We spent the next few hours compiling everything together and putting it into a consistent format. Hopefully Mr. Moore wouldn’t notice we each did parts instead of the whole thing together. Nobody said it was against the rules but I didn’t want to get caught for doing the wrong thing. That would be totally against those other pesky rules.
“How about lunch?” Lochie asked out of nowhere as we hit the save button for the last time.
Looking at the clock, I couldn’t believe we had spent four hours on the project. The morning seemed to fly by considering we were doing school work.
“I’ll pass, thanks.” I wasn’t going to spend any more time with him than was necessary.
“Oh, come on. We’ve just finished our English project, we should be celebrating. I’ll take you somewhere nice.” His eyes were drilling into me, waiting for an answer. The last thing I felt like doing was having lunch with Lochie but in the back of my mind I could hear my mother telling me I had to be nice to everyone. Even one enemy could impact the result of the project. Ugh, damn project.
“Fine,” I sighed. I think I properly managed to convey my reluctance in that one word. Hopefully Lochie would get the hint and make the lunch a quick one. I wanted to have at least some of my weekend to myself.
“Great, come on.” Lochie stood and left, picking up his car keys off the desk as he moved. The only thing I could do was follow after him like a lost kitten.
Being in his car was like being trapped in an elevator. Everything about it was just… Lochie-ish. The vehicle smelt like his cologne and was so overpowering I wanted to vomit. There was no rubbish on the floor, it was perfect like his coiffed caramel hair. The only thing unexpected was his driving. I assumed he would drive like a race car driver. Yet he was careful. Lochie actually stopped at amber lights and looked twice before turning any corner. He drove like a nana.
I was too wrapped up in studying him, I didn’t even realize where he had taken me. I expected a McDonald’s or another take out place, but we were at the pier. The pier, of all places? “What are we doing here?”
“Having lunch. Haven’t you been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying?” He rolled his eyes at me. That was the Lochie I knew.
“I told you, when you say something important, I’ll start paying attention,” I answered, following after him still. He led me along the wooden pier until we reached Chez Seafood, one of the fanciest restaurants in the entire town. It was double storey and overlooked the bay. Three of the walls were entirely made of glass to take advantage of the views.
We were immediately greeted by the maître de. “Mr. Mercury? I have your table all ready.”
We followed the lady through to a table set for two by the window in the middle of the restaurant. Immediately a waiter gave us menus and placed the napkin across my lap. They left us to peruse the choices.
“You made reservations?” I asked, he was truly unbelievable assuming I would come to lunch with him. He seriously had a problem.
“No, I called ahead before we left,” he said defensively. He was lying. I was with him from the moment I agreed to join him until we pulled up. There was no way he could have called ahead.
“You did not.”
“I did too. You weren’t paying attention. Now, how about the fish of the day? That looks good, right?” He buried his face in the menu. Or perhaps he was using it as a shield so I didn’t throw the pepper shaker at his face.
I sighed. The best way to get through the lunch was to make it quick and painless. I scanned the menu. Half of the stuff was in French and the other half I didn’t even understand even though it was in English. Being somewhere so incredibly fancy and over the top made me unbearably uncomfortable. I didn’t fit in there and I’m sure everyone else thought so too. The only one who seemed at ease was Lochie. Of course, he was probably enjoying my discomfort. It was probably the whole reason for bringing me there in the first place.
“Fish of the day sounds good,” I finally said, putting down the menu. Fish to eat and water to drink, that sounded simple enough. I couldn’t make too much of a fool of myself. I hoped, anyway.
Lochie put his menu down and the waiter hurried over to take our order. He ordered for both of us, which I was kind of glad of. Although I would never tell him that. After the waiter left, we sat in silence. I looked everywhere I could except at him.
“So, come here often?” I asked to break the silence. It may have been more painful than actually talking to him.
“Not really, only for special occasions.”
“And this is a special occasion?”
He shrugged. “We finished our English project. Us. We actually worked together and managed not to kill each other.”
I grinned. “It was touch and go there for a while.”
“When I first saw those guys in suits chasing after us, I thought perhaps you had ordered a hit on me,” Lochie teased. “That was one way to get out of the assignment.”
If I wasn’t in the project, I might have done just that. “How do you know it wasn’t and they were just really incompetent assassins?”
“I guess we’ll never know.”
The food came, we stopped talking until they had placed the meals in front of us and left. My stomach grumbled at seeing the delicious meal. I started shoveling food into my mouth so I didn’t have to talk for a while.
It didn’t work. “So what are you plans for the summer?” Lochie asked as he took his time with his meal. We were never going to get out of there at the rate he was eating.
My real plans for the summer consisted of being outed by the FBI as an alien and then having to deal with all the stares and threats from doing so. But I guessed Lochie wouldn’t understand any of that.
“I guess I’ll get a summer job until college,” I replied. It wasn’t really a lie. My job was to represent my planet and I did want to go to college, I just wasn’t sure if the Department would let me. It was a subject I was too scared to bring up, fearing they would say no.
