Sleeping

Chapter Fourteen

For an hour after that I stood, waiting for Ashton, Ashley, or Cora and replayed the past two weeks in my head. I had had a surprising amount of fun with my new friends. There was a few Earthites that had been super nice and accepting—Linree, a tall girl with blonde dreadlocks who had said, “Well you sure as hell know how to make an entrance,” when we first, and Jon, a slightly nerdy black-skinned boy and one of Ashton’s friends.

Then there were the aliens I had made friends with. Sinek’s a cocky Kihnoki, a telekinetic kind of alien with dark blue skin, who always jokes about everything. He’s dating Abano, a shy, grayish-green skinned girl with light pink eyes, pointy teeth, and long black hair. Yes, like those kind of aliens—they’re called the Greys. She’s half of another kind of immigrant (a nicer term for ‘alien’) that I can’t remember the name of off the top of my head so she’s not total little green men, but she was raised in a prominent Grey area, so that’s who she identifies with more. (And don’t worry—I checked to make sure the term ‘little green men’ wasn’t offensive.)

I spotted one of the last groups coming up, but still no one I really knew and thought about who I really identified with. The humans would probably always be more familiar to me, but that might change one day. Especially because this is such a new world to me.

Cor eventually made it up, and I assumed the others were either in the other beaming room, or I had just missed them when they came up. When Cora’s flame-colored eyes caught hold of me, she ran over and wrapped her arms around my neck, damn near suffocating me. Some guards moved to get her off me, but I just smiled and waved it off. I had come to expect it from the little alien. (Not that I had any room to talk.)

“Um…Cora? Can’t. Breathe.” I groaned out.

“Oh!” She pulled away and smiled, a look of contrition on her face. “Sorry! You know how much I love hugs.”

“It’s cool. Are Ashley and Ashton up yet?”

“Yeah. They were right before me. I was in the last group. They decided to send the ones from other planets last.” She sounded bitter.

“What?” I was shocked. I understand we’re probably not the camp’s first priority, but purposely sending the aliens up last? Ridiculous. Anger flared up in me. “I can’t believe they did that! I’m so talking to Len about this.”

“I know! A little…prejudiced, don’cha think? Like, we’re people too!” Cora was angry, something I’d never (and I do mean never) associated with her.

“Hell yeah! Cor, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this pissed.”

“Yeah, well it was offensive. And rude.” She snapped.

“Hey, hey. I get it.” I smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Make love not war and all that.”

Cora looked me directly in the eyes. She was still pretty mad. “That’s the thing though. I’m not sure you do get it. I’ve spent my entire life being bullied and pushed around because I'm a Ruby. And that really sucks because I know I’m super vulnerable. I don’t have it in me to be mean back—I’m a target.” She looked away and tried to hide the tears in her red eyes, but it was too late—I had already seen them.

It was awkward for a moment until I broke the silence saying, “So why did you stay?”

“What?” She still hid.

“At camp. You could’ve left, found somewhere else. I know there are groups for refugee aliens. You didn’t have to put up with all that. I know it, you know it, so there had to be a reason.”

She looked at me again and smiled. “I was going to. On the night you got to camp—seeing you, just sparked something in me. I didn’t want to see you go through the same thing I did. People called me things that would make a TSC blush, did stuff to me. Some people are just so cruel.

“So I had all my stuff packed, a note written. No real destination in mind, but I probably would’ve found one of those groups, like you said. Some of them even pay to have their members sent back to their homeworld, so maybe I would’ve hitched a ride to Rubent on a ship. I’ve never been there before. Or maybe I could’ve found my parents. I don’t remember them at all. That would’ve been nice.

“And I was determined to be the only casualty. But then Ashley came. Before she was even in the door, she was already saying, ‘Cora, I know you’re up to something. I don’t know what exactly, but it’s something.’” Emotion filled up in her eyes, but I couldn’t tell what exactly was there.

“Then she saw the bags. And, in her normal Ashley fashion, she was determined to either come with me, or make me stay. And as soon as I asked her to give me a reason, you know what she did? She kissed me. She said she needed me, wanted me to stay. She said she would help me and she was there for me. I hadn’t even realized before then that, well, I kinda liked her. As more than a friend.” She looked away and we were both silent for a few moments.

“Listen,” Cora began “I know gays used to be more of a big deal in your time, but it’s not anymore. Now, it’s just like any other relationship. Like there still are some people who have a problem, but for the most part, everyone’s really accepting. So I just have to know—are you, like, okay with it?” She glanced up at me, hopeful.

“What? Of course, Cor! You’re my friends. That’s like Rule Number Three of Having Awesome Friends. I’m happy for you both.” She laughed a bit. “And what the heck is a TSC?” I asked.

“It’s a Trading Ship Captain.”

“Like a truck driver?” She lowered her eyebrows in confusion. “Nevermind. You’d think I’d be used to all the awkward past references by now.” She shrugged.

I spotted Iz coming towards us. "Lyco," she said when she reached us "I would like to show you to your room now. If I'm not interrupting the reunion with your friend, of course." She looked between the two of us.

"Oh, it's fine," Cora said "I was just about to go find Ash and Ash anyway. I'll catch up with you later. And thank you." Cor gave me a warm smile, hugged me, and went into the throng of people.

"She is very...what is the word?" Iz asked.

"Chipper. Friendly. Social. Bubbly. Extroverted. Take your pick." I finished for her.

The corners of her mouth picked up a bit and she said, "Yes, those all fit. Now come, I have much to show you."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Wow." Was the only word I could find to describe what I was looking at. "How do you ever get used to this?" I wanted to look over at Iz, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Earth.