Chapter 5
At ten minutes to ten, I pull my truck into a grass clearing off the little two-lane highway tucked in the flat stretch of land below South Shore. I park next to a dozen other vehicles, most in varying states of old and decrepit. The beach sits on my left, looking peaceful in the night air. To my right, the ground rises steeply and then levels out, leaving a natural bluff.
The first thing I notice as I get out of my car is how clear and radiant the stars seem. They are scattered across the velvety night sky like faintly twinkling diamonds.
We’re far from the light pollution of the city out here. Far from everything. I have to admit, this is a perfect spot for admiring the night sky.
But will it be good for spotting aliens? Lucy told me that I could find Pearl at a gathering of alien enthusiasts.
I grin to myself. Lucy also told me to keep an open mind. But in truth, my mind is about as open as an old metal trap that rusted closed. That’s not really the point, anyway.
I’m just here to see Pearl.
I put on my black and red Atlanta Kings jacket to guard against the cool night air. Two older women are unpacking heavy looking telescopes from the back of a yellow hatchback car. Both women wear neon green hoodies that say I SURVIVED THE ALIEN INVASION. I nod at them as I walk toward the steep slope that leads up to the bluff.
The wind grows stronger as I reach the top. The grass is high and thick up here, whipping wildly, beaten back to form a path to the farthest end of the bluff. There’s a wide, clear-cut swath of land here.
I walk down to the end facing the ocean. There are about twenty people loosely gathered around five pretty impressive telescope setups. They all wear the same bright green hoodies as the women in the yellow hatchback. A tall, stooped man faces away from me and points at something in the night sky. I read the back of his jacket. The totally incomprehensible letters GCUFOE are emblazoned across the back of it, in black block letters.
GCUFOE? What is this, an eye doctor’s appointment?
I sweep my gaze over the gathering, furrowing my brow. I spot Pearl at the furthest tip of the land. Bingo. She’s standing by one of the telescopes, grinning at an older man who is telling her a very animated story.
I make my way over to her, noting just how close the telescopes are to the edge of the bluff. It seems dangerous. Peeking over the edge, I’m relieved to see that it’s only a six-foot drop down to the red clay ground below.
Pearl’s laugh floats to me from a few feet away.
It’s a throaty sound, the timbre medium-deep. For some reason, it causes a strange prickle at the nape of my neck. It’s certainly distinctive.
Pearl’s laugh rings in my ears as I step into her line of sight. My intention is to neatly skirt past the expensive telescope that stands between us.
But I knock the telescope’s dark tripod leg, and the whole thing wobbles precariously.
Pearl’s tawny face has the perfect look of sheer alarm. She stumbles as she tries to steady the telescope and begins to fall forward, her mahogany eyes widening. She lets out a low moan. “No!”
Moving quickly, I grab her by the waist and drag her body against mine. Catching her and dipping her backward probably looks more dramatic than it actually is, BUT my heart is in my throat anyway.
She clutches at the telescope, and it takes a few seconds of balancing for her to make sure it stays upright. Meanwhile I’m staring down into Pearl’s luminous face. Pearl is an absolute knockout. When she steadies the telescope and looks at me, she flushes and two dusky red spots appear in her cheeks. Her full lips twitch.
I think she is going to be upset. But instead, she does the oddest thing. She grins at me, her wide nose wrinkling. “Hey there. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
The cadence of Pearl’s voice sends a thrill racing up my spine. I smirk down at her, unable to resist her invitation for humor. “Hello, Pearl.”
“Hey, River.” She chuckles. “Would you be a darling and set me upright?”
I hold her for a second longer, looking in her eyes to judge her reaction. Her hitched breath is the reaction that I want. I swing her upright and step back. She plucks at the brown corduroy skirt that she wears with her oversized neon green GCUFOS hoodie. Then she runs her hand over her long hair.
It’s only now that I realize she is wearing a headband with a pair of bright green springs attached to it like antennae.
What the hell is this girl into?
A young man in a stylish black wool jacket and jeans walks over. He has chestnut skin, dark brown eyes, and reddish-black hair that’s shaved on the sides with curls on the top. There is no mistaking him for anyone other than a relative of Pearl’s.
“Everything okay over here?” he asks Pearl.
Pearl is busy resettling the tripod legs. “Yep. All good. Malik, this is River. River, this is my little brother, Malik.”
I stick out my hand to shake. Malik gives me a cool look and offers me a fist bump. I immediately switch over and tap his fist with my own.
“What’s up, River. You’re Rex Bennett’s brother, right?”
