Cerulean by Elad Haber
The alien girl whispered in my ear, “You find the place. I'll meet you there.”
The world is full of forgotten corners. I found an abandoned building near the airport. It was spring, the air brisk and all the trees and plants were still bare.
I intended to make history. The first of my species to mate with a Blue. Or, at least, the first in my class.
Her name was Gen, not her real name, but perhaps similar to her unpronounceable given name. She was stunning. It was as if a spotlight shone upon her when she entered a room, shaded blue, of course. She had a human-like face, slightly more dramatic, as if she painted on her eyes, mouth, and nose every morning like some people apply makeup.
We made eyes in English class early in the year. The teacher was talking about poetry, gesticulating that “Love is truth!”- a rare passionate appeal for our attentions.
Once, I bumped into her in the hall. Her books went flying. I bent down to collect them and so did she and our heads collided. We both laughed.
The Blues had come before I was born. They arrived with little fanfare, just one ship bringing a family of four. They were taken in by the government and sequestered, watched. No attack followed. They asked for shelter and for permission to send for more of their people. In exchange, they gave us medicine to cure the deadliest of cancers, chemicals to triple food production, and cured our energy crisis with a single structure in each region.
The governments of the world acquiesced. Who could resist so many gifts? It was like Christmas, all year round.
So they came in dribs and drabs. Up to twenty million now, worldwide. They don't intermarry with us and they don't let humans touch their dead, so we have no idea what their physiology is like.
I was patient. I spent most of my time by myself. If I saw her alone in the halls, I got up and walked beside her. If there was a quiet moment in class, I sat down next to her and asked her how her day was going. I asked her what kind of music she liked. I didn’t bother her with questions about her species.
Sometimes I'd see her attention waver in class and her eyes drift over to me. I smiled and she smiled back.
It became our habit to meet at the grassy entranceway to the school grounds. There was a long walk past the Elementary and Middle schools. We walked together, sometimes listening to a song on my phone with an earbud in each of our ears. Once we held hands.
Other kids looked at us with weird expressions.
I approached her after school near the pizza place where her friends hung out. I was feeling particularly bold that day. In truth, I was hungry as if I had skipped meals for days and she was the only thing that could sustain me. I sidled up close to her and whispered, “I want to see more of you.”
That's when she told me to set up a meeting away from prying eyes and texting fingers.
I waited in the lobby of the abandoned building. Wind rolled through open windows and through the cracks in the walls. I sat on the floor and pushed my feet up against my body to keep warm. I could see the daylight fade outside and I wondered with a dark heart whether I had been stood up.
Then I heard something move and the door opened. She glided in as if she was carried on the wind.
We kissed. She was hungry too, I could tell. As our lips parted, her hands pushed off my jacket and she started unbuttoning my shirt.
“Wait,” I said, instantly hating myself. “Won't you get in trouble? I thought..”
She shushed me. She kissed me again and let her jacket fall to the floor. In another quick gesture, she pulled her blouse over her head. Her skin, usually hidden by layers, was a slightly lighter shade of blue, cerulean like the ocean on a crystal-clear day.
I was nervous and stalling. “Why me?” I asked her.
She smiled. “You're not like the other boys. You don't just want to tell your friends.”
“I don't really have any friends.”
“Exactly.” She slid off her pants. Her legs were perfect, smooth and unmarked by any discolorations.
I fumbled with my clothes until they were off too. I was cold for a moment and then I pulled her body close to me until we were both warm. And then we were on the floor on a bed of our coats. We laughed. She didn’t seem alien in any way, just a girl.
I admired her body cradled against mine. She still had her underwear on, hiding her innermost secrets.
I touched her blue skin. “Is this really you?”
I could have blown my chances, but I needed to know. If love is truth, then it’s worth the risk.
She looked away for a moment. “You really want to see?”
“Yes.”
She flipped me on my back and straddled me. She kept one hand on my shoulder and pushed down to keep me in place. She was strong, stronger than I would have imagined. With her other hand, she reached behind her neck and seemed to flip an unseen switch.
And that’s when she started to glow.
Her blue skin became translucent and then iridescent. The glow was hot like the sun. I reached a hand to cover my eyes, but she held both of my arms down and giggled. I could see her bright smile in the even brighter glow that came from within her and lit up that old building like it was on fire. I was scared and excited at the same time.
As for what came next, well, I promised not to tell.
Elad Haber is a husband, father to an adorable little girl, and IT guy by day, fiction writer by night. He has recent publications from Literally Stories, The Daily Drunk, and at The Night's End Podcast. You can follow him on twitter @MusicInMyCar or on his website, eladhaber.wordpress.com.