Chapter 3

Chapter 3:
A FLICK OF THE WRIST

Alex’s knees quaked as she walked beside General Fratelli. She wasn’t sure what made her more nervous--the General seeming even taller and stronger when she stood beside him or the fact that she was, for the first time in her life, about to have real classmates. What will they be like, she wondered. Would they think she was nice? Would they find her jokes funny? Back on Earth, she had spent much of her time reading books, and many of them included kids who had moved and had difficulty fitting into their new schools. Would these kids let her sit with them at lunch? Most importantly, would she ever feel she could trust any of them enough to share her secret with them? Grandpa had warned her against it, but maybe someday . . .

Alex tried to keep track of where the General was leading her. It was hard to know where one was when everything inside the inner and outer loops was monotonous—the same white walls and the same doorways. It’s a good thing most of the doorways are labeled, thought Alex. Finally, they came to a door marked English Literature & Writing: Ms. Pullman. The General paused before stepping in front of the door.
“Remember what I said, Alex. You’ve been living on a space station near Mars. You’re here only until your grandfather can repair your home. And whatever you do, under no circumstances should you show anyone what you showed me in my office this morning. Nothing will jeopardize your stay here more than that.”

Alex’s stomach had already been doing flip-flops before the General’s speech; now it was whirling around like a blender. Alex put her hand over her belly in an effort to calm her emotions.

“Yes, sir, I’ll remember.”

“Good,” replied the General. “Let’s go inside.” He stepped in front of Ms. Pullman’s door, and it slid open.

Alex followed the General timidly into the classroom. Their presence clearly startled the students and their teacher, but no one was more shocked into silence than Alex. The class was obviously in the middle of a birthday party. Each person was holding a plate of partially eaten cake. They were all dressed in the same simple, solid-colored garb with the IMC emblem that Alex had seen on the other colonists, and they all sported the same black device in their ears. At the room’s center, used birthday candles and the crumby remnants of the cake sat on a platter on a table. About ten students, staring in disbelief as they looked first at the General and then at Alex, stood around the table. Based on the varying skin tones and facial features, Alex thought they did a good job of representing the various ethnicities that made up the International Moon Colony. A very short boy with sandy brown hair looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his sockets and knock the wire-framed glasses right off his nose. A tall, handsome boy with dark hair and olive skin stopped with his fork in his mouth. Beside him, a dark-skinned girl with beautiful dark eyes and thick braids stood with her mouth wide open. Her mouth continued to hang open until a girl with red curls nudged her with an elbow.

In a moment, Alex took in the whole scene. She had never been to a real birthday party. Sure, her grandparents had celebrated her birthday each year with cake and presents, but there were never any other kids around. And now, wondered Alex, now there is no one to celebrate with me, and my birthday is . . . During her hurried escape from the moon, Alex had lost track of the dates. She looked around the room wildly. Was it posted somewhere? Then she spotted it on the wall—a calendar with the dates crossed off. Today was Friday, February 10, 2216. Alex’s heart sank. Tomorrow would be February 11, her thirteenth birthday, and she had been abandoned on the moon with total strangers.

Ms. Pullman, a slender woman in her early twenties, appeared as startled as her students. She immediately put down her cake plate. “General Fratelli,” she squeaked. “Good afternoon. What can I do for you, sir?”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Pullman,” boomed General Fratelli. “I’m sorry for interrupting. I’d like to introduce you and your students to Alex Jones,” he nodded briefly at Alex, “who will be joining your class.”

“Joining our class?” Ms. Pullman’s eyebrows flew up. “But . . . but . . .” Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

The General waved his hand as if to brush away a cobweb. “We’ll worry about her school records later, Ms. Pullman. Alex has already had lunch, so no need to worry about that either. I can see that your students have been eating as well.” A pretty blond girl with bright blue eyes slid the remainder of her cake slice behind her back as though the General might snatch it out of her hands.

