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“Chad!” I burst out. “That food . . . I can’t eat that food! We have to switch! Now!”
    Chad shook his head. “We had a deal. You wanted to be me. Now you are me! Live with it.” Then his expression softened. “Come on, Will,” he wheedled. “It’s just two more days.”
    Mom’s voice called from inside the house. “Will! Time for supper!”
    â€œGet out of here,” Chad said, giving me a shove. He went inside and shut the front door. I even heard him lock it.
    I jumped down from the porch and stared up at my house. Some of the paint was peeling, but I didn’t care. I missed my home!
    I thought about all the drawers and closets in my room. I knew what was inside of them. I knew what food I’d find in the cupboards and the refrigerator. I even knew where Mom hid the cookies.
    Back at Chad’s house, I didn’t know what I wouldfind. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find anything I could eat.
    And my stomach was growling!
    In Chad’s body there was no way I could go into my own house and act as if I belonged there.
    Especially if Chad didn’t help me.
    He could have said I was sleeping over.
    But he didn’t seem to want me around at all!
    So now what do I do? The Division Street Mall was only two blocks away. I could go to the arcade and kill some time. I wondered if Chad had any money on him when we did the switch.
    I checked my pockets.
    In the front pocket I found a weird little metal thing. It was made of different pieces in shades of purple, all folded up. I couldn’t get it to unlock or open. I thought it might be some kind of puzzle, or one of Chad’s father’s inventions.
    There was a wallet in the back pocket. Four dollars in it. I could buy a burger, or play Galaxy Gremlins for six or eight hours. I’m really good at Galaxy Gremlins.
    But that didn’t totally solve the problem.
    The mall closed at nine. Then what?
    I had two friends from school I sometimes had sleepovers with. But I couldn’t go over to their houses looking like Chad and expect them to let me spend the night.
    It was getting dark. It was supposed to be chillytonight. I couldn’t think of any place to go that would be safe.
    I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t seem to have a choice.
    I had to go back to Chad’s house.
    *   *   *
    The yelling started the moment I touched the door pad and walked in through the front door.
    â€œWhere have you been?”
    â€œYou know you’re not supposed to leave the house without permission!”
    â€œYou know you’re supposed to help with dinner cleanup!”
    It was weird, all this harsh stuff coming out of people who looked like the perfect mom, pop, and son from a sitcom.
    Then Mom’s voice went back to being sweet. “We know you don’t like the way skwiggers move,” she said. “But they’re better for you when they’re alive! Chad-One, you have to eat!” She waved a handful of wigglies at me.
    â€œI know what’s wrong with him,” Chad-Two shouted. “It’s those slimy humans! You like them! You keep socializing with them instead of studying them! You’re starting to act like a human!”
    Act like a human? What did he mean?
    How could I not act like a human?
    â€œYou know how dangerous it would be for us if the humans found out we were here!” Dad shouted.
    Mom went back to yelling, too. “You were hand-picked for this mission,” she scolded. “Picked because you could maintain distance from local life-forms! Do you want to get us all in trouble?”
    I looked at Mom. I looked at the little monsters squirming in her hand.
    Then it hit me. The only way you could act like a human was if you weren’t human!
    These people were not just weird!
    They were aliens!

9

    A liens!
    I was trapped in a family of aliens!
    Aliens who hate humans—who think humans are