Alien Romance: Interview with an Alien (Football Paranormal Invasion Abduction Alpha Sci-fi Romance) (Fantasy First New Adult Contact Science Fiction Mystery Sports Alien Short Stories) (46 page)

“I’m good, thank you for asking,” Simone smiled.

“So, are we ready to go?” Aaron asked the Coach. “Where’s the rest of the team at?”

“That’s what we want to know,” Coach said.

              Minutes passed and most of the team members came back. After about an hour, the driver got restless. The driver called the Coach over and they started talking.

              “Okay so here is what is going to happen. I’m going to wait out here for the remaining players and the rest of us are going to stay in our rooms,” Coach told us. “I am going to give the rest of the guys the rest of the night to come on. After that, they might have to find another way to get back to campus.”

“Oh, so does that mean we have the night to ourselves?” Aaron had that devilish smile and the Coach looked worried. Even he had gotten to know Aaron’s motives by now.

“No,” he said flat out. “All of you to your rooms.” Coach walked away.

              As soon as the Coach was not in listening reach Aaron shook his head.

“Man, fuck that. I think we should go out.”

“Out where?” Simone questioned. “I don’t really know this place like that.”

“Me neither,” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Damn, well can we at least get something to eat because I’m starving,” Aaron commented.

              We all decided to go to a diner that wasn’t so far from the hotel. The whole walk over, Simone and I held hands while listening to Aaron go on and on about the girls that he was with.

“And then there is Sheila,” He sighed.

“What is it about Sheila?” I laced my fingers with hers. She gave me a small smile

“What’s not to love about Sheila? She got an ass like a Kardashian, a cool ass personality, and a smile like a goddess. She is perfect.”

“So, you’re going to date her?” Simone asked.

“Why would I do that?” Aaron said in a quizzical tone.

“Because of all that you just said. She sounds like a great girl.”

“She is. She’s great. She’s gorgeous and she’s so nice, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to date her.”

“And why not?”

“But why would I? Look, I’m young and good looking and have the right to fuck a million bitches if I could.”

“Oh gosh,” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re a typical basketball player. You think the world is yours.”

“But the world is mine...just like it said in the movie ‘Scarface’.”

              We all laughed. We got to the diner. I ordered a huge lasagna, ice cream, and a slice of pizza. Aaron ordered a half chicken, brown rice, and a salad. Finally, Simone ordered a small steak with a salad. We were having a great time. It was nice to see that Simone and Aaron got along so well. Aaron kept going on and on about all the girls he was with and Simone rolled her eyes. It was like she was the missing piece of this group.

              “So, what happens now? Now that you guys are in the playoffs, what is going to happen?” Simone asked as she was taking another bite of the steak.

“It’s going to be crazy now. Now we have to keep our head in the game. It’s so hard to stay focused through.” Aaron admitted.

“Why?” Both of us said.

“Because my nineteenth birthday is coming up.”

“But that’s about months and months away from now,” I pointed out.

“So? I can’t get it off of my mind. It’s all I can think about.”

“You’re so crazy,” Simone said.

“What do we have here?” A voice said behind us.

              We all looked towards the entrance and I heard Simone suck her teeth. She rolled her eyes. I guess she knew what was coming. We all knew. It was about to be some bullshit.

              There at the door was the disgruntled fan that we saw from earlier. He was with some friends and they all were wearing the rival team’s stuff.

“Can we sit down here?” He asked coming up to our booth. Simone was sitting on the inside, and Aaron and I were sitting on the outside. They couldn’t get in without touching us at least.

“Fuck no,” Aaron told them flat out. “The fuck do you want?” Aaron played no games.

“Be easy fellas,” He laughed. “What’s with this guy?” He asked one of his friends.

“I don’t know, these guys have an attitude problem,” the friend added.

“We don’t have an attitude problem, but we got a bitch problem. So how about you two bitches leave.”

“And if we don’t?”

              The tension got thick. I felt Aaron’s anger from here.

