ʷᶦˡˡ'ˢ ᵖᵒᵛ

‧₊˚✩ 🪐✩˚₊‧

"COME ON, THE CAPTAIN'S ADDRESS is in less than 7 minutes-- Let's not be late this once!" Judy urged, her voice echoing the Jupiter 2.

Flattening the blue oversized shirt I threw on, I leaned in front of my mirror to examine the faint hairs growing from my chin — there's been a couple after Bob. It wasn't until--

"Finally done with your beauty routine? Or is there a Bob the fifth I have to pluck out?" Penny leaned on the door as she smiled at my startled reflection in the mirror.

"You know, you've gotta leave those alone for the actual beard to come in." Dad joined beside her

"Yeah. Look at me," Don chimed in, "when I was your age I flexed on those three uncomfortably long hairs on my chin-- the chicks dig it," He chuckled as dad nodded in agreement, "Even Robot's got a stache somewhere in that starry face."

"Uh, don't listen to them, peach fuzz is perfectly fine," Penny objected as soon as she read the small hint on my face that I was a little convinced by Don and dad, "I also will disown you If you listen to dad and Don's terrible advice so--"

"--This is a very biased opinion but I'm with your sister on this," Mom said over all our radios. "Alright, are we finally ready to go?" Her tone clearly reflected more of a command than a suggestion.

"SO...ANY RESOLUTIONS FOR THIS trip?" Don broke the silence of all seven of us admiring the grand interior of the Solidarity. But I could tell by the small smiles on our faces and childlike eyes that we were all more excited about the--

"New faces!" Penny breathed, "D'you know how easy it is to get bored of seeing the same-- I don't know-- 20 thousand faces on Alpha Centauri?"

"I just can't wait to meet new patients. I'm off to a pretty unique start, actually" Judy said to Don. He hummed, with an undeniable disturbance in his eyes to Judy's statement — probably only hearing how she's excited for us to inevitably fall short on our physical health. It's a doctor thing that takes a bit of getting used to.

"And Will can make more friends." Mom nudged my shoulder as everyone unitedly agreed.

"Mm yeah, that'd be nice." Judy teased

"Robot's right here, you guys" I said, a little surprised at how quick I was to dismiss their suggestion.

"We're talking about more...fleshy friends, Will" Penny fiddled with her hair as she hinted at me.

"That know more than five words of the English language" Judy said.

"And aren't a seven foot metal giant," Don added. "Robot's hard to compete with, I get it. This is gonna be a pretty tough search."

"Friend." Robot said. I was a little offended that he couldn't even defend me just a little for not having much interest in the mysterious procedure of friend-making.

Do I pick them out like their sodas in a vending machine? Or do I save their lives by cutting off a tree bark in the center of a vicious wildfire? I'm seriously in the dark here. This isn't exactly one of my strong suits.

I guess mom could read the uneasy expression I hid behind my awkward chuckle. She scrunched her nose as she pulled me in for a side hug.

We flocked to the next large window ahead of us, in awe of the intricacies of the Solidarity, its cylindrical rows of hundreds of Jupiters. I still got the tingling nervous-excitement every time I was reminded of how improbable this experience continues to be.

"Mom, is that," Judy trailed off as she stammered in disbelief. It drew all our eyes to a bright blue body of water in the window view a few decks above ours. "Is that a swimming pool?"

We all turned to mom with dropped jaws, smiles curling up on our faces at mom's smirk as she chuckled at our reactions.

"No way. What kind of glass did you use to withstand that kind of pressure?" I asked, Penny interrupting mom's answer as she shrieked--

"How come we didn't get one?!"

"We owe it to them for all those years they've spent waiting--" Mom said. Cut off by Penny's ramble.

"-- Well, What else do we have? A bowling alley? A park? A cinema?" I chuckled at Penny's burst of energy, "Maybe let's go back to the drawing board and squeeze those in for next time?"

"...HOW DOES ONE MAKE HISTORY? Just how far are we willing to push the boundaries of our human experience?" The Colony Representative urged, the wrinkles beside his eyes deepening with his warm smile.

His thick British accent along with his exaggerated gestures translated his undeniable passion during his debut address to the 25th Colonist Group.

