pair of black skinny jeans that were teamed with a pretty white top, patterned in silver sequins. Threaded around my waist was a studded belt with a cool silver buckle, and on my feet, a pair of black high-top sneakers…“Okay, I get the point, MAC,” I said. “Yes, I have options, but I really don’t know what I should wear.”

  I heard a knock on the door.

  “Come in, Mom,” I said.

  My mom and Grandma Betsy entered the room. “We detect a disturbance is the force,” Grandma Betsy said.

  “Really?” I asked.

  They laughed. “No, you’re just a 13-year-old girl getting ready for a dance, so we figured you’d be nervous.”

  I lifted up my arms and sniffed. “You can’t smell my fear. Right?”

  “Nope,” Grandma said, coughing.

  Mom put an arm on my shoulder. “Why are you so nervous, honey?”

  “Well, this is my first dance as a teen, and as a superhero, and as a student council leader. Plus, I’m a girl…I want to look my best…” I said. “This Steve guy drives me crazy, yet a part of me kind of likes the attention. Plus, I will be sitting at the volunteer table to get kids to volunteer to help the city, so looking my best will help!”

  Grandma grinned. “Plus, Jason will be there!”

  “Grandma! Jason and I are just friends, buddies, BFFs!”

  “But granddaughter…friends often make the best boyfriends! They’ve seen you at your worst and stayed by your side.”

  I shook my head. “I do NOT want to go there. NOT now.” I couldn’t believe my grandmother was talking about boyfriends!

  “Let’s just help you get ready for tonight.” Mom said, cutting Grandma off. “What sort of style are you thinking of?”

  “I’m not sure, something pretty, I guess. It is the school dance, after all,” I said.

  “Well, you have a
computer controlled suit that can accommodate any look,” Mom noted.

  “Yeah, MAC’s told me that, and that is cool, but still I’d love to wear something normal too…” I replied.

  After about 10 minutes, we settled on a spotted pink dress from my closet and a pair of flat-heeled shoes, topped with little bows. I slipped a matching headband onto my head. Finally, I felt satisfied with how I looked.

  It was nice to wear my own clothing instead of my nano suit. Yeah, the nano suit was cool, but sometimes you can’t beat your own clothes. (Of course, I still carried the nano suit in my bag. And I wore the holo-earing for a fast mask if needed.)

  Mom and Oscar were heading out on a dinner date and dropped Jason and me off at the dance on their way. Mom tried to reassure me, but I told her that really, this dance was no big deal. I was there as a student council member and as a friend. I probably wouldn’t even dance. Well, at least I wouldn’t do more than one or two dances, and definitely no slow dances. In fact, I felt pretty certain that Vice Principal Macadoo had informed the DJ to play no slow music.

  When I entered the gym, my heart jumped a beat. Sure, it was the same old gym I had been in like a billion times, but the loud music and flashing lights made it seem way cooler than I had ever expected. It was still early, but a lot of kids had already arrived.

  Janitor Jan walked over to me. At first, I didn’t recognize her because she was wearing a really pretty blue dress and had her hair down over her shoulders. “Jan, you look great!” I said.

  “Well, I figured if I am going to chaperone this dance, I should look half decent!” she laughed.

  “That’s great. Glad you could come,” I told her.

  “I do like to get out!” she said. “Plus, this way, if anybody messes up my gym, I can turn them into a nice clean turnip.” She winked at me before turning and gliding into the middle of the dance floor.

  “She was kidding. Right?” Jason asked.

  “I doubt it,” I shook my head. “But wow, good crowd here!”

  Jason grinned. “Free food and good music, makes for a fun night.” He looked at me. “I see Krista and Marie are manning the volunteer table. Think maybe we could have a dance?” He paused for a moment. “As friends….”

  I smiled. “I want to see how the girls are doing with getting people to donate and sign up,” I told him.

  “After that,” Jason said. “As friends,” he added again, this time with a smaller smile.

  I stopped and turned to him. “Sure, I’ll have a dance with you later. As a friend…”

  Jason’s smile grew. “Awesome.” He pointed to the food table. “I think I’ll check out the eats. I hear Steve’s dad went all out!”

  “Go for it!” I said.

  As I headed across the dance floor, I caught Wendi staring at me. Of course, she and Brandon were holding hands and dancing slowly, even though the music playing was upbeat. As I passed them I said, “Careful guys. VP Macadoo is watching.”

  “Jealous?” Wendi smirked.

  I actually was a bit. “No,” I said. “Just trying to be helpful!”

  “Thanks, Lia!” Brandon said. “We appreciate you looking out for us!”

  “No, we don’t!” Wendi told me. “Now go sit at your table where you belong, while those of us with boyfriends dance.”

  I wanted to say something back to her. But nothing appropriate came into my head. I also wanted to level Wendi with a fart. But that would have ended the dance for everybody. I took a deep breath and silently walked to the volunteer table.

  “So, how’s it going?” I asked.

  Because this table had been placed alongside the DJ, as well as a massive set of speakers, Marie and Krista couldn’t hear me. They held their hands up to their ears.

  “SO HOW’S THE VOLUNTEER TABLE GOING?” I shouted, just at the exact moment the music stopped. Half the room began cracking up. Man, the urge to fart grew, but I fought it back. I shot the DJ a look. He shrugged.

