The Visitors (18 page)

I ignored the captain's orders to move to the center of the ship for take-off. Vaguely, I heard the countdown on the speaker. We had somewhat of a rough start as the spaceship shook violently, making me grasp the cushioned chair to keep my balance. But I wasn't alarmed the way I normally would have been. I didn't care if we crashed.

In just minutes, the violent shaking stopped and the flight became smooth. Resuming my sitting position, I went back to staring at the wall when there was a knock on the small door to my cabin. I tried to ignore it, but the knock only got louder and more persistent. Finally, I sighed. “What?” I called in a not-so-nice tone that would let the intruder know that I was in no mood to speak to anyone.

The door opened halfway and Luke popped his head inside. “Jady, I have to tell you something.”

“Not right now, Luke,” I said in an exasperated manner, keeping my eyes focused on the wall. “I just want to be alone.”

“This can't wait,” he said as he pushed the door the rest of the way open. “There's someone who wants to see you.”

I rolled my eyes as I turned to face him with raised eyebrows. “Luke, I'm not in the mood…” Suddenly, my body froze, and my mouth snapped shut. Goose bumps covered my body and my heart rate quickened. My limbs grew cold, but my palms began to sweat. Standing behind Luke, with that familiar dimpled smile spread across his face, was Noah!

“Noah!” I jumped out of my chair and started toward him, but stopped. “Is it really you? You're okay! But I thought…” My words were a jumbled mess. I had no idea how to make sense of what was happening. It couldn't be possible!

“It's really me,” he said. His eyes lit up the room. I jumped into his arms, letting the tears stream down my face and soak his shirt as I kissed him repeatedly. I forgot that Luke was watching as I kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his chin, his neck, his lips.

Finally I pulled away, still in shock. “I don't understand. Why did everyone let me believe you were dead?”

“You should probably let Luke explain everything,” Noah said as he looked at Luke with a smile.

Luke was standing beside us with his hands shoved in his pockets, grinning sheepishly. “Well, here's what happened. Lucy started to attempt the surgery, but she could tell right away that she would not be able to disconnect the chip without shutting down his entire body. It just wasn't possible. She left him out cold in the lab before she came to me in the early morning hours to ask for my help.

“She explained to the whole crew that Noah had died during surgery and that she needed me to help her take his body to be cremated before Sir Andrew found him, because otherwise his body would not be honored properly. So, I reluctantly went to help her, thinking the whole time that I was going to help her cremate him, but I found out once we reached the lab that he was not dead. That's when she asked me to help her with a dangerous plan she had devised, because she felt I was the only one who could make the plan work. To make a very long story short, I had to help her take Noah's sleeping body and get it safely hidden in our spaceship. We then had to create a lifelike body out of some kind of weird stuff that looked sort of like clay and make sure it was cremated properly. It had to be the same weight and everything as Noah so that it would be believable. That job took quite a while.

“We knew that Noah would wake up at around noon, and would need someone there to explain to him what had happened. I made sure I was on the ship, pretending to make early preparations for our departure. Once Noah finally woke up, I gave him a run-down of what had happened and told him to stay silent and not move until I came and told him it was safe. And now, here he is.” Luke finally took a breath after telling us his story, and he beamed with pride. He was obviously quite pleased with himself for what he had pulled off.

I knew my eyes were still wide with disbelief while I absorbed the story. “So, no one knew about this except for you and Lucy?”

“Nope,” he said with a boyish grin.

“And here I've been suffering all day!” I shouted at him, though I wasn't mad.

“It had to be that way, Jady,” he said calmly. “We couldn't let anyone know what we had done. If Sir Andrew would have found out, you can only imagine what would have happened to Lucy…”

“I know,” I told him before he could finish the sentence. “Luke, thank you so much! I can't believe you did this!” As I walked toward him with outstretched arms, ready to envelop him, he held out his hands to stop me.

“Wait, Jady. Don't thank me yet.” The smile was gone from his face as he looked away from me.

I stopped where I was and put my hands back down at my sides. “What's wrong?” My good mood was put on hold as a knot pulled in my stomach. “What is it, Luke?”

“It's my fault that Sir Andrew found out about the two of you in the first place. I told him.” He avoided the eye contact of both me and Noah as he spoke. “It made me so mad that you were sneaking around together, and I thought that if I told him, he could stop it and the rest of the trip would be fine. Please believe me when I say that I had no idea that all of this would happen.”

