by Brenda Hiatt
“So what other, um, apps do you have in there?” I asked, even more curious than before.
He shook his head. “If I tell you now, how do I know you’ll let me walk you home again? Anyway, we’re here.” He walked up the porch steps with me and handed me my backpack. I took my hand off his arm the moment we were under the overhang and the tingling stopped, making me realize I’d felt it this whole time without noticing.
“Thanks,” I said, ignoring his question and being very careful not to touch his hand as I took the bag from him. “Guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“And at our house next time you, um, tutor us?”
“That, too. G’night.”
He smiled down at me but didn’t try to get too close—to my relief. “Good night . . . Emileia,” he said softly, then turned and left.
I frowned after him for a moment, not sure what to think, then shook my head as I opened the front door. There was no point imagining motives where none might exist. And though I knew Rigel wouldn’t approve, I couldn’t help liking the O’Garas. Already, I found myself looking forward to my next visit to their house.
CHAPTER 9
graell (grayl): an emotional and physical bond believed mythical by most Martians
“Didn’t your aunt tell you I called when you got home last night?” Rigel asked when he met me at my locker the next morning.
“Good morning to you, too,” I said, going up on my tiptoes for a quick kiss—quick enough that no passing teacher would yell at us. “She did tell me, but she also said it was too late to call you back, even though it was barely past nine-thirty. I hung around in the kitchen hoping they’d go upstairs early enough that I could call you anyway, but they didn’t. I didn’t want to risk calling after ten-thirty.”
“You can call my cell anytime, M, you know that. So where were you, anyway? She wouldn’t tell me.”
I was startled he didn’t know. Hadn’t I told him I’d agreed to tutor Molly and Sean? Maybe not.
Watching his expression carefully, I said, “I was over at the O’Garas’ house. My aunt promised Mrs. O’Gara I’d help Molly and Sean catch up in History, but she didn’t tell me that until I got home from taekwondo.”
As expected, he didn’t look happy. “You were at their house? All evening? After everything I—”
“Not all evening, just for a couple hours after dinner. And you didn’t tell me much of anything, remember?” I noticed people looking at us and dropped my voice to a whisper. “If you really know something, Rigel, some reason I should avoid them, then tell me. Please!”
He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, but only to ask, “So, it wasn’t just Molly, but Sean, too? I can’t imagine he needs any help with his classes.”
Suddenly I saw where this was going and felt stupid I hadn’t realized it sooner. Unfortunately, the truth would only make things worse, but I had no intention of lying to him. Ever.
“Both of them, yeah. They had a lot of questions about U.S. History, since neither of them ever studied it before. And they told me some stuff about politics on . . . er, where they come from,” I amended, since we were walking down the hall now and might possibly be overheard. “It was interesting.”
I paused, bracing myself for his reaction, then confessed in a rush, “And then Sean walked me home because I forgot to bring an umbrella.”
“Because you— Gee, wasn’t that nice of him?” Rigel’s jaw was tight and I could feel waves of anger rolling off of him. Which wasn’t fair at all.
“I didn’t ask him to. And it was like a three minute walk.” I knew I sounded defensive. “Anyway, it was his mom’s idea, not his. She’s . . . really sweet.”
The anger I felt from him ebbed slightly but became tinged with something else—sadness? But why? That’s what I seemed to see in his eyes, too, when he looked down at me again.
“Sorry, M. It wasn’t your fault, so I shouldn’t take it out on you. It’s just . . . There’s something about Sean that rubs me the wrong way.”
I knew better than to suggest jealousy again, even if it sure felt like that to me. “It was pouring, so it would have looked weird for me to refuse. And it was my fault I forgot my umbrella. But, Rigel, he has the coolest device!” I dropped my voice to something lower than a whisper but that Rigel, with his enhanced Martian senses, could easily hear. “This little thing he called an omni. It does all kinds of stuff, including generating a sort of rain shield, like an invisible umbrella. It was amazing.”
