[ WP ] Tell me the middle of a sci-fi epic . No beginning or introduction to the setting or characters , nor any context to what 's going on , and no resolution of any kind .

When the aliens had decided on her school as one of forty-five finalists for the'meet and greet' sessions, April was ecstatic beyond belief. Her teacher, Mrs. Parks, had earlier downplayed the expectations of April and her fellow classmates, reminding the students that over fifteen-thousand schools had applied to host the sessions, which would last for two weeks. The initial announcement that the school was a finalist had boosted the students spirits, and when it was noted on the news that there never was mention of how many schools would actually be visited, even the teacher was finding it difficult to contain her enthusiasm. The announcement came on a Friday morning that the aliens had picked the schools that they would visit, and would disclose those picks in a press conference at 2PM. 
 
 And so April found herself on the cold floor of the intermediate school's gym at ten minutes before the announcement watching a projector screen that was displaying a local news feed. Each class was set in two rows of ten to twelve students, and there were twenty-two classes altogether in the school. April's fifth-grade class was one of the two in the back, separated by a makeshift path that went up the middle to the front of the assembly. Parents of the students and some of the local media were in the back of the gym. After a brief announcement by the principal of a few general requests to behave and to be quiet when asked, the students were left to talk, and the speculation among them was running wild. 
 
 “ Will we see them today if the schools picked? ” April wondered aloud to her friend Charity. 
 
 The taller girl shrugged in response, “ Beats me- I Just hope our school gets picked. ” 
 
 “ I know, I'm so excited to find out! ” April agreed. 
 
 “ I think the teachers know already. ” Her other friend, by the name of John, said while pointing in the direction of the gym entrance. 
 
 April looked and saw that at least half of the teachers were talking in a small group. One of them, the vice principal, stepped out of the circle to talk to the cameramen in the back, and after a momentary glare at the parents, the cameramen shut down the cameras and started packing up. The exchange confused April. April turned to look at her mom, who had showed up earlier, and her look was just as confused. She noticed her daughters gaze and smiled back at her though. 
 
 April smiled and waved back. 
 
 The Gym was starting to quiet down and April turned back around when the principal asked for quiet. The feed on the projector showed an outside area in what was apparently in Washington D.C. There were about a hundred reporters gathered in front of a small makeshift stage with two podiums, where a lady who April thought was the first lady was making some introduction. April knew that the first lady was a big advocate of education and apparently the school received several boons from her efforts, but Aprils attention was on the figure behind the taller podium. 
 
 Compared to the humans on the small stage, the alien was at least two heads taller than everyone else on the stage. It was wearing some type of red-metallic suit that completely covered the alien to it's neck. April thought that the figured looked mostly human, if not for it's broad chest. The head was maybe the only give away- it was hairless, with blue-green and purple skin with big eyes that had golden irises. April was observing the alien on the screen so intently that it almost startled her when it began speaking. 
 
 “ Thank you for that introduction. ” it began in a high-pitched and garbled English. The creature massaged it's neck for a moment and nodded to a figure in a blue suit before continuing on in a deep resonant voice in the consortium ’ s diplomatic language. The feed dropped the volume of the Aliens voice as it was overdubbed with the translators. 
 
 “ I would like to thank you all on taking the time... to hear this message regarding the'meet and greets' we are... setting up... ” The translators pauses were sort of annoying to April, but she thought about it for a moment and guessed that translation was not easy work. April returned her attention to the translation in progress. 
 
 “... we had originally decided on visiting three schools, The International School of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, Clarke Intermediate School, Ann- ” 
 
 They had said her school. 
 
 April looked around stunned as realization set in among her fellow students as cheering suddenly set in. Students were all standing and dancing around in place or high-fiving class mates. They were so rambunctious that they failed to hear the surprise news release that all forty-five of the finalist schools would get visits over the course of the year. The cheering was dying down when April's friend moved to get her 
 attention. 
 
