How to Hide an Alien Page 5

  The Star Boy thought it was puzzling that Wes was choosing to ignore Kiki’s momentary distress. Had he not noticed? But it seemed he had… Out of the corner of his eye, Wes was watching as an embarrassed-looking Kiki turned away and rubbed her eyes with the cuff of her hoodie.

  Deciding to copy Wes, the Star Boy pretended he hadn’t noticed Kiki’s discomfort and considered his answer. Clearly, the alien on the screen was in no way believable – it was just a combination of a Human in a costume and on-screen technical manipulation – but the Star Boy didn’t want to disappoint Wes. So he decided to ask a question instead.

  “Did the audience understand that they were witnessing a lie?”

  “A lie?” repeated Kiki, turning back to the boys.

  “The ‘movie’ was not based on fact,” said the Star Boy. “There was no truth to it.”

  “Well, yes, I suppose technically it’s a lie, but it’s more what we call a ‘story’,” Wes tried to explain.

  “Yeah, and stories are made up, just to be entertaining,” Kiki added.

  “So stories are lies, but they are entertaining,” Stan repeated slowly. “So Humans find lies entertaining?”

  “No – definitely not! Lies are … well, bad,” said Kiki, shaking her head, and frowning as she tried to think how to explain things better.

  “Your brother Ty tells lies. Does that mean he is bad?” the Star Boy asked her, looking concerned.

  “No, he’s not bad – just annoying,” said Kiki. “And his lies are more just stories he makes up.”

  “This is very confusing…” the Star Boy said thoughtfully.

  “And then, of course, you can have good lies,” added Wes. “They’re called white lies.”

  The Star Boy quickly scrolled. “A ‘white lie’ is a lie with no malice. Correct?”

  “Exactly. It’s a lie you tell people to save hurting their feelings,” Wes expanded. “It’s kind of harmless.”

  Harmless lies. To save hurting people’s feelings. To make them happy, the Star Boy concluded. He considered how upset Kiki had been this morning, when the electrics of the two neighbouring shops had spun out of control. The Star Boy felt terrible about that. Kiki and Wes being happy was the most important thing to him. If he pretended that he understood the surges that were happening around him, if he assured his friends that he could control them … surely that would be a harmless lie?

  But the problem was learning the difference between good lies, bad lies and white lies.

  Life on Earth.

  Passing for a Human.

  It was more complicated than the Star Boy had expected.

  Kiki and the Star Boy parted ways with Wes on the high street, but almost straight away Kiki’s phone pinged with a text from him.

  Do you think Stan will be all right when we’re at school tomorrow?

  Hopefully, Kiki replied, keeping it short.

  What else could she say? She had no idea what the Star Boy might get up to, no matter how hard he tried to be good.

  “The Oasis Guesthouse,” the Star Boy read from the sign that swung on a post outside a building, as he and Kiki started walking up Hill Street.

  “That’s where Dad stays when he comes back to Fairfield to visit us,” said Kiki, stuffing the phone into her pocket. “Guesthouses and hotels are places people can sleep when they’re away from home.”

  “And what is the meaning of ‘oasis’, please?” the Star Boy asked.

  “An oasis is a watering hole in a desert,” said Kiki.

  The Star Boy looked confused. “Why is this building named after a hole?”

  “A watering hole … like a lake or something. Animals who live in the desert are really grateful to come across one when they’re thirsty,” said Kiki, struggling to make it clearer. “But it can just mean somewhere really nice and welcoming to find when you’re tired or your life is a bit difficult.”

  “Ah!” said the Star Boy, as they continued up the sloping pavement. “Then I think Eddie’s home is like an oasis for me!”

  “Yeah, I guess it is,” said Kiki, spotting Eddie up ahead putting a microwave oven into the boot of a customer’s car.

  “Your home is very welcoming, Kiki,” the Star Boy chattered away. “Is Wes’s home welcoming too? I should like to see it.”

  “I’ve never been,” Kiki told him. “I only got to know Wes last week, when you turned up!”

  “Of course! So my presence facilitated your friendship!” the Star Boy said with obvious delight.

