by Sarah Carter
“What about cute fitted jeans and a new shirt?”
“Will you help me pick it out?” Maddie asks. “I think you know a little bit more than me when it comes down to that sort of stuff.”
“Absolutely,” she cheers. “Let’s get your cuteness on.”
Later that night, Lexi walks into her house. Security is waiting. “Good evening, Mistress Lexi.”
“Good evening,” Lexi replies.
She walks farther down the hallway and turns into the kitchen. Her mom and dad are standing there. “Hi, honey,” her mom says. “Did you have a good day?”
Lexi holds up her shopping bags. “Umm yeah, we had a girls night.”
“That’s what you said,” her dad laughs. “Did you melt your credit card?”
“Not too bad,” Lexi snorts. “Just a little.”
“That’s all right honey,” her dad says. “I’m just glad you made friends and are having fun.”
Going to the refrigerator, Lexi grabs a soda. “Yeah, it’s nice. Lana, Ashe, and Connor want to come over tomorrow and go swimming. That’s okay, right?”
“Yes,” her mom answers. “Your aunts and uncles aren’t coming over until Sunday.”
“Can you please talk to the boys about what’s appropriate to say in front of humans,” Lexi asks. “Last time, they almost let something slip. I mean, they are little boys, we can just say it’s them being over creative kids, but still, we should be careful.”
“I will have a talk with them again,” her dad sighs. “It’s hard with how young they are.”
She raises her eyebrow. “Pretty sure if you made it through me, you can make it through them growing up.”
“That’s very true,” her dad chuckles. “You were way more of a handful.”
“Don’t listen to him,” he mom interjects. “You were a good kid. You just had to learn to keep your powers in check. I think you did a fabulous job of that.”
“No powers at school, right?” her dad states, giving her a dad look.
Lexi rolls her eyes. “Yes, Dad, no powers at school. Why would I do that? I would get into so much trouble.”
“It’s not trouble with us that you have to worry about,” her dad replies. “It’s if someone else found out.”
She stares at him. “Dad, who would believe I have powers? For God’s sake, they probably would think it was magic. Like oooo, magic,” she says, wiggling her fingers in front of her. “No one would think alien. Alien to the aliens.”
“I know, honey. We just have to be careful,” her father sighs. “We can't have ourselves outed.”
“Again, there is no way for me to out the Neturu,” Lexi snorts. “I mean, I’m not Neturu. No shape shifting.”
“Lexi, you are more powerful than just shapeshifting. We have to be careful. You would terrify the human race.”
Looking at the ground, Lexi whispers, “I know. I scare the Neturu already.”
“That’s not true.”.
Lexi looks up at him. “It is true, Dad. How do you guys not see that? I scare them. I always have. I’m a powerful alien to them. Just like you are to the humans. I’m like that for the Neturu. No one is going to want to be with me. I wish you would understand that.”
“Dear...” her dad sighs.
“I’m going to bed,” Lexi growls. This conversation is a constant one, and it’s still frustrating after all this time. Her parents just can’t see. They are blind to it, and it drives her nuts.
“Lexi,” her dad calls out as she walks out of the kitchen.
“Night!” Lexi yells behind her, holding up the peace sign and walking away.
She gets to her room and throws her bags down. “God, they just don’t see it.”
Girl, what’s going on for tomorrow?
Hi, Lana.
What’s wrong?
My parents are stupid.
Parents are always stupid. That’s nothing new.
That’s true. So, what’s up?
I just asked, what’s going on tomorrow?
I’m picking Connor up at one. What time do you guys want to come over?
I can have Ashe jump us there around the same time. Then we will be at your house when you get back with the boy toy.
My dad will be pissed if you have Ashe jump you through time just to get to our house. I will send ships.
That’s fine. I don’t care. Ashe will, but he can deal with it.
He can’t always screw with time like that. It’s going to cause problems one of these days.
Tell that to a boy who can jump places when he distorts time for a few seconds. You are never going to get him to stop.
Ugh. I wish I could.
Coming from the girl who let her powers slip in front of a human and then TOLD said human that she has powers.
Come on. That’s totally different.
That’s not totally different. You use your powers all the time and aren’t supposed to.
It’s doesn’t cause a disruption in time.
Yeah, but you can’t see yourself, so you don’t know if you are changing the future or not either.
Touché. Fine, but my dad will flip his shit if Ashe jumps to the house. I will send ships for you.
All right. What time?
Pick you guys up around 12:30?
Sounds good to me.
Okay, I will see you tomorrow.
I’m excited to meet this boy you are so interested in.
He’s great. I think you will really like him.
I sure hope so, since you felt the need to tell him all your secrets.
I didn’t out the Neturu. He thinks I have magical powers. Like hocus pocus magical powers. He thinks I could be part fairy.
Well, at least that’s the farthest thing from alien.
See, it’s not so bad. And like he says all the time, who would really believe him that I have powers? They would think he was insane first.
True. Well, that’s good. As long as no one would believe him.
Exactly, so I will see you tomorrow?
Yup. Have a good night, girl!
Night.
