"Little brother, wake up!" Aja Tarron burst into her sibling's bedroom, smiling brightly. Her blonde hair shone in the sunlight from the windows and her blue eyes were narrowed in determination as she stood in front of Krel's bed, hands on her hips.

Krel groaned as he roused from his sleep. "Five more sektons," he muttered, throwing an arm over his eyes to shield them from the light. His other three groped around to find the hem of his blankets and pulled them back over his body.

"But today is going to be such a lively day!" Aja insisted. She wrestled away Krel's covers and he protested feebly as he tried to yank them back, but even all four of his Akiridion hands were no match for Aja's incredible strength. "Do you not remember what's happening at school today?"

"Does it look like I pay attention to anything in the educational prison?" Krel scoffed, rolling his eyes. "The teachers give us so much homework and we have that physical exertion class and everything is just so boring. There isn't anything I want to pay attention to!"

Aja simply laughed. "Oh Krel, you complain too much." She came over to sit on the bed with him and ruffled his electric blue hair. Krel grunted and swatted her hand away, though he didn't put much effort behind it. Aja continued what she was saying, her eyes sparkling. "Today is the day we get our mentors and start our work studies! Won't it be fascinating? The older students will be handing down their wisdom to us! I can't wait to see what they'll teach me."

Krel sighed. How could he forget about the work study program? He recalled it now thanks to Aja. Each one of them would be assigned a mentor from the students a year older than them, and they'd have to be under their guidance for a week.

"Why does this work study excite you so much?" Krel asked his sister. "I doubt someone who is barely older than us can teach us anything useful." He wrinkled his nose at the thought; he didn't want to be bossed around by someone at school. It was enough having Varvatos Vex as their protector and guardian, and he was one to take his job extremely seriously.

"It could be a wonderful experience," Aja said sincerely. "You just need to give it a chance."

"Fine," Krel grumbled, not happy about it one bit. He just wanted the work study over with as fast as possible. He jumped out of bed and transformed into his human self with a flash before joining Aja in the kitchen.

Lucy and Ricky Blank, Krel and Aja's falsely posing parents, were haphazardly flipping pancakes, most of them sticking to the ceiling and plopping down on whatever surface underneath them. Their galactic pet Luug was chewing on Varvatos Vex's arm as Varvatos squabbled with him over the pancake in his hand that Luug was trying to snatch. This was the norm in the Tarron's house. Aja loved it; Krel wished they weren't so abnormal.

"Good morning kiddos!" Ricky's head turned to smile widely at the Tarron kids. "Are you ready to have a flip-tastic day at school today?" He asked as he flipped yet another pancake that seemed to fly into the ether.

"Most definitely!" Aja replied, clapping her hands together.

"Sure," Krel said with less enthusiasm.

A pancake fell from the ceiling and into his plate, missing his head by centimeters. Lucy rushed over with a jar of maple syrup and poured almost the whole gallon between both his and Aja's pancakes, and they ate them up in large bites.

"Make sure you abide by the hoomans' laws," Varvatos Vex said, looking up from watching Wheel of Fortune on the television with Luug still glued to his arm. "Varvatos does not wish to receive another 'phone call home' from the educational prison leader."

The Tarron siblings winced. Ever since they got detention for being so unruly at school, Varvatos had been adamant about reminding them to stay out of trouble.

"We'll be on our best behaviour," Aja reassured him, and then they were out the door and on their way to school.

They met up with Mary Wang and Darci Scott on the way, Aja's best friends, and the three girls kept up a steady stream of chatter. Krel huffed as he followed behind them. Everyone was always all over Aja and she didn't even have to try to make friends. What about him? Was it just a fact that female humans were considered more highly than boys? But then how did Steve Palcuck become so popular at school too?

"Have you and Steve kissed yet?" Mary asked Aja, her dark eyes wide with anticipation.

Krel tried not to gag. Kissing! If there was anything worse than humans it would be love-sick, hopelessly romantic humans. And as if he would ever let that idiot kiss his sister . . .

"No, we haven't done the kissing," Aja admitted much to Mary's dismay.

"What?! But Staja's been a thing for how long now?"

