Looking for the Age of Aquarius

Chap 1 (pilot)

My name is Maureen, well, that's my human name. Maureen Stone. My real name sounded prettier but no one uses it anymore – even my family. It's like they all forgot it. You see, I was on a spacecraft that was fleeing my home world in hopes of colonizing a new one. But we crashed into a blue planet, Earth, and for the last ten years, Earth has been my home. Life hasn't been easy though. According to the humans, 'arrival day' was September 17, 2014, however it was almost two of their years before my family started using one of their calendars.

But arrival day as I remember it was horrible. The people of Earth were frightened of us, suspicious of our intent and unwelcoming to say the least. Their reactions provoked us, well some of us to fight back, and the two species began a war, one the humans won.

I am one of them, an Itrejivil, an Atrian, but my people, the Tgorasad (translated means mountain men or the mountain land tribes) had managed to get to the escape vessels: the life pods and drop crafts. Well most of us, a lot of them didn't. It had been pandemonium onboard the ship, people screaming, running everywhere, shoving each other, rushing to gather belongings, find family and, well, panicking as the ship lurched and lost stability.

My family and many of my tribe crammed into a drop ship like a nest of vebtars, some sitting two a seat, holding onto others. There was hardly room to breathe. But we weren't the only ones, loads of people escaped. Most of the life pods and drop crafts jettisoned safely, the automatic functions kicking in as they plummeted though the Earth's atmosphere. Unfortunately, many of the life pods had been shot down by human aircrafts. I had been told that approximately 3,184 persons survived the crash, but I think those numbers are optimistic, because I think it includes the number of people who died in the months that followed as well. Maybe.

Here's what I found out from our Iksayen: Several of the drops ships had landed on land, but many fell into the Mississippi River or in some of the vast areas of coastal marshland, swamps and bayous. Good thing, too. The people who landed on land had been captured, if not shot on sight, and hoarded into a place called the Sector – a concentration camp for the Itrejivil and Tgorasad, the Atrians. We, our drop craft, had landed in a marshy area, and we used the cover the plants and mud gave us to escape. Apparently the barking and baying creatures, I later found out were called dogs, that the humans used to track us can't follow people in mud, water or swamp, but it had been scary. Some of us had been mauled or fallen prey to creatures I later learned were called alligators. Humans came in boats with guns, but we sunk down into the murky water and moved on, undetected. Of those who remained, many of us became sick and died that first year.

Some three or four hundred or so (again I think those numbers are optimistic) hid in secret locations somewhere in the swamps of Louisiana. One of those places our people built a hidden 'city' and it's known now as Eljida, another place our kind has hidden in is called Ukænos, both areas are safe havens for the Atrians, but nearly impossible to get to. Negea is another compound that is being built, and there is a community in the bayou among the trees and well, you get the picture.

There were other locations that my people tried to congregate in. Two that I know of, they tried to form a 'hidden home' but they had been destroyed in the hunts by the humans and the Itrejivil all supposedly killed. I think another two of them had been bombed.

Not all humans were horrible though. We'd heard that a six-year-old, Emery Whitehill, found the Zwahan Iksen's son, Roman, in her family's shed, and she tried to help him. But the soldiers found him and shot him. He survived, though.

Not everyone was so lucky.

My group, the people from my drop ship, we are mostly Sævad and Cæveh tribes although some Swamad and Zæsak are with us as well. Another drop ship carrying Zæsak, and Dævas landed near ours, and after a few years, we banded together. Mostly we are Tgorasad: the Zæsak, Sævad, Dævas and Cæveh tribes of the northern hemisphere. On the home world our lands were in the northern hemisphere of our planet (called the Wyzgore Rhod by the old ones), which included all of the East Continent and the High Reaches north of the Sekrownoimhorze (the Straight Sea in English), the West Continent (or called the West Isles by the Itrejivil of the south) and the Rimjiour Island chains of the Zæsak, one that is almost as big as your Australia and three close to the size of your New Zealand, and the Gwyzna (the three freshwater emhorze or seas).

