Colliding Skies

by Debbie Zaken

  As pathetic as it was, that was all I needed to believe him—one sexy smile.

  Jeez, Skye. Would you really get in the car with any random hot guy with a sexy smile?

  But Ethan had proven to be trust-worthy before, so I got in. Sitting next to him in the confined space of the car, was nothing less than slow and sweet torture to my senses. It was like the air itself became electric the moment he’d closed the door.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as he pulled onto the street. “Won’t the secret service people get mad that you ditched them?”

  “They are not there for my protection. Do you have a car?”

  “No, I took the train.”

  “Then I will take you home, like I promised.”

  I shot him a bewildered look, but gave him directions to my house and he started driving.

  “So, um, aliens can drive, huh?” I said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

  “Well, how did you think we were going to get around?” He turned to me and flashed me a smile.

  I wanted to kick myself for the way my heart sped up, but I just shrugged. “I don’t know. Rocket packs? No, wait. Teleporters. Definitely teleporters…”

  His smile broadened, revealing a dimple on his chin. “Your government gave us the cars.”

  I wondered if he’d had to endure the sweltering line at the DMV the way I had. I wondered what it would feel like to run my tongue over the indentation on his chin. I joggled my head, trying to shake off any thoughts of tongues and chins.

  “And you went with a Tesla.” The sleek, black car looked like something out of a James Bond movie.

  “Electric, of course,” he replied.

  “Of course...”

  I’d heard all about how environmentally responsible the aliens were, about their mission to save Earth from the damage caused by us humans.

  “Conservation and sustainability are very important. That is actually what I am responsible for on this mission—the sustainability and health of your planet,” Ethan said.

  “Wow. That’s a pretty big responsibility.” Ethan looked more like a freshman in college than an expert environmental scientist.

  “When the government offered us cars, I made sure it was the most environmentally friendly one that you have. It even comes with a solar roof that powers the interior system. Once I am done with it, it will be even more energy efficient and a lot faster.” He smiled, showing me that darn dimple of his again.

  I swallowed. “And here I thought spaceships were how you rolled.”

  “Well, you know what they say. When on Earth…besides, it makes your government feel better to think they can keep track of us. That is why they gave us this little technological artifact.” He pulled out a sleek smartphone.

  I stared at the newest model I’d once begged Mom to buy for me. If he thought that was an artifact, I’d like to see what they had on Celeia.

  “And you don’t mind the government keeping tabs on you?”

  “Suspicion and mistrust are rational reactions. Besides, these little devices do not always work properly, now do they?” He arched a dark eyebrow and I understood. How long would it take the government to notice that he’d tampered with the phone?

  Ethan pulled over in front of a small playground by my house. Only a couple of moms in yoga pants sat on a bench watching their toddlers playing on the slides. He took off his glasses and turned to face me, the blue and white lightning strikes trembling in his eyes.

  “Listen, Skye. We…we cannot speak again. I only brought you here because I wanted to avoid a scene.”

  His words formed a kink in my stomach. “I- I don’t understand. Why can’t we talk?”

  “Because it is wrong.”

  “Why? You said you would explain.” A heavy lump formed in my throat. But I wanted answers. Why these confusing feelings for him? These crazy hallucinations?

  “Humans really are difficult…too emotional.” He ran his fingers through his hair, the light brown layers covering his forehead almost to his sapphire eyes. “I am sorry. I do not mean to upset you, but we cannot be friends.”

  “You don’t want to be my friend?” My voice quivered, the lump in my throat on the brink of cracking. The words sounded pathetic in my ears, making them sting even more.

  For a second, Ethan’s eyes were like a lightning storm, swirling with sparks. And then the storm passed and the light in them went dark. His face sharpened. “No, I do not want to be your friend.”

  “Oh.” His words tugged at my chest. “Okay.” My hand trembled as I fumbled to open the car door.

  “Skye…” My name lingered in the air.