"It's only been like, two weeks. Calm down Mary," Darci butted in. She looked at Aja sympathetically. "It's okay, just take your time with it. It took me and Toby a while to have our first kiss. It's not a race, you just gotta go with the flow."

"Right." Aja nodded. "Thank you for the advice."

Mary suddenly turned around to look at Krel as if she just realized he had been walking with them the whole time. "What about you Karl? What kind of girls are you into?"

It took Krel every fiber in his body not to hit his head against the nearest lamp post. "First off, it's Krel," he said through gritted teeth. "And second, I don't want to kiss anyone."

He pushed past them and sulked the rest of the walk to school. The girls caught up to him once they made it to the school entrance, and Darci and Mary said goodbye to Aja while she and Krel went to their lockers to get their textbooks for class later.

"Aja! My beautiful warrior angel!" A swooning voice called out behind them.

Oh brother. Krel rolled his eyes and slammed his locker shut before turning around to glare at his sister's boyfriend, the one and only Steve Palchuk. But of course, Steve's eyes were only on Aja.

"Steve! My blundering oaf!" Aja replied, smiling back at him as she walked up to him, and they embraced in a hug and went off together as the happy couple they were.

The school bell rang just then and Krel joined the rest of the students as they all went to the auditorium to begin the work study. He found Aja—thankfully she wasn't with Steve—and they found seats together near some of their classmates. He glanced over at the other half of the auditorium where the older students were sitting. Most of them seemed bored or tired, and he only saw a few faces that looked friendly or unintimidating at the very least.

"I can't wait for the week to end," he muttered as he flopped backwards into his seat but as usual, no one was paying attention to him.

Ms. Janeth, their math teacher, as well as Coach Lawrence and Señor Uhl were seated at a table on top of the stage. Ms. Janeth held a microphone in her hand, and she waited expectantly for the last of the students to sit down before speaking.

"Good morning students. As you know, today begins our work study program between our first year high school students and their older peers. Your teachers and I have already paired up the mentors and apprentices together, and the mentors' knowledge of their students currently extends only to their names. We go in alphabetical order, starting with Stephanie Adams."

Stephanie Adams, a girl with frizzy brown hair and bright green eyes stood up and walked towards the front of the auditorium. A boy from the older students walked over to her and they exchanged greetings before sitting down together. Ms. Janeth called on the next student and they continued on, pairing each person in Krel's grade with a mentor.

Finally they reached the T's. His sister was called up first and Aja bounced out of her seat and to the front of the body of students, looking around with wonder in her eyes. A taller dark skinned girl was beckoned to join her. Both girls smiled widely as they said hello to each other and Krel relaxed seeing Aja with a friendly looking mentor.

"Krel Tarron," Ms. Janeth then called, and that was enough to send Krel's nerves spiraling in the pit of his stomach. He believed the phrase the humans used was 'eating buttery flies.'

He stepped forward tentatively. If Aja got a nice mentor, did that mean he was doomed to be with a mean one? What happened if his mentor was even stricter than his teachers?

But no matter who it was, he still had to make a good impression. This work study was an important part of their overall grade and he knew he had to make an honest attempt at it regardless of his feelings.

Krel waited, trying not to show how nervous he really was. A girl with (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes approached him and greeted him with a smile.

"Hi Krel," she said. "I'm (Y/n) (L/n). It's nice to meet you."

This was his mentor. She didn't look scary at all, Krel thought as he echoed back the greeting and followed her to an empty set of seats so the next person could get their mentor.

"Remember students," Ms. Janeth said once everyone had been assigned a mentor, "you must submit a three page essay to me next week reflecting on your experiences and what you've learned. You have one hour to get to know your mentors before your next class starts."

The auditorium buzzed with conversation as everyone began talking to each other, and some mentor-apprentice pairs left to go to other places in the school.

"So Krel, what do you like?" (Y/n) asked, turning to him.

"Not kissing," Krel replied quickly, reminded of Mary's question earlier.

"What?" She looked at him in mild surprise but shook it off with a chuckle. "No, I mean what are your hobbies? What do you do in your free time?"

