Read Online My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons - Free Book Online

trotted upstairs to Lara’s bedroom and was raising my fist to knock when the door flew open. She stood there clutching a gym bag, which I knew contained her Dark Flutter costume.
    â€œLuke, hi. I’m really sorry, but I’m just going out.” She patted the gym bag. “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s
me
.” She smiled. “You know how it is.” She swept past me to the top of the stairs. “Off to the library,” she said in a loud voice for the benefit of her big sister. Cara was below in the hall, smooching with her boyfriend, Matthias the Viking, in front of a coatrack.
    â€œCan it wait a minute?” I said in an urgent whisper. “This is important.”
    She hesitated. “Let me check.” With that, she closed her eyes.
    I knew instantly what was going on: she was communicating telepathically with Zack. I felt a prickle of envy.
    â€œZack says I can have five minutes.”
    â€œThat’s nice of him,” I said tightly. “I didn’t know you’d started doing that together.”
    â€œTelepathic communication? Oh, yes. Why bother with phones or squirrels when you can just think to each other, right?”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œAnd maybe once we’ve discussed your important business,” said Lara with a nervous smile, “I can tell you about mine? I really need to talk to you, Luke. Only you.”
    â€œSure.” I glanced down at the canoodling couple, concerned that they might overhear our conversation. “Perhaps we should continue this in private?” I turned to her bedroom. The door was ajar.
    â€œUh, no, you can’t go in there.” She threw herself between me and the door.
    â€œWhy not?” I squinted past her through the gap. Her room looked remarkably spick-and-span. I had a suspicion that was immediately confirmed by the flash of a bobbed tail. “Are you using woodland creatures to tidy your room?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œLara?”
    â€œOK, OK. So maybe. Please don’t tell Zack. He says using your powers for anything other than heroic acts is a slippery slope to the dark side.”
    I fumed.
He
hadn’t said that;
I
had.
    There was a squeak at our feet. A gray rabbit crouched in the doorway.
    â€œNo, the red top can go in the dresser drawer,” said Lara. The rabbit hopped back into the bedroom. “Now, what was it you had to tell me?”
    I filled her in on my encounter with Christopher Talbot. When I’d finished, she thought for a moment and then said, “You should tell Zack. It sounds important, and I’m sure he’ll be right on it.” She touched my arm. “Luke, I’m glad you came. We really haven’t had a chance to talk in ages. So much has happened.” She paused. “Y’know, it’s funny, but at first when Zorbon gave me my superpower, I was frightened. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be a superhero. But then Zack said something that helped me understand.
Not everyone is meant to make a difference, but for me the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option
. Isn’t that amazing? Your brother is so wise.”
    I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “It was Spider-Man,” I spluttered. “
Spider-Man
said that. Not
Zack
.”
    â€œWell, anyway, Zack was wise to repeat it.” Lara’s eyes shone. “And now I love being Dark Flutter. When I’m older I’m going to be a vet during the day and Dark Flutter the rest of the time. I’ll be able to ask a Labrador where it hurts, show a swan the right exercises for that broken wing. I can’t wait for the rest of my life to begin. Can you?”
    â€œ
Can’t wait,
” I mumbled. To me the thought of growing up was filled with anxieties about school, girls, and melting polar ice caps. Mostly the future felt like a big, scary secret that no one would let me in on. It was all