Worlds Apart

Perhaps.

Then again, what if Liz had forgotten about him? What if her parents had been right, and that being immersed in Borealan culture had awakened her true nature? Was she now enjoying the company of new friends, new lovers? Maybe Jamie was the only person who thought of their relationship as anything more than an immature infatuation, and Liz had moved on. Jamie didn't want to think badly of her, but he couldn't help but direct some of his anger -- some of his despair -- in her direction. Maybe it was time to finally let go of the past and start building a new future for himself? He couldn't keep pining for her, waiting for that call to come through forever, it was absurd. That wasn't what she would have wanted for him, either.

As he made his way around a bend, he noticed a figure standing by the bleachers, waving him over. He jogged closer, seeing that it was Ben. The two were in a few classes together and often shared notes, not close enough to be called good friends necessarily, but certainly enough to hang out from time to time. Jamie came to a stop beside him, wiping his brow.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Jamie," Ben replied cheerfully. "Thought I might find you out here. Hey, listen," he continued as his tone took on a conspiratorial quality. "There's a house party going down tonight, thought I might extend an invitation to you."

"A house party?" Jamie panted, leaning over with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Yeah, you know...music, party games, a little underage drinking. Thought maybe you'd make an appearance for once. Rachel is going to be there," he added, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Refresh my memory."

"Seriously?" Ben scoffed. "Bombshell blonde, tits out to here," he added as he mimed a pair of breasts. "Everyone knows she likes you, seems you're the only one bone-headed enough to miss it."

"Oh yeah, I've seen her around."

She wasn't the first girl that had shown interest in Jamie. He was tall, athletic, and he could have had the personality of a sack of wet gravel for all they cared. Even while Liz had been around, other girls had often flirted with him, but he had been completely oblivious to it during his funk. Frivolous romances were no replacement for what he had shared with Liz, there was no possible substitute for having grown up together, for the tender moments that they had shared. Still, Liz wasn't here anymore. Maybe this was the Universe giving him another chance, a way to distract himself, if nothing else.

"You alright there, chief?" Ben prompted.

"Yeah," Jamie replied with a nod. "I mean, yeah, I'll come to the party."

"Great!" his friend replied, clapping his hands together. "I'll send the address to your phone tonight. Honestly, dude, I was starting to think you were gonna keep sulking until graduation. You can meet some new people, loosen up a little, maybe see where the night takes you. And by night, I mean Rachel," he added with a grin.

"I'll see you there," Jamie said, waving him off.

***

Jamie returned home that evening to wash up and put on something more presentable than a tracksuit before heading out. Ben sent him the address, as promised, a knot forming in his stomach as he realized that it was in the same neighborhood where Liz and her family had once lived. It was some rich senior's place, his parents were out of town, and he was old enough to get his hands on booze. It wasn't a small gathering, it looked like half of the college was going to be there.

He knew he was heading in the right direction before the house was even in view, the sound of pulsing music bleeding out into the street. They'd be lucky not to get a noise complaint at this rate. There were already a few people hanging out on the front lawn, holding drinks in their hands as they chatted, more making their way inside. Jamie couldn't help but feel out of place. While he was casually acquainted with many of these people, he went to school with them, this was not his world. He walked up the driveway and entered through the front door, emerging into the living room. It was crowded with people, his stature letting him see over most of their heads, fold-out tables laden with drinks and snacks lining the walls.

Jamie scanned the faces, looking for Ben, finding him milling about beside a large punch bowl. He was talking to a girl who looked less than impressed by his advances. He spotted Jamie, starting to make his way over to him, pushing through the partygoers like he was wading through a snowdrift.

"Jamie!" he said, raising his voice over the din of music and conversations. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show! Come on," he added, leading him over to one of the tables. "What's your poison?" he asked, gesturing to a dozen bottles.

Jamie didn't recognize any of them, he had never been much of a drinker. Ben quickly realized that he wasn't going to get an answer, so he upended one of the bottles into a plastic cup, thrusting it into Jamie's hand. He eyed the amber liquid, raising it to his lips and giving it a tentative sip. It was bitter, with a chemical aftertaste, wholly unpleasant.

