Starcross

Chapter Two - Part lll

Frederick High School

Frederick, Colorado

3 March 2020 1:37 P.M.

      Despite it being so early in the year, and being so far above the Snow Belt, it seemed as if winter was gone already with Spring eagerly taking its place. Though the grass was still brown and the trees had yet to bloom, it was a very comfortable seventy-ish degrees outside; which meant that inside the school it was a blistering eighty; to cut down on costs, the thermostat for all the schools in the St. Vrain Valley School District were controlled remotely by the district head offices in Longmont. Unfortunately, they stuck to the rule book there and it stated that the heaters must stay on until mid-April.

      Gazing out at the Rocky Mountains and the iconic Twin-Peaks, James wished that he could be outside in the cool breeze instead of in the sweltering Trigonometry classroom. Typically, it would be seen the other way around: James wishing he was inside rather than  out. He didn’t necessarily hate the outdoors, he just didn’t see the point in running around in the dirt, getting sweaty and sunburnt at the drop of a hat.

      “Mr. Cook, I would so appreciate it if you would grace me with your mental presence as well as your physical,” The balding teacher, Mr. John Crosby said as he was explaining the lesson. “You never know, you just might learn something…”

      James turned to the white board hung on the wall. “You mean like how you misplaced the two in your equation?”

      Crosby turned to the board and dramatically hung his head as he walked up to fix the mistake. Always a fun teacher, Crosby worked hard to make sure that all his students understood what he was teaching, sometimes he moved ahead before everyone had it down but he always came around to give extra time to those who needed it; John Crosby always tried to make learning fun, and that’s probably why his class had such a high graduation rate.

      After he made sure his formula was now correct, Mr. Crosby went back to teaching the class of juniors and James’ attention drifted back out the window as his mind went back to daydreaming and wondering what he would have for dinner. Outside the window, birds flying north caught his attention as they flapped though the sky, then something else captured his attention. Black darts, flying in a tight V formation too smoothly, and at an altitude too high for birds, streaked through the sky leaving wispy contrails behind them. They came from the mountains in the west and headed south toward Denver.

      Propping himself up on his fist, James kept his face turned towards the front of the class so Crosby wouldn’t call him out again, but kept his eyes cast out the dirty glass window. He heard the heavy wooden door on the far side of the classroom open and Crosby stopped talking for a moment as the visitor talked with him in a hushed voice; he just figured that it was a student aide coming by with something for him to sign.

      Crosby gasped and dropped the marked he was holding. “You’re joking, right?” He said unbelievingly.

      James cast his eyes to see the strawberry-blonde Stephanie Osborn, the Geometry teacher from next door, standing next to Crosby and talking with him in hushed tones. When she was finished and left hurriedly, Crosby walked over to the TV hung on the wall behind his desk.

      The inexpensive flat-screen popped on and picture came into focus as the pixels warmed up and Mr. Crosby changed the channel to CNN. The anchor was disturbed and looked as if she was rushed to the set, her make-up hastily done. “-unsure. The Pentagon has yet to issue a statement but sources say that the President is meeting with his cabinet. If you’re just joining us, what appear to be Druidth attack ships have fired upon, and destroyed key military bases throughout the nation, possibly the world. As of right now, there is no information on casualties or damages but it is clear that the city of Los Angeles is heavily damaged due to the proximity of the various Navy and Marine Corps bases.