WILDly (22 page)

“Valerie, get
back in the car! Right now!” he yelled again after me as he watched
me walk away from the tarred road. I turned a deaf ear and walked
even further away. The only thing stopping me from jumping the
fence and running back into the veldt was the electric game
fencing.

“Valerie,
please get back in this car,” he said, a little more controlled
this time. “Please?”

I ignored him
completely. It was too humiliating to even face him, not to mention
driving back to varsity all the way with him. Oh, how cross I was
with myself. What had possessed me to say out loud that I was in
love with him? If it was possible at all to kick myself, I would
have done it there and then. Where were the Reds? Surely they
couldn’t be that far behind? I looked up and down, I couldn’t even
remember from which way we‘d come. The sun was peeking out over the
mountain range on the horizon. And over the distant little hill an
old truck, straight out of the ark, came crawling in our
direction.

I would get on
the truck, even if I had to hike. Alex could trail me or watch me
using his powers, I didn’t care. But I had to avoid facing him
ever, ever again, at all costs.

I guess I had
pushed him beyond his limits, because he hit the brakes and jumped
out of the car. Maybe he was afraid that I’d jump on the truck or
draw too much attention. His dark face, thunderously dangerous,
with the white glow around him growing bigger by the second as he
made a beeline for me, made my heart miss a beat or two out of
fear. He moved ran full speed, and all I could do was run as fast
as I could.

“Valerie!”

It felt so
childish, running away as if we were playing cops and robbers like
six-year olds. Even though Alex looked scary, I knew deep down that
he’d never do anything to hurt me. Actually, I was running away
from my own fears, rejection being the biggest one on the list of
the moment.

I glanced over
my shoulder and what I saw, made my legs go even faster still -
Alex was catching up on me.

“You are
forcing me to do this,” he whispered in my ear, right next to
me.

From the left
behind me: his strong arm locked around my waist and yanked me
hard. We lost our balance and fell forward. I could see the ground
getting closer and closed my eyes; lifting my arms to brace for
impact as this bushveld ground was hard and rocky. I knew what was
coming: I could feel the burning from the stripped skin
already.

But the impact
took too long to materialise. And we weren’t that far from the
ground! It didn’t make sense to me. So I opened my eyes, and the
sensation of falling vanished. I felt as light as a feather.

“What
happened?” I asked, totally disorientated. “And where are we?”

I could barely
make out Alex’s face, everything was bright, bright white.

This time, he
ignored
me
.

“Alex,
what
happened
?
And where are we
?” I demanded.

He waited a
moment before he answered.

“Give your eyes
a moment to adjust, you’ll see just now,” he said with a chuckle in
his voice.

Something big
and round was taking shape in front of me, slowly. I screwed up my
eyes to make out what the object was. It grew clearer after a
moment and I made out colours – a sphere of green and white and
blue and black.

Then I
recognised it, and what I saw made me pull my breath in sharply. We
were looking down on Earth!

Alex’s arm was
still around me, and I grabbed it with both my hands and clung to
him frantically, hanging on for dear life.

He laughed out
loud.

“Don’t be
afraid. We’re safe. We won’t fall,” he said patronizingly, a laugh
in his voice.

“How...” I
gasped for my breath, looking down on Earth. We were incredibly
high and far away from its safe and solid surface. How I longed for
the impact, that nearing ground of a few moments ago. “Alex, how
did we get here?” I asked, panicked for explanations. Without
thinking about my actions, I slowly wiggled around to grab hold of
him with both arms, out of pure fear. “And how can we breathe? And
where is here? Why aren’t we falling? Can you fly, is that it?” I
asked, still peeking down.

“This is ...our
Lagrange point,” he answered slowly, wrapping his other arm around
me as well.

And now I
was supposed to suddenly understand everything
, I thought, and
then bent my head back to look up at him. He was a lot taller than
me.