 “ Look! ” April noticed John pointing right behind her with a stunned look on his face. She turned around and not ten feet behind her was the first alien she'd ever seen in person. There were five of them in the Gym April noticed, most of whom were currently addressing the parents in the back while the tallest one, with a red suit similar to the one on the projected news feed attempted a closed mouth smile at the students. Two more sets of eyes appeared and April realized that the tall one had two smaller aliens hanging off each arm. 
 
 April waved at one of them and to her surprise the alien recognized the gesture and waved back at her. The tall one noticed and dropped down to let the two'passengers' disembark. April immediately waved the alien over, who she guessed was a child like herself- well an alien child. Whatever the aliens were, they were about the same height as herself. She proceeded to introduce the alien to Charity and John. 
 
 When It talked, April recognized that it spoke in the same high pitch that the tall one on the screen had spoken in momentarily, although it did n't feel it's neck after every sentence like the adult aliens did. 
 
 “ Hi April, Charity, and John. I'm- call me- Bob for now. ” The alien looked at the blue suited one for a moment before continuing. “ The translator says my real name might be confusing because human ears might not perceive the sounds correctly, so uh- ” 
 
 “ Perceive? ” April asked. 
 
 “ To recognize. ” Mrs Parks added in. April looked around for a moment and realized she had an audience. At least fifty students and some parents were listening in. Recognizing the gap, her Teacher continued. “ Even though you might hear something, you might not recognize whats said- maybe because your in a noisy room, or say- because of distractions. In this case, it's because you're used to English sounds. ” 
 
 April nodded in understanding. 
 
 “ What *is* your name? ” April asked anyways. 
 
'Bob' pronounced a bunch of syllables, including what sounded to April like a small fart. 
 
 April looked towards the parents in the back of the gym to gauge their reactions. Her mother was barely suppressing a grin. In her arms was her cellphone and she was apparently recording the exchange. 
 
'Bob' looked away for a moment before continuing. “ The translator says that a human might understand our language if they know- English; for it's grammar style, German, Chinese, Medumba; where the fart sound comes from- ” 
 
 April put her hands up with a grin to stop'Bob'. “ Ok- ok. I think I understand. ” 
 
 “ How old are you? ” John asked suddenly. “ You talk more like my older brother Anthony. ” 
 
 “ twenty-five. ”'Bob' said simply. 
 
 The trio was shocked, not to mention half of those in earshot. 
 
 “ My dad's nearly five-hundred. ”'Bob' Added. Then he looked back at the blue suited alien. April noticed the translators posture had straightened out at this and the aliens helmet was directly at the four of them. 
 
 “ How- Is that right? ” John asked from behind April. 
 
 April looked at the tall one for a moment. She had watched several interviews and Youtube video's discussing the various alien species that had been revealed to humanity. None of them had mentioned anything about age. 
 
 “ But you're *our* height! ” Charity added. 
 
 The tall one had moved next to'Bob' and started talking with him. April noticed that even crouched with a knee on the ground, the tall one was taller than even Charity. The vibrations from the tall one's deep voice could be lightly felt in her chest: It was completely unlike the voices she'd heard on the TV or computer beforehand. 
 
 “ My dad says I can sit here with your class if you want. ”'Bob' said after the tall one got back up and walked to the front of the Gym. 
 
 April grinned widely as she said yes. 
 
 “'Was n't supposed supposed to talk about my age I think. ”'Bob' added before moving on to shake hands and talk with the other students in Aprils class. 
 
 April wondered what was meant by that. She looked around and saw that there were maybe thirty or so alien children in the gym now; at least one for each class apparently. The projector screen in front of the assembly had already been taken down and two aliens, the tall one and the blue suited translator, were preparing to address the assembled group of students, teachers and parents. They were apparently waiting though for the kids to get a chance to introduce each other.'Bob' had apparently completed his introductions to everyone one in Aprils class and had returned to sit down next to her and her two friends. 
 
 The next few weeks might give her a new friend. 
 
 Ninja edit: Tabs
