Hoping that Jessie could hear her just as well, Mia said, “Hey Jessie, how’s it going? It’s Mia.”
“Mia? Where are you calling from?” Jessie sounded surprised. “It shows up as an unknown number.”
“Uh, yeah, about that . . . I’m actually out of town right now –”
“What? Where?”
“Um . . . in Costa Rica.”
“WHAT?” Jessie’s shriek was earsplitting.
Mia rubbed her ears. “Yeah, it was kind of an unplanned trip, but everything’s fine. I’m with Korum and –”
“Oh my God, what the fuck are you doing in Costa Rica? Did that bastard make you go there? Because if he did –”
“No, Jessie, everything’s fine! Look, I just wanted to call you and let you know where I was –”
“Mia, what are you doing in Costa Rica?” Jessie sounded marginally calmer, though Mia could still hear the panicked undertone in her roommate’s voice. “And where exactly in Costa Rica are you?”
Mia paused for a second, trying to think how to best explain everything. “Well, I’m actually in Lenkarda – that’s the Costa Rican K Center –”
“Oh my God, Mia, he brought you there? Did he find out?” There was sheer terror in Jessie’s voice now. “Does he
know about . . . you know?”
Mia sighed. “Yeah. He knew all along actually. Don’t worry – it’s all cool now . . .”
“What do you mean, he knew all along?”
“Look, Jessie, I don’t want to go into the whole story right now, but just believe me when I tell you that I’m not in any kind of danger, okay?” Mia spoke quickly, knowing that she probably only had minutes before Jessie did something drastic – like contacting the Resistance again. “We’ve talked about everything, and there was a misunderstanding on my part – and now everything’s fine. I’m just here for the summer. We’re going to go to Florida in a couple of weeks to visit my parents, and then I’ll be back in New York for the next school year. It’s really nothing to worry about, I promise you . . .”
There was silence for a few seconds, and then Jessie said quietly, “Mia, I just don’t understand. You’re telling me that the alien you’ve been spying on brought you to a K Center, and you expect me to believe that everything’s okay?”
Mia took a deep breath. “Everything is okay. Honestly. I made a mistake becoming involved with the Resistance. Korum explained everything, and I just didn’t understand the situation before –”
“And now you do? How do you know you can believe anything he says?”
“Look, I have to trust him, Jessie. He has no reason to lie to me now.” At least, Mia hoped so.
“And he’s letting you call me?”
Mia smiled. “Yes, of course, so you see – it’s really not what you think.” She could almost hear the wheels turning in Jessie’s head.
“So you’re honestly telling me that you’re in a K Center and you’re totally fine? You’re going to come back for school and everything?”
“Absolutely,” Mia said, relieved that Jessie was coming around. “It just turned out that instead of going to Florida for the summer, I went to Costa Rica, that’s all.”
“What about your internship in Orlando?”
“That I haven’t quite figured out yet,” Mia reluctantly admitted. “I’ll have to call them and explain that I won’t be able to do it anymore.”
“So you’re not going to do an internship the summer before your senior year? That’s a really bad career move, Mia . . .”
“Yes, I know,” said Mia, not needing her roommate to remind her of that. “Maybe I’ll be able to get something during the school year with the career placement office . . . I’ll figure something out. But I’ll be going to Florida for a few days soon, so that’ll be nice.”
“Going with him?”
“Yep.” Mia grinned, imagining her roommate’s reaction to what she was about to tell her next. “He wants to meet my parents.”