The Alien Next Door 2: Aliens for Dinner?! Page 3
skulked upstairs.
He had his one shot and he blew it.
He lingered at the top of the stairs and
overhead the rest of the conversation.
“I don’t know how to apologize for
my son’s behavior,” said Mr. Walker.
“Don’t worry,” said Quar. “Our
customs in Tragas are very different
from yours. Misunderstandings like
this happen all the time.”
“Well, that’s still no
excuse for Harris’s
rudeness,” said
Mrs. Walker.
Then Zeke,
Quar, and Xad
left the house
and headed
home.
“Harris just hasn’t been his old self
since Zeke showed up at school,” Roxy
said. “I’m worried about him.”
“Well, he’s lucky to have a friend
like you,” said Mrs. Walker.
When the cleanup was finished,
Roxy went home. This disastrous
dinner finally came to an end for all
of them.
ZEKE WAS VERY UPSET.
“I can’t believe Harris did that!”
he said when he and his parents got
home. “I knew he had his suspicions,
but I never thought he would just
blurt it out like that! I shouldn’t have
pushed him. . . .”
“Don’t worry, Zeke,” said Quar.
“Most humans only believe these
things up to a point.”
“And even those closest to Harris
think he’s wrong,” added Xad. “Forget
about it. It’ll go away. Anyway, this
was very productive. I think our next
research topic might be on strange
human foods!”
But Zeke couldn’t just let it go.
Harris is my friend, he thought.
And now he’s in trouble, just because he
was able to figure out the truth. I really
like Harris. He and Roxy were the first
kids to be really nice to me at school.
Even if he was only nice to me to prove
that I’m an alien, we have
fun together, right? I feel
terrible about this.
And now Harris
is grounded for
who knows how
long? But he
wasn’t wrong!
He doesn’t
deserve to be
in trouble.
And I’m going to do something about
it!
Harris remained grounded for the
time being. He went to school each
day, but then he had to come right
home. He couldn’t see his friends. He
wasn’t even allowed to talk to Roxy on
the phone. And he was worried about
what she must have thought of him
after what happened.
A few days later at the dinner
table, Harris said to his parents, “I
apologize for being rude to our guests
on Saturday.”
“And are you ready to admit that
what you said is nonsense?” asked his
mother.
Harris stayed silent.
“Well then, it’s back to your room as
soon as you’re finished with dinner,”
said his father.
The next day after school, Harris
was stuck in his room as usual. He
was bored. He had nothing to do
except think about Zeke. Even his
favorite comic books were taken away
by his parents.
He rolled over on his bed and
glanced out the window. There was
Zeke floating in midair, two stories
up!
Harris leapt from his bed and
rubbed his eyes. When he opened
them, Zeke was gone. He rushed to
his window and looked outside, but
there was nothing there.
“What the . . . ?”
Harris turned around and jumped
up in surprise. Zeke was standing
behind him, right there in Harris’s
room.
“How did you get in here?” Harris
asked. “Is this even real? Am I
dreaming? Have I lost my mind?”
“No, Harris,” said Zeke. “You are
awake . . . and sane. Well, as far as I
know,” Zeke said with a smile. “And
you’re correct.”
“Correct?” asked Harris.
“My family and I really are aliens
from the planet Tragas,” Zeke admitted.
“You are my friend, and I couldn’t let
you be grounded anymore for figuring
out the truth.”
Harris gasped and
said, “I knew it!”
“My parents and I
do move from place
to place,” Zeke
explained. “But it is
from planet to planet. I’m always the
new kid. And I’m always ‘different.’ But
you wanted to be my friend anyway.”
“I don’t know what to say,” said
Harris. “I’m glad you trust me. And
am also glad I’m not crazy!”
“And now I must ask you to help
me keep my secret,” said Zeke. “Most
people on Earth wouldn’t be as
welcoming as you.”
“I will,” Harris promised. “As long
as you promise you’re not one of those
evil aliens I always see in the movies.”
