Over the Moon (23 page)

"He may be that, but I love him." I tried to answer dispassionately. I didn't want to upset her any further by reacting to her insane
anger. She had really crazy eyes, and I thought she might claw mine
out if I dared to make eye contact. If I couldn't find a way to diffuse the situation, I thought she might do something much worse.
She was lock-me-in-a-padded-room, maniacally mad. She was bigger than I was and a whole lot scarier. She was also an alien, who
was probably a hundred times stronger. It wouldn't be a fair fight.
I should have run away, but my feet had a mind of their own and
remained riveted to the floor.

"You don't know who you are dealing with. He's only toying
with you. You are a stupid little, worthless Earth girl! How could
he love you? You are so pathetic! If you're smart, you'll leave him
alone! Find an Earth boy, one of your own kind. Leave Andrew to
me. I can make him happy!" She had left postal and gone completely
psych ward ballistic. She had veins protruding from her forehead,
and her face was twisted into a painful grimace. She wasn't looking
so attractive now. Did I mention she had crazy eyes? I thought she
was going to tear me apart or maim me in some vicious and violent
way. She raised her tightly clenched fists as she towered above me. I
was shaking in my shoes. Then I got angry. Who did she think she
was? If she tried to hit me, I was going to use the self-defense move I had learned from Mark when he took karate. I was all stoked to
take this cold, heartless, evil wench down. I no longer cared that she
could probably kill me with one lucky punch. Adrenalin had started
pumping through my body. I really wanted to drop her and kick
some serious butt. Then she did the unexpected. Taking me completely by surprise, she spit in my face and stormed out.

I hadn't anticipated this. I'd never had anyone spit in my face
before. I could have gone my entire life without it. It was grossly
humiliating and disgusting. I guess it was better than being beaten
to death. I threw some cold water on my face to wash off her saliva.
It could have been much worse, I told myself. At least I was still
standing. I was trying to pull myself back together when Hannah
came out of one of the stalls.

"I'm so sorry, Tiana," she said as she hugged me. "I've misjudged
you and Andrew. He was right about her. I was so wrong. I didn't
know she was such a total witch. Are you okay?"

I nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak. All the adrenaline had
drained from my system, leaving me feeling empty, weak, and vulnerable. I could feel the lump in my throat growing to about baseball size, and unwanted tears were gathering behind my eyes. I tried
to keep them from spilling out. We left together. She put her arm
around me. Andrew was waiting outside the door for me. He looked
horrified.

"I'm so sorry, Tiana! I should have read her intentions. I knew
she was self-centered, but I had no idea she could be so vindictive,"
he said as he took me in his arms, trying to console me. I buried my
face in his shoulder. He held me close for several minutes while I
tried again, without success, to find my equilibrium. For a moment,
I thought I was going to collapse, but he supported me, and I stayed
on my feet. We walked slowly back to the table where Evelyn was
putting things away in the picnic basket.

"The others have gone on to hike to the Emerald Pools," she
said solemnly. "Everyone heard what she said to you. Don't believe
any of it. She is a seriously troubled girl with lots of unpleasant baggage." She hugged me. "Why don't the two of you catch the next bus? Go up to the Temple of Sinawava and talk. Tell her everything,
Andrew. Don't leave anything out. She should know all of it."

Uh oh! What else didn't I know? Did I really want to know
more?

We sat on a bench and waited for the bus in silence. My unwanted
tears were falling now. I'd lost all control over them. There were a
bunch of unpleasant emotions clogging up my throat, resulting in
an extra large lump that prevented me from speaking. He held me
against his chest while I drenched his thin cotton shirt. Sonya was
right. I was feeling pretty pathetic. I took some comfort in the fact
that she couldn't see me sobbing. Andrew had been right about it
not being awkward. It wasn't awkward; it was catastrophic.

When the bus finally came, I had managed to find a small smidgeon of nearly normal composure. The huge lump in my throat was
starting to shrink. Andrew looked like he'd been hit in the chest
with a water balloon. It wouldn't take long for his tank top to dry in this hot, waterless air. I wished I could forget about my confrontation with his psychotic ex-girlfriend that fast. I was probably never
going to forget that no matter how hard I tried. At least Hannah no
longer resented me. That was mildly comforting.

We exited the bus at the Temple of the Sinawava and the gateway to the Narrows trailhead. The red sandstone cliffs soared above
us majestically. It was surprisingly cool here. The sheer, colorful, and
towering rock walls blocked the rays of the afternoon sun. They rose
out of the valley floor like a giant fortress, splashed with warm hues
that blended together in shades of butterscotch, salmon, pumpkin,
brick red, and sienna brown.

The stubborn pine trees grew sideways out of the solid rock and
then turned upward to the sky. It was almost absurd that they could
thrive in such adverse conditions. They stood with deformed trunks
that bent at a ninety-degree angle, defying gravity, not the least bit
concerned that they shouldn't be able to exist here at all. We found
a secluded bench by the river. There we sat for a while, listening to
the refreshing and soothing, white-noise sound of the clear water
rushing over the multicolored stones and large, odd-shaped boulders. Then he proceeded to reveal his deepest secrets.

"Are you ready for me to tell it all?" he asked. I nodded. He took
several deep breaths and then began. "You asked why we are better.
We're not better. We're just more advanced. There are some, however, who do believe they are infinitely superior to Earth humans.
These bigots are in the minority. You met two today in Sonya and
James Parker. We've evolved and progressed beyond Earth humans.
Our civilization started a long time before yours. Our world has
been inhabited for at least twice as long as the Earth. In that extra
time, we have learned to use a greater percentage of our brain capacity. All of our so-called superpowers are locked inside your minds.
Time will allow Earth people to find and access those powers as you
evolve. It is completely possible that you will catch up with us someday if you don't destroy each other or your planet first."

