It's a Love Thing

by Cindy C. Bennett

  A week later I heard a knock on my door and there stood Xeno, leaning casually against the doorframe wearing a brilliant smile. I glanced at my sweatpants and old t-shirt, but he didn’t seem to notice.

  “Hey,” he said in his deep voice.

  “Um, hi,” I got out.

  “Do you want to take a walk with me?” My mind raced, my heart pounded, but my mouth as always was ready to spit out the first thing I thought.

  “Yes! I mean, yeah, sure. Just give me a second.” He nodded and I closed the door. Once in my room I flopped down on my bed and grabbed my phone. It was all I could do to keep my hands from shaking long enough to text Sophie. I’d already told her about Xeno, but I didn’t mention me liking him yet mostly because . . . well I didn’t know if I did. I mean he was super cute and really nice, but I didn’t feel like I really knew the guy. Regardless, I informed her of the surprise visit and quickly threw on some more acceptable clothes before running back downstairs.

  Outside I was happy to find that he was still standing there in the doorway, waiting. I felt rather smart for going with just shorts and a t-shirt instead of nicer clothes because the sun was already heating up the summer morning.

  “So where are we walking?” I asked as we crossed my lawn.

  “I’m thinking the park,” he responded. In the silence as we walked I found myself listening to the birds bring in the morning with their loud chirps. We didn’t pass many people, probably because it was pretty early in the morning, but I enjoyed the emptiness of the subdivision.

  “So, Emily,” Xeno spoke up casually. “Tell me about yourself.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Like, what are your parents like?” I contemplated for a moment and realized that there really wasn’t much I could say about my parents. My mom died when I was six and my dad, well there was never anything I was allowed to say about my dad.

  “My dad works for the government,” I began. “He crunches numbers for the army, nothing too exciting.” Xeno nodded interestedly, but there was something in his eyes that made me feel like he didn’t believe me.

  “What about your mom?” A few seconds of silence followed.

  “She’s dead.” Xeno’s face went pale and his eyes widened.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s okay,” I assured him. People always reacted like that when I told them about my mom. In truth, I don’t remember much of her except for a few faded memories. Shaking my head, I hastily tried to change the subject.

  “What about you? What’s your family like?” Xeno thought about it for a moment before responding.

  “My dad is an engineer. He used to work for this big company in Arkansas, but then he got transferred up here. My mom was really upset and she almost decided to stay back at home, but eventually he convinced her. Things have been really tense between them since. She blames him from uprooting us from all our family and friends.”

  “And how do you feel about the whole thing?” He stopped talking. From the look on his face, I could tell that nobody had ever asked his opinion on the matter. His parents probably dragged him along without even consulting him first.

  “It’s okay. It’s gotten a lot better since meeting you.” I looked away so he wouldn’t see me blush. Memories of sitting on the beach with his arm around me came back and I began to wonder if Xeno actually might like me.

  Once we got to the park we found a bench and sat and talked for hours. We talked about my school, his old school, friends, music, and everything else I could possibly think of. For the most part I dominated the conversation, but Xeno just seemed so interested in everything I had to say. I could tell that he was really listening. Before we knew it, it was almost one in the afternoon.

  “I should probably get back before my dad starts to miss me,” I pointed out sadly. I had been having the most wonderful time with him, but my dad probably wanted to know where I’d been for the entire morning.

  “Ok. I’ll walk you home. But first. . .” He took my hand in his and I could feel a shock go up my arm. What was he doing? “Do you want to go to a movie or something tomorrow?” My whole body froze. My mind raced.

  “Are you asking me out?” I stammered. He nodded and smiled. For a moment I thought my heart would literally leap out of my chest.

  “Y-Yes,” I got out, trying to contain my enthusiasm. My smile lingered as he walked me home, and when we said goodbye, and when my dad was questioning me as to where I was. The whole time I kept thinking about Xeno and how that day was the beginning of something wonderful.

  At least that’s what I thought.

  6 minutes.

  A nurse walks by and looks through the small window at me. Her glare is a mix of confusion and horror and I pretend not to notice her. Even if she doesn’t know what Xeno is, my appearance is probably enough to cause alarm. Looking over at my reflection in the outside window, I see mascara streaked down my face and my hair in complete disarray.

  Not that it matters now. It probably never mattered on any of the dates I went on with Xeno. He must have been thinking of nothing but his objective, meaning my looks weren’t even taken into account. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that at the time, so I ran myself ragged trying to impress him anyway.

  The idea of my first date with Xeno had me panicking like you wouldn’t believe. The night we were supposed to go out I’d been sitting in my room messing with my hair, while talking to Sophie on speaker phone, for almost two hours. She babbled on about all the different ways I could curl it or put it up, even though I just decided to pull it half back. However, she did approve my outfit. Just a simple white skirt and a midnight blue top with a V-neck collar that, according to her, “showed off my curves.” Not that I had very many.

