Eye on Orion

by Laura D. Bastian

  “Ah.” He tossed the pillow at me. “The truth hurts I guess, but I’m the boss here. I’ll just keep singing until you're up.” He took a deep breath, and I shot out from under the covers.

  “I’m up. I’m up.” I stretched and yawned.

  “Good. Come have some breakfast, and then you’ll be coming to help me open the nursery so Mom can sleep in. She didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  “Sorry. We lost track of time.”

  “So you said,” he replied.

  “I’ll be down in a bit.” I stumbled to my dresser to get some clothes.

  “Hurry it up. We need to leave in twenty minutes.” He closed the door as he left.

  I could handle this kind of punishment. I’d stayed up late into the night many times, watching the stars or reading books I loved and couldn’t put down and then gotten up early to go to work. I wasn’t too worried about how tired I’d be. I figured I could handle it for the day and then go to bed early tonight. Hopefully Dad and Mom would count this as the full punishment.

  Downstairs, Dad served me some toast and eggs. “Here’s the eggs, but I didn’t make you any bacon.”

  “This is great. Thanks, Dad.” I piled the eggs onto my toast, making a quick sandwich. I'd eaten and loaded my dishes into the dishwasher before Dad had finished his breakfast.

  “You handle the early morning better than I ever did,” Dad said through a mouthful of eggs. “Why don’t you go get the keys to the car and you can drive us to work when I’m done.”

  “I can drive us? Thanks.” I went to the hall by the garage and pulled the keys off the hook. Dad climbed in the car a few minutes later and I carefully backed out of the garage.

  ****

  Work went by rather slowly, making me drag midway through the day. My mind kept me occupied with everything I'd learned the night before. Dad asked about the trip, and I tried to keep it light. I told him about explaining some of the stories behind the constellations and how Amira loved the s’mores. I tried to keep it all about the meteors we’d gone up there for, and Dad didn’t press for any more details.

  While I worked on my own, I dwelt a lot on the moments before Amira’s Vision woke her up. When Jai held my hand, it had felt amazing. I couldn’t help wondering if things might have led to a kiss.

  All morning I kept going over all the things we talked about. By mid-afternoon, I’d been at the nursery working long enough that Dad eventually took pity on me. He told me to take the car home to Mom, releasing me for the day.

  At home, I longed to climb into my bed and take a nap, but the desire to see Jai was stronger.

  I dressed in one of the outfits from my shopping trip, one Amira said Jai would like. I fixed my hair and put some light makeup on. I usually wasn’t one to wear much. Mascara was my one item I would want to take with me to a deserted island. That or lip-gloss, maybe both.

  While putting my lip-gloss on, I heard someone at the door. When I opened it, I realized how much my memory of Jai had been flawed. He looked incredible. I stared at him for a while. When I finally noticed he’d been talking to me, a blush crept up my face.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  He smiled, making my heart skip a beat. “How did things go last night with your parents?”

  “Dad got me up extra early to go to work with him.” I fought a yawn. “He also gave me a curfew of eleven o’clock. Other than that, I don’t think it bothered them too much, me getting home so late. Dad just asked if the jeep had any troubles.”

  “You kept our secret?” he asked.

  “Yup,” I said. “He didn't ask much for questions. He only asked if the meteor shower was as good as I’d hoped.”

  “It was pretty fascinating,” he said.

  “I enjoyed it too. It was very… educational.” I looked in his eyes. “I love the idea there is so much more than has been discovered. I want to know more.” I tried not to beg, but I would, to learn more.

  “I talked to the others about letting you use the Densinne. We could talk to you where no one else could hear it. Are you interested?” he asked.

  “I am a little nervous about trying to keep my private thoughts to myself,” I said, thinking about my first experience. “I seem to blurt out things I don’t mean to say with you.”

  “You did extremely well that first day.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “You seemed like a natural at being able to think only what you wanted to let us know. Toward the end, you kept most of it private.”

