How to Marry an Alien (5 page)

I really should have brought a map, since
every building started to look the same, but eventually I found
mine after wandering around for awhile. Of course all the walking
didn't do anything to help my sweating. I grabbed a water bottle
out of my new messenger bag and greedily chugged it all, throwing
the bottle in a recycling container before walking into the air
conditioned building.

My classroom was one of the first doors off
the atrium and there were already about ten other kids sitting in
various rows throughout the classroom without a teacher in site. I
took an open seat in the first row just as a leggy redhead in a
long boho dress and heels ambled in behind me.

"Sorry, I'm late!" she called over the room,
setting a small leather portfolio and a big knit purse on the
podium in front of the room.

Holy crap, this was my teacher? With the
freckled face and hippie clothing she looked more like someone
about to graduate college, not teach a class.

"I'm Professor Mary Johnson, and this is the
summer honors session of com 101. If you think you are in the wrong
place, please exit through the only available door." She grinned
all too brightly. No one moved or made a sound. It must have been
too early for jokes.

"Okay, before we get started with the
syllabus and expectations for the year, I thought we should start
out with a little getting-to-know-you speech. Think of this as your
first assignment of the year."

She paced from one end of the front of the
room to the other. "I want each of you to come up to the front and
tell us your name, your major, where you are from, and something
that makes you unique that you think you can bring to your future
speeches."

Unique about me? How about that I am engaged
to a powerful alien?

Luckily, there were eleven other students
before me so I had time to think of something better. Since it was
a summer honors class, most of the kids were overachievers with
their uniqueness being something about their academics, how many
languages they spoke, or something else scholarly. I felt like that
day a year ago when I sat across from the Columbia recruiter. She
wanted me to say something that would stand out, so I blurted out
the first thing I could think of. Unfortunately the same thing
happened…again. I slowly walked to the front of the room and stood
there, grasping my sweaty palms together.

"My name is Alex Bianchi. I'm a public
relations major with a political science minor from Winnebago,
Illinois, and the only unique thing about me is that I did an
internship at Circe Operations Center last summer."

A collective
oh
and
ah
came
from the students and even the professor. I didn't think it was
that exciting. The girl who spent her summer building houses in
Haiti and spoke five languages was way more interesting than
me.

"And will you be doing another internship
there this school year, Alex?" Professor Johnson batted her long,
fake eyelashes at me. At least I thought they were fake. They
looked like they were almost as long as her bangs.

I shrugged, heading back to my seat and
hoping that everyone would soon turn their attention from me. "I'm
just focused on getting my degree for now."

I wished I could just disappear. I hated when
the attention was on me; it just made me stick out and put a target
on my back so other students could hate me. After the professor
went through the syllabus and talked about the accelerated summer
semester we were released. Everyone piled out of the room, happy to
get out of class, but I couldn't be so lucky.

"Miss Bianchi, can I speak with you a
moment?"

Crap
.

I turned back from the doorway to see the
professor sitting on her desk and grinning from ear to ear.
Everyone else had already left and it was just me and the fiery
haired lady.

"Yes, Professor Johnson?" I took another step
toward her.

"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it
with my own eyes," she whispered, putting her long, pale hands to
the side of her face. "The future princess of Calta, here, in my
classroom."

Ugh, another alien. How did they all seem to
find me?

"Uh, yeah, in the flesh," I muttered.

She clasped her hands together. "I just
really can't believe you are here. Oh my stars!"

"Professor, no disrespect, but as cool as it
would be to sit here and talk to you, I really should get going to
my next class."

"Oh, of course!" She put her hands on her
lap. "But we must chat soon. I want to hear all about the royal
wedding." She beamed.

"Uh, well, that won't be happening for quite
some time. I need to graduate first." I shifted from one foot to
the other.

"Well, you know, the Mars mountain lodges do
book up years in advance, so it is never too soon to start
planning," she added.

I nodded. "Alright, I will keep that in
mind." I forced a smile and quickly bolted out the door before she
could pummel me with any more alien questions.

After sitting through biology and lab, there
wasn't anything I wanted to do more than get to my room and try to
get in touch with someone at Circe. My only class left was an
online class on Greek mythology, and I figured I could follow that
from my laptop anywhere.

Before I was even ten feet from my dorm I
could hear the
oohs
and
ahhs
from a bunch of students
gathered near the parking area.

"Who is he?" someone whispered in front of
me.

"With that guyliner and that car he has to be
some sort of a musician."

My heart leapt in my chest. It had to be
Ace.

I pushed through the throngs of students
until I pushed to the front of the circle. A sleek, red sports car
sat idling near the sidewalk, but it wasn't who I was expecting
sitting in the driver's seat.

"Monte?" I scowled, approaching the shiny,
red car. Of course, he would have a showy vehicle. The first time I
met the guy, Ace had him beam into my car to figure out what
Caltian woman was trying to interfere in our relationship. Ever
since then he had become a thorn in my side, especially with his
obsession with models and vampire books.

"Alexandra, my darling, you finally decided
to grace me with your presence." A large Cheshire-like grin spread
across his lips. Sure, he was attractive. Jen said that the girls
back at Circe referred to him as the Caltian Adonis, but I just saw
him as the guy that stared at my chest way too long. He was like
the creepy uncle who always wanted you to sit on his lap at
parties.

"What are you doing here?" I crossed my arms
over my chest, fully aware that he probably already got the view he
was looking for under my polo shirt.

"Tsk, Tsk, Princess, no need to get an
attitude with me or I won't be taking you to see your knight in
shining armor." He waved a long finger out the window.

"Seriously? You are taking me to see Ace?" I
lunged as close as I could get to the car.

"Well, if you are going to get that excited,
then maybe we could take a little spin beforehand." He wiggled his
eyebrows.

