Regaining Composure, Page 4

  The human soon found herself outside her own home. Her uncles car wasn’t there, so she assumed he had went out.

  Kyuki walked inside, shut the door, locked it behind her, walked upstairs, walked into her room, shut the door, and locked it as well.

  Kyuki walked over to her bed, and fell face first into it. As when she was walking, her mind was so confused, full of unanswered questions and scary scenarios.

  She didn’t want to lose her first and only friend.

  When Fiz left, Kyuki would be stranded in a place where she didn’t belong, and never would belong. Nobody wanted to be her friend, or even seemed to care about her. Not even her own family seemed to care at all.

  Kyuki let out a shuddering sob into the covers on her bed. Why did fate play this horrible game with her so much? Right when she thought she could be happy, the happiness is burned and charred to the third degree. It just wasn’t fair…

  But then again, nothing in life could be fair.

  Biting down on her lip, she forced herself to sit up a little bit. She tried to think of the possibilities. She could always persuade her friend to stay on Earth and not even attend the trial, but then again, what if Fiz actually wanted to go back to Salpone? What if she didn’t even want to be on Earth?

  Or, what if not attending the trial angered Fiz’s superiors? The thought of a war against aliens and humans made Kyuki shudder, especially considering the war would happen because of her stubbornness to not want to be alone. She hated feeling so clingy and afraid, so weak and downright stupid. It almost made her assume that she didn’t have friends for these reasons alone.

  Kyuki tried to think of more ideas, but none came to her mind. Any that did were too stupid or weren’t planned out at all (at one point, Kyuki even questioned if she should go with Fiz to Salpone).

  It seemed as hours passed by, and Kyuki had long before shifted her body so now she lay staring at the darkened ceiling in thought. Ever since Fiz had come into her life, she’d became an insomniac, which, was very annoying. Kyuki enjoyed her sleep, and with school, it was very much so needed. Plus, she needed it since every morning she was awoken by the alien anyway.

  Kyuki forced her eyes shut.

  After 5 minutes, she realized she wasn’t asleep yet.

  She groaned in annoyance, pulling the pillow over her head.

  After several minutes, when Kyuki still couldn’t fall asleep, she stoodup and walked to her window, staring at the star-lit sky.

  Kyuki pressed her nose against the glass window, her eyes shining with longing.

  “I wonder if Fiz is still going to keep her promise about bringing me up close to the stars..” Kyuki murmured to herself.

  Right when Kyuki was going to pull the curtains back and attempt to go back to sleep, a very bright light caught her eye.

  Kyuki squinted at it, trying to make heads or tails on what it was.

  After a moment, she realized it was a shooting star. She felt herself smile at the memory of Fiz’s landing on Earth.

  She was actually half-expecting the star to actually be an alien spaceship, but the thought of that was practically impossible.

  Kyuki watched the star disappear in the distance, before pulling the amethyst colored curtains back in place, and walking to her bed to try and get some rest.

  Chapter Eleven

  Two months flew by fast.

  Too fast.

  For around two months, Kyuki and Fiz continued to constantly work on the spaceship together. Kyuki did her best to hide her distraught feelings to the entire situation. The thing that bothered her most, however, was that Fiz didn’t seem very bothered about her own trial. It was almost as if she wasn’t nervous at all… Nervous that she could die, nervous that something could go wrong… Nervous that she was leaving behind her friend.

  Did she even care about her at all?

  Kyuki cared about Fiz; but maybe it just wasn’t the other way around.

  The thought made Kyuki shudder; the thought of not being cared about by the person she had spend so long with, spent so much time getting to know…

  Maybe she was just over-thinking this; maybe Fiz did care.

  Maybe…

  “Human! Huuuumaann!! Humaaaaaaaaannnnnnn!”

  Kyuki’s head snapped up and looked at Fiz, who was standing next to her locker.“W-What!?” She snapped, a bit startled.