Riotous laughter filled the room, drawing his attention to another table, where a group of onlookers were cheering on some manner of drinking game. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, just talking, mingling.

"I saw Rachel arrive already," Ben said. "You two should get to know each other a little better! She's gotta be around here somewhere."

While Jamie appreciated Ben's attempts to set him up, the chaotic environment was already starting to overwhelm him. He couldn't even hear himself think over the pounding music and the chorus of muddled voices. Maybe that was the point?

Ben led him into the kitchen, which was just as packed as the living room, pausing to grab a bag of chips as he passed by a marble counter. The party was spilling into the back yard, a wave of relief washing over Jamie as he stepped out onto the carefully tended grass, the loud sounds fading to a dull drone that was far easier to block out. The yard was lit by the glow from the house behind him, and a few tiki torches that had been spaced around the lawn. Towards the back fence was a stone patio with a few folding chairs, along with another table sporting food and drinks, which seemed to be where most of the guests were clustered.

One of them turned to glance in his direction, his stature making him easy to spot. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her long, blonde hair catch the light from a nearby torch. He was immediately reminded of Liz, they were even a similar height. If she had been wearing a pink beanie, and he was seeing her from the back, they could have been sisters. The human facial features and the far lighter skin tone broke the illusion, but still...

Ben guided him over to the group, Rachel stepping forward, a gaggle of female friends whispering behind their hands as they shared conspiratorial glances. They had spoken before on a few occasions, so they weren't exactly strangers, Rachel ignoring Ben's introduction as she glanced up at Jamie.

"Jamie," she said, "glad you could make it. I haven't seen you around campus much these days."

"I've been spending a lot of time at the track," he replied, Rachel looking him up and down.

"Yeah, I can tell..."

"I'll leave you two to get acquainted," Ben said, giving Jamie a nudge with his elbow. "I hear the siren call of the beer pong table."

Jamie nodded, taking another sip of his disgusting beverage, watching his friend vanish into the house. He turned his attention back to Rachel, not sure what to say. What was he supposed to talk to her about? His part-time job at the supermarket? His running? He wasn't exactly overflowing with interesting stories and experiences, save for those involving Liz, but he didn't expect Rachel would appreciate him gushing about his lost love. Now was the time to meet new people, to have new experiences, he couldn't keep dwelling on the past. Rachel was pretty, and she was into him. He should make an effort.

Thankfully, she made the first move.

"We should catch up," she said, batting her blue eyes at him. "Want to go somewhere a little quieter?"

"Sure," he said, following behind her as her friends snickered at him.

***

Rachel led Jamie over to a more secluded corner of the garden, where they chatted for a few hours about everything and nothing. They talked about school, about their families, about what shows they were watching. The girl spoke at length about her plans for summer vacation, how her parents were supposed to be taking her to a seastead off the coast of Portugal for two weeks, and he was content to just listen. His drink had grown more tolerable with each refill, the taste secondary to the buzz that he was developing. It helped him relax a little more, loosened his lips, lowered his inhibitions. He found himself telling a few jokes that had always made Liz laugh, and they seemed to have the same effect on Rachel. She could have been humoring him, but he was rapidly becoming too tipsy to tell the difference between a fake laugh and a sincere one.

"People used to wonder about you, you know," she said as they leaned against the back fence, a small hedge providing some privacy from the other guests.

"Yeah?" he asked, taking another drink from his cup.

"I don't think it was any secret that lots of girls were interested in you, but you always played hard to get. It became a bit of a game, trying to see if any of us could get you talking. You only ever hung out with that alien girl, what was her name? She moved out of state about a year back."

"Liz," he replied with a nod, trying not to let his mind wander back to thoughts of her. "She moved away, yeah."

"Were you two...an item?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah," he replied, taking another sip of his beverage. "Not really."

"That's a relief," Rachel laughed. "People used to joke about it, but dating an alien seems...super weird."

