Read Online The Alien by K. A. Applegate - Free Book Online

handsome every time I see you, Jake.” She wrapped her two arms around me and squeezed me briefly. Then she released me. “Are you staying for some of the Chili of Doom?”
    â€œYes, I asked him to join us,” Cassie said. “But he’s not very hungry. In fact, he just ate. So he probably won’t want any chili.”
    Cassie’s mother smiled at Cassie’s father. “Isn’t it just precious the way she tries to protect him?”
    â€œToo late,” Cassie’s father said. “He’s trapped now. There is no escape.”
    In order to eat we had to sit down in front of a table. I had done this before while impersonating Prince Jake at Prince Jake’s home. So I knew how to do it. I knew what a fork was. Also a spoon and a knife.
    I discovered that chili is brown and red. It contains several ingredients and smells a lot. There was also something called jalapeño corn bread. And there was a bowl of pieces of different fruits.
    After so many warnings, I was very nervous about tasting the chili. But I sensed that Cassie’s father would be offended if I did not try some. So I ate a spoonful.
    I think that as long as I live, I will never forget that experience.
    The chili was hot in temperature. But it was also hot in a totally new way.
    The taste buds of my human tongue seemed to explode! They burned with an intensity of flavor like nothing I’d tasted before or since. Every nerve in my body seemed to tingle. Water dribbled from the tiny ducts beside my eyes.
    It was not as wonderful as chocolate. But it was intense! So incredibly intense!
    Oh! An Andalite would never understand. This was what being human was all about. Taste! The glory of it. The incredible wonder of it.
    â€œThis is a wonderful food!” I cried.
    â€œExcuse me?” Cassie’s mother said.
    â€œAh HAH! At last. Someone who understands the joy of hot food!” Cassie’s father cried.
    I realized I had eaten my entire bowl of that marvelous chili. I wanted more. That taste! That feeling! I wanted more!
    â€œThere’s plenty more,” Cassie’s father said. He filled my bowl again.
    â€œUm, Jake?” Cassie said. “You really don’t have to eat that much.”
    â€œI’ll eat yours!” I cried.
    My eyes were bulging from my head. My skin was tingling. My stomach was making sounds. But still, I wanted more.
    â€œI love this kid,” Cassie’s father said. “I wonder if his parents would let us adopt him. Jake, you are a very discerning, intelligent young man.”
    â€œHe’s insane,” Cassie’s mother said. “There’s no other explanation.”
    Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I suspected that Cassie had kicked me under the table. I looked at her. She smiled sweetly, and then kicked me again.
    â€œThat’s probably enough chili,” she said. She was staring at me in a very direct way.
    â€œYes. That is enough chili,” I agreed. I pushed the bowl away. “Chili. Illi. Chee-lee.”
    â€œI used habanero chilies,” Cassie’s father said. “The hottest substance known to man.”
    â€œNot as hot as the temperature created during nuclear fusion,” I pointed out.
    â€œSo how is school, Jake?” Cassie’s mother asked.
    I knew what this activity was. This was called “making conversation.” The rules were that each person would ask the other person a question.
    â€œIt is fine. And how is your work caring for animals?”
    â€œSame old, same old,” Cassie’s mother said. “Although we are about to have some new camel babies.”
    Cassie’s mother is a veterinarian at the zoo, a place where nonhuman animals are kept.
    â€œSo, Jake, you think the Bulls are going all the way again this year?” Cassie’s father asked.
    I could tell that Cassie was growing tense. She was afraid that I would not understand the question. But thanks to