The Other Earth

by Amber LaShell

  "He's really got a nice ass doesn't he?" Stacey said loudly over the music to me. I looked over at her and saw that she was also watching him walk away. I knew then that she had already set her sights on him. She had that look in her eyes that I had seen way to many times in our friendship.

  "So tell me again, why have you never banged him? You've known him since you guys were kids and you have never wanted to fuck him?" Stacey asked me.

  I rolled my eyes, "I told you we are just friends. Besides, look at him and then look at me, I am nothing if not in his league."

  "Please you are so full of shit. Is it okay if I bang him?" she asked me without even the hint of a smile on her face. I knew she had an idea that I had a crush on him and she was honestly worried if it would hurt me if she slept with him.

  Every inch on my mind and body was screaming to tell her no, she could never sleep with him. But, I knew that I had no right to tell her not to sleep with someone who had never even shown an ounce of interest in me. I looked back over to him and saw that he was standing at the bar and looking back at us with a smile. Well, he was more than likely looking only at Stacey anyway.

  "I told you, we are just friends, and you are both free to bang whoever the hell you want, you don't need my permission." I told her, trying to keep my face blank and without any emotion.

  ***

  Hours later, I unlocked the front door of my apartment slowly, trying to see the lock through the alcohol haze I was looking through. I knew I shouldn't have drunk so many drinks, but it seemed like they just kept materializing in front of me. Every time I finished one another full one would take its place without my ever having to ask for it.

  "Yay she got it!" I heard Brandon yell behind me, holding himself up by the wall.

  I rolled my eyes, "Shut up, I am not that Brandon drunk" I said.

  Brandon and Stacey both started to laugh and I realized what I had said and started to laugh too, "Okay, maybe I am just a little bit drunk, but leave me alone you are just as drunk" I told him, trying to punch him in the stomach but missing and hitting his leg, almost punching his package instead.

  "I am so glad you missed that, I would have been out for the count tonight" he said, gasping with laughter.

  Stacey pulled on Brandon's arm, "Come on, let's go to bed Brandon, I am ready to get this dress off" she told him.

  I felt my heart start to race as I wanted to slap her away and pull him into my own bedroom. "Okay then, I am going to bed, good night you two." I managed to get out without slurring.

  "Hey Randi" Stacey said in a serious tone. I turned and looked at her and noticed that she was reaching for my arm.

  "What?" I asked giving her my hand.

  "Come to bed with us" she said quietly.

  "What do you mean?" I asked, my heart pounding loudly under my tank top.

  "I mean I want us all three to go to bed together. Look, I have a big bed and I think it would be fun, what do you think Brandon?" she asked him.

  I looked over at him curious as to what his response would be. I saw his cheeks go slightly red as he looked at me and then back over to Stacey. Waiting for him to respond was making me feel self-conscious about myself. Here was Stacey standing there with her big boobs and her hips and ass and curves in all the right places, and then me standing next to her with a body that looked like it belonged more on a twelve year old boy.

  "I'm up for it if you are" Brandon said, bringing me out of my internal dialog.

  My mouth went dry at the thought of joining them for bed, but I know I would only come to regret it in the morning when it would be too awkward to even speak to the both of them.

  "I appreciate the offer guys, really, but I am just going to go to bed, I am way too drunk to handle anything too strenuous." I finally said.

  Stacey sighed, "Even drunk you use words that are way too big for a normal person. Suit yourself, we're going to bed" she said, turning toward her room, pulling Brandon behind her.

  I watched as Brandon looked at me as he followed her, then turned to look at Stacey before disappearing behind her door.

  Chapter Two

  I reached out and grabbed the large coffee the barista was handing me with both hands. I could feel the warm liquid radiating from the cup under my hands, warming them after the frigid temperatures outside. I sighed, enjoying the warmth for a minute before I had to walk away.

  "How much do I owe you?" I asked the barista.

  "It was already paid for ma'am" he said. I looked up at him and he motioned behind me.

  I turned and there was Brandon standing behind me, "Why did you buy my coffee?" I asked him, turning to face him.

  He shrugged, "It was the least I could do after getting you so drunk last night. I'm sure your hangover is just as gnarly as mine is" he said.

  I moaned and walked past him toward our offices, "My hangover is worse than it should be. Exactly how much did I drink last night?" I asked.

  He laughed behind me, "I have no idea, I just told the waitress that whenever your drink was empty to bring a new one until you said stop. I didn't realize that you would never say stop."

  I turned my head slightly, my head pounding with the effort, "What the hell did you do that for?" I asked him.

  He looked at me for a moment before he turned his head back to the way were walking, "I just wanted you to have a good time, that's all" he finally said.

  I laughed slightly, trying not to move my stiff neck, "Well I did have a good time." I told him.

  I saw him smile slightly but tried not to notice that it looked like a sad smile, "Good" he said simply.

  Eager to change the subject I said the first thing I could think of, "So what do you think we will find out from the space bot today?"

  "Well, I have to say that I really hope it's something new. I am so bored with everything I could just scream" he said, taking a sip of his own coffee.