Lexi shuts her door and strips her clothes off. “Pajama time,” she giggles. “Ugh.” She changes her clothes and then goes to her window. Opening the curtains, Lexi reaches down to pull up the window. That’s when she sees a figure in the tree line. Security wouldn’t be there. How is someone standing there without security noticing? They seem to be staring right at her window. She quickly presses down on her wrist.
She hears, “Yes, Mistress Blakely?”
“Dude, there is someone standing outside the house,” Lexi stammers.
“Excuse me?” he says.
“North side of the tree line,” Lexi yells. “Someone is staring right at the house.”
“We will send someone out immediately.”
Watching out the window, Lexi sees the floodlights outside of the house come on, and then the person just steps back and disappears. “Where in the hell did they go?” Lexi yells.
She sees security run outside and to the tree line. They go into the tree line and she can see their flashlights moving around. Lexi watches nervously. Finally, they come out. “There appears to be no one there, Mistress,” she hears. “Also, our sensors did not go off.”
“Dude, there was someone out there,” Lexi snaps. “I’m not hallucinating.”
“Well, there is no one here now,” security replies. “But, we will put extra guards out.”
Feeling uneasy, Lexi whispers, “Okay.” Even though she knows security is out there, she closes her curtains. “That was freaky.” She shivers to herself and then turns to go brush her teeth. Lexi can’t shake the feeling that something is going on. Maybe she should tell her dad, but if she did that, she would have to tell him that Connor knows. She can’t do that, so she will have to deal with this on her own. Whatever this is.
Chapter 10
“So, are you excited?” Connor asks.
“Excited about what?” Lexi replies, loo
king at him.
He puts his hands to his chest. “Excited about your friends meeting my greatness.”
“Your greatness,” she snorts. “Oh my god.”
Connor grins. “I’m just joking.”
“Sure you are. Anyway, yes, I’m excited about you meeting my friends. Ashe and Lana are like my brother and sister. They are seriously two of the closest people in my life, so you have to pass their tests.”
“Tests? There’s going to be tests? Like, multiple choice question tests or like, jumping through burning rings of fire test?”
That makes Lexi laugh hard. “Umm, I think they just have to like you.”
“Well, that I’m good at,” Connor declares. “I’m not sure if I could jump through rings of fire, though.”
“I will make sure they put those away,” Lexi snorts. “They should be at my house, already.”
“Cool, do they live near here?”
She bites her lip. Lana lives in England, and Ashe lives in France. “No, not really. They are visiting for the weekend.”
“That’s cool,” Connor says. Lexi is glad he isn’t pushing the subject farther. “So, we are swimming.”
“Yeah,” Lexi replies.
“Sounds like fun.” He turns and looks out the window. “You live in such a beautiful part of the city. In a giant house nonetheless.”
Lexi shrugs her shoulders. “It comes with the territory of being in my family.”
Connor laughs. “I wish it came with my family. It must be nice.”
“It has it’s drawbacks sometimes,” Lexi replies.
“Like what?”
She knows she has to choose her words wisely. “Because we have so much money, we have to have a lot of security. It’s like never having privacy.”
“You don’t have security right now,” Connor says.
He doesn’t know that they are being followed by a ship. “That’s true,” Lexi softly replies. “But still, at home, it can get kind of annoying.”
“I could see that.” He looks back out the window to the passing woods. “It’s still beautiful out here.”
“I have to agree on that,” Lexi replies.
They finally pull up to her house. Her brothers are running around outside. Connor and Lexi get out of the car. Her brothers run up to them. “Hi, Connor!” Brayden yells.
“Hey buddy,” Connor replies.
Drew tugs on Lexi’s hand. “Ashe and Lana are here. Ashe brought us chocolate from France!”
Lexi’s eyes widen and she looks at Connor. “Ashe just got back from France.”
“Man, you and your friends have it made,” Connor snorts. “I want to go to France.”
Turning to her brothers, Lexi says, “Why don’t you guys go play?”
“Okay!” They yell and run off.
“Come on, obviously my friends are here,” Lexi states.
“This is exciting. I am excited,” Connor declares. “This will be fun.”
Lexi smiles, and they walk into the house. Lexi immediately escorts him to the kitchen. They turn the corner to find Lana sitting at the island and Ashe in the fridge. “I knew you would be in here,” Lexi says.
Ashe turns around with a piece of chicken in his mouth. “Yeah, well, we don’t have live-in cooks,” he mumbles.
“My dad made that,” Lexi retorts.
He takes out the piece of chicken and waves his arm, “Does he not live here? Is he not a live in cook?”
“That’s not what you meant,” she snaps playfully. “Anyway, Ashe this is Connor. Connor, this is Ashe, and that’s the lovely Lana.”
“Hey dude,” Ashe says, holding up his chicken leg. He turns around and goes back into the refrigerator.
Lana rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. Hi, I’m Lana.” She stands up and extends her hand.
“Hey,” Connor returns, shaking her hand.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Lana says. “Lexi has told us so much about you.”
Connor turns and looks at Lexi. “What did you say?”
“Not much,” Lexi answers. “They are just saying that.”
