Part 2
The next part from the previous entry.
Mark lowered the lens and looked up where it had disappeared, awestruck. It was a full minute before he realized James was next to him, trying to get a hold of the camera. The picture he had taken had spat out the front. "Let me see, let me see," said James, holding out the black photo in the moonlight. The flashlight was completely dead at this point.
The screen door banged shut with a loud sound that made both of the boys jump and James whipped out the squirt gun to defend himself. "Don't kill us!" he said.
"What are you two doing out here?!"
It was Mark's mom. Mark palmed the photo into the pocket of his pajamas and wondered how they were going to explain themselves. "It's the middle of the night! Get in here, right now!" His mom was visibly upset and wrapped in a faded blue bathrobe. The two boys walked as slowly as they dared back to the house. "Of all the times to be up and around, Mark Anthony Garrick, you know better."
"Ouch, middle name," James said under his breath to Mark as they made their way into the house.
"Up to bed right now and if I hear one more sound out of you two, there will be no more sleepovers permenantly."
"Yes, mom," they both said as they marched up the stairs to Mark's room. The two of them climbed into their beds and didn't dare move, even after they heard Mark's mom's door close. Both of them just lay there, thinking about what they had seen until morning.
In the morning, Mark just stared at his oatmeal, stirring it absentmindedly with a spoon. He knew his mom was watching him worriedly but he didn't care. He was still trying to process the fact that he'd seen a real live alien last night that had almost caught them.
"Are you feeling ok, honey?" his mom said, feeling his forehead. "Yes, mom," he said, making himself take a bite of oatmeal so she wouldn't think he was sick.
"You've been awfully quiet this morning." She poured him some orange juice with a worried look still on her face. Mark grabbed the glass and gulped down a couple of swallows, trying to act natural. "Is it because I yelled at you last night?"
Mark shook his head as he stirred his oatmeal again for the tenth time. "No, mom."
"What were you boys doing up in the middle of the night?" she asked, sitting down next to him at the table. "James comes over all the time but you have never disobeyed curfew. What were you two doing outside?"
Mark could feel the crystal laying cold against his skin under his shirt. He couldn't lie to his mom when she confronted him like that, especially if she was eye to eye with him. He took a deep breath. "Alien hunting," he said, gulping down another bite and grabbing his bag to head out the door. "Wait," his mom stopped him to hand him his paper sack lunch at the door. She kissed him on the forehead like she always did. "Promise me no more alien hunting at night, ok?" Mark could tell she wasn't mad, just genuinely concerned. That was really weird for her, usually she would have grounded him for something like this and taken away his skateboard. "Ok, I promise," he said quickly and pulled away to get through the screen door out to the street. He carried his skateboard to the bus stop and waited. Mark found himself looking up at the blue sky as if the aliens were going to come back and find him. He covered the crystal with his hand even though it was hidden inside of his shirt. It was still cold even though he had been wearing it all this time. Easy Mark, he told himself. You're getting all weird and panicky.
"Wait up!" he heard James call as he ran up to meet him. James had a poptart in his mouth and was trying to get his backpack on at the same time. "Why didn't you wait?" he asked as the bus pulled up to get them. "You take forever and mom was starting to question me about last night," said Mark, stepping up onto the bus. It pulled away from the curb towards the school.
At school, Mark still found himself distracted in his classes. It was in Miss Jennifer’s class that he found himself doodling on the notes. It kept turning out to be a flying saucer poised over a house, little bald headed aliens driving it with a steering wheel. He missed it the first time the teacher called his name.
“Mark Garrick?” Miss Jennifer called a little louder. Mark came out of his daydreaming and the kids giggled around him as if he was in trouble. “Can I see you for a minute?” Mark nodded and got up slowly from his chair. His mind flicked back, trying to think what he could have done wrong. He’d never been called out of class before. Is it possible his mom found out what they were really doing last night?
Miss Jen walked him out of the classroom and left her assistant in charge. They walked down the hall, thankfully for Mark’s sake, away from the direction of the principal’s office. He was in enough trouble with his mom, he didn’t want to bring home a note on top of it all. Mom was acting weird enough already.
There was a lady sitting on one of the benches next to the lockers. She looked up as they approached, her keen brown eyes taking them both in. Her hair was done up in an old fashioned bun at the base of her neck and she was dressed in a nice white button up shirt and dark jeans. Mark had never seen her before but Miss Jen walked him right up to the lady. She stood as they approached.
“This lady says you have something of hers?” his teacher asked. “You might have found it somewhere and she is looking for it.” Mark’s heart jumped into his throat. He cleared it as best as he could. “What is it?” he asked. “I don’t know you, how could I have something of yours?” A spy! That’s who it was, he thought. It was some government spy come to take away the alien journal.
The lady spoke, “It would be a small book, about so big,” she measured with her hands. “A flower print on the cover and penciled writing inside.” Her voice was measured and pleasant but Mark didn’t trust her. “Why would I have that, I hate flower books,” he bluffed on his feet.
“Now Mark,” Miss Jen directed at him. “Eva the librarian saw you and James looking at such a book in her library last week. When Miss Tate here described the book to her, she remembered you boys. Now I don’t want to have to search your book bag but I will if I have to.”
