Chapter 33: Aisha & Quinton – Part 2

Aisha jerked her head around with a start. She’d been staring into space, and now everyone was looking at her. “I’m o-okay.”

“Is it…is it going to hurt?” Chloe suddenly asked. Her cheeks were glowing as they all turned to look at her.

“It might,” Brenda said. “But only really the first time.”

“But he’s so…but it’s so…”

“…big?” Juan interjected. “They are big, yes.”

“Won’t it hurt more?” Chloe asked in a small voice.

“Perhaps. I’m not sure, to be honest,” Brenda admitted.

“I don’t—I don’t think I can do it,” Chloe continued, her shoulders hunching up to her ears.

“It’s normal to be afraid,” Myeong said, leaning across the table. “But if he’s anything like my Roco, he’ll be gentle, despite his size. My husband”—she twisted her mouth—“my husband was much smaller, and he—and he hurt. It’s the way they use it. Not its size.”

Chloe looked away, biting her lip. She shook her head. “It’s not just that. It’s—it’s wrong.” She looked at them all, her eyes darting between the women before falling upon Juan. “It’s—it’s not what God would want.”

Juan narrowed his eyes. Brenda frowned. Aisha stared, her heart pounding, knowing exactly what she meant. It was the same thing Aisha felt deep down in her own mind, though she didn’t have the courage to say it.

“Who says?” Juan snapped. “You crazy-ass republicans?” A hush fell upon the room.

“Juan…,” Brenda warned.

He snorted. “Hate to break it to you, ~little girl~, but there ain’t no God. If there was one, do you think we’d be here?” He gestured at the room. Then he pointed at his eyes. “Do you think this would happen to me? How do you explain that?”

Chloe straightened in her seat. “God works in mysterious ways.”

Juan gave a barking laugh. Chloe was looking resolute, though her face blazed even more.

“That’s enough!” Alexis said. She looked at Chloe. “I believe in God. But I don’t believe in ~that~ bullshit. If God didn’t want me to do this, then why am I so damn happy? The happiest I’ve ever been?” She pointed at her face. “Look at me. You think there’s something wrong with me?”

Aisha could tell Chloe was struggling to answer.

“Leave her alone,” Brenda said. “She’s only a kid.”

Juan scoffed. “She’s not a kid at all.” He leaned across the table toward her, looking mean. “Use your God as an excuse all you want, but you’re going to fall for Tor and turn just like the rest of us.” He gave a nasty grin. “And I bet it’ll be before the week is out.”

Chloe lifted her chin. “I will not.”

Juan laughed.

“Chloe,” Brenda said. The girl’s eyes turned to the redhead. “Believe what you like, but I don’t agree. None of us agree, and neither do the aliens. Just…just try not to feel bad when it happens. Because it ~will~ happen.”

“It won’t,” she said, folding her arms.

“Then why are you asking us these questions?” Alexis asked.

Chloe glared at them all. Then her eyes started to shine. Her face crumpled, and she dropped her head into her hands, her fingers clawing into her hair. Aisha stood and went over, gripping her shoulder. She felt a strange sense of camaraderie for the American. They were both so similar in many ways. And the only two left unbonded—other than Karina.

Juan sighed and shook his head. Alexis was frowning.

“We’re all here to support you,” Brenda told them both. “If you ever need help for anything—call me. Or any of us.”

QUINTON

“Just wait, Tor. She seems fine,” Quinton said.

“She’s upset. They’ve said something to her,” Tor said, grabbing the door’s handle as he glared through the window into the lesson room.

“They might be talking about the bonding. It is a scary thing—particularly for one so young,” Clint said.

“She’s ~crying~,” Tor said.

“You’re not going to help by marching in there,” Quinton continued. “Sit down.”

Tor shook his head.

“Sit down, Tor,” Roco growled. “Let them speak.”

Tor turned to glare at the big Zibon. With a scowl, he sat.

“How much did she bleed, Zibry?” Quinton asked.

“Quite a bit.”

