by Robin Martin
She turned to Kerri. ‘What are you reading?’
Kerri turned up the cover of her book.
‘Oh, The Elegant Universe by Greene,’ Pandora said. ‘String theory is interesting, isn’t it? But you know it’s so passé now. Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics has raised a lot of questions about string theory.’
I tried not to let my jaw hit the ground.
Kerri’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm. ‘Yes, I know. But I thought I would review the basics so that I would understand Smolin’s ideas better.’
‘Wise move. It’s always good to know both the arguments and the counterarguments.’
‘That’s what I think too.’ Kerri sat up straight and actually closed her book. ‘So, what did you think of Smolin’s ideas?’
But Pandora’s attention shifted to something else, or rather someone else. Mine too.
‘Rion, you finished in the lab,’ I said. I still felt those butterflies inside when I saw him.
But he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Pandora. Those butterflies died a sudden death and sank to the pit of my stomach.
‘What are you doing here?’ he said, and he was looking anything but happy.
Chapter Two
Pandora stood and sauntered over to him. She laid a hand on his chest, a hand that was entirely too predatory for my liking, and said, ‘It’s good to see you too, Orion. And, I have to say, you’ve changed for the better.’
As they looked at each other, I could sense the intensity between them. I wasn’t sure if the vibes were good or bad, but for a moment it seemed like the rest of us didn’t exist.
‘You two know each other?’ Lou asked.
No one answered her.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ Rion said.
Her laughter sounded creepy, and a sense of unease filled me. Who was this person?
Then she leaned a little closer to him and said, ‘Is that any way to greet me?’
I decided enough was enough. I hopped up and strode over to Rion. ‘Hey,’ I said, putting my hand on his arm.
He looked down at me, as if suddenly realising I was there. His arm snaked around my shoulders. ‘Zoe,’ was all he said, but it was enough. We were good.
Pandora glanced between us. ‘I’ll catch you up later, Orion. I’ve got to go. See you guys later.’ She nodded to Lou and Kerri and then headed towards the school building, her long dark hair swaying.
‘Isn’t she just the nicest person?’ Lou said.
‘It’s so unusual to find someone who can hold a decent conversation,’ Kerri added, not realising she was insulting the only friends she had.
Harry came rushing towards us from the direction of the tuck shop, holding a bottle of water.
‘The line was so long, I had to wait forever,’ he said, looking around. ‘Where is she?’
‘She’s gone,’ I answered, taking in his disappointed face. ‘Never mind. If you’re lucky, she might be in one of your classes.’ Harry, for once, totally missed the sarcasm in my voice.
‘Yeah, you’re right. I’ll hang on to this, just in case.’
The first bell went, and everybody around us began picking up their lunches, throwing scrunched-up papers into the bin, and slowly moving towards class. A few guys who had just come off the oval were throwing a football back and forth and getting in everyone’s way, some twerpy year eights were pushing and shoving each other, and a few girls were heading straight to the girls’ loo where they would make themselves beautiful for the afternoon session. In other words, just a normal end of lunch. Except it wasn’t. Pandora had changed everyone’s behaviour in our group, including mine. Just what was she up to and why? Because it was clear, at least to me, she had some kind of agenda.
I tucked my hand through Rion’s arm as we walked back to class. ‘How do you know Pandora?’
For a moment he was quiet, and then he shrugged. ‘I don’t know her that well.’
Didn’t seem that way to me. ‘Did you meet her during those months when you were living in south Brisbane by yourself?’ I hadn’t seen or heard from Rion during those long, lonely months, so it was conceivable that he met her then.
He shook his head. We had nearly reached the school building, and there were a lot of people around us and zero privacy. Another thought struck me. ‘Is she one of your people?’
He didn’t reply, but I realised I’d hit upon what made her so different. Pandora wasn’t human.
