How to Date an Alien (8 page)

“Uh, what are you doing here, Dad?" I looked
up at him, trying to stop the shaking in my knees. “Checking up on
me?”

“Is there a reason I need to be checking up
on you?" My dad raised an eyebrow, giving me the dad death
stare.

“Well, no." I looked down at my feet, trying
to grasp at what to say without sounding guilty.

Ace sighed. “Just tell him, Alex.”

I looked up and over at Ace, trying to hide
the panic in my eyes. Was it okay to be telling my dad that I just
had a very close encounter with an alien?

Ace took his eyes off me and looked up at my
dad. “She figured out how to hack other people’s accounts, and we
were looking at what sort of e-mails her classmates were sending
back and forth. I know it’s against protocol.” He shrugged as he
turned back to the computer screen. “But she was curious.”

I gulped, forcing a weak smile as I looked
back up at my dad.

“Well, I guess I can let it slide for you
this time." He patted my shoulder. “Just don’t go snooping around
again, okay? Wouldn’t want the colonel's daughter getting in
trouble, now would we? I think you’ve already given us a few
scares." He smiled, but it was forced, like a warning. It was as if
he knew what we were really doing, but he couldn’t prove it.

"Speaking of e-mails." My dad cleared his
throat. "Your mom has left me a few messages. She said that she's
tried e-mailing and calling you, but hasn't gotten a response."

Of course I saw the e-mails and missed text
messages, but I didn't want to read my mom's embarrassing e-mails
in front of Ace, or anyone else for that matter. As a novelist my
mom seemed to have a way with words, specifically the way she would
overdramatize them. She could take an innocent trip to the grocery
store with my little brother and turn it into World War III. Not
something I wanted my alien crush to be reading over my shoulder.
It wasn't like I already didn't get enough embarrassment from my
dad checking in on us. I didn't want to add another humiliating
parent to the mix.

I nodded. "Yeah, I saw them. I've just been
really busy getting acclimated to everything, but I'll make sure to
send her back a message."

An awkward silence passed between us as my
dad looked between Ace and me, like he was waiting for us to say
something.

“I guess I should get back to my real job
then." I turned toward the computer screen, hoping that I hadn't
embarrassed myself too much in front of Ace and that my face wasn't
completely flushed. “Have to go and check out some more alien
blogs.”

“Alright, well I’ll see you later.” Dad
patted my shoulder again before exiting through the metal
doors.

We didn’t move. It seemed like hours before
Ace finally scooted back over to me.

“Well that was interesting." I breathed a
sigh of relief.

Ace turned my chair back toward him, not
saying a word as his fingers traced my jawline, locking his eyes
onto mine. “Yeah, but I would do it all over again.”

Trying to work was really hard when all you
can think about was how the lines in your co-worker's jaw curve
into a perfect dimpled chin. After all those times he was so aloof,
it was difficult to not welcome his sudden change of heart, and
think about testing how far it could go.

"Hello? Alex? Are you even listening to me?"
Jen asked.

When all I was thinking about was Ace, it
kind of made it hard to think about anything else, or pay attention
to what I was doing. "Oh, yeah, I'm totally listening. I was just
thinking about something that you said."

Jen was sitting on the bed across from me,
her long legs pulled up to her chin as she swept a dark pink color
across her toenails.

"Or you're thinking about someone." She
pointed the end of her brush at me.

I was hoping that my cheeks weren't the exact
same color as her nail polish as I stammered, "No, totally not
true."

"You know Gavin has done nothing but talk
about you. You should really go out with us. I know you can't
drink, but it's a podunk bowling alley in the mountains, so I'm
sure they won't card you just to get in." She looked back down to
her nails.

I had avoided going out with the rest of the
interns for weeks, especially after the last incident with Gavin. I
usually spent my nights working overtime in the office, just to use
it as an excuse to blog, or really just to spend more time with
Ace.

"I don't know. What would my dad say?" I
thought that was a good enough excuse as I flopped down on the bed,
looking at my own unpainted nails.