  My gaze jerked back to him, clinging to the uncertainty swimming in his eyes. My heart picked up speed as a sense of hope rushed over me. I released the door handle, not ready to leave yet, and the words poured out in a mad rush.

  “Do you know that the chemical elements that make up the building blocks of human life were forged for over fourteen billion years in the hearts of supermassive stars and ejected into space by supernova explosions? So this means that humans and all living things on Earth are actually made out of stardust.”

  I inhaled, locking my inner geek back in her closet.

  Surprise and humor brightened his face. “I see you have been catching up on your quantum physics.”

  “I might have been doing some light reading, yes.”

  “Interesting.” His lips twisted into a smile. “Yes, every element in your periodic table aside from hydrogen is essentially stardust. Even carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms in human bodies were created in previous generations of stars.”

  I clung to his intense gaze. A wave of endorphins swept through me, making my heart somersault. “So we’re really all made of stars. Humans and Celeians alike.”

  A muscle in his jaw tightened, and his smile disappeared. His face became sharp. “Tell me Skye, what happens after stars die in these supernova explosions?”

  My brows pinched, caught off guard by his question. “They form black holes.”

  “Black holes, cosmic monsters that devour anything unlucky enough to drift too close to the edge.”

  “The event horizon,” I blurted out the term, not sure where he was going with it.

  He nodded. “The event horizon is a dangerous point. The point at which the gravitational pull becomes so great, it makes escape impossible. Not even light can escape the pull of a black hole.” His face was a dark, impenetrable wall, but his eyes swirled, like a storm sweeping me in. “Goodbye, Skye.”

  ***

  THAT NIGHT, I cried. Hot angry tears. And the more I cried, the angrier I got, because I knew my emotions made no sense. There I was, bawling over someone I’d barely talked to. It was crazy. If I could’ve, I would’ve cut my own brain open and rewired it so I could stop thinking about Ethan. But I couldn’t deny my feelings any longer, even if he didn’t feel the same way. When I cried myself to sleep, I might as well have remained awake. The dream began. I was gliding in the air toward Ethan. I could see his face. He glanced at me from below, a placid smile on his lips. Then, he closed his eyes and the force that had been holding me up broke its grip. Gravity took over. I began to fall, spinning into a black infinity.

  “‘Ethan!’” I screamed.

  I jolted up in bed, panting and covered in sweat. From the light in my room, I knew daybreak lingered nearby. I had to get up soon anyway. I grabbed jeans and a random top from my closet, got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror. Puffy eyes, dark circles— evidence of the fitful and restless night.

  All day at school, I was tired and cranky. My mind churned over and over my encounter with Ethan at the coffee shop.

  What did he mean about nothing escaping the pull of a black hole?

  “So I stuffed the body in the trunk of my car.”

  “Huh?” My head snapped up at the sound of Taylor’s voice. We sat in his car in the middle of the school parking lot.

  He chuckled. “Where are you, Skye?
You’ve been on another planet all day.”

  I dropped my gaze to my jeans. “Oh, sorry.”

  “You okay?” Taylor gave my hand a squeeze.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m just tired. I didn’t really sleep well last night.”

  “I can drop you off and go home, if you like.” A hint of disappointment pinched his voice. We hadn’t seen each other since Sunday.

  I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to be with Taylor. I wanted to lobotomize Ethan from my brain. “No. I want you to stay.”

  A smile spread across his face. “I want to stay too.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, and leaned in. Slowly, his lips drew a line from my cheek across my jawline. I grew tense in his arms. When he found my mouth, my senses became sharp. I was very aware of my surroundings.

  “Wait. I don’t think making out in the school parking lot is a good idea,” I said.

  He chuckled in my ear. “I think I’ll take my chances.”

  He kissed me, but something distracted me from focusing on his insistent lips. I suddenly felt very self-conscious, as if I were under the gaze of scrutinizing eyes. I pulled away from Taylor and turned to look out the window, my eyes roaming the parking lot for anyone who could be watching.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” His eyebrows furrowed.