Now he looked—and felt—alarmed. “An omni? And he actually used it out on the street?”
“So you already knew about them? How come you never told me? It was so cool!”
We reached the classroom but lingered just outside the door, still speaking so low no one else could possibly hear.
“I’ve never seen one, just heard about them. And yeah, they sound great. I used to beg my folks for one. But they said they’re not allowed on Earth—along with a bunch of other stuff that would be too hard to explain if it was found. So if he—“ The bell rang, cutting him off. “We’ll talk more later,” he said.
This was starting to feel like a pattern, but I was determined this time he really would tell me more. A couple of periods later, walking together from English to Science, I maneuvered him toward the edge of the hallway, holding tightly to his arm.
“If you think the O’Garas are some kind of threat you have to tell me,” I whispered. “They expect me to come over again soon. If there’s some reason I shouldn’t, I need to know.”
He slanted a glance my way but looked away before I could decipher it. I concentrated on his emotions instead and thought he felt nervous. Nervous?
“Rigel?” I prompted.
“Okay,” he finally murmured. “I think Molly’s probably fine. Maybe they all are—though they shouldn’t go waving technology around like that. But I’m pretty sure Sean is . . . after you.”
Flashing back to the scene in the cornfield last month, my heart leaped into my throat. “You mean he might—“
“No.” I could tell he was responding to the fear he felt from me more than my words. “Not that way. I mean . . . romantically,” he finally finished, with obvious reluctance.
I actually laughed out loud, right there in the hallway, before remembering to drop my voice again—not that we were exactly talking Martian stuff now. “No way. He knows I’m with you—it’s not exactly a secret. And even if he is . . . interested in me, it doesn’t matter. You know that. I won’t ever think of anybody else that way. I can’t.”
Then I remembered that weird tingle I got from Sean—surely just some random Martian anomaly? Whatever it was, I definitely wasn’t about to mention it to Rigel now!
He stopped and turned me toward him so he could look into my eyes. “I know, M. I trust you completely—with my life and my heart.” I could tell beyond doubt that he meant it. “It’s his motives I don’t trust. His and Allister’s. So . . . be careful, okay?”
“Okay. But they can’t possibly change the way I feel, so their motives don’t really matter, do they? I mean, I promise not to lead him on or anything.”
Now he laughed. “That’s not something I was worried about.”
I was relieved to see him smiling again. “What, you don’t think I can flirt with the best of them?” I joked.
He threw an arm around my shoulders and gave me a delicious squeeze. “You don’t have to, believe me. You’re already completely irresistible.”
“To you, maybe. But thanks. And ditto.”
During class, while filling in my water cycle chart, I occasionally focused my attention on Rigel behind me, gauging his emotions. Except for occasional spurts of irritation with Trina—his lab partner—he mostly stayed upbeat, though toward the end of class a darker edge crept back in.
“Want to grab something we can eat in the courtyard?” I suggested on the way to lunch.
As usual, Rigel saw right through me. “I’m fine, M.” He gav
e me a smile to prove it. “Besides, it’s drizzling and about forty degrees. But I appreciate the offer.”
“Think you can get away tonight after dinner, then?” I asked as we got into the lunch line.
But he shook his head. “Dad, Grandfather and Allister have me helping them with a project. They say it’s to get a young person’s input, but I think it’s really to keep me home at night. How about this afternoon?”
“It’s a date,” I promised, already tingling at the thought of some uninterrupted alone time with Rigel.
We sat down with our lunches and a moment later I saw Molly heading for our table. But she’d barely left the lunch line when Trina intercepted her. “Hey, Molly, you don’t have to sit with the losers anymore. You can sit with us now.” She gestured toward the cheerleaders’ table.
Though no one else at our table could possibly hear the exchange, Rigel and I both could. We glanced at each other, waiting to see what Molly would say.
