Seven Billion Years [UNFINISHED]

Chapter 3

85 DAYS

I spot Eliott waiting at our usual eating spot on the ground under the shade outside the canteen.

"Hey, you seen Laila yet?" I ask as I approach, glancing around the courtyard.

"Nope," Eliott says with a shrug. "Though if I did I'm sure you already know I'd be texting you like OMG! IT'S SO-AND-SO!"

"True," I say, sitting down next to Eliott, still glancing around, searching for Laila. That's when I spot her, coming out of the gym, still in her PE uniform. She's walking with a guy that I had never seen before, but he just looks like your boring 'magazine' type handsome, like every other guy trying to be good looking in the school.

And actually quite similar to Damian.

When Laila finally reaches us, she looks just as excited as when she introduced Damian to us.

"OK guys, this is Logan," she says, looking from both Eliott and me to Logan as if we were going to say something to each other.

"Um, ok, well Logan and I are going off to do some stuff, so... yeah. Bye!" Laila awkwardly leads Logan away, waving to us with a bright smile as she does so.

Eliott and I look at each other with the same unimpressed expression. Eliott's the first to speak up.

"It's not gonna last."

"She just chasing after the same guy but with a different name!"

At some point somebody is going to have to tell her that these guys are only getting with her because they're either creeps or idiots that can't get themselves a girlfriend on their own.

"So, uh," Eliott begins, looking at me in a questioning way.

"What?"

"Can I take this as an opportunity to talk to you about my new theory?"

It may seem rude, but I can't help but groan. Yeah, I get that this is what he's passionate about and I should be discouraging him, but every time he has a 'new theory', it's basically the same as the last one. Most of the time I just can't be bothered listening, but lucky for him I'm in a better mood than usual today.

"Sure, if you must, but I might lose interest quickly."

"Ok, ok, hear me out," Eliott says quickly, determined to prove his theory to at least one person. "They're called the Zestrids."

I almost laughed out loud.

Not just because of how stupid the name sounds, but there is actually a species called the Zestroode, and they're small blobs covered in fur with one eye.

I try to remain serious and nod along as he talks.

"...and so they came to Earth looking for the one thing they don't have."

"A second eye..." I mutter under my breath, and Eliott just looks confused.

"Um, no, they have three eyes. That's what makes them different from humans. Did I not explain that to you?" he asks, but doesn't give me time to answer. "Anyway, the one thing they don't have access to is lead."

Lead? Not what I expected, I was thinking more along the lines of iron, gold or diamonds.

"Uh huh, ok," I say, wondering if he was done or not.

"Other than the led issue, they're all sorted. They can basically do anything." Eliott continues. "Super overpowered. OH! They also have these weird sets of powers, the things that can make them do anything. I didn't want to just go with 'powers', so I tried something different and I called them 'ethics'."