I stared at Luke in shock. “
You
told him?” I remembered how I had stupidly insisted to Noah that Luke couldn't have possibly been responsible for Sir Andrew's knowledge of the two of us. Never had I dreamed he would be capable of doing something like that.

“I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone; I just wanted the two of you to stop. And I know this doesn't help, but I truly believe that he already knew before I came to him. He didn't seem surprised or anything. It felt like I was just confirming what he already knew.”

“What were you thinking?” My voice came out as a choked whisper. “How could you do that to me, Luke? You're supposed to be my best friend!” I put my hand on my forehead as I turned away from him. “A best friend would never do something like this. Why couldn't you just let me be happy?”

“Because it wasn't right! And to be honest, I still don't think it's right! The two of you together…it's not natural!” His eyebrows furrowed as he pleaded his point.

“Oh, please, Luke. Since when did you earn the right to judge what's right and what's not? I can't believe you would be so…so…so closed-minded!” I stopped my pacing and shoved him. “You're unbelievable!”

Noah grabbed my arms before I could shove him again. “Jady, calm down,” he said in his soothing, musical voice. “I think we need to focus on the positive here. Luke undid his mistake. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here with you.”

He had a point, but it didn't make me feel any better. “You almost got him killed,” I said with clenched teeth.

“I know,” Luke said in a pained voice. “But that was never my plan. I didn't want that, and Lucy knew it. She knew I had told Sir Andrew, but she could see how much pain I was in because of what I had done. That's why she approached me with the plan. Lucy let me fix what I had messed up. Plus, if I was the one involved in cremating Noah's body, Sir Andrew would definitely believe it. He knew that no one in our crew hated Noah the way I did, and if I told him he was dead, it would convince him. No way would he ever suspect me of helping him live. It worked out perfectly.”

Noah nodded politely to Luke. “Thank you, Luke. You saved my life.” He obviously was not holding a grudge against him, and I guessed I shouldn't either. What was the point? The important thing was that the love of my life was standing next to me, alive and healthy.

I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, thanks, Luke. I'm still not over the fact that you told on us in the first place, and I'm not sure I will ever be. But thanks for making it right. You put yourself in a lot of danger by doing this.”

Luke smiled slightly. “It was the least I could do. And I promise I won't stand in your way anymore. It's not up to me, and I realize that now. I never should have tried to stop it in the first place.”

Noah reached out to shake his hand. “I appreciate that, Luke. And I am very grateful that you are going to allow me to live with you as your ‘cousin.' This opportunity is very important to me.”

Luke shook his hand with a nod. “Hey, no problem. Like I said, this is the least I can do.”

“Hey,” I said as a thought occurred to me, “if Lucy couldn't detach your chip that means she couldn't take away the honor you received. So you still won't age.”

Noah sighed as his smile disappeared. “Yeah. I've already considered that. I'm not sure how we're going to hide that from your world.”

I smiled. “I'm not going to let those small details spoil my good mood. We will figure out what to do. When I start to look a little older, and you're still young and handsome, we will move somewhere else. I'm okay with that. We can move all over the Earth, and maybe to other planets too, someday. We'll make it work.”

Noah kissed my forehead. “I know we will.”

I turned to meet Luke's gaze while Noah put his arm around my shoulder. “The rest of the crew still doesn't know I'm here. We should probably go tell them. I'm surprised no one has come to check on us yet, with all the arguing that's been going on in here.”

Luke smiled. “Ah, they're used to it with me and Jady. We fight all the time.”

I couldn't help but smile back at him. “Yeah, we really do. Like brother and sister.”

He cringed at my last comment. I knew he wished he could change the fact that I thought of him as a brother, but he didn't respond. There was nothing he could do to change my feelings.

“Well, let's go get everyone together. We can tell them everything that happened and make sure all the plans are still in place for making you a citizen as soon as we get back. There will be a lot of work to do when we get home,” I told Noah while I wrapped my arm around his waist and squeezed his side. “First on the list: getting you some normal clothes!”

Noah faked shock at my lame joke. “My coverings are normal.”

I blew my breath up towards my forehead to move the piece of hair that had fallen into my eye. “Like I said, we'll have a lot of work to do when we get home. Getting you ready to face high school won't be easy. You'll have to pretend to care about all the petty stuff that regular kids care about.”