“Yo, it’s not worth it,” I told Aaron. We locked eyes and I was trying to tell him to calm down. I know how our tempers could get. “We got to be getting back anyway.”

“Yeah, let’s just all take a second and relax,” Simone added.

“Oh, now the big fat whale has something to say?” The disgruntled fan said.

              When he said that I looked over at Simone. She was hurt by his words but she was trying not to show it. That’s when I felt myself get hot. I stood up, rolled my hand into a fist, and everything blacked out.

CONTINUE TO PART THREE

Another bonus story is on the next page.

Bonus Story 14 of 24

             
Madison Square Garden was enormous. I’ve always seen it on TV, but I never thought that I would be playing there, at least not this soon. I got drafted right after finals. Coach was so proud of me and my family was happy too. With the money I made, I managed to make their lives a little better.

              I walked out of the locker room and the screams and cheers from the fans were the loudest I ever heard it. I’ve played basketball my whole life, but this was something new to me. My dreams had come true. I was in a professional team playing my first professional game.

              "Hey." Simone's voice always made me smile. I turned around and saw her standing there being angelic. "You know, maybe I should make a career standing outside of your locker room." She joked. I gave her a kiss and held her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good." I lied but she gave me a look to let me know that she didn't believe me. "I'm nervous."

"Don't be." She assured me. "You got this." She smiled.             

"How about you?"

"What about me?" She didn't get it. I took her hand and kissed the ring that was on her finger.

"How are you feeling Mrs. Benjamin Wood?"

              Her smile grew wide. She started looking away. We'd only been married for a few months now. Right after I got drafted, I just wanted to have someone by my side that always had my best intentions at heart. I trust Simone and I know that she would never do me wrong or hurt me. We loved each other too much.

              "I'm good." She told me. "Now go out there and win that game."

"But babe, I'm still on the bench."

"So what? Just go out there and look good." She joked.

              Just then my other teammates came running out. Aaron ran past me and grabbed my arm. We were lucky to be on the same team. I guess they didn't want to break us up just yet.

"If you don't get your ass on." He complained. "Bye, Simone." She waved goodbye to us and he dragged me out by the entrance. They were announcing the players to the audience.

"Are you nervous?" I asked Aaron and he shook his head 'no', but then he nodded. "Me too."

"Benjamin Wood!” The announcer called out and I ran out there with all the energy that I had.

*****

             
“I don’t get it.” My coach was pacing back and forth in the hall. I saw him from the windows from where I was sitting. He was pissed. It was clear by his actions. Every now and then, he would just yell out into the air. He was stomping now. I was so afraid that he would see me looking at him. I know I was going to get the speech of a lifetime, and I deserved it. I let myself get carried away. I should have kept my cool, but now I could possibly lose it all.

              "You're free to go." The officer told me with a nudge. I looked at him. I wanted to say something mean to him, just to blow off some steam, but that would be dumb. The last thing I needed to do was to get into more trouble.

"I know that," I replied slowly. "I'm just trying to buy some time before I go out there." I looked towards my coach.

"But he should be happy. There are no charges being pressed against you. The footage clearly shows who started the fight."

"Yeah but he's not going to care. I know the University is not going to care either. They have a zero tolerance for physical violence. I can either be suspended from the team or expelled from the school. It doesn't look good either way."

"Even if it shows that it was self-defense?"

"I'm not sure," I confessed. "But I guess there is only one way to find out."

"I don't think it’ll be that bad." He shrugged his shoulders. "As soon as everyone sees that not only have the charges have been dropped but you were held and not arrested, this will all blow over.

              I hoped that he was right, but when I opened the door, the cruel look from my coach said it all. It wasn't going to blow over. If anything, this whole thing was over. I could kiss basketball goodbye, forget about the University, and give up my dreams of being in the NBA. I might as well start packing for home.

"So how long are you suspended from the team?" Aaron asked as he saw me gather my things out of my locker.

" Coach said he will let me know."

