We hung out at the park for a while, climbing and chatting, before going out to eat. It was just the two of us at the restaurant, which seemed odd, given that I was pretty sure his friends ate out together almost every day for lunch. I didn’t really want to rock the boat by mentioning it, though. 

After a rocky two days, I didn’t really expect Mark to invite me out again, but he did the following day. It was just the two of us, exercising at the park before getting lunch and watching a movie. His behavior continued to bewilder me at every turn; what possible reason could he have for wanting to spend this much time with me? Wanting to do Celest a favor was the only thing I could think of, but this had gone past the realm of “a little favor.” 

When our ban at OOU gym was up, Mark took me back. Vince and Kiara were a bit awkward but otherwise chill about my presence. I tried to be as inoffensive as possible, but that didn’t make a difference with Olivia. Mark stubbornly refused to acknowledge her when she said anything unkind about me, which always made Vince and Kiara exchange oddly conspiratorial looks. 

Aside from training with Mark’s friends at the OOU gym, Mark and I also spent a lot of time just the two of us. That was even weirder than him taking me out with his friends. Going out with his friends was something he would’ve done whether I was there or not, but taking me to an art museum and trying his hand at painting with me didn’t seem to be his cup of tea. 

One day, we were sitting at my desk and painting—well, I was painting; Mark was glaring at the blob of paint he’d tried and failed to remove from his canvas—and I couldn’t help but wonder something I’d wondered a million times over the last week. 

“Why are you doing this?”

“I dropped my palette, and some paint splattered.” He dabbed at the paint spot with a wet paper towel, which changed nothing except that now the paint was runny and spreading out. 

“No, I mean, you obviously don’t like painting, and Olivia asked you to go to that movie you’ve been wanting to see, so why are you here?”

He paused with a slight frown. “Do you not want me here?”

“That’s not what I said or what I meant.” I crossed my arms. “I like having you here, but I don’t understand why you like being here.”

“Oh.” The frown turned to an exasperated look. “I like spending time with you.”

“More than spending time with your friends?”

“You are my friend.” Avoiding my gaze, he swirled his brush around his water cup. “If you’re asking whether I like hanging out with you more than Olivia, the answer is… yes.”

I couldn’t blame him for that, but it wasn’t like I was his only option. “Why not spend time with Kiara or Vince?”

“Kiara is Olivia’s roommate. When I hang out with Kiara, she invites Olivia—unless I pretend to invite Olivia, which usually backfires. Every time I hang out with Vince, he invites Kiara because- of reasons that aren’t important, and she invites Olivia, so I’m stuck with her.” He grimaced. 

“Why can’t you tell Kiara and Vince not to invite Olivia?” It seemed like a simple enough solution. 

“Right, that’d go over well. ‘But Mark, I can’t not invite Olivia,’” he said in a facsimile of Kiara’s voice. “‘You know how she gets when she’s not invited to things. I’d be up all night trying to get her to stop crying, and I’m meeting my parents tomorrow morning. They’ll kill me if I fall asleep at breakfast again.’” He groaned. “Or how about this-“ He switched to Vince’s lower register. “‘Come on, dude, this is the only time I get to see Kiara. You know she can’t be alone with a guy. Her parents are one step away from sending her to medical school, and she’ll be screwed if they catch us together.’”

“I see.” That was unfortunate, but it did answer a lot of the questions that had been milling around in my brain the last week. It meant I was his last choice for companionship, which wasn’t especially surprising. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. “I don’t like lying to anyone, not even Olivia, but what else can I do?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You mean, besides telling Olivia the truth--that you don’t like having her around?”

He winced. “Yeah, besides that.”

“You could hide out at the weird alien girl’s house.”

“Great idea.” He smiled, but there was a nervousness behind the expression, like he thought I would kick him out for lying. 

As much as his lies irked me, I was trying to get used to the deception that seemed to be prevalent in human society, so I didn’t say anything. 

Days became weeks, which became a month without any sign of Dr. Swanson. I would’ve thought he was still in the mental hospital, except that I heard Celest and Mark talking about when would be best for Dr. Swanson to come back and get his things without running into me. It was nice that they didn’t want to worry me by mentioning him, but I could’ve done without the secrecy.

One day, Mark and I were sitting on my couch and watching his favorite fantasy show when Celest walked in. 

She smiled at us over the kitchen island. “It makes me so happy to see the two of you like this. Have you talked about what you’re going to do when school starts?”

Right, Mark started college in less than a month. I’d forgotten. Or rather, I’d tried not to think about it. He would immediately be too busy to spend nearly as much time with me. I would be lonely, stuck at home with online courses because Celest didn’t think I was ‘mature’ enough to attend college like a normal young adult. 

With my course load and Mark’s and the commute between us, would I even be able to see him at all? Probably not, but I would be okay. I hadn’t known him long. It wasn’t like I’d gotten attached or anything. Yeah, right.

