My first response was to ask Conner what was wrong. But...seeing that we haven't had the best relationship since I found out that he may or may not have been involved in my parents' deaths, asking him what was wrong didn't seem like the best idea; especially as a conversation starter, after two weeks of ignoring him.

I hesitantly approached him, walking in front of him so I was in his direct line of eyesight.

It took him a second, but eventually Conner acknowledged my presence with a strange sound that came out of his throat.

"-Elena..." Conner said in a serious voice with a hint of surprise. I found his surprise quite amusing, considering that he arranged this meeting in the first place.

"I do believe that is my name," I said with a small smile, raising an eyebrow as I observed that Conner seems detached from our conversation. My gaze quickly shifted into a mask of concern; Conner was never detached from our conversations; in fact, he was usually rather quite annoyingly involved in them, if I do say so myself.

"Are you alright?" I asked with a great amount of concern. "Is everything okay-you're acting awfully strange..."

Conner shook his head dismissively, and moved away from the wall so he was towering over me.

"You have a meeting to attend. Follow me." He said in a very serious monotone voice; I had only heard once: when he was threatening my fellow students nearly two-and-a-half weeks ago.

Now, I was worried.

"Don't you mean you have a meeting to attend," I squeaked out as Conner rushed down the hallway, making a left turn into another hallway.

"No." He said sternly. "Though I might get yelled at some more, so my presence is equally required." He didn't sound like he liked the idea of being yelled at. In fact, it sounded like it angered him that somebody would yell at him in the first place.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I ran to keep up with his pace.

"What are you talking about?...Conner....Why do I have to go to this meeting?" I nervously asked with my pitch rising as steadily as my heart rate was. "Why are people yelling at you?"

He turned back to face me, as we continued to practically run through the hallways to wherever this meeting was going to take place, with a dead look in his eyes that told me it was wise to not ask anymore questions.

"You'll find out soon enough. We are almost there," he said cryptically.

I continued to follow him down exactly four more hallways before he announced that we had reached our destination, which was a cement double door that looked like it belonged in a maximum prison facility. 

That was nice...I guess.

Conner slipped his key card underneath a nearby scanner that was directly next to the door. Once the machine made an audible sound of recognition, the cement doors opened into a room filled with many people and quite a bit of shouting.

Conner immediately started walking into the room with a military-like posture; it was pretty obvious that he wanted me to follow him.

I didn't like that idea as much as he did.

Instead of following Conner into the chaotic room, I lingered by the entrance, standing in the middle of the open doorway very visibly, with my arms crossed against my chest in frustration.

Conner didn't notice my absence to my annoyance; he must have been preoccupied with whatever he was worrying about earlier, though it certainly looked like he was still worried about that very thing, right now.

I didn't feel like drawing attention to myself and creating a scene, especially if I was supposed to be here, so I hurriedly sprinted up to Conner. In seconds, I was trailing him by inches; I pulled his arm so he was forced to stop and look at me, and he quickly but discreetly raised an eyebrow, challenging me to not do whatever I was planning.

Luckily for him, an all too familiar voice interrupted me before I could give Conner my opinion about going to this meeting.

"Well, why isn't it the Earth Human?" King Chandler curtly said as he swiveled around to face me in a makeshift throne-chair in the front of the room. He was noticeably surrounded by a group of men in dark grey suits that reminded me of the soldiers Conner worked with, except they were...different.

I pursed my lips in distaste, and continued to stare at him as if he hadn't directly addressed me.

He chuckled darkly as he motioned to the men around him.

"You've stirred up quite a bit of trouble for us, young lady," the King announced to the room; it was almost like he was amused that I, of all people, was even capable of causing trouble. "Of course my son has to be one who is matched to the human with connections to a national government." The King raised his grey eyes that reminded me too much of his son to stare at me curiously, in a dark manner. "Tell me, Elena, do you have a favorable relationship with President Watson?"

I didn't answer. My body was far too deep into a state of shock to open my mouth

The King continued on, "I sure hope you are because if not, I'm afraid this meeting could go very poorly for the lot of us, and I would prefer to avoid a war over this."

"War...?" I whispered in a hushed voice; it was almost like war was a foreign concept to me when it wasn't.

I perked my head up to the King in confusion and stared at him, waiting for a response.

He didn't give me one.

Instead, he ordered a man in the back to "open up the call," and the next thing I knew it, the President of the United States was pulled up on a large digital screen with a very familiar figure lingering by his side with a forceful glare.

But the glare wasn't aimed at me.

No, that hateful stare was aimed at the King and the soldiers around me, including Conner.

