How to Date an Alien (11 page)

“Why do you assume just because I didn’t come
to the room last night that I was with Ace?”

Jen's eyes widened. “Whoa, Alex, I was just
asking a question.”

“Well, don’t. I’m fine." I stormed past Jen
and threw myself in bed, covering myself from head to toe in my
comforter.

I heard Jen walk out of the bathroom and her
and Riley whispering, but they didn’t bother me. In fact they
didn’t bother me for the rest of the day.

The cluster of emotions running through me
was exhausting. On one hand, my heart was still pounding in my
chest from being so close to Ace. But on the other hand, I knew how
the other interns felt about aliens and humans dating. Who knew
what the other aliens would think?

My mom called sometime that afternoon. Even
though I could hear the phone vibrating on my dresser it felt like
it was a million miles away. I was lost in my own thoughts. Was
this what Juliet felt like as she pined for Romeo? Deny thy father
and refuse thy name. Could it really be that easy? The way my whole
body trembled at the very thought of Ace's lips on mine made me
think that I could defy the stars for him, but the lingering
feeling of Gavin's glare made me wonder if it was even
possible.

By Monday morning I realized it was time that
I call my mom back. If I didn't, I knew she would just call my dad
panicking and I didn't want him coming to my room and asking where
I had been.

"Alexandra! I feel like it's been forever
since I've heard your voice," mom proclaimed. I could hear the
sounds of opera music in the background and knew she was probably
sitting in her office working on a new manuscript. Sometimes it was
hard to tell if her overdramatic outbursts were directed at me or
her characters.

"It really hasn't been that long." Greetings
weren't a huge thing between mom and me. She said it was just a
waste of breath to say hello when the other person knew who was
calling anyway, so formalities didn't matter.

"It seems like forever." She let out a deep
breath. "How is everything there in the desert? I assume the
internship is going well?"

"Yep, everything is going great."

"Have you met any boys? Is that why you
haven't been returning my calls and e-mails?" I could practically
see her eyebrows wiggling on the other end of the phone.

"That's really not something a daughter
discusses with her mom."

"I knew it!" I heard her clap her hands
together "So tell me what is he like? Does your father know?"

I wasn't expecting mom's sudden mound of
questions. I thought about what would happen if my father really
did know, or what mom would say if I told her the boy was actually
an alien and I spent the night with him.

"Well Mom, it looks like it's almost time for
work to start. I'd better get going so I'm not late," I stammered,
trying to get off the phone as quickly as possible to avoid the
questions.

She sighed. "Oh fine. I guess I should be
getting Elijah ready for his music class anyway. But don't think
I've forgotten about this conversation."

"I won't, Mom. Talk to you soon."

"Ciao."

I hung up the phone and realized that I was
still in my towel with my hair unbrushed, so I got up and quickly
got ready to face the world. I sucked in my breath and made the
walk down the hall to the cafeteria. I felt like all eyes were on
me, but I knew of only one pair that was staring at me so intently
that it took everything I had to look away.

Ace didn’t approach me like he usually did in
the lunch line before we retreated to our separate spaces. He just
sat there, staring from his table. When other people would catch
his gaze he would look away, but part of me knew that he was still
watching in his own way.

“So, Riley said that you had a late night in
the office on Saturday?" Justin asked as I sat down at the
table.

I glared in Riley’s direction, but she didn’t
look up from her bowl. Everyone was watching for my reaction. I sat
there in silence.

“Look who finally decided to come out of her
room,” Gavin yelled and plopped down next to me. “I was afraid that
Ace creep took advantage of you and you’d be missing your organs or
something.”

Jen shot Gavin a warning glare, but he
ignored her and inched closer to me. His breath was hot on my
ear.

“Tell me, Alex, what is sex like with an
alien? Does he even have a dick? Or does he just probe you with
those nasty gloved fingers?”

“Gavin!" Jen screeched and stood up from the
table.

