Read My Teacher Is an Alien for Free Online Page A

take his face off.
    "Come on," I said. "Let's get up there."
    Despite my brave words, I climbed the rest of those stairs pretty slowly. Peter climbed up beside me. Standing side by side, we stared at the terrible thing we had found.
    In the center of the attic was a column of blue light. It was about three feet across, and stretched from the floor to the peak of the ceiling. And in the center of it stood—Ms. Schwartz. Her eyes were wide open, but they hadn't blinked once in all the time we had been looking at her. Her frizzy black hair was standing straight out from her head, as if she was getting some kind of horrible shock. Her hands were at her sides, palms forward, fingers separated.
    I looked carefully, but I couldn't tell if she was breathing.
    "Is she alive?" I asked again.
    "I don't know," said Peter. "It's hard to tell."
    We stepped forward. Ms. Schwartz didn't move. The air smelled funny. My hair started to move by itself. I could feel a strange tingling on my skin.
    "It's a force field," said Peter, taking another step forward.
    I Anew he was the right person to bring with me. Only a person who read that much science fiction would know what to call something like this. Now if he only knew what to do about it!
    Unfortunately, he didn't.
    "If I could figure out where it came from, maybe I could turn it off," he told me. "But I don't see any equipment. Besides, I'd be afraid of hurting Ms. Schwartz."
    I nodded. "Do you think she's OK in there?" I asked, blinking back a tear.
    How had Broxholm done this to her?
     
     
    Maybe the handsome creep had tricked her into going out on a date with him. What a treat—a date with an alien. I could just imagine his line: Let's go see a film. Then I'll take you back to my house and lock you in a force field.
    What a rat!
    "Oh, Ms. Schwartz," I moaned. "What are we going to do?"
    I couldn't stand seeing her trapped like that. I stepped forward and tried to reach out to touch her.
    "Don't!" cried Peter, when he saw what I was doing. But it was too late. I had already laid my hands against the blue light. I felt a tingle run through my body. For a terrible instant I thought I was going to be drawn into the force field, too. But it didn't happen.
     
    What did happen was I heard a voice inside my head. Susan, don't worry about me. You've got to warn the others!
     
    It was Ms. Schwartz.
    "Peter!" I yelled. "Come here. Touch the force field. You can hear Ms. Schwartz!"
    I suppose it sounded crazy. But by this time he was ready to believe anything. He pushed through the heavy air that surrounded the force field and put his hands next to mine on the column of light.
    Hello, Peter, said Ms. Schwartz.
    "Telepathy!" whispered Peter in awe. "These guys are amazing."
     
    Yes, they are, said Ms. Schwartz inside our heads. Amazing, and dangerous.
     
    "What do they want?" I asked.
    You! she said.
    I yelled and jumped back from the force field. The air around me felt so thick. It was hard to move through it. I realized I had lost my connection with Ms. Schwartz. Pushing forward, I pressed my hands back against the force field.
     
    I'm sorry, said Ms. Schwartz. I didn't mean to frighten you.
     
    I looked at her face. Her eyes were staring straight ahead. It was weird to hear her voice inside my head when she was standing there like that, looking as if she had been frozen.
     
    Don't worry about me, she said. Your job right now is to warn the others.
     
    "Warn them of what?" asked Peter.
     
    About Broxholm! His mission here is to find five students to take back with him. He plans to select the best, the worst, and the three most average kids.
     
    "What's he going to do with them?" I asked.
    The voice inside my head sounded worried. I
     
    don't know for sure. The plan is to bring them
    back here and head out into space on the night of May twenty-sixth.
     
    "But that's next week!" I cried.
     
    Ms. Schwartz moaned. I didn't know so much time had gone by, she whispered inside our heads. I