Zeke laughed and said, “Most of the
time. I promise.”
Zeke levitated into the air and
floated out the window.
Harris raced downstairs.
“Mom! Dad!” he called out. “I have
something to tell you.”
His parents met him at the bottom
of the stairs.
“I want to apologize,” he said.
“I admit that I have an overactive
imagination. I let it get the better of
me. Of course Zeke and his parents
aren’t aliens. That was dumb. You’ll
never hear me mention it again.”
“Well, I’m very glad to hear you say
that, Harris,” said his dad. “I think
you can officially consider yourself
un-grounded now.”
His mom nodded in agreement. “As
long as you go upstairs and call Zeke
and his parents to apologize to them.
And after that, call Roxy. You owe her
an apology, too.”
“I’ll do it right now,” said Harris.
He bounded up the stairs, excited
by this new chance to help his new
friend Zeke keep his secret rather than
trying to expose it.
I was right! My next-door neighbor
is actually an alien! He looked out his
window where Zeke had been floating
just a few minutes before and thought,
How cool is that?!
Read on for a sneak peek at the third
book in the Alien Next Door series!
HARRIS WALKER AND HIS FRIEND
ZEKE were sprawled out on the floor
of Harris’s bedroom, reading comic
books. Harris loved showing off
his collection.
“Now this one is called Invaders
From Beyond,” Harris said. “It’s about
these aliens from another dimension
&nbs
p; who can travel through time and shoot
power beams from their eyes that can
blow up entire mountains.”
Zeke looked at his friend and
laughed.
“You don’t really believe all this
stuff is true, do you?” he asked.
Harris laughed, too.
“Well, you can do some pretty
amazing things, can’t you?” he asked.
A lot had changed in the friendship
between the two next-door neighbors
since Zeke finally admitted the truth
to Harris—Zeke was an alien from
the planet Tragas!
“Yeah, but not that amazing,” said
Zeke. “Traveling through time and
blowing up mountains is a bit beyond
my skills.”
“Okay, so what can you actually do?”
Harris asked. “I mean, I know you can
float, you can project what you see in
your head onto screens, and you can
heat stuff up with your hands.”
“Let’s see,” Zeke said. “I can also
move objects with my mind.”
The next page in the comic book
page turned over all by itself, revealing
a picture of an alien lifting an entire
building with one hand.
“Well, I definitely can’t do that!”
Zeke said.
Both boys laughed.
The next morning, Harris sat on
the school bus next to Zeke.
“I just found out that I’m going on
a camping weekend with the Beaver
Scouts,” Harris said excitedly.
“Beaver Scouts?” Zeke asked.
“They run this camp, and every
October, boys can go there for a long
weekend,” Harris explained.
“I’ve heard people talk about it for
years. In fact, my dad went when he
was a kid. And this year, I finally get
to go! We’ll get to do all kinds of cool
stuff—go canoeing, pitch a tent, and
even tell scary stories at night!”
“And these things are fun?” Zeke
asked.
Before Harris could answer, his
best friend Roxy joined them on
the bus.
“Well, you look pretty happy,” she
said to Harris.
“He is going to something called . . .
Beaver Scout Camp,” Zeke explained,
still not quite sure what it was
all about.
“So your parents finally think
you’re old enough to go? ” asked Roxy.
“Congratulations! I know how much
you’ve looked forward to this. Is Zeke
going, too?”
“No,” replied Harris. Actually, I don’t
think I know anyone who’s going, he
thought to himself.
When the bus arrived at school,
Harris pulled Zeke aside after they
got off.
“Why don’t you see if you can come
with me to the camp?” he blurted out.
Even though he was excited, Harris
was a little nervous about going off to
camp and not knowing anyone else
who’d be there.
“It’ll be really fun, I promise, and a
great way to learn about Earth kids!”
said Harris.
“I guess it might be. . . .” said Zeke.
“I’ll talk it over with my parents.”
A. I. Newton, The Alien Next Door 2: Aliens for Dinner?!
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