Rose's face beamed as she turned to Max to see his reaction.

He was, of course, shocked. After all, it was the first he'd heard of that.

Max: You're an... what?

Rose: Yeah, I know, right?

Max: But... no way.

Rose: Uh huh.

Max: For real?

Rose: Yep.

Max: That's so cool! What kind of alien are you?

Rose: I'm a sirenite.

Max: Huh? A what?

Rose: Oh, you've never heard of us?

Max: Yeah.

Rose: Oh. That's ok. I'd also never heard of protonites.

Max flinched a bit once he heard that.

Max: Protonites, yeah...

Rose: Is something wrong?

Max: No, no, it's fine. Wait a minute, does that mean that the others are aliens, too?

Rose: Oh, well... no. It's just us two.

Max: Oh. Well, I'm still glad I got to meet another alien.

Rose: Yeah. OOOOOOoh. That reminds me!

Rose led Max to her bedroom door.

Rose: Just give me a second.

Max: Ok.

She walked into her bedroom and closed the door, leaving Max outside.

A large amount of loud sounds and thuds were heard from her room.

Max: You ok in there?

Rose. Yeah, it's just a little messy.

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Another series of loud sounds were heard.

Rose: I think I found it.

Rose came back with a small arm band with beads.

Rose: Here.

Max: What's this?

Rose: It's an arm band. See?

She showed him the beads on the band. They had letters on them that spelt alien.

Rose: I made one for you and for myself. See, I have one!

She showed her arm. Hers was pink, and Max's was blue.

Rose: See, blue for your electricity. I wanted to give you yours tomorrow, but I figured that now's as good a time as any.

Max: Rose...

Rose: Being the only alien here gets a little lonely. So.... I'm glad I finally have someone just like me!

Max: Rose...

Rose: Ummm. I mean... you don't have to wear it... but.. it would mean a lot to me if you kept it.

Max took the arm band.

Max: No, it's nothing. Thanks.

Rose smiled.

Rose: You're welcome.

Rose escorted Max back to the front door.

Rose: Well, goodbye, Max. See you later! Feel free to visit anytime! Bye!

She waved as she spoke, and Max waved back.

Max: Bye.

He got back on the pavement, skate boarding.

Maybe he was wasting his time over thinking it. Maybe all was good.

It was getting darker.

Max skateboarded back home.

He couldn't believe his luck. Not only was his mom ok with his new friends, but also, they were all pretty nice. On top of that, one of them was an alien, just like him.

With his arms relaxedly placed behind his back, he continued to skateboard before immediately remembering that he had planned to get his mom some treats the day before.

He stopped by Mr. Sweets and got the same meal as before.

Max: Thanks again.

Sam: Don't mention it!

Sam gave him the exact same discount as before after hearing that his previous ones were destroyed. "What a guy!" Max thought.

And with that, Max left for his house.

His mother was already in bed, so he left the treats at her door and went downstairs to eat the dinner she'd already prepared.

As he ate, several thoughts rushed through his mind. His new friends, his mother, and then something he hadn't thought of in a long while, the dark crystals and Aloysius.

What would he do about them? What happened to Aloysius?

He had no idea. But that, at least for the moment, did not matter. And so, he, without a care in the world, continued to eat his meal before going to bed early that day, of course after a hearty helping of Warring Dimensia 2.

Max fell asleep with many thoughts in his head that night, and to some degree, he was a little antsy about going to bed, but he eventually decided to irregardless.

It was several hours before he awoke.

It was an odd sensation in Max that day. One that made him stay in bed, looking at the ceiling for a moment longer.

It wasn't fear, dread, annoyance, or anger. Rather, it was a feeling. One he'd long since forgotten he could feel for school. Genuine excitement.

For the first time in a very long time, he felt quite happy about heading to school. Not because of the boring lessons, but rather because he had friends to speak to at school for once.

But it wasn't just that, no. These friends also had powers, just like him. What's more, one of them was an alien.

He stared at the ceiling for a few moments in awe of this odd sensation before getting up and going for a shower and dressing up. Was he being too hopeful? Was he being too naive? Well, this had never happened before, so maybe he wasn't.

He passed by his mom's door after getting dressed. The treats were gone, but so was she.

He walked downstairs and found his breakfast made and lunch packeted with a note on the table.

"I had something urgent to take care of. Take care of yourself now."

- Mom.

Max: (thinking: Well... That's weird. What could possibly need her attention before 7am?)