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PROLOGUE
?
PENN
"You two need to start helping with food and stop watching the television," Layla's mom called out from the open-floor kitchen, her accented voice carrying over the open space like a song.
The smell of fragrant herbs and spices wafted from the kitchen as the conversation between Layla's family seemed to get louder. They were all laughing and joking, loud voices mingling in English and Arabic.
It was really nice to be around a big family. Ever since Layla had started to invite me to these Thanksgiving feasts, I couldn’t help but love them. Growing up, it was just my parents and me. My extended family lived in Greece, and core family units keep getting smaller and smaller.
The Daras were one of the biggest families I knew, and there were like, seven of them.
The chaos always felt like such a treat.
Of course, because of the chaos, her family had a true knack for ignoring everything that was happening around the world, while the two of us were glued to the news, unsure of how we were supposed to process everything that was happening.
Aliens were real, but that didn’t affect whether our Tandoori turkey and our mango chutney were going to be done that afternoon.
I wanted to get lost in the chaos with them, but it was too hard. The alien thing was too important, too big.They were real, and they had made first contact, and it felt like everything in our lives was about to change. We didn’t know much about the Aelyds, the mysterious species that had made first contact with humanity and had assured us that they “came in peace” for a “research mission.”
It struck me as a little suspicious that they both spoke perfect English and seemed to have terms that sounded to me like they were literally copied from Star Trek, but I didn’t know the first thing about aliens.
At the time, lacrosse and school were my main interests, in that order. But there was something fascinating about all this—something I couldn’t stop gawking at.
Layla clearly felt the same way, since it was all the two of us could talk about.
The news cycle had been covering the story 24/7, and we had been listening to it ever since we left school to drive to her parents’ house for our Thanksgiving break. We giggled at the shock jocks talking about globalist conspiracies, listened to NPR bring in astrophysicists and scientists talking about what this meant, and heard a podcast about whether it would be even possible to have sex with Aelyds.
It was on everyone’s mind. All the time.
The Aelyds—not sex. Although…I was a teenager, so sex was also on my mind all the time. With or without aliens, it didn’t much matter.
It was the dominant topic of conversation at the dinner table, while we were cooking, while we were chilling out. First contact had been made; we weren’t alone in the universe.
Everything in our lives was about to change.
"Yes, Maman," Layla said. She rolled her eyes at me, but she had a smile on her face as she pushed herself to her feet on the thick, patterned rug. She stretched. "I know you need help. We'll be right there."
"I'll follow you. I think my parents should be here any minute now,” I said. It was an excuse—I knew that if I got up to help, her family would harass me until I sat down. The only way to get around it was to wash the dishes when everyone was in the throes of a food coma, which I planned to do.
Layla smiled. “I know, I’m really looking forward to seeing them. They’re such sweethearts,” she said, then dropped her voice a little. “I’m still getting used to our parents spending Thanksgiving together. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love it. It’s just not what I expected.”
I laughed. "Well, your parents can cook," I replied, the TV droning on in the background. "Plus, what is it that coach always says?”
“This team is a family,” we said in unison, imitating him.
She laughed again, throwing her head back. She tied her black hair up in a top knot before she walked away.
“I think our families have to play a sport to be on the same team,” she said.
“Should we make them play lacrosse?”
She cocked her head, a smile on her face as she seemed to seriously consider this. When she was about to walk away, the music changed on the TV, and she turned to look around at the screen. It looked like another breaking news situation, so Layla stopped as my back straightened.
An anchor with black hair and wide brown eyes speaks into the camera. “The president has urged young people to sign up to serve their government. An executive order recently signed by the president will provide billions of dollars in incentives for people between the ages of eighteen to thirty-two. These benefits include debt forgiveness for student loans, among others. White House press secretary Jordan Swass assured the public that the call has nothing to do with being prepared for a war effort. Rather, it’s part of a giant infrastructure unification effort for some of the world’s leading countries; including the United States, Canada, most countries in the European Union and…”
“Should we do it?” Layla asked as she sank into the couch again.
