"Thought? We are together." I raised my eyebrow.
"But, you will never truly be bonded with him." It was a weird thing how something I didn't understand could still pierce my heart that much.
I swallowed hard not sure what to ask besides, "Why?"
"Carson, I wish I would have been more straight about this, because, believe me, I know it hurts. Emréians, when they marry and they have their night together, they bond. It's electrifying and it seals the couple together, bonding them forever. It's something in our hormones that locks us with that person. Unfortunately, humans do not have that type of hormone. Even if you married, it would not be the type of true love that connects you to him. Your mind would be forever clouded, and once you found the person you were to be bonded to, you would just end up hurting Kyle. Do you love him? Yes. Love can be shared by anyone. However, to love someone on the intimate level is so much more than that for us."
"So you’re saying that what I feel for Kyle is love, but not true love?"
"Yes. And, if you take the crown, everyone is going to expect you to marry someone you can truly be bonded to because it gives the people more respect for you to be bonded."
"I can't believe this." I groaned.
"It's not the worst thing." Aunt Trish smiled. "When I bonded with your uncle, there was nothing that could change how I felt about him. The same will come for you."
"I never knew you were married?" I questioned her. Never had she mentioned ever being with anyone. I had honestly thought that she just never cared to date.
"He died the night of the attack. We decided to bring you here. He was going to come with us, but stayed behind to defend the ship while it took off." That was all she said about him before standing up. Trish pulled her shirt down over her skirt and wiped a stray tear from her eye.
"Now, come eat before you go out tonight."
"I'll be right down." I curled up in my chair.
Aunt Trish nodded her head and shut the door behind her.
I started to realize that I shouldn't be angry about her decisions. She gave up everything to save me. She had to let go of her home planet, her family, and watch her husband die just to save me.
What made me so special other than a stupid prophecy?
CHAPTER SIX
I sat quietly in the car next to Aaronmon. He hadn't said much to me since we left the house and, for some reason, I didn't like that. Not that I liked being told I would never truly be with Kyle. I meant, I did truly love him; I couldn't imagine my life without him. How could our love not be true love? He made me happy. I felt comfortable around him, more comfortable than when I was with anyone else. Romantically and physically, I thought I felt everything any other girl would feel.
Aaronmon cleared his throat. "So, tell me about Kyle."
"Ah, so he speaks." I curved my lips slightly. His eyes cut from the dark road to me. I sighed. "We have known each other since kindergarten, and we grew up together. Then a few years ago we started dating." When I said this, I could feel an awkward vibe coming from Aaronmon.
"I know I’m not from Earth, but I have learned quite a bit about it. I know about young teens..." He trailed off.
My face grew warm with embarrassment. I knew exactly where he was going with this.
"I don't think my sexual life is any of your concern." I narrowed my eyes in anger. Aaronmon tensed up.
"Look, your position to the planet is very important,” Aaronmon said. “We have never had this problem, at least not with an Elaeye. We don't know how the rest of the planet will feel about it. You may come from high power, but bonding is huge when it comes to respect."
"I don't care how they will feel about it. I don't need their respect either. Look, I don't know why you guys think I don't love Kyle, because I do. You guys talk about bonding as if I am just going to forget everything about him and drop him like a potato once it happens. I can tell you, it's not going to happen. I do love Kyle with everything I have. Besides, I figure, if I never go to Emréiana, then I'll never meet whoever this partner is and there will be no hormones to link me to him."
I crossed my arms, leaning my head on the dark window. Aaronmon, for some reason, was channeling a large dose of confusion. At this moment, I didn't care what he was confused about.
Aaron had no need to worry, though. Kyle was not that kind of man. Sure, sometimes we got a little carried away like any other teenager, but I remembered very clearly what had happened at prom last month.
Everyone had been snickering about how Kyle and I were still virgins, even though we had been together for years. Then Meagan started teasing me, saying that we would probably do it at prom. Even the boys were cracking jokes to Kyle about it. So, I figured Meagan was right. Why else would Kyle have started acting weird around me?
