Page 73 of Stardusted

“It helps you with your tips,” I muttered, reaching back to tie my apron.

“Hah. Rae-bae. This—” she swept her hand across her expertly made-up face and body poured into a strategically buttoned dress “—helps with my tips. But hey, I’d give you an A minus for effort.”

“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes.

Grinning, she fell into step beside me as I walked into the kitchen. Jackie and Tony were already arguing over the finer points of music genres, their voices raised over the screaming hair metal pulsing from the speaker.

Kelly pushed through the swinging doors and held one open with her shoulder. “So, any new stuff on the lights?”

“What lights?” I asked, tongue tucked into my cheek.

Shetsked in annoyance, and I bit back a smirk. It felt good—normal—to needle her. Even now, knowing she’d been right aboutso much. Didn’t mean I was going to tell her, though.

Not yet. Possibly not ever.

The restaurant was still in its post-lunch lull. Rain streaked the windows, and only a few tables were occupied. Emily was chatting with a booth full of nerdy-looking teen boys, flipping her hair. Across the room, Sara was tending to a pair of women in the corner booth. With her dark complexion, she pulled off the neon dress even better than Kelly. They all pulled it off better than I did.

I didn’t look toward the bar while I tapped my fingers on my thigh in time with the steel drum samba thumping from the speakers. The cheerful tune was undercut by a truly unfortunate monkey sound effect. I couldfeelthe urge to turn my head like a phantom hand yanking at my chin, but it wasn’t time yet. I needed a plan first.

“I don’t buy that you’re still in denial about the aliens,” Kelly said, bringing me back to the conversation. She swatted my hip with her empty tray. “You can’t tell me you didn’t watch the YouTube videos.”

“I saw the videos,” I admitted at a grumble.

We reached the server station, and I busied myself with the pre-shift ritual, grabbing straws, checking my order book, counting my coins. Anything to calm the nerves coiling in my chest.

I hated confrontation. But I was determined to talk to Sky tonight.

Kelly leaned a hip against the counter. “So,” she said, dragging the word out. “You’ve got to believe me now, right? About the aliens?”

Sighing, I set my molars. “Kelly, I believe something was captured on camera that people are having trouble explaining.”

“No. It’s easy to explain.” She spread her hands. “Aliens.”

I looked away, chewing the inside of my cheek. The burning mark on my palm and the bruises on my arm were explanation enough. But I couldn’t just…roll over and admit she was right.SinceI’d started my own descent into madness, though, I might as well pump her for intel.

“Let’s say I believe you,” I said, snapping my order book closed and tucking it into my apron. I turned to her and crossed my arms. “Where’d you get your information? You seem to know a lot about this.”Her eyes sparkled with a maniacal gleam of triumph, like me caving was the answer to unholy prayers. I plowed ahead.“So tell me: if there really are aliens, where are they from? What do they want? Why are they here?Hypothetically,” I added, when her smile spread to Cheshire Cat-width.

It didn’t deter her. She rubbed her hands together. “I thought you’d never ask, Rae-bae. Okay. So. I have this…friend, I guess. He’s really into this stuff. He—” She broke off, glancing around.

I followed her gaze. Nobody else was nearby, and once she was satisfied, she leaned in. Instinctively, I did the same.

She dropped her voice to a whisper. “My friend is really into this stuff. He belongs to a local branch of FETR.” She paused for dramatic effect.

I stared at her blankly.When she didn’t elaborate, I raised my brows. “Okay…and what’sfetter?”

“No, not…ugh, it’s F, E, T, R. An acronym for Friends of the Extraterrestrial Races. Pronounced ‘Fetter.’”

“Friends of the…”Friendlywas not the word I’d use to describe the robot that’d chased me through the lab. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She flicked her fingers dismissively, like I was the one being ridiculous. “Just listen. My friend’s in FETR. They’re this worldwide group of people who research and monitor alien activity.”

“Like, what, the Men in Black?” I snorted.Whyhad I thought Kelly might actually be a legitimate source of information?

“No! They’re not the government. Come on, Rae. You really think the government would be honest about aliens?”

“They had a whole hearing about it.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, and they didn’t sayanything. They didn’t confirmanything. FETR’s made up of regular people, people like you and me, who actually know what’s going on. They’ve got chapters all over the place. And some of their members work at, like, radio telescope arrays. SETI and stuff.”