“Tate?” Mark echoed, floored by the possibility. “It’s your journal?” He then realized he had given the game away and his face flushed red. The lady smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes, and I would like it back very much please.”
“Can I see some ID?” Mark said, crossing his arms. He wasn’t going to take this lightly even though his teacher was now giving him an icy stare that he was being difficult. “Now,” the lady said to ease the teacher’s concerns. “That seems fair to me.” She dug into a small black purse and brought up a driver’s license. She handed it to Mark to inspect.
The picture was awful but most people’s license pictures were. The name on it read “Jennifer Mara Tate” with a birthday of June 26, 1980. Mark turned it over and over in his hands before handing it back. He still couldn’t quite believe it. But before he could ask another question, his teacher set a hand on his shoulder to walk him back to the classroom. “Now, I want you to go back to your book bag and bring her journal here. No more stalling.” Mark walked as slowly as he dared back to class. He ignored the looks from the other kids as he opened the door and went to his sitting place. He could see James giving him a questioning look from his seat in the back. Mark rummaged in his bag and showed James the journal cover before he started to walk back to the door. James’ eyes got wider and he shook his head but Mark was already out the door. What could he do, he thought as he walked back to where the two ladies were standing. His eyes flicked to the lighted doorway behind Miss Jen but he didn’t feel like he could make it even if he tried. It was possible this was the real Mara Tate and she had written it. But what if...? He didn’t get a chance to ask any of the questions he had buzzing around in his head. Miss Jen took the journal from his hands and gave it to the lady. “Thank you,” she said, putting it into her purse. Mark watched it go, sad that the story was over. “And I hope this young man isn’t in trouble, it was most likely my own fault for losing the journal. I’m just glad that someone found it so that it wasn’t lost forever.” She gave Mark a smile. He didn’t smile back but kept watching her suspiciously.
“You’re very welcome,” said Miss Jen. “Ok, back to class Mark.” She walked him back the other way. Mark looked over his shoulder as the lady picked up her purse and walked out of the school with it. He sighed inwardly as she pushed through the large double doors and disappeared towards the parking lot.
James gave him an exasperated look as the two of them walked back into the classroom. “Ok, class,” said Miss Jen. “Take out a pencil and I’ll pass out the pop quiz for this week...”
“You let her take it?!” James said incredulously. They were standing in line to get into the cafeteria. Mark winced at the comment from his friend. “What was I supposed to do? The teacher made me give it to her and she had ID and everything.”
“Great, now we have no proof,” said James, thumping a piece of pizza down on his tray in disgust. Mark already had his lunch from his mom that morning. They walked over to one of the smaller empty tables. “Do you realize we were the first humans on earth to see real aliens and now we can’t prove it? All because you gave away some stupid journal.”
“I didn’t see you getting up to help me,” said Mark, uncrumpling his paper bag to get at his sandwich.
“Did you get a good look at the ID?” asked James. “It could have been one of those government fake ID’s to trick you.”
Mark gave him a look. “And how am I supposed to know the difference between a real ID and a fake ID?”
James chewed his pizza and sighed. “Well, I guess there will be some sort of alien government coverup.” Mark smiled at him and couldn’t resist. “I thought you didn’t believe the journal was real?”
“That was before I saw that alien ship hovering over your house,” James retorted back. It hit Mark like a light bulb going off. The picture! “I nearly forgot!” Mark said, digging into his bag after the photo. “I never looked at it after we were sent to bed.” He pulled it out and the two looked at the glossy picture. “Wow...” said James. It wasn’t one of those blurry pictures. No, this was an in focus picture of the shiny alien saucer hovering in the sky. One could see the white streams of the jets firing out the back just before it left. Mark was speechless looking at it again. He had almost convinced himself that he hadn’t seen it but the picture seemed to make it all the more real.
James was shoving it back at Mark. “Put it away, quick!”
“Why?”
“Someone might be watching.” Mark put it back in his bag in one of his many secret compartments in it. James had a smile on his face like a cat with a mouse. “Dude, even though they took the journal, we’ve still got photographic proof. We’ve got a real picture of...” He hushed up as some other kids were starting to drift over to their table. Mark gave him a nod that he should drop the subject for awhile. He was thinking of the crystal still hanging on the black cord around his neck that was hidden under his shirt. He was wondering if any secret agents would be back for that or if they even knew about it.
The rest of the day at school was pretty much the same. James was pretty pleased that they had put one over on the government and they alone had positive proof of aliens existing. But Mark felt awful. There was that knot of worry in his stomach that this wasn't over yet. There was a big possibility that they could get into more trouble later on, more than they could imagine. His best friend was being way too pleased with himself to hang around for awhile, so Mark opted to skateboard home instead of taking the bus. "I just need to," he told James as he was standing on the bus steps. He boarded off leaving him there with a confused look on his face.
