I shoved half a strawberry Poptart into my mouth as I waited for my girlfriend to arrive at the campus cafeteria. I’m thankful I could stay on campus. I don’t think I’d be able to deal with my dad right now, so things worked out, sort of. 

I leaned back in the booth as I continued to munch on my snacks, a healthy breakfast be damned. After last night I think I deserve to eat poorly for a few days. Plus, I was a bit nervous meeting Claire today, she didn’t seem too pleased with me over the phone last night as she wanted to meet up ‘to talk’. So, my stomach couldn’t tolerate much more than this.  

Wanting to distract myself, I looked around and saw a few students milling around getting food, others studying at nearby tables, and even a couple who shot me dirty looks. I rolled my eyes internally at that, they were probably just some students in my mathematics class who were pissed at what I did. They could hate me all they wanted to; I didn’t care. Well, if they didn’t try to start anything of course. 

“Hello, Dean.” The usual perkiness in Claire’s voice was noticeably absent, hitting me in the gut. I looked up at her freckled face, that red hair of hers tied into two adorable little buns on her head. She was wearing one of my sweaters, which was a few sizes too big for her but perfect to combat the winter chill. She pulled her phone out as she sat across from me, a scowl on her face.  

“Is everything...okay?” I muttered as she scrolled through her phone, only looking at me once she had found what I guessed she wanted to show me. Without a word, she put the phone on the table and turned it around so that I could see what was on the screen. 

It was a looped video of me knocking that guy out yesterday before squaring up against the others after Freyja helped me out. The video was titled ‘Student Betrays Humanity!!?’. I sighed 

“Claire, I just wanted them to shut the hell up so that class could continue. I wasn’t trying to help her or anything.” I swear to God if I must explain this to everyone who talks to me, I’m going to lose my mind. She folded her arms, looking unconvinced. “Oh, stop it. Do you seriously believe that? That I’m turning against my own kind?” Her green eyes met mine, and I saw nothing but revulsion. It was like the light she had for me had been snuffed out. 

Fuck, it hurts. 

“It doesn’t matter what your intentions were, Dean. You protected that thing in the end. Even if you didn’t betray humanity or anything like that, you betrayed me.” I tried to apologize but she continued, ignoring it. “You know my father lost his farm because of those freaks, right?” Tears were welling in her eyes now; pangs of guilt and regret began stabbing my heart.  

“I-I just reacted, Claire. And I remember how hard it’s been on him, but they bought him out though right? He doesn’t need to work a day in his life anymore, neither do you if I remember right.” She snatched her phone off the table and pointed a shaking finger at me. 

“My father is a fucking shell of what he used to be. That wasn’t just any farm, Dean, it’s been in our family for generations and it’s gone...gone because those aliens automated everything. And now, he just sits in his chair and zones out to God knows where! He loved that farm, Dean! And they took it from him!” I reached a hand over to comfort her. 

“I can fix this, Claire, I’m so sorry.” She looked away, crying silently as she got up, not even looking at me anymore.  

“We’re done, Dean. Don't text me.” She hurriedly walked away, wiping the tears from her face as she did, others watching her go and others laughing quietly as they watched my dumbstruck expression. I slumped into my seat; a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts bombarded my brain. I don’t recall how long I sat there, but it was long enough that a couple of crowds of students came and went. 

Before I knew it, I had grabbed my things and stood up, my legs carrying me to the only place in the world that could comfort me now. 

*** 

Dodge the jab, weave around the hook, feint with a left jab, and counter with a right hook to the ribs. 

“Great work!” I heard the hard-light construct announce thanks to my successful completion of the current round of exercises. Boxing was always a safe space for me; despite all the martial arts my father made me learn, boxing was special.  

It was how I spent most of my time with Uncle Andres after all.  

Wiping the sweat from my face with a towel, I sat on the bench in the isolated training room and looked around, the interior of the room impressed me no matter how many times I’d seen it. The room was a stark white, too white for my tastes, but just like their ships, the corners of the walls were accented with a glowing gold color. It made me feel like I was in a fancy foyer at some ritzy mansion or bar. I wouldn’t know though. 

Setting the towel around my neck, I stared at the hard-light construct of a golden silhouette of a man. It was standing at attention waiting for a command or for me to input one of the training modules at the black terminal in the middle of the room. The terminal itself was massive, like an iPad, only like ten times bigger. It was simple enough to operate, which makes me think the Bevusians dumbed down a lot of their technology for our benefit until they caught us up to speed on more advanced technological developments. 

Maybe that’s why I haven’t seen any floating cars or cyborgs walking around, huh. 

Lost in thought, I failed to notice the door to the training room open. 

“What is it that you are doing?” At this point, I’d recognize that oddly Nordic accent anywhere. I sighed as my head slumped. 

“For all that is holy, how did you find me, Freyja? And how the hell did you get in here?” I said hotly, finally turning to look at her. 

“I wanted to see the gym and what it had to offer.” She shrugged. “And if we are suspended from classes, I figured getting some exercise would help pass the time.”  

“Okay...but again, how did you get in here?” I responded, hoping she’d take the hint to cut the conversation short and leave.  

“It was unlocked.” She stated matter-of-factly. I couldn’t help but chuckle, guess it was my fault then. 

“I see. Well, if you don’t mind, I’ve got some training to do.” She looked at me for a moment. 