That night, I had Meagan help me pick out sexy lingerie. A red lacy bra cupped my breast, and matching boy short panties hugged my curves. As much as the butterflies in my stomach were sickening, it gave me a great boost of confidence. I even felt excited to reveal my body to Kyle. However, that wasn’t how the night went. After Marrissa had won the crown, I'd had enough anticipation. I told Kyle I was ready to leave and, as we left, Meagan gave me a wink. I told him I wanted to go to the club house we played at in the woods as little kids. It was where we’d shared our first kiss. It was our spot. When we got there, an awkward silence fell between us. As we sat on the edge of the old wooden house, we both stared at our hands as if they were of more interest. Glistening stars and the vibrant moon gave me plenty of light to see how nervous he was. Sucking in a deep break and holding it, I slid the straps off my shoulders. Then, I leaned in giving him a kiss. At first, he didn't hesitate, but the kiss was tense. My nerves were magnifying when he pulled away. He cupped my face into his hands and then kissed my forehead.
"Carson, we shouldn't. As much as I want to, it's not right for us to do it when we’re not ready."
"But I am ready." My cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"No, Carson, you're not. Trust me." His words made my eyes dart to my lap, afraid to look him in the eye. "There is so much about life, about love, that we need to learn first before we jump into something. It would just make things more complicated."
"But I love you." I looked back up at him. My eyes were stinging as I tried to hold back my tears.
"I love you, too." He pulled me into his chest. As he kissed the top of my head, I felt his breath brush my hair.
We held each other for the next hour, not saying a word. He took me home, and when we reached the house he gave me a comforting kiss. We hadn’t talked about that night since. I didn't even tell Meagan.
I never understood why Kyle rejected me. I would replay that night over and over again in my head. There was one reason that had crept into my mind, but I didn’t want to accept it. It still tore me apart just to think about it. What if Kyle didn't think we were going to stay together after high school?
I looked out the dark window of the car as silence stung the air. Aaronmon could feel the tension I’d built up as I thought back to prom. I thought he had realized that there was nothing to worry about. In fact, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen since I had found out that I was an alien. If I told Kyle, for all I knew, he might turn me in to the government for experiments; a chilling thought.
A sigh came from Aaron as we pulled up to the Karlie's house.
"Look, I know you’ve dealt with a lot the past two days, and I can't imagine what you are going through, but there is more than just one planet depending on you." Aaronmon put the car in park. "You're not just the Lenai of Emréiana, you're also hope. The Bremoir have the capacity to take over many planets; they already have. However, both of our planets are strong. When we were at war all those years ago, it ended in many deaths, but no one came out on top. There has been a long stand still ever since…until you were born. Of course, most people think the prophecy is just a myth, but apparently not the Bremoir and a few others. Without your dad, the government
is shaky. We need you. "
Aaronmon stared intently into my eyes. I realized that he believed in the prophecy. My eyes widened. He didn’t want me to just to take the throne, he also wanted me to fulfill a prophecy! I started to argue, but I was cut off by a knock at the window.
"Carson?" I heard Kyle outside the car.
I opened the door quickly. "Hey." I looked towards Aaronmon. "Aaron gave me a ride since I was not feeling too good earlier."
Then, I wasn't sure what it was, but something took over Kyle's jealousy: understanding. I wasn't sure what he thought he understood, but I knew it wasn't the truth. Somehow, I doubted that alien bodyguard is what popped into his mind.
"Well, I'm glad you're feeling well enough to come out." He peered into the car at Aaron. "Thanks for bringing her here."
"No problem."
I slid out of the car, giving Aaronmon one last look before I left with Kyle. I could feel that he was worried. It wasn't just the empathy either. His hazel eyes darted all over Karlie's, making sure the premises were safe. Ty, Karlie's pet shepard, was on his way over to the Saab, tail wagging and tongue ready for licking.