The skateboard made a soothing clack sound over each edge of cement on the sidewalk. Mark knew the way home blindfolded and was paying more attention to his thoughts than to the road. It was all too weird. He felt like he was the brunt of some practical joke but he couldn't find the punch line. It was getting all a bit too unreal to be real. And yet, that picture still lay nestled in the bottom of his bookbag. That was real enough. They hadn't imagined it. Mark was pretty imaginative but he had never imagined something like that. He rounded the corner onto his street. Hopefully his mom would have stopped worrying about him by now. If he was lucky.
"Mark, isn't it?"
The voice caught him off guard and he put the brakes on as he came to a sudden stop. It belonged to a woman leaning against a black truck parked on his street. The same woman from school that had taken the journal. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You seemed deep in thought."
Mark felt an eerie feeling creeping up his spine. Had she been waiting for him? What for? He hadn't done anything. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," he said with a frown, backing up towards his house in case he needed to make a run for it. He wasn't afraid of any girl, but if she was a secret agent or something, she would have a gun or know judo like they do in the movies.
She nodded. "Ok, that's fine. How about I talk and you can decide to listen if you want to. Deal?" Mark eyed her distrustfully. She hadn't moved from her position on the truck either towards or away from him. And he was feeling a bit braver and figured he could out run her on his skateboard if it came to it. He nodded.
The lady reached into her purse on her arm and pulled out the familiar flowered book. She opened it up and flipped through it casually. "When I found this, it was new. Never been written in. It's a bit dog eared now so I'm pretty sure it's been read by at least one person." She looked up at Mark who didn't respond. "Yeah, I wouldn't believe me either if I read this," she said with a rueful smile and shut the book. "I just need to know...when you found it, was there a necklace with it?" Mark started a bit but managed to hide it well enough. "About so big of a flat crystal on a black cord." Mark took a step backward towards the house. The lady realized she wasn't making any headway. "I mean, it's ok if you have it but I don't think you would really want to keep it. You see, it gives off a strong signal if activated..." she gave him a look that went right through him. "And a weak signal when it's not active." Mark involuntarily reached for his neck. "That's how you found me?" he asked.
The lady nodded. "And I really wouldn't want you to get caught with it on if..." She stopped, trying to phrase it right. Mark finished it for her. "If the aliens came back, you mean. If they found it on me."
She looked up at him in surprise and smiled. "You did read it. No no, that's ok," she could see he was thinking about running away. She seemed more amused than upset. Mark was so certain she would have been upset about someone reading their journal.
"Did you like it?" she asked with a secret smile.
"What do you mean?" Mark asked.
"Did you like what I wrote?" she repeated. Mark looked from the book in her hands to her face and back again. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. I mean, till the real aliens showed up that is."
There was a sharp coughing sound with a high whistle that came from inside the truck. "What was that?" asked Mark. "Shhh," the lady said at the truck. "I told you to keep quiet."
There was a long low whistle. Mark was genuinely interested now and walked over to where the truck was. The lady stepped in front of the passenger side window. "I know, fine, you were right. Now hush," she said to someone inside the truck. "You saw the ship?" she asked at Mark, trying to distract his attention.
"Who's that?" asked Mark.
"None of your business," the lady said defensively. She immediately regretted it. "Sorry, but it is better if you don't ask."
There was an awkward pause. Mark was ready to gamble his chances to have this mystery all cleared up once and for all. He had an idea. Putting down his bag, he dug in it for the picture he had taken last night. He held it up against himself, picture side away from her so she couldn't see. "I'll show you if..."
"If what?" she asked.
"If...I can see your neck." That sounded dumb so he clarified. "I mean the back of your neck." He was pretty sure she would get mad at that. But he was wrong again. She was actually considering his offer. Finally, she looked up and down the street in the dimming light of the setting sun. They were quite alone.
She bent down and tilted her head slightly over as she lifted her hair, bun and all, off of the nape of her neck.
There in the middle of her neck was a blocky piece of metal. It was set deep in her neck as if it went down farther than skin deep. With her hair down, it was covered completely. Mark could barely believe his eyes. Without thinking, he reached out a hand and touched the cool metal piece under her hair. The lady didn't move, letting him making his own decisions. She watched him with interest.
"Whoa," said Mark, swallowing hard. "You really are her." Mara nodded as she stood up and let her hair fall back into place. "Does...does it hurt?" he asked seriously.
Mara laughed a bit at that. "No, no its fine. It was heavy to start off with but I'm used to it now." She pointed at the picture. "May I see?"
Mark handed it over, still dumbfounded at standing in front of the same person he had been reading about. "Wow," she said, looking at the photo. "You got a good picture of the ship. We saw it from far away last night and I knew I had to find that journal before they did."
Mark's ears pricked up. "We? Who's we?"
Mara was about to speak but a gurgling sound cut her off. It ended with a click and a three fingered hand came around Mara's shoulder as if to push her aside. "If you're sure," said Mara to her friend as she stepped aside. Mark could see into the truck now. Even in the dim light, he could make out a figure wearing a hooded sweatshirt. But the hands were all wrong, the arms were thin and the fingers were flat and grayish blue. Just inside the hood of the sweatshirt was a pair of white pearls that looked out at Mark with interest.
