How to Marry an Alien (4 page)

"Okay. I guess I can live with that."

Justin flashed a crooked grin. "Come on, you
know he is in good hands with the docs at Circe. Besides, he
wouldn't have wanted you to miss the joys of your first day at
college."

A few hours later we pulled into the parking
lot behind my dorm. Everyone else had already moved in the day
before so it was virtually empty except for the black SUV that
looked almost exactly like the one I had crashed.

Justin and I jumped out of the back of the
van just as the driver's side door of the SUV opened and my dad
climbed out wearing a crisp blue suit. How that man managed to wear
a suit every day when he worked in the desert was beyond me.

"Is this my replacement vehicle?" I forced a
smile, staring over my dad at the sleek black car.

Dad rolled his eyes and turned to the SUV,
opening the trunk. He pulled out a few boxes that I recognized as
mine from the other car.

"All Circe employees are issued these SUVs.
We allowed Ace to give you his since he has taken full advantage of
his beaming capabilities."

Dad set the last of the boxes on the ground,
giving me a knowing look. I was sure that no one knew Ace had been
beaming into my bedroom the past year, but I guess I was wrong.

"Uh, well." Justin cleared his throat. "I
guess this is my cue to get back to Circe."

I turned toward him, throwing my arms around
Justin and embracing him in a huge hug. "Thanks for taking care of
me."

Gingerly, he hugged me back. I probably took
him by surprise since I don't think I'd actually ever even touched
the guy.

When I released the hug, he saluted my dad
and headed back in the van. I felt bad that I never actually even
introduced myself to the guy that was driving, but at least I had
Justin to reassure me that everything was okay for the long ride
without my alien.

"You ready to start this move into your new
home?" dad asked, picking up one of the brown boxes labeled
"clothes."

I picked up another box, realizing that this
was only a fraction of what was actually in my SUV and I would have
to convince my new roommate to give me a ride to get more
necessities, like possibly a toothbrush.

"Ready as all ever be."

My dorm room was on the fifth floor and every
room was about the size of a Cracker Jack box, or a guest bathroom
to be more realistic. I didn't pick the dorm for its roominess, but
because it was one of the only ones open for the summer session and
it was the closest one to the communications building. Dad and I
stepped off the elevator with the boxes in hand and headed down the
hall to my assigned room.

The door was already open with the afternoon
sun coming in from the windows that faced us, and music that could
only be described as angry girl rock streamed from an unknown
source.

Dad and I made our way in, setting the boxes
on my tiny twin-sized bed. While my side of the room was completely
blank with the regulation twin bed against the window, a desk at
the end of that followed by a dresser and a small closet, my
roommate already added some color to her side.

Dad suspiciously eyed the giant tie-dyed
tapestry above her bed, which was only appropriate since the girl
lying across the bed had an auburn shag haircut and wore a plaid
dress that looked more like a pillow case than a dress. A definite
alternative chick.

"Hey, you must be Alex." She stood up, her
tiny bare feet hitting the linoleum under her bed. "I'm Lucy, your
new roommate."

I already knew her name. In fact, I already
knew everything about her. Lucy Lane, sophomore, public relations
major and environmental science major. She came from Scottsdale,
Arizona, where she lived with her engineer parents and older
brother. Ace already did a background check on her to make sure she
wasn't another crazy alien trying to kill me. That had happened
more times than I cared to think about.

"Hey." I waved my hand slightly. "I'm Alex,
and this is my dad, Vince." I motioned toward my dad who stood
there straight as an arrow.

"Good to meet you, Alex's dad." She smiled,
revealing some of the biggest teeth I had ever seen. The girl was
petite everywhere else, but those teeth could rival a horse.

"Nice to meet you as well, Lucy."

Dad placed his hand on my shoulder. "Well, I
should let you two get acquainted. I have some business to attend
to back at base."

"Business?" I looked up at him, arching a
brow.

"Yes, Alex. Business. I will call you later
to see how you are settling in."

