Chapter 1: Unpleasant Announcements

"Dude!" Julio screamed out as he crossed the open courtyard and headed to the table I had claimed to eat lunch. My friend had a huge smile on his face as he approached. "Did you hear about the announcement the President made last night?"

I pretended I had not heard him and continued to pull items from the insulated pack my mother provided to hold my lunch. She had included some leftover fried chicken in it, and I set the container down as I removed the bottle of half-melted ice that had been keeping it cold.

"Dude!" another voice called out just behind my left shoulder. I could feel someone step over the bench and sit down next to me. "Is that your mother's fried chicken?"

"No," I said sarcastically as I pulled out the bag of grapes that finished off the meal. "It's fried pet rat that my sister, Matti, made." I looked to my left and could see Jason sitting down. He was shaking his head, making his shoulder-length blonde hair flare out from side to side.

"Dude, that was not funny," he said. "You know I think your mother is the best cook."

I sighed. "Sorry, it hasn't exactly been a good day so far for me."

"Why?" Jason asked.

Julio slapped a tray down on the table as he began to sit across from us. "Guys! Are you not listening? Didn't you hear about the announcement made last night?"

"The one about the strange alien race coming to Earth with the plans of stripping it of all living things?" I asked. "No, I don't think we heard about that. It has only been the topic discussed in every class. But you missed class all morning."

Julio snorted. "Mother wouldn't let me out of her sight until after she went and got tested. She wanted to tell me all about the testing."

"Dude!" Jason said slowly. "What is it like?"

Julio frowned. I noticed several others had snuck up behind him and we're listening in. "She couldn't really say. At the testing center they took her into a room through a door. Two hours later she returned to the waiting room through a different door. All she told me was that she was asked a lot of questions."

"That's not really useful," Walter called out as he joined us at the table.

"Seems to be built into the test," I observed. "I've heard of a lot of people who have taken the CAP testing, and no one I have talked to about it says much more. It's almost as if you forget it the instant it's over."

"And now testing is mandatory," Jason said. "At least if you are fourteen it is. Julio, I'm surprised your mother didn't send you through."

"She wants me to take some kind of weekend refresher course she's heard about. Supposedly, it can improve your score by a full point," Julio replied as he picked a sandwich up. "She only scored a five point one and is desperate that her children have higher scores."

Walter was lowering his own sandwich from his mouth. I took advantage of the silence to take a bite from my fried chicken and look around the courtyard. Unlike most days when there would be a lot of loud talking, today everyone huddled in groups, and the conversations appeared to be quite serious.

"Mark! Hey Mark!" Walter was shouting. "Stop daydreaming and get with the conversation."

"Sorry," I replied. "I have a lot on my mind."

"So did you hear the announcement?" he asked.

"Who didn't?" I asked in return.

"What do you think about it? Haven't you already tested?" Walter asked.

"Nope," I said just before I took another bite from the fried chicken. I chewed slowly.

"God, I hate the fact that I have to wait to be tested," Jason said. "Why did I have to be born in June? The school year will be over before all the girls learn about the great score I have."

"One point zero will hardly be a great score," Walter replied calmly. "Well, it will be for the groups like Jessica and her little flock of worker bees."

"I think that would be swarm," I replied as I finished eating another bite of my chicken. "And I'm sure Jessica will hate being compared to a bee. She's allergic to their stings."

"Tough," Walter said acidly. "That blonde bimbo struts around the school showing off all the money her father makes. As far as I'm concerned she can kiss my ass once I come back with a score that will allow me to head to the stars. She'll have to if she wants me to take her."

I looked over at Jessica. As usual, her table in the courtyard had the best combination of sun and shade. Today, Jessica was wearing tight fitting jeans and a simple blue blouse. She was surrounded by eight or nine girls who were in eighth grade with us, as well as a few hopeful jocks who were trying to get dates with her or her retinue.

"I'm sure she's waiting with baited breath for that moment," I said.

"I wonder what her CAP score is," Julio muttered.

"I only know of two members of our class who have tested. Billy Shields, and Roger Berkey both tested last year and both scored in the mid-fours. They were rather upset about it, remember?"

"Did that happen the week after Halloween? Cause I remember a week where they kept trying to stuff just about anyone into lockers," Jason asked.

"That would be the week," I said. "I understand Billy made a pass at one of the cheerleaders from Central High, and she told him that if he got a six on his CAP she'd date him, but if he didn't, he could never ask another Central cheerleader out."

"But we're all going to be freshmen at Central next year, and those two promise to be star linebackers for the football team. You mean to say that they can't date a cheerleader?" Walter asked.

"That's how I understood it," I said. "It was a bet, and I've heard all of the cheerleaders at Central have already been informed about Billy's failure. It's not going to be easy to live with him next year."

"Damn," Julio said. "What about you? Your birthday is back in February. Haven't you tested yet?"

"When it was all about that silly dating show, I hadn't considered it," I replied. "I'll admit some of the high CAP guys they got on Average Joes were surprising, but you know how my mother is when it comes to dating."

"God!" Jason said. "Yeah, I remember last Saturday at your house when Mike came home just ten minutes late from his afternoon date. Your mother screamed at him for three hours."

"His date heard it all too," I said. "Mom forgot that Jasmine recently got her driver's license and wanted to drive to show Mike off. She was sitting in her car in the driveway while Mike was getting screamed at."

"How is that bad?' Walter asked.

"Think about it," Jason said. "I bet that Jasmine hasn't talked to Mike since. Who wants to date someone who has crazy parents? Oh, sorry Mark."

"For what?" I asked. "You told the truth. My parents are a bit crazy. That's why Mom has the four five and Dad the three nine for CAP scores. It's not like I can pretend they are great people."

"Three nine!" Julio squeaked. "My god! What's wrong with him?"

"Everything," I said with a sigh. "Officially he works for the city government as a foreman of the road repair crews, but the reality is he's some kind of union political thug. He's only loyal to that group because of the perks, but I've seen him betray them a few times when he realized he could snag a big payday and not get caught."

"Damn," Julio said. "What was his reaction of the president's announcement?"

"You don't want to know," I replied.

I closed my eye and visualized the previous evening. My father had received a phone call about ten minutes before the press conference. I had not listened in, but the voice on the other side was screaming so loud I could hear the distorted voice through two closed doors. The only thing I was sure of was that the voice ordered my father to watch the press conference and "start planning a political response".

I am positive my father still has no idea what kind of response he should plan. He first ordered Mom, Mike, Matilda, and me to sit with him to watch the press conference. Mike had already planned to watch it, but was going to stay in his room. Instead he came down to the living room with the rest of us. We scattered on the various couches while Father enthroned himself in his favorite lounger and pointed the remote at the television.

Father was making crude remarks when the newscast started. He hates most of the anchors on these shows and demonstrates his contempt by mocking them from the safety of his throne. Matilda was trying to ignore the whole situation by working on some of her sixth grade homework. I actually tried to follow the discussion on the set. It was clear that the anchors knew what was to be announced, but had been instructed to allow the President to break the story. So they offered up a few brief discussions on mundane things for about ten minutes.

Five minutes later my father was staring at a black screen. He had powered down the television, but remained in his chair. Mike had run upstairs the instant the explanation about CAP scores and who could volunteer had come out. I had sat in shock through the opening lines and was surprised when father abruptly turned the set off.