[[finally]] Nine. [[full]]

I was stupid. No more than stupid. I was begging for danger to come crashing through the door and kill the thing I love most dear.
Yup. That is it. But I was still packing clothes to go over to Kate's house to stay with her for the next week. I mean, I can't completely blame myself. Well, I can, and I am. But you should have seen the way she looked at me. As if I was superman or something that would chase the boogy man away from under her bed. Not that I'm saying I wouldn't, but, you know what I mean.
I packed for two weeks, just in case, and then headed over to her house. Maria greeted me at the door and took my bag upstairs to the spare room I was going to sleep in. I asked her where Kate was and she said that she was swimming outside.
Great. Just what I need. I'm already in love with her, I don't really wish to see her in well, a bikini. I mean, I may not be from this planet, but I'm still of the male race. And I do like women. But no doubt, I would go out there and see her. She was the reason I was there anyways, to comfort her, and help her feel like she wasn't alone. Probably one of the craziest missions I've been on, but no doubt was going to be the hardest of them all and I wouldn't even have to use my special talents. Rather see if I can go a week without them. Act normal.
Kate was indeed swimming when I found her outside, laps actually, probably how she was so fit. And she wasn't wearing a bikini either. Rather a more modest swim suit that covered her well and didn't try to show off her figure. Looks like I underestimated her.
She was heading back to the shallow end so I stood there and waited for her to come up for air. She eventually did.
"Hi there."
She rubbed the water off her eyes and looked up at me.
"Hey, sorry, I swim a lot 20 more laps and I'll be done. I have to keep in shape for cheerleading."
So, she was a cheerleader? Something new I didn't know.
"That's alright. Mind if I join you? We could race?"
"Um. You wouldn't want to race me."
"Really? Are you sure you just aren't afraid of losing?"
"Of course not. I just don't want to embarrass you on your first night here."
She was also very confident. I added that little fact as well to my growing list of Kathren Lance.
I gave up on trying to race her and instead just sat by the pool and looked up at the stars. And there it was. My home planet. Not that I had ever been. I was born on the island, but it still was the planet that I would call home. Earth was just a temporary thing, and America was just my escape from my father until I found a way out of this mess I was in.

"Mommy! Mommy!"
A small boy ran into the picture. He looked so familiar.
"Tell me the story again mommy, please?"
“Tristan, I've told your the story a million times.”
“Just once more, please!”
Of course, the small boy was me. But this was not a memory I remembered. In fact I looked to be about four years old but I can only remembered up till my mother died.
“Alright, alright, the little prince seems to be very demanding today.”
“YUP!” giggled the little version of me.
“Well then, there once lived a girl...”
“Named MOMMY!” screamed the boy in excitement.
The woman laughed then replied, “Well, she is now known as mommy, and only to a little boy named Tristan, but back then she was called...”
The woman stopped talking and looked to see who had entered the room. I turned as well, out of curiosity of who had ruined the story, and believe me I was shocked to see who it was. My father had come into the room and was looking disappointed.
“I told you to stop telling him those stories.”
My mother rose from where she was sitting with me on her lap and set me on the ground.
“Tristan, why don't you run off to your room. Mommy, will come tuck you into bed in a minute.”
“Okay, will you finish the story?”
“We'll see little one.”
And so the little boy skipped out of the room. I turned back to where my father still stood starring at my mother.
“Don't look at me like that, Gregory. Tristan needs to know where he came from.”
“He didn't come from anywhere, well not any place we know. He just showed up in the woods one day and you had to keep him.”
“Would you like to be the one to tell him that? Would you like to tell him that we aren't his real family, that we don't know where he has come from?”
My father shook his head and started pacing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was it even true? Was I really an orphan? How long where they going to go on living without telling me? How could they have done something like this to me?

A splash of water hit me and I sprang back to reality. The water had startled me and for a moment I couldn't remember where I was until a sweet voice came from where the water had.
“Do the stars interest you, Jason?”
Kathren. One of these days I was going to have to get her back for that.
“Why yes, they do for a matter of fact,” I replied sounding very confident and not like a guy who was annoyed by the fact he was now wet.
“Well I'll have to show you the attic then. My dad has a telescope up there and some other stuff to study the stars. Remind me later, and I'll show you.”
Oh later huh? Well then that means my time for payback was now. Kate was just floating in the pool now with her eyes closed. It was a perfect time to just do a cannon ball right next to her.
I slowly got up and slipped off my shoes, then went to remove my shirt.
“Hey Kate,”
“Hmm?” she replied not even bothering to open her eyes.
I slowly stood and headed toward the pool.
“There is a famous phrase people use around water. Well really around pools.”
“Oh yeah,” she continued to speak with her eyes closed, “And what is that?”
I took a deep breath and then just about busted out laughing.
“CANNON BALL!”
I have never seen a girl freak out so much in my life.