Several of the Gwiazhds (the seven great lakes also called The Sisters) and Zwazeka (or great rivers) divided the East Continent territories: The pelashel grokomora of the mountain ranges of the High Reaches of the Sævad lands (what you'd call our palaces) in the pakac of the sjoniskinia (or known as the palacial city) was bordered by two of the Gwiazhds called The Twins; (to the east) the Gwiazhds called The Great Trio of divided the lands of the Sævad from the lush plateaus and fertile plains along the great rivers of the Pæmegor and Dævas (by Palaeolithic era these two tribes were simply known as the Dævas tribes – yes, tribes, always plural as if still indicating that they are of two people). The other two, The Baby and the Red One Fed into the Great Verzeka and into the Gwyzna of the east, then divided into the vast delta span of the Washnodzie Imhorze (the East Sea).

The Cæveh tribes lived mostly along the wide coastal valleys, rivers and the lagoons and bayous of the great rivers on the south of the East Continent and the High Reaches along the Sekrownoimhorze (the Straight Sea) in the Palaeolithic era, until the SekrownoImhorze Wars between the Vwasak and the Cæveh tribes. But that's a long story of invasion, conquest and defeat, then followed by years of overcoming, rout and overthrow only to be repeated again in defiance and defense… What would you expect from two fierce warrior tribes and the Itrejivil desire to expand and conquer?

The vast majority of Itrejivil under the Zwahan Iksen of the Itrejivil lived in the lower hemisphere of our planet, mostly along the coasts, living in lagoons, rivers and bayous territory (not to dissimilar to the area of Louisiana where we landed) and the Wyancuchs – several chains of large volcanic islands and small continents in the Tlyentyck Ojkeah, the Tlyentyck Sea. The Vwasak lived on the northern area of the large Alvidour Continent along the south shore of the Sekrownoimhorze (the Straight Sea) and on Bjalizhe along the Tlyentyck Sea. The Swamad, the agricultural tribe, were mostly on the large Alvidour Continent. The Iwabas, the mystic tribe of Itrejivils, lived in the jungles and dense forests of East Masiga. Then there were the Auswyska that lived on the Neziemia (the island chains) and Vysokan (the smallest continent and it's islands) in the Tlyentyck Ojkeah – the aborigine Zhawan Islander tribes – closely related to the Zwahan tribe (and under the Zwahan Iksen, although they had council representation in the Itrejivil Hwatab).

These four tribes (well, five if you did count the Auswyska) call themselves the Itrejivil tribes – the Itrejivil of the Itrejivil, whereas we are the Itrejivil of the Tgorasad tribes. Yeah, confusing.

Or that is what the elders where I live taught us. I especially had to know our history.

When the hunts died down, those on the outside, we built homes in the bayou, mostly submerged, and did our best to survive. Eventually, some of Tgorasad moved into homes on the edges of the human town of Edendale, but many of the Swamad and Zæsak in our group stayed in the bayou since their markings are so pronounced, so did the Iwabas.

I was raised to someday be Amwur Atedi (meaning Mother of all Atrians), Atriarch Iksen of the Tgorasad, high seat of the Tgorasad Ikseyan, since I am the only child of my mother. Lot to carry as a three year-old. I've sat on the Hwatab (the council of elders) for as long as I remember, paying attention and learning; but for the last five years, I have been taking my position seriously, and I've been active in my Hwatab, leading the council of elders.

I have been taught both human and Itrejivil history and cultural studies, and all the sciences. I was also taught English and Spanish languages as well as Sondiv the Atrian language. I learned to write in human and kwandon, but I prefer kwandon. It's prettier. My guardian mother, Me-ma, prefers I write in the alphabet letters.

But even among my people I'm ubludnak, as my markings are pale, dusky spotting on the side of my face, going down the sides of my neck, on the right they come across my collarbone and down the side of my breast, on my left to my shoulder blades and down my side. My pattern is like a mild form of light splotchy hyperpigmentation, like animal spots, that I can hide with makeup, but I don't bother most of the time. Mine are hardly visible, like many of the Sævad, but I never wear my thick blonde hair up if I am going to be around humans and layer the sides so that it obscures them somewhat.

