Come to think about it, the job was probably on Trucon. They probably wanted me to keep an eye on the asteroid and make sure it was still barreling toward the planet. They wouldn’t mind risking my life if there were some miscalculations.
“What kind of job is it?” I asked warily. Past experience with the Department told me to gather as much information as possible. They tended to gloss over the bad stuff.
“It’s a liaison role. We feel it would be best for all involved if there was someone to act as a go-between for the Department and Truconians.”
“I thought you had one: Krom.”
Rob shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “We feel the current situation is not as optimal as it could be.”
I could read between the lines. Rob was carefully avoiding saying the words, but they were coming across loud and clear. “Nobody wants to deal with Krom.”
A smile beamed across his face. “Got it in one, soda pop.”
“So my job would be working as a liaison between Krom and the Department?” He nodded a yes. “Does Krom know about this?”
“He agrees his time is important and is better spent elsewhere rather than keeping us in the loop about everything.”
“He said he didn’t have to tell you idiots everything he does, didn’t he?” That earned me another chuckle from Rob. At least one guy in my life was still the same. “Does he know you are offering me this role?”
“We have discussed it with him.”
“And?” I couldn’t imagine Krom naming me as his first choice. He would probably put the entire world before me – aliens and humans alike.
“He agrees the position should be filled by someone with good knowledge of the Department and a Truconian.”
The writing was on the wall again. “So you haven’t told him yet, have you?”
“Not exactly.”
Call me a masochist, but I kind of really wanted to be there when he found out. Krom would go nuts, he would probably throw a tantrum like a two year old. It would be quite funny and I could use a good laugh.
But that was only if I took the job. I still wasn’t convinced it was something I wanted. In light of my little conversation with Senph, I wasn’t sure what the best strategy was for my future. Plus, there was a time when I would rather die than return to the Department – in any capacity.
“Did you tell my parents about this?” I asked. I thought I already knew the answer, but needed some confirmation.
“I did. They think it’s a great opportunity for you.”
They would. My adoptive parents would think it was great to be involved in the Department, their old stomping ground. My birth parents would feel it was an honor working so closely with our fearless leader. Plus, it would give me something to focus on. My future was kind of up in the air as it was.
“Would I be working with you?”
“Me and my colleagues.”
“Can I think about it?” I asked. There was no way I could dive right in without thinking it over first. It was a big decision to make. I wasn’t even sure if it would be something I’d be any good at.
Plus, there was the fact I would be dealing with Krom. Besides doing some serious damage to my long term hearing, he was a pain in the butt. His love for himself and his importance was greater than anything external.
And then there was the Department. I didn’t like the way they handled things. I especially didn’t like the way they kept a secret torture chamber in their basement. I could reel off a hundred reasons why I despised them.
But… I could help make a difference. If everything happened like Senph said it would, I might be in a position to be able to handle it beforehand. I might be able to make the aliens’ and humans’ lives better by working from the inside out.
It was way too much to take in for so early in the morning.
Rob stood, buttoning his jacket again. “Of course you can think about it. Give me a call when you’ve thought it through. But, Amery, I really hope you agree to it. This role really is perfect for you.”
I stood too and walked Rob to the front door. “Thank you, I really mean that.”
He patted my arm before leaving in his black car. I closed the door when he was out of sight and leaned against it. Talk about a serious morning.
My parents hadn’t moved far, just to the kitchen. They were all smiling expectantly when I joined them. I counted the seconds as I made some breakfast.
I only got to twelve. “So what did you say?” Birth Mom asked.
I returned the milk to the fridge and turned around, holding my bowl of cereal. “I said I would think about it.”
“What’s there to think about? It’s a magnificent opportunity,” Birth Dad stated. My birth parents were of the belief that our leaders couldn’t do any wrong. They adored Krom like he was a god. I wished I could see him through their eyes. It would make things so much easier.
“It’s a big deal.” There was defensiveness in my voice that I hadn’t intended. “I don’t want to rush into anything.”
“Exactly. Take as long as you need,” Adoptive Dad said, getting dirty looks from the others. At least one of them was on my side.
I took my cereal outside and sat on the back deck to get some peace and quiet. There was too much going on that I couldn’t process lately. Senph. Lochie. Garrick. The job. Way too much for one little alien to handle.
The door slid open behind me. I cringed, hoping it wasn’t a pep talk about the job. I just needed some time with it.
My adoptive mom took the seat across the table. I relaxed a little at seeing her. “Quite a surprise, huh?”
“Yeah, a big one.” The silence settled between us. If she was there to lecture me, she needed to get on with it before I finished my cornflakes.
After some more hesitation, she finally spoke. “Amery, honey, is everything alright? And I don’t mean about the job, but everything else? You’ve hardly been around lately, and when you are, you’re… distant. Sad. I don’t know. Just talk to me, please?”
I didn’t realize I had been acting different enough for anyone to notice. And here I thought I was such a good actress. I would suck at the liaison job.
