A bit of an authors note. At the start of the year I went into detail about why I have been on a huge hiatus the past two years. And while I've worked through the emotional and real life things that have been stopping me. This moment in the start was also a factor. I was really worried about how I could handle it as a writer, and how everyone would take it in reading. So all the comments and support for it really made me feel better about it all. So thank you.


Do you ever do something and immediately regret it? Like you didn't think something through, or didn't choose your words carefully enough, and then you just said or did it and feel like your entire world is just going to come crashing down around you? That sinking feeling that takes hold of your stomach and suddenly you have no idea whats going to happen next. Everything fixates on that one moment. Sometimes you wish you could take it back. And other times it's just something to try and learn from. Be a better person in the future.

Mertle slapped Caitlynn. Slapped her hard. Everyone stared intently, not saying anything. And she still felt that seething anger towards her for what she said. And it felt good. She'd do it again in a heart beat. There was no regret as her hand burned, taking everything in her power to not go at her again.

"H-how dare you?!" she yelled. Her voice coursing with anger. "I will not let you walk in here and say something like that. Especially not to Lilo."

"You knew?" Caitlynn asked. Still stunned at what happened. "And you're just okay with it?"

Lilo looked between the two. Completely oblivious as to what just happened.

"Um-" she tried to get between them, but Victoria held her back. "Whats...?"

Victoria just shook her head. Things were getting heated and it was probably best to keep her out of it. As long as she could at least. She held Lilo's hand, giving silent support while Mertle laid into the new girl. Which was a surprise in itself.

Caitlynn's voice was getting louder and louder. She had no idea where this was coming from all of a sudden. She thought at least Mertle would think the same as her. They actually seemed to connect a bit in the small amount of time they spent together before. But if that's how it was, that's how it was.

"It's disgusting!"

"You're disgusting!" Mertle shot back.

"Me?" Caitlynn gestured to herself. "I'm perfectly normal. You're the weird ones. Have you even looked at them? Just tolerating them is bad enough. This island is full of them. I don't understand how you can be fine with it. And to call one your 'boyfriend?" She looked towards Lilo who went completely still. "Gross. You're a freak. A Xeno-"

"Don't you dare say it again," Mertle said as she got back into Caitlynn's face. "I don't care what you do or what you think. But you will not say a single bad thing about Lilo."

"Or what?"

"Or you're gonna be lucky to dance again."

Caitlynn stared Mertle down. They were almost the exact same height. And putting them side by side you'd almost mistake them for sisters. For Mertle it was almost like looking in a mirror. And Caitlynn couldn't stand what stood before her. She was more than willing to call this bluff.

"You and all your friends-" she quickly motioned to everyone before settling and pointing directly at Lilo "- and especially her are xenofreaks."

Mertle kept her eyes locked directly on Caitlynn. Her face just inches away. She nodded and turned around. She felt Caitlynn smirking behind her, but she just needed a bit of distance.

"Never dancing again it is then," she said before turning and leaping at Caitlynn.

Both stumbled to the ground. Teresa, Elena, and Yuki quickly moved out of the way of their tumbling bodies. The two quickly started hitting each other before they even finished rolling across the ground. Lilo made a move to stop them but Victoria held on tighter. She wanted to say something. Try to stop them. But no one was willing to get in the way. And the one person who was was being told 'no.'

Lilo wanted to scream out. She had no idea what was happening or why. But what Caitlynn said sent a chill through her. Made her feel dirty. It felt familiar.

Mertle however didn't care what she was called. Hell. Even a couple years ago she might even be on the same side as Caitlynn. But not now. And she wasn't going to stand for it. All she saw was red as she brought her fist down as hard as she could. This was likely the only chance she was going to get this. And even if she gets kicked out of hula she wasn't going to stop. As far as she was concerned? Caitlynn deserved this.

Caitlynn winced and grit her teeth, she was trying her best to defend herself but Mertle was on top and was relentless. "Get off me you crazy-"

"Apologize!" Mertle shouted. She never stopped hitting. "Say! You're! Sorry."