  “That’s good.” If my thoughts about him were going to continue progressing this way, I wanted total control over them.

  “Will you come over to my home?” Jai stepped away from the door and held his arm as if inviting me to walk down the front steps. “Amira wants to see for herself that you are not uncomfortable about this whole thing. We can also give you a little bottle with the Densinne in it.”

  “Sure. I can come over for a bit.” I stepped forward and closed the door behind me.

  Jai held his arm out for me. Instead of taking it, I held my hand out lower so he could hold my hand as we walked. He smiled. “You're probably right. That would appear strange here.”

  “A little,” I agreed. It was nice to walk next to someone taller than me. I hadn't wanted to shrink for days. I couldn’t help noticing Curtis outside with his polishing rag as we came down the sidewalk. Jai must have noticed him too, because instead of crossing the street right away, he led me down the sidewalk on my side of the road. We didn’t cross until directly in front of his house.

  I tried to ignore the stare from Curtis, but couldn’t help feeling giddy that I was holding Jai’s hand. Even if it didn’t mean what Curtis probably thought it meant, it was nice to have the contact for now.

  When we got to his house, Amira opened the door before we got to the first step. She rushed out and grabbed my hands then asked, “How are things with you?” She looked at me as if I might suddenly change my mind and run back home.

  “Things are good. It’s pretty cool actually,” I assured her.

  “That is such a relief.” She led me into the house. “I worried if you had time to think about all of this you would be upset. I would not blame you if you wanted to stay far away from us now that you know who we are.”

  Delilah and Marshal came in the room. Jai probably outranked them. It would be strange to think of them as servants to the princess instead of her parents.

  Delilah brought me a glass of juice and I watched as Jai poured one drop of the Densinne in it. I was amazed again at how delicious it tasted.

  “What’s this like by itself?” I asked.

  “It is kind of bitter actually. It enhances whatever food it is in, but by itself it tastes horrible,” Delilah answered.

  “How soon will it work?” I asked.

  “Almost immediately for us, but it did not take effect as fast for you the first time. It will probably work much faster this time since you've had it before. Do you hear anything yet?” Jai asked.

  I listened for a bit and soon heard their thoughts. Delilah thought about what foods she liked the best with the Densinne added, and Marshal disagreed, insisting something else tasted better. Amira sang a song in a language I'd never heard before, as Jai translated the words into English for me. It was about a creature similar to an alligator he described, who was the king of a swamp until a small bird chased him out.

  “I hear you. It does work fast,” I said in my mind to see if they could hear me. “There aren’t any weird side effects like last time. No headache or weird echoes.”

  “You had problems the first time?” Jai asked.

  “Yeah at first, but they went away really fast. This time, nothing,” I said.

  “I wonder why it did that to you?” Amira asked.

  “If you will excuse us Princess, we will get back to work,” Marshal thought.

  “Thank you both. We will call you if needed,” Amira answered.

  I watched as they left t
hen wondered what to do next.

  “How about we go sit, and we can tell you more about us and where we come from.” Amira took me by the hand and led me to the couches in the front room.

  I sat next to her while Jai sat on the loveseat by himself across from us. I struggled to keep my thoughts to myself about our seating arrangements, but couldn't help feeling disappointed.

  They took turns telling me more about their planet. Jai told me fun stories about when he was a boy, climbing the trees in his family’s orchard. He had fallen from the tree and landed on a basket full of a fruit similar to our peaches here. He had to walk back to his home with the slimy, sticky fruit all stuck in his pants making him walk stiff and funny.

  I giggled, trying to imagine it and then told him about a time I'd gone fishing with my dad and grandpa as a little girl. After catching my first fish, I wouldn’t touch it for the picture my dad wanted to take for my mom. I backed away from it and fell into the lake and ended the trip wearing my dad’s undershirt.

  “I haven’t liked fishing ever since.” I shook my head.