“Have you been accepted anywhere yet?”
“My applications are still pending. You?”
“I’ve had a few offers.” Of course he did. He would probably be on a full scholarship too. They might even rename the university after him because he was so perfect. I filled my mouth with another bite before I could say as much to him. “I’d kind of like to stay local though. I don’t really want to be too far away from my mother.”
“Because you’re a mama’s boy?”
He grinned but it wasn’t in a teasing way. I think I might have touched upon something I shouldn’t have. “Because of my little brother, actually. He’s got cerebral palsy and I like staying close to help out my mom. He can be a bit of a handful sometimes.”
Didn’t I feel like the biggest bitch on Earth. If Rob was there watching us, he would have been shaking his head with disapproval. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, not many people do.”
“Why not?”
“My mom likes to treat Jordan like a normal kid,” Lochie explained, with none of the annoying tone he usually used. “So I do too. He’s just my little brother, he’s not defined by his disability.”
“You said you help out your mom, what about your dad? Does he help with Jordan?”
“My father isn’t in the picture.” He completely shut me off with his answer. I was pretty certain it was a topic he wasn’t interested in discussing further. I guessed I’d have to remain curious for now.
Silence settled over the table. I took a gulp of water, watching Lochie over the glass. He was concentrating on his fish, trying to cut a neat square. He was concentrating too hard for it to be normal. Perhaps I had stirred something I shouldn’t have. Oh well, he started the whole conversation, not me.
I softened while I watched him though. He was clearly upset about something. I had to end the silence before it completely killed us. “So what are your plans for the summer?”
He looked up, noticeably reliev
ed for something else to talk about. “I’m going to work with my uncle in his business. He fixes old boats and turns them into houseboats. He’s going to teach me how he does it.”
“Sounds… like fun?”
“It will be,” he laughed, like he had to try to convince me of that fact. “He’s a master with his tools. If I can learn a quarter of the stuff he knows, I’ll be set for life.”
“I didn’t really place you as a builder type of person,” I replied. Trying to picture Lochie with a tool belt around his waist and a hard hat on was nearly impossible. It wasn’t like he was the suit and tie kind either but he was somewhere in the middle. Perhaps a used car salesman? It seemed appropriate.
“I like building things, it’s nice to create something.” His eyes shone when he spoke about it. Perhaps it was something he was really passionate about? I never would have guessed he had an artistic side to him. I guess there was a lot to Lochie Mercury I didn’t know. “Plus, those boats are an ideal place to make out,” he added, completely shattering my illusion of him. Perhaps I did know everything about Lochie after all.
I rolled my eyes and finished my meal. I was ready to leave and have at least a few hours to myself before the weekend was considered a complete wash out.
I had to wait for Lochie to finish, he seemed to take an interminably long amount of time on each bite. I almost started helping him just so we could leave.
Finally, we made our way down the pier again toward his car. Only a short car ride and it would all be over. We walked in silence, the conversation run out of polite topics.
“Thanks for lunch,” I said as we were halfway there. The tab was expensive just for the two meals and he insisted on paying like he promised.
“You’re welcome,” Lochie replied, walking with his hands in his pockets. “I bet Havi Brook wouldn’t take you somewhere like this.”
“What’s Havi got to do with anything?” I asked, completely confused at him even mentioning the guy.
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I just don’t think Havi would be a nice restaurant kind of guy. He’s more of a fast food joint type of person.”
I stopped. Lochie only got a few steps ahead of me before turning to see what I was doing. “Did you only bring me here to prove a point?”
“No. What point would that even be?”
My blood was starting to boil, damn I hated the way he could do that to me. Nobody ever made me as angry as Lochie did. “The point that you have more money than Havi does. I can’t believe you. Here I was, thinking you might just want to be nice for once in your life and it was all a con. I should have known better.”
I stormed past him, brushing his arm as I did. There was no way I was spending another minute with him, let alone getting into his car. I would rather walk home.
“Amery, come on,” he called out. At least he had the sense not to chase after me. I would have only caused a scene. “Amery, I’ll drive you home. It’s a long walk.”
I kept going, huffing with anger at each step. For just one moment while we were having lunch, I thought I was talking to the real Lochie. The one who was actually sweet and had feelings. I had caught a glimpse of him one summer before but now I questioned the memory. Now I knew it was all just a show. I did know the real Lochie and he was a jerk. A plain and simple jerk.
I walked far enough away out of sight until Frank and Drew picked me up. Riding back home with them was much more pleasant than going anywhere with Lochie. At least my security detail actually cared about me, even if they were only doing it because they were being paid.
CHAPTER 13
When I got home, Lola was there being interrogated. I rushed to her aid, fearing she might be being held down and water boarded until she promised her firstborn child if she told anyone my secret. I had heard stories about my parent’s time in the FBI, it was definitely in the realm of possibilities.
“Amery, you’re home late,” Dad said as I walked into the living room. Lola looked okay, like she hadn’t been through the worst of it yet.
