Time felt different here on Earth. The days passed by in a continuous well-organized circle, humans have assigned into their lives. Their goals, tasks, and chores different yet similar. Some were so focused on their studies they neglected their health; others neglected their studies in order to laugh with their friends, but at the same time the path they choose was the same.
Just a different outcome. Who was going to succeed? And what defined the success?
Earth was complicated, simple, but complicated. It didn't take long to figure out, humans loved to allow their emotions to take control over the course of their actions. Up in the Pentagon, such behavior meant death, but here? They were allowed to express themselves, which led to misunderstandings.
My life was never defined by me, but by the orders from those above. Spending the time among these species made me uncomfortable and frankly confused. They lived in a bubble and chase after meaningless stuff like money.
In this word everything had to be paid for, even the basic needs; transport, a roof over your head, water. They weren't evolving, just living. Their ignorance was infuriating. Instead of providing and focusing on fixing their technology and knowledge, they fought among themselves in order to wear better clothes or eat fancier foods.
Nevertheless, it became apparent why the earth was prohibited from visiting. That ignorance of theirs was contagious, quickly forgetting about the galaxy and indulging yourself in the taste of their food, or something much more tempting.
My eyes as always observing the woman, who sat at the other side of the room, taking small bites of the sandwich she held in her hands. I enjoyed seeing her, for some reason she wasn't evoking any irritation, instead something different, something I was yet to discover.
"Sorry, the class took longer than I thought," my friend groaned, taking a seat in front of my view, which allowed my senses to come back.
"No worries," I muttered, fork playing with the oddly shaped pasta.
Lifting her wild brow, she snickered. "Don't tell me you've been having some deep thoughts"-she pointed at me with a silver fork-"again..."
Scoffing I shook my head, she knew me too well.
"Seriously Elina, I'm worried about you. Ever since we," she cut off, her head turning to the sides before continuing in a whisper. "Came here, you've been acting a bit off." She wasn't wrong.
Clearing my throat, not too pleased, but not having anyone else I asked. "Alright, there is something bothering me. Not only the annoying atmosphere and breathing problems but well..." I bit onto my lip, glancing at the woman from above Washu's shoulder. "The woman at the back," I pointed with a subtle nod, my friend following the direction.
"The faulty one?"
Heart clenching at what was a truthful comment. "Y..Yeah," I stammered, embarrassed to ask. "Do you feel anything when looking at her?"
My friend's head snapped back to mine; her expression rather confused. "Feel anything?" she murmured thoughtfully before taking another look. "Um, not exactly. No?"
Shit, so it was just me.
"Why?" she asked intrigued. "What was I supposed to feel? Do you feel something?" she inquired further, my heart skipping a beat.
"No," I lied with a nervous chuckle. "Of course not, just a test. Yes, I was checking something. Don't worry about it."
"Right," my friend unnecessarily dragged the word. "Talking about feeling anything. Have you found the troll girl?" she huffed clearly not over it, even after I told her to drop it.
After all, she did what she had to do. It was more of my decision and mistake for allowing myself to get tricked into the most basic trap.
"I can't believe you decided to let it go, we should confront her about it." As much as I enjoyed Washu caring, this felt petty.
"Honestly?" I began, earning myself a hopeful expression. "I've been thinking we should befriend her. She seems smart and capable. We could use her."
My friend's horrified gasp wasn't a great start.
"Absolutely not!" she almost screamed, can't say it was unexpected.
Chewing on my food I wondered, "Why do you hate her so much. Surely you understand she wasn't going to hurt me. I would have done exact same in her position. I mean we are intruders here, and she's right. No one comes to Earth to party; they are all on the run from something or someone."
"It's not that," she muttered.
"What?"
"It's not that!" her clenched fists hitting the table. "I don't trust her. Bad vibes, let's not."
Taken aback by her outburst, it was truly rare to see anything of such coming from my friend. I suppose the girl did get under her skin, and I wasn't going to play around with that.
"Fine," I agreed, but seeing she wasn't too convinced I added. "I said fine. She might know something, but it would still take a while to befriend her. I was thinking to meet up with Haze instead."
She looked at me concerned. "Haze... Isn't that a bit too risky? Messing with the guild would only make things worse."
It's not like I wasn't aware of that, however, it's been a few days since we got here and we still had zero leads or ideas on how to locate the princess. At this point, it seemed almost impossible.
"I will be careful."
Deep inside I was well aware my friend wished for this to take as long as possible, but what she didn't know was that I had a plan. Washu was to never leave this planet, instead, I would hand the princess by myself and do anything in my power to stop the admin from searching for my friend.
She deserved this life. To be happy.
"Okay," her voice saddened. "Here's the list of all the intergalactic beings I saw or spoke to." She handed me a notebook. There were quite a few, proud of her for helping out against her wishes this is why she was so dear to me.