"Hey Ty!" I got down on one knee. I ran my fingers through his soft white fur. "Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?" I praised the canine, obnoxiously. I glanced at Aaronmon who had his eyebrow raised.
"What? Aunt Trish would never let me have a dog. She said they would dig up her garden," I said, standing back up.
Aaronmon went back to inspecting the area. I sucked in some air. I was actually afraid he was going to say something and stop me from going in, but he gave me the nod to go ahead. I knew he was still going to be in the area, though. A chill ran up my back. Something just didn’t feel right.
"You okay?" Kyle asked as we got to the porch. I looked back at the Saab; Aaron was pulling out of the driveway.
"Yeah, I'm still just a bit tired." I gave him a smile and a quick kiss. Kyle looked down at me tenderly, letting his golden eyes calm me.
The door to the house swung open quickly. "Are you coming in, or are you just going to sit out here and suck face all night?" Meagan asked with a joking smile.
"Whatever." I returned the smile.
Meagan spun around quickly and laughed, making her peach pixie style dress spin. I envied her sense of style: cute and a tad bit rockish. I, on the other hand, kept to my T shirts, skinny jeans, and cute shoes. I liked shoes. It seemed like you could wear any laid back outfit, and dress it up with cute shoes.
We walked inside the house. We could hear everyone in the living room laughing and talking.
"Look who finally decided to show up!" Meagan announced my arrival as she rounded the corner to the room.
"Hey, Carson!" Charlie waved and then slid his hand back around Karlie's waist.
"Hey!" A few others sang.
"Come in and join us in a game of monopoly." Karlie waved me over.
I nodded, with a smile, and headed over to the group gathered around the board game. Kyle followed behind with his hand on the curve of my back. It was dorky, I knew, but this group of friends knew how to have fun without getting plastered. Not everyone was like that. No, Marrissa threw the wild parties, and most of the school joined in. My friends and I didn’t like drinking for different reasons. Of course, my excuse was because I was told my parents died in a car accident involving a drunk driver. Yeah! Now I knew the truth about that. All this time I thought they were dead, I huffed to myself.
Kyle buried his nose into my hair, causing my thoughts to break. I smiled. No more alien thoughts tonight. I was here with all of my human friends, and I was determined to enjoy a normal night.
"Kyle!" A tiny person ran over and clung to his waist.
"Well, hi there, Christa." Kyle got down to eye level with Karlie's four year old sister. She had a tiny crush on Kyle.
"I got to stay! My babysitter is sick. She said, her snaggletooth smiling at him.
"Well, that's not good." Kyle rubbed her head.
"Christa is supposed to be in bed." Karlie came over grabbing Christa's hand. Christa stuck out her bottom lip and tilted her head all the way back to look at her older sister.
"Don't give me that look. Mom said you need to be in bed. Mom and Dad will be home later, and you need to be asleep when they get here. That was the condition that I could still have guests since your sitter was sick."
Christa just crossed her arms and gave a huff. My laughter was stirring in my throat.
"Goodnight Christa." Kyle gave the child a sweet smile, causing her to grin ear to ear and shy away.
"You're such a lady's man." I elbowed him in the rib after Karlie took her sister upstairs.
"I just have that natural talent, you know?" Kyle then gave me a quick kiss. Not long after, Karlie was back.
"Are we going to play or what?" she asked.
Half way through the night, Jason was poking his finger at his girlfriend, Karyn, accusing her of cheating… at monopoly.
"Come on Jason. It's just monopoly money." I laughed at him. He had to pay her after he landed on one of her properties for the third time. The first time was a mistake because she miscounted and moved his piece across the board. He was still joking that she was cheating.
"No, she can have my real money, but this money is game money. She can't have it," Jason said pulling his monopoly dollars away from her.
"Jason, how does that even make sense?" Kyle asked.
We all laughed at Jason. I was having a really good time, and I could feel with my empathy that everyone else was too, except Kyle. Sure he was smiling and enjoying everything, but he felt... spacey. I just couldn't figure it out. Perhaps it was because of Aaronmon.
