Cosmic Love

Chapter One

August 13th, 2024

A sense of dread filled the air inside my truck as I passed the Welcome to Roswell sign. For most people, coming back home from fighting in war should be a good thing, hell it should've been a great thing!

But most people didn't grow up in a town like Roswell, filled with bigotry, hate, and conspiracies. That is why when the time came up to sign up for the army, I made sure to be the first one in town whose name was on the sign-up sheet. Sure, I joined for other reasons, but leaving this town was the best decision I could have made.

But here I am, driving back to a town I swore to never return to. But when my high school best friend, Phoebe, wrote me a letter about plans to celebrate Beccas's 10th death anniversary, there was no way I could ever refuse, no matter how every molecule in my body wanted me to.

The drive to the Cosmic Rocket Diner did not take that long, as I could see the bright rocket ship sign on the restaurant's roof. Cosmic Rocket has been around for a long time. My great-great-great grandfather would come here all the time, though the name used to be Area 51. Now, the Santiagos own this diner after the owners have died, and Francis has taken over since he has worked there all his life.

I pulled up to the diner's parking lot and went to the front. The familiar smell of greasy food and sweet milkshakes permeated the room as I entered. A flood of memories came crashing all at once. This diner held the best of my teenage youth, from birthday celebrations with my brothers to after-school hangouts with Becca, Phoebe, and Lili. As nostalgia continued to hit me, I took a quick look around.

The diner looks the same as it did ten years ago, with minor changes, like the same alien/space decorations, the sound of the jukebox, and the arcade competing to see who can make the most noise. Just being in this environment puts a smile on my face.

"Noah.. is it you?" someone called out. I quickly snapped out of my trance and turned towards whoever called my name. Right before me was Lili Santiago, dressed in her waitress outfit with the alien ears. Though it had been 10 years, she still looked as beautiful as ever with her long, wavy dark brown hair that is currently pulled into a ponytail and her chocolate brown eyes that always seemed to light up whenever she was explaining something science-related. Of all the people I thought I would run into, I never expected it to be her.

"Hey, Lili," I greeted back with a smile. Once the shock of my presence left her system, she returned an even bigger smile and rushed to hug me. I let out a grunt as her body collided with mine, and she squeezed me very hard, maybe for proof that I was actually here in front of her and not just a figment of her imagination.

After what felt like hours, she let me go and took a step back. "I can't believe you're here," she said. Come on, let's sit at our old booth." She started walking there before I could even respond. So I started to follow her, trying to ignore the stares from the diner patrons. It was mostly the regular townies who looked shocked that I was back.

I took the seat opposite her so we could talk face-to-face. We sat there for a good few minutes, just basking in each other's presence and not knowing what to say. Lili broke the silence by saying, "When Phoebe told me about the letter she sent you, I kinda assumed you would've just ignored it."

"I don't blame you for thinking that since it has been ten years since we last spoke. But for Becca, I wouldn't miss this for the world," I replied to her. She gave a small smile back in response. "I'm sure she would've been glad to see you here." She had a sort of faraway look in her eyes. I could tell the memories of the past were getting to her, and they were getting to me, too.

Ten years ago, on August 14th, a great tragedy struck our town. Lili's older sister Becca, alongside two other girls, was killed in a massive car accident. The car was massively destroyed and set on fire. The girls' bodies were burned, barely recognizable. It was discovered that Becca was the one driving and that she was heavily under the influence when she was driving. So, the town sheriff ruled it out as a reckless drunk driving case, which wrecked the people in town.