But there's a scream inside that we all try to hide

We hold on so tight, we cannot deny

-Bird Set Free, Sia

Earth is nothing but a tiny grain of sand in a vast sea of planets and stars.

That was the first thing my awestruck brain was able to process as as I looked out of the Starship's window into space. The second thought I had, was about all the light years that separated me from my mother and Earth.

Was she already lonely? Would she be okay?

She had forced me to promise her before boarding the starship that I wouldn't worry about her, but how could I keep such a cruel promise? She knew it was impossible for me to do anything but worry about her; my mother, who couldn't cook anything without burning all the food. My mother, who was very clumsy and managed to find a way to fall up stairs. My mother, who could be very forgetful without someone there to remind her. My mother, who was too kind and forgiving for her own good. My mother, who was my whole world and would never leave my side.

But now she's gone.

I huffed and shook my head to clear my mind before any more depressing thoughts could crowd my thoughts. I've already cried enough, and the last thing I wanted to do was sob in front of a bunch of strangers.

I turned away from the window next to me and assessed the other representatives in the viewing room as well. Only five other representatives were in the room - six including me.

None of the others were paying attention to me, except for one girl who looked at me and smiled. Her skin was sun-kissed golden brown and her hair was a dirty blond that fell in waves right above her shoulder. Her hazel eyes met mine and silently asked for permission to join me. I gave her a small smile and moved a bit to my left, so that she could stand next to me in front of the window. She took my movement as an invitation and got out of the seat she had been sitting in so she could stand next to me.

She reached my side and looked out into the solar system we had just reached moments ago. Stars of all different colors passed by in a blur, like the backlights of speeding vehicles on a highway.

"It still amazes me how humans have managed to build a ship that can travel faster than light and take us to different solar systems in a manner of days." She said in an awed tone looking down at me.

She was taller than my 5'4 frame at probably 5'10, so I had to crane my neck to look up at her. Her voice had been soft, but her eyes were hard as steel.

She caught me staring and her eyes changed from hard to soft.

"My name's Nyla, I grew up in the Island Nation of Oceania." She introduced.

"Iris, I'm from the Island nation of North America."

Nyla whistled. "You're one of the big guns, aye? The other american representative here got selected because he created a security system so advanced that even the president of the INNA's best hackers couldn't get through. Why did you get selected?"

"Umm . . . wow, compared to that other guy, I'm nobody, but I'm pretty sure I got in because of my music. I'm a violinist, the second best in the INNA"

"Shit, are you that girl that got 5th place in the world competition? The young musical prodigy?"

I blushed at the use of the name the media had dubbed me as.

"I . . . I guess so?"

Nyla laughed. "Modest aren't you? If it makes you feel any better, everyone here has done something extraordinary to be selected, so you're not alone."

Really? I looked around the room. Nobody in the room really stood out or screamed "genius," in fact, everyone seemed really nervous, but I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you do to get selected then?"

"I'm fluent in all four galactic languages, but I'm also fluent in many of the lost languages."

That got my attention. English had become the worldwide language on Earth around 150 years ago, so it was rare to meet someone who spoke a lost language, especially multiple.

"Which one's do you know?"

"French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian." She shrugged "I'm still working on Chinese though, the characters are hard, but I'm getting there. Maybe in a year or so I'll have it mastered."

"That's incredible!"

Her smile dimmed. "Yeah, but I have a feeling that my talent with languages isn't the reason why I was selected."

"What do you mean?"

"My uncle is the prime minister of the INO, Island Nation of Oceania, it was probably just a political agreement for me to be a representative, not because of my talent."

I didn't say anything for a few moments, shocked by her words. The worst part was, it was probably true. Cressida was a new school, but each year, there would be at least two representatives from Earth that had close relations to political leaders. Most figured that the reason why they did that was because they needed to make sure that the political leaders on Earth behaved. Although it was cruel to select representatives in case they were ever needed as leverage, I had to admit that it was smart in a twisted way. The program was important and Cressida needed to make sure that political leaders found it important too.

I must've paused for too long because Nyla let out an awkward laugh.

"Don't worry, you don't have to say anything."

I wanted to comfort her, but I also didn't want to lie.