I looked around to see if everyone in the
room was staring at us. I saw the only person that I cared about
was looking right at us. As soon as Ace saw me look in his
direction he stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. He didn't
even bother to say anything as he pushed his way past people until
he made his way out of the cafeteria.

“Look, she’s even still watching him. I knew
I was right about her." Riley shook her head. “That’s just
disgusting, fawning over him like that.”

I didn’t look at anyone at the table as I
stood up. “I’m not hungry anymore."

I tossed my tray into the trash and started
running down the hall as fast as I could. I stopped when I saw Ace
sitting in the office, staring blankly at the computer screen.

“Hey." I took my seat next to him. He didn’t
move. He didn’t even look in my direction. “About what happened in
the cafeteria…”

“I heard what they said Alex. I’m not deaf. I
actually have a really sharp sense of hearing." He turned toward
me; his eyes were so black that they looked darker than any
storming sky. I gasped, hoping that he really wasn’t as dangerous
as everyone said he was.

“What bothers me is that you didn’t say
anything back. You just let them say all of those things about me
and you. Like you actually believed them. And by the way you ran
out of my room yesterday, I’m pretty sure that you do." He turned
back toward the computer.

“Oh and by the way, yeah, I do have a dick,
but I’m not just going to go parading it around and start acting
like one. Like your little Boston friend.”

I couldn't put into words how I felt and I
didn't know how to apologize. So I did the only other thing I knew
would do what words couldn't. I pushed my chair back and grabbed
his face with a strength I didn’t even know existed, turning him
toward me to crush his lips against mine. It took him a little
while before he even moved, but when he did the kiss was even
fierier than our first. Every part of me ached to be near him and a
cold flame surged through me. His lips molded to mine and he curved
his arms around my body, his heart beating wildly against my
own.

I pulled away, panting, as I pressed my
forehead to his. Staring into his eyes, I could see they were no
longer the color of my nightmares, but more like the color of my
dreams. "I'm sorry," I murmured.

He grinned, wrapping his arms tighter around
my body. Even though the temperature control suit, I could feel the
warmth spread across my back. "Maybe we should fight more often if
you're going to have this kind of reaction."

He kissed me again, not holding back as his
fingers slid down my body, letting every part of me that wasn’t
covered by the suit feel his warmth. I didn’t know where this was
going to end up. By Gavin and Riley’s reactions I knew that a lot
of people wouldn’t approve. But as Ace’s lips trailed down to my
neck I tried to close my eyes and push back all the negative
thoughts, no matter how much they seemed to be fighting against
me.

The rest of the afternoon went on as if the
whole world had changed, but Ace and I were the only ones who were
part of the new one. He held my hand as we went through our e-mails
and would run his fingers through my hair when I thought too long
on a problem. There was something in me that always had harbored
feelings for Ace, but once it was out in the open it was hard to
keep my thoughts from wandering to anything other than the feel of
his hands on mine.

Behind closed doors I wasn’t so worried about
what people thought about us, but when it was time for lunch, my
nerves started to get the best of me.

“You ready to face our adoring fans?" Ace
squeezed my hand when he noticed me staring blankly at an alien’s
dating site profile.

When I didn’t answer he let out a deep
breath. “I’ll go in ahead of you. You just do whatever you feel
comfortable with. I'll try not to get angry this time."

He let his gloveless hand graze the side of
my face. “We can just keep this between us as long as you’d
like.”

I didn’t watch him as he stood up, slid his
gloves back on, and walked out of the door. I sat another few
minutes, counting the beats of my heart. I didn't know what to
expect when I went back into the cafeteria. What people would
people say about my running out of the room, or how would Ace
really react if Gavin said anything again at all?

When I got through the lunch line, I scanned
the tables. Ace wasn't looking in my direction when he sat down.
Instead, he was busy talking to a group of his friends and acting
like he was completely engrossed in the conversation. I looked over
to the interns’ table and saw Jen waving wildly in my direction.
Cautiously, I edged toward the table and set my tray down next to
her.

