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one of them had something equally as strange about them. Mr. Fletcher was always doing weird experiments for his eighth graders that the students generally described as making potions. Ms. Miller always made a soft clicking sound whenever she was thinking hard on something like a robot, and Mrs. Remick was more than the strictest, most stern principal ever. She wore a big green ring on her right hand with a golden letter inside it that was like no letter Helen had ever seen, and when kids came to her to be disciplined, Mrs. Remick held her fingers laced together with her elbows perched on the edge of her desk so that the ring pointed towards the student. It was a mind control device. Helen was as sure of that as she was sure that she had five toes on each foot.

It was very possible that only one of her suspects was actually an alien, and Helen would judge that for herself, but the one thing that made it absolutely certain that at least one of them was an alien was the discovery she had made while on her way back from the bathroom in social studies class. Something small and silver had caught her eye as she made her way though the empty hall. Stopping to pick it up, Helen discovered the object to be perfectly round and smooth like the river rocks her Mother had used in her landscaping this summer. It must have sensed the warmth of her hands, because it began to vibrate and hum, and then a projection popped up from it like a hologram from the movies! Helen buried the thing in her pocket when it started making noise in a language she didn't recognize and ran the rest of the way to the bathroom. It hadn't made a single sound since, much to Helen's relief because she was certain she should not have it.

Helen was not entirely sure how to prove that someone was an alien, but she would start by figuring out who the silver device belonged to and perhaps with an examination of Mrs. Leeming.

She slung her book bag over her shoulder and approached her teacher's desk once more. "Mrs. Leeming, what's your favorite star?"

Her teacher raised pale blue eyes from the test she was grading. "I don't have a favorite star."

"Oh." Helen tried not to let the disappointment show on her face. "Have you ever lost something really important to you before?"

"Yes."

"Was it something you wanted to keep secret?"

Mrs. Leeming sighed and set her red pen aside, clicking it shut. "Have you lost something, Helen? You can tell me what it is, even if you want to keep it a secret. I'll not tell

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