The Other Earth Read online

  The Other Earth

  A Galactic Love Story

  Amber LaShell

  The Other Earth

  Amber LaShell

  All Rights Reserved

  © 2013 by Amber LaShell

  First e-Book edition: November 2013

  A Galactic Love Story

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Contact: [email protected]

  http://amberlashell.net/

  Cover Art and Design by Amber LaShell

  http://amberlashell.net/

  Prologue

  I looked up at the stars, wondering just what was up there. They seemed so close that it felt almost as though you could touch them, yet still so far away that it was like they couldn't possibly be real.

  "Randi what are you doing?" I heard behind me.

  I turned and saw Brandon standing there, wearing the cowboy pajamas he had fallen asleep in. Most of my friends thought it was weird that my parents still let Brandon spend the night, but I knew it wasn't weird at all. Brandon was my best friend, even though he looked stupid in his pajama pants with the horses and lassos all over them.

  "I'm just looking at the stars" I said, looking back up to the sky.

  I felt him lay down next to me on the pile of dry leaves I had setup as a blanket.

  "Do you know where the big dipper is?" he asked.

  I pointed over to the cluster of stars that looked like a big square spoon without saying a word. He knew that the big dipper was my favorite constellation, he just liked to pretend he was smarter than me, just because his parents were scientist.

  "You always get that one right" he said, sighing.

  "What do you think is out there?" I asked, looking off into the distance.

  "I don't know. There are probably lots of planets and stars and things we don't even know about yet" he said.

  I sighed, "I wish my parents were scientist and could teach me all of these things too" I said.

  Brandon laughed, "My parents are always working, they don't teach me anything. Everything I've learned was from either school, a private tutor, or one of the many nannies I've had." He said.

  I turned my head and looked over at him, "I know all about nannies. Well, about a nanny, Tina has been my nanny since I was born. I actually used to think she was my mom and that my mom was the nanny" I said with a small laugh.

  Brandon turned his head to me, "Did your dad come back?" he asked.

  I felt my eyes start to burn and quickly looked back up at the stars before he could see the few tears that I wasn't able to hold back, "No, my mom says he's not going to come back. He's gone to live his dreams" I said, a hiccup escaping as I tried to hold the tears back.

  "I'm sorry. I can't even imagine my dad leaving" he said.

  I laughed, "Yeah well your dad isn't a rock star that wants nothing more than to be single and free to play his music" I said, looking back over at him.

  "How is your mom taking it?" he asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders, making the dried leave crush around me, "She acts like nothing is wrong when she is home, but she spends most of her time in new Hollywood working on her new movie" I said.

  We both looked up at the stars and we stayed like that for a few minutes, both not saying anything and thinking about what the stars could hold.

  "You know, my parents are saying that in the next ten years that we won't even be able to see the stars anymore because of the pollution" he said.

  I looked over quickly, "That's crazy. I don't think they will ever let it get that bad" I said defiantly.

  Brandon laughed and put his hands up in surrender, "Hey I'm just repeating what my parents said. You know how they are."

  I sighed, "Yeah, I know how they are."

  Brandon leaned up on his elbow and looked at me, "Look this is our last summer before high school starts, let's do something fun" he said.

  "Like what?" I asked him, feeling suspicious.

  He shrugged, "I don't know, we can figure it out as we go" he said.

  I nodded, "Yeah okay. I can't wait for high school though" I said.

  "Why is that?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he looked at me.

  "I am going to be taking those new classes they started, where you learn about space travel" I said, looking back up to the stars and imagining learning all of the secrets of the universe.

  Brandon groaned, "Oh my parents are making me take those too" he said.

  I laughed, "Why do you sound so annoyed, it seems like the best thing to ever happen" I said.

  "Why is that? It seems like a stupid class to me" he said.

  I pulled my arms around myself looking back over to the big dipper, "It seems like a great class. A class where I can learn about the stars. One day I want to travel through the stars and see something new, something that will change the world" I said.

  "Those are big dreams" he said.

  I smiled and looked over at him, "I want to make a difference in this world, do something good. I want to discover a new star, or a new planet, or maybe even a way to stop all of the pollution. Anything big really" I said. "Big dreams kind of run rampant in my family."

  Brandon shook his head, "I really do think we were switched at birth, you would fit right in with my parents" he said.

  I sighed, "Yeah, well I got the Hollywood parents, so there's that" I said, pulling myself up to a sitting position.

  Brandon sat up next to me, "What do you want to do now?" he asked.

  I looked around to make sure that we were completely alone, "Let's sneak into the carnival that opened up at the school and ride the bumper cars" I said in a whisper.

  "Randi. It's two in the morning" he said in a gasp.

  I nodded, "Exactly. Nobody else is there, so I can cream you, and you won't have any excuses this time." I said.

  Brandon laughed, "Now you're talking, let's go" he said.

