Page 136 of Stardusted

To start with, I had no idea where to go from here.

Once I knocked out this midterm…then what? Did I just…hide out in my apartment? Twiddle my thumbs until Sky figured out how to prove, one way or another, if I’d absorbed something from the halix? Hoping, while I was at it, that there was a way to fix it that didn’t involve severely damaging me in the process?

The crimson-stained T-shirt reminded me it might be too late for that.

I closed my eyes briefly. God,couldwe fix this? Was there a way to escape any of this unscathed? Or was that nosebleed just the start of something much worse?

This pent-up, strung-tight, ready-to-explode feeling wasnotsustainable. My life was spinning off its axis. Out of control.

Maybe coming here had been a bad idea, after all. What was the point? Some half-cocked bid to hold onto my pre-alien life goals? Maybe I should’ve listened to Sky, who was now looking at me with his eyes crinkled in worry beneath the shadow of his hat?—

“Rae!”

I yelped, spinning so fast, I nearly toppled into Sky. He steadied me with a hand on my waist and released me as soon as I’d regained my footing.

Amelia stood there, eyeing me like I’d lost my mind. Which wasn’t necessarily far off.

“Hi!” I rested a hand over my thundering heart. Sky stepped a little farther to the side, putting some space between us. I pretended not to notice. “Sorry, A. You scared me.”

“Hi?Just hi?” she repeated incredulously, scanning me from head to toe. “Are you okay? You didn’t answeranyof my texts today, not to mention you were weird last night when I stopped by. And today you look like you did after we watchedParanormal Activityand you were so convinced you were going to sleepwalk, you refused to sleep for…” She trailed off as her gaze drifted past me, and she blinked. “You’re Sky.”

“Yeah,” he said, transferring his weight.Iflushed at the charming half-smile he aimed my best friend’s way. His arm brushed mine when he offered her his hand. “I didn’t get to introduce myself at Crescent. Nice to meet you. Amelia, right? I’m Sky Acosta. I think I’ve seen you before, when you stopped in to see Rae at work.”

“Uh huh. I know who you…” She caught herself and pursed her lips. “Nice to meet you.”

She shook his proffered hand, but her attention slid to me and she slowly raised her eyebrows. Hertell-me-nowlook.

Oh boy. I nearly winced. If Sky thought my questions were a lot, an Amelia tirade would be a real shocker.

“Sorry,” I told her again, biting my lip. “Didn’t mean to ignore your texts. It’s been kind of a crazy few days.”Hah. Understatement. “And last night was…”Easily one of the weirdest nights of my existence.I coughed. “Busy. Then I worked today and…I had stuff.”

I gestured vaguely at the university around us, like school was thestuffkeeping me from texting.Nota galactic crisis.

“Sure.” Amelia eyed Sky with obvious doubt.

He wore a tight-lipped smile.

Oh, God. My brain chose that moment to recall all those humiliating things she’d said through the door. Was he remembering them right now too?

It was too late to do anything about it. He knew my feelings. The cat was out of the bag.

But still. I’d never meant for Sky to find out about Hamilton and Stella Acosta. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

I’d never imagined Amelia and Sky meeting like this, either.

Or, you know, that he was secretly an alien.

I gripped the straps of my book bag like I was holding onto a ledge. It sure felt like I was.

Amelia tilted her head to the side, and I knew that look, too. It was her digging look. “I didn’t know you went to TWU, Sky. Rae never mentioned that.”

“Oh, no,” he said, tucking one hand into the front pocket of his dark jeans. “I don’t. I’m just here to hang out with Raven.”

“Oh,really?”Amelia rocked back on her heels. Her brows climbed even higher beneath her curtain bangs.

My face grew warm. The pressure of his shoulder against mine was doing weird things to my belly.

When I said nothing—words? What are those?—Amelia tucked her lips and flipped her phone face-up, like she was checking the time. “You’ve got a midterm now, don’t you?”