Over the Moon (12 page)

The rest of the week rushed by at breakneck speed. Maybe it was
because I wanted to savor every minute I got to spend with Andrew.
I was so afraid that he would suddenly realize I was hopelessly
unworthy of him and disappear into nothingness, leaving me lost
and alone again.

He came for me every morning, and each time I opened the door,
the thrill of seeing him there on my doorstep completely unnerved
me. Every time he took my hand, my heart turned cartwheels, and
my stomach tightened as if I were riding the roller coaster or some
other whirling carnival ride. Move over, Disneyland! Hurricane was
now the happiest place on earth!

He walked me to all my classes. He drove me home and stayed
until just before my parents came home from the clinic. He had to
work in the evenings most days. That saved me from the kind of
discussions I didn't want to have with my parents, and I was very
pleased about that. Parents tend to over react to such things as steady
boyfriends.

Alexis had been suspended for the week, so there were no more
hateful words scrawled on my locker door. I hoped she wasn't at
home plotting her next diabolical and vengeful move. I ordered that
scary thought down to the basement of my mind so I wouldn't have
to think about it. I didn't want that unpleasant stress to invade my
current state of blissful euphoria.

We got out early on Friday for Teachers' Preparation Day.
Andrew drove past the street that led to my house.

"Where are we going?" I didn't really care. I was up for anything
as long as I was with him.

"We're going to my house. There is something I think you will
enjoy seeing." He was acting secretive. He kept his eyes on the road
and avoided making eye contact.

We turned off the highway at the winding road to his family's
house on the hill.

"Are you taking me home to meet your family?" I grinned.

"No, they're at work, and Evelyn's shopping in St. George today.
No one is home." He grinned back at me. "Don't worry; you are
perfectly safe with me. I'm completely trustworthy."

We stopped in front of the gleaming white house with marble
columns. Palm trees and red oleander bushes lined the cobblestone
walkway. Pomegranate and lemon trees were interspersed with red,
yellow, and pink rose bushes along the front of the huge structure.
Next door, the Allens' modern home, with its yard of gravel and
cacti, stood in stark contrast to this lush landscape.

He led me to the front doors. They were massive, with suns,
moons, and stars carved into the highly varnished oak wood. He
pushed in a security code and put his thumb on an electronic plate to
gain entrance. I marveled at the complexity of the security system.

"My older brother, Adam, loves technology. It's kind of embarrassing sometimes," he explained. We walked through the formal
living room, dining room, and kitchen, which were all immaculate
and tastefully decorated. He stopped just before we reached the
French doors that opened onto a patio.

"Close your eyes," he demanded.

"Why?" Surprises make me nervous. It's not that I don't like
them; it's just that I don't always know how to react. I never want to
disappoint the person doing the surprising. I definitely wouldn't ever
want to disappoint him.

"I want to see your face when you open them."

I did as he asked, scrunching my eyes shut so I wouldn't be
tempted to look. He led me a few feet through the doors.

"You can open them now."

When I opened my eyes, I was immediately awestruck by a
magnificent waterfall that careened off a cliff at the yard's edge. It
formed a pool that was encircled by exotic plants. I recognized a few
orchids and the bird of paradise, but the rest were foreign to me. The
colors were exquisite. They ranged from pure white to deep purple
and included all the hues of the rainbow. I had never seen a backyard
quite like this.

"It's so beautiful!" I exclaimed.

"I thought you would like it." He looked pleased by my reaction.

"Where does the water go after it reaches the pool?" I asked.

"It filters through the rocks on the bottom and forms an underground stream that comes out again at the base of the hill."

"Where does it come from?"

"The source of the springs is in a cave up above the cliff." He
pointed to something I couldn't quite see from where I was standing.

My eyes continued to take in his flamboyant backyard. It contained all things necessary for survival in the desert. There was a kidney-shaped swimming pool, a gazebo filled with plush patio furniture, and a really, really big barbecue grill attached to a well equipped,
outdoor kitchen. There was also a large and inviting Jacuzzi hot tub
that could comfortably accommodate a dozen average-sized adults
and maybe two dozen skinny teens.

He took my hand and led me up a trail that meandered around
the cascading water and came up behind it. At the top of the cliff
stood the entrance to a cave from which the water flowed. We
entered the opening, and the temperature fell by several degrees.

"Natural air conditioning," he said as he steered me to two lawn
chairs beside the springs that bubbled and gurgled up from the floor
of the cave. There was a cooler near them. He opened it and handed
me a Coke.

"Did you plan this?" I asked, smiling at his ingenuity.

"Yes." He looked pleased with himself. "I wanted to spend some
quality time alone with you. I have to go to a family reunion this
weekend in Roswell and then to a pharmaceutical convention in Las
Vegas next week. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning. I'll be gone
until next Saturday."

I tried to mask my sudden disappointment. I would have to live
a whole week without him. I was doing it again. I was being ridiculously needy. I could survive a week without him if I had to. I didn't
want to, but I could.

"Do you have to go?" Did I even have any pride anymore? I had
to grow a backbone right now. This would never do. Memo to self
find some pride today!

"Yes," he said sadly. "It's only a week. You won't even know I'm
gone.

Ob yes, I will, I thought. Every single minute of every single day.

"Will you really miss me?" He smiled brightly.

I said nothing. I didn't want to appear as dependent as I felt.
It was stupid to be this distressed over the prospect of having him
gone for a week, seven days, one hundred and sixty-four hours, ten
thousand and eighty minutes.

