The California mountains around our town were beautiful, covered in lush green forests and abundant plant life, including large ferns and huge redwood trees. It was like another world, and the smell of nature was heavenly. Plus, we had a gorgeous lake only a short walk from the school. And there were trails everywhere, around the lake and throughout the forest, which attracted avid tourists. Just like them, I could never get enough.

Now you know why it's named Green Lake, both the town and the lake.

After I left school, I wandered part way around the lake and up into the foothills on one of my favorite trails into the woods. The atmosphere was damp and musty, with many birds chirping high in the trees, but well hidden from view. I came to the giant willow near a bubbling stream. It had thousands of branches hanging nearly to the forest floor, with millions of small leaves. Where it was visible, the trunk was warped and twisted with some parts missing bark.

That’s when I heard quiet voices.

“You should come,” a girl said. “The party’s going to be so great. Everyone will be there.”

“I don’t know. We have early morning practice on Saturday,” a boy replied. “Maybe I could just come for the first part.”

“Hey guys,” another girl’s voice said. “Whatcha doin’?”

“We were just talking about Macie’s party on Friday night,” the first girl said. “You’re coming aren’t you?”

I had moved to where I could see a little better, and saw some vague colors through tree branches. I started to recognize the voices. The first girl was Ava, and the boy was Jimmer.

“Of course I’m coming.” That was Keisha, one of Ashlie’s minions.

“You shouldn’t be spying.” A pair of strong hands grabbed me from behind, making me gasp. He pulled me around the tree to the rest of the group. “Look what I just caught in my trap, a rabbit.” Struggling to look behind me, I saw Kip. No! He and Jimmer had been tormenting me for years.

Everyone was now staring at me. “Please let me go. I was just going for a walk. I wasn't spying.”

“Why would we do that, when there is no one around to help you?” Keisha asked.

“Um, you should let her go,” Ava said. “Her mom is the PE teacher, and my coach.”

“You know, I think we could let you go, on one condition,” Keisha said.

“What is that?” I was getting worried.

“You have to come to Macie’s party on Friday. You already heard them talking about it. And you have to bring a date.”

“What?” I said. “That’s impossible. No one would date me.” Besides, Macie would never allow me in her house.

“That’s your choice. If you can’t do it, we will just have to tie you up here. The rope is in my car. I’ll even go get it.”

“Guys, come on,” Ava said. “This is getting way out of hand.”

“Shut up, Ava!” Keisha snapped.

“Hey,” That got Jimmer’s attention. “I can’t stand Keyva either, but…”

“What’s it going to be?” Keisha was looking at me.

There is no way I was going to a stupid party where everyone hates me. And a date would be impossible. Could I ask someone? Absolutely not.

I couldn’t get tied up to a tree. Would someone find me? Maybe, but how long would that take? Mom is going to be late. I promised her I wouldn't be, so I could pick up Gemi.

“Fine, I’ll go to the party. But I can’t promise I will find a date.”

“In that case, I’ll make sure to provide you with someone. I can be very persuasive. You might have to provide some entertainment value, though.”

The blood quickly drained from my head, and I nearly fainted as Kip finally let me go. My shoulders ached.

“This is your warning, cottontail. If you don’t show up we’re going to make your life truly miserable.”

Wasn’t I miserable enough already?

“Hey guys,” Ava said. “What is that?” Everyone turned to look. She was pointing up the hill. I looked too and saw something flashing brightly among the trees in the distance.

“Weird,” Jimmer said. “Let’s go check it out.” They started walking up the hill.

I needed to get home, so I turned to leave. I took a couple of steps, but stopped. Something told me this thing was important. Sometimes I knew something significant was going to happen, even before it happened. I knew we were going to win the first volleyball game today, before we even started. I knew Hen was pregnant the day after it happened, though I didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t tell us until months later.

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It’s just a stupid flashy thing, probably a balloon, or maybe tinsel. Let the idiots deal with it. I have to get home.

So, why couldn’t I leave?

They had wandered far enough so I couldn’t see them any more. I guess I had better check it out. I’ll just stay back, out of sight.

I headed in the same direction, hurrying to catch up, but careful not to make noise. When I got near enough to see it, they were already surrounding it.

It was like a geometric sphere, but it had many flat sides, made of triangles. It was about the size of a basketball, or maybe a little bigger. I don’t know how many sides it had, more than 10 for sure. It was all mirrored, reflecting everything around it as it slowly rotated. But that was not the most startling thing.

It was floating a few feet off the ground, but I didn’t see any string.

