Starstruck

Chapter 9b: Eccentricities (part 2)

CHAPTER 9

Eccentricities (part 2)

Rigel walked me to French class, though in the crowded hallway we couldn't continue our earlier conversation. Still, it felt good--physically good--just to be by his side again for a couple of minutes. I hoped he felt the same.

Bri and Deb didn't get a chance to assault me with questions again until after school, when I met them outside the bus to borrow Bri's phone for a quick call to the answering machine at home.

"Okay," Bri demanded the second I hung up, "what's the deal? Are you guys 'official' yet?"

I shrugged. "Maybe kinda?" I offered. Bri's eye's narrowed threateningly, so I elaborated--a little. "We haven't really talked about it, but it . . . feels right. Like we're supposed to be together."

"Hm." Bri still didn't look satisfied, but I wasn't sure what else I could tell her without straying into dangerous territory.

"It's not like they've had any alone time except at school," Deb pointed out. I sent her a grateful glance. "What about the game at Springdale tomorrow night? Did he ask you to come?"

"Not yet," I admitted, "but I got the impression he'd like me to." Okay, it was more than an impression, but he hadn't directly asked me to go, so I wasn't lying.

"You can ride with us," Bri offered. "We'll probably go early."

"Um, sure, thanks. Oh, on the off chance my aunt calls, don't answer. I just told her we all stayed after school for a project."

"Yeah, okay. Oops, bus is about to go. Talk later!" I thought she still sounded a little ticked.

As soon as they were on the bus, I hurried to the stadium, eager to see Rigel again, even though we'd only been apart a couple of hours.

He was waiting when I got there, with a blue sheet of plastic in his hands. "Thought you might want this, since the bleachers are still wet. I was starting to worry you couldn't make it. Everything cool at home?"

"Thanks," I said, taking the plastic, touched by his thoughtfulness. "I left a message for my aunt, so it should be fine." I didn't tell him I'd fudged on why I was staying after. "Shouldn't you be out on the field?"

"Yeah. I just . . . wanted to see you first." He smiled into my eyes and touched my cheek, sending an impossibly delicious shiver through me. "We'll talk a little after, okay?"

I nodded. I wasn't going nonverbal around him as often as I used to, but that touch temporarily undid me.

I had the bleachers to myself today, what with the wet and all. Like before, I dug some homework out of my backpack, but since this was the first chance I'd had since lunch to spend any uninterrupted time thinking, that's what I did first.

Some things that had puzzled me made a little more sense now. Like his reaction when Nicole had used my old "Marsha the Martian" nickname. I nearly laughed out loud, remembering how rattled he'd been. How funny was that, someone calling me a Martian, when Rigel really was one!

And the bit with Trina and the glue. He probably did have super hearing, though I hadn't asked him about it yet, since I'd been a little distracted by more important revelations. Then there was the matter of our first touch and the way he'd freaked out about it. I still needed to do some thinking on that one, but the boys were out on the field now, so I spent the next half hour or so feasting my eyes on Rigel in motion, before finally, reluctantly, applying myself to my homework.

I was nearly finished reading Lord of the Flies--my reading speed had increased, too, which was a nice surprise--when Rigel joined me.

"So, what do you think?" he asked, nodding at the book.

"It's definitely not something I'd read if I didn't have to," I said, stuffing the book into my backpack and standing up. "Not only is it kind of gross, but I don't like thinking humans are naturally so savage--even if it's true."

"Yeah, it wasn't one of my faves either, though I thought some of the jungle stuff was kind of cool." He fell into step next to me as we headed toward the buses.

"That's because you're a guy," I said with a little laugh. But then I frowned up at him. "So, do your, um, people see us that way? As savages?"

He looked a little wary. "Some do," he admitted. "Definitely not all, though."

That reminded me of something else I'd wondered about. "Are there a lot of . . . Martians here? On Earth, I mean. Or in Jewel, for that matter?"

"Not a lot, I don't think. Maybe a few thousand? I'm pretty sure my parents and I are the only ones here in Jewel, though."

"A few thousand?" That sounded like a lot to me. "How did they get here? And how long have they been here?" I found myself starting to doubt again. It just seemed so unlikely.

He seemed to sense that. "It's all kind of complicated. Tell you what--how about you come over to my house tomorrow after school? My parents can explain some of the more technical stuff if you want, and then you can ride to the game with us."

"You don't have to take the team bus?" I asked, partly to hide my excitement that he'd actually asked me to his house. That seemed huge, somehow.

Rigel shrugged. "I'm supposed to, but Coach said if I bring a note from my folks and get there when the team does he could let it slide this once."

I suspected the coach was willing to let Rigel slide on almost anything to keep him happy--and on the team.

"I'll ask. I don't think my aunt and uncle will mind." Especially if I told them I was going with Bri instead, which would avoid awkward questions.

"Cool. Let me know if there's a problem and I can ask my mom to call your aunt."

The way he said it made me wonder if he knew what I was planning. Rather than make any promises, I changed the subject.

"So, that resonance thing you say we have--graell?--when did you figure that out?"

He slanted a slightly embarrassed look down at me. "I, um, sort of suspected it that first time I touched you last week. Definitely not before that."

"Oh, wow, no wonder you freaked. I mean, if it's so super rare even among--you know." I glanced around but no one was close enough to hear us. "Then it's probably supposed to be totally impossible with a regular Earthling, huh?"

Rigel opened his mouth, then closed it, then said, "Probably. Yet here we are." His smile looked a little forced. "Would you, um, mind not mentioning it to my folks when you talk to them tomorrow?" he said then.

"Because they might flip out?" That hurt a tiny bit, but I sure couldn't blame them--or blame Rigel for worrying about it. "No, I won't say anything."

"Thanks. We'll obviously have to tell them sometime, but--"

"No, it's okay, really." We'd reached the buses by then. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah." He touched my cheek like he had before practice, and his smile held a longing that squeezed my heart. "Tomorrow."

As I boarded my bus, I wondered if it was wrong of me to hope he'd miss me as much as I was going to miss him.

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