Track 44

“Science Fiction”

Present Day

My head hurts. The music suddenly sounds sharp and sinister. But as I look around me, everyone else seems to be enjoying it.

“Cassidy?” Hayden says, squeezing my shoulders again.

I duck away. The look of concern he’s giving me makes me feel guilty for ruining his night. “Can we go? I’m not good with crowds. I…I just have to get out of here.”

He frowns deeply. Taking me by the hand, he pulls me toward the refreshments table. “You’re really hot.”

Now that I’m out of the sweaty, pulsing dancers, I can manage a weak smile. “Thanks. So are you.”

Hayden doesn’t laugh or even smile. “No, I mean you’re burning up.”

“Yeah, maybe I’m coming down with something. A fever,” I mumble.

I cast a wary look at the dance floor. There’s just a bunch of ordinary-looking high school kids. All shapes. All sizes. All kinds of fashion sense—Jim Edwards in his shiny silver pants, case in point. Some may be strange. But I don’t think any of them look like they’re from out of this world.

“Drink this.” Hayden hands me an icy-cold cup.

Thirsty as I feel, I push the cup away. “That stuff’s spiked after all. I’ll get something from the vending machine outside.”

I push past Hayden and run straight into Angie.

“Hey, guys!” Angie squeals. The sweet odor of weed wafts from her as she hugs me. Her gold dress slides under my hands. “I saw you guys dancing. Aren’t you so cute together? Where are you going? You can’t leave now! Jacob hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I…I’m so sorry. I’m not feeling well.” I pull away from Angie. Every instinct screams at me to get out of here before the vision of insect-like creatures comes back.

Hayden steps closer and puts an arm around me. “We made a deal before we came here. One drink, one convo, one dance.”

“Three out of three,” I say. “So…we’ve got to go now. We’ve seen and done it all.”

Angie’s lips curve mischievously. “Okay, then. Run along. I won’t wait up for you.”

The sound of her giggles chases after me as I run out to the corridor, following the white cinderblock wall closely. A few kids linger outside the restrooms. I head in the opposite direction for the glowing red vending machine. Hayden catches up to me.

He takes me by both arms and searches my face. A shadow darkens his eyes. His jaw clicks. “Something happened.”

I lean back against the wall and grip my head. A tremor rockets through me. Those green angular faces seemed so real. “I shouldn’t have watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind last night.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

I wince and look back toward the gym. Hayden would have seen aliens if they were really there. Hell, the whole school would’ve seen them and stampeded. “I just thought I saw something weird on the dance floor. I’m sure it was all those flashing lights messing with my vision.”

A gym door bursts open, and the sound of music and laughter crashes into my ears. I watch a freshman dry-heaving as he sprints up the hall to the restroom.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I say. “Before these kids turn into zombies.”

“Where do you want to go?” Hayden asks, running after me.

“Somewhere peaceful.” I glance at the mayhem around us, my heartbeat still thudding hard. I look back at Hayden, who’s standing there looking at me like I’m the most important thing on the planet, and my pulse gets out of control. “But I’m so not ready to go home.”

Hayden chews his lip thoughtfully, then smiles. “I know a place. Let me show you around for once.”

…

At Watkins Lookout, somewhere over Saddleback Ridge, we lean against the warm hood of Hayden’s truck. The place is deserted. Up here, without the ambient glow of city lights, the constellations are brighter than I’ve ever seen them. Stars pulse blue, green, even pink. I’ve always been fascinated by the night sky, but now I’m frightened by what’s in the dark spaces between the stars and planets. What’s up there? Who’s up there?

With the lightest of touches, Hayden puts a finger under my chin. “Is this the peacefulness you were looking for?”

“Uh-huh.” It’s beyond corny, but staring into his eyes right now, I get lost. Even if I had a compass, I wouldn’t want to find my way back to Earth. Right now, nothing else matters but the two of us here.

His hand finds its way to the back of my neck. He holds it there for a few moments. The warmth of his palm seems to melt into my muscles, leaving me relaxed, yet almost giddy.

Little by little, he leans close. His breath wisps over my cheek and hair. Heat radiates from his body to mine, and I feel like every cell in my body is a whirling dervish. All either of us has to do is shift forward by a fraction and our lips will meet.

Hayden strokes my cheek, setting a fire there that quickly spreads. He breathes my name before slowly lowering his head, bringing his lips to mine in a light-as-a-feather touch. Before I know it, my hand inches into his hair. His kiss grows firmer, deeper, and that fire becomes a full-on inferno.

Time is lost. Again. But this time, I don’t care. This kiss can stretch on for eternity as far as I’m concerned.

Sooner rather than later, though, we have to come up for fresh air.

“Phew,” I say, panting. “I guess I’m forgiven for cutting your first homecoming dance short?”

He brushes my lips with his for a sweet, lingering moment. “You are now.”

I laugh and snuggle under his arm. “How is it possible that you never went to a homecoming dance before?”

“Correction, any dance.” After a thoughtful sigh, he says, “I just tried not to get involved with social stuff at my other schools.”

“Because you had to move cities so much?”

“Yeah.”

I watch a plane move across the sky, high above the horizon, its lights blinking intermittently. Along with the chirping of insects, all I can hear is the sound of Hayden’s breathing. It’s quiet, but fast. And I’m not so sure it’s because he’s still trying to refill his lungs after kissing me senseless.