  Looking in the mirror, panic swept through me. I’d seen Sophie when she got dressed up for a date, and she always looked gorgeous. All I could see in the mirror was my normal face, nothing special about it.

  “I can’t do this,” I said, forgetting the phone was open on my desk.

  “You’ll be fine,” Sophie assured me. “I mean, from what you told me this Xeno guy seems really amazing.” That I could agree on, which was why I was freaking out so much. Guys like Xeno didn’t go out with girls like me.

  The sound of the doorbell ringing downstairs nearly gave me a heart attack and I said a hasty goodbye to Sophie. After one last check in the mirror, I headed downstairs. My dad was working late, so I was all alone in the house. At least he wouldn’t be there to embarrass me in front of Xeno. I mean, I love my dad but sometimes he can be a tad overprotective.

  Opening the door, I found Xeno standing there in a light blue flannel shirt and jeans, his blonde hair looking a bit more styled than usual. For a moment he just stood there and looked at me until finally he cleared his throat.

  “Oh, sorry. Um . . . you look really nice.” I smiled, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks.

  “You do, too,” I replied. Out in the driveway I saw a faded blue truck parked beside my car and assumed it was his. He opened the door of the truck for me before hopping in the driver’s seat himself and starting the engine.

  “So where are we going?” I asked. He just smirked.

  “You’ll see.” We drove all the way into town, the whole time listening to the radio with the occasional bit of conversation. Finally, he pulled up to a rather upscale restaurant at the far end of the city.

  “Are we eating here?” I asked as he opened my door for me. I had never been there, but knew it was a fancy, not to mention expensive, place for a first date.

  “I planned on it,” he said with a laugh. “As long as you don’t have a problem with it.”

  “Isn’t it expensive?”

  He laughed and took my hand. “You let me worry about that.”

  I had been on dates before, but this was nothing like anything I’d experienced. Xeno and I talked all through dinner and it felt a lot like that morning at the park, except with a lot more flirti
ng. He took every possibility to compliment my appearance and he managed to make me blush every single time. At one point I caught several of the waitresses giving him looks and it made me feel almost protective of him.

  By the time we left, the glances of the waitresses turned to glares as Xeno took me by the arm and led me out. There was a fleeting urge inside me to turn around and smirk at the others, but I felt like that would just be obnoxious of me. Xeno drove me home with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand holding my own. When we pulled into the driveway, he let me out and we stood there for a moment before he suddenly leaned down and kissed me.

  It was my first kiss, and it could have been my last for all I cared. Nothing mattered more than that one moment when I felt like I was closer to Xeno than I’d even imagined possible.

  5 minutes.

  Anger suddenly sweeps through me and I grip the sides of my wooden chair. For a brief moment I find myself hating Xeno. It isn’t fair. He’d given me everything, taunted me with the idea of a perfect relationship, and then taken it away. He’d been my best friend.

  That first date was just the beginning. After that we were hanging out almost every day and it wasn’t long until we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, but none of that mattered. All that mattered to me was that I was spending nearly all my time with him, and I loved it. My father had been working more and more during the summer, meaning July belonged completely to me and Xeno.

  I felt like I’d never been more connected with another person in my life. He knew my thoughts better than I did sometimes and we were always completely in sync. That is, we were before August hit.

  August was when I started to suspect something was up. It wasn’t a certain time or place that set me off, just Xeno’s behavior in general. We stopped hanging out as often. Every time I would call him he would give me some excuse as to why he couldn’t leave his house. I knew he wasn’t lying because he lived right across the street and I never saw him leave, but my biggest fear was that he was trying to avoid me on purpose. Had I done something? Maybe he was just over me.

  “Talk to him,” Sophie told me one day while on the phone with me. “Maybe he’s having family issues right now.”

  “But it’s been like two weeks and the most I’ve talked to him is over the phone a few times. I feel weird trying to pry into his family life.”

  “Honey, he’s your boyfriend, for crying out loud! You need to figure out what this boy is up to and whether he wants to keep this going.” I didn’t tell her the real reason I wasn’t trying to call Xeno. I was more afraid of him dumping me than of him ignoring me.

  Of course, it wasn’t like I wanted to keep dating him just to have a boyfriend. Xeno had become my closest friend over the summer, and that included Sophie. I had never been in love before, but something told me this was what it felt like, and I had no intention of giving that up.

  A sudden beep from my call waiting brought me out of my thoughts and I pulled the phone away from my ear. My heart leapt in my chest when I saw Xeno’s name on the caller ID. I quickly said goodbye to Sophie before hanging up and answering the other line.

  “Em?” I heard a gruff voice say.

  “Hey,” I said back, incredibly happy that he had decided to call me. There was still that nagging part of my mind that was convinced that he was calling to end it. Panic suddenly swept over me and I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my thoughts.

  “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been acting so strange lately,” he began. His voice sounded tired, but still full of worry, as if he thought I was mad at him. In truth, I sort of was, but I didn’t want to be. I missed him too much to hold a grudge. “I will make it up to you, I promise. Just give me a chance to explain.”