  I focused my attention on Krista and Marie. “We've had some canned food donated, and two people have signed up to volunteer at the senior home. Plus we’ve raised $25 dollars.”

  “Well that’s a start,” I said.

  I turned to the crowd. “Remember people, we’re here to have fun and….”

  The music blasted loudly once again. Kids started jumping around and dancing. I sighed.

  Marie tapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Lia everything will work out fine.”

  The moment she said those words, I saw Steve strutting across the floor towards me. He seemed to be empowered by the success of the dance his dad had funded. “Hey, Lia!” he said with a confident grin.

  “Hey,” I said.

  I pointed to the list of volunteers. “I don’t see your name yet,” I coaxed.

  Steve leaned over the table and signed the list. “I love helping! I think I’ll do clean up duty in the park, and sign up for visiting the senior home.”

  “That’s nice,” I said.

  “So, what are you signing up for Lia?” Steve asked.

  He had a point. My name was still missing from the list. “I’ll sign up for visiting the senior home as well.” I picked up the pen and wrote my name under Steve’s.

  Steve pulled his wallet from his pocket. He dropped a fifty dollar bill into the money collection. I knew he did it to impress me.

  “Nice job!” I said.

  Steve leaned closer to me. “Do you want to dance?” he asked.

  I was saved from answering Steve, because a few guys from our class, Aaron Ross, Dan Jenson and Mitch Eagle appeared at the table.

  “Hi Lia!” they all said at once.

  “Ah, hi guys…” I pointed to the table. “So, you guys are here to donate and volunteer. Right?”

  The three of them nodded. They took out their wallets and dropped money into the collection box.

  “You wanna dance?” the three of them asked in unison.

  I sat on the table and crossed my legs. I kind of enjoyed this attention. “Tell you what guys, if we make a thousand dollars tonight for charity I will dance with each of you!”

  All three smiled.

  “We’re onto it!” Aaron said.

  The three boys turned and began talking to people in the crowd.

  Marie tapped me on the shoulder. “What’s going on with you? I mean yeah, you’re pretty and all, but it’s like you have these guys under your power.”

  I felt my phone vibrate.

  I picked it up. I saw a message from MAC.

  MAC: Lia, since you are not wearing your suit, you are sweating more than normal and your scent is attracting the boys.

  LIA: Good to know. I’ll be careful.

  “What’s going on?” Marie repeated.

  “According to MAC, it’s my scent,” I explained.

  Marie leaned over and sniffed me.

  “Careful, on a bad day that will drop you!” I warned.

  Marie smiled. “Actually you smell great!” she said.

  I forced my arms down to my sides.

  “Lia! Lia! I’m here!” I heard the words inside my head.

  Looking around, I spotted Zeekee strolling in through the entrance. He stood in the doorway and glanced around the gym.

  I leaped off the table and rushed through the crowd. I reached Zeekee and threw my arms around him. I hugged him.

  “Zeekee! It’s so great to see you!” I released him from my grip but kept hold of his hand as I looked into his huge green eyes. “I was so worried about you!”

  “I missed you, Lia! But I needed to regain my strength.”

  He gazed around the room. He shuddered. “I feel all their eyes on me. The females like me but the males do not!”

  “They might be a little jealous,” I whispered to him.

  He whispered back, “Can we please get out of here?”

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “All these humans worry me. I need to get away from them. So many thoughts in my brain. I can hear
them all.”

  “But these are my friends,” I said. Then added, “And then there’s Patti and Wendi!”

  He locked eyes with me. My mind flooded with the thoughts Zeekee was hearing…

  “Why is that freak guy here?

  “He’s so good-looking!”

  “I hate the way the girls look at him.”

  “Wow, he’s like a dream.”

  “I don’t like that kid!”

  “I so like that kid!”

  “These kids better not scuff my floor! Or else!”

  Pretty sure that last thought was from Janitor Jan. Outside of that, I understood how Zeekee felt.

  I took his hand. “Let’s get out here!”

  We started running. “I know a place outside the city where we can go! It’s where my ship dropped me off!” Zeekee told me.

  When we reached the gym doors, I paused. “Wait, I left my bag on the table inside. My special suit is in there!” I said.

  Zeekee pulled me forward. “Doesn’t matter, you don’t need it.”

  I shrugged and followed. At least I still had my holographic earring so I could have a mask if I really needed it.

  Dear Diary: Yes, I left the dance and ran off into the country with an alien boy I barely knew. A small part of my brain (as well as MAC), said this wasn’t bright. A much bigger part of me (my heart), said…‘go for it girl!’

  Spacey

  I told Zeekee, “Just give me the general direction you want to go in. I

  can leap there!”

  “Ah, my ship is exactly 2.8 miles due east of here. Near the big body of water.”

  “You must mean, Star Pond,” I said. Yes, our town is near a lake and a pond. I pointed to my back. “Grab on!”

  He took hold of me. He pointed over my right shoulder.

  I bent down to leap in the direction he pointed.

  We glided through the air.

  “This is so sub-zero!” Zeekee shouted.

  We dropped down right next to the bright blue pond. The setting sun reflected off the water.

  I knelt down and ran my hand through the rippling surface. “I’ve forgotten how pretty it is here!” I said.