Otherworldly Secret

“Can you keep a secret?”

Shawn blinked. He had been quietly eating his lunch when out of nowhere this girl he had never seen before came up and spoke to him. 

“Uhh….sure?”

“Great.” She smiled, showing perfect, white teeth. Leaning forward, she whispered, “I’ll tell you someday.” With a nod and another smile, she turned and was gone. 

Shawn stared after her, still shocked. He had never had random, beautiful girls come up and talk to him before. Why had she done that?

Someone tapped his shoulder. “Shawn, wake up,” said a familiar voice. 

Shawn turned. “Sorry..I just had the strangest conversation of my life..if it was a conversation.”

Ron grinned. “Tell me all about it: I like strange things.”

Shawn told him what had passed between them, then added, “Isn't that strange? Why would she just come up to a stranger and ask them that?”

Ron shrugged. “You should ask her.”

Shawn scoffed. “Yeah right, like I’ll ever see her again.”

“If she meant what she said, I don’t think you've seen the last of her.”

Shawn didn't see the mysterious girl until nearly two weeks later. He was driving back from his job when he got a phone call from his mom. 

“There's some girl here and she says she wants to talk to you. She didn't say her name, but said to tell you she’s the secret girl, whatever that means.”

Shawn drove quickly the rest of the way home. As he pulled into the driveway, he saw her sitting on the porch steps. She stood up as he got out of the car and approached her.

“Hi Shawn,” she said with a smile.

“Who..who are you? What are you doing here, and how did you get here?!” Shawn was even more confused that their first meeting, and this time it wasn't funny. Was she stalking him?

She laughed, a clear, hearty laugh. “Oh my, but you do ask a lot of questions. Well, my name is Keesha, and I came here to see you. I got your address from your friend, Ron.”

“But..why? I don't know you, and you don’t know me!”

“True, but I was hoping to fix that.” She came closer and smiled at him. “I was hoping we could become good friends.”

Somehow, something about her smile, her eyes, unsettled Shawn. He felt slightly uneasy, but was unable to put into words why that was. It was just..something felt off about those perfect, white teeth, and those crystal clear, bright blue eyes. She was too perfect. And there was still the question of why she had decided to direct her attention at him?

Shawn mentally shook himself. He was being overly paranoid. She was just friendly, and probably was new to the area and wanted friends. And as for her looks, some people were just that good looking. 

With a rather forced smile, Shawn nodded. “Well, nice to meet you Keesha. I think it’d be fine if we were friends.”

Keesha clapped her hands. “Oh good. I knew you would.” She gave him an almost coy look. “Well, see you around.” She smiled, then left.

Over the next few months Shawn slowly got to know Keesha better. He would go for days without seeing or hearing from her, then she would show up at the most random times at his house, his work, his school. Sometimes she would stay for ten minutes, sometimes for hours. 

Exactly four months after first meeting her, Shawn was at his house, washing his car when a strange car pulled into the driveway. He stopped and watched as Keesha popped out and pranced over to him. 

“Hi Shawn,” she said gleefully.

“Oh, hi Keesha,” he replied nonchalantly, resuming cleaning his car. 

“I have a surprise for you,” she said, tugging on his arm.

“What surprise?”

“You have to come with me,” she said.

Shawn stopped and looked at her. “Alright,” he said slowly.

Rather reluctantly, he followed her to her car and got in. They drove in silence for nearly five minutes. Shawn glanced at her, wondering if the surprise was the secret she was promised to tell him months ago. 

“Keesha, where are you taking me?”

She looked at him. “It's a secret.”

Her choice of words made him think she must be about to show him the promised secret. He glanced out the window and saw they were in the woods not far from his neighborhood. What were they doing here? There wasn't anything for miles this way.

Before he could ask her again, she pulled over and stopped the car. She turned to him with a mysterious smile. “Follow me,” she said, getting out. 

Shawn followed her into the woods, his uneasiness growing every moment. Why were they in the woods? Something wasn't right about this, but it was too late to back out now.

Soon they came to a clearing, in which sat something he had never seen before. It looked like a..like a spaceship of some kind!

Shawn gaped openmouthed. He turned to Keesha. “What in the world is that thing!?”

She smiled an inexplicable smile. “Shawn, I think it's time I told you my secret. You can keep a secret, right?”

“Of course,” he replied mechanically. 

“Good,” she said. Stepping closer, she placed her arms around his neck and interlocked her fingers. Shawn felt himself blushing, and he tried to move back but she was too strong.

Leaning forward slightly she whispered, “ Here's my secret, Shawn dear: I'm not human.” As she spoke her eyes blazed red, and her perfect face was split in a cruel sneer. Then her hands were at his throat.

Shawn frantically tried to pull away, but her hands were like vises. Her hands tightened, making it hard to breathe. He screamed, and screamed and screamed. 

Then he was sitting up in bed, panting heavily, his throat sore from screaming. He took a long shuddery breath. It had just been a dream. He was fine. 

He slowly got out of bed and looked at himself in the mirror. Same old him. He was fine. Shawn wandered over to the window and looked out on the familiar scene below. The sleepy little neighborhood, and the great woods beyond them. 

As he gazed, something rose from the woods and flew into the sky. 

It was her spaceship.