Noah laughed. “You guys will have to coach me. I want to blend in.”

“We will,” I assured him. “Now let's go talk to the crew.” I linked my arm through his and started to walk out the door, but then I remembered Luke still standing behind us awkwardly. “Come on, Luke,” I said as I motioned for him to join us. He grinned and caught up to us as I linked my other arm through his. The three of us walked out of my room together and to the center of the spaceship to call the others.

An old expression came to mind – the one about winning the battle, but not winning the war – and I realized how true it was of our future. Just because we had outsmarted Sir Andrew didn't mean our lives were going to be perfect. I knew things weren't always going to be easy. Noah and I were going to have many challenges to face and more dangers to overcome. But whatever adventures life was going to throw at me, I knew I could handle them. To keep Noah by my side, I was ready to take on the universe.

Katy Newton Naas
graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in English Education and a master's degree in Reading and Language Studies. She currently teaches middle school reading and high school English in southern Illinois, as well as children's church. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, including her husband, her young son, Aven, and her four-legged sons, Shakespeare and Poe.

From a young age, Katy was always an avid reader and writer with a big imagination. Though she continues to grow older, her true literature love is and has always been young adult fiction. She loves creating both futuristic and realistic stories about teenagers, and feels so fortunate to get to work with them every day as a teacher.

Chapter One

Neighbors

Bright headlights turning the corner interrupted my study of the constellations. Who would be roaming my neighborhood at three in the morning? I sat up and felt the rough shingles brush against my bare calves. I looked over the edge of the roof and watched the car as it passed. It pulled into the driveway at the house Celia had moved out of last month. Had it sold?

The car's headlamps turned off, and a man stepped out from the driver's side. He glanced right, then left, and walked over to the streetlight and placed a hand on the metal post. The bulb flickered before going out completely. The light from further down the street was fine. Had he done something to this one? Impossible. It had to be a fluke.

The passenger door opened, and I realized the car's interior lights weren't on. A second man got out. Though I couldn't see him as clearly as the first, there was enough light to make out a few things. His body appeared big and strong, but something about it gave me the impression of youth. He couldn't be more than twenty, a thought my seventeen-year-old mind found intriguing. He did a visual sweep of the area and walked toward the two-story house. He pulled keys out and opened the front door, then disappeared inside while the first man moved back to the idling car.

The lights in the house turned on one by one as if the guy inside were entering each room. Soon the stranger exited the house and strode purposefully toward the car. He slowed as he neared it then looked directly at me. Gooseflesh covered my arms, and I held my breath as if that could keep me hidden. It would be impossible for him to see me in the dark, but I didn't move a muscle just in case. He motioned for the other man to join him then pointed at my roof. The first guy shook his head, and after a moment the younger man turned to the car.

He opened the back door and helped a young woman out of the car. He rushed her to the house, and the two disappeared inside. A second woman got out of the car while the man who'd touched the lamppost opened the trunk. They grabbed luggage and vanished into the house, leaving me once again alone with my stars.

****

“Mom, did you know someone moved into Celia's house?” I asked.

“Really? I hadn't heard it sold.” Mom put a plate in the dishwasher. “Grab that cup for me, Holly.”

I handed her the cup, trying to cover a huge yawn. “I saw some people go in there last night.”

“Maybe we should take them a plate of cookies to welcome them to the neighborhood.” Mom pulled ingredients out of the cupboard and set them on the counter. “We'll make some after work.”

I shook my head. “Mom, we can't do that.”

Mom looked at me as if I was crazy. “Of course we can. We do that for all the new neighbors.”

“But these people are…” I couldn't help thinking of the light going out or the way the one guy had seemed to look right at me. “Different.”

“I'm sure they are just like anyone else.” Mom went about her normal morning ritual, and I knew it would be useless to argue about the cookies.

“Can I drive today?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

Mom hesitated.

“Come on,” I pleaded. “I only hit one trash can, and it didn't even dent the car. I paid to get the paint touched up too. I'll be careful.” That scratch had prevented me from having a new telescope already.

Mom's sigh spoke volumes.

I grinned and grabbed the keys from the hook on my way out the door. Mom slid into the passenger side and put her seatbelt on with exaggerated care. I clicked mine into place and backed out smoothly. Mom released the breath she'd been holding. I checked my mirror and stomped on the brake, jamming the gear into park. The younger guy from last night guided a moving van from an upscale furniture store into the driveway of Celia's old house.

