People Lie

“Excuse me.” A masculine voice was heard behind me and I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to face the man. His bright green eyes crinkled as he smiled, seemingly amused. “Your shoelace is untied.” He told me, directing my attention to my beat up Converse.

“Thanks.” I replied, giving a small smile of my own. I crouched down to tie it and when I popped back up, he was still there. “Did you need something else?”

“Yeah. Could you point me to the cafeteria?” He asked, scanning the area around us, indicating confusion.

“I’m going there now.” I said, holding up my lunch box. “Just follow me.”

I didn’t have to look back to make sure he was following because I could hear his mirrored footsteps behind me as I made my way to the cafeteria. Once I’d reached my destination, I sat at my usual lunch table. While sifting through my lunch, I heard something plop onto the bench across from me and the table shook a bit. I peered up over my lunch box into the same green eyes I’d just been acquainted with.

“Do you need me to lead you to the lunch line, too?” I asked sarcastically.

“No. I just don’t have anywhere else to sit.” He replied, resting an elbow on the table and letting his head drop onto his fist. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“I guess not.” I shrugged, biting into my peanut butter sandwich. “But if you value your high school career, you should probably get up and get as far away from me as possible.”

“I’m not following.” He admitted, his dark brows scrunching together in confusion.

“I’m a nobody. A loser. A geek. An outcast. A-,”

He raised a hand to silence me. “I get it now.”

I took another bite of my sandwich, taking this opportunity to examine the boy before me.

His skin was a nice shade. Not too dark, but not pale like a vampire. His face seemed to have been sculpted by a fine craftsmen, what with his angular jaw, sharp cheekbones, and perfectly manicured eyebrows. This boy must have been manufactured in some far away planet.

I chuckled softly at the thought.

“So…?” I encouraged.

“I’m staying.” He shrugged.

“Now would be a good time to introduce yourself.” I advised.

“Right.” He chortled. “I’m Oliver.”

“Nice to meet you Oliver.” I shook his hand with my free one. “I’m-,”

“Brooklyn. I know.” He cut me off.

My jaw dropped and my brain clouded over with confusion. I tried to think of a reason that he’d know my name, but there was no logical reason. “H-how’d you know my n-name?” I blundered, dropping my sandwich on it’s bag.
“I…er…,” he faltered, a regretful look passing over his face.

“Oliver!” I snapped. “Tell me. Now.”

“I…well…I heard someone say your name.” He told me, sounding unsure.

“Wrong.” I stated. “Nobody, beside teachers, have called out my name for ages now. You know, because I don’t have many friends. Well…any friends.” I punctuated my last sentence with a glare. “And I don’t have any classes with you.”

His shifted in his seat uncomfortably, averting his gaze. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He mumbled, sounding remarkably like a child who’d just been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

“Try me.” I replied, crossing my arms indignantly.

“I can’t tell you here. Not with all these people around at least.” He shook his head. “I’ll meet you by your locker after school.”

“You know where my locker is?” I spat in disbelief.

“Again, I’ll explain it later.” He relaxed in his seat again now that I was done ridiculing him. Or so he thought.

“Look.” I started venomously. “If you’re some sort of stalker-,”

“I’m not, I swear!” He assured, raising his hands defensively.

I picked my sandwich back up and began eating it again, staring Oliver down as I did so. I chewed slowly, replaying the scene that just happened, trying desperately to figure out his intentions. This boy perplexed me.

A few minutes later, the bell rang out overhead, signaling the end of lunch. I packed all my things back in my lunch box, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and exited the cafeteria. I could feel Oliver’s gaze on my back as I walked quickly to my locker and picked up my things for my next class.

I sat down in my usual seat in the very back corner. I decided to crack open my book and read until class started. A few paragraphs in, I felt a warm body occupy the usually empty seat beside my. I looked up over my book, and (surprise, surprise)it was Oliver.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I groaned, earning a sheepish smile from the boy beside me. “Now I’m really starting what you said about not being a stalker.”

