by Magan Vernon
"The favoritiest of them all, but we can't tell Jen." I puckered my lips and squinted my left eye. "We don't want her to get jealous of our sisterly love."
Lucy made the same face at me and held her three middle fingers up and crossed her pinky and thumb over her palm. "Scout's honor."
I laughed and Lucy joined, falling back onto my bed and kicking her feet up in the air. "Lady, you are too much for me sometime."
She launched her legs forward and hopped off the bed in one fell swoop. "But I really should get going to class. My organic chemistry teacher gets cranky if I'm even a minute late."
She walked over to her desk, grabbing her backpack, and headed to the door.
"Hey, Lucy?" I called.
"Yeah?" She turned toward me with one hand on the doorknob and the other on her bag.
"Thanks for talking to me about all of this. It's nice to have someone here for me." I smiled.
She nodded, and there was a tiny hint of a smile at her lips. "That's what good roommates are for."
Chapter 23
I survived another week of classes and a few days without my virginity. I hadn't really seen Ace for a few days, with how busy we both were, and I wondered how much things would really change between us. Once we went past the cuddling and talking phase I was afraid we would never get back.
As soon as my classes were done on Friday, Ace was sitting outside my dorm in one of the Circe issued SUVs that looked almost identical to the one that I had crashed. I ran as fast as I could to the car and threw open the door to see him sitting there and grinning from ear to ear with giant aviator sunglasses perched on his face.
"My favorite Air Force veteran in a pair of aviators. What a concept." I wiggled my eyebrows and shut the door behind me.
"My beautiful princess in flip-flops, if only you had a pair of glass slippers, but I’m not sure they make those in your size." He grinned, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on my lips.
Nothing had changed. He didn't treat me differently because he saw me fully naked, or because he was now the card holder of my virginity. He pulled away from my dorm and traveled the stretch through the mountains to Circe. The operations center was actually built in to the mountains, and with tons of other ones that looked just like it surrounding the center, I never actually knew which one was which. Luckily, Ace had a better sense of direction.
"Anything special you want to do tonight?" Ace parked the car in one of the many underground parking garages and steered me toward the main area of Circe.
"Are you trying to insinuate something?" I took his hand in mine, squeezing it lightly.
"I'm not sure what you mean." He shook his head.
I didn't know if he was just being playful or if he truly meant it, but I went on anyway, trying to be as seductive as I could. I pushed the button for the elevator, and then turned toward him. Slowly, I reached up, trailing my finger along his jaw line from his ear to his chin. "If I have to explain it to you, then maybe you really aren't in the mood."
Ace grabbed my hand against his cheek, moving my palm to his lips and placing a small kiss on it. "What you do to me is beyond anything I could ever dream."
He leaned over and pressed his lips to mine and wrapped his arms around my waist. I deepened the kiss, slinking my arms around his neck and pulling him closer to me. His body was flush against mine, sending a cold shiver down my stomach. This was how it was supposed to be. We didn't have to hide our feelings anymore at Circe; everyone knew that we were together. He was mine and I was his.
"Ahem!"
Ace and I jumped back and turned toward the elevator. There stood Justin and Malcolm with huge, toothy grins on their faces.
"You know, just because you all are engaged or whatever now, does not mean that everyone wants to see this tonsil hockey stuff," Malcolm said, as he and Justin got out of the elevator and stepped into the garage.
"I don't really mind it." Justin shrugged before Malcolm slapped his chest with the back of his hand. It wasn't hard, but Justin still held his hand to his chest and bent forward.
"Don't listen to this fool." Malcolm pointed a thumb at Justin.
"I should say the same thing about you and Jen." I raised an eyebrow and Ace put his arm around my waist, pulling me close against his side.
Justin laughed, standing back up. "Yeah, Malcolm, didn't you all get caught making out in the hangar by one of the higher ups?"
"Man, shut up!" Malcolm looked over at Justin. Even though Malcolm's skin was dark, I could still see a red blush creeping up his cheeks.
"I guess we should leave you two to your banter," Ace said as he ushered me toward the elevator, pressing the button again.
"Why does it have to be like that?" Justin held his arms out. "You all don't want to hang out with us? We were just heading out to meet up with Jen at La Noria."
"Uh, maybe later," I said. I was hoping we could get back to Ace's room and continue what we started before they interrupted, but I wasn't about to say that out loud.
"Oh, come on, we haven't really hung out much since the intern days, and Ace has never hung out with us," Malcolm said, crossing his arms over his chest.
I looked up at Ace, hoping that he would come up with a better excuse than the only one I could think of, the truth.
Instead Ace shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Malcolm and Justin. "I guess we can hang out for a bit."
"That's what I'm talking about!" Malcolm nodded his head and gave Ace a high five.
Great, I thought Lucy was the boom-boom blocker even before I really understood what it was. It looked like Malcolm and Justin were the new boom-boom blockers.