  "What about you?" he asked me.

  I shrugged, "I try not to have high hopes but I just hope it is something that will help change the world as we know it. We cannot go on much longer this way."

  "What do you mean?" Brandon asked.

  "Just look at the damn place. The smog is so bad we have to carry oxygen with us if we are outside for longer than five minutes. The temperatures are so extreme, people are dying every day." I said a little too spiritedly.

  "Wow, you are passionate about this aren't you?" he asked me.

  I looked over and saw that he was watching me as I walked. "I don't know" I said, slightly embarrassed.

  "Don't be sorry. I haven't seen that look on your face since our junior year in high school when you were so determined to finally beat me in the science fair that you turned to cheating. It looks good on you" he said.

  I felt my cheeks burn, "I still didn't beat your sorry ass though did I? No, you still managed to beat me with your stupid laser project. I only created a new freaking breed of plant" I said. "And I haven't cheated a day in my life!"

  "Oh, you still seem a little sore about that don't you" he said with a laugh.

  "Hey, I'm over it, you beat me, I can admit that." I told him with a smile. I really didn't hold it against him that he was smarter than me; I had come to finally accept it.

  "Whatever. Anyway back to the topic at hand. Why are you so passionate about this space bot?" he asked me.

  I looked over at him, "I hate to even admit this to you. But, I have always had a dream that I would somehow be able to do something big that can change the world, to make it a better place. That's why I even became a scientist in the first place. I only want to save us." I said.

  He stopped walking and put his hand onto my shoulder, making me stop with him. "Do you really still feel that way?" he asked me, a more serious look in his eyes than I was used to. "I thought those were just a kid's fantasies."

  I nodded, "Yes. It has always been my dream, and I have had to work so hard to be a scientist. It was hard to be friends with you all these years when you have seemed
to have it all come so easily."

  He stepped back, "Wow. I had no idea you still felt that way. I always just figured you were just being competitive like always." He said.

  I shook my head, "Don't flatter yourself so much. I have my own goals and dreams in life. It isn't always about beating you." I said.

  Brandon looked at me for a few minutes and then started to walk again. I took another hot sip of my coffee, enjoying the warmth of it in my stomach.

  "You are right about something you know" Brandon said next to me.

  "What is that?" I asked him, looking down at my watch, hoping we didn't have to wait long to know what was on the Space Bot.

  "It always came easy to me; the science part at least. I didn't originally want to be a scientist, but I was good at it, and with my parents both being scientist, they pushed me toward it and it was easier to just go with it" he said as we turned the corner into the conference room where we were going to watch the space bot land.

  I looked over at him, "What would you have done if you could do anything?" I asked him, curious of his answer.

  He laughed, "If I told you that I would have to kill you" he said as he took his seat.

  I sat down next to him and punched him lightly on the arm, "You are such an ass" I told him, trying not to remember that I was checking that same ass out pretty hard the night before. He smiled and looked forward as the head of the SSE came in.

  "Good morning everyone!" my boss yelled out to us. It was always exciting when she decided to make a speech to all of us. She was one of the most charismatic people I had ever met before, not that you would ever be able to tell when she wasn't speaking. She looked like someone that you would have to strain to hear because she would be so quiet. It was funny watching people get surprised when her big booming voice came out of her slight body.

  "Good Morning Jessica!" they all yelled back to her.

  "This is no ordinary employee forum. The space bot should be landing at our location in Houston in T minus six minutes and we are all going to watch it on the big screen!" she yelled as she pointed to the projection screen behind her that took up nearly the entire ten foot wall.

  Everyone cheered and Jessica put her hands out to quiet them, "Today is not going to be a normal working day. We are all going to watch the landing and a select few will be up front at the computers downloading the content from the space bot's memory unit and we are all going to be watching it as the day goes on. This space bot has been gone for quite some time so it will probably take all day, so come and leave at your leisure and enjoy witnessing history!"

  I smiled as I watched everyone clap for her. She was especially excited today and I was happy to see more people as excited as I was, though all of the clapping was beginning to hurt my head. I moaned and put my hand up to my temple.

  "Need an aspirin?" Brandon asked me, leaning over.

  I nodded, "Oh yes please" I said as I turned to look at him. He pulled an aspirin bottle out of his jacket pocket and shook it until a couple of pills spilled out.

  "Here you go" he said holding his hand out to me. I happily opened my hand as he laid the pills down into it. As he was pulling away, his fingertips grazed against the palm of my hand. Sparks of heat flew through my body at the unexpected touch. I quickly pulled my hand away and tried to pretend as though nothing had happened.

  I looked up at Brandon and his eyes were locked onto his hand with an odd look on his face. It almost looked like he was surprised and as confused as I was. He looked up at me and our eyes met, his blue eyes widening as he surely saw the heat in my brown ones.

  I cleared my throat, "So, thanks for the aspirin, I am going to go and grab some breakfast. I'll see you later" I said quickly, turning to run away before I was even finished speaking.

