*SIMPLY A FRIEND*
Izzian could not believe he was sitting next to Thilillian Yangsley, stowaway, criminal and thief. Not only had the girl set off an explosion to sneak aboard his comet but she'd also been living in a tree house in the woods for months and stealing supplies from Lucas and Link's house.
Thil went on to explain how she had transformed to human the old fashioned way, the fast way. She needed to be an earthling by the time the comet landed on earth, so she'd swiped an old shape shifting shot from her father's laboratory.
It was a quick method, but also a very painful one. Thil had used a needle the size of a pencil and injected her own arm. Izzian could not comprehend the sheer amount of courage it must have taken just to get to earth. He shook his head in disbelief.
He suddenly realized why Thil's Goodwill Project transformation had been difficult to detect that day at Comet Central Station. She had never shape shifted to fit in at the Juniper Colony on Footfall Freighter. Her plans were to transform to human during her secret trip to earth. Izzian's physical observations of the girl had been way off the mark. Thil had looked exactly how she had always looked- beautiful and dangerous.
When Thilillian Yangsley admitted she'd lived aboard the Gratified Speed 1213 the entire way to earth, Izzian flushed with embarrassment. If he'd known, he would have hidden his favorite blankie and tried to minimize the amount of farts he'd let in his sleep. He would have also changed his motto of "clothing optional," and put on a shirt and a pair of pants. The idea that Thil had seen him in his underpants caused a whole new kind of humiliation that he'd never experienced before.
Thil continued, oblivious to Izzian's shame, "Those Simbiots followed me to my tree house. They must have caught on that I'd been pilfering supplies from their house, because they trapped me. They caught me green-handed sneaking into their house tonight. I barely got away and it was all so scary…" Thil's voice trailed off as her tears began to flow.
"I've always wanted to come to earth. I was so jealous of you, your subject Eliza and your Goodwill Project. I desperately wanted to see earth. You kept talking about earth and I knew earth is where I wanted to be. I had no idea how rough it would be. It was a horrible idea, Izzian and I hope you can forgive me. These past few months have been really hard."
Even Paksha was taken in by the beautiful alien girl's words and he switched off his phone. Eliza clicked her tongue in disgust, not as easily taken in by the girl's sad, purple eyes as Paksha and Izzian. Izzian shushed Eliza, eager to hear the rest of Thilillian's tale.
Thil stopped crying and said, "I love earth. I really do. I would never harm this planet. I don't know what you saw in the woods, Packmule, but I had nothing to do with it. I know you just met me, but I haven't been lying all along like Izzian."
Izzian was angry that Thil had thrown him under the bus to save herself, but he was also ashamed. The full truth was finally coming to light.
"Yes. I've been lying to you all along-but only about being an alien. I never lied to you about our friendship," Izzian declared.
He tried to flutter his eyelashes as Thil had, hoping to earn an ounce of compassion, but Eliza only rolled her eyes.
The time had come to spill the last of the beans. Izzian said, "And if you don't believe me, I have proof. I have proof that I have been trying to tell you the truth since I was back on Klesia Moon Prime."
In order for Eliza to swallow his truth and not totally hate him, Izzian had to confess that he was the one spying on her through the Al203 Telescope. He knew once he uttered the words, Eliza would understand and forgive him. He took a deep breath and spoke.
"We bees you no swarm, Eliza," Izzian said. He waited patiently for the girl's response. When Eliza remained aloof, he repeated it, "We bees you no swarm."
"I'm sorry? I don't understand. Is that some kind of Kelezia spaceman talk?" Eliza asked in confusion.
Frustrated that his dramatic statement hadn't affected the girl as he'd hoped, he added, "We bees you no swarm. Get it? How did you know I was watching you from space?"
Izzian continued rambling. "Oh, and no I am not a member of the Starship Federation and the donkey is not flinging nuts. I am not pimply again, nor do we practice anal probing…eww."
In his haste for her to remember and understand, Izzian had rushed the words all together until they had come out in a jumbled mess.
He paused and added sincerely, "But I am simply a friend."
"…Anal probing?" Eliza muttered, still oblivious to the significance of Izzian's words.