So, we had another alien here at East Valley High. Another super good-looking, brainy, and yet totally different being from a planet somewhere in the Orion constellation—which was why Rion choose his name. I wondered though how she got here and, more importantly, why. Had she been one of those bodiless bubbles of intelligent entities waiting to inhabit a human host or was there something else going on here? Rion had been one of those and had landed on me, which automatically had made me his host. That cold July day on the beach hadn’t even been a year ago, and yet so much had happened in that time. At first, I had thought it the unluckiest day of my life, but now, well 180-degree turn. I had thought him the most annoying, egotistical creature I’d ever met. Then, to help me out at a party, he materialised into the most beautiful seventeen-year-old boy I’d ever seen. Even then, we didn’t get on. But when we got to know each other, I realised he was also thoughtful, kind, and always had my back. Maybe I was being too hasty in having a not altogether positive opinion of Pandora. Maybe she too would improve in time.
But what was she doing here? Did she materialise, like Rion, to help out a host? Or was she sent from the mothercloud for some other reason? Obviously, Rion had known as soon as he set eyes on her that she wasn’t human. I was hoping to find out more from him when we walked home from school this afternoon.
In the meantime, I’d just watch her and try to work out what she was up to.
‘Oh, hi! We’re in English together. How nice,’ Pandora said as she slid into a seat next to me. I saw Jas shoot a glance in her direction. She’d been queen bee around here ever since grade seven, and she didn’t like competition. I wondered what she’d think about this new chick.
It didn’t surprise me that Pandora aced every question Ms D threw out at us or that she got ten out of ten in a pop quiz on Macbeth, the play we studied last term. The way Ms D beamed at Pandora, I could tell she was already on the way to becoming a favourite.
It didn’t surprise me either that Jas slid up to us as we were leaving class. ‘Pandora,’ she said, pushing herself not so gently between us, ‘I’m Jas. Welcome to East Valley High. A few of us are hanging out at Maccas this afternoon. Why don’t you join us? It’ll give you a chance to meet people.’ Although she had her back to me, I could tell she had a fake sweet-as-pie expression on her face to match her syrupy voice. Pandora had already passed Jas’s stringent first judgement. Not many students were invited to join her little posse on their first day.
‘So sweet of you,’ Pandora said in her soft voice as she gracefully slid past Jas to join me on the other side. ‘What do you think, Zoe? Shall we pop by?’
A look of annoyance flitted across Jas’s face. ‘Oh, Zoe’s probably too busy to join us, now that she has a boyfriend.’
‘Orion? Well, he can come too. We’re friends.’
I didn’t often see Jas caught off guard, but now was one of those times. And since last term, she disliked Rion even more than she disliked me. For a moment, I was tempted to crash her little afternoon get-together just for the hell of it. But Rion wouldn’t want to go, and, thinking about it, neither did I. ‘Sorry, guys, we can’t make it this afternoon. But you go ahead, Pandora. You might find it… interesting.’
Pandora gave me a slow smile as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.
‘Yeah, sure. It’ll be fun to meet some new people.’
Jas resumed her self-satisfied look, happy that I knew my place in the social order of high school. ‘Great, see you soon. Byeee.’ She moved through the crowd with the self-assurance of a pop star gre
eting her fans, smiling at this one, nodding at that one, and totally ignoring the ones that didn’t count, which was most of us.
‘So, Zoe…’ Pandora turned to me. ‘You and Jas, not so tight, eh?’
I shrugged. ‘We were friends once, for a brief time. But stuff happened.’
‘Stuff like Orion?’ She looked at me sympathetically.
‘Yeah, partly. But also because I found out maybe we weren’t quite as compatible as I thought.’ I was trying to be diplomatic here.
‘In other words, she’s a bitch,’ Pandora said.
I looked at her in surprise, and then we both burst out laughing. Then, I asked, ‘How do you know so much when you’ve just got here?’
‘I’m just really observant.’
Of course she was. She was an alien and, along with the super good looks, had superpowers. I didn’t remember either Rion or Archimedes being that observant, at least not about people, but she was a girl and maybe that was the difference.
‘And you know what, Zoe? Sometimes bitches can be very useful.’ She flicked her hair over her shoulder. ‘Anyway, I’d better go if I’m going to meet this “in” crowd this afternoon. Say hello to Rion for me and tell him I’ll catch up with him—and you too. I think you’ll find we have a few things in common.’