“Well, yes,” replied Ms. Pullman. “We . . .well, we’ve been celebrating Adam’s birthday.” She gestured toward the tall, handsome boy with the dark hair and olive complexion, and everyone looked in his direction. Clearly, the tall boy was Adam, and Alex had just walked in on his birthday party. Alex’s eyes locked on Adam’s, and she felt a jealousy she’d never known before. If eyes could shoot daggers, Alex’s eyes would have shot Adam dead. How dare this boy get a full birthday party with his friends at school? He’ll probably have another party tonight with his parents when he gets home, Alex fumed. And what would she get tomorrow? No birthday party, no cake, no presents. Not even her grandfather with her to celebrate. She felt like her whole existence was being mocked.

“Oh, I see,” General Fratelli suddenly appeared uncomfortable. He looked straight at Adam. “I didn’t realize it was your birthday.” Then he looked down at Alex briefly as if to say something and then changed his mind. Alex wondered if the General knew the next day would be her birthday. He seemed to know almost everything else about her. “Well, happy birthday then, Adam. I’m sure you and the rest of your classmates will be very welcoming to our new student. Good day, Ms. Pullman.” With that, General Fratelli swiftly left the room.

Silently, the ten seventh graders and their teacher stared at the new kid. Alex shuffled her feet. Was she supposed to say something first? Finally, Ms. Pullman shook her head and pulled herself together. “Well, welcome, Alex.” She stepped forward to shake Alex’s hand. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to get to know more about you in the days ahead. I’m sorry you didn’t come a minute sooner. We would have saved a piece of cake for you.”

The blond girl immediately turned her back on Alex and gulped down the last of her cake. One of her classmates nudged her and whispered, “Real smooth, Yvonne.”
“I have a bit of my piece left.” Ms. Pullman lifted her cake plate. “Perhaps you’d like a bite?”

Alex looked down at the cake plate. It looked almost as good as the cakes her grandmother used to bake. Alex’s lips drew tight, and her eyes narrowed. She hoped that by squeezing her eyes tight for a moment, she could push back the tears. “No, thank you,” she murmured before glaring back at Adam.

“Oh, well, it’s time for recess. I’m afraid our little birthday celebration hasn’t left much time for playing. Why don’t you all finish your cake slices and then I’ll lead you out to the playdium.”

The students had trouble taking their eyes off Alex, but eventually they started giving each other nervous glances. Alex could tell that their suspicions were immediately raised. Did they already think she was a spy? Only one of the boys, dark-haired and with a round, yet almost flat face, smiled at her. Alex guessed that his ancestors had come from one of the Asian countries.

“O.K. I think you all need to go to the playdium and run around for a bit.” Clearly, Ms. Pullman could sense the tension in the room. “Drop your plates in the cleaning chute on your way out. Let’s go.” Slowly, the kids started to move again, their eyes shifting nervously from each other to Alex.

Ms. Pullman led the way, and the other students started to follow. Adam and the short boy with the glasses stayed behind. Alex figured there had to be at least a foot height difference between the two them. They both continued to stare, with their arms folded, almost daring her to speak.

The dark-haired Asian boy was also still in the room. He had a wide grin on his face, and he walked right up to Alex. “Hi, I’m Sanyu. This is Sam.” He gestured to the short boy. “And that’s Adam.”

Alex was too frightened to respond at first. What should she say? The General had already told everyone her name was Alex. “Um, hi,” was all she could get out.

“Well, are you coming or not?” asked Sanyu. Alex just shrugged. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Recess is fun. Are you crazy?” The boy laughed, grabbed Alex’s arm, and pulled her toward the door. “Com’n. It’s the best part of the school day.” Alex allowed herself to be pulled out of the room, but she took one last glare at Adam before leaving.

In the playdium, Sanyu dragged Alex over to the softball field, where he showed her where the bats, balls, and gloves were kept in an equipment box. Then the two of them started a game of catch while the remainder of Alex’s new classmates watched from the bleachers. From the field, Alex could make out snatches of their conversations.
Yvonne, the pretty blond who had wolfed down her last few bites of cake, was deep in discussion with the redheaded girl beside her. “This is going to ruin our numbers,” Yvonne said. “We used to have five boys and five girls. Now we’re off balance.”

“I just feel bad for Adam,” confided the redhead. “It’s his birthday. ”

Sanyu threw the ball, and Alex caught it with ease. When she went to return the ball, Alex heaved it with such force that Sanyu was nearly knocked down. At the top of the bleachers, the redheaded girl stood up to get a better look.

