Not Your Ordinary Alien Story

THE FINAL CHAPTER (or is it?)

The sun peeking over the mountaintops spreads a blanket of golden light over the land. I get out of bed and pull on jeans and a black T-shirt then lace my hiking boots up on my feet. I walk down the hallway with the heavy feeling that something is missing. It's something indescribable, a vibration in the air that left when GranAna left. The air in the house is slower, duller, leaving me with an ache inside.

I stop in front of GranAna's closed bedroom door. For the briefest of moments, I let myself believe she's in there sleeping, that she'll come out at any moment and start bustling around, filling up the emptiness in the house, maybe make a pot of cinnamon flavored tea and buttermilk pancakes in the kitchen.

Helen is here. She and Mom are sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Helen gets up and hugs me when I walk into the room. "I'm sorry for your loss," she tells me. She looks me straight in the eye, her eyes soft and kind.

I sit at the table with them. This doesn't feel real.

"You'll have to call the university," Mom tells me. "Tell them there's been a death in the family and you'll have to miss the first week of classes."

I nod my head. "I will. First thing Monday."

"I'll have to make funeral arrangements," Mom says. Her eyes well up with tears. Helen reaches over and takes a hold of her hand. I stand up and go to the sink to fill the teapot with water. GranAna's favorite cup is next to the sink still half-full of the tea she was drinking yesterday. Was it just yesterday? Something weird is happening with time; it's stretching out longer than ordinary time.

Helen stays close to Mom all morning. Neighbors stop by bringing us flowers and sympathy cards, telling us how wonderful GranAna was and how she'll be missed. Everyone hugs me before they walk out the door. I feel like I'm on automatic pilot. Mom acts like she's consoling everyone who stops by instead of vice-versa.

Ashley and her mother show up with a sympathy card and flowers. "I'm sorry about your grandmother," Ashley tells me. "Really, I am."

I don't know what to say. I look into her eyes and for the briefest of moments I remember what it was like when we were friends in Mountain School.

"Zoe, I've gotta talk with you about something. Can we go to your room?"

"Okay." I turn and lead her down the hall to my room.

Ashley shuts the door behind us and leans against it, her hands behind her. "It's about Blue and Madison."

My shoulders drop. I set my mouth in a straight line and stare at her. Not now, I think. Not today. It's the last thing I want to think about. I sit on my bed. Ashley sits on the chair by my desk. "I don't want to talk about it," I tell her.

"Madison and Blue have never gone out," she states. "Madison was trying to make you think that. She's been throwing herself at Blue all summer long but he never went for it. Not at all."

"I saw them together at Joe's party."

"Yeah, she told me about that. It was all her. She was trying to make out with him; he was trying to pull away from her. That's when you walked up. Bad timing. Or good timing for her, I guess."

"I thought they left together that night."

"Madison asked him for a ride home but he told her she'd have to find another ride. He told her to stay away from him. He was really upset after you walked away. Madison made Sara bring her home that night so it would look like Blue and her left together.

"He's never called her?"

"Never. You know when she went into the market that day and she made it look like Blue called her?"