***
We got back in the SUV and headed to the little Mexican restaurant I had dinner at with Lucy on our first night in the dorms. I soon found out that the restaurant wasn't actually Mexican, but the owners and all the staff were actually from a small planet in the Andromeda galaxy. It turned out we actually weren't eating Mexican food, but Andromedan delicacies with ingredients they had special ordered in every other day from their home planet.
We all piled into a table near the kitchen, that way no one would hear Jen when she spoke Andromedan to the waiters or bother us when everyone gave our table special treatment.
"Okay, Alex, you have to let me get a better look at that giant Caltian rock on your finger," Jen slurred. The waiters kept refilling her margarita glass and the more she drank, the bolder she got.
I took my hand from Ace's and held it up to her.
"OH MY GOD!" She grabbed my hand, yanking it until it was only about an inch from her face. "This is the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen!" She released my hand and I put it back on my lap. "Well done, Ace."
Ace nodded. "Thank you, Jen."
"Yeah, too bad we all know that it really is just a Caltian rock." Malcolm laughed.
Jen flicked his ear. "Don't be rude just because you are jealous of those fake things in your ears."
Malcolm rubbed his ear, his fingers trailing on the giant studs in them. "So touchy."
Justin laughed, slapping his knee. "You would think I'd be bothered by being the third wheel in all of this, but the way Jen puts you in your place, I actually don't feel as bad."
Malcolm shot a glare in his direction, but then smiled. "Don't hate."
"You know what we should do?" Jen said in a loud whisper. "We should call Gavin and Riley and have an intern reunion!"
Justin sucked in a deep breath. "I don't know about that one."
"What are you talking about?" Jen looked over at Justin. "You know that Riley is dating Alex's roommate now. With her memory loss it's like last summer never happened and now her and Alex are the best of friends."
"I wouldn't go that far," I muttered. "And there is no way I would want to see Gavin again, ever."
Malcolm laughed. "Yeah, didn't that dude have some sort of stalker crush on you before Ace came around? He was a definite creeper."
I started to say something, but Ace let o
ut a low growl that wasn't sure if anyone else could hear.
"Yes, he did and I would appreciate if I never had to see that little worm again," Ace said, not looking up from his plate of Andromedan fajitas.
"Agreed!" Justin raised his glass, lightening the mood.
"We already have enough guys here that want Alex. Did you see how that busboy looked at her? I think Ace might have some competition." Jen's laughter was contagious, and the whole table was laughing at everything that anyone said. Well, everyone but Ace.
"What busboy?" Ace asked, arching an eyebrow.
Malcolm nodded his head behind Ace. "The one clearing that corner table. I swear I saw him check out Alex's ass when she went to the bathroom."
"No, he was not!" I shrieked.
"Dude, I think you were right. I think he even said something in Andromedan about how he'd like to use his tentacle to break off a piece of that," Justin added, taking a big gulp of his beer.
"Excuse me a moment." Ace stood up from the table.
"Oh man, look what you guys started," Jen whispered between her giggles.
I turned to see where Ace was going, hoping it was the bathroom, but no such luck. He walked right over to where the poor, tiny busboy with the shaved head, piled plates into a plastic container.
I couldn't make out what Ace was saying to him, but I saw his hands ball up into fists at his side. The busboy put down the container and held his hands in front of them, waving them frantically, his lips moving a mile a minute.
"You don't think he's going to hit him, do you?" I didn't look back at the table as I spoke.
"My money's on Ace," Malcolm said.
"I think I'm going to go for the long shot and say the busboy," Justin added.
The busboy backed up against the wall with Ace standing at his toes. The busboy still had his hands waving in the air and his whole body was shaking. I sprang up from the table and ran as quickly as I could to the scene of the crime.
"You will not talk about my princess or look at her that way again, is that understood?" Ace's voice was a growl on the busboy's face.
"Yes, sir," the busboy's voice came out in a shaky accent.
"What's going on here?" I pushed my hands between the two aliens and pried them part.
"Nothing, your highness," the busboy said as he slowly backed away. "Prince Machiavelli was just teaching me about Caltian roles. Thank you, sir." He bowed quickly and then ran through the double doors and back to the kitchen.
Ace followed the busboy with his eyes before he turned back to me.
"You know this jealous boyfriend thing is getting real old," I said, putting my hands on my hips.
A lazy smile crept on his lips while he took a step toward me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "And you trying to act tough around me will never get old."
"I am tough." I rocked on my heels and put my hands on his shoulders. "Toughest human fighter you've ever met."
"And the best looking." He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine.
"Hey, if we aren't going to see a fight, then you all better get back to the table, or Justin and I are going to eat your food!" I turned to see Malcolm standing over the table with his fork hovering over Ace's plate.
"Malcolm, you may be the one that works on my ship, but it is not beneath me to smack you silly," Ace called, taking my hand and walking me back to the table.
Malcolm put his fork down and sat in his chair. "You wanna go?"
