Free My Teacher Is an Alien by Bruce Coville Page A

wisest—and safest—not to interfere with your elders."
    He closed his briefcase. "I will see you tomorrow, Miss Simmons," he said. "I trust that you will spend the entire day here in the classroom— and not enter my home again!"
    I almost fell off my chair. He knew. He had known all along! Before I could say anything, he went out the door, leaving me alone.

 

     
     
Microsoft Corporation

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Concert Concerns
     
    It took me almost twenty minutes to get home. I cycled along the sidewalk slowly, watching every corner. I kept expecting aliens to leap out of the bushes and grab me.
    When something did jump out of the bushes, I screamed so high and so loud, I was surprised I didn't break the glass in the street lamp overhead.
    But it was only Peter.
    "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I asked, straddling my bike and glaring at him.
    "It would serve you right for bringing Duncan along today," he said.
    I wasn't up for a fight, and I said so. Peter was mad enough that he might have kept it going, anyway, but when I started to tell him what had happened after school he got so interested he forgot about being angry. He insisted that I try to remember every word Broxholm had said.
     
    "Where's Duncan?" I asked when I finished my story.
    "Hiding in my closet/' said Peter with a wicked grin. "We called his folks, and he's going to spend the next couple of days at my house."
    "Didn't they ask any questions?"
    Peter laughed. "If you were Duncan's mother, wouldn't you be glad to have him out of the house for a while?"
    I didn't think that was very nice, but I let it pass. "Will you be able to stand him till this is over?" I asked.
    "My problem is trying not to take advantage of him," said Peter sadly. "It's not easy. I'd really love to get back at him for some of the things he's done to me. But he's so terrified I don't dare have any fun with him. I really think if I popped a bag near his ear he would have a heart attack and die."
    I laughed in spite of myself.
    "What about your father?" I asked.
    Peter grimaced. "He won't even notice Duncan is there," he said. "By the way, I took the pictures to the drugstore. We can pick them up after school tomorrow."
    "If we live that long," I said.
    "Relax," said Peter. "Broxholm and his friends are here to collect people. I'd be really surprised if they actually kill anyone."
    That made me feel a little better. But it was only the thought that this whole mess might be over when we got the pictures that kept me from losing my mind that night. Even so, I was so frazzled I couldn't think about anything else.
    By morning I was such a wreck that my special session with Mr. Bamwick was a total disaster.
    "No, no, no!" he kept yelling. "It's B flat, Susan. B flat!"
    "Well, I can't get it right if you keep screaming at me," I said, trying not to cry.
    I couldn't blame poor Mr. Bamwick. The concert was only a day away, and I was getting worse by the minute. But I just couldn't concentrate on the music. How could I, when I knew what else was supposed to happen? Could you play the piccolo, if you knew some of your friends—or maybe even you—were about to be kidnapped by aliens?
    "Aren't you worried?" I asked Peter that afternoon on the playground.
    "Not really," he said. His pale face split into a wide grin. "I told you, I've got an alternate plan."
    "Listen, Peter," I said, taking his arm. "This isn't one of your science fiction books. And you're not Buck Rogers. Don't get carried away."
    He shook my hand away angrily. "This is the greatest thing that's ever happened in this town," he said. "And don't you forget it, Susan!"
    At that point Stacy and Mike went running by, yelling bad words at each other.
    We started to laugh. "I heard Stacy say that her mother is going nuts," said Peter. "I bet Mike's mother is, too."
    I nodded. I almost felt sorry for them. It can't be easy to have a kid who hasn't been in trouble since kindergarten suddenly turn into a maniac.
    "Of course,