by Sarah Carter
“Where did you learn to fight like that?”
She shuffles her foot. “My mother.”
“Your mom taught you that?” Connor gasps. Lexi nods. “Tell me what happened with that guy,” he whispers. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“I can’t tell you, Connor,” she says. “I wish I could, but I can’t. Nothing happened, and I didn’t do anything.” With that, she turns and walks away.
“Lexi!” she hears yelled behind her.
Turning swiftly, Lexi goes into an empty room. With a thought, she is suddenly not there anymore. She is back in her car. Closing her eyes, Lexi thinks, Dude, we need to talk.
What’s up, home slice?
I’m in trouble.
What else is new?
No, SERIOUS trouble.
What’s going on?
So, a human saw my powers.
WHAT! HOW?
Ugh, we were leaving the movies last night. We were held up. I beat up the guys, but then I had a gun held to my head.
What did you do?
I made them feel pain, a lot of it.
What were you thinking?
Um, dude, it was a gun...at my head.
So, what happened next?
Connor asked what I did to the guy. I freaked and bolted. A ship came to get me.
You told your dad? I didn’t see a nuclear cloud of his head exploding.
It’s not funny, Ashe. I’m in so much trouble. I didn’t tell Dad.
Why wouldn’t you tell him? They will make Connor forget. Forget everything. Advanced alien technology. Memory go poof into the night. POOF.
I don’t want them to do that.
Why?
Because they would make me quit school and erase that I was ever there. He wouldn’t remember, and I wouldn’t have any contact with him ever again.
So?
I don’t want that, Ashe.
Oh shit. You’re in deep trouble.
What’s that supposed to mean?
You let a human see, and you like said human. Dude, rip that Band-Aid off, and tell your dad the truth. Do not get into this hot mess of a situation.
Lexi slams her head against her seat. It’s not as easy as that.
Yes, it is, Lexi. You can’t let this get out of hand. What if he tells someone?
Tell them what? I stared at a guy while he screamed in pain. I wasn’t saying anything. I wasn’t touching the guy. So, there’s nothing to tell but whatever stupid hypothesis he has.
You are really testing fate here. Do you what me to go back and change things?
That could create a huge time shift.
Those don’t really exist. You’ve told me that.
For me. For you, we know it happens. Hello, car accident.
Well...that’s true. Okay, fine I won’t tinker. What do you think you’re going to do?
I don’t know. I really, really don’t want my dad to find out. Do you know how pissed he would be?
A gun was being held to your head. I would have hurt the bastard.
That would have been really obvious. This I can brush off.
Says who? Have you seen him?
Yes.
And?
He asked me what I did to that guy.
Oh, yeah, don’t tell your dad. Good idea. Hey, tell Kaleb.
Oh, there’s an even better idea than my dad.
OH! OH! OH! UNCLE MASON. Dude!
Shit! Yes! Talk to you later.
Call me.
Yeah. Bye. Lexi takes in a deep breath. Uncle Mason?
Little Bit! Hey, honey. How are you?
Are you by anyone?
No. I’m at work.
Remember how you promised you’d bail me out of jail if I was in trouble and not tell my parents.
Ha, ha, ha. You’re in jail. Oh man. What’d you do? Your Aunt Ariel is going to kill me, but I promised.
I’m not in jail, but I need advice without you getting mad.
Okay.
Promise.
Little Bit. It’s you and me. I’m never going to be mad at you. Talk to me.
A human...sort of...saw me use my powers.
Oh shit. That’s bad. What happened?
I was leaving the movies with Connor. Some guys tried to hold us up. I beat them up.
That’s my girl!
Anyway, the next thing I knew I had a gun pointed at my head. I made the guy cry in pain. Connor saw. He didn’t see me say anything really, and I didn’t touch the guy. But, now he’s asking me what I did.
Tell your dad. Zap his brain.
I don’t want that.
Why?
Because...
Ah. Little Bit is interested in a boy, and it’s a human.
Yeah. It’s bad.
Why?
I’m the daughter of the Merjyet line. I can’t date a human.
Okay, no offense, your dad is Damien Blakely, I understand that, but you aren’t Neturu. You’re not part of a line. Your name is. Date whoever you want. You’re Kenga. No accidental shifting. Don’t use your powers. You will be fine.
Lexi laughs. Uncle Mason, this is why my dad doesn’t like you.
Nah, your dad hates me because sometimes your mom likes me more than him. Besties.
I, absolutely, HATE when you two say that. No one says “besties” anymore.
We’re old. Don’t mess with our nostalgia.
Funny. Best friend or not, you can’t tell my mom about this.
I made you a promise when you were two. I’m never going to break that promise. Are you sure you can’t see your future, even a little bit? Get it, Little Bit.
Ha, ha, ha, Uncle Mason. No. Seriously. You can’t say anything to her.
I won’t.
UGH. What do I do?