Jamie felt a knot form in his stomach. He had just lied about Liz, about everything that they had shared, about that wonderful night that they had spent together before she had been torn away from him. Rachel seemed to find the idea of a human and an alien making love off-putting, something to be ridiculed, like it would make him some kind of sexual deviant to have dated someone of a different species. He felt an urge to call her out, but he suppressed it. If Liz was really gone, then what good would dying on that hill do him? He'd just be made a pariah, and this opportunity to build a new social life would be squandered.

"It was cool how you looked out for her, though," Rachel added.

"Yeah, she used to get a lot of flak at school," he replied. "Kids can be mean sometimes."

"So," she said, reaching up to brush her blonde locks out of her face. "Are you seeing anyone right now?"

"No," Jamie replied, his cheeks warming. It was hard to have a conversation with the shorter girl without looking down her blouse, copping an eyeful of the cleavage that she was proudly displaying. He was more than a little out of his depth. He had never had to talk to any girls other than Liz, he had never had to flirt, he had never learned the intricacies of the dating game. Rachel was coming on pretty hard, and he wasn't sure how to react.

"I'd like to know more about you, Jamie," she continued as she leaned a little closer to him. "You're kind of a mystery, you know? You're the only guy on the track team who isn't going steady with someone, you never talk to anyone, this is the first time I've seen you at any kind of party. Since you don't catch the hint when people are subtle with you, I'll try something more direct. How about you and me give it a go?"

"Are you...asking me out?" Jamie asked, trying to take another drink from his cup before realizing that it was empty. He felt pleasantly drunk now, it made his mind hazy, gave him more confidence.

"Duh," she chuckled.

"Yeah," he said, a little more enthusiastically than he had intended. "Let's give it a go."

She took him by the hand, leading him back towards the house.

"Where are we going?" he wondered aloud, Rachel guiding him through the crowd. He was vaguely aware of her friends from the garden eyeing him as the pair passed by, whispering behind their hands again. This was something that Rachel had planned, that much was obvious, even in his drunken state.

"We've done enough talking," she replied, arriving at the foot of a staircase that led to the second floor. "It's a party, let's have some fun."

She tugged him up the stairs, proceeding down a carpeted hallway. The bathroom was up here, as well as the bedrooms. He noticed another couple who were making out rather aggressively, leaning against the wall as they walked by, the guy's hand buried down the front of his partner's jeans.

Was this normal for house parties?

They stopped at one of the doors, Rachel opening it with a creak to peek inside, checking that it wasn't already occupied. This bedroom was clearly owned by the parents of the student who had thrown the party. There was a double bed, and an en-suite bathroom, the dim lighting coming on automatically as they slipped inside. This was somebody's home, it made him feel like he was trespassing.

Rachel took him over to the bed, turning to place her hands on his chest, the fact that she had to stand on her toes to reach him splitting her face in an eager grin. She pressed her lips against his, Jamie tasting cherry lip balm, his eyes widening. She tried again, opening her mouth this time, uttering a soft moan of encouragement.

She was practiced, the flowery scent of her perfume filling his nose as she locked him in a cherry-flavored kiss, her deft tongue darting around inside his mouth. Her soft moaning titillated him, her ample breasts squashing against his chest as she pressed up tightly against him. He ran his hands down her back, cupping one of her shapely cheeks through her form-fitting jeans. He was raring to go, but even through his drunken haze, Jamie could tell that something was wrong.

He anticipated the coiling of a long tongue, the roughness of the barbs that he had come to associate with Liz, but they never came. Gone was that desperate passion, that tenderness, the haste of a love finally out in the open. The depth of Liz's feelings for him had been apparent in every stroke of her tongue, the way that she had trembled in his arms, how her claws had raked his back in the throes of her ecstasy. Kissing Rachel felt...fake, like they were going through the motions. He knew what love felt like, and this wasn't it.

She broke off, glancing up at him expectantly, her slender fingers roaming down to his belt. One of her hands reached up his shirt, Rachel testing the firmness of his abs beneath her palm.

