“Hurry up, kids.” Lena shouted while cooking pancakes. The first day of school is always nerve-wracking for both her and the kids.
Dawn was the first to enter the kitchen.
“How do I look?” the thirteen-year-old-asked. She was wearing a short sleeve fuchsia skater dress. Her long ink-black hair was loose around her shoulders, strands from each side of her head clipped back.
“Adorable.” Lena answered with a smile and Dawn grinned back at her. "Wear an apron so you won’t get your clothes stained.” she warned her and the girl nodded.
“Mom!” Liran’s panic voice was heard and the boy rushed into the kitchen, his green hair still a mess. “I can’t find my backpack.” he told her and started searching the kitchen.
“Have you checked in the library?” Lena calmly answered knowing that’s where the bag is.
Liran rushed to the library, accidentally hitting his shoulder on his sister. “Ouch!” he said with a pout. “It’s like hitting a wall.” he added while walking to the library.
“Sorry.” Luna replied. “I’m starving.” she added as she took a seat. Her style was different from her sister’s. She was wearing an oversize sweatshirt with a science pun on it, black jeans that had cuts on the knees, black sneakers and hair in a high ponytail.
“Are you excited about your last year in high school?” Lena asked her daughter as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of her.
“I honestly can’t wait to go to MIT.” Luna fangirled.
Lena smiled at her daughter. She knows there was a point in Luna’s life where she hated going to school because she had to downplay her intelligence. When she was six, she begged her mothers to let her go to college after reading about Michael Kevin Kearney.
The two women didn’t accept, telling her how important it is to have a great childhood. Of course, Lena and Kara were having private classes with her, teaching her more after school. Now the young girl is about to graduate high school with good memories and lots of friends.
“Good morning.” Kara greeted with a huge smile as she entered through the balcony. “I brought ‘First day back to school’ doughnuts.” she exclaimed and placed two boxes on the table. She placed a kiss on each twin’s head before moving to her wife. She placed a soft kiss on the woman’s lips and looked dreamily into her eyes.
“We are trying to eat here.” Luna pointed out, making the two women laugh.
“Okay, how do I look?” Liran asked when he walked into the ktichen. He was now in his human form thanks to the image inducer. He is nervous because he decided to get a new haircut. The sides have been trimmed short into an undercut and the top is almost a full quiff. Having Lena as his mom means it’s easier to change his hair on the image inducer.
“Aww, you look so cute.” Kara said and pitched his cheek. The fifteen-year-old swatted her hands away before moving to the table. “I will go wake up Alex for the school picture.” the hero said and moved towards her older son’s bedroom.
The hero knocked on the door three times before finally hearing Alex’s soft groan. She opened the door and tried to not laugh. Her son was sleeping on his stomach, one leg stretched to the length of the bed the other was bent to the side. One of his arms was above his head while the other was under the pillow. His face was smashed into the pillow and his long blonde locks looked wild.
The young man was still asleep and Kara moved to the side of the bed. She knelt next to him and brushed his hair back. “Alex..?” she whispered.
“Mmm.” the boy hummed, his eyes still close.
“Come on sweetheart, wake up.” Kara tried again. "It's time for the school pictures."
Alex’s eyes slowly flutter open. “I graduated.” he mumbled before shutting his eyes again.
The woman dramatically sighed as she stood. “Okay. I will go tell your mom you don’t want to take pictures. Let’s hope she won’t come to wake you up.” she said with a smirk.
Alex’s eyes open abruptly. He jumped out of the bed and used his superspeed to dress and brush his hair. “Ready.” he said with a smile.
Kara smiled. “Great. Head to the kitchen, I will go change real quick.” the tall woman said and removed her cape while walking to her bedroom.
“Good morning sunshine.” Luna teased.
“Did Jeju warn you that she will get mom.” Dawn continued and fist-bumped her sister while Liran laughed.
Alex glared at them.
“Alright, come here guys.” Lena said when Kara came back from the bedroom in her civilian clothes.
The children lined up based on their ages and took the whiteboard Kara passed them.
“Alright, 8th grade for Dawn, 12th for Luna, 10th for Liran and ‘Graduated’ for Alex.” Kara said with a proud smile before stepping back.
