Allecra pulled her Lamborghini into the driveway. The tires traced a silent arc over the pavement. It came to a stop in the designated spot exactly the same spot with the same arc every time. I guessed it was just Allecra's way of doing things —precisely and flawlessly.
As we got out of the car, I watched her took two shopping bags full of groceries out of the trunk. Embraced by Allecra Knight, even these ordinary paper bags from the supermarket looked elegant and artistic in her arms. Maybe the blonde had some special manner of holding them.
Her whole face lit up when she turned to me again. It was a marvelous smile as if she had just emerged from a deep cavern. I offered to help her, but she shook her head 'no'.
We entered the house together.
Allecra proceeded to take the groceries out of the bags. She put them away in plastic containers and loaded them into the fridge. She stocked each item according to their sections in arranged order. Allecra worked in spectacular nimbleness without wasted movement. I offered to lend her a hand, but she only smiled and shook her head again.
"Just sit down," she said. "I'll be through in a minute."
The rest of the supplies we bought, she set them aside for cooking. I looked at the ingredients: lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, and kaffir muss.
"You're making curry?"
"Hey, it's not just a normal curry," she said, feigning offense. "It's a Cambodian curry.”
"What's the difference?"
"It has distinct exotic flavors and aromas, and it's not too spicy," she explained.
As she went about her household tasks, I became engrossed and convinced that everything would progress far more elegantly and smoothly if she did it alone. I could stare at her like that all day.
Her immaculate house was quite huge, yet it never got particularly dirty or untidy. I would notice the simple act of cleanliness from the blonde. Allecra arranged the dishes in the china cabinets after taking a few of them out. All the pots were lined up according to size. She adjusted the pots and the edges of the linen towels then pointed all coffee cups' handles in the same direction. When she walked past the sink, she repositioned a bottle of hand soap and even changed the towels even if they showed no sign of having been used.
If it were someone else, I would have felt perturbed and intimidated by such compulsive routines, but Allecra gave none of the impression of any obsessive behavior. She just seemed to be doing only what was natural and right. Perhaps in her mind, there was a fastidious map of the way things should be. I guessed disarrayed things bothered her if they weren't in correct orders. I had tested it by moving the salt shaker apart from the pepper shaker. The next time I looked, Allecra was moving the salt shaker back to its original position.
After a short while, it seemed she had garnished the intended dishes. She gave a sprig of parsley and sliced limes and a drizzle of sauce, and everything looked delicious on the plates like magic.
The last dish was the curry.
Allecra stirred the reddish yellow soup with a wooden ladle, then put the cover back on and lowered the heat. As we waited for the curry to boil, I suddenly remembered the deadline for our science report. Allecra and I had almost finished. It would be due next Monday. I went to sit on the stool of the island and pulled up my bag. I took out the blue spiral-bound notebook and opened it.
"I thought you were done with the report," Allecra said, noticing me skimming through the notes.
"Almost, but not quite," I said.
Apart from learning that her planet would take 450 days to rotate around its sun and the length of a day lasted more than twenty-four hours, and the people rode hovercraft over magnet-paved streets and ate nutritious packed foods from the genetic engineered products, the report seemed to lack some other crucial details.
"What else do you want to add?" she asked.
"I still see some loopholes here and there," I said. "So I want you to answer me a few more questions, Miss. Allecra Knight."
Allecra came to sit in front of me.
"Alright, Miss Antonina Black, whatever you want," she replied with a mild annoyance. I giggled at her adorable face and grabbed my black ink pen like I was going to interview a criminal.
"What was it like on Arzuria before you came here?" I asked. Allecra pursed her lips as if to think for the right words.
"Well, we had a peaceful, advanced and harmonious society," she said. “One continent, one government, no borders or the need to divide people into different races. Everyone lived equally according to his or her profession."
"That sounds like an ideal communist state," I told her. "Stalin would be so proud to know his dream is achieved elsewhere."
"You know, though the practice is evil, the theory is actually perfect. I don't know but it worked in Arzuria," she said. "We, too, had science, knowledge of the universe and the mind. Our technology was far more advanced that it would seem like magic to you."
"Then how come you became...er...the Endling?" I said and suddenly was afraid I might offend her, but Allecra just shrugged.
"There are theories about our race dying out," she said casually. "There's the Natural Mutation that caused a mysterious sterilization in our DNA. Nature just prevents us from reproducing."
"You mean it's a natural cause?" I asked. "But why?"
"I don't know. We're still not sure about what has caused our extinction," she said. "Perhaps, we were too intelligent, too seamless, that it tipped off the balance in our world. And gradually, it was like we were being sterilized year after year until there wasn't a single baby born on our planet. The Government was alarmed by the terrifying drop in population. Of course, they had tried everything they could think of to change that. They encouraged polygamy, banned divorces and abortions, provided excellent childcare and everything, but nothing could stop the declining birth rate that acted like a plague. People grew old and died off day after day. No babies were born again — nothing. That was when the Arzurians decided to find another species to hybridize with. And the human race became our best choice."
"Are there other intelligent life forms apart from us they have tried to crossbreed with?" I asked.
