“Thanks, Mark,” Sarah says. “I know I can count on you. It’s just . . .”

She opens her eyes and looks out the window as we speed past a few empty fields, never finishing her sentence.

“Just what?” I ask, even though I know what’s coming. I can feel the blood in my veins start to pump a little faster.

“Nothing.”

“What, Sarah?” I ask.

“I just wish John was here.” She gives me a sad smile. “To defend himself.”

Of course, what she really means is that she wishes John was here because she misses him. That it’s killing her not to know where he is or what he’s doing. For a moment, I feel like my old self again as my hands tighten around the steering wheel. I want to find John Smith and punch him square in the jaw, then keep hitting him until my knuckles bleed. I want to go straight into a rant about how if he really loved her, he wouldn’t have left her here to get picked on and laughed at. He would have manned up. Even if he did leave to find other aliens like him to save our planet. If I were in his shoes, I’d have figured out a way to keep Sarah and the world safe. And happy.

I can’t believe these are the types of conversations I have with myself on a daily basis now.

Being super pissed at John just makes me sound like the Mark that Sarah broke up with. So instead of talking shit about him, I swallow my anger and change the subject.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happened lately. How the FBI and stuff have been handling it. My dad says that it’s kind of weird how they’re keeping the local law enforcement in the dark. I mean, he’s the sheriff and they aren’t telling him anything about what’s going on.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that so they can keep a lid on the investigation?” Sarah asks. “That’s the FBI’s job, right?”

“My dad doesn’t think so. He should at least be kept in the loop, even if he can’t tell the rest of his officers about what’s happening. Plus, I know they found some bodies at the school and there was a lot of damage, but John got moved straight to the FBI’s most-wanted list. That seems a little extreme, right? Especially considering there’s no actual evidence that John was the one behind all this.”

“So, what? Do you think this is some kind of government conspiracy?” She sits up straighter in the passenger seat, leaning towards me.