  Kiki winced at his overly complicated words. “Yeah, something like that,” she said, as they approached the Electrical Emporium, just as Eddie waved his customer off.

  “Hello, Eddie!” said the Star Boy. “I am very grateful to you for providing me with an oasis. And, to show my gratitude, I will make you a cup full of tea. Goodbye, Kiki!” He disappeared inside the shop.

  “Er, bye!” said Kiki, with a smile and a shrug.

  “Good day?” asked Eddie.

  “Yeah, things went pretty well,” Kiki replied.

  “Cool. Any word about when your school is open again?”

  “We got a text to say we can start back tomorrow,” said Kiki. “But I think the building work will be going on for a while.”

  “OK…” said Eddie, looking slightly concerned and running his fingers through his scruffy hair.

  “That doesn’t sound very OK,” Kiki said warily. “What’s up?”

  “It’s nothing really,” Eddie said vaguely. “It’s just … er … I think I’ve been in shock the last few days, what with … you know, everything. But now I’m getting my head round the whole alien thing, I just wanted to ask how it’s going to work, like, long-term?”

  Kiki pulled a face, not too sure what Eddie was getting at. “How do you mean?”

  “Well, Stan’s a great guest and really fascinating and everything,” said Eddie. “But it is kind of tricky with all the surging disturbing the neighbours. And I’ve been thinking about the amount of electricity Stan needs to recharge… I checked the meter, and the figures are properly shooting up. The next bill is going to be huge if he stays here. And I want to help, I really do, Kiki, but the shop isn’t exactly making a fortune…”

  “Don’t worry,” Kiki tried to reassure him. “I’ll find out more at school tomorrow. This is only temporary. Stan will be back in the basement soon, I promise!”

  Kiki knew her promise was a great big white lie.

  And, from the slightly weary smile he was giving her, Eddie knew that too.

  In the dark of the night, the Star Boy had scanned countless pieces of information via his data lens: technical papers, modules and lectures from his planet’s most esteemed experts to understand the problems that could arise in a body like his.

  Yet he had found exactly nothing to explain what was happening to him. Which was most irregular. Where he was from, mysteries were not encouraged. The emblem of the Absolute, and the motto of the planet, translated as Certainty and practicality at all times.

  But, in the haze of the dawn light, a thought bubbled and brewed and became a plan in the Star Boy’s head.

  And now, as he stirred, he was eager to put his plan into action. With his back against the gently humming generator, he turned his head a little to the left and saw Eddie sitting at the wooden table, his breakfasting things muddled with his mending things.

  Eddie was currently fixing a large red-and-black cylindrical item, which had a long section that looked quite similar to images the Star Boy had seen of the snout of an elephant.

  “What is that?” asked the Star Boy, his data lens already scrolling before Eddie had the chance to answer. “Is it a cleaning device?”

  Eddie jerked, nearly dropping the burnt bread he was holding in one hand and the screwdriver in the other. One side of his face was fat, like Ty’s hamster. Perhaps Eddie had a cheek pouch, like Squeak, where he stored his breakfast.

  “Oh, hi!” mumbled Eddie, as he chewed, gulped and swallowed. “And, yes, it’s a vacuum cleaner. They suck up mess from the floor.”

  His face now back to normal, Eddie wore his usual bright and welcoming expression. The Star Boy was grateful to see it, especially after what had happened the previous evening. At eleven minutes to midnight, to be precise, the large, music-playing machine in the shop had started up, blasting out inappropriately cheerful songs until Eddie came running down the stairs in his underpants and unplugged it from the wall.

  “I apologize again for the energy-surge issue. I did not mean to disturb your sleeping section of the day,” said the Star Boy.

  As he spoke, he felt the now familiar and unsettling ping and pang ripple up and down his left arm, settling as a dull ache in his hand.

  “No worries. So how are you getting on researching those surges?” asked Eddie.

  “Thank you for your concern. I am making progress.”

  The Star Boy found himself white-lying, not wanting to worry or disappoint Eddie. The truth of it was he was nowhere near having an answer – but he did have a plan that might lead him closer to one.

