Amos and the Alien Read Online Free

the right.He tried a run up the middle. He even tried running the other way, but they kept coming.
    He was backed into a corner, and number fifty-five was coming straight for him. Amos closed his eyes and waited for death.
    It didn’t come. He opened his eyes. Number fifty-five was lying on the ground in front of him.
    Amos stepped over him and ran.
    Dunc couldn’t believe it. It looked as if number fifty-five had run into Amos and been knocked cold. In fact, every time anybody got close to Amos, they wound up on the ground.
    Amos was getting tired. He looked back. No one was chasing him anymore, and there were bodies lying behind him everywhere. At half speed he ran across the goal line.
    The people on the sidelines went wild. “Bin-der, Bin-der!”
    Coach ran out onto the field and hugged him. “I didn’t know you had it in you, boy! Why didn’t you tell me? From now on, you’re it! My star quarterback.”
    The team lifted him up on their shoulders and carried him to the field house.
    Dunc watched and rubbed his chin. “Hmmm.”

• 9
    Amos upshifted his bike to get more speed coming out of the dip. He yelled back to Dunc over his shoulder, “Why can’t you just admit it? You were wrong. I was
born
to play football! I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered me a scholarship to one of those preppie football colleges like Yale or Radcliffe.”
    Dunc pedaled down the sidewalk behind him. “Radcliffe is a women’s college.”
    “Then they probably need football players, don’t they?”
    “Amos, don’t you think it’s strange that none of those guys from the other team could even get near you?”
    “When you’re good, you’re good.”
    Dunc pedaled up level with him. “How do you explain the fact that yesterday you were worse than terrible, and today you’re a hero?”
    “Everybody has their days. I just wish Melissa had stayed to see it, instead of leaving when Biff was taken out of the game.” He shrugged. “Oh, well. There’s always tomorrow.”
    Dunc stopped at the bike rack in front of the Pioneer Mall. He checked the change in his pocket. “I only have enough for a couple of games at the arcade. How about you?”
    “I thought you were buying.”
    Dunc locked his bike. “Come on, we’ll play a couple and then go see if we can find Girrk. Maybe he’s got his ship fixed.”
    The video arcade was crowded. Since it was Saturday, most of the kids from school were there. Amos put a quarter in his favorite game—Galactic Invaders. He quickly made it through the first level, then the second. By the seventh level, people were starting to move around behind him and watch.
    When he made it to the tenth level, people began cheering. Dunc elbowed his waythrough the crowd. “Amos, you’ve almost saved the universe. You’ve never made it this high before.”
    “I’m on a roll, Dunc! Stand back.” Amos fired at one of the invading spaceships. The shot went high, but the ship fell anyway.
    “Amos.”
    “Not now, Dunc. I’ve got to rescue the princess.”
    Dunc reached over and pushed one of the firing buttons. The shot went wild, but two enemy ships fell out of the sky.
    Dunc looked around. He put his hand out and felt in the air. With one hand in front of him, he moved around the room. At the back of the room he stopped.
    His hand touched something smooth.
    “Girrk?”
    A soft giggle came from the corner.
    “Girrk, are you helping Amos play that game?”
    Another giggle.
    “You can’t do that. Amos thinks he’s winning by himself. How’s he going to feel when he finds out you did it?”
    Dunc thought he heard a sniffle. “It’sokay, Girrk. Go sit on that bench over there. I’ll get Amos and be right back.”
    Suddenly the arcade went black. The lights went out, and all the games whined to a stop.
    Amos bumped into Dunc. “There you are. You should have stayed. I was unstoppable. I made the highest score ever recorded for that wimpy game. I would have beaten it if the power hadn’t gone