How to Date an Alien (26 page)

"Did you really think that I could go that
long without having you try to hit me with a paperweight?" He
stepped closer and I felt the cool air from his body press against
me.

"But how did you get here?" I stood on my
tiptoes to look past him. "Did my mom or Elijah see you walk
in?"

He shook his head and took my face in his
hands. "Did I ever tell you that you worry way too much?"

"Did I ever tell you that I usually have good
reasons for worrying?"

He let the air escape through his nose as a
large grin crossed his face. "I figured since the Caltians had
perfected the beaming technology that there wasn't any reason I
couldn't use it to see my girlfriend a little bit more than a
couple times a year."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned
my body against his. "Don't you think it's kind of a funny term?
The whole girlfriend and boyfriend thing?"

He pressed his forehead to mine. "What would
you rather I call you? Future princess of Calta?"

I shook my head slowly. "No, how about we
start with just Alex for now?"

"I think I can live with that one." He leaned
in closer, letting his lips press to mine.

That summer started out with me being so
worried about college admissions and things that didn't really
matter in the grand scheme of things. There was a whole big
universe out there, full of aliens who were fighting every day, and
some of them spending their days hanging around an operations
center in the Arizona desert. I might have only gotten a small hint
of what was out beyond the realms of Earth, but I knew one thing
was for sure: I never thought that I would have a Romeo and Juliet
romance with an alien, and I was pretty happy that our story didn't
end like Earth's version of Romeo and Juliet.

Some day, years from now, aliens will be able
to come out in the open, and people on Earth will know that humans
aren't alone in the universe. At that time, I expect there will be
lots of press conferences, and as one of the first humans to
successfully have a relationship with an alien I will probably be
asked to speak. I envision one of the many reporters asking, "So
Alex, how does one date an alien?"

I will smile and look over at Ace, who will
be at my side. I will size up the reporter, and wonder how she
ended up sitting there and asking me that question. I will lean
over the microphone, and say to the world, "A lot of patience,
tenacity, and always remembering to lock your door so that no one
walks in on you."

First off, I should thank my parents. Thanks
for making me an only child and bringing on my crazy
imagination.

To my wonderful husband Tim, for encouraging
me to keep writing and to go for my dreams even when I was at my
lowest.

To Olivia, for no other reason than just
being you.

To my wonderful critique partners Leta Doerr,
Lynsey Newton, Kelsey Ketch, Rachel Johnson, and the ladies of
Heart & Scroll. This story would be nothing without you!

To my wonderful cover designer, Steven Novak,
thank you for helping me to rebrand this series and make it
amazing.

To Stacey Kade, for coming up with Ace’s name
when he was just ‘Alien boy.’

To Adam Lambert, for the gorgeous
Caltian-like face and music that propelled this story. We should do
lunch and discuss your awesomeness.

To Dani Crabtree, thank you for saving this
hot mess of a book with your editing skills!

There is a thin line between the Darkside and
the light side and I thank GP Ching every day for bringing me to
the Darkside. To Megg Jensen, Karly Kirpatrick, and Angela Carlie,
thanks for believing in me and helping my alien story to see the
world.

Magan is a self-proclaimed geek-to-glam
poster child who channels her inner geek by writing science fiction
for teens. Even though she slept with a nightlight until middle
school for fear of alien attacks. She now lives with her husband,
daughter, and dog in central Illinois where she still sleeps with a
nightlight…just incase.

You can find her online at
www.MaganVernon.com.

One would think that saving the world from
evil aliens would be enough to exempt me from my senior year of
high school. Or even the fact that I was promised to the prince of
Calta, home of said evil aliens. A future Caltian princess needed
her beauty sleep. But no, I was expected to join the non-alien
masses in Advanced Senior English at 8 a.m., which meant I had to
be awake enough to get through my school and work day. Only there
weren't enough sheep in the world to count my way into sleep. My
anger and annoyance kept me wide awake.

A brilliant blue light streamed down from my
bedroom ceiling, reflecting off the mirror above my dresser.

“You’re late,” I mumbled, not even lifting my
head from the pillow.

The light disappeared and the weight shifted
on the left side of my bed. A cold burst of air bore through my
covers and I knew that my alien was nearby.

“I’m sorry. There was some sort of Martian
threat on the Utah capital and I had to handle it.” Ace’s warm
fingers brushed against my cheek. The rest of his body might have
been cold, but his hands were always warm and left me with a
sensation that I couldn't resist. It felt like rubbing aloe on a
sunburn.

“A likely excuse.” I opened my eyes and
grabbed my glasses from the nightstand, placing them on my face and
sitting up next to him.

