“N-Now that everyone is here, let’s go over this one more time.” I sighed as my professor rambled nervously as she fiddled with one of her red braids. She was relatively new to teaching, something she brought up every few days since the semester started. It was amusing really, watching someone only a few years older than me tasked with teaching us. Apparently, being a genius doesn’t include excelling in interpersonal communication. After shuffling some papers noisily at the podium in front of the three hundred or so students, she cleared her throat and started again. “As you know, Earth was conquered...erm, liberated by the Bevusian Empire.”  

“To hell with that!” Someone a few rows back shouted out to the rest of us in the lecture hall while slamming a fist down on the table. While I was none too happy about being conquered so easily by an alien race far superior to our own. Screaming about it and getting all red in the face was pretty cringe, especially since they won the war without killing any of us. It sucked, sure, but hey, it beats being a slave or being experimented on with weird sciency shit. 

“P-Please calm down.” The poor woman tried in vain to stem the quickly rising anger of my fellow classmates. And it would have gotten worse had it not been for the heavily armored police officer screaming at everyone to remain seated and to be quiet. He wasn’t the most imposing sounding man if I was being honest, but the shotgun he held in his hands sure as hell was. I know tensions are still high since the occupation was ongoing, but this felt a little over the top. After thanking the stone-faced officer for his assistance, she continued. “I know the occupation is uncomfortable for many of you, but the assimilation program is intended to help...integrate our two species.”  

“Sure, like that’ll happen.” A girl chuckled to my right, eliciting some snickers from her friends. Not one for confrontation, the professor continued. 

“And so, our college has been granted the honor of hosting a member of the Bevusian race to help build positive relations. Now, please let me introduce you to your new classmate. Freyja, you may come in now!” As the door to the right of the professor opened, many of my classmates started booing and chanting variations of ‘Go away’ and ‘Leave Quad!’. But, as quickly as their chanting began, it quickly meandered off into stunned whispers followed by silence. Frankly, even I was struggling to process what I was seeing. 

A yellow-skinned Bevusian woman walked into the room and stood next to the mousey professor, towering over her by at least three feet. She was dressed in a pair of black leggings, that hugged her powerful and muscular legs. As well as a matching black hoodie with an extra set of arm holes to accommodate her four massive arms. Her long white hair was tied into two long braids that cascaded down the front of her body ending at her wide hips. Oddly enough, her facial features were incredibly human except for her eyes. Instead of white, her sclera was as black as the night sky, with only the blue of the iris to illuminate the darkness. One by one she stared at us with an imperious gaze, no one daring to stand up to her or utter a word.  

And then her eyes fell upon me, and no sooner did our eyes lock did they begin to visibly glow brightly even under the harsh rays of the artificial lights above us. She then scowled at me before moving on. Confused, I wanted to ask what her problem was, but I am not ashamed to admit that the animal part of my brain was screaming at me to just stay quiet.  

Fear is a hell of a thing. 

Once she had taken in a few more faces, she felt it appropriate to address us. 

“Thank you for having me. My Name is Freyja Bes, I am twenty in your Earth years and am majoring in mathematics. I have been sent here to showcase Bevusian culture, but I think you’ll find it remarkably like yours.” Seeing no reaction from us, she turned toward the diminutive woman next to her. The professor stuttered for a moment; no doubt terrified by the alien’s appearance before speaking up. 

“T-Thank you for that introduction, Ms. Bes. And just to reiterate, I will be your professor for Mathematics 201, Ms. Campbell.” The bespectacled woman said with a smile as she looked up at her alien student. The woman nodded appreciatively before taking off her backpack and holding it by its handle. “Er, how about you go find a seat and we can get class started, okay? Anywhere will do.” Without a word, she made her way through the hall, students doing their best to not get too close to her as she moved. And despite the dozens of hate-filled stares pointed at her, she paid no attention to them as she trudged around looking for a seat. 

