Allen had to get more tacos for the way home. The Chipotle people were starting to give him strange looks as he ordered taco after taco.
My wallet was crying out in pain now, as Allen carried three of the seven bags we had for him. A lot of tops, mostly, but a few pairs of pants and some shoes. Allen was still wearing the grey t-shirt, but Catelin had shoved him into a jacket and a pair of jeans. Overall, looking a lot more human.
Allen fell back so he was walking beside me. "I feel strange," he said.
I raised my eyebrows. "Huh. How so?"
Allen furrowed his brow. "My feet hurt, and my head aches. I feel the strange desire to sit down and not move."
I snickered. "You're tired, you idiot."
"Tired? But I just woke up," Allen said.
"Yeah, but you're tired of walking around and being out and just wanna relax. Why are you so bad at identifying how you feel?"
Allen shifted, looking uncomfortable in the same way that he did in the car. "We're here to study feelings," he said, completely avoiding the question.
"Yes, I get that, but why?"
"I do not like to answer why," Allen said.
"You're a scientist. You love to answer why."
"Science has nothing to do with anything but science."
"So this is personal?"
Allen looked pissed, and I mentally cheered. "So it's got something to do with you, too?"
"I am done having this conversation," Allen informed me coolly. "I do not wish to give any more information."
"Dude, we need to work on the way you talk," I said. "You sound like you walked out of a novel from the 1800s."
"I do not understand --"
"Just listen," I said. "Listen to me, Catelin, Cas, my sister, anyone. Pick up how they speak. Imitate that. If you go around and use the words you do people are gonna ask stuff."
Allen cocked his head. "What kind of stuff?"
"Probably to do with where you're from," I said.
Allen nodded. "I understand. You do not want me to converse in such a formal way."
"You just did it again," I said.
"My apologies."
"Try just sorry."
"Sorry."
I grinned. "That's better."
"Speaking of my origins, I need to check up on my ship tonight, start the basic repairs and enter in the data I have collected," Allen said, shifting the bags to his other hand and pulling out a silver object, thin and short and narrow.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's what you call a flash drive. Only it contains ten times the amount of data. Allen pocketed the drive again. "I need to try to find a PTD. Your tech is too old for what I need."
"A PTD?" I asked dubiously.
"A personal tablet device," Allen translated. "The most powerful device left on that ship, with the central computers broken."
"Oh." I thought a minute, then made a split-second decision. "Can I come?"
Allen turned to face me. "You will understand nothing that I am doing. Your mind is too unevolved for that."
"Thanks," I said sarcastically. "But seriously. Can I come?"
"I don't see the harm," Allen said after a moment. "Yes, I think that will be fine. Perhaps you can teach me more about the strange things humans your age do."
My mind started racing at that, trying to create a mental list (which I really wasn't good at) in my head. The way he spoke would come later -- for now, I needed to fill him in on the core basics of high school, including how to act in classes, when to skip and most importantly catch him up on references everybody should know.
"That is quite a lot of things," Allen said.
"Did I do it again?" I asked.
"Yes. You don't have a very good filter from mind to mouth."
"I know," I said. "We really need to work on your complimenting skills. People around here don't really like it when you point out their flaws."
"Why not? When you know your mistakes you can revise them and make yourself better."
"This isn't a trial-and-error science experiment," I said, just as my phone buzzed. "Hang on." I pulled it out of my pocket. It was a text from Nalani.
NALANI: pls get home really fast
KALI: Why
NALANI: Bc Mom won't let me go out tonight and I need you to convince her cuz you're good at that
KALI: Is it a party?
NALANI: No a date
KALI: With who?
NALANI: Wyatt Michaels
KALI: ;)
NALANI: Is that a yes?
KALI: Yep
KALI: Just be safe and use protection
NALANI: I hate you, lolo
KALI: Aw you love me
NALANI: ...
I pocketed my phone again, smiling, to see Catelin waiting for us up ahead, standing by Cas' car.
"So I'll drop Catelin and the car off and we'll walk back," I told Allen. "Then we'll take my car out to your ship and then stay up all night while we watch every movie you should watch if you live on Earth."
"A movie? An actual one?" Allen said, his eyes getting all glowy.
