Chronicles of the Kiridians

For it is written in the legends of the Kiridians:

Adversaries will always come against you.

For it is in your blood to deal with the hatred of people.

Your job is to rise above it.

Remember the teachings of our elders.

“Kara, honestly, this is the worst selection I’ve ever seen as far as wardrobes are concerned. Honestly, you can’t just wear the same jeans and a flannel shirt with a t-shirt under it every day.”

This has been going on all morning. I would think the first day of school with a bunch of people that she has “no interest in interacting with” that she would be less interested in her appearance. Not to mention, considering our vastly different taste in clothing, I have no idea why she thought she was going to find in my closet.

“I have dresses in the back corner I haven’t touched since 2006,” I say to her putting my hands to my temples. “I think they might still fit you-”

“Found one!” she says pulling a sundress I was forced to wear last Easter out of the closet and twirling around the room with it pressed against her chest. “This one isn’t totally alpha awful. It’ll do,” she begins to disrobe and put her dress on when there is a knock at the door. She quickly throws the dress on and runs over to me and ask for help zipping it, and runs to the door.

“Joseph! What a totally expected surprise!” says Raina with a smile. She moves out of the way and allows him to step into the room. He’s in his typical shorts with v-neck and white tennis shoes. Raina looks him up and down and frowns to herself as she turns to me with a perplexed look. “Guys show their legs when they go to class?”

Joey opens his mouth to respond, but I quickly wave him off as Raina runs back to the closet reemerging with a pair of white wedges. “Okay! I’m ready!” she says as she runs out of the room and down the hall. We hear her shoes clicking away at the staircase as she descends into the kitchen.

“I thought she wasn’t looking forward to it?” Joey asks me as we walk out of the room with less enthusiasm. “That was a big switch, eh?”

We walk down the stairs and see Raina already buttering a piece of toast sitting next to my parents gabbing away. “Okay, and remember, Raina, I pulled some strings at the school and you’ll be in class with Kara and Joey for the second half of the day. The morning courses are for the advanced classes and you have to test to get into those. Just stick with her and you’ll be fine. Oh, and before we forget, we got you something,”

My mom gets up and walks over to the Christmas gift closet and pulls out a tiny box. She walks over to Raina and hands it to her with a smile, and Raina looks at me confused. “It’s a phone. It’s nothing fancy, but we figured if you’re staying with us we should be able to contact you. Our numbers are already in there. Including Joey’s!” says my mom with a tiny wave. “You just let us know if you need anything today, sweetie.”

“Thank you so much, Ms. Phoebe. I can’t thank you enough for all the help you two have given me since my unfortunate accident.” Raina takes a bite out of the toast and motions for Joey and I too come over to the table and eat. “Guys! It’s going to be a busy day!”

Mom and dad look at each other suspiciously and then shrug getting up from the table and making room for Joey and me to sit down. They walk out of the room and Raina turns to us excited. “You know, I’m about to destroy these earth classes, right?” she says cheerily as she takes a bite out of her toast. “My planet has far outmaneuvered yours as far as intellect goes, and I think that you need to brace yourself. I am not going to try and make you feel dumb, however, if I do just know that it’s nothing that you can really fault yourself,” she says shrugging. “I’ve been waiting to get a shot at that vapid girl since the caves,” she says referring to Madison.

We quickly shove food down our throats and go out of the house to the familiar bus stop we’ve had since we were in grade school. The hot Texas sun is shining on our faces as people start to gather around the bus. “Kara,” whispers Raina as she lightly smiles at the people waiting at the bus. “Why are we waiting with all of these people at the corner of the road?”

“We’re waiting for the bus,” I say with a snort. Raina’s face contorts to a horrified look as she frowns.

“This went from a good day to one of dread in a matter of seconds!” she says as she places her forehead on my shoulder. “I don’t want to ride in the peasant car. Can’t we use the truck?”

“I haven’t paid for a parking space at the school,” I say to her with a sympathetic pat on the head. Kids are starting to stare and I can tell Joey is starting to get uncomfortable with all the attention on him. “Not to mention my dad has to get to work.”

Raina picks her head up off my shoulder and takes a few deep breaths. “Okay, you know what? I’ll be fine. I’ll get on the peasant mobile and we will drive to the place where you get an average education and have a good day.”

