"Dude, that look on your face when Helen pranked you was pure gold!" Bill guffawed as he and Jonathan walked down the street.

"Come on, enough already!" Jonathan sighed. "How else am I supposed to react when she talks to me?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe normally?" Bill teased.

"Define normal."

"Well we could start with not breaking into a sweat like you've been cornered by a wild animal."

"The two situations aren't exactly that different."

Bill gave his forehead a loud facepalm. "Dude, seriously?"

"Oh you're one to talk, Mr. Nothing-But-Video-Games," Jonathan retorted.

"At least I know how to carry myself normally around girls," Bill replied.

"One of these days Bill, you're going to feel like this around a girl, and I swear, I will pay back everyone one of your quips tenfold," Jonathan vowed.

"You're more broke than a McDonald's ice cream machine, dude," Bill snickered. "You're not paying back anything."

"Says the one who couldn't even get a job walking the neighbor's dog."

The two friends continued to laugh and take shots at each other as they walked down the lively street. It truly was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. A group of boisterous children played a high-stakes game of basketball in front of a quaint blue house, and chirping birds sang their lovely song from the branches of the oak trees. A few residents were even firing up their barbecue grills on their back porches. It was almost summer, after all, so why not?

After a few minutes, Jonathan and Bill arrived at Jonathan's front yard, and Bill bade his friend farewell.

"Catch you later Bill, good job on the presentation today!"

Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief as he took in the sight of the modest fortress that he called home. With its heavy-duty spruce wood door and military-grade box windows, Jonathan could always count on this bastion to shield him from the harsh realities of his socially awkward mannerisms and scrawny frame that couldn't take a punch. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his house key, unlocked the front door, and stepped inside his refuge. He wasted no time in whisking off his black sneakers, setting his backpack by the coat closet, and flopping down onto the couch. Being a creative-minded individual with a lack of social skills and no muscles was an arduous profession. And even worse, it wasn't paid.

He heard some padded footsteps approaching from behind, and felt his mother hug him from behind. A brunette in her late forties, Carissa Hendrix was an intelligent woman who never went anywhere without her golden necklace. And just like all good mothers, she wanted to know every detail of her son's day at school.

"Hey sweetheart," Carissa greeted her son. "How was school today?"

"It was alright, mom," Jonathan mumbled, barely returning the hug.

"Did your presentation go well?"

"Yeah, my teacher liked it a lot," Jonathan shrugged. "I got a hundred percent."

"That's my boy!" Carissa cheered, ruffling Jonathan's hair.

"Not so hard mom," Jonathan said in self-conscious embarrassment, breaking out of her hug.

"Son, I'm just proud of you," Carissa smiled.

"Sorry mom," Jonathan sighed. "It was a busy day today."

"But can I at least give a hug to my own son whom I'm proud of?" Carissa asked.

"Would you please stop being so mushy like I'm six years old mom?"

Silence.

Jonathan cursed himself. Here he was, yet again, letting his emotions get the better of him when talking to his mother. Weakling that he was.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

Carissa put her hands on her hips. She'd never been one to tolerate disrespect. But she also remembered how hard her teen years had been, and with both her parents at that. Her son had been wrestling with many things for a long time, that much was certain. Even then, she was not about to let him go about life thinking that his bottling up of emotions was healthy.

"Jonathan," she said in a stern but empathetic tone. "I know you're not a little boy anymore. I just wanted to give you some encouragement. Alright?"

"Yes mom," Jonathan said, gripping his hair in self-frustration.

"I'll start getting dinner ready. Please set the table in a while, okay?"

"Sure thing mom," Jonathan nodded. Oh well. At least some good food was about to make all his problems go away.

.......................

"Yes sir, I can confirm, extraterrestrial life is on its way to our world!" Chief Master Sergeant Morris hollered into the phone. Blasted politicians! Nothing but indirect answers and indecisive reactions to crisis.

For the past hour, Chief Master Sergeant Morris had been juggling every military task imaginable. While his subordinates pestered him with a million clarifying questions, the top brass and pencilneck politicians in Washington were demanding answers. Unless the President declared a national emergency, Morris and the rest of the military would not have the authorization to engage the enemy once they arrived in Earth's skies.