The Sævad were mostly miners and excavators back on the home world, creators of the aqueducts and cave gardens (which were florescent and beautiful in my opinion) in the mountains and caves in the reaches and highlands, hence the term high tribes. I suppose that's why for some of us our markings are ubludnak; we fluoresce when wet, but the visible contrast of our markings isn't as pounced as the other tribes. That has served us well these last ten years. That, and the procedure to remove our markings. The Cæveh were renown builders and engineers, but their markings are more pronounced than ours, but still not as dark as some other tribes.

The Dævas are known as the cultivators and healer tribe of the Tgorasad, but they were not as mystical as the Iwabas are. Because they lived mostly in the fertile areas along the rivers, deltas and lakes they are darker skinned with liner and oval markings all over their face, neck, arms and torso for camouflage in foliage. Then there are the Zæsak, our warrior tribe, who lived along the coasts and were mostly they were seafaring, their markings are bold and fluoresce bright. But as happens throughout centuries, our port cities were blended, Zæsak, Cæveh and Sævad, mostly the first two since the Sævad remained in the high reaches and cave cities and the Dævas preferred the plains and farms of the East Continent along the canals, rivers and bayous of the Gwiazhds and the freshwater Gwyzna and the Sekrownoimhorze – the Straight Sea .

When I was twelve, some of my family went to New Orleans for a few days, and someone told Me-ma and Nanina that they looked like a Trill, whatever that is. I found out later they were trekkies; people in matching knit fabric costumes in bright red, gold and blue. Me-ma called them weirdoes.

Now ten years later, almost the age of 17, my Me-ma and my guardian-father decided that it's safe enough for me to attend high school. The thing is, after I was enrolled, we found out that the local officials announced that seven of the Atrians from the Sector would be attending school as well. I was so excited. More of our kind are starting at the same time, all of them my age. Two of my Iksen were not as pleased as I was, but in the end my vote in the Hwatab was considered and so here I am on the stairs in the school atrium, one of the new girls, and I'm hardly noticed by anyone since everyone is talking about the arrival of the Atrian seven. Well a few seem to be curious, glancing at me and my two 'cousins', Loraine and Justin, but I'm too excited to see the seven from the Sector, to meet them and talk to them.

Across the landing from where I and my two cousins are, I see a face I recognize. Standing by a very pretty blonde in a very fashionable outfit, was Zoeda, a girl I remembered from the ship: always angry, thought quite highly of herself, Iwabastribe, and cunning. Me-ma had warned me to keep away from her when we'd been onboard ship. The second thing I noticed was that I couldn't see her markings. I quickly looked away when she turned her head in my direction and hoped she didn't notice me staring. What is she doing here?

I was about to say something to Justin, a boy from the Sævad miners, when the doors opened and the excitement (and in some cases annoyance) of the other students drew my attention.

I looked down in time to see them walk in. The noise escalated as the Atrians were made to stand in a line facing us.

"Calm down," Loraine, my cousin so-to-speak, admonished me through clenched teeth. We've been like sisters since birth, well, since I was three.

"But we will finally know how many there are in the Sector and if they are all right, if they managed to salvage anything from the ship before the humans took over and to find out if the missing are in the Sector," I replied softly, hoping only she heard me. On the other side of her, Justin scowled. Apparently not.

Loraine turned to fully face me, leaning in close so only I would hear her. "You are to maintain a low profile, hear me?"

"For the protection of our people," I said softly the same time she did. "Yeah, I know," I admitted sadly. My first concerns must always be to the safety and welfare of my people. But I have so many questions I want to ask, so many things I want to know.

