Ella

Alien and human.

That sounds like something from a movie, something that would be made up in a book, or something that scientists or the dreamers would say. However, in my world, it's a reality. In my world, the humans aren't alone. In my world, aliens exist.

They live among us, they walk among us, and if it weren't for their subtle differences, one would assume they were no different from you or me. One would assume they were humans, that they were originally from Earth. However, they're not from Earth, and they're not like us. Their yellow eyes, slightly pointed ears, and green blood — I once witnessed one of them cut their hand during class — are good examples of them being different, but it's more than just their looks. If one of them were far enough away, you wouldn't be able to tell what their ears looked like or what color their eyes were — you wouldn't be able to tell that they were an alien. However, the closer they came to you, you might recognize the difference in their looks, but once they opened their mouth and spoke, that's when you would know.

They speak English — at least the aliens where I live do — but it's not their language that would catch you off-guard, it's their way with words. They speak their mind, they say how they feel without thinking about how it may hurt you. They don't care if they bring you down, they just say whatever they desire. They only care about their own kind, not about us.

They call themselves Norovians, for they're from the planet North, and apparently they came to Earth and liked what they saw. I don't know why they're here or what they want, but after the government decided they weren't a threat to us, we've equalized them next to us humans. They go to our schools, they work in our factories, they're treated like anyone else. I should be happy about this equality, for seeing a peace made among two different species, but I'm not going to lie — I'm not happy.

They're many Norovians that I can't stand to be around, but none of them even compare to a certain yellow eyed alien that has tortured me for far too long. I can honestly say that I hate him, and I know that hate is not a nice word to describe your feelings about another living soul, but the person who decided that the word hate was just an awful emotion to feel about someone else, clearly never met Dean Schloric.

The thing about Dean is that he's attractive. He's more attractive than most of the human guys that go to my school, and he knows this. His ego is about as puffed up as one can get, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out if he were the worst Norovian there ever were. He's the reason I'm not happy about the humans treating them equally. It's clear they don't like us, why are we so eager to please them? To help them? To treat them like our own? To ever assume we could all live peacefully among one another, was a lie someone created to help calm down the chaos of them landing on our soil. I will never see them as equal, I will never be at peace with the Norovians.

**********

"Ella!" A familiar voice call to me, as I collect my school books from my locker, trying my best to just get through the rest of the day. So far, I haven't yet encountered Dean which makes me very happy. I know he'll show up sooner or later, but I'm rather enjoying him staying away from me.

"Ella, how do you think your chemistry test went?" My best friend Hunter asks, as he finally makes his way to my locker. "Do you think you aced the equations? Did all that studying we do pay off?" He asks with a smile, and I can't help but laugh. Hunter's always in a good mood, always grinning, and always trying to crack jokes. His personality is what helps him do well among our peers, especially since he's rather short for his age and wears thick square glasses. He looks like the perfect bait, the perfect one to pick on, but for the most part, everyone pretty much likes Hunter. Well, the humans like Hunter.

"I think it went decent," I shrug. "Wait, who am I kidding?" I laugh. "If I got a D-, I would consider myself lucky."

"I'm pretty sure you did fine. I've been helping you study for that test for how long now? Weeks, Ella, two weeks. We started studying early, just because we know chemistry is not your strong point. You got the questions right every other day, I'm sure you got them right on the test," he encourages me. "You're not as dumb as you make yourself out to be."

"Thanks, Einstein, but I don't make myself out to be dumb," I reply, despite knowing that I do put myself down rather often when it comes to school.

"You don't give yourself the credit you deserve, am I right?" He asks, and I roll my eyes at him. "You rolling your eyes is the same as answering yes, Hunter, I don't give myself credit."

"Bite me," I laugh, before shoving his shoulder with my own.

"Chemistry aside, did Brad talk to you today at all?" He questions, his eyes sparkling with mischief, and I can't help but scoff.

"It's way too early in the semester for that. I don't think he'll acknowledge me for another few weeks." Getting the most popular human guy — I say human because Schloric is the most popular — in school to talk to you, takes time. Luckily for me, I have all the time in the world. Well, for Brad I have all the time in the world. After all, relationships don't happen overnight, and I'm willing to wait. If worst comes to worst, I would at least hope we could be friends.

"The upgrade you've been given since last year is enough to make Dean swoon over you," Hunter teases, despite me not finding it humorous.

"For that," I begin, "you deserve this." I punch him playfully in the shoulder — a bit hard, not going to lie — before I give him a sweet smile. The thought of Dean looking at me in such a way, makes me shiver. I'd rather do anything than get touchy feely with that.

Hunter knows I hate Dean, and that gives Hunter amo to tease me about the Norovian I despise. I don't find it funny in the least, however, especially with how Dean treats me.

"He's ridiculous," I mutter after a moment of silence between us, the only noise being the people hurrying to class around us.

"He is ridiculous, but he's great looking. No girl in this school would deny a request to go anywhere with him."