The others were just standing there, daring one of them to touch it. Finally, Kip tried to grab it. But it quickly moved away, making him stumble over a tree root. Jimmer laughed. It had stopped moving just out of reach, almost as if it was avoiding him. He tried again, but it moved away, a different direction this time. It was definitely avoiding him. Jimmer tried to run and grab it, but it easily dodged him. After that it became a free-for-all. Everyone was chasing it while yelling and trying to grab it.

It easily dodged and swerved away, sometimes higher or lower, like when you try to grab a slippery fish. The faster they moved, the faster it dodged.

I hadn’t been paying much attention to hiding, but soon noticed the hard-sided balloon was heading in my general direction, with the whole group chasing after it. I moved sideways and hid behind a fallen tree with massive roots sticking up. Within seconds it came around the tree, directly toward me, and stopped about a foot away.

What should I do? Is this thing dangerous? I felt… something calling to me. It was alien yet familiar. I reached out my hand. Right when the whole group came around the tree, I touched it.

Everything disappeared.

I wasn’t in the forest any more. Looking around I could see I was in an empty room. I was still wearing my school backpack. The walls were each painted differently, but each with a mural of some kind of outdoor scene. One was a forest like I had come from, but the trees were different. One was in the mountains, with many canyons and streams, with only a few lowlands. Another was full of hills, streams, and lakes. The last wall was covered in patchwork farmlands.

Why didn’t I scream? I felt pretty calm, actually.

A door in the farmland wall opened up and a beautiful woman stepped into the room. She smiled and walked over to me.

“Welcome to Azure Academy, Keyva,” she said. “My name is Ivy Jackson. I know you are wondering what is going on. I am here to answer your questions, at least the ones I can.”

How did she know my name? “Um, okay.” It was all I could do to say that much.

“First, you are still in California, but not near your home. We brought you here so we could talk and make you an offer. When we are finished talking we will send you back home. Is that alright?”

“Um… sure, I guess. I’m supposed to be home soon. How long will this take?”

She smiled. “You don’t need to worry about the time. We can send you back to the exact place and time that you left.”

“How is that possible? How is any of this possible?”

“Some people might call it magic. But we don’t believe in magic here. Some might call it science. But the science you are taught in school is still in its infancy. How about we call it futuristic technology, for now?”

“Oh, I can accept that, I guess.”

“Why don’t we have a seat, so we can get more comfortable?” I hadn’t noticed, but there were now comfortable chairs behind each of us, which we then sat on.

“I know you still have many questions. How about I give you some background, tell you about us and give you our offer? If you still have questions after that, I will be happy to answer what I can.”

“Okay, that sounds great.”

“As you are aware, there are countless stars in our galaxy. And there are countless galaxies in our universe. Doesn’t it make sense that there are people on more planets than just our earth?”

“Didn’t we just evolve from amoebas or something?” I asked. “I guess it could happen elsewhere, too.”

She smiled. “That is a popular theory. But just because something is popular or even well known, does that make it true?”

“No, I guess not.”

“This building is part of a school, and academy of learning. We deal in truths here, not theories. Azure Academy was established to teach select individuals these truths, truths which endow our students with great power. This knowledge did not originate on this Earth. Let's just leave it at that for now. We have a grave responsibility. What would happen if great power was given to corrupt and evil people?”

“It sounds like you are talking about tyrants, like Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan, or Pol Pot. We learned about them in world history. Or are you talking about super villains from movies and books?”

“Have you heard the saying that ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely?’”

“I think so.”

“We don’t believe this is absolutely true—pun intended,” she smiled. “There is a better saying which is popular from those movies and books, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ We believe in this and teach this to our students. There must be checks and balances in all forms of power. Many modern governments are founded on this principle, starting with the American Constitution in this country. But even with checks and balances, governments can still become corrupt over time. Evil is in a constant battle with good, inside every person. But we found that if we select carefully and start young we can help the good be much stronger than the evil. Now, do you understand why we chose you?”

“Not really. There is nothing special about me. I have many quirks. Everyone hates me. I’m no one.”

She held out both of her hands to me. “Put your hands in mine.” Hesitantly, I placed my hands on hers.

“You are special. You are loved. You have great worth. There is much goodness in you, which is a great power in itself. We are here to offer you even more power. However, not power to control others, power to help those you love, those who need your help, to help the world, and even to help the universe.” She paused but didn’t let go.

“This is our offer. We are inviting you to come to our academy to learn with us. There is no pressure. We hope you will choose to join us. But if you cannot accept our offer, we will withdraw it, even from your memory. This is not a threat. We must keep the knowledge of our academies secret from the world for now. When the world is ready to accept us freely, to accept our help without needing to control us, we will make ourselves known, but not before then.”

She finally released my hands.