I'd forgotten the lack of culture he had on his planet. "Yeah. You excited?"
Allen thought about it. "What do you say? Right. Hell yes."
I grinned. He was catching on.
****
We dropped Catelin off, and Cas touched up my makeup like I'd promised. Allen had been fascinated as to why girls willingly stuck pencils into out eyes for the sake of what he called "temporary, unrealistic standards set by society." Cas looked impressed with Allen's deepness. I ached to tell him that the real reason Allen was like this was because from the day he was born his brain was trained to look at everything in a logical, scientific way that covered all bases and accounted for every possible variable or limitation ever. (Later I got proof of this when Allen did every single calculus problem we had for homework in his head in under five minutes. He denied it, but I was pretty sure part of his brain was part computer).
Penn called me, asking if I wanted to hang out with Eason and Cade, two of our other friends. But the three of them were trouble, and besides, I was teaching an alien on how to blend in.
"You didn't call," Penn said. "I expected you to."
"I was busy," I told him as I dumped The Notebook, Titanic, Star Wars and most of the Harry Potter movies in a bag. I debated on the Breakfast Club or Forrest Gump while Penn went on about how he could've died.
"You were fine. You probably hooked up with some blond girl in the senior class, got high and crashed at Eason and Cade's. I hope you used protection and properly disposed of your joints."
Penn was silent for a moment, which gave me a chink to peer through in his normally tough facade. He was hurt, and I could tell by the way he started his sentence.
"No, I didn't," he replied. "I didn't have sex, I didn't smoke anything and I slept in my own bed. I waited for you to call."
"Okay, okay," I said. "I'm sorry, Penn. I really am. I knew I should've." But a space ship kinda crashed in the field and I had to do something about it. Sorry for being spontaneous and walking into the wreckage of the first UFO that's ever hit the U.S.
"It's alright," Penn said. "Can I see you later, though? I wanted to look at some new ink."
"Another tattoo?" I asked.
"Yes," Penn said. "So, can I?"
I hesitated. Allen needed my help, he really did. But Penn was my friend and here he was, asking me nicely to hang out with him.
"Please, Kali?" He asked, his voice a hair softer.
I blinked in surprise. Please. The only time I'd ever heard Penn say that word was to his grandmother, who was also the only person I've seen him show outward affection towards.
I was going to make a witty comeback about it, like Penn usually did. One time he got sharp with the wrong teacher which got him, like, ten detentions. He was all like --
"Kali?"
"Of course," I heard myself saying. "We can get a burger at Zee's." Penn loved those burgers. I didn't really prefer them, but it had been a really strange few days.
"Good," Penn said, back to being blunt and impossible to read. "I'll see you then."
He hung up. I decided on the Breakfast Club.
*****
Allen was exactly on time, exactly on the dot. I was sure he had it down to the nanosecond. I was glad I got to him when I did, because he had pulled up a screen. Yeah, not like a phone or whatever. Like, a floating-in-midair high-tech thingy that was so stereotypical alien that I rolled my eyes.
Then I freaked out. "Allen! Put that away!"
Allen turned towards me, startled. "What? Why? It is the least-advanced piece of technology that the drive fits into!"
"Least-advanced? Least-advanced? Allen, for fuck's sake, it's a fucking hovering screen!" I yelled, the swear words slipping into my sentences as I got worked up.
"Well-"
"Turn it off," I hissed. "Pull out your phone or something."
Allen's phone was the most normal part about him. It was about the size of an iPhone, so we found a case that fit it. But the interface was strange -- not to mention it was about three times more powerful than the most advanced computer on Earth.
Allen pulled out his phone. He had a contacts book, but all the names were a mixture of numbers and letter and the phone numbers were…odd, to say the least. Like, he didn't even have emojis. I'd put in my info, and he seemed confused by the "outdated telephone numerals." I reminded him that hello, you're on Earth.
"But I don't need it," Allen said.
"That's fine," I replied. "Just don't take out the floating screen again in public, okay?"
"Yes," Allen said. "Otherwise I shall attract hostility."
