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The excitement over Everett had me so confused that by sixth period I almost forgot that I was dreading going to Dr. Alison’s class. Until I walked in the door, that is. The teacher stood at her desk, smiling at each of the students as they entered. The room felt much like every other room had since lunch, charged with an electric enthusiasm. There was no sign of yesterday’s negative mix of emotions.

I had just selected my seat when Dr. Alison made an announcement, her voice bright and cheerful. “We have a student who just added our class. Welcome!”

I was, of course, expecting this Everett person. And I like to think I didn’t feel a thing when I saw Jesse in the doorway, holding a pink slip of paper. He caught sight of me while walking across the front of the room and grinned. I told myself I wasn’t dazzled by his smile. The odd quiver in my stomach was probably the result of too much chocolate cake.

 “Let’s get started,” Dr. Alison said in a voice that sounded almost like tinkling bells. “Settle down.”

The rumble of anxious students decreased slightly, but only for a few seconds. None other than Everett strode into the room next, holding a pink piece of paper and waving as if he were in a parade.

“Ah, another one!” Dr. Alison exclaimed in a sing-song voice. “I love new students!” Dr. Alison’s mood was as high today as it had been foul yesterday, and even though it was a mixture of pleasant emotions, the overall effect was just as disturbing. Like bathing in perfume. The addition of the students’ excitement over Everett made the emotions in the room as thick as the gelatin I’d just had for lunch. I kept my eye on the wall clock and dashed out of the room the instant the bell rang.

***

Since I had to report for my fancy new occupation after school, but had to wait until the school cleared a little, I hurried to the least populated place I could think of—a large field of poaceae…no…
grass
. From the metallic seating, I watched the mob of students pour from the classrooms into the open walkways—chatting and laughing, moving around what seemed to be an unexplained force named Everett.

It wasn’t long before Mom’s stream arrived. I answered. My bangs fell into my face. I brushed them away, irritated that I couldn’t keep from getting upset by all these human emotions.

Mom streamed.

I stood up and sighed. There weren’t many students left on the grounds. Just a small group still hovering around Everett. acted
completely natural. I wish there were a way to record her emotional scent. But I’ll send it to you if you want.>

I didn’t reply, though I thought about Jesse and Everett. Both were very unusual. Yet nothing my mother would be interested in, except maybe to suspect me of a rule violation.

Mom continued.

I responded.

Mom continued, ignoring my sarcasm.

I closed both my eyes and the stream, refraining from the bitter retort I wanted to give her. Lack of training seemed to be the theme of this mission. Feeling both reluctant and anxious, I meandered back onto the school grounds, into the office, and asked for Leo. The secretary directed me to a large closet just outside the door where a tiny Hispanic man dressed all in khaki was stooped, rinsing out a mop in a sink on the floor.

“You the new girl?” he said without looking up. “Follow the vacuum.”

I watched him clean the mop until it was clear there wouldn’t be any more information coming from Leo. I could hear a machine humming several doors down and wandered slowly in that direction, my fingers trailing the rough brick wall.

I stopped short in the doorway of the room with the source of the noise. The person inside had a large, cylindrical tube strapped to his back. There was something about the straight black hair…the broad shoulders…narrow hips…muscular arms…and, of course, the shoes…

The boy whose face I couldn’t get out of my mind turned around and acknowledged my presence with a crooked grin.

I leaned against the doorframe, my knees nearly buckling beneath me.

 CHAPTER NINE

I froze in place—torn between the desire to run away and what felt like a magnetic pull towards this mysterious creature. Like the pull I’d feel towards any geo force, except amplified.

Jesse pulled earbuds out of his ears. “You made it!” He flashed a smile. The sun hadn’t ever been so bright. “I wasn’t convinced you’d show up,” he said. “You don’t seem like the janitor type.”

My gaze fixed on his full, plum-colored lips. I stood stupefied, wanting him to continue speaking just so I could listen to the sound his voice.