Then I thought back to all of my friends, sitting there laughing with me. Would they still be willing to be my friend if they knew the truth? Of course not, I was having a hard time even trusting myself. They could never know. Aaron and Trish told me that humans were not mature enough for this kind of information. They would never know what I was. So for now, I was a liar.
Guilt ran deep within me. How could I not tell Kyle? I had told him everything since we were kids. I looked up at him. His brown eyes looked strained from worry. I came to realize what was wrong with him. He had always known when I was keeping something from him. He even knew I was keeping something from him right then. I could never tell him. Would he even believe me if I did? I meant, come on. Alien beings were so farfetched. What if he did believe me? Would he even want to be with me anymore? Would he be too weirded out? A tiny touch of relief brushed my heart to think that I would never have to know the answer to that.
"You want to go up to the roof?" Kyle touched his hand to my upper back.
"Um, sure." I gave a weak smile. That weird empathy feeling washed over me again. We made our way up to Karlie's room where we could get to the window.
An awkward silence kept us distanced. Never, in our entire lives, had we been so withdrawn from each other. Of course, I never had such a big lie to keep from him either.
"The stars are really beautiful, aren't they?" The quiet air stirred at my voice.
"It's amazing how many there are." He gave a weak smile. I decided to go somewhere with this conversation that I should turn away from.
"Do you think there is anything out there?"
"You mean like life?" He quickly threw me a glance.
"Yeah," I said sucking in a deep breath.
"Well, it's possible. Like I said before, there are so many stars out there. Why should we assume that Earth is alone in the universe?"
I smiled at his answer. Although he didn't know the truth, it comforted me to know that he at least believed in the thought of alien existence. Perhaps he wouldn't be so weirded out by it? I heard Karlie's dog, Ty, barking from the front yard, distracting me from my thoughts.
"Carson, are we going to talk about what's going to happen after high school?" His question startled me. I looked down at my hands.
"I don't know." I finally spoke. I rea
lly didn't know what was going to happen now that I knew I was another species. Still, Ty, was barking in the front yard. What was up with that dog?
"Carson, I love you. We have known each other since we were kids. We know everything about each other." A guilty pain hit me in the gut, not everything. "You have been acting funny the past few days. There's something you're not telling me."
"I..." I stammered.
"Wait, I want to finish." I felt courage build up inside him; I knew whatever he was about to tell me was big.
A piercing scream came from downstairs. We both stood up quickly in shock. Kyle bolted through the window with me right behind him. In an instant, we were both downstairs curiously watching our small crowd of friends circled around the door. Karlie was curled up on the couch in sobs.
"What's going on?" I asked. I made my way to the circle, pushing to get a look. Kyle extended his arm, shielding me from getting closer. That's when I saw it. The fluffy white fur that comforted me every time I came over to Karlie's was stained with sickening red blood. Ty laid there with his lifeless eyes staring straight at me. My stomach churned at the sight of Ty's mauled body. Then fear quickly swept over me as I realized what had happened. The Bremoir had found me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kyle pulled me into his chest, hiding my eyes from the mangled dog’s body. Everyone in the room was channeling fear and shock that kept stabbing me in the chest. The most pronounced, however, was my own. Nobody knew what this meant; nobody knew the danger but me. Charlie was trying his best to console a frantic Karlie. Even Meagan, who had words for everything, couldn't speak.
"What happened?" My voice came out as a whisper. Kyle shut the door, and we walked to the center of the living room.
"We,um," Meagan's voice was shaky, "we heard Ty barking. Karlie said it was probably just Mrs. Barren's cat from next door causing a fuss. Then we heard..." Her eyes weakened with tears. "An awful sound. We knew he was being hurt. Jason and a few other guys were going to go check it out, but then there was a loud thud on the door. And when, when…" The words started coming out in sobs now. "When we opened the door..."
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