"That's a very big if. So did humans really descend from apes?" The ape thing popped up when he mentioned evolution. I had to
ask. It was one of those theories I'd always wondered about.

"No, there never were any apes, monkeys, chimps, or gorillas
on Helam. No primates. I think our creator threw those in the mix
on this planet just to stir things up and make the people of Earth
develop more faith. Faith can only grow stronger when it is challenged. All living things evolve within their own species. They adapt
to their environment. It's basically survival of the fittest."

"No monkeys on Helam? That's too sad! Monkeys are the funniest animals on Earth. How did your ancestors live without them?"

"They didn't know what they were missing. I agree monkeys are
indispensable." He laughed.

"Darn straight!" I was feeling tremendously sorry for that poor,
monkeyless, alien planet. "Sorry. Go on; tell me more of your super
secrets."

"You think we are more attractive. There are two explanations for that. Centuries ago, we were ruled by an evil king who
decided to destroy everyone he deemed unattractive. It was survival
of the beautiful, as outrageous as that sounds. Later, we developed
and experimented with genetic engineering. In simple terms, that
means we had the ability to change our DNA. My mother chose my
physical characteristics. I do look like my father. She didn't make too
many changes. The dimples are a nice touch, don't you think?" He
smiled, and I had to smile back.

"I like them a lot," I admitted.

"You were right about my eyes. It is odd that you are the first
person who ever noticed that they glow in the dark. It makes night
reading easier." He grinned at me again. I thought there had to be
other people who had probably noticed the glow, but they were
undoubtedly too intimidated by these aliens to actually mention it.

"Our senses have also evolved to allow us to hear, see, and smell
things that you don't. Most Helamite men can read the thoughts
of other Helamites. Adam, Mr. Allen, Matthew, Luke, Mr. Parker,
James, and I can do this. However, I'm the only one I know who can
consistently read the thoughts of Earth people. The others get bits and pieces. Your brains work a little differently. Helamite women
are sensitive to the emotions of others. Evelyn, Jillian, and Hannah
can read feelings. Sonya can do this sometimes, but she lacks the
empathy to do it on a regular basis."

"Uh huh, so can you hear everyone's thoughts at once? How does
that not drive you insane?" I interrupted. I wanted to understand
exactly how that embarrassing telepathic talent of his worked.

"No, I usually choose whose minds I want to hear. I'm sort of
tuned into anything about myself and almost everything about you.
I'm sorry, love. I've learned how to follow your train of thought. I
nearly always know what you're thinking about, and most of the
time, I know what anyone else is thinking about you. You can't keep
any secrets from me unless you don't think about them. I know that's
not what you wanted to hear."

"Are you kidding me? What else don't I want to know?" I was
not happy about the total lack of privacy I had in my own mind.

"We don't age as quickly." He smiled, amused by my reaction,
and started up again.

"Don't even go there. If you are immortal or over a hundred
years old, I don't think I can take it!" I'd just learned my boyfriend
knew every idiotic thought that passed through my head, and I
wasn't handling that well. If he told me he was immortal, I was
going to totally lose it.

"You can stop freaking out. It's not that bad. Let me explain.
One and a half of your years are a little shorter than one of ours. I
look seventeen, but in Earth years, I'm approximately twenty-five,
give or take a year. We stop aging when we look to be about thirtyfive. Our bodies renew themselves. We are self-healing to a point.
If we are unable to heal ourselves, we go to someone who has the
power to heal others, like myself. Adam is also a healer.

"We are more durable than you are. Killing us is much more
difficult. Decapitation, burning, or explosions can do the job. We
aren't subject to disease. Our immune systems are superior to yours.
Our bodies are not immortal. We live about one and a half times
as long as an average Earth person, and then we shed our bodies, which return to the soil more rapidly than yours do, so we seldom
have a body to bury, and we don't have to worry about an autopsy
revealing how different our bodies are. Our spirits are immortal, as
are all human souls. When we die, these immortal souls enter a different, parallel dimension in which all the spirits of those who live
and die on this planet reside. I believe you call this place heaven. We
believe we will eventually be reunited with our bodies, which will
be restored to their perfect state at some future date that only our
creator knows.

"Some of us are able to see future events. My brother and I can
do this sometimes. We believe it is a gift from God to guide us in
the right direction and should be used only for good or we will lose
this ability.

"Most of us have personal talents. Adam and I are both somewhat psychic. Hannah is telekinetic and can move objects with her
mind. Evelyn and Jillian can channel positive energy. Matthew has
extra amazing strength like his father. Luke and his mother have the
ability to communicate with and control animals. James and Sonya
are manipulators. Their parents are motivators."

"What is the difference between a motivator and a manipulator?"

"A motivator helps you want to do the right thing. Manipulators use you for their own purposes. The Parker parents conduct
motivational seminars for large corporations to help their employees
be more successful, and they raise huge sums of money for worthy
charities. James can see probable outcomes. He's a gambler. He can
put thoughts in your head to make you see things the way he wants
you to see them. Sonya simply wants to have her own way. She usually gets what she wants. She knows how to influence the minds of
others to gain control over their thoughts. She has an odd way of
strongly suggesting that they do her bidding, and most people submit to her wishes. I would say that she always gets her way, but for
some reason I seem to be immune to her charm."

"I am so glad you are!" It would be unbearable if he weren't. I
didn't want to even think about how awful that would be.