If I didn’t act fast, Mrs. Lynx would find out that my Mom was an alien.

I was ready. Quick, I pushed the CALL button on my phone.

Mrs. Lynx’s phone rang. She didn’t have the “Home on the Range” ring tone. So her phone stopped the Alien Chaser App and played a boring ring tone.

Mrs. Lynx turned loose of mom’s arm and answered her phone and said, “Hello?”

Just like we planned, Bree called Mom’s phone, and we heard the “Home on the Range” ring tone.

I hung up on Mrs. Lynx.

Mom held her phone toward Mrs. Lynx

and said, “I’ve got you.”

“What?” Mrs. Lynx looked confused.

Mom said, “I have the Alien Chaser App, and it is going off when I point it at you.”

Mrs. Lynx gave a nervous laugh. “I’m not an alien.”

“Are you sure?” Mom asked sternly.

“Of course, I’m not alien. I’m the school principal.” She shook her head, and the helicopter blades on her hat spun around.

“Let’s just forget it,” Mom said.

Confused, Mrs. Lynx nodded and stumbled away.

The switch had worked! Mom was safe. For now.

Just then, Chief Glendale beeped the horn on his convertible. He waved and called, “It’s time to start.”

Amazingly, the Friends of Police Parade started exactly on time.

At a parade, there is a thing called a Grand Stand, which is bleachers where the important people sit. Mayor Lucky and other city officials sat in the Grand Stand. Mrs. Lynx and other school teachers sat there. The policemen who weren’t in the parade sat there. The Grand Stands was packed.

When a parade act got to the Grand Stand, they were supposed to pause and do some kind of song or act. Bree and I made sure that each act started at the right time. When the last act, the Horse Apple Patrol left the starting point, Bree and I ran to the Grand Stand to watch. By then Mary Lee and Edgar had finished the whole parade and were sitting in their wheelchairs beside the Grand Stand. We sat on the edge of the Grand Stand, and we all watched the rest of the parade together.

The high school band played “Home on the Range.”

Then the cowboy song blared from loud speakers, and the hula hoopers whirled around and around.

Aja’s All-Star Invisible Tambourine Band played “Home on the Range.” Of course, I only heard Aja’s tambourine and Aja singing. But soon the crowd was whistling or singing along with him. His band was a hit.

Only when the soldiers marched past the Grand Stand did the song change to “The Star Spangled Banner.” That was OK. It’s another song about the stars. And since I’m from the stars, I liked that.

Finally, it was time for the Tricycle Gang. The trikes were big and little, red and pink, and new and old. Some had long sticks that held flags. Others had funny sounding horns

that said, “Bahooga!”

When the tricycle kids stopped at the Grand Stand, Dad passed out kazoos. They are a funny noisemaker. You just hum into a kazoo, and it sounds great. The kindergarten kids tried to hum “Home on the Range” into their kazoos, and it was a fantastic noise.

Last came the Horse Apple Patrol. The policemen wore shiny black boots and blue uniforms with shiny buttons. On their heads, they wore their police hats. The loud speakers played “Home on the Range” again and everyone watched the horses walk. When one horse lifted its tail, the crowd called, “Oh!”

And horse apples fell into Square Number 14.

I couldn’t remember who had paid for that square. We would find out later when the awards were announced.

When the Horse Apple Patrol reached the Grand Stand, they all stopped and turned to face the Mayor.

The music changed. It was eerie, space music. Alien music! The policemen reached into their coat pockets and pulled out lime green sunglasses. They were just like the glasses that kids had worn at Bree’s birthday party.

Mayor Lucky and everyone in the Grand Stand started laughing. Camera’s flashed.

Mrs. Lynx crossed her arms and scowled. She jumped down from the Grand Stand and started to march away. The other S.A.C. people, those wearing the lime green t-shirts, started to follow her.

A horse whinnied.

More cameras flashed, and the crowd’s laughter grew louder. Were they laughing at the Society of Alien Chasers?

Suddenly, the black horse with red ribbons whinnied louder and starting skittering sideways. The policeman jerked on the rein, but that only made the horse rear up. The policeman fell. The horse dashed straight for Mrs. Lynx.

I watched in horror.

The horse thundered toward her. The principal heard the sound and turned. Her eyes widened. The horse saw her, but by then, it couldn’t stop. His hooves drummed toward her.

I did what I had to do. Using telekinesis, I shoved Mrs. Lynx toward the Grand Stand. Her phone fell with a clatter. That was lucky! I used telekinesis to move it right into the horse’s path. The horse thundered past her and down an empty alley.