For the first picture, the kids always stand in identical poses with the original one, but the next few pictures are more silly and even Kara and Lena joined in.
“Okay, you can go back to sleep.” Lena said and patted Alex’s arm. The seventeen-year-old stretched and headed back to his bedroom, taking his shirt off halfway.
“Alright, guys. To the car.” Kara announced. “We don’t want you to be late for your first day.” she added with a smile.
Lena placed a kiss on the kids’ forehead before kissing her wife goodbye.
The door closed with a soft thud and Lena went back to the kitchen. She cleaned the mess she created and walked back to her bedroom to get ready. By 8:25 am she was ready to head to the kitchen to prepare her to-go coffee.
She chuckled when she found her son in the kitchen. He was leaning on the counter, eating the leftover pancakes, wearing only his flamingo boxers. Buddy was sitting at his feet, looking at the plate of food Alex was holding. “Hey, mom.” he mumbled around a piece of pancake.
“I thought you would go back to sleep.” the ravenette said and walked to the coffee machine.
“I got hungry.” the young man shrugged.
“Does it feel weird not going back to school?” the shorter woman questioned.
“It does feel weird.” he mumbled, chewing on his food.
“Well, soon your college will open so enjoy your small break. See you later.” Lena said and waved at her son while heading to the door. She gave Buddy a pat on his head before leaving the apartment.
“ Liran! ” Luna exclaimed and rushed to her brother. “I’ve been looking for you.” she stated while panting. “I haven’t run in days.” the girl groaned while taking deep breaths, the effects of the red sun bracelet obvious to her brother.
“You okay?” Liran asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah. I just ran here from the cafeteria.” she said and took one last deep breath. “Okay, so you know how I want to run for president in the student council?” she asked.
“Yeah?” Liran asked and walked to the direction he was heading before his sister stopped him.
“I was telling Lakren about my plans and this girl turned around and asked ‘Well what will you do to help the alien kids.’”
“That’s a good question.” the boy nodded.
“I know, so I turned around to answer and guess what.” the girl stopped him.
“What?” he asked and faced her.
Luna looked around and pushed Liran into an empty classroom. “She’s Nhelani.” she whispered and waited for the words to register to him.
“What?” he asked.
“She. Is. Nhelani ” Luna repeated, holding her brother by his biceps.
“But...I thought..” He ran his fingers through his hair before glancing at his sister. “I need to go find h-”
The bell rang loudly.
“Look, she is a freshman and does not wear an image inducer. Just in case I told her about the Alien Club meeting you will have tonight so don’t worry if you don’t find her until then.” She quickly told him, glancing at the door.
“What if she doesn’t come?” he asked with a worried expression.
The door opened and the two kids looked at the others who entered. “Let’s just wish for the best.” Luna said as they exited the classroom.
Liran was nervous. He thought he was the last of his kind but now another Nhelani showed up in his school which means there are more people out there like him.
The club meeting was in a few minutes and he still stood in the middle of his room, staring at three different outfits. He really couldn’t choose which one he should wear. He looked down and frowned at his boxers. Maybe he should change to something that doesn’t have drawings of cartoonish fish doing weird faces on it.
“I say go with the white button-up and blue jeans.” Dawn said and Liran jumped in surprised.
“I agree with her. Also if you need help with your hair.” Alex ran his fingers through his long golden locks. “I’m here.” he finished with a wink.
“Get out .” Liran shouted and pushed his siblings out of his room, shutting the door with a loud thud.
He pushed his green hair back and took a deep breath. While his human form had a new haircut, he chose to keep his real hair at shoulder length.
He picked up the white button-up Dawn suggested, stood in front of the mirror and placed it on him. Having blue skin makes it so much harder for choosing clothes.
He sighed and followed his sister's orders. The girl knows more about fashion anyway. He fixed his hair one last time and grabbed his stuff. “Jeju, I’m ready.” he called as he exited his room.
“Well, you look handsome.” Kara said with a smile making the boy blush. Since the Alien Club was mostly secret, Kara usually flew Liran close to the location of the meeting and the boy walked to from there. He knows his jeju actually watched over him until he walks inside the building but he is okay with it.
“Are you nervous?” The hero asked as they headed to the balcony.
“A little bit.” Liran said.