  Fiz poked her in the cheek. “You’ve been acting weird lately. Tell me what’s wrong with you.”

  Kyuki rolled her eyes. “There isn’t anything wrong with me.”

  Fiz poked her in the cheek again, slightly harder. “Don’t lie to me, little piggy.”

  Kyuki turned towards her, and poked her in the forehead. “Your little piggy isn’t lying to you.”

  Fiz rolled her fake eyes. “Sure.” She growled. She then grabbed Kyuki’s wrist and began walking out the door of the school.

  Kyuki pulled away from Fiz, taking a step back. “What are you doing? It’s not the end of the day yet.” She said, raising an eyebrow.

  Fiz only grabbed her arm again and remained silent, yanking her forcedly out the door. Kyuki yelped in surprise.

  “What is wrong with you?! We’re going to get in trouble!” Kyuki growled, trying to pull away from the alien, to no avail.

  Fiz still didn’t reply, and continued to drag the human until they were at least two blocks from the school, to which Fiz turned around to face Kyuki. “We need to work on the spaceship.”

  “Right now?” Kyuki exclaimed. “We could work on it after school!”

  Fiz blinked a few times. “We need to work on it now.” She insisted.

  Kyuki shook her head. “Why?”

  Fiz didn’t reply. For a moment, Kyuki thought she wasn’t going to, until Fiz’s eyes saddened. “My trial starts tonight.”

  Kyuki felt her heart drop. “It.. it starts tonight? Why didn’t you tell me that? You said it wouldn’t until—“

  “Because I knew you didn’t want to hear it!” Fiz shouted very suddenly, taking a step closer to the human. “I knew you didn’t want me to leave! Do you think I want to leave?! My whole planet hates me! There is a 0% chance that my trial will pass! 0%! You think your life is bad?! Try walking a mile in MY shoes!” Fiz screamed, her face so close to Kyuki’s now, that Kyuki could feel her breath on her face. Despite her confusion on her friend’s almost completely random and unexpected mood swing, Kyuki held her hands out in defense.

  “I’m.. I’m sorry I just..”

  “Just help me finish the ship so I can get my death over with, please! I don’t need your apologizing!” Fiz interrupted, turning away and storming off towards her base.

  Kyuki just stared after her. What had she done wrong to make Fiz so angry? Did she do something wrong? She simply shook her head, and followed after Fiz. Her emotions and thoughts were so mixed up…

  . ..

  Kyuki stared at the ship. It was mostly completed, the only thing they had to do was fix the gas dispensers on the side of the ship and they’d finally be finished. It would be a simple and quick task, much to the human’s dismay. Kyuki worked in silence alongside Fiz, as they repaired the dispensers and filled them with gas, making sure it didn’t leak. (It wouldn’t end well if they leaked, because apparently the ship could catch on fire during flight.)

  During the entire time, Fiz didn’t talk at all to the human, so Kyuki assumed she was still mad at her. She stayed quiet, too.

  Soon, the ship was completed. Kyuki stared at it in pride with a smile. Sure, it had taken two whole months to fully repair it, but all their work paid off. The ship looked fantastic and probably better than it did before.

  Fiz stared at it too, but she was frowning. Kyuki looked over at her.

  “Heh, doesn’t it look great?” She asked, nudging the alien a nervous smile. The tension was so thick.

  Fiz simply nodded. After a few moments or so, she looked at Kyuki with saddened eyes. “I don’t want to die.”

  Kyu
ki’s smile faded, and she could feel tears pricking in the corner of her eyes. “You don’t know if you are..” She urged.

  Fiz shook her head. “I know for sure my fate, Kyuki.” Fiz sighed. “Don’t try to change it..” She looked up at the human, the eyes that were hidden by contacts staring deep into Kyuki’s own eyes. “I’ll miss you.”

  Kyuki knelt down to Fiz’s height (Fiz was much shorter than her) and hugged her tight. “I’ll miss you too, Fiz..”