"He would say to stop ignoring your friends
and to live a little." She screwed the cap on her nail polish
before hovering over me. "You can't spend your summer cooped up in
here with a Caltian or you may just turn into an alien
yourself!"

I sat straight up, widening my eyes as I
looked at Jen. "Can that really happen?"

She snorted. "Okay, seriously, Alex, if you
are asking me that question, then you really aren't working when
you are saying that you are." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Is
somebody doing more than just working behind closed doors?"

"Ew!" It was the first I had heard from Riley
all night. She sprang from her bed and stormed over to Jen's bed,
pushing Jen aside to sit down directly facing me. "You aren't
really fooling around with that Ace guy are you?"

"Well, no, but—"

"But, what?" She raised her penciled-in
eyebrows and scooted closer. "Aliens and humans don't date. Period.
It's just gross. They're like another species. It would be as if
you were making out with a lizard, or a dolphin, or something."

“Riley, there’s no reason to be rude about
it." Jen looked from Riley then back to me. “But are you seeing
him?"

I tried not to meet either of their faces,
but I could feel them staring at me, so I focused on Jen’s fluffy
pink bedspread. “No, nothing's going on. We’re just friends.”

“Ugh." Riley got off the bed and headed
toward the bathroom. “Still weird. I mean how could you even have
anything in common with him? He’s a freaking Caltian.”

She shut the door behind her, leaving Jen and
I sitting alone on the bed. We sat in silence until I heard the
light spray of the water turn on and hoped that Riley wouldn’t hear
us over the shower.

“If you are interested in him, I won’t tell
Riley,” Jen whispered, inching closer. “I don’t understand it, but
if you are—”

"Well, I don’t know if you would call it
interested." I smiled, still looking down at the bedspread.

“I knew it!" Jen tried her hardest not to
squeal as she bounced. I finally looked up at Jen, trying to hide
my smile. I failed miserably, as it clearly spread across my face
and settled into a wide grin.

“How did you know?" I asked. My smile began
to fade while I twirled a stray strand of fabric around my fingers.
"It's not like he would have any interest in me. You said that
Caltians are like the popular kids, which means a guy who has spent
years on this planet would definitely not be interested in a
blogging nerd like me."

“I think you aren’t giving yourself enough
credit." She got off the bed and walked toward her dresser. “Maybe
you should invite him to come with tonight." She plucked a shirt
out of her drawer.

“Why would I do that?" I got up from the bed
and walked over to Jen, leaning up against her dresser.

“Because that’s what you do with guys you
like. Invite them out with your friends." She raised her eyebrows.
“Sometimes it seems like you're light years away from other
people’s thought processes.”

“But won't people like Riley freak out about
it?" I pushed.

“Who really cares what Riley thinks?" She
slid the shirt over the tank top she was wearing. “Tell him to show
up with some of his alien friends and you may just happen to run
into each other there.”

“I can’t do that." I looked down at my shoes,
scuffing one against the other.

She pulled her shirt down, and then looked at
me. “Of course you can. Now go put on something that doesn’t make
you look twelve, and go ask him!" She pushed me toward my
dresser.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?" I
looked down at my faded unicorn t-shirt and jeans. “It’s vintage.
He’ll appreciate vintage.”

Jen rolled her eyes and tossed a black v-neck
shirt in my direction. “Yeah, he appreciates vintage, but he
doesn’t want to date it.”

I held the shirt up, staring at the very
low-cut neckline. "Can't I just wear something that I already
own?"

"Well, yeah, if you have something that isn't
your uniform or another one of those vintage t-shirts." She dug
through a small pink bag on her dresser, pulling out an eye shadow
and holding it up to my face.

"What are you doing?" I raised my
eyebrows.

"I'm trying to find an eye shadow that will
match your olive complexion. It's not every day that I'm trying to
sexify an Italian girl for an alien." She giggled, removing my
glasses and swiping a layer of eye shadow over my left eyelid
before I could protest.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I
questioned as she tugged my hair out of its ponytail.

