The Alien Under My Roof

“As I said, my name is Zenyr and I’m an alien from a planet called Xyr. And please can you accommodate me for a while? I promise you’ll be rewarded handsomely.”
Bradley ignored the purple creature tailing him as he walked home.

“Hey, answer me. A yes or no would be nice.” Zenyr tugged at his arm with surprising of strength and stopped him in his tracks.

“No. It has already been a rough day for me, and I have no plans to make it even tougher,” Bradley said in a cold tone. He removed his arm from her grasp and continued walking.

“I know being rejected is hard, but are you willing to abandon a cute alien like me in the wild? Can you sleep well at night knowing that?” Zenyr called out to him. Bradley stopped in his tracks.

“You really have a talent for pissing people off, you know.”

“I’ve been told that a lot.” Zenyr shrugged at his jab and walked over to him.

“How can you read someone’s mind and still manage to make people angry?” Bradley asked. Zenyr smiled.

“Just because you can tell what someone is feeling doesn’t mean you can control what they think. I learnt that lesson the hard way.”

Bradley faltered, afraid he had poked a sore spot for her when she continued.

“But it is good for getting what I want. I know you aren’t the guy to abandon someone in need despite the way you might come across.”

But her next words stripped him of any compassion he might have held, and he spat out, “You don’t know anything about me.”

“That I don’t. So why don’t you tell me? And I’ll tell you mine too.” Zenyr dodged his barbed words with ease and took his hand in hers, waving it up and down.

“I guess we’ve come to an agreement. Let’s head back to your home, shall we?” Zenyr said and started dragging him forward.

“Hey! I didn’t even agree to it yet! And you don’t know the way to my house!” Bradley’s screams echoed in the air as the two different species walked under the young moonlight.

…

“Gwood morning.” Bradley yawned as he walked into an empty classroom and greeted his only two friends.

Jason and Amelia tensed up a bit at his current appearance, and the former came over and patted him on the shoulder.

“You’re taking it quite rough,” Jason said with a voice filled with emotion, and Bradley tilted his head.

“What do you mean?” he asked, and Jason and Amelia looked at each other, wondering whether what happened the previous day was a dream.

“We’re talking about your failed confession. Isn’t that why you’re depressed?” Amelia asked, and Bradley made a sound as realization flashed in his eyes.

“Ah… now I’m depressed again.” Bradley hung his head, and the other two shifted away from him and held a mini conference.

“Hey, what’d you think is going on?” Jason asked, and Amelia shook her head.

“I don’t know. Isn’t stuff like this what you guys talk about?”

“You’re basically one of the guys, so there’s also a chance he might have told you.” Jason received a punch to the gut for that, but it was all worth it in his head.

“Speaking seriously, what do you think is going on? Yesterday, he looked like his heart was broken, and today, it seemed like he forgot all about it,” Amelia said to Jason as they sat down facing each other, ignoring the other person in the room.

“In my opinion, either he got superpowers or he met a girl. Which do you think it is?” Jason asked, and Amelia raised two fingers.

“You think so too, huh? Can you stop calling me Lancaster?”

“Nope. I prefer calling you like that.”

“I’m literally right here so can you stop discussing me like I’m not present?”

“Sorry, Mason.” Amelia shifted her focus to Bradley. “So why were you so out of it earlier?” she asked.

“It’s a long story.”

…

Last night, Zenyr and Bradley had successfully arrived at his house without anybody noticing the tall purple alien.

“Alright, talk.” Bradley dropped a cup of water in front of Zenyr and sat down opposite her at the dining table.

“As you can see, I’m not from around here.” Zenyr picked up the cup and looked at it with curiosity as she spoke.

“I can see that.”

“I’m an alien envoy sent from another planet to this one. A natural space jump point appeared close to my planet, and after a few brief investigations, we decided to send someone to observe humanity from what you may call a ‘human perspective’. Quite arrogant that you name all the good parts of a being after yourself and deride any other thing as ‘inhumane’.” Zenyr dropped the cup, satisfied, and took a large gulp of the water within after her speech.

“I don’t come up with the names. Take it up with Oxford or whatever,” Bradley replied while feeling a bit embarrassed on humanity’s behalf on the inside.

“It’s alright. You guys didn’t know there were others besides your species. Even ours did the same thing some centuries ago.”

“And you’re picking on us for doing that?”

“It just seemed fun. Anyways, can I continue?”

Bradley nodded, and Zenyr hydrated once more and opened her mouth.

“So, after a lot of politics and arguments, I was selected due to my outstanding results in mastering the basic language required. Came through the jump point, landed in a forest, and was flying all the way here when my ship was struck by lightning. Crash landed and you know the rest,” she finished and went silent.

Honestly, Bradley was still partially in shock. The fact that she was speaking the same language with him kind of desensitized him to the fact that she was from another world.

“One more question. Why did you choose to come to my place? For all you know, I might be into trafficking people.” He had a few more questions, so he decided to leave it for later.

“You aren’t a bad guy. Even without reading your emotions, I can tell that much. And the fact is that I can kick your ass faster than you can contact the government.” Zenyr grinned, and Bradley shivered from the hidden look in her gaze.

“I have to go to school early tomorrow, so I’m retiring for the night. There’s an empty guest room down the hall, so just do whatever you want with it. Anything else?” Bradley rubbed his glabella as he spoke.

“Nothing for now. Thank you very much.”

Bradley just nodded and headed back to his room without so much as a sliver of hesitation.

…

“So, you’re telling us you met an alien girl and she’s currently living in your house?” Amelia asked, and Bradley nodded.

“Yep, this confirms it. The rejection broke your brain.” Jason nodded along with that, and the both of them looked at Bradley with worry and pity.

“Haa… I knew you guys wouldn’t believe it.” Bradley sighed, and the sound of a ringing bell could be heard in the distance.

“Anyways, it’s time for class. Let’s head back to our seats.”