It was also day two of no pen pokes.

On the other hand, Simon kept glancing over his shoulder throughout class. Needing a distraction, I glared at his head. A slow flush crept over the back of his neck. He could feel me drilling holes into his head. Ha. Jerk-face.

Brown hair curled against the faintly flushed skin. He normally kept it cut close to the skull. I supposed he was in need of a haircut, since most boys around here didn’t let their hair grow more than an inch or two. The dull gray shirt he wore stretched over his broad shoulders as he tensed under my stare. He glanced over his shoulder at me.

I arched a brow.

Simon turned back stiffly, and his shoulders rose as he took a deep breath. Annoyance flared and my fingers burned. The tool had half the school thinking I was easy. My attention fell back to the book in front of him.

The heavy English text flipped off the desk, smacking Simon right in the face.

My mouth dropped open as I sat back. Holy crap…

Jumping up, he stared at the book now lying on the floor as if it were some kind of creature he’d never seen before. Our teacher’s eyes narrowed as he searched for the source of the disruption.

“Mr. Cutters, is there something you would like to share with the class?” he asked in a tired, bored voice.

“W-what?” Simon stuttered. He looked around frantically, and then his eyes settled on the book. “No, I knocked my book off the desk. Sorry.”

He let out a loud sigh. “Well, then pick it up.”

There were a few scattered chuckles from the other students. Simon was beet red as he swiped the book off the floor. He placed it in the middle of his desk and continued staring at it.

After the class settled down and the teacher turned back to the chalkboard, Daemon poked me with his pen. I twisted around.

“What was that?” he whispered, eyes narrowed. There was no mistaking the amusement in the tilt to his lips, though. “Very bad kitty…”

…

Blake arrived to bio minutes before the bell. He was wearing a vintage Super Mario Bros. shirt today. “You look…”

“Like crap?” I supplied, resting my cheek on my fist. I had no idea how to prepare myself for seeing him after the branch issue. Playing it cool wasn’t something I was particularly skilled at.

“I was going to say tired.” His eyes narrowed as he watched me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Look, about yesterday? I’m sorry I freaked out. The branch—”

“Scared you?” he said, eyes locked onto mine. “It’s no big deal. It shocked me, too. It all happened quickly, but I’d swear that branch stopped.” He tilted his head to the side. “Like it was suspended for a few seconds.”

“I…” What was I supposed to say? Deny. Deny. Deny. “I don’t know. Maybe the wind caught it or something.”

“Yeah, maybe. Anyway, the big party is coming up.”

I smiled faintly, relieved at the change in topic. Would it be that easy? Damn. I was a better liar than Daemon gave me credit for. “You coming?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Good.” I toyed with my pen, remembering what Daemon had said about not hanging out with Blake. Screw that. “I’m glad you’re coming.”

Blake’s smile was infectious. We chatted for a little while about the party, waiting for class to begin. A couple of times, his hand brushed mine. I doubted it was on accident. And I liked that. There wasn’t anything forcing him to do it, except that maybe he wanted to touch me. He seemed to like me all on his own, and that made him a thousand times more attractive. And, well, that boyish smile of his helped. I could see him shirtless, surfing the waves. He was totally dateable.

Taking a deep breath, I did something I rarely ever did. “You can stop by my place first, before the party, if you want?”

His lashes lowered, fanning his golden cheeks. “That sounds cool. Like a date?”

I flushed. “Yeah, kind of. I guess you can say that.”

Blake leaned in, his breath surprisingly cool on my cheeks. Minty. “I’m not sure I like the ’kind of’ thing. I like the idea of calling it a date.”

My gaze flicked up, meeting his. The little specks of green in his eyes were nowhere near as vibrant as Daemon’s—why was I even thinking about him? “We can call it a date.”

He sat back. “Sounds better.”

I smiled, glancing down at my notebook. A date—not dinner-and-the-movies kind of date—but a date nonetheless. We exchanged numbers. I gave him directions. Excitement bubbled through me. I snuck a look at him. He was watching me with a crooked smile on his face.

Oh, the party just got a whole lot more interesting.

I refused to think about what Daemon would do when he saw me arrive with Blake. A small part of me wondered if I’d asked Blake just to find out.

…

Curled up on my couch after school on Thursday, Dee toyed with a ring on her finger and kept her voice low due to Mom sleeping upstairs. “The new boy seems to really have the hots for you.”

I plopped down beside her. “You think so?”

Dee smiled, but it was off. “Yeah, I think so. I’m surprised you’re actually okay with him coming to the party. I really thought…”

“You thought what?”

Her gaze skittered away. “I just thought there might be something between you and Daemon.”

