Starseeds

Episode one: crop circles and missing girls

   October 19, 1987 
Lulu was enjoying the cold, and quite a lot. Living in South Florida was basically living in Hell, except for the fact that Hell was probably a lot less humid. But the humidity had been sucked from the air. People were saying it might even snow ( which Lulu didn't believe, but wanted to.) Snow or not, the clean, cold air, poured down her throat when she breathed in. She let the wind whip her hair as she raised her arms above her head and let out a whoop. She was standing up through the open sunroof of her Jeep , which Lewis was driving. She could hear Rain begging him to play some Pink Floyd. All of the stars were out tonight, like people at a concert. What concert? Wouldn't Lulu like to know?

  The Jeep stopped so abruptly that Lulu almost fell over. She sat down in the space she had occupied before standing up. "Lewis, why are we stopped?" She asked, kind of annoyed. He wouldn't answer, so she turned to Matthew, who was next to her. "What the hell?" She demanded. Matthew pointed out the window. There was a small figure standing in the middle of the strawberry field. "Lulu, isn't that your brother?" Matthew asked. "Let's go see," Lewis suggested.  He cruised to the outermost part of the field.  Lulu rolled her eyes. Her little brother had autism, so he liked to be in his room and listen to music and not go outside at night when it was 45 degrees.

But sure enough, as they got closer, Lulu recognized the boy's familiar  Bugs Bunny jacket. Her stomach churned. Had somebody played a prank on him? She hated the thought of not being able to protect him from the ignorant bullies that surely walked the halls of his middle school. Lulu climbed over Matt to get out of the car, and raced into the field. "Max! What are you doing out here?" She had to push aside the stalks to get to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends get out of the car. Rain and Matt were racing each other. Gabriel was acting like a referee.

"Max, I'm talking to you!" Lulu yelled, impatient by now. She grabbed his shoulder. He was tiny for his age, only 4'11. He finally turned around to face her. His brown eyes were like black holes in his startled face. "It came from outer space," he said. He lifted a shaky hand and pointed to the center of the field. Lulu felt her breath catch in her throat. She spun around.
They were inside of a circle, dig into the ground.
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November 21st, 1984
Max was on the news. Everyone at school asked Lulu if she'd seen the UFO, too. Every Newspaper in Muscogee Wharf wanted a piece of the action. Everyone but Lulu and Max's mother. "This is absolutely unacceptable," she'd said when Lulu and Max returned home that night. Max claimed that he had been teleported to the middle of the strawberry field,  where he saw a giant flying saucer carve the crop circle in. He couldn't remember what he was doing prior to that. Their mom had flipped out. "It's not okay to lie like this, Maxwell," she said.

  Since then, their parents were making poor Max see a physiatrist. Lulu hated that. Her little brother already felt so different. But she didn't need to worry about her mom yelling this week, because it was thanksgiving break, and her older sister was visiting. Their mom worshipped Daniella, and no wonder why- Daniella was perfect. She was gorgeous. She was funny. She dressed well. She was sweet. Lulu had never been able to measure up to her. Lulu made  A/B honor roll? Daniella made A honor roll. Lulu won a medal? Daniella had won a medal, too, and had already won the medal Lulu was so proud of.

  That's why Lulu was at Esmeralda Arellano's house today. Esmeralda's room wasn't painted, because she and her mom rented their small   house, but it was covered in posters of The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Cure, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead. Esmeralda sat cross legged on the floor. She was gorgeous- cinnamon skin, big brown eyes, silky black hair- and tall, at 5'9. Her hair was cut in a sleek but sloppy asymmetrical bob just above her shoulders, sticking out all over, like Joan Jett's. Lulu couldn't guess what Esmeralda's pants were made of ( probably leather.)  She was part of the small but riotous punk rocker crowd at school. And she had the best pot in four towns.