Page 105 of The Otherworld

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

JACK

I can’t decide which is more fun: watching Orca’s reaction to flying or watching how much she likes my Mustang. Ironically, she finds the car more fascinating. I thought it would be the other way around, but then I remember: she’s seen planes before. She’s never been in a car.

“What do you use them for?” she asks.

I try not to laugh too much at her question. “Uh, for getting around?”

“But you have a plane. You can fly places.”

“I can’t fly to my house.”

Orca frowns. “Why not just walk?”

“It’s… too far to walk.” I pull open the passenger-side door for her. “Here—get in.” I stand there for a whole minute while Orca carefully studies the interior of the car before climbing in.

“How does it work?” she asks when I drop into the driver’s seat. Her blue-green eyes are wide with curiosity as she takes it all in.

“Uh, well, it’s pretty simple,” I explain, reaching over to pull the seatbelt out for her. “Cars have engines like planes do, but they’re, um… smaller. And they don’t have wings. Obviously.”

Orca smiles, buckling up as I start the engine. “And fewer instruments,” she says, pointing to the dash clock.

“Yeah, that’s the radio, actually.”

“Oh. Is that how you talk to… land traffic control?”

I laugh.

She’s serious.

“Uh, no. No, there’s no land traffic control. That’s just for planes.”

“That… doesn’t seem very safe.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll see if a car is going to hit us.”

As I navigate out of the parking lot and head toward home, Orca investigates the car. “What does this button do?” she asks about every button in sight. It’s like she’s a time traveler from the eighteenth century, amazed by the sheer wonder of air conditioning and visor mirrors.

I’m half in love with her already.

“Will something bad happen if I press this?” she says, pointing to the handle of her door.

“No, that opens your window.”

“Oh wow, the windows open?”

I nod, grinning.

Orca braces herself, carefully pushing the button and watching in amazement as the window slides down.

“That’s incredible!”

I stealthily reach over to my driver’s switch and put her window back up, just to freak her out.

She gasps, springing back in surprise. “Did you do that?”

“Do what?” I smirk, putting the window back down.

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