Starstruck

by S E Anderson

  I had never watched it head-on before. Seeing a man disappear in front of your eyes has a strange effect on people. He reappeared instantly, without a second lost, at the opposite end of the carriage, standing on the carpeted floor as easily as if he had been standing there for hours.

  “So …?” I asked.

  “Kept the momentum of the train but not the run,” he said, confused, “which doesn't make any sense.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because, when I do this”—he spun in the air, kicking his leg out and flickering from existence halfway through the move, only to reappear mid-kick on the other side of the train car, finishing the jump smoothly, his leg colliding with one of the chairs with a resounding thwack—“It remains effective. No momentum lost, see?”

  I could feel my eyes getting wider. “Zander, you said anything that touches your skin comes with you in the jump?”

  “Yes?”

  “What if you're cuffed? Can you jump out of them?”

  “Sure.”

  “You can decide what you bring along on a jump?”

  “Seems that way. I don't have to bring anyone along if I don't want to.”

  “Including momentum.” I grinned. “You can pick and choose if and how much of your momentum to bring with you. This is freaking awesome. You can actually manipulate the fabric of the universe.”

  “And you're making my head spin,” he said, throwing himself across the row of empty chairs across from me. “Not an easy feat, I can assure you.”

  “But haven't you ever been curious?”

  “Sure, but you know; you get curious, you get answers. Accept, forget, and move on. Momentum is the least of my problems.”

  “I just find it odd that someone would live their life with such a gift without questioning it.”

  “Sure, I question it, but I've just learned to accept that I'm not going to get any answers. That seems to be the only way to exist in this universe without losing one's mind.”

  I didn't say anything. My own existence had become so inherently bizarre over the past week that I was having trouble making sense of any of it. Thanks, Universe.

  “You still awake over there?” Zander asked.

  “Yup.”

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “Not freaking out,” he replied. “It's nice to be treated like a person. Most of the time it's pitchforks or golden crowns.”

  “Golden crowns?”

  Zander chuckled. “They’re not as comfortable as you'd think.”

  He shared silly anecdotes until we reached the end of the line a few hours later, and he kept them going as we walked home. It kept me from noticing how tired I was until I had returned to the comfort of my own room. It was as effective as carrying me the whole way home.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Zander Seems to Work Here Now

  I had not expected the fanfare. The quite literal fanfare. As in, the brass band playing as it paraded around the power plant. I had expected none of this. Grisham had warned me today was going to be big, but he hadn't specified how big. The front parking lot looked like a fairground—there was a bounce house, people spinning cotton candy, a ring toss, even a mechanical bull.

  Most of the people enjoying the celebrations were employees of Grisham Corp and some singular VIPs. And by VIPs, I mean some of the biggest faces in our country. I'm sure there was even a mention of the vice president showing up, though I wasn't sure if that was true. Though Sophie, the plant's receptionist, claimed to have seen the man take off his shoes and slip into the bouncy castle.

  It was surreal. All this for the first official day the plant was operational.

  “So, how was the date?” Marcy asked, taking a large bite out of a caramel apple. No, she didn't work here, but like most of the people in the city she had turned up for the big event. As the CEO's personal assistant, neither of us were bothered in the VIP section. Marcy's familiar smile was twice as large as normal. She had rapidly switched the conversation to her relationship with Dany, which, it seemed, was more serious than I had anticipated.

  “It was fantastic,” I replied, trying to keep an eye on the proceedings. “Matt is a real gentleman. It was a great evening until… well, you know.”

  “The drunk guy came crashing in?” Marcy giggled. “Yeah, I bet that's enough to ruin an evening.”

  “Well, not ruin, per se,” I said. “I mean, the date part was great, so that's something. So, some guy comes crashing through the ceiling, and someone else blows up the wall in the women's restroom. I feel bad for the owners. they're going to be in some pretty deep shit after all this.”

  “That's insane,” Marcy scoffed. “All this happened on your date?”