He was smiling
down on me, with his baby blue eyes, killer dimples and golden
brown skin. My heart sped up; my mind distracted by the sight of
him, my fears evaporating like mist under the sun. I realised I
felt completely safe with him, in spite of being suspended
somewhere in space.

He was waiting
for me to respond to something that he had said. Alex had always
had that effect on me, of freezing my brain, and this time was no
exception. For the umpteenth time in my life, I stood wordless in
front of him - I couldn’t get my mouth or lips to move.

“I’ve told you
before about the Lagrange point. It’s the gravitational balance
point between Sun and Earth? The balance point between... you and
me?” he added, still smiling.

I nodded
slowly, hypnotised by his eyes.

He started
explaining, and I saw his lips move, heard the sounds. But the
moment was too big. Here I was,

in space,

alone with
Alex,

wrapped around
him like a pair of tights.

Somewhere in
the middle of his explanation, I started to listen to the sounds
from his mouth and his words registered on me.

“No, I can’t
fly, I’m not Superman. But having the sun as an energy source does
have its advantages. One is able to travel on a beam of light,” he
continued, as if talking to himself. “The best thing about this
travelling is that time stands completely still. You don’t even
need oxygen. It’s physically impossible to fall, you know? I can’t
go far, of course, I need to stay within Earth’s gravitational
field for my link to remain intact,” he said, sounding a little
bitter at the end. He paused and then smiled again. “So what do you
think?” he asked, looking around.

The sky around
me had never been so glorious. The universe stretched out in front
of me, with billions and billions of little sparkles everywhere,
crispy clear without Earth’s atmosphere dimming the view.
Everything frozen in time, beautifully. It was possible to clearly
distinguish the densest band of stars - a cross-cut of our home
galaxy.

“I love that,”
the words popped out before I could think. I was immediately
reminded of a few moments back when I had told him that I loved him
as well.

I couldn’t take
it back, what I’d said, even if I wanted to. No, it was out in the
open now. I might just as well admit it. And apologise for it.

The blush was
too strong to hold back. I couldn’t look at him any longer and I
turned my head away, to the Earth far below.

“I’m sorry for
what I said earlier in the car, about...,” I cleared my throat,
very uncomfortable in my skin, “about revealing my feelings about
you.” I let go of him and then feared the possibility of falling
again. “Can I let go? I mean of you? I mean, without falling?” I
realised I was already free of him and I wasn’t falling. It felt
strange, the weightlessness, slowly floating away. But I didn’t let
it distract me. Instead I continued, to get it over with.

“I mean, it’s
not that it’s not true... it’s just that... well, I shouldn’t have
said it. I mean.... Lisa is my best friend and all.... And actually
I am a terrible person... I mean... I did betray her and now I’m
interfering in her relationship and...” I sighed and drew a long
breath. I hated being on the spot. Then I collected myself. There
was no point in shying away from it any further; my deepest
feelings had already been revealed and I stood emotionally stripped
naked and vulnerable in front of Alex. At least the apology was
over and done with.

“I’m sorry,
Alex. I shouldn’t have told you,” I concluded firmly.

This time, he
didn’t respond.

“Are you
finished?” he asked eventually, when I looked up at him
briefly.

Tears welled up
in my eyes. I felt unbelievably hurt and disappointed at not
getting the answer back from him that I had hoped for. But I
wouldn’t show him. It was one thing for him to know how I felt
about him; it was another to show him how hard his rejection
was.

I blinked until
all the tears were away. Then I swallowed hard before
answering.

“Yes,” I said,
doing my best to hide the emotion.

“Lisa isn’t
really my girlfriend,” he blurted out. For the first time since I
had known Alex, he looked uncomfortable. Or was it frustration? I
couldn’t tell.

“What?” I
exclaimed, completely astounded.

“Never has
been,” he confirmed just as I started to doubt the credibility of
my own ears.

What was he
telling me? A small spark of hope ignited somewhere. But why would
they pretend then? His reaction towards my deepest revelation
wasn’t exactly positive. Maybe they’d pretended to keep the
floozies away.