The familiar sound of screeching breaks fills the air and Raina’s eyes widen as the bus pulls to a halting stop in front of us. We watch her take a deep breath as she walks to the doors and steps onto the first step to get inside. Joey and I quickly follow her, and I resist the urge to laugh as she turns to give us a haunted stair when she sees the conditions of the bus.

“Do earth kids have zero understanding of manners? Or at least keeping things in good condition?”

“This is good condition if we’re being honest,” says Joey with a reassuring nod and plops next to Raina. I take the seat in front of them and watch as the remaining kids file onto the bus. Once they’re all seated the bus lurches forward and we begin our drive to the school. “This is the last stop, Raina. We’re going to school now.” he quickly adds upon seeing the look of horror on her face.

She sits straight-backed against the seat while we drive. She clutches the bottom corner of the seat as the bus bumps throughout the road. “Okay. Hopefully, that’s better than this,” she says. Her voice is shaky, and I can tell that something is off with her. Her face, while still exuding confidence is in deep thought. She gives me a weak smile when she sees me staring at her, and then closes her eyes and starts to whisper something under her breath.

When we finally arrive at school, Raina’s face softens a little bit when she sees what it looks like. “It’s almost pretty if you squint,” she says as she gets up from her seat and begins to walk toward the exit of the bus.

“Pretty is not what I would use,” I say nonchalantly as I follow her down the steps of the bus. “We need to get you to the front office so you can check-in and get your schedule. My parents already enrolled you so we shouldn’t have an issue today. I’ll make sure you get to your first class.”

“I’m excited to show up all the earthlings,” she says with a flip of her hair. Her face is back to normal, but I feel something is off with her still.

“You probably don’t want to call them ‘earthlings’,” says Joey cautiously. “High school is all about staying under the radar and out of the way of everyone else. You’re already going to be a hot commodity today because everyone here is not used to getting new students. So just do your best to stay under the radar and-”

“Joey, do not feed her your anxiety-driven ways,” I say with a chuckle. “Raina, do what feels comfortable for you today. It’s going to be a bit of a culture shock,” I say latching onto her arm. “But you will have us here every step of the way. Just text me if you need anything.”

“Kara, it’s earth school,” says Raina with a smile. “How hard can it be?”

We walk through the front doors of the school and get through the schedule and greeting process fairly quickly in the front office. When Raina stops getting her ears talked off, we walk out of the office and down the main hallway to her math class. “Isn’t that cave girl?” asks multiple people loudly as we walk. Raina keeps her head held high as she looks up and down on the schedule they gave her for the room number of her class.

“Here it is,” I say stopping in front of Mr. Birdsong’s math class. “Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

“Kara, I’ve traveled through space to get to earth. I think it’s safe to say I can handle an earth math class,” she says with a smile as she turns to walk into the room. She stops and turns and wraps her arms around me I stand there shocked for a moment but hug her back until she lets go. “I just want to say thank you. I know I’m not easy to put up with. You’ve been incredibly supportive, and even risked your life for me on more than one occasion,” she says. “I’m lucky to have you as a friend.”

“I’m lucky to have you as a friend too,” I say with a smile as she turns around walks into math class. Mr. Birdsong’s nervous tick flares up upon seeing Raina walk into the room. She waves eagerly and sits down in the first row of the desks.

I turn on my heel and walk down the hall hustling toward my first period AP chemistry class that is across the building. When I get to the classroom I feel my phone vibrate and I pull it out to see a text from Raina.

Is the teacher supposed to sweat this much?

I laugh upon reading her question and start a group text message with both Joey and Raina. Joey, I type quickly across my keyboard. She wants to know if it’s normal for Mr. Birdsong to sweat that much.

It takes a few minutes for Joey to respond, but eventually, I feel my phone vibrate again with a laughing emoji. Dude, on testings days, I really thought he took a shower and didn’t dry off before coming in.

GROSS! replies Raina in the chat.

My teacher begins to talk in front of the class and I quickly put my phone away and attempt to focus on taking notes. My mind continues to wander back to the cave and Brodie though. I hope that her other siblings aren’t much farther than he is. San Antonio might be relatively close, but even that is going to take some convincing on my part to get my parents to agree too.

