Page 137 of Stardusted

I nodded, pouncing on the subject change. “My communications one, yeah.”

“Great,” she said, tucking the phone into her Louis Vuitton purse. She glanced Sky’s way before turning back to me. “Meet me for coffee after?”

I knew what she was really asking. She wanted to get me alone so I could spill everything about this admittedly wild situation she’d just found me in.

A sinking feeling settled in my gut. I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t even need to ask Sky. It’d been like pulling teeth for him to tellme, and I was carrying an alien tattoo around on my palm. There was no way he’d be okay with telling Amelia.

Not to mention there was a risk. To her.

I couldn’t tell her.

I had to keep lying to my best friend.

The handful of fries I’d eaten pitched in my stomach. I cast around for something—anything—to say.

And then Sky cut in. “We’ve got a date.”

My mouth dropped open, and I pivoted to him slowly.“We…do?”

Despite everything, the robots, the scrambled brain, the impending doom, and all that…my insides fluttered at the thought. A date. With Sky.

He looked sincere. His lips were still curved into that small, pleasant enough smile, his posture relaxed, but the quick look he shot me spoke volumes.

Because of course it was an act. And he wanted me to play along.

And I got it. I did. Fake dating the undercover extraterrestrial. This was about safety. Staying close. Finding a solution for my shiny squiggles.

But this was also Amelia standing in front of me, and I suddenly badly wanted to get that coffee. Couldn’t I just spend time with her without spilling his secrets? Without spilling mine? Because if I could, I’d cling to her like a life raft before Idrowned in this mess?—

“I should still have time,” I blurted, looking at him. I didn’t miss his barely perceptible headshake.

When I didn’t take it back, his brows gathered. “I thought we agreed.”

“We didn’t agree to…that.” I frowned back. “It’s just coffee.”

“We agreed to this.”

“But not that.”

“Rae, we agreed?—”

“Sounds like a lot of disagreeing for all this agreeing,” Amelia interrupted, eyes swerving between us. There was confusion written all over her face. “Is everything okay?”

Only then did I realize I’d swung around toward him, and he’d done the same. We were scowling at each other. Like the unresolved tension from earlier had come bubbling back up.

Catching myself, I shuffled back a step, turning to my best friend. “Sorry. Yeah, we’ve, uh…” I felt Sky looking at me. “We sort of have something to do after this.”

“It’s really not a big deal,” Amelia said slowly, squinting at me like she was trying to decipher a code. “I’ve got a tech lab at the array tonight. How about I call you and we meet up later? After that something you agreed on.” She sent Sky a suspicious look.

“Sure.” An ache lodged in my throat. Even as I said it, I knew it probably wasn’t going to happen. “That sounds…good, yeah. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Sorry,” Sky interjected, though whether that was directed at me or her, I didn’t know. I only knew that sinking feeling was growing heavier, tugging my heart down with it.

Amelia backed away. I wanted to reach for her. Wanted to grab her arm and whisper:This isn’t what it looks like.

But it was even weirder than she could imagine.

“Nice to meet you…I think?” she told Sky.