Over the Moon (31 page)

"Thank heaven you're all right. You scared me to death!" he
cried. I was far from all right. I felt horrible. My stomach was churning, and my head was pounding with pain.

"I think I'm going to throw up," I whispered. He ran to the
kitchen and came back with an empty mopping bucket. He held my
hair out of my face while the contents of my stomach propelled into
the bucket at high velocity. I kept puking for close to an eternity. When I finally stopped, I was sure my insides were all gone. I felt
completely empty. My internal organs had to be somewhere in the
bottom of that disgusting pail.

"Why can't you fix this?" I was referring to his ability to heal me.
Why wasn't his healing superpower working? Why did I have to
suffer physically and emotionally at the same time?

"I'm really sorry. This is different. Your body's defenses have to
eliminate the Hellite poison. Your immune system works differently and
more slowly than ours does. I did manage to speed up the whole process. You should feel better soon," he explained, frowning with regret.

"I need to rinse my mouth," I said, trying to get up. I didn't have
the strength to stand upright on my own. I fell back on the couch
again. He carried me into the kitchen and leaned me against the sink
while he got a cup out of the cupboard. When he was sure I could
stand up without falling, he left to dispose of the bucket's foul and
smelly contents.

How could I survive this? I was almost completely devoid of
self-esteem. He had watched me hurl for at least an hour.

"I think I can walk now. You can go if you want to." I was sure
he'd had his fill of me.

"Humor me. Let me take care of you," he said. I was too weak
to protest.

When my parents returned, he explained that I had the stomach flu. He was trying to rehydrate me by alternating ice water and
Pepsi.

Mom said she would take over so he could go home. He refused,
saying he wanted to stay. He held me and kept making me drink
fluids while we watched some old syndicated sitcom marathon on
Nick at Night. It was called Third Rock from the Sun. It was about
some comedic aliens sent to learn about Earth for their leader, who
was a giant, talking head. I'd already had my fill of aliens. I'm sure it
was funny, but I didn't feel like laughing.

"You don't have to do this. You can go now. I think I'll live, at
least until tomorrow. I don't want you to remember me at my worst,"
I said.

"I'm right where I want to be," he said.

When the show was over, Andrew told me I should go to bed.
He told my parents to keep me home from school tomorrow. My
dad, the doctor, couldn't keep a straight face. He wasn't used to taking orders from teenagers. Mom, who was better at acting serious,
agreed to his demands. I walked him to the door haltingly, fighting
off the malaise that was threatening to cause another fainting spell.

"I'll bring your homework over tomorrow," he said and kissed
the top of my head lightly. "Get better."

In my mind, I gave him the Vulcan salute and said, "Live long
and prosper." I think he got the message because he gave me a slight
smile before he turned and left me alone on my doorstep.

I said good night to my parents and trudged slowly up the stairs
to my room. I fell on my bed and closed my eyes.

When I finally woke up, I found myself in the fetal position. I was
still achy and sluggish. Slim was curled up beside me. He stretched
and rubbed against my hair, offering me solace. Physically, I was
not anywhere near normal. I didn't feel nauseated anymore, but I
felt more like a zoned-out zombie than a human person. It was as if
part of my brain had shut down and beamed itself somewhere over
the moon, leaving my throbbing body to continue suffering here on
Earth. For a few minutes, I couldn't even remember what was wrong
with me. Then I recalled every painful detail of being tortured by
the Hellites, of my conversation with Sonya, and of my subsequent
acceptance of my extremely unfortunate, inescapable fate.

It was afternoon. I took a long shower. By the time I emerged,
I was wrinkled all over, like a giant prune. I took my time fixing my
face. I added blush to give my ghostly white complexion some color.
I even put on my coral lip gloss. My lips were actually a little blue.
The Hellite venom was nasty stuff, and it had taken a heavy toll
on me. I didn't know why I cared what I looked like. As I thought
about the impending death of my love life, I guessed I didn't want
Andrew to remember me at my very worst. I must have retained just
a smidgen of pride.

I made my way slowly downstairs. There was an emptiness
where my stomach should have been. I must have been hungry. It
was hard to tell because I just wanted to die. Slim followed me and
rubbed against my legs, which was his signal that he was hungry
too. I opened a can of flaked tuna for him. There was a note on
the refrigerator that Evelyn had sent over some homemade chicken
soup. I nuked some in the microwave. It tasted almost wonderful. It
was definitely comfort food, and I was almost comforted. Unfortunately, I didn't think anything could comfort me ever again. I was
cleaning up the dishes when the doorbell rang. It wasn't quite time
for school to be out. Andrew must want to get this final breakup
over so he could get on with the rest of his life with Sonya. It hurt
just to think her name.

Slim followed me to the door. I opened it, and to my utter
amazement, it wasn't Andrew. James Parker was standing there with
a dozen long-stemmed yellow roses. The look on my face must have
been priceless. I was so completely shocked; I almost fell over in
the doorway. What on earth was he doing at my door? I tried to
wipe the astonishment off my face and find some dignity, but it
was extremely difficult because I'd recently lost all my dignity, and I
didn't think it was coming back anytime in this life. Slim took one
look at him and tore up the stairs as if he were being chased by an
unseen force. I wished I could turn and run away too. James made
the big, bad wolf look like a puny, cuddly puppy.

"A peace offering." He handed me the bouquet. "May I come
in?"