“Tell me about her,” I whisper at last.

He gulps audibly. “Who?”

“The girl you left behind.” I arch back a little so I can see his face, but he turns away. “Did you break your no-socializing rule because I remind you of her?”

Hayden takes a step back. Which gives me just enough room to kick myself for ruining the moment. He looks down at the dirt. “Her name was Kalexy. She, uh…she passed away.”

My hand leaps to my mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry—”

“It’s okay, really.” He gives me a sad smile. “It’s just that I didn’t get to say a real goodbye to her. We had…we had already moved.”

“To Dawson?”

“Uh, n-no,” he stammers. “We’d moved to Maine. She was far…far away. And then I got word she was gone. It happened last year.”

I watch myriad emotions swirl in his eyes. Torment, even. My heart aches for him. It’s hard for me to feel envious of a girl whose life was cut short. “I can see she meant a lot to you.”

“She was my best friend. We were young but had been told we were destined to be together. We learned to fly at the same academy.” He angles his head to the sky as if picturing her soaring above.

And maybe she is. Maybe that satellite that’s passing overhead is actually her spirit. If you believe in that sort of thing.

“That’s really special,” I murmur.

“You have a lot in common with her. She would never let anything get in the way of what she wanted.” Hayden stares at me, his arms encircling my waist. “But I know you’re not Kalexy. And I wouldn’t want you to be, anyway. I like who you are, not who you’re not.”

“Maybe we’re long-lost relatives, if we kind of look similar,” I say. “There aren’t a lot of Dutch-Indonesians in this corner of the world. Wouldn’t it be great to find out? Do you have a picture? What’s her last name?”

“No, she wasn’t Dutch-Indonesian, that I can tell you.” He shakes his head. The sorrow in his eyes makes me think twice about pumping him for more information. It looks like it physically hurts him to talk about Kalexy.

I think back to when I met his family. “Is…is that why your family was a little weird the night I met them? They thought they saw a ghost?”

His eyes grow huge. “You thought my family was weird?”

“Well,” I laugh awkwardly, “if you remember, I said your parents seemed kinda tense. Meaning…weird. And in my defense, you did mention your little sis was a monster.”

“It’s true.” He laughs along with me. “But they couldn’t see the resemblance.”

I can’t help noticing he doesn’t shed any light on why his mom and dad seemed uptight that night. Which is totally fine. Still, I’m curious.

“I’d love to hear more about Kalexy someday,” I say, squeezing his hands. “But you don’t have to say anything if it’s too painful.”

“Yeah, someday.” Hayden squeezes my hands even harder. “But you know what? Finding you here, I think it’s a sign. I want to make the best of things right where I am. I’m meant to be here. Be with you.”

In reply, I hook my arms around his neck and kiss him deeply. We’re interrupted sometime later by the arrival of a couple of cars. Their headlights shine into our eyes as they each veer left and right a short distance from Hayden’s truck.

“Oh, damn. The dance must be over,” I say, my arms still wrapped tightly around Hayden.

He heaves a sigh as two more cars crest the hill behind us. “Should we head home?”

“Do we have to?” I say in a suggestive tone, running a finger down his face.

Hayden checks his pockets and frowns. “Maybe not. Since I think I’ve lost my keys.”

“Ohhhh,” I say. “I didn’t hear them fall out.”

“Neither did I.” He drops to the ground and uses his phone’s flashlight to look under the car. He kicks at small rocks and shrubs.

“I’ll check inside the truck.” I clamber in, searching the most obvious place first—the ignition. But the key slot is empty. The weak light from the overhead bulb is useless. I pat around the floor and in between the seats.

Hayden pokes his head into the cab. “Anything?”

“Nada.” I sit back on the vinyl bench seat.

He scratches his head. “I don’t understand how I could’ve lost them.”

“We were kinda preoccupied,” I say. My blood heats as he shoots me a seductive look. “Are you in the auto club?”

“Not yet. I was planning on joining.” A corner of his mouth twitches as he drums his fingers on the dash. He looks deep in thought. “I could, uh…do something. I’m not sure what you’ll think of me and how I learned how to do it.”

“What, are you going to push this beast down Saddleback Ridge?” I say, arching a brow.

“Not exactly. Shuffle back. I’m coming in.” Hayden swings into the driver’s seat. He fumbles under the dash, pulling down a bunch of colored electrical cables.

“Ooh, you’re going to hot-wire this baby?” I fan myself. “Don’t tell me—you learned this on YouTube.”

“Where else?” He grins. “Okay, don’t watch me. I get self-conscious when I boost cars. I wanna get this right the first time. And not electrocute myself.”

“Fine.” I scoot across so my back is against the passenger door. Though I cover my eyes with my hands, I detect a small flash of light. Then comes a click and a faint sparking sound. Within seconds, the starter motor whines, then the engine rumbles to life.

“Huh? Huh?” he says triumphantly and beats his chest. I slide across the bench seat, and he pulls me closer. Deliciously close. “Who needs keys?”

“Just don’t do anything to lose the keys to my heart.” Wow, Cassidy. Who ordered the cheese?

“Never.” He kisses me, and a tingle shimmies from my lips to my toes.

I shut out the world around us and melt into Hayden. The only thing that could tear us apart now is an alien invasion. And seriously, what are the chances of that happening?