"Get! Off!"

Neither one was willing to back down. But both instantly froze as soon as the door to the hall slammed shut.

"What is going on here?!" Moses said as he rushed over. "Mertle, get off of her."

Mertle looked up at her teacher and quickly looked to all of her friends. Looks of shock covering all of their faces. But she could see the small looks of approval. She glared down at Caitlynn one last time before finally getting up. Moses stared down at the two, arms crossed but trying his best not to yell.

"Now tell me what's going on," he said.

Before Mertle could get a word in, Caitlynn stepped forward.

"We were talking and Mertle just attacked me," she said. Pulling as much sympathy as she could. Going the distance with a quivering voice, rubbing at the parts that she was pretty sure were starting to bruise. "This never happened back home. Kumu didn't tell me..."

"Mertle," he said as he turned to her. "I know you and Lilo have had some fights in the past. But I thought you were passed this. Especially now. You're not a little girl any more."

"But Kumu-"

"No 'buts,'" he interrupted. "This is not the 'Aloha Spirit' we want to show our special guests."

"But-"

"No."

Victoria wasn't going to let this go any further. In a way she felt responsible. She finally let go of Lilo's hand a quickly joined Mertle's side. "She called Lilo a 'xenofreak.'"

Kumu took a deep breath, eyes going wide at the word.

"Caitlynn did?" he asked.

The two nodded in unison. He looked to the other girls who all acknowledged this as well. Only Caitlynn wouldn't meet his gaze. Keeping her eyes on the floor. He rubbed the back of his neck as he considered what to do. But there was really only one choice.

"Mertle, please go to my office. We'll be having a talk. Caitlynn..." She looked up at him. Already knowing where this was going. "We have no toleration for slurs of any kind here. Please wait outside. I'll be calling your father. You won't be welcome here again."

"What? But Kumu wanted me to practice-"

"And I'll be speaking to my brother about this."

She instantly went quite. A thousand worries running through her head. Hoping that she wasn't going to lose her chance at hula. Stumbling over a few words, she eventually gave up. Moses motioned towards the door behind him. And that was that. There was nothing left for her here. Bridges burned.


Mertle was quiet and still. Moses stared at her, sitting high in his chair. His hand wiped across his face, unsure of what to do.

"Okay..." he said. "Okay. Well." He could see Mertle flinch with each word. The longer this went on the harder it was going to be. "I know this is nothing really new. You and Lilo had some scuffles when you were younger." She nodded. "But you're older now. No longer little kids. I can't just let this slide. No matter what the reason." He let out a loud sigh.

"I'm sorry," Mertle said. "I just had to do something." Her fists bunched up on her lap. Still shaking from the fight. "Lilo doesn't deserve to have someone like that say a single bad thing about her."

"You two have become a lot closer lately."

Mertle nodded in response.

"Even so," he began while pulling out a piece of paper. "You're gonna be suspended from class for a while. I'm not kicking you out, but there are consequences for fighting." She nodded again. "But between us? I think you did the right thing."


Lilo looked to everyone left in the room. Caitlynn had stormed outside and Mertle was in the office with Moses. Some time had passed and still she was completely stunned. Everything happened so fast.

"Can, um..." She looked to her friends, no one would really meet her eye. "Can someone tell me what just happened?"

The others just looked to one another. No one really wanted to say anything. Even they were pretty shaken by everything that went down. Where to even begin? Teresa knew where to start. She pushed Victoria forward.

"You tell her."

Victoria looked back, a small glare quickly forcing Teresa to the other end of the group. She turned back to face Lilo while shaking her head. She could feel Lilo's eyes set solidly on her before she even met her gaze.

"Well..."

Lilo tiled her head. "Yeah?"

"I kinda found out Caitlynn hates aliens-" before Lilo even had a chance to interject Victoria quickly continued "-and I was going to talk to you about it after class today. But... well? I guess all of that just happened?"

