Page 60 of I Think I’m in Love with an Alien

“Good point.” I get up and head off.

The others follow. As we walk, Tad leans in, lowering his voice. “On another note, did you guys notice anything weird about the way Jaz dragged Seeker off?”

Ugh. I didn’t want to think about that. I suspect Tad has a crush on Jaz; that’s why he pays extra attention to what she does. And I can’t blame him. She’s so talented and graceful and effortlessly poised. I bet she’s never awkward at parties and she doesn’t tip coffee down her front when she gets excited.

I’m not jealous of her, but what if Seeker admires her the way I do? We have been flirting online, but maybe I don’t measure up in person. Wait, no. I don’t want to be insecure. He’s shared a huge secret with me. I have to cling to that.

It’s not like he’s some intergalactic lothario on a quest to sow his seed with as many human women as possible before taking off at the speed of light. This isn’t some weird fifties pulp movie full of screaming Marilyn-style blonds who are desperately afraid of what those tentacles might do.

Poppy nods, her curls bouncing. “Yeah, it was a little odd and pointed.”

“This might sound paranoid, but do you think they’re planning something without us?” Tad raises an eyebrow.

“Does anyone have a birthday coming up?” I ask as we head back toward the stalls.

That would be a sweet reason for them to be scheming. But mine’s not until October and I prefer not to celebrate it.

“Not me. December twenty-eighth. I’ve gotten Christmas-slash-birthday gifts my whole life.” Poppy seems not to mind, however, as it sounds like more of a statement than a complaint.

“Aw. Poor you.” Tad offers a comforting pat. “As for me, I aged up in March, so it’s already past.”

“You should have said something! I would have…” I pause. What’s appropriate for an online friend you haven’t met in person yet? “Sent an e-card and done a digital design in honor of the occasion.”

I’m not a pro at digital art, but I’m confident I could have come up with something cute for Tad’s birthday. Maybe not beautiful enough for him to print and frame, but my mom is always telling Glynnis and me that it’s the thought that counts. I actually don’t always agree with that, depending on how bad the present is. But I’ll forgive a lot of clumsiness if I trust in the giver’s good intentions.

“That’s sweet,” Tad says. “Well, if you still want to next year, it’s March fourteenth.”

Poppy stops walking and I draw her out of the flow of foot traffic before she gets run over by a squad of stormtroopers. “Hear me out. They’ve been abducted by aliens and replaced with slightly off-kilter clones who hate trivia.”

I nearly choke on my urgency to change the subject. But it will seem bizarre if I suddenly start talking about something else. “Good one.”

“Should we do some sleuthing?” Tad asks.

I’m curious what Jaz wanted with Seeker, but I don’t know that it’s a good idea to dig into Seeker’s secrets. At least not as a group.

But Poppy seems intrigued. Dammit.

“Maybe they were hungry. Or Ravik might have asked Jaz for help with a personal problem,” I suggest.

“Then why involve Seeker especially?” Tad points out. “I could give advice. So can Poppy or you.”

“I’m good at picking up subtext. There is something going on,” Poppy agrees.

Crap. If I keep arguing, it will look like I know something. And I do. I’m just not confident that I know everything about the group’s dynamics or Seeker’s intentions. I know he’s not from here—and at this point, that’s basically the long and short of it.

And you invited him to move in with you.

The fact that he didn’t jump on that offer… I’m not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, it speaks well of him that he’s hesitant to impose, even if he’s desperate. But maybe there are other factors at play. I only have his word for why he’s here. There might be more sinister implications, not that I’ve ever put much stock in the alien-invasion trope.

There must be much easier ways to get resources than to pillage a local population, right? Humans have done exactly that so many times, but that doesn’t mean Seeker’s people are the same. If they’re technologically advanced enough to have rules in place about visiting lower-tech worlds and uplifting, they should have even more regulations about hostile actions.

Dammit, I don’t want to have these doubts. I believe he’s a good person. I do.

There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

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Seeker