"You will miss me!" he declared as he stared into my eyes.

"What gave me away? You have got to stop reading my thoughts.
It's really starting to get on my nerves. Why can't I know what you're
thinking for a change?" I complained and frowned at him.

"This is what I'm thinking," he said as he pulled me up from the
lawn chair, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me fervently. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my erratic, racing pulse. His lips
were firm and warm, and my temperature was rising fast. It was
like he flipped a switch that turned on all the electricity in my body.
When he stopped, I sat down again so I wouldn't fall down. I had
never been kissed like that before.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm just feeling a little dizzy." I was feeling a
lot dizzy and a little bit frightened by the emotions that were
surfacing.

"Did I do that?" He grinned and sat down. He took my hand in
both of his. "I've never felt this way about anyone before," he continued. "Am I scaring you?"

"I am a little frightened," I admitted. "I've never felt like this
either." Why couldn't I keep my stupid feelings to myself? This was
seriously insane. I needed time to think. I wanted to know that he
genuinely cared about me, that he wasn't going to tear my heart out
and stomp on it. How could I be certain that I should trust him?

"I really care about you. I know things are moving too quickly
for you. I'll try to slow down. I don't want you to be afraid." He let go
of my hand and retrieved a small flashlight from his pocket. "I have
one more thing to show you." He helped me up and directed me to
the rear of the cave. He shined the flashlight on the rock wall. There
were Indian petroglyphs on the stone depicting five men with ears of
corn. Above them, three men in headdresses were holding the sun,
moon, and stars. There was a river between them.

"What does it mean?" I was mystified by the ancient carvings.

"These are gods coming from the sky to help the Anasazi Indian
tribe find water and raise corn in the desert." He pointed to the men with
headdresses and then to the five that represented the Anasazi tribe.

"Who are the gods?" I asked.

"They could be gods from heaven or aliens from outer space. No
one really knows. The Anasazi tribe disappeared, and no one knows
what happened to them. It's a real-life mystery. Do you believe that
people from other planets could visit the earth?" He turned to study
my face.

"Do you mean like the strange creatures on the Sci-Fi Channel?" I giggled thinking about the giant lizards from the show Mark
was watching a few weeks ago.

"No, people like us, humans, from other star systems similar to
ours.

"Yes, I think it could be possible. Don't tell me you're into science fiction."

"No, I'm more into science facts. Is it so hard to believe God
created other worlds like ours? Worlds inhabited with people very
much like us? Ancient Greek scholars imagined worlds populated
with intelligent beings. Scientists today believe there could be innumerable planets within our own galaxy with conditions like our
Earth that could sustain intelligent life."

"It seems logical." I could tell this was important to him, but I
couldn't imagine why. "I do believe intelligent life probably exists
somewhere in the universe," I admitted. "I'm not sure any such
beings would want to come to Earth. If they're really intelligent, I
think they would stay away."

He laughed at my statement but then continued to speak with
resolute solemnity.

"If we could invent a spacecraft that could travel close to the
speed of light, we could go anywhere in the universe within a human
lifetime. How do we know there aren't civilizations out there that
have achieved this already? Astronomers are currently scanning the
skies for signals broadcast by aliens. They obviously believe there are
advanced civilizations on other worlds. I think aliens would be very
interested in learning more about us if they possessed the technology to travel here," he insisted.

"Do you believe that the UFO sightings that happen all the time
are really alien spacecrafts? Do you think the government is hiding
extraterrestrial corpses in Area 51? What about the people who say
they have been abducted by spacemen who performed experiments
on them?" I found all of this stuff fascinating, but I didn't think any
of it was real. I could be wrong. I wondered if he would try to argue
that it was all perfectly plausible.

"Most of it is pure fiction, I'm sure. However, some of the sightings could be real. I don't think the government has any alien corpses
lying around in giant freezers. I hope not." He laughed. "I'm almost
certain that spacemen haven't kidnapped any humans to study and
use for experimental research. I do believe that the intelligent life
out there is human and that they look more like us than the stuff
Hollywood dreams up."

"I read an article in the newspaper that said almost half of all
Americans believe that the Earth has been visited by people from
other planets. I'm not sure what I believe, but I do think it can't be
totally ruled out. I just don't know why they would want to come
to Earth, and if they did come, how would they be able to keep it a
secret?" I really didn't think they would want to visit our imperfect
world, and with all the documentation we are required to have in
order to function, it would make it hard for them to escape being
discovered somehow.

"If they were from an advanced civilization, it would be relatively easy to infiltrate ours. Of course, they would have to possess
superior intellect that would give them a definite advantage when
it came to learning new languages and social customs. They would
then be able to create lives for themselves and obtain anything necessary to keep their true identity secret. You might live next door
to aliens, and you would never know." He was very convincing. I
was even getting a little suspicious of my next-door neighbors. They
were sort of peculiar. They had moved in a week ago, and I'd never
seen anyone come or go since.

"Your argument is very convincing. Have you ever seen a UFO?
Do you know some space aliens who live here in Hurricane?" I was
joking, of course. How did we go from talking about our feelings to
discussing the possibility of extraterrestrials secretly living among us?

"Maybe," was all he would say. He gave me a mysterious half
grin, but his eyes looked perfectly serious. I wondered if he really
believed there were aliens living on Earth or if he were teasing me. I
wished I could see inside his head and sift through his thoughts the
way he seemingly did mine. What secrets was he hiding in there?