The Alien Way of Life - English Version

9. The drawing

Earth, New York, 05.11.2059

Ségouin announced that he had an invitation to play Fortnite and left Lyra with the impression that her whole family and the AWAL Intelligence Agency were involved in a conspiracy to leave her alone with Mika tonight. Basically, she found that very sweet, but still didn't know if she should celebrate it. She had always been someone who was very easygoing when it came to making new acquaintances.

As recently as August, she felt like a communication genius, quickly engaging with everyone - and when she was at her best, small talk could quickly turn into an encounter that was intellectually enriching for both sides. At her farewell party on a stone staircase in Leipzig, hundreds of people showed up, and even that night she made new acquaintances.

Now Mika stood in her room, and she didn't know whether to open the window first or preemptively explain the absence of chairs... What if Mika actually wanted to leave and had only come in out of politeness?

Mika didn't seem to be bothered by the Tarumanian interior design, and she sat down on the carpet, next to the 26 cm high rotating table, placed the food in front of her, and took off her coat. Lyra looked at her face. She seemed to be okay with the warmth, well, she also came from the icy cold. So, her room was at least better than the fecal laboratory subway station. Still, she decided to turn the temperature control down to 30... no, better 25... or maybe 15... no, 22 degrees was the human favorite temperature after all.

Then she sat down next to Mika, "Here, I brought you apple juice, I hope you like it," she handed her the bottle.

Mika smiled curiously and thirstily.

"Do you have a good drinking toast?" she asked. Lyra, as an unofficial employee of the Tarumanian Ministry of Tourism, raised her juice, "Cha Mo - Chama, Ivo-O!"

After toasting, both started eating. For Lyra, it was a good opportunity to consider her next steps. Her confidence in her social skills had hit rock bottom two days ago. Johannes had then trampled on it again. Maybe he really thought she was crazy about him. Or Mika had made it up to mess with her. She tried to push these thoughts away. There must be reasons why Mika was willing to come along and now sat happily slurping in front of her.

On the other hand, on her first day at the new school, she wouldn't have expected that after weeks of rumors, probing into intimate questions, and reasons not to run around the apartment naked anymore to avoid showing the bruises on her skin, one day she would come back from the bathroom and see classmates looking at the drawing she had drawn during class. In that moment, she had quietly hoped that this might be a turning point. That people would no longer see her just as a weird alien, but through art in a different light. But then she came closer and saw that the picture had been scribbled on. In addition, there was the mocking remark from Lukas that it was really ugly. And then everyone laughed again. And Johannes was standing somewhere on the sidelines. At that point, Lyra had already perfected her ability to show nothing. Internally, she had since imagined smashing Lukas's head with a baseball bat after hours of torture and feeding the bloody goo to her also bound classmates.

"Very delicate casserole," Mika commented on her food; she had rarely eaten something so well-seasoned.

Lyra thanked her and promised to pass on the feedback.

She looked into the distance because she always feared that people could see into her head through her eyes.

Because these thoughts were beautiful. And they scared her. She didn't want to be a monster. And she wanted revenge. Revenge for the fact that this hatred had crawled into her lively personality, even though it was sometimes very satisfying and increasingly seemed to be vital for survival.

"Adequate pepper is definitely important for a good taste experience."

Lyra suspected that the scars would shape her for the next centuries due to her life expectancy.

Will she ever be able to be with people again without being on guard for the next attacks? Will she ever have the strength to lower her shields again and let others in? Will she ever be able to look in the mirror and say "you got it girl."

She felt like she couldn't bear any more injury. On the other hand, there was nothing as beautiful as the warmth between friends. And now she felt warmth again. And she hoped it wasn't fake and never ended.

And then it burst out of her.

"Mika, do you want to be friends?"