Free Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana Page B

everyone.
    â€œWhat, the Japanese?”
    â€œNo, the aliens, you idiot.”
    â€œDon’t call me an idiot, you moron. And there’s no way to confirm that. It’s just an image.”
    It was just an image, but it had left me tossing and turning in my bed, scouring the Internet on my phone for information all night. But there was nothing new to report. Even the experts were perplexed. Who would have ever thought that my mother, of all people, had been right?
Maybe they are us
, she had said, her eyes wide, a conspiratorial tone in her voice. But she was right. I felt certain, somehow, that there was another me up there—the only other person in the universe who knew what it was like to be me. I wished I could talk to her. I wondered if
her
mother was acting strangely too.
    When I left for school that morning, my mother was still perched in front of the TV, her eyes rimmed red.
    â€œMom, you’re going to work today, right?”
    She waved her hand at me. “I can’t call in sick forever.”
    But I was dubious. And rightfully so, because just then, she turned to me, a grin on her face.
    â€œUnless you want to stay home with me today . . .” she said. “We could order in and watch this stuff together. It’d be so much fun!”
    On any other day, I probably would have joined her, or felt grateful that she had asked, but I shook my head, and she looked back at me with disappointment in her eyes. For a moment, I felt as though I was the disapproving parent and she was the child, which was odd, because we’d never been like that. My mother rarely expressed disapproval of me, and I felt uncomfortable with the judgments floating through myhead in that moment. But I couldn’t stay home with her today. There was something depressing about sitting in front of the TV with my mother all day. And besides, for the first time in years, I was excited to go to school, eager to hear what people were saying. Plus, I wanted to see if Nick and Veronica would speak to me again.

    I crossed the student center slowly that morning, making sure that I walked right by Veronica, Halle, and Nick’s table. “Oh hey, Tara, come here,” Veronica called out to me now. I had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and I uncomfortably wondered if it had been obvious.
    â€œHey, girl, feeling better?” she asked me, giving me a slightly tentative hug. “Halle stayed home today, but she wants me to let you know she’s super grateful to you. Oh, and . . . I totally forgot to send you the invite to the party, with all this Terra Nova news going on!” she said, pulling out her phone. “Where is it? Hey, Nick? Will you forward Tara Halle’s invitation?”
    I knew it for certain then—that Veronica’s invitation to Halle’s party wasn’t an empty one, a sympathetic gesture that could easily be undone once she came to her senses, like untying a shoelace to remove a restrictive shoe. I felt a wave of excitement when I realized this, followed by momentary panic. Everything had somehow sped up in a way that I couldn’t make sense of. I thought about Mario, running too fast around the bend. The joy in his eyes, his blind enthusiasm. Was I the one running too fast now? I was standing at their table, surrounded by Hunter and Jimmy and Janicza Fulton and ArielSoloway. I looked around the room then, realizing that I had never before seen it from this vantage point.
    â€œOh yeah,” Nick said, whipping his phone out of his pocket. I was the human equivalent of a pinball machine, finally landing on the unexpected and thrilling conclusion: I was actually invited to Halle’s party. Veronica had invited me. Nick was forwarding me the e-mail.
    â€œDude, the last time Halle threw a party, I ended up drunk, naked, and spread-eagle on a diving board!” Hunter exclaimed.
    â€œHunter, when are you
not
naked and spread-eagle on a