"Of course, many of them," Allecra said. "You're not the only one in the universe. There are more planets like Earth in this galaxy than the grains of sand on any beaches in the world. Don't forget that what you see isn't all there is."
"I know that!" I retorted. "I'm just asking."
Allecra chuckled at me.
"Anyway, humans are like our distant cousins," she added. "But they are the stuck-up and immature ones. They are capable of doing things the Arzurians couldn't. The more I got to observe them, the more I am forced to conclude that they are in fact selfish and greedy creatures with so much of their potentials wasted. They forget that they are brothers and sisters and became delusional and imagined invisible boundaries, social structures, and differences in beliefs and religions that separate them instead of just living, sharing, creating, and evolving together."
"Not all of us are like that," I protested for the sake of our global dignity. She looked at me with her head cocked to the side and her perfectly shaped blonde brow arched. Then she smiled.
"You're right," she said. "There are people like you. Nothing would be the same if you do not exist. You make Earth feels like home away from home to me."
That brought a smile back to my face.
We set the food on the dining table after it was done. But then Allecra froze and turned towards the doorway. She seemed to sense something or someone. Then I heard the sound of footsteps, and Xenon and Triton came into the room.
I quickly got up from my chair and went around to Allecra. She stood up and put a protective arm around my waist and whispered into my ear.
"It's alright, Nina," she said and then turned to her siblings as if to say 'what now?'
Triton smiled and just shrugged. Xenon frowned at the look her little sister gave her. Within a few seconds, I could feel some sort of nonverbal dialogue being exc
hanged between them.
"I'm just checking to see how you've been," Xenon said at last, still maintaining an air of superiority.
Allecra frowned. "As you can see, everything is perfect."
"That's an exaggeration," her sister said with an edge in her tone and then her eyes rested on me. Her topaz eyes looked at me as if they knew me but didn't like me very much. I recoiled and almost hid my face into Allecra's chest.
"Cut it out, Xenon. I'm not a child anymore," Allecra said as she rubbed my back soothingly. I felt Xenon was going to say something, but Triton stepped in. He raised a hand up in the air, halting the conversation. Then he pointed to the steaming food on the table. Without actually saying a word, we all understood what he meant, 'Everyone needs to sit down and talk things out. Nothing can't be solved with good food.'
It was remarkable how he did it, and soon, Allecra relaxed and slowly released her hand from my back.
"Fine," she breathed. "It's better we stop dodging each other."
Xenon didn't respond, but she didn't object either. When each of us settled down around the long table, Triton was the first to dig in. The rest of us simply sat in silence.
Triton spoke to me or rather gestured with his hand to me. He held his fingers up near his face and moved them slowly like tracing a picture in the air without complicated motions. And the message just transmitted into my mind. I had no trouble understanding the words he conveyed.
‘The food is delicious,’ he seemed to be saying and then he smiled again. ‘You cooked?’
I was transfixed by this strange communication. As Allecra had said, Triton had a special way of speaking. Oh well, one of them entered my dreams, another had tried to erase my memory, and now this one had spoken to me with just his thoughts.
"No, Allecra made them," I told him. Triton smiled brightly at his sister with an amused look.
"Oh, shut up and just stuff your face, Triton," Allecra said, looking embarrassed and irritated.
Xenon turned to stare at me, for a moment, I could almost see an impressed look flashed across her face, but it was over too quickly.
"You changed a lot, Alle. Next thing we know you might forget that you're one of us," Xenon said, sarcasm dripping like venom from her words. At the same time, I noticed that she had also used her sister's nickname purposely, indicating to me that she was still closer to Allecra than anyone else.
"I would change anything for Nina," Allecra said without batting an eye. "I realize that it's better to be more human than the ones like our kind." She put her hand on mine to emphasize her meaning. Despite the suffocating tension in the atmosphere, I felt the warmth pooling inside me at her affection, but I was also dreading Xenon's antagonism that projected towards us. I wished Triton would do something, but at the moment, he was obsessed with his bowl of curry.
"Are you taking sides now?" Xenon said in a bitter voice.
"No, but don't make me, or you won’t like my choice," Allecra said brusquely. The dark-haired girl stood up, knocking the chair away. I flinched and almost begged for the two of them to stop. Her penetrating eyes looked between me and her sister and then back at me again.
"I want to talk to the girl," Xenon finally said.
"No," was Allecra's terse reply. They did a staring contest for a moment before Triton came to break it off with a burp. Then he turned to Allecra. I couldn't catch what they were conversing about but then Allecra sighed and reluctantly nodded. She looked at me and gave a reassuring squeeze on my hand and got up.
"Allecra?" I said.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'm still around here," she said then leaned in to kiss my temple softly before leaving with Triton.
There left only me and Xenon in the room. The girl took a seat again. I tried to hold her gaze to show that I wasn't afraid.
"You know you're being selfish," she said.
"Selfish?" I echoed her word.
"You got Allecra wrapped around your fingers," she went on. "She has a responsibility to carry out for her people, but you keep her from doing her job."
"She made her choice to stay with me," I said to remind her again.