I work on fixing the Daxial Array in the Mothership so we can finally get off this sorry excuse of a mud ball planet, Krel thought, but he wasn't about to say that out loud.

"I like math," he finally said. "And technology and music."

(Y/n)'s eyes lit up at his words and she beamed. "That's great! I like those things too. Come on, I have the perfect place to show you."

"Where are we going?" Krel asked as he followed her out of the auditorium.

"Upstairs," she told him, pointing up the staircase they just arrived at. "There's something I want you to see."

There was an unwritten rule at Arcadia Oaks High that first year high school students were not allowed on the second floor where the older students had their classes.

None of the kids in Krel's grade even dared to set foot on the flight of stairs, but here Krel was, bypassing the defenses of the upper school without much thought. He felt like he was committing a crime to be going up to the forbidden floor. He remembered when someone dared Steve to go upstairs. Steve had made a big show of it as he did with anything and in the end he got scolded by a sharp tongued student. It had been enough to put Steve on edge for a week, though he never revealed who had yelled at him so badly to terrify him.

(Y/n) led Krel confidently through the hallways of the second floor. It honestly didn't look much different from the first floor to Krel. What had all the fuss been about?

They turned a corner and stopped at a door which had a sign that said 'G-Lab'. Faint sounds of people talking and laughing came from inside the room. Was he being taken to a party room? Was that a thing in schools—older kids were allowed to party during free periods?

That doesn't make sense, Krel thought. If it was a party room it wouldn't be called the G-Lab, whatever that stood for. But his curiosity was slightly piqued now. It was only the first day—the first hour—of being with his mentor and she had taken him to a place that was off-limits under normal circumstances. He might as well find out the mysteries of the second floor and boast about it to Aja.

"Are you ready?" (Y/n) asked Krel, her hand on the doorknob.

Krel nodded. Whatever was being hidden on the second floor, he was about to find out.

"Welcome to the Gaming Lab," (Y/n) said with a dramatic flourish as she opened the door. "My favourite place in the whole school."

Krel thought he wasn't going to be impressed (Jim and his friends' teen center had been very disappointing) but he looked around the room in awe. "There's so much . . . technology."

A massive screen covered almost the entirety of one wall. In the corner was a tall shelf that was filled with thin rectangular prisms of varying colours and designs. Bean bag chairs were strewn across a small carpet in front of the big television, and Krel noticed small handheld devices attached to the screen by long wires. Various posters of different games and characters decorated another wall while a large grey flag with a strange emblem hung from the opposite one. Grouped together right in the middle of the room were twelve computer stations. Several kids were lounging in the chairs, and one was dozing off in a green bean bag.

"Who's that, (Y/n)?" One of them asked.

Krel realized that everyone in the room was looking at him and he shuffled his feet almost shyly under their gazes.

"This is Krel Tarron," (Y/n) said, putting her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "He's my apprentice for the week."

A girl with thick rimmed glasses and a bun of auburn hair frowned at Krel in disapproval. "He's not supposed to be up here. The second floor is off-limits to the baby schoolers."

"I am not a baby," Krel said defensively.

(Y/n) stepped forward as if she was protecting Krel and said, "He's got my permission to be here. Don't you remember the rules? It's not a problem if they get permission from us to come up."

"Okay," the girl said, "but why'd you have to bring him here? Of all the places in the school, you chose the G-Lab."

"Krel said he likes science and tech, so I brought him to the one place that has those things. You would've done the same if he were your apprentice, Emily."

"No, no I wouldn't have." Emily scowled.

(Y/n)'s face went stony. She looked around at all of the students in the room, making sure they were all listening to her. "I'm saying this now so no one gets mistaken. Krel has my permission to come up to the G-Lab whenever he likes for the whole week. I'm his mentor, so I set the rules for my apprentice. Understood?"

"I'm going to the study room." Emily stood up abruptly and grabbed her things. The door banged behind her as she left. The other students lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, their eyes averted before they slowly went back to their activities.

"I'm really sorry about that," (Y/n) apologized to Krel, her eyes sympathetic. "We haven't had a first year up here in a long time, so I guess everyone's touchy about letting you be here. But I promise you they're good people."