A sigh escaped his lips as he rested his head on his fist again, staring straight ahead. “I thought maybe you’d be a bit more thrilled to have someone talking to you.”

“Maybe under normal circumstances.” I admitted, shutting my book and facing him. “But you pretty much blew it when you told me that you already knew my name. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you know my locker number too. What’s next?” I quipped. “Do you know my locker combination? My home address? My cell number?”

“49-6-23.” He stated, then went on to name the other two things mentioned, seeming almost bored. My mouth dropped open yet again.

My stomach turned and when the bell rang again, I struggled to focus on the lesson. My mind kept blurring over and fuzzing out, trying again to determine his motives.

The rest of the day dragged on and I still hadn’t come up with any scenarios to calm me down by the last bell. I snatched my books from my desk and hastened to my locker. I shoved everything I needed into my backpack and waited. And waited. And waited. It was about fifteen minutes before Oliver came bounding toward me, a gaggle of girls surrounding him, watching him and taking in his every move as if they were starving lions and he was a gazelle, just within reach.

“I thought you said you couldn’t tell me with a bunch of people around.” I challenged, staring pointedly at all of the lions —ahem— girls.

“I know.” He grumbled, slumping against the locking next to mine, resembling a small child again. “I couldn’t shake them off. I walked around this entire school almost 5 times, but all they did was giggle.”

“Just ask for a moment alone.” I suggested. “They seem to warship you. I’m sure if you ask them real nice, you can even get them to bow down.” This remark brought a smile to his face and he did as I said. The girls scattered almost immediately, but not before either touching his arm in flirtation or sending a wink or ‘call me’ signal. I laughed at their blatant attempts at catching his attention.

“So?” I prompted.

“I’m from another planet.” He blurted.

“You do know that what they say about girls being from Venus and boys being from Mars isn’t true, right?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I’m from a planet where humans exist, but as slaves.” He continued, rolling up his sleeve to reveal a bulky watch. “This is how I communicate with my planet. It also has the largest database known on my planet.” He pressed a few buttons on it and a holographic image appeared before me. Of myself. Next to it was information. Everything about me. My likes, dislikes, my permanent record for school (nearly clean aside from the time that I got detention for skipping class when I was going through my rebellious stage), all of my pet’s names, my favorite colors. Anything you could think of.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” I shook my head, which hurt from all this new information. Why me? “If you’re a slave, then why do you have the biggest database from your planet? And how did you escape the planet?”

He cleared his throat, eyes glazing over for a second. “My dad was a great scientist before the robots took over.” He explained. I had to stifle the laughter that threatened to rise at the thought of robots taking over. That sounded like something straight out of a science fiction story. “He created this, planning to do research of this planet himself. But he…,” he trailed off, staring straight ahead. “He died before he was able to. It was his dying wish for me to take the family spaceship and travel to Earth.”

“If this is true, then why aren’t there more people like you coming to Earth?” I asked, skeptical of his alibi.

“My dad discovered Earth. No one beside my mom and I know about.” He glanced at me through his peripheral vision before starting again. “Not to mention the fact that all vehicles were taken from us when the robots took over.”

“So how’d you-,”

“Jeez woman, would you stop interrupting? I’m getting there.” He snapped. I closed my mouth obediently and pleaded silently for him to continue. “I high-jacked a spaceship using my dad’s technology and used the database to navigate my way here.”

“Well…,” I hesitated. “I guess it would take a pretty wild mind to come up with something that elaborate. And the holograph thing...," I trailed off, not being able to think clearly. "But just answer me one more question.”

“Anything.” He promised.

“Why me?”

“Why am I following you?” He clarified. I nodded, causing an uncharacteristic smirk to claim his lips while his beautiful eyes held the same amount of amusement as when I‘d met him. “Well that’s for me to know, and you never to find out.”

“You said anything.” I accused. “I’m pretty sure that falls under the category of ‘anything’.”

“People lie.” He shrugged.