Out of This World

Andy

The doorbell rang at about 8:05, making her three dogs go absolutely crazy barking their heads off. Sliding down from her position on her bed, Andy went to answer it.

"Coming!" she yelled, running down the stairs. She threw open the door to reveal Krel standing awkwardly and shifting his weight from foot to foot, holding a couple of books. One of them was the algebra textbook they all used in Ms. Janeth's class, but the other two were in a language she couldn't read. They were written in some strange characters that she had never seen before.

"Krel! Come on in!" she chirped. "I've got some snacks if we get hungry," she said, pointing to the kitchen table.

He walked on in, looking nervous. Sitting down at the table, he took a cookie from the plate. "Your parents are not home?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, they are at a gymnastics meet for my sister," she said. "They'll be gone all week."

"Nice," he replied. "And who is this?" he asked, reaching down to pet Davenport, one of her two bulldogs.

"That's Davenport," she answered. "We call him Dav. The big one," she gestured to the Great Dane in the kitchen "is Fern, and the small scared one is Priscilla. We call her Prissy."

"Three dogs!" he laughed. "That's a lot. We just have Luug."

"I didn't know you have a dog!"

"Yes, we do. Well, he's my sister's dog, but I do enjoy playing with him. Only sometimes though. Most of the time he is just a nuisance," he chuckled, petting Dav.

Andy took a seat next to Krel. "So... math?"

"Math," he said, nodding affirmatively, then giggled. After a minute, he pulled out the textbook. "Okay, so. What exact concept are you having trouble with?"

The next hour was spent working on math, which Krel was much better at than Andy had realized. This kid had an incredible mind, and was very good with numbers.

When they were finishing up, Andy cleared her throat. "You are very smart," she said.

"And you are a quick study," he replied. "I should probably get going..." he said, looking at the clock on the wall.

"You can stay a little while longer if you'd like," offered Andy. "I have the Danger House movies and the Gunrobot series."

"That sounds nice, actually," said Krel. "But I'll admit I am getting warm in here."

"We could go on a walk," she offered.

He nodded. "I like this proposition."

The night was warm, and Andy was glad for no rain. "Lots of stars!" she chirped, holding both arms up to the heavens, palms facing upwards.

"Yes, lots of stars," Krel replied. After a moment, he asked, "So, I've been curious. Is Andy short for a longer name? You are the only girl at school with this name. The only other person with it is a boy."

"It is, actually," she replied. "It's short for Andromeda."

"Andromeda? Like the galaxy?" he sounded somewhat excited.

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Just like the galaxy. That's what my parents named me after."

"That is beautiful," he said. "I love outer space."

"Me too," she replied. "Someday I hope to see it. My aunt was an astrophysicist at NASA," she told him. "She wanted to name one of her daughters after her favorite galaxy, but she... couldn't."

"Why not?" Krel asked, looking at her attentively, despite her eyes fixed to the stars.

"She died," said Andy. "So my mom gave me that name."

"That is... remarkably sad," said Krel. "I am sorry."

"It's okay," said Andy. "She has been gone a long time. Part of the reason I want to see the stars is because of her."

He nodded. "That much I can understand."

"Do you ever think about how large the universe is?" she asked, as they sat down on a park bench.

"All the time," he replied.

"And do you ever wonder if there are other... people out there?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"Oh, you know, like intelligent life? Other people."

"Oh, yes. I think that is a definite possibility," Krel said, nodding definitively. After a beat, she saw him look down at his phone. "Kleb," he said, under his breath. "I need to go home. I told uh... Varvatos I would be home at uh... ten?

Andy looked down at her watch. "Well shit, it's 10:10. Would you like me to walk you home?"

"Oh, no its okay. I really am okay. Thank you for tonight, it was nice!" Krel said, standing up. "I will see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "See you tomorrow!"