"It's okay," Krel replied. He liked that his mentor defended him, but couldn't help sighing inwardly at the scene Emily caused because of him. "I have realized I am not wanted in a lot of places."

"Don't say that!" (Y/n) said fiercely. "I want you here." Then her voice turned gentle. "Did you see anything you liked?"

"I like everything," Krel told her. After another moment of thinking, he pointed to the posters on the wall. "Except for those pictures. They look a little tacky."

"You shouldn't let the others hear you saying that," (Y/n) said, but her tone was light and a mischievous smile graced her lips, so Krel could tell she was joking. "Riley and Marie Lee love those games."

"I wasn't aware," Krel replied.

The older students had a fierce attachment to the second floor and its facilities it seemed. He didn't know if he agreed with how territorial they were but he wondered if now would be a good time to practice what Mother called 'emotional awareness,' which was something all humans experienced to varying degrees. But then again, why should he care about the feelings of an inferior and ignorant life species?

"Krel, come here." (Y/n)'s voice broke him out of his thoughts. She waved him over to the computer she was standing next to. "Let's get you set up."

Krel didn't know what they were doing, but he complied and sat down in the comfy gaming chair.

"Have you played any video games before?" She asked him as she typed on the keyboard in front of them. The computer screen went from black to blue to green, with many small icons decorating it.

"No, I haven't," Krel answered. Was he about to play his first video game? He heard those things were very popular with teenage boys. Almost every boy in his class talked about them.

(Y/n)'s face showed surprise but she didn't say anything rude. Instead she simply said, "We'll get you started with a MOBA then. I think you'll like this game."

"What is a MOBA?" Krel asked.

"It stands for multiplayer online battle arena," she explained. "The three most popular types of games are MOBAs, first person shooter games and battle royales."

"Interesting," Krel mused as the words 'League of Legends' appeared on the screen.

First (Y/n) prompted him to pick a character—champion, she called them. There was a staggering variety of them, over a hundred and fifty according to (Y/n). He finally settled on one that went by the name of Ekko.

After being taught the basics of the character's abilities, Krel found out he was quite good at this 'MOBA' game.

"Ten kills and only two deaths," (Y/n) commented at the end of his first game. "That's way better than when I first tried League."

The other older students became curious and came over to watch Krel play as he started another match. Soon enough, they offered to play against him in a combative duel. Krel took on the challenge eagerly.

"Let me play him next," a girl said after Krel beat his current opponent.

He won against two of (Y/n)'s friends and only lost to someone who was really good. Krel was about to agree to the offer but (Y/n) spoke up before he could accept.

"It's almost ten o' clock." She frowned, looking at the clock on the wall. "He's got to go back to class."

"Tough luck," the girl said sympathetically. "Maybe next time then."

"I have to leave already?" Krel couldn't help being disappointed. He had been having so much fun! And he showed those snobby older kids how good he was at the game.

"Sorry Krel," (Y/n) said as she quit the game for him and shut down the computer. "We'll both get in trouble if you don't go to class on time. But we can meet up here again tomorrow."

Krel had no option but to agree. He didn't want to get in trouble; not even the video game was worth that. But still, he would've liked to play for a little bit longer. He grabbed his bag and waited for (Y/n) so they could leave.

(Y/n) turned to him once they were outside the Gaming Lab. "Promise not to tell anyone I took you up to the G-Lab?" She asked. "I don't want everyone making a big deal out of it or bothering you about it."

Krel hesitated. He was the only person in his entire grade that had not only been up to the second floor, but also to one of the most sacred rooms it offered. He could already imagine how jealous it would make his sister and so many others. He could finally get the popularity he had been seeking since his first day of school.

But (Y/n) was looking at him with such an intense gaze, making him second guess himself. What was more important to him: popularity, or (Y/n)'s trust? (Y/n) just showed him one of the biggest secrets in the school. She deserved at least some of his respect, and Krel was no stranger to keeping secrets anyway. What was one more?

"Alright," Krel gave in, though a bit reluctant. "I won't share this secret with anyone."

"Thanks Krel." (Y/n) smiled, clearly relieved. "You're the best."

