My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord Read Online Free PDF

costume. Don’t ask. But that wasn’t your worst telepathic abuse, oh no. That would be when you used it to ask for answers during a math test.”
    Typical that my goody-goody brother would be wound up most by that.
    He stomped to the door, muttering, “I’m the world’s greatest superhero, and he uses me like a takeout menu and a
calculator
.”
    â€œZack, I’m sorry. Don’t go. I think some sort of electromagnetic pulse weapon brought down those airplanes.”
    He raised one dubious eyebrow. “So tell me, this electro-magenta laser gun thingy—does it by any chance belong to your gym teacher?”
    Ah.
“You heard about that then.”
    â€œUm, yeah. The whole school heard. You’re a laughingstock, Luke.”
    â€œBut I was so sure Miss Dunham was evil,” I complained. “All the evidence said so.”
    He thumbed at the photo on my screen. “And don’t tell me—all the evidence here screams big bad supervillain.”
    It did. “No army, navy, or air force in the world has an electromagnetic pulse weapon capable of bringing down airplanes,” I explained. “What’s more, this one is airborne and, if the lack of reports is anything to go by, invisible to radar. It
has
to come from a technologically superior mind. If there isn’t a supervillain behind this, I’ll eat my limited-edition Crimson Avenger fedora.”
    Zack relented with a sigh. “OK, so show me this mysterious, flying, invisible gun then.”
    â€œThere. That flash of light.”
    He leaned in, squinting at the screen. “You’re kidding me, right? That’s nothing. It’s a light from another plane or a smudge on the camera lens, that’s all.”
    â€œSo why did those planes fall out of the sky?”
    â€œHow should I know? I can fly, but that doesn’t make me an expert on airplane engineering. And you aren’t one either. Just because you don’t understand what happened doesn’t mean you can jump to ridiculous conclusions.” He shook his head sadly. “You can’t go through life seeing supervillains everywhere.”
    There was no point trying to persuade him. After all, he wasn’t the only superhero in the world anymore. Tomorrow I’d fill Lara in on my suspicions—even if I had to do it over veggie lasagna.
    Mom called us in for dinner. The four of us ate in the kitchen together as usual. Zack might have been the one with superpowered senses, but as soon as I took my seat, I could tell that something was wrong. A cloud hung over the table, and it wasn’t coming from the steamed rice. I didn’t have to wait long to learn the bad news.
    Dad had lost his job with the insurance company.
    â€œDid they fire you because you disobeyed orders and went rogue?” I asked.
    â€œUnfortunately not, Luke,” he said, picking at his food with a fork. “Nothing as exciting as that. With all the money the company has had to pay out because of Nemesis, they’re having to cut back.”
    Zack sat up. “But that’s not fair,” he said. “Nemesis was, what do you call it, an ‘act of god’?”
    â€œYou’re right,” said Dad. “But all those chunks of asteroid that broke off when Star Guy stopped Nemesis—well, they were an act of man, albeit a superhuman one, and they smashed houses and cars. Those were claims.”
    I looked over at my brother. He was clenching his fists so tightly they’d turned white.
    â€œI’m just a victim of downsizing,” said Dad. He lifted his fork. “Which, before you ask, yes, is
exactly
like a shrink ray.” He gave a short laugh. Mom laid her hand on his.
    I knew that downsizing was nothing like a shrink ray. Shrink rays were expensive and complicated, and the idea that an insurance company would use one to fire people was ridiculous. The electricity bill alone would make it uneconomic.