Joshua and Kimberly were through the entrance of the school’s facility.

“OK, Joshua, you know the drill. We’ll talk after school, alright?” Kimberly told her brother.

“’Sup, Joshua?” shouted someone from behind them.

“Hey, Simmons. What’s happening, dude?” responded Joshua while they performed their secret handshake. Simmons was Joshua’s best friend.

“Did you hear about the aliens?”Joshua asked his friend.

“Which aliens? What do you mean?”

“The president was talking about a possible alien invasion this morning on the radio.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, man, although he just said that a UFO is approaching planet Earth.”

“Joshua, please tell me this is a joke.”

“I swear it’s true. He also said that the scientists are trying to figure out how long it will take them to get to us.”

“Sorry, bro, gotta check the internet.”

Simmons grabbed his phone to research on what Joshua had just said. His eyes kept getting wider and wider as he was reading the news.

“OK… If only I’d known sooner… I could have convinced Mom to not drop me here today.”

“Pfft! Yeah right. We both know that you like school way too much for that.”

“Says the guy who feels insecure as hell every time he’s not scoring the highest in his class in most subjects.”

“At least I have a good influence on you. I mean, thanks to me, you grew to appreciate school a lot more. That’s definitely a good thing.”

“Watch out, man. Your head might explode before the aliens get here.”

“Ha! Ha! Nice one.

After walking through the hallway, they then proceeded to enter the classroom.

“Good morning, class!” said Ms. Auburns, their language teacher.

***

One hour into the class, Simmons and Joshua started chit-chatting. “Getting a little bored. How about you, Simmons?”

“Same, not gonna lie.”

“Look at us being schooled while aliens are approaching us…”

“Do you think Ms. Auburns knows anything of it?”

“I doubt that. Someone should inform her.”

“I’ll leave that to you, Joshua.”

“Nah… You have the honours; class disturbance is your specialty, after all.”

“Fine,” he sighed. Simmons raised his hand.

“Yes, Simmons. You have a question?”

“Hmm… Ms. Auburns, I’m not sure how to go about with this, but…”

“You can speak, Simmons. No one’s judging,” his teacher said upon seeing the boy’s hesitation.

“So… There was news this morning about a UFO travelling straight towards Earth. You can even look it up.”

“Nice try, Simmons, but I’ll keep on with the class no matter what!”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I heard the news too, and he’s right,” said a random student.

“I will not tolerate any plotting against me in the hopes of stopping my class. If you don’t want to be here, just get out.”

“OK, sorry… How about you check for yourself during the break?”

“Touché. I will do just that.”

“Why not do it now? Besides, there’s only five minutes left before the break.”

“Fine,” she said, shaking her head. “Let me check it out right now. And if I don’t find anything reliable, you’re in trouble.”

“Let’s just wait to see what happens now, Josh.”

Both him and Simmons smirked in unison. After the results had shown up on the smartboard, Ms. Auburns’ face became as pale as if she had seen a ghost. She was clearly surprised beyond words.

“I told you it was true!” said the random student with much excitement.

A deathly silence was followed by a wave of whispers, after which Ms. Auburns slouched in her chair and started talking to herself. “We’re doomed, we’re doomed, we’re doomed…” The bell rang, and, along with the other students, Joshua and Simmons quickly picked up their books and their other school supplies. They headed towards the cafeteria, carrying their lunch bags and lid bowls. As the two were trying to find a place to sit down and enjoy their meals, they realized that the only table not completely occupied was the one Aurelia Mayberry and her friends were sitting at. Aurelia was Joshua’s crush, a girl with whom he never really had the chance to talk before. She also was one year older than him.

“Crap. Every seat is already taken. What should we do, Simmons?”

“Uh, are you blind? Don’t tell me you can’t see that the tables have been turned.”

“Which table are you talking about?”

“This might finally be your chance to approach your beloved Aurelia. I mean, with all that’s going on in the world, I’m telling you: this might be your moment.”

“I don’t know, man. It seems so sudden.”

“Joshua Walter, ladies and gentlemen. The top of his class, and he can’t even talk to a girl he’s crushing on… Oh! Look! Now she’s waving at us.

“Wait, for real?”

“OK, you’re getting on my nerves. Yes, she is, and she’s clearly inviting us to join. Let’s go.” Simmons placed his right arm around Joshua’s neck and dragged him to Aurelia’s table.

“Hi, everyone. How are you doing?” greeted Simmons upon their arrival.

“Skip the formalities. We know who you guys are. I called you here because I was wondering if you heard of the UFO,” stated Aurelia.

“Yeah, I heard about it,” answered Simmons.

“How about you, Joshua?” asked Aurelia. Simmons looked at his friend with a smile on his face. “I heard about it too,” he added. “At this point, I’m just hoping the aliens aren’t like the ones from Dragon Ball Z.”

“Can you imagine if a single one of them would be able to destroy the entire planet?” exclaimed Aurelia.

“Then we would have to destroy them before they transform,” jokingly added Joshua.

Aurelia and Joshua laughed simultaneously. “Man, this show was so…” they kept on going, still in unison.

“Great!” proclaimed Joshua.

“Stupid!” cried Aurelia.

***

Meanwhile, at another table of the same cafeteria, another conversation was being held.

“So, Kim, what are your final words on this?

“Aaargh! I don’t know, Riley, I kind of think we should give up on the whole thing.”

“Make up your mind, girl,” added Ashe, one of Kimberly’s closest friends.

“This might turn out pretty bad. I mean, with all that’s going on right now, you guys really think it’s a good idea to throw a party? While aliens are officially presenting themselves to humanity?” Kimberly argued.

“Think of it as our ultimate opportunity to party. The perfect escape to the world’s present situation,” said Camilla, another one of Kimberly’s close friends.

“Look, no one knows what’s gonna happen tomorrow, nor even tonight. If this turns into a full-on war, we might never see each other again,” warned Ashe.

“Damn, Ashe, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? As far as we know, they could also turn out to be the most peaceful species in the universe,” suggested Camilla.

“OK, so, I know it’s supposed to occur at my place, but when exactly does this party start?” asked Kimberly.

“It should take place over the weekend. Once your parents give you the green light to do so, to be more precise,” replied Riley.

“It will probably be on Friday. Tomorrow, that is. Since that’s when I’m going to engage with my master plan which consists of convincing them to go on a date night. Oh! Joshua! I forgot about Joshua! What should we do about him? I mean, he’s only fourteen,” said Kimberly.

“Just send the guy to his room,” laughed Ashe.

“OK, OK, so you guys can spread the word, send the invites… I’ll give you the signal once the coast is clear,” concluded Kimberly.

Although she didn’t keep on arguing with her friends, she felt very uncomfortable with this whole party preparation thing. This wasn’t her usual way of handling those kinds of things. This party would probably deteriorate her relationship with her parents, but the scourge and tension imposed by the UFO’s emergence convinced her that it was the right thing to do.