  I looked down at him, "Um, do you want to change into something not so lame? Just in case someone sees us?"

  Brandon looked down at his clothes, "Yeah, good point."

  Chapter One

  I looked over at the TV as the news flash sounded. I picked up the remote control and turned the screen off.

  "Hey, I was watching that Randi!" my roommate yelled at me.

  "I hate the news, you know that. They don't tell you anything new, they just tell you some bad news or other." I said back at her

  "Not everything is bad news you know. What if they were going to tell me something about a new celebrity hookup or something like that?" she asked me, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder.

  I rolled my eyes while subconsciously running my hands through my own short blond hair. "Oh my god Stacy, I cannot believe you even care about that crap. Fine, I will turn the TV back on and I promise you it won't be any good news.

  I picked up the remote again and turned the set back on as Stacy flashed me her perfect white smile. I hated it when she did that, it always dazzled me in a way that made me forget what I was even doing. We both turned to look at the screen as the news anchor, whose face contained so much plastic her mouth barely even moved, was talking with a picture of a huge black blob up on the screen next to her.

  "Scientists have recently discovered a black hole in space that is currently located just five thousand miles behind where the moon currently is. We are told that
they have sent a space bot out to see if the black hole leads to anything as we have previously seen with other black holes recently and the space bot is due back to earth sometime tonight. We will have more information as we hear back from the SSE."

  I rolled my eyes again as I looked back over to Stacy, "See that's not even freaking news is it? We have known about that damn black hole for over a year already. "

  Stacey was looking back at me with her mouth wide open, "You did not tell me you sent a space bot in it, and that it was coming back!"

  I shook my head, "Stacey, you are crazy! I have told you about this black hole forever. I first told you that we found it over a year ago. Don't you remember that?"

  Stacey nodded, "Yes, I do. I'm not an idiot you know. I remember you telling me that you found a black hole. Woo flipping hoo, another boring black hole. What you did not tell me was that they had sent a space bot into it and had actually known it was coming back into orbit. You absolutely did not tell me about that. I know nothing; I'm only the roommate of the freaking head of the SSE, that's all. Spatial Scientific Engineers my ass" she said as she tossed the throw pillow she had been holding in her lap across the room.

  I laughed, "Head of the SSE? Are you crazy, I'm barely even allowed into the building, much less running the place? I did tell you about the space bot a few weeks ago when we found out it was coming back, but you were too busy watching Alexis Priestly getting out of limos with no panties on to pay attention to me" I said as I picked up the pillow and set it neatly back onto the couch.

  Stacey smiled, "Well Alexis is one hot little piece, so I could have very well been distracted." She said leaning back and putting her long hair into a ponytail holder. "All I'm saying is that you could have reminded me before they made a freaking news bulletin about it."

  I once again ran my fingers through my short hair, wondering why I had decided to cut it and trying not to notice that Stacey had deemed not to wear a bra with her barely there white tank top. "If you say so, I really do not keep up with all of the so called stars in New Hollywood. Most of them are just the byproduct of their more talented parents and grandparents anyway."

  Stacey put her hand up, "Okay, I give up. I don't want to get into an argument and this again. I know that you hate the whole concept of fame. I get it, let's get back to talking about this black Hole. Do you think we are going to find anything in it?" She asked seriously.

  I nodded, happy to get the topic back onto science, "I have a good feeling about it. We won't know for sure until we can scan the space bot's pictures and video but just the fact that he has been able to come back is a good sign to say the least." I said.

  Stacey suddenly got a very serious look on her face, "You know I have been actually worried about things lately. We really need to find something to do with our own planet, you know. The smog is so bad, we can't even see the stars anymore. I haven't seen a star since before I started my period Randi! We ran out of oil years ago and now people are so sick from the atmosphere that I don't know how much longer we are going to last here."

  I raised my eyebrows, "Where is all of this coming from?" I asked her, worried at the serious tone my celebrity obsessed friend was taking. "I have never heard you get this serious since you and Ashley broke up.

  "Don't you even try to bring that tramp up and get me all pissed off. I know I'm not a scientist and I know I never will be; I get that. But, it doesn't make me any less worried about the state of our freaking planet you know." She said, her face turning red as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.

  "I know, I worry too sometimes, but I'm sure someone will discover something to get us out of this mess soon" I told her, putting my hand on her shoulder.

  She put her hand on top of mine and smiled at me, "You are always so optimistic about things. Ugh, I need to get out of this funk I'm in. Want to go out tonight? I need to loosen up a bit and alcohol will help that tremendously." She said, already looking over toward her room surely contemplating what she will wear.

  I smiled at her, "Sure I'm good with a couple of drinks, but I don't want to go too far, can we go somewhere local?" I asked her.

  She nodded, "As long as there are some hot men there, I'm in a good dick kind of mood" she said as she glided off to her room in the way only a professional dancer could manage to.

