Over the Moon (17 page)

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm almost to the parking lot at the trailhead. I can see my car,"
I answered weakly, hoping I could make it there before I fainted.

"Where are the others?"

"They went on another trail. I feel so stupid. I was so angry at
Jordan. He attacked me in a cave. I ran away. I didn't look where I
was going." The tears were trickling out of my eyes. I was genuinely
terrified. People actually die from rattlesnake bites, don't they? "I
didn't see the snake until it was too late. It bit me on the ankle."

"Stay calm. Go to your car. Get in and elevate your foot. I'll call
911, and I'll be there in ten minutes. I'm on my way now. I'm going
to kill Jordan!" I could hear the anger in his voice.

"You don't have to," I said. "I hurt him pretty bad. I don't think
he'll try anything ever again."

"I'm proud of you! I'm hanging up now. Don't worry. You're
going to be okay. I'll be there soon." His words had an instant calming effect on me.

I made it to my car. I climbed inside, elevated my foot, and
passed out.

When I came to, I was in an ambulance with Andrew holding my
hand. I had never been in an ambulance before moving to Hurricane. Now I was riding in one for the second time in less than a
month. Maybe this was a bad omen, but I was so happy to see his
face I didn't care.

"Deja vu, you saved me again." I whispered the words.

"Yes, and I'm going to have to kill Jordan!" he said as he looked
at me though his smoldering blue eyes.

"No, I told you. I think I caused him a lot of pain. He said every
swear word I've ever heard and more." I couldn't help smiling as I
remembered his reaction.

"That's my girl! I desperately wish I could have seen that." He
laughed and kissed me on the forehead. "Now, tell me what happened." I told him about the cave with the space god that had glowin-the-dark eyes. I told him how Jordan had attacked me and how I
had escaped only to be bitten by the rattler.

"Tiana, I warned you about him. How did you let yourself be
alone in that cave with him? He can't be trusted. I told you he was a
snake. I really think I'm going to have to confront him about this. I
can't let him get away with it. What he did was unconscionable!"

"Nate and Emily were there, but they disappeared." I tried
to defend my carelessness. I didn't want him to be angry with me
because of my stupidity. I knew I shouldn't have followed him into
that cave, but I had really wanted to see the alien with the florescent
eyes. I shouldn't have given in to my curiosity. Why did I care about
seeing an ancient Indian drawing of a stupid spaceman with glowing
eyes anyway?

"Nate was probably in on it. I'll bet he and Jordan planned the
whole incident." He sounded completely furious.

"Please don't be upset with me," I begged.

"I'm not upset with you," he whispered in my ear and kissed my
neck, causing me to shiver involuntarily. "I missed you." He grinned
at me, and all my pain immediately vanished.

My parents were waiting at the hospital. Dad looked at Andrew
with gratitude in his eyes.

"Thanks for saving her again!" he said. "Did you know he sucked
most of the poison out before the emergency medical team got there,
Elonna? Besides saving her life, his speedy action saved her from
some pretty serious pain and avoided a very swollen purple leg that
would have plagued her for a few agonizing days."

My mom hugged me, and then she hugged Andrew. "How did
you get there so fast? I thought you were out of town."

"I just got back from Las Vegas. I knew she was on the Arizona
Strip. I was on my way there. I called her immediately after the
snake had bitten her. It was certainly a remarkable and fortunate coincidence. She told me what happened. I called 911, and then I
called you. I think I may have broken a few speed limit laws."

The emergency room technicians checked me out and released
me. Dad and Mom drove us back to the trailhead to retrieve our
cars. Mom drove my Honda home so I could ride with Andrew. I
could have walked, but he insisted on carrying me to his car. My
ankle was only a little sore and slightly swollen. He belted me in and
held my ankle, looking at the fang marks for a few minutes. He very
gently rubbed the marks. It didn't hurt much anymore. The others
were just returning from the hike, unaware of my unfortunate snake
episode. I could hear them laughing and talking to one another.

"I'll be right back." His voice was calm, but I had glimpsed the
intensity of the fury that flashed in his eyes. This was going to be
embarrassing. I closed my eyes. I tried not to listen to his words to
Jordan. I heard them anyway. So did everyone there.

"If you ever lay a hand on her again, you'll answer to me," he
said. "And you will never be able to kiss anyone again. She was bitten
by a rattlesnake because she was running from you and wasn't looking where she was going. Think about that! She could have died, and
it would have been your fault." He never raised his voice, but it was
impossible to ignore his deadly sincerity.

"Is she okay? Hey, I'm sorry! I won't touch her again. I promise.
She's just so beautiful. I couldn't help myself," Jordan choked out
the words. He was obviously shaken, but I wasn't sure it was because
I had been bitten by the rattler. It might have been his reaction to
being confronted and threatened by my formidable boyfriend.

"She is beautiful, but that does not excuse your deplorable
actions. You will stay away from her from now on. I don't even want
to see you look at her the wrong way. Don't wink at her. Don't make
suggestive comments. Don't even think about her that way. I will
know if you do, and I will hunt you down and make you regret it."

In a moment, he was back in the car. The tires squealed as we
drove away. He was driving too fast.

"Please slow down," I begged.

"He tried to blame it on you!" He was majorly pissed off. "He's
such an idiot. He put your life in danger. That is unforgivable!"

