Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  The Department, along with our Truconian leaders, was of the opinion that we should keep our mouths shut and just integrate slowly. We should take whatever the humans allowed us and be satisfied and grateful for that.

  I was somewhere in between. I had seen some severe injustices against the aliens, and a large portion of humans hated us, but I didn’t think stomping our feet and demanding things were going to make it any better.

  Senph was still staring at me, waiting on my answer. I was smart enough to know I needed to tread carefully. I didn’t want to be banned from the meetings, but I didn’t want to make empty promises either.

  Everything was such a mess. “I don’t know how much influence I have with people.” There, it wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t a promise either.

  “You have more than you realize, Member Amery. Think about it for now, I don’t need an answer straight away. But just think, you could be a part of the revolution.” She gave me one last smile, this time even flashing teeth, before strutting back toward the garage. She paused, looking over her shoulder at me. “You don’t want to be left behind in this, Member Amery. The consequences might not be as pleasant as you would like to think.”

  She disappeared through the door. I was stunned she would actually be so blatant about making a threat like that. And surely it had been a threat. The message was clear, join her or something bad would happen.

  I needed to get out of there. All the walls felt like they were closing in on me. Fresh air, that is what I needed. I hurried outside and sat in my car, all the windows open to allow in the summer breeze. When that wasn’t enough, I turned on the air conditioning.

  I really wanted to talk to Lochie. Normally I would have found him, wherever he was, and we would have gone over each word of the discussion. He would be able to see things that I couldn’t, give me another viewpoint. And, more importantly, calm me down when I was freaking out.

  Considering he was nothing but a brick wall, I drove to the beach instead. If I went home, my parents would give me the third degree. Lola was busy with her mom doing the weekly shopping, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. The beach was as good a place as any.

  I really needed to do some thinking so I sat on Mansfield Beach under the shade of a particularly tall tree on the lawns. Senph had raised the stakes on crazy threats. I didn’t want to think of what would happen if I refused her. She had a lot of influence over the Truconians, including Garrick. If I said no to joining her, it might cut me off from them entirely.

  But if I went along with Senph and was anti-human, I was pretty certain it would take something from my soul. All my best friends were human, as were one set of my parents. Not to mention my probably-ex-boyfriend. I couldn’t do it to them. I wasn’t going to become this insane human hater.

  But there was a third option. I could go to Krom, or even Rob, and tell them everything that was going on. They had to be completely clueless about the whole situation seeing as though Senph was doing such a good job of keeping it a secret.

  Was I a tattletale? Could I betray my race to go over their heads and tell the big guns? What would be the consequences? Krom would fly off his rocker if he knew. I could practically hear his yelling now about how they had no right, he was the leader, blah blah blah. Krom and I didn’t have a great history together anyway, telling him would probably end what tenuous relationship remained.

  That left Rob. I trusted him, I really did. But he was a human, and a sensible one at that. If he thought his race was in jeopardy, would that make our trust redundant? I just didn’t know. There was no telling what he would do.

  So I was back at square one. Great. Nice to see you square one, I’ve seen you too many times before.

  The longer I sat on the sand, the more confused my poor brain became. No answers were forming as if by magic – now that would have been a handy power.

  I got a text from Lola just before three o’clock, wanting to see if I was free for some fun later on. I couldn’t text back an affirmative fast enough. A distraction was exactly what I needed.

  I went home long enough to get ready for the night. I slipped on my blue dress. It was the color of the ocean with a bit more of a fuller skirt than my other dresses. It was one of Lochie’s favorites, he liked the way the neckline fell. On more than one occasion he had run his finger along it, touching my skin long enough to give me tingles.

  Lochie.

  God, I missed him. The worst part was not knowing what he was doing or thinking. What had I done that would cause him to stop answering my calls? I had spent so much time racking my brain trying to think of something I might have said or done. But there was nothing. He gave no indication why he would suddenly cut me off like I was a diseased limb.

  I shook my head, trying to get rid of the anguish. Tonight was a night for fun, not to dwell on things I couldn’t fix. Running downstairs, I dodged all my parents’ questions to leave in a relatively calm fashion.

  Lola was waiting at a restaurant named Henry’s Bar & Grill when I arrived. She was already in line, saving our place in the crowd.

  “You look great,” I said, giving her a hug. She was wearing a black dress, which wasn’t unusual, but she had teamed it with a red polka dot cardigan that gave her that rock chick vibe.

  “Thanks, so do you.”

  “Have you been here before?” We shuffled a little closer to the maître de.

  Lola shook her head. “No. I figured we should try something new. Something without…”

  “Memories?” I finished for her. I knew she was trying to avoid mentioning the guys. If only it was that simple.

  “Yeah, memories. We’re strong, confident women. We should try new things, make new memories. We don’t need any guys for that,” she declared. It made me smile, despite my miserable day.

  I stood a little taller. “No, you’re right, we don’t need anyone else. We’re cute-”

  “Hot,” she corrected.

  “We’re hot. We can do whatever we want.”

