What would you do if you could speak with those you'd loved and lost just one more time?
Tori Locklear, a cosmology grad student, discovers the answer for herself after a chance encounter with a group of misfit aliens in her local diner. Grieving ov...
For the first time in her life, Tori is dreading calling her parents.
Deciding it was best to head home and pack, she'd quickly hightailed it back to her apartment. Since she'd been so worried about having a hard time finding the ship once more, Changkyun had accompanied her. He now stands listlessly in her apartment's meager living room, soaking in the sights and smells of her average home.
The home she'd shared with Andrew.
Changkyun studies the photos scattered about. There's a few of what seems to be another place entirely, a place covered in ice and snow. Warm, happy faces smile out through the pictures. A couple features in the majority of them, a dark-haired male and a woman who looks a lot like Tori. He immediately surmises that those must be her parents.
Of course, he recognizes Andrew from his earlier probe within her mind. He hadn't acknowledged that he'd seen it, but the boy's death had been at the forefront of her mind. It had been difficult to avoid seeing it. This Andrew looks out through only a handful of frames, all dark hair, dark eyes, and easy-going smile.
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Meanwhile, she's already gathered everything she really needs, plus some. She's packed up her charts, along with a few changes of clothes and some toiletries. Having never been much of a material kind of girl, there isn't really a whole lot that she's not willing to part with aside from her photo album, and her small collection of books. Both of which are also already tucked safely away in her small suitcase.
So, she now sits on the edge of her bed, fiddling with her cellular device.
If Andrew was still around she probably wouldn't be able to leave at all. There are many places that her childhood friend would have followed her to, but somehow, she doubts that outer space was ever one of them. But he isn't here, and that means that the only people she has left to leave behind are her parents.
She loves her mom and dad with all her heart, she really does, but it's not enough to keep her from taking this chance.
They've always been loving, and so very supportive of her dreams. Even if they never really understood her obsession with the universe. Both Mary and Thomas Locklear are very grounded individuals, after all, neither very prone to flights of fancy or imagination. It'll be difficult to tell them goodbye, especially when she knows how heartbroken they'll likely be.
She can't imagine how confused they'll be. Actually, she's fairly certain that, most likely, she'll be assumed dead once she disappears. Tori's sure that her parents will be devastated, and a part of her heart will probably always miss them, and long for home.
But this opportunity won't present itself again and is far too amazing to pass up.
"Are you okay?"
Changkyun's voice breaks the silence and chases away her sudden melancholy. He stands before her bedroom door, eyes studying her intently as he continues to speak.