I tried to plaster on a smile and give her the usual reassurance that I was fine. But I couldn’t. My eyes actually started to well with stupid tears instead as I shook my head.
Just like that, she was around the table so fast and taking me in her arms before I could stop myself. I hugged her, letting my head rest on her shoulder as the tears flowed. I had kept it all inside for so long.
She let me cry until there were no more tears left. Handing me a tissue from her pocket, she sat beside me with a comforting hand on my leg. “Tell me everything – everything you’ve been trying to hide.”
I ran through all the problems in my head. There were plenty, but only one that would really make me cry like that. “Lochie won’t speak to me. He’s ignoring my calls and texts. It’s been two weeks now and nothing.”
“Oh, honey. Did you have a fight?” Concern and understanding was etched across every line on her face.
“That’s the thing, everything was fine. I can’t work out what I did wrong.”
She gave me another hug as the tears started again. “Don’t you dare think you did something wrong. If he’s the one ignoring you, then he is the one with the problem, not you.”
“But I had to have done something to mess everything up.”
She shook her head, her eyes glistening with the ferocity of a mother bear. “The problem is his. He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on. If he’s too stupid to hold onto you, then it is his loss. Do you understand?”
I sniffled and nodded, trying to believe that. I wanted to, I just wasn’t sure that I did. There had to be a reason why Lochie was ignoring me. It wasn’t like him to act like this. He might be a snarky, smart-mouthed idiot, but he had never treated me like this before.
“What should I do?” I asked, because I desperately needed to know. It wa
s just another thing my brain couldn’t figure out on its own.
“You could visit him.” I mulled that over for a bit. It had been my first instinct when he went on radio silence. What had stopped me was the fear of being rejected in person.
“What about if he doesn’t want to see me?”
Mom actually laughed. “Come on, Amery. Since when has something like that ever stopped you?” She kind of had a point. If the situation was reversed, Lochie would have been banging on my door the moment he thought something was wrong. He wouldn’t stop there either. Nothing would keep him away.
It was only my fear of making his rejection real and tangible that stopped me. Something that wouldn’t have occurred to bull-headed Lochie immediately. If he actually said the words to me, I couldn’t pretend he was just busy like Lola had suggested.
“I’ll think about it,” I replied. Another thing to churn around and make me nauseas.
“Just let me know when you’re going to go. I’ll clear it with the rest of the bunch.” She gave me a wink before leaving me to my breakfast.
Clearing it with the rest of the bunch meant she would lie for me. My birth parents didn’t approve of Lochie, they didn’t even think I should be dating anyone at my age. Apparently they normally started a little later on Trucon. If they were going to approve of someone, they had already let me know their vote went for Garrick.
The thought of Lochie being in trouble kept playing on my mind. I should have been focusing on my other problems but I couldn’t when he was still tugging at my heart.
The solution struck me like a hammer. There would be one person Lochie wouldn’t be ignoring. Not when he cared so much about her. Mrs. Mercury would know what he was up to, he would definitely be checking in to make sure her and his brother were okay.
I needed to speak with Mrs. Mercury. The problem was she hated me. Everything was fine between us until she discovered I was an alien. The thought of her precious little boy with an abomination was too much for her.
It may have been a naïve thought, but I had to believe she might help me. I rinsed my bowl in the kitchen and took off, driving the familiar streets to Lochie’s house. My car practically knew the way by itself, I had made the drive so many times before. I could do it in my sleep.
It was a relief to see a car in the driveway when I pulled up. At least someone was home. I crossed the lawn and knocked on the front door, holding my breath. It seemed so normal being there, like Lochie would answer the door and everything would be okay.
Suddenly the door burst open. It wasn’t Lochie, that would have been too easy. Mrs. Mercury gave me the same disdainful look she had perfected over the last few months. “What do you want?”
I refused to let her attitude rub off on me. It took all my resolve. “Hi, Mrs. Mercury. I’m really sorry for disturbing you. I was wondering if you’ve heard from Lochie lately?”
“Of course I have. What about it?”
A flood of relief shot through me, quickly replaced by hurt. So he hadn’t dropped off the edge of the planet, he was just ignoring me. Great. “I haven’t… I mean, he hasn’t… spoken to me for a few weeks. I was getting worried about him.”
A grin curled her lips. No, more of a smirk. She was happy to hear of the news. “And what does that tell you?” She still held a hand on the door, it wouldn’t surprise me if she slammed it in my face sometime soon.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted truthfully. If she wanted to see me crack, she wouldn’t have to wait much longer, really.
“He’s got another girlfriend,” she stated, not sugar coating it at all. She may as well have hit me with a sledgehammer, it couldn’t have hurt any worse.
“Another girlfriend?” My voice cracked on the words, I hated myself for it.
Mrs. Mercury nodded happily, crossing her arms across her chest to stand over me just that little bit more. “She’s a lovely girl.”
“You’ve met her?” Call it sick curiosity but I suddenly had to know all the sordid details. I wanted to know everything.
“They was here last weekend. She’s a peach. Although, I’m sure you wouldn’t like her. She’s not your kind.”