“No matter what, you have us.” Kara said and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.
“Hey, Naril.” Lakren greeted him when he entered the room.
“Hey.” Liran said with a smile before pausing. “Is that a bow tie on your tail?” he asked.
Lakren dramatically sighed. “My little sister said it was cute and I couldn’t say no to her.” he mumbled.
The room slowly filled with the members of the club and Liran was looking around for the mysterious girl.
“Who are you looking for?” the taller teen asked and Liran jumped in surprised.
“No one.” the green-hair boy answered.
“Nothing to do with the new Nhelani girl?” The older boy asked.
“Pfftt...no..why..who..?” Liran glared at him. “I don’t know what you are talking about.
“Okay. Cool. Just so you know she just arriv-”
Liran turned around, almost whiplashing himself. He frowned as no one was near the entrance. He turned back to his green friend and swatted his hands away. “Stop trying to touch my gills or I will pull your tail.” he warned and Lakren raised his hand in surrender.
“How about we start the meeting?” the junior asked instead. Liran nodded and walked towards his seat.
The door opened and Liran glanced to the entrance. He froze as the mysterious Nhelani girl finally arrived. She had her long green hair braided and her skin was a tone darker than his own. He felt Lakren elbowing him, probably to stop him staring.
“Welcome.” The club president greeted her. “I’m Lakren, the club president.”
“Nice to meet you. I'm Roan.” the girl smiled and Liran’s heart melted.
“Nice to meet you too. We are about to start, so please take a seat.” The older boy asked and the girl nodded before moving to the chairs.
“Why are your cheeks purple?” Lakren whispered when he got closer. He gasped and asked, “Is this you blushing?”
“Shut up.” the younger boy said and Lakren smirked. “Just start the meeting already.”
The tall teen stood and cleared his throat. “Welcome everyone. I’m your president, Lakren. This is Mogu, our vice president, Tolly our secretary,” He introduced the two girls on his right before turning to his left. “And Naril our treasurer.” he announced.
Liran felt Roan’s eyes on him. He smiled at her but the girl only looked at him confused. For the next thirty minutes, he tried to focus on what the president was saying but his eyes kept falling back to Roan.
“Alright. If there aren't any other questions, we can just head to the snack table.” Lakren finished with a grin.
“I have a question.” Roan raised her hand.
“Go ahead.” the president said with a smile.
“Are we all from the same school? Because I haven’t seen most of you there.” she asked, glancing at Liran.
“Yeah, we are all from National High.” Lakren answered. “Most of us use image inducers during school and I know some of us even use different names.”
“I’m guessing your name is fake too.” she pointed at Liran and he nodded. She shook her head in disappointment.
“If you are going to make the members of this club feel bad for protecting themselves I’m going to ask you to leave.” Larker said in a serious tone.
“I don’t see a reason as to why we should hide. You don’t wear an image inducer at school and you are fine.” the Nhelani girl pointed out.
“That’s because I can’t afford one.” he stated. “Right now, the school is safe enough for the few that can't afford one to walk around but when I was a freshman I was dragged to the locker room and got beaten up. I end up with a broken nose and arm.” He shook his head. “I get your point, but not everyone feels safe being out there like this.” He pointed at his clearly different skin. “I know you are new in this club. But you need to understand some of us, have to hide our identity. If you can’t understand that, then you should to leave.”
She noticed how everyone was looking at her. But a set of green eyes averted her direction instead. She noticed the sad expression on his face and frowned. “I understand.” She told the club president.
“Good. Now, let’s eat pizza.” Lakren’s serious expression disappeared at the mention of food.
“Hey, Are you okay?” the taller boy asked his friend when they were alone. Liran never told him who he truly was, but he has a feeling the junior knows.
The sophomore glanced back at Roan with a smile. “I think I’m in love.” he whispered instead.
2 months later
“You know, Halloween was last month, right.” a boy loudly said and sat next to Roan.
“Tyler, don’t you know that some people are just born looking like freaks” another boy added and sad on the other side of the girl.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like an ugly elf.” Tyler said and his friend laughed.
Knowing that she won’t have any peace eating today, Roan grabbed her bag of food and stood.