Captain Kamal stood right by him, impatiently waiting on our colonial representative to hand the mic over to her. I half expected a giant hook to sweep him off the podium and put our poor captain out of her misery.

"There's clearly a pattern on the nationality of our Colonial Reps. Or is it just me?" I uttered from where I stood behind my sisters.

"I mean, duh, because everything a British person says is automatically taken seriously" Penny loudly whispered, Judy scoffing as she discouraged our chatter.

Scanning the crowd of colonists to familiarise myself with all these new faces, the Colonial Rep's voice now muffled in the back of my mind. I hoped Robot's mind wasn't wandering off just as mine was, so I could get the full recap of this address from him later.

I felt eyes laser me down from my peripheral view. It was getting harder to try ignore. Finally giving in to turn to the — wide eyes of Elise Azevedo.

I subtly waved at her to make her startled reaction just a little less awkward than it already was.

At that, my eyes flickered at the abrupt bop of a head in the crowd. With heaps of copper hair ambushing her face soon after. She was falling asleep.

I recognized her as soon as her hands raked through that hair. That's the girl who almost knocked a trolley cart into me last night.

She had cuts on her face that marred her golden summer tan. The purple bags under her moon-eyes intensified the alluring depth of her deadened gaze. With her intense eyebrows furrowing.

Her features compelled me.

A surge of questions now burned into my mind. How did she get those nasty cuts? When was the last time she's gotten good sleep? Is she alone? Or does she know the boy with a prison-like buzzcut yawning in perfect sync with her?

But the most itch inducing echo in my mind left me with no more words. No words except...Who is she?

"Will!" Penny loudly whispered, snapping me out of my trance, "Whatever's got you in this daze-- can you tell it to stop?"

I pressed my lips to form a line, shooting my head down to shield my flushed cheeks. But my eyes still had a mind of their own, straining to glare through my eyebrows, at the girl with her heavy eyelids.

"Hey-- hey, look," Judy nudged both of our arms, her widened eyes reflecting Robot's starry face hiding behind the crowd.

But this wasn't his usual expression. It had more warmth to it than usual, and his sparks spun around at inconsistent paces. "Will, has he...has he ever made that face before?"

"...Not that I remember, no." I said. Knitting my eyes back to the girl as my eyebrows furrowed.

Crap she's looking at me. Act natural! Okay scrap that! Look away look away look away.

"Hey look, his lights are moving faster" Penny chuckled as she uttered, unaware of my panicked state.

"I'm sure it's nothing, guys" I quickly dismissed my sisters' curiosity, ignoring the narrowed eyes they gave each other.

My suffering wait had finally ended. The address was over, with everyone immediately parting ways the second we were dismissed.

I lifted my chin over the scattering crowd to try and spot that moon-eyed girl — painfully unsuccessful in my attempt.

She's disappeared. And I had no way of finding her again.

"Now can we go visit the pool?" Penny urged, skipping backwards in front of mom and dad. Judy and I joined in on Penny's sulk and googly eyes, the three of us aggressively 'yes!'-ing as we made our way down the grand hall.

I'D NEVER IMAGINE I'D EVER MISS THE potent suffocating scent of chlorine, and yet here I was, seated on this cold bench beside the Solidarity's indoor pool, breathing it all in.

"Do you have any...eights?" Penny kissed her teeth, swaying on the slippery bench.

"Go fish...Any three's?"

"Go fish," Judy pursed her lips, her eyes flickering to the kid's joyously plunging into the crystal blue water. "Robot, got any...fours?"

We would never admit our gleaming regret for actively leaving our swimming clothes behind. Every splash someone had made into the water had to be our cruel reminder.

So my mind occupied itself elsewhere — that girl. I searched my memory for any leads or current facts I knew about her. They came down to only one: I don't think she speaks English.

I did hear her talking to someone in either Russian or Portuguese or Spanish, based on her rhythm. So there comes the major language barrier.

I guess that means I'm starting Russian and Portuguese lessons today.

She could've been one of Judy's first patients, too. This was a long shot but--

"Judy, where do you keep your records of all your patients?" I blurted out. I almost regretted asking that from the startled chuckles my sisters gave me.

"Uhh," Judy stammered. "And why exactly do you need those records, Will?"

