I Probably Should've Run

“Ugh…” Bradley groaned as he stood up. Sharp pains flared up throughout his body, particularly in his head, and he placed a hand to it, confirming that he was bleeding from an injury.

“I’m not dead? What a relief.” Bradley sighed and gave his body a once-over. Besides some light and minor wounds, he was relatively okay.

“What happened?” When he said this, he wasn’t referring to the situation but to what caused the situation.

In the center of a ten-meter-wide crater lay the remains of a spherical object. Running down the sides was a jagged line that showed it was hacked apart by something before it crashed.

‘Or perhaps torn away.’ Bradley guessed and subconsciously took a step forward before he came to his senses.

“What the hell am I doing? Haven’t I watched enough horror movies?” Bradley turned around and entered a running posture when he heard a crash.

Curiosity took hold of him again, and he turned back to see that a door-like part of the object had fallen off.

But that wasn’t what drew his attention. It was the hand that appeared on the door frame that caught his eye. Pale purple with a slenderness to it that was inhuman but beautiful.

“A human? I guess not.” All of the instincts he cultivated by watching horror shows screamed at him to run away, but something drew him closer, and he found himself inching closer to the pod.

“Hello, anyone there?” He called out as he got closer and closer to the pod and eventually was right in front of it.

Gathering his courage, he peered inside to see the owner of the hand when something slammed into his chin and sent him sprawling to the floor.

Stars appeared in his eyes, and he blinked them back to see what caused it.

“I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” A girl with pale purple skin and pink hair with a height who was taller than him, crawled out and rushed to his side.

She would have barely passed as a human if it were not for the two appendages that extended from her back and danced in a way that would definitely not pass for cosplay.

“Ah shoot! I wasn’t supposed to show myself before the inhabitants of this planet. But it’s an emergency, so I guess it's allowed?” The girl muttered and tapped a device strapped to her wrist and pointed it at him.

“What is that? What are you?” Bradley asked as his body trembled both from pain and fear.

“Hold still. This won’t hurt.” The girl muttered, and before he could retort, a beam flashed, and he closed his eyes and readied himself for anything.

‘I guess I should trust my horror movie instincts.’

After a while, nothing happened, and he opened his eyes to see the girl dragging something out of the pod, and he quietly stood up, ready to run.

‘I’m healed?’ The parts of his body that were injured did not hurt anymore. He connected it to the beam the girl fired at him earlier, and a part of him relaxed.

‘Still, I have to get out of here.’ He stepped back with the utmost caution, and after he gained some distance, he got ready to run away.

“You’re awake? Good, I need to use the memory wiping device on you.” The girl said in a loud voice, and he froze in his tracks.

‘I guess it stands to reason that aliens would have a memory wiping device. It is a standard weapon according to the sci-fi movies I’ve watched.’ In order to distract himself from the fear, Bradley sank into the sea of logic and calmed down by the tiniest fraction.

“I’m just kidding. Memory wiping devices aren’t standard issue and quite hard to obtain. We only use it for specific events.” The alien girl said, and Bradley thought she was reading his mind.

“I’m not reading your mind. I’m reading your feelings and using what you guys call psychology to figure out what you’re thinking. It's not hundred percent accurate and fails most of the time, but I guess it works in your case.” The girl finally turned around and started walking towards Bradley.

“Who are you?” Bradley asked as the alien stood in front of him. Because of their height difference, he was just looking into her eyes after tilting his head backwards.

“My name is Zenyr. I’m from a planet called Xyr, which makes me a Xyrian. Nice to meet you. And can you do me a favor?” The girl awkwardly smiled and scratched the back of her head.

“Take me in for a while.

…..

“You think Mason is going to be alright?” Amelia said in a low voice as she and Jason walked back home together.

By some twist of fate, the two of them lived in the same direction but in different neighborhoods. Jason’s family was upper-class and lived in a multistory mansion while Amelia managed a small one-bedroom flat with her five younger siblings.

“I don’t know. He’s not really the type to show when he’s hurt or wounded. He just buries it so deep he doesn’t even realize it’s there.” Jason replied and looked at Amelia, and plucked a dried leaf from her hair.

“Thanks. But don’t do that to other girls. They might get the wrong idea.” Amelia didn’t bat an eye at the action like it was something she was used to. Which she was.

“Don’t worry, I won’t”, Jason sighed and felt depressed for two reasons now.

‘I thought it was pretty obvious how I felt about her. I mean, everyone in the school knows about it. But why in the world did Penelope reject Bradley? From what I saw, he had more than a decent chance. And what in the world do I have to do to finally get Amelia to acknowledge me? And what am I supposed to do about Bradley?’

Chaotic thoughts like that swirled not only in his head but the head of the person next to him.

‘That stupid Lancaster. If there was something on me, he could just have told me. There was absolutely no reason for him to do that. And how is Bradley feeling right now? Honestly, I would have wanted to stay over at his place, but I get the feeling that what he needs now is some space. And I already have enough rumors about me floating around, and I wouldn’t want to worry Lancaster.’

“What should I do?” The two of them muttered and stared at each other and laughed a bit.

“You’re probably thinking what I’m thinking, right?” Jason said, and Amelia nodded.

“What can I do about Bradley and the person by my side?”