"I probably don't need to introduce you to Yuyu," said Mara cautiously. She was still looking carefully up each street to make sure no one was watching. Mark stepped up to the half open window of the truck. Yuyu lifted one of his hands off of the top of the window and waved. Mara smiled at that. "He's been practicing." Mark waved back a little bit. "I hate to keep him under wraps so much but I'd hate for the same things to happen to him that happened to me."
"Becoming an experiment you mean?" asked Mark, his eyes still on Yuyu. Mara nodded. "Yeah, I'm afraid our scientists and theirs aren't too much different from each other." Mara handed the picture to Yuyu through the window. Yuyu looked at it carefully and clicked a response to Mara. "What did he say?" asked Mark, wondering if he should pinch himself. He was standing there with an alien and a girl who had lived with aliens talking to them.
"He said it looks like they are leaving," translated Mara.
"They were," said Mark and he related the previous night's events to them. Mara and Yuyu listened with Mara translating for Yuyu now and again. Sometimes in english, sometimes with her own version of clicks and whistles. "That makes sense then," said Mara. "When you activated the crystal, they must have picked up the signal and thought one of their own was in trouble. Well done on that, by the way. That was a pretty clever idea. A bit dangerous but clever."
Mark flushed a bit at that. "Did I do the wrong thing?" he asked anxiously. Mara was listening to something Yuyu was saying as he pointed at the photograph. "Yuyu thinks they probably saw that it was a trap of some kind and left as fast as they could so they wouldn't be discovered. I doubt that they will be back for that particular signal."
Mark pulled the crystal out of his shirt. Yuyu made a noise that sounded a bit like an english "Aha," and pointed at the necklace. "He's been missing it. It's something personal for him, even if he can't go back home." Mara returned the photo to Mark.
"You're not taking it?" asked Mark. She shook her head. "That's yours, you're the one who took it."
Mark was looking at Yuyu wondering how he would feel if someone had taken his cellphone and used it without asking. He pulled off the necklace and held it out towards the disguised alien in the car. Yuyu looked in surprise at Mara and blinked as he clicked twice. "Yeah, he does seem to be giving it to you," Mara told him. Yuyu reached out a hand and took the cord carefully between two fingers. He made a low soft whistle deep in his throat. "He said thank you."
"You're welcome," said Mark, feeling good about his decision. "So...you're not a secret agent?"
Mara snickered a bit at that but managed to compose herself. "No, definitely not a secret agent. But I can see how you would have thought of that. I avoid government people now as much as possible." She had pulled a pen out of her purse and was scribbling in the back of the journal. "We've got to get going now. I've got work in the morning."
"You work?" asked Mark.
"Yeah, I'm in training to be a translator for a company out west." Mara smiled. "Apparently I'm very good with languages."
Mark smiled back at their shared secret. But he was surprised when he found the journal placed in his hands. "What's this for?" he asked. "I thought it was yours."
Mara pulled out her keys and told Yuyu to roll up the window. "You seemed to have enjoyed it and I already know what's in it. If you would like, you can keep it for me."
"Me?" Mark was awed. "But what if I like, go to the police with it or something? How do you know I won't do something like that?"
Mara looked off down the road. "I think that if you did that, you'd find out, like I did, that there aren't too many people who will believe you." She looked at him with a sadness in her eyes. "And there are some things better left forgotten in there." Mark was quiet as she talked. "I'd rather pass it on to someone who can enjoy it. So, take it, it's yours now." She pushed it into his hands again and began to walk around to the driver's side of the truck.
"But wait," Mark remembered something. "You didn't finish it!"
Mara smiled at him as she held open her door. "Sure I did. Read it and see."
As she stepped into the truck, Yuyu huddled back down in the seat and waved goodbye to Mark. The truck started and drove off down the road. Mark was left standing there on the sidewalk with his skateboard and bag at his feet and the journal and photograph in his hands.
"She just gave it to you?" James' voice came through the cellphone on Mark's side. He had just finished relating what had happened in the street outside of his house. "I know, isn't that bizzare?" said Mark. He almost couldn't believe it himself
"Dude, you MET HER?" James was up in arms. "And a real alien to boot! Why didn't I get to meet her?! I could have walked home with you!"
"Well, too late for that," said Mark. He had the journal in his lap, turning through it slowly.
"I insist on hearing about this again at school tomorrow. Nobody is going to believe this."
"I know," Mark said thoughtfully. "Maybe we shouldn't tell them really."
"What do you mean?" asked James.
"I mean, nobody is really going to believe us anyway. Even with the picture. They'd probably say we made it up on the computer or something."
"But what's the fun of knowing there are really aliens if you can't tell anyone?"
"Ok fine," Mark sighed, unable to talk to his excitable friend at the moment. "Do what you want. I got to get to work on my paper again before Mom finds out it's nowhere near started yet."
"I envy your project," said James. "Your topic is going to be amazing. I have to write on the effects of farming on topsoil. How am I supposed to write that??"
Mark shook his head. "You picked it. Your dad is a farmer."
"Sure I did. That was before I found out that aliens are really really out there. You are probably the luckiest person in 8th grade right now, you know that?"
"Time's up!" said Mark's mom from downstairs.
"Ok, mom!" he called back. "Got to go now. Good luck with your paper."
"Not funny," James managed to get in before Mark hung up on him.
