“Well,” said Jeff, “I guess we won’t be sitting around in school all day.”
Suzy saw the boy approach an older man standing in the gateway. Suzy recognized him; he was the one who had caught them at the soccer game. He had a brief conference with the boy, his face very stern.
The boy nodded a lot and said, “Igoth” a lot, and finally cut off the older man, patted him on the shoulder reassuringly, and waved again for Jeff and Suzy to follow him.
The older alien turned his stern gaze on Jeff and Suzy. “Sirx shar oboth. Sirx ggoazu chshityuquz,” he locked eyes with each of them for a long moment, then stepped aside and waved them through. Not sure what else to do, Suzy followed, glad at least that Jeff was with her. Two guards trailed them at a few paces as they passed through the gate, across the bridge, and out into the city.
The boy kept up a constant stream of chatter as they walked through the city, through the gaping aliens. The boy didn’t seem to mind the stir he was causing in the street.
After a few minutes, Suzy whispered, “Isn’t this the way we came back yesterday? Is he taking us back to the school?”
“Yeah, pretty sure,” Jeff answered, distracted. He was ogling a vendor they were passing who seemed to be selling dead dragon flies by the scoop.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the edge of the blue field. The boy stopped and turned to face them. “Ushegg,” he said, tapping his chest. Then he made an, “And you are?” gesture to Jeff.
“Uh, Jeff?” Jeff said.
“Suzy?” Suzy said as Ushegg looked to her in turn. He nodded, his smile bigger than ever, and then he was off again, walking out onto the soccer field to meet the group of kids already playing there. Suzy recognized some of them. She waved to Shovuy timidly, and the girl smiled and waved back.
One guard stayed at the edge of the field while the other moved to take a position on the forest side of the field.
“Did he really pick us up just so we could come play alien soccer?” Suzy wondered aloud to Jeff, “I don’t know if I can even play, I’m so hungry. Why did he bring us here?”
“Well, we are pretty amazing,” Jeff considered. “If Michael Jordan lived down the street, wouldn’t you invite him for a game of pick-me-up basketball?”
“You’re not exactly the Michael Jordan of alien soccer,” Suzy said.
“Well, maybe the LeBron James-” Jeff started to say, when Ushegg interrupted them. The game was about to begin.
“Listen,” Suzy said quickly, grabbing Jeff’s arm, “Remember what we decided yesterday – we need to make friends. Don’t be a dork, play nice, and maybe we can get them to give us some food.”
“Or teach us magic,” Jeff said.
“Just don’t be a dork.”
Suzy shot the ball through Fogu’s legs and on through the arch. Finally, she thought, as her team cheered.
This second attempt at the aliens’ game was almost as bad as the first, as far as getting-the-rules went, but Suzy knew they had said something about her and this arch, and she had guessed she was supposed to score here. Now the question was whether she was supposed to keep scoring on this arch, or if the game had to move on to the next arch, and Suzy was only allowed to assist.
On the other side of the arch, Ushegg was the first to the ball, which he booted to Choay across the field. Suzy still had no idea what that two-man team was for. Players from both other teams would occasionally pass to them, and Suzy couldn’t figure out why.
Now Choay was dancing through the first arch while Jeff and a boy from her team tried to stop him. Choay’s ball control really was phenomenal. Shovuy yelled, “Suzy!” and pointed to the fourth arch, the one next to her.
As Suzy ran, Choay lauched the ball back to Ushegg. Just as he got it, Suzy tackled him from the side, and the ball rolled to another girl on her team who immediately shot it through arch four.
Ushegg gritted his teeth in frustration, then shook his head and grinned. He slapped Suzy on the shoulder and said, “Reggu,” before jogging back into the action. She hoped it was a complement.
A sound like a car horn blared through the air. Suzy ducked instinctively, then heard a collective “Awww,” of disappointment from the soccer players.
An alien man stood by the open door of the building on the side of the field, waiting. As the game dissolved and kids began to trudge off the field, Shovuy waved to Suzy and called “Zu thia!” then followed the others in.
From the edges of the field, the two guards were approaching, ready to take the humans back for the day.
“Jeff!” Suzy called, thinking fast. “Ask Ushegg for food!”
TWENTY THREE
“Ushegg!” Jeff grabbed the alien boy as he headed toward his school. “Can we…” he stopped himself. Food wasn’t enough; they needed to get home. “We,” Jeff started again, pointing at himself and then at Suzy, “go to school,” he pointed at the building into which the kids were flowing, “with you?” He pointed at Ushegg.
Ushegg furrowed his brow and pursed his lips.
Jeff started again, “We–”
Ushegg cut him off with a wave of his hand. He cocked his head, his eyes glassy, staring off into the distance. Then a grin crept across his face, and he looked at Jeff. Something in that smile made Jeff nervous.
“Igoth,” the boy said, “Yuxz ci.” He took Jeff by the elbow and pulled him toward the school. Jeff waved over his shoulder for Suzy to follow. She joined them as they came to
