Chapter 5. Les Be Honest

I was awoken bright and early the very next day when the doorbell to my apartment buzzed. On the bedside table, the alarm clock read 8 am. “Who in the world could that be?” I muttered under my breath as I pulled the blanket over my head. The doorbell rang a second time, making me groan loudly. It’s only days away from school for Pete’s sake. Let me sleep in.

“Hello,” came Tahti’s muffled voice, coming from the living room area where the front door was located. Wait. Was she talking to someone? I strained my ears, trying to detect if I was right.

“Where should I put these miss?” a man said. Dang! She was definitely talking to a stranger.

Shoving the blanket aside, I got out of bed, walking hastily to the living room. There in the middle was a guy, holding several square boxes in his hands, covering his face. Tahti was near the open door, giving instructions. “Please place it on the coffee table,” she said politely. The man obliged, carefully stacking the boxes on my brown table.

“What is going on?” I asked as I placed my hands on my hips.

The man tipped his cap in greeting. “Good morning ma’am. I’m just making my deliveries.” He pulled a clipboard from his bag, handing it to Tahti. “Now if you please sign over here and here, then I can be on my way.”

Tahti gave me a puzzled look. I nearly forgot that she didn’t have a proper identification yet. “Let me sign that instead,” I interjected, taking the clipboard from her hand. After signing everything, the delivery guy bid his farewell, disappearing behind the door before I closed it shut and locked it.

“Tahti, explain this to me.” I gave her a scolding stare. Gosh. This alien was going to kill me one of these days.

Instead of answering me directly, she walked gracefully to the table, kneeling before the boxes. She took one, opened the parcel, and showed the content to me after getting it out of its package. “That’s a tablet,” I said in surprise. “Where did you get that? We got back late last night. How in the world were you able to buy a tablet?”

“I bought it from the internet,” she explained with a straight face, as if it was a no-brainer. “I had to pay extra for the speedy delivery, plus talk to some people over the phone. But as humans would say, it was worth it.” She began to tear the packaging from the other boxes, while I just stood there, totally stunned, yet amused at the same time. “By the way, I used your phone Alena.”

“Go figure,” I muttered. “And how did you unlock it? I had a complicated password. I bet you used your crazy alien technology.”

“Oh this?” Tahti grabbed my phone from the white sofa behind her. She showed the screen to me, tracing a pattern that looked very much like the password that I placed for privacy. When the phone was unlocked, she tossed it to me.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“If you look carefully at the pattern you placed yourself, you’ll see that it’s exactly the shape of the symbol on our forehead.” Tahti pointed to me.

I stared at the phone screen, noticing for the first time that she was right. My password looked eerily like the scar on my forehead. It was weird. Dang! I was weird. “You probably think I’m a psycho.”

“No. You do not have schizophrenia or any psychological problems Alena. Do not worry.” Ugh! This coming from an alien was unreal. “It only means that you are drawn to me, even subconsciously. That’s because you are my bride,” she said matter-of-factly. This bride business again, I thought. When would she get tired of it?

Wanting to steer the conversation, I said, “So what else did you buy?” I made my way to the sofa, sinking down on her left.

“I bought my own mobile.” Tahti showed me a brand new phone. “Speaking of that, I need to call someone. Excuse me for a moment.” She dialed a number, then placed the phone against her ear.

“Who can you possibly call? I’m the only one you know.” Tahti ignored my question.

“Hello?” she said when the person from the other line answered. “Yes this is me. I’ll send the application letter together with the other requirements via email.” I stared at her bewilderingly. Other requirements? What was she talking about? And more importantly, who was the person from the other line?

“Yes. Thank you. I will see you at school.” Tahti ended the call.

“And who was that?” I asked as soon as the conversation was over.

“That was Chloe from yesterday. I’ll give her my identification and application form for the school so her uncle can process it. She said she will do everything so you and I can be classmates as I requested of her.”

Another migraine was threatening to explode in my head. “Where will you get the I.D?” I was getting exasperated and overwhelmed from all of this. Talk about information overload.