"I don't get it. You're not being charged by the police and the University said it's not a problem, what's up?"

"I think Coach is pissed at me because he told us time and time again to not get into trouble."

"But those guys were asking to get hit. They started the whole thing."

"I know but you know how Coach is."

"But...." Aaron drifted off.

"What is it?"

"The playoffs."

              My team had finally made it to playoffs. And we all know what that meant: scouts. We were finally at a place where any one of us could be scouted into the NBA, and I wasn't playing. My heart sank even more. I didn't even answer Aaron. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, no words would come out, just sobs. He got the hint and walked back to the gym. The rest of the team was practicing and I was packing up, not knowing when I would be allowed to get back into the game.

              "Hey, All-Star." Simone's sweet voice melted all my stress. She was the one good thing that kept me going. Her curves, her smile, and her optimism was what I really needed right now. As much as I wanted to get back into the game, at least for now I had Simone.

"I'm not that."

"Not yet." She perked me up. "It's only going to be a matter of time before they realize what a mistake they made by letting you go."

"It's only for a little while. They are not letting me go."

"I don't care if it's for two minutes, they are being so stupid." She grabbed my chin. "You are the best player out there, you got it?"

              That's when I kissed her. I just grabbed her by the back of the head and locked lips with her. She was stunned at first, but I could feel her body ease up and warm up to me. I wanted her so badly, but this wasn't the right place for that. I wanted her to myself.

"What are you doing right now?" I asked her as I started to kiss on her neck. I inhaled that sweet, exotic perfume she had on. It caused me to be even more into her.

"I have to get started on my website." She barely whispered. "If I want to really launch this clothing line, I got to get started."

"But does it have to be right now?" I kissed her again, and I could feel her tremble. It was nice to know that she was weak for me too.

"I got to stick to a schedule babe." She kissed my forehead. "But I promise, we will pick up where we left off." She turned away.

              I watched her hips move side-to-side until I couldn't see them anymore. Now that she was gone, what was I going to do? All my free time was usually tied up in basketball. I guess this was a good time to start focusing on my studies. Maybe if I started bringing in even higher grades, Coach would let up on this punishment and let me back on the team. At least, I had some sort of plan.

              Watching the first basketball game from the stands felt weird. I kept trying to jump in the game. I had to literally force myself to sit still. With Simone next to me, I had to just clap and cheer, when all I wanted to do was to be out there with my brothers.

"It's going to be okay," Simone smiled as she squeezed my knee. I assume she could feel my tension. I was sitting there leaning in. I was trying to absorb as much as the action that I could, but it wasn't the same. I needed to be out there. Although the team was playing okay, they were missing a lot of the shots that I used to make easily. I was hoping that when the Coach saw them miss another shot that he would just scream for me to join the game, but that wasn't happening. It looked as if he would rather lose a game than to let me back in there.

              The opposing team was taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't there. They kept trying to foul out Aaron, but he was making sure to sink every shot. He wanted to keep the small lead that the team had. So when they fouled him, he would go to the foul point line, look for my face in the crowd, and then nod. He was making me proud out there, but it still made me upset not to be out there.

              At the end of the game, my team won. I watched as everyone cheered and screamed. We only won by a last minute throw by Aaron. The team carried him out and people ran down to the court to celebrate. I clapped and cheered, but I really wasn't into it.

              "Are you okay?" Simone questioned. I didn't bother to answer. All she had to do was look at my face and know what was going on. "You want to get out of here?" I nodded. "Come on." She took my hand and led me out of the gym. We walked past the screaming fans. Some of them looked like they were going to approach me but at the last second, they backed away.

              She led me all the way off campus.

"I'm starving." She said out of nowhere. "Although, maybe I shouldn't eat, so I can lose some weight."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, look at my size."

"I am and you're beautiful. So, what are you trying to get at?"

"You don't think that I am too big?"

