Ryan
I learned the hard way that downing so much Medical Flora Pico was a good way to cause an upset stomach. Ironic as it was meant to sooth that very problem. I wound up drinking a bit of water as Lia looked at me as if I was crazy. Seth was giving me a similar look; however, Lia's was full of endearment and his was judgmental.
When I'd filled a bucket-which was red with deep yellow flowers adorning the rim- with my Flora Pico vomit, Lia handed me another one. Which, I did not use more than a couple of [ten] times.
"Ryan, nia eva Medico Flora Pico vo ju, san?" Lia told me when I vomited the final time. (Ryan, no more Medical Flora Pico for you, alright?)
The stomachache did eventually subside and Lia went to her room as I headed back to Aunt Miana's house.
"Sa ka ju uz vo zayn?" Aunt Miana asked and my dad told me what she said. Evidentially, I was at Seth and Sara's for the entirety of the weekend. (How was your weekend [bottom of week])
I told her it was fine and moved on. No one need know how much of the weird medicine I had drunk.
A few weeks later, we went out to another Say Netta Kivox and this time I just bought some of everything. Even the weird looking anochovicx, which despite sounding like the English "anchovy" were not fish. They were chopped up Flora Pico cooked in xi oyl [coconut oil] and pickled bananas. And it was delicious.
"Ryan!" Lia shouted. "Ju ka ta bi zax anochovicx ka ma Flora Pico ent ko! Ju hia kali ti miz ju foja kafïn." (Ryan! You shouldn't be eating anochovicx it has Flora Pico in it! You're going to make yourself sick!)
Once Sara translated that statement, I understood Lia's concern. And I did the most mature thing I could think of. I stuck my tongue out at her. I had expected Lia to laugh and tell me to "grow up" like most Earth girls would do; I was not, however, expecting the pure amount of rage that Seth sent my way.
Evidentially, it was a major insult to respond to someone's comment [especially one of concern] that way. It was considered a way of saying they weren't worth your actual attentiveness.
Lia and I had a bit of a falling out. This prompted me to realize that girl troubles were a majorly intergalactic problem.
Even on another planet, I'm bad at impressing girls, go figure. was one of my many thoughts during the silent treatment.
And as Lia was angry with me- and by extension Sara- and Seth and I weren't exactly on good terms I spent the week alone in my Aunt's house with nothing but books written in a language I could barely form a proper sentence in.
One of the days that week I had my dad drop me off at the local Espial-Writ Naiu Centrï.[ Library] and I began exploring.
The Librarian-which they called mia Homina vo mia Espial-Writ Naiu Centrï.- came over and began talking to me. I understood enough of the context to know what was happening. And I could communicate my lack of language skills better than anyone. She was no more than a year or two older than me judging by her looks.
The conversation went a bit like this:
Librarian: Mesa, ji hia Acsedorra, ka ji eck ju vi ock tamina?(Hi, I'm Acsedorra, can I help you with anything?) (1.)
Me: *nods* Bu, ji Sapphiereanna ko nia kali!(But, my Sapphieran is not good!)
Librarian: Ro ko li espial-writ ent Sapphiereanna linger. *hands me a book*( Here is a book on Sapphieran language.)
The book was in English, thankfully. I smiled at her and she pointed to a reference page in the back for Sapphieran lessons. Evidentially, a small planet in a nearby galaxy spoke a form of English and for trading, it was nice for some people to speak at least a little.
I checked the book out and headed back to Aunt Miana's where Lia glared at me from Sara's front porch.
"Ji hia jala," I told her for the fiftieth time. She looked adorable when she funnily upset but this made my heart melt and collapse into a thousand pieces. (I'm sorry.)
When Lia hadn't forgiven me over 4 weeks later my dad began to worry because I hadn't been hanging out with my only friends in the galaxy. That statement seemed crazy to me. On Earth, the galaxy had no life on it anywhere but our planet. In Sapphire, though, every planet had at least a few dozen intelligent creatures on it. I became much more acquainted with the librarian, who insisted that I call her by her first name. Saying Acsedorra[ah-say-dor-ra] took some practice on my part but I did get it eventually.
One afternoon I was sitting near the checkout counter as Acsedorra was studying for an Eearthling test. As she did that I read one of the few books she had found that were 100% in English. This specific book was about the different foods and medicines in Sapphire. When I got to the Medico Flora Pico, I commented on it with my limited skill in Sapphieran.
"Eet ka li kalay oïp vi Flora Pico?"