  “I still can't believe it.” I shook my head. “It's either a sign of good things to come or a catastrophic relationship.”

  “At least you won't be bored,” Marcy pointed out as she turned around the bend.

  “True.”

  “Is there going to be another one?”

  “Another date? I sure hope so.”

  “Maybe we can double up,” Marcy suggested. “You, Matt, Dany and me. We hit the town, eat out, go to Scintillance or something. I dunno. When's the last time we double dated?”

  “Junior prom?”

  “It’ll be fantastic then.” Marcy’s excitement was somehow, impossibly growing. “Wait, hold on, I think you're up. I'll get out of your hair.”

  She slipped into the crowd as I took my place, making my way to Grisham's side as he took to the podium. A stage had been erected at the far end of the lot, close to the lobby entrance. A huge sign above us held the logo, an oversized tree, as well as the company slogan: For a cleaner, greener tomorrow.

  “May I have your attention, please,” Matt said into the microphone. Grisham had wanted him, specifically, to introduce him.

  The crowd gathered around the stage. It was odd seeing the faces in the crowd. They looked as young as I did, either fresh out of, or even still in, college. There were a few faces that didn't fit in. Many people had cameras or were taking notes. Others had cotton candy or caramel apples.

  “Thank you all for coming here today,” Matt continued. “We're so excited to be able to open our doors to you on this momentous occasion. But enough from me. Let's hear from the man of the hour, the one and only, Ridgell Grisham …”

  The crowd erupted into cheers, which I imagined was quite difficult with all the sticky desserts in hand. Still, they were loud. The thunder swept over us as Grisham rolled toward the mike, which Matt had politely lowered.

  “Yes, yes. Thank you all so much,” he said, beaming. “I am so excited that this day is finally here. I have been planning this for years, and today, my dreams have become a reality. We're finally working on progressing onto a new and cleaner future. For our children and our children's children. They're going to look back on today and be very proud of us. Of all of us: you should all be very proud of yourselves, for today, you make history.”

  There was applause once more, and nobody wanted to stop. The charismatic Mr. Grisham was tearing up from his own words. People in the audience were feeling it too.

  It probably helped that a string quartet was playing some very dramatic, very powerful music to accompany his words.

  “My friends,” Grisham continued, “I can't tell you how happy I am to see each and every one of you. For you to be here as this plant joins the grid. Within hours, this plant will take on every single one of our city's needs. Within a week, it will power the entire state, and together, we will work to increase that efficiency, and bring this technology to the world. We're going to bring a new meaning to the words ‘power plant’.”

  If I had thought the applause was thunderous before, I was wrong. It sounded like the Earth itself was rumbling. The cheering was so great, so loud, that Grisham waved frantically to calm everyone down. I tried to cover my ears without drawing attention to myself.

  “All right. Let's get this party
started. After we join the grid, we'll be hosting a few tours of the plant, specially tailored for our curious reporters. Yes, I see you. We'll also be having a barbecue—with vegetarian and vegan options—for you all. Feel free to post or tweet or snap all of this. It would be a shame for anyone to miss out.” He got a few laughs from this. “All right, then. Who has the ceremonial button?”

  It looked like a religious procession. Four men and women approached the stage holding a giant, and I mean humongous, red button. It was the size of a manhole cover. The guy in the back was threading the extension cord.

  “Right, everybody ready?” he asked. “Oh, come on, for once someone of my generation wants you to hold up your phones, and you have them all tucked away in your pockets. That won't do at all. Come on now, this moment is historic. Capture it.”

  Once he was certain that everyone was photographing or filming, while completely ignoring the film crew that was trying to get by, he pressed the button. The band played louder and with more enthusiasm as confetti erupted from cannons strategically placed around the parking lot.

  The crowd went wild.

  “All right. Let's party,” Grisham shouted, gesturing for me to follow him off the stage. The band played an upbeat melody.

