They hid behind some nearby bushes and watched and waited for the hairy guy to appear. Half an hour went by. Then forty-five minutes.
Logan didn’t mind. He was used to waiting and watching. Aggy had her book but was nearing its end.
Kian and Thatcher, however, were done waiting and watching after ten minutes. By the hour mark, they were bored out of their minds.
“Soccer’s way better than this,” Thatcher groaned.
“Piano is better than this,” Kian said, and smacked the back of Thatcher’s head.
Thatcher smacked him back.
“Get out of here, you apes,” Logan whispered. “You’ll blow our cover.”
Kian puffed hard into Thatcher’s face, making Thatcher’s long hair lift.
“There,” he said. “I blew your cover.” He laughed, then took off running.
Thatcher ran after him.
“Good,” Logan said. “I hope they don’t come back.”
“I have a question, Logan,” Aggy asked. “Can the alien make people vanish, too?”
“Absolutely,” Logan said.
“So if Mr. Sarris is really the alien, do you think it’s a good idea to make him mad? He doesn’t like you, Logan.”
“I know how to defend myself against an alien,” Logan said, and tapped his forehead with his finger. “I have mind control. They can’t do anything to you if you have control over your mind. Which I do. Do you, Aggy? You better start practicing. Tell yourself, ‘I will not be zapped by an alien. I will not be zapped by an alien. I will not be zapped by an alien.’…”
“You must be kidding,” Aggy said.
“I recommend you work on concentrating your thoughts. Unless, that is, you want to see the inside of an alien spacecraft.”
“Concentrate your thoughts on that,” Aggy said, pointing at a small gray car coming down the street.
It pulled into the Sarrises’ driveway and stopped. Mr. Sarris got out the driver’s side, his son, the other.
“Be back by five,” Mr. Sarris said, and walked toward the house.
“That the alien’s son, Darius,” Logan whispered to Aggy.
“Mm-hm,” she said. “I’ve seen him before, playing with a drumming group in the park.”
Logan gasped when Darius pulled open the garage door,
“What is it?” Aggy asked. “What do you see?”
“Nothing,” Logan said. “I was just expecting to see something.”
“Hoping to, you mean.”
Darius wheeled out a black BMX with red tires. He put on a black bike helmet with red skulls printed on the sides, straddled his bike, and coasted down the driveway. In the street, facing the bush where Logan and Aggy were hiding, he skidded to a stop.
“What are you doing in there?” he asked.
Logan stepped out from behind the bush.
“I think you know,” Logan said to the boy.
“Checking out the aliens?”
“Correct,” Logan said.
Aggy stepped out. “Sorry about him, Darius. I’m Aggy.”
“Your dad stole her dog,” Logan said with a sneer.
“I don’t think my dad is your dog thief,” Darius said.
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Because our dog disappeared, too.”
“Really?” Logan said, skeptically. “Then I guess your dad would have a motive to steal dogs, wouldn’t he?”
“Huh?” Darius and Aggy said at the same time.
“To replace the one he lost,” Logan said.
“Is he always like this?” Darius asked Aggy.
“Oh, no, not you again!” came a voice from the house. Darius’s father stepped out onto the front porch. “I don’t want you around here! You called me alien! And dog thief!”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Darius said. “We’re leaving.”
“You’re going to spend time with this boy? This crazy boy who insults your father?”
“No. I’m going to escort him off the property. Then I’m going to the library to do some research.”
“I need to go there, too,” Aggy said. “I’m writing an essay on Neptune.”
“Mine’s on volcanoes,” Darius said.
“Let’s go then,” Aggy said.
“You are falling for the oldest trick in the book, Aggy,” Logan said.
“What trick?”
“He wants you to think he’s just another kid. But he isn’t.”
“Okay,” Darius said. “Time to go.”
Kian burst through a hedge then, followed by Thatcher.
“Hey! Where you guys going? Are you leaving? What’s up?” Thatcher asked, out of breath, his hair littered with dried grass and leaves. “Hey, Darius! How’s it going?”
“Hey, Thatcher,” Darius answered.
“We’re going to the library,” Aggy said. She hooked Logan’s arm. “All three of us.”
“What?” Logan said.
“Cool,” Thatcher said with a hair toss. Some leaves fluttered free. “You coming with us, Darius?”
“Who’s this guy, Thatch?” Kian asked out of the corner of his mouth, eyeing Darius warily.
“I’m the alien’s son,” Darius said with a smile. “No, you’re not, dude,” Thatcher laughed.
“Don’t believe him, Kian. Darius is cool.” He gave the new boy a heavy slap on the shoulder.
“Oh, he’s cool,” Kian said, his jaw tight. “Cool.”