Over a couple of minutes, Victoria recounted the story she previously told the others. Lilo felt the pit in her stomach grow as everything was explained. That familiar feeling took shape. She felt it so many times growing up. The prying eye and camera flashes from tourists. The snide remarks that she did her best to ignore. Pushing them all down further and further.

"So that was a slur," she said. It wasn't a question. There was nothing to question. It all just sank into her. "Xeno..." She couldn't finish it. She wouldn't finish it. Instead she just looked to them all. "And you all knew about this?"

"With Caitlynn?" Victoria asked.

"In general," Lilo said while gesturing around. "All of it. The slur. You've heard it before?"

There was silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. Eventually Elena spoke up. "I heard it at work once..."

"And I've seen it online a lot," said Yuki. "Just a little here and there. This year. It's kind of gotten bigger lately."

"And no one told me?" Lilo looked at them one at a time.

"I." Victoria stumbled on her words. "We didn't want to worry you. You've already got so much going on. And this doesn't feel like something that you can really just do something to get rid of."

"But I have a right to know!" Lilo rubbed her face and eyes. Trying to wipe away everything that was going on. "I thought it was going to be rough, but this? This is awful. I can't believe no one said anything. Why?!"

Everyone was trying to think of something to say. But there was nothing. Not even the start of an apology. If they were being honest with themselves they were just scared. Scared of Lilo being upset. Or getting so worried that she would go off somewhere to try to solve it. Solve something that likely had no solution. Not one that could be done by a single teenager by herself. Not when said teenager was already trying so hard all the time. They just wanted things to be easy. Pretend it wasn't happening. Pretend that the bias and hate didn't exist.

But it did.

Lilo turned and stormed out. She could hear them calling out to her but it was muffled. She wasn't sure if she was angrier with them, Caitlynn, the situation, or herself. She could see the dark clouds begin to swirl overhead. With it came a twinge of pain but it did little to take her mind off the situation at hand.

"I should have known," she thought to herself. "Why didn't I check online?"

She continued to mentally scream at herself as she paced outside the front of the building. Needing some sort of outlet for her anger. It didn't take long for her to spot Caitlynn. Sitting on the tire swing on the old play set on the other side of the hall. She was just rocking back and forth, a little too big for small old rubber tire. It was at least better than sitting on the curb or steps.

Against her better judgment, Lilo approached. She could feel the fire raging inside her, but new better than to lash out. At least she hoped she did.

"Hey," she said.

Caitlynn looked up but didn't respond. She just continue gently swinging back and forth. Her eyes set off somewhere in the distance.

"Hey," she tried again. A little more forceful.

"What do you want?" Caitlynn continued to not look at Lilo.

"I don't know," she said. Lilo leaned against the play set. Gripping tightly onto the wooden beam. "I guess I just wanted to know 'why?'"

"Why what?"

"Why do you hate aliens?"

"Lots of reasons," Caitlynn spat. Mask off, she looked at Lilo with all the disgust she held. "They don't belong here to start. Earth is ours. They don't get to just take it. They're dangerous, freaky. Who knows what they really want? They were about to invade and then we just have to trust their word that they weren't? Yeah right. They're just lying in wait till they can either enslave us or kill us."

Lilo gripped the beam even tighter and grit her teeth. "That's not true."

Caitlynn just rolled her eyes. "It is. But I don't expect you to get it. Calling one of those monsters your boyfriend? One day it's gonna turn on you and eat you or something."

"Stitch loves me."

"Can it even love? How do you know?" Caitlynn stood up with ferocious anger. "You're an idiot if you think it cares about you. And when it finally turns on you it'll all be your fault. And you'll deserve it, xenofreak." Spitting the last of her rant, she stomped off.

Lilo made a move to start after her but stopped. Eventually Caitlynn was out of her sight. But she could still see her sitting there. The tire swaying only slightly. And she screamed. She screamed out in frustration. Angry at so so many things. With her mighty yell her hand finally broke through the old wood and she kicked the tire. Sending it flying off it's chain. And still she screamed out at the world. At the world that fought against her so hard. And as her voice started to strain from the pain, lighting struck with a mighty crash in the skies above.