The Circle

by Kat Mayor

  Oh no, here we go again, Silas thought. It was always the same. If his friends and family weren’t trying to set him up with someone, they were reassuring him that he wasn’t too old to find his One. Why couldn’t they let God handle that part and leave him alone?

  “She’s seventeen. She’s from the Coral province and she…”

  “Thanks, Elizabeth,” Silas interrupted. “But I really don’t have time right now. Maybe when I return from the mission.”

  “Oh sure, Silas. Just let me know.” Charlie could tell by her expression she was a little disappointed.

  ***

  After working a double shift on Christmas day, Michelle took the next day off and insisted on blowing all her holiday double-time pay on post-Christmas sales with Lilly. Her mom had bought her a new stereo with a CD player for the Jeep. She had given it to Lilly before Charlie left so that he could install it for her. Now, they were listening to one of the oldies CDs Charlie had given to Lilly as they were driving to the mall.

  “So do you have plans for New Year’s?” Michelle asked.

  “No, not really.” Beth and Ian had invited her over to Beth’s house to pop fireworks, but Lilly didn’t enjoy fireworks and really didn’t want to go.

  “Jeannie and Bill invited us over for a New Year’s party. You want to go?” Jeannie was a nurse who worked with Michelle. They had a really nice house in River Oaks, and their parties were always extravagant affairs.

  “Actually, Mom, I just thought I’d stay home. There’s a Twilight Zone marathon on, but you go ahead.”

  “Nah. I don’t want to go without you. Besides, Twilight Zone sounds like more fun.

  “Mom, you should go. You love their parties. I’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t know,” Michelle said. “I told Charlie I’d keep you company while he was gone, but you’re not making it very easy.”

  “Mom, c’mon,” Lilly said.

  “All right, all right. I’ll go.”

  ***

  Eve and Hosea’s wedding took place a few days before the Earthan New Year. When Silas and his family arrived, they were amazed at the decor. Silas could not remember a more elegant ceremony.

  Sentrian weddings were traditionally somber affairs reflecting the seriousness of the occasion. They were first and foremost worship services to the Lord. The bride and groom were giving thanks to the Lord for sending them their One.

  Eve was dressed in a flowing white silk gown. In Sentrian custom, the bride wore the couple’s personal color for the sash and jewelry. Silas was not surprised that Eve’s color was blood red. She wore red satin sashes around her sleeves and waist and rubies in her chain maille jewelry. The ten bridesmaids all carried glowing vermilion lamps. Rather than exchange rings, the couple gave each other ornate circle charms to replace the simpler engagement charms they wore around their necks. The priest ended the ceremony by wrapping their hands together using one of the sashes flowing off Eve’s sleeves to show they were now bonded together forever.

  As soon as the newlyweds left the wedding hall and were on the way to their honeymoon, a lavish reception ensued. Decadent appetizers and traditional Sentrian dishes were served. There was roasted lamb with caramel sauce and celery dumplings, and deep-fried red onion coated in cocoa powder. Hot sparkling waters and a myriad of flavored beverages flowed from large fountains in the middle of the hall. And of course, pentab. The reception lasted well into the night, with traditional Sentrian music and dancing.

  Silas watched as his parents and all the other married couples headed for the dance floor. He reflected back to the homecoming dance with Liliana and wished she were here with him. Why had he fallen in love with an Earthan? Or why couldn’t Liliana be Sentrian? If he met her here, she could be his wife. He shook his head. There was no use thinking about what could never be.

  ***

  Lilly was popping popcorn. She could hear the Twilight Zone theme music from the kitchen. Michelle had left for her party, and Lilly had the house to herself. She was in full countdown mode, but not for the New Year. In forty-eight hours, Charlie would be back.

  ***

  Mr. Conner and the elders convened a meeting prior to the departure. Eve/Evelyn and Henry had returned from their honeymoon and were in attendance. Due to the circumstances with Mr. Lassiter, Mr. Conner had decided that assimilating with the Earthans was no longer the goal. He and the elders thought a more distant approach was better.

