We fall into an easy routine. We…

25

Naomi

We fall into an easy routine. We wake up, he cooks, I study his plants, his fish, and the computer library thing he has. He pulls me into his arms and heats me up a few times a day, and we mate like horny teenagers.

But something still feels off. I feel like I’m going through adolescent mood swings, to match the uptick in my sex drive.

We’ve been on Narul for almost two weeks when I finally figure it out.

“I need a friend,” I tell him.

“Hmm?”

“Well, girls on my planet always have a friend. Another girl that they can talk to.”

Marv nods. “Another girl. I shall find one for you?”

I shake my head. “Not the App, silly. There has to be another girl who is already here and also needs a friend. Girls like to spend time together.”

I glance around the room. The plants are growing, the fish are swimming, and I’m losing my mind. “I need to get out.”

“Okay,” Marv says. “We have a recreation center.”

“Is that just a bunch of sports equipment?”

Marv laughs. “Some of it, but there’s a whole lot more. I hear some of the mated pairs go there sometimes.”

I take extra time fixing up my hair. After all, back on Earth, women spend hours getting ready, and it’s never really been about looking good for the guys. We like to impress each other.

I put on one of the robes that I’ve borrowed from Marv. Hopefully, some of the women that were “selected” know a thing or two about designing clothes, because these utilitarian boys’ outfits need to go.

We walk together to the recreation center. Marv sneaks his hand into mine and winks. “You look amazing,” he tells me.

I like that he can still be impressed by me. “Thanks,” I tell him.

When we enter, I take in the enormity of their underground world. There is an enormous field where males are kicking around several odd shaped balls. Some are more oval than round.

Off to the side, there are swimming pools, a room with screens that look like televisions, and a bunch of chairs set about for everyone to relax on.

And there are several lavender girls sitting around the room. Well, mostly lavender. But I see a few unchanged females as well.

“May I go chat with the girls?” I ask.

Marv smiles. “You’re free to walk around in here. It’s safe.”

Safe. There is that word again. What isn’t he telling me?

I walk slowly, reading the very large room as I wander through the complex. When I reach the largest pool, I sit down at the side and dip my legs in. It’s otherwise empty.

I guess men and women don’t want to swim together.

My eyes continue to wander around the room, until I realize why I feel uncomfortable.

There are no children.

They have an entire recreation center and no children. I suddenly feel heartbroken for the loss of an entire generation.

No wonder Marv came looking for me.

“May I sit with you?” a woman’s voice says.

I glance up. It’s a brunette with pale skin. She is unchanged. I nod.

The woman plops down beside me and dips her own legs into the water. She lets out a long sigh.

“Which one is yours?” she asks me.

I glance around the large room, looking for Marv. He’s at the edge of the ball court. I point, and he waves.

“Oh.” She pauses, studying him. “Well, mine is that snarling beast standing right over there,” she says, pointing to a big purple guy who has his arms folded over his chest. He’s standing on the other edge of the pool, watching us.

“I’m Naomi,” I offer.

“Kimmy.”

“How has it been for you? Has he been kind?”

Kimmy flips her arm over to reveal her wrist. There’s a flower tattooed on it.

“I don’t get it.”

“You will. Let me see your wrists,” she says.

I flip them both over. Nothing to see.

She sighs. “That means I’m pregnant.”

“But you didn’t ‘change.’”

“Because I didn’t agree to mate with him.”

“But…”

“Yeah. He made me.”

I stare at my wrists again. A flower means a girl is pregnant? “How did you know about the flower thing? He told you?”

“I asked him what the hell it was when I saw it. I keep expecting to turn purple after each time he sleeps with me, but I’ve never agreed to be his mate, so I guess that’s how that works.”

“Is he… gentle?”

She shrugs. “I mean, sometimes he’s rough. But only if I ask.”

“So, you are okay sleeping with him?” I want to know.

“I mean, yeah, he hasn’t forced me. I just won’t be his mate.”

“But you’re having his baby.”

“His creepy little half alien baby.”

“We’re trapped here,” I say, staring at Marv.

“Maybe. Or maybe that’s what they want us to believe.”

I shrug. If there was a way home, I’d be able to read it from Marv’s thoughts. Mostly I just read him feeling sad that he can’t send me back. He knows I’m unhappy.

“I don’t think there is.”

She squints again at Marv. “Wait, isn’t he the guy who was conducting the whole App thing? Back at that big room, when I arrived?”

I stare down at my wrists again. I don’t think I want to be friends with her. I glance up at Marv and mouth the words, “Take me home.”

He understands and crosses the large room quickly. He’s by my side almost immediately.

“It is him,” Kimmy says. “He showed them how to bring us here.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I let Marv lead me home.

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