“Are you ready to go?” He started towards me, moving dangerously close.

I came out of my stupor and stumbled backwards, out of the doorway, just before he walked through it. The way he looked at me—as if he could see right through to my core—his primitive emotions would probably knock me senseless if I let him get too close.

“I’m your supervisor. You’re assigned to building three,” he said, pointing. “You just have to pick up garbage, change trash bags, and vacuum.”

I might have nodded. I wasn’t sure.

“I’ll need to show you how to use the vacuum.” He walked in the other direction and waved for me to follow.

“Th…that’s okay,” I mumbled. “I can figure it out. Just tell me where it is.”

He turned and studied me. I shivered and rubbed my arms, feeling exposed. As though he knew how awkward and gangly I felt despite my strong physical appearance. That I didn’t belong here, in this world. But didn’t feel superior…even though I’d been told I should.

“It’s in the closet where you found Leo. You did take the training class, right?”

I blinked, pulled my attention back to what he was saying, and nodded. “Of course.” I tried my best to keep my face impassive but suspected I was ineffective with my answer.

“Okay, go ahead.” Jesse swept his arm in the direction of the closet, an invitation to try on my own.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently he either believed me or didn’t want to push the point. But I had another problem. Heading to the closet would require passing by him, so I didn’t move. After studying me a little longer he raised a curious eyebrow, then flipped on the vacuum and went back inside.

I took a step backwards, towards home. Having Jesse as my supervisor was more than I had agreed to. More than I could handle. But as much as I wanted to go home I couldn’t bring myself to walk away. I told myself it was because Mom would be disappointed. But I knew there was something else, something stronger, holding me there. There was no reason for me to feel drawn to a mentally unstable human male. Even if he happened to be a geo force, there was no explanation for the strength of this pull. Not at our ages. But I could not argue with it. I’d just have to figure out a way to continue my employment while keeping my distance from Jesse.

I opened a stream to Mom, walking towards the closet.

I slipped into the cluttered closet and lifted the cylindrical machine that hung on the wall.

“Careful,” Leo said. “It’s heavy.”

I smiled at him and hoisted it on my shoulder. Fortunately the vacuum wasn’t heavy at all. The first benefit so far of having supposedly-superior genes.
Super Janitor
. What an achievement. My friends back home would be so proud. I stepped back into the sunlight so Mom could teach me how to use the vacuum in private. I debated telling her about Jesse. Admitting I was infatuated with my supervisor would definitely get me pulled from the assignment. But it could also get me into serious trouble.

With the vacuum eventually ready to go, I rushed past the room Jesse was in and on to building three. I cleaned four empty rooms before getting to Dr. Tom’s and was surprised to find him at his desk. I paused in the doorway, tempted to come back later, but realized that wasn’t logical. The point of this assignment was to watch him. I started in the corner farthest from him and flipped on the vacuum. He glanced up, then returned to his work. I couldn’t be sure if he even recognized me. I picked a wad of paper off the floor, glanced at him, and felt obvious. Turning away, I felt even more obvious. I left before finishing, the wad of paper still in hand.

Dr. Alison’s room was no different from her husband’s in appearance, except it was, gratefully, empty. I thought about looking through Dr. Alison’s drawers, though I didn’t even know what I’d be looking for. I decided to wait a few days, until I knew the teacher’s schedule better. Assuming I still had the job then.

Several times, when I moved from one classroom to another, I sensed my new supervisor gazing at me from a distance. At the end of my rounds—when I threw the large bag of trash I’d collected into the dumpster—I heard his footsteps approaching. I wanted to rush away but couldn’t leave until I’d maneuvered the bag into the large bin. By then there was no way to flee without at least facing him. I stepped to the side of the dumpster, out of his way.

He heaved in two large bags and brushed off his knee-length shorts. Then he smiled, bright and unpretentious. “You did good.”

