“Mars,” Earnest said, pacing at the front of the class, imagining himself as a professional orator with a doctorate in planets and three best-selling non-fiction books about space. “Mars…”

Earnest stared into the audience at his classmates. He saw Pete. He saw Pete’s myriad of temporary tattoos dancing across Pete’s arms and legs. He blinked and shook his head. He figured it was just another one of his hallucinations.

Earnest frequently saw things that weren’t there and always at the worst times, always at times when he needed to be focused and to pay attention, times like now.

“Mars…” Earnest said again.

At the end of class, Earnest went to talk to his teacher. “Can I please have another chance? I just couldn’t focus today. I just kept staring at Pete’s temporary tattoos. They were just extra distracting today. But I know I’ll do better tomorrow…”

Later that day, when Earnest was washing his hands in the bathroom, he saw Pete walk up behind him.

Pete went to another sink, turned on the water, and washed his hands.

“So my tattoos were too distracting for you, huh?” Pete asked.

“It’s not really your fault,” Earnest said. “I just get these hallucinations. The tattoos were jumping and dancing all around your skin, and that was very distracting.”

Earnest grabbed a paper towel to dry his hands.

“Or,” Pete said, “what you saw is real, and I’m actually an alien from Mars.”

Earnest looked at Pete. He blinked at him. “Does that mean I’m an alien from Mars too? Is that why I could see the tattoos moving?”

“No,” said Pete. “You are incredibly human.”

When Earnest was riding home from school that day, he thought about telling his mom about Pete.

He thought about saying, “Mom, I have a friend named Pete at school and he’s actually an alien from Mars.”

Earnest decided not to say that. He couldn’t imagine himself ever telling anybody about Pete.