  “All right, I’m listening.” The line went quiet for a moment, the only sound I could hear being his breathing.

  “Not now,” he responded. “Later. Are you free tonight?” My initial reaction was to blurt yes, because I hadn’t been on a date with Xeno in so long. However, something in the back of my mind continued to bug me. Something weird was going on here, and I didn’t know what it was but I knew that space might be the best thing to fix it. Maybe Xeno just needed a little time to sort things out.

  “Yeah, what time?” Maybe he did, but that didn’t stop the part of my mind that was so desperate to see him from making me speak.

  “I’ll come get you around eight.”

  “Sounds good.” A sigh echoed through the phone line.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled again, as if speaking to himself. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.” With that the line went dead and I was left wondering what he meant by that. From the way he talked it made me think he had killed my puppy or something. Emotions were spinning around in my head and I had no idea which one I should be feeling, so I decided for the sake of simplicity to go with happy. I had a date with my boyfriend who had finally started talking to me again. Might as well make the best of it.

  Downstairs I found my dad sitting at the computer, his thin grey hair in a frenzy. He nervously tapped a pencil against the desk, completely unaware of my presence.

  “Dad?” I called, snapping him out of his reverie.

  “What? Oh, sorry. What’s up honey?”

  “Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to tell you that I was going out tonight.” His brow furrowed for a moment and he stood up. His t-shirt from our vacation to Florida last summer and shorts made it hard for me to believe that he was really as scary as everyone said. I knew the people in his department were afraid of him, but as for me I would always just see him as my dad.

  “I don’t like that idea,” he said simply, crossing the room to me. Shock registered in me. He had never told me I couldn’t go out with Xeno. Considering the fact that he felt guilty about working all summer, he had actually been glad that I found something to occupy my time, even if it involved a male being anywhere near his daughter. But now he looked at me with genuine worry, as if I was planning to go out and do drugs or something.

  “Why?”

  “I’ve been working hard on this project lately and . . . well, there’s no good way to put this. That static we picked up isn’t just jumbled signals. The whole department is finally listening to me and they even found evidence that this. . . extraterrestrial landed on the planet.”

  “And what does this have to do with my date?” None of what he was saying sounded out of the ordinary. His line of work always involved tales of spaceships and aliens landing in Texas, but I didn’t know why it affected me in any way.

  “We have reason to believe that it not only landed on Earth . . . but that it landed somewhere near here.” I stared at him in disbelief. “We’ve been trying hard to track it, but there’s been no progress. In the meantime . . .”

  “So you’re keeping me cooped up in the house because there’s some space alien roaming around out there?” I demanded, suddenly angry. My father’s theories had always been something of a fairytale to me, something that I could laugh about when I wasn’t around him. I tried to support him as much as possible, but this was insane.

  “I want to make sure you’re safe. I know you think this is dumb, but I’m your father and I know what’s best.”

  “Do you? Because right now you’re being absolutely ridiculous! Ok, say there was a super cool space alien lurking through the streets of California. How do you know he’s dangerous?”

  “It doesn’t matter if he’s Gandhi from another planet, we can’t take the risk of them being here at all. Now enough of this! I have to go out to the base tonight, but you, young lady, are going to stay right here in this house until I come back.” He stormed past me back to his room while I stared daggers into the back of his head.

  A sudden spark of rebellion lit inside of me. Usually I thought teenagers that tried to sneak out or throw parties were just asking for trouble. This was different though. I wasn’t about to miss out on my first date with Xeno in nearly two weeks just because my father was paranoid. I stomped
up to my room and slammed the door behind me, hoping that wherever this imaginary alien was, he stayed far away from my crazy father.

  4 minutes.

  A silent tear falls onto my lap. That was my first real fight with my dad and I feel like it is my fault for being so obsessed with Xeno. My eyes land on the hospital bed again and add another thing to the list of things I can never forgive him for. I chose him over my dad, and that’s what started this whole ordeal.

  That night the rumbling of my father’s engine pulling out of the driveway sounded the all clear. Looking at the clock, I saw that I had a few hours to kill before my date with Xeno, so decided I might as well take a quick nap in order to prevent my mind from overloading itself. However, no sooner had I collapsed on top of the covers than I woke up to find it was nearly seven thirty, meaning I had only half an hour to get ready!

  As fast as I could I threw on my favorite purple sundress and began the tedious process of curling my hair. Sleep had created a whole mess of tangled blonde knots that somehow came to exist through my lying perfectly still. No matter how they came to get there, they still were a pain to get out. Once I was satisfied with my hair and makeup, I grabbed my purse just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

  When I opened the door, I found Xeno waiting with a bunch of roses in hand and a huge smile on his face. I took the flowers from him, blushing.

  “What are these for?”

  He gasped in mock astonishment. “How could you have forgotten? It’s our three month anniversary.”

  “No it isn’t,” I replied. Fear crossed his face and I could see him trying to count the days in his mind until I smiled at him.