Aliens Are Real: Part 2 (12 page)

Jasmine waited patiently until she could get a word in edge-wise.
“Honestly, he’s not into me like that
and
I ki
nd of like someone else.
” She blushed and covered her face with her hands when the other girls started cat-calling.

“Is it
who we think it is?”
Alex asked.

“Maybe
...
”
Jasmine replied.

“Is it our t
all drink of water from Drama?”
asked Tasha.

Alex pulled Jasmine’s hands down from her face. “Tell us!”

“Agh!
I’m so embarrassed.” Jasmine’s
face
was
already a deep shade of red.

“Don’t be embarrassed.
It’s just us.
We don’t bite
...
hard.
” Alex
issued
a wicked grin.

“Um.
Ok
ay
. Yes, it’s Mark.
” The relief she felt surprised her. She
had
said it out loud. She liked someone and she confided who
m
to her friends. It felt great!

The
n Tasha and Alex
giggled and teased. “Jasmine and Mark, sittin
g in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“I think he likes yo
u, too,
”
Alex said.

“MmmHmm
, I’ve seen how he looks at you,
”
Tasha said.

“I don’t know
.
H
e seemed prett
y mad at you yesterday in class
,
”
said Abigail.

Jasmine felt her face burn brighter
,
remembering her frustration
. “Well, we held hands today so that’s a good sign, right?”

Alex and Tasha jumped up to their knees and started
screaming and shaking Jasmine.

Jasmine tried to shield herself against the frenzy.

Alex crouched down, intently staring at Jasmine.
“Details!”

“Yes, yes,
details!
” Tasha quieted down as well.

Jasmine shrugged.
“There’s nothing much to tell.
I caught him before Algebra class and cleared up the misunderstanding about Honorio. He smiled, grabbed my
hand then we walked into class.
”

“Did you two kis
s?”
Alex asked.

“No
...
we just barely held hands.
”

“Awww!
”
Tasha and Alex cooed.

“Just remember that he was our friend first so if you do anything to hurt him
...
” Abigail’s
face flushed. She stood, then walked quickly out of the
room, stomping her feet.

Jasmine’s chin dropped.

Tash
a tsked again then shook her head. She met Alex’s eyes and they exchanged knowing looks.

Jasmine was quite concerned.
“Is something wrong?”

“Abigail’s be
en pining over Mark for years.
She’s got a shrine to him around the vanity in her room and everything!
”
Tasha explained.

Alex shook her head.
“
It’s actually kind of creepy... but y
eah, we’ve tried to get her interested in other guys
’
cause Mark’s not into her
, but she won’t give it up!
”

Jasmine sighed. She didn’t want to upset Abigail. That was never her intention. Could she walk away from Mark to keep her friend?
Her heart ached at the mere thought.
She
had
waited years in solitude for the right time to develop friends. Now she had them but she might lose them over a boy. Then again, she waited equally long for a guy to be interested in her. Could she walk away from what she might have with Mark to make Abigail happy?
  It must have been all over her face, how she felt at that moment.

“Hey, who kicked your puppy?”
Alex
looked
concerned.

“Um, this sucks.
” Jasmine
fought hard not to cry.

As if r
eading her thoughts, Tasha
said,
“You keep dating Mark. Abigail will get over it
eventually
. We
’ve
to
ld her tons of times to move on.
”

“I know what we need.
We need a good movie to get our minds off things.
Men in Tights?”
Alex said.

Tasha shrugged
,
but Jasmine looked at Alex
with confusion
.

Alex’s shoulders dropped,
“You haven’t seen that one either?”

Jasmine
simply
shook her head.

Alex sighed. “Seriously
- under
educated
on cinematic joys.
”

She popped in the DVD
,
and Jasmine quickly figured out it was a spoof on th
e Robin Hood movies
. During the movie
,
Abigail rejoined them
,
but Jasmine could see that her eyes were slightly puffy and red. If Abigail felt th
at
strongly about Mark, Jasmine considered that backing off might be the right thing to do.

She wished her mom was alive to give her advice.

Chapter 8

When the aliens arrived
home
, everyone filed into
the
living room. Tyrone sat in the chair by the couch
,
watching
the rest of the group drop their bags
,
and sit in various c
hairs.