“Hey, Carrie,” a boy on the bottom bench called up to the redhead. “Looks like you may have some competition for the pitcher slot this year.”

Carrie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not afraid of any competition, Jack.”

By this time, Adam and Sam had made their way into the playdium. Sam marched his way to the front of the bleachers and faced his classmates, pushing his glasses up on his nose to get a good look at them. “Alright, everybody, listen up. It’s Adam’s birthday, and you know what that means. We play whatever game the birthday kid wants to play, so let’s head on over to the other side of the playdium. We’re running races.”

“AHHH, MANNNN,” Jack groaned loudly. “Not races. We know who’s going to win.”

“Get up, you whiner,” Carrie grabbed Jack by the ear and pulled him up. “It’s Adam’s birthday. We do what Adam wants, and we all know Adam loves to run.”

Alex tried to study Adam as she tossed the ball back to Sanyu. Adam did look like he could be a fast runner. He had to be at least six feet tall, and he had a rather slim body.

Another boy from the class jumped up and shouted, “To the track!”

“To the track!” echoed Sam, and everyone started sliding off the bleachers. “Sanyu!” Sam called toward the field. “We’re running races. Let’s go.”

“Com’n, Alex.” Sanyu turned toward Alex who had just caught another ball. “Now you’ll see something amazing. Wait till you see what Adam can do.” And with that, they walked toward the other end of the playdium. That meant traversing the hill behind the softball field, picking their way through the small wooded area, and crossing over to the running track.

“What’s the distance?” asked Carrie.

“What’s it matter?” quipped Jack.

“I think it should be up to Adam what we run,” said Carrie before stretching down to touch her toes, the red curls in her ponytail flopping down as she bent over.

Pressing his right leg forward into a lunge, Adam bit his lip and thought. “I don’t know—maybe 100 meters?” He switched feet and lunched with the left leg forward.

“That’s kind of short,” responded Sam.

“Why not 400?” Alex’s voice squeaked. They turned to look at her, and she stared back defiantly. She was nervous, but she saw an opportunity to get even with the boy who had already had too much fun on his birthday. She and her grandmother used to do a lot of running together on their island the year before she left. Ever since then, Alex had gone for long runs on her own, thinking about her grandmother and wondering if she was having any success tracking down her mother. “What’s the matter?” Alex continued. She looked straight at Adam. “Can’t run that far?”

“Oh, I can run that far. The question is, can you keep up?”

Alex shrugged in response.

“400 meters it is then,” called Sam. “That means a staggered start with each runner remaining in their lane the whole race. This also means only eight of us can run. I’ll call the start, so I don’t mind sitting out. We need two more people to sit this one out. Who else wants out?” Sam scanned the small crowd before him.
One of the boys raised his hand.

“Alright, Clark’s out,” called Sam. “That brings us down to nine. Who else wants out?”

“I’ll sit out,” volunteered Yvonne. “I don’t want to mess up my hair.” She pushed her long blond locks behind her ears.

“O.K. Adam gets first pick of lanes since it’s his birthday. Which lane do you want, Adam?”

“I’ll take four,” he said and claimed his starting position.

“Ooh, I’ll take eight,” a small girl with mocha-colored skin jumped up. “I love feeling like I’m ahead even if it’s just for a bit.”

“I think the new kid should pick next,” Sanyu gestured toward Alex.

Not waiting for someone to argue, Alex chimed in with a quick, “Three,” and took her place in the third lane.

“I’m taking five,” called Jack before anyone else could. Soon they were lined up, with Adam in the middle, Alex to his left and Jack to his right. The other classmates filled in the lanes around them.

Sam positioned himself inside the curve of the track where everyone could hear him. Clark and Yvonne sat down on the grass near him.

“Runners, take your marks,” Sam bellowed. They all crouched down. “Get set.” Muscles tensed. “Go!”

Alex remembered her grandfather’s stories of running track when he was in college. His favorite distance was 400 meters, so Alex knew that everyone had to start in staggered positions around the first curve of the track. The runner in lane one started the farthest back while the runner in lane eight was closest to the end of the curve. That way, the people in the outer lanes would still end up running only 400 meters. This meant Alex could easily keep an eye on Adam who had started slightly ahead of her in the next lane.