Before I know it the bell rings, and we are dismissed to go to our next class. I pull my phone out and see that Raina and Joey have been blowing up the text thread all throughout the first period. I quickly skim through the messages and see that Joey has offered to get Raina to her next class, and I sigh in relief that I don’t have to hustle across the building again to meet her.

I start to walk to my next class as I scroll through the text thread when Madison Waters parks herself in front of me in the hallway. I almost don’t see her in time to stop, and when I look up at her, her face doesn’t give off a happy expression. “You have a lot of nerve bringing her to this school, Kristie,” says Madison with a snide tone.

I roll my eyes and attempt to walk past her, but she blocks my way and doesn’t let me past. “It’s Kara, Madison. We’ve been in school together since pre-k,” I say waiting for her to move out of the way. Her friend group quickly assembles behind her and they put on the same pursed-lip expression their leader has. “And it’s not like you have a say over who gets an education.”

“This is my school, Kara,” she says emphasizing my name with a rude snark. “If you’re trying to upset the balance you’re going to regret it.”

I laugh in her face which leaves her confused but also gets her fired up. “Madison, you’re such a drama queen,” I tell her as I finally push past her and her friends walking straight through the middle. “News flash, Princess,” I say emphasizing the word. “The world doesn’t revolve around you. I’m literally coming to school to get out of this town that you’ll grow old in,”

She frowns upon me saying that and then quickly rolls her eyes and stomps down the hallway. Her friend group follows her as she disappears in the crowd of people that are swarming through the hallway.

The rest of the morning drug similar to the first period. I checked on Raina throughout the day, but she continued to assure me that everything was okay. When it came time for lunch, I met Joey at the front of the cafeteria.

“Hey, have you seen the princess?” I ask him with a chuckle.

“She seemed okay after the second period,” says Joey. “She’s been texting me all day. I’m lowkey scared I’m going to end up in trouble,”

We stand there talking about the day, and I tell him about Madison Waters and her ambush of me earlier in the day. He frowns upon hearing that, but before he can go off on one of his famous tangents, Raina appears next to us in the hallway.

“Hey!” I say with a bright smile. “How’s your day been?”

“Meh,” says Raina as she walks past me and goes to the cafeteria door. “I’m assuming the food is as inedible as the content is rigorous?”

“That’s an accurate statement,” says Joey.

For the first time since I’ve known Raina, her face isn’t looking as strong as she normally holds herself. Something about her seems off as she asks about the food. I am about to ask her what’s wrong when she walks through the door and looks both ways for where we get food for lunch.

“The line is this way,” says Joey as he leads her through the cafeteria.

We walk past the people already eating their lunch from home when I make eye contact with Madison Waters and her girl gang sitting at the table. She smirks at me as Raina walks by and sticks her foot out into the aisle. Raina squeals as she falls to the ground and lands face-first on the hard tile in the cafeteria. Everyone in the cafeteria laughs as Joey and I run forward to help her up.

“Oops! I’m so sorry!” says Madison with fake sincerity. “Told you this is my school, Kara,” she says with a smug sounding voice.

Raina gets up with tears welling in her eyes. She looks around the room as everyone is laughing and lets out a scream that could stop traffic. “Edematar bu nuda deasuuzawamm-aze sizzilli! Bu geesamasum give gi tahatasawamm butes; uuru sueseasumm!” she screams as she runs out of the cafeteria. Joey looks at me confused as to what just came out of her mouth, but I immediately turn to Madison in a fit of rage.

“That was not okay!” I tell her.

“Oh please, Kara,” she says with a chuckle. “Run along and go help your friend now,”

I look at Joey with a shocked face and before I’m able to stop myself I lean over on her table and grab a milk carton from her friend’s tray and I pour it on her head. She lets out a squealing screech as the cafeteria once again erupts with laughter and I throw the carton back on the table when it’s empty. “Mess with her again and you’ll regret it,” I say to her with a fierce voice.

“You’re going to regret this,” she says as she gets up and storms out of the cafeteria.

“What did you just do-” begins Joey but I hold up my hand to cut him off.

“I’m not exactly sure either, Joey,” I say shaking my head. I grab the money my parents gave Raina and me for lunch and hand it to Joey. “Get lunch for us and meet me by the bleachers. I’m going to go check on Raina,”

He nods and I walk out of the cafeteria and begin to search for Raina. I pull out my phone and begin to text her when I hear sniffles coming from down the hallway across from the cafeteria. I quickly walk over to the sound and see Raina sitting at a desk in an empty classroom crying.