  As a formality, Mr. Conner opened the meeting up to questions, but the people’s input really didn’t matter. The magistrate and elders had already decided on the new rules.

  “But won’t the Earthans be suspicious if we suddenly close up and stop socializing?” Mrs. Hampton asked.

  “You don’t need to completely close yourselves off, but you do need to practice discretion in what kind of contact you have with them,” a fat elder named Bob said.

  “But I’m president of the book club. Do I have to give that up?” a man asked.

  “And my son plays baseball. They’ll probably go to the playoffs,” said another woman. The families all began talking at once.

  “Silence,” the magistrate commanded. “Enough.” The group quieted down immediately. “You may remain in your social activities as long as you follow the rules. Casual socializing is still a good way to find out exactly what they know. But be careful of what you say, and do not become overly friendly with them. That is the new directive. Bill will be in charge of monitoring the adults, and I’ve made my daughter-in-law, Evelyn, overseer of the youth. They report directly to me, so I expect all of you to cooperate with them and do whatever they say. Remember, we will be watching you.”

  Charlie swallowed hard.

  “The meeting is adjourned,” Bob said. The families went back to their respective homes to pack for the trip back to Earth.

  Chapter 9

  Strained Reunion

  Lilly woke up early the first day of school following Christmas break. She wanted to look extra special for Charlie’s first day back. She wore Charlie’s favorite sapphire-blue blouse and even curled her hair.

  He hadn’t called her last night when he should have been home, and Lilly assumed he wasn’t able. But now, while sitting in the band hall waiting for him, she began to worry. What if something happened, and he was delayed? What if his government decided not to return at all?

  Two minutes before the bell rang, Charlie rushed into the band hall. Lilly jumped up when she saw him, but he wasn’t paying attention to her. His eyes were darting all over the room as if he was looking for something or someone. Lilly ran over to him and tried to put her arms around him, but he moved away. She was shocked, hurt. He looked at her and softly but firmly told her, “Don’t.” Lilly picked up her horn and walked to her seat.

  Evelyn, who had just finished her audition for the band watched the entire exchange. She saw the Earthan female jump up and greet him enthusiastically. Charlie had done everything correctly. He had stepped back when she approached and maintained a distance from her. Evelyn was prepared to chalk the whole thing up to an excitable Earthan youth greeting a returning band mate after a long holiday, except for one thing: she saw the look on Charlie’s face. It was a look she had expected to see on his face when she and Charlie were dating but for some reason never did. It was the look of desire.

  ***

  Charlie did not see Lilly again until lunch. Luckily, Evelyn did not share his lunch period. Charlie glanced over at Henry. He was eating alone at his own table, absorbed in a book. Charlie decided to take a chance.

  Lilly was already seated at the band table when Charlie approached. “Are you acknowledging my presence now?” she asked.

  Charlie ignored her sarcasm and motioned for her to get up. “C’mon. We need to talk.” He led her over to the side of the cafeteria hear the hallway.

  “Liliana, we cannot be seen together anymore. We can’t give the impression that we are involved. From now on, let’s just be acquaintances at school.”

/>   “What? Why? I’m not even sure how to do that,” she said.

  “Did you notice the new flute player in band this morning?”

  Lilly had. She was a beautiful blonde with striking eyes. “Of course. She had purple contacts. She was kind of hard to miss.”

  “She is wearing contacts, because she’s just as blind as I am, but not purple ones. That’s her natural eye color,” Charlie told her.

  “You mean she’s Sentrian?” Lilly whispered. “Is every new student who enrolls here from another planet?”

  “Just listen, Liliana,” Charlie said sharply. “Her name is Evelyn. While we were on Christmas break, she got married to Henry.” Charlie looked in Henry’s direction, and Lilly followed his gaze. Charlie had pointed him out to Lilly before. The very strange Henry was sitting with his nose in his book. He took a pen out of his pocket protector and underlined something in the text.

  “The sophomore?” Lilly asked. It was hard to imagine anyone in their school married. But Henry, the total geek, had that beautiful flute player for a wife? That was an image she didn’t need in her head.

