Danger Magellan's Invasion of Earth

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day, Mrs. Oswald posted a list of people who got a callback. I searched through the list, and spotted my name directly under Leona Klein's. As usual, most of the Drama Club had gotten a callback, but seeing my name on the list reassured me slightly. However, my nervousness quickly set in again. I would have to audition against Leona again, and this time, it counted. I wouldn't be able to audition again if I screwed up. Mrs. Oswald would put me in some bit part instead, and I couldn't do that. I had always been the lead in the fall musical. I couldn't let Leona take that away from me this time.

I spent most of the next week preparing. This time around, I couldn't just sing one of my all time favorite show tunes. I had to sing a song from High School Musical, specifically "When There Was Me and You." The song itself was easy, but Leona had been practicing all summer, while I only had a week. It was a nearly impossible challenge.

Despite my attempts to focus on callbacks, another problem took over in my house. Specifically, Dan's precious hedgehog Blaze went missing on Tuesday morning. "Where is she?" Dan asked as he searched underneath every piece of furniture in the house.

"She has to be somewhere," I said.

"Can you help me?" Dan asked. "I need Blaze back!"

"If you insist," I said. I helped Dan look around for Blaze, and before long, both of my parents had joined in on the investigation as well. However, Dan and I had to go to school, and my parents had to go to work, so we couldn't search for too long. If we didn't find Blaze soon, Dan would just have to accept the harsh truth that his hedgehog was gone forever.

"This is what he gets for taking a hedgehog with him," Dad said under his breath.

Dan was still panicking when the two of us arrived at the bus stop. "What's wrong?" Arthur asked.

"Blaze got out of her cage!" Dan exclaimed. "I don't know where she is."

"I'll keep an eye out for her," Arthur said. "I'm sure you'll find her eventually, unless she was abducted by aliens. In that case, you may never get her back."

"I'm sorry, but why would we...er, I mean aliens want to abduct a hedgehog?" Dan said. "That doesn't make any sense. Hedgehogs are cute, but they're not terribly useful or interesting. Besides, aliens wouldn't want to disrupt your fragile Earthling ecosystems by abducting wildlife of any kind. It's strictly against interstellar laws to do so. I've heard that there's a black market for that kind of stuff, but I don't think it includes hedgehogs."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "So you know something about aliens too," he said. "Tell me more."

"I don't really know that much," Dan said.

"Don't worry, you can tell me," Arthur said. "I'm not with the CIA or anything, although I'm pretty sure they're in on this too."

Dan shook his head, and all three of us boarded the bus. Arthur spent the bus ride begging Dan to tell him more about aliens. Dan, of course, didn't let anything else slip, but Arthur just took this as proof that Dan knew more than he let on. He was just unwilling to tell Arthur all of his many secrets.

Dan showed up for lunch, only to tell us that he was leaving. "I got a ride home from one of the seniors," he explained. "She's helping me look for Blaze, and she complimented my hair. I think she likes me."

"Do you even know her name?" Raquel asked.

"No," Dan admitted. "It doesn't matter. I'm going to find Blaze, no matter what I have to do to track her down!"

Dan ran off with one of the seniors, leaving Raquel, Arthur, and I alone together. "Something's up with Dan," I said, hoping that Raquel and Arthur had noticed the same thing.