My world spun around me. I didn’t want to be having the conversation any more. I couldn’t have that discussion, not when my heart was shattering into a million different pieces.
I took a few steps back, almost stumbling down the porch. “Thank you. Sorry to bother you.” I turned and ran for my car, leaving the last shreds of my dignity on the lawn somewhere. I sped away from the house as fast as my car could take me. There was no destination, just as long as I wasn’t there anymore.
Once I was a few blocks away, I pulled over. The tears in my eyes were making it difficult to see. I sat in the car, cradling my face in my hands as they flowed freely down my cheeks.
Lochie was cheating on me. He didn’t even have the guts to break up with me first, the decency to bother telling me he didn’t want to be with me anymore. How long would he have let me go on? After everything we’d been through, did he really think I would just give up and stop trying so he didn’t have to have the conversation?
I felt sick to my stomach. All I could see were images of Lochie with a perfect, mother approved girlfriend. Kissing her, touching her, sleeping with her. Giving her those dimples.
Not once had Lochie ever made me feel like I was an alien. He had always treated me as his equal. He even went so far as saying he never even thought of me as being any different. But the fact he was now hooking up with a human spoke volumes.
It was probably easy for him to be with her. There would be nobody to judge them, nobody to condemn their relationship as unnatural. It was probably a relief after all the grief we had copped once my status was out.
If he could so easily move on and throw me away like I was a piece of garbage, then he didn’t deserve my tears. I wiped my eyes and took some deep breaths. I hated what he did. There were so many things wrong with it that I could have written a list a mile long.
No, I didn’t hate what he did. I hated him. I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid to think I actually loved Lochie. Everything we had shared was just an illusion. I had been such a fool to think otherwise.
I guess Lochie got the last laugh.
CHAPTER 4
“Can I come in?” Garrick stood at my bedroom door, knocking gently to get my attention. He didn’t have Ella attached to him, that had to be a first lately.
I shrugged, he took that as assent and carefully walked in. He sat on my desk chair, spinning around to face me. I was curled up on my bed, like I had been for most of the day. I hadn’t told anyone what I had learned about Lochie. I didn’t want their sympathy for being such a fool.
“What’s up?” Garrick asked cautiously.
I ignored his question. “I haven’t seen you around much lately. I take it things are going well with Ella?”
He tried to suppress a smile, biting his cheek to stop it forming. “Yeah, we’re going great, I think. I mean, she’s a chick so I never really know what’s going on. But she’s not yelling at me so I assume she still likes me. Has she said anything to you?”
“She’s been too busy for us to catch up.”
“Sorry.” He had the decency to look sheepish. “So, what’s new with you? The parentals said Rob was here this morning.”
“Something you would have known if you’d spent the night here,” I said. I was only guessing, but a slight blush to Garrick’s cheeks told me I was right. I moved on, not really in the teasing mood. “Did the parents fill you in on why Rob was here?”
“They said I would have to ask you.”
I explained about Rob’s offer of a job. It seemed like days ago that he had offered it to me. Could it really have only been a few hours? It felt like so much had happened since then. Lochie cheating, his new girlfriend, the vapid tone of Mrs. Mercury’s voice.
Garrick listened to the end, just like we had been trained to do our entire lives dealing with the Department
. I guess it did kind of make sense being put up for the position. I had been training for it since I was a baby.
I thought his nods as I went along were in agreement with me. So when he spoke next, it took me completely by surprise. “I hope you said no.”
“I told him I’d think about it.”
“You can’t take the job, you can’t work for the Department,” Garrick insisted. I could see where he was coming from, everything the Department had done to me, they did to him too. Most of the time we were together when it happened.
“It might be a good opportunity to do something positive for the Truconian people,” I replied, trying to explain why there was still a reason to take the job offer seriously.
He shook his head vehemently. “How can you even consider working for them when you know what Senph and everyone is planning?” Okay, I hadn’t expected that. “It’s betraying your entire race.”
“It’s not. It’s actually going to be helping them. What Senph is doing won’t. She’s only going to make it worse for the Truconians. We’ve talked about this, Garrick. You don’t agree with it just as much as I don’t.”
“Maybe I’m coming around.” That single sentence scared me more than almost anything else Garrick could have said. He was actually buying into Senph’s vigilantism? Since when?
“How can you possibly think what she is proposing will work? She’s only going to undo everything we’ve fought so hard to do in the project.”
“Maybe it’s what needs to happen. The humans aren’t accepting us. That’s a fact, Amery. Fact number two, the Department isn’t interested in doing anything about it. Fact three, this is our future at stake. Do I need to go on?” He shot me an expectant gaze.
“You’re dating one of those humans, Garrick. Do you really want to hurt her?” My anger was a tight ball in the pit of my stomach, ready to unravel and be unleashed. It took every effort to keep it at bay.
“Ella’s not like the rest of them, you know that.”
“Yeah, I do. And how’s she going to feel when her boyfriend suddenly starts hurting her kind? Do you really think she’ll be fine with that?”
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