"No." She let her fingers glide through my
hair before she grabbed a jar of hair wax from her dresser and
started taking the limp brown layers and flipping them at the ends
as they fell against my face. "But the best ideas never are."

I walked down the long, glaring white hallway
toward the security office, hoping that Ace would be there. I felt
like I looked really stupid wearing the low-cut shirt and all the
makeup that Jen made me wear. I thought I looked like some kind of
desperate housewife, but Jen kept assuring me that I looked great
and pushed me out of the room before Riley could get out of the
bathroom and figure out what we were up to.

As the door to the security office slid open,
I tried to hide the huge grin that wanted to spread across my face,
as I saw that Ace was sitting there.

“Hey Alex, ready to do some more overtime?"
He glanced at me, but then when he actually saw me he spun his
chair so that he was completely facing me, covering his mouth to
stifle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?" I crossed my arms, trying
to cover my gaping chest and walk toward him.

He removed his hand from his mouth and stood
up, inching toward me. “Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs.
Robinson?" I could feel the coldness from his body as if his skin
were practically on me, while his eyes peered down into mine.

I gulped before regaining my composure and
looking up at him. “Quoting one of my favorite movies is not going
to make up for you laughing at me.”

“You know this whole look might be complete
if you had contacts and got rid of the glasses."

I tried not to stare, but my lips were
quivering with each word he breathed onto my face.

“Well, that’s not going to happen since I’m
allergic to contact lenses, so I guess you’ll just have to get used
to my four eyes." I tried to look defiant as I adjusted my glasses,
but couldn’t deny how weak I was getting in the knees. I couldn’t
tell if it was because I didn’t have my temperature control suit on
or if my body was actually just overcome with a cold chill from Ace
being so close.

“There is always eye surgery." He lifted his
hands and removed my glasses, his fingers gliding through my hair
and sending tingles through my scalp before he set them aside. “All
those fancy eye surgeries are just eye doctors using Caltian saliva
to cure people’s bad vision.”

“Really?" I tried not to let my voice waver,
but as I stared at his lips, so close to mine, it was hard not
to.

“Yeah." His fingers moved to the side of my
face. “Do you want me to try it?”

“Um, sure." There was no way that I would
have ever said no to anything he asked me to do, especially when he
had his hands on my face and was looking at me with that intense
stare. And well, I wanted to be able to see without having to wear
glasses all the time.

“Alright now, hold still and open your eyes
really wide." He pressed his gloved palms against my temples and
moved his lips, so they were only an inch from my face.

I opened my eyes really wide, thinking that I
must look ridiculous. “Ready.”

He sucked in a huge breath, making a gurgling
sound as if he was going to spit, and then pulled away in a fit of
laughter that left him holding his stomach and leaning over.

“What’s so funny? Did I really look that
stupid?" I quickly grabbed my glasses and slid them back on, trying
to ignore how hot my face felt. Even though most of his body was
always freezing, his every touch still made me feel warm all
over.

“You were seriously just about to let me spit
in your eye!" He breathed between laughs, before walking back
toward me.

“Well, you told me that Caltian spit would
cure my eyesight." I held out my hands to the side.

He approached me, lacing his fingers with
mine. “And do you really believe everything that people tell
you?”

The heat radiated from his fingers and I
couldn’t help but stare down at them. I raised our intertwined
hands. "Why are your hands always so warm when the rest of you is
freezing? And this time I’ll know if you’re lying.”

Now it was his turn to get embarrassed. His
fingertips circled each one of my fingers. “Well it’s probably not
something you would believe even if I told you.”

I squeezed our intertwined hands together.
“Try me.”

“Well, when humans get excited to see someone
they like…" His eyes darted away before returning back to my face.
I couldn't believe it. The great Ace was actually getting
flustered.

"…things happen," he continued. "You get weak
in the knees." He inched closer, pushing his legs against mine.
"Your lips tremble." He touched his finger to my lips, making them
quiver even more than they already were. "Or, other things." His
eyes trailed from my toes, back up to my face.