We went back to school the next day. By lunchtime, I told Amy and Pam what had happened two days ago in the forest. They were awing and babying Dainu like he lost his favorite toy in the world. Amy comforted Dainu by saying that everything will be OK, and that we should always think of the happier thoughts.

Carmen came along and interrupted our conversation. "Hi, Dainu," she said adoringly.

"Salutations, Carmen," he greeted back.

"Look, you guys," I said to Amy and Pam. "Another alien dropped down on Earth, and it's the ugliest alien I've ever seen."

Amy and Pam snickered.

"Good one!" Pam exclaimed. "And I thought the Predators were ugly."

I laughed hard on that one. Carmen ignored us, eyeing only on Dainu.

"Kaley, please," Dainu said. "Do not imitate others just because you dislike them. Where is your respect?"

"OK, I'm sorry," I said, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, what do you want, Car-Man?"

"I just wanted to talk little with you guys," she said. "I know I haven't been nice to you guys since junior high, but I want to start getting along."

I sighed, sourly. "Quit lying through your ugly teeth, Car-Man. You're only interested in Dainu instead of us. You just want him for yourself."

Dainu looked at Carmen, displeasingly. "Is that true?"

Carmen paused and averted his eyes, trying to make up some kind of lie to deceive him again. She was always a black widow, and I'm not going to let Dainu fall in her trap.

"Well, sort of," she lied. "I just want to be your friend. We've never get the chance to talk, because you're always busy. And I was wondering if you want to come to my party."

No!

"I would be honored to attend to your festivity," he said.

"Great! I can't wait for you to come. It's gonna be a blast! And I heard rumors about you being a great dancer. I would like for you to show me some of your moves."

Heck no! Ew!

"Yes, it would be my pleasure. And I must comment, I sense an intriguing odor coming from you, and it tickles my nostrils with delight."

Carmen looked at him with confusion.

"He means you smell like crap and B.O.," I interrupted. "I think I'm starting to get an allergic reaction from you." I faked a sneeze.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Carmen said with a dirty look. "Anyways, see you at my party, Dainu."

She got up and walked away, swaying her hips to throw off attraction.

"What is wrong, Kaley?" Dainu asked. "Why do you not give her a second chance in our friendship?"

"Because she doesn't deserve a second chance," I said. "Listen, Dainu, she does this all the time. She deceives and plays with other's emotions. She's done that with me a long time ago. When I first met Carmen, I really thought she was a sweet person, until she humiliated me at her party. One time we were playing game and I had to tag somebody while I was blindfolded. Next thing I knew, she tells everybody to ditch me and I went and fell in a pool. Now do you think she should be given a second chance?"

Dainu's eyes lit up in shock.

"One time, Carmen and I wanted to go to the movies," Pam said. "She promised me that she would meet me at the front of the theaters before the movie starts. But she never showed up. I tried calling her over and over, but she never answered. So I had to watch the movie by myself. When I asked her why she never showed up at the movies, she's said 'oh, was that you calling me? I thought it was some random loser asking me to go to the movies with her.' She said that right in front of her friends, all of them were laughing at me. After that, I knew I could never trust her."

"I met Carmen in junior high in the girls' locker room," Amy added. "She acted so nice and sweet to me, so I thought. When we were on the same volleyball team, she kept purposely knocking me down, pretending like she never saw me. I asked her to apologize to me, but she says she didn't notice me because I was invisible to someone as cool as her."

"I did not know she behaves like that," Dainu said.

"Of course, you didn't," I remarked. "She pretends to be nice to you just so she can make fun of you. And when it comes to parties, she's wild and destructive. I once had a party at my house, and I invited eight people, including Carmen. When Carmen arrived, she brought in extra people that didn't even go to our school. They were drunk and high, and they started tearing down my party decorations and the furniture. One of them broke a lamp my mom loved. She got me grounded because of her. Trust us, Dainu, we're only trying to protect you."

Dainu was silent for a second. He turned to gaze a Carmen, then turned back at us. "I trust your honesty, my friends," he said. "If you say Carmen has a wild, immature character, then I believe your experiences with her. But that does not mean I should disrespect her. I will use my respect for her in hope for her to change in the future."

"You can respect her as much as you want. But I doubt she would change in, like, the next hundred years."

"And that's how old my Grams is," added Pam.

We laughed and snorted out loud.

It was Friday, and I had a huge calculus test coming up. I didn't bother studying it since I never did understand it, and I usually look at the problems instead of practicing to solve them. I had to find a way to ace this test or else I'll fail it again this quarter.

"Is it not reasonable to studying in advance instead of mimicking off of my exam?" Dainu asked me while flying me to school.

"C'mon," I whined. "Just one, tiny peek or two. I don't even understand these freakin' problems. They're so hard."

"I can tutor you if you wish."

"But we don't have enough time. Class will start as soon as the bell rings. It won't be enough."

"Time is always enough," Dainu commented. "You have to use it wisely. I will tutor you before the class begins. You need not to worry."