As she moved away, I wondered if one of those things was Rion.
Later, as Rion and I walked home, he was quiet. I knew he didn’t want to talk, but I wasn’t going to let this slide. We didn’t go far before I said, ‘So, what about this Pandora? How do you know her?’
He hesitated and then said, ‘You’re right, she’s from my planet.’
‘So, what’s she doing here? I thought you were the only one here, apart from Archimedes, who came to look after you.’ And a fine job he did with that—not. But I didn’t share that thought out loud.
‘I’m not really sure. She was on the mothercloud when I was. I knew her, but it wasn’t like we were friends or anything. That’s not our way. We only communicated with each other when necessary. Our main purpose was, as you know, to find a host and to increase our knowledge of humanity. I don’t know why she has materialised, or even if she has a host, though I suspect not. You haven’t noticed her close to any one person all day, have you?’
I shook my head.
‘Yeah, that’s what I thought. I don’t think she would have been sent to contact me either.’
‘Why not?’
‘Well, first of all, I was told all contact would be severed and I’d never hear from my people again. And, secondly, she’s a newbie, too junior to be sent on an important mission.’
‘A newbie?’
‘Someone who is less than 1000 years old. She hasn’t been on the mothercloud for long. She’s practically a baby.’
‘Rion, you do realise I’m sixteen years old, don’t you?’
He looked at me and smiled. Then, he put an arm around me and kissed the top of my head.
‘But, you’re sixteen in human years and you know a lot of stuff my people don’t. She was probably your age when she joined the space program, dematerialised and left our planet for the mothercloud. She hasn’t had years of learning about humans and their ways. It would be easy for her to make a mistake.’
‘So, what are you saying? You’re worried, aren’t you?’
‘I am. I just hope she hasn’t gone rogue.’
‘Rogue?’
‘Yes, rebelled against our teachings and decided to materialise to see what it is like to be human, without permission and certainly without guidance.’ He wrinkled his forehead. ‘I probably should have arranged to meet her this afternoon to see what she’s up to.’
‘Well, that wouldn’t have done any good. Jas invited her to Maccas after school with her group.’
Rion frowned. ‘Jas and Pandora—I don’t think anything good can come from that.’
‘I don’t know, Pandora seems like she can hold her own. I don’t think Jas will worry her too much.’ I thought of how everyone was tripping over themselves to get to know Pandora. Even Harry seemed starstruck, and that wasn’t like him.
‘It’s not Pandora I’m concerned about,’ Rion said, his voice sounding grim.
‘Oh,’ was my only comment. Jas had had a thing for Rion, and they had even kissed—more than once. I wasn’t jealous, really. I was just surprised Rion cared about what happened to Jas. I certainly didn’t.
‘Yes, there’s no telling what mischief she can do here.’ He turned to me. ‘Zoe, I don’t really trust her.’
‘Well, you must be in the minority because everyone seems to love her. And she told me she thought we would become friends.’ I wasn’t totally over the moon about her myself, but she had been nice to me and included me in the invitation when Jas had invited her to Maccas this afternoon. I thought Rion was overreacting, which was unusual for him.
‘See, that statement right there is not something any of my people would say. We are respectful of humans, but we never would imagine that we could become friends with them.’
‘Or certainly not care about them,’ I snapped.
He stopped and tried to take me in his arms, but I resisted. I’d thought Rion had got over all this superiority of his race over mine. Apparently not. Instead, I stood with my hands on my hips and gave him a not-very-friendly look.
‘That’s not what I mean, and you know it,’ he said in an exasperated tone. ‘You and I, we’re different. I chose to be human to be with you. I don’t think I’m any better than you, quite the reverse. You’ve taught me more in a few months than I ever learnt in my 4000 years as an alien. But I’m just trying to explain how my people think, not that I agree with it.’
‘So, I’ve taught you stuff, eh?’
‘You know you have. You were the first person I ever kissed.’
I frowned at him. ‘That’s not exactly true,’ I said, thinking about Jas.