"And then be locked up in a lab for the rest of your life and experimented on," I informed him. "And you could do no research." I was joking (mostly) but I'd forgotten that Allen had a hard time finding the difference in tones and emotion. Which kind of made sense, seeing as he was here to research emotion.
He strode towards me, an intense look on his face. He got close, and I could feel something radiating off of him. Something totally not human.
"Do not joke about lack of research," he said, putting his hands firmly on my shoulders. He no longer smelled like metal, but something softer, breezier. It was nice.
But then he met my eyes, and all the blood rushed up into my head, making the world spin. But my eyes were locked on his as something tumultuous and angry and hurt bubbled behind them, practically turning the blue purple.
My knees went weak and I gasped for air. Allen caught me around my waist.
"Promise me, Kali. Do not joke about that."
"I promise," I got out, and Allen's eyes settled. "I will hold you to your word," he said, and the moment was over.
I realized very suddenly that he was very, very close.
I won't even tell you what ran through my mind. But Allen, being clueless as he was, retracted his hands. He stepped back. "Now, shall we go?"
****
Allen was right. I got nothing. Everything he said about the operating system and accessing the DFS and how this one computer was stupid because it still ran on hexadecimal and how this one over here didn't read the RAID right.
It made my brain hurt, to be honest. He was so picky and finicky about the computers, combing over each one to find out what state it was in. After around an hour, he declared them all unusable. He'd also simultaneously managed to memorize most of the first Star Wars movie. I also brought him up to speed on swear words. It looked like he was eating something nasty every time he said one.
I'd taught him about inappropriate jokes and brushed up his "ancient Internet" usage. He learned incredibly fast, which wasn't fair. It took me years to get through these movies, and here we are, starting on Psycho while Allen prepared a lab.
And boy, if I’d thought he was picky about the computers, he was straight up OCD about the lab equipment. Most of it looked like it was straight out of a futuristic novel, and the other parts from the underground lab of a mad scientist.
I checked the time. We’d been here for about four hours, and it was getting late. I paused the movie, making Allen turn away from the screen.
“Why did you stop it?” He asked. “It wasn’t done. I haven’t fully analyzed it yet.”
I sighed in exasperation. Throughout the whole Star Wars movie he’d jabbered on about how that wasn’t actually how space travel worked and how his planet was so fortified and technologically advanced that they didn’t even need guns. “You’re not supposed to analyze it. Just watch it and enjoy,” I said.
“This is what I don’t understand about humans,” Allen said. “Well, there’s a lot I do not grasp. But this mention of enjoyment, of doing something for nothing other than pleasure. Back at home, everything we do has a purpose. A meaning. It’s what had guided us this whole entire time. All the actions we take is for our hub, for our field of expertise.” Allen frowned and went back to entering data into his hovering screen.
“Hub? Field of expertise?” I asked, packing my computer away and pulling out my phone. Allen’s face lit up like it did when he talked about home.
“Look, Kali. I am getting excited,” he said.
I laughed at his enthusiasm. “Yeah you are.”
“When I say a hub, I mean the central planet. Eclorya’s mine -- the hub for all scientific developments. The hub is where all the major labs and trading centers are set up. There are usually three planets that revolve around the hub -- these are the residentials, where my people live.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “Separate planets for living?”
“They’re tiny,” Allen reassured me. “Only around a hundred million people per system. I live in System Three, which is science-based. System Two works towards technology and System One towards medical and health-based benefits. They’re the ones who invented the sustenance pills.”
“So three systems, each with a hub planet and some...resident planets?”
Allen nodded in confirmation. “I do realize that it is a lot to take in, but honestly, it’s a lot simpler than this complicated planet you call home.”
I was about to answer him when my phone buzzed.
PENN: I’m waiting, surfer girl.
I rolled my eyes.
KALI: Impatient, as always.
It was true. One time, we were waiting for the bus that took us to school. This was eighth grade and our middle school was in one of the further areas and we couldn’t walk like we did today. And Penn had slept over at Eason’s and Cade’s who were right by the bus stop so he was early. And then he had to wait more than five minutes and got so restless that I had to go over to him and it was really awkward because I had my hands --
My phone buzzed four more times. Two from Penn, one from Eason (apparently, he had finally found his phone) and another from Cade (I don’t know he got my number, especially after I deleted it after he tried to kiss me).