"And to let me know how Ace is doing?" I
pressed.

He groaned. "Yes, that too." He then squeezed
my shoulder.

"Good to meet you, Lucy." He waved before
heading out of the room and disappearing down the hall without
another word.

"Sooo..." I turned back from the doorway to
Lucy. She looked normal enough, but then again I thought Simone was
normal before she tried to kill me.

"I guess I should let you get unpacking," she
blanched. "Even though it doesn't look like you have too much. Are
you a minimalist?"

I tried to hide my smile; the situation
really wasn't funny. "No, I got in a car crash with my fiancé on
the way down here. This was what survived."

Lucy gasped, bringing her hands to her face.
"Oh my God! I'm sorry! I didn't mean the whole minimalist comment."
She put her hands down, shoving them in the pockets of her dress.
"Now I feel like a first rate a hole."

I shook my head. "Nah, don't worry about it.
You can make it up to me by taking me out to pick up some supplies
I'm missing, like possibly a toothbrush."

"Oh, yeah." She nodded her head, letting out
a short snort. "I can definitely do that."

After ten minutes, the five boxes that had
survived the crash were unpacked. Mostly clothes and a few books,
but some important necessities were definitely missing...like
everything involving hygiene.

"Looks like you have emptied everything out."
Lucy's gray eyes trailed over the bits of stuff that lay on my bed.
Eighteen years on Earth and all I had to show for myself was a lot
of vintage t-shirts and a giant pink comforter that mom found on
sale and thought would look fabulous in my new dorm. Ugh, that one
would probably go to the donate pile.

"Yeah, I probably need a big shopping run." I
put my hand on my grumbling stomach. "And maybe some food."

I should have known that Lucy was the type of
hipster to drive a bright white Volkswagen Thing from the 1970s. It
looked like it should have been in some cheesy surfer movie with
the complete lack of a top and the whole dune buggy feel. But she
treated it like it was her own child. She even parked it way at the
back of the parking lot of Target. After charging probably more
than I was allowed to on my dad's credit card she drove us to a
small strip mall just outside of town, parking in the far corner
near a Mexican place called, La Noria. The Well? Okay then.

"This is one of my favorite places around
here. They make an awesome veggie fajita." Lucy pounced out of the
car, not even bothering to open the door since the Thing was just
open to the elements. I secretly wondered how the vehicle would do
if it were in a car crash and prayed my things would be all right
in the trunk.

"Is it really that hard to make a veggie
fajita awesome?" I laughed, following her to the front door.

The place was even brighter than it looked
from the outside. The walls were vibrantly painted yellow and it
looked like Mexico threw up on the walls with all of the bright
paintings, blankets, and sombreros hanging from every possible
space one could hang something.

"Hola, amigas!" A short, stout Hispanic man
came out from behind the bright blue counter. "How many?"

Lucy grinned from ear to ear, grasping her
beaded clutch. I thought I dressed weird, but Lucy definitely had a
sense for the eclectic with her hand-sewn dress, fancy clutch, and
Birkenstocks. "Two, please."

The man nodded. "Right this way, amigas." He
then shot a wink in my direction.
Weird
.

He took us to a small booth underneath a
painting of brightly colored flowers. He plopped down two plastic
menus in front of us. "Something to drink?"

"I'll just take a water." Lucy grabbed the
menu, staring down at it.

"Yeah, a water is fine for me for now," I
added.

"You sure you don't want nothing else, Miss
Bianchi?"

I shot up my head so fast I nearly pulled a
muscle. Did he just say my name?

"Your friends from Circe come in here quite
often. That Ace, he is very fond of you. Talks about you
mucho!"

I gave a once over to the small man in front
of me. I thought he looked familiar. I should have seen it. He
wasn't some short, Hispanic man. He was one of the many aliens from
Venus. Was I going to run into aliens everywhere I went?

"Uh, gee, thanks, sir. I'm fine with water
for now." I put my head down, staring at the menu instead of the
little man from Venus.