Daylight certainly was good to him. His blond hair and broad shoulders were just begging to be stared at. I glanced at Mom then shifted the car into drive. I peeked at the rearview mirror as I pulled forward. The expression on his face as he stared at my house didn't look promising.

True to her word, Mom made chocolate chip cookies after we got home from the family-owned plant nursery. I wrapped the plate in cheap cellophane and attached a strip of tape across the bottom to hold it together. I ran upstairs to clean up a bit before Mom made me go meet the hot neighbor. I re-did my ponytail, capturing the strands that had escaped. I double-checked to make sure I didn't have any smears of dirt or potting soil on my face. A clean shirt and touched-up lip gloss completed my makeover before I went downstairs to wait for Mom.

“You can take these over on your own if you want,” she said. “I'll stay and finish the last two batches.”

I hesitated. Having a chance to see that guy without Mom was tempting. She'd probably tell me afterward what I could have done or said to be more friendly, or smoother, or more polite, or whatever. Yet, going alone meant I had to do all the talking, and what if they recognized me? I decided to wait for Mom. A simple smile and a shrug would let him know I did it to humor her, if he thought we were crazy. And with Mom there to do the talking, I could watch and see if anything else weird happened.

We stepped out into the warm June evening and made our way across the street.

“Holly!”

I cringed inside when Curtis hollered at me. He waved the cloth he'd been polishing his classic muscle car with. Since Mom was with me, I couldn't just pretend I hadn't heard him. I waved back and continued on down the street.

“Why don't you and Curtis hang out like you used to?” Mom asked.

I shrugged. “We don't like the same kinds of things.”
Plus, his hands roam way too much when he's close by.

Mom frowned and shook her head.

The moving van was gone and the house had an occupied feel to it again. Funny what a curtain could do to a home. The yard had a few dead spots of grass and weeds in the flower bed. Good thing Dad wasn't with us or he'd give them his business card.

Mom slowed down and let me walk up the stairs first. She could have done the welcome-to-the-neighborhood spiel but kept forcing me to practice interacting with people. Apparently since my best friend had moved across the country last month, she thought I needed to get out more.

I ignored the doorbell and used the brass knocker they had added. It felt strange to be knocking. Celia and I had felt at home in either house. A slight movement of the curtain caught my eye. A shadow crossed the half-moon window above the knocker. My nerves rose and I took a deep breath to calm them. I looked up to meet deep blue eyes peering out the window.

The door opened and I was shocked to find the hot guy frowning at me. Close up, he was amazing. The combination of his gorgeous face and the expression on it stole my planned speech. He looked me over with unveiled annoyance, and my irritation rose. He didn't even know me, and already I felt like summer break was over and I was back at school.

“What do you want?” His deep voice had an accent I couldn't place.

“I, uh, I'm Holly Adams. This is my mom, Susan. We live down the street a little ways, and my mom — I mean — we thought it would be fun to welcome you to the neighborhood.” I stopped and cleared my throat.

I still held the plate of cookies. He looked down when I thrust them at him. “Here. These are for you.” He reached to take them and when our fingers touched, the same shiver I felt last night as I watched them hit me. I pulled my hands back and shoved them into my pockets.

He stared at the cookies then at me, confusion evident on his face. I glanced back at my mom for help. She smiled, but it looked a little forced. Maybe she'd think twice before making me bring cookies to any new neighbors again. Guess the visit wasn't a total bust.

Turning back to him, I waited awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. If we waited long enough, Mom might say something. He glanced behind him then stepped into the center of the doorway, blocking my view of a girl gliding toward us.

“Who is it, Jai?” the girl asked. Her accent was thicker than his. He didn't say anything, just stood his ground. She was almost as tall as he was, so it was easy for her to peek around him. Her hair was a little darker than mine, and her green eyes were brighter. I'd need a team of personal stylists to look that good.

“Oh, how nice. Some neighbors have brought treats.” She smiled. “I am Amira, and you have met my brother, Jai.” She patted him on the shoulder and pushed him gently out of the way. He moved over without a fight, but didn't seem happy about her being there.

So he was her brother. That kind of surprised me, yet made me smile inside. Hopefully he wouldn't always be such a jerk. I took in his muscular body, thinking he was definitely fit. He probably played some sport. If so, he wouldn't want anything to do with me and my nerdiness.