Finally, her eyes grew wide and suddenly, the implications of the boy's ramblings made sense.
She smacked Izzian on the arm, hard, exclaiming, "Oh! We mean you no harm! I get it! It was you all along Izzian. Those were my questions…kind of," Eliza exclaimed, not recalling having ever asked if the donkey was flinging nuts, or if his people were covered in pimples.
"I learned sign language so I could speak to you. Night after night I sat up my tree house, sending you messages, knowing you were out there somewhere, and watching me. You never answered," she whispered, recalling all of those lonely nights gazing up at the stars, begging for answers.
But deep down, Eliza had already known the truth. That didn't stop her from being angry at Izzian, though.
Izzian braced for the next smack that was surely to follow, but Eliza was too busy marinating in the boy's confessions, working things out in her mind.
"How did you know I was watching you?" Izzian asked again, relieved to finally get the chance to hear a few answers to appease his own curiosity.
Obviously Eliza was crestfallen. She hadn't heard his question. Izzian had kept the truth from her for far too long and she repeated, "You never answered."
He figured he'd have to wait for Eliza to explain herself in her own time. Sure, he'd had to practically confess at gunpoint, but an earthling was allowed all the time in the world to speak the truth.
He wondered if there was a term for a person that was an alien racist, Spacist? Alienist? He'd have to invent a term eventually because at the moment, he felt quite alienated.
To Izzian's dismay, Thil butted in. "He couldn't answer you back, Eliza. We aren't allowed to contact our subjects-"
"Shush," Izzian said, stopping Thil from interjecting. He knew the last thing Eliza wanted to hear was a lecture from Thil.
"You were watching me from that...Ax2029 Telescope thingy, weren't you? I knew I was being watched. I just knew it!" Eliza said more to herself than anyone else.
"Al203 Telescope, it is called. It is what we use back home for Watch Time with our Goodwill Subjects," Thilillian added.
Izzian cringed. It wasn't a good time for Thil to correct Eliza or to mention that on Klesia, Eliza had been referred to as a "subject" for some homework project. For the love of all that's good, Thilillian-shut your mouth, Izzian mentally begged.
Eliza glared at both aliens. When she spoke, her voice was wavering. "I am not done with you by a long shot, Klowosky. Eventually you and me are gonna hash this all out. But for now, I'm just glad to know that I don't belong in the Sudden Bluff Home for Mental Health. I knew I wasn't crazy. I just knew it. Laddie was right about me."
Eliza had said her peace for the moment, and Izzian knew he had several days of groveling and apologizing ahead of him. But for now, Eliza had given him a free pass. She had also reverted back to calling him Klowosky, which meant only one thing-she didn't trust him anymore. She hates liars. What did you expect?
"Well," said Paksha after a little consideration. "I believe you. I've seen some strange things in this town. There's an old woman who lives in the mental hospital that gets her hair curled at Bluff Cutz. I'd swear she changes shape. And Maddlington's an alien for sure," said Paksha, wrinkling his nose at the thought of the disturbing teacher, Mrs. Aloris J. Maddlington.
Paksha forgot all about his phone call to the authorities when the realization hit home. He was actually in the presence of two aliens.
With obvious exhilaration, Paksha begged to hear more. "What else? There's got to be more. Tell me Izzy! You must have some wacky creatures and weird plants and things. Do you have your own space ship? Is time travel for real? Did a space ship really crash in the desert? Tell us more about your planet, Kuala-sia Prime Steak."
Paksha was obviously enjoying mispronouncing the planet's name, getting his own revenge at being referred to as Packmule so often.
"Klee-see-ya Moon Prime," Izzian corrected him, distractedly.
Izzian had more important things to discuss than the mating habits of the Slimerot Slinker or the Whoosper Trees of the Huckchuck Region. He did not have the time to talk about the fantastic features of SpacePods or whether or not a true alien had been dissected in some secret government facility in the desert. Izzian did not know the first thing about time travel, either, but he did know a little about wormholes. Those were all topics he would enjoy discussing with his friend Paksha at some other time. For now, the mysteries of the universe would have to wait.
