Chapter 12
-The Silver Lining-
There's silence in the room for a long while as everyone takes in what's happening. Another Armanian alien has landed on earth, and I can understand her too. So many questions race around in my mind that I start to get a headache. But I push them away and save them for later. They can wait.
"Hello, it is so nice to see a familiar face. How did you get to Earth?" Armani asks, stepping over towards the female alien.
"I managed to steal a cargo ship while the Vulcan soldiers were not watching the outside of their base. I snuck aboard the ship, got it to fly and I crash landed here. I did not think you were alive, or that I'd ever find you, Prince Armani," says the alien named Rhea.
"I'm so glad you've come for me. I was in the process of repairing my spaceship with Cassidy's help. We're halfway through and it should be completed soon," says Armani. I smile as I hear my name being mentioned in this important conversation.
"That's wonderful to hear, however, my ship is in perfect condition, therefore you may ride with me back to Armania. We should get there within twenty-four Earth hours," Rhea states triumphantly.
Armani pauses and seems to be in shock at what Rhea says. He glances up at me, unsure of what to say. I don't know what to tell him either. Sure it's great that another Armanian has found Armani and she can help him get to his home planet. But, they'd be walking into a hornet's nest and they don't even have a battle strategy yet. Besides, if Armani leaves, I'll be all alone without a friend in the world. Armani is the only person who seems to care about me, and I'm going to be so sad when he leaves. I-I don't know what I'm going to do without him.
After several long minutes, Armani finally replies, "We should discuss this at Cassidy's home. We'll be safe there, and we must come up with a plan before we charge back to our home. Does that suit you?" He asks Rhea.
I can tell Rhea purses her lips in thought but then I hear, "Alright, then it's settled. I'd like to leave this place. It is not a suitable living condition for anyone."
"Speak for yourself, Rhea. You haven't been living here half your life alone."
I jump as I hear the boy speak for the first time since we encountered them. I'd almost forgotten that he'd been standing over there with Rhea this whole time. He'd been staying absolutely silent, watching all of us have this conversation. After hearing him speak, I suddenly realize something.
"Wait, you can understand them too?" I ask the boy aloud.
He looks over at me with his dark chocolate brown eyes as he says, "Yes I can."
"Wow, I guess I'm really not the only human who can understand the Armanian's," I say, trying to hide my disappointment. I was kinda hoping Armani had been wrong about me not being the only human who could understand his race, because that would mean that I was unique. But, unfortunately that wasn't the case.
The boy steps forwards toward me, putting out his hand for me to shake, "I'm Griffin, and you are?"
I glance at him then shake his hand, "Cassidy. Nice to meet you, Griffin," I manage a small, nervous smile. I guess the main reason why I'm so nervous is because I'm meeting someone new, and maybe we have a chance at being friends. But the more I look at Griffin, the more I realize how handsome he is. His dark eyes sparkle in the early morning sun, and his skin is flawless. Griffin's muscular arms show off under his tight, black, short-sleeved shirt. I blink several times as I realize that I've been staring at him.
After a while, Armani breaks the silence, "So, shall we continue this conversation at Cassidy's home?" He asks.
Rhea nods, "Sure, that is fine. Since Armani and I cannot be seen by anymore humans, we may teleport there. I just need Prince Armani to give me the precise location so I can lock onto it and take us there."
I blink, stunned into shock, "You-you can teleport?"
Rhea nods, "Yes, but only with other Armanian's. I'm sorry I could not teleport all of us," she says sadly.
Shaking my head I say, "That's okay. Griffin can get on my bike and I'll meet you guys at my place okay? Just please, please don't let my family see you Armani."
Armani nods and smiles at me, "Yes, Cassidy. I will not allow that to happen."
I nod my approval then watch as Rhea extends her hand towards Armani. He takes it and before I know it, in the blink of an eye, they're gone. I watch them zap into nothingness, vanishing into thin air. "Whoa," I mutter.
Griffin scoffs, "Huh, wish I could say that's the strangest thing I've seen all week...but, it's not."
I sigh and say, "Yeah, me too, well that might be the second strangest thing I ever seen." I laugh a little bit and Griffin smiles at me, "come on, my bike is parked outside on the stairs."
Nodding, Griffin and I sprint out of the building. We head towards my bike, which is thankfully still there. I'd been getting worried that a homeless person was going to steal it since we'd been inside that building for a while, but we're ok. I breathe a sigh of relief as Griffin and I get on my bike and start making our way to my house.
"So...how did you find Rhea?" I ask Griffin as I pedal.
"Well, it's kinda a long story," says Griffin.
Shrugging I tell him, "Hey we've got a while before we get to my house just riding my bike, so I've got nothing but time."
"Okay. So basically, I'd been sleeping in that building, upstairs, when I was woken up by a bright flash of blue light-" Griffin begins, but I stop him in his tracks.
"Whoa Whoa Whoa, you said you lived there, right? I heard you say something like that earlier but I didn't wanna get into that right then," I tell him as I turn a corner.
"Yeah, I'm homeless, big deal. I was sick of living at my foster home so I started crashing at that place for a while. Do you wanna hear my story or not?" Griffin asks, his voice laced with annoyance.
I feel my mouth turn into a frown as I hear Griffin mention that he stayed at a foster home. I couldn't imagine living in one of those. All my life I've heard they're nothing but overcrowded homes for kids who don't have any parents or family who can take care of them. I've also often heard that kids are mistreated there sometimes and vaguely, I wonder if Griffin was mistreated where he used to live.
"Sorry, go ahead," I reply.
"Alright. Well, when I saw the flashing blue light, it was around two thirty in the morning. I was forced awake, and I decided to check outside and see what the heck was going on. When I got out there I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was a spaceship. A real life, metallic, disk-shaped spaceship."
I smile and make a "pfft" noise, "Yep, that's what I thought too when I saw Armani's ship."
Griffin continues, "Yeah. So anyways I went to check it out and see what was going on. I looked around and after a while I found an alien. She told me her name was Rhea and that she'd come to earth looking for the prince of her planet. I honestly thought I was being punked by somebody, and I even tried pulling at Rhea's face to see if she was wearing a mask. She didn't like that too much."
I stifle a laugh but let Griffin wrap up his story. He chuckles a little bit when remembering how he tugged on Rhea's face, "So, after we established that her landing here wasn't a joke, I brought her to my place and we hid her entire spaceship into a garage. So that's my story, pretty much. Then she sent a fake distress signal hoping to reach Armani. It did, and that's how you guys ended up here."
"Wow. I can't believe we're actually helping out these two aliens. Like...this is crazy isn't it? I mean...this is the kind of stuff you read about in books or watch in the movies," I say in awe.
"Yeah, it's amazing. Hell, we're probably the only humans who even know there's extraterrestrial life out there," says Griffin.
"Yeah, this is all so incredible. I still can't believe any of this is real," I tell Griffin honestly.
"Same here. When I found Rhea's ship, I thought I was still dreaming. I mean, I thought I was sleep walking. But it was actually all real," he says, his voice trailing off in thought.
I nod, then we stay silent for a while as I pedal my way through town. Everyone is starting to wake up and go about their morning routine. They have easy, normal lives with normal problems. I used to have that, but my life has gotten so much more interesting and better since Armani has arrived. I remind myself that one of these days I need to thank Armani for changing my life upside down for the better. He's become my best friend, and I've never had one up until now.