"You don't talk much, do you?" she whispered as she began to undo his buckle. "That's alright, I didn't bring you up here to make conversation."

She cupped his bulge, making him lurch, his mind swirling with conflict. Rachel was any college kid's wet dream. She had a young, tight body, with an ass like a peach that was crammed into jeans two sizes too small for her. He could feel her perfect boobs through the insubstantial fabric of her blouse, just begging for him to plunge his hands into them. Her hair was the color of gold, her skin had the healthy glow of an expensive tanning regimen, and she was throwing herself at him with abandon. If he let this go on, he could be fucking her brains out on a stranger's bed within the next minute. All he had to do was let it happen. Wasn't that what everyone wanted, him included? Was this not what was expected of him if he was going to reconnect with his human classmates? Then why was it making him feel so...bad?

He took a step back, Rachel's smile vanishing, her brow furrowing.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"S-sorry," he stammered, taking another step away from her as he buckled up his belt. "You're...great, Rachel, but...I shouldn't be here."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, becoming visibly angry at his reaction. She followed him as he backed off, her hands balled into fists, her blue eyes flashing with indignation. "What kind of guy would say no at this point? We're in the fucking bedroom, Jamie, I was taking your goddamned pants off! Are you gay or something?"

In his drunken state, Jamie only knew that he didn't want to be here anymore, his eyes scanning the room for an escape route. He didn't want to leave through the party, not with Rachel following behind him, yelling about his sexual inadequacies in front of the whole school.

He spied a window, making his way towards it and throwing it open, cool night air spilling into the room as he leaned out. Below was a bay window that projected out onto the street, with a short, sloping roof.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Rachel snapped. "Hey!"

Jamie jumped up onto the windowsill, dropping down onto the asphalt tiles below. He slid down onto the grass, a few partygoers who were sipping drinks on the front lawn scattering, Jamie vaguely aware of their cries of alarm and amusement. He stumbled to his feet, beginning to run, still fumbling with his belt as he went.

"Asshole!" Rachel shouted after him, leaning out of the bedroom window.

***

With the passage of enough time, Jamie's heart began to heal, and Liz's absence gradually became more bearable. He had never received a reply from her, and he came to terms with the fact that he would never know if his message had ever reached her. If she had moved on, or if she was simply unable to contact him, it ceased to matter. It wasn't that his love for her had faded, he had merely become accustomed to the feelings in the same way that calluses form on overworked fingers. As she became less and less of a preoccupation for him, he was able to focus more on his life, and on the new friendships that he had formed.

Word had spread about his stunt at the house party, and it had soured many of the girls on campus. Rachel had been especially vindictive in spreading the story to as many people as possible, as though his rejection of her had been some kind of personal slight. It mattered little, as Jamie had no interest in pursuing another relationship. He felt as though he would never again share that same connection with someone, and perhaps that was okay. Maybe one day, he would find someone who he could love in a different way, but there was no hurry.

He graduated with a passing grade, which was about as much as he could have hoped for, and it seemed to make his parents happy enough. Besides running, and being with Liz, Jamie had never really thought too deeply about what he wanted to do after school. His part-time job at the supermarket was already a done deal, and it was convenient, so he decided to start working there full-time until he could figure out what kind of career he wanted. The manager was happy to have him, and the pay raise was nice. With the money, he was soon able to move out, getting his own modest apartment that was closer to the building where he worked. The staff there were friendly, many of them near enough his own age that they started to hang out after work, and he soon had a new circle of friends who were far less obsessed with social standing than those of his college days.

All things considered, he felt like he was doing alright.

CHAPTER 5: LATE CALLER

"You sure you don't want to stick around a little longer?" Jamie's coworker asked, gesturing to the break room at the back of the store. He was still wearing an apron emblazoned with the supermarket logo, while Jamie had just finished changing out of his uniform. "We sent Mike out to get some pizza, figured we'd play some poker before we close up. Pitch in for a slice?"