Extraterrestrial

Chapter 1: Stage 2

 Nobody knew why Drake stared at the stars every night. It wasn't exactly a popular hobby for people his age, but as long as the group could remember, he had gone out and looked at the sky after dark every night without fail. He was never the most normal one in the friend circle, (his favorite TV show was Fox News and not Phineas and Ferb like the rest of them), but he was always there during anything the group was doing. That doesn't mean he always welcomed the rest of the group into what HE was doing, (such in the case of the stargazing, which he preferred to do alone), but he was always there when the group had a birthday or went to see a new movie.

But his astronomy habit bugged Aiden, another in the group. "Why has he never given us a straight answer as to why he goes out and stargazes every night?" Aiden wondered aloud one night, frowning out the window at Drake.

"Bruh, just leave him alone. He's weird like that. I've learned it's better not to ask questions about it." answered Wyatt from the couch, where everyone else was watching The Simpsons.

"But every night, though. Why?"

"Dunno. But just leave him be."

"No, no, no. I'm sorry. I can't accept this, and it's not just the stargazing. I could ask the same thing about his constant shivering, or the fact that he eats nothing but junk food and is still as healthy as a horse. I'll admit, I've never been the closest friend of his, but do ya ever wonder if there might be something off about that guy?"

The others stifled laughs. "Yeah, ya think?" Jack, asked.

"Such a brilliant observation from Aiden. Wow, you should just skip college altogether with a mind like that, man." Ben chuckled.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. I don't wanna press it, but...I'm just now re-realizing how weird Drake is. I mean, he's a great guy, but I just...I don't know."

As if he had heard the conversation inside, Drake got up and walked inside. "Ah, you are watching The Simpsons. Let me come join you."

"Yeah, you could probably use some brainrot after that wholesome and attention span increasing stargazing." Jack said, smiling. The rest of the group laughed, Drake included, though his was a lower-key chuckle.

"This from the man who makes AI songs about Deadpool." Drake said in a deadpan tone. Everybody laughed again.

"Does anyone wanna order pizza?" Ben asked.

"Leave me out of the equation. I do not like pizza." Drake said. Everyone fake gasped, the laughed, but it was noticed, however, that Aiden did not laugh along as he usually did.

The next day brought underwhelming challenges that everyone easily conquered, if with extreme boredom. After the Journalism class that Drake, Wyatt, and Aiden shared (they all needed it to finish their respective degrees), another boy, Aaron, came up to them with his friend Nate.

"Sup, Aiden!" he said, doing the handshake where you go above, make a solid clap sound, and feel the need to flex your biceps.

"What's going on, man?" Aiden said, returning the handshake.

"You and your guys wanna come over to Earl Park later and play frisbee?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Dude, are you eating cockroaches?" Nate asked Drake, disgusted.

"What of it?" Drake asked, staring with an emotionless expression.

"It's nasty, bro. The crunch they make is just—ughhhhhh!"

Drake continued eating, unfazed. "Hey, it's alright man." Wyatt piped in. "We make fun of him for that too."

"Anyway, uh, what time?" Aiden asked.