But Morris also understood; this was the first time any contact had been made with life outside of Earth. If it were a peaceful people, would the barrels of their rifles be a good greeting?

Hushing some questions from an airman, Morris continued to repeat the details of the rapidly developing situation.

"If we do not open our missile silos now, it will be too late to fire on the enemy ships when they enter atmosphere! We need authorization to scramble fighters! Now!"

............................

Click. Click. went the TV remote as Jonathan surfed the channels. With any luck, there'd be a good Lego movie on to help him forget his romantic struggles.

"Is it ready yet, mom?" he asked without looking over his shoulder.

WAAAAAAAARPOOOM-WOOOOOOOOOOMFFFFFF!!!!

The hairs on the back of Jonathan'sneck stood on end as his ears register the high-pitched, unfamiliar sound. A bright blue, transparent sheen that looked like a force-field suddenly enveloped the living room, painting everything a sky-blue hue before warbling out of the walls and onto the next house.

Jonathan ducked and covered his head, bracing himself for the ceiling chunks that were sure to come crashing down on him. Amazingly, however, nothing happened, and the living room remained untouched when he stood up and looked around. The only thing that had changed was the TV, but all that had happened was its screen was black.

Jonathan took some deep breaths to collect himself, then clutched at his torso to check for any bruises. Nothing bruised, bleeding or broken. Good. That meant his mom had probably fared just as well.

That was when Jonathan realized. He hadn't heard anything from his mom!

"Mom? Mom!"

He dashed into the kitchen, only to find the stovetop still on with a half finished pot of lentil soup. He switched the oven off; no need to have his house catch on fire. Pulling out his phone, he saw that there was no service. Then, suddenly, he heard the TV flicker to life, and went back to the living room to investigate.

"Honorable people of the Earth," an odd-looking humanoid with a crown on his head announced. "I am the ruler of the Hoo-Meerian Empire. On behalf of our great intergalactic civilization, we extend our warm greetings and welcome to you!"

Jonathan's eyes went wide. His neighborhood was now being taken over by an alien empire?

"Now now, I know what many ofyou may be thinking, for every world reacts this way when they first come into our Matchmaking Fold. 'What? Put the younger folks in these weird Matchvilles based on who you think would make good couples? What madness is this?"

"You got that right!" Jonathan shouted at the screen.

"But I assure you, good people of Earth, that is all just a part of our Romantic Encouragement Customs! I promise there will be no violence utilized, and my Elders will be down in a few moments to explain everything to you."

"What? How could you possibly explain this?" Jonathan berated the screen.

"That is all for now, honored people of Earth. To the younger members: I hope you enjoy your Matchvilles!"

The TV clicked off once again, leaving Jonathan alone in the room with nothing but the dozens of questions overwhelming his mind. What on earth did any of this mean? Not knowing what else to do, he ran outside and surveyed the scene.

A giant, black triangular spaceship hovered high in the sky, shooting wide beams of blue light down on other nearby neighborhoods. Though it was not low enough to block out the sun, it still looked quite menacing, and Jonathan shuddered. Up and down the street, he saw many other people gathered in their front yards and pointing up at the sky in alarm. That was when another shudder went up Jonathan's spine.

Everyone else's parents were gone too.

"Jonathan!"

Jonathan looked to see Bill sprinting over to him, and for a second, his fears faded. At least his best friend was okay.

"Bill!" Jonathan exclaimed. "Thank goodness! Did your parents get taken away too!"

"Yes! What the hell is going on?"

"Guys!" another voice rang out.

Jonathan and Bill turned to see Darius and Susan getting out of Darius's black Ford pickup, their expressions a mix of fear and confusion.

"Darius! Susan!" Bill said. "Thank goodness you guys are alright."

"What's going on here?" Darius "The guys and I were at practice and our coach just disappeared when the blue force field thing went out across the field! Then we got that weird message from the alien guy on our phones."

"I can't contact my parents at all!" Susan added.

"Neither can we!" Jonathan confirmed. "A communications disruption means only one thing. This is an invasion!"