  “Evelyn has been sent to Earth to monitor the actions of the younger Sentrians, namely the teenagers. Having a supervisor stationed at the school means I will be under intense scrutiny.”

  Lilly looked at Charlie and rubbed his arm. “It’ll be OK,” she said.

  Charlie pulled away. “No, Liliana. This is serious. We have to be extremely careful. At school, nothing but casual contact. I will come and see you in the evenings.” The bell rang. Charlie turned and went to his class without even saying good-bye.

  ***

  Evelyn got out of Henry’s car, and they walked into the Conner home together. The story Mr. Conner concocted for the school was that Evelyn was his niece, and she had come to live with them because of problems her parents were having. During school, Evelyn and Henry pretended to be cousins. At home things were very different. The entire second floor had been remodeled as a suite for the newlyweds. It was almost as if they had their own apartment.

  “So, how was school, Evelyn?” Mrs. Conner asked. She handed Henry and Evelyn full mugs of coffee.

  “Different than I expected. The schoolwork is, of course, simplistic and repetitive, but I do enjoy the band class,” she said, taking a sip from her mug. “Umm, real coffee is so good.”

  “Yes, it makes coming to Earth almost bearable,” Henry said. “Did you happen to see our fellow Sentrian at school? I know he’s in band.” Evelyn found it amusing that he wouldn’t even refer to Charlie by name.

  “Yes, but briefly. He took off right after class.” Henry nodded. “It doesn’t bother you that we are in band together, does it?” Evelyn asked innocently.

  “Not at all,” Henry lied. “I know to whom you belong.”

  ***

  As soon as the Grays finished dinner, Charlie excused himself and told his parents he was going to the library to work on a research paper. He got in his car and drove straight to Lilly’s house. He realized he would need to think of some other excuses. Going to the library every night was not plausible, especially when he could research almost anything he needed on his PCD.

  Lilly was waiting in the den for Charlie, trying unsuccessfully to concentrate on calculus homework. When the doorbell rang, she jumped up from the couch to answer the door. As soon as Charlie was inside, he pulled Lilly to him and held her tightly for several seconds. They sat down on the couch, and Charlie wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kept it there most of the evening. “It is so good to be back here. You have no idea.”

  “So, aside from missing me every hour of every day, was it nice to be home?” Lilly asked.

  “I have very mixed feelings on the subject. It was good to see some of my friends, but I did not miss Sentria as much as I thought I would. I guess I’ve become Earthanized.”

  “Earthanized? Is that even a word?” Lilly asked.

  Charlie shrugged. “What about you? What did you do besides pine away for me?”

  “We celebrated Christmas, and of course, I watched the Twilight Zone marathon on New Year’s Eve.”

  “Rub it in, why don’t you,” Charlie said.

  “So, tell me about this wedding,” Lilly said. “How does a Sentrian wedding differ from one of ours?”

  “Well, I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never been to an Earthan wedding, only seen them on TV. But I know that instead of standing at an altar, the couple stands in a circle, and the priest ties their hands together to show that God has bound their lives to each other.”

  “Sounds romantic,” Lilly said.

  “No. Actually it’s quite somber, but then it’s supposed to be. God ordains the union. It is the most significant day of our lives; the culmination of God’s will for us. A Sentrian wedding is sacred and life changing.”

  Lilly released herself from his grasp and turned to face him. “Charlie, there’s something that’s been bugging me. I get that it would be disastrous if Evelyn found out about us, but the whole band knows we’re together. You know how people talk. It won’t take her long to find out.”

  “Yes, I’m sure she will eventually. And when she does I’ll tell her that we went out as friends a few times. If she finds out about homecoming, I’ll say that I asked you to the dance because I was curious about the Earthan homecoming tradition. It’s going forward I’m concerned about. The rules have changed. Now we are not allowed to socialize with Earthans. It might be a good idea if you let others know that we aren’t seeing each other anymore.”

  Lilly didn’t care what other people thought, but she was uncomfortable with lying to Beth. She and Charlie might never have gone out if it wasn’t for Beth.

  Charlie kissed her on the forehead. “I don’t want you to worry about this. I’ll handle it. Let me make us some coffee, then I’ll help you with your calculus homework.”