  “That was amazing, sir,” I said earnestly. Matt was close behind us.

  “You're all amazing,” he replied. “There's no way I could be here without you. Come here.”

  He wrapped the two of us in a big hug, squeezing us against his large chest.

  “The three of us are going to change the world,” he announced, his eyes tearing up again.

  “Oh, here you go,” I said, pulling out of the hug and handing him a tissue. “You want to look good for the cameras!”

  “That's right, Sally, I do,” he said, taking the tissue and wiping the tears away. “I'm so glad I hired you. You keep me in the green.”

  I blushed: even though I knew very well he was exaggerating, it still felt good to get a compliment like that.

  “Sir, NBC calls dibs on an interview,” Matt said, awkwardly. “They actually shouted dibs from the audience. It's weird. Do we run by the rules of dibs?”

  “I guess we should respect them,” he said, sighing heavily. “Right. They'll only get until the first tour. Then we must go. I want to make sure our plant is being properly represented. Not that I don’t trust our guides, I just want to be there.”

  “Say no more, sir,” Matt replied. “You're the boss.”

  “Indeed, I am.” Grisham grinned. “Now, let's put on a show.”

  While Grisham drove away toward NBC, Matt reached out to give my hand a tight squeeze. I smiled at him.

  “You good?” he asked.

  “Yup,” I replied. “Pretty exciting day, huh?”

  “You bet. Everything go okay with the pipes?”

  “Yeah, got there right in time,” I lied. “We managed to save the place. Got a plumber and everything.”

  “Fantastic,” he said. “Listen, I'm sorry our first date failed. Do you want a do-over?”

  “I'd love one,” I replied, “but we don't have to do anything fancy. I'd be perfectly happy with pizza and some TV, honestly.”

  “That sounds great,” said Matt. “Hey, I've got to go with Grisham. We'll catch up after this is over? Work something out?”

  “Right!” I said. He leaned forward and planted a small, sweet kiss on my cheek, smiling as he left. My heart was pounding, and this time it wasn’t out of fear: I was so happy. It was as if nothing could possibly go wrong.

  Of course, then it did.

  As he turned to stride away, my heart sank. Because that’s when I caught sight of him, there, in the crowd, wearing a blue button-down shirt and chatting with Sophie. A man whose face I would recognize anywhere.

  What in the holy heck was Zander doing here? Was there nowhere he wouldn't show up?

  I could have ignored him. I should have. I wasn't going to let him ruin another aspect of my life. But I didn't. I stormed right over to him, all steam and fury.

  He saw me coming and smiled, like it was the most natural thing in the world, and said three words that would completely set me off. “Oh, hey, Sally!”

  I would have exploded if I hadn't been surrounded by co-workers. He obviously noticed I was holding back because the smile vanished off his smug face.

  “Is … everything okay?” he asked, confused.

  I glared at him. “What are you doing here?” My hands were clenched into fists by my sides. By this point, I knew that every time he showed up something alien was about to go down. I couldn't have this happening. Not at work. Not in front of my boss. My boyfriend. The newscasters of the entire East Coast.

  Hurricane Sally should be a storm, not a person.

  “I work here,” he said, still looking like a dejected puppy.

  “You? Work here?”

  “What is so hard to believe about that? You're the one who wanted me to get a job!”

  “Yeah but … how?” My fists shook. “And why here?”

  “What? We can't both take advantage of a great job opportunity because they happen to be in the same place?”

  “Look, Zander,” I said. “This is just weird. You said the danger has passed. Why do you insist on following me around?

  His expression fell. “Sally, I just wanted a job. I’m trying to help with the rent, and I apologized about stomping in on your date, I mean—”

  “You're right, you're right. I didn’t mean to say that.” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger. I could feel parts of my mind not cooperating, and I couldn’t remember if I had taken my meds this morning. Boy, I was tired. “You're just soaking into every aspect of my life. I thought work could be free of aliens, at least.”

