by Sherry Soule
Rolling my eyes, I punch Hayden’s bicep. “Get you mind out of the gutter.”
“Cat litter might be effective,” Viola suggests. “It soaks up nefarious odors.”
My body temperature skyrockets. “I’m not rolling around in cat litter. Why can’t we just wait for the residue to fade?”
“I don’t even notice it.” Viola tilts her head and studies me. “Is it an alien trait? ’Cause I don’t smell a damn thing.”
“It is,” Hayden replies. “One more thing, reapers are still loose on the island. We need to capture them before anyone gets hurt.”
Arcane nods. “Zach and I can do that this afternoon before I return to GB headquarters.”
“Oh, goodie,” Zach mutters.
Arcane drags a hand through his hair. “Sector Thirteen is getting careless. There’ve been reports all over the island about bear-like creatures still roaming the forest.”
“I thought it was Bigfoot sightings,” Zach says with a smirk.
Viola’s eyes widen. “Really? That’s awesome.”
I sigh. “You guys are not helping.”
“Let’s put a lid on that and discuss rescuing Delta,” Zach says.
“Did you do any recon at the Naval base?” Hayden asks his brother.
“Yup, and that place is heavily guarded. No way can we get in and out without detection,” he replies, then turns to Arcane. “Any suggestions?”
“That won’t get us all killed?” Arcane shakes his head so hard it resembles a damned maraca. “But give me some time, I’ll think of something.”
“Do it soon,” Hayden warns. “Because I’m not waiting long.”
Heavy silence fills the room. Well, this day certainly was a total waste of cute clothing.
“Um, Hayden,” I say. “Can I talk to you outside?”
He gets to his feet and we step out onto the cottage porch. Across an expansive of lawn and shrubbery stands the main house, a contemporary two-story structure. A sprinkler ratchets around the yard, a desperate attempt to save the dry grass, and the scent of honeysuckle saturates the air.
“This sucks. My life feels like someone filling boxes on a horror bingo card,” I say with a grunt. “No way am I slathering any of those nasty things on my skin.”
“We’ll figure something out.” Hayden rubs my upper-arms. “Don’t dwell on it. We should focus on the good, like how there’s nothing standing in our way of being officially together now.”
“Well…except your parents and the arranged marriage,” I mutter.
“Not even that will stop us,” he says.
“Are you saying we can go public now? Like for real?” My heart does a cartwheel over the prospect of Hayden and me getting a happy ending after all. “You talked to your parents and they are okay with us dating?”
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Um, we are actually still in negotiations on that topic. But with Xavier disgracing his family like this, I’m sure my parents will cancel that bogus marriage and accept our relationship very soon.”
I still have my doubts. There’s no end to our epic problems. Once the stink leaves my skin, I can fly under the radar, solving at least one dilemma. Because I don’t want to end up like Delta—trapped like a guinea pig in an ST underground lab.
FIVE
The day before spring break, I’m stuck in my second to last class. I don’t mind going to school, but it’s the seven hour wait to go home that’s killing me. Plus, I’m becoming a real Debbie Downer because there are no easy remedies for this hellish residue problem. All the suggestions involved slathering something gross on my skin that has less than a ten percent chance of fading the smell, and a fifty percent chance of melting my flesh.
So not happening.
To complicate matters, Arcane doesn’t trust Viola, which makes me worried for her safety and possible memory erasing. The only good thing to come out of this blockbuster worthy disaster? Zach’s not hating on me as much now. That’s got to be Vi’s influence.
The students talk and laugh as if anxious for school to end and spring break to begin. I can’t relax with the constant fear that ST soldiers are going to storm into the building and take me hostage.
Mrs. Brooks announces we’re going to watch a documentary on trig equations, and a boy wheels over a projector on a cart. He pulls the screen over the chalkboard and dims the lights. The classroom goes quiet as the film opens with a cartoon character solving a complex math problem.