This goofy brunette with terrifying abilities would never hurt a fly, not unless I asked her to. Washu would follow me into a battle of any kind, she would without a doubt sacrifice herself for me. Why? I never knew, never could, or would understand, but the last thing I wanted was to take advantage of that fact.
Truly the last piece of kindness in my heart.
Or so I thought, until noticing the woman's eyes shyly peeking at me, as if afraid to get caught. What a silly human, even with my sight taken away I would be able to tell when those sandy brown irises found mine. Bothered by the way my blood rushed faster and heart beat quicker, yet unable to stop myself from searching-for her.
Raising a brow, catching her in the act she hasn't expected for me to look, her pinky lips going agape and cheeks gaining some color. I couldn't help myself, but smirk. She quickly looked away pretending to be involved in the chat with the other professors. How amusing this woman was.
"What you smiling at?" Washu asked intrigued.
"Nothing. I'm gonna see you later, okay? Got one more class, which I find to be quite enjoyable for a change."
"Hmm," she hummed and grinned right after. "Okay, let me know if you are going to meet up with Haze afterward."
Picking up my stuff I answered, "Will do."
Walking through the cafeteria my ears caught her soft voice.
"I'm not sure Heather... This thing isn't working. I don't think this is what I'm looking for. Maybe I'm just too much, you know?" There was a sadness in there, that pierced through my heart.
Too much? Was she referring to her disability?
"Nonsense!" the other woman with quite energetic and high-pitched voice disagreed. "It's your standards."
"What about them?" she sounded offended, as she should be.
The other lady sighed heavily before continuing, "A bit too high? I mean you can't expect them to be perfect right off the bat, you know? Give them a chance, second third or fourth date even."
There was a silence, before the answer. "But if I don't like them after the first..." she muttered adorably. "Why would I want another one."
"Suit yourself missy, but you aren't getting younger and your situation is tricky. This might be your last call, you know that right?"
"...right."
Right. To conclude, the other woman was a bitch. There was nothing in her tone or expression that truly cared about the feelings of her colleague.
Ugh... I grimaced at the thought. Earthians and their 'love life', disturbing to think about. The way they brought their offspring was also messed up. Only poor planets did it the natural way, and Earth was not poor, but simply unwilling to push further, stuck in their beliefs.
"You're pretty, try smiling more and you will find someone in no time. And in case you change your mind my cousin is still available. I could set you-"
"It's okay Heather, thank you," she cut in, clearly not interested in the offer. "I should go. My class is about to begin."
Waiting for the sound of her wheels to come closer she pulled from around the corner, slightly surprised to see me standing here, waiting almost.
"Hi," she greeted, her eyes without dark circles but instead puffed up and reddish. She must have noticed me staring because she looked down and attempted on the topic. "Going to class?"
"Yes," I answered without hesitation, like a soldier on duty. "I enjoy your lectures," I added truthfully, something inside of me wishing to carry on the conversation, even though I had no clue what to say.
Her gloomy aura vanished, instead a bright chuckle and charming smile directed towards me. "Are you trying to get into my good graces?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that, blinking a couple of times before responding.
"In what sense?"
Her lips still curved upwards, but her muscles relaxed. "Academic, of course. I won't go easy on you for being nice," she explained.
I couldn't help myself. "Easy on me?" I laughed amused. "Professor, please don't. Easy isn't my thing. So rather, don't disappoint me. I enjoy a challenge."
Her pupils dilating, she was speechless. "Well then, we got a quiz. Let's see how you do before getting ahead of yourself, shall we?" she huffed, but the sparks in her eyes couldn't lie. She liked it.
"With pleasure." I followed by her side, stealing glances at her full of determination face, as she pushed on her wheelchair through the long hallway.
Disabled yet still going. Maybe that's why she was different, maybe out of sympathy and regret I carried inside for not helping those children back when I had a chance.
No!
A rush of nauseous memories swarming my mind and challenging the heart. I never stood a chance. I tried, but I never had it. That was the difference. Frowning at myself for allowing this to even be a part of my current thought process, my eyes focused on the human.
Heart ached, a pulsing uncomfortable, but not too painful feeling. My intuition already knew that the reason behind it wasn't the disability the woman carried, but the mind was not prepared to accept that just yet.
Suddenly her stormy sandy eyes snapped up, connecting with mine all of the sudden, which I was not prepared to face at this very moment. The determination and challenge smoothly molding into a little frown.
"Are you okay?" her voice reminded me of that the women used to sing with during galactic fogs to lure the fugitives, and thieves into their deadly traps. Alluring, enchanting, full of concern and safety; Goddess of the swayed is how we referred to them in our galaxy.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, complement even, such a lovely tone used towards a monster like myself. Question remained; what kind of trap was she going to lure me into?
