Out of This World

Krel

After school was out for the day, Krel was leaving with Aja to look for her missing serrator. He was a little peeved, you couldn't just lose one of those.

Suddenly, he lurched forward, struck by something about his size barrelling into him and wrapping around him. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, and when he regained his balance, looked to see Andy hugging him. She broke off and patted his shoulder.

"Sorry," she giggled. "Thought I'd get the drop on ya. Gotta stay sharp!" She tapped her temple with her index finger.

"Yeah, gotta stay sharp," he echoed, rubbing his arm and watching her leave. There was something about her he couldn't quite place, something different. And there was this feeling... his face was hot, especially his cheeks and ears. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but whatever it was, he didn't like it. It was strange and new, and he was not so good with strange and new. He may have adapted okay to Earth, but a lot of it was a facade. He missed his home more than he'd ever let his sister or Vex know. After all, he didn't want them to worry.

"Seklos and Gaylen," Aja giggled. "You are bright red!"

"What?" Krel said, incredulously. "I am not bright red, I am a sort of... medium brown," he said, holding his arms out.

She giggled again. "Your face, silly."

He pulled out his phone and opened the front facing camera to check his appearance, like he had seen so many humans do. Mostly girls, but still. Indeed, Aja was right. Krel's face bore the same odd flush that seemed to randomly afflict humans off and on.

"How do I turn it off?" he asked as the two of them walked back to Mother. "This is embarrassing!"

"Steve calls it 'blushing,'" Aja explained. "Humans do it when they are embarrassed or flustered. I believe it is an emotional response."

"Well, I do not like it," grumbled Krel. "The sooner it stops, the better."

"Hey, Eli, can I... ask you a question?" It had been a full day, but Krel still didn't really understand what had happened.

The Pepperjack looked up from his paper and over at Krel. "Um... sure!"

"Why does my face sometimes get all hot when I have a strong emotion?" he asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

"You mean like... blushing?" Eli asked, lifting an eyebrow. Krel nodded. "Oh, that's just a normal emotional response," said Eli. "I don't really know why we do it though. Why?"

"It keeps happening to me," said Krel.

Eli gave Krel a quizzical look. "Do you keep getting embarrassed?"

Krel shook his head. "No, not really. I mean every day something at least a little embarrassing happens, but not all that bad."

Eli shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, my dude."

Krel made a pensive face and looked back down at his paper. He felt like he was being watched, so he looked up to investigate. Andy was looking at him again, with that dazed expression. He felt his face heat up again and- oh no. No no no. The two of them looked away quickly, both beet red. He now understood why Andy had acted a little odd... it was because she liked him. And the feeling was possibly mutual.

Eli looked up and saw Krel's expression. His face broke out into a shit eating grin that Krel thought only Aja was capable of. "Oh, I see what's going on here."

Krel covered his eyes and put his head down on his desk. "Kleb," he swore.

"You like Andy!"

"Not so loud," he groaned.

"I mean, everyone alive could tell that Andy had a crush on you," Eli said, more to himself than to Krel, "but I didn't know the feeling was mutual!"

"Neither did I," he agonized.

The bell rang and the two of them got up. Krel saw Andy hang back to chat with a few of her friends, so he headed out the door with Eli. Krel walked over to his locker and began entering the combination.

"So, are you gonna ask her out?" Eli asked, a smug grin on his face.

"I wouldn't even know where to start," Krel protested, looking inside his locker.

"Come on, you should totally ask her out," Eli said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ask who out?" Krel stiffened when he heard Steve's voice. He knew that Steve and Eli were best friends, but Steve was dating Aja, and the last thing Krel wanted was for Steve to tell Aja about Krel liking Andy. He didn't even want to like Andy; she was just a normal, biological human, and he was the King-in-Waiting of Akiridion-5.

"Krel has a crush on-" Eli began, but Krel slammed his locker shut with a bang before Eli could finish his statement.

"Shut up," he growled, glaring at Eli and repositioning his backpack on his shoulders. He brushed past Steve and Eli, headed to his next class. "I don't want to talk about it."

Krel sat on his bed, the door to his room open just a little bit. He held the guitar in his lap, computer open in front of him and playing a tutorial video on learning how to play it. He strummed a few chords, smiling and forgetting all about the events of the school day. It was moments like this he loved the most about Earth; the quiet moments where he could just be himself, by himself, without having to worry about where he was needed and what he was needed for. Sure, he was alone, but Krel most often was. He and Aja were very different in that regard.

His twin opened the door just a bit. "Knock knock," she said, and he looked up. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," he said, stopping his guitar playing. "What is the matter?"

"Nothing is wrong," she said, taking a seat on his bed. He set the guitar aside. Something strange was going on here.

"Then what is it?" he asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes. "Out with it."

"So I was talking to Steve, who had talked to Eli, who had talked to you," she began, and Krel already knew where this was going. His expressioned deepened into a full blown scowl. "Steve tells me that you told Eli that you like that girl," she said, voice beginning to grow giddy.

He glared at her. "What does it matter?" he asked, not bothering to deny it. Denial never got anyone anywhere.

"Are you going to ask her out on a date?" she asked, grinning.

He stood up. "No, I am not. I am going to wait patiently until we can fix the daxial array and get off this mudball," he said, "and return to Akiridion and reclaim our home. I am not interested in tying up my emotions here. I have squashed this kind of thing before, I will squash it again."

He turned to leave, but Aja caught his hand. "Krel, you cannot run forever. I know that Ryven hurt you... but I do not think that-"

He yanked his hand out of her grasp. "Please do not talk about him," he said, voice thick with an emotion that was hard to place. He stopped at the door to say something before leaving. "I have had enough pain in one day."