  “Yeah? That’s really great, Stan,” said Eddie, as he checked his watch and jumped up from the table. “Oh – didn’t realize the time. I’ve got to take Ty to school today.”

  “May I come with you?” asked the Star Boy, visualizing the motorcycle outside. The last time he’d travelled on it was during the high-speed escape from the school playground last Thursday. How he would like to ride on it again, but at a more leisurely pace.

  “Hmm, maybe not today, if you’re still not quite there with a fix for your, er, surges,” said Eddie, grabbing two red helmets from the vegetable rack by the back door.

  “Of course, I understand,” said the Star Boy, shaking his hand to try and dissipate the aching pain. And then he stopped dead at the sudden sharp noise.

  KABOOM!

  A torrent of particles exploded from the tube of the unplugged vacuum cleaner. The Star Boy watched in awe as they spread out in the air and rained down upon everything in the room. It reminded him of something. Something he had once witnessed … a TV show in his Earth Studies class.

  The Star Boy and the Others had been learning about the strange Human convention of pairings called ‘weddings’. In some parts of the world, it was a tradition to throw many tiny pieces of pastel-coloured paper called ‘confetti’ over the Humans who had become ‘married’.

  And what had just blasted out of the vacuum was exactly like confetti.

  Confetti made of dust, fluff and toast crumbs.

  “Can you hear that?” said Dad, perking up like a police dog on duty.

  “What?” asked Wes, as he pulled on his backpack, ready to leave for school.

  “All that thumping and clattering in the flat next door. Do you think it’s squatters? It’s been empty since we moved here.”

  “It could be poltergeists!” Wes tried to make a joke, but Dad didn’t even raise a hint of a smile.

  “I won’t be able to concentrate on work if there’s going to be chaos and noise coming from over there,” he grumbled.

  “It sounds like someone’s vacuuming. Perhaps we’re getting new neighbours,” Wes suggested. “You could always knock and find out.”

  “I’m hardly going to do that, am I!” said Dad, pulling a what-are-you-talking-about face at Wes.

  So no, Dad wasn’t likely to do that. Mum was the one who talked to everyone. Wes missed Mum’s chattiness. Wes missed Mum. But her life with the toddler twins and the new husband and new salon and living so far away meant their chance for chats was getting rarer. The time between her phone calls was stretching longer and longer, so that Wes wondered if one day the elastic bridging the gap would snap and there’d be nothing there but thin air and silence.

  “Well, I’m going now,” said Wes, as he walked towards the front door, automatically patting the chest of his Puffa jacket where he kept the tiny treasures that reminded him of Mum. The smooth shell, the star earring, the silver sixpence: they were all tucked safely in his inside pocket, where they gently vibrated to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

  “Mmm … have a good day at school,” his dad answered distractedly.

  “I’ll try,” said Wes, feeling his heart sink as he pulled the door closed.

  What sort of mood would Dad be in when he got home? He was down enough as it was, always moaning about how awful Fairfield was compared to their old village. The last thing Wes wanted was for him to start getting wound up by whatever might be happening in the neighbouring flat.

  Speaking of neighbours, as Wes came out of the building and down the alleyway, he spotted Lola whatsername emerging from one of the posh houses across the road. She looked different when she wasn’t with her crew – like a normal twelve-year-old – yawning and yelling bye to her mum.

  Unnoticed by Lola, Wes crossed the street and walked behind her. As soon as she got within sight of the school gates, she pulled on her queen-bee persona like a sparkly jacket, flicking her ultra-long hair over her shoulder, and sashaying along the pavement.

  It’s funny how people can flip from one version of themselves to another, like shapeshifters, thought Wes, who always felt exactly the same keeping-himself-to-himself loner. Or at least he did till he met the Star Boy and Kiki. He’d begun to get braver around the edges whenever he was with them.

  Maybe I need to get a bit braver when I’m WITHOUT them, thought Wes, and tried walking just a tiny bit taller. It felt good.

  His hand went up to push back his hood – but that felt too weird, too exposed, like turning up at school in pyjamas.

  And then Wes felt a shiver snake down his back, as if he was being watched.

