Page 46 of Stardusted

I shuddered and pressed my fingertips into my eyes, trying to shut it out.

A hand touched my back, and I jumped.

The EMT crouched beside me again, concern etched into her expression. “I think you hit your head, Raven.” She paused. “Can I call you that?” When I didn’t respond, she continued, “Maybe it’s best you come with me to the hospital. We can check you out?—”

“No!”

I flinched at my own voice. It came out too harsh, too loud. I pushed upright, fisting my hands in the front of my hoodie. The once-white fabric was dust-streaked and scorched around the sleeves.

“No hospitals,” I repeated more calmly. Not if I could help it. Not since Dad. “I’m fine. Really. Just…shaken up.”

I forced a slow breath, and when I looked away from her, I met Officer Brown’s astute hazel eyes instead. He still stood above me, watching the interaction with a narrowed, keen gaze. Waiting, I realized, for me to finish my story.

“Sorry. Um, so I was coming down here to find Professor Stern,” I said, gesturing toward the professor. I blinked hard and tried to find the words. “I had just opened the door and…”

My voice abandoned me.

For one, stretched-out moment, I considered telling the truth. All of it. The car accident. The robot. The glowing, crumbling tablet. The whole damn alien conspiracy theory, served up with a caution-tape bow.

And then I imagined their faces. The disbelief, the concern, and the polite, pitying looks that would quickly morph intosuspicion. My credibility would be shredded. Any chance at scholarships would be gone. I’d be lucky not to end up institutionalized and whispering about mechanical monsters to someone with a clipboard.

Shit.

I was going to lie. Flat-out. To a police officer. To the EMTs. To Professor Stern. Toeveryone.

Even to my mom, when I called her later.

It was an explosion in the lab. That was it. The only explanation I could give. The only one they’d accept.

There was no sign of the robot. No evidence. Even the guards thought it had been a blast.

Hell, maybe ithadbeen. Maybe I needed to see a person with a clipboard, after all.

The officer tapped his pen on his notepad, the sound loud enough to drag me back into the present. “You opened the door and…?” he prompted, eyes steady on mine. He was reading me. I knew it.

Here went nothing. I tightened my hold on my hoodie like it could ground me.

“Sorry. I, um, I opened the door, and then I remember being thrown backward. I think I hit my head and then…”

I shrugged, doing my best to sound dazed and not full of absolute crap.

But my heart jolted as I forced my face to stay neutral. I was a terrible liar, and Iknewit. But if I could hold it together for just this one moment?—

An eternity passed.

Then Officer Brown looked away and nodded, pen scratching across the paper, though I didn’t miss his brief hesitation. That was fine. I’d given my statement. I let out a slow, shaky breath.

I’d done it. I’d lied.

My gaze drifted past him. The trio of suits still stood near the stairwell. I hadn’t seen them speak to anyone. Hadn’t even seen them move. But the woman with the severe bun now had her eyes locked onme.

There was something about her stare. Not curious.Knowing.

A chill chased up my spine, and I looked away.

“Am I…” I started to rise then hesitated. Still seated, I turned to the EMT then to the professor. “Am I in trouble or something? Can I go?”

Professor Stern shook his head and extended a hand. “Of course you’re not in trouble, Raven. Here, let me help you up, if you’re ready.”