13 The Celinian

Alexis and Natalia descended downstairs to the living room. Melissa was sitting on the couch and there seemed to be another person who sitting in front of her. He was wearing a police uniform and his badge was on the table. The badge was projecting a holographic keyboard and he was typing something as Melissa dictated it to him.

Alexis, not knowing what was going on right now, turned to Natalia and whispered, "Hey, do you know anything about this? What is a police officer doing here?"

"I told you I was not going to let those filths get away after nearly killing you. I told Melissa what you told me; she is filing a police report against those three." Natalia explained with pure rage and hatred in her eyes.

Melissa noticed the two girls standing on the staircase and then hinted them to come to the living room, "Why don't you two join us?" Both of them obliged and sat down next to Melissa.

"Lexi, I called the officer to file a report against those who hospitalized you. I have already given him the details regarding the condition that you were in when you came in to the hospital. Will you please tell him what they did to you? And Natalia also told me that you were frequently bullied on the street; please tell him about those incidents as well." Melissa's face was expression-less and her tone sounded serious. Alexis had never told her mother that she was getting bullied this often; Melissa used to be busy with her work and Alexis did not want to bother her mother by giving additional matter to worry about. And when she found out the details from Natalia, she must have been hurt.

Alexis kept her head down as she could not meet the gaze of her mother. She had never seen Melissa acting this way before. Melissa directed her words towards Natalia and said, "Nat, why don't you tell the officer how you got to know about the situation of Alexis and also tell him about that gentleman who found her. I will go and prepare some dinner for us." Melissa got up and went to the kitchen without even sparing a look at Alexis.

"Miss Alexis, right?" The police officer gazed at Alexis to confirm and after she nodded in confirmation he asked, "Do you give me permission to record your voice? It will be sent to the Area Court as a piece of evidence."

"Yes", Alexis took a long breath and started to narrate about the unfortunate incident. Natalia also shared her side to the story.

After recording their narration the officer gathered his things and prepared to leave, "As an officer responsible for the safety of the citizens, I would like to extend my sincere apologies that we were oblivious to the fight that broke out in the neighborhood. And thank you for reporting the crime. We'll keep in touch."

Alexis and Natalia bid goodbye to the officer and Alexis opened the door for him. The officer had a daughter who was of the same age as the girls, so he turned back to give them a parting guidance.

"And a piece of advice to both of you, tolerating the crime is also a form of crime. By doing so you'll be motivating the criminals. Learn to speak up. Goodnight." The officer gave a smile to them and then went off in his hoverbike in super-speed.

These words of the officer pinched Lexi's heart. She never spoke up! All she did was either hide from the bullies or run away from them; and if they caught her, she got beaten up by them. She took a deep breath and promised herself that from today, she would not endure any kind of abuse from anyone.

Natalia's dad was leaving today for a one month long expedition. So she decided to head back home, "Alexis, I think I should go back home. My dad will be leaving for an expedition in a few hours so…"

"Okay sure. Say "safe journey" to David from my side as well. And thanks for today." Alexis hugged her friend with a sincere smile. "Come on! What are friends for?" Natalia then went in to the kitchen to look for Melissa, "Melissa, I am leaving now."

"Leaving already? You should stay for a while. I've already prepared dinner for the three of us." Melissa was determined to send off Natalia only after dinner. But Natalia refused politely, "I would love to stay for dinner. But my dad will be leaving soon for his expedition so I would like to be there before he left."

"Oh! Is that so? No worries honey. We'll have dinner some other time. Go along then." Melissa gave Natalia a small wave. Natalia returned the wave and shouted from the door, "Goodnight Melissa."

"Goodnight Nat. Be careful on your way home." Melissa started to plate the dinner for her and Alexis. Alexis entered the kitchen and started to help her mom. She was starting to get nervous because Melissa was giving her silent treatment.

Alexis finally broke the piercing silence and apologized, "Mom, I'm sorry! I know you must have felt hurt when you heard about the bullying from Nat. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

Melissa sat down and started to eat dinner without speaking a single word. Alexis tried to speak again but stopped in the middle and quietly started to eat her food. Melissa finished eating before Alexis and quietly went to her room.

After doing the dishes, Alexis went to her room with a gloomy face. She just wanted to get a good sleep. She got inside her warm bed and just when she was about to sleep, her cell phone vibrated. She got a project request from Vorian. Her face was instantly lit up with happiness. As soon as she accepted the request, Vorian appeared beside her bed. He seemed to be levitating horizontally while facing towards Alexis.

"You are levitating!" Alexis pointed at Vorian with a bewildered expression on her face. Vorian smirked for some seconds and replied, "I'm sleeping on my bed. Of course, you cannot see the bed so I appear to be levitating."

Alexis also slept on her bed facing Vorian. Both of them were at each other's eye level. After staring at each other Vorian broke the ice, "Natalia didn't faint right?"

"No", Vorian could see Alexis grinning. "Let's get to know each other better", Vorian offered to his soulmate with a whimsical smile on his face.

"Good idea. Let's start with the basics first." Alexis hummed for some time to think about a question and then asked, "What time is it in Noruha right now?"

Vorian glanced on his watch and replied, "It is 10 in the morning. And let me guess, it is 10 in the night there." Alexis glanced at her PIA screen and replied, "That's right. How many hours are there in a day in Celine?" Her curiosity seemed to be growing and she shot him with another question.

Vorian was enjoying this Q&A session with Alexis, "It is same as Earth, 24 hours. But our orbital motion is longer, we have 545 days in a year."

Alexis nodded in amusement and then she knitted her brows and went on, "If it's 10 in the morning, don't you have to go to the academy or something?"

"I've already graduated. I'm doing an internship in IGT Fed. My target is to be a captain but I'm currently stuck with data analysis." Vorian clicked his tongue and puckered his lips with disappointment.

"You've already graduated? How old are you?" Vorian never ceased to amaze Alexis with his answers.

"I'm 17 years old…" Vorian was speaking when Alexis cut in between and yelled in excitement, "I'm also 17."

"…in Celinian-year, which means I'm roughly 25 in earth-year." Vorian gave a quirky smile and stared at Alexis.

"25?" Alexis exclaimed. "But… you don't look like you're 25, you look way younger." Vorian could clearly see confusion in her face. So he proceeded to explain, "Our life expectancy is higher than that of the Earthlings, around 150 earth-years to be precise. So, our life cycle works a bit differently than that of yours. For example, we age slowly as compared to the Earthlings; it takes 14 months for a baby to be born…"

Alexis interrupted him in the middle and said with a sneer, "I'm sorry to be the first one to say this but let's take things slowly." She held her head and whispered, "I'm going through information overload right now." Upon hearing this comment of Alexis, Vorian burst into laughter. Alexis could see his beautiful white teeth, his eyes narrowed when he laughed; Alexis could not help but smile like a fool who had completely fallen for him.