“Hey Jen." I forced a smile, but just as I
sat down I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Riley with
her hands on her hips.

“What do you think you’re doing?" I didn’t
answer her. She tapped her clogs on the floor. “Maybe you should go
sit with your boyfriend.”

I looked from Riley, then back to Jen. “You
know what? I think I will." I smirked in Riley’s direction and
picked up my tray, heading toward Ace’s table.

Everyone’s eyes in the cafeteria's were on me
and a hush fell over the room. I guess everyone else had heard
Gavin's rant that morning, or no other human had dared to sit at a
table full of Caltians. I only concentrated on Ace. I put my tray
down and sat as close as I could to him, placing his hand in mine,
before laying our intertwined hand on the table between us. Ace
raised an eyebrow and looked down at our hands. His eyes rested
back on me as if he was asking,
are you sure
?

“I’ve never been good at keeping secrets.” I
looked down at our hands, and then turned to face the cafeteria
crowd. My gaze fell on each table as they pretended not to notice
my stare. "And if anyone's got a problem with us dating then they'd
better find another alien center to hang out at!" I yelled.

I wasn't speaking to anyone in particular,
but I focused right on Riley and Gavin, who couldn't help but let
the fire ignite in their eyes. It was going to take a lot more than
their glares to bring me down.

I spent the rest of lunch meeting and
chatting with Ace’s Caltian friends who had also served in the
military. They seemed to be fascinated that I knew so little about
the alien world until I came to Circe. Ace’s hand never left mine,
not during lunch, not while we walked back to the office, or while
we worked. But as soon as the workday ended and we saw Jen standing
outside of the office doors, we decided it was time to let go.

“I’ll see you at dinner?" He raised his
eyebrows as if they were knitted into a question mark.

“Yeah, that’s fine." I nodded and looked from
Jen and back to him. He stood there for a moment just staring at me
before he finally turned and took off toward his room. I watched
until he disappeared down the hall.

“Are we going to talk about this?” Jen
stepped to the side of me.

I stared straight ahead and started walking.
"Is there really anything to talk about, Jen?" I didn't even glance
in her direction as she picked up the pace to keep up with me.

“Well for starters, friends should tell their
friends when they have a secret alien boyfriend and not lie to them
about it.”

“It just sort of happened, and besides—" I
stopped and turned to face her. “—it’s not like you didn't
encourage us to date. You even dressed me up and made me over to go
ask him to go bowling. So why act so surprised and unsupportive
now?" I threw my hands out to the side before curling them back in
around my chest.

“Well for one, I’d tell you that you have no
idea what you’re getting yourself into." Her left foot fidgeted,
making a soft tapping sound against the floor. “You’ve only been
around aliens for a few weeks, and you already think that you can
just go and break all the rules and everything will just be fine
and dandy.”

She let out a puff of air, blowing a blond
curl out of her face. "There are things that you don't know about
Ace, things you don't know about aliens and you can't just think
it's going to change because you fell for one."

"I already know that he has some stupid
classification, Jen, and I'm not worried about that."

"Alex, there are rules that you just don't
understand," she whispered.

“What rules am I breaking, Jen?" I leaned
closer. “Some kind of laws of chemistry that say humans and aliens
shouldn’t be together? Well maybe you need to study those chemistry
books a little harder and figure out that sometimes the answer to
everything isn’t in some book!"

“You know what?" Jen walked past me, yelling,
“Suit yourself. Learn from your own mistakes because I’m tired of
watching you make them.”

I didn’t feel like going to dinner and seeing
the rest of the interns or going back to my room to watch Jen and
Riley glare at me, so I went back to the office and started
scrolling through every blog I could think of. I broke two computer
mice in the process of my angry clicking. Ace came in to check on
me when I didn't show up for dinner, but once he saw the first of
the two mice in the recycling bin, he kissed the top of my head and
excused himself from the room.