Honorio paced the floor in front of the couch.
“We’re back on for dinner.
This is phase two of the plan.
Everything mus
t be perfect.”

Tyrone noticed Honorio rubbing his hands together in front of him then rubbing his palms on his pants.
For some reason,
the leader
was nervous.
Realizing
he
was nervous confused Tyrone.
Honorio was the brave one, the one without doubt or nerves.

Honorio clapped his hands
,
and Tyrone jumped at the loud sound.
Honorio didn’t appear to notice.
Instead, he
walked into the dining room.
He walked behind a chair
on the side of the table
and said, “Malika sit here.”

“Why?” Malika replied.

“I need to practice small talk.
You will pretend to be Jasmine.”

Malika
’s
mouth dropped open
,
then turned into a sneer.
“No way.
Yumi can pretend to be Jasmine.”

“Yumi needs to observe
,
and give suggestions.
She will watch us
,
and give pointers.”

Honorio pointed to a chair for
Malika to
sit in
,
and then
walked behind the one
at the head of the table next
to it.
She reluctantly took her seat, and crossed her arms with a look of disgust and humiliation
.

Honorio then placed his hands on the chair before him.
“Joseph, sit here.
You are Jasmine’s
father.”

Tyrone looked at Joseph.

Joseph’s eyebrows r
ose,
then he started laughing.
“Alright.
I’ll play the geezer.
” He walked over the table hunched over
,
pretending to walk with a cane.

Honorio
didn’t seem
amused.
“He is not
that
advanced in age.
He can walk without assistance
,
and stands straight.
Remember, he i
s a soldier.
”

At that description, Joseph snapped up straight and walked the rest of the way to his chair in a stiff-legged march.

Honorio
took
his seat
then
breath
ed deeply
.
“It
is fine weather we are having,
”
he stated.

Malika looked at him askance.
Joseph shook his head.
Yumi folded one arm across her chest
resting
her other elbow on top of the first arm
. She pursed her lips
and placed her hand under her chin.

After a short silence, Honorio repeated
himself, a little louder. “It is fine weather, we are having.”

“Are you really asking about the weather?” Malika
pointed
to the window.

Honorio broke character.
“Yes,
it i
s a safe topic to discuss
,
and I believe many humans bri
ng it up to start conversations.”

Malika rolled her eyes. “That is dumb, have they not
heard of windows? Why discuss something you can observe easily?”

Yumi interjected.
“I believe the discussions
are
ge
nerally
a
speculation about what will happen to the weather
,
and comments on observed deviations f
rom the nor
mal weather patterns.
Also, when humans discuss the obvious, it is usually an attempt to overcome
the
bashfulness
associated with interacting with each other for the first time. It
is a prelude to
more meaningful conversation. I believe they call it ‘breaking the ice.’ It could possibly be likened to tuning a radio to the correct frequency to receive the desired signal
.
”

“It
i
s
still dumb,
”
Malika said.

“We are not making judgments on how humans behave. We are attempting to mimic their patterns
,
and blend in. I believe it was you who pointed out that we need to be safe. Acting as humans keeps us
protected
.
”

“We would all be safer if we just stayed away from the
se
crazy humans, get w
hat we need
,
and get out of here
,
”
Malika argued.

Honorio raised a hand to get everyone’s attention.
“We are here for practice, not to
bicker. Let’s try this again.” H
e turned to Joseph.
“Sir, what does your work involve?”

Before Joseph c
ould answer, Malika interrupted.
“We already know what he does.
Why are you asking him?”

Tyrone wondered if Honorio would throttle Malika. He saw the vein in Honorio’s neck throbbing
,
and his face turn
ing
slightly red.

“You aren’t behaving like Jasmine. She is obnoxious
,
bu
t she does
n
o
t interrupt so much.
”

Malika’s eyes widened. Then they narrowed. “Fine.
You want me to act like Jasmine? How about this?” Malika leaned to
Honorio, and
rubbed her hand along his arm.

Tyrone saw Yumi’s eyes widen in surprise. He also noticed that Malika saw Yumi’s reaction. A disturbing grin appeared on Malika’s face.

Honorio looked at Malika in surprise
,
but he said nothing.

He turned to Joseph again. “Now, what do you do, sir?”