"It's okay. I'm fine. I really don't want his blood on your hands."
I tried to ease his mood with a little humor. "You do realize that
murder is against the law, even if it's justifiable homicide? I don't
want to visit you in prison."

"There isn't a jury that would convict me." He slowed the car and
took my hand. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you,
and these idiotic teenage boys can't keep their sweaty paws off you."

"You're a teenage boy," I reminded him.

"I am so much more mature, and I always have your best interests at heart." He kissed my hand. I knew what he was telling me
was the truth. He was so much more mature, responsible, confident,
unselfish, and unlike any teenage boy I had ever known.

"How do you do it?" I asked.

"How do I do what?"

"How do you always know when I need you?"

"I'm psychic." He laughed too quickly. There was something he
wasn't telling me, something I had to know. The voice in my head
told me it was time to find out exactly what that something was.

"Who are you, Andrew Martin? What are you hiding from me?
You're not going to distract me. I need to know what's going on." The
file cabinet drawer in my brain had burst open, overflowing and spilling its contents out of my subconscious and into my very conscious
thoughts. I was going to get to the truth right here, right now.

"What do you think is going on?" He smiled, but his voice was
undeniably serious. "What do you think I'm hiding? Who do you
think I am?" His eyes were scorching as they burned through my
head into my mind, which was filled with sudden understanding. I
knew without any doubt that he could see what I was thinking. He
was unquestionably reading my thoughts. I could see it written on
his face. I can't read minds, but I can read facial expressions.

He pulled to the side of the road and stopped. "Are you going to
run away screaming? You probably should."

"You know I'll never run away from you. You can read my mind."
I said it with a surprising certainty.

He sighed. "You're on the right track. Tell me what you are
thinking."

"I'm not sure who or what you are, but I do know that you are
keeping some kind of crazy secret. You know things that you shouldn't
be able to know. You have some strange powers that I don't understand. I have no doubt that you can see into my head, and that scares
me. I know this sounds completely ludicrous," I admitted. "Tell me I'm
wrong. Tell me you're just a normal teenage boy. Tell me I'm insane
and you have a logical answer that will explain away all my unfounded
suspicions. Tell me my imagination is out of control."

"You're not wrong." He paused. "I'm not from here. I'm from
somewhere light years away and I'm not talking about Australia," he
whispered. "I'm from another world in another star system."

My brother's theory screamed in my head. My dreams came
back to me in the same instant. I remembered our discussion in his
cave. The clues had all been there; I just hadn't put them together.
Honestly, who in their right mind would? I had always known that
he was otherworldly. He had always seemed out of place in Hurricane. Now, I finally got it. He was oddly out of place on Earth.
He wasn't from another astral plain. He wasn't supernatural. He was
from another planet. The voice in my head confirmed it. As crazy
as it sounded, it was the absolute truth. I also knew it didn't matter.
I was already hopelessly in love with him. I started to sob. I didn't
know why I was crying. He held me and let me cry.

"I'm so sorry, Tiana," he said sadly. "I tried not to fall for you.
You shouldn't get mixed up with me. It could be risky and treacherous. I have no right to love you, but I've waited so long for you."

"Are you really seventeen?"

"Of course I am. In Helam years, that is. They equal about a year
and a half of Earth years," he admitted as he pulled back on the road.
"You do the math. I'd better take you home. You should rest. You are
recovering from a rattlesnake bite, and I'm sure you didn't get much
sleep last night at the girls' night party."

"I don't want to go home. I want to know everything, and I want
to know now."

"How much time do you have? This could take a while, and I'm
sure you're not ready for all of it." He stopped in front of my house.

"You can't get rid of me this easily." I folded my arms and was
in full pouting mode when he opened my door and lifted me with
ease from the car.

"I don't want to get rid of you, but I have to go now. You need
to sleep. I'll be back to take you to dinner at seven thirty. I'll explain
things then." He carried me to the door, opened it, and took me to
my room. Setting me on the bed, he kissed me gently on my forehead and turned to go.

"You'll feel better when you wake up," he said as he closed my
door.

I was fuming and filled with frustration. Here I had made this
earth-shaking discovery, and he had left me alone to brood over it
without giving me an inkling of an explanation. I deserved better. I
wanted to know everything, every minute detail. I was exasperated
that he had left me in the dark. This was more than unfair.

I suddenly realized how very sleepy I was. I tried to ignore the
feeling. I didn't want to sleep. Had he hypnotized me into thinking I was tired? Was there anything he couldn't do? I had so many
questions. I needed to make a mental list. The drowsiness descended
heavily upon me, and though I tried to fight it off, I drifted into deep
slumber. I dreamed of Andrew at the end of the tunnel. This time, I
took his hand and floated up into the stars with him. I was content.
This was precisely where I wanted to be. I was overcome with a great
sense of peace. God, destiny, and karma were all smiling upon us. It
was such a tangible, euphoric dream. I never wanted to wake up.

I woke with a start and looked at the clock on my bedside table. It
was seven o'clock. He would be here in half an hour. I jumped out
of bed and ran into the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face.
I ran to my closet. What do you wear to impress a boy from another
planet? I settled on denim capris and a silver-blue blouse with tiny
pearl buttons and a silver belt. I twisted my hair on top of my head
and secured it with a large, chrome-plated clip. I finished with silver
and black pearl chandelier earrings that dangled just beneath my
chin. I ran down the stairs. My ankle didn't complain. It seemed to
be completely back to normal, thanks to my own personal healer.