Alien Overnight by Robin L. Rotham Read Free Book Online Page A

least, had the excuse of being six months pregnant. With twins, no less.
    “You do realize a milk moustache really screws with your image.”
    Monica grinned as they scooted their trays down the line. “Beats a real moustache.”
    “And since when did you give up fruits and vegetables? Do you know what eating all that crap will do to your arteries?” Shelley shook her head, wide-eyed at Monica’s lunch of two steaks, two ramekins of nutmeg-sprinkled custard and an extra-large slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. “You’re not knocked up, too, are you?”
    “You know better than that,” Monica said severely. “Anyway, who died and made you the cholesterol cop?”
    “Well, forgive me for wondering what the hell is going on with you,” Shelley growled as they headed for an empty table at the back of the cafeteria. “For the better part of a year, you’ve eaten nothing but salads for lunch, and now you’re suddenly sucking down calories like a war-starved refugee.
    “And what makes it really freaky,” she continued as they settled at the table, “is that you’re losing weight anyway.” She paused, looking hard at Monica. “You’re not sick or something, are you?”
    “Not that I know of,” Monica said. She let her gaze slide away, wishing she hadn’t switched out the sunglasses after her headache subsided. Sometimes Shelley’s probing eyes saw too much. “And I’m not losing weight. I’ve gained five pounds in the last few weeks. Like I really needed that.” She looked down at her tray and frowned. It was no wonder she was edging closer to that dreaded two-hundred-pound mark every day.
    But the strange food cravings she’d had lately were just too overwhelming to deny.
    “Are you sure? You look thinner to me, especially in your face. Have you been working out? Maybe you’re gaining muscle mass.”
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    Robin L. Rotham
    “Yeah, right,” Monica snorted. “Me, working out.” The mere sight of the
    gymnasium door was enough to make her hiss and writhe like a vampire confronted with a cross. She cracked open a carton of milk and guzzled it down in a few hard swallows, then did the same to a second before tucking into her steak.
    “What in the…” She stopped chewing and shifted her food around in her mouth, disgusted to feel something hard in there. As discreetly as possible, she spat the whole mouthful into her paper napkin.
    “What, are they serving teeth and toenails in the meat again?” Shelley asked. “I hate it when that happens.”
    Peeking at the mess in her napkin, Monica gasped. “Holy cow! You called it.” She held up what looked like a tooth, narrowing her eyes as she examined it.
    “That doesn’t look like a cow tooth to me, holy or otherwise,” Shelley said. “You didn’t lose a tooth, did you?”
    “I don’t…” Feeling around, Monica was shocked to feel a gap on the lower left side of her mouth. “Oh my God, it is mine. I lost a tooth. Oh, that’s just lovely,” she groused.
    “Like I’m not already the walking freakazoid of the universe.”
    “Let me see it,” Shelley prodded.
    Monica handed the tooth to her with a sigh, tonguing the gap in her mouth, disturbed by the metallic taste of blood. That was all she needed right now, for her teeth to start falling out. She must have pulled some really bad shit in a previous life to be saddled with this crappy excuse for a body.
    “This looks like a baby molar,” Shelley finally pronounced.
    Startled, Monica took the tooth Shelley held up and turned it over in her palm.
    “Yeah, it is,” she said, relieved. She’d almost forgotten that she still had a handful of baby teeth. The dentist swore she had adult teeth hiding in there somewhere, but they’d never shown any eagerness to emerge. “Maybe I’ll get a quarter from the Tooth Fairy.”
    “A quarter,” Shelley scoffed. “No way! Those babies are worth at least a dollar nowadays.”
    “Works for me.” She dropped the tooth into the pocket of her lab