Misty stared at Ailysia, and her voice was uncharacteristically soft. "What do you mean?" And then, realization clicked in her eyes. "You did this?"
Ailysia nodded, though she wasn't so sure of the answer herself. "Something happened to me last night. I had a very strange dream, and it felt so real. It felt like I went to another world."
This is it. She thought. She was going to spill the truth. It still unnerved her to think what her friend's reaction would be. A tiny part of her was afraid Misty wouldn't believe her, would think she was paranoid. But the rest of her decided to trust her friend.
"I met a lady who was also a dragon, who told me I was..." Ailysia struggled for the appropriate description. "...genetically designed by her or something, and sent to Earth two million years ago. And then—"
Abruptly, she stopped, realizing that someone else was paying attention. Pedra, who sat two rows ahead, was poking her head over the back of the seat, and staring in her direction. Her dark thick brows were furrowed in confusion, and the headphones hung forgotten over her shoulders.
Ailysia had no idea how much Pedra had overheard, but she knew for certain that from her vantage point, Pedra could see the frozen window. Probably had witnessed its transformation. Ailysia clenched her hands on her lap, her palms sticky with sweat, and struggled to think.
What was she to do? She couldn't just trust Pedra with her secret—she hardly knew the girl! But what if Pedra were to tell someone else? What if everyone found out?
She fixed a fierce glare at the floor, as if she could bore a hole there and hide. And then Misty bumped her lightly on the arm, and passed over the writing pad. On a fresh page, Misty had scrawled a note.
"Don't worry. She doesn't know you have anything to do with the window. If anyone asks, we will say a refrigerated truck passed by, and a cold blast from the open door struck the window."
Ailysia nodded slightly, breathing easier. Misty was right, of course: Occam's razor – was that what it was called? There was no reason for anyone to believe that she had anything to do with the window, or to believe Pedra if that girl made a fuss.
She smiled at her friend, thankful that Misty was there to keep a cool head. She took the pen and wrote down a new message on the writing pad. "I will tell you everything at lunch. Let's meet in the arboretum. Thank you! And can we talk about politics again?"
Misty winked at her, and then made an exaggerated expression of staring at the note critically, shaking her head in disappointment. "I'm afraid this slogan is too generic. If you want to win, you'll have to come up with a more eye-catching message—something that rhymes."
The two of them launched into a discussion of the best campaign slogan for a while, neither paying any attention to Pedra. After a while, the girl seemed to get the message, and scooted back down into her seat.
The rest of the morning was uneventful. When the bus arrived at school, everyone was in a hurry to get off, and no one noticed or inquired about the window. Ailysia suspected the bus driver might have some questions later, but she would be long gone then.
She sat through her morning classes with a lingering agitation, her usually sharp concentration slipping a little. What happened on the bus weighed on her. Even though having Misty on her side was a relief, Ailysia still felt apprehensive, and couldn't wait for lunch to talk it over. Her friend would have some ideas, she was sure. Misty never failed to come up with a plan.
Her anxiety wasn't helped by the stealthy gazes directed at her. Unlike Misty, Pedra was in most of her morning classes. Ailysia had never noticed the girl before, but now the blue-haired girl appeared to be permanently stuck in her peripheral vision. Pedra stared at her surreptitiously now and then, sometimes clumsily hiding the attempt behind an arm, and always scrutinizing.
Ailysia had no idea what Pedra could possibly want. She guessed that Pedra was trying to figure her out, and it made her intensely self-conscious to be observed like this, like a puzzle. Once, Ailysia made a point of staring back, and Pedra looked away so fast, like a child snatching her hand back from the cookie jar, that she couldn't have been more obvious.
What an odd girl, Ailysia thought. Irritated but slightly amused as well.
Finally, it was lunch time. Ailysia put away her morning books in her locker, closed the door, and there was Pedra again, a few dozen feet away. The girl stood with her body half turned away, fiddling with a locker in such a clueless manner that Ailysia suspected it wasn't even her own. But from the intense concentration in her face, Pedra sure seemed determined to crack it.
Sighing, Ailysia slung her backpack over her shoulders, and strode away. She rounded a corner and quickly snapped her body to the wall, and waited. Twenty seconds later, scurrying footsteps approached, and Pedra poked around the corner, looking about in her mousey way. She gasped, and almost jumped, when Ailysia spoke.
"Your spying game is weak, Pedra. What do you want?"
"I...I uh..." Pedra babbled, her face turning crimson. Her hands fumbled in the air, as if trying to fold an excuse into existence.
Ailysia crossed her arms, raised an unimpressed eyebrow, and waited.
Pedra took a deep breath, shut her eyes briefly as though facing doom, and finally blurted out. "I want to help with your campaign!"
"What?" Ailysia exclaimed, genuinely shocked. "You are not here about the..." She was about to say "dragon business", but thankfully, checked herself in time. "...about what you saw on the bus?"
"Well, I am curious about that." Pedra shifted from foot to foot, not meeting Ailysia's eye. "But it seemed like something you'd rather not talk about. And I don't want to pry."
"But you are not the least bit weirded out?" Ailysia pressed, not believing it. She herself was freaked out. How could Pedra just accept it like that?
