“You will cut her off, do you understand? She made her choice when she decided to elope with a Veilorian. She chose an alien, an unwanted visitor on this planet, over her own family. She knew the consequences, and yet she chose him anyway.” Mom turned back to the counter and started scrubbing again, harder than before, and her whole body shook, either from her anger or the force of her scrubbing. “I can’t believe it. Can’t understand how she could do this to her family. How could anyone?”
She was talking to herself now, mumbling as she wiped at the counter and no longer looking at me. I took the opportunity to stand, grabbing the two book bags off the floor at my feet as I did. Even when the legs of my chair scraped against the cracked vinyl floor, Mom didn’t look my way. She was too busy talking to herself. If I made my escape now, she wouldn’t even notice.
As if the same thought was going through her head, Lena followed my lead and jumped up, and together we hurried from the room.
I stepped outside and sucked in a deep breath the second the door was shut, inhaling a mouthful of blistering air in hopes of calming my pounding heart. Even thick with the smells of the city—burning fuel, garbage, and pollution—it felt refreshing compared to the stifling kitchen I’d just fled. Hate had a smell, I decided. It was bitter and toxic, and it didn’t just invade your senses, it soaked into your pores and poisoned all of you. Your brain, your blood, your heart. My mom had allowed it to destroy her years ago, but I wouldn’t, couldn’t, let it claim me.
“Are you going to cut Ione out of your life?” Lena asked.
“Of course not,” I snapped as I pulled the book bag straps higher on my shoulder, their heaviness digging into my skin, and let out a deep sigh. Taking my frustrations out on Lena wasn’t going to help anything. Plus, she didn’t deserve it. “Sorry. I’m just irritated by the whole situation.”
My sister only nodded in response.
It was late morning, and the road in front of us was busy with activity as people headed to work or downtown to enjoy their Sunday. Autos and motobikes hovered a foot above the crowded street, bumper to bumper and barely making progress on their daily commutes. Every few seconds, a horn blared, the beeps bouncing off the closely packed buildings lining the street until the noise felt never-ending. Like the road, the sidewalks were bursting with activity.
The whole city was crowded, and even the dwindling birthrates and drop in life expectancy couldn’t fix that—not when most of the planet was now uninhabitable—but my family just so happened to live in the most congested area. Most of the population was on government aid these days, but we were at the bottom of the barrel, and in this part of the city the utilities were cheap, the housing free, and the buildings smashed against one another to take advantage of every inch of useable space, making it seem like everything was closing in on you.
It hadn’t always been like this. There was a time, so long ago I barely remembered it, when things had been better. Before my dad left and we still had the money from his job. But he’d gone, taking his income with him, and we’d been forced to move here. It almost made me understand Mom’s bitterness. Almost.
Lena, who was short for sixteen, looked up at me with wide eyes. With the exception of the height difference, she was nearly a carbon copy of me even though we had different fathers. We had the same long, dark hair, light brown skin, and big, hazel eyes. We’d also both inherited our mother’s pouty lips, which made my sister appear extra young and me more feminine. All it did for Mom was make her look like she was constantly on the verge of spitting.
“I don’t know why you push her buttons like that,” my sister said. “Just nod your head and do what you want.”
“Because it makes me mad, that’s why.” I let out a deep breath, trying once again to push away my frustrations and failing miserably. “The Veilorians aren’t human, but they’re still people. Mom has never even met one, but she hates them anyway.”
My sister’s eyes grew larger as the meaning of my words sank in. “Have you met one?”
“Of course.” I straightened my shoulders, holding my head high to let my sister know I wasn’t ashamed. “I’ve met Ione’s boyfriend—husband. His name is Rye. He’s nice.”
Lena looked around like she was making sure no one was listening, and when she was once again focused on me asked, “What’s he like?”
“He’s not that different from you and me.” I shrugged as if the difference between our two species was as unimportant as having different color eyes, which to me it was. “I mean, he wasn’t born on Earth, but he hasn’t been to space since he was little. I doubt he even remembers it.”
“None of the Veilorians have gone back into space since they got here,” Lena pointed out.
“Exactly.” I punctuated the word, shaking my head to let my sister know how stupid I thought it all was.
Once again, I adjusted the straps of my backpacks when they shifted, digging into my shoulder, and the weight served as a reminder that I had something I needed to do. Not that I wanted my sister to know about it. The less she got involved in all this, the better. Just in case.
“You have somewhere to go?” I asked Lena, gesturing to her own