“I'm Holly,” I said again. “And this is my mom, Susan. We live in the house over there with the big maple tree in the front yard.” I pointed it out. Jai frowned even deeper. I could see his eyes flit from the house to me and then up to the roof.

Amira glanced from me to Jai. She turned to me. “Were you out late last night, by any chance?”

Mom looked at me. “Were you up on the roof again?”

“Mars looked the best between two and four this morning.” I felt defensive for some reason, but also a little embarrassed that I had to explain my odd hobby to these new neighbors.

“Astronomy!” Jai blurted. That single word sent a slight shiver through me. “You like the stars?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “There's nothing wrong with that.”

“Of course not.” He nodded. “I am just surprised someone like you would find them interesting.”

Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean?

Amira placed her hand on Jai's shoulder and called behind her into the house. “Mother, Marshal, come meet some of our new neighbors,” Amira said, her words clipped and short. “They brought us something.” She lifted the plate of cookies, and I could see the tape had come undone.

The other two from last night came to the door much quicker than my parents would have. She introduced us to her mother, Delilah, and her stepfather, Marshal. Jai and Amira didn't look anything like Delilah. They must have gotten their height and features from their other father. I looked at Marshal and couldn't help looking back to the streetlight. I heard a sharp intake of breath and turned to see Jai and Amira staring at me.

Amira peeled the plastic off the cookies and took a bite. “These are delicious. Thank you.” She passed one to everyone, including us. After the first round she tried to offer the still-full plate back to me.

I glanced at Mom and was relieved when she stepped forward. “Do you need any help moving in?”

Delilah and Marshal looked at her for a moment with furrowed brows. “No. Thank you, but we have finished unpacking.”

Mom talked to the adults while I watched Jai and Amira. We didn't say anything, but Amira continued to smile wide while Jai's frown deepened. He looked over at her — sometimes with eyebrows raised, sometimes with them furrowed. She rolled her eyes slightly, and he shook his head, causing her smile to be replaced with a frown. She narrowed her eyes at him. He chewed on his bottom lip as he looked at her, then he glanced over at me. A frown returned to his face, and Amira forced a smile again.

“It was kind of you to bring over a welcome gift. We are relieved to have moved into a friendly area. I hope to see you again soon, Holly,” Amira said.

She extended her hand to me, and I took it in a gentle grip. She stepped to the side and motioned Jai forward. I thought it strange how she seemed to be in charge.

Jai offered me his hand. A wristband with a black, circular stone embedded in the weave of the leather braid caught my eye.

“It is nice to meet you.” Jai raised his chin, looking down on me.

I placed my hand in his, feeling a mild tingle while we touched. Did he feel it too? He didn't seem bothered at all.
I must be imagining it
. He gripped my hand as if testing my strength. I squeezed his hand back in response, daring him to think of me as weak.

His eyes widened. I didn't blink. He smiled a crooked smile that did a funny thing to my heart's rhythm. A scar in the upper right side of his lip accentuated his otherwise perfect mouth. As intriguing as his smile was, it didn't reach his watchful eyes. They were an interesting shade of blue; darker around the inside near the pupil and lightening as the iris extended out, somehow making his eyes seem bigger than normal.

“Nice to meet you too,” I said when he let go of my hand.

I rubbed my palm with the fingers from my other hand. The tingle faded away, but my mind lingered on it. I watched him closely while Mom wrapped up her conversation with his parents. They retreated into the house with Jai closing the door. A glance back showed his head visible through the half-moon window.

“Well, that was odd.” Mom glanced back at the house as we walked home. “But at least the girl is your age. You two could be friends.”

“Mom, just ‘cause Celia moved doesn't mean I need to replace her. I'm fine on my own.”

“But don't you think you might have fun doing something with kids your age?”

“I do stuff.” I preferred to be with someone who didn't judge me. Celia had tolerated my obsession with the stars. Curtis told me I was nuts, but still wouldn't leave me alone. At school most people thought I was a snob for choosing homework over hanging out or parties, but if I was going to get into a good college, I needed to maintain my 4.0.

“Sweetie, you spend most of your time looking at the stars.” Mom perked up momentarily. “Jai sounded interested in them. Maybe you two could have something to talk about.”

I nodded to appease her but doubted Jai would ever talk to me on purpose.