Part 1 (cont.)
After introductions and the suggestion to find some peers to collect information from in case of absences or to form outside study groups, we were essentially dismissed. I concentrated on the row where I was sitting. I met Julie Lake, a local high school substitute with long blond hair and wide glasses; Elizabeth Mendoza, a humanities transfer student from the Philippines who looked like an anime girl already with her pitch-black hair, petite size, and wide eyes; and Jeff Ross, a stocky sociology student with a dusty-orange goatee, close-cropped hair, and a quirky smile.
They all seemed nice. I tried to stick their names in my mind as Julie, Eliza, and Jeff but figured I would be blanking on their names throughout the class. No fault of theirs. Just my lousy memory for names. I’d had another video chat professor make everyone create name cards to place in front of themselves but the video quality from the camera rendered them useless.
Lissa strolled over to my area as the row in front was emptying. She tried to nonchalantly plant herself on the edge of the table but only succeeded in flailing wildly and tumbling to the carpet, which had may have once been a nice shade of green but not anymore.
She slapped an arm out like a drowning person and lifted her head level with the table. She took a breath and softly said, “Hey.” I answered back the same and looked calmly at her. Slowly, she slipped into the chair in front of me and stretched.
She was dressed in a dark, checkerboard flannel top with fuzzy jeans. Her short, auburn hair curled and twisted just past her ears, completing the impression that she’d just recently hopped out of bed. Not that I was one to talk.
Before I started packing up to leave, Lissa held out a green, plastic container half-full of tropical fruit and a small, plastic fork. I picked out a few kiwis, mangos, and pineapples before passing it back to her. She stuffed the biggest papaya in her mouth. I searched for a place for my annotated syllabus between a notebook and another class’s textbook. I could’ve placed it in the main folder but that was already stuffed and disorganized.
In the end, I just folded it in half and hoped it would survive. Lissa held a bit of guava up and said, “I can’t believe this is the only class we both have this time. Let me see your schedule.”
I passed her a piece of paper which looked like a dog had taken a violent interest in it. She gave me a look and unfurled it like an ancient treasure map. She made a little groan and noted, “Haskins? Really? I tried to get Haskins, but his class was closed. Drat. Got stuck with Rossi.” Then she gave a glance towards the overhead mic and lowered her voice, saying, “She’s a human Ambien…”
I informed her, “Actually there were several drops, so you might be able to get in if you want to switch.” Lissa rocked her head a few times and passed the paper back to me, replying, “I would, but Rossi is early and my only class that day. So, I get to go home early…”
I nodded. Naturally, I had to ask, “How’s Quilla?”
Lissa gave a warm, serene smile to herself, finished the fruit, and answered, “Absolutely terrified of saltshakers now. Old Doctor Who serials and my storybook version of slugs and salt. When I finally get some free time I want to turn that platform of hers in the backyard tree into a pirate ship crow’s nest with a working cannon so she can declare war on a salt mine.”
The room was only about half-full now. I slipped my bag across my shoulder and Lissa put her empty container away as I answered, “Sounds fun.”
She brushed at her hair a bit. “You should come around more often. We miss those Thursday game and movie nights.”
I held my tongue for a long moment. Lissa noticed, adding, “Michael moved to San Pedro just before Christmas. So, it’s just us. I will provide free, homemade burgers if necessary. Maybe call it study-buddy time again too? Come oooonnnn….”
She even threw in a frownie face at the end. I had to smile and tell her, “Sure. But only for the burgers.”
Smirking, she noted, “I knew that would work.” By now, the room was empty except for someone in the back who had to pack up three bags.
The classroom was at the back of the main building, past several larger and nicer conference rooms with the same uncomfortable chairs. At the building junction there were several vending machines for drinks, coffee, and snacks. I lingered a moment as Lissa pulled out her phone. But, especially seasoned by age through the holiday, there was no way I was going to sample petrified Cheetos.
Lissa and I parted there with my promise to come by her place on Thursday. I’d head over to the sandwich shop in the shopping center across from campus for something resembling a meal before my later class.
I thought it would’ve been apt if I happened to run into an anime girl right at that moment. Some little smirk from the great randomness of the universe. The shop was full of plenty of humans but no Kinrae. I fished my phone out of my bag and decided to check on the shipping status of my text for the class.
It was a big one and the title was word soup. It was an account of different human reactions to the Kinrae, the ‘enclaves’ they formed, where they integrated into human communities, and comparisons to past and present human cultural systems. In fact, that description was probably not far from the full, actual title.
The suggested readings ranged from a dictionary (which made me roll my eyes), to a guide of broad anthropological and Kinrae-related terms (which I could I find anywhere on the Internet), and a style guide for ASA and APA (ditto). Aside from that, the rest of the texts would be academic studies we’d have to print out on our own. A few students towards the front of the room had oversized folders filled with them, containing tabbed sections for each study. They also had prolifically highlighted textbooks with margin notes. Considering the name of the text was first mentioned three days ago in an email by Professor Brandt, I found that rather bewildering.
I ordered a club sub as a wrap and a soda and took a table by the window facing the parking lot. As I chewed, I pondered whether to head back to the house or hang around until class. By chance, I glanced out the window towards the video game store next to the coffee place. A Kinrae was peering in the game store window. She turned in my direction and looked around.
