How to Date an Alien

by Magan Vernon

  “I’ve never been good at keeping secrets.” I looked down at our hands, and then turned to face the cafeteria crowd. My gaze fell on each table as they pretended not to notice my stare. "And if anyone's got a problem with us dating then they'd better find another alien center to hang out at!" I yelled.

  I wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, but I focused right on Riley and Gavin, who couldn't help but let the fire ignite in their eyes. It was going to take a lot more than their glares to bring me down.

  ****

  I spent the rest of lunch meeting and chatting with Ace’s Caltian friends who had also served in the military. They seemed to be fascinated that I knew so little about the alien world until I came to Circe. Ace’s hand never left mine, not during lunch, not while we walked back to the office, or while we worked. But as soon as the workday ended and we saw Jen standing outside of the office doors, we decided it was time to let go.

  “I’ll see you at dinner?" He raised his eyebrows as if they were knitted into a question mark.

  “Yeah, that’s fine." I nodded and looked from Jen and back to him. He stood there for a moment just staring at me before he finally turned and took off toward his room. I watched until he disappeared down the hall.

  “Are we going to talk about this?” Jen stepped to the side of me.

  I stared straight ahead and started walking. "Is there really anything to talk about, Jen?" I didn't even glance in her direction as she picked up the pace to keep up with me.

  “Well for starters, friends should tell their friends when they have a secret alien boyfriend and not lie to them about it.”

  “It just sort of happened, and besides—" I stopped and turned to face her. “—it’s not like you didn't encourage us to date. You even dressed me up and made me over to go ask him to go bowling. So why act so surprised and unsupportive now?" I threw my hands out to the side before curling them back in around my chest.

  “Well for one, I’d tell you that you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into." Her left foot fidgeted, making a soft tapping sound against the floor. “You’ve only been around aliens for a few weeks, and you already think that you can just go and break all the rules and everything will just be fine and dandy.”

  She let out a puff of air, blowing a blond curl out of her face. "There are things that you don't know about Ace, things you don't know about aliens and you can't just think it's going to change because you fell for one."

  "I already know that he has some stupid classification, Jen, and I'm not worried about that."

  "Alex, there are rules that you just don't understand," she whispered.

  “What rules am I breaking, Jen?" I leaned closer. “Some kind of laws of chemistry that say humans and aliens shouldn’t be together? Well maybe you need to study those chemistry books a little harder and figure out that sometimes the answer to everything isn’t in some book!"

  “You know what?" Jen walked past me, yelling, “Suit yourself. Learn from your own mistakes because I’m tired of watching you make them.”

  I didn’t feel like going to dinner and seeing the rest of the interns or going back to my room to watch Jen and Riley glare at me, so I went back to the office and started scrolling through every blog I could think of. I broke two computer mice in the process of my angry clicking. Ace came in to check on me when I didn't show up for dinner, but once he saw the first of the two mice in the recycling bin, he kissed the top of my head and excused himself from the room.

  By the time my eyes glazed over from staring at the screen, and I had already sat in the office past the time I knew Riley and Jen would have gone to bed, I crept back to my room. Like I predicted, Riley and Jen were sound asleep. I tiptoed as lightly as I could on the cold tile floor, changed into my pajamas, and finally let sleep overcome me as I fell into bed.

  It was the least restful sleep I'd ever gotten. Jen's warning swirled into my dreams: You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Her words lashed around me, and my body became encased in ice. The nightmare surrounded me in darkness and I tried to scream, but the words were choked out of me by some invisible force. I tried as hard as I could to wake myself up, but the more I tried, the further the darkness pulled me in. A sharp, silvery laughter surrounded me, echoing through my head and sending shards of icy pain down my spine. It felt too real to be a dream. A pair of coal-black eyes that looked familiar, yet looked as deadly as a serpent’s, came toward me. It was a woman with snow-white skin and hair as dark as night staring down at me. I tried again to speak, but my voice still wouldn't come. I wanted to know why she was haunting my dreams, what she wanted from me, but she did nothing but laugh.

  My eyes burst open. I opened my mouth to scream but my throat was painfully dry. I swallowed hard and looked over to where Jen and Riley still slept soundly. They had no idea about the nightmare I just had. Even though I was parched, I had practically soaked through my pajamas and was covered in a cold sweat. I definitely wasn't about to wake Riley up for comfort and I doubted Jen wanted to talk to me after our encounter earlier that day.

  Quickly, I changed out of my damp clothes and slid out the door as quietly as I could. I practically ran down the long hallways, nodding at the guards that passed me, pretending like I wasn't about to go into full-blown panic mode. It was as if he was expecting me. After only one knock Ace threw open the door to his room. His eyes widened as he looked over my shaking body.

  “Are you okay?" He motioned me into the room, shutting the door behind us.

  “I had a bad dream." My teeth chattered; my whole body still felt like it was incased in an icy chamber. Ace put his hands to my face. I waited for the warmth to circulate his through my body and I stopped shivering.

  “Do you want to stay here tonight?"

  I swallowed hard, nodding.

