3 Arrival

The humming of the car attempted to lull her to sleep. Already, Cain had given into the call, too weighed down by the activity of summer camp. But PJ didn't want to sleep, she wanted to keep on scrolling on her phone.

Her parents had long stopped trying to reason with her to put down her phone. Even as they passed into the town of Alpine, she didn't notice them crossing the bridge over the lake and across from the dam. She didn't see how the sky had faded from cherry-colored dawn to baby blue.

Too much had happened in the one week PJ was away from the skeptics board she participated in. Different conspiracies had gained popularity, others disproven by books and reverse image searching. New UFO images were being passed around like candy.

As soon as she settled into the rhythm of tapping and the click of the typing noise the road changed to rough gravel and that's how she knew that she was home. The house was small and quaint - a craftsman's house, one that Adah's twin had told her was popular in the thirties.

Parked just to the side of the white picket fence was a four wheeler. PJ sighed as she caught site of it. Only one of her friends had a four wheeler and would drag her into anything, and that friend was Adah.

It wasn't that she hated Adah. It was just Adahlacked the intelligence Asher, her twin, seemed to have. To PJ, she was just another shallow cheerleader.

Miriam turned away from the door. "I thought you'd be home already!" she exclaimed as Cain opened the door.

"We decided to sleep a little bit more," Cain said. "It's nice to see you!" He ran up to her and gave her a hug. Cain had skin the color of a pine tree's bark and eyes that shone like warm pools of honey. He always wore a vest, the kind that when you scratch it it would make a "zzzzt sound". That vest was filled with oddities, from fidget spinners to small pocket knives.

PJ had blonde hair and brown eyes. She hated the fact that she had brown eyes - it was an imperfection when compared to her flawless skin and unrivalled intelligence.

Unrivalled for all except Asher. Despite the "sister code" or whatever Adah wanted to call it, PJ had a crush on him. Or perhaps was it envy, because PJ was constantly judged for being blonde, and he was always judged for wearing glasses. But it was positive for him, because since he had glasses of course he was smart and since she was blonde she had to be a cheerleader.

"Hello," PJ said to Adah. "We just got back so we should have some time to ourselves."

"No, no, you can't! This opportunity is just too good to pass up!" Adah exclaimed.

PJ crossed her arms. "Why's that?" She asked.

Adah leaned in to whisper, "A meteor landed in the forest. We're going to check it out."

"We're going to go inside, tell us if you need anything," said PJ's dad as he passed her.

"I will," PJ said, and turned her attention back towards the slightly shorter girl. "Are you sure about that?"

"I saw it with my own two eyes," Adah promised. "Miriam and I were out star-gazing last night because there was supposed to be a meteor shower. But before it even came to fully pass over us, something crashed in the forest."

"So it's a UFO?" PJ asked.

The short girl shrugged. "If you look at it that way, yes. It did fly, and it is currently unidentified."

"Then I'm in," PJ admitted. She pulled up the garage door and retrieved her minibike. Cain was going to ride with Adah on the four-wheeler.

"We've got the whole gang," Adah exclaimed, revving her engine. "Miriam and Asher will be there too."

At mention of Asher, PJ slid her helmet over her head to hide a blush. "Alright. But make sure everyone is wearing gloves - we don't want to damage anything."

They both set off down the path, which was barely defined in the forest. Leaves crunched and rocks cracked as they rode over them. As they went up the steep hills, both were sure they'd make it - they'd been doing it since they were in elementary school and Cain had moved there.

Eventually, they arrived at the Tree Camp. Even before they'd set up platforms, it was their center of activity due to once incredibly sloped tree that even a amatuer climber could reach the top on. They used to hide bags of candy up there. But now that they had the platforms, they stored tubs of snacks high away from anything that would want to raid it, like racoons or possums.

Near the edge of the camp were two other motorbikes, the primary way all of them traveled around despite most of them being outgrown. It was better than the bikes they occasionally used to go into town on - the tires on those would be instantly shredded by the pinecones.

On the logs around the firepit in the center of the area were Miriam and Asher. Miriam had her earbuds in, and was likely listening to a femme tune like Cavetown, while Asher was knawing on a red pen and staring at his laptop as some webpage struggled to load, despite them having set up Wi-Fi.

"So where even is this impact site?" Asked PJ as she took off her helmet.

"About a half mile to a mile south. Close enough that the lake brats won't find it," Asher said. He was rather tall for a veitamese boy of his age, and had ear piercings too. His eyes were enlarged by two square-framed glasses which were constantly shining light into someone's face.

At the mention of the lake brats, everyone held the same disdainful expression. They were all rich, and entitled. Despite going to the same school, they acted like they were sooo much better. Cain was the only one who didn't think that way. His cousin, Jasmine, lived near the lake. That was one of the reasons his family decided to move - to be close to more family.

"I doubt any of them saw it anyways," Adah said. "It must've been midnight when we saw that."

"Better safe than sorry. I'm taking my bb gun, and you should too," Cain said, bening to climb up the pieces of wood nailed to the tree they wrongfully defined as a "ladder".

"Alright," Adah said. "Let's just keep moving. We don't have all day."

PJ crossed her arms. It's only ten o'clock, genius, she wanted to say, but held it in, not wanting Adah to be offended for the sake of her twin.