I easily recognized the figure on the large screen. How could I not? I had a crush on him for five years, spanning from sixth grade to eleventh grade, which was just last year.

But what was he doing here? I asked myself, now more confused than ever.

"Carter?" I asked in a quiet voice that was strained from the stress I was under.

The young boy on the screen immediately softened his features and scoured the room, until his eyes landed on me.

"Elena," he sighed in relief, a wide smile taking over his face.

I raised my eyebrows toward him, asking him discreetly what was going on, but like always, I was interrupted.

"Let the girl go," commanded President Watson in a very serious tone. If I didn't know any better, from the way his voice sounded, it seemed like the threat of war was just implied.

"What makes you think I'm holding her here prisoner?" King Chandler asked innocently as he played with his fingers in his chair.

Carter released a low growl. The President gave him a stern look, causing Carter to quickly mask himself with a face of forceful determination and anger.

"Do you think we are stupid, alien?" The President casually asked with the same authoritative tone. "Our technology has surpassed the bounds you put on us. We saw the footage of you coercing the girl onto your ship. We have people tracking your vessel this very second...don't treat us as if we are stupid, Your Highness." He said the King's title with an air of distaste; I couldn't blame him.

"Are you threatening me?" The King hissed as if the idea was the most preposterous thing he had ever heard.

The President raised his eyebrow.

"Should I be?"

"The girl is with us!" The King hissed angrily.

"Is that what you call kidnapping a seventeen year-old girl?!" Carter burst out in anger.

His words froze me in place. Never in the ten years that I've known him had he ever shown the slightest hint of any emotion venturing further than the bounds of a mutual friendship, which was the main reason why I chose to abandon my feelings for him at the beginning of junior year; it wasn't worth it for me anymore.

"Kidnapping?!" The King shrieked. "She's dating my son, for crying out loud! Is that forbidden on your planet?! Should I have read a rule book, my President?!" The King mocked, bellowing his anger and frustrations onto the President.

The President calmly stroked his chin, reflecting on what the King and how it compared to what he had claimed to hear from his "sources."

The King tapped his fingers against a control panel by his seat, as he impatiently waited for President Watson to respond to his unkind words. To my surprise, the President didn't open his mouth to respond to the King, but to speak directly to me.

"Elena, is what this man said true? Are you dating his boy?" It was pretty obvious that the President was confused or doubtful at the very least.

I unconsciously opened my mouth to refute the King's claim that I was dating his son as I lie, but a stern side glance from the King stopped me in my tracks. I suddenly got the overwhelming feeling that disagreeing with the King would be much more than a bad decision.

"If it was true...what would that mean?" I asked coolly, hiding my raising nerves with my calm manner. I was suddenly very grateful for in-class presentations; I would be toast right now, without them.

"Well," the President said, rubbing his chin casually as he thought about what I said, "For starters, I would grant you congratulations. Dating an alien is truly quite the feat, Miss James." He intentionally paused, giving me a serious and knowing look. "Of course, it would also avoid an immediate war."

I peered up to the President with fear in my eyes.

"You're saying that if I'm not dating James, you're going to declare war on the King?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows as I tried to understand the true weight of his words.

"No. The United States would be declaring war on the country," he stated sternly as if he was speaking mere fact.

My mouth widened in shock.

"You want to declare war on a nation of innocent people?!" I said in a voice that was far too loud to be considered respectful.

And, of course, with my response, the King shot me an approving smirk because he knew that he won.

I wouldn't send an innocent group of people to war because I despised the King. 

I couldn't live with myself if I did.

"Only if you were forced there against your will."

I shook my head to clear it, and quickly shifted my fearful gaze into a determined one.

"I wasn't," I stated firmly. "I came aboard the vessel willingly," which was technically true.

"She could have been forced!" Carter yelled. "They could be threatening her at gunpoint this very moment, and we wouldn't know it because we aren't there!"

I smiled as I looked down at the metal floor. Even though I no longer had feelings for Carter, it was nice to know that he still cared, after all of this time.

With Carter's apparently offensive remarks, Conner spoke up, "I guarantee you on my life that no harm has or should come to Elena." He spoke his words with such seriousness and passion that I was forced to look at him.

He looked down on me with a fatherly gaze, both loving and passionate, and it was at that moment I knew my decision. I may not have liked or agreed with everything that James and Conner did or didn't do, or know, but that didn't mean that I didn't care about them enough to not sentence them to a long and painful war. But...in my defense, I wouldn't want an innocent stranger to go to war, so my feelings were defensible.

"Liar!" Shrieked Carter. "You honestly can't believe this crap! They're lying!"

"Stop, Carter!" I yelled in a voice that was surprisingly stern and authoritative. "You don't know anything. I did come here willingly, and I have spent a decent amount of time with the Prince."