All three of them turned their headsto stare at Jonathan with visible vexation on their faces.

"Are you seriously using this situation as a reason to make a Star Wars reference right now dude?" Darius said.

"What? It's true!" Jonathan defended himself. "We're literally being invaded!"

Before the argument could continue, a green portal opened up in the middle of the street, and all heads turned in the direction of the strange sound. After a few moments, a tall alien with a flowing beard, flanked by four guards, emerged from the portal as it closed.

"There's only five of them and more of us! Let's go!" Jonathan yelled.

"Jonathan, no!" Darius said, lunging forward and holding him back.

At Jonathan's remark, the four guards moved into a wedge formation around the bearded alien, brandishing their spears.

"Guards, please!" the bearded alien spoke. "No need for that! I'm sure these people will listen!"

By now, Jonathan and the other teenagers in the neighborhood had begun to gather around the extraterrestrial beings. Keeping their distance of course, as now the guards were on higher alert. The bearded alien, sensing the tension, smiled and stepped forward.

"Greetings, all you wonderful young citizens of Earth," he began. "My name is Garruck, and I am the Head Elder of the–,"

"Where are our parents!" one girl interjected.

"Have you come here to enslave us!" another boy called out.

"Young ones, please, if you let me speak, I can answer your questions!"

"Everyone, stop interrupting!" Darius shouted, taking control of the situation. He then turned to the alien. "Alright, speak."

"As I was saying, I am Garruck, the Head Elder of the Matchmaking Counsel of the Hoo-Meerian Empire," Garruck introduced himself. "We mean you no harm. I promise you we come in peace. We are only bringing you into our Matchmaking Fold, and from the creation of our Matchvilles, we hope to foster more romantic connections among you."

"Matchmaking?" Bill asked. "So...we're going to be paired up with younger ones from your people?"

"Certainly not!" Garruck grinned. "You will be paired up with each other!"

Excited and nervous murmurs swept through the crowd of teenagers, and Jonathan felt his face growing red.

"You're not...forcing us to date anyone...right?" Jonathan squeaked.

"Absolutely not," Garruck assured him. "We simply separate you from your parents and put you all next to each other because we believe you will all foster better romantic connections on your own."

"And why is that?" Darius asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Because that's what our Romantic Encouragement Protocol has found over the years. And our Emperor goes by the numbers," Garruck shrugged. "But I promise all of you that your parents are fine. We will be setting up a communication room for you to contact them soon."

"So what you're saying is we're finally free to stay up late, play video games, and eat pizza all day?" one teenage boy spoke up.

Now it was Garruck's turn to be confused. "Well, yes, but...,"

"Yeah! Party time!" another boy yelled out, eliciting many cheers of approval and applause from his peers.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go party!"

And with that, the tide of teenagers dispersed in a frenzy, each one dashing to their current (or new) dwelling to celebrate their newfound freedom. Jonathan, Bill, Darius, and Susan could only shake their heads, disgusted by the reaction of the others.

"Well, guess there's not much we can do at the moment, guys," Darius said. "Let's just all go home and get some rest. We can all talk tomorrow okay?"

The others agreed, and Jonathan wiped some sweat from his brow. This new infrastructure brought on by the Hoo Meerian Empire would take some getting used to. He'd stayed home alone before, however, so that wouldn't be a problem.

"Jonathan?"

He froze.

There was no mistaking that voice.

It was her.

The one who, if he wasn't careful, would rip his heart to pieces if she found out about his affections.

Helen Grant.

He turned to the right and saw her standing on the other side of the fence, her long black hair flowing in the breeze and her green eyes glimmering with their usual stunning beauty.

"I thought I heard your voice in the crowd," she said. "Guess we got put next to each other huh?"

"Um, yeah, um...I guess we did!" Jonathan agreed, giving her an awkward smile.

And with that, he dashed into his house, slamming the front door shut and making sure to lock the deadbolt.

"Why, just why?" he hissed. "Why her of all people!"

Outside, Helen snickered. He was an odd boy, that one. Perhaps she'd get to know him better in the coming days.