I shook my head and started reviewing last night’s assignment to ensure that I answered the questions correctly, proofs were never my strong suit and- 

CREAKKK 

Slowly, I turned my head to the left to see what made that god-awful noise and was met with a wall of black cotton and yellow skin. The alien woman felt it appropriate to sit next to me for some reason, her chair still creaking in protest at her weight as she adjusted into it.  

The girls to my right shot me a few dirty looks, as though it were my fault the three-hundred-pound alien sat close to them. Thankfully, she got an aisle seat, she certainly needed the legroom, that’s for sure. And as anxious as I was about one of my conquerors a mere foot away from my person, I did my best to ignore her and focus on my homework. 

“Get out of here you Quad bitch!” A student directly across the aisle suddenly screamed, throwing a textbook at the Quad’s head. Without looking, she caught the book with her bottom left arm and tossed it back without missing a beat. “Did you just try to hit me with that?” The girl who originally threw it questioned. 

God, I just wanted to learn to write a damn proof.  

“Knock it off!” The officer at the front of the hall shouted, knuckles white from gripping the shotgun, his eyes rapidly darting between the alien and any sort of movement from the students.  

“Oh, shut up, we hate you as much as we do her! How can you defend her? You should shoot her for what her kind did!”  

“That’s right!” 

“Shoot her!”  

Looking around, many more of my classmates got up, not deterred by the weapon anymore from voicing their vitriol, their threats becoming more and more grotesque. The officer, obviously unwilling to shoot any of the students, radioed for backup in between shouting orders for us to calm down.  

I looked toward the alien, unable to ignore the scene unfolding around me any longer, she remained stone-faced and yet I could have sworn that her eyes had begun to water.  

“Hey, get the hell outta here, now!” A rather muscular-looking guy screamed at her as he shoved a finger in her face. I quickly stood up and slapped his hand away. 

“C’mon bro, leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything; she’s just a student too. I don’t think she participated in the war or anything like that.” I said, trying to reason with him. Only, his face became redder, and within seconds all the concentrated rage in the room was now focused on yours truly. 

“Oh, we got a Quad lover over here everybody!” He threw his arms up, eliciting laughter and sneers from everyone. I stepped out from my row of seats and put my hands up.  

“Look, man, I don’t wanna fight. Do you think this will end well for you, for any of us if we hurt a Quad? I’m not happy about this either...but this is just stupid.” Once again, my words fell on deaf ears. 

“So, you think wanting to take back our Earth from this...scum, is wrong?”  

“I didn’t say that, and you know it.” I leaned in and narrowed my eyes at him. “Now, sit down so we can learn about some proofs, or are you too roided out to care?” He smirked at me before taking off his jacket, revealing his muscular body to the room. Unimpressed, I looked to see if the officer would do anything, but he was too busy arguing with a small crowd of students near the front of the hall as Ms. Campbell weakly called for order. 

“Don’t look away from me!” Roid dude shouted as he tossed a haymaker in my direction. Weaving around it, I fired off a jab to his sternum and followed with a cross to his diaphragm, forcefully expelling the air from his lungs. Before I could react, someone grabbed my arms from behind and put me in a headlock. Another student charged from my left and got a good hook across my face 

Before the beatdown could worsen, a flash of yellow intervened, and the next thing I knew, both students who attacked me were on the ground in pain. Once my vision returned, I looked to see Freyja standing next to me, baring what looked like a few rows of serrated teeth at the crowd forming around us. 

BANG 

A group of officers stormed into the hall as the original officer from before fired a shotgun blast into the air, stopping everyone in their tracks instantly.  

“Everyone on the floor right now!” He bellowed as every student got down. As the officers ensured compliance, he hurried toward me and the Quad. “You two troublemakers are coming with me; some people want to speak with you.”  

“Oh, come on, I just-” I tried to protest, but he shoved me along and gestured for the alien to follow me out of the lecture hall. “I just wanted to do some math,” I muttered.