No Aliens Allowed

- Twenty-Three -

Even though Allen and I had buried the hatchet, we were still pretty far away from being okay. There were a lot of tense moments. Sometimes I'd ask him something about what he'd done when I was away (as Allen liked to call it, as if I'd been in another country and not living, oblivious to the fact that he'd stolen my memories) and he'd tense up and change the subject.

I hated it. We could no longer talk like we used to. It was stiffer and more awkward, and it didn't help that there was still a part of me that was still angry at him.

I was learning that forgiveness took awhile.

My phone buzzed with an incoming text.

NALANI: Lolo, we're home!!! Where r u?

KALI: Don't you ever use three exclamation points. Ever. And I'll be right over.

"Is something amiss?" Allen asked politely from his spot behind his computer. He was currently typing up his eighteenth page on his paper on the mystery of how Justin Bieber ever became popular.

To be honest, I wondered how as well. Luckily I had Allen to solve that for me.

"Nah. My family's home, that's all. I gotta go meet up with them."

Allen nodded. "Of course. I shall see you later."

I gave him a small smile before bundling up for the hellish weather outside. Now I understood why my father was so desperate to return to Hawaii. I was going crazy with all the snow and clouds and wind, cooped up inside all day.

The door of the ship slid open as I approached it, and I waded through the snow back to my car, shaking myself off like a dog as I got into the driver's seat.

I was forced to drive slowly, as I couldn't see three feet in front of me. The radio had gone out with the blizzard so I grumpily navigated my way through the snow.

My mom's car was in the driveway, so I knew that she and the rest of my family were already home.

I opened the door and walked inside, stripping off my coat and my hat and my gloves and my boots.

I should probably invest in a snowsuit. I'd need it, if this fucking weather carried on like the way it was right now.

"Kali!" Shrieked Alana, spotting me as she came out of the kitchen. Next thing I knew, my sister was sliding in her socks down the hall, colliding with me. I stumbled back, but my good balance combined with the fact that Alana was crushing the life out of me with her hug kept me on my feet.

"Oof," I said, hugging her back. "Nice...to..see you." I tugged at her shoulders.

"You're...choking...me," I gasped.

Alana pulled back, a grin on her face. "I missed you, Kali."

"It's been three days, Al," I told her, bemused.

"Well, still. I'm at college and I never see you. Plus you left early."

I stiffened at this, and Alana's eyes narrowed as she read my face. "Oh, he left the day after you," she told me.

I didn't need to ask who he was. "Did he bother you?"

"Not much," Alana admitted.

"He's a fucking idiot," Nalani corrected her from the end of the hall. "Language," my mother snapped.

"Let them be," Dad replied.

This was a pattern we were all familiar with.

It was nice, to be honest. As annoying as they were, I'd missed my sisters.