He became the best just for agreeing to a promise? Humans really did have low expectations of each other. Maybe doing other mediocre activities would make him the best to everyone else too. He'd have to do more research on that.

(Y/n) was staring at him again, and Krel realized he completely missed what she said afterwards. "What did you say?" He asked her.

"Do you want me to take you to class?"

Krel shook his head. "No, I'm fine by myself."

"Okay. Then take that staircase over there." (Y/n) pointed down the hallway where Krel caught a glimpse of a dark stairwell. "It leads to the back corner of the auditorium. Barely anyone uses it so you won't get caught, and no one will see you go down."

They said their goodbyes and Krel went down the staircase and back to the safety of the familiar first floor of Arcadia Oaks High. He had almost reached his classroom when he heard someone calling out behind him.

"Krel, hey Krel!"

Krel turned around to see no other than Eli Pepperjack, a thin kid that dwarfed in height against Steve, who he regularly hung out with. Often when Aja was asked out somewhere by Steve, Eli would ask Krel to hang out too. Krel had agreed to it once but never again after a disaster that put their Akiridion identities and lives at risk. Krel didn't really like Eli anyway; the human was too perceptive. Perhaps because of his eye protecting lenses.

Eli pulled to a stop in front of Krel, hands on his knees as he panted. "I've been looking for you all over the place. Where were you?"

"I was with my mentor." Krel stated rather obviously. "Like everyone was with theirs."

Eli shook his head. "No. I mean, I looked in every classroom but I couldn't find out where you went with your mentor. What did you do the whole time?"

What were you doing running around the school looking in all the classrooms for? Krel wanted to ask him. But maybe he was better off not knowing. Eli was a strange kid.

"We . . . were discussing matters with Señor Uhl." Krel thought up a quick lie. "In his office."

No way Eli would've had enough courage to peek into the office of the interim principal.

"Oh." Eli's suspicious voice melted into concern. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Krel told him. "Just, you know, precautions."

"Got it. So how is your mentor? Who did you get again?"

"Her name is (Y/n). I think she's okay," Krel said. 'Okay' seemed to be a slight underestimation but Krel wasn't about to make the same mistake twice on blindly trusting someone from the human species. He still had the whole week ahead of him to judge (Y/n).

"Wow, you got lucky. I'm stuck with Riley Ford."

"What's wrong with this Riley Ford?"

"He's a total sports head!" Eli groaned. "He kept going on about football and basketball. I think my whole work study is just gonna be extra gym classes."

Krel took one swift look over Eli's skinny frame and said, "Maybe that would do you some good."

"You're supposed to be on my side," Eli protested indignantly. "I'm gonna die of overexertion."

"I think your death would be highly inconvenient to everyone," Krel replied seriously.

Eli chuckled and patted Krel's back. "You know Krel, you're a funny guy."

"I wasn't trying to be." Krel frowned, but Eli had already left him behind.

The bell shrilled again, reminding him he'd be late and Krel dashed to get to class on time.

* * *

"Krel!" Aja greeted him at the front of the school to walk back home at the end of the school day. "How is your mentor? What activity did you do with her?"

"Tell me how yours was first," Krel told her. Maybe that would distract her enough to not ask about his mentor again.

"Elder Rachel showed me how to make the human friendship symbol."

"Humans have a symbol of friendship?"

"It is called the friendship bracelet!" Aja held up her hand. A small rainbow beaded cord was wrapped around her wrist. "I made them for Darci and Mary too."

That wasn't what he was expecting. Humans had the strangest things for such important symbols. They pledged to their leader through a flag, a prickly tree somehow symbolized family and spending time together, and a lumpy orange thing was the representative for a holiday of horror. It was all extremely confusing.

"That sounds err . . . nice."

"So what did you do?" Aja looked at Krel expectantly.

"Not much." He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "It was rather boring honestly."

"Are you sure?" Aja asked. She was still looking at him as if she knew something he didn't, a broad smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you before Señor Uhl's class. You looked happy. Are you finally enjoying yourself on Earth?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Krel said snootily. "As if anything on this mud ball would be fun to me." But he couldn't shake off the tingle of excitement he had felt—a feeling he was craving to experience again.