The Atrian boy on the far left scanned the faces of the other students as the Atrian girl next to him said something to him. She looked intimidated as did the two on the far right. But standing in the middle, a girl with dark curly hair and a tall boy stood facing the students defiantly, unafraid. I couldn't take my eyes off the taller, muscular boy. He had very short, dark brown hair and very well built, watching the students mocking and talking about him and his friends with a bold confidence as if what they thought of him didn't matter to him in the least.

I completely ignored the group of boys standing on the other side of Justin as they verbally sized up the new arrivals, not that I couldn't hear their snide remarks of the Atrian girls' looks. The Atrian boy on the left seemed to be staring at someone in particular with a look of recognition, and I followed his gaze; his eyes were focused on one girl in particular, steady enough that I hear someone on the other side of me comment, "Sees something he likes?"

"You can look but you can't touch, freak," her friend said.

I looked back down, watching the muscular Atrian as he squared his shoulders and stood proudly as if hardly caring he was on display. I could almost hear him think, 'That's right, take a good look.'

As the seven were led away, Justin touched my arm. "Time to go to class."

I nodded silently, wondering who the boy was and what tribe he belonged to.

My first day was not so bad. I managed to avoid Zoeda. I have several lessons with the Atrians, and I made a new friend, Amy, much to Loraine's annoyance. There was some altercation and some insults were exchanged in first period; a boy named Erik made a snide remark about the Atrians remaining quite during the pledge of allegiance. "We're not citizens," I heard the cute muscular Atrian say.

"Oh, that's right, you're Martians," Erik sneered.

"Well technically Martians are from Mars. We're from a far superior planet," the Atrian in front of them said, but the banter was squelched when the teacher started the lesson.

In Chemistry, I saw the muscular Atrian already seated at one of the desks and tried not to stare. He was leaning back in his seat, legs stretched out, arms crossed, watching everyone. He moved his feet as I walked by him, and I sat down in the desk on the right, diagonally in front of him. As I pulled out my notebook from my bag, I snuck a peek and caught him watching me, but he turned his head and spoke to the Atrian boy with curly hair.

Beside the boy with curly hair sat another Artian girl with straight black hair; they both had prominent linear spotted markings on both cheekbones and a striated pattern on both sides of their necks. They both reminded me of what I'd been told of the Swamad tribes. I looked at the three of them sitting in a row, wondering how they felt about always being stared at. As if to answer my question, the muscular one turned and looked at me, his eyes narrowing inquiringly, and I quickly turned to face the front of class.

I waited, fully alert, hoping to hear the Atrian's names called when Mr. Jacobsen called roll, but he skipped them. I suppose there was no point; naturally he'd know their names.

I like Mr. Jacobson with his pristine lab coat, dark skin, salt-and-pepper goatee and glasses. He's funny, in a nerdy kind of way, and I know his classes will be interesting.

All of the seven were in my Biology class, but so was Zoeda, sitting next to the pretty blonde, popular girl. Miss Benton, our Biology teacher was nice, but Mr. Burke, her assistant, frightened me in the way he looked at the Atrians. The Atrian girl with curly hair, sat behind me. She looked like she'd rather be anywhere else than here.

I have to take U.S. History this year, a prerequisite for Government, which is requirement for graduation, as do apparently do the seven Atrians. Mr. Hoover seems all right. Firm, no nonsense. I sat next to Emery Whitehill and the Atrian girls. (I knew this made Loraine unhappy, but Emery did try to talk to her.) Justin who got stuck on the side of the room, watched us, his customary scowl in place.

Sophia introduced herself right away and then introduced me to Teri and Lynne (the Atrian girl in my Chemistry class) who sat on the other side of Sophia, and her brother Roman. Sophia was really nice. I could tell she was intimidated by the other students, not that I blamed her, but Mr. Hoover asked for our attention before I could ask her what the other's names were, the muscular Atrian in particular and the other two boys who sat behind us.

Teri still looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. And although I don't have any Atrians in my Spanish class, (yes, I have to formally take a language to graduate) three of them were in my Advanced Algebra lesson, including the muscular one. I finally found out his name was Drake, after an incident at lunch when Roman spoke to Emery, most likely a greeting, but two of the boys in school took offense and when Drake stepped in to defend Roman, he'd told him, "Drake, it's not worth it," and made him walk away with him. So much for trying to make friends.