  I shook my head and turned to look out of the window to get a view of the city. Luckily our apartment was on the twelfth floor and so we had a pretty good view, well if smog was what you wanted to see. I looked out toward the city, barely making out the cars underneath the gray smog that clung to the air.

  I sighed, wondering how we let things get so bad. At the turn of the twenty first century everyone was working so hard on making things better. People were buying smart cars that ran on electricity and recycling their trash so that it could be reused. I wondered if people would have done things differently if they only knew that by the turn of the next century things would be so bad that you had a supply of oxygen in your car, just so that you can make it to work without suffocating.

  I looked over at the tall building that held the SSE and felt my fingers itching to call and see if they needed me today. I just had a feeling that something big was about to happen and I really wanted to be there to help when it did. It seems like even as a little girl all I wanted was to somehow make a difference in the world, to somehow make it better. So far, I was failing at my mission. Here it was only days from my thirtieth birthday and I am just now working at a place that might help me to make a difference. Too bad I was mostly getting people coffee. I laughed at that thought, I was sure my parents would be happy to know that my master's degree in scientific engineering was helping me in my mission to get coffee for other scientists.

  I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and realized that I needed to just get out of the house for a couple of hours. I turned and walked toward my bedroom, thinking that a drink with Stacey is probably the best thing for me right now.

  ***

  I pushed open the bar door ahead of Stacey and looked around at the small bar that was conveniently located very close to our apartment. I was happy to see that there were quite a few faces that I recognized from work, and at that moment I realized that this was the closest bar to work as well. I smiled and looked back at Stacey and for a moment forgot what I was going to say to her.

  When she had first stepped out of her room back at the apartment she had literally taken my breath away. She was wearing one of the skimpiest outfits I had ever seen her in, barely covering her ample breasts, with a good view of her side boob. The skirt was short and showed of her long tan legs that were toned and shapely, not the thin twigs that would be sticking out of my dress, if I had ever worn one.

  Stacey flipped her long red hair behind her as she looked around at the bar, "What's with all the old dudes?" she asked me.

  "I don't know, but that outfit makes me want to just turn around and go back home to hide my hideous face." I told her, hopefully with a smile that showed I was joking. I did want her to feel guilty about looking so great.

  "Hey, I'm looking to get laid tonight, so shut the hell up" she said, never taking her eyes away from scanning the room.

  I put my hands up, "Hey no issue here, I'm just telling you that you have very good chances in that outfit, and you just happen to make me look like Olive Oil" I told her.

  She smiled, still never actually looking at me, "Hey is that Brandon over there?" she asked me, pointing across the smokey room to a pool table.

  I looked over and noticed the broad shoulders and light brown hair I had been dreaming about since I was a kid. "Yep, that's him." I yelled at her over the loud music.

  She pulled her boobs up higher and put a big smile on her face, "Then let's go and say hello" she said.

  I shook my head, there was no way he was going to be able to turn that down, no way in hell. I followed her over to the corner, half hoping that all of my co-workers wouldn't actually notice that I work with the
m, I really didn't need anyone gossiping about me at the freaking water cooler.

  "Hey Handsome, what brings you out here tonight?" I heard Stacey ask.

  I looked up and for the second time tonight, my breath was taken away. There smiling at Stacey as though she was a juicy steak was Brandon White, my childhood friend, turned crush, turned co-worker.

  "Hey babe, good to see you, looking good tonight Stace." He said, giving Stacey an approving nod.

  Finally those baby blue eyes turned my way, "Randi Rose! Why don't you come over here and we can make a new color?" he yelled at me, holding out his impossibly muscular arms. Where a scientist has time to get guns like that I would never know.

  I walked over and gave him a hug, rolling my eyes at the line he had been giving me since we were about ten. "What the hell is going on? Why is everyone here?" I asked him.

  "We are all celebrating the space bot. It is back in orbit and should be landing sometime tomorrow" he said, leaning in and whispering into my right ear. I pulled back quickly, happy that he hadn't whispered that way into my left ear, or I might have had to change my panties.

  "Why didn't anyone invite me?" I yelled at him, lightly punching him in the shoulder, which I was not surprised to feel was rock hard.

  He shrugged his shoulders, "I thought they did, isn't that why you're here?" he asked.

  I shook my head and turned as Stacey poked me in the ribs, "Hey I'm going to go get a drink, do you want anything?" she asked me.

  "Okay, no way. What kind of man would I be to let you girls go up there and get your own drinks? I'm so stupid! Please let me buy you both a drink, what would you like?" he asked Stacey.

  Stacey smiled and twirled her hair through her fingers, "I would love a hurricane" she said.

  Brandon looked back over to me, "Vodka on the rocks?" he asked me. I smiled and nodded my head, happy that he had remembered.

  I watched as he walked away and admired how tight his jeans were on his sculpted ass. I rarely saw him in jeans, as he wore dress pants to work every day, but always loved the way he looked walking away in jeans.