Page 118 of Every Almost

Tavi turned to look at Reyna. "Okay, she's approved. She can stay." He winked at Charlie.

"I'm glad to have your vote of approval," Charlie said, winking back at him.

Charlie was laughing, and it startled her. Not the laugh itself, but how easy it was. She'd been on this ship less than an hour. She'd been covered in batter, scanned by a device, shot in the head with a translation device, poked and prodded by an alien doctor, and interrogated by a blue man who didn't blink. And here she was, laughing with a four-foot-tall copper-skinned person like they'd known each other for years.

Something about how quickly it all felt normal made the part of her still terrified grip a little tighter.

Tavi smiled before laughing heartily. "I think you and I are going to be great friends," Tavi said.

"It would be an honor to have that chance, Tavi," Charlie replied, and, despite everything, she meant it.

As they moved away from Tavi, Charlie realized that only left one alien she hadn't met.

"So," Reyna said, her voice shifting into something gentler. "This is Borran. He's a Brontari."

The other half of Selowen,Charlie thought, as she looked up. And up.

Charlie tilted her head back. Borran was even taller up close, and he was still staring at her with those small, unforgiving eyes.

"Hi, Borran," Charlie said in a small voice.

"You destroyed the Gula Cake batter," Borran said.

Charlie looked down at herself and the remnants of batter crusted across her clothes. "Is that what I fell on me?"

"Yes."

Charlie looked over at Reyna, hoping for some kind of lifeline. Reyna obliged. "He's been trying to cook Gula Cakes all day, a Brontari specialty, and quite flavorful I might add. But we had a malfunction earlier, and Borran wasn't able to use his kitchen for the better part of twelve hours." She paused and Borran huffed. "The bowl you fell in was full of what was meant to be his redemption batch and... well..."

Charlie remembered the massive bowl she fell in. She looked up again at the seven-foot bear, whose entire day had apparently been ruined by her falling out of the sky into his dessert.

"I'm really sorry, Borran. I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been."

Borran grunted. His shoulders did relax, but only slightly.

"Can I do anything to make it up to you?" Charlie asked.

Borran studied her. Looked her up and down. His eyes flicked to Reyna, then back to Charlie.

"On Earth," he said. "What was your favorite cooked dish?"

"... cooked dish?" Charlie asked. "Like my favorite meal?"

Borran grunted in agreement.

"Oh, easy. Chicken piccata. My mom's was the best..."

Charlie trailed off. Her mom, who would have been so excited to hear about where Charlie was right now, would have grabbed Charlie's hand across the table and kissed it and said something that made everything make sense.

And her dad. He would have lost his mind at her being here. His girl, on arealship, inrealspace, surrounded byreal spaceengines. He'd have wanted to know everything. Every bolt, every frequency, every material she couldn't identify.

And Katie. Boy, all the things Katie would say to her. She imagined their conversation would be?—

Wait.

"KATIE!"

ELEVEN