The next day, the house felt strange– stranger than usual, anyways! It was weirdly quiet. Haruto woke up not to the nudging of an impatient alien or the sound of the kitchen being destroyed by his attempt at cooking. Instead, it was the dull chime of his phone, ringing across the room in the afternoon. Haruto groaned, dragging himself out of bed and over to his desk, fumbling with the phone half-awake. It was Lila calling.
"Hey," she said, sounding as if she had just woken up, too. "Do you wanna hang out again in a few days? Bring Pix, too. I wanna take you guys to the aquarium before my break ends and I have to go back to another prep school."
"Yeah, sounds good…" Haruto mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He wandered into the hall, then looked around, frowning. "I… don't know where Pix is."
"He was staying at your place for the night, right?" Lila asked. "Maybe he just went home." Haruto felt an odd twinge in his chest.
Went home… He shook his head. No, that isn't possible. He doesn't have his UFO… "I'll check. See you later, Lila."
He hung up, pulled on a hoodie, and ran out the door.
It was a windy summer afternoon. Pix's sneakers dragged along the dirt as he floated lightly above the ground, the trees concealing him from anyone seeing. He was in a wooded trail that ran off from the park nearby, leading down to a small, pleasant creek. He drifted lazily over the pale stones, his eyes bleak. Light was reflected in them from a large piece of iridescent metal.
"What am I gonna do…?"
Haruto was combing through the entire neighborhood, doing something he had scarcely done before: Jogging. He was huffing, visibly winded, making his way up and down every single street. But there was still no sign of Pix. Where could he be…? I've looked everywhere in the neighborhood! He groaned, rubbing his temple. Wait, why am I even getting so worked up about this? Isn't this good? He stood on the sidewalk, the wind brushing his hair from his eyes, staring up at the sky.
He has every right to go home... Why would I want to stop him?
But there was something eating away at him in his chest. He didn't even say goodbye, and he would have… He began picking up the pace again, sprinting down the street. It's Pix. He wouldn't just up and leave! Haruto couldn't shake the growing worry that something bad had happened to him.
I've gotta find him!
He made his way down the street and onto the main road, which branched out eventually into the lot where the grocery shop was, and a couple rows of townhouses and other buildings. Haruto poked his head in the store, did a quick sweep of the place, then ran back down to the boardwalk. There was the ice cream truck again, playing the same old tune, and Haruto felt stung. He remembered fighting over tuna in the grocery store, walking down the sunlit boardwalk, and the ridiculous tower of ice cream. He shoved his hand into his hoodie pocket, holding something cold and flat in his clenched fist. He ran his thumb over the coin's surface. It was difficult to admit, and made his predicament all the more cheesy, but Pix was fun to be around.
Even if he's an alien, he's still my friend… He glanced up at the clouds reaching across the sky, and continued down the boardwalk. Pix had begged to go to the beach umpteenth times. Haruto, someone who absolutely hated the beach, shot down his every request. Maybe he went alone. It was worth a shot. Despite himself, he ventured out into the sand. The waves rushed the shore as dark clouds began to gather at the horizon. There was still no sign of Pix, so Haruto went to check elsewhere. He went to all of the places Pix had wanted to go; the arcade, the boardwalk sweet shoppe, the strange little antique store that Haruto thought was creepy– every place he checked, he felt a twinge, thinking of how happy Pix would have been to go there too. And with every place he looked, the disbelief just kept building in his chest. As the first few drops of rain began to fall, he stopped short, looking into the same alley he first found Pix in. He was flopped over, in the trash… The rain began to fall harder. Haruto wiped the droplets from his glasses and pulled over his hood. He began to run again, his sneakers splashing on the wet pavement. There was one last place he had to check.
The park was completely empty, and felt almost eerie, like a ghost town. Haruto ran to the swings, whipping his head around, searching the whole place.
"Pix? Pix!" he called, making his way toward the trail. There was no response. He began to run again, beneath the trees.
Pix was standing all alone in the clearing. A large, shiny UFO was lodged in the dirt in front of him, nestled between a couple trees. His silky hair was soaked from the rain, and his back was turned. Even so, his head was tilted up, his face turned toward the rain. Haruto remembered the way he looked at the park, sitting on the playground roof, staring at the sky, or the way he looked when he was staring out the window of Lila's car in silence. He came to a sudden realization: Pix must have felt very, very lonely.
Before he even knew what he was doing, he bolted forward. The seconds were silent, except for the sound of his shoes on the trail, his heavy breathing, the small noise of surprise Pix made when he turned around, and the sound of the two boys almost toppling over when Haruto wrapped his arms around Pix tightly, nearly knocking him off his feet. Pix's eyes were wide, and his voice was very quiet and light. He was warm, even in the summer rain.
"Ah… Haru–"
"You big idiot," Haruto mumbled against the wet fabric of Pix's shirt. "Seriously, you moron. I thought you ran away or got hurt or something." When he pulled away, Pix saw that his cheeks were a bit red, and his face had a cross expression. "Don't freak me out like that, seriously!" Pix stared at him, speechless. He wiped at his glasses again, and his face lost its rosyness. "Come on, it's raining. We'll deal with this UFO thing later. At least we know where it is now." The other boy nodded silently.