  He didn’t ask any more questions and led me to the bed. Beside him, he pulled me as close as two people could be without being connected. His hands stayed at my sides, letting the heat run through my body, leaving only the lingering feeling that something was undeniably not right about my nightmare.

  Chapter 15

  The nightmares didn't stop and only got worse as the nights went on. I stopped sleeping in my own room, so I wouldn't give Riley and Jen even more of a reason to hate me. The only way that I could wake up from my nightmares was by screaming. I started spending my nights in Ace's room where he would put my hands in his until the heat would come back into my body and I would stop shaking.

  After Ace's alarm would go off, I would sneak back into my room, still exhausted from my sleepless night, shower and head to work. Jen and Riley wouldn't even look at me and the other interns had started whispering when I would walk by in the cafeteria. I stopped caring about what everyone else had to say around me. The nightmares continued to cloud my vision whether I was sleeping or not. When Ace was close the darkness would subside, but only briefly. I was too scared to actually voice what was happening and I didn't want to look like some sort of lunatic if I told anybody that I was being affected by a bad dream.

  At least I didn't think I cared what other people thought, until the day we received a visitor in the security office. Ever since I stopped talking to the interns, we rarely had anyone stop by, so Ace and I were both shocked when we heard the door open. Ace went to let go of my hand, but I tightened my grip, not wanting to deal with what visions could show up if he let go.

  "Alex?"

  I spun around to see my dad standing in the doorway. The lines of his face tightened and everything about him tensed up.

  Ace pulled his hand away from my grip and stood up. "Colonel Bianchi, it's been a long time." He put his hand out toward my dad.

  Dad just stared at Ace's hand, before Ace pulled it away and sat back down.

  "Alex." Dad swallowed. "Can I see you out in the hallway for a moment?"

  I glanced over at Ace, who nodded like it was okay for me to go, then looked back at my dad. "Okay, but then I have to get back to work."
I followed him silently into the hall. He just stared down at me, watching my every move.

  "Alex," he finally said after we had walked a few yards away.

  "Yeah, so what's this about? You know we think we may have a guy from Jupiter who is trying to hack into the Missouri capitol that we need to handle." I jabbed my index finger in the direction of the office door.

  "I'm putting you on a new assignment. You won't be doing security anymore."

  "What?" Everyone in the hallway stopped to stare at me.

  Dad shot them a look that said there's nothing to see here and everyone started moving along, pretending like they weren't listening to our every word.

  "Alex," he whispered, "I just think it may be better if you spent some time in another department."

  "Or is it because you heard about me and Ace and you don't approve of me dating someone that I work with?" I threw my hands out. "Just because you move me to another department doesn't mean I'm going to stop seeing him."

  "That's why you will also be on twenty-four hour watch, so I don't have to worry about that."

  "What the hell, Dad?" I leaned in, pushing my face closer to him. "Since when do you care about who I date? It's not like you've really been in my life for the past seven years and now you want to come and play the overprotective dad? This is bullshit!"

  "Alex." He put his hands out, lowering his voice in hopes that I would lower mine as well. "You don't understand the consequences of your actions."

  I rolled my eyes. "Oh, that's awesome. You think if you speak to me like one of your Air Force lackeys that I'll listen?"

  "Alex you don't know what you're getting yourself into. Ace is—"

  I held my hand up to stop his words. "I know he's been classified as dangerous and potentially hazardous to humans, but he hasn't done anything that's been dangerous to me, Dad." I folded my arms across my chest. "In fact he's been there for me more than you ever were. He actually does care about me and isn't just forced to do it because he got my mom pregnant."

  That was when I knew I'd crossed the line. Dad's eyes widened and then he grabbed me, lifting me off the ground and throwing me over his shoulder like I was some sort of a rag doll.

  "What are you doing? Let me go!" I screamed, pounding my fists on his back and kicking as hard as I could. He didn't let go and continued down the hallway.

  "This is for your own good."

  He didn't stop no matter how loud I screamed. He just kept walking until we reached a small, windowless office that looked like one of those interrogation rooms from cheesy cop shows. He set me down on a cold metal chair, and reached into his pocket to pull out a blinking black monitor cuff.

  "What are you doing with that thing?"

  He bent down next to me and clamped the cuff onto my ankle. It beeped a few times before tightening onto my skin like a blood pressure cuff, but much more painful.

  "What the hell?" I reached down and scratched at the cuff, trying to tear it off.

  "This will make sure that you only stay in the hangar, cleaning airplanes with Malcolm. You will eat all your meals in the hangar and return to your room when you aren't there," dad replied in a matter-of-fact tone while he towered over me.

  I looked up, tears springing freely from my eyes. If I didn't have Ace then the nightmares would be back, the visions. Even worse, I wouldn't be able to feel his touch. I couldn't do that. I shook my head violently.

  "No, Dad, you can't do this to me. Please!" I opened my eyes as wide as I could behind the tears, hoping to block out the nightmarish visions. "I'll do anything if you just let me see him!"

  Dad shook his head, trying to avoid my eyes. "Alex, someday you'll understand all of this."

  "Why can't you just tell me now? Why are you hurting me so bad?" I gulped between sobs.