 I shuffled my feet, annoyed that I felt flattered by his words. It was just menial labor. Anybody could do it. Ask me to recite pi to the millionth decimal. Or to list all Earth situation comedies ever produced, starting with
The Goldbergs
in 1949. Now that would be impressive.

Facing one another like we had before school yesterday, I got the nerve to look at his eyes, which danced cheerfully. He obviously found me amusing. But as far as I knew, none of the many stupid things I’d done since my arrival had been in front of him. Maybe he really was just a mentally unstable boy who always looked that way. I was so tempted to read his mind. Which meant I had better leave. “Am I…are we…?” I muttered, shifting my feet.

“You’re done,” he said.

With just a slight hesitation, I turned and hurried to my locker, eager to put the confusing male and this dreadful employment situation behind me.

***

Mom asked about my work that evening but was too distracted to notice that I was evasive with my answer. I went to bed feeling abandoned and lonely.

The next day the Everett excitement was even more intense. Jesse’s presence continued to keep me off balance and confused. I had reasoned that it was best to sit quietly at my usual table rather than continually trying to avoid the friendly group of girls that had adopted me. Fortunately the girls were too busy jabbering about Everett to notice that I didn’t speak. Which should have been a relief but only added to my misery. Perhaps worst of all, both the Stones were as normal as a couple of teachers could be. Even the mood in Dr. Alison’s room was the same as every other classroom.

I felt despondent when I went to the janitor’s closet after school. Instead of the adventure I had anticipated before coming to Earth, the year stretching out before me was destined to be marked primarily by loneliness. I knew all along that I should keep to myself. Keddil had certainly done his best to dispel any notions of dazzling the student body with my superior intellect or physical prowess. But I was surprised that maintaining an emotional distance from girls was even more difficult than keeping a physical one from boys.

I stepped out of the closet with the vacuum strapped to my back and almost bumped into one of the Skinnies—Dionne—hanging a poster on the wall that read:
Vote for Dionne SBO President.

I righted myself and smiled. That explained what an esbioveepee was. Dionne must have been the student body
vice
president last year: SBO VP. “Nice look.” Dionne smiled like she was being nice, but I could sense that there was nothing the least bit nice about her greeting.

“Thank you.” I made an effort to keep my voice neutral and kept walking.

After my shift I was brought up short by another poster just outside the janitor’s closet:
New is Now. Everett for President
. I studied the poster and wondered if there could possibly be another Everett at the school. One that would run for Student Body President. On a campaign platform of “New.”

“Crazy, isn’t it?”

I turned to see Jesse behind me, standing several feet away. He seemed to have figured out that he should keep his distance. But I still wasn’t used to the sight of him. Especially the way he watched me. “The poster, I mean.” He looked down, scuffing his shoe on the sidewalk, his cheeks reddening slightly.

“Yes,” I said quickly, embarrassed for him when I figured out the meaning he’d applied to the word
crazy
. I turned back to the poster, to lessen his discomfort. “I don’t understand. Didn’t he just move here? Is running for office so soon normal?”

“Not that I know of,” he replied. After a moment he continued. “But he’ll probably win.”

I wanted to turn his way but kept my gaze on the name
Everett
. “Will you vote for him?”

“Not in a million years,” he replied. “How about you?”

“Never.” I finally turned around but was unnerved by the intensity of his gaze and quickly turned back, shivering.

“That’ll be two ‘no’ votes then,” he said. “Probably the only ones.”

I watched him go, more curious than ever about Jessie’s supposed history with mental illness. Maybe it was just a rumor. Based on the conversation we’d just had, he was the only sane one at this school.

***

The next day it was announced over the intercom during third period that Dionne had dropped out of the race. Everett joined my gym class that morning, and the entire class erupted into cheers, crowding him and patting him on the back. At lunch Everett entered the cafeteria with his arm gallantly around Dionne. As usual, Everett didn’t seem to be there to eat. He traveled from table to table, with Dionne tucked under his arm, inviting everyone to his celebration party Friday night at his house.