Acsedorra looked at me like I was a weirdo.
"Ka ju ment ma ji eet ta vira mia felovor?" she questioned. I shook my head.(Do you mean have I ever not liked the taste?)
"Nia. Ka ko eet miz ju mmmmm-tao ko mia writ?- vomïten?"(No. Has it ever made you uhhh-what's the word?- vomit?)
At that point Acsedorra began laughing so hard that it was contagious. She was probably the most laid back librarian ever.
When we finally calmed down she told me that she'd never had that bad of an experience and that she'd like to hear the story sometime. I nodded and agreed than went back to my book. And she back to her studying.
"Sa ka ju espial ro nuamrï ent Eearthling, Ryan?" she asked a few minutes later, pointing to a quote by Thomas Edison. (How do you say this number in Eearthling, Ryan.)
"Ten thousand," I told her. "Ent Sapphiereanna?"(In Sapphieran?)
"Yacko."
"Yacko," I repeated, making sure I was right. She nodded. When the library had to close I waved goodbye to Acsedorra and walked back to my Aunt's. Lia still wouldn't speak to me by the time the optional school was starting. That was one thing I did like, school as not mandatory and you could show whenever you pleased. Though, it worked better because there were not that many people who went at one time. Then again, there were a few people who practically lived in the school building, going to every class offered and spending the rest of the time in the tiny school library. This reminded me of my friend, Jason. And I was instantly homesick.
Whilst, the original plan had been for me to attend school with Seth, Sara, and Lia so I would have people more familiar with the world around at all times, it didn't go well. My dad decided that since I wasn't even on speaking terms with the trio's oovoo, going to school with them wasn't in anyone's best interest. So, thus, I wound up in the library on the first day of school.
"Mesa, Ryan," Acsedorra called from her office. "Ka ju hano ji tao cuva vo espial-writx?"(Hey, Ryan. Can you hand me that box of books?)
One of the tables had a box full of books and I picked it up and handed it to her. She smiled. "Ry hia ju ta ma cinte, ji vira ilka!" (Why aren't you at school you love learning!)
I told her I didn't think my Sapphieran was good enough yet and she accepted that without any further questioning. We took advantage of the library being pretty well vacated, considering that school was optional you'd think at least a few people would take some time to return overdue books or something. We organized the books and when we finished went to study.
"Acsedorra, hia ano hia ju?" I asked. Yeah, yeah, probably not the most polite question to ask a lady but since when did trying my hardest get me anywhere? It lost me all of my friends and left me with only family and the librarian to talk to. Ascedorra didn't seem to mind that much.(How old are you?)
"Ji hia yack mida, ry?" she told me. FIFTEEN? I thought. She wasn't older than me at all. She was the same age as me.(I'm fifteen, why?)
"Curïble!" I defended, it seemed to work. (Curious!)
After a couple of months of Lia, Seth, and Sara not speaking to me I began to resent my dad for not telling me of where I was from until some weirdo Extra Terrestrials showed up in his neighborhood telling him he needed to. I eventually gave up on my friends ever speaking to me again and told myself that Lia and I really were from different worlds and shouldn't try to change that.
I spent all of my [spare] time at the library with Acsedorra. And I discovered that she had only gone to school long enough to learn how to read. Meaning she didn't even finish two years of schooling. And this was acceptable. I didn't see how no one tried to keep her in school longer than that. But, it was all explained in a personal conversation I asked one day.
"Acsedorra, ry ka nia yack espial ju ti kali ti cinte?" I asked.(Acsedorra, why did no one tell you to go to school?)
It was just a conversation started. It turned out both of her parents had died when she was 7 years old and the Kiabachi had tried to invade Haxe. She grew up mostly by herself, taking refuge in the library which she had been put in charge of at the tender age of nine. I was starting to realize that the galaxy wasn't just rainbows and bunny rabbits. It was just as dark a place as Earth once you peeled back the layers of pseudo-happiness.(2.)
A/N: Thanks for reading. :D
1.- "Acsedorra"= "Ac"[one] "se"[who] "dor"[lose] "ra" [win] in a ancient Sapphire language.
The ancient belief of bad things happening right before the good ones.
2. We all know people like that. They're "perfect" but behind that is usually something deep and dark they want to keep hidden.
Also: I cannot decide if Ryan and Acsedorra should become a couple or if Ryan is too hurt by Lia's "betrayal" though, it doesn't feel like their was really any chemistry between Ryan and Lia to begin with.