“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 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 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.

And then her eyes fell upon me, and no sooner did our eyes lock did they began to visibly glow brightly. 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 I was too scared.

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 before speaking up. 

“T-Thank you for that introduction.” 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?" Without a word, she made her way through the hall, students doing their best not to get too close to her as she moved, paying 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 suite 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 leg room, 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 her, 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 grotesque in nature. The officer, obviously unwilling to shoot any of the students, radioed for back-up 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 of my row of seats and put my hands up.  

“Look, man, I don’t wanna fight. 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 was going to 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 went around ensuring compliance, he hurried toward the Quad and me. “You two troublemakers are coming with me; a couple of 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 to myself. 

*** 

“Well, this is just fantastic,” I said, dabbing the paper towel on my split lip, wincing in pain as my blood soaked into it. The Quad and I were brought to the Dean’s office for what I assumed was to be a rather intense interrogation session. Hell, I’d be lucky to even remain a student after that. “I’ve never been in here before,” I said aloud, the Quad turning to stare at me. I ignored her and spent a few moments looking at the couple of bookshelves that decorated the walls around us. “Eh, it’s about what I’d expect. Right down to the fat goldfish in a bowl looking at me with its dumb little face. Only, I thought I’d be in here for some sort of praise, or for an award. But no... I’m here because of you.” I said, not hiding the disdain on my face as I turned to look at her. 

“I did not ask for your assistance.” She replied tersely, crossing both sets of arms across her chest. Her blue eyes looked down at me, glowing with irritation. 

“Let’s get one thing straight here: I was not trying to help you. I’m just trying to graduate on time, but I can’t do that if I fail that class...again!” She scoffed, riling me up even more. “And you know what? I didn’t need your help either, so why’d you intervene?” She looked towards the floor. 

“I can fight my own battles, that is all. I did not want a man to fight for me.”  

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Gotta say, not liking the emphasis on one of those words you used.” Before our argument could continue, we were interrupted by the door opening behind us. Stepping into the room were two individuals. 

The first of whom was Dean Richardson. He was dressed smartly in a tweed jacket, vest, tie, and some slacks. And while he had grown bald in his middle age, a massive black beard with streaks of white covered his face. Despite being a bit round in the stomach, his arms and chest were packed with muscle, causing the fabric of his clothes to stretch to compensate for them. 

Trailing behind him was, to my surprise, a female Quad. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen a male one yet. 

Setting that aside for now, she was wearing a pencil skirt and blouse, both of which did very little to hide her hourglass figure. Her white hair was tied up in a large bun, which was being fixed by two of her hands while the other pair was typing on a holographic interface floating in front of her. It vanished from view once the Dean had sat down in his leather chair, turning her attention to us. 

“Do you know why you are both here?” Dean Richardson began. The question was clearly rhetorical as he didn’t allow us to speak. “You are both here for injuring your fellow students and making a mockery of the cultural exchange program.” He shook his head and sighed. 

“So, we should’ve just gotten the tar beaten out of us?” I countered. The Dean looked as though he wanted to say something, but thought better of it and turned toward the Quad standing next to him, who was easily a foot taller than Freyja. 

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hilda Ra’tho, and I oversee the cultural exchange program.” She paused to let us introduce ourselves, but neither of us felt up to the task. Clearing her throat, she continued. “Your actions here today have made my job and the job of your Dean very difficult. Thankfully, it can be remedied.” 

“How so, my elder?” Freyja asked. “Will I be allowed to stay?”  

“Yes, despite this disaster, both of you shall remain students. The Bevusian government has agreed to pay the tuition of every single student who attends a school involved in the program. It is the hope that this will stem any or most anti-Bevusian sentiment amongst the student body. So, fear not, you are not being expelled.” I mentally cheered; the worst had been averted. 

“Well, glad that was settled. So, if you don’t mind...” I stood up to leave, but Richardson held up a hand for me to stay. 

“Of course, punishment is warranted. You did injure a few classmates, and before you say anything, they will be punished as well. The officer who called this in identified them, and we plan on reprimanding them, too. It was clear from his testimony that neither of you instigated the situation to begin with.” Freyja and I nodded. 

“So, what is the punishment for us then, my elder?” Freyja inquired; her posture unchanged throughout this entire exchange. 

“For this incident, Mr. Richardson and I have decided that you shall both be suspended from classes for a period of two weeks. You are free to remain on campus, but we ask that you avoid causing more trouble. Is that understood?”  

“Yes, my elder.”  

“What are you, a robot?” I chuckled, causing Freyja to frown. “Well, all things considered, I guess we lucked out, thank you.” Hilda rolled her eyes before scowling at me. 

“Let’s make one thing abundantly clear, Mr. Reyez. You and Ms. Freyja are on the thinnest of ice. One more mistake like this and you will both be expelled and face potential legal consequences. And you, Ms. Freyja, will be on the first ship back to Bevu Prime.  Do I make myself clear?” Even though her tone hadn’t changed, the air in the room became heavier, and even Richardson’s body seemed to pull away from her instinctively. 

“C-Crystal.” I finally said.  

“Excellent, you are dismissed.” She said, the air becoming lighter again.  

Richardson then waved us off, and no sooner had he done so was I already out of the room, as I had zero intention of being involved with any of them for longer than was necessary. 

“Do you think the program will be fine after this?” Hilda asked after Freyja left. Richardson rubbed his temples before responding. 

“Well, we’re going to cost your ladies upstairs quite a bit of cash hiring security and paying all that tuition. But yes, I think we’ll be fine. Hiccups are to be expected; it’s only been a year since...your people took charge.” Richardson said that last bit carefully, fearful of incurring her wrath. Instead, the Bevusian chuckled as she crossed her arms. 

“Relax, I wouldn’t hurt a man, you know that. Wouldn’t be much of a challenge anyway.”