Page 33 of Alien in the Attic

Sofia shrugged, taking off her shoes and flopping beside Carmen. “It still sucks.”

She sighed, feeling as exhausted as she did whenever her male coworkers would give her coffee and cleanup duty because she was a woman. “No argument there.”

Of the three sisters, Elena seemed to be the only one thriving on this alien planet. Their brilliant younger sister was fascinated by all this alien technology, and although most of the public blamed humanity for the plague, she found a niche among the royal IT repairmen. Carmen was glad that at least someone was having a good time.

She studied the vaulted ceilings. “I wish there was some way to convince the public that we mean them no harm. We’ve got Arccoo on our side, and possibly his parents, but…” Her voice trailed off thoughtfully.

“But not beloved Prince Rocco,” her sister finished for her.

She nodded. “And I get the feeling his vote is the most important.”

Sofia hummed thoughtfully. “What if you tried to make friends with him?”

“What?” Carmen laughed. “Have you seen the way he looks at me? It’s like I’m the gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe.”

“But you’ve already won over one of the princes. I’m sure you can do the same with the second.”

“Why don’t you or Elena do it?” Carmen asked, crossing her arms.

Sofia laughed. “Can you imagine Elena trying to make small talk? I love her, but she’d probably jump into a monologue about her latest tech acquisition or accidentally insult him.”

“What about you?”

“You really think the girl who would regularly break the law and go trespassing on private property for ghost hunts would get along with Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass?”

“Sofia!” Carmen admonished, hitting her sister with a pillow.

But Sofia had a point. Her immediate younger sister had a history of getting in trouble with authority. Carmen admired that fierce and rebellious spirit, that willingness to go against what was normal and accepted, but it didn’t make her the best diplomat.

Carmen sighed, lying back. “You’re right. I guess I’m the best person for the job.”

“I’m always right. Elena’s the brains, I’m the brawn, and you’re the charming beauty.”

Carmen blew the air from her mouth, flapping her lips like a horse to make a doubtful noise. “I wouldn’t exactly say that…”

Sofia sat up to better meet Carmen’s eyes. “Have you seen the way Arccoo looks at you? It’s like you’re a freshwater lake after he’s been in the desert for years.”

It took Carmen a long time to learn to love her softer body. She’d go through periods where she would starve herself and exercise until she almost passed out. When her parents died and she was left in charge of her sisters, though, she was hit with two important realizations. First, if she kept crash dieting like that, her siblings would lose her, too. Second, life was too short to waste it hating herself.

So she got a therapist and began the long, painful process of learning to love the body she already had and treat it well, no matter what shape it took. Still, many days she hesitated to call herself beautiful, especially in comparison to her more conventionally attractive sisters.

“Thank you for saying that,” she replied, sitting up. “But I get the feeling Rocco will be harder to win over than Arccoo.”

Sofia scrunched her nose in slight disgust. “He has a weird vibe. Like a dog that’s way overprotective of his family and will bite anyone who comes near.”

Her sister’s words connected something in her mind, like a completed electric circuit turning on a light. “That could be how I win him over.”

Sofia nodded, humming thoughtfully. “As the oldest sibling, you would know a lot about feeling a duty to take care of your family. It’s got to be so much worse with the fate of a planet hanging over your head.” She grinned. “There goes our Charmin’ Carmen.”

Carmen wrinkled her nose in distaste but couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from her lips. “Now you went and made it weird. Never call me that again.”

Sofia nodded her agreement. “Yeah, that’s too much.”

The next day, she found Rocco in the library studying what looked to be ancient scrolls. “I hope I’m not disturbing you,” she said. “I was wondering if we could have a chat. Maybe over lunch?”

He regarded her with a calculating gaze. “About what?”

Ignoring her nerves, she forced a smile. “I just feel like we got off on the wrong foot and wanted to make sure there isn’t any unintentional animosity between us.”

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