“Thanks, Trina, but I like M and her friends. They’re really nice.”
I could see Trina’s lip curl from halfway across the room. “Nice? Trust me, you don’t know Marsha like I do. I’ll admit Rigel Stuart is easy on the eyes, even if he is a total player. But the others—?” She rolled her eyes. “Come on over if you change your mind.”
Molly walked away from her without replying. “Hey, M,” she greeted me when joined us. “Do you think you can come over again soon?”
I wished she’d waited to ask when Rigel wasn’t right there—not that I’d have hidden it from him, of course. But I wanted to preserve his good mood and I could feel it souring the moment she spoke.
Still, I nodded. “Probably. My aunt seems to be fine with it.”
“Great! I was afraid you might have gotten in trouble after staying so late last night.”
Honestly, was she trying to get me in trouble with Rigel? There was nothing calculating in her expression. but now Bri and Deb were interested.
“So what are you guys up to?” Bri asked, a little tinge of jealousy in her voice. Which was totally uncool, considering how much more time she’d been spending with Deb than me lately—and it wasn’t all my fault.
“I’m just helping Molly and Sean get caught up in History—not that they need a lot of help.” I smiled at Molly and she smiled back.
“It was my mom’s idea,” she explained to Bri, who was still frowning a little. “But M’s being a really good sport about it.”
“So, Molly, are you joining the cheerleading squad?” Deb said to change the subject. Deb hated anything like conflict.
Molly nodded. “I thought it might be fun to cheer at Sean’s games. You guys will come, won’t you?”
“Are you kidding?” Bri was instantly distracted. “I never miss a game. I especially won’t now. Let’s all go to the scrimmage against Alexandria week after next! Show our support.”
She spent the rest of lunch talking basketball and I was surprised that Molly seemed to know as much about it as she did. Rigel made an occasional comment, too, but I stayed quiet, not wanting to display my ignorance. I was just happy Rigel was relatively cheerful again, despite the frequent mentions of Sean’s name. I hoped that meant I’d successfully reassured him.
It was still drizzling when I got off the bus that afternoon. I worried it might keep Rigel from coming over but less than half an hour later he showed up wearing a rain poncho that covered most of his bike as well as his body.
“Nice!” I said, grinning at his attire when I opened the door.
He shrugged, grinning back. “It’s not a force field, but it gets the job done. You want to go for a walk? I brought an umbrella—a real one.”
“Let me grab my coat.” No neighbors were out in their yards on a day like this, but I wouldn’t put it past Mrs. Crabtree to be spying out her window.
A minute later we were walking toward Diamond hand in hand, Rigel holding the big black umbrella over both of us. Very romantic, in spite of the puddles. But then, pretty much everything was romantic when I was with Rigel.
“It sucks there’s no place we can be alone without getting rained on,” I commented after a moment.
“Yeah. Maybe after Allister and Grandfather leave you can come to my house again.”
Aunt Theresa had made it clear that neither Rigel nor I were allowed in each other’s houses without supervision. She’d even mentioned it to his parents after church a few weeks ago, so they now felt obligated to play by her rules. Fortunately, Rigel’s dad worked out of their house about half the time, since he did a lot of his computer consulting over the internet. Rigel’s mom was an OB/Gyn, so she was gone a lot during the day.
“We can go to the arboretum,” I suggested. “It ought to be deserted.”
He nodded and we headed that way.
“So what’s this project you’re working on?” I asked as we walked.
“Allister and Grandfather are writing up guidelines for new Echtrans on how to blend in without drawing attention. I mean, there have always been generally understood dos and don’ts, but with more coming in and others leaving the compounds, they want something standardized. Something bipartisan, I guess you could say.”
“So where do you come in on this?” It sounded very governmental and official to me. I tried to ignore the fact that I really should be learning about this stuff myself.