She was short but not too much shorter than Lissa. She had on warm boots with woolen trim, black leggings, and a tan pleated shirt which fell past her knees. Her top was long-sleeved with white dots and the color of heavy rain clouds. A faded-pink scarf engulfed her neck. Her hair was a rather normal shade of dark brown, long and tied into braids on each shoulder. Her massive eyes were close in color to her top but a shade bluer. Sketchy lashes shaded her eyes. Patches of rosy color tinted the underside of her eyes and her slight nose, probably from the chill in the air. She rubbed her hands together a moment and strolled towards the florist shop nearer to where I was sitting.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Part of me felt a little embarrassed to be watching her like this but I could tell others were watching too. The Kinrae weren’t exactly rare but seeing one in this area wasn’t as common as in the bigger cities to the south. Blushing, I could tell myself it was just class research.
She was what one might call a ‘watercolor’ Kinrae. There were those who tried to tease out races and divisions of Kinrae, but they never gave clear answers to those questions. If you looked at her from the side and didn’t focus on her eyes, then it was hard to tell she wasn’t just a normal human with odd-looking clothes.
She lingered a long moment at the window of the florist shop before a little girl in a red coat rushed over to her from the other side of the parking lot. A woman, who I assumed to be her mother, hurried right behind her. The little girl stopped a few feet away from the Kinrae and stared.
The Kinrae turned to her and the little girl staggered back. With a pencil-thin smile, she gave a slow wave of her hand and crouched. The little girl clung to the side of a car and peered just over top of it. She couldn’t be more than five or six. To think, she never lived in a world without the Kinrae.
Swiftly, the woman clutched the little girl and spoke closely to her. I couldn’t make out any of it but soon the woman was speaking to the Kinrae, who waved her hands and smiled in what seemed like an apologetic manner. The little girl seemed to say something else and then the Kinrae motioned for her to come closer. Carefully, cautiously, the little girl touched her on the cheek and put her hand to her hair. All the while, the Kinrae kept a pleasant expression. When her inspection was done, the little girl hurried back to the woman and they both parted company from the Kinrae, who gave a friendly wave after.
I wished to myself I wasn’t at the beginning of eating a wrap. I wished I could just hop outside and say a hello. Although I couldn’t imagine what words would come after that. In the more than a handful of times I’d been this close to one of them, I’d only watched. A few of them seemed to notice me looking but no words were exchanged between us. I took a long sip and glanced around. The few people who had been looking had returned to their business. One person had their phone out and may have taken a picture through the window.
As for the Kinrae, she was still by the florist. After another minute, she stepped inside, and I went back to eating. Only then did I notice there were other people outside who had stopped in place to observe the girl. A few made casual strolls by the florist but didn’t go inside. I could only wonder what she was doing. I told myself, if she was still around when I was done then…something….
I ate swiftly but not too fast because I didn’t want to feel bloated. So far as I could see looking up from my meal, she hadn’t left the florist yet.
I hustled out but tried not to make my exit seem too hurried. I would have to pass at least near to the florist on my way out anyway. I took a breath and clutched my school bag. Didn’t want to walk too quickly and pass her by. I still couldn’t tell if I’d missed her leaving or not.
I stared ahead at the window, trying to tease out some details through the glass. I was so focused on the window that I didn’t notice the glass door opening too close beside me. I had a split second too short to respond to a collision.
Immediately, I got leveled. In my life, I’ve only run into people a few times. But the one time which stuck most in my mind was a high school softball game with a horribly mismatched team of leftovers I wound up in against a team of varsity sports guys. I managed to get on first base but made a bad decision to run for second on a lousy hit. I got slammed by the six foot plus, muscular player on second, spun around, and crashed on my back in the dirt. The world froze like a video tape on pause. Minor concussion. And the last time I would bother with sports.
I got luckier this time. I only got slammed into the car beside the door and my bag cushioned much of the fall. It still wasn’t pleasant, but my vision didn’t freeze. Collecting myself, I looked up to see the Kinrae standing with her hands cupping her mouth. She hadn’t even been knocked on her heels.
It was then I recalled a quirk of the Kinrae. A matter of mass. It wasn’t the only thing about the Kinrae to attract the interest of physicists. But, basically, an anime girl who had recently passed from their universe to ours seemed to contain a higher than expected mass. It led to the short-lived joke, “the depleted uranium girls”.
Trying to get back on my feet, the girl reached out a hand to help me. Her hand was so soft, and the touch made me flinch a moment. Once back on my feet, I brushed myself off and gave a glance towards her. She apologized immediately, saying, “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Her eyes seemed to twinkle with a blend of the beginning of tears and a shiver of concern. It was heartbreaking to see.
I had to take a deep breath before I could stammer/reassure her, “I-It’s okay. Fine. I’m fine. All fine. Okay.” This seemed to relax her a little. I noticed she had a bouquet of blue flowers in a bag on her shoulder. Since all the words I could say to her had vanished, I improvised by pointing out her flowers were “very pretty”. She touched the bag with a lined smile and bowed her head slightly before adding, “You’re sure you’re okay?”
Call it a bit of pride, but even if I had been banged up I wasn’t going to admit it to her on the chance it might make her feel bad. I just told her, “It was all my fault. I’m sorry I was standing there.” And then a little mental voice wanted to say more about why I was standing there. But if that mental voice were a little person, I could easily imagine the rest of my consciousness grabbing him by the throat and dragging him away before he thought of anything else like that to say. Instead, I just nodded and told her, “And I hope you have a nice afternoon. Sorry again.”
She gave a curious little look and then returned to her smile, wider than before as she told me, “Thank you. You have a nice one too and please be careful.” She emphasized her message with a pat on my head.
The touch sent a little shiver through me and I had to avoid flinching. She lingered in the area, but I did my best not to get in her way. She eventually approached a small, used bookstore towards the back but I had to get ready for my next class.