“Besides,” I went on, “I thought you hated the play.” (The play in question was Hamelin!, a musical adaptation of the Pied Piper story.)
“I hate that Owen got the role of Pied Piper while I’m relegated to love interest.”
Said as if love interest was the worst thing anyone could be. It was a nice reminder of why Cass was my best friend.
“Well, I’ll help if you really need me to. But I’m just going to read, not act.”
“Forget it,” Cass said. “I’ll ask Arden. And I want a double scoop of salted caramel.”
I hesitated before moving toward the ice cream case. “I didn’t realize you and Arden talked outside of school.”
“Jeez Louise. We’ve been hanging out for a year. Obviously, we talk outside of school.”
“Huh.” I handed Cass her cone and rang up the purchase.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Do you not want me to be friends with Arden or something?”
“You can be friends with anyone you want.”
Cass took a bite of ice cream and gave me a long look. “You totally need to find coping mechanisms for your jealousy issues.”
“This isn’t a jealousy—”
“Fine, your trust issues. Whatever you wanna call it.”
Owen returned from his break then, and Cass dropped the subject, thankfully—the last thing I needed was them ganging up on me about my perceived character flaws. They made small talk about the play, and Cass was polite, despite Owen having “stolen her role.”
I took the opportunity to slip my phone from my pocket and check Frykowski’s website.
There were sixty-two comments on the alien post.
Blog Comments
The following compilation is a selection of user comments from lightbringernews.com. Comments were originally posted on the article “They’re Here: Extraterrestrial Contact Made in Lansburg.”
skywatcher51: I’m twenty miles south of Lansburg, but I’ve seen lights in the sky almost every night for the past month. Why isn’t anyone else talking about this?
ThirdEyeFluoride: @skywatcher51 you think the government is going to let us talk about what’s been happening? you’re seriously delusional. i’m surprised this post hasn’t been removed yet.
annab311a: I’ve lived in Lansburg my entire life, and I’ve never seen a UFO.
jojoyourboat: DAE think the hofstats are weird anyway? lol. Im not even surprised this happened at that farm
CIAyylmao2001: WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT UFOS AND IGNORING WHAT REALLY MATTERS THAT 911 WAS A GOVERNMENT SET UP AND WERE ALL AT DANGER OF ANOTHER ATTACK AT ANY MOMENT
THERE PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
devlmdemedoit: I just want to know, if aliens really are visiting, what do they want? Maybe we shouldn’t assume they’re going to attack us, guys.
concerned_earthling: Anyone from the detroit area thinking of heading to Lansburg to see what’s going on for yourself? If so, I’m interested in carpooling.
ZedzDedBaby: is everyone hear a fucking moron? their r no aliens you assholes get out of your moms basements and go actualy do some thing and maybe you wont be so worried about stupid shit like ufos
cassiopeia-the-diva: @ZedzDedBaby What did punctuation and proper grammar ever do to you?
MissusFry1962: This is a very well-written article. I will check for updates to see what happens next. Love, Mom.
Interviews
Subject #2, Magdalene (Maggie) Hofstadt: I was packing up after softball practice and Makayla came over and said she got a text from her cousin, who got a call from her friend, who wanted to know about the UFO at my house, and did I know anything about it? I didn’t know anything about it. But let’s just say, I was intrigued.
Subject #3, Cassidy (Cass) Robinson: I died laughing when I read that ridiculous blog post. I knew Gideon wasn’t exactly going to be mellow yellow about it, though, which is why I didn’t mention it to anyone. I mean, anyone other than Arden, but I knew she wasn’t going to blab. And my parents. Oh, and Mr. Jeffries, who lives across the street. But he’s, like, eighty. I don’t even think he has internet. What was he gonna do?
Subject #4, Victor Hofstadt (Father): I go to the gym after Maggie’s practice to squeeze in a quick workout. I’m not even there five minutes when one of the guys I train comes up and says, “So Vic, I hear your farm’s got an alien problem.” And right away, I know my kids are up to something.
Subject #5, Owen Campbell: Gideon had been weird for days. I mean, he’s always weird, but he’d been even quieter than usual. I thought it was something I’d done. Then I got five messages in an hour, all from different friends, all saying something along the lines of, “What the hell is going on at your boyfriend’s farm?”
Subject #6, Arden Byrd: I guess I heard about the aliens? I mean, no, I did. I saw people online talking about it, but I didn’t know exactly what they meant. I went to your…I mean to Gideon’s work to see if he was okay, but I saw through the window that Cass was already there, and I knew if I went in they’d do that thing where they stop talking when they see me. You used to do that a lot, you know.
Subject #7, Jane Hofstadt (Mother): Yes, of course I heard the alien rumors. It was all over town by late afternoon. I was following up with potential myTality distributors and they kept asking what was happening on the farm. I told them I was quite sure there weren’t any aliens. But the thought of aliens, or anything unfamiliar, can be anxiety inducing! So I made sure to provide everyone with samples of myTality Soothe.
Event: The Hoax is Born
Date: Sept. 9 (Sat.)
And now we’ve arrived at a pivotal moment. You know about the events leading up to it: the explosion, and the cover-up, and the blog post that put aliens on everyone’s minds. Maybe then, you’ll agree the next stage wasn’t such a leap.
It was Saturday night, late. Normally, Ishmael would be out with his many friends or acquaintances or girlfriends. But he’d stayed home to avoid a girl who had a crush on him, because he was too cowardly to outright reject her.
I was in Ishmael’s basement bedroom, perched on a small, metal storage locker. There was a couch in the room that Ishmael had dragged home from a mystery location, but who knew what germs had invaded the fabric? The cold, metal block seemed like a safer seating option.
Ishmael lounged on his bed, drinking a myTality™ Shake It Up, which was meant to deliver vitamins and protein through what was, essentially, a flavorless milkshake.