Foreign Objects

01 • Spe

I furrow my eyebrows as I make eye contact with my flats that are placed neatly besides my desk. "In five? Wait, what's the time?"

I glance at the digital clock on my nightstand, eyes going wide when I see that it's already 7:39AM.

"Yeah, I'm a little late today, I'm sorry." She usually picks me up at 7:30.

I pick a flat and flip it over. There's soil and small leaves underneath. Yep, I was definitely out last night, it wasn't a dream.

"You're gonna be even later," I tell Peyton, standing up, an immense feeling of dread coming over me. "I overslept."

And the thing is, I never oversleep. No matter how late I stay up, I always wake up around 6:30 every morning.

"Really?" She sounds a little annoyed. "We can't be late today, remember I have a speech at the assembly? I'm already late for it as it is."

I sit down, my eyes still on the flat in my hand. "Then go straight to school, I'll call a cab."

She hesistates but knowing Peyton, she's already down with the idea. "Really?"

"Yeah don't worry, I'll meet you at school."

"I'll make it up to you okay?" She's cheery again. "Donuts from Gina's? I'll order some for you during lunch break."

"Yeah sure, bye."

I'm quiet after the call ends, just staring down at my shoes and trying to make sense of what the heck happened to me last night. I really can't remember anything past the glowing ball getting really close to us and me losing consciousness.

I'd been abducted by aliens.

There's no two ways about it. That's definitely what happened. Oh my God, am I gonna be one of the madmen? Madmen is what we're calling anyone who claims to have had encounters with extraterrestrial life. It started as a mockery and even though people are definitely starting to lean more towards believing them, the name is still being used. It just stuck.

Am I gonna have to go on tv and tell the world what happened to me? That I saw a glowing white ball falling down from the sky?

I huff. My story will definitely sound strange and made up because I haven't heard anything like this from the other madmen. I've never heard anything about a glowing white ball falling from the sky. No one would believe me.

But...I wasn't the only one who experienced it though.

Jeremiah.

Did he make it back home like I did? Did he go through his usual night routine? Does he remember what happened to us? Was that even Jeremiah with me last night? The way he moved to protect me does seem out of line with his character.

My heart starts to beat faster in my chest and it seems normal since I'm basically freaking out at this moment but, it's a different feeling from fear. My chest feels heavy, like it is when I'm sad about something. But, I'm not sad about anything. I'm currently stressed about my alien encounter sure but, I'm not exactly sad about it.

"Dee?"

I look towards my now open door at my mom who's standing by it, already in her scrubs. She's giving me a confused expression.

"What are you still doing here?" She asks. "Why aren't you dressed yet?"

"I woke up late," I say, standing up and moving towards my bathroom. "I'm gonna have to take a cab, Peyton's not gonna come pick me up."

"I can drive you-"

"It's okay mom," I cut her off, knowing she hates that. "I don't want you to be late for work."