Cevic

Chapter 9

“We see creatures of Mars as aliens

Creatures of Mars see us as aliens”

Alien: (definition) unfamiliar and disturbing or distasteful

 

“Hey.”

Like instructed and taught, I smiled at her. “Hey.”

  I don’t get why humans ignore the usual hi and go hey. Isn’t hey rude? But high school humans seemed to find hi uncool. Why is that?

  Isha had pulled on skinny jeans that seemed very thin for the cold, and a plain sweater. She had a touch of make-up on-, which of course I also could not understand- and a yellow handbag slung over her shoulder.

   I struggled to find the right words, and said, “You look beautiful.”

In Cevic, such a compliment was made business-like and hollowly. Spoken with a touch of human warmth and a smile, it sounded- different.

  The corners of her mouth tugged into a shy smile, which she quickly hid with a smirk. “You look dashing,” she remarked.

  Dashing? I looked like I was running?

It had to be a compliment. “Thanks. So what movie did you select?”

 “It’s the new blockbuster movie, about alien invasion.”

Alien invasion. It felt like a block that lodged in my throat. Only my perfected skill of lying and concealing emotions- just like a typical Cevicïan- rescued me.

 “That sounds interesting.”

 “It was recommended by my uncle, who visits me sometimes. He’s so eccentric- and into alien stuff. He believes that aliens really exist and live among us- or are going to try invade us.” Isha let out a puff of air from her cheeks. “Unbelievable uncle.”

  He was a smart one. “You don’t believe in aliens?” I asked, as casually as I could muster.

  Isha shook her head, laughing. “Nah. Even if they do, I don’t think they’ll invade Earth. They have their planets. I won’t steal someone else’s home when I have my own house! C’mon, let’s get popcorn.”

  Popcorn. Oh, the yellow foam-ball like food.

While we waited in the queue, we talked like old friends, badmouthing Mr. Deloris and the nosy headmaster who pronounced his ‘k’ and ‘ed’s loudly, saliva spitting from his mouth, talked about how ridiculously cheesy Romeo and Juliet would be if it was to be in the modern world (Even after much musing I still didn’t get how Romeo and Juliet could be full of cheese), and ourselves.

  By the time we had bought a bucket of popcorn and had sat down in the large dark room with a white screen and red seats that flipped when you stood up, I had learnt many things about Isha Reynolds.

1.     Her full name was Isha Katie Reynolds

2.     She had two large hunting dogs named Poodle and Puddle (named by her nine-years-old brother, Max)

3.     She liked to wear nail polish (from observation)

4.     She was homeschooled in junior high

5.     Her mother baked cakes for living

6.     Her father was a scientific engineer and was overseas a lot