A lot of people know me as Rex’s brother. He’s a famous baseball player, so I’m not even fazed. Instead, I shove my hands into my pockets and nod. “That’s me. And like four other guys. We come from a big family.”
“The Billion Dollar Bennetts.” Malik grins. “Word gets around.”
I slide him a tight smile. That nickname for our family is pretty unfair to me, being that I’m not named Bennett. But Malik doesn’t need to know that I hate it. “My last name is actually Taylor. But Rex is my brother. And no, I don’t carry any autographed photos. That’s usually the next question.”
Pearl looks at me skeptically. “He didn’t ask you for anything, River.”
“It’s cool. I get it. You probably get asked that a lot.” Malik splays his hands. “I’m going to make a run to the QuickTrip. Does anyone need anything?”
Pearl stops fidgeting with the telescope and pulls a small, pink wallet out of her hoodie pocket. She offers Malik twenty dollars. “Here’s a little money for snacks. Get me a pack of chewy fruit candies, will you?”
“Yes ma’am. River, you good?”
I hold up a hand. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Okay. I’ll be back.” He retreats down the hill into the darkness.
I look around, searching for something to comment on. Her aunt’s property is all that I want to ask Pearl about. But it seems rude to launch into asking her to help me convince her aunt to sell me her property right away. I need something else to talk about first, to ease me into the part of the conversation where I ask Pearl for help.
While my wheels are spinning, Pearl cocks her head to the side and beats me to the punch. “What are you doing here, River?”
I rub the back of my neck. I’m embarrassed. “Well, to be perfectly honest, I came here looking for you. Lucy told me that you would be here. But she didn’t tell me about… whatever GCUFOS is.”
“I love me some Lucy.” Her eyes light up. “She sent you in here blind? How devious.”
“She’s a handful all right.”
Pearl steps over to me and puts her arm through mine as casually as you please. “Well, you’re in luck. GCUFOS is meeting for the first time this season. And you probably aren’t going to be the only newcomer to the meeting.”
I look down into her face, thinking how perfectly sculpted her cheekbones are. I see a smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose that probably grow darker with the summer sun.
This close, she’s stunning. Her beauty empties my brain for a moment, and it takes me a few more to remember what we were talking about.
“What exactly is this group?”
She beams at me. “Investigators that believe in extraterrestrial beings.”
The woman’s T-shirt. The telescopes. The antennae headband. Several things click into place for me. I’ve made a grave mistake.
“Ohhh.” I cast a look around the gathering. “I see.”
“You’re also here at the right time, because I just got this telescope.” She gives me a gentle push toward it. “Check it out.”
I lean down, shutting one eye while I peer through the eyepiece. The night sky unfolds before me, a series of dark purples swirled with pinks and faint blues, like the palette of some unseen artist. Laid among all the brush strokes are bursts of twinkling lights, the softly glinting stars.
I’m impressed. “Wow. You really have some definition here. It’s so clear.”
I look at Pearl as I step back. Her smile is so excited that it is radiant. “I saved up for ages to get a MagTek 3600. No more begging to look in other people’s telescopes for me. See Mitch and Jenny over there?”
I look where she’s pointing and see an older couple wearing the bright green GCUFOS hoodies and taking turns peering through the viewfinder of their large telescope. Mitch sees Jenny’s phone hanging out as she bends over, and tucks it into her pocket.
Bleh. Mitch was probably his own person once, but now he and Jenny share the same clothes and energy. Gross.
“Yeah,” I say, biting my tongue. “I see them.”
“Well, they were nice enough to share their telescope for the first couple of years that I was a part of the GCUFOS. But now I’m bona fide.”
Pearl says it with such pride and enthusiasm that it’s impossible not to smile at her joyfulness.
“That’s pretty exciting,” I tell her.
“Uh, yeah. It’s awesome.” She fusses with a piece of silky cloth, wiping her lens. “So why did you come here to find me?”
Right, the property. The whole reason I’m here. I forgot for a minute.
“I actually wanted to talk to you about your great aunt. When we were at Cole and Savannah’s engagement party, you told me that your aunt–”
An elbow shoves me right in the middle of my back. Whipping around, I see a massive man with hazelnut skin and wearing a white puffy jacket, looming right behind me. I’m tall and broad, but this guy is built like a tank. There’s not an ounce of fat on him, and he obviously spends a lot of time at the gym.
He smirks at me and says, “Watch your feet. Me and my fiancée are trying to set up our telescope here.”
I narrow my eyes, but I step back because I was raised to default to politeness. I look over at Pearl, and see that the smile has been completely wiped from her expression. In its place is a wary look.
