Starstruck

Chapter 8a: Resolving patterns (part 1)

He handed me the paper sack. "Eat. I'll answer all of your questions, I promise, but I can't do it in the next minute--or where people can hear us."

I really wasn't hungry but because he was waiting, I opened my sack and pulled out the peanut butter sandwich I'd slapped together this morning and took a bite. Then another. "Okay?" I asked around my mouthful.

Rigel laughed. "Come on. You can finish it on the way to class."

Luckily, the stuff we were doing in French was really easy--subjunctives--since I spent the whole period mulling over Rigel's every word, every look. I decided there were only three options: he was lying, which meant he probably was in cahoots with Trina, or he was telling the truth, or he was crazy.

As much as I wanted to believe option number two, I'd read enough about Mars to know it wasn't possible. The gravity was too low, the atmosphere was too thin, the temperatures were too extreme. There was no way that humans could survive there without pressure suits, or that any real "Martian" would be able to function on Earth.

Which left option three--which I still preferred over the first one.

When I got to Health, I scrutinized Trina, trying to figure out whether she had anything to do with all of this. She didn't look particularly smug or secretive. In fact, she didn't look at me at all, until one of her friends whispered something to her.

"What?" she demanded as I took my seat in front of her. "Were you staring at me?"

"Me?" I asked innocently. "Why would I stare at you?"

She looked at me suspiciously for a moment, then shrugged and went back to talking to her friends. I listened, but they were just discussing clothes and their next shopping trip.

Even if Rigel was an amazing actor, I knew Trina wasn't, so I was finally convinced that whatever was going on, she wasn't involved. That made me feel better, even if it meant Rigel was crazy. There were degrees of crazy, after all, and crazy was better than mean. Crazy I could work with. Maybe.

Besides, he couldn't just be crazy. He--we?--had zapped Bryce Farmer somehow. Plus the other stuff. Maybe . . . maybe "Martian" was a code word for something else? That must be it! A wave of relief swept through me at such a viable alternative to Rigel being insane.

On the way to the bus, I stopped at my locker to swap out some books and when I closed it, Rigel was standing there.

"Hey," he said, his eyes searching my face, like he was gauging my mood.

"Hey," I replied. "Don't you have practice?"

He nodded. "I just wanted to see you for a sec. And ask if we can try lunch in the courtyard again tomorrow?"

"Um, sure. I, uh, promise not to run away this time." I could kick myself now for freaking out. If I hadn't done that, I'd already know whatever he was planning to tell me.

"And I'll try not to upset you."

I frowned at his phrasing. "So . . . you think I'm likely to get upset--again?"

For just a second he hesitated. "I hope not. Oh, and one more thing. Can you, um, not tell anybody what I've told you so far?"

I almost laughed, but not quite. "No worries there. But why--?"

"Just . . .trust me, M. Please."

Without warning, he leaned in and kissed me--kissed me!--right on the lips. It was super quick, but his lips gave me almost double the jolt his touch normally did, leaving me breathless and reeling. I stared up at him, too stunned to form a thought, much less any words.

For a second he stared back, looking nearly as startled as he'd been by that first touch a week ago--but not upset. In fact, he actually smiled.

"Gotta run," he said, and I thought he sounded a little bit breathless, too. "I'll see you tomorrow. Have fun at taekwondo!" With a wink, he turned and sprinted off down the hallway.

Still dazed, I watched him go, then suddenly realized I'd better hurry or I'd miss the bus. The hall was empty by now, but from the few curious looks I noticed on my way outside, I knew my face must be giving away how overwhelmed I felt. No, more than overwhelmed--euphoric. Like I could walk on clouds or fly to the moon.

My first kiss!

I worked hard to control my expression before Bri and Deb saw me. I wasn't ready to tell anybody, not just yet. I wanted to keep it my own precious secret, to savor and relive and dream about all night.

Unfortunately, the "secret" part of my precious secret lasted about two minutes.

"Omigod, M, look at you!" Deb exclaimed when I plunked down into the seat she and Bri had saved for me, the last person onto the bus. "You're, like, practically glowing!"

"She's right," Bri agreed. "And you were such a mess in History. What happened?"

"Rigel Stuart kissed her," Heather James answered from two rows up before I could even try to think up a story. "Mallory Adams saw it and told Jennifer, who told Allison and me. So Marsh, is he as good as he looks?" Heather waggled her eyebrows at me.

Before I could do more than gasp and stare at her, Deb and Bri squealed in unison.

"And you didn't tell us?" Brianna was clearly offended. "I thought we were your best friends!"

"You are! And I would have. It . . . it only happened a couple minutes ago. I swear!"

They both leaned in toward me so we could talk without the whole bus hearing. "Okay, tell us everything," Deb said in an excited whisper. "What did he say? What did you do?"

I was still in a daze, both from the kiss and from finding out the whole school already knew about it. "I . . . there's not much to tell, except it was amazing. But quick--just a peck, really." I started to relive it, but Bri yanked me right back to the present.

"On the lips?" she demanded. I nodded and they both squealed again, making heads turn all over the bus. "I guess you guys made up then?"

"Um, yeah, I guess we did. We're going to talk more tomorrow at lunch." Everybody near us was obviously listening, so with a significant look around, I changed the subject. "Can one of you tell me what we went over in History today? I wasn't paying much attention."

They got what I was doing and played along, though I knew they'd go back to demanding details the first chance they got.

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