Melissa Landers - Alienated

Winning. Cara Sweeney had made it her business, and business was good. Honor Society president? Check. Young Leader Award? Check. State debate champion two years running? Double check. And when the title of valedictorian had eluded her, shed found a way to snag that, too.

Over the summer, shed staged an academic ambush of such epic proportions, Midtown Highs geek-elite were still chewing their pencils in shock. Sneaky as a senator, shed retaken AP Calculus, raised her grade from 92 to 100, and usurped Marcus Johnson as valedictorian. Her stealth attack had caught him with his Hanes down, and unless her grades tanked this yearwhich was so not going to happenthe sulking loser had no chance of reclaiming his rank.

But she had a feeling Marcus would laugh his lacrosse pads off if he could see her now: slumped in the principals wingback guest chair, mouth agape as she tried to form a coherent response to the awesome news Mr. Ferguson had just tossed into her lap like a live grenade.

I dont think you understand what a big deal this is. Not only for you, but for the whole school. Principal Fergusons brown caterpillar eyebrows inched toward a receding hairline. The Leihrs chose you over every other valedictorian in the country. Were talking thirty thousand seniors!

Mmm-hmm. Cara nodded blankly, trying to make sense of it. Maybe thered been a mistake. Shed cut soccer, track, volunteer tutoring, and chess club a couple years ago when Mom got sick, and it took a lot more than academics to impress a scholarship committee these days. So why hadnt they chosen someone more accomplished?

I know the money comes with a few strings attached, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Mr. Ferguson pointed a marble fountain pen at her and fired it like a tiny pistol. Especially for a budding journalist. Think of the blog potential here.

A few strings attached? Holy Mary, mother of all understatements! Cara shifted in her seat, the backs of her thighs sticking to the warm leather. Oh, rightyeah, of course Im happy. Its just a shock. I didnt even apply.

No application. Every high school submitted its top candidate, and the Leihrs took it from there. Youll never guess why they picked you. Without giving her a chance to try, he announced, They saw your footage from last years state debate finals. They admired yourhe held up two fingers and made air quotespassion.

What? Cara scrunched her brows. Passion? Shed hammered the opposing team until their captain had cried and run off stage. The Leihrs, who had the emotional range of tree bark, liked her atomic temper?

This is huge! Pausing a moment, Mr. Ferguson twisted his mouth while jabbing his index finger at a closed manila file folder. And you dont seem thrilled. Last year you said you were interested in exchange programs.

Well, yeah. But there was foreign, and then there was foreign.

Mr. Ferguson leaned forward, resting his arms on the desks polished mahogany surface. His eyes softened behind thick glasses, voice lowering to a whisper. Youre not afraid of the Leihrs, are you?

No! Cara scoffed, wiping her clammy palms on the front of her skirt. Of course not.

Okay, maybe a little. Shed been as fascinated as everyone else when the aliens made contact two years ago, but their secretive nature made her stomach feel heavy, like shed eaten a dozen Taco Bell double-decker burritos in one sitting. And as much as she wanted to travel, leaving Earth wasnt what shed had in mind.

Good. I dont want you doing anything that makes you uncomfortable. The young manuh, I mean the young . . . uh, well, technically we have the same DNA, so I guess I could call him

A sharp voice barked, Student ambassador, and Cara jumped in her seat. The old military guy lurking near the corner had camouflaged so perfectly into the green curtains that shed almost forgotten he was there.

Mr. Ferguson nodded. Right. The ambassador wholl stay with your family sounds just like youa top student, even by Leihr standards, which is saying a lot. He picked up a small photograph and handed it across the desk. He just turned eighteen. His names Aelyx.

He pronounced it A-licks. Cara gave the photo a perfunctory glance and handed it back. Whatever. They all looked the same to her.

Wow, this scholarship is a lot more . . . What was the right word? Lavish? Excessive? . . . generous than the others Ive applied for, but I dont know how my parents will feel.

What a bald-faced lieshe half expected her nose to grow. Mom and Dad would streak the Super Bowl halftime show just to meet a Leihr, let alone live with one.

No problem. I called your folks this morning, and theyre totally on board.

Frick. Of course they were. Mom was probably emptying Troys old bedroom at that very moment, finally clearing out his tacky, testosterone-fueled shrine to heavy metal and Harley-straddling bimbos.

Mr. Ferguson stood and pulled some papers from his file. And from what the colonel says, your brothers over the moonhe let out a hearty laughto be the first human on planet Leihr.

Wait. She bolted forward, gripping the armrests. Troys going there?

He didnt tell you?

She shook her head.

As soon as he heard you were selected, he volunteered to serve as human liaison for the program. Hell get acclimated to the Leihr culture now so he can help you and the other two exchange students adjust when its your turn next year. Think of him as your intergalactic mentor. He grinned. A big brother, no pun intended.

If this were Mr. Fergusons idea of a few strings attached, shed hate to see what he considered complicated.

The colonel came to life again, stepping forward and giving a curt nod. Your brothers a fine Marine. Hes never turned down an opportunity to serve his country.

Exactly. Which was why Cara hadnt seen the jerkwagon in almost two years. Apparently the Middle East wasnt far enough away for Troyhe needed to leave the galaxy now. What was next, time travel?

Principal Ferguson strode to the door, bouncing on the balls of his feet and happier than a pigeon with a French fry. Ill make some copies of the exchange contract while Colonel Rutter explains the details.

Cara turned her head and caught a glimpse of her dazed reflection in the debate team trophy cabinet. The blue eyes of the concavely distorted girl staring back looked haunted, like the stuffed owls in science lab, and long wisps of fiery auburn hair made her cheeks look even paler.

Get a grip, she chided herself.Maybe it wont be SO bad.

Sure, living with a Leihr for the rest of the year would blow chunks, but shed get a full ride out of the dealanywhere she wanted, even Dartmouth! Shed never dreamed she could afford the Big Green, considering Moms treatments had knocked the family into a black hole of debt six figures deep.

And Mr. Ferguson was right about the blog potential. Humans knew next to nothing about Leihrs, and shed be sharing a bathroom with one. That gave her an instant leg up on every other journalist in the country.

What if she started a brand-new site, something with a catchy title and an outer-space theme? If A-licks would open up and spill some tidbits about life back home, she could run a special-interest series and attract followers from around the globe. And when it was her turn to visit Leihr, all the photos and news shed gather could land her a book deal. She might even be able to sell her proposal to a publisher before she left.

The more Cara thought about it, the more she realized the scholarship wasnt the real prize here. This exchange could launch her career into the stratosphere. When she looked at it that way, putting up with a creepy houseguest was totally worth it.