“How you doin’, Pearl?” the man says, nodding to her. “You don’t mind me and Anitta setting up here, do you? I thought since you two are kin, you’d want to be close to each other.”
As if on cue, a pretty Black girl wearing a white fur coat, big gold hoops, and high heeled boots appears on the slope leading down to the parking lot. She carefully steps through the tall grass, and pats her long, straight hair. When she sees Pearl, she gets a feline grin on her face. “Hey, cuz. Long time, no see,” she purrs.
“Anitta. You’re massively overdressed for the occasion, as usual.” Pearl clears her throat and gives the man a thin-lipped smile. “I don’t care where you set up, Bishop.”
Bishop’s self-satisfied smile makes him look ugly. He holds out a hand to Anitta and she hugs him. They proceed to kiss for a few seconds, and Bishop bites Anitta’s lip.
Ew. I look at Pearl, lifting an eyebrow. She can’t be okay with her cousin acting like this.
She flashes me a tiny smile and introduces me. “Bishop, Anitta. This is River. River, meet my ex-boyfriend and my traitorous cousin. I have no idea why they’re here. I used to bring Bishop to these meetings, but now he’s here with his new flame for absolutely no reason that I can see.”
My eyes widen, but I just give them both a slow nod. You could cut the tension between them all with a steak knife.
“I can be wherever I want. You don’t own the skies.” Bishop releases Anitta from his grasp and wipes his mouth. “Who are you supposed to be?” he asks me.
I don’t like this guy at all. Somewhere in the back of my head, alarm bells are going off. I open my mouth, and out rolls a lie that I can’t fully explain. “I’m Pearl’s date.” I level him with a smug look as I step over to grab Pearl’s hand. Pearl looks at me, her expression nervous, but I barrel on. “I’ve heard so much about you two. I can’t believe that this is the first time we’re meeting.”
Bishop’s eyebrows jump so high they disappear into his hair. “Pearl is single. Right, Pearl?”
Pearl gives my hand a squeeze as she catches up to the conversation. “Uh… no. This is my date.”
She’s a piss poor liar. But I tug on her hand and pull her against my body, face to face. She comes easily, but I can tell that she’s hesitant. Tilting her head back with a finger, I kiss her lips. Nothing crazy, just a little more than a peck.
But the immense relief that has been building inside my chest and is now let go from just this simple brushing of my lips on hers is instantaneous. Her lips are warm and luscious. They invite me to linger.
But Pearl puts her hand on my chest, ever so gently pushing me away. And I let her.
She shoots me a rueful little smile. “River, you bad boy.”
Bishop glares at both of us. “Anitta, why don’t we set up on the other side of the clearing? I think there is a better view over there.”
Anitta looks at us all skeptically. But then she smiles. “Of course, baby. Let’s move now, before the meeting starts.”
Bishop bumps my arm with his shoulder as he wrests his telescope from the ground and folds up the tripod. “Be seeing you, Pearl.”
Pearl watches him go, and then eases out of my grip. She blushes and shakes her head. “Sorry about that. You really didn’t have to step in.”
“Are you kidding? I don’t even know that guy, but I loved sticking it to him. I think I hate him. I just hope I didn’t overstep by kissing you.”
She blushes and shakes her head. “Not at all.”
“Your ex seems like a tool.”
“Yeah. Bishop makes it pretty easy to dislike him. Especially when he got engaged to my cousin a week after we broke up.” She shakes her head and looks sad. “We were together for two years. I never had any idea that he could be such a snake. Thanks for covering for me, I guess.”
I smile at her. “It was easy. We make a good team.”
“Hah!” She chuckles. “I’m not much of a team player.”
“Pearl.” I catch her hand and look into her face. “We should talk about–”
“I saw one!!” Jenny howls from a few paces away. She points up at the sky. “I saw a UFO! Look!”
My words are lost as Pearl hurries back to her telescope, holding her breath. It’s like she has completely forgotten about everything else.
I can kind of see now why Pearl likes UFOs. Her life as she explained it, with her aunt revealing a huge amount of tax debt for the land they both live on, sounds hopelessly complicated. But when she’s looking through her telescope, I imagine it all fades away. I envy her that.
“Where?” she calls out. “I can’t see it!”
I stand back, watching Pearl and her telescope. There are a lot of things I don’t like about her. She’s wearing antennae and looking for UFOs, for one thing. And she’s in these beat up looking jeans and a GFUFOS hoodie. My type of girl is polished and sophisticated, two things that Pearl definitely is not.
But damn if I don’t think she’s pretty and cute anyway.
The voices all around me burble on. But I’m left thinking that I might need to arrange a way to see Pearl again soon. To talk to her about her aunt’s property, that is…