Page 123 of I Think I’m in Love with an Alien

She sighs. “Everyone’s gonna be pissed at both of us, but I can take it.”

Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’m taking the easy way out and acting like a coward. But right now, all I want to do is run. But I shouldn’t drive when I’m this upset; I should calm down first. There’s a hiking trail nearby that leads in a loop around the property. Ravik mentioned it last night. I greet Kevin in passing as I head past the chicken shed. I need to get some air, put some distance between me and the source of all this pain.

Sticking around means facing goodbyes I can’t bear to speak.

44

Seeker

Not long after being stranded on 97-B, I perused a visual entertainment from the “horror” section on a service that was included in my accommodations.

It does not escape me that this setting resembles that film: a group of friends in a remote location. And then terrible things start to happen. People go missing. Since three of us aren’t from this planet, our story shouldn’t deviate into a grimmer realm. And I generally prefer more cheerful entertainments, where no one meets a grisly end and humans are rewarded for their efforts.

The others are playing a game with cards and dice. I couldn’t settle long enough to focus on learning the rules. Tad chortles over a move that ends with him destroying someone’s crops. I am too uneasy to stay still. I haven’t seen Jen in a while, and our last conversation weighs on me. That simply cannot be our last exchange. Not when it feels as if she’s perilously close to etching herself onto my very being, my heart’s match, my first love.

“Has anyone seen Jen?”

Tad glances at me, setting down the cards in his hand. “Not for a while.”

“She’s not here,” Poppy says softly.

“Her car is there. Where did she go?” Ravik asks.

That is an excellent question. We are far from civilization, no stores or restaurants she could be visiting on foot. The remoteness that makes it possible for us to be free from the tech camo also offers danger.

“I think she took the trail behind the house,” Poppy replies, tumbling the dice.

This comfortable habitation suddenly chills me to my core. I may not feel warm again until I am assured that Jen is free from harm. “She is out there now?”

“As far as I know.” Poppy seems to realize it’s serious.

Jaz rises, all ethereal beauty as she drifts to the window. “How long has it been?”

Poppy makes frightened bird gestures with her hands, then drags them through her red hair. “I’m not sure. I was talking to Ravik and lost track of time.”

“It will be fully dark soon,” Ravik murmurs.

“Not good,” Tad says.

“That is an understatement,” I snap.

I should not vent my anger on him. He’s not the one who hurt Jen. I made her feel as if I do not value her. Nothing could be further from the truth. For all the chaos and difficulty on 97-B—no, on Earth, that’s what the locals call it—I wouldn’t change anything about my time here.

Because it led me to her.

“Did she seem upset when she left?” Jaz asks.

The questions lances straight through me, leaving devastation in its wake. What if she’s lost? Or hurt? Or worse, what if—

No. I cannot finish that thought. The prospect of a universe without Jen is one that I refuse to entertain.

There is a growing certainty in me. I don’t wish to leave her. Not now, not ever. She’s become the axis my world rotates on, and the prospect of losing her makes feel ill.

“Do you have flashlights?” I ask Ravik.

Silently, he goes to the closet and produces two.

I snatch one. “We need to find her. Now.”