Mark lowered the lens and looked up where it had disappeared, awestruck. It was a full minute before he realized James was next to him, trying to get a hold of the camera. The picture he had taken had spat out the front. "Let me see, let me see," said James, holding out the black photo in the moonlight. The flashlight was completely dead at this point.
The screen door banged shut with a loud sound that made both of the boys jump and James whipped out the squirt gun to defend himself. "Don't kill us!" he said.
"What are you two doing out here?!"
It was Mark's mom. Mark palmed the photo into the pocket of his pajamas and wondered how they were going to explain themselves. "It's the middle of the night! Get in here, right now!" His mom was visibly upset and wrapped in a faded blue bathrobe. The two boys walked as slowly as they dared back to the house. "Of all the times to be up and around, Mark Anthony Garrick, you know better."
"Ouch, middle name," James said under his breath to Mark as they made their way into the house.
"Up to bed right now and if I hear one more sound out of you two, there will be no more sleepovers permenantly."
"Yes, mom," they both said as they marched up the stairs to Mark's room. The two of them climbed into their beds and didn't dare move, even after they heard Mark's mom's door close. Both of them just lay there, thinking about what they had seen until morning.
In the morning, Mark just stared at his oatmeal, stirring it absentmindedly with a spoon. He knew his mom was watching him worriedly but he didn't care. He was still trying to process the fact that he'd seen a real live alien last night that had almost caught them.
"Are you feeling ok, honey?" his mom said, feeling his forehead. "Yes, mom," he said, making himself take a bite of oatmeal so she wouldn't think he was sick.
"You've been awfully quiet this morning." She poured him some orange juice with a worried look still on her face. Mark grabbed the glass and gulped down a couple of swallows, trying to act natural. "Is it because I yelled at you last night?"
Mark shook his head as he stirred his oatmeal again for the tenth time. "No, mom."
"What were you boys doing up in the middle of the night?" she asked, sitting down next to him at the table. "James comes over all the time but you have never disobeyed curfew. What were you two doing outside?"
Mark could feel the crystal laying cold against his skin under his shirt. He couldn't lie to his mom when she confronted him like that, especially if she was eye to eye with him. He took a deep breath. "Alien hunting," he said, gulping down another bite and grabbing his bag to head out the door. "Wait," his mom stopped him to hand him his paper sack lunch at the door. She kissed him on the forehead like she always did. "Promise me no more alien hunting at night, ok?" Mark could tell she wasn't mad, just genuinely concerned. That was really weird for her, usually she would have grounded him for something like this and taken away his skateboard. "Ok, I promise," he said quickly and pulled away to get through the screen door out to the street. He carried his skateboard to the bus stop and waited. Mark found himself looking up at the blue sky as if the aliens were going to come back and find him. He covered the crystal with his hand even though it was hidden inside of his shirt. It was still cold even though he had been wearing it all this time. Easy Mark, he told himself. You're getting all weird and panicky.
"Wait up!" he heard James call as he ran up to meet him. James had a poptart in his mouth and was trying to get his backpack on at the same time. "Why didn't you wait?" he asked as the bus pulled up to get them. "You take forever and mom was starting to question me about last night," said Mark, stepping up onto the bus. It pulled away from the curb towards the school.
At school, Mark still found himself distracted in his classes. It was in Miss Jennifer’s class that he found himself doodling on the notes. It kept turning out to be a flying saucer poised over a house, little bald headed aliens driving it with a steering wheel. He missed it the first time the teacher called his name.
“Mark Garrick?” Miss Jennifer called a little louder. Mark came out of his daydreaming and the kids giggled around him as if he was in trouble. “Can I see you for a minute?” Mark nodded and got up slowly from his chair. His mind flicked back, trying to think what he could have done wrong. He’d never been called out of class before. Is it possible his mom found out what they were really doing last night?
Miss Jen walked him out of the classroom and left her assistant in charge. They walked down the hall, thankfully for Mark’s sake, away from the direction of the principal’s office. He was in enough trouble with his mom, he didn’t want to bring home a note on top of it all. Mom was acting weird enough already.
There was a lady sitting on one of the benches next to the lockers. She looked up as they approached, her keen brown eyes taking them both in. Her hair was done up in an old fashioned bun at the base of her neck and she was dressed in a nice white button up shirt and dark jeans. Mark had never seen her before but Miss Jen walked him right up to the lady. She stood as they approached.
“This lady says you have something of hers?” his teacher asked. “You might have found it somewhere and she is looking for it.” Mark’s heart jumped into his throat. He cleared it as best as he could. “What is it?” he asked. “I don’t know you, how could I have something of yours?” A spy! That’s who it was, he thought. It was some government spy come to take away the alien journal.
The lady spoke, “It would be a small book, about so big,” she measured with her hands. “A flower print on the cover and penciled writing inside.” Her voice was measured and pleasant but Mark didn’t trust her. “Why would I have that, I hate flower books,” he bluffed on his feet.
“Now Mark,” Miss Jen directed at him. “Eva the librarian saw you and James looking at such a book in her library last week. When Miss Tate here described the book to her, she remembered you boys. Now I don’t want to have to search your book bag but I will if I have to.”
