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I hated my stupid skin and my stupid hair. How would I know if Aaron was “better” than Zach, when no boy had ever looked twice at me that way? It was like I’d gone so long without talking to other kids my age I’d forgotten how. Maybe Mom had been right about me being an outcast.
    “That’s Aaron,” Katie said, pointing at the taller of the two boys I didn’t know. “He’s cute, isn’t he? He’s seventeen and he’s got a car.” She grinned at me like I should know what that meant.
    Aaron wore a Red Sox cap jammed backwards on his head. His ears stuck out from underneath it. An earring hung from one of them, flashing in the sun. I know what Mom would have said about a boy who wore an earring. “Only trash ruins their bodies like that.”
    Worse still, a black tribal tattoo snaked down the length of his back, disappearing into the waistband of his low-slung shorts.
    Katie grinned, staring at me over the top of her sunglasses. “Cute butt, huh?”
    “No!” I stammered.
    “No?”
    “I don’t know, Okay?”
    “What about Callum?” asked Katie. “He’s got a girlfriend already, but she’s kind of a skank.”
    I guessed that Callum was the third boy. His sunburn was almost as bad as mine, and the pooch of his belly hung low underneath the bottom of his stained T-shirt.
    “Um…”
    “Yeah,” said Katie, “he’s not hot or anything, and he doesn’t talk much, but Hanna—that’s the skank—said he’s a lot of fun when you get him in private. She got hickies all over her neck and she told her mom it was eczema. She made her go to the doctor, and they gave Hanna this special eczema cream and everything.” She laughed.
    Aaron glanced over. He was good-looking, even I could see that. My stomach sank as he tossed the ball from hand to hand and started to saunter over.
    “Who’s your friend, Katie?”
    “This is Gracie,” said Katie carelessly.
    “Hi, Gracie,” said Aaron, his eyes still locked on Katie’s.
    He sprawled down in the grass between us, and started fumbling in his pocket, pulling out a packet of smokes. Callum sat down on the other side of Katie, breathing hard from the game.
    Zach plopped down in front of us. He didn’t look too happy about the seating arrangements, but I could tell he was too in awe of the older boys to say anything.
    I felt sorry for him for about three seconds, until he piped up with, “Hey, Gracie, you used to be into all that space shit—what do
you
think is gonna happen?”
    Katie groaned. “Not that again. Can we please talk about something else, guys?” She slipped a cigarette between her lips and cupped her hands around Aaron’s as he lit it for her.
    I tried my hardest not to cough as the smoke drifted over.
    “Want one?” asked Aaron, offering the packet to me. I saw Katie exchange looks with Zach, her ducking her head so I wouldn’t see her hiding her smile.
    “Gracie doesn’t smoke.” She took another drag of her own cigarette. “Her mom won’t let her, will she, Gracie?”
    She was just trying to show off in front of the guys, but it still hurt.
    “So, tell us about these spaceships, Gracie,” said Aaron.
    I shrugged. “Like what?” My voice came out small and strangled sounding.
    “I’m telling you guys,” Zach said, “they’re not aliens. It’s all a conspiracy, right? The government put those ships up there to scare people.”
    Aaron snorted. “Why would they do that?”
    Zach shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what my Dad said. You really think there are little green men in there?”
    We all looked up at the sky. Katie shivered theatrically. “I hate seeing them there every day. It feels like they’re watching all the time.”
    “They’re probably not even real ships,” continued Zach. “Just weather balloons or something, made up to look real.”
    “How could they possibly be weather balloons? How would they get them to stay still?” I blurted out. “And who’d pay for it?”
    “Of course
you
think they’re