  He grinned. “Don't worry, you won't see me.”

  “How did you even get here? You don't drive.”

  “No, but it's flat, and I can jump.” He shrugged. “I didn't want to bother you for a ride.”

  “But how long have you even been working here? Why didn't you tell me? What do you do here? How—”

  “I have my ways.” He chuckled. “I'm Lysander Smith, a twenty-two-year-old University of Maryland graduate from Tennessee. My Tinder profile says I like hiking and laser tag. I've never done the latter, but it sounds like fun.”

  “You have a Tinder profile.”

  “I was told it would help me meet people.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I'm an accountant, as per the plan.”

  “Let me guess, you hacked their servers, created an identity, and gave yourself a job?”

  “Hack them?” Zander scoffed. “Look, I may get the gist of coding, but I don't know Earth’s systems. No, I hired someone to make me a fake ID, just like the rest of you do. Heck, I have a birth certificate and everything.”

  “And you picked the name Lysander?”

  “Lysander, Zander, it's close enough that I'll get used to it,” he said, proudly, handing me the small plastic card. It looked incredibly legit. “I read it in a book. Anyway, I thought you would be proud of me. I'm human now. At least, legally.”

  “Tour group one, we're starting in five minutes. Please meet by the stage.”

  The voice snapped our conversation in half. I realized I was staring at Zander with my mouth agape and closed it quickly. He pulled out an iPhone and snapped a picture of me, mid-mouth closing, grinning as he did.

  “I guess you're fitting in quite well,” I said, handing back his ID and crossing my arms across my chest. “Nice tie, by the way.”

  “Thank you, but I don't really get the point of it,” he said, touching the thing. “It's like wearing a decorative noose.”

  We shuffled toward the stage, and I shoved my hands in my pockets to stop my fingers from fidgeting. “Hey, I hope this isn't too personal, but how old are you really?”

  “By your standards?” He shrugged. “No idea. It gets confusing when you switch units of time across the universe. Does it matter?”

>   “Not really.” His new identity claimed he was twenty-two, which was fitting, but still, he looked ageless and it was messing with my head.

  “All right, tour time,” he announced. “Let's go see what this place has in store for us.”

  We gathered at the foot of the stage where Grisham waited with a smile. He had attached a ridiculous flag to his scooter so we'd all be able to see him, though it looked more like a bumper car now.

  “Is that everyone?” he asked. There were about fifty of us, and I only recognized half the people as employees. The rest were reporters and journalists with a few cameramen coming along for the ride.

  “Hey, Sally,” Matt said as he approached us. “Who's this?”

  “Zander,” I replied quickly. “My roommate.”

  “Lysander Smith,” Zander piped up, stepping forward to kiss the man on his cheeks. “It is a pleasure to be acquainted with you. May our meeting promise many years of smiling friendship and success.”

  “Sure, nice to meet you too,” Matt said, turning cold. His expression was foreign, but then again, I hadn't seen him frown in all the time I’d known him.

  “Sally?” He took me aside. “I didn't know your roommate was a guy.”

  “I told you at the Casa,” I said, a little weirded out by his reaction. I didn't really like this side of him, this weird, moody, jealous side.

  “I thought you said Sandra.”

  “He's just a friend if that's what you're asking,” I said, slipping his hand from my shoulder. When had it gotten there?

  “Sally …”

  “He's a cousin!”

  He loosened up a bit but was still very stiff. I loved how quickly my good days slipped into being lame. I hadn’t pegged Matt for a guy who’d be bothered by that sort of thing, and it was disappointing to find out otherwise.

  “All right, everyone, follow me for the tour,” Grisham said, waving us along.

  A young man pushed through the crowd, huffing and puffing. “But, sir, did you forget—?”

  “Oh, right, yes.” He grinned. “Everyone, this is Germaine. Germaine is going to show you around. Don't mind me, I'm just here for the ride. But bear in mind, I will quiz you at the end.”