Back at home, Me-ma warned me to be careful of whom I befriend. "They will become curious, and you have to be on constant guard on what you say. Don't start lying to protect your secrets, lies have a way of becoming complicated, and you'll eventually be found out."

"But I thought that—"

"You were sent to school to get an education, not to make friends," she said, walking away.

End of discussion.

Great.

~~~~~o~~~~~

When I entered Chemistry the next day, Drake had his feet stretched out again. "Excuse me please," I said, stopping beside him.

He looked up at me and for a moment I was dumb struck by how blue his eyes were. He smirked and shifted his feet to let me pass. I murmured, "Thank you," to him, still staring at his eyes, but he turned his head and leaned toward his friend.

Just as well, I sighed, setting my things down. I don't know what I'd expected, but it was apparent he had no interest in me.

"Miss Stone, please be seated," Mr. Jacobson admonished me.

I looked up suddenly and quickly sat down. I hadn't realized I'd been holding up class, staring at Drake. I quickly set my pen, notebook and i-Tablet on my desk.

"Tomorrow you will all be assigned lab partners," Mr. Jacobsen said, before turning on the hologram projector. "And to let you know, there will be a quiz on Thursday, so I expect you to have learned the elementary table."

Several people around me groaned, but I simply turned on my i-Tablet and picked up my pen.

That day at lunch, Taylor, the most popular girl in school, approached Loraine, Justin and me just as we'd found a place to eat. "You're the Stones, right? You live on Mallow Crescent," she said, indicating Loraine and me.

"Yes, Loraine and Justin are my cousins," I said as if well-rehearsed, which it had been, to which Loraine gave me an annoyed grimace.

"Yeah, right," Taylor said as if it didn't matter. "Let me see your phone?"

Loraine and I both turned to pull our phones out of our bags, but Justin had his out first. "Why?" he asked.

Taylor tapped her phone to his. "It's a party at the abandoned farm house. Everyone's going; you should come." She tapped her phone to mine next.

"Thank you. We'll be there," I said, looking at the invite as Taylor walked away.

"Me-ma won't let you," Justin stated.

"She will if you go," I point out to him. "Besides, what harm can there be going to a party?"

Loraine rolled her eyes as she sipped her green drink, but I could tell that she wanted to go as much as I did. In fact, she asked me what I was going to wear, but Justin cut us off. "We're not going to talk about clothes and makeup."

"All right, but then we're not going to talk about fishing or cars either," Loraine said and I snickered.

"Then we can talk about which TV show we're going to watch tonight," he said and bit off the corner of his sandwich.

"Benton Heights," Loraine and I said and he frowned.

"You can watch monster trucks in your own unit," Loraine added.

As I sat eating my sandwich and green drink Nanina had packed that morning, I noticed that Roman was drawing a lot of attention from the other students for talking to Emery about the charity she was supporting. At least he was trying to make human friends, But I saw Emery shake her head. Why? Aren't we – I mean, aren't they allowed to join school clubs?

As he walked away, Erick and a few other boys stood up and confronted him and tensions in the room escalated. I looked at Loraine, but she shook her head. The next thing I saw was Drake and Teri walking up to support Roman, but Drake stopped her from doing anything rash. Roman and Teri walked away, Teri with a look that given any provocation she'd hit one of the boys, but Drake shook his finger in warning at Erik, a silent declaration that he was lucky this time that things hadn't come to blows, before following his friends.

"See, it's nothing," Loraine said as the three Atrians walked away.

"I dunno, it – it has to be hard, you know," I said, glad that Drake and Roman took the more mature way out of the situation.