“Tate?” Mark echoed, floored by the possibility. “It’s your journal?” He then realized he had given the game away and his face flushed red. The lady smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes, and I would like it back very much please.”
“Can I see some ID?” Mark said, crossing his arms. He wasn’t going to take this lightly even though his teacher was now giving him an icy stare that he was being difficult. “Now,” the lady said to ease the teacher’s concerns. “That seems fair to me.” She dug into a small black purse and brought up a driver’s license. She handed it to Mark to inspect.
The picture was awful but most people’s license pictures were. The name on it read “Jennifer Mara Tate” with a birthday of June 26, 1980. Mark turned it over and over in his hands before handing it back. He still couldn’t quite believe it. But before he could ask another question, his teacher set a hand on his shoulder to walk him back to the classroom. “Now, I want you to go back to your book bag and bring her journal here. No more stalling.” Mark walked as slowly as he dared back to class. He ignored the looks from the other kids as he opened the door and went to his sitting place. He could see James giving him a questioning look from his seat in the back. Mark rummaged in his bag and showed James the journal cover before he started to walk back to the door. James’ eyes got wider and he shook his head but Mark was already out the door. What could he do, he thought as he walked back to where the two ladies were standing. His eyes flicked to the lighted doorway behind Miss Jen but he didn’t feel like he could make it even if he tried. It was possible this was the real Mara Tate and she had written it. But what if...? He didn’t get a chance to ask any of the questions he had buzzing around in his head. Miss Jen took the journal from his hands and gave it to the lady. “Thank you,” she said, putting it into her purse. Mark watched it go, sad that the story was over. “And I hope this young man isn’t in trouble, it was most likely my own fault for losing the journal. I’m just glad that someone found it so that it wasn’t lost forever.” She gave Mark a smile. He didn’t smile back but kept watching her suspiciously.
“You’re very welcome,” said Miss Jen. “Ok, back to class Mark.” She walked him back the other way. Mark looked over his shoulder as the lady picked up her purse and walked out of the school with it. He sighed inwardly as she pushed through the large double doors and disappeared towards the parking lot.
James gave him an exasperated look as the two of them walked back into the classroom. “Ok, class,” said Miss Jen. “Take out a pencil and I’ll pass out the pop quiz for this week...”
“You let her take it?!” James said incredulously. They were standing in line to get into the cafeteria. Mark winced at the comment from his friend. “What was I supposed to do? The teacher made me give it to her and she had ID and everything.”
“Great, now we have no proof,” said James, thumping a piece of pizza down on his tray in disgust. Mark already had his lunch from his mom that morning. They walked over to one of the smaller empty tables. “Do you realize we were the first humans on earth to see real aliens and now we can’t prove it? All because you gave away some stupid journal.”
“I didn’t see you getting up to help me,” said Mark, uncrumpling his paper bag to get at his sandwich.
“Did you get a good look at the ID?” asked James. “It could have been one of those government fake ID’s to trick you.”
Mark gave him a look. “And how am I supposed to know the difference between a real ID and a fake ID?”
James chewed his pizza and sighed. “Well, I guess there will be some sort of alien government coverup.” Mark smiled at him and couldn’t resist. “I thought you didn’t believe the journal was real?”
“That was before I saw that alien ship hovering over your house,” James retorted back. It hit Mark like a light bulb going off. The picture! “I nearly forgot!” Mark said, digging into his bag after the photo. “I never looked at it after we were sent to bed.” He pulled it out and the two looked at the glossy picture. “Wow...” said James. It wasn’t one of those blurry pictures. No, this was an in focus picture of the shiny alien saucer hovering in the sky. One could see the white streams of the jets firing out the back just before it left. Mark was speechless looking at it again. He had almost convinced himself that he hadn’t seen it but the picture seemed to make it all the more real.
James was shoving it back at Mark. “Put it away, quick!”
“Why?”
“Someone might be watching.” Mark put it back in his bag in one of his many secret compartments in it. James had a smile on his face like a cat with a mouse. “Dude, even though they took the journal, we’ve still got photographic proof. We’ve got a real picture of...” He hushed up as some other kids were starting to drift over to their table. Mark gave him a nod that he should drop the subject for awhile. He was thinking of the crystal still hanging on the black cord around his neck that was hidden under his shirt. He was wondering if any secret agents would be back for that or if they even knew about it.
The rest of the day at school was pretty much the same. James was pretty pleased that they had put one over on the government and they alone had positive proof of aliens existing. But Mark felt awful. There was that knot of worry in his stomach that this wasn't over yet. There was a big possibility that they could get into more trouble later on, more than they could imagine. His best friend was being way too pleased with himself to hang around for awhile, so Mark opted to skateboard home instead of taking the bus. "I just need to," he told James as he was standing on the bus steps. He boarded off leaving him there with a confused look on his face.
The skateboard made a soothing clack sound over each edge of cement on the sidewalk. Mark knew the way home blindfolded and was paying more attention to his thoughts than to the road. It was all too weird. He felt like he was the brunt of some practical joke but he couldn't find the punch line. It was getting all a bit too unreal to be real. And yet, that picture still lay nestled in the bottom of his bookbag. That was real enough. They hadn't imagined it. Mark was pretty imaginative but he had never imagined something like that. He rounded the corner onto his street. Hopefully his mom would have stopped worrying about him by now. If he was lucky.