“Hey,” I say walking into the room cautiously. She jumps upon hearing me and quickly starts to wipe away her tears, but I shake my head and grab her hands. “Raina, you don’t have to hide how you’re feeling around me,” I say gently. “It’s okay,”

She frowns trying to hold back tears, but eventually, they win out and begin to fall down her face. “Kara, it’s been awful!” she manages to choke out in between sobs. “Everyone keeps calling me cave girl, and the teachers all act surprised when I know their incredibly easy content!” she says as she puts her face down. “Someone called me a know-it-all and that I should go back to being a mole person. I’m not a mole person!” she squeals.

“Raina,” I say grabbing her hand with a light smile. “Things are going to take adjusting here on earth. You’re not a princess here,” I say. She quickly looks at me with flustered eyes and I correct myself. ” Well, you are, but you’re not their princess.”

“I know,” says Raina as she wipes her nose. “I just didn’t expect people to not like me. I’m not someone who can be not liked,”

“Welcome to high school,” I say with a chuckle. “The good news is you’re with Joey and I the rest of the day. We all have the same schedule from here on out,”

“Thank Alpha,” says Raina as she wipes her eyes. She pulls out her mirror and begins to examine makeup and frowns. She begins to pull various beauty products from out of her bag. “I might as well look fabulous while the student population hates me,” says Raina as she begins to reapply her eye makeup.

I laugh as she fixes her make up, and then looks at me nervously. “Kara, do you think we are going to find my siblings? Like really find them?”

“Yes,” I say reassuringly with a smile. “I do.”

She nods and puts a smile on herself as she puts the finishing touches on her makeup and stands up. “By the way, what did you scream in the cafeteria?” I ask her curiously as we walk out of the room and I begin to lead her around the school to get to the bleachers.

“I screamed in Kiridian,” says Raina embarrassed as we walk outside and see Joey setting up an impromptu picnic. “Roughly translated: peasants have no manners and I cannot believe I’m being treated this way, and that I was overwhelmed,” she says.

“That’s awesome!” I say. “Maybe you could teach it to me?”

“That would be fun,” says Raina chuckling.

As we get closer I look over and see Madison walking toward the school with fresh clothes. She gives me eye contact and I raise my eyebrows daring her to come over and mess with Raina or me again. Raina notices the staredown, and then Madison soaking wet and turns to me.

“Kara!” she says laughing. “You didn’t!”

“Yes,” I say. “People don’t get to mess with my friends. That’s strictly my job,”

We arrive at the bleachers and Joey has the barely edible pizza, a banana, chocolate milk, and a cookie waiting for us as he smiles at Raina. “You hanging in there?”

“With you two it’ll be easy to do so,” says Raina taking a bite out of her pizza and then instantly spits it out. “What on earth is that garbage?!”

“It’s the wonderful world of school food,” I say enthusiastically taking a bite out of my piece.

“Why do they want to kill you?” asks Raina surprised. “This is simply not going to suffice,” she pulls her LOTUS out from inside the dress and quickly stands up blocking the view from anyone that could see from the opposite side of the field. She quickly types in something and then a real pizza appears in front of us. She smiles and grabs one of the pieces as she takes a spot next to Joey on the bleachers.

“Now, that’s what I call a lunch!” she says taking a bite with a smile. “Now how much longer do we have in this awful place?”

“Three more periods,” says Joey with a snort.

“Joy,” says Raina. “Maybe my father will find me before then,” we laugh as we quickly eat the pizza. The bell rings shortly after and we get up and walk to our next class. “Well, at least I have you two to get me through the rest of the day,” says Raina trying to sound more chipper. “Let’s get this over with! This weekend we find my brother and start our great adventure!”

She skips ahead and Joey and I laugh. I look over at him and watch him stare at her as she walks a little bit ahead of us. He has a big smile on his face as he glances over at me. “She’s going to be trouble, huh?”

“Dude, have you seen my house?” I ask him laughing. “She’s been trouble,”

“But the best kind!” says Raina enthusiastically.

Yes, but the best kind.