  ***

  I peeked back into the conference room, hoping that Brandon would be off talking to someone else so that I could sneak past him with my work. I looked around and saw that Brandon was not anywhere in the room. I sighed in relief and took a seat in the corner of the room and pulled out my computer from my purse.

  I had known Brandon since we were kids and through all of the years I could not remember one time before today that had ever been awkward, or where I had tried to actually avoid him. I could still remember the first time I had noticed that Brandon was actually someone of the opposite sex and that he was someone that I was very attracted to.

  We were in our freshman year in high school and Brandon decided, against his parents' wishes, that he was going to try out for the Baseball team. I argued with him that sports were stupid, but I could see that it was important to him, so after my science club meeting I walked out to the baseball field and sat in the stands ready to cheer him on.

  There were a few older girls sitting down in front of me on the bleachers when I overheard them talking about a new hot player that was trying out for the team. I looked around curious as to who this new hot guy was and I spotted the guy they were talking about running toward the stands. He was actually really hot and I felt the first tingles of attraction to someone.

  He turned and looked directly at me and waved, his blue eyes bright. It was then that I realized that the hot guy was in fact my best friend Brandon. The girls that were sitting in front of me all turned to see who he was waving to and they all smiled at me, obviously thinking that I was dating him.

  It was from that day on that I did my best to keep my feelings for Brandon completely secret, hoping that he would never find out about them. I sighed wishing that I would have grabbed him and kissed him right then and there before too many other girls realized that he was hot and single. Maybe things would be different now, had they been more than friends all along.

  "Penny for your thoughts" Brandon said, sitting down in the chair next to me, dropping a wrapped sandwich and a bottle of water down next to me on the table.

  I felt myself blush, "Oh, um I was thinking about the space bot of course" I said, trying to hide my face from his probing eyes.

  He smiled, "Wow, you really are excited about this thing aren't you?" he asked, looking up at the screen to check on the position of the space bot.

  I nodded, "I am, I'm just excited to see what it brings with it" I told him.

  "Randi, look." He said, pointing at the screen.

  I looked over and saw that the space bot was opening its landing gear only moments away from landing in Houston. The entire room became silent as they watched the space bot slow down and finally land lightly on the ground, its momentum slowed by the large parachute that was now falling behind it.

  There was a thunderous uproar as everyone in the building started to cheer at once. I put my hands over my ears, still feeling the after effects of the drinking I had done the night before, trying to still seem excited.

  Brandon looked over at me, giving me a thumbs up and a hearty pat on the back, all awkwardness from before gone. Although any tension might have only been on my part, as Brandon had seemed unfazed by it all. The room became silent again as two men in bio-hazard suits walked out to the space bot and examined it.

  I watched in awe as they slowly opened the space bot and extracted a small thumb drive from the inside. People started to clap again, but not in the same upheaval as before, and for that I could not be anything but grateful. I looked over and saw that Brandon had moved on to another group of co-workers that I recognized from the bar the night before, all hugging and shaking hands with each other.

  ***

  I walked out of the restroom, thinking about heading over to my cubicle to get a little bit of work done while everyone else was distracted when I heard a herd of people talking very loudly. Too curious as to what was going on I headed back over the conference room. As I turned the corner everyone was standing around talking to each other excitedly, a few trying to get Jessica to speak to them. I looked up at the screen and saw what looked to be a picture of our solar system. I looked around confused as to what the uproar was when I saw Brandon standing in a c
orner alone, looking as though he was in deep thought.

  "What happened? I walked away for five freaking minutes and I miss everything" I said to him as I got close enough that I knew he would hear me.

  He looked up at me and then back at the screen, "Do you not see what is happening?" he asked me pointing to the screen next to him.

  I shrugged, "It's a picture of our solar system, so what?" I said, figuring that the early pictures of the space bot would be of our own planet before it went into the black hole.

  He shook his head, "I think you have been gone longer than five minutes then. These are pictures taken from the space bot. Yes, it does look like our solar system, but these were taken after it had already passed through the black hole Randi."

  I felt my eyes go wide as I looked back up at the screen. What he was saying was crazy, it was impossible. "What are you saying Brandon?"

  "On the other side of that black hole is another solar system nearly identical to our own, with another planet also close to an exact match of Earth. There is one difference though, can you see it?" he asked, his eyes shining.

  I looked back up to the screen and studied the picture. The placement of the planets did look exact to ours; only it looked as though maybe the sun was a little different, though not enough that a normal person would notice. I stepped closer, trying to get a better look at the planet that looked to me to be exactly like ours. I finally noticed the difference Brandon was talking about and gasped.

  "Brandon." I said quietly, never taking my eyes off of the screen. "How is it possible?"

  "What do you see?" he asked me, walking up until he was right next to me.

  "That planet, it does look like ours, but not like our planet today. It almost looks like a picture of our planet would have looked over three centuries ago. I don't see that they have the pollution cloud that ours now has." I said, in awe.

  Brandon nodded, "Yes, this planet looks to have water, grass, land, trees, oxygen, and maybe even intelligent life similar to ours. Only, they don't have any pollution, their ozone layer is completely intact."