Alex watched as Adam, with his arms pumping easily and his legs pounding the asphalt, quickly passed by Sanyu in lane six. Jack seemed to be a decent runner and was able to stay ahead of Adam for the first forty meters. As Adam overtook Jack, Alex inched closer toward him.

“Woohoo, go Adam!” called Yvonne from the opposite end of the track. Clark was clapping beside her.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” cried Sam, his arm pumping the air. “That’s my roommate, leaving you all in the dust.”

Although Alex had done plenty of running back on Earth, she had never competed in a race before. Now as her blood was pumping and her adrenaline increased, she felt stronger and more determined than ever to beat Adam at the race. Something about the pounding of her feet on the track made her feel like a clock was ticking. She had a deadline to meet. She had to pass Adam before he got to the finish line. Alex had an idea that if she could beat Adam in this race, maybe she’d win the respect of her new classmates. Jack sure seemed annoyed that Adam always won. Maybe the rest of them would admire her for her speed, too.

Alex inched closer to Adam. She was only five feet beyond him now. She had to win.
And then it happened. Without Alex realizing she had done it at first, she flicked her right wrist slightly as if she were trying to pull Adam’s shirt into her hands just as she had done with the General’s photo of her grandmother. As she did so, the back of Adam’s shirt jerked toward her.

Adam glanced over his left shoulder. A look of horror crossed his face when he realized how close Alex was to him. Clearly, he had thought nobody was anywhere near him.

Sam and Yvonne must have noticed Alex gaining on Adam, for their shouts grew louder, and Clark clapped more fervently.

Then it happened again. Alex flicked her wrist so that Adam felt another tug on his shirt, more powerful than the last one. This time, Adam looked over his right shoulder toward Jack. He did a double take and realized that Jack was at least eight feet behind. Alex grinned at Adam’s bewildered expression.

“Come on, Adam!” screamed Sam.

“You can do it, Adam!” cried Yvonne.

The finish line was a mere twenty feet away when Alex gave one final flick of her wrist. The back of Adam’s shirt yanked backwards. Adam stumbled on the track, his feet nearly tripping over each other. He looked at the springy surface of the track to see if he had tripped on something, his head only coming up at the last moment as Alex sped past him, crossing the finish line first.

Alex grinned from ear to ear. She had beaten the smug birthday boy who had taken it for granted that he was the best.

Sam and Yvonne stopped shouting and clapping immediately. Clark looked confused. The others dribbled in slowly, panting heavily. No one spoke at first. Alex stood to the side, squeezing her abdominals to ease a cramp; she truly had run her hardest and couldn’t have beaten Adam if she hadn’t yanked his shirt back towards her.

“You cheated!” Adam walked right up to Alex. “You cheated! I felt you tugging on my shirt.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Jack who walked up beside Adam.

“He was pulling my shirt to slow me down,” Adam pointed at Alex, who now looked bewildered. “I could feel him. Three times he did it.”

He, thought Alex. Him? Is he referring to me?

“Man, you’re crazy,” replied Jack. “Alex beat you fair and square. He didn’t touch you at all. I could see the two of you perfectly the whole last fifty meters.”

Alex’s mind was whirling. She looked down at her baggy old pants and loose-fitting shirt that her grandfather used to wear. Then she looked at the girls in the class.
They were all wearing skirts and tights.

“If he wasn’t pulling on my shirt, then what was holding me back?” Adam cried.

“I hate to say it, Adam,” said Sanyu, “but I think Alex just ran faster.”

“Nobody runs faster than me.” Adam was getting nearly delirious at this point.

“Besides, what kind of a guy beats another fellow on his birthday?” Adam stood before Alex and gave her shoulder a shove. “Explain yourself, you little runt!”
Alex couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not only had they not been impressed by her victory, they didn’t even know she was a girl. What kind of a first impression had she made?

She quickly debated whether or not she should let them go on thinking she were a boy, but she knew the truth had to come out sooner or later. It might as well be sooner.

“I think you’ve got the wrong idea about me,” said Alex, and with that, she pulled the blue cap with the red “C” off her head. Down tumbled layer after layer of Alex’s thick, dark brown hair. It fell to the middle of her back.

Jaws dropped all around the group.

It was Sanyu who finally broke the silence. “You’re a girl?!?”