The next room turned out to be a bedroom. It didn’t look like the movies, but I’m pretty sure that all beds look the same. Sort of. Xandria made sure the door closed behind us and then walked over to yet another door and pushed on a keypad-looking-thing next to it.

That door swished open, and I realized that it must be a bathroom. It had the white walls and no decorations you’d expect in a hospital room, you know? I thought I could see a shower head. Xandria turned around and made some more gestures while talking. It took me a second, but I guessed she was saying I could get cleaned up.

I nodded, then thought for a minute.

“Do you have any makeup wipes? Um, I didn’t bring any."

She looked a little confused, so I mimed wiping my face and cleaning my eyes. Then she nodded and waved me over to the bathroom.

From just outside the door, I could see a row of transparent containers secured to the wall with various stuff inside. Xandria pointed to the one on the far left and then to her own face, making washing movements. I nodded.

Based on Xandria’s instructions, the other bottles had shampoo, body wash, and maybe a hair cream? I wasn’t sure about that. She then showed me how to work the water switches, which were pretty cool. I’d heard that Japan has really high-tech showers, and I bet this was pretty similar.

Last, she showed me another switch that blasted air into the shower room. Like those jet-engine dryers in fancy bathrooms, you know? I just knew my hair was going to be a mess after that. Why couldn’t they just use towels?

After the demonstration, Xandria faced me and bowed again. Then she lifted her hands towards my dress, but paused like she was asking for permission. Since I’d needed my mom’s help to get into this outfit, I nodded and showed Xandria how to get me out of it. She carefully set the gown aside on the bed. That was when I felt a rumble in my belly. I looked back inside the shower, but I didn’t see anything that looked like a toilet.

“Um, is there any, um…” How was I going to explain this in gestures? I pointed to myself and waved my hands, feeling my face heat up again. Did aliens need to go to the bathroom like people— humans did? 

Fortunately, Xandria understood right away. She pushed the outside keypad again, and the door to the shower closed. I heard some mechanical rumbling, and then the door opened again, revealing what had to be a toilet. Xandria pointed to a small keypad next to it, but I had begun to do the “potty dance. ” It was becoming urgent. 

Xandria quickly realized this and gestured for me to go in. I almost tripped from moving too fast. I think Xandria laughed a little as she closed the door behind me.

There was no toilet paper, which meant I had to figure out the control panel on my own. After pressing several and being uncomfortably surprised by one, I figured out how to clean up and flush. As the waste water swirled away, a tiny sink popped out of the wall and began running water. I rinsed my hands and couldn’t find any soap. Before I got too curious, that high-powered wind nearly swept me off my feet. Alien tech might be fancy, but I really wanted the simple stuff we used back home, you know? I realized that I didn’t know how to open the door from the inside, so I waved my hand like a mind-warrior from that movie franchise my best friend liked so much. Thankfully, that worked.

Xandria had been folding my dress and turned around when I stepped out. She nodded like it was totally normal for a high-school girl from Earth to figure out an alien toilet all by herself and went back over to the keypad. A few more taps, the door closed and reopened, and the shower was back. I started toward the shower, but Xandria held up a hand (politely) and said something. From her hand-waving, I realized she wanted to help me undo my hair. I’d forgotten about that because I never wear fancy hairstyles.

I nodded and told her she could help. As she worked the pins free and felt all the hairspray and gel, she muttered a few things to herself.

Had she ever worn a fancy up-do? Suddenly I wondered exactly who she was, why she was here, and why she was helping me. Didn't royal people have tons of servants all the time? But if Willie Joe was a prince, would he need a woman servant for getting dressed? I really hoped not; that woman would have it worse than any prom date.

When I felt Xandria pull on my underclothes, I jumped. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or her.

“Um, I can do this part, ” I said. Then I ran into the shower and waved the door closed.

waved the door closed.