"Where is this coming from?" I shook my head. "When I look at you, I see you, this gorgeous woman. I told you when I met you, it was your confidence and beauty that got me. I don't know what's been going on, but you've been pretty distant lately and now this? Why are you talking like this? You are the same woman that says that to other girls that they are only skinnier than you and not prettier than you. Where is this coming from?"

              It became very quiet as I waited for her answer. She kept sighing and running her hand through her hair. She put her head down and finally reached into her pocket. She took out her cell phone and started swiping through it.

"Do you go on the school's message board?" She asked me. I thought about it. I didn't even know the school had one.

"No. I don't really keep up with that stuff. All I do is go to classes and play ball." I stopped. "Or at least I used to play ball."

"Look at this." She handed me her phone. "This is a website and chat forum that a lot of the students that go to this school.

              I read the topic and it said "Chubby Chasing Basketball Star."

"What is B-Wood thinking by dating that big whale? He is a good looking, great playing basketball star. He can have any woman that he wants. A guy like him should be chasing around cheerleaders or something like that, not her." One person wrote.

"Yeah I agree! I mean don't get me wrong, she is kind of cute. If she was skinny, she would be gorgeous, but he can do so much better than that."

The thread went on and on. Someone even had a picture of us together. I didn't think that I was already being watched. Here I was worrying about scouts when I apparently already had a following. I was about to disregard the whole thing until something caught my eye.

"I heard that he even got into a fight over that fat bitch. What a loser."

              "I don't care about these people or what they think, and you shouldn't either."

"I know I shouldn't, but damn, this is everywhere." She took her phone back from me. I felt sorry for her. Here I was wrapped up in myself that I didn't bother to think about what she was going through.

"Come on, I got an idea."

I brought her to a local restaurant that was always packed with students. As we got closer to the restaurant, I felt her pulling away.

"I don't think we should be here." She whispered to me looking around.

“Why not?” I asked but I had a feeling why she was pulling away.

“I’m thinking about you, babe. What about you? What about the fact that you don't like being near campus during and after games?"

"I don't. I
hate
being on campus during and after the games. It’s nothing but people coming up to me. I don’t like that.”

"Then why are we here?" She quizzed while walking even slower.

"Because you are important to me and we gonna sit here and eat until you feel okay with us being seen together. I know that you don't like this situation because of the students, but fuck them. I’m not dating them, I’m not into them. I’m into you. We are going to eat a full meal and let them stare until you are good with it."

"I don't care about that." But I wasn't buying it. She was walking slowly and she seemed so nervous.

"No, you do." I walked up to the hostess and asked for a table for two.

              Now that I knew that people were watching us, I actually saw people look over at us. Some were typing away their phones and others were just trying not to stare. Simone shifted in her seat. She was uncomfortable and it showed. As we sat down, I pulled out her chair and pushed it in. Then when I sat from across from her, I leaned over the table and kissed her. I heard some whispers and gasps but I didn’t care. I held her face tightly and kissed her. When I pulled away, she was smiling so wide and bright.

              “How’s that?” I asked while I sat down.

“Not bad.” She chuckled. She then looked around looking for the waitress. “I’m starving.” She told me.

“I bet you are,” someone said, but we didn’t see where it was coming from.

“Anyway,” I tried to get her attention away from it. “I’m thinking I might order a huge steak.”

“You might as well, you're already eating with a cow.” The voice said again. Then we heard some people sitting behind us burst out laughing.

One of the girls then said, “You need to be quiet.” But then someone replied, “Girl bye, I could have had him.” That’s when Simone whipped around in her chair.

              “Wait a minute.” I tried to stop her but she shook her head. She was going to say something and there was nothing I could do to stop her.

“Excuse me.” She called out to their attention. They stopped laughing and turned to her. It looked like they were nervous. Maybe they thought that she would never say anything to them. They thought wrong.

“Listen, if I wasn’t around, you wouldn’t be here. If I was skinnier, you wouldn’t be here, and if you gain the weight, you wouldn’t be here. To make a long story short, he would have never been into you. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

She turned back to me. “Now, I’m ready to order.”