He Loves Me, I Love Him Not: Chapter Two

After her human acting class, Catalina returned to Mrs. Glittermay to receive her Rule book, the guide for procedures on earth. Mrs. Glittermay was combing out her long orange hair and looking at her flaming complexion in the mirror. Catalina was anxious to get in and out quickly, but Mrs. Glittermay had a few things to say, not to mention the book weighed fifteen kilograms at least.1

Catalina hurried to her dorm room to wash her face and hands, and take a shower. She brushed and gelled her short hair, brushed her astonishingly white teeth and put on a fresh purple dress. She hurried back to Mrs. Glittermay, who had the room set up for her transformation. Catalina hurried to a long lounge chair, like the kind in dentist's offices.2

The first step was the bleaching of her skin. A huge thing that looked like a motorized mop was set onto her face, extracting every ounce of violet pigment and replacing it with a chocolate brown.3

After her skin, her hair was zapped with dark black dye and her eyes were zapped liquid topaz.4

Then, her dress was clipped, earthified, and colored bright blue.5

Catalina examined her reflection in the mirror. She looked almost frightfully different, but her eyes were the same shape, her mouth curved into a sarcastic smirk. The dress also felt different and her teeth, which had been slightly yellowed, felt odd too, but she just dismissed it quickly, not wanting to think about her appearance.6

"OK, Catalina. On earth, your name is going to be ... Sophia, and you live in Los Angeles, California, United States of America, which is where you are going. You are given four Fairy Borealis flowers, each packed in a special, hermetically sealed box that is another hermetically sealed briefcase which is in another hermetically sealed suitcase. These precautions are taken because once you enter earth's atmosphere, the flower will have to adjust to its new climate, shaking violently and trying to break out. After approximately two hours, the flower will have adjusted and will stop moving. At that point, you can go into your hotel room, a Four Seasons, room A315, until you have settled into your new look and eaten some food. Then you will put on the camouflage suit we've also packed and plant the first flower in a discreet, hidden location. Plant another approximately one hundred meters from that. Keep advancing in larger increments until you have left one directly in front of the closest hospital. Then, you are to return to your hotel room, sleep until dawn, and leave for the shuttle, which will return you to our planet right before dinner is served. Do you have any questions?" India zoomed through the instructions, while Catalina mentally listed each thing.7

"No, I think I've gotten everything," Catalina said, nodding her head. India smiled and took her student's hand, guiding her to the jet outside. It was composed of: gold, silver, aluminum, steel, iron, and almost every other metal known to man, sealed with a sleek titanium paint finish and metal covering. Catalina took a deep breath as she was guided onto the plane. There were other students on the plane, other fairies from other classes with other teachers, like Mr. Shimmerton, who also lead earth missions such as this one. Catalina sat next to a female named Cheyenne Shinewater, who was always next to her in alphabetical order.8

"What are you in for?" Catalina asked, looking at her transformed classmate. Usually, Cheyenne was a glorious lime green, but her skin had been zapped dry, making her a pale white. Her usually neon eyes were a dull hazel, and her hair went from long and vibrant to long and yellow. While it reminded Catalina of some of her gold-skinned friends, it wasn't enough of a likeness to be comforting. Catalina settled uneasily into the leather seat and waited for the flight fairy to give the signal. Cheyenne also looked uncertain about the whole ordeal.9

"I have to mate with a human. How disgusting is that? I'm supposed to be the head of some kind of new halfies, but I don't want to. I mean, look how the Elvish-Farin thing turned out. Humans are even more different than the elves!" Cheyenne carped, crossing her arms, Catalina raised her eyebrows. And she thought HER mission was bad.10

At last, the flight fairy saluted in the traditional Farin manner and the jet slowly rolled across the ground and seamlessly floated into the atmosphere, while Catalina just tried to breathe.11

Just as promised, the Fairy Borealis began reacting violently in Catalina's suitcase. Catalina had to stand up and shut the luggage compartment before the whole case rolled out and into space.12

"God, I HATE our stupid flower," Catalina said, rolling her eyes. Cheyenne had been drinking some strong, black coffee.13

"Me too. It's been bumping around for the past two hours, since we came into earth's atmosphere," Cheyenne replied, surprisingly calm for someone who should have been so wired.14

"I wonder when we're going to get this Los Angel-whatever place. Oh, by the way, what's your earth name?" Catalina asked.15

"Donna. That's only the most pathetic name I've ever heard," Cheyenne said.16

"Mine is 'Sophia,' " Catalina complained, putting air quotes around her new name. She poked her arm and a splash of purple pressed out, quickly seeping back into her body. I guess they didn't really bleach my skin after all, Catalina thought as the plane stopped on what seemed to be earth. Catalina thought they may as well have been in an old movie.17

She knew that it was supposed to be colorful, but it was far from that. The colors were drab, and an annoying grayish strip kept shining on her. It felt cold but dull. Her dress had seemed pretty boring on her planet, but it blended right in with the dark colors on earth. Everyone else, the humans, were squinting at the gray thing, like it was supposed to be bright. Catalina stared right at it but was quickly chastised by Mrs. Glittermay.18

"Catalina! You are not to stare at the sun! It marks you as different!" Mrs. Glittermay scolded. Catalina made a face but stopped looking at earth's sun. Their own was far more radiant.19

Mrs. Glittermay gave a few bits of instruction, but then they were on their own. Catalina walked with Cheyenne to the hotel and they sat down in their adjoining rooms. Catalina went into Cheyenne's room to talk.20

"At least the flower stopped moving," Catalina said, shrugging before collapsing onto the bed. Cheyenne slipped into the bathroom to change clothes. She had put on a white bathrobe over her normal stuff.21

"This is pretty comfortable, but nothing like the ones at home," Cheyenne said, sitting in a chair by a desk.22

NOTHING here is like it is at home, Catalina thought. She could've said it out loud, but she just decided not to.