  When I didn’t answer, he let out a heavy sigh. He cupped my chin and gently turned my head until I faced him.

  “What’s going on? If you’re not feeling well, we’ll pick up Chase, and I’ll take you home.”

  I heard the slight annoyance in Taylor’s voice, but the feeling of being watched was like a cold knife, slicing my body in half.

  What am I, paranoid now? Add that to my growing list of abnormal behaviors. Aren’t hallucinations, nightmares and a slight obsession with an alien enough?

  I shook my head, hoping my mind hadn’t blown a circuit. “No, I’m fine. Really. Stay, please...”

  Taylor’s eyes burned into mine as he caressed my bottom lip with his thumb. When his mouth pressed down on mine again, the kiss was hard, persuading me to respond. Just then, all the conflicting emotions of the last few days— anger, fear, confusion, sorrow— boiled over and erupted into one passionate kiss. I ran my fingers through his cropped hair, and kissed him with frantic desperation that at first, took him by surprise. He recovered, his hand wrapping around the back of my neck, and the parking lot didn’t exist. Nothing mattered but Taylor’s lips moving with mine.

  When I finally pulled away, his gaze clung to me. A sly grin spread across his face. “I thought you said making out in the school parking lot wasn’t allowed.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, squinting at my embarrassing passionate outburst. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  He chuckled. “Well, whatever it is, I hope it comes over you again soon—and often.”

  We pulled out of the parking lot, got Chase and headed for my house. As we walked to the front door, I had the same bone-chilling sensation of being followed. I stopped in my tracks and turned to comb the street with my eyes. Nothing out of the ordinary. No strange cars. But I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was watching me.

  “Skye, are you coming?”

  At the sound of Chase’s voice, I turned to see him and Taylor waiting for me by the door with puzzled looks on their faces. Without a word, I walked into the house.

  Chase and Taylor played a few video games and then we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the couch watching television. For that brief moment in Taylor’s arms, I was happy and safe. The paranoia had subsided and things felt magical between us, like they had last week. But at night, everything changed.

  The dream started the same. I was in the air, sailing toward Ethan. He gave me an angelic smile, and I braced myself for what was coming. He closed his eyes and I began to fall. The ground came closer and closer and I screamed, “Ethan!”

  “Skye!” His eyes snapped open and a force gripped me, suspending me in mid-air. He looked at me in confusion, like he’d just noticed I’d been about to smash into bits. Then concentration etched on his face, a wrinkle forming between his brows. “Do not worry. I have you.”

  His gaze followed me while I floated like a bubble in the air until my feet touched the ground. He looked around at the trees and rolling pastures that surrounded us. “Where are we? How did I get here?”

  Behind him was the old radar tower turned observatory building. The place I’d seen him for the first time. “Turner Farm,” I said. “But we’re not really here. At least, I don’t think so. It’s a dream.”

  His eyes widened. “Am I in your dream?”

  “You’re in my dreams every night. But this one’s a little different. You’re usually not so talkative.” I dropped my gaze to the grass, thinking about how in my previous dreams, he was either on the verge of kissing me or letting me plunge to my death.

  A smile curled the corners of his lips. “It is different, Skye. I am really here.” He took a step closer and reached for my hand. His touch sent warm currents that tickled my skin. “You pulled me into your dream.”

  I CLIMBED THE stairs of the observatory tower with Ethan’s fingers entwined with mine.

  “This isn’t real.” I shook my head. “I’m still dreaming.”

  A smile flitted across Ethan’s lips. “Yes, it is a dream. But it is as real as things can be between us.”

  At the top of the tower the dome was open to the nighttime starry skies. In the middle of the room sat the large telescope I’d used with Dad more times than I could remember. Ethan went to it and peered through the eyepiece. After a few seconds of angling and adjusting it, he wiggled two fingers at me. “Come here. I want to show you something.”