"Listen, now that you all know the truth, I need your help. Something is horrifically wrong on my planet! There's more to the story. You see, my home, my family and everyone on Klesia and Klesia Moon Prime might be gone. It has all seemingly disappeared," Izzian said.
He went on to explain the unanswered communications and the inability to contact anyone else in the galaxy.
"But if you are unable to contact anyone back home on Colostomy Moon Prime, how will you get home?" Paksha asked.
"That's just it, Packmule," Izzian said, purposely mispronouncing his friend's name, "Thil and I might be stuck on earth…forever."
The group quietly considered Izzian's words, until Eliza could no longer remain silently sullen. She was a girl that needed answers and she wasn't finished pouting.
"What were you doing in the woods, Paksha? Are you an alien too?" Eliza said rudely.
Paksha bit back, "You shouldn't call a person of ethnicity an alien, Eliza. They could take it the wrong way."
Paksha rummaged through his backpack and tossed something at Eliza's feet.
"It's your journal," he offered. "I was waiting for the perfect time to sneak into the twins' house and steal it back. When Lucas and Link went after the girl," he said, pointing at Thilillian, "I saw my chance. I ran inside and stole it back for you. Then I snuck past the twins in their tree house and followed that alien girl here to your backyard. She's telling the truth. She was totally petrified."
"I'm sure she was. Thieves are usually frightened and on the run from someone, aren't they Thil? And Izzian, you speak of your pretend parents, Enot and Gala? Well, you are a pretend friend."
Paksha quickly defended the distraught Thilillian, but ignored the slight to Izzian's character. "The-lil-alien couldn't help it. She needed food and shelter to live, Eliza. You would have done the same thing if it had been you. Plus, the twins deserved to have their stuff stolen anyways."
"My name is not The-lil-alien, it's actually pronounced The-lil-lee-ann," Thil corrected Paksha.
Paksha reiterated his mistake, saying, "That's what I said, The-lil-alien."
"No. The word alien is not in my name," Thil retorted, but Paksha still couldn't seem to tell the difference between the two names and they bickered back and forth.
Paksha had known Izzy for months, but Thil came out of nowhere, batted her eyelashes and her sob story was accepted as easily as yesterday's news. Izzian, however, had to explain himself in detail and practically swear in a deposition that he wasn't on earth to inject alien larvae into the ears of earthlings, grow monsters or kill humans. It certainly did not seem fair to the green boy who had tried so hard to be a good friend.
Too many people were speaking at once, and Izzy only wanted to hear one voice at the moment, the voice of Eliza accepting his apology. Ignoring Paksha and Thilillian's ceaseless chattering, Izzian tried apologizing again. "I'm so sorry Eliza. I promise I was just about to tell you the truth when Thil ran out of the forest. You know I was going to say something important."
Eliza rolled her eyes, but Izzy sensed her coldness was beginning to thaw. One more push in the right direction and she might just forgive him.
"Besides, I need your help. Not only do we have to get revenge on Lucas and Link but we also have to find out a way to help Klesia, if it still exists," Izzian said dejectedly.
"I wondered why I was unable to contact anyone," Thilillian said, discovering a more important topic than name mispronunciations. "I stole a Communicator-Phalanx from my dad's lab back home, hoping I could eventually contact him and let him know I was okay, but it hasn't worked since I boarded your ship. I thought it was broken. Oh man, Izzian. What are we going to do?" Thil asked with a voice full of sheer panic.
"We'll work it out, Thil. Now that Paksha and Eliza know the truth, and now that you are with us, our odds have increased dramatically," Izzian said with a positive tone that he did not necessarily feel. It was time for a little group motivation.
He eyed each person and calmly added, "But first. Let's hunt down Lucas and Link and give those boys a taste of their own medicine. They've beaten me, stolen from Eliza and made her life horrible.
"Paksha, Lucas and Link kicked you out of their group and basically declared war on you because you've joined with us. And Thil, they've chased you through the forest scaring you to death. Now it's time for some payback."
The group got busy planning the downfall of Lucas and Link, the evil twins. Not everything had been solved between Izzian and Eliza, but at least he didn't have to keep lying every second of every day. It felt good to tell his friends that little green men existed and he happened to be one of them.
***