I gestured around to the officers around me. "They aren't pointing a gun to my head; in fact, this guy surrendered his gun to me the first time we met," I said, sharing a small smile with Conner as I remembered the weapon that I stashed away in the back corner of my dresser.

"They aren't lying." Technically, the King is. "And I certainly won't allow them to go to war for it. I am staying here; willingly," I said in a confident and sure voice. I don't think that my voice had ever felt or sounded so strong.

Carter glared at me.

"I always knew you were selfless, Elena, but this has gone too far!" Carter hissed darkly. "You're coming home! Now!"

"You're not my father, Carter!" I spit in a furious voice.

"Enough!" The President yelled, silencing both parties into a wave of silence.

"Carter, Elena is free to do as she chooses," the President said sternly, before turning towards me. "Elena, I have listened to your words, and I respect them...and I want to believe them, but I'm afraid abandoning you to a foreign group of people in the middle of outer space would not only make me a terrible president, but an awful person so I propose this..." he drew in a calm business-like voice. "I will check in, every once and a while to observe you are safe, content, and well taken care of. After one-year, if you appear to be as happy as you claim to be, I will leave you alone to make your own decisions; however, if I find out that you aren't content, or wish to leave, immediate action will be taken to the necessary measures....Is that reasonable enough for you, King Chandler?"

The King grimaced as he took the time to look between me and the President, but eventually, he nodded his head and agreed to President Watson's terms.

The President and the King wished each other well, though it was obviously forced; there was literally no mutuality between them, and they promised to set up another meeting "soon."

After a few more minutes of fake smiles and false friendly gestures, the large screen turned black, and everyone in the room sighed in relief, including the King.

"Well, it is nice to see that my son's genetics has good taste in women," the King announced to the room as he continued to slouch and relax into his chair.

"Thank you...?" I said awkwardly, not really sure how to respond to the King's statement.

King Chandler chuckled at my response, and gestured in a friendly manner for me to come over to him.

"I know we haven't started off on the right foot, Elena, but I just wanted to thank you for what you just did for my family," he said in a genuinely kind and gracious manner.

I really wanted to ask him: didn't you just threaten me if I didn't? But, thinking that wouldn't be the best path towards a mutually functional relationship, I settled on saying: "Your welcome," in the kindest tone I could muster for the man I hated.

"Well, you better be off; I believe my son is still looking for you," the King said seriously.

"Still?" I wondered curiously. I haven't heard from James in over a week.

"Yes," he replied in a slightly annoyed tone. "I don't believe he ever stopped."

***

After my short conversation with King Chandler, Conner quickly rushed me out of the room, since apparently another meeting was about to begin; not that I minded.

He led me down a series of hallways until we reached a very familiar set of stairs.

"The night room?" I asked in a confused voice, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why would you bring me here?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Conner smirked as he gestured up the staircase.

I took my time as I hesitantly walked up each step of the staircase, eventually reaching the top. My fingers lingered on the door handle, debating whether I should go inside or demand Conner to take me back to my room. But, when I turned around to face Conner, I quickly found out that he had already left.

Great, I muttered to myself as I carefully opened the door, pushing it open with an audible creak.

I peered up to look around the familiar dark room, and I was met with a set of familiar grey eyes that sparkled against the black shadows covering the majority of the room.

"Hi," he smiled in the darkness.

"...Uh-hi," I said awkwardly, matching his brilliant smile with a rosy blush that was rapidly spreading across my cheeks.

I hadn't seen James for two weeks, but staring into his bright grey eyes reminded me that it truly felt like a lifetime since I last saw him.

And, it was a truly miserable lifetime, at that.

AN: We made it! Nine chapters! Over 20,000 words written in sixteen days which is almost half of an actual novel, which is just insane to me. At this rate, I could be done writing this book in the next month....

Okay, so moving forward, I hope this chapter was at least a little epic to you. It certainly sets the stage for many things to come in the near future(that are currently a secret), which you will discover and understand in due time.

I know; I know I've said this at least five times at this point, but thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. I know it's hard waiting for updates, but I promise you I am trying to update as much and as soon possible. Hopefully you enjoyed the new chapter; I do try my best to make the story interesting for you guys as well as fun.

Last thought: Yes, I am excited to announce that from the next chapter forward, a slow romance may start to bud between Elena and James...(that is what the book is about, after all) and you will start to learn in the next few chapter more about what it means to be "genetically matched" and how the process works, so stay tuned because the title is about to make a lot more sense.

Thank you for reading with me up to this point and stay tuned for upcoming updates in the near future :)

-Elly6431