"Okay, amigas, I will give you some time to
look over the menu." He then stepped away from the table, and I
watched his tiny alien feet disappear.

"And I thought I would be the one showing you
around town. I guess this mister Ace must be quite the guy." Lucy
peered over the menu at me.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," I
mumbled.

"Is Ace the guy that gave you the giant rock
on your finger?" Lucy arched an eyebrow.

I suddenly felt self-conscious and wanted to
disappear; the ring felt like it weighed a million pounds on my
finger. I slid my left hand down on my lap. "Yes, I guess you can
say that Ace is my fiancé."

The whole engaged thing was still new to me.
Sure, I'd been promised to the guy for almost a year, but now that
he made it official with a ring, it was a whole new ball game. Now
I would have to deal with everyone asking about wedding plans and
my future, when in all reality I didn't even know how to marry an
alien.

The waiter came by with our drinks and a bowl
of chips and salsa. Thank God, at least that could break up our
awkward conversation, but it didn't help with the guy's big blue
eye boring into me. How I did I not realize he was an alien before
with the unnatural colored eyes?

"Have you amigas decided what you would like,
or will it be a few more minutes?"

"I think we are ready." I forced a bright
smile.

Lucy handed the menu to the alien waiter,
obviously oblivious to the fact that he was anything but human. "I
will take the portabella and mushroom fajitas, no sour cream or
cheese and a side of guacamole."

A vegan, of course.

"Uh, I'll have the burrito grande with
steak." I passed my menu to the waiter. If she was going to be my
roommate she would have to deal with my carnivore ways.

"Very good, amigas, I will have that right
up." He took my menu, flashed another wink and headed out of
sight.

"So it is a fiancé?" Lucy leaned in. I guess
she wasn't going to let it go. She would meet him soon anyway,
hopefully...

I tried to keep from rolling my eyes and
ended up stopping about half way. "Yeah, Ace would be my newly
christened fiancé. He proposed after graduation."

"I see." She took a long drink of her water.
I should have expected the reaction. I knew most people would think
it was crazy to be engaged right out of high school, but most
people already weren't promised to an alien.

"What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?" I
asked.

She coughed, a tiny bit of water spilling
onto her chin as she set her glass down. Quickly she picked up her
napkin and wiped the stray splotches of water.

"Did I say something funny?" I tilted my head
to the side.

She shook her head, putting the napkin down.
"Alex, I'm gay."

"Oh, oh, sorry, dude. I didn't know!" My eyes
widened like saucers. I wished Ace would have discovered that in
his research, and then I wouldn't have to look like a douche
bag.

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's cool. My
family is finally starting to get used to the idea of their liberal
daughter and her lesbianism."

"Hey, as long as you aren't a hoarder, I'm
cool with anything," I said.

"Amen to that, lady." Lucy lifted up her
glass and I clinked mine to hers.

Maybe the new roommate wouldn't be so bad
after all.

After dinner it took everything I had to
unpack my bags from the shopping trip and not just pass out in bed.
If I wouldn't have gotten in the car accident I would have had a
few days to settle in, but instead I had to wake up the next
morning for my first class at 8 a.m.

Lucy was still asleep as I fumbled around the
dark room and got ready for my day. I guess she was the smarter
student and scheduled her classes for later in the day. I closed
the door as quietly as I could and checked my phone. Still no
missed messages or phone calls. Nothing from Circe and nothing from
Ace.

My dorm wasn't too far from the
Communications building and my first class, com 101. Quickly, I
made my way down the elevator and out into the Arizona summer air.
People always told me it was a dry heat, but no matter what it is
still hot as hell. Though, anything to a chubby, Italian girl with
a perspiration problem is hot. In the early morning light it was
already pushing seventy degrees.

When I went to Circe it was all red rock and
hardly any trees, but Flagstaff looked more like Colorado than the
desert. The whole campus was covered in pine trees, but gravel
still crunched underneath my shoes as I walked to the building. I'd
eventually have to figure out the shuttle system with the large
campus, but I thought I could handle it.