  Amira shared a story about how she had hidden in the Throne Room from her tutor who wanted to teach her about the way to properly talk to the dignitaries she would meet in her duties. She'd hidden well enough the tutor couldn't find her. She soon fell asleep and when she woke up, the Throne Room was no longer unoccupied. Her father was in there having a meeting with the dignitaries from a neighboring planet.

  She knew those meetings were important, so she tried to stay quiet and wait until he was finished before she went back to her rooms. After waiting for a while, she needed to go to the bathroom. Deciding to leave her hiding spot under the covered chair, she ended up crawling under the dress of one of the visiting dignitaries. The lady panicked when she felt something brush up against her leg, stood up, and screamed, making everyone in the room stop what they were doing to see what had happened.

  Amira had bolted out of the room, but her father had seen her in the chaos. He eventually found her and had a long talk about it, but Amira had been so frightened of that lady when she was introduced to her formally later that night, she started crying.

  “As I have grown up and have gotten a chance to know her, we are now good friends, but for the longest time I was afraid of her,” Amira said.

  We took turns telling stories, trying to beat each other with the funniest or the scariest or the most embarrassing experiences. I also spent some time trying to teach them how to talk without sounding as formal. After a while they improved, but they still didn't talk like normal teenagers. To assure them, I said, “It’ll take a while, but you'll get it soon. If anyone asks, you can just say you went to a private school in Europe where your real dad lives.”

  After a few hours, I noticed the clock and excused myself to go home. “I’d better not push my parents too far. I think I’ll go home and get dinner ready.”

  “Would you like to do something tomorrow?” Amira asked.

  “Well, my parents have one rule about Sundays. Since it is the only day they don’t have their nursery open, they have reserved it as a family day. We go to church and then spend the day together.”

  “Do you do fun things?” Amira asked.

  “Depends on what you think fun is. We do a nice dinner together and try to play a game or work on a puzzle or something. Sometimes we go for a walk or a drive up the mountain.”

  “Enjoy your day with your family. We’ll see you Monday,” Jai said.

  “See ya. Thanks for a fun day.” I was beginning to enjoy Amira, feeling more and more comfortable with her. I was getting more unsure of how to act with Jai though. It seemed natural to hold his hand when he offered it. I wanted to flirt, but didn’t know how and didn’t want my thoughts to give me away. I didn't even know how long he would be around.

  Chapter Ten

  It's a Date

  All day Sunday and during work on Monday I couldn’t help thinking about Jai. How much he was exactly what I wanted in a boyfriend. He was such a gentleman, careful about my feelings and Amira’s. He kept her safe, but still gave her space. Jai was protective, but not obsessive about it. His strange sense of humor made me feel comfortable when I was with him.

  I couldn’t wait to go over and see them again, but didn’t want to seem too eager. I wanted him to come to me to let me know for sure he wanted my company. After cleaning up when I got home from work, I lay on my bed and closed my eyes. I tried listening to see if I could hear anything from down the street. I got nothing. Too far away.

  I decided to go downstairs to find something to keep me occupied. I could go see them, but hated feeling like I was intruding. My bike was parked outside the garage, so they knew I was back. I thought about going outside to do yard-work to make them see me. I didn’t need to do any weeding, but the flowerbeds needed watering. I could always check the mail too.

  While I searched for ripe strawberries, Amira called my name. She was on her front porch. She called my name again, and I answered her in my mind.

  “Hi,” I shouted.

  “Hello,” she thought. “Are you busy or could we come visit?”

  “I’m not really busy, just watering a bit. Come on over,” I thought loudly while trying to act casual.

  “We will be over in a few minutes,” Amira thought.

  My little scheme worked! I rearranged my thoughts and shoved them into what I termed my Vault. I felt more comfortable with the Densinne, but knew I could slip up at any time and let them hear too much.

  I rinsed the strawberries off with the hose and picked out the biggest one. The juice sent a blast of flavor through my mouth, causing a funny tingle in the back of my jaw as the saliva kicked in. I wondered if they had ever had strawberries. I shook the extra water off the berries and set them on the little patio table near the porch swing.