  I stood beside him, leaned down and squinted an eye to peep through the telescope. A bright yellow arrow streaked through the dark sky. “A meteor shower.”

  “Yes, the Lyrid meteor. Tonight is the first night. It is scheduled to peak in a few days.”

  “Wow.” I moved the telescope in the direction of the meteor, following it until it disappeared. Then I angled it back to gaze at the stars in the horizon. “Venus is still bright. You can see it shining just below.”

  “Correct. But the stars you see in the background are actually in two different galaxies: your own Milky Way and in the distance to the left, you can just make out the beginning of—”

  “The Andromeda Galaxy,” I finished for him. “This is amazing. Thank you for showing me this.” I let out a breath and turned to where Ethan stood staring at me, a peculiar look clinging to his face. “I’m glad we can be friends, even if it’s only in my subconscious.”

  The lightning bolts in his eyes twinkled, much like the stars above us. “Yes, friends… if that is what you would like us to be.”

  My breath caught in my throat, making the words sound breezy. “What else could we be?”

  He took a step closer, and my lungs filled with that minty energy that intoxicated my head. It drew me in, until I found myself standing only inches from him.

  “This is your dream, Skye. You brought me here. You tell me,” he murmured.

  “Friends is not the only thing I’d like us to be.” My face tilted up to his. The expectation sent my heart on a sprint.

  He glided a single finger across my cheek and a surprised smile crossed his face. “In your dreams, I can touch you without worrying about hurting you.”

  I shook my head and furrowed my brows. “Why wouldn’t you be able to touch me?”

  “At the State Dinner, I wanted to get you away from danger. It took all my self-control not to stop that man’s heart—that poor, defenseless man. Ridiculous, is it not? I’d seen you twice, yet I did not want to lose you.” A glint of curiosity gleamed in his eyes, and he cupped my face in his hand, tilting it to his. “I longed to try this then.” He leaned down and I waited for the kiss, breathless.

  Before his lips reached mine, something yanked me back with such force I jolted awake. My heart rattled in my ears and my head thr
obbed. I kicked off the covers, guilt from almost kissing Ethan in my dream mingling with the sweat on my skin. I tossed and turned, trying to fall back asleep but the strange dream had left me restless. At the break of dawn, I gave up and went downstairs.

  Dad had just put his empty coffee cup in the dishwasher when I walked into the kitchen. “Rough night? You look like you got about as much sleep as I did.” He grinned. Since the arrival of the Celeians, his already long workday had stretched even longer and he typically left in the early hours of the morning.

  I rubbed my still-throbbing forehead, went to the counter, and grabbed a mug for the coffee I desperately needed. “Don’t remind me.”

  I plopped on a chair and took a big gulp of the steaming liquid. My gaze dropped to the iPad on the table. The news site Dad had been looking at was still open. On it, was a photograph of a meteor shooting through the night sky. I grabbed the tablet and read the caption below the picture: Lyrid meteor shower expected to peak on Friday morning.

  The coffee that had been warm and sweet going down now burned my stomach. The thin tablet in my hand felt like lead. I yanked my gaze away from the picture of the bright meteor and up to Dad. “Is this recent?”

  “The meteor shower? Yeah, it started last night.” Dad grabbed his jacket from the chair and put it on. “Maybe if I come home early, we can watch it from the backyard tonight.” He planted a kiss on the top of my head and left.

  I laid the iPad back down before it dropped out of my shaky hands. It wasn’t like me to be so uninformed about major celestial events. “If I dreamed about it, I must’ve heard something about it, even if I can’t remember,” I mumbled to myself.

  ***

  ETHAN AND I sat side by side under the opened dome of the observatory tower at Turner Park, like we had every night that week. These dreams were different from the ones I’d had before. They were our own little secret rendezvous.

  The meteor shower had passed, and now we were gazing at Mars, Leo and Ursa Major.

  “It’s amazing up there,” I whispered, looking up at the night sky. “I can’t even imagine the things you’ve seen in your travels.”