  “Stan?” he said hopefully, wondering if the invisible version of the Star Boy – the ultimate shapeshifter – was close by. Then it dawned on Wes who was more likely to be spying on him right now. He turned back and waved at Dad, who was leaning far out of the second-floor living-room window, his eyes fixed on Wes.

  It was as if Dad lived in permanent fear of something unexpected and awful happening to his son.

  And the funny thing was something unexpected had already happened to Wes, but it was the very opposite of awful.

  He turned back and hurried off to school, where he could get comfortably lost in the crowds.

  As Kiki headed in the direction of breakfast, yet another message from Tasmin zapped through. It was getting to be a habit.

  Still, Kiki pressed play on the video, and watched the little black puppy romp around. Yes, it was really cute but Kiki didn’t need a daily update. Anyway, it was nearly time to leave for school.

  “Hi,” Kiki grunted, walking into the kitchen.

  “Hi, honey!” said Mum, who was sitting hunched over the table with Ty. “Come and have a look at Ty’s homework book, Kiki; your brother’s drawn and annotated an alien!”

  “A what? An alien?” said Kiki, curious at the coincidence of Ty’s teacher setting that as homework.

  She leaned over to check out what Ty had been up to – and instantly felt her heart race. On the page was the squiggled outline of a lookalike Star Boy, with arrows and captions in Ty’s wibbly handwriting that read: Skin color oranj, eyes blink side 2 side, super-cool lazer powrs! dotted round it.

  Kiki shook herself – now was not the time to get flustered. She needed to come up with something to play down Ty’s all-too-accurate portrayal of their friend.

  “Look – you’ve done it all wrong, Ty. The instructions say to ‘Draw and annotate a friend’,” Kiki said bluntly. “You weren’t supposed to make someone up. Especially not some silly extraterrestrial!”

  “It was just more fun than drawing Lucas…” Ty muttered, mentioning his real-life best buddy.

  “Aw, don’t be a meanie, Kiki!” said Mum, wrinkling her nose at her daughter. “It would be fun to be friends with an alien, wouldn’t it, Ty? And look – you’ve even named him! Oh … so he’s called Satan?”

  “Stan,” Ty said quickly, keen to correct his spelling mistake.

  Kiki’s eyes widened at her brother, willing him to shut up.

  “Stan … same as Kiki’s new friend?” said Mum, looking highly amused.

  The roar and splutter of Eddie’s motorbike pulling up outside had never been so welcome.

  “I’ll take Ty – I’m leaving anyway,” said Kiki, shooing her brother out of the kitchen to find his coat.

  “I think it’s a bit of hero worship,” Kiki gabbled at Mum. “Stan’s been really good with Ty.”

  “Mmm,” muttered Mum. “Sounds like a very nice boy. I’d love to meet him. Him and Wes!”

  “Yeah, sure, sometime…” Kiki said vaguely, zooming after her brother as he pulled the front door open and ran outside with a whoop.

  Kiki’s shoulders sank as she pulled the same door closed behind her.

  “How many times have I told you to keep Stan to yourself?” she hissed, as Ty clambered into the sidecar, with Eddie already buckling his helmet in place.

  “What’s happened?” asked Eddie, looking concerned.

  “Ty drew Stan in his alien form for homework and showed it to Mum just now!” Kiki said wearily.

  “That’s so not cool, Ty,” said Eddie gently.

  “But it’s not like I said he was REAL!” Ty protested.

  “That’s not the point,” Kiki tried to explain. “The more you mention Stan, the more you put him at risk. And keeping Stan safe is a really important job we’ve ALL got to do.”

  “OK. I’m sorry,” said Ty, his chin dropping.

  “I know you can do it,” said Eddie, patting him on the shoulder.

  Kiki allowed herself to relax a little. Ty adored Eddie, and would pay more attention to him.

  “Hey, Kiki – Stan’s surges are still happening,” said Eddie, tugging on his helmet. “He told me he was making progress trying to fix them, but then the vacuum cleaner I was fixing just now blew up, and the jukebox started playing Elvis Presley songs in the middle of the night.”

  “I’m so sorry!” Kiki blurted out, as if the Star Boy’s electrical glitching was her fault.