She responded, kissing him back. He tightened his arms about her. She felt the softness of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his hard chest, her thighs against his. She couldn't get close enough. They kissed and kissed, hungry for the other, enjoying the sweet salty taste of first love.

She wondered at the feel of his lips on hers, while growing dizzy and breathless, yet wanting to go deeper and deeper into him and this incredible union. His lips moved more insistently over hers. Her body went limp as she lost herself completely to his kiss. Time did not exist, only this one glorious moment stretching on and on into eternity.

"Yes, an amazing day," Jordyn whispered, running his lips from her ear down her neck.

The guards in front of the pyramid entrance frowned at them.

"As it would be fun to stay, we must go. We are allowed this time because it is your birthday." He pulled Kaila away from the pyramid a distance onto the sand. His eyes turned black. And the pyramids and sands blurred and grew wavy like the mirage.

When they returned to the stream in the Louisiana woods, the horses raised their heads with their sudden appearance.

Flushed with happiness, Jordyn and Kaila held each other, marveling at the sound of the bubbling stream, the songs of the birds, the golden shaft of sunlight filtering through the trees. Everything seemed heightened, exploding with majestic color and sound.

Finally, Jordyn whispered, "I have one more present."

"What could possibly top that?"

He reached into his overalls.

"Wait," Kaila said. "I'll tell you what I want."

"What?"

"I want you to heal my grandfather today when we go back."

Jordyn shook his head. "No, I can't do that."

"Why? Toby healed Mike-"

"The decision was we'd do it when you decide to be with us."

"Well, I don't like that." Kaila moved away from him.

"Don't be mad," Jordyn said, moving near her. "It's the way things are."

"What do you mean, *things'?"

"Kaila," Jordyn sighed. "Do you trust me?"

She studied him, melting at the sight of his beautiful face, spiky sandy hair, absorbing his high energy.

Yes. No. She roiled in confusion. Her heart said yes, her mind said no.

"If you cared about me, you'd do this for me," Kaila stammered.

"I do care," Jordyn said. "But I told you it was decided-"

"Who decided?"

"What I will tell you is there is a higher intelligence."

Kaila thought of that shadowy reptilian thing she'd glimpsed with the red eyes. She frowned. There was so much she didn't understand. She felt like she was being torn in two; she desperately wanted to be with Jordyn, but she didn't want to turn away from her family and friends. Why was she being forced to choose sides?

"But I promise," Jordyn continued. "When you realize who you truly are, open up to it, see the possibilities." He swallowed. "You will see and know. Us together. Forever. Don't you want that?"

He leaned toward her, kissed her cheek. "I know there will never be another you, anywhere in the universe." He picked a blade of gra.s.s and twiddled it in his fingers. Then, "But all this is spoiling your special day. Look."

He flicked his hand, and a silver bodysuit unrolled. The material compacted to an inch and then expanded like no other material she'd known.

"When you are ready, wear this," Jordyn said. "And we will know that you are with us."

Kaila accepted the gift.

"Now give me a gift," he said, kissing her again.

An evening date at the football game should have been the cherry on top of a perfect dessert parfait of a day. But how can anyone predict catastrophe?

The Bush Crocodiles football team played the Covington Lions, their archrivals. Kaila sat next to Jordyn on the bleachers in the packed stadium.

Pia sat with Antonia; Melissa with Toby; and Viktor, Lucius, and Echidna sat in front of them, wearing sungla.s.ses even though it was night. Mrs. Bourg had encouraged them to attend the football game, as it could prove socially educational. Kaila spied Mrs. Bourg sitting several rows up.

Kaila didn't care. Nothing could spoil this wonderful day. Jordyn's shoulder touched hers. The stadium lights illuminated the field and their light reflected in his huge eyes. Nothing, ever, could separate them. They were one. She had never in her life felt so happy.

After the party, she'd washed and blow-dried her hair and after leaving the house, ditched the hat. Freed of head coverings, she came closer to who she truly was. She heard the buzzing of the crowd's minds, like a gargantuan hornet's nest, but more so, she could feel Jordyn. A wordless, deep, joyous feeling of union.

Kaila spied the preps Brandy and Tara in their cheerleader outfits on the field. The football jocks suited up in the locker room. Douglas Lafarge and Phyllis Joiner had ventured out and sat behind Kaila and Jordyn, finding a place with those in their advanced physics cla.s.s.

Kaila recalled how mean everyone had been to her calling her a poser; she had an inkling of how Phyllis felt being routinely taunted. She chatted with Phyllis, who actually cracked a smile below her bulging eyes. She had washed her hair-soft, dark blonde hair that didn't look half bad.

Phyllis shyly shared a poem written on loose leaf she'd composed about her cat Millificent. Kaila praised the poem, knowing how much Phyllis loved her cat.

Douglas wore a Star Trek t-shirt with Dr. Bones's picture that said, "Are you out of your VULCAN MIND?" He read Phyllis's cat poem, sniffed, adjusted his thick gla.s.ses, and handed it back to Phyllis.

In Louisiana, football is obsession. Everyone in Bush, Louisiana had come to see Bush whoop Covington and everyone in Covington had come to see Covington whoop Bush. The energy in the stadium was palpable.