“Oh, no, there’s nothing between us.” Besides a whacked-out alien bond and all our secrets. I cleared my throat. “Let’s not talk about your brother. What’s up with Adam?”

Crimson swept across her pale cheeks. “Adam and I have been trying to spend more time together, you know? Everyone expects us to be together, and there is a part of me that likes him. The elders know that since we’re both eighteen already, we’re coming of age.”

“Coming of age?”

She nodded. “Once we reach eighteen, we’re old enough to be mated.”

“What?” My eyes bugged. “Mated? Like, marrying and making babies?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “We usually wait until we’re done with school, but knowing that we’re getting close, Adam and I are trying to decide what we want to do.”

I was still stuck on the whole mating thing. “Do the elders tell you who you can be with?”

Dee frowned. “Not really. I mean, they want us with another Luxen and to reproduce as soon as possible. I know that sounds messed up, but our race is dying off.”

“I get that, but what if you didn’t want to have kids? What if you fell in love with another boy or…a human?”

“They would outcast us.” She faded and then was standing on the other side of the coffee table. “All of them would turn their backs on us. That’s what they would’ve done to Dawson if he…if he were still alive and with Bethany. And I know he would still be with her. Dawson loved Beth.”

And her brother’s love had ultimately led to their deaths. I lowered my gaze, feeling for the remaining siblings. “Would they force you to leave or something?”

She shook her head. “They’d make us want to leave, but we can’t, not without the DOD’s permission. It’s a lot of pressure.”

No doubt. I had to worry about what college to pick. Not about getting knocked up as soon as possible. And Daemon really wanted to risk all of that to be with me? He had to be on crack. “What happened with you and Adam?”

Stopping in front of the TV, she ran her hands through her curly hair. “We had sex.”

“Come again?” Up until five seconds ago, I was positive Dee wasn’t even attracted to Adam.

Dee’s small hands fluttered to her sides. “Yeah, shocking, huh?”

I blinked. “Yeah, that’s shocking.”

“I didn’t know how I felt about him. Like, I totally respect him, and he’s good looking.” She started pacing again. “But we’ve only been friends, really. Or at least, I’ve only let him be a friend to me. I don’t know, but anyway, I decided I wanted to see if we, you know, could even do it. So, I told him that we should try to have sex. And we did.”

Wow, that sounded real romantic. “And how was it?”

Her cheeks flushed again. “It was…it was good.”

“Good?”

Dee appeared beside me, sitting on the couch, hands twisting together. “It was more than just good. A little awkward at first—okay, a whole lot of awkward at first, but things…worked out.”

I didn’t know if I should be happy for her or not. “So what does all of this mean?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem. I like him, but I don’t know if I like him because I’m supposed to or if it’s real.” She flopped onto her back, one arm hanging off the couch. “I don’t even know what love is. Like, I thought I loved him when we were doing it. But now? I don’t know.”

“Damn, Dee, I don’t know what to say. I’m glad it was…good.”

“It was great.” She sighed. “Want to know how great it was? I want to do it again.”

I laughed.

One jade-colored eye opened. “But now I have all these…knots in my tummy. I can’t stop thinking about him, wondering what he thinks.”

“Have you tried talking to him?”

“No. Should I?”

“Uh, yeah, you just did it with him. You should probably call him.”

Dee sat up, her eyes wide. “What if he doesn’t feel the same?”

It was strange seeing Dee like this, having such a…human reaction. “I think he probably feels the same.”

“I don’t know. We were just friends and nothing more. We didn’t even want to go to homecoming together.” She was on her feet again. “But I’m not sure if he felt that way because of me and how I’d acted. Maybe he’s always felt more for me.”

“Call him.” That was the best advice I could give, since I had no experience in any of this. “Wait. Did you guys use protection?”

Dee rolled her eyes. “I’m so not ready for a baby Dee. We totally used protection.”

Relief flooded me. She hung around a little longer then left to go call Adam. I was still shocked that Dee had sex. It was such a big step, even for…aliens. At least it was great. But to have sex just to find out if you liked someone? Where was the romance in that? Of course, who was I to judge? I asked one guy to go out, I was pretty sure, just to see if another noticed. Yeah, I was totally not the go-to person for relationship advice. Poor Dee.

Mom woke up and we ordered pizza before she had to leave for work. While waiting, we chilled on the couch like we used to, before Dad died.

Mom handed me a cup of steaming cocoa. “Don’t forget I have you all day Saturday until I go into work, so don’t make any plans.”

I smiled, wrapping my hands around the warm cup. “I’m all yours.”

“Good.” She threw her slipper-covered feet onto the coffee table. “I wanted to run something by you.”

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