Mark  paused the TV and twisted to look at Celest. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Well, I would hate for the two of you to break up your friendship because of conflicting schedules. I know you won’t be able to drive Le- Elva around as much with classes, but I’ll be able to drive her some days, and there are always the weekends.”

Clearing my throat, I avoided Mark’s curious look. “He probably won’t be able to see me at all once classes start. He’s got a big course load during the week, which means tons of homework on the weekends.”

Mark shook his head. “Actually, guardian licensing focuses on practical exercises, so most of the work is done in class.”

I resisted the urge to sigh as I leaned in to whisper, “I’m trying to give you an out.”

“Who said I wanted an out?” he whispered back. 

I’d assumed that he’d only chosen to spend time with me as a last resort due to summer loneliness. Once he was busy with classes, he would spend so much time with his teammates that he wouldn’t be lonely enough to hang out with me. Why was he pretending otherwise?

Mark raised his voice to address Celest. “I’ll definitely see Elva on the weekends. Weekdays too, if we both have time.”

She clapped her hands together. “Wonderful. I’m so glad.” Even though she was smiling, the ever-present hint of sadness in her eyes didn’t falter. “I’ll make something to celebrate. What’s your favorite?”

“You don’t have to-”

“Oh, I insist. I was just about to go to the store anyway, so I can pick up anything you’d like.”

“Okay… How about chicken fettuccine alfredo?”

“Sounds perfect.” She came out of the kitchen with a shopping list as long as her arm. “You kids have fun. I’ll be back soon.” 

As soon as she’d left, I asked, “Why don’t you want an out?”

Mark gave me a funny look. “Why do I have a strong sense of deja vu?”

I rolled my eyes. “Because you haven’t answered the question properly yet.”

“Fine, here’s a reason I definitely didn’t come up with five seconds ago: I have a favor for you to do. It’ll be perilous, difficult, and time-consuming. Do you accept the challenge?”

“Sure.”

He laughed. “You’re not supposed to accept before I’ve told you what it is.”

I repositioned on the couch so I was facing him more directly. “What is it?”

“Will you… come to dinner with me tomorrow?”

I blinked. “Will there be trained assassins at this dinner?”

“Nope, just my parents. And Ethan.” He winced. “I will have to tell him you’re not actually sixteen, or that’d be awkward.” 

That was a strange thing to say if it was just dinner with his family. “Why would it be awkward?”

“Right, I didn’t say- My parents keep setting me up with family friends, and they won’t stop until I show them I have a girlfriend. If you pretended to be my girlfriend, they’d leave me alone.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

He chuckled. “You don’t have to do it.”

“If it’ll help you out, I want to do it.”

“If you’re sure…?”

“I’m sure.” I kissed his cheek and fought against the urge to laugh at his bewildered expression. “Just practicing for the big night.” 

“Mmhmm.” He nodded to himself and lifted the remote. “I’ll just-”

The front door opened, making both of us jump. As I turned to look, Mark jumped to his feet. I caught a glimpse of a tall man before Mark moved between me and the door. 

“What are you doing here?”

“This is my house.” Dr. Swanson’s voice made me shiver. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s my friend.” I stood, but I couldn’t move around Mark in the narrow space between the couch and coffee table. 

A darkness fell over his expression. “Then he knows you’re a leech?”

“I know she’s an aryta.” Mark crossed his arms. “And I know Celest has a restraining order against you. You’re not allowed in the house.”

I didn’t realize Celest filed a restraining order. Not that it mattered if Dr. Swanson was willing to risk jail time in order to get his daughter back, which he almost certainly would be. 

Dr. Swanson grumbled as he moved around the couch. “I’ll grab some things and leave.” 

“Celest already let you pack what you needed,” Mark insisted. 

“I forgot a piece of lab equipment.” He slipped into his lab and closed the door. 

I was uneasy about Dr. Swanson’s plans. What if he had some kind of aryta weapon or even just a gun in there? There were very few spots I could be hit and killed, but Mark was much more fragile. “Maybe you should wait outside until he’s done, just in case.”

“In case what, he tries to shoot you? No way.” He moved around the couch so he could yet again stand between me and the potential threat. 

After a minute, Dr. Swanson came out with a small pouch. He headed straight for the door and left without another word. 

Morbid curiosity drew me toward the lab door. Something had changed, something in the air that made me want to go in. It smelled like home. I stepped in the lab to see the door to the portal room wide open, a faint purple mist spilling out. Dr. Swanson must’ve taken a quick trip to kidnap another aryta. Though, his bag hadn’t looked large enough for one. Perhaps he’d given up on using me and just wanted me to leave now.

I moved so I could see the portal through the door. It was a six-foot-tall rip in the fabric of space that constantly blew out Otherealm air. Breathing deeply, I stepped closer. Now was my chance. I could go home. Nothing stood in my way. 

Mark darted past me and closed the portal room door. It locked automatically, sealing away my passage home. It was a relief to be rid of the temptation. 

I returned to the living room couch. 

Mark sat next to me. After a long pause, he asked, “Were you going to go through?”

“I don’t know.”