As I dig through my purse for a pen to take notes, the loudspeaker crackles to life and broadcasts reminders concerning the two-week break and the dangers of overeating Easter candy. My fingers touch an uncapped pen in my bag. Whew! Except when I press the tip to the paper, the ballpoint only creates a faded blue line. I shake the pen and try again. Zilch. The warning bell clangs and everybody shifts in their seats. Now I can’t go to my locker for another pen.
A finger taps my shoulder. “Do you need a pen?” Hayden whispers from behind me.
I turn around to face him. He’s dressed in his usual outfit—taut T-shirt, baggy jeans, scuffed combat boots—not to mention his strange eyes, staring at me with an unnerving intensity. He exudes so much charisma, he bends the light waves in a room, oozing confidence and charm. Hayden hands me a red pen.
Taking it, I face forward again. Within seconds, he taps my shoulder. I twist around and lower my voice. “What?”
“Meet me after class so we can talk residue problems.”
Back to that. I roll my eyes. But I know that if we don’t find a solution soon, my life is going to collapse like a tower of Jenga blocks.
When class ends, Hayden leads me into the hallway crammed with students rushing to their next class, and we wait in an alcove by the drinking fountain.
Once the corridor thins, he lowers his voice. “Can you ditch your last class?”
“What’s up?” I whisper, putting one arm through the strap of my backpack.
Hayden lowers his head, his hair tickling my cheek. “I had a dream about you last night.”
I smile. “A dirty one?”
“Well, let’s just say, I woke up thinking about you and I was almost late to school…”
“So dirty!”
Hayden shakes his head, laughing. “It would’ve been worth it.”
I playfully swat his arm. “Oh, you are bad!”
He smiles, slow and sexy. “We could reenact my dream in person if you want. I could even draw a naughty illustration.”
“Again, so dirty!”
“So, we ditching or what?”
“Lead the way, ditcher-man.”
Hayden takes my hand and we go to the school parking, then get into his Range Rover.
“I’ve been thinking…” I shift in the passenger seat, one leg tucked under me. “Since Arcane gave me the official hybrid salutation at our meeting, and I’m a welcome member of the extraterrestrial community now, perhaps your parents won’t be so hostile to the idea of an us.”
“Good point.” From the driver’s seat, he twists to face me. “If we can get grouchy Arcane to accept you, then why not my mother?”
“Exactly!” I nod. “She’ll just have to realize that I’m not a homewrecker.”
Hayden points a finger at me in a slow circle. “For now, we need to work on fading your ectoplasm.”
I grunt. “Still not bathing in anything gross that might burn my skin off.”
“There is one solution.” He scratches his cheek. “You should come to the Meleah reunion.”
I squint at him. “What reunion?”
“The one we have yearly.” Hayden lifts his iPhone from his back pocket. “I’m going to text Arcane and let him know that your family needs to make an appearance.”
My mind is officially blown.
“Back up the bus.” I lean hard against the side of the car. “You’re saying the Zetas, aliens from outer space, make a trip to Earth in a spaceship so the Meleah can hitch a ride back to their planet for a family get-toge
ther? Where is the Zeta’s home?”
“They’re from a binary system of sun-like stars in the constellation of Reticulum. It’s a planet called Reticuli,” he explains, texting on his phone. “Their spaceship arrives in three days.”
“You never said anything before,” I mumble.
“That’s because I wasn’t going, but I’ve changed my mind.” Hayden sighs. “Talk to your parents—”
“This isn’t a trip to the mall!” My stomach plunges like a roller coaster. “This is space travel we’re talking about.”
“We need to keep your family safe, and this is the best way. Besides, it’s a chance to escape Sector Thirteen and their bloodhounds.”
“I’ll consider it as a last resort.”
“Good,” Hayden says. “Man, I’m glad it’s the last day of school.”
“Me too, but like Charlie Brown would say, ‘I only dread one day at a time.’ That’s about as much optimism as I can muster right now.”
He shakes his head with a laugh. “So pessimistic.”
“Do you think Saxton will return to school?” I ask, changing the subject.
“You like him, huh?”
