10 The Truth at Last!

Ten, the truth? at last ZEKE WAS VERY UPSET. "I can't believe Harris did that!" he said when he and his parents got home. "I knew he had his suspicions, but I never thought he would just blurt it out like that! I shouldn't have pushed him...."

"Don't worry, Zeke," said Quar. "Most humans only believe these things up to a point." "And even those closest to Harris think he's wrong," added Xad. "Forget about it. It'll go away. Anyway, this was very productive. I think our next research topic might be on strange human foods!"

But Zeke couldn't just let it go. Harris is my friend, he thought. And now he's in trouble, just because he was able to figure out the truth. I really like Harris. He and Roxy were the first kids to be really nice to me at school. Even if he was only nice to me to prove that I'm an alien, we have fun together, right? I feel terrible about this. And now Harris is grounded for who knows how long? But he wasn't wrong! He doesn't deserve to be in trouble.

And I'm going to do something about it!

Harris remained grounded for the time being. He went to school each day, but then he had to come right home. He couldn't see his friends. He wasn't even allowed to talk to Roxy on the phone. And he was worried about what she must have thought of him after what happened. A few days later at the dinner table, Harris said to his parents, "I apologize for being rude to our guests on Saturday."

"And are you ready to admit that what you said is nonsense?" asked his mother. Harris stayed silent. "Well then, it's back to your room as soon as you're finished with dinner," said his father.