“They want to include stuff for kids—all ages. Used to be, folks with young kids almost always stayed in one of the Martian compounds or villages until they were older but now, not so much. I’m supposed to come up with ideas for that part.” He didn’t sound happy about it.
“But you think it’s really to keep you home? Away from me?” I could definitely see Allister doing that, but Shim? He’d seemed to like me, and even approve of us as a couple.
The arboretum was as empty as I’d predicted, so we went in and wandered slowly along the wet gravel path. It had been pretty when the roses were in bloom and the trees still had leaves a month ago, but now it was drab and gray in the cold drizzle.
“Maybe I’m wrong about that.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it can’t last forever—though starting next week, after my birthday, I’ll have Driver’s Ed most evenings for a while. But hey, we’re together now, right?”
I smiled up at him, my heart beating faster. “We are. And I think we should make the most of that.”
He lowered his lips to mine and for a while nothing else in the world—nothing else in the universe—mattered. Kissing Rigel always felt so right, so perfect. So intense. I sometimes worried I’d get used to this, that each kiss couldn’t go on being better than the last one indefinitely. But so far, that worry hadn’t materialized. Not even close.
After a blissful half hour or so, Rigel noticed I was shivering, even though I hadn’t noticed myself.
“Come on,” he said. “We need to get you warmed up.”
We walked down the block to Dream Cream for hot chocolate, then it was time for me to get home, since it was my night to make dinner. Cold rain and all, I wished the afternoon didn’t have to end.
On my front porch, Rigel gave me one last kiss, then handed me the umbrella. “Here, you keep this. You can take it with you next time you go to the O’Garas’ house.”
“Subtle,” I said, giving him a grin and another quick kiss. “But I’ll bring it.”
I watched him ride off, still smiling, savoring the glow of our time together. But then I looked up at the darkening sky and sighed. Winter was nearly here, which meant fewer and fewer afternoons like this one. Aunt Theresa’s rules, Allister’s visits, new evening commitments, the worsening weather—sometimes it seemed like the world was conspiring to keep Rigel and me apart.
But that was silly. Soon Allister would leave again and everything would go back to normal. Why shouldn’t it?
CHAPTER 10
Nuath (NOO-ath): the underground human colony on Mars
“I feel like I understand the American perspective a lot better now,” Molly sai
d several nights later, when we finally finished going everything we’d covered so far in U.S. History.
“You’re a good teacher, M.” Sean grinned at me as he flipped his book closed. “Thanks.”
“I’m glad I could help.” I was almost sorry we were done. I’d enjoyed my visits to their house more than I’d expected to, especially the parts where I learned more about Mars. I was also becoming better friends with Molly . . . and with Sean.
As though he’d read my thoughts, Sean said, “You know, you don’t have to tell your aunt we’re caught up. There must be more you want to know, plus there’s still lots of stuff you can tell us about America—and Earth. Stuff that everyone takes for granted.”
My eagerness at learning more Martian stuff battled with wariness, in case Rigel was right about Sean. Even after Rigel and I spent that magical Thursday afternoon together, then another hour Saturday, he was definitely still jealous. I’d even sensed it in church, when the O’Garas showed up and sat with us and the Stuarts—and Sean didn’t even try to sit next to me.
“Worth a try,” I said after only the briefest hesitation. “So, what else can you tell me about Mars?”
Sean laughed. “That’s like asking, ‘What else can you tell us about Earth?’ Where would you start?”
“Good point.” I relaxed, laughing along with him. “Let’s see. You’ve already told me some political stuff and your parents gave me a little Nuathan history when I was here Sunday night. But what it was like to actually live there? I still can’t quite imagine it.”
“You’ll, um, you’d love it there, M.” Sean spoke with conviction. “Of course, things got a little crazy the year before we left, but most of our time growing up was great. I really miss it sometimes.”
Molly nodded eagerly. “Me, too. And he’s right, you’d love it! Everybody’s super friendly. And . . . you never have to hide what you really are.”