Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (23 page)

Her mother had offered to
help in any way she could, but
high school would get in the way regardless. Homeschool wasn’t even an option with her mother having a full-time job. Online classes maybe, but again, it would require some cooperation from my own mom.

Not going to happen.

We’d have to face this one way or another.

So much to consider and so little time. Seven, eight months tops?

Thinking about it made my stomach turn.

I wanted to go on living—pretending it had never happened—but that’d be lying to myself. For now, we were doing what we could to keep our minds off it. We tried to find peace amidst the chaos. Even if only for a little while.

. . .

Students bustled up the stairway to the school entrance. Alice and I h
ung back, ducking out of sight and into an empty
corner. A cutaway between buildings where we were able to find some quiet time between classes. I leaned up against the brick wall.

“You know…” I smirked, reaching out to take her by the waist
and pull her closer. Her body
pressed into me. “I swear you’re a little taller than you used to be.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” She shrugged.

“I like it.”

We spent so much time together, changes were subtle, but once in a while, I’d stop and suddenly notice something different. Day by day, her distinct and beautiful curves became more beautiful.

I tucked my hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “It
makes you easier to kiss,” I said, raising an eyebrow and
brushing my nose aga
inst hers. She giggled, shying away and
combing a wave of her hair away from her face. “Jesus, I love your smile.”

I kissed
her and slid my hands out of her pockets to clasp
her waist, my thumbs massaging the rounded jut of her hipbones through her snug jeans. I kissed her until her knees went
weak and her body pulsed against mine, slender fingers
wrinkling my shirt. Tasting her. Our breaths mingling.

I inhaled her sweet, honey-like scent. Subtle and fleeting
like the final days of spring. She enchanted me. The flowing lines of her petite waist. Her amazing silhouette.

But none of it satisfied the selfish, carnal desire to make her mine. Hungering.
Haunting me. Ever since I’d found out about
the pregnancy,
my physical attraction toward Alice had
intensified. Maybe they were sick, misguided feelings over what the Saviors
had done, but I couldn’t shut them out. They
clawed at my sanity day and night. I needed to regain the strength to keep myself in check—to stop ruminating about the one thing she wasn’t ready to do.

For now, I had to push it aside and worry about
her
needs.

She trembled in my arms, letting out a stifled groan as I released a warm breath onto the sensitive flesh behind her ear. Her body softened against mine, our breaths growing shallower. She dragged her hands up my chest and then wrapped her fingers around the back of my neck, interlacing them through my hair.

“Brian, I…”

I held my breath.

Damn.
The words were right on the tip of her tongue.

“I… want you in my life.” She exhaled and nuzzled her face against my shirt.

It wasn’t exactly what I’d needed to hear, but I couldn’t force it out of her if she wasn’t ready.

“I love you, Alice.” I kissed her forehead and she looked up at me with starry eyes. I lost myself in their soothing blue shimmer.

“Alice!” Kareena shrieked, jogging toward us.

Alice pulled away from me and turned. “What?” she asked
, flustered, hastily straightening her wrinkled shirt.

I rested my weight against the wall, unsettled by her
sudden withdrawal.

“What the hell is going on with you, Alice?” Kareena looked her up and down frantically. “Can you not see it?”
She scoffed. “You’re glowing, like, two different
colors. Green and a weird turquoise kind of shade. It’s…” Her eyes went
wide as she focused on Alice’s abdomen.
“Brian? You have to
see this!” She came at me with outstretched arms, her hands
targeting my face.

“No!” I ducked, shimmying to the side. “Don’t! I don’t want to feel that again.”

Last time
she’d touched my face, I’d started seeing things
in other people—dormant lights—and then got a
killer
migraine right after.

No thanks.

She sneered. “How else do I show you?”

“We already know,” Alice said, frowning.

“You do? Well, why didn’t you tell me? What does it mean?”

“I’m…” Alice’s voice lowered to a barely audible whisper and she motioned for Kareena to come closer.