“Nooo. Not even,” I say. “I still don’t trust him, but I don’t totally dislike him, either.”
Hayden goes quiet for a second, rubbing a tic under his eye. “I really hate that guy.”
“He didn’t do anything to you.”
“Saxton is a spy for ST. And he’s breathing, which is reason enough.”
“Geez. I get it, but he’s not that bad and if he comes back to school, you’ll have to be civil.”
“Nah, I’m fine with the whole hating him thing.”
“I have a question…” I say. “Since Saxton is a ST soldier and human, I get why he’d want to be employed by them, but I don’t understand why Meleah would want to work with that lab.”
“Some don’t have a choice. Sector Thirteen recruits the Meleah as super-soldiers. It was the main reason they agreed to the alien DNA mixing.” He leans over the console. “Forget them. Come closer.”
I bent forward until our faces are inches apart. As I stare into his mismatched eyes, hot and searing, I know without a doubt that he loves me more than he does anyone else on the planet, and that I’m his redemption in this screwed up world, the same way that he’s mine. My lips brush his, and he cups my cheek with one hand, kissing me tenderly. For a moment, his mouth is all I can focus on, all I want to think about. Tingling warmth glides over my skin, spreading across my chest. Hayden kisses me so passionately that deep inside, a feeling rises, throbbing and aching. Then his kiss intensifies, coaxing my lips open, and my senses whirl as his tongue slips into my mouth, softly, slowly tangling with mine. We make out in the car until the last bell rings for the day and school lets out.
When Hayden lifts his head, both of us are breathing heavy. He walks me to the Jetta and kisses me goodbye, then goes back to his own car.
Leaning into the driver’s side door, I’m exhausted after a long day at school and all the worries still lingering in the back of my mind that not even Hayden’s fiery kisses can erase. Balancing a tough course load, college applications, and all the final activities that come with senior year will be an enormous challenge on top of all my other personal issues, like ST being on the island, Hayden’s mom hating on me, and getting the ectoplasm to fade. And now the prospect of a trip into outer space.
Total irritation? Check.
No easy solutions? Check.
Extra moody Sloane? Double-check.
I dig my car keys out of my pocket and hike the strap of my backpack higher on one shoulder. The sky is an amazing shade of teal blue. The kind of sunshiny day that erases all your troubles and reminds everyone to be carefree and happy. Then I catch sight of Tanisha Jackson, my backstabbing frenemy, striding across the lot. I half-expect dark clouds to roll in and ominous theme music to play, like John Carpenter’s creepy Halloween melody…
“Hey, Sloane! Wait up,” Tanisha says.
“What do you want?”
She pauses next to the Jetta, her mocha skin appearing flawless in the sunshine. Tanisha hovers, watching me expectantly. We haven’t made nice after our massive fight over her lame-ass blackmail attempts, and if Tanisha thinks I’m going to just forgive and forget, she’s dead wrong.
“You look…so thin,” she says.
Tanisha has always prided herself on her athletic build, while I could’ve been her and Viola’s chubby sidekick. But finally, my winter fat is gone. Now all I have left are spring rolls.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” I snap. “Major stress happens to be calorie burning. I’m down to a size ten, but thanks for noticing.”
“You’re welcome.”
I put both hands on my hips. “That’s not what I meant—”
“Hold up,” she interrupts. “I’m real sorry about the blackmail. Honest. It was your dad’s idea, not mine.”
“You’re pretty good at blaming others and not owning your part in the extortion. You could’ve just talked to me instead.”
“You’re right, but it’s too late to change it now.”
My fists slide down my hips, clenching at my sides. “I can’t believe I trusted you, or pretty boy Saxton,” I say, a blast of heat boiling my blood. “How could I have been so stupid? So trusting?”
“I said I was sorry—”
“Wait. You knew Saxton was hiding something, didn’t you?” I narrow my eyes. “Those cryptic messages you left me are starting to make sense.”
“Everyone thought he was a nice guy. Even me,” Tanisha says. “Until I caught him sneaking off the Naval base one day.”