Dainu was right, time is always enough. When we finally entered the school, Dainu helped me with my studying and explain each calculus problem clearly and understandingly. It felt like I already knew everything in such little time. Dainu tutored me so well that the calculus problems didn't seem worry me or confuse me anymore. By the time for our class, the problems on the test didn't stress me out. I felt like I already knew the answers.

Finally, I'm going to get an A on the test for my very first time.

When school was over, Carmen came to Dainu and grabbed and hugged his arm.

"Danny," she squealed like Betty Boop, "you'll come to my party, right? You're gonna have so much fun!"

No, he's not, I thought.

"There has been a change of plans," he said. "I have some work to complete for school, and I do not want to hesitate at the last amount of time."

Thank you for listening to me, Dainu.

Carmen gave me the evil eye look. "This all your doing," she scolded, pointing a polished fingernail at me.

"Be at peace," Dainu said. "Kaley is only watching my intentions. I would love to join your party, but I do not wish to engage myself in irrational behavior."

She glared at me again. "You told him, didn't you?!"

"That's what real friends are for," I said.

Carmen gave both of us another dirty look. She puffed out a big humph, and walked away.

I snapped my fingers at her. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"Such immature behavior," said Dainu, "but I will not bear a grudge on her. In time, she will change."

I doubt that.

As soon as I got home after I dropped off Dainu, I worked on my homework. Mom said she was going to work now because of an emergency call, so she gave me a goodbye hug and left the house. Looks like I have the house for myself for tonight.

There was nothing much to do in the house, except for TV and surf on the computer. I chose to doodle after I completed all of my homework. The only thing I hate about being in the house all by myself at night is that I start to get paranoid. The winds like to play jokes on me. They would knock themselves against the house, making creaking and banging sounds as if someone broke into the house. I ignore them, but they sure get on my nerves sometimes. I just stick with my drawing and focus on my inner peace.

The tapping on the door made me jump. I carefully walked down the stairs and went towards the door. I unlocked the deadbolt, opened the door only by an inch, and took a peak. I found Amy, Pam, and Dainu by the front door.

"What're you guys doing?" I asked.

"A meteor shower is to appear tonight," Dainu replied. "I informed Pam and Amy to join my company and we were wondering if you would like to participate with us too."

"Meteor shower?" I asked in puzzlement. "What meteor shower? I didn't hear anything about a meteor shower. I didn't even know they come around this neighborhood."

"We did now when Dainu told us," Amy added. "He said he felt its atmospheric waves or something like that, and knew they would show up on Earth tonight. Come join us, it'll be fun!"

I grabbed my jacket and shoes, left a note for Mom—just in case—and headed out the door.

Dainu took us to the park; he told us that the meteor shower would show exactly at nine o' clock at this part of the neighborhood. We took our seats on a bench and counted down the minutes on our cell phones until it was time for the premiere. After two minutes, we saw the stars zooming fast like tiny lighting bugs.

I never saw these kinds of things before. I watched them in movies, planetariums, and on NOVA, but never in real life. It was extraordinarily beautiful. The meteors soared all over the place, and disappeared in the wink of an eye. Some meteors made a quick loop-de-loop like water snakes swimming in the water. Amy, Pam and I awed at the wonderful night show.

"Wow!" sighed Amy. "This is so cool."

"This is better than fireworks, and that's the truth," Pam said.

"Biela will come forth," Dainu added.

"Who?" I asked, looking at him clueless.

"Someone else will be joining us?" asked Pam.

"Now here arrives Howell," he said.

We looked around ourselves, but saw no one. We were the only ones here. Who was Dainu talking about?

"There goes Gale, Daniel, Holmes, and Oterma," he added some more.

"Uh, Dainu," I said, "there's no one here. Who are you talking about?"

"Not who," he noted, "what. And I am listing the comets I see."

"You mean, listing their names," asked Amy.

"Precisely."

"You know their names just by looking at them?" Pam asked.

"Absolutely, there are over a hundred thousand names for every comet that has been discovered. I only know one thousand of each comet's names, and I have much more to seek."

"Wow, that's a lot," Amy said.

"Yeah, for a minute I thought you were talking about someone else from your planet or something," I said.

"Ah, Haley is approaching. It is one of my favorites."

We looked up and saw a brightly white, silvery blue star trailing with the other groups of meteors. Its long, dusty tail glided softly against the black sky like a piece of thin silk. I've heard about Comet Haley. They say it passes by Earth every fifty years or something. We were so lucky to get to see it. It was the biggest, most beautiful comet I had ever seen.

After about a half an hour, the meteor showers ended their performance. Only the moon and the twinkling stars remained still and silent. Pam and Amy rode their bikes towards their homes. Dainu bade me a good night's sleep, and teleported to Kyle's house. I pedaled home by myself; the night was quiet and I knew that I will be safe.

When I arrived home, I parked my bike at the front door. Mom's car wasn't on the driveway, which means she's probably still working. As I opened up the door and stepped inside, I noticed that everything inside my house was completely dark. I left the door open just a crack to let in some light from the street lamps. Whenever I leave the house at night, I always leave the kitchen or hallway light on. But they weren't on this time. Did I forget to turn them on? No, I could have sworn I left them on when I left the house.