"You're right, I won't lie. They probably did select you because of your high status and close relations to the Prime Minister," She looked down at me shocked. "But, I don't think they would have only selected you for that. They probably also wanted you because of your talent with languages as well. It's a rare combination and I think that because of them, they thought you were definitely a student they needed to acquire. You don't find someone who's fluent in eight languages everyday." She smiled warmly at me before looking down at her feet.

"Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"No problem, it's only the truth."

"So..." Nyla started hesitantly. "Anyone special back home?"

My smile dropped at the thought of my mother, but I quickly covered it up. I didn't want Nyla asking about it.

"Um, no." I shook my head. "Only my mom."

"Really? No boyfriend?"

There wasn't. Back home, I didn't have many friends, much less any guy who was interested in me. To my peers, I was just the girl whose best friend was a violin.

I hesitantly shook my head to answer Nyla's question, not wanting to have to explain my sad, pathetic social life. But Nyla took my awkwardness to mean something else.

"Or girlfriend?"

"I'm not gay, Nyla."

"Oh, sorry." She chuckled as she looked back out the window.

"What about you?" I asked. "Do you have a special someone?"

". . .There's this guy I like." She whispered. "We've known each other for the longest time, and have only recently became friends due to certain circumstances." She shrugged. "I've liked him since I was fourteen, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel the same way."

"Well if he doesn't, then it's his loss."

For a moment we stood in a comfortable silence, just gazing out the window, until a figure stepped up next to me.

I glanced to my right to see a boy standing next to me with neatly kept brown hair.

"It's miraculous, isn't it? What Earth's scientists, engineers and inventors have come up with, is far beyond anything humans from only fifty years ago could imagine." The boy murmured, pretty much repeating Nyla's words from earlier.

I hummed in agreement and turned fully to look at the boy. Although I expected to see the same warm features on him that I saw on Nyla, his were frigid. Down to the sharp edges of his face to his calculating eyes, he was anything but warm.

"Hey, Kael." Nyla spoke behind me.

I quickly turned to her and asked, "You two know each other?"

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were kids." Nyla answered. "He's here because he's-"

"Because I'm good with chemical compositions." Kael interrupted.

I looked at him expectantly as I waited for him to continue, but he seemed to be done talking. I glanced at Nyla, but she seemed to be staring at Kael. Was he the guy she was talking about? I couldn't see the appeal, but I guess I didn't know him as well as she did.

Before I could say anything else, a voice came through the intercom.

"Students, please take your seats and strap yourselves in. We have reached Solar System 135 and are preparing to land."

The three of us walked back to our seats and as I buckled myself in, I glanced at the two Oceanians. While Kael looked calm and collected, Nyla reflected my feelings of anxiety about going to the school. I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, we landed.

---

The staff led us to a large auditorium already filled with students. Before I could get lost in the crowd, I gripped Nyla's arm. She smiled at me as we made our way to our seats.

After we sat down, I noticed a girl with pale skin and platinum blonde hair to my right. Sitting atop her head was a pair of cat-like ears the same color of her hair and I knew that underneath her hair, instead of finding human ears, I would only find skin. She wasn't human, and my brain supplied the name.

Katian.

The girl turned to face me and I quickly placed a smile on my face, hoping that she wouldn't yell at me for staring at her. As she turned, I noticed that instead of having round pupils, she had slits in the middle of her green eyes.

"Hi, I'm Iris and this is Nyla."

The girl's slightly guarded features opened up as she introduced herself.

"I'm Janelle. I assume you've never seen a Katian before, from your reaction." She chuckled lightly.

I blushed slightly at the reminder of my staring. "Sorry, not in the flesh. This is all new to me."

"It's fine. You guys are humans, right?"

Nyla nodded before she asked, "Do you know what we're doing here?"

I zoned out as Janelle answered as I glanced at the rows in front of us. I noticed that the races stuck close together in their own little cliques.

Next to a cluster of humans (where I noticed Kael was sitting), there was a group of Novians. Their dark skin contrasted with their purple hair and their petite frames looked even smaller compared to the Izaldians. The Izaldians looked pretty similar to humans, except for their larger frames and obsidian horns curling from out of their heads.

"Look!"

I turned my head in the direction where Janelle was pointing and saw an old Izaldian make his way towards the center of the stage.

Standing behind the podium, he addressed the slowly quieting room.

"Hello first year students, I am Headmaster Deveraux. Welcome to Cressida."

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First chapter done! Thanks for reading and be sure to comment and vote if you liked it!