Free How To Break Up With An Alien by Magan Vernon Page A

shopping and since Ace hadn't been around n awhile, I assumed I wouldn't have to worry about him beaming in.
    "Simone found a great dress for Alex to wear to the dance next weekend." Mom joined in the conversation.
    "Oh, yeah, we finally get to meet that boyfriend you've been talking about." Brian smiled, holding a piece of pizza in one hand and a greasy napkin in the other.
    "I've already met him." Elijah piped up from the end of the table.
    I turned my head toward him so fast I almost got whiplash. What was my little brother talking about?
    "And how did you meet Alex's boyfriend?" Mom smiled sweetly at Elijah.
    Elijah rolled his eyes and went back to stabbing his piece of pizza with a plastic fork. "Duh, he comes into Alex's room every night and they spoon."
    A piece of pepperoni slid down my throat, causing me to cough as the whole piece stuck like a plug.
    "Wow, that's pretty cool, Elijah." Simone looked at him, grinning from ear to ear.
    "Yeah." Elijah looked up at Simone, still stabbing his pizza. "I don't actually see him, since sissy locks her door, but I hear them talking all the time."
    Mom laughed. "Oh, honey, that doesn't mean he is in the room with her! That is the video chat Alex uses to talk to him. He lives in Arizona so there is no way he would be in her room every night."
    I let out the deep breath I didn't know I was holding. Good thing my mom just assumed that it was the video chat Ace I was talking to and not the alien that beamed into my room at night.
     
    ***
     
    After dinner Simone and I were able to escape down to my basement. Even though I found Brian extremely annoying, he was pretty handy and finished the basement into a mock theater a few years ago.
    Three rows of giant, plush red chairs pointed toward a giant projection screen. Behind the chairs stood a mini bar, complete with a giant popcorn machine and soft drink dispenser.
    "Whoa, this is pretty cool." Simone stopped in front of one of the many movie posters that decorated the dark paneled walls. Brian rejected my choice of movie posters. He wasn't that big of a Dustin Hoffman fan and said he would not put my Tootsie poster up. I wished he would have at least taken down some of the science fiction posters. The old ones from the 1950s were kind of funny, but the modern Star Trek ones were kind of embarrassing to have around. Especially since Brian made sure to have each of them highlighted with special lighting they used in museums.
    "Yeah, it's why I haven't offed Brian yet. He is pretty good at this creative carpentry." I stepped behind the bar and dug out a container for popcorn. "Sorry about my family by the way. They are a little dysfunctional to say the least."
    Simone shook her head. "They aren't bad. At least they care."
    I walked back over to Simone and set the popcorn tin on one of the chairs. "Alright if we are going to do this girly slumber party thing right, we need a scary movie."
    "And then do we paint each other's toenails and talk about boys?"
    I laughed. "How did you know all of my favorite things?"
    We picked out a cheesy horror movie that was one of my mom's favorites from high school. It was something with aliens and dinosaurs attacking a big city. I tried not to laugh too hard at how much the movie aliens actually looked nothing like the real aliens I'd met. Most aliens were definitely not green, but sometimes they did attack for no reason…like if someone gives the thumbs up sign.
    Just as we got to a part in which the humans tried to join forces with the dinosaurs against the aliens, my phone vibrated.
    I looked down to see Ace's face staring back at me from the small screen with a simple message, Can we talk?
    "Shhhh, no cell phones in the theater." Simone giggled, thrusting another handful of popcorn in her mouth.
    "It's just Ace sending me a text."
    Simone rolled her eyes. "Can't you tell him you are with a friend? He seems kind of needy if you ask me."
    It had been awhile since I talked to Ace, but I was torn. I