  That sounded great to Lilly. She had only managed to solve one problem by herself.

  ***

  Charlie and Lilly continued on this way for a couple of weeks: virtually ignoring each other at school and then meeting secretly in the evenings. Sometimes Charlie would say he was going for a walk, and then Lilly would pick him up at the corner of his street. Other times they would meet up at the diner, but most of the time, Charlie made up some story for his parents and went over to Lilly’s house.

  Unfortunately, all their trouble was for nothing. Ever since the first day in band, the interaction between Charlie and the female horn player had put Charlie on Evelyn’s radar. In an effort to gain information, Evelyn began ingratiating herself with some of the other Earthan band girls. She soon learned that Claire and Jana knew a lot about what was going on in the band. Evelyn plied Claire with flattery, and Jana practically vomited gossip. Any information Evelyn wanted to know would flow freely from Jana’s mouth.

  Claire was primping and preening one day in the bathroom, when Evelyn entered. “Your hair looks so great today, Claire. I wish I could style my hair like that,” Evelyn said.

  “Thanks. I have a date with my boyfriend tonight. Gotta look good, you know.”

  “That’s right. You told me about him. He doesn’t go to our school, does he?”

  “No, he goes to Friendswood.”

  “She used to date Matt, the trumpet player, but he dumped her,” Jana explained.

  “Jana, he did not dump me. It was mutual,” Claire said, giving her a dirty look.

  Evelyn saw this as an opening and took it. “So who else in the band is dating?”

  “Well, there’s Jill and Mark: flute and French horn. They’re so cute, it’s disgusting. They were band beau and band sweetheart at homecoming.” Claire raked the brush through her hair roughly. She was still bitter about that. “Then there’s Holly and Trey. She plays the bassoon, and he plays trombone.”

  “Don’t forget, you and Dan went to homecoming.”

  “Gross, Jana. Don’t remind me.”

  “What about Charlie Gray? Is he seeing anyone?” Evelyn
asked.

  Claire, who had been applying lip gloss, suddenly spun around to face Evelyn. “Why do you ask? Are you interested in Charlie?”

  “Well, no,” Evelyn said coyly. “My uncle is a friend of his parents. I just wondered…”

  “He was really into Lilly. She’s that short French horn player and Claire’s ex-best friend,” Jana said. Claire gave her a dirty look. “He gave her, like, the hugest mum for homecoming. Claire was so envious.” Claire was now shooting bullets at Jana with her eyes. “But since the start of the new semester, their relationship has sort of cooled off.”

  “Yeah, like Antarctica,” Claire added. “They don’t even speak to each other. So if you want a shot at Charlie, here’s your chance.” She couldn’t understand why everyone was so interested in Charlie, but she really didn’t care. She turned back to look in the mirror and applied another coat of lip gloss.

  ***

  Charlie’s stomach lurched when he left school after sixth period. Evelyn was standing in the parking lot, waiting for him beside his car.

  “Hello, Charlie,” Evelyn said. “Would you mind giving me a ride home? Henry has to stay late for a science fair or something.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think Henry would like that very much,” Charlie said. Evelyn sauntered over to him with a wicked smile on her face. She leaned over and whispered into his ear. “I don’t think he would mind, just this once. We are married now. And it’s not like you have a girlfriend who might get jealous.” Charlie knew then he was in deep trouble.

  ***

  Beth and Ian were standing outside. Ian’s car was in the shop, so they had to bum a ride from Lilly. As they were waiting, Beth saw Evelyn get into Charlie’s Mustang. Charlie had been acting even stranger than usual since he came back from Christmas break: not talking to anyone, sitting by himself at lunch. And the way he was around Lilly. It was like he did a complete 180. Before they had been inseparable, but now he was very distant. He didn’t just ignore Lilly; he avoided her. Beth had asked Lilly if everything was OK between them, and she was kind of evasive about it. She told Beth, “It’s complicated, and I’d rather not talk about it.” Beth respected Lilly’s privacy and didn’t bring up the subject of Charlie again, but with this latest development, she didn’t know what to do.