I searched around the darkness to find a lamp or a light switch. It was a little creepy but I was calm. I finally felt a tall lamp and clicked on the lights. I let out a sigh.

"You're late for dinner, Kaley," said a low, sophisticated voice. I knew who that voice was. I didn't need to turn my head to look and find the person who spoke to me beneath the darkness. I quickly scurried towards the door, but he chased after me. He was faster than me; he got ahead of me, pushed the door shut and locked the deadbolt. I was trapped.

"You're mom's working late tonight," said Dean, "so it's just me and you."

Oh, God. Not like this!

"Why don't we have a little chat?" he continued. "It's been a long time since we'd talked the last time. I was working so hard, I almost miss the chance of seeing you again. So take your shoes off, and sit down!"

He pushed me hard until I landed on the soft sofa. He turned on a flashlight and set it down on the table upwards so that the light was walling between me and Dean. His face was evilly cunning against the light, and his eyes burned with anger.

"So tell me, Kaley," he said, "do you like sci-fi?"

I kept quiet.

Dean leaned forward towards my face, eyes locked on mine. "I only going to ask you again. Do you like sci-fi?"

"Not really," I spoke, "what's in it to you?"

"Sci-fi movie contribute to the bizarre and paranormal. They're not just for the fun and entertainment; they were created for a reason, to make people believe. The X-files, Close Encounters, and The Fourth Kind were based on actual case studies of alien encounters. Sightings, encounters, and abductions have been happening throughout the centuries. The government had to throw away these evidences to prevent massive panic. That's why many people couldn't tell the difference between the real and the hoax."

"What's your point?" I snapped.

"The point is," he said under control, "that your little friend has been running amok for many weeks acting like it could blend in with the crowd."

"What are you talking about?"

"Quit lying! I know you've been lying to me the whole time. I was trained in this. That's why I stayed over, that's why I played goody-goody with you and your mom. You're lies won't save you this time, Kaley, because I've been watching on you from a distance."

My saliva caught onto my throat. "You what?!"

"I've been spying on you; I even went around your neighborhood, collecting evidence, interviewing people. Do you remember that survey you took in your school? What was it called? Oh yeah, the Earth 51 organization? I made that myself and sent it to the school, there is no organization called Earth 51. I used that survey to see who the earth citizen was and who was not. Turns out that there is an uninvited galactic foreigner lurking around Earth.

"I saw you walking around town at the mall, down the streets and to the club. You just didn't see me because I was in camouflage areas where no one would expect to look. If you don't believe me, here's my proof."

He threw large photos towards my face and they all scattered on the table. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. There were pictures of Dainu and me walking down the streets and alleys, unaware that we were being capture on camera. If you think that that's not enough proof, there were a few pictures of Dainu flying while carrying me. I wouldn't—I didn't—want this to happen. How could I've been so foolishly naïve?

"You've been careless, Kaley," Dean scolded. "You were trying to protect your friend, but you've let your guard down. I also receive plenty of interviews. I interviewed one of your friends from the J. F. Kennedy School. She didn't give me much detail, but they were enough to tell me that there was an alien in the school. I bet you know this girl, but I forgot her name. Was it Cathy? Carol? Cameron?"

Carmen! Oh, God, not Carmen.

I fought back my fear and worries and tried to be brave. "You can never have him!"

Dean slapped his hands down on the table, making me jump. "Where's the alien? Where are you hiding it?!" He grabbed a handful of my hair. "Game's over, Kaley, and you lose. You know you can't hide him forever, you can't protect him well. Not as well as you can protect...your mother."

"My Mom?" I gasped.

"Yes, your mother, Ms. Patty Langstrom. It's a shame to see a daughter being separated from her mother by the federal government. But what else can we do? Unless you do as you're told like a good girl, your mother would be safe. If not...well, we have our consequences."

My heart jumped to my throat and clogged my breathing. I had to swallow several times to bring it back down. "You can't do that!" I protested, almost to tears.

"Oh, we can...and we will," Dean smiled mischievously.

I had no other choice. I didn't want the government to take away my best friend, but I didn't want them to take my mom away from me forever. She was the only parent I got. I didn't want to be an orphan. Dean was right, I was careless. I probably should have never met Dainu and introduce him to the world. He was my friend, my trust, my protection...my responsibility. This was my fault I let my guard down. Now I'm probably going to lose him forever. I wished he went back to his home planet from the beginning.

"He lives right next door with Kyle, my neighbor," I said, my head hanging low. "Kyle's helping me hide him too. I'll show you tomorrow, but please don't bring the army." Tears streamed down my face.

"Ah," Dean said, "so he's been hiding in this neighborhood the whole time." He laughed. "What a foolish, naïve girl you are, Kaley. Just like your mother. Show it to me first thing in the morning, and don't worry, I won't bring the army here. This is just between you and me and it. I appreciate your cooperation. You are dismissed. And, remember, our meeting had never happened. This was just a bad dream!"

Something, as hard as a rock, hit me hard at the back of my head, and plunged me into complete darkness....