"Yeah, talk about random-- and I'm about to win here so do you have any five's?" Penny said.

"Go fish," I answered, with the burning wish to descend into the pool after being shot those piercing stares by my sisters. "Uhh...Just curious, is all."

PART OF BEING THE ONLY BROTHER of a bossy older sister who happens to be a doctor meant being the one slaved away carrying all of the heavy medical equipment.

This was only my second night on the Solidarity and somehow the fifteenth time I've been sent off on a quest by Judy.

Around dinner time, usually all Decks besides B were vacant. And so, nothing else but my footsteps echoed the vacant halls — nothing else except for the distant roar of wheels vibrating the ground.

That howl grew louder and louder. A foolish voice in my head commanded me to follow that noise — the foolish voice I listened to.

I readjusted my grip on the clanking medical case, finding myself in the center of a crosspath. That noise came to a screeching stop, flickering my narrowed eyes towards the red and blue lights beaming through the glass of a room down the hall — the server room.

I slid behind the wall, as a disembodied grunt echoing those halls. I peaked over the corner, furrowing my eyebrows at a girl with ruffled socks with printed strawberries, skulked her way to hide behind a pillar.

I'd recognize that copper-red mane anywhere, even in this deceiving purple light. A sizzle in my chest intensified with my spiked heartbeat. I found myself following her tracks.

The Moon-eyed girl popped a lollipop back into her mouth as she scurried her way to the oblivious guard in his blissful whistling. She was on her way to--

"Mmm!" The guard had his yell muffled by her hand. She jabbed an epipen against his thigh, muttering in a foreign language. And at that, the guard dropped to the ground, unconscious.

It's that easy, huh?

I most probably should not have been there.

I might've made a noise that made her shoot her head in my exact direction. Terror burned inside of me as I retreated behind the pillar, but my curiosity won me over.

I peeped out to where the guard had his peaceful sleep and--

Holy crap. Where'd she go?

I slowly backed away from the hallway as my eyes scanned the perimeter before me. It only took one step back for me to let out a gasp at the obstacle I just knocked my back against.

I never even had a chance to turn around, not before a set of hands grabbed onto my neck and kicked the back of my feet so that gravity would slam me into the cold ground.

I winced at the paralysing ache pulsating all over my body. And at that, behind my blurry eyes, warmth hovered over me — someone hovered over me.

She, erratically panted as she pulled something out from the loose elastic of her Spider-Man boxers peeking behind her jean shorts with a waist tightened with a shoelace. My eyes widened as she lifted her arms with her grip on an epipen to jab as I realised--

"--Wait wait! I'm not a guard-- Or a snitch-- I promise!" I pleaded, finding my hand's instinctive grip on her small wrists. Silence beside our sharp panting at each other soon followed.

We drank in each other's features, one more perplexed than the other. Her nose scrunched as I felt the momentum of her hands on the epipen weaken.

It might've been the whiplash, but as she blew the loose hair out of her golden face, the light beaming behind her copper hair accentuated her angelic presence — terrifying yet strangely beautiful how violent she deserved to be towards me, but wasn't.

Actually, I don't think she knew whether to be enraged or bewildered at my presence — or at this scenario all together.

I couldn't help but notice the small spiral of hair between her dark furrowed eyebrows. Her full lips parted slowly as her tongue toyed with the lollipop stick between pink-stained lips.

"Are you following me, white boy?" She asked, an undertone of what sounded to be like a Portuguese accent, hid behind her American dialect. But I was more excited about how--

"You speak English?" My smile faded when she pulled that intimidating eyebrow furrow that rightfully made me feel like I was pile of radioactive waste.

"Of course I speak English-- you colonizing asshole." She scoffed, her eyes rolling at me as she muttered in a different language. Well, this is going great, isn't it?

"No I didn't mean," I stammered like a coward under her impatient gaze. "I just-- I just heard you earlier when-- I promise I didn't mean to offend you-- I was just...It doesn't matter"

I was startled by her snort into a chuckle in the middle of my attempt to salvage this hopeless interaction. Faint dimples appeared on her cheeks as she grinned at me.

"Well, you're a long way from the dining hall" She said, her voice managing to sound like a sweet poem each time she spoke.

