The Alien Next Door 4: Trick or Cheat? Read online

  obviously!” said Harris.

  “You are so going to win the contest,”

  said a boy dressed like lion.

  “Thank you. I think Harris has a

  cool costume, too,” Zeke said, pointing

  two of his tentacles at Harris.

  “Whoa, nice robot,” said the lion,

  looking over Harris’s costume. “That’s

  really cool! Maybe you’ll actually win

  the contest instead of him!”

  But not everyone was as impressed

  by Zeke’s “costume.”

  A third-grader named Jeremy

  Jenkins walked up to Zeke and Harris

  in the hall. He wore a detailed monster

  costume, complete with fangs, claws,

  bulging eyes, and shiny, purple fur.

  “These are the best costumes you

  guys could get?” Jeremy sneered.

  “They look cheap and homemade!

  My parents bought me this awesome

  monster costume. It was the most

  expensive one in the store.”

  Jeremy turned to Harris. “You look

  like a broken microwave,” he said.

  Then he pointed at Zeke. “Are you

  supposed to be an alien? You look

  like a giant green peanut. And those

  eyeballs are soooo fake!”

  “I’ve got the best costume,” Jeremy

  snarled. “And I’m going to win the

  contest!”

  Harris saw Roxy looking at them

  from down the hall. She appeared

  concerned. But when she met eyes

  with Harris, she quickly turned

  around and walked away.

  HARRIS TOOK HIS SEAT IN MATH

  class. He found it hard to get

  comfortable with all the metal pipes

  on his arms and legs. He removed

  his helmet and tried to focus on the

  lesson.

  Ms. Milton, the math teacher,

  walked into the room. She was

  wearing a kangaroo costume, complete

  with a long tail and a stuffed toy baby

  kangaroo bouncing up and down in her

  pouch. She looked out at her classroom

  full of wizards, monsters, and ghosts.

  Zeke picked up a pencil with his

  tentacle and tried to write.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Dave

  Barrett. He sat next to Zeke and was

  dressed in a skeleton costume. “Don’t

  aliens use pencils?”

  Zeke said, knowing Dave wouldn’t

  believe him, “Actually no, we don’t.

  We usually use our minds to write

  things down.”

  Dave chuckled and all the bones on

  his costume shook.

  Ms. Milton smiled. “Settle down,

  class. You all look wonderful!” she

  said. “But we still have to complete

  today’s lesson.”

  Ms. Milton wrote a math problem

  on the board.

  “Does anyone have the solution?”

  she asked.

  A girl dressed like a dolphin raised

  her flipper.

  “Yes, Maria,” Ms. Milton said.

  “The answer is 42,” Maria said, her

  dolphin mouth flapping open and shut

  as she spoke.

  “Correct,” said Ms. Milton. She

  turned to write the answer on the

  board, but her long kangaroo tail

  knocked a stack of books off her desk

  and onto the floor.

  “I can see that it’s just as hard being

  a kangaroo as it is being an alien!” she

  said, bending down to pick up the

  books as all the kids laughed.

  At lunch, the cafeteria looked like

  the world’s biggest costume party.

  Dinosaurs ate lunch next to witches,

  and a giant daffodil was seated next

  to a walking fish.

  Harris took his usual seat next to

  Zeke. Zeke did his best to pick up a

  fork with a tentacle, but it slipped out

  before he could get some food on it.

  “On Tragas, we use a long, thin

  utensil to eat with,” Zeke whispered.

  “It easily rests on our tentacles. Or we

  can just levitate it up to our mouth, if

  we want.”

  Roxy walked over to their table. She

  was dressed in a sorceress costume,

  complete with a tall hat, a flowing

  orange and black gown, and a glowing

  magic orb. Her usual chair next to

  Harris and Zeke was empty, but Roxy

  kept on walking right past them to the

  opposite end of the table and took a

  seat there.

  She must still be mad at me, Harris

  thought.

  Zeke and Harris looked at each

  other. Harris decided to be brave and

  speak to her.

  “Cool costume, Roxy,” he said.

  She turned away for a moment as if

  she didn’t want to talk to Harris, but

  then turned back.

  “Thanks,” she said quietly.

  Well, she spoke to me, Harris

  thought. That’s something.

  A few minutes later, Jeremy walked

  past their table carrying his lunch

  tray. He stumbled and his juice spilled

  all over Zeke.

  “Oops,” he said. “So clumsy of me.

  It can be hard to navigate in this

  amazing costume.”

  Jeremy stared at Zeke, expecting to

  see Zeke’s costume ruined by the juice.