"What are they doing?" Echidna asked. She pointed a long finger at the cheerleaders, Brandy and Tara, dressed in red and white short skirts.

"Give me a B!" they shouted to the stadium.

"B!" answered the crowd.

"Give me a U!"

"U!" answered the crowd.

"Give me an S!"

"S!"

"Give me an H!"

"H!"

"And whattya got!" the cheerleaders sang.

Lucius groaned, holding his head in his hands. Viktor smoldered like a red toad, p.i.s.sed that The Bourg insisted they come to the game.

"Stop being so miserable," Kaila said, poking Lucius in his back. She couldn't fathom anyone miserable when she was the happiest in her entire life.

"Misery is illusion," Lucius said. "We feel nothing."

"Could have fooled me," Kaila taunted.

"Leave them alone," Jordyn said, squeezing her hand.

"I don't understand why we have to watch humans fight over a ball," Lucius pondered.

"They are stupid," Echidna said, pointing at the cheerleaders. "Why are they here?"

"They're supposed to inspire you," Kaila said.

"They inspire me to violence," Echidna said, her head in her hands.

"They make me hungry," Viktor said.

"Such false gaiety," Lucius marveled.

"I don't get it either," Pia called. "Football sucks." Antonia, beside her, smiled.

"But it is good we are together," Antonia said. "I appreciate you."

"Not all of you are bad," Pia said.

"Bad?" Antonia looked puzzled.

The crowd stood and roared as the players trotted onto the field.

"Hey, birthday girl," Jordyn whispered in Kaila's ear. "You want us to make Bush win?"

"No interference," Kaila said.

He nuzzled her ear with his lips. The stadium receded. She wanted to kiss him again so badly, adored the feel of him next to her, his hand in hers. The crowd's roar matched her hunger for him.

The game was close. With each touchdown, tension mounted. Derek Mendoza, the quarterback, threw perfect pa.s.ses. Wade Stoops, defensive lineman, held Covington back. The stadium cheered.

Kaila glanced at Melissa and Toby, oblivious to the game and entranced with the other.

"You're so smart," Melissa said.

"You are so . . . creative," Toby said, the stadium lights reflecting on his bald head. "You have imagination. Through your mind, you travel the span of the universe."

Melissa gazed at Toby with her lazy eye. It was as if a light surrounded the two. They bought popcorn and hotdogs.

Kaila smiled, seeing mustard on Toby's small lips as they shared taking bites of the hot dog. They were so cute!

She spied Mrs. Bourg above, observing like a vulture. But Kaila didn't care. Nothing could spoil this perfect night.

Or so she thought.

When you're with someone you love, time pa.s.ses quickly. Hours seem like minutes. At the end of the fourth quarter, the score was tied. Everyone screamed and shook the stadium with stomping feet.

Then, in the last seconds, Derek Mendoza threw a long pa.s.s. Phyllis was gazing reverently down at the field. Kaila remembered how she crushed on Derek.

What a pa.s.s. Kaila heard Phyllis's thoughts. G.o.d, you are so hot. Phyllis propped her chin on folded hands, her gaze not following the ball, but Derek.

The receiver caught the ball and ran the length of the field for a touchdown. The stadium exploded. The scoreboard lighted with red blinking "TOUCHDOWN!"

"Guess they didn't need help," Jordyn said, leaning over to kiss Kaila. His warm mouth molded her lips to his.

It was a custom at Bush High that after a winning game, the football players and cheerleaders went on the public address system and made announcements.

"We are so proud of our team!" Brandy Powell's high voice echoed over the stadium. Everyone cheered.

"Our team is the winner!" Tara's deeper voice echoed over the stadium.

Kaila barely heard them. Jordyn kissed her hand. Shivers ran up her spine.

Then Derek's voice echoed on the loudspeaker. "We played a great game," he self-congratulated. "But there is one thing that spoiled my night."

The stadium quieted.

"Hey, Phyllis Joiner," Derek called, his voice resounding in the night air. "I heard you have a huge crush on my a.s.s. But hear this: I would never, ever, in a thousand years be seen with a bug-eyed dork b.i.t.c.h like you. You're a loser. Hear me, loser. No guy would ever want a freak like you. So quit your pining and die."

It was as if the hybrids put a time freeze on the stadium. But they hadn't. Kaila, and everyone in the stadium, turned toward Phyllis Joiner.

Her blue eyes bulged as usual; her mouth hung open.

Then, hot waves of Phyllis's deepest shame telepathically permeated Kaila. Kaila's eyes stung with scalding tears. She felt like an elevator whose cable had snapped. She was descending to the center of the earth, merging with its molten core.

"Block her," Jordyn said to Kaila.

But as Phyllis began to weep, so did Kaila. She'd never felt this hurt, this betrayed, this embarra.s.sed. She was sinking, losing herself in the wave of Phyllis's all-encompa.s.sing hurt.

Worse, Viktor, Lucius, and Echidna climbed up and surrounded Phyllis. They leaned over Phyllis who lowered her head and unleashed the thousand tears that had acc.u.mulated through a lifetime.

Echidna leaned close to Phyllis and inhaled. She closed her eyes and moaned.

Viktor leaned closer, his incisors visible.