The Asteroid Boys

Chapter Two

"He has a pulse, but he might be in a coma...we need an ambulance. Can someone call 911?"

Nick awakes in a start. He is surrounded in a shadow of many people, the morning sun beating down on their backs. The people gasp as he lifts himself to a sitting position. Nick feels warm sand running through his fingers.

How did he get to the beach?

"Excuse me, coming through." Danny makes his way through the crowd and crouches by Nick's side. Nick can see AJ, Jesse, and Lucas file behind him. Tommy does not follow.

How did they find him?

"We appreciate your concern, but we're fine," Danny speaks to the beachgoers. "No need to call an ambulance. We'll take it from here." The crowd disperses without hearing another word.

Jesse and Lucas take one of Nick's arms and throws it over their shoulder. They half carry him, half support him away from the water. AJ and Danny lead the way to a lounge chair, where Jesse and Lucas lay Nick down. Nick's head throbs rapidly.

"Nick, are you okay?" Danny asks.

Nick can hardly see straight. The beach is spinning around him. But even in the daze, Nick can see only four people. One person is missing.

"I'll be fine," Nick mutters. "Where's Tommy?"

Nick's vision settles, and he sees Danny, Jesse, and AJ rest their eyes on Lucas, the twin of Tommy. Lucas darts his eyes off in the distance, trying his best not to look at the others. Jesse shrugs.

"There's no time to explain. You've got to rest right now--"

"Okay, I guess I have to tell him, since no one has the guts," Jesse interrupts. Danny, AJ and Lucas look away, feeling thoroughly guilty. Nick knits his brows. What are they not telling him?

"Tommy has been abducted," Jesse says. "Well, he's gone anyway, and we can't really find him."

Nick's jaw drops.

"You think this is a joke, do you?" Lucas pipes up. "My twin is missing in Florida, thousands of miles away from our home, and you say it like it's only a minor setback. Actually, it's major, because when my parents find out that we have accidently let Tommy go, we'll all go under."

"What do you mean you lost Tommy?" Nick shouts, raising his voice a level higher in every word. "You four were supposed to stay in the room! I told you I would be back in a while. And what do you do? You lose someone. I know, I'm sorry: I fell asleep here, as you can see, but--"

"Nick, what are you talking about?"

What was he talking about? His memory is soft on last night. He remembered leaving the hotel, relaxing by the tide, though nothing more.

"Nick," Danny starts. He looks around twice to make sure no one overhears him. "Don't you remember...the...the 'thing'?" Danny emphasizes "thing" as though it delivered a plague if it is spoken.

"What thing?"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" AJ says frustrated. "The asteroid! The thing that came out of the sky! You touched it, and it, well, exploded! It hit all of us at the same time. I was knocked out after that."

Nick relaxed his tension. They were pulling his leg. He laughed out loud, drawing attention to nearby people. "Seriously?" he chortles. "You really think I'll believe that crap?"

"Nick, the asteroid did come. It was real," Danny demands. Nick has to admit it: Danny can act pretty well.

Suddenly, Nick leaves his mind and enters Danny's, as though his thoughts were only Danny's.

The unliklieness theory for a glowing space object to land on this exact beach dwindles every second Nick thinks about it. The impossibility seems now probable. As time goes on, Nick believes in this crazed story more and more. And then it hit him. A slide show of images play through his mind at the speed of light. From Nick and Jesse wrestling, to the bluish white asteroid plummeting into the ocean, and finally to Nick stroking the asteroid's exterior before it erupted.

Danny's eyes widen. "He doesn't remember all of last night," Danny says, facing every cousin credulously.

"How do you know?" Jesse says. "From what we know, he can lie just to save his own ass."

"I...don't know...but I'm positive he's telling the truth," Danny explains. "The force of the asteroid might have made him lose his memory. I don't know how I know. I'm certain, though..."

But both Nick and Danny know why Danny understood the situation. Nick literally read Danny's mind. Plus, Nick couldn't have gotten those images from his own mind. Someone had to share the images with him. The only was to do that was...

Nick had to have some sort of...what's it called...telepathy!

Nick feels altogether queesy and blood flows from his fair cheeks. Sweat perspires on his forehead.

"Oh, no," says AJ.

"Yeah, we should to take him back to the hotel room," Lucas exclaims.

"Okay," Jesse says. He adjusts Nick's arm onto his shoulder. "Lucas, can you take the other--"

Jesse didn't have time to finish his sentence. Nick whirls around in a pit of total darkness, as though he is partaking in a black whirlpool. Just as fast as it started, the uncomfortable sensation stops, revealing another familiar place. It's their own hotel room.

Jesse telepprted with Nick back into their room.

"what the..."

.........................................................................................................

Nick lands on the twin bed, thoroughly dumbfounded. One second he's on the beach, about to be carried to the Sea Plaza Hotel, and then the next second he is tossed on a bed inside the hotel room. Jesse rushes to the bathroom, and vomitting can be heard. Nick can feel throw up climbing up his esophogus as well.

First, Nick could read information inside Danny's brain. And then, Jesse and he dissappear and reappear from the Ft. Lauderdale beach to their Sea Plaza Hotel room in a blink of an eye. What else can happen?

Jesse spits one last time and flushes the toilet. He enters the room, resembling Nick's pale shade.

"Would you like to explain to me what just happened back there?" Jesse inquires.

There is a knock at the door. Assuming it is their mother, Jesse answers, "Not right now, mom. We're...uh...changing."

Another knock. "It's not your mom," Danny's voice is heard from behind the door. "Open--" Danny attempts to knock for a third time, but misses the door. Rather than "missing" it, Danny passes through the door as though the wall was only a hologram. He lands on the floor, his waist covered by the untouched door.

Danny shoots up from the carpet and stands up. He opens the door for Lucas and AJ to come inside.

NIck can't tolerate it any more. He swoons instantly.