Talk to the guy. Privately. Try to brush it off. I hate to say it, though. If he says anything to anyone, you have to tell your dad.
What do I say to Connor?
That’s up to you. You’re going to have to lie, so make it something you are going to be able to keep up with.
All right. I can do this.
Is that a pep talk?
Yes.
If you need me. Come to me. I will come deal with everything.
Are you sure?
I will always be there for you, Little Bit. You saved us. We all owe you the world.
I don’t remember that.
You said you would someday, just not yet.
Well, I should go. I am probably going to be yelled at for being late to another class. I will call you later.
Why call?
Don’t people ever wonder why you are having a one sided conversation with yourself?
Ah. I hold my phone up to my ear. Though, one time, it rang, and THEN I got a weird look, but that’s all right. Most people think I’m crazy anyway, especially your aunt. She tells me every day.
Give her a hug for me. And Brenan and Donnie.
I will. I think we are coming over this weekend.
Score.
Okay, go, get to class.
Bye.
Bye.
She sighs and gets out of her car. The hallways are empty when she gets inside. Quickly, she makes her way through the school. She comes to Connor’s locker and opens it. She takes out her notebook and writes: “Meet me at lunch time. I want to smell the flowers.” Folding it up, she sets it on the shelf of his locker. Slamming it, Lexi takes a deep breath.
Her teacher gives her a slip for being late. She is told three makes up a detention. Groaning, Lexi sits down. She spends the entire class thinking of a lie. She then spends the next two classes building up a story around the lie. By lunch, Lexi has given herself the biggest pep talk. “You can do this,” she whispers to herself.
Everyone is heading to the cafeteria. “Hey!” Lexi hears. She turns to see Maddie.
Nervously, Lexi smiles. “Hey.”
“Are you going to the cafeteria?” Maddie asks.
“No, I have to go do something,” Lexi says, pointin
g down the hall.
Maddie smiles. “Okay, I will see you in class, then.”
“Yeah, totally,” Lexi replies. Maddie makes her feel so at ease.
Suddenly, she sees Jackie come up behind her. She is followed by two guys in football jerseys. Maddie turns. Jackie looks at her. “Nice outfit, you freak.”
“Better than being ugly like you,” Maddie retorts.
“Woof woof,” the guy counters looking at Maddie. “I only see one dog around here.” He looks up at Lexi. “Though, you’re hot.” Lexi glares at him, and then her eyes drift to Maddie. She can see the look of hurt on her face, though she is trying to cover it up. They keep walking, but the guy leans in close to Lexi. “You should call me.” She glares even more.
“They are such assholes,” Maddie chokes, trying to look strong.
Oh crap, might as well go all out, Lexi thinks to herself. The guy starts to run his hand down the lockers. Suddenly, one of them flies open and slams into his face. He falls back onto the floor. Everyone in the hall starts to laugh, including Maddie.
Lexi turns to Maddie. “I will see you in class.”
“Yeah, bye,” she laughs even more.
Starting to walk away, Lexi makes sure she is a ways down the hall before someone yells, “Oh my god, he pissed his pants.” That sends everyone into a tailspin of laughter. Lexi smiles and turns the corner.
When she gets to the greenhouse, she has to prep herself. Finally, she opens the door. Walking through it, she finds Connor. He is trimming a plant. Looking up at her, a look of concern crosses his face. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lexi whispers. She bends down to smell the flowers. “These really are some of the best smelling flowers I have ever come across.”
“When I have a house, my garden is going to smell better than any perfume,” Connor declares, smiling.
Lexi laughs because he tugs on something inside of her. “So...” she finally whispers.
“I’ve decided something,” Connor states, standing up and putting down the clippers.
Her heart starts to race. “What?”
He crosses his arms. “I’m not going to ask.”
“What?” Lexi gasps.
Connor shakes his head. “I’m not going to ask. I know something happened last night. I know you did something. You saved our lives, so I don’t really care what you did. But, it’s obviously something you aren’t going to talk about. And, I totally get that because whatever it is, it’s huge. I am just hoping that one day you will feel comfortable enough to tell me.”
“Connor,” Lexi groans. “That’s never going to happen.”
“I’d rather you not say anything, than lie,” he replies. “Okay?”
“Yeah, no lying.”
“Promise. Lying is a big thing for me.”
She smiles. “I promise.”
“Good. Are you really okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Was a little shook up, but I’m okay now.”
He frowns. “You were shook up, huh.”
“To be honest, I was scared about you asking. I didn’t know what to tell you.”
“So, you did do something,” Connor rebounds.
Lexi groans and turns her back to him. “Nothing happened, Connor. Please.”
“All right. I get it. You also disappeared out of nowhere.”
“I’m fast on my feet,” Lexi whispers. “And was trained in a black ops sort of way.” This is technically not lying. She’s telling the truth.
“Seriously?”
