Free War on Whimsy by Liane Moriarty

“I’ll just be the crazy bus driver.”
    â€œI’ll be the makeup artist,” said Katie cheerfully.
    â€œAnd I’ll be the cameraman,” said Tyler.
    â€œI’ll do sound,” said Sean. “The guy wearing headphones always looks the coolest.”
    That left Greta and Nicola.
    There was a pause. Nicola didn’t look at Greta.
    â€œI’ll be the producer ,” announced Greta.
    Yes!
    â€œSo I guess that leaves you as the reporter,” said Katie to Nicola.
    â€œI guess it does,” said Nicola nonchalantly. She would be so good at it! She would ask clever, probing questions with a serious, thoughtful expression on her face.
    â€œThe producer is the one who organizes everything,” said Greta. “So basically I’m in charge of everything. I tell the reporter what to do, what questions to ask, where to stand, who to interview, all that sort of thing.”
    â€œUmm, I’m not sure about that,” began Nicola. Had she just made a terrible mistake?
    â€œAh, guys,” said Sean. “Remember, we’re just pretending to be journalists. Don’t take your undercover identities too seriously.”
    â€œOf course not,” said Nicola and Greta hastily.
    Katie had left the table and now she returned with her arms full of clothes.
    â€œI found our outfits,” she said. “They’re fine, except they’re a bit big. I think he forgot how short we are compared to Globagaskarians.”
    She held up the sort of plain, neutral-colored clothes that journalists would wear on assignment in a war zone: longsleeved shirts, pants, sleeveless flak jackets, dark sunglasses, and hats.
    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
    The Space Brigade put their hands over their ears as three volcanoes all erupted in quick succession.
    â€œHow do people live on this planet?” asked Katie, as she dropped her hands.
    Nicola stood up. “Let’s go meet some Volcomanians and find out.”

CHAPTER 13
    The Space Brigade climbed aboard the school bus, dressed in the clothes JJ-11 had left for them. Everyone except for Shimlara had rolled up their sleeves and hems. Naturally they were all slathered in lava screen from the tops of their caps to the tips of their toes.
    â€œYou don’t need to sit all the way back there!” said Nicola, as she saw Sean automatically heading for the backseat of the school bus.
    â€œCan’t sit anywhere else!” Sean called back without turning around. “It doesn’t feel natural.”
    Funnily enough, they all seemed to sit in the seats they would normally sit in if they were going to school. Greta was at the front, while Katie and Nicola sat next to each other in the middle of the bus. Only Tyler didn’t bother to sit down. He stood next to Shimlara in the driver’s seat, ready to give her instructions.
    Nicola watched him take a firm hold of the pole. “All right, Shimlara. Turn the key.”
    The bus engine roared and Nicola and Katie gripped on tight to the seat in front of them as they lurched off down the hill away from the hut. “Piece of pie!” called out Shimlara.
    â€œYou mean piece of cake ,” corrected Greta.
    â€œNope!” said Shimlara. “I mean— whoops !” Tyler leaned over and helped pull the steering wheel back as the bus nearly veered off the road.
    The bus continued at a slower pace, winding down the side of the volcano.
    â€œThat looks like a city down there!” called out Greta.
    Nicola peered out the window and saw a constellation of flickering lights in the distance and what looked like office towers and church steeples silhouetted against the gray sky.
    â€œAnd there’s the Blue-5 road!” shouted Greta, who seemed to have the best spot on the bus.
    Nicola could see they were heading toward an orderly intersection with clear, easy-to-read signs indicating roads paved with different colored bricks. “Blue-5, Blue-5— not Red-