  Our new mantra kept us shuffling along until we were taken to a table. The restaurant was a modern take on a horse ranch. Barn doors teamed with elegant racing paraphernalia lined the walls. It was good, completely different to our usual hangouts.

  We were given menus and both picked the chef’s special, it was an easy option. My eyes scanned the room, taking it all in. Lochie would have liked it, he was big on farms. I stabbed that thought away, he didn’t have any right being in my head tonight.

  As my eyes continued to move, they settled on something nearly as cringe worthy as Senph’s earlier talk. “Oh my god.”

  Lola looked around, trying to see what had caused such a reaction. When she saw Garrick and Ella on a date together, she groaned too. “Of all the places.”

  “They’re all over each other.” It was difficult keeping track of whose hand belonged to whom. They may as well have been stuck together as some sort of conjoined twin show.

  “How long have they been dating?” Lola asked incredulously. “Only, like, a couple of weeks, right?”

  “Two and a half if you count their first official date.” Garrick had asked me to set something up between them. I never would have imagined it would progress so quickly. I tore my eyes away, I couldn’t watch it any longer.

  Lola turned back around too. “Are you okay about it? We can go somewhere else.”

  “No, it’s okay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, it’s no big deal. It’s just Garrick and Ella,” I replied, unsure why she was making such a big deal out of it.

  “If you say so.”

  I couldn’t leave it alone. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”

  “Because you and Garrick, you know, you had something. And now you’re kind of not with Lochie anymore and he’s with someone else.”

  “I never liked Garrick that way, you know that.” Sure, Garrick had kissed me on two separate occasions and really hated Lochie, but that didn’t mean his feelings were reciprocated.


  Yet, a part of me really didn’t like to see him with Ella. It wasn’t jealousy, it wasn’t even envy, it was just a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

  I didn’t like Garrick like that. That had to be the truth because the alternative was just wrong. I loved Lochie. Just because he had his knickers in a twist about something, it didn’t mean anything had changed.

  Lola took a sip of her water. “Sure. Go on believing that,” she said sarcastically. There was no point in arguing with her. Lola always assumed she was right and I would go blue in the face trying to convince her otherwise and it still wouldn’t work.

  Our meal arrived – the Henry’s Grill Burger. It was supposed to be world famous. I highly doubted that. Portview wasn’t exactly on the map. If there weren’t aliens here, nobody would even have heard of it.

  I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the burger was in front of me. My stomach growled with anticipation. Garrick, Ella, and their weird relationship were soon forgotten. Food never disappointed me – unless it was from Trucon, their food seriously sucked.

  “I take it you still haven’t heard from him?” Lola asked. It took me a moment to work out which him she was referring to.

  Like there could be more than one. “Nope. He hasn’t returned any of my texts or calls. I stopped trying a few days ago.”

  “He’s probably just busy.” She only said it to be nice, telling me what I wanted to hear like a good best friend would. Neither of us believed it. Even for the most studious person, there was only so much study someone could do.

  I didn’t want to get into it. There was nothing new to say and we were supposed to be guy free tonight. “We’ll see. If I ever see him again, I’m going to punch him.”

  “You’ll mess up his nice face.”

  “He deserves it.”

  She shrugged, both hands still around the burger. “Still, it’d be a shame. That guy has one good face.” I couldn’t stop the smile running across my lips.

  “Yes, he does,” I agreed.

  “His body is pretty good too.”

  “Lola!”

  She merely smirked at me, knowing she had won that round. If there was anyone aside from Lochie who knew what buttons to press for a reaction, it was Lola.

  I took a bite of my burger, focusing all my thoughts on eating and not on anything else. It wasn’t long before I could relax again. Especially when I angled around so Garrick and Ella were out of my sight.

  The restaurant had a nice vibe to it. All the other diners seemed happy in their conversations. I hadn’t received too many sideways glances my way which, let’s face it, was pretty much a miracle.

  Any anti-alien supporters were probably too busy gaping at Garrick to notice my presence. Relationships between humans and aliens were still considered a dirty and sinful thing by a large majority of the population. The Truconians saw it as a natural integration. The humans, not so much.

  “Call me crazy, but I could go some ice cream,” Lola said as she leaned back in her seat, rubbing her stomach. Our plates were both clean by that stage. Thank goodness we were both wearing dresses. Pants might have been starting to get a little tight.

  “You know, I think I could too.”

  We left Henry’s Bar & Grill and walked down the road to the ice creamery. On the way out, I couldn’t help but notice Garrick’s empty table. I ordered chocolate ice cream, Lola got rainbow flavored. We walked as we ate.

  “How was your meeting today?” Lola asked.

  “Confusing.”

  “Did they bring out the Kool-Aid?” She had likened the secret meetings to a cult several times. Lola tended to think the whole thing was funny. I would have agreed if they weren’t so serious.

  “Not yet. Senph gave me a private talking to though.”

  “She did?” She waited until I nodded before continuing. “And what did Queen Bitch want?”

  “She wants me to join her.”

  That stopped Lola in her tracks. “What did you say?”

