More I Prefer the Mind Control. Enjoy!
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“Dear God that doesn’t exist...maybe you could kill me while I sleep? That’d be nice,” I say as I sit on my bed. My eyes are closed, and my head’s tilted up towards the ceiling. I’ve got my hands clasped together, even.
Preston turns around in his chair and raises an eyebrow at me. “Um, why are you praying to an imaginary deity?” he mutters.
I shrug. “Why not? It’s better than praying to Mickey Mouse or something -- I know he’s in league with Satan,” I say.
He just keeps that fucking eyebrow raises. “And why would you want to pray at all?”
My whole body deflates like some kind of especially pathetic balloon. “Because my fucking parents are coming in, like, two days. I would rather not deal with them, you know?” I say.
“But your parents are actually cool,” Preston says, shaking his head.
“You think so because you don’t have to fucking deal with them. Also, your grades don’t suck,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him.
He chuckles. “Well, okay, my grades are way better than yours. But your parents aren’t the type to disown you for an A- like mine.”
Maybe if they were, I’d have better fucking grades. Or, more likely, be totally disowned by now. “Plus, you don’t have a boyfriend who’s alien royalty. You’re not going out with anyone at all, so it’s not like my parents are gonna get on you about dating choices,” I say.
“And your parents would tell me if they thought my date were secretly evil,” Preston says, smiling as he spins his chair to face me properly.
“Exactly. They’re gonna grill me to death. And grill Xan. Even though he’s a fucking prince. My dad’s probably gonna threaten to make a potholder out of his intestines,” I say, staring at Preston to drive home my point.
Preston wrinkles his nose. “Eew, that’s gross,” he mutters.
“The point is my parents are coming, and that’s bad,” I say. My stomach even fucking twists a bit at the idea.
Yeah, my parents actually don’t suck, but still...they’re my parents, you know? It’s perfectly fucking natural to panic at an incoming parental invasion. And I truly do not know what they’re gonna think of Xan when they meet him. They’ve hated girls and guys I’ve gone out with before -- and been kinda right about them. Stupid parental sixth sense.
You could say I’ve had a shitty track record with picking partners, starting from my first one ever. That little incident is straight under the Don’t Wanna Talk About It Files, okay? Stop looking at me like you’re so damn curious -- you know enough about it already.
So anyway, I’ve got to deal with a stupid incoming parental invasion, and, yep, I’m gonna lose it in serious panic. Sounds like fun, yeah?
* * *
“Do you want a coffee bean?” Preston holds up the bag of coffee beans I got him, offering them up to me.
“I prefer my coffee in liquid form, but thanks,” I say. I smile slightly, though my stomach’s holding a jumping bean convention right about now.
Today’s the day my parents are visiting. They’re meeting me and Xan here in my dorm room because crappy living spaces make for better interrogations or something. Don’t ask me -- I’m not savvy in the workings of parental brains. Maybe they don’t want to meet Xan in his territory?
As you can probably tell, no nonexistent deity was nice enough to kill me in my sleep. Okay, I didn’t really want to die, but you know...jumping bean convention in my stomach. And nonexistent things don’t generally fucking kill you, as far as I know.
Preston puts his bag of coffee beans in his backpack. “If you’re sure you don’t want one, I’m gonna head out,” he says.
“I’m sure -- more caffeine is probably a stupid fucking idea right about now,” I mutter. I kinda almost smile -- kinda. And even though more caffeine is probably a stupid idea, I kind of want a giant thing of coffee.
“See you later,” Preston says. He slings his backpack over his shoulders and heads out.
A few minutes later, my phone rings -- it’s Xan. I let him into my dorm building. He’s fucking smiling. “I’m looking forward to meeting your parents,” he murmurs.
My jaw drops. “You -- what?” I breathe.
He grasps my upper arms. “I want to meet you parents,” he says.
“Even though they’re inevitably gonna interrogate the fuck out of you?” I mutter.
Before I can respond or anything, Xan leans in and kisses me. Of course, I melt into him, like, immediately. He pushes me up against the wall in the hallway, letting go of my arms as I wrap my own around him. I gasp as he pushes his tongue forward. Damn, does he know what to do with it. As we kiss, I lose track of the fucking time. My body heats up, and my heart’s already racing.
Eventually, Xan pulls away, his eyes fucking sparkling.
I narrow my eyes at him. “So, the idea of meeting my parents makes you want to kiss me?” I mutter.
He laughs -- it matches the sparkle in his metallic eyes. “I always want to kiss you,” he says.
“Okay, that’s kinda true. But I would think mentioning parents would kill even your sex drive,” I say.
“My sex drive is perfectly functioning. And what if your parents actually like me?” he says. I could almost swear nervousness flashes across his face, but then he hides it. If he’s nervous he should just fucking say so.
“You know, if you’re nervous, you can say so,” I say.
Xan just smiles again. He runs a hand through my hair. “Look, even if I am nervous, this is important for me to do,” he says. “It’s a good thing, to meet your parents. It -- shows I’m serious, shows we’re serious. That...means a lot to me.”
My heart fucking skips a beat. Honestly? I haven’t been thinking of us as Capital S Serious because, um, there are a few cultural differences -- alien royalty, remember? But right now? Xan sounds serious as fuck.
I kinda can’t help fucking smiling -- maybe this won’t be so terrible after all?