“Adopt Doug?” Zoe asks with her eyebrows raised. “Good luck convincing Mom and Dad.”

“Why not? They love Doug. And remember what Dad said about me finding someone in the city who’s been stricken by misfortune? Well, here he is!” I put my arm around Doug.

“Here he is?” Doug points to himself.

“Yeah. Here you are.”

We burn through the atmosphere with something we haven’t had since we left for the moon. Hope.

*  *  *

“The floor is HOT!” Doug jumps up and down. Flames shoot up from all four corners of the elevator. Sweat rivers rush down our foreheads. “I don’t think this elevator has a heat shield! WE’RE TOAST!”

A smoke alarm sounds from some unknown location. It beeps and blares, sending shockwaves from my eardrums to my temples. I try to cover my ears, but I can’t reach them because they’re inside the stupid space suit.

“What happens next?” Zoe asks. “Splash down?”

“Let’s hope not,” I say. “Doug has a flight to catch.”

*  *  *

“Flight 623, now boarding.”

Doug and I stood there, staring at each other. “Bro, you better go through security.” Then I pulled him in by the shoulders and whispered, “We’ll get you back here, soon. Just have hope.” I gave him a playful shove toward the security line. I watched as he ran through the queue, toward the security agent near the arch.

She said something to Doug, he shook his head, she gestured him through . . . and he set off the alarm.

As another agent waved him back, I ran over to the side of the security line. “Doug! The rock!”

Doug reached into his pocket and pulled out the little space souvenir. “I’m sorry, sir. I forgot I have this moon rock.” He walked over and put it in a bin on the conveyor. “Could be radioactive. After all, it just burned through the atmosphere.”

“A moon rock, huh?” The man went over and took a look. “That’s nice. My boy collects rocks too. He also has a great imagination. Just burned through the atmosphere,” the man said chuckling and shaking his head. “Okay, let’s try this again.” The man escorted Doug back through the security arch. This time there were no alarms. Doug ran over to the conveyor and retrieved his backpack and his space rock. He held it up. “See you soon, bro!”

Yeah, Doug. Maybe soon you’ll be my real brother.

Chapter 21
#FAILZ

School the next day was the worst. I was late, because it took longer to feed Flames without Doug. And the “Homeroom Greeter,” Wiley Overton, in the first chair next to the door, was not a welcoming sight.

“Where’s your pal Doug?” Wiley asked, rubbing his fist with his hand.

I pulled my old backpack off my shoulders. “He moved.”

Wiley laughed. “Still scared of me, huh?”

“NO. He’s NOT scared of you.” I breathed in deep and blew it out.