"That's only because they're desperate and can't get a human to take them out," I scoff, thinking about the way all the girls look at Dean.

We talk for a few more seconds, before parting ways. There isn't very much time before the bell rings, so I quickly close my locker, only to be met with a familiar pair of yellow eyes gazing down on me and that smug grin I detest almost as much as the one wearing it.

"What do you want?" I sigh. I'm not in the mood for Dean, for I have to get to class, and I don't want him to hold me up.

"Always a pleasure, Ella," he smiles, finding himself amusing.

"I wish I could say the same about you," I huff, before walking in the opposite direction toward my geography class.

"Hey," he mutters as he tries catching up with me. "One more thing. Number twelve on that test was wrong. You should have kept the answer B instead of erasing it and going with C. Humans have an instinct for a reason. It wasn't the only wrong answer, but I don't want to point out all of your flaws." His leaves me with a smirk before he disappears in the crowd as everyone hurries to their classes just as the bell rings.

Another thing about the Norovians, is that they're extremely intelligent. Upon coming to Earth, they were fascinated with our culture and history. Every book that had knowledge in it, seemed to find them. They know more about my planet than I do, and I'm not going to lie — it kind of pisses me off.

**********

I remember hearing stories of what Earth was like during the 21st century. My grandmother used to tell me stories of what her mother would tell her. Technology was bustling, cities were growing, the people were becoming more advanced in everything. But you could still smell the dirt when walking outside in the woods, you could tell time by a face on a clock that would tick every second, you could go into a town and pay to watch a projector play a movie. None of those simple things even exist now. The only smell you breathe in when you walk outside is chemicals from the nearby factories as they make more automobiles...and woods? I've never even seen a tree. We don't have clocks with faces, but instead a band you wear it around your wrist. When you want to know the time you tap a button and the numbers project into a 3D display. We also don't have theaters. Instead, we have our own projectors in our homes where you can order the new movies from the film companies and they send you the film rolls. There have been small and large changes, but I'd almost like to go back to the 21st century to experience all that is now lost.

We also have eight continents now. Asia broke off into two parts, creating the eighth continent of Murasia. It happened after the Earth witnessed an earthquake season, with nearly one earthquake every day in the Eastern Hemisphere. I wasn't alive when this happened, this was the year my grandmother was born. I think about a lot of this stuff, though, especially on my way to and from school.

Hunter doesn't ride the bus with me, which makes riding the bus even more unbearable. I have my license, but my mother insists that someone would hit her car in the school parking lot if I were ever to take it. This leaves me with no means of transportation, except for the bus from hell. I also hate the people that ride my bus. Ninety-nine percent of them are Norovians and they're so infuriating. I don't understand how an entire species could be so heartless toward another species, but they've managed to accomplish this. There's this one Norovian girl — Tiara — that tends to sit by me every day. She's like the girl version of Dean — almost — only I can handle her thoughtless words better than anything Dean has to say.

She tries to have a conversation with me, but I drown her words as I place my ear pods in my ear, and let the music fill my thoughts and senses. After a long day of school, I deserve a break from the aliens, I deserve a break from the reality around me. I deserve to listen to a little heavy music to muffle the world around me. Music gives me a little bit of peace inside, and every little bit helps.

However, I have to come back to the reality of life when the bus stops at my house. I don't mind reaching my destination, however, for once I'm home I can get away from everyone. I can try having a few moments of alone time. I just want some privacy and I want to be able to do my homework in peace, but that's asking too much. In the world I live in, what's being alone?

It being left-over night, I find myself walking to the kitchen as I make my way inside. However, as my fingers reach out to touch the handle on the fridge, I hear a rumble before the whole house begins to shake. It only lasts for a few seconds, but I can't help the nervous feeling that creeps inside of me as my heart pounds rapidly against my chest.

"What was that?" I ask my mom as she makes her way into the kitchen.

"I think it might have been an earthquake," she whispers, as she looks out the window, watching the neighbors emerge from their houses. "Ella, turn on the TV."

Doing as she says, I turn on the TV and change it to the local news channel.

"It's down," I tell her, as I look at the rainbow striped screen, showing the news has been disconnected.

"Are we on? Are we — there we go! Sorry about that," the anchorman apologizes with a fake laugh. "We experienced a small technical difficulty. I think there was a slight earthquake, we'll have Jake get the details later."

"Don't change the channel, El, I want to see what they have to say about it," Mom tells me, despite knowing I wasn't going to change it anyway. I wanted to know what it was, for the thought of something so small as an earthquake bothers me. I don't like the thought of the ground moving beneath me, or of the house falling off of its foundation around us. It scares me, I won't even lie.

Two hours later, when the rest of my family is home and watching the TV for any more updates, the news finally gets the details on what it was.

Technically, it was an earthquake, for it shook the entire ground. However, what caused the tremor itself, was a small asteroid that collided with the planet. The idea of something getting through the atmosphere and crashing into Earth isn't a pleasant thought. It's even more unsettling when you can't help but wonder if there's more coming...

***
edited
8/10/17