"Allecra doesn't have a choice," Xenon said coldly. "You don't understand, do you? She loves you. This love thing—" she said and grimaced, as if the word tasted bad in her mouth, "—is what ties her down. You're selfish to stand in the way and shatter her dream."
"I..." I tried to protest, to say something back but nothing came out. A part of me knew that Xenon was trying to guilt-trip me. She was trying to make me yield to their will, but I also knew she was right. I only thought about myself and forgot about what Allecra wanted. I was crippled by my own fear that I hindered her and brought her down with me like an anchor.
My eyes dropped to my hands in defeat.
"I want you to think about it," Xenon said, "while you still can."
I didn't know what she meant by that, but when I looked up again, Xenon was gone. A moment later, Allecra came into the room. She walked quickly over to me as I sat there.
"Are you alright?" she asked. I gave her a bright smile and nodded.
"I'm fine," I said. She stared at my face for a while, trying to see if Xenon had done any damages to my brain.
"Don't listen to her— whatever it is," Allecra said. "We'll be fine."
She pulled me into her arms.
"I love you, Allecra," I whispered.
"I love you, too."
CHAPTER 28
I followed the routines so religiously that I almost forgot about my birthday. As the last week dragged on, schoolwork did its best to take my mind off certain things. Exams and quizzes kept coming like World War II's bombardment, and my mind could hardly find time to wander off.
I tried to forget about what Xenon had said and thought only about what would happen on my first night with Allecra. The very thought still made butterflies burst inside my stomach even I had imagined it a million times before.
Soon, I would be eighteen. I was going to be a legal adult, capable of making my own decisions. But never in my life had I ever thought I would put 'lose your virginity' on the list of things to do when you’re eighteen. Sometimes, I was too anxious that I was afraid my aunt would figure out my dirty little secret.
At school, I met Jordan after class. She wore a white baseball jersey with a catcher's mitt and a tiny ball tucked under her arm.
"Hey, Nina, heading to lunch?" she said with a smile lit on her face. I had joined the regular PE three days a week as required by this school's extra curriculum activity. I would be running laps and playing softballs with the other unathletic girls.
"Oh, Jordan, you never told me you play sport," I said, immediately feeling impressed. Her white baseball pants fitted her nice curves and long legs. She looked impressive in a sports gear like this.
"Well, you never asked," she said, "I've been on the girl baseball team since sophomore year." Then she shrugged as if it was no big deal.
"You look so cool in the uniform," I said. "What are you playing?"
"Ever heard of baseball?" she asked.
"Of course!" I said with a giggle, "It's an American sport, but I've never seen it except on TV. I still don't know why they have to run and catch the ball and all that. It's just we don't watch it in Russia."
"What?" Jordan cried in shock. "There's no baseball game there?"
"We don't even have McDonald's, Coca-Cola or Nutella," I said.
"Oh my god, how do you people survive?" she said. I had to laugh.
"I don't know—with healthier foods, I guess?" I answered, but when I saw the look of horror in her eyes, I added, "I'm just kidding."
This time, Jordan burst out laughing.
"Oh Nina, you got me there," she said. "Well, maybe I can show you how to play baseball."
"Baseball?!" I exclaimed. “Did you mean...playing baseball?”
"Yeah," she said with an easy smile. "It's good for your health and teamwork skills, too."
Jordan tossed the white b
all into the air and caught it back in front of me. I had to admit it was really tempting. No one had asked me to join any game since they knew I wasn't made for rough-and-tumble sports.
"I'm sorry, Jordan," I said, "I don't think I can. I have to see someone after school."
"Oh, I see." Jordan breathed and nodded slowly. "Looks like she's got you on a very short leash, huh?"
And to prove that I wasn't tied to anyone, I decided I would give baseball a try.
"Alright, I'll go," I said.
"Really? Are you sure she wouldn't mind?" Jordan asked teasingly.
"No," I said, giving her a look. "She wouldn't."
"Okay, cool," she said. "See you on the baseball field after school then."
Later, I had lunch as usual with Allecra. I told her I would be going to play baseball with Jordan and that I couldn't go to her house today. Allecra stopped chewing suddenly and looked at me.
"You're going to play baseball?" she said. "You?"
"Yeah, I'm going to play baseball."
"With Jordan?"
"With Jordan," I confirmed. Allecra went silent, thinking to herself.
"Can I go?" I asked.
"Of course," she said, but there was tautness in her voice I had not heard before.
"You can come along with me if you want," I offered her an option.
"No," she said.
Yet I saw the tightness in her eyes. Jealousy was new to her, but she did not know how to frame this feeling. I felt cruel, suddenly, for bringing this up into our conversation. I didn't know why it had ended up like this.
"Maybe I shouldn't go," I said.
"No, you should go—have some fun," Allecra said and she continued eating. I didn't know what else to say.
After school, I made my way towards the baseball field, which was among other sport fields. Boys and girls were running, passing, kicking and hitting everywhere. All of them wore smart sports gears. Someone called out to me. It was my friend.
"Nina, over here," Jordan said, waving her baseball cap at me. I smiled and walked towards her.
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