“You’re pregnant!?” Kareena repeated, louder than she should have.

“Shh!” Alice pinched the edge of Kareena’s blouse and tugged. “Keep it down.”

“Yeah. Please,” I added, furrowing my brow at her and then glancing around nervously. The few passing stragglers didn’t seem to have noticed. Thank God.

Kareena’s forehead creased and a weird, excited-confused grin flashed on her face. “Oh my God. So… you two actually had sex?”

“
No!” Alice raised her
voice, defensively
. “We… we
didn’t
.”

“Well, now’s your chance.” Kareena snickered.

“Kareena!” I shot her a dirty look. “This is serious.”

“Sorry!” She shrugged, backing up a step. “Well, whose is it, then?”

“Mine.” I took Alice’s hand. “But the Saviors put it in her. We weren’t going to tell you yet. But I guess you can see it inside her?”

“Yes.” Kareena’s lips wrinkled. “Um… Ugh. I’m sorry guys, but I’m so glad it’s not me. I hope they don’t try to knock me up. Ew.” She held her belly and shuddered, sticking out her tongue. “I don’t even want to think about being pregnant.”

Alice whimpered, twisting the hem of her shirt around the fingers of one hand while squeezing my hand tighter with her other.

“Can’t you show a little sympathy?” I glared, tipping my head to the side. “Seriously, you’re emotionally dead, aren’t you, Kareena?”

“No. I just don’t know what to say, okay?” She rolled up her sleeve and pressed three fingers into her bicep, revealing a match-stick like object embedded beneath her skin. “I’ve never had to worry about it before. My parents hooked me up a long time ago.”

An implant?

“That’s not the type of thing you need to be showing off.” I scowled. I’d heard about girls getting them, but didn’t know exactly what they were and had no idea how they worked. I wasn’t a girl, but the thought of having something stuck in me
like that made my skin crawl.

“Well. For those of us who actually do stuff, it beats getting pregnant.” She crossed her arms and looked away from us.

A frown tarnished Alice’s lips.

“Hey, we need to stop focusing on the pregnancy and start focusing on Alice,” I said.

“I haven’t told Sam yet,” Alice added beneath her breath.

“Oh.” Kareena’s eyes widened. “Well, good luck with that.”

Sam—Alice’s best friend—had been the first person to witness her fluorescence. She wasn’t one of
us,
though.

The school bell rang and Kareena started off toward her class. “See ya,” she said over her shoulder.

“I’m a horrible friend, aren’t I?” Alice sighed.

“Don’t ever say that.” I brushed my fingertips across her cheek. “Sam will understand.”

. . .

Alice and I sat in the shade on the front porch of her house after school, watching the sprinklers twirl water across the lawn like silver confetti.

“What do you think they want the baby for?” she asked, staring off at nothing, twisting a blade of grass between her fingers.

“No idea.” I shrugged. “We must have something aw
fully special in us for them to get this desperate. Maybe this will be the end of whatever it is that’s killing the Saviors.”

“Do you think they’ll leave us alone after this?”

“Don’t know.”

She fell silent.

We sat there for several minutes, quietly watching people
walk down the sidewalk and cars pass by in the street. I
plucked a piece of tall grass from beside the porch and
started tangling it between my fingers, then tossed it back onto the lawn.

“Do you… want her?” Alice looked up at me through her lashes, her cheeks red and her eyes glistening.

My heart skipped a beat.

Did I want our baby?

Me? A sixteen-year-old sophomore, with an evening job, an almost-paid-off motorcycle, and alien DNA in my blood. Did I want a baby right now?

Hell no.

But did I want to be with Alice? Hell yes.

And if being with her meant being a father to our child,
I would do it. At least, I would give it a damn good try. Maybe
it was the fluorescence talking, but a little version of Alice
and me might be cute. A shit-load of responsibility, but cute
. Juggling that with high school and work? All hell
was going to break loose. It was definitely a loaded question.