PENN: Not impatient.
KALI: Totally impatient, and u know it :)
The ones from the twins read:
EASON: Come on Kali Penn’s dying here
CADE: Get your ass over here so I can get a burger.
I sighed, and tossed my phone back into my bag.
“Popular person,” Allen commented, sounding almost dry.
“Allen!” I shrieked. “Were you almost-nearly-kind-of witty to me?”
“That’s too many adjectives,” he pointed out.
I whacked him in the shoulder, hard. I knew it wouldn’t hurt him because dude, Allen was strong. And fast. He said it was because of his body responding to the abundance of oxygen in the air, but I knew for an almost-fact that he had a six-pack and was certain of the muscle on his arms and legs.
Not that I checked him out, or anything.
“I have to go,” I said as another wave of texts flooded my phone. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Tonight, I hope,” Allen said. “I cannot sleep in here -- the central heating unit is broken and the beds are unsalvageable.”
I bit my lip, but a glance at Allen’s face, open and pleading, melted my resolve immediately. “Alright,” I said. “But you need to get out before my parents wake up.”
“Consider it completed.”
I smiled at him, before shouldering my bag. “Bye, Allen,”
“Mahalo,” he thanked me in Hawaiian. “You are a good person, Kali.”
There was a little pink in my cheeks when I walked out.
*****
I met Penn at Zee’s, which was the sweet shop as well as a diner and a gift shop. Zee, the thirty-something lady who owned it, was the nicest person in the world. I worked there sometimes when I was in a pinch for money, which after today, I was desperate for. They were sitting at the white counter on red vinyl stools. Eason and Cade, twins who looked identical down to their eyelashes, were next to him. The three contrasted so much -- Penn, dark-haired, dressed in black and slim, and Eason and Cade, blond and broad and bright. I’d texted Catelin to come help me pls boy situation so for now I steeled myself.
“Hey,” I said, walking up to them. I recognized Eason because he was wearing his shirt from the sporting goods store and it had his name on it, but also because he was smiling. He gave me a big hug, beaming at me.
“Kali,” he said, mock-serious. “I do believe that you are late.”
“Ten bucks say you were late too,” I responded, and poked him.
Eason sighed dreamily. “Yeah, I was with Jackson.”
“As in possible-boyfriend Jackson?”
“As in actual-boyfriend Jackson,” Eason told me. The first guy to come out at our school as gay, he was also the best quarterback we’d seen in fifteen years.
“Aww, Eas,” I said. “Congrats!”
Eason smiled, then turned to his brother as I sat down next to Penn. “See? She’s happy for me!”
Cade, whose expressions consisted mostly of what he thought was smoldering and what the girls called sexy, was wearing a gruff grin. “I said I was happy for you, man. I’m not a chick, though, so I’m not going to coo over you and give you a big hug.”
“I don’t coo,” I said. “Asshole.”
“Say that to me in Hawaiian, baby,” Cade responded smoothly.
“Don’t be a dick, Cade,” Penn said. I turned to him.
“Hi,” I said to him.
“Hey,” he responded, giving me a rare smile. “Nice to see you.”
I shoved his shoulder a little. “Pssh. You knew I’d come.”
Penn made an arrogant face. “Of course. So who’s the guy?”
I pressed my lips together, hating Penn’s bluntness for once. “He’s a transfer from New York. Catelin and I were just showing him around.”
Something odd flashed across Penn’s face for a fraction of a second. “Fine,” he responded, then tapped the silver bell. Zee came bustling over, her dark hair wispy in her face.
“Hey, Kali,” she said. “How’s it going?”
"Pretty good, Zee,” I said. “Thanks.”
She nodded at me. “Now, what can I getcha boys?”
I watched them order, too much on my mind. Allen, where he came from, what he was doing here and how exactly I’d get him through school. And Penn, who was acting weird and colder than usual.
But, being an idiot, I passed it off as nothing. It’d be fine. Allen would get his research, Penn was just going through a phase and I’d make it out without a scratch.
Heh. As if.
----
Vote please and comment please. It means more than you can imagine.