Mrs. Lynx screeched in anger, “Someone pushed me!” Several policemen crowded around her, trying to help. But she shrank away from their alien sunglasses.

I had to help. I pushed through the blue uniforms and took Mrs. Lynx’s hand and pulled her out of the crowd. “You are safe,” I said.

She looked around and saw her phone on the ground. It was crushed. The horse had run over it.

Bree scooped up the broken phone pieces and handed it to Mrs. Lynx.

That made me happy. No more Alien Chaser App. Maybe we had won the battle against the S.A.C. today.

“An alien pushed me,” Mrs. Lynx said. “It tried to push me in front of that runaway horse.”

She glared at Bree and said, “You. My Alien Chaser App went off in art class when it was pointed at you. And I know about that strange alien plant in Mrs. Smith’s greenhouse. Your mother gave her the seeds. And now, you pushed me into the path of that runaway horse.”

Bree’s eyes got big, but then she grinned, “I am not an alien.”

Mrs. Lynx brushed off her jeans and skirt. “I can’t prove it,” she said. “But someone in third grade is an alien, and I’ll be watching you.”

I couldn't help it. I had to ask, “Who cares if there are aliens on Earth?”

Mrs. Lynx said in her best teacher voice, “Aliens only want to take over the Earth. I will find the alien in third grade. And when I do, I’ll make sure the government captures it.”

I was shocked. Before, I thought this was like a game for Mrs. Lynx. But it’s not. She is serious about catching aliens. She could really hurt my family. I had to make sure that she never found out about my family and Bix. But that would have to wait because the parade wasn’t over.

From the loud speakers came Mayor Lucky’s voice. “It’s time to give out the awards for the F.O.P. Parade.”

Bree and I left the principal and ran back to the front of the Grand Stand. A crowd had gathered for the awards.

“Grand Prize for the Horse Apple Hopscotch goes to Square Number 14!”

“Bonzer! I’ve won!” called Mrs. Crux, the art teacher. “That was a corker of a parade!”

There she was speaking Aussie again. Did she ever feel like an alien, too? I was glad she won the horseback riding lessons, so she could learn all about American cowboys and cowgirls.

“Winner of the best act is the Tricycle Gang. Free ice cream for all the Gang!” called Mayor Lucky.

And everyone cheered. Anything to keep the voters happy, I thought.

“We did it,” I told Mary Lee.

Chief Glendale was smiling. “It was the best F.O.P. parade ever.”

Mary Lee said, “I’m just glad Mrs. Lynx is OK. I saw the whole thing, and I thought she was going to be hurt really bad.” She tapped her hand on the arm of the wheelchair. “I think she’s right. An alien—”

“Excuse me,” said a man. He was the tallest Earthling I had ever seen. “Who was in charge of the parade?”

“The Smiths,” Mary Lee said and pointed to Mom.

The man turned to Mom. “My name is Joel East. Do you do birthday parties? My son, Roman, will be nine soon, and he wants a giant party.”

“We can do a big party,” Mom said.

“No, he wants a ‘giant’ party. You know, something with really tall, giant people.”

“Oh,” Mom said.

And I thought, “Here we go again. Another Look Up Later List for another party.”

Mr. Chamale and his volunteers were already cleaning up the horse apples. The mayor would be happy. Chief Glendale had to go off and talk to other policemen and help clean up things.

Edgar’s dad came and took Edgar home. That just left Bree and Mary Lee and me beside the Grand Stand.

Mary Lee yawned.

“Are you tired?” I asked.

She nodded. “The spider bite medicine makes me sleepy. I should get into Dad’s convertible and take a nap.”

“Do you need help?” I asked.

“Yes, give me a lift, please,” Mary Lee said.

I went to her chair and reached for her hand to pull her up.

But Mary Lee stared at me and said, “No. I’ve been watching you. You have alien silver eyes. And you wouldn’t let the nurse listen to your alien heart. If you even have a heart. And you stuck out your hand to concentrate when you shoved Mrs. Lynx away from the horse. I need a lift.”

So I gave Mary Lee a lift with telekinesis. She stood, and, with a little help from telekinesis, she walked over to the convertible.

She sank into the convertible seat and yawned. “Where are you from, anyway?”

“The planet Bix.” It was nice to be able to tell the truth to someone else.

She leaned back and closed her eyes. Then she opened them and stared at me. “What else can you do?”

Before I could answer, Bree said, “He sheds his skin once a month.”

They looked at each other and giggled. Then, together they said, “Alien boys are weird.”

The End