“I want what’s best for
you
,” I answered. “That’s all I want. I’d
never want to put you through any pain or in danger.” It seemed like I was more worried than she was at this point, and I didn’t have a test-tube baby growing in my belly.

Pregnancy and childbirth
weren’t walks in the park from what
I’d learned recently. I’d been spending hours researching online. It was kind of scary to me, actually—the things that could go wrong.

“I don’t know if I can handle this,” she murmured. “All I wanted was to be a normal girl. I don’t even know if I want kids
ever
. I hadn’t really thought about it that hard. I just want to graduate from high school.” She sniffled.

“Me, too.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close.

Chapter 4

I
t was a Friday afternoon and we were curled up on the couch in her living room in front of the TV.

“Everything okay with your mom?” I asked, pulling a blanket up over Alice’s knees. It wasn’t quite cold
enough to switch the heat on, but the changing autumn temperatures made her a little uncomfortable.

“I guess,” she replied and nestled against me. “She’s been acting weird for a few days. Work stuff’s got her on edge, I think. She won’t really talk to me about it.”

“Oh. Okay.” I didn’t know what else to say. If Alice wasn’t
concerned, I didn’t feel the need to be either.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned in to kiss the side of her neck. She exhaled, content.

A clicking noise sounded from the hall, followed by a patter of footsteps. I pulled back from Alice just as Jane came into the room wheeling a carry-on suitcase behind her.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Alice sat up and leaned forward in her seat.

I took the remote and paused the movie.

Jane propped her bag against the doorframe and walked
over to us, a stack of printouts and a manila folder tucked under her arm.

“I didn’t want it to work out this way,” she said and heaved a breath. “But… damn it, I couldn’t get them to let me off this time.”

“What?” Alice untangled the blanket from her lap and stood. I gathered it up from the floor and away from her feet. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“I wasn’t even going to say anything to you because I thought I could get out of it.” Jane massaged her forehead and sighed again. “I was on the phone for an hour last night. I just got off the phone with her again a few minutes ago. My supervisor won’t budge. She just doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a parent.”

“Wait. Is this about that seminar in Seattle? The one you didn’t go to last year?”

“Yes,” Jane replied, pressing her lips together. “The
organizational leadership crap they keep pushing on us. Donna let me off last year, but now it’s company policy that all staff attend it at least once within a year of being hired. I’ve been there for almost seven and the new supervisor won’t let me skip it again.” She riffled through the folder and took out a few pages.

“Here are copies of my flight and hotel reservations so you’ll know where I’ll be.” She stretched an arm out and Alice took the papers. “I did everything I could to try to get out of this conference, but Donna put my job on the line and I can’t sacrifice that.”

“I understand, Mom.” Alice glanced at the flight plans. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I didn’t want you worrying,” Jane replied. She unzipped the top pocket of her carry-on and shoved the folder inside, zipping it closed afterward.
“I know I can trust you, but I’ve never had to leave you alone for more than a few hours. You’ll be okay, right?”

“Yes, Mom. I can survive a few days by myself.”

Jane turned toward me.

“I should go,” I said.

“Thanks, Brian. I know you’re worried about her, but she can take care of herself. She’s a big girl now. Alice, there’s a notebook on the table in the kitchen with everything you need
to know in it. Phone numbers. Addresses. Emergency
information.” Jane flashed a grin that seemed uneasy and forced. “I should be back Monday afternoon.
If
my flights don’t get canceled.” She flexed her fingers around the handle of her carry-on bag and groaned.

Alice’s shoulder glinted anxiously with wild neon green light.

“Be careful, Mom.”

“I will.” Jane released the suitcase and hugged Alice. “Make sure he leaves soon,” I overheard her whisper.

Alice nodded.

I scooped my riding jacket up off the back of the couch and followed the two of them into the garage. I shrugged on
my coat and lifted my helmet from the seat of my motorcycle.