But the next day, as I was walking with Loraine in the corridor, we saw three boys, Erick, Brock and another I didn't know, harassing Sophia. Roman came to her rescue, but a brawl broke out. Loraine and I drew close together against the lockers as we watched, but the S.E.U. guards broke up the fight, shoving the human boys away as two of them pinned Roman to the wall. As the guards took Roman away, I hurried over to Sophia. "Are you all right?" I asked, but she nodded, even though I could see she was obviously shaken up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, her eyes, haunted with fear, following her brother.

Drake and Teri came up to us, and Drake demanded to know what had happened. Sophia told them it was nothing, but I shook my head and told him briefly what I had seen. Drake punched the locker hard in anger, and I flinched at his violent outburst as Teri moved closer to Sophia. "Thanks, but we got it from here," she said snidely.

I looked at Sophia, hoping she'd say something, but she looked away as Loraine touched my arm. "We have to get to class," Loraine said.

"Mind if I walk with you?" I asked Sophia, gently touching her arm. I knew she was still upset over the incident and worried for her brother. "We're going in the same direction anyway."

Teri glared at me, but Sophia nodded, a small smile stretching her lips slightly. "Thank you," she murmured softly.

Drake stared at me with a look I couldn't decipher as Loraine and I turned and walked in silence to Biology next to Sophia. "Not everyone is like that," I told her.

"Want to bet?" Drake said angrily behind us. I turned my head to look at him but he looked beyond me, refusing to meet my questioning gaze.

That night as I picked at my dinner, I thought about the way the human students were treating the Atrians, and about the boys harassing Sophia. I had heard that Teri had nearly gotten into a fight with two boys except that the S.E.U. guards had stepped in and told her to go to class. I wondered what had provoked her. And the protesters were in front of the school every morning when the seven Atrians arrived at school and when they boarded the bus to return to the Sector. That had to make things uncomfortable for them as well.

It amazed me that they were holding up as well as they were, but they did stick together, and I was sure that helped. I doubted that if I was in their shoes I'd be able to handle it with as much grace as Sophia did. I was not a fighter like Teri, but I did tend to stand up for my friends – for my people. Words, I had been taught as a child to use my words, find an amicable solution, to resolve conflicts with reason and tact. Justin was more of a hothead like Teri, and Loraine was bookish, she'd back away unless cornered. I had hoped that if the other students got to know the Atrian seven that it might be possible for some of the animosity to die down, but apparently I was wrong.

"What's wrong," Me-ma asked.

Loraine began telling her what was going on at school. "It's not all that bad," I said, not wanting Me-ma to pull us out of school. Loraine shot me an incredulous stare. "Not all of them are awful. Some like Emery, Amy and Taylor are rather nice to them."

"A small few in a school of over four hundred," Loraine stated despondently.

"Five hundred, according to the website. And besides, you and I both know that other minorities had the same problems at first. Look how they treated the blacks, and that took ages," I pointed out.

Nanina put down her fork. "Sweetie, you can't rush things. Humans still don't trust us, and they might not ever."

"And they won't unless we show them that we are just people," Me-ma said gently. "It will take time."

"It took blacks nearly a hundred years." I put my hands over my face with my elbows on the table and groaned. "It's not fair."

"Elbows off the table, Maureen," Me-ma admonished me. "And sit up straight. Both of you."

"Yes, Me-ma," Loraine and I said in unison as I did as told.

