Chapter 4. Forced Arrangement

“Call me as soon as you reach your apartment,” mom said, leaning for a hug.

“Yes mom.” I broke the embrace. “But tell me again. Why does Tahti have to go with me?” I asked in a hushed tone so the alien girl wouldn’t hear. Or maybe her senses were acute and she was hearing every word coming from my mouth.

“Did I raise you to be like that?” Mom gave me a scolding stare. “Don’t be heartless. She needs a place to stay. And your apartment is big enough for both of you. I just can’t think of that sweet girl in that city by her lonesome.”

“Sorry.” I stared at the ground guiltily.

We were outside the inn, saying our goodbyes. School was about to start in 3 days and we needed to head back to the city. Niko was loading my car with our luggage. A few steps away from us was Tahti, staring at the scenery. My mom wanted Tahti to go with me, upon learning that the alien had no place to go. She believed Tahti’s sob story about being orphaned and coming here. As if! The alien was probably fooling mom so she could be my partner, bride, whatever.

“Come here Tahti dearest,” mom called.

Tahti walked to her. “Yes mother?”

“I want you to watch my Alena for me. Don’t get her out of your sight ok?”

“Of course mother.” Tahti’s brows furrowed. “There is something I’m feeling now, which is strange. “Like there is a hollow sensation on my chest.”

“You’re probably going to miss her,” I whispered. To my mom I said, “Don’t mind her. She’s sad because she won’t see you.”

“I’ll miss you too dear.” Mom’s eyes twinkled.

Niko walked over. “The car is loaded. Everything is ready.”

“Then you best be on your way.” Mom ushered us to the car. “I’ll miss you three. Come back here when you have the time.”

“We will mom.” The three of us got inside the vehicle. Niko would drive while I rode beside Tahti on the back to ensure that she wouldn’t do something out of this world. No pun intended.

“Bye Mrs. H!” Niko started the car. We began moving.

“I. . . I will miss you mother!” Tahti said, poking her head out the window and waving to my mom who waved back. Over the days, the alien have become attached to her. We gained speed, until mom became a dot in the distance.

“Get your head inside the car.” I pulled her waist.

Niko stared at the rearview mirror. “Why did she have to come with us? I’m not tripping or anything, just curious.”

“Not tripping huh,” I smirked. The usually cool and collected Niko has been annoyed with Tahti ever since she announced that we were going to get married. Though he didn’t show it, I knew him long enough to understand that. “My mom wanted her to come. So that’s that I guess.”

“Ok, cool.” After a moment he said, “Do you mind if I open the radio? It’s nice to drive on the countryside while listening to music.”

“Go ahead.”

A guy singing about receiving love came up. “What is that?” Tahti said, tapping my leg.

“It’s called a radio Tahti and it plays music.”

“I knew that,” she brushed off. “What I meant was, what does he mean by give him love? What is love exactly? I’ve read it in books but I never understood.”

“Love is what I feel for Alena,” Niko said in front. “It means I’ll do everything for her, and she’ll do everything for me because she loves me back.”

“You are a very good friend Niko,” Tahti said with an understanding look on her face.

“What? No. . .” Niko face palmed himself. “I told you that I’m her boyfriend. Boyfriend, get it? Alena, tell her about love.”

I didn’t say anything, pretending not to hear him. How could I answer when I’ve never felt it for my own boyfriend? If love for a best friend was what he was talking about, then I was down for it, but I doubt we had the same definition. A surge of guilt settled on my stomach. It was so unfair for me to be with him when I didn’t feel as strongly as he did. But he was too kind to me, and I didn’t want to break his heart.

“Alena,” he repeated.

“I’m tired Niko. I want to rest.” Scared to see the rejection in his eyes, I closed mine, until I fell asleep. When I opened it again, we were already parked outside my apartment building. No way, I thought as I got out of the car. I zonked out the whole ride.

Being the gentleman, Niko helped me carry the luggage inside the flat. Tahti also followed in, taking a look around the place in wonder. “So I guess I’ll just take a cab back to my house,” he said, securing his backpack strap over his shoulder. “Alena I just want you to know that I had a great time in your mom’s inn. Maybe next summer we can go back and-“

His sentence was cut off when Tahti began pushing Niko out of the door. “What are you doing?” His face glowered, yet he made no move to stop her. Even if he was bigger by a couple of inches to the alien’s 5’9’’ height, she wasn’t afraid of him. “Mother told me to let Alena settle in once we arrived. No friends over.”

“But. But I’m her boy-“ She slammed the door on his face.

I placed my arms in front of my chest, giving her a disapproving look. “Why did you have to do that to Niko? It’s rude.”

“Not when mother ordered it directly,” she retorted with a self-satisfied smile. “Oh! I almost forgot.”