“Mmhmmm,” Lexi hums. “My mom’s like a scary extreme fighter. My dad, Uncle Jackson, Uncle Mason, Uncle Ben, and Uncle Alex are all fighters, too. It’s sort of a family thing. Uncle Mason and Uncle Alex are scary. Don’t mess with them, but my mom is the worst.”
Raising an eyebrow, Connor asks, “How big is your family?”
She laughs and turns around. “Since I was adopted, I kind of took on aunts and uncles. If you want to go by my actual family, I have two aunts and an uncle. If you want to go by blood relatives...well, that gets tricky. We kind of have a big group of us that are family. A lot of stuff went down, and we will always be a family. I have a few of them that I call my cousins. It’s really weird and sort of messed up.”
“In this secret society,” Connor replies, smirking.
“Oh, it’s a secret group inside of the secret society,” Lexi snorts. “It’s hard to explain.”
Connor smiles. “It’s fine. It’s actually fun trying to think of all the different scenarios of what could be true.”
She tilts her head and says, “I’m intrigued. What are your theories?”
“If I guess right, will you tell me the truth?” Connor asks, totally excited.
“Maybe,” Lexi draws out slowly, tapping her finger to her chin.
He puts out his hands. “Okay, theory one.”
“You get one a day,” Lexi states.
“Oooo, okay. Fine. You are secretly a druid princess from a long line of sorcerers.”
She sputters and then laughs. “No, I’m not a druid princess.”
“Damn, was I close?”
Narrowing her eyes, Lexi says, “I’m not going to tell you if you were close.”
“What? Totally not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
Connor laughs. “I guess that is true. You hear it often enough.”
“So.”
“So,” he replies, looking into her eyes. Lexi’s cheeks heat up under that stare. “Back to this dating thing.”
“Oh god,” Lexi groans.
He crosses his arms. “Is it because of what you won’t tell me?”
“Yes,” Lexi replies.
“It has something to do with this secret society.”
She folds her hands in front of her and pleads, “Please, Connor, stop pushing the issue. I can’t tell you anything. If I did, bad things would happen. You’d never see me again.”
“Whoa. That sounds wrong.”
“It’s complicated,” Lexi sighs. She goes to run through her hair but stops at the bun. Undoing the hair tie, her hair cascades down.
“Wow,” Connor exhales.
Lexi looks up. “What?”
“You’re beautiful no matter what, but you’re gorgeous with your hair down.”
Putting some behind her ear, she whispers, “Thanks.”
“So, you’ll truly never date me, huh?” Connor says, stepping towards her.
She looks up into his blue eyes. “I don’t know, Connor. It could never go anywhere. Sooner or later, we would have to split up. Why even go down that road?”
“We could do that anyway.”
“What?” Lexi gasps.
“Think about it. Who says we are going to last forever? No one. Would it be cool? Of course. Should that be our goal? Yes. Is it going to happen? No one knows.”
Lexi looks down. “My Uncle Mason says go for it.”
“I like your Uncle Mason,” Connor chimes, with a big smile.
“My Uncle Mason doesn’t give a crap about what anyone thinks or says. Seriously, my dad pretty much hates him. So, I don’t know if following his advice would be the best move.”
“I didn’t say marry me. Just show that you are interested,” Connor replies. He steps closer to her, and they stare into each other’s eyes. Reaching out, Connor grabs her and pulls her against him. Lexi’s heart is pounding out of her chest. “Tell me to stop,” Connor whispers. Her mouth can’t even move. He weaves his fingers through her hair and holds her face. Everything inside of Lexi is shaking. He bends down and comes within a centimeter of kissing her when they hear, “Connor.”
“I swear to god, whoever you are, I’m going to kill you.”
“Dude, you need to come to the cafeteria,” this guy stammers. “Derrick is getting into it with Joel Hartman.”
Lexi and Connor step back. “Why?” Connor asks. Lexi nervously puts her hair back up.
“Something about Maddie,” the guy says.
A vision smacks into Lexi. “Oh crap, Connor. We have to go.”
“Why? What?” He counters.
Looking into his eyes, Lexi whispers, “Trust me. I need to get to them.”
He grabs her hand, and they full out run through the school. They get into the cafeteria where there is a huge circle of students. Connor pushes their way through the crowd. Derrick is in some guy’s face. “You need to shut your mouth.”
“What are you going to do about it, Derrick? Just because we find out she is some lying ho.”
Connor clenches his fist. Lexi turns to him. “Connor, you need to trust me.”
“I’m going to kill that guy,” he growls.
“Let me take care of it,” Lexi instructs firmly. “Don’t breathe a word to anyone.”
He narrows his eyes and then nods his head. Lexi takes a starting stance. “I am going to kick your ass,” Joel seethes. Lexi breaks out into a run as Joel brings his arm back to swing. Dropping to the floor, Lexi skids into him. She locks her legs around his and brings him down onto the ground. Spinning around, she stands back up. “You stupid bitch,” Joel spits out. He scrambles back to his feet.