They went back up the trail together, side-by-side, and neither one of them said anything. The rain fell a little lighter, and the sun began to peek out from the storm clouds.
"This sucks," Pix mumbled, staring at the ground dejectedly.
He was in Haruto's room, sitting on the floor with a towel draped over his shoulders, wearing dry clothes. He was so embarrassed he could fall over and die, but he was also in a sea of endless worries. What if he kicks me out or something…? Hey, how many times has he had to rescue me from the rain? Maybe Bijan was right. The last thought stung him the most. The door creaked open, startling him, and he turned to find Haruto standing in the doorway, his hood pulled over his wet hair. Pix shut his eyes, wincing hard. Oh, boy, here it comes…
"Are you okay?"
"... Huh?" He blinked confusedly.
Haruto sat down beside him. The sun was slipping away through the window, casting the last afternoon rays through the glass and onto the wall beside the door. The two were sitting against the desk, their shoulders brushing lightly, and despite the sunlit room it was darker in the desk's shadow.
"I'm sorry for how I acted," he said quietly. "I thought maybe something bad happened."
"No," Pix said in the same soft voice. "Hey, Haruto… Am I troublesome to you?"
"What?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "No. Why would you think that?"
"I mean, I've been staying here, and eating your food, and bothering you a ton…" He trailed off, looking away. "It's gotta be kind of annoying… Huh?" Haruto had pulled him into a hug, his arm slung over his shoulders. Pix's whole face turned a rosy pink color.
"You really need to stop thinking that way about yourself," he muttered softly. "You're my friend, so stop thinking you're a burden. I know it must be pretty hard being stranded so far away from home." Pix began to stammer.
"W– Well, I…" His face was bright red, and he was sputtering awkwardly. What is this feeling?! I need to escape!
"I'm gonna get a snack," he mumbled. He lifted off the ground, facing the desk but floating backwards towards the door. "D– Do you want anything?"
But Haruto's face was completely pale, like he'd seen a ghost.
"Ehh? What is it? Did I say something weird…?"
Haruto's mom had just returned home and was standing in the doorway, staring at the floating boy in the room in shock. Everyone was silent.
"Um, Mom, I can explain…" His mother darted over and snatched him up by the scruff of his shirt, and was surprisingly quite strong.
"HARUTO! WHAT IS THAT?!" She was pointing and waving wildly at a very frightened Pix, who cowered against the wall.
Oh, no. How will I explain this…
"Uh– Uhhh, Mom…" He wriggled out of her grasp and stood between her and Pix, putting his hands up. "Calm down, relax. He's not gonna hurt you– Or anybody. I don't think he could hurt a fly..."
"WHAT?!" His mother was clutching her purse tightly to her body, and reached out to pull Haruto away again. "Wh– What IS he?!"
"Let me explain!" Haruto shouted. "Look, he's nice, okay? Just relax!" She seemed to settle down a little bit, but still seemed shocked. Pix looked like he was about to cry.
"Okay," his mother said finally. "I'm going to order some dinner, and then we're all going to have a talk about this over takeout. Okay?" Both boys nodded, and she turned and left them both in silence.
Haruto might have been more afraid than Pix was now.
She knows… She knows I let an alien live here behind her back. I'm gonna be grounded until I'm twenty-five! He sank to his knees, and Pix did the same. Both of them cowered and sulked.
"Dinner!" his mother called after a while. "Come on out, you two!" So they wound up sitting around the table in a very uncomfortable silence. Pix's face was beet red, and he was studying the designs in the lacy tablecloth as if it was the most fascinating thing on the planet. Haruto was slowly picking at his rice. His mother sat down with a plate of noodles and sighed.
"Okay, explain." Haruto choked a little.
"Well… I found Pix passed out during that big storm. I brought him here, and he had nowhere else to go since his UFO crashed, so I told him he could stay…" She glanced at Pix.
"You're an alien?" He nodded quickly. "And a nice one, right?" Another nod. Haruto's mother sat very still, staring off into the distance as she thought about it.
"I– I'm sorry to intrude!" Pix bowed his head, ashamed. "I didn't mean to be so dishonest… I'm scared of what would happen if people found out about me. I can't do anything except run away." His round eyes were tearful.
"Well, our home is welcome to ALL of Haruto's friends," she said, her eyes warm and friendly. "Even the ones from outer space! I'm sorry for panicking so badly. That must have really scared you." She reached over gently, scooping more food onto Pix's plate. "Here, eat some more." Haruto was staring at her.
"So does that mean…?" She smiled.
"Yes, Pix can stay." Both boys were beaming. Pix's chest felt warm, like he'd been given a hug.
It was later, and the crickets were singing. Haruto and Pix were sitting side by side on the porch step behind the house, watching fireflies glow in between the trees. They were eating fruit sorbet.
"Were you going to go home?" Haruto asked, his voice low. "I mean, you found your UFO." Pix leaned back, looking up at the stars.
"No," he murmured. "I didn't want to leave just yet." There was that curious fluttering in his chest again, and his face grew warmer than the summer air. He turned away. "Th– There's a lot I haven't seen or done yet on Earth. I wanted to stay for a while longer, if that's okay."
Haruto smiled to himself, turning his head away too.
"Yeah, of course."