"Don't you ever bother yourself about my person," bittersweet taste left my lips when a fake smile rose upon them.
However, like every human when told against something, they pried further, as if more fascinated and eager to find the truth. Her mouth parting, ready to speak, that's why I've done so instead.
"We are here. Please, come on in professor," I opened the classroom door, and stood on the side, waiting for her to enter. "You have a quiz to think about."
She was taken aback, but shook it off and went past me without saying anything. The complaints of the other students when hearing about the quiz were pathetic. Why join the course if you were going to be displeased about such a thing? In my world, failure in your academics meant physical punishment, and even then, no one has dared to complain.
Once a piece of paper was handed to me by the class rep, I couldn't stop myself from sending a smirk towards the woman, who was curiously observing my reaction to the given questions. A quick scoff at my cockiness, which provided me with a rush of endorphins.
When the time was up and everyone has left the classroom, I remained seated waiting for her to grade the papers, but also enjoying the peacefulness her presence provided to my occupied by chaos mind.
"It might take a while," she spoke into the comfortable silence.
Leaning against the back of my chair, arms crossed on the chest as I sighed and closed my eyes. "It's okay professor, please take your time. I need to rest for a few minutes if that's okay?" my voice tired.
"O..of course!" she uttered taken aback by my laid-back attitude.
After sometime when my eyes have slowly opened, body felt groggily, and the atmosphere has changed. Wanting to rub my eyes it felt difficult to raise my hand. When looking down I was confused by the brown coat that covered my body. Moving it to the side it was impossible to not smell the perfumes that belonged to the human.
"You are awake," her voice much more toned and relaxed.
Awake? "I fell asleep?" How could that be?
Giving me a gentle smile, she nodded from the other side of the classroom.
"I hope you weren't having any plans, however considering I'm quite aware you haven't slept at night, I thought it would be a shame to wake you. I apologize."
Frowning, and hastily pulling myself from the chair her coat dropped to the floor, whitch I quickly picked up. This must have been the first time when I properly slept here on earth. Why here? How could I allow myself to drop my guard and sleep in the open area with a human at that?!
Shit.
"Are you okay?"
Looking at her from under my long blond lashes I couldn't help myself, but to admire how breathtaking she looked with the round gold glasses resting on her nose.
"Confused," I confessed truthfully but decided not to dwell on it.
Approaching her desk, she pulled away from it and observed me with a little frown on her face.
"You don't sleep often?" she worried out loud.
An unintentional chuckle escaped through my pursed lips. "Thought I told you not to bother yourself with my person professor," I teased, a cocky smirk covering my worries.
She glanced right into my eyes before dropping them to the floor. "Right, well... I finished grading," she pointed at the pile of paper. "There's only one person in the entire class who got everything correctly, and maybe decided to show off a bit with a few answers as well."
"Yes?" I waited for the sweet victory.
Her head shook to the sides, and hair danced along with the movement. "Are you Elina?" she asked, not knowing my name.
"Yes ma'am," I grinned at her pout.
With a tiny eye roll, which might have made my heart flutter, she handed me the paper. "Congrats, I guess you aren't just talk. I'm impressed Elina, looking forward to seeing more from you."
"Now-now," I waved the paper. "Don't act all professional, just admit that I won our little quarrel."
The woman groaned and moved back to the desk where she began to pack her belongings.
"Why do I feel like you will be on my nerves and mind more than necessary?"
"And that's a bad thing because...?" I pointed out, surprising her with my straightforwardness, yet somehow, she decided not to comment. "Let me help you," I offered to put on her coat, which she allowed.
After clearing her throat, she mustered a 'thank you', and hid her reddish cheeks under the thick grey scarf. Putting on my own coat I grabbed the bag and prepared to leave as well.
"Where's your scarf?" she asked before letting me go. "It's dark and cold outside," she pointed at the window.
Smiling, my amusement grew, if only she knew sickness wasn't something that would ever take over my body. Yet, it was difficult to not comply. Taking it out of the bag I raised my brows, unsure of why she came closer, until the wheels stopped in front of my shoes and hands took the fabric out of mine.
"Could you lean forward?" her shy sweet voice working like a spell; body doing as told. She entangled the scarf around my neck and patted my shoulder when satisfied with the outcome. "There," she smiled widely. "You are still a bit tired. You need to be careful to not catch a cold, the cockiness won't shield you, sweet girl."
Straightening back up I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. "See you around," I uttered and rushed outside. Pulling the scarf off my neck I took a deep breath, feeling like my throat tightened to the point of no return, but after a few minutes, it finally passed. Squeezing the coat that covered my chest I couldn't help, but feel an odd pain.
What kind of trap was she luring me into?
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