“What?” I asked curiously, completely forgetting about Niko.

“I don’t have any clothes. You need to take me to the gathering place.”

“You mean the mall?” She nodded.

“Didn’t you bring some on your spaceship?” Realization crashed on my head. “The spaceship! Where is it?” I paced back and forth in panic. “We forgot to hide it. The government could be in our doorstep as we speak.”

“Its here,” she patted her chest.

“On your boobs?”

She reached down, taking a necklace with two pendants. One looked like a pearl, while the other was an orange crystal. “This is the spaceship.” She indicated to the pearl.

“No way,” I gushed. “How did that happen?”

“You’ll be surprised at the kind of technology that lay beyond this planet Alena,” was all she replied about the topic. “I’ll take a look at your home later. For now, please get me clothes. Yours are bigger.”

“Excuse me if I’m not model thin like you are,” I huffed, offended.

“Your body is slender so I do not understand why you are staring at me that way.” She cocked her head to the side. “I merely explained that the size on me is wrong.”

“It’s called being irritated Tahti.” I put as much sarcasm in my voice as I could. “And I’m feeling that way because humans don’t like to be called fat.”

“But you’re not fat. You’re body is almost like mine. We have different shape because your breasts are bigger. It will benefit both you and me,” she said matter-of-factly. “And the word fat belongs to animal lard. Are you saying that you’re like strips of bacon?”

I raised my hands, defeated. There was no use arguing with a person like this. Correction. An alien like this. “Fine. Give me a second before going. I need to pee.”

Thirty minutes later, both of us stood in the middle of the mall. People stared openly at us, which made me immensely uncomfortable. It was probably because of Tahti, who was twirling around excitedly. That or everyone was stunned by her modelesque face. Maybe both.

“Can you please stop flailing your arms around? It’s embarrassing.”

She turned to me, still wearing a goofy smile. “But it’s the first time I have seen so many humans. And there are lots of rooms offering clothes.”

“It’s called stores Tahti,” I sighed. “And that feeling you have is called excitement. Speaking of which, I thought your specie only feels pleasant, gratitude, blah blah. How come you’re getting all excited?”

“It’s because there are a lot of stimulus here Alena. And even if we were forced to banish the other feelings, it doesn’t mean that if not presented with the opportunity, we won’t experience it. It just happens that it was forbidden there so the emotion was forgotten. Now come on.” She pulled my hand.

“I totally did not understand what you said, but I’ll go with that.” I let her usher me to the first store, a boutique selling skirts and tops. Not my style. I preferred skinny jeans and sweaters. “Are you sure you want to shop here Tahti?” My eyes roamed around the area. Everything was too fashionable for my taste.

“Yes,” she shrugged. “Excuse me shop keeper.” She waved at the saleslady. Kill me, I thought in embarrassment. The girl manning the store walked to us with a fake smile. Exactly the reason why I hated shopping in this kind of place. “Show me the good clothes I can wear,” Tahti commanded.

The saleslady looked her up and down. “Are you a model?”

“I am Tahti.”

“Don’t mind her,” I said with a wave of my hand to the saleslady. “She’s on her period.”

Just then, Chloe, one of the most popular girls in my school, who also happened to be the captain of the cheerleading squad walked inside the shop. She didn’t have her usual entourage which meant she must be alone shopping. Before I could hide in the dressing room, she saw me and walked purposely in our direction.

“Hey Alena,” she greeted, smoothing her brunette hair. “How have you been?”

“Oh erm, fine.” I adjusted the glasses on my face nervously. At times like these, I wanted to vanish into thin air or cover myself with books in the library. But since there was no library here, and she was staring me directly in the face, I had no choice but to put on an awkward smile.

“I heard that you and Niko went to the countryside for a little R&R this summer,” she continued, oblivious of my discomfort.

“Yeah. . . So uhm, what are you doing here Chloe?” It wasn’t that I was uncomfortable discussing about my boyfriend in front of her. It was just that everyone knew he was the popular kid who went out with the weirdo.

“I’m not going to lie here Alena.” She shifted her expensive handbag from her left arm to the right. “It’s going to be our senior year. Would you finally give the cheerleading squad a go? I’ve seen you during P.E class and you’re pretty athletic. We can use someone like you in our team.” She eyed my legs. “Sexy and beautiful too.”

I groaned to myself. The whole cheerleading team has really lost their minds. They’ve been pursuing me for the last 3 years. There was no way I’d join. Hello! Glowing eyes anyone? Scar on my forehead anyone? Which translates to four words- I was a freak. But I didn’t tell her that. “I’m more of a book person Chloe. Sorry.”

Tahti turned to me then, holding an ugly looking top. “Alena, do you think this looks nice? The sales keeper said it was the latest style.”