  But instead, the juice was absorbed

  right into Zeke’s real skin.

  “What–what happened to the

  juice?!” Jeremy asked, surprised.

  Harris looked at Zeke. How was he

  going to explain this?

  “My costume is made of special

  waterproof material,” Zeke said.

  “Oh well, lucky you,” said Jeremy,

  moving along to his table.

  Roxy slid her lunch tray down and

  took her usual seat next to Harris.

  “Did you see that?” she asked.

  “He spilled that juice all over Zeke’s

  costume on purpose! He was trying

  to ruin it.”

  “It could have been an accident,”

  Zeke said.

  “Yeah, he probably just tripped,”

  Harris added. Roxy seemed more mad

  at Jeremy than at him, which made

  Harris feel better.

  “Well, I don’t buy it,” Roxy said,

  looking upset and almost scary in her

  sorceress costume. “I think he was

  trying to ruin Zeke’s costume for the

  contest!”

  AT RECESS THAT AFTERNOON,

  a bunch of witches, goblins, and

  superheroes started a game of

  tetherball. Most of the kids had to take

  off parts of their costumes to be able

  to play. A pile of claws, capes, clown

  faces, and magic wands sat in a large

  pile on the side of the tetherball court.

  Jeremy, with his monster head and

  claws off, called out to Zeke.

  “Hey, Zeke!” he shouted. “Wanna

  play?”

  “Sure,” Zeke said. He floated over

  to the court.

  “You probably have to take off your

  costume, right?” Jeremy asked.

  Nearby, Roxy leaned over and

  whispered to Harris. “Jeremy wants

>   Zeke to take off his costume. I bet he

  wants one of his friends to hide it or

  rip it or something when Zeke isn’t

  looking!”

  “I don’t know,” said Harris. “Everyone

  took off parts of their costumes.”

  “That’s okay. I can play with my

  costume on,” Zeke said.

  “I think you’d do better with your

  costume off,” Jeremy insisted. “Why

  don’t you take it off? I just want it to

  be a fair game. Don’t want to beat you

  too badly!”

  “You see?” Roxy whispered on the

  sidelines.

  “Hmm, Jeremy is being kind of

  pushy about it,” Harris agreed.

  “I’m fine like this,” Zeke said. “Let’s

  play.”

  Jeremy scowled, then started the

  game.

  Using his tentacles to whack the

  ball again and again, Zeke easily won

  the game.

  “I was just taking it easy on you,”

  Jeremy said, then he snatched up the

  rest of his costume and stomped off.

  On the way to his final class of

  the day before the contest, Harris

  stopped in the bathroom. He walked

  into a stall, closed the door, and heard

  some other kids come in. Although

  he couldn’t see him, Harris clearly

  overheard Jeremy’s voice.

  “I can’t let that new kid, Zeke, win

  the contest,” Jeremy said. “My costume

  is still clearly much better, but I don’t

  want to take any chances!”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  asked the kid Jeremy was talking to.

  “I snuck a sack of flour out of the

  cafeteria,” Jeremy said. “I’m going to

  use it to ruin Zeke’s costume!”

  “Good plan!” said the other kid,

  snickering.

  Roxy was right about Jeremy! Harris

  thought. I’ve got to warn Zeke!

  ONCE HE HEARD JEREMY LEAVE,

  Harris rushed out of the bathroom

  to find Zeke. He ran down the hall,

  turned a corner, and ran right into

  Roxy.

  “Careful! Where are you rushing

  to?” asked Roxy.

  “You were right about Jeremy!”

  Harris said urgently. “I just overheard

  him talking in the bathroom. He plans

  to ruin Zeke’s costume by dumping

  flour all over it!”

  “That’s terrible!” Roxy shouted. “We

  have to find Zeke and warn him.”

  Harris and Roxy hurried through

  the school looking for Zeke. After

  searching the halls and classrooms,

  they finally spotted him at the far end

  of a hallway. He was about to go into

  the gym for his final class of the day.

  But before they could reach him, they

  saw Mr. Mulvaney, the gym teacher,

  come up behind Zeke.

  “Let’s go, son. You don’t want to be

  late for class do you?” Mr. Mulvaney

  said to Zeke.

  Zeke pulled open the gym door.

  He sensed something falling from

  above his head. Before he even knew

  what it was, Zeke used his powers

  to redirect it so it wouldn’t hit him.

  He hoped that whatever it was would

  land harmlessly on the floor.

  But instead, it fell right on top Mr.