“You’ve been crying again, do human males often cry? It is fine if you do, Bevusian males, too, are quite emotional.”  

“I’m not-” I began, a little too loud before dialing my volume down a bit, “We are not overly emotional. I’ve just had some awful luck, and my girlfriend just dumped me like an hour ago. There, you happy? Good. Now go.” Not accepting my answer, she refused to budge and crossed all four arms. 

“I understand you are upset; however, I have not wronged you personally. Therefore, your anger towards me is unjustified. Besides, I thought we agreed to be friends.” Her words stung, even with that monotone voice of hers. I opened my mouth to issue a rebuttal but closed it and nodded. She was right, she hadn’t done anything to me other than simply exist.  

“I’m sorry, you just caught me at a bad time,” I said putting my hands up in mock surrender. Freyja uncrossed her arms, and a small smile formed on her lips, revealing the shark-like teeth that lay behind them. 

“Excellent. I am sorry your mate has decided to leave you...and so easily I might add. For Bevusian women, we take great care to ensure our mates are well taken care of.” Seeing I was curious, she explained further. “Due to the low number of males, they tend to hold the ‘power’ in the relationship as they have many potential suitors. Thankfully, few take advantage of that power.” 

“Huh, that sounds...eh, horrible?” I wasn’t sure what to say really, or to even pity her. She didn’t strike me as someone who’d be bothered by the lack of a romantic relationship anyway. “Well, as interesting as that is, I’d like to get some more boxing in before my time in the room ends,” I said as I stood up, tossing the towel down onto the bench, and began stretching.  

Freyja eyed my body curiously. It was probably interesting to her, to see how different the muscles between her people and humans are. Still, it was like being watched by some predator. 

“Boxing?” She finally said once she stopped observing. I chuckled. 

“Yeah, boxing. It’s like a martial art and even a sport where one uses only their fists to harm their opponent. Bevusians have combat sports and martial arts, right?” She narrowed her eyes in confusion. 

“Why would we? We are much faster, stronger, and more flexible than anything else on our planet, and most known alien species for that matter.” She paused, looking at my hands as I started putting on my gloves. “Also, men are not allowed to engage in such activities for fear of their safety.” I rolled my eyes. 

“They sound like caged birds.” She frowned at my response. 

“I’m unfamiliar with that expression.” She said as she made her way over to the bench next to mine and sat down, with her back straight and hands clasped in her lap of course.  

“Caged birds? It means you keep them safe, warm, fed, clothed, and looking pretty. But they don’t enjoy true freedom. They are sheltered from the world around them.” She gasped, indignantly. 

“I’ll have you know my father loved my mother and his other wives dearly and was never unhappy.” I couldn’t help but smile at her frustrated response, it was nice to see her emoting for a change. She continued to huff and puff, so I pointed at the terminal. 

“How about you give it a try Wonder Woman? In exchange, I’ll refrain from debasing myself by exerting my body for the rest of the day, deal?” Freyja pondered my proposition for a moment before taking off her hoodie, revealing a sports bra that was once again threatening to burst at the seams. I averted my eyes and made my way over to the terminal as she stretched her legs and many arms. “What setting would you like to try?” I asked. 

“The highest.” She responded blankly.  

“Your funeral.” I shrugged and cranked up the settings to the highest difficulty. Immediately, the light construct got into a southpaw stance, and instead of being gold in color, it was now black. Embers of light flickered off it in almost magical fashion as it quickly approached the unimpressed Bevusian.  

“Begin!” A synthetic voice announced. With great celerity, the construct let off a few rapid jabs followed by a hook. Freyja, without moving, palmed each punch with ease. The construct sidestepped after a feint and attempted to hit her with a gut punch. 

To my shock, she got down low and met the construct’s punch with one of her own, shattering its arm before hitting it with a non-stop barrage of punches until it finally dissipated.  

“My funeral, you said?” She gave me a smug smirk. I laughed nervously, even though I could see how she fought, my eyes could barely keep track of her during that brief bout. Each one of her blows was nothing but a blur. 

“Not bad for a Quad.” I finally managed to say. With the same speed she used to defeat the construct, she used it to cross the distance between us too fast for my comfort and put her face inches from mine. 

“You. Never call me that again, understand?” I instinctively nodded my head. I eyed her muscular arms, her blue veins popping beneath that yellow skin of hers. Those sharp teeth of hers were bared as well, ready to tear me apart if I even thought about stepping out of line. And the pupils of her eyes were slits now instead of the ovals they usually were. But most disturbing was that I could see two horns starting to protrude from her forehead. 

I took a shaky step back. 

“You’re scaring me.” Those words forced their way out of my mouth, startling me. I’ve been scared plenty of times in my life as a boy thanks to my father. But this fear was new, it was a primal one.  

Is this what confronting your mortality feels like? 

Finally, recognizing I was terrified, Freyja relented and reverted to her usual appearance. 

“I apologize. However, we are friends, so I would ask that you do not refer to me in that manner.”  

“Yeah, whatever you want, it’s cool,” I said quickly as I made my way over to the bench to collect my things. “L-Look, I gotta go take a shower now, study some math, you know how it is.” I quickly threw my shit into my bag and weakly waved goodbye.  

Freyja reached out to me like she wanted to say something but said nothing. And so, I left, the door hissing closed behind me.