  Kyuki felt tears slip down her cheek, but she ignored it.

  Fiz finally pulled away, tears in her own eyes. It was odd seeing the alien cry. It almost broke Kyuki’s heart more, seeing such a proud person being reduced to this.

  “I still have a promise to keep..”

  Kyuki wiped her eyes. “What promise?” She asked her voice cracking and hoarse.

  “To show you the stars.” Fiz replied, looking towards her ship. “You wanted to see them, yes?”

  Kyuki nodded. “Do we have enough time?”

  “We do.” Fiz said with a nod herself. She walked over to her ship, opened the front door and stepped in. Kyuki hesitantly followed.

  The ride to space was very silent. Neither spoke.

  Finally, after what seemed like a century, (but really was only a few minutes) the two arrived in the vacuum of space.

  Kyuki’s eyes twinkled in wonder. “Wow! They look so much prettier up close!” Her face was practically glued against the window.

  Fiz rolled her eyes. “You humans are strange creatures. Have I ever told you that?”

  Kyuki looked back at her with an unamused gaze. “You tell me everyday.”

  The two shared a laugh, as they had done so many times before, but this time it seemed sadder.. More tension inbetween..

  After around ten minutes of staring at the shining stars, Fiz sighed, “I better take you back to Earth. We wouldn’t want anyone to notice your absence.” She said, her tone sad. Kyuki nodded, sitting back in her seat, and taking one last glance at the twinkling balls of gas.

  ...

  This time, the ride back to Earth seemed so quick. Kyuki tried to ignore how fast they were back home, but she knew these last few minutes with Fiz would be her last. She stepped off the ship, and Fiz stayed inside.

  Kyuki looked at her from the outside of the ship.

  “This looks like goodbye…” She said softly.

  Fiz nodded. “I’ll miss you so much, revolting human..” Her own eyes watered, but she smiled.

  Kyuki made a forced giggle. “I’ll miss you too, you stupid alien..”

  The two were silent for a moment, before Fiz said, “Hey, Kyuki, promise me one thing.”

  Kyuki nodded. “Anything.”

  Fiz tapped her hands together for a moment, as if deciding on what exactly to say. Finally, she spoke once more. “Promise me that no matter what, you won’t let other’s bullying and teasing change you. Be who you are, be who you want to be.. Like how you act around me. So confident, so happy and alright with yourself. ” She smiled. “If you like looking at the stupid little stars, then just do it.”

  Kyuki felt tears roll down her face again, but she nodded with a genuine smile instead of wiping them away. “I promise.”

  Fiz smiled as well. “Goodbye, Kyuki.” And those were her last words to the human. The door to the spaceship closed, and the spaceship soared into the sky.

  Kyuki lingered in the spot where the ship was, and watched as the spaceship faded into the horizon. She watched until she had to strain to see the outline of the ship she had helped repair for two long months. But… they didn’t seem long enough.

  Soon the ship vanished from view completely. As much as Kyuki squinted to see it, it just wasn’t there anymore. It had left Earth’s orbit and was now gone forever.

  Kyuki looked down.. Had it gotten colder outside all of a sudden? She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I better get inside…” She mumbled to herself. She turned to go, but a shining light caught her eye. She turned to look at it and it was.. Another shooting star?

  Kyuki frowned to herself for a moment. “Two shooting stars within three months? That’s simply illogical.”Kyuki stated to herself. But she let herself smile. Seeing a shooting star now would always remind her of the alien who had once stood before her.

  Kyuki gave a determined smile. That perky little alien was right. So what if she didn’t fit in with everyone else? It didn’t matter. She was her own person, and despite being so different, she was proud of herself. She was confident in herself. She had a right to be. She made it this far.

  With her newfound motivation and pride, the nerdy, geeky, para-normal freak Kyuki, walked back inside her house with pride, not caring if her uncle yelled at her for slamming the door behind her.