~~~~~o~~~~~

The next day, Jason Mason and Byron Walsh, two guys my age in our extended 'family' enrolled. I knew that it was because of the trouble the Atrians were having, but it was like having your brother, sister and two cousins in your school – in the same year you are. What did the other two Iksen think I was going to do, announce that I was Atrian to the seven? Give a 'I have a Dream' speech in the quad? I know better than that. Luckily the seating arrangements had already been made in all my classes, so I wouldn't have them sitting next to me. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I didn't like my 'cousins', but I did wonder who else the Ikseyan would enroll in Marshall High School. But then, most of the Atrians in my 'family' had prominent markings, except for those who had opted to have them removed, and the pain involved discouraged most of them from doing it, even if it meant hiding or living underground.

When I entered Chemistry, Drake had his feet stretched out again. "Good morning," I said, stopping by his desk.

Drake stared at me as if no one had ever said that to him.

"May I get by?" I asked, pointing at his foot. He pulled his foot under his desk, and I smiled and nodded as I said, "Thank you."

"Sure," he said and opened his book. A clear dismissal.

I sat down in my seat and took out my things for class. Across the room, Jason frowned and shook his head.

"I hope you all studied for your quiz last night," Mr. Jacobson said as he handed a stack of papers to the people in the front row to pass back, and everyone moaned. "Put everything away, take one and pass the others back. You have one hour."

I took a copy of the quiz and handed the remaining back, glancing briefly at the Atrians. The boy with curly hair gave me a quizzical look, and Drake turned in my direction as well. I could feel my face blush as I quickly turned around. What was wrong with me? I know he's good looking, but really, he's only a boy. I read the quiz over and smiled. None of the questions seemed all that difficult, but I took my time making sure I was thorough and as accurate as possible. But then with the elemental table prominently displayed on the wall, several of the questions were literally in our faces. Each time I looked up, I could see several others peeking at the poster as well; however, Mr. Jacobsen didn't seem to care if we did.

When I finished my exam, I walked it up to Mr. Jacobsen's desk. Although I wasn't the first one done, most of the class was still writing. I turned to walk back to my seat and almost collided into Drake. "Oh, I'm sorry," I muttered in surprise. "I didn't see you."

"That's surprising," he said and huffed a soft laugh. "You had no problem seeing me before."

I could feel my face warm as I stared at him in embarrassment. "I – I. Excuse me," I stammered, knowing full well I was blushing again. I moved forward quickly and returned to my seat. When the bell rang, I took my time gathering my things so he could leave first. I didn't need another reason to gape at him again.

"What did you think you were doing staring at that Atrian in Chemistry?" Jason snapped at me, pulling me aside after class. I could see Drake and his friends in the hall, and he turned when he heard the word Atrian, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Nothing," I replied, well, almost shrieked, yanking my arm free of Jason's grasp. "I thanked him, and he looked at me funny." Drake was still watching us, even though his friend with the curly hair was talking to him.

"You were standing there like an idiot," Jason snapped, although he'd lowered his voice.

"I was not," I hissed back. "I—" But I had been, and now as I quickly glanced in Drake's direction, I could see he was still watching us.

"Don't," Jason said as Byron and Loraine walked over to us.

My eyes snapped to his. "What?" I said, louder than I intended, but he was making me angry. "Don't be polite to them? Don't say hello? Don't make eye contact? Is that what we were taught to be – to be rude to people?"

Jason looked up and exhaled loudly. "No, but—"

"No buts. If I want to talk to them, I will. If I want to befriend them, I will," I said and jabbed my finger in his chest. "And you're not to tell me not to."

I shoved him out of my way and hurried to Biology. Drake looked at me as I approached. "Hi," I tried to say in a friendly tone, but so did Justin, and I flinched as in frustration at my 'cousin' who made it sound contrite.

Drake had said, "Hi," back to us. When I turned to smile at Loraine because he'd actually spoken to me, I noticed that Drake hadn't turned his head, he was still watching me as I walked away.

Now feeling conscientious that he was watching me, I tried to slow my pace as I hurried to class, but I knew he was behind me. Get a grip, I admonish myself.

In Biology, Miss Benton kept walking around the room as she talked, and when I looked up at her, between taking notes on her lecture, I tried not to stare at Drake, who was leaning back in his chair, but he saw me, only this time his expression was curious not dismissive like before. I tried to keep my attention on our teacher or on my notes, but each time I turned to look at Miss Benton, Drake seemed to be in my line of vision. Across the room by the windows, Miss Benton began asking questions, calling out names at random. It became clear after the first few who had read the chapter and who hadn't. My question wasn't one of the hard ones, but when I looked up to answer her, Drake was staring at me. I averted my gaze to Miss Benton as I gave my answer, but when she told me I was correct, I couldn't help myself as my gaze lowered to where Drake was sitting. He winked at me, making me blush as I quickly turned my head. Why in the world am I so enthralled with him?