She either forgot that she was tying her glorious hair up, still sitting on my crotch, or she just didn't care. She mumbled something to herself with a green scrunchie in her mouth. Wow, she smells amazing, too. Judy's gonna be pissed.

She finally stood over me. She reluctantly held her arm out to offer me a hand.

"I'd say the same for you." I smirked. She wouldn't meet my eyes as she performed her kind gesture.

"Hold this," She told me, handing me the EpiPen that she almost jabbed me to sleep with.

I couldn't go past a pathetic stammer. I watched her as she dug through the pockets of the limp security guard, her face tangled in a frown as she patted down his body.

She flapped open the left side of his jacket, a light gasp escaping her. She dug her hand dangerously close to his belt, softly groaning with a wrinkled nose as she did so. I frowned, pursing my lips to hide my growing grin.

She pulled out what looked exactly like an assault rifle. I thought those weren't allowed. She jerked her head back while twisting and pulling parts of the gun. She didn't seem to have any hiccups handling it.

"Oh shit," She gasped, she must've twisted the setting to shoot out electric shocks, electrocuting the already unconscious man. "Sorry. " She cocked the gun, pulling out the load from it, impressive yet terrifying how she could do that with such ease.

The man spasmed, weakly groaning. Crap. He's awake.

Time seemed to move slower when she shot her hypnotic eyes at me. My heart pounded in my chest: How she blew her stray hairs out of her face, how she tossed the gun to the side before pursing her lips and exposing her dimple, how she grabbed my arm so firmly.

She kept her grip on my cold hand, but this time I was pulled by her to run from the voice of the security guard finally waking up from his little nap. This was probably a bad time to tell her that I left the med case behind on that very hallway.

I buried the sting of my back with a weak grunt. But she noticed my stiff stance as we stopped by a bulkhead, mocking me as she said, "What's with the walk-- did you fall, or something?"

"Who taught you how to do that, anyway?" I asked, scratching the back of my head to help relieve the sting.

"My father," She said. We peaked over the pillar by the bulkhead, almost feeling sorry for that security guard not knowing what had hit him. We both supressed our chuckles, hiding behind the bulkhead.

"...I assume you won't speak a word of this?"

Her amber-brown eyes pierced into mine, it was as If she battered her thick eyelashes to hypnotize me into submission. I hoped she couldn't tell that it worked, like a charm.

"Promise." I whispered, bringing out my pinky finger. I traced her face for a smile, satisfied at her purse of her lips as she returned the pinky promise.

I found the awkwardness of our interaction strangely comforting. She slid her hands into the pockets of her jean shorts that surpassed her knees, slowly swinging from side to side to fill the silence.

Innocence to her toying with her skateboard brought out her vulnerability beyond that terrifyingly hypnotic gaze. Like I could see through the fatigue, through the marring of her skin, the child she once was.

I was certain she was capable of bringing this guard down as easily as it was knocking me to the ground despite me being almost twice her size.

It was like we saw right through one another.

"...You got a name?" She asked.

A warm tingle ran through me — it was either the aftermath of my hard slam into the cold ground, or the sense that this was the start of something memorable — for me, at least.

"--Will, I'm still waiting on those supplies" Judy interrupted the trance she had over me. I stammered through my lousy excuse for my absence.

"Will," She breathed. She sucked in a breath, a dimple poking her cheek. "Your fly's down."

"Thanks for catching that,"

The moment had passed, it was time for us to part ways. I felt her eyes on me as I walked like a penguin to retrieve that med kit that probably weighted tons.

I heard the girl stifle laughter behind me, my cheeks now flushed. When I turned back to steal one more glance at her, she was already departing on her skateboard — those howling wheels polluting the halls with an echoing roar.

If it meant that the only way I would begin an interaction with that moon-eyed girl was for her to slam me against the ground then call me an asshole, then so be it.

Shoot. I didn't ask for her name.

author's note

WHAT A LOVELY FIRST IMPRESSION AM I RIGHT

Yes Nailah has copper dyed hair as compensation for the move isn't that so hot 🕺

dedications

-acciosanity euphoreallia ST4RRYBL4DE saanvinarang_01 candysznn kurapichips2 pInkplover solyyybenonyy mitchelle3000

( All Right Reserved © pinkalientea. 2024 )