He looked embarrassed. ‘She kissed me. You were the first person I ever wanted to kiss.’ He took a tentative step towards me. We were under the shade of a poinciana tree and not too far from home. I let myself be drawn into his arms this time, and I didn’t object when he gave me a kiss. When we pulled apart, I decided to cut him some slack.
‘All right. So, what are we going to do about Pandora?’ I asked.
‘I’ll have to talk to her first, see what she’s up to,’ Rion said as we started to walk again. My house was in view, and I was surprised to see Mum’s car in the driveway. She wasn’t usually home from school this early. As a primary school teacher, she always had a lot of work to do or meetings to attend after school. Sometimes she didn’t get home till five thirty or six.
‘Well, East Valley High is not so big that you won’t run into her.’
‘Yes, and if she causes trouble, everyone will find out about it sooner rather than later,’ Rion said as we turned up my front path to the two-story wood and brick house I’d lived in all my life.
‘Do you want to come in?’ I asked.
‘I do, but I’d better not. I’ve got some studying to do, and I also have to cut the grass.’
Rion lived on his own, something that wasn’t known by many people, as his guardian Archimedes had returned to the mothercloud. It wasn’t a problem for Rion, who was capable, but it did mean he had to do everything for himself as well as go to school. Luckily, his people had given him an allowance to live on.
I nodded. ‘Okay, see you tomorrow.’ He gave me a hug and a quick kiss and headed down the path again.
I turned to open the door. Rion had given me a few things to think about. I, too, now wondered what Pandora was up to and just how long before we found out.
Chapter Three
Mum?’ I called as I dropped my bag on the floor and walked through the lounge to the kitchen at the back. No answer. She was probably upstairs having a shower. I got a glass and filled it with juice from the fridge then headed upstairs to my bedroom. Maybe now might be a good time to look at that history assignment. Jeez,
how I’d changed. Up until the second half of last year, I’d never been so conscientious about studying. I should have said, up until I’d met Rion. He was, of course, a brainiac and always had encouraged me to study. I resisted for as long as I could, but after he left in term four, there didn’t seem to be much else to do, so I studied. And, to my surprise, I did okay, getting mostly As at the end of the year. So, this year the habit had stuck. And, if you were going to have a habit like that, then year twelve was the time to have it.
An hour later, when I decided to reward myself with a piece of that Sara Lee chocolate cake in the fridge, I went downstairs to find the kitchen, lounge, and study were still empty with no sign of Mum. Peeking out the window, I saw her car was still in the driveway, so I knew she hadn’t gone out.
I headed back upstairs with my chocolate cake and ice cream—I mean who has chocolate cake without ice cream—stopping by my parents’ bedroom door. I knocked softly and then, hearing no answer, opened the door and looked in. Mum was fast asleep on the bed. She must really have had a tough day with those grade sixes. I was backing out quietly again when she stirred and said, ‘Zoe?’
‘Hi, Mum, didn’t mean to disturb you.’
‘No, it’s okay. I’m awake now. Come on in, especially if that’s chocolate cake I see in your hand.’
I walked in and sat on the bed. ‘You’re actually expecting me to share this?’
‘Didn’t you say you wanted a driving lesson or two this week?’
My mother was crafty, no doubt about that. ‘You drive a hard bargain, lady. Do you want me to go downstairs and get you a piece?’
‘No, I’ll make do with sharing,’ Mum said as she sat up in the bed and reached for my plate. ‘How was your first day of term, darling?’
‘Okay, you know the usual—assignments, assignments, and then more assignments.’ I settled myself next to her and rested my head on the pillow.
‘How’s Rion?’
As if she didn’t see him every other day, but she took an interest in him because he had no parents, although she didn’t know that was because he was an alien. She just thought his useless mother, whom we had invented, had skived off to Cairns with her even more useless boyfriend and his father wanted nothing to do with him. That, if anything was bound to touch Mum’s soft heart, but she actually liked him too. As did my dad. I was such a rebellious teen—not. I had a boyfriend my parents approved of and was a model student. Still, I hadn’t always been that way.