"Mark, isn't it?"
The voice caught him off guard and he put the brakes on as he came to a sudden stop. It belonged to a woman leaning against a black truck parked on his street. The same woman from school that had taken the journal. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You seemed deep in thought."
Mark felt an eerie feeling creeping up his spine. Had she been waiting for him? What for? He hadn't done anything. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," he said with a frown, backing up towards his house in case he needed to make a run for it. He wasn't afraid of any girl, but if she was a secret agent or something, she would have a gun or know judo like they do in the movies.
She nodded. "Ok, that's fine. How about I talk and you can decide to listen if you want to. Deal?" Mark eyed her distrustfully. She hadn't moved from her position on the truck either towards or away from him. And he was feeling a bit braver and figured he could out run her on his skateboard if it came to it. He nodded.
The lady reached into her purse on her arm and pulled out the familiar flowered book. She opened it up and flipped through it casually. "When I found this, it was new. Never been written in. It's a bit dog eared now so I'm pretty sure it's been read by at least one person." She looked up at Mark who didn't respond. "Yeah, I wouldn't believe me either if I read this," she said with a rueful smile and shut the book. "I just need to know...when you found it, was there a necklace with it?" Mark started a bit but managed to hide it well enough. "About so big of a flat crystal on a black cord." Mark took a step backward towards the house. The lady realized she wasn't making any headway. "I mean, it's ok if you have it but I don't think you would really want to keep it. You see, it gives off a strong signal if activated..." she gave him a look that went right through him. "And a weak signal when it's not active." Mark involuntarily reached for his neck. "That's how you found me?" he asked.
The lady nodded. "And I really wouldn't want you to get caught with it on if..." She stopped, trying to phrase it right. Mark finished it for her. "If the aliens came back, you mean. If they found it on me."
She looked up at him in surprise and smiled. "You did read it. No no, that's ok," she could see he was thinking about running away. She seemed more amused than upset. Mark was so certain she would have been upset about someone reading their journal.
"Did you like it?" she asked with a secret smile.
"What do you mean?" Mark asked.
"Did you like what I wrote?" she repeated. Mark looked from the book in her hands to her face and back again. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. I mean, till the real aliens showed up that is."
There was a sharp coughing sound with a high whistle that came from inside the truck. "What was that?" asked Mark. "Shhh," the lady said at the truck. "I told you to keep quiet."
There was a long low whistle. Mark was genuinely interested now and walked over to where the truck was. The lady stepped in front of the passenger side window. "I know, fine, you were right. Now hush," she said to someone inside the truck. "You saw the ship?" she asked at Mark, trying to distract his attention.
"Who's that?" asked Mark.
"None of your business," the lady said defensively. She immediately regretted it. "Sorry, but it is better if you don't ask."
There was an awkward pause. Mark was ready to gamble his chances to have this mystery all cleared up once and for all. He had an idea. Putting down his bag, he dug in it for the picture he had taken last night. He held it up against himself, picture side away from her so she couldn't see. "I'll show you if..."
"If what?" she asked.
"If...I can see your neck." That sounded dumb so he clarified. "I mean the back of your neck." He was pretty sure she would get mad at that. But he was wrong again. She was actually considering his offer. Finally, she looked up and down the street in the dimming light of the setting sun. They were quite alone.
She bent down and tilted her head slightly over as she lifted her hair, bun and all, off of the nape of her neck.
There in the middle of her neck was a blocky piece of metal. It was set deep in her neck as if it went down farther than skin deep. With her hair down, it was covered completely. Mark could barely believe his eyes. Without thinking, he reached out a hand and touched the cool metal piece under her hair. The lady didn't move, letting him making his own decisions. She watched him with interest.
"Whoa," said Mark, swallowing hard. "You really are her." Mara nodded as she stood up and let her hair fall back into place. "Does...does it hurt?" he asked seriously.
Mara laughed a bit at that. "No, no its fine. It was heavy to start off with but I'm used to it now." She pointed at the picture. "May I see?"
Mark handed it over, still dumbfounded at standing in front of the same person he had been reading about. "Wow," she said, looking at the photo. "You got a good picture of the ship. We saw it from far away last night and I knew I had to find that journal before they did."
Mark's ears pricked up. "We? Who's we?"
Mara was about to speak but a gurgling sound cut her off. It ended with a click and a three fingered hand came around Mara's shoulder as if to push her aside. "If you're sure," said Mara to her friend as she stepped aside. Mark could see into the truck now. Even in the dim light, he could make out a figure wearing a hooded sweatshirt. But the hands were all wrong, the arms were thin and the fingers were flat and grayish blue. Just inside the hood of the sweatshirt was a pair of white pearls that looked out at Mark with interest.