  Mulvaney. A cloud of white exploded

  right on the gym teacher’s head, and

  Zeke looked over to see him covered

  in flour. Some flour had also landed

  on Zeke.

  Zeke spun around, sending his

  tentacles wrapping around his body.

  “Mr. Mulvaney! Are you all right?” he

  asked.

  “Who would pull such a prank?!”

  Mr. Mulvaney asked, brushing flour

  angrily off his shoulder.

  “I don’t know,” said Zeke. “It looks

  like I got some on me, too.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom

  of this!” said Mr. Mulvaney. Then he

  stormed off to clean himself up before

  class.

  Harris and Roxy, who had seen

  all of this, rushed up to Zeke. They

  quickly filled him in on Jeremy’s plot

  to ruin his costume.

  “Then that was meant for me!” Zeke

  said, realizing what had just happened.

  “It sure looks that way,” said Roxy.

  “Jeremy is trying to cheat to keep you

  from winning the contest.”

  “That makes me mad,” said Zeke. “I

  really want to beat him now!”

  “Looks like you got some flour on

  your costume,” said Harris pointing

  to a few patches of white on Zeke’s

  tentacles.

  “I’ll clean up after class,” said Zeke,

  then he headed back into the gym.

  “Did that bag seem to fall strangely

  to you?” Roxy asked Harris. “Like it

  almost changed direction in midair?”

  “Uh . . . no!” Harris said nervously.

  “Let’s, um, get to class!”

  When classes ended, all the kids

  streamed toward the auditorium for

  the costume contest. Harris and Roxy

  arrived backstage along with the other

  contestants.

  Harris smiled at the collection of

  costumed kids.

  “Where’s Zeke?” he asked Roxy,

  looking around for their friend.

  “Maybe he’s still in the bathroom

  cleaning off the flour,” Roxy said.

  “He’s taking a really long time,” said

  Harris, now getting a little worried.

  “I’m going to check on him.”

  Zeke stood in the bathroom, wiping

  the last of the flour off his tentacles

  and stomach.

  Once he was clean, he headed to

  the door. Wrapping a tentacle around

  the doorknob, he turned and pushed.

  The door didn’t budge.

  Hmm . . . that’s strange, he thought.

  He pushed again, harder, but still

  the door wouldn’t open. Oh, no! I’m

  stuck in here! I’m going to miss the

  contest . . . and Jeremy is going to win!

  HARRIS RUSHED TO THE BATHROOM.

  When he got there, he was stunned to

  see a chair propped up against the the

  door, wedged under the doorknob.

  Harris pulled the chair away

  and flung the door open. He found

  Zeke inside, hovering back and forth

  nervously.

  “Harris!” Zeke cried. “I couldn’t

  open the door.”

  “That’s because someone propped

  a chair up against it out here,” Harris

  explained. “And I think we both know

  who did it.”

  “I can’t understand why Jeremy

  would go to so much trouble to cheat

  just to win the contest,” Zeke said. “I

  want to win, too, but cheating? What

  do you even get for winning?”

  “The top three get a small medal,

  and the overall winner also gets a

  get-out-of-homework-free pass to use

  once.”

  “That’s it?” Zeke asked. They both

  lau
ghed.

  “Well, there’s bragging rights, too.

  We’ve got to stop him!” said Harris.

  The two friends ran back to the

  auditorium, with Harris’s robot legs

  clanking and Zeke’s tentacles flapping.

  Backstage, they caught up with

  Roxy and told her what Jeremy had

  done.

  “We have to stop him before the

  contest starts!” said Roxy.

  Harris, Zeke, and Roxy found

  Jeremy.

  “You’ve been trying to ruin my

  costume all day! You tried to spill

  juice on it earlier,” Zeke blurted out.

  “And then you tried to drop flour

  on it. And you locked Zeke in the

  bathroom when your first plan failed,”

  Harris added.

  Jeremy pulled off the head of his

  monster costume and smiled.

  “Who . . . me? You have no proof!”

  he said.

  “Attention, contestants!” came an

  announcement over the backstage

  loudspeaker. “The contest is about to

  begin. Please come to the stage.”

  “Excuse me,” said Jeremy, slipping

  his monster head back on. “I’ve got

  a contest to win!” Then he walked

  toward the stage.

  “What are we going to do now?”

  asked Harris.

  “I’ve got an idea to stop him,” said

  Roxy. “Follow me.”

  Roxy, Harris, and Zeke ran onto the

  stage and over to the judges’ table. The

  judges were teachers in the school,

  including Mr. Mulvaney.

  “Jeremy Jenkins is a cheater!” Roxy

  said, pointing just offstage where