The corner of Tahti’s lips perked up. “Remember the place where they do over-the-counter gold transactions? They also do a side business of creating false identification for people. Or in this case aliens.” She rummaged on the boxes, producing a manila envelop. After taking its contents, she showed me the paper works and a driver’s license that seemed authentic. Actually, everything appeared real. So was her new name which was Tahti Arshan.

I took the I.D from her hand, scrutinizing it. “It says here that you’re 18 years old. Are you?”

“What is your age Alena?”

I glanced at her. “17. Why?”

“Then I am 17 years old.” She gave me a disarming smile that made me stare for a couple of seconds. Willing my heart to slow down, I blinked a couple of times.

“What does my age have to do with yours?” I asked, handing the I.D back to her. There was even a picture of her on it, though when and where she took it was a mystery to me since we were together since last night. The alien was full of surprises.

“We have the same birthday,” she said.

“No way. Your birthday is on March 19 too?” She was probably pulling my leg. How could we even have the same birthday?

“Your birthday is actually on the 20th of December in the human calendar Alena. Of course you do not know that. You don’t understand a lot of things yet, but you will eventually, especially when the joining happens.”

“Joining, joining, you keep talking about the joining. What exactly is a joining?”

Tahti sat beside me on the sofa, staring me right in the eyes. “I said it before. Joining means that the two of us will fornicate.”

I moved an inch away from her, beginning to be aware of her scent, which reminded me of the spring when the sun was high in the sky and fresh flowers blooming on the countryside. Home, my heart screamed, thought my mind was sending me warning bells at her nearness. “Fornicate? As in have sex?”

“If that is what you call it here, then yes, you and I will have that.”

“We’re not even together. How can I have that with you? No offense Tahti but you’re a stranger. An alien. And lastly, you’re a girl and I’m straight. Plus I have a boyfriend. In case you have forgotten, his name is Niko and he’s an awesome person who I can never betray.”

Tahti appeared surprised. “You sound. . . Different. What are you feeling right now. I don’t understand that expression.”

“I’m very confused. It means I’m disoriented because of the situation.”

Tahti’s face relaxed. “Oh. . . But you must understand Alena, I’m not a stranger at all. I’m your bride. I will give everything to you. I have never known of happiness, but when I look at you, somehow I know. There is a funny feeling in my chest that tells me that everything will be alright when I’m with you.”

Something about the way she said it almost made me melt like ice cream. I nearly reached out to her face. Good thing I was able to stop myself midway. She’s an alien Alena. A living breathing alien. Do not be fooled by her. “That doesn’t prove anything ok? You’re still a stranger to me.”

Tahti blinked a few times. “We must get reacquainted then.”

I looked at her with suspicion. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

The beautiful alien stood up from the sofa in one graceful move. I didn’t have any idea what she was up to, but when she reached for the hem of her dress, removed it, and threw it to the couch, I was completely dumbstruck. My jaw fell, just as I noticed her hot pink undergarments. “Dang,” was all I could say.

Tahti smiled knowingly. “Come on Alena. Touch me.”

I gulped loudly, my palms beginning to sweat. The temperature in the room must have dropped a couple of degrees because boy I was feeling warm all of a sudden. “I’m not interested,” I said a little too forcefully.

Tahti advanced a step towards me. The image of her slender body came in full view. There was no escape. Almost every inch of her was uncovered, save for what was behind the flimsy cloth. My eyes explored her long and toned legs, then upward to her flat tummy, to her cleavage which looked even more magnificent because of the lingerie she purchased yesterday from the mall.

“Touch me Alena. I’m your bride,” she said, her voice beginning to take a different tone. Huskier.

“I’m straight,” I said, faltering a little on the last word. I’m straight, right? I have a boyfriend, I reasoned in my head. I’ve been with Niko for two years. Surely that meant something.

Tahti took another step forward. She was so near that I could feel the warmth seeping from her body. It helped me relax. “Look into my eyes,” she said soothingly, touching both my cheeks with her hands. Tahti’s silky voice penetrated in my head, calming me further. I followed her wishes, looking directly into her eyes. It was a huge mistake.