“Then... then
why...?”

He didn’t give
me a chance to finish my question.

“I’ll answer
your question, but I have a few first. Why did you run away, after
everything we’ve been through?”

Oh, this man
was driving me crazy! I had just apologised to him about my
feelings and he didn’t even bother to accept it. Instead he’d put
his interrogation clothes on. No, I was certain, there wasn’t
weren’t any hope left, not even with Lisa out of the picture. He
didn’t feel the same way about me.

“Alex, that is
my business and mine alone,” I answered, closed shut, very hurt and
sorry for myself.

“Is it? Is it
really your business?” he asked, sounding a little irritated
himself.

“Yes, it is,” I
answered heatedly, pain encouraging me and growing into anger. “It
is my business alone. I didn’t endanger Earth or any of you in any
way. I belong to me, you know? For the first time in my life, I am
old enough to make decisions for myself, to try things and to make
mistakes and learn from them. Yes, I have misjudged a few
characters in the process. But still, those were my risks to take.
You do not own me, Alex. And by the way, I don’t give a damn about
your supposed responsibilities,” I yelled at the end. “I will not
have you giving your life to keep me from doing something against
my beliefs. If I try to kill Duncan on my own, it’s my life that
I’m risking. Not Earth’s or anyone else’s, mine,” I said a little
calmer this time.

“But what about
the people that care about you, Valerie? Don’t you think it would
hurt them if something happens to you? Your mother, your father,
your friends?” he paused. “Me?”

“Well, I’m
sorry for that,” I answered, cornered.

“Valerie,” he
held his hand towards me, grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. Then
he put both his arms around me and looked intently down on me.

I was too
hopeful to move and too afraid to stay. But against my will, my
hopes were rising again. I sucked in my breath and held it.

“Val, Lisa
pretended to be my girlfriend to explain my frequent visits to your
dorm.”

My heart
pounded so hard that I was afraid to miss what he was about to
say.

“Valerie, I
have a huge confession to make. The first time that I saw you...,”
he closed his eyes as if thinking back. “Your dad didn’t want you
to see me, but I did. You were on your way to a hockey match; one
of your friends came to pick you up that Saturday morning. We came
back from a meeting and your dad thought that you had left already.
I hid in the car and peeked out the window and I saw you there, not
that far from me. I have to be honest, I knew you already - your
dad bragged a lot about you. But when I saw you Valerie, I fell for
you, right there and then.”

He looked at me
with fire in his eyes. “I’ve followed you ever since, using the
sunlight, watching at a distance, waiting. I’ve been watching you
since that day, every single day, except for rainy days.”

This time,
there was no holding back the tears. They flowed freely over my
eyelids and floated in perfect little spheres in front of me. Alex
cared for me as well! I didn’t deserve this, this perfect life.

But then his
expression darkened, the fire in his eyes grew cool.

“But first,” he
said heavily, “I have to warn you. You need to know the negatives
of our being together. We will need always to keep this discreet. I
never expected to be anything more than your protector and I was
glad to have the opportunity to be your friend. I vowed never to
tell you how I feel because I wanted to spare you this... this
yoke.” Alex was stuttering, clearly frustrated.

I didn’t feel
nervous about what he was about to say. As long as Alex was with
me, I’d have the courage to face anything. Nothing else mattered
anymore.

“There is no
easy way to put this. Traditionally, ambassadors are sorted into
social ranks. See it as the aristocracy against the lower class.
I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but galaxies and clouds are of
highest rank, followed by stars and black holes, then planets,
moons and asteroids; normal humans don’t count in the hierarchy.”
He paused, looking at me searchingly. “Having a relationship across
the line is risky. If we do have a relationship, and word gets too
far out, we will have to face serious consequences. It may even
mean exile. Why do you think Lisa never attends any meetings? Being
the Ruler, I was the only ambassador in our galaxy that had access
to the council, so I was in a position to hide things away and I
opted not to enforce the rule. Now the new Ruler will have access
to the council and decide.”