“But I brought you something.” He grinned,
pulling a box from behind his back with a giant cartoon purple
dinosaur on it.

“Feeble Weebles!” I tried not to scream and
wake up my family in the middle of the night, but it was freaking
Feeble Weebles! The Caltian cereal that was like Lucky Charms but
with only marshmallows.

“So does this make up for me being late?” He
leaned in closer.

I nearly brushed my lips against his, pulling
the cereal from his grasp. “I’ll think about it.”

“Oh, come on, for me?” He lifted his eyebrows
and flashed his irresistible smile that could have been on its own
cereal box.

I swallowed, setting the box on my
nightstand. I tried to think of something to say instead of just
staring at the way his temperature control suit molded to body.
With his body's normal temperature being half of what a human's
was, he always had to wear it when he visited, which was supposed
to be around ten o’clock instead of two in the morning.

"I just wanted to come and wish you luck on
your first day of school and work." He ran his fingers along where
my sleeve met my arm. "Sorry, I couldn’t get here earlier.”

“Is this what it’s always going to be like?”
I looked up to meet his eyes. They were endless pools of black, a
bit frightening, but intriguing at the same time.

“Always like what?” He lay down next to me,
his long body spreading along my twin-sized bed while he propped
his spiky-haired head up on his extended arm.

I sighed. “Me waiting up for you, only to
have you show up late or busy with some alien duty.”

Ace shook his head, his
hair brushing against my headboard. “I hope not. Once you are at
Northern Arizona, I can arrange to see you more often. Then we
won’t have to worry about sneaking around when your mother isn’t
awake, and you can even come see me instead of this beaming
thing.”

I lay down next to him, pressing my body to
his. His muscles shivered underneath me, and even through the
temperature control suit I could feel his icy hot chill. “How about
you figure out how to beam me places, and then I can just come see
you at work whenever I want?”

Ace pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes
dark and close. “Why must you ask me questions that you know are
impossible?”

“Impossible things are happening every
day.”

Ace let out a silent laugh, the cold air
blowing through his nose and tickling my lips. “You stayed up
watching musicals while you were waiting for me, didn’t you?”

“I can sing some of them if you would
like.”

“I think there is something better that you
can do with your mouth than sing.”

He tilted his head and pressed his lips to
mine. After waiting all night for him, the electric current his
touch sent through my lips and all the way down almost made up for
it. Almost.

"Alex?" a woman's voice rang through the
door.

Crap, my mom
. I broke the kiss and put
my finger to my lips. Ace rolled off the side of my bed and crawled
underneath it. I pulled the comforter up and over the side to try
and hide him the best I could.

The door squeaked open and mom poked her
blond mess of hair in. She reached her fingers under her thick
glasses, rubbing her eyes. “Is everything alright? I thought I
heard something?”

"Oh, no, just woke up and thought I would
listen to some Ira Glass podcasts.” I pushed the comforter farther
onto the side of my bed, hoping that she wouldn't walk over and see
Ace lying between the bed and the window.

"Oh.” She glanced at my IPod in the dock.
Hopefully she was too sleepy and wouldn’t realize that nothing was
actually on. “Well you should probably get to sleep. I know the
first day of school is exciting, but it'll be better if you are
awake for it. You need your rest."

"Okay, I will do that.”

She nodded and I thought she would leave the
room, but instead she walked over to my nightstand. My heart
pounded as I thought about how close she was to finding Ace under
my bed. Hopefully he didn’t breathe too loud.

“What is this?” She picked up the box of
Feeble Weebles, squinting at the giant purple dinosaur.

“Just some cereal I got the other day. Been
hiding it in my room so I wouldn’t have to share with Elijah.” Good
excuse, Alex, Good excuse.

Mom shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything
like this before.”

I shrugged. “Yeah it’s new.”

“Huh. Alright, well next time let me know
when you get a box and I will try and get some for Elijah as
well.”

“Will do.”

Finally she walked to the door and closed it
behind her. I waited until I heard the door to her bedroom shut
before I pulled up the comforter and leaned over the side of the
bed. But Ace wasn't there. Nothing but dust bunnies.

Huh
.

I sat back up and felt something cold against
my back. I looked up and there was Ace, kneeling behind me.

"Looking for something?" He placed his hands
on my shoulders and brushed his lips to my forehead.

If only I had the speed that my alien
boyfriend had, then I could just zip through my senior year and
forget about distance and mom’s annoyingly great sense of hearing.
But when said alien boyfriend was in my bed, I wanted nothing more
than the opposite speed. I wanted to freeze time to keep everything
just the way it was.