I knew he was joking. He would never try
anything with me or Ace would kill him, literally. I also knew for
a fact that he preferred blondes and made it his mission to try and
get me to change my hair color. He even went as far as to schedule
appointments for me at beauty shops. Caltians loved their blondes
for some odd reason. I guess it was because every girl on their
planet was ghost white and had dark hair.

"Are you going to take me or are we just
going to stand here and play verbal tennis all day?" I rolled my
eyes.

"Your call." He grinned as I walked around
the car and slid in next to him on the passenger side.

I hadn't been to Circe in over a year, but
driving down the dirt path toward the mountain range felt like
going home all over again.

"Have you seen Ace? Spoken to him? Is he
alright?" I drilled Monte with questions as soon as we took off
from campus and didn't stop even as we parked Monte's car and got
into the elevator that was masked by a large mountain.

Circe was nothing if not secretive. They
didn't want the reputation for being the real Area 51, so the whole
operation was hidden inside a mountain range and all of the air
space within a fifty-mile radius was restricted.

"Do you human girls ever stop talking? I
would think you would need time to breathe," he spat.

The monotone voice called over the elevator,
"Going up. Fifth floor, infirmary ward."

He was still in the infirmary? I would have
thought he would have been out by then. Maybe he was just resting.
I nervously tapped my foot on the elevator floor.

"Must you keep on with that incessant
tapping?" Monte snapped.

Before I could respond the elevator doors
opened, and I was greeted by the blinding white walls and
fluorescent light that was Circe. I bolted from the doors as fast
as I could, not caring if Monte was following me or not.

I stopped the first Circe worker I could find
in a silver jumpsuit. She looked to be in her mid-thirties with
dark brown hair pulled in a tight bun away from her face and her
eyes glued to an electronic tablet in her hand.

"Hi, I'm looking for Ace, the prince of
Calta," I sputtered, almost out of breath from storming in.

The Circe workers eyes barely flitted to
mine, but with their boring poop brown color I knew she was a human
worker. "He is in room 402, down the hall and to the right," she
croaked out as if it were painful to even say.

I nodded. "Thanks, lady!"

I quickly turned and headed down the hallway
as fast as my big flip-flop-clad feet could carry me. By the time I
came to a screeching halt in front of his room, the panic had set
in. Did I really want to see him? What kind of condition would he
be in?

"Thanks for waiting for me, Princess." Monte
barreled behind me, pushing the door open and walking in the room
like he owned the place.

Circe infirmary rooms were a lot different
than those in the human world. The times I had been in the
infirmary I was either in one of the dozens of goo tubes or placed
on a cot in a large, white room with dozens of other aliens around
me. I guess Ace was special enough to have a private room.

While everything else at Circe was stark and
white, the infirmary rooms were completely covered in stainless
steel from the floors to the walls and even the ceiling. As I
followed Monte in the temperature dropped at least another thirty
degrees and there, levitating in the air in what looked like a
giant hamster ball, was Ace.

"Looking good, Machiavelli." Monte slammed
his giant hand against the ball. It shook for a second and then
stood still.

I stared at Ace. My Ace, who always appeared
so strong, looked like a shell of himself. He was dressed in a
white robe that was as light as his skin, and dark circles paraded
around his eyes that barely opened. What did I do?

"Ace, are you okay?" I whispered, cautiously
taking a step toward him.

He looked down from the ball, a hint of a
smile on his face. "Hey, Alex, good to see you."

He pressed something on the side of the ball
and it lowered to the ground, opening in the front while he stepped
down to the steel floor below. "How was your first day of
college?"

"Oh, Ace!" I couldn't hide my emotions any
longer. I lunged for him, throwing my arms around him and embracing
him in the biggest hug I could bear.

"You are alive! You are okay!"

"Of course I am, Alex." He ran his fingers
through my hair. They were chilled to the bone, but they started to
warm shortly after they connected with my skin.

Caltians sensory organs are mostly in their
hands. When they are cold, they aren't in the mood, but when they
heated up...oh boy. It was the best sensation in the world when the
rest of his body was cold and his hands a warm tingle; just
thinking about it always sent shivers in all the right places. I
missed his icy hotness.

"I thought I lost you forever," I murmured
into the soft fabric of his robe. "I don't know what I would do
without you."

Ace gently took his hand and lifted my chin
up so that I was looking into the endless pool of his dark eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere. I am yours, forever."

Monte let out a loud noise that sounded like
when one of Brian's cats released a hairball. Ace and I both
snapped our heads in Monte's direction.

Monte lifted his hands above his head.
"Sorry, carry on with your boring dribble."

Ace's smile widened, lighting up his face.
"Aw, is Monte jealous?"

"What?" Monte arched an eyebrow, crossing his
arms over his chest. "That is preposterous. I am no such
thing."

"Ohhh, I think that is just someone trying to
hide their jealousy by being defensive," I mocked, enjoying
watching Monte squirm.

"There is nothing to be jealous of. I am very
happy not having to deal with human girl drama." Monte pulled his
arms tighter around himself.

"Come on, friend." Ace took a step closer to
Monte, keeping one arm around my waist. "You know you are curious
to meet a human girl that isn't just another Circe drone and
probably just as eager as I am to meet Alex's new roommate."

"A human girl roommate?" Monte's ears perked
up and he dropped his arms.

"Indeed." Ace nodded. "I did a background
check. She's definitely not a beauty like Alex, but I think she is
better looking than those vampire-loving girls you keep watching
from the cinema."

"Hey, leave the vampire girls out of this!
Once they meet a real alien they won't give a damn about those
blood suckers." Monte pointed his finger at Ace, keeping an eyebrow
raised with a smile on his face. Always the jokester.