Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Alien Invasion
Gratuity might tell us it all starts with an essay assignment, but really, it begins with aliens—if the Boov hadn't invaded, there wouldn't be an essay to write in the first place. When they get to earth, everyone goes crazy (not that we blame them), but despite aliens taking her mom up in a spaceship and then forcing her to move to Florida, Gratuity takes most of it in stride and keeps moving forward. She wants to get to Florida all on her own, which is why she gasses up the car, grabs her cat Pig, and heads out on Moving Day. With so much uncertainty, the stage is set.
Rising Action
Boov Buddy
When Gratuity runs into a Boov on the road, she doesn't want to trust him, especially when he threatens to shoot her with his eye lasers. It's not long before the Boov—a.k.a. J.Lo—fixes her car and hitches a ride with her to Florida. When they get there, though, the Boov reroute them to Arizona. Ugh.
J.Lo and Gratuity run into a lot of problems on the road, but they start to get to know each other better along the way. They teach each other about life on a different planet, swap a few language lessons, and even become friends (which is a huge complication for Gratuity who wants to hate all things Boov since they took her mom).
Climax
Gorg are Hogs
On their way to Arizona, J.Lo and Gratuity stop in Roswell to check out the UFO and spaceship stuff from another invasion. They're not believers, but when they see some creatures called koobish who are out of this world (really), they know the peeps from Roswell are telling the truth—aliens did land there. They also find the Boov's special teleclone machine that can duplicate anything (except for a human or a Boov).
During their travels, they run into the nasty Gorg, who are now fighting the Boov for planet earth. Gorg are over eight feet tall and are happy to punch you anytime, anywhere. Luckily, Gratuity and J.Lo manage to escape them and head to Arizona before it's too late. This is our turning point because it's when our favorite alien and human duo figure out how to defeat the Gorg—with the teleclone.
Falling Action
Pig to the Rescue
Down in Arizona, Gratuity finds her mom and learns about the Boov's plan to leave earth. Don't go getting too excited yet, though, because the Gorg plan to kill off the humans and keep everything for themselves. Even though no one believes them that the Gorg are up to no good, once Gratuity and J.Lo realize the Gorg are allergic to cats, they use the teleclone to copy Pig. No amount of Benadryl can help the Gorg now, so they beat it, and the Boov leave, too. Finally, things are getting back to normal here on earth.
Resolution
A Quiet Life With an Alien
It's not until the Gorg are defeated and the Boov have gone home that things are resolved. For Gratuity, there's one big question left: Will J.Lo stay or will he go? Eventually J.Lo decides to stick around. Sure, his people aren't exactly welcome on earth, but he feels like Gratuity is his family now, and he doesn't want to ditch her; besides, he doesn't even have a family back at home. Gratuity, her mom, Pig the cat, and J.Lo all move out to a lake and live a quiet life, away from the public eye. Hey, when you've saved the world, you deserve a little peace.