License to Thrill by Dan Gutman

may have to get a publicist to fend off all the requests for interviews.”
    Pep pondered her potential celebrity as they made their way through the woods. She had mixed feelings about the whole thing. It could be cool to be a little famous. But she didn’t want to be pestered by paparazzi or have everything she did reported in the tabloids.
    The light in the distance was closer now. It looked like a neon sign. The twins couldn’t make out the letters yet.
    â€œDo you think there will be TV cameras?” Pep asked her brother. “How does my hair look? If we’re going to be on TV, I want to look good.”
    â€œYou look fine,” Coke said dismissively.
    Soon, they came to a clearing at the edge of the woods. They could see the back of a building.
    â€œLook!” Coke said, pointing at the ping-pong table where they had been playing when the spaceship arrived.
    â€œThey brought us back to the exact same spot!” Pep shouted. “I can’t wait to see the looks on Mom and Dad’s faces when they see us.”
    â€œI’m sure Mom and Dad aren’t here anymore,” Coke replied. “They’re probably back home in California by now.”
    The twins passed the ping-pong table and walked around to the front of the motel. There was a man at the ice machine scooping ice cubes into a plastic bucket. When he turned around, they could tell it was their father.
    â€œI thought you kids went to bed,” Dr. McDonald said matter-of-factly. “It’s late. What are you still doing up?”
    â€œDad!” Coke and Pep shouted, wrapping their arms around him tightly. “We love you so much!”
    Dr. McDonald was taken aback by this sudden show of affection from his children, but he wasn’t about to complain. The emotions displayed by teenagers always seem to be on a roller coaster.
    â€œI’ll never do a bad thing ever again,” Pep said, refusing to let go of her father. “I’ll never complain or criticize you or roll my eyes when you say something stupid.”
    â€œUh, okay. Good,” said Dr. McDonald.
    â€œWhere’s the media?” asked Coke. “Did the camera crews go home? I want to make a statement to the press.”
    â€œCamera crews? Media? Press?” asked Dr. McDonald. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œDidn’t the police come?” asked Coke. “Didn’t you file a missing persons report on us?”
    â€œMissing persons report?” said Dr. McDonald. “You said you were going to play a little ping-pong a couple of hours ago. I assumed that’s what you’ve been doing.”
    â€œA couple of hours ago?” asked Pep.
    â€œWe did play ping-pong,” Coke explained quickly. “But then we heard a noise and it was an alien spaceship and we went to check it out and we got sucked up into the spaceship and then it took off and the aliens were really ugly and we went to the moon and they made us pick up Alan Shepard’s golf balls and then they brought us back. And here we are!”
    Dr. McDonald looked at Coke for a moment. Then he burst out laughing.
    â€œHow do you come up with this stuff?” he asked, doubling over. “I wish I had such a vivid imagination!”
    At that moment, one of the motel room doors opened and Mrs. McDonald came out.
    â€œBen, where’s that ice you went to get?” she shouted.
    â€œMommy!” the twins hollered, running over to her. “We love you!”
    Mrs. McDonald looked at her husband quizzically as Coke and Pep wrapped their arms around her. He just rolled his eyes and said one word—“Kids!”
    â€œWhat happened to your shirt?” Mrs. McDonald asked Coke, poking her finger through the hole. “Howdo you rip a shirt playing ping-pong ? Why can’t you keep your clothes nice for a change? These things are expensive, you know.”
    â€œHe must have ripped it while he was picking up golf