"I probably don't need to introduce you to Yuyu," said Mara cautiously. She was still looking carefully up each street to make sure no one was watching. Mark stepped up to the half open window of the truck. Yuyu lifted one of his hands off of the top of the window and waved. Mara smiled at that. "He's been practicing." Mark waved back a little bit. "I hate to keep him under wraps so much but I'd hate for the same things to happen to him that happened to me."
"Becoming an experiment you mean?" asked Mark, his eyes still on Yuyu. Mara nodded. "Yeah, I'm afraid our scientists and theirs aren't too much different from each other." Mara handed the picture to Yuyu through the window. Yuyu looked at it carefully and clicked a response to Mara. "What did he say?" asked Mark, wondering if he should pinch himself. He was standing there with an alien and a girl who had lived with aliens talking to them.
"He said it looks like they are leaving," translated Mara.
"They were," said Mark and he related the previous night's events to them. Mara and Yuyu listened with Mara translating for Yuyu now and again. Sometimes in english, sometimes with her own version of clicks and whistles. "That makes sense then," said Mara. "When you activated the crystal, they must have picked up the signal and thought one of their own was in trouble. Well done on that, by the way. That was a pretty clever idea. A bit dangerous but clever."
Mark flushed a bit at that. "Did I do the wrong thing?" he asked anxiously. Mara was listening to something Yuyu was saying as he pointed at the photograph. "Yuyu thinks they probably saw that it was a trap of some kind and left as fast as they could so they wouldn't be discovered. I doubt that they will be back for that particular signal."
Mark pulled the crystal out of his shirt. Yuyu made a noise that sounded a bit like an english "Aha," and pointed at the necklace. "He's been missing it. It's something personal for him, even if he can't go back home." Mara returned the photo to Mark.
"You're not taking it?" asked Mark. She shook her head. "That's yours, you're the one who took it."
Mark was looking at Yuyu wondering how he would feel if someone had taken his cellphone and used it without asking. He pulled off the necklace and held it out towards the disguised alien in the car. Yuyu looked in surprise at Mara and blinked as he clicked twice. "Yeah, he does seem to be giving it to you," Mara told him. Yuyu reached out a hand and took the cord carefully between two fingers. He made a low soft whistle deep in his throat. "He said thank you."
"You're welcome," said Mark, feeling good about his decision. "So...you're not a secret agent?"
Mara snickered a bit at that but managed to compose herself. "No, definitely not a secret agent. But I can see how you would have thought of that. I avoid government people now as much as possible." She had pulled a pen out of her purse and was scribbling in the back of the journal. "We've got to get going now. I've got work in the morning."
"You work?" asked Mark.
"Yeah, I'm in training to be a translator for a company out west." Mara smiled. "Apparently I'm very good with languages."
Mark smiled back at their shared secret. But he was surprised when he found the journal placed in his hands. "What's this for?" he asked. "I thought it was yours."
Mara pulled out her keys and told Yuyu to roll up the window. "You seemed to have enjoyed it and I already know what's in it. If you would like, you can keep it for me."
"Me?" Mark was awed. "But what if I like, go to the police with it or something? How do you know I won't do something like that?"
Mara looked off down the road. "I think that if you did that, you'd find out, like I did, that there aren't too many people who will believe you." She looked at him with a sadness in her eyes. "And there are some things better left forgotten in there." Mark was quiet as she talked. "I'd rather pass it on to someone who can enjoy it. So, take it, it's yours now." She pushed it into his hands again and began to walk around to the driver's side of the truck.
"But wait," Mark remembered something. "You didn't finish it!"
Mara smiled at him as she held open her door. "Sure I did. Read it and see."
As she stepped into the truck, Yuyu huddled back down in the seat and waved goodbye to Mark. The truck started and drove off down the road. Mark was left standing there on the sidewalk with his skateboard and bag at his feet and the journal and photograph in his hands.
"She just gave it to you?" James' voice came through the cellphone on Mark's side. He had just finished relating what had happened in the street outside of his house. "I know, isn't that bizzare?" said Mark. He almost couldn't believe it himself
"Dude, you MET HER?" James was up in arms. "And a real alien to boot! Why didn't I get to meet her?! I could have walked home with you!"
"Well, too late for that," said Mark. He had the journal in his lap, turning through it slowly.
"I insist on hearing about this again at school tomorrow. Nobody is going to believe this."
"I know," Mark said thoughtfully. "Maybe we shouldn't tell them really."
"What do you mean?" asked James.
"I mean, nobody is really going to believe us anyway. Even with the picture. They'd probably say we made it up on the computer or something."
"But what's the fun of knowing there are really aliens if you can't tell anyone?"
"Ok fine," Mark sighed, unable to talk to his excitable friend at the moment. "Do what you want. I got to get to work on my paper again before Mom finds out it's nowhere near started yet."
"I envy your project," said James. "Your topic is going to be amazing. I have to write on the effects of farming on topsoil. How am I supposed to write that??"
Mark shook his head. "You picked it. Your dad is a farmer."
"Sure I did. That was before I found out that aliens are really really out there. You are probably the luckiest person in 8th grade right now, you know that?"
"Time's up!" said Mark's mom from downstairs.
"Ok, mom!" he called back. "Got to go now. Good luck with your paper."
"Not funny," James managed to get in before Mark hung up on him.