"Of course." I remembered my manners. I decided I needed to
be polite. There is no excuse for bad manners. I led him into the
living room. "Make yourself at home. I'll just put these in water."
I took my time finding a vase. Why was he really here? I shouldn't
suspect him of an ulterior motive, but I had a hard time trusting
Sonya's brother. Why was he giving me roses? Did he feel sorry that
his sister had shoved my face in the truth that I wasn't good enough
to be with Andrew? I didn't think that was the reason for this visit.
There was something about him that made me suspicious of his real
purpose. Was it possible that he was a homicidal maniac? Had he
come to put me out of my misery? If so, I hoped it would be a quick
and painless death. I'd already suffered enough pain for at least two
lifetimes.

When I went back into the living room, he was sitting on the
couch. I put the vase of roses on the coffee table and sat on the loveseat across from him.

"The flowers are beautiful. You didn't need to bring a peace
offering. I don't hold grudges. I've forgiven Sonya. You had nothing
to do with it." I didn't want him to feel obligated to me in any way. I
wasn't comfortable with his presence in my house.

"I feel bad about what she did. I want you to know that I regret
the pain you suffered at the hands of the Hellites. She's always been
obsessed with Andrew, and deep down he loves her too. I'm sorry
she said such heinous things to you at Zion and I regret all the pain
she and Andrew have caused you since then."

"Thank you, James. I appreciate that." I still wasn't sure that he
was just being nice. He reminded me of a shark, an alligator, or some
other vicious and very hungry carnivore. I had this involuntary, nervous reaction to the way he looked at me. I felt like a juicy, T-bone
steak. He made me want to run away screaming and flailing my
arms. I hadn't liked the way he seemed to enjoy Andrew's discomfort
on the bus in Zion when his psycho sister had him cornered. He had
also flirted shamelessly with me in front of Andrew. I suspected he
had done this primarily to irritate my favorite alien. None of that
mattered anymore.

"I heard that your relationship with Andrew has been terminated. I'm here to see if you would consider dating me." He flashed
me a gleaming, flawless smile. I hadn't noticed how much he resembled Antonio Banderas. Most girls would be very attracted to him.
I wasn't most girls. I was startled and dismayed by his proposal. I
didn't know what to say to him. I wasn't sure he would take no for
an answer. He was confident, almost to the point of arrogance. He
must think he was doing me a humongous favor. I was unquestionably positive he'd never had a girl say no to him. I might well be the
first to decline his generous offer. I didn't think he was going to take
it well. This most certainly was a potentially hazardous situation. In
fact, it would probably be downright unpleasant. Why couldn't he
just kill me? Maybe he would when I refused him.

The doorbell rang again, saving me from forming my negative
reply. I excused myself to answer it. This time it was Andrew. He
held my homework in a folder and twelve long-stemmed red roses.
He set them on the table in the entryway and pulled me into his
arms. He held me so tightly, I could scarcely breathe. Then he took
me by the shoulders and made me look into his eyes.

"I know what Sonya said to you. It was all lies. How could you
think I would ever leave you? We belong together. I can't believe
you thought you could convince me that I'd be better off with her.
You do know that I can read your mind, don't you? I saw Sonya's
whole sordid plan. I love you, and I always will and even though you
don't have my superpowers, you are my equal. You have your own
very real superpower over me. I told you, you were stuck with me. I
meant that! I'm not leaving. I'm in this forever. You are the only one
I want fighting by my side. Well, I mean that more in a figurative
sense. I still don't want you fighting alien monsters. That's my job,
not yours."

"But I saw the agony on your face. I was sure you were going to
tell me it was over."

"I had just gone through the Hellites' tools of torture and noticed
the tip of the despair needle had broken off. I was afraid it was stillinside you. I had to get it out before it was fatal. I was scared out of my mind
that I might be too late to heal you. I took it out when you fainted."

I threw my arms around his neck. All my mental misery melted
away. I felt more alive than I had ever felt before. At that moment,
we were the only two people on the face of the Earth. Everyone
else might just as well have fallen off the planet. I completely forgot
about James as Andrew wrapped his arms around me and kissed me
with so much feeling, I had to believe he meant every wonderful
word he'd said. Then I heard James clear his throat. Andrew raised
one eyebrow and looked questioningly at me. "We have company," I
said as I led him to the living room.

"James, what are you doing here?" Andrew's eyebrows came
together in a deep scowl. I could almost see the testosterone and
adrenaline pumping through his body. The only time I had seen
him this furious was when the Hellites were torturing me. His eyes
burned like solar flares were emanating from them and heating and
expanding the air around us. I waited for the impending explosion.
I could feel it coming.

"I brought a peace offering from my family to Tiana. We are so
sorry for all the pain Sonya caused her." James looked nervous, as if
he'd been caught in a compromising situation.

"It all makes sense now. I should have seen through it all. You
two were playing us, weren't you? You wanted Tiana for yourself, and
Sonya thought she wanted me. All she really wanted was revenge.
The two of you hatched this entire plan. You wanted us to think
that Sonya was kidnapped by the Hellites so I'd go save her, thus
making Tiana think I still cared for her. It almost ruined everything
when they found her and really imprisoned her. She's lucky to have
survived. She contacted you when they let her go. You picked her up
and drove her out by Mesquite. Then you came back to get me."

"It was a really great plan! It should have worked." James was
almost gloating.

Andrew ignored him and continued, "She called Tiana in the
middle of the night pretending to be Evelyn so she could send her to
the Hellites. There was no news about the Hellites'whereabouts. You both knew where they were. When you went back to the warehouse
to destroy the evidence of Sonya's campout, you found the Hellites
had moved in. You kept that information to yourselves. Sonya hoped
they would kill Tiana, but your plan was for you to be waiting to
save her. Then you would be the hero. I ruined everything by getting
myself captured sooner than expected, and you were forced to leave
quickly and join the others waiting in the spaceship."