“I had some lunch before I came home,” I explained, hoping nobody pried further. Everything that happened with Lochie was still too raw to talk about. I mean, seriously, how dare he use our study session to put Havi down? It was going to take some time for my anger to subside. Of course, slapping Lochie around the head would have helped. Perhaps I should have done that before storming off? I wish I’d thought of it then. “Is everything okay here?”
Lola replied before my parents had a chance to. “I was just explaining to your parents that I’m not going to tell anyone about your secret. They can totally chill.”
“That’s what I said.”
“We needed to be sure,” Mom commented. “Now Lola knows how vital her silence is, I’m sure we can get through the next three months in peace.”
“Oh, I should show her my gun,” Dad said, going to get up. Mom placed a hand on his leg to stop him.
“I’m sure she doesn’t need to see your large stash of weapons that could kill her instantly to understand. Right, Lola?” She looked at her pointedly. I had to suppress a laugh, if they showed Lola their weapons cache, she would probably think they were really cool. The cold metal wouldn’t scare her in the least.
“Of course, not, Mrs. Jones,” Lola replied politely. I’m sure she was thinking the same as me.
“Can Lola go now?” I asked, looking from one parent to the other. They both finally nodded. “Great, come on.” Lola followed me upstairs to my bedroom and took a seat on my desk chair. I sat on the bed. “Sorry about the parents.”
She laughed. “It’s fine, I was kind of expecting it actually. I don’t normally get a call from your mom to come and visit when you’re not here.”
“I thought I would be, but I got caught up.”
She raised an eyebrow questioningly. “And who did you get caught up with? Weren’t you studying with Lochie?”
I was not going to open that can of worms. “Yeah, but we finished the project so I don’t have to see his ugly face again.”
“Except in school.”
“Not if I can avoid him,” I pointed out. I think she got the hint that I didn’t want to talk about stupid Lochie as she changed the subject.
“So what happens in three months when the secret is out?” She stared at me intently, as curious as a cat.
“Nobody really knows. Some people are going to be fine with it but others aren’t going to be so open minded. The Department is worried some of the extremists will hurt us. The thought of a new race of people can be really frightening.”
“But they’ll see you’re just like everyone else, right?”
“They might be angry the government didn’t tell anyone we were living amongst them for all these years,” I explained. It felt so good being able to talk about it with someone who didn’t just want to calm my nerves like my parents did. “They might take it out on us, like we were tricking them or something.”
Lola shrugged. “I think it’s better this way, we already know and love you. If your people just arrived in a spaceship one day and said you were living here, everyone would completely freak out.”
“Exactly. At least this way it softens the blow a bit. The Department has been working on this for decades, I don’t know if people will be able to appreciate how much time and effort has gone into making sure they don’t freak out. The whole project is for their benefit.”
“Do you reckon the government is hiding anything else?” Lola asked, her eyes ablaze with thoughts of a conspiracy. “Like Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, giants?”
I started laughing. “Who knows? If they’ve covered up aliens, then they could have anything hidden away.”
“Are crop circles made by aliens?”
“They’re a natural occurrence, something about the earth’s energy or something.”
“Was Roswell a cover up?”
“If it was, they weren’t from my planet. We all look like regular humans, not little green men.”
&
nbsp; “So you can’t change your appearance from an alien into a human?” Lola sat back and crossed her arms, pretending to be disappointed. “That’s a letdown.”
“Sorry to ruin it for you.”
“I guess I’ll get over it,” she smiled.
“I do have this though.” I pulled back my bracelets to show her the triangle on my left wrist. She took my arm and examined the mark carefully.
“That’s so cool. You all have these?”
I nodded. “Apparently everyone on Earth who’s from Trucon is marked with one. Don’t ask me why it’s a triangle, it seems a bit random to me.”
“I can’t believe I never noticed it before.” She was still staring at my wrist, like she was waiting for the mark to change shape.
“I do a good job of keeping it covered.”
“And I thought you just had a fetish for bracelets.” She finally released my hand, letting me put the bangles back in place again.
We spent the rest of the day discussing Project Integrate until Lola was out of questions. She had plenty, many more than I had expected. I guessed I would have to get used to dealing with people’s curiosity. It wouldn’t be too long before there would be many more people with many more questions.
When it was time for school the next day, I was still exhausted from the weekend. It had been a big one, and not all in a good way. I walked into school with Lola at my side.
“I can’t believe there is an alien walking amongst all these people and they have no idea,” she whispered as we went. I guessed it really was a mind altering thought. And it did make me wonder if there were other beings we didn’t know about. If the Department was good at one thing, it was keeping secrets. They wouldn’t tell us who else was on Earth with us.
“I think it would cause pandemonium if they did know right now,” I replied carefully. As I looked around at the faces of everyone I knew, I wondered how they would handle it in three months time. Would they look at me differently? Would they all hate me? If not for being an alien, but then for keeping it from them? I guessed there would be no way to tell, we would all just have to wait and see.
Project Integrate Series Boxed Set Page 10
