It was nearing midnight and Jensen was preparing to make his usual escape from the house. He hadn't been caught yet, but he always prayed his father wouldn't find him out. It would basically be game over if Leroy suspected foul play on Jensen's part. Whatever could be considered fun, Leroy made sure that his son wasn't part of it. To a seventeen year-old, this was a prison sentence.

   By now, Jensen was climbing out of his window, doing his best to remain silent. Though Leroy was a heavy sleeper, Jensen didn't want to take any chances. He left the window open a crack for his return trip and headed for his parked cruiser. It was a noisy thing to start, so he'd generally let the start-up levels cycle through slowly instead of engaging thrusters at maximum right away. It only took two minutes longer and Jensen was soon flying over the house. Leroy stirred in his sleep, but nothing happened otherwise.

   Several minutes later, Jensen was hovering just above the grass in someone's backyard. He waited a moment before a female Irken emerged from the back door. Jensen opened the windshield and beckoned the girl to hop in. She smiled and thanked him when he helped her into the seat beside him. He chuckled in response before taking the cruiser to a new location. He eventually landed it on a hill just outside the city limits. The sight was a wonder to behold; the hill overlooked a cornucopia of brilliant skyscrapers and lights that littered the landscape. Above them, there were thousands of shimmering stars as far as the eye could see. Not only that, but they were bathed in violet light that could only come from Irk's moon, Plutonis. It was a calm night with the trees only occasionally swaying in the breeze. All in all, it was very peaceful.

   Jensen sighed with content as he took in what he felt was a rare moment in his life. He then turned to gaze into the girl's eyes as she stared back happily. He couldn't imagine how anyone's eyes could sparkle the way hers did. They were no different from many other Irkens', yet Jensen believed her eyes were by far the most beautiful he'd seen. Perhaps it was only because he was in love with her that he felt this way. He had realized early on that the heart saw things in a different way when it was beating for someone else. Either way, he couldn't help but smile whenever his eyes met her's.

   For a brief moment, he looked down to see her holding his hand and was unaware of when that happened. He glanced up again to see her smiling at him mischievously, batting her eyelashes slowly. He could feel his face growing hot and saw that she was blushing as well. Without warning, she pressed her lips to his with such fierceness that Jensen felt the wind get knocked out of him. It was over in an instant though as she pulled back and giggled nervously, blushing even harder. An awkward moment was what followed, and they could do nothing but stare at each other without words to fill the air. The girl bit her lip in embarrassment and Jensen simply couldn't fathom what just had happened. They had spent many a night on this hill in Jensen's cruiser, but before this night, all they had ever done was talk for hours at a time, learning all they could about the other.

   More silence ensued and right before the girl could apologize for her sudden behavior, Jensen was already kissing her back with more passion than he had ever shown anyone. Something had just felt right and he'd been waiting to do this for a long time. In response, the girl grabbed onto his neck and let herself be taken in by the impulses that the two of them could no longer ignore. They held one another tightly, kissing anywhere lips could touch skin. The intensity was overpowering and the once cool cruiser most likely felt like an inferno to them. Control seemed to disappear altogether as clothes became unnecessary and reserve was tossed aside to give way to higher priorities. The two made love until dawn was just starting to become visible…

   It was then that Jensen started up the cruiser once more and took the girl home. He gave her a quick goodbye kiss and flew off toward home as the sun began to rise over the horizon. He had wanted to do more, but he knew his father would be waking up soon.

   He made it back without a problem and climbed through the window again, shutting it quietly behind him. He took off his shoes before sleepily crawling into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. He knew that he would only be able to sleep for an hour or so before his father would make him get up for training, but he didn't even care. After the night he had, he felt like he could take on whatever Leroy decided to throw at him, with a smile on his face at that.

                                                              Fin

                               Christina Price, Age 20, 2/15/10, Monday, 5:55 A.M.