Ace arched his eyebrow, taking his seat across from Malcolm. "Do you really want to try to match wits with a Caltian fighter?"
Malcolm stared at him for exactly two seconds before he burst into laughter, slapping his hands together. "Man, I love this guy!"
A smile finally appeared on Ace's face, and Malcolm gave him a big high five. Finally something normal happened in our relationship. Now if I could just get rid of his jealous side.
Chapter 24
The days had been going relatively smoothly since the Andromedan restaurant incident, but now I had to get back to reality and work on my persuasive speech. After the mad rush to work on my pitiful Dustin Hoffman speech I had to up my game and give a speech that actually matched the 'A' I was getting in the class. I didn't want to receive special privileges because I was the future princess of Calta, and I needed to prove I was worth it.
"Hey, how about why you should rescue a cat from a shelter for my speech topic?" I yelled back at Lucy, who sat at her desk behind me.
No response.
"Lucy? Lucy?"
I turned around to see that she had her giant, noise cancelling headphones on.
I stood up from my chair and took the few steps over to hers, pulling her headphones back.
"Lucy?"
She jolted and then pulled both headphones off her ears and let them hang around her neck. "Oh, hey, Alex." She looked from the computer and back at me. "I'm just watching some more of these vlogs from these alien kids. These things have gone seriously viral."
"Really?" I asked, trying to hide the tension in my voice. Were people taking them seriously?
"Yeah, check it out." Lucy pressed the play button and a frozen Gemma and Rachel came to life on the screen.
"I definitely think the government is hiding some sort of alien conspiracy. There is no way that things like this can just happen to us and no one will say anything about it," Gemma's gravelly voice rang over the computer's speakers.
Rachel sat next to her, her eyes wide as she bobbed her head up and down at every one of Gemma's words.
"I even tried to file a police report saying that someone broke my leg who was invading my dreams, and they just laughed at me!" Gemma threw her hands up in the air. "Like I would purposefully ruin my future college rugby career."
"Crazy ideas by the poe poe," Rachel added.
"Hey, tell them about what those aliens did to our relationship, baby." I couldn't see him, but I definitely recognized Brody's voice from behind the camera.
"Oh, yeah!" Gemma leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees and rocking back and forth. "These aliens put ideas into Brody's head that he should break up with me and go after one of the geekiest girls in our class. Can you imagine? They actually brainwashed him to believe if he dated her, then he would become a famous rapper!"
Lucy shook her head, looking at the screen. "This stuff is hilarious."
"Yeah, heh, hilarious." I tried to keep the tension out of my voice, but my hands were shaking. All of those things did happen and all of those things were caused by a jealous alien ex-girlfriend of Ace's.
"I hope they keep putting these things out. They are definitely a great way to take a break from homework," Lucy called over her shoulder as I headed back to my desk.
"Maybe you should just stick to environmental science instead of alien video blogs," I said back.
"Yes, Mother!"
I shook my head and picked up my phone from my desk, sliding it open to text Ace.
So, weird thing. Brody, Gemma, and Rachel have been putting video blogs out about their experience with Simone last year. Can you check on this?
Ace quickly responded.
Already on it. It's a viral sensation, but no one is actually taking them seriously. We have nothing to worry about.
Easy for him to say. He didn't have kids from his home town talking about him on the internet.
Okay, I guess you are right. Are you still coming over tonight?
Another quick response.
Wouldn't miss it for all the stars of Calta.
I set my phone back down on my desk and figured I deserved a little study break that didn't involve video blogs. I closed out of my Word document and pulled up Facebook where a new friend request was waiting.
Gavin Thomas wants to be your friend.
No, it couldn't be the same Gavin. There was no way. I clicked on his profile and there he was: the same side bangs he had last summer and the same cocky grin. The same Gavin who wanted to do nothing but destroy Ace's and my rel
ationship.
I clicked on our mutual friends. I definitely expected to see Jen, Malcolm, and Justin but there was one name that really concerned me.
Riley Hathaway is a mutual friend.
He couldn't still talk to her, could he?
A Facebook message popped upon my screen from one Gavin Thomas.
Hey, long time no talk.
Crap. I wasn't expecting that. I hadn't talked to him in a year, and the last time I talked to him was when he was cornering me in a room and saying that it was unnatural for me to be dating Ace.
Yeah, been busy, you know hanging out with Ace, going to school.
He was quick to respond.
I saw that you were at Northern Arizona. That's where Riley is now, right?
What was the side banged kid trying to pull?
Yeah, And? Are you trying to see if you can get us together for a double date? Because if you are, I'm still taken. Thanks.
Lol, you are too much, kid.
Kid? Since when was I just a kid? He was the one that was trying to get with me all last summer. Bet I wasn't a kid then. Before I could think of a good response, another message came up.
No, I'm with someone else now. Someone more my style. You'd like her.
Uh, huh, sure. I have a project to work on. So I will ttyl.