  I continued walking, she quickly followed. “I told her I would think about it. Then she threatened me if I didn’t, to make it clear I didn’t really have a choice.”

  “What can she do to you?” That was the million dollar question. I hated to back down when threatened, but I didn’t much like the thought of something bad happening either. She could decide to take it out on my family instead of me.

  “I’m not sure. But there are a lot of people that think she’s the next messiah. I can’t afford to make her an enemy.”

  “Tough call,” Lola said simply. She wasn’t wrong.

  We left for home after our ice cream. While the night had been really nice, it didn’t turn my mood around like I had hoped. I snuck in without anyone noticing and went straight upstairs. The door to Garrick’s room was closed, I resisted the urge to see whether he was safely tucked up in his own bed or not.

  Good for Garrick. I should have been happy for him rather than so judgmental about it. Ella was lovely, I really liked her. She had been pivotal in helping the aliens be accepted in Portview. He could do a lot worse. I needed to get over whatever was bugging me.

  I showered and changed into my pajamas, climbing into bed. I hoped I wouldn’t have any more dreams about Lochie. I needed some deep sleep, the kind where you didn’t even remember your dreams.

  But it seemed I couldn’t even escape him while I slept. The dream I had wasn’t as sexy as the previous night, but it still left me yearning for him when I woke up. I missed his arms around me, his weight next to me in the bed. God help me, I even missed his annoying comments about everything. I was doomed.

  When I woke up, I considered going for a run. It was light outside, but a quick glance at the clock said it was almost eight a.m. Too hot for a morning jog.

  I picked up my cell phone, my thumb hovering over his number – again. I read through his last few text messages for the hundredth time, trying to see something that perhaps I had overlooked before.

  Cafeteria food is terrible. Almost as bad as your cooking. L xx. P.S. Sucks about Lola. Tell her I’ll bash Asher if I see him.

  Campus is huge. Almost need a compass to get around. Miss you like crazy. L xxxxxxxx.

  Come on, Jones. Storage Wars is so much better than Storage Hunters. Do I even know you anymore? L xx

  And then nothing. His argument about reality television shows was his last text message. I didn’t think I had offended him too much when I said I preferred the other one.

  They all made me smile, all so typically Lochie. They were all so light, his comment about Lola and Asher being the only serious thing we had discussed since he left.

  There couldn’t possibly be something I’d missed. It was like he had just dropped off the face of the planet. I had waited a full day after getting the last message before sending him another one. Another day again before I started calling him.

  A sick feeling starting swarming in my stomach. What about if something did happen to him? What about if something – or someone – was preventing him from contacting me? Considering everything we’d been through, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities.

  That thought was enough to spur on my thumb. I hit Lochie’s cell number and held the phone up to my ear. It rang. And rang. And rang. When voicemail picked up, I listened to the message just so I could hear his voice before hanging up. It was no use leaving a message, it never made him respond.

  I left my cell on the bedside table and went for a shower, getting ready for the day. When I got back, there was still nothing on my phone. Getting the silent treatment was not fun.

  Still, I slid the phone into my pocket anyway. If, by some sheer miracle, Lochie did call I wanted to be there to answer it. Even if I did have some choice words for him that he probably wouldn’t want to hear.

  At the top of the stairs, I could hear voices in the living room. Not all of them belonged to my parents. I hurried down, praying something awful hadn’t hap
pened already that morning.

  I half expected to see Krom standing there, demanding something or other. But it wasn’t him, it was Rob. Considering he was in my thoughts lately, I was happy to see him.

  “Hey, Rob,” I said, giving him a quick hug. “What brings you here?” A quick glance around the room at my parents said they hadn’t received any bad news. In fact, they all looked quite happy. That almost scared me just as much.

  “Hey, soda pop,” Rob replied. “You’re looking well.”

  “Thank you.”

  He gestured for me to sit on the couch, my adoptive dad made some room for me. Rob sat in the armchair opposite, dressed in the black suit and tie he normally wore.

  “Agent Bower has something to discuss with you,” Adoptive Mom said. “We’ll give you some privacy.” All four of them left us alone. Now I was really starting to panic. They were normally so nosey, nothing got past them. Privacy was not something I was used to.

  “What’s going on, Rob? Seriously, please put me out of my misery and tell me.”

  He chuckled under his breath. “It’s nothing bad. It’s actually good news. For once.”

  “Well? What is it?” I was never known for my patience. It hadn’t improved even with recent events.

  “How would you like to work for the Department?”

  CHAPTER 3

  I almost choked on my tongue. A job? With the Department? Surely I was still dreaming and this was just a joke of my subconscious?

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. I was in dire need of some clarification. Surely my ears were hearing things.

  “A position has recently come up at the Department and everyone agrees you would be perfect for it,” Rob said, like it was the most natural thing in the world to offer me a job at the Department. Like it wasn’t some massive thing.

  But… wait. If everyone agreed that I would be perfect for it, that had to mean it sucked. Nobody liked me over there. I’m sure they’d probably had a vote and wanted to send me back to Trucon like I was an annoying pain in the butt.