Me and the Earthling Boy

“You’re not from around here, are you?” I ask before I realize how presumptuous that sounds, but he just shakes his head, smiling.

“No, I’m visiting from Earth for the Solar Festival. Thought I’d come early to see the sights. It’s kind of my graduation gift for myself. Though I’m not really sure what there is to do around here…” He glances around the park, his smile wavering. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get to the other public atmospheres. …I’m a little lost, to be honest.”

A hot Earthling. Zach and Tori’s words ring in my head as I gaze up at him. Love makes life so much better. Maybe Tori’s right. But I’m not like her—I don’t date. Though I deserve some good karma after getting tethered to Nico…

Right?

I take a deep breath and do something I’ve never done before: I go out on a limb. “Well, if you need a guide, I’d be happy to show you around. T-though everyone around here is really friendly, so I’m sure you could find someone who might be better—”

“That would be great actually.” His warm gaze returns to mine, his eyes crinkling with his smile, and I am buzzing. Or shaking. One of those two. He holds out his hand. “I’m Sol.”

He said yes? “Petra.” I shake his hand and my Linx pings in my ear as our wrists touch and it registers his username, Solomander. I laugh. Then I realize he’s seeing mine—PetraPiano—and I feel a bit embarrassed about how uncreative I am in comparison.

“So, you’re a pianist?”

I look up at him shyly and nod. “Yeah. I… I want to be a professional musician.”

He beams down at me in a way that makes my hands hot and clammy. I quickly drop the handshake and try to subtly wipe my palms off on my skirt. “That’s awesome,” he says. “I’d love to hear you play sometime.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just blabber, “What about you? You said you graduated. Are you going to college? What are you going to major in?” Too many questions. I stop myself before I list off another ten in a panic.

He just chuckles. “Yeah. I actually got into Nova, so I guess I’m pretty lucky.” He’s a Nova student? He must be smart. “I’m going to major in history. I’m fascinated by old things—analog devices, the cars, the culture.” He stares off into the distance, seemingly past the park, through the glimmering purple of the public atmosphere, and out at the red canyons beyond, a faraway look in his eye. “We talk a lot in school about wars, famine, and pandemics, but never as much about the positives, like the technology and people who led us to where we are today. I think we owe them a lot, don’t you?”

“Absolutely.” Honestly, history class for me has always been more of a game of memorization. Actually thinking deeply about the subjects? I never felt I had time for that. But I like that Sol cares about these things, and his passion is contagious. “I can’t imagine life before Linx, though.”

He laughs, and it’s a hearty, beautiful sound that fills me with happy little butterflies. “Yeah. Linx has changed things a lot. It removed language barriers before Universal became the norm—did you know that?”

I shake my head. He brightens.

“Yeah! Back when people spoke English and Urdu and Japanese, they struggled to communicate. Linx made globalization so much easier. But the development of Universal was simultaneous, and I guess it made that feature obsolete. I think the last Linx with a translation feature was from maybe fifty years ago. Linx 10.02.155.”

Wow. He knows the exact version?

“Sometimes I study archival footage in VR. The AI does an incredible job with recreating old scenes, but it can be hard to find accessible source material from way back then. It’s kind of a crutch, though. VR, I mean. Like, I visited Mars in VR for school, but the real thing is something else entirely. It’s a lot more developed than I thought it would be. A lot less… empty.” He lets out an embarrassed laugh and scratches his head awkwardly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that as an insult. I’ll shut up now.”

I’m starting to realize that I’m in over my head. He’s so smart, and I… I’m a hard worker. If I had stayed on Earth with my dad instead… No. There’s no point in thinking about that. It wouldn’t be fair to Mom. “Don’t worry about it,” I say. “I get what you mean. Compared to Earth, Mars isn’t much to look at.” He raises an eyebrow at me, but I start walking before I end up saying anything too negative. No need to scare him off already. “Come on. I’ll show you around.” I give him my most confident smile, though my hands are shaking so bad from nervous energy that I have to shove them in my skirt pockets to keep them hidden. After a pause, he follows after me.

I lead him down the sidewalk, currently lined with Wisteria trees dripping lavender flowers, and keep us strictly to the right as Martians on their bikes whizz by on the left. In the corner of my eye, I watch as he raises a hand to touch the flowers curiously and can’t help a small smile as an artificial breeze blows a string of purple right into his face. He blinks in surprise, a smattering of golden dust painting his face with pollen, then laughs when he realizes I’m watching him. “Mars is full of surprises,” he jokes weakly, then turns his head away to sneeze.

I stifle a laugh of my own as he stumbles over to keep pace with me. When I peer up ahead, I feel a surge of excitement as I spot a familiar statue in the distance. “Oh! First stop on our tour. That’s the dedication to Curiosity, the rover that was sent to Mars several hundred years ago. They actually found more pieces of it recently.” I pause as we approach it. The copper robot has a sign at the base that repeats almost word for word what I’ve just said. “Well… maybe I’m not the best tour guide,” I admit, biting my lip as I struggle to think of anything else to say about it. “I’m sure you know more about Curiosity than me, since you’re a history buff and all.”