“Oh no,” Lana says dramatically. “She has told us sooo much.”
He looks at Lexi, and she rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Lana,” Lexi groans. Lana only laughs. “So, anyway, are you hungry, Connor? There’s obviously chicken.”
“No, I ate, thank you though,” he politely replies.
“There’s not going to be chicken left over when I’m done,” Ashe says, grabbing out the whole plate of chicken. “So, you’d better take some now if you want some.”
Laughing, Connor sticks up his hand. “I’m good. Have at it.”
Ashe wiggles his eyebrows, which makes Lexi roll her eyes. “So, this bottomless pit is my friend Ashe.”
“So, you guys are visiting for the weekend, huh? That’s cool,” Connor says.
Lana looks at Lexi. “You know,” Lexi emphasizes. “Since you guys don’t live around here.”
“Oh yeah,” Lana says. “We are visiting for the weekend.”
“Awesome,” Connor replies. “So, what embarrassing stuff can you tell me about Lexi?”
“Like we’d really tell you,” Lana scoffs. “Friends don’t do that.”
Looking at her and then Connor, Ashe says, “She may not, but I will.”
“Dude, Ashe,” Lexi growls.
He only grins in reply and then takes a bite of chicken. “It’s all right,” Connor says. “I will find out all this stuff as we go along.”
“Probably,” Lexi laughs.
“Good afternoon,” they hear from behind them. They turn around. Lexi’s father walks in.
“Hello sir,” Connor replies.
Her dad shakes his head. “You can call me Damien.”
“Okay,” Connor says.
“Your mom and I are taking your siblings out to the park,” her dad declares. “I suspect you can behave yourselves.”
Lexi shakes her head. “No, Dad, we are going to throw a house party while you are gone for a few hours. It will be mass chaos.”
“Well, just make sure you clean up afterwards,” her dad jokes. “Don’t leave evidence.”
“Pretty sure the security system would show that there was a house party going on,” she scoffs. “Like anything in this house can go on without you knowing.”
He nods. “That is very true.”
“I vote house party!” Ashe yells.
“You would,” her dad snorts. “Well, you kids have fun. We will be back in a few hours. If you need us, just give us a call.”
“I think we will be all right,” Lexi laughs.
Her dad smiles. “Okay, we will see you in a little bit.” He waves and walks out of the kitchen.
Ashe turns to Lexi. “Let’s throw a house party.”
“For the few people I know in town. Yeah, okay, Ashe,” Lexi replies, rolling her eyes.
“One day we will throw a massive party,” Ashe says, with a nod of his head.
“Yeah, we will get right on that.” Lexi turns to Connor. “Would you at least like something to drink?”
Connor clasps his hands together and points at her. “Yes, if you don’t mind.”
“Well, I do mind but I will get it for you anyway,” Lexi scoffs. “What do you want?”
“Coffee?”
“Really?”
He nods. “Yeah, I was up late last night.”
“Doing what?” Lexi asks.
“Playing video games,” Connor replies. “I’m a hard core gamer.”
Ashe shakes his head. “I’ve never been able to get into video games.”
“Me either,” Lexi says. “Just not my thing. Books. I love to read. Because it involves me a lot of the time I don’t know what’s going to happen in the book. It’s the only true mystery in life.”
Everyone is dead silent. Ashe and Lana look at Connor. Connor looks at Lexi and hisses, “Are you insane? Your parents are still around.”
Lexi slaps her hand over her face
. “Oh my gosh.” She goes to the window and looks outside. She sighs in relief. Lexi goes, “No, they are gone.”
“You have to be careful,” Connor says.
“So, how much has she told you?” Ashe asks, looking at him skeptically.
Connor shrugs. “That she has powers and is involved in some cult.”
“A cult?” Ashe gasps, choking on his chicken.
“Some secret society,” Connor replies, rolling his eyes. “It sounds like a controlling cult to me.”
“Yes, it’s kind of like a cult,” Lana says slowly. “No one can know about it.”
He shrugs his shoulders again. “Well, she won’t tell me anything about it, so it is some great big secret. Are you guys part of the cult, too.”
“I’m not sure if I should answer that,” Lana replies.
“So, you are. That’s all right. I want to join the cult, but Lexi says you need to be born into it.”
“Definitely have to be born into it,” Ashe says. “Definitely. It’s a blood thing.”
Slapping her hands together, Lexi cheers, “Let’s talk about something else, since we aren’t supposed to be talking about it.”
“So, you’ve seen her powers though?” Lana interjects.
Connor nods his head. “Yup. We got mugged the other night, and she saved our lives. It wasn’t something obvious, but I knew she did something. No one would scream out in pain like that if something wasn’t happening, and she was staring right at him. He then called her a demon or something. Is that what you are? Are you part demon!?” Connor gasps.
She looks at him like he’s stupid. “No, I’m not part demon. Wouldn’t I be evil if I was part demon?”
“True,” Connor replies. “So no demon. I still vote for fairy.”
“You think she’s a fairy,” Ashe laughs.
“She has magical powers,” Connor retorts. “What else could she be? Fairies have magical powers.”