"Could you be any more obvious?" Loraine whispered to me.

"Loraine Stone, answer the question," Miss Benton said.

I smirked, I knew that Loraine hadn't heard the question, but then I had been so distracted that I hadn't either. I looked at my cousin and waited, trying not to smile, but after a short interval as Loraine tried to come up with an acceptable answer, Emery raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Whitehill?"

Emery answered the question, and Miss Benton nodded. In the row behind me, Drake smirked and turned his head to say something to Roman. I looked at my tablet. I'd typed Drake's name in my notes.

~~~~~o~~~~~

Friday night Loraine, Justin, Jason and of course Byron and I all arrived at the abandoned farmhouse on a back country road. The party was already in full swing as we walked up to where everyone was congregating. Music blasted as the students stood around, talking and drinking from big red cups.

"I'll check on what's being served," Justin suggested, and he and Byron walked over to where the drinks had been set up. We can't drink sodas, it has caffeine and although I've never had one, we're not to drink beer either. A few people were dancing, others simply stood around talking as Loraine and I slowly moved forward, looking to see who all had been included. I saw Emery talking to Grayson; Amy was with her two other friends, laughing. Taylor and Zoeda were talking to two boys; well, Taylor was – Zoeda looked bored. I'd been a week at this school and hardly knew anyone.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that none of the seven Atrians had been invited.

Byron and Justin returned holding cups filled with water. "It's all there is," Justin stated.

I shrugged. It was better than nothing and if I played it off right, no one need be the wiser. A black boy, Lukas, came up to us, made some dance moves as he asked us to dance. Loraine and I did for a bit, until the song changed to a slower one.

I was just starting to relax, feeling like introducing myself to another small group of students, when Taylor came running back to the group shouting, "Hey, you need to see this."

Everyone followed, some running after her. When I got there, I moved to stand beside Byron as Erik demanded, "Who did this?" Someone had tied Brock, (I heard his name muttered around me) to a postbox mounted on an old metal spoke wheel.

Suddenly Drake appeared, saying, "We're going to have a little talk," as he removed his zip up hoodie, wearing a white tank that showed his markings clearly in the moonlight. My heart quickened as I watched him, knowing what was happening. He and Erik stood nose to nose, and several people began to move back, giving them room for the impending fight.

"This ends tonight," Erik said to Drake angrily, and Drake gasped his shoulder.

"For once we agree," Drake said, and then Drake head-butted Erik and hit him with a sound right hook. Erik stumbled to the ground, his nose bleeding. Drake started yelling at everyone that he was sick of it, it was to be over, their being messed with everyday.

I was stunned at his anger, although why I was didn't make sense; he was right, enough was enough. The three Atrians who stood behind Drake, boys I've never seen before, large, strong-looking guys, stood firmly supporting Drake. One of them nodded, another flexed his muscles, making fists. They looked ready to fight as Drake said he and the others were done taking their crap and that they would retaliate if it didn't stop.

I wanted to agree with him, but I held my tongue.

Then suddenly someone rushed at Drake, and for a moment I thought they were going to fight, but it was Roman. Justin was trying to pull me back, to come away as Roman and Drake argued. "You should be fighting alongside me instead of against me," I heard Drake shout.

"Cops," someone shouted, and I turned, see the flashing lights.

"We are leaving, now," Byron said as Jason grabbed my arm, pulling me away. "Now, Maureen," Byron shouted as I ran, following them toward Byron's car. Everyone was scrambling to get away, and even though I tried to look back, Justin grabbed my hand, forcing me to keep up with him. When we jumped into Byron's car, the car pulling away even before I had time to close the door, I wondered if the Atrians got away safely.

All the way home the guys talked about the close call and Drake's standing up for the Atrians. "He's right you know," I heard Loraine say. "Enough is enough."

"I hope so," I said, looking out of the window.