  "Someday you'll understand that this is the best thing for all of us. These aliens are more dangerous than you might think and I don't want to see you end up in the autopsy unit." He pulled me up so that he could look into my tear-filled eyes, and the darkness from my nightmares clouded everything in sight.

  I let myself collapse into his arms as he held me, running his hands through my hair. I didn't want to accept his comfort, but the farther I buried my face into his chest the farther away I was from the darkness.

  ****

  After my crying fit was over, dad walked me over to the hangar where Malcolm was waiting near a small green plane that looked more like a bullet than something that would fly into space.

  "Malcolm, I've got your new recruit here, who is more than willing to start working." Dad patted my back as I looked up at Malcolm with bloodshot eyes.

  I couldn't ignore the dark cloud surrounding everything that I looked at, but the more I thought about Ace the more my heart ached.

  "Yeah, I think I can handle her, Colonel." Malcolm grinned, his big gap-toothed grin.

  "Alright, well I think she's in good hands." Dad patted my back one more time before heading out of the hangar.

  "So, ever work on a plane before?" Malcolm clasped his hands together.

  I shook my head, not in the mood for small talk.

  He sighed, rubbing a hand over his small stubble of hair. "Look I heard about what happened with Ace; the whole center knows about it. I'm not going to sugarcoat things. It sounds pretty bad."

  I looked up, scooping my finger underneath my glasses to wipe the tears back. "What did you hear?"

  Malcolm looked around before taking another step toward me, lowering his voice. "I know Ace is kind of your guy and all, but when they classified him as dangerous, well they weren't kidding"

  I snorted. "Tell me something I don't know Malcolm. Everyone keeps telling me he's so dangerous, but he's never done anything to hurt me. In fact, as everyone seems to forget, he saved my life the first day I was here. As well as that day in the cafeteria."

  "Yeah." He nodded, taking a few steps behind the plane, motioning for me to follow. "But remember that alien that he killed?"

  How could I forget the Cephalopod with her slimy hands circling my neck? I nodded.

  "Well, she isn't the only alien who wasn't too keen on your lack of alien knowledge." He took a wrench from a toolbox near the plane and started tossing it back and forth between his hands.

  "What do you mean?" I knew that the other interns weren't too thrilled about alien and human relationships, but I never expected it would be that blown out of proportion.

  "I mean, it's like if you and I dated." He stopped twirling the wrench and sat it down on the plane next to him.

  I snorted. "Uh, sorry, Malcolm, you're not exactly my type."

  He rolled his eyes "No, think about it. If you and I dated, people would be up in arms about us being an interracial couple."

  "Um, this isn't the sixties. Remember that whole Civil Rights movement?"

  "Alex." He looked down at me, the stillness of his face let me know he was serious. "The Civil Rights movement never happened in the alien world. My granddaddy got tossed in jail for just looking at a white woman, so think of what would happen when you get two powerful sides who don't agree with mixing. They can work alongside each other, but it's with protest and a lot of treaties."

  "So this is all one big Civil Rights movement? The aliens versus the humans? Two sides that hate each other like the Capulets and the Montagues, but still forced to work together?"

  "Not exactly. Not all aliens feel that way, but there are enough that do." He raised his shoulders. "This is the first time I've ever heard of any Caltian being with a human and before you came around Ace was always kind of pretentious, only keeping to himself, or talking to the other Caltians. Like he was better than everyone else."

  He let out a deep breath before focusing his eyes back on the ship. "Then you came around and all of a sudden he was walking around like an obsessed teenage boy, following you around and staring at you with those big black puppy dog eyes. It was kind of cute at first until you actually started to like it." He glanced over at me, raisi
ng his eyebrows.

  "Well, what's not to like about it? He saved my life, he is there for me more than my dad ever was, and I don't know, he just makes me feel good. Is that really so wrong?" I said, holding my hands out.

  "No." Malcolm picked the wrench back up. "But I just don't want there to be another war because of it."

  Chapter 16

  The days dragged by. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy Malcolm's company, but the longer I stayed away from Ace the more frightening my nightmares became. Sometimes it would just be the woman standing there and staring at me with those dark eyes. Just hours and hours of her staring at me. Sometimes the dreams would seem so life-like. I would feel her sharp laugh as it took the air from my lungs and circled my body until I awoke in a shivering sweat. All I wanted to do was see Ace, but I was alone.

  I spent a lot of my time reading through books of alien folklore, figuring out what I could about alien and human relationships.

  "Find what you were looking for?" Malcolm yelled from underneath a ship.

  I walked over, crouching next to him. "It just doesn't make any sense. I don't know why he would save me from the Cephalopod if he knew that aliens and humans aren't supposed to be together."

  Malcolm slid out from under the ship. "Did you ever think that's maybe why he's so intent on saving you? Every time there is trouble he's always there for you. Like your knight in shining armor or something."

  That was when it all started to make sense to me. The only person that Ace was really dangerous around was anyone who tried to hurt me. When the Cephalopod tried to kill me, he was there. When the two aliens fought in the cafeteria, he was there. Even when my nightmares threatened to hurt me, he was the first one I leaned on and without him around I was afraid that I really would fall.