  “Holly.”

  I cringed at the voice I hadn’t expected.

  “Hey, Curtis.” I waved half-heartedly, hoping he’d leave it at that. Instead he came across the street. “When we gonna take that ride?”

  “I don’t have time to right now,” I said. “But thanks for the offer.”

  “Why do you keep turning me down?” Curtis pouted. “We had lots of fun before.”

  “When?”

  “Before Celia moved.”

  I frowned. Celia had always been pretty friendly with him. They hadn’t dated, but she had often gotten him to take us places before we got our licenses. I preferred my bike over his car because I didn’t have to listen to him talking about himself nonstop or fend off his attempts to hold my hand or kiss me. I was glad I couldn’t hear his thoughts.

  “What’s up with you now? You too good for me?” Curtis grabbed a couple of strawberries and plucked the stems off before popping them into his mouth.

  “I never said that…” I took the rest of the berries and moved them out of his reach.

  “You don’t have to say it. It’s written all over your face. You don’t want me hanging around.”

  I groaned inside. “Curtis, you know that’s not true. I just don’t have time to go for a ride with you right now.”

  “You sure have a lot of time for the new guy.” Curtis jerked his chin, and I looked up to see Jai and Amira approaching.

  “Hey,” Amira said.

  “Are we interrupting something?” Jai thought. “We can come back later.”

  “No. Please don’t go,” I thought back.

  “Hello, Curtis,” Amira said, extending her hand. Jai watched closely as if expecting Curtis to do something dangerous. I almost wished he would, just so I could see Jai take him out.

  Curtis shook her hand. “Amanda, right?”

  Jai cleared his throat but didn’t speak. His thoughts echoed in my head. “What an imbecile. How many times does she have to correct him?” I had a hard time not laughing but couldn’t stop the snort that escaped.

  “Amira.” Her smile was gone, and she pulled her hand from his.

  “What a
re you guys doing here?” Curtis looked at me as if I’d betrayed him.

  “We came to see Holly,” Amira said.

  “Well, isn’t she the popular one.” Curtis sniffed. “That’s why you’re too busy? Some friend you are.”

  Jai stepped forward, and Curtis took a step back. “You claim to be a friend, yet you belittle her. If you can’t handle the fact that she is her own person, you have no right to claim her friendship.”

  Jai’s thoughts interrupted my own. “Why do you let him treat you so?”

  “I don’t.”

  “It seems you do. Why don’t you stand up for yourself?”

  I frowned at Jai, but Curtis interrupted my thoughts. “Look, buddy,” Curtis snarled. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

  Jai crossed his arms over his chest again. Curtis was at least six inches shorter than Jai, and I could see him puffing up as if trying to squeeze every millimeter out of his height.

  “Care to make me?” Jai said softly.

  Amira shook her head. “Jai, there is no need to humiliate him.”

  Curtis looked between the two as if wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

  “Perhaps you are right. He is totally capable of making a fool out of himself without my help.”

  Curtis’s eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to Jai. “What?”

  Jai turned away, and Curtis seemed to lose it. He pushed Jai in the back, but it had almost no effect on Jai, except to make him angry. Jai turned back and grabbed Curtis by both arms. He pulled him closer and lifted him until Curtis was only brushing the ground with his toes.

  “I would advise you to think things through next time. And, I must insist you stay clear of Amira. And Holly,” he added as if I was an afterthought.

  “You can’t make me do anything,” Curtis mumbled.

  “That is true, but I can sure make you wish you hadn’t done something.” Jai’s voice was just above a whisper.

  “Jai,” Amira sighed. “Release him.”

  Jai’s biceps flexed as he lifted Curtis off the ground completely. “You’re lucky I respect the women I am with. Otherwise I would have lots of fun showing you what regret feels like.” He lowered Curtis to the ground and then slowly released his hold on Curtis’s arms.