As soon as our gaze met, something clicked. The first time that I met her, it felt like a key was inserted into a lock. It was a perfect fit. This time, the key was twisted. The orange in her pupils that was hidden beneath the light brown feature she disguised herself in to look more human began to reveal itself to me.

Slowly, I raised my hand. The movement was so automatic that I wondered at the back of my mind if I was being hypnotized. But somehow, in my heart, I knew that I wanted to do it too. “That’s right,” Tahti said soothingly. “Hold me Alena. Know me.”

“Yes,” I murmured as I grabbed her arm, pulling her to the sofa on top of me. She was now straddling me while I sat beneath her. All the while, we didn’t lose eye contact. “You’re so perfect Tahti,” I whispered. God. What was happening to me? I wondered as my hands traveled to her cleavage and I sniffed her scent.

“Do you want the joining to happen now?” she asked innocently.

I didn’t think twice about her question. All that mattered was her. And me. And the raging desire to get my head between her legs. “Yes. Yes I want it to happen,” I answered.

“What exactly do you want to do Alena?”

“I want to take these off,” I tugged the strap of her lingerie. The voice that came out from my mouth didn’t sound like mine. It sounded horny. I sounded horny. Well MAYBE I was a little horny. Damn.

“Well what are you waiting for?”

“You haven’t said yes yet.”

Tahti smiled mischievously, leaning her head to me. My stomach flipped. More so when she nipped on my left ear with her teeth. “We haven’t even kissed yet and you already want to. . . What do humans call that again? You want to go to second base,” she laughed, her voice sounding like a pleasant twinkling of bells. In a second, she was pulling away from me, standing up.

“Where are you going?” I was getting confused by the second. Was she teasing me? And if so, why was I affected?

Tahti grabbed her dress, wearing it in a jiffy. “I’m going to learn how to cook. If I’m going to live here with you for a while, I should at least know that.”

“But, but I thought. . .”

“What?” she asked. “You sound confused again Alena.”

“Well. . .” I couldn’t finish the sentence. What was I going to say, I thought we were doing the joining? No way! “Nothing,” I mumbled instead. “You go on ahead with your cooking. Just make sure that you don’t burn my apartment or I’m going to flip.”

“Alright,” she said, preparing to go to the kitchen. Tahti stopped midway, turning back to me. “I have learned something valuable today Alena.” Her eyes twinkled, the orange still lingering there.

“And what is that?”

She smiled brightly. “Despite everything you have said earlier, I have discovered that you are definitely a lesbian. After all, why else would your heart palpitate like that? Your temperature was high too.” Tahti grinned.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” I countered. Why was I being so defensive about this? Lesbians were cool. I support them all the way. Maybe because I wasn’t ready to let go of Niko. To admit I was lesbian was to hurt him. He was my best friend. I could never betray him.

“You felt something right?” Tahti asked loudly. “It’s alright to feel something for a woman. In my planet, each and every one of us is a woman. There are no such things as lesbians, only partners and lovers. We can be like that too. If you accept what you are.”

“Well this is not your planet is it? There are men here, and I happen to be with one at the moment. I’m not planning on giving up on him either. Not for anything. Not for you.”

Tahti frowned for the first time. “Then you are wrong Alena. Because no matter what your reasons are, you are still my bride. Lesbian or not lesbian, you will come to me when the right time comes. Our hearts speak the same language.”

“What if I don’t want to?” I countered threateningly, forgetting that she was an alien and she could kill me with a swing of her lightsaber or something.

“Then you are lying to yourself,” she said calmly, her expression unreadable again. “People who lie to themselves are the ones who are most unhappy. At least that was what I read on the book.”

“You have much to learn about being human Tahti. Things are not as black and white as that.”

“Maybe it is you who do not understand yourself.” Tahti began to walk away. “If there is one thing we learned from Mr. Potter, it is never a good idea to stay in the closet.”

“Hey! Stop quoting books on me,” I yelled so she would hear.

“Then start embracing the rainbow way,” she hollered back.

Dang. Where did this alien get all these info?