“What do we have here, boys?” another boy said and grabbed Roan’s bag. “A classic peanut butter and jam sandwich. I’m surprised, I was expecting you to eat fish food .” he stated and laughed, his group joining in.
“Come on, Jonathan. Let her go.” Larken said while walking closer. Now they got the attention of the people in the cafeteria.
“Didn’t know lizards and fish are friends.” Jonathan said and dropped the sandwich on the floor. “Oops.” he said with a smirk.
“You are such a jerk .” Roan said.
“What did you say?” he snarled.
“I said, you are a jerk .” she repeated. “And a loser who is eighteen-years-old and still repeating 10th grade.” she added with a smirk.
Jonathan’s smug face turned to anger. He grabbed her by the shirt and raised his fist, his friend holding back Lakren.
His fist was stopped by someone’s hand.
“Let her go.” Liran said and pushed him back. He stood in front of Roan and stared into Jonathan’s eyes.
“Get out of my way, Eliton.” the brunette demanded.
“No.” Liran replied, his voice strong and even.
*****
Next thing he knew, Liran had fallen to the ground, the left side of his face in pain. He groaned and then got hit again….and again… and again. Until the fist stopped hitting his face.
His ears were ringing. He moved and tried to get up from the ground. That’s when he noticed his hand. His blueish hand. Then he saw the grass close to him, his purple blood covering it. He felt someone helping him sit and he came face to face with Roan.
“Hi.” he said with a dreamy expression. He frowned and looked around. It was hard to focus but he could see the other students taking pictures. “I feel naked.” he whispered.
Jonathan’s laugh caught his attention and turned to look in his direction. His eyes then caught Luna, who was standing between him and the bully. “Aww, the lil alien has to be protected by his baby sister.” He mocked and laughed again. His laugh stopped and looked into Luna's blue eyes. “Get out of my way, kid.” He added with a serious expression.
“Or what? You are going to punch me too?” Luna asked and crossed her arms.
Jonathan pushed her out of his way and walked towards Liran with a smirk. He felt something pulling his shoulder and he turned around. A fist came in contact with his face and he fell on the ground.
Silence fell in the cafeteria.
Luna looked at Jonathan, who was unconscious before walking to her brother. She glanced at her fist, already bruising.
*****
The guys that were holding Lakren back finally let him go and the junior ran to the injured boy.
“Hey, Liran?” Luna said and snapped her fingers in front of her brother. She used her phone's flashlight to look at his eyes. She isn’t sure if concussion symptoms are similar to different species but it wouldn’t harm to check. Checking if a normal eye dilates or not is hard, but checking someone’s eyes that the iris is pretty much like a crocodile it’s harder.
“Does he have a concussion?" Lakren asked and knelt next to them.
“I think so…Can you carry him to the nurse office? I will get his and your stuff.” Luna asked and her friend nodded before picking up the injured boy. She then walked to the table where Lakren and Liran were sitting. She collected their stuff, then her own and headed to the nurse office.
The ravenette glanced at Roan who was following her before calling her mom.
“ What did you do.” her mom asked when she answered the call.
“Why do you always assume the worst when I call you?” Luna replied with an eye roll.
“ Last time you called me in the middle of the day, it was because you blew up the school’s lab .” her mom pointed out.
The young girl could hear her mom typing, probably searching for any news about her school. “First of all, that wasn’t my fault. Second of all,” she paused and bit her lip. “Liran got attacked and he is in the nurse office.” she murmured. She heard the typing stop and her mom’s sharp inhale.
“Your Jeju and I will be there in a few minutes.” Lena said with a worried voice.
“Mom wait.” Luna called out and was happy her mom didn’t hang up. “His image inducer broke.” she added and her mom ended the call. She pocketed her phone and opened the door of the nurse’s office.
The nurse, Mrs Grayson, who was talking to Lakren glanced at them and frowned. “I’m sorry Luna, but I have to ask you to leave.” she told the young girl.
Luna frowned. She wasn’t stupid. She looks like a human, Lakren was the one who brought Liran in and Roan looked like him. Obviously, the nurse wanted to make sure her brother wouldn’t have to deal with questions from the school president right now.
“I’m sorry Mrs Grayson, but I’m pretty sure my mothers would want me to stay by my brother’s side.” she told the older woman.