"There are things in this world nobody can explain." Pedra shrugged, unfazed. "My abuela always says, if you go around trying to understand everything, then you will just be blind to the things you can't understand. I believe in spirits, witches, magic, and the like." She blushed again. "I guess I'm weird like that."
Ailysia looked at Pedra, really looked at her for the first time. Pedra was petite, her face plump and soft, with tiny dimples at the corners of her mouth. She had bold eyebrows and bolder mascara, complete with blue eyeshadow to match her hair. On the surface, the two girls didn't look anything alike. But Ailysia saw something familiar in her: the girl who never received the benefit of the doubt, who reached out in friendship but was treated with suspicion in return.
"No, you are not weird. I...I owe you an apology." Ailysia admitted, feeling deeply ashamed over how much she had misjudged Pedra. "I'm sorry for being so suspicious. I was afraid of what you might think of me, what you might say to others. But that was unwarranted, since you didn't do anything wrong."
Pedra looked up, flashing a bashful smile. "I was acting a bit suspicious tailing you around, wasn't I?"
"A little." Ailysia conceded, with a smile of her own. "But if you want to join my campaign, you could have just asked me. I'd be happy to have you onboard." She paused, thinking for a second. "Actually, would you like to run as well?"
"What? But I couldn't possibly..." Pedra laced her hands nervously. "I mean, I have no experience running for anything."
"Neither do I. But this is a school, and we are supposed to learn right?" Ailysia gestured at the classrooms. "Anyway, please think about it. We have time." And then, remembering Jennifer's deadline, she corrected herself. "Okay, maybe not that much time – we have to file by Friday. But whatever you decide, I'd love to work with you."
Ailysia extended her hand, and Pedra shook it without hesitation. They eyes met, and Ailysia was struck by just how genuinely happy Pedra looked. The girl's eyes practically sparkled.
She had not just found a campaign helper or even a running mate, Ailysia realized. She had made a friend. The thought made her heart tingle with joy.
"Look at that, two losers finding each other!" A voice taunted.
Ailysia whipped around, confronting the owner of that obnoxious voice. Luke stood imperiously in the middle of the hallway, arms crossed and feet planted apart, and thronged by his hockey teammates. They backed up his taunt by hoots and whistles.
Ailysia rolled her eyes. Luke and his goons didn't scare her one bit, and she had no interest in whatever they had to say. She was about to turn and leave, when she realized Pedra was still holding her hand.
No, Pedra practically clutched her hand, fingers trembling slightly. She was scared.
And that made Ailysia angry. She put on her fiercest scowl, and fired back at Luke. "Go howl somewhere else. The people are talking here."
"That's not the politically correct way to address your opponent, Candidate Maynard." Luke tsk-tsked, as though talking to a child. "Show some class."
"Opponent?" Then it dawned on her, and her heart sank. "You are running in the election?"
"Not just me. I'm just gonna be the president. But there are several positions, aren't there?" Luke extended his arms, gesturing at his teammates. "My good buddy Brad here will be the vice president. You will do a good job of it, won't you Brad?"
"Sure will." Nodded the bulky athlete, with a smug grin.
"And who else," Luke continued. "Sam will be the treasurer, since he sucks at math and we don't need big government anyway. Noah knows how to get hot girls into parties, so he will be the recreation director..."
Ailysia's ire kept rising as Luke made a game of it, mocked something that was so important to her. If Pedra wasn't still holding her hand, Ailysia wasn't sure she could refrain from punching Luke in the face.
And then, Luke had to insult her one last time. "But we still have a spot left: recording clerk. That's like a secretary, I take it. Since you stand no chance running against me, I will be gracious and offer up this spot to you."
It happened so fast. Ailysia was just thinking about it, wishing for it, and there it was, willed into being from thin air. She stared at the floor, almost unable to believer her eyes. But it was definitely there, a thin film of ice, slick and dangerous, right in front of Luke's feet.
"Come on." Ailysia said to Pedra, tugging at her gently. They began to walk away, and Luke, eager to finish his speech, strode forward to follow. He slipped on the ice and tumbled face forward, and probably would have cracked his jaw if not for Ailysia, at the last moment, extending an arm to catch him.
For a brief moment, Luke stayed in this awkward position, caught in Ailysia's arm like a damsel. It probably felt as humiliating to him as a face-plant fall would have been. As soon as he collected his bearings, he pushed away from her as if she were poison.
"Where did this ice come from?" He complained to no one in particular.
"It's been there a while." Ailysia shrugged, perfectly calm.
"It wasn't there just a second ago!" Luke protested, futilely. None of his hockey buddies would back him up, all were probably too embarrassed on his behalf.
"Whatever you say." Ailysia chivalrously conceded the point, and then smirked in a way she knew would make him blush. "And you are welcome."
Luke froze, his face turning crimson. His mouth hung open, but Ailysia was long gone before he could recover enough to say anything.
A\N: How do you like Pedra? I had a lot of fun writing this character and her quirky ways. If you like her, rest assured because she's going to stick around ;) And if you've missed the dream world, more is coming next chapter as Ailysia returns to the alien planet. Danger! Crisis! (okay I'm going to stop here with the cheese). Please vote if you've enjoyed the chapter.