“Did you confront him?”
She shakes her head. “No way. But since you two were hanging out, I thought I should warn you.”
“It would’ve been more helpful if you’d just said not to trust Saxton.”
“No doubt.” Tanisha shrugs. “But where’s the fun in that?”
I blink. “You need a straitjacket fitting.”
“Only if it comes in black.” She laughs. “Are you joining us for the Zeta family reunion this year?”
“Um, how did we go from discussing your blackmailing to the alien get-together? Let me guess, this is your lame attempt at forgiveness?”
Tanisha’s thin eyebrows furrow. “When did you become so sarcastic?”
“It was somewhere between the reaper attacks, getting slimed with ectoplasm, and the betrayals by my so-called friends and family.”
“I’m sure Hayden must’ve mentioned the reunion,” she says, ignoring my snark. “Each year we visit the Zetas’s planet—”
“Hayden told me all about it…” I open my car door and dump my backpack on the seat.
“I think it’s a good idea if your family left until the reapers have been caught. It’ll be a chance to put all the ST craziness far behind you.”
I don’t answer. Instead, I get into the Jetta without looking back. On the drive home, my head is spinning from Hayden and Tanisha’s Zeta reunion news. My stomach grumbles, so I stop to grab fast food. I order a couple of tacos. While I wait for my grub, I fiddle with the straws near the drink dispenser. Now I’m not saying I can perform miracles or anything, but when the Taco Bell employee isn’t looking, I can turn water into Dr Pepper.
When my order is ready, I grab the bag and head home. Eating while driving is harder than it looks, but I manage to gorge on a taco before I park in the driveway and hurry inside the house. The second, I enter the foyer, I spot my mom and dad waiting in the living room like an ambush. With a bad feeling in my gut, I leave my backpack and food bag on the bench by the door.
My mom sits on the sofa sipping a mug of chai tea. My absentee dad, otherwise known as David, sits beside her, tapping his foot. Dark circles line his hazel eyes.
Although I’m glad my dad is home, I’m still pissed that he messed with my life through lame-o blackmail.
“What’s with the scowly faces?” Instead of sitti
ng, I choose to lean against the archway between the entry and the living room, giving myself at least two escape routes: out the front door or upstairs to my room. I take a long sip from the straw of my soda, slurping loudly just to irritate them.
My mom places her cup on the end table. “I get why you’re still angry at us for not telling you about your Zeta heritage, but I don’t want this to divide our family any longer, honey.”
Setting my drink on the coffee table, I fold my arms over my chest. “So you’ve said, but where do you stand on blackmail?”
“I only did that to get you to toughen up,” David says with a slight shrug. “It was never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, it did. I could’ve just taken a self-defense class, David. So not cool.” I twirl a strand of hair, debating which exit is faster.
“I’m sorry.” David scratches his stubbly chin. “Please tell us how you’re feeling.”
“Ohmigod, this isn’t Dr. Phil! You can’t expect me to just be okay with all the lies and intimidation.”
“Honey, your anger isn’t helping,” my mom says.
I groan. “I thought I had permission to vent.”
“You’re right, Sloane, you do,” David says. “There just never seemed to be the right moment—”
“To tell me we were a half-breed alien family?” I roll my eyes.
“What can we do to make this up to you?” David asks.
“Well…” My lips twitch. “I need the new MacBook. It has a wicked cool black keyboard. My old white laptop is such a faux pas.”
“Anything else?” he asks with a slight smile.
“Now that you mention it, the Meleah reunion is coming up. Do we need to RSVP?”
“We already did,” David says. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk. With Sector Thirteen at the Naval base, I thought it might be safer if we left Earth for a couple of weeks. What do you think?”
“I think we should go,” I say. “This island has become one big creepfest with all the mutants and evil baddies skulking around.”
“Then it’s settled.” David turns to my mom. “Pack our suitcases, Karen.”
“One more thing, since we’re sharing and all…” I say with a dramatic pause. “Hayden asked me to marry him.”