The nurse looked between Liran and Luna before nodding.
No more than three minutes later the door of the office opened and Kara and Lena rushed inside. Luna almost didn’t recognise them as they wore an image inducer to hide their identity.
The two women rushed to their son's side, looking him over. “Luna, inform the principal that your brother will leave school early. Tell him to set up a meeting with the boy who assaulted him and his parents too.” Lena spoke with confidence.
The young girl nodded and stood from her seat. Kara placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder to stop her. “What happened to your hand?” she asked with a frown. She raised the girl’s hand to look at her knuckles, noticing the red sun bracelet still on her.
“I punched the guy that hit Liran.” Luna said with a huge grin.
“That’s my girl.” Kara whispered and placed a kiss on the girl’s head.
Liran woke up with a groan. He tried to open his eyes but his left eye wouldn’t. “Mom?” he whispered with panic. He heard the door of his bedroom opening and soon Kara came in his vision. “I-I can’t open my eye.” he said while taking deep inhales.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Kara whispered and brushed his hair back. “The doctor put something on it to help it heal faster.” she told him and helped him even his breathing. “Do you remember what happened?” she asked.
“Yeah.” the boy frowned. “I felt naked.” he mumbled. “I always thought that going outside without the image inducer would feel good. Like when we go to grandma Eliza or when I went to the Nhelani island.” he said. He tried to move and Kara helped him sit on his bed.
“When the image inducer broke it felt like…” he bit his lip. “You know that dream Alex had where he went to school just in his undies?” he asked and Kara nodded. “It felt like that.” he mumbled.
“At least you hand your pants on.” Kara said with a smile.
Liran chuckled before groaning. “Can you please stay with me?” he asked in a low voice.
“Of course.” She placed a kiss on the boy’s forehead. “I brought you some soup to eat too. Don’t worry your mom made it.” she stated and grabbed the tray with the bowl from the desk she left it on.
“Where is mom?” Liran asked.
“Talking with her lawyers. Jonathan is the technically an adult so we are suing him.” Kara replied and helped her son. "Also your mom and I agreed that you should start some self-defence classes." she added and Liran nodded in agreement
1 week later
“Are you ready?” Lena asked as she turned off the engine.
Liran looked out the car window and nodded.
“You can still choose homeschool. I promise you I will be a good teacher.” Luna told him while unbuckling herself.
“I appreciate that, but I want to just go hang out with my friends.” Liran said and removed his seatbelt.
“If you need anything, call me.” the worried mother told him and kissed his cheek. “And don’t forget, self-defence class after school.” she reminded him.
The boy nodded before exiting the car. He walked along with his sister to the school, listening to her talking about her latest project. He could feel all the eyes on him and knew that everyone was whispering about him. He glanced down to his pants before sighing in relief.
“Don’t you think mom would tell you if you weren’t wearing pants?” Luna teased.
“No harm in checking.” he answered with a smile. Suddenly he felt two arms around him and he was lifted from the ground.
“ Liran! You are okay.” Lakren cheered.
“Put him down.” the ravenette said and swatted his arm.
“Sorry. I’m just glad to see you. The club missed you.” the older boy said with a wink, making Liran blush.
“Why did you wink?” The young girl asked, confused.
“Oh Luna.” he patted her head. “So young. So innocent.” he added, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“If you don’t remove your hand I will test the CUT experiment on you.”
“The CUT experiment?”
“Yes. It’s an experiment where we try to regenerate lost limbs. The project currently moved on to testing on lizards .” she answered with a glare and Lakren withdrew his hand from her shoulder. The young girl smiled innocently at him before walking away from them.
“Did she wake up from the wrong side of the bed?” The junior asked.
“I don't think she slept at all.” Liran answered
Larken placed his arm around Liran and spoke. “Now, I know everyone staring at you is weird. But don’t worry, you will soon get so used to it you won’t notice.”
“Thanks.” The young Nhelani replied. They were walking down the hallway and he was trying really hard to ignore everyone else and focus on what his friend was saying.
His eyes caught a familiar shade of blue and green and looked towards that direction.
Roan was grabbing her stuff from her locker when she turned around and saw him. She gave him a small smile and a wave and Liran felt his heart flutter.