Joseph
replied in a clipped military voice
,
“Oh, I collect alien parts
,
and try t
o figure out technology that is
far
too
advanced
for my puny brain to comprehend.
”

H
onorio rolled his eyes. He seemed not to notice that Malika’s hand
strok
ed
the full length of his arm
,
and across his shoulders
, while she
watched Yumi’s re
actions. Yumi
appeared to struggle to
ignore
it
,
and concentrate on Joseph
,
as
her eyes flicked to Malika’s movements.

“That i
s interesting, Sir.
How long have you been doing that?”

Yumi interjected suddenly.
“Use contractions.
”

“What?”
Honorio asked.

“Do
not say ‘That is,’ say ‘That’s,
’
”
Yumi replied.

Honorio
silently
tested out the feel o
f the contraction on his tongue.
“You want me to slur
my
speech
?”

“Yes. It is – I mean
it’s
how teenage
rs talk. Jasmine taught me that.
” Yumi
smirked.

Honorio closed his eyes briefly then began again.
“Okay.
That’s
interesting, Sir.”

Yumi nodded and smiled.
Malika stood
,
and walked behind Honorio’s chair. She started rubbing his shoulders.
Yumi’s smile turned into a frown.

“
I’ve
...
been
doing it for fifty years or so,
”
Joseph replied.
Joseph also
used
the contraction carefully, trying to make his pronunciation perfect.

Honorio groaned. “He
i
s not ancient
.
I
’d
...
guess that
...
he’d
... have
be
en
in this particular line of work for no more than ten years.”

Joseph corrected himself. “Fine -
I have
been doing this for ten years.
”
He
leaned
forward
.
“Why are you asking me so many questions about my job?
”

Honorio turned to Yumi.
“I do
n
o
t think he would become suspicious, do you?”

She looked away from Malika
,
and blinked. “What?”

“Will Jasmine’s father get suspicious if I ask him about his job?”

“
I do not believe so –
I don’t
, I mean.” Yumi
said.

Malika’s hands slid down Honorio’s shoulders
,
and onto his chest.

He
flinched
,
and looked up at her.
“What
do you think you are doing?”

Malika leaned in, “I am behaving like Jasmine.” She grazed his face with her soft breath, feigning a kiss
.

“She has never done th
at,
”
Honorio said.

“Well, you’re
wooing her, right? I a
m sure she i
s
ready to melt in your arms.
” Malika
stepped
around to the front of his seat and sat in his lap.

Honorio clenched his hands and looked
up
at Malika. “She is not this forward. Stop being silly.”

“Oh, but I a
m s
ure after an hour with you, she wi
ll be throwing herself at you. I would
n
o
t be surprised if she did
this
.” S
he reached up and grabbed Honorio’s face. She
pressed
her lips to his and kissed him hard.

Tyrone gasped. He knew the idea of acting out the dinner was a silly one, but Malika
had crossed the
line. She was well aware of Yumi and Honorio’s pairing.
He
was painfully aware of
the arrangement
. Her action
teetered on the edge of requiring immediate punishment.

Honorio stood up quickly
,
and dumped Malika on the floor
. She laughed at him from her prone position. Even from his seat in the living room,
Tyrone
could see the look of challenge in her eyes.

“Get out of here,
” Honorio
said, his voice rumbling
in his chest.

“
But, w
here should I go without
you
, my love?”
Malika taunted.

“Get me more romance movies to
watch
. At least those are worth
y of study
,
more so than your help.”

Malika appeared to understand she
had gone
too far after studying his face for a moment. She stood, brushed herself off then walked past Tyrone to grab her coat. She held her head high as she walked back through the liv
ing room and dining room toward
the garage.
No one moved as the sound of the garage door opening carried into the house. Tyrone heard the car start then a couple seconds later the garage door clos
ed
.

Honorio turned and marched into the basement. Tyrone itched to play with his inventions down there
,
but dared not interrupt their leader’s solitude. He sat still and
watched Yumi trudge slowly past
him
.
He yearned to reach out to her
,
and squeeze her hand
,
offer her a word of encouragement.
Knowing it would only bring more pain to both
of them, he held still, his expressive human eyes trying to send the message instead. She gave him a quick smile then continued upstairs.