“Uh no way,” Chloe mumbled. “That is absolutely horrendous, it belongs to the carnival.” I agreed with her for the first time. Only a clown would wear that. Chloe eyed Tahti, scrutinizing every inch. “You look gorgeous. Have you modeled before?” Tahti shook her head. “Are you attending our school this year? It’s nearly impossible to get in when you’re a senior, but my uncle is in the board. I’ll contact him for you in exchange of a favor.”

“Like what?” asked Tahti.

Chloe smiled, showing perfect teeth. “If I manage to get you in, you have to promise to try out for the cheerleading squad.”

“Sure!” Tahti agreed before I could tell her no.

“And one more thing,” Chloe added. “I want Alena to join the team with you.” Was she kidding me? Chloe reached out a hand. “Deal?”

Tahti took it without my permission. “Deal.”

A few hours later, we finally got out of the mall. Tahti carried several paper bags, which we all dumped unceremoniously on the back of my car. “Thanks for making me pay for all of that,” I sighed. “Not to mention you sold me to Chloe.” I gave her a dirty stare. “But that’s your promise not mine. And you miss alien can’t go buying expensive things every time or we’ll find ourselves in a shelter.”

“Money is not a problem. But I need to trade these first.” She held out a handful of gold nuggets.

“Where the hell did you get that?!” I looked left and right to ensure that no one saw or we’d be mugged. “Please keep that in your pocket.”

Tahti did as told. “As I was reading the books, I discovered that money is used to buy things in your planet. You also like diamonds, crystals, and gold. The interior of my spaceship have lots and lots of gold. It has no value in our planet. Sometimes it is stored in the aircraft so we can give it to whoever needs it. In other planets, they eat it like candy. So now I’m using it because I need it.”

“Unbelievable,” I muttered. “Completely unbelievable.”

“Let’s go trade it now Alena.”

“In a bank?” I said with doubt in my voice. “But you need paper works for that. And girl you do not have any form of identification.”

“That’s easy.” She pulled my hand, dragging me somewhere. “There’s a shop here that specializes in over-the-counter gold trading, among other investments. I read it in the bookstore earlier. I also asked some humans about it as you were in line for the food you call burger. We will go there.”

“I didn’t know there were such things here.”

“Only when you know where to look.”

Fast forward to 20 minutes later. The door made a whooshing sound as it was opened by a huge guy from the other side. The said man wore a well-pressed suit. “Are you lost children?” His tone was kind, but there was something menacing in his eyes. He was intimidating and he knew it.

Fortunately, Tahti was not one to be intimidated. “No we are not lost. We do not make small talk either. Please show us to the trading room so we can do our business.”

The man did a double take, but nodded his head in respect. “Very well. Come with me please.” He took us to another room, as posh-looking as the front. Only this one contained more rooms, separated by curtains. It felt like we were drug dealers, or maybe people who would sell our souls to the devil. The man opened a curtain, ushering us inside an area with a small table and chairs. “Someone will come for you. Please take a seat first,” he said, leaving us alone.

After a couple more seconds, another man with olive toned skin and a well-pressed grey suit came inside. He positioned himself comfortably on the chair in front of us. “What can I do for you today ladies?”

Tahti stared at him without any expression. She also took the gold out of her pocket. “I want to trade these.”

“May I?” the man asked, reaching his hand. Tahti placed one nugget there. The man scrutinized the gold, which was a standard SOP in these places, I assumed. “It’s legit,” he finally mumbled.

“I know,” Tahti replied. “Now give me the exact amount of its worth. And do not fool me. My associates will deal with you if something goes wrong.” I glanced quickly at Tahti, surprised. The man nodded, standing up, then disappeared behind the curtain.

“Associates?” I whispered to her. “You sound like the mob.”

She smiled at me. “I’ve read in a book to use the tactic of intimidation in these instances.”

“For someone with so many information in her head, it’s kind of funny that you don’t even know what a mall is,” I murmured.

“I told you before that I left the part about mundane things,” she answered with a shrug. “It’s best left for experience.”

The man returned with a suitcase, which he placed on the table. Opening it revealed a hefty sum of money. So much money that I’ve never seen before. Wow. “This is the value of the gold nuggets your brought. Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it. Thank you very much,” Tahti said politely. “And there’s one more thing. I went to this particular shop because I know you specialize in other investments.”

The man nodded understandingly. “I’ll arrange it for you if you give me your contact details.” He pulled a phone from his pocket.

“My bride will give it to you.” She indicated to me. Mr. well-dressed clearly heard the term bride, but he didn’t react. In the end, I gave him my own cell number, mostly because I had no choice. We also left the shop with a suitcase filled with money.

“So what will you do with all that?” I asked as we got inside the car.

“Oh I have something in mind,” she said.