“It’s so strange to feel so strongly about two women who are so different. Sometimes, I wish the situation were different. But it’s not, and it’s wrong of me to think that.”
“So, stop.”
“You don’t know how much I wish I could.”
“You said it yourself, Cy. You love me… as a friend. I had a friend once that I loved that much. She was like a sister to me. And then I had Benji. And now I have you…for a few more hours at least.”
“You’re an incredible human. I shouldn’t be surprised that the way I feel about you is so confusing.”
“Love is the most overused word in the English language. It’s confusing to everyone. Some people live their whole lives and never get it right.”
“Thank you. I don’t think I would have truly understood if I hadn’t met you.”
“Well, how about that? I finally get to be the one to say, you’re welcome.”
Chapter Eighteen
I’D FOUND MYSELF IN WONDERLAND, a place where the impossible wasn’t pretend anymore. A time when death was temporary and believing that humans were the only intelligent beings was nothing less than arrogant. Secret government organizations and spaceships. The end of the world.
When I peeled my eyes open, it was the first time that my dreams were more realistic than real life. It was also the first time I felt Benji Reynolds draped over me like a blanket and wished I could stay there forever.
The humans were still on the floor, and the aliens were awake, testing the equipment. It at least appeared to be working. Now, they were trying to calibrate it so Hamech’s ship could pick up the frequency.
I wriggled out from under Benji and joined the others in the booth. “How’s it going?”
“Almost there,” Apolonia said, a trace of a smile on her face.
“Would you care? If we all were blown to smithereens?” I asked and immediately regretted it. “Wow. I don’t even know why I said that.”
Cy looked to Apolonia, but he wasn’t annoyed. “Didn’t I tell you? She loves danger.”
“Clearly,” Apolonia said, still smiling slightly.
“Did someone somehow procure coffee this morning? You’re both questionably chipper.”
Tsavi laughed once and then covered her mouth. “No. We just enjoyed watching your snuggle time with Benji.”
My cheeks instantly set fire. “Glad we could entertain you.” Embarrassing, yes, but it was good to see Apolonia and Cy in a better place.
Dr. Z hobbled from his pallet, stretching, yawning, farting, and groaning. “I’ve had worse nights, but that was brutal for this old man.”
He sat on the worn red fabric of the rolling DJ’s chair and took the headphones from Apolonia. A look of disgust replaced her smile.
Dr. Z scratched his whiskers, and his eyes squinted at the control panel. “We need to redirect the signal, yes?”
“Correct,” Cy said. “We’ve tried diverting the beam with unsuccessful results.”
“What about transfiguring it to a microwave frequency?” Benji asked, pulling his coat tighter around him.
“Transfiguration…” Dr. Z pondered Benji’s idea for a bit and then looked up at Cy. “It’s worth a try.”
While Cy and Dr. Z began working with renewed enthusiasm, Benji and I stood back. I had been sick and cold since we arrived at the radio station and hadn’t eaten any real food in almost twenty-four hours. I was happy to let them figure it out.
“Their moods seem strangely upbeat,” Benji said quietly.
“Last night’s spooning likely satisfied the warrior princess that I wasn’t after her fiancé.”
“Oh. So, they’re engaged?”
“Allegedly.”
“And how do you feel about this alleged engagement?”
I turned to Benji. “I feel fine. Do we have any water left?”
“We do,” he said, pulling a bottle from behind him and holding it out to me. “See? You do need people.”
“It’s not a good thing.” I glanced at Cy. “As you can see, they just leave.”
“I won’t,” Benji said without hesitation. “I’ll be here for as long as you’ll let me.”
I pulled up one side of my mouth, trying to form some sort of a smile. Snuggles was rubbing up against Benji’s leg. “Must be time for breakfast.”
Benji made me take the water. “Try drinking this first.”
I took a sip.
“Does this earn me a first date?”
“I f**k on the first date, so nope,” I said, walking to the back of the building.
“You do not,” Benji called after me.
Any moment, Cy and the professor would make the magic connection to allow Apolonia to make contact with her father. They would save the world without anyone knowing. Hamech would float down in his king-sized space module and pick them up. They would locate the rock and then dispose of it at the Bad Rock Disposal. Cy and Apolonia would be married quickly after that—however long it took them to get home—and they would have two-point-five beautiful and hostile alien babies.
Dr. Z would go back to campus and find something else to obsess about. Benji would go back to living alone at Charlie’s—unless he kept the cat—and I would keep being Dr. Z’s research assistant…and maybe even grow out my hair. Maybe.
How could we experience something so life-changing, only to return to our mundane existence? Although, maybe it was more likely that the professor, Benji, and I would be arrested and sent to federal prison, but not before Apolonia’s daddy blows us all to hell.
For some strange reason, I was more okay with the latter. I glanced over at Benji. No, it wouldn’t be okay. Maybe it just made more sense for something bad to happen to me.
I looked over my shoulder at Cy and Apolonia standing very close but not touching. Tsavi stood over Dr. Z, watching him work. Benji was across the room, fiddling with the ugly cat. We were all connected, and this group made sense in a weird, hodgepodge way. We were six people who had no business being in each other’s lives, much less caring about one another, but decisions were made years ago that shaped us like puzzle pieces, and now, we fit together.
“I, uh…I think I have something. I think I have something! Quiet!” Dr. Z said, holding his hand in the air.
Cy leaned over Dr. Z, speaking Ahnktesh quickly but beautifully into the microphone.
I walked toward the front area, but before I made it to the doorway, a loud boom threw me in the opposite direction. I landed on my back. A terrible high-pitched ringing in my ears drowned out all other noise. A few seconds later, Benji was above me, his face covered in dust and dirt, and small pieces of debris littered his hair. He was speaking, but I couldn’t hear him above the ringing.