He reaches out and touches my shoulder lightly, making me flush. “You’re a great guide,” he says reassuringly. “Don’t worry. You tolerated me harping on about Linx and history—not many can stomach that. I appreciate it, Petra.”

He does?

The next hour is a blur. I show him around the park and surrounding area, totally forgetting about Tori and Zach. So when I start getting a call, I’m not completely surprised.

“Sorry. One second. I should probably take this.” I tap my head lightly so he knows I’m talking about my Linx.

Sol just nods. “Go ahead.”

I don’t realize who’s calling me until it’s too late and I answer.

I find myself in what appears to be a dark shed. Nico is draped over a chair, leaning on a work table covered in tools, wires, and what looks like computer chips. He’s staring up at me with those unnerving deadpan eyes of his.

“What do you want?” I say more harshly than I mean to. No, I do mean it! Screw Nico!

“My foster mom wants us to schedule the first tutoring session,” he says flatly. “So when are you free?”

I clench my fists, which makes him raise an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Relax, loser. Trust me—I don’t want to do this either.”

Loser?! That’s rich, coming from you. “I don’t have time for this right now. I’m busy.”

“I’m sure you’re always busy, Ms. Perfect. Let’s just schedule a time and get this out of the way.” He pulls up his calendar in holo, and after a moment of resistance, I follow suit. Our calendars automatically layer themselves and highlight some available days and times. “Tomorrow at noon?” he suggests.

So soon? Whatever. He is right about one thing—we should just get this out of the way. “Fine. Where should we meet?”

“We can use my private server.” The meeting automatically applies itself to our calendars as he thinks out the plan. Noon, Tutoring Session with the Nerd.

“H-hey,” I snap. “Be serious.”

His eyes meet mine through the holo, and the ghost of a smile appears on his face. “I’m always serious.”

Then the shed fades, and I’m back with Sol in the park. Did he just hang up on me?!

Sol’s friendly face tempers my frustration. “You’re back. Shall we continue our tour?” he asks. “Maybe I can get us lunch to repay you.”

“Sure, that would be—”

“Hey, Pet!” I turn. Tori and Zach are trudging up the grassy knoll toward us. From the beads of sweat on their faces, I’m guessing they’ve been looking for me for a while now. Oops. “I was wondering where you went,” Tori says. She smiles her beautiful, perfect smile at Sol, and I feel myself shrinking. Tori is a good friend, and she has a boyfriend, but she has this way of making guys turn into putty. “And who’s this?”

Sol gives her a polite smile. “Solomon,” he says. “Are you Petra’s friends?”

He’s being so formal. I glance up at him in surprise. He’s not… falling for her?

Zach answers him. “Yeah, man, we’re her friends. So you better not be trying anything freaky.” He glares at Tori. “We should have just texted her.”

Tori punches him in the shoulder. “Shut up, Zach. I’m sure Solomon is a total gentleman.” She tilts her head at him. “You an Earthling, Moony, or Stationer?”

“Earthling.”

“See?” Tori says to Zach. “He’s totally trustworthy.” She links her arm with Zach’s and winks at me. “Well, we’ll leave you two be. Zach and I have plans we have to get to.”

“We do?”

“Yep!” Tori starts leading Zach away, ignoring his mumbled protests. “Have fun!”

I can’t help a tiny smile at her wingwoman antics.

“They seem nice,” Sol says. “You’re lucky to have such good friends.”

I blink up at him in surprise. “Do you have many friends on Earth? Um… if that’s not too invasive to ask…”

He grins. “Not invasive at all. I did have a lot of friends, but…” His smile falters a bit. “After I got into Nova, well, things got a bit awkward with some of them. My school’s really competitive, and Nova really only takes one person per school so…”

“I get it.”

Then the Linx on his wrist flashes, and I imagine he’s getting some kind of alert because he says, “Ah, sorry. I totally forgot I have a call with my parents. They’ll probably want to know that I’m safe—it’s my first time solo traveling.” He gives me a genuine, apologetic smile. “But I’ll Linx you. Maybe we can get lunch tomorrow. I still owe you one. How about midday?”

“Sure,” I say way too eagerly, then try to backtrack with a more casual, “I mean, that’s cool.” Oh no, I sound like an idiot.

He doesn’t seem to notice though. “Perfect. Let’s meet at the main cafeteria. I’ll see you then.” And with that, he heads out.

I skip all the way home, my heart fluttering over our little date tomorrow. It’s only when I make it through the front door that I remember—it’s at the same time as my first tutoring session with Nico. Great.

I sigh, my fingers hovering over my wrist. I don’t want to talk to that jerk. But I call him anyway. When Nico answers, I find myself not in the shed from before, but in what appears to be a dark room lit by laser lights and filled with a hundred dancing people, squished together as they jump to a pounding beat. The loud techno music has my hands shooting up to my ears, and I find myself squinting through the dark for a glimpse of Nico. People call out to each other in a language I don’t recognize, and a girl in a short dress drunkenly spills her drink all over the floor. What the… This isn’t Linx certified.

My eyes travel across the bizarre scene until I spot Nico, laying back on a dark leather couch with a drink. He looks back at me coldly. I stomp over to him, hands shaking as it hits me. I point at him accusingly as I get closer. “Did you hack your Linx?!”