Shaking his head, Quinton watched as Aisha picked up one of the paddings and studied it, her face twisted in dismay.

“I can’t believe that. How can that be normal?” Clint said.

“Are you sure you just didn’t hurt her?” Roco asked.

“I’m sure!” Zibry snapped, his eyes flashing. “She ~told~ me.”

“Okay, okay,” Roco said, waving his hands.

“And that’s not all,” Zibry said, folding his arms as he gazed through the window. “There’s something you need to know, Tor, Quinton.”

Quinton turned to him. “What?”

“Apparently it can hurt the first time. It can actually be ~quite~ painful.”

“What do you mean?” Tor frowned.

Zibry explained about what he called the “hymen.” Quinton and Tor glanced at each other.

“What the fuck is the point of that?” Tor asked.

Zibry shrugged. “No idea. It’s just there.”

Quinton gazed through the window at Aisha. How was he supposed to do this? How could he hurt her? Tor looked troubled.

“You just need to be aware of it,” Zibry said. “Apparently all Rictorian women go through it.”

“Such a complicated, difficult species,” Clint said.

“No kidding,” Tor agreed.

“Maybe…maybe there’s a way we can remove it surgically?” Quinton suggested.

Zibry shrugged. “Perhaps, but like I said, Brenda says it’s normal.”

“We’re bigger than an average Rictorian male,” Quinton said quietly.

They were silent.

“Is there anything else we need to know about?” Tor asked gruffly.

“Plenty, I’m sure,” Zibry said.

More silence followed as they all stared through the window.

“Any further news on the infirmary?” Roco asked.

“They’re waking up, that’s all I know,” Quinton said. “Except for…except for Halo. He’s still struggling. They had to put him on life support. He stopped breathing.”

“Shit,” Clint said.

“Fuck,” Tor echoed.

“What are they thinking? Is he salvageable?” Roco asked.

“They don’t know.”

They fell quiet.

AISHA

“So, all of them are bonded?” Myeong asked, her eyes bright with surprise.

“Apparently,” Alexis said, looking down at the bench. “All thirteen of them.”

Aisha frowned. “Wh-what’s wrong?”

Alexis looked up. “I feel guilty, of course. These women had no choice.”

“We didn’t have a choice,” Juan said.

“We kind of did,” Alexis said. “At least we knew what we were getting into. At least we knew what bonding was.”

“Those men had to be saved,” Brenda said.

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to feel good about it.”

“Wh-what’s going to happen to them now?” Aisha asked.

Alexis shrugged. “I suppose we just wait for the Zibons to get better.”

“And they’ll stay on board with us?” Myeong asked. “The women?”

Alexis nodded.

Myeong smiled. “That’s good. I could do with some more company.”

“What is bonding?”

They all turned to look at Chloe, who ducked her face.

“You don’t know?” Juan asked.

Myeong was staring at her. “Tor asked me to speak with you about it.”

“And me at one point, I think,” Brenda said. “I’m surprised he still hasn’t told you.”

“We don’t…” She bit her lip. “…we don’t talk that much yet.”

They all looked at each other.

“What about you?” Brenda asked Aisha. “Do you know what bonding is?”

Aisha nodded. She went to pull her hair across her face, then stopped herself. “He told me.”

“And how do you feel about it?” Juan asked.

“I—I’m o—okay.”

“Are you going to—”

“Juan, that’s kind of private, don’t you think?” Brenda interrupted.

Juan shrugged. “I don’t know why you just don’t do it already. It’s great!”

Brenda was shaking her head. “Sex is different for a woman than it is for a man.”

Myeong moved over to Chloe and took a seat beside her. She began to whisper to her.

Aisha glanced toward Brenda, attempting to catch her eye. But Brenda was engaged in conversation with Juan. Alexis, meanwhile, looked thoughtful as she stared into the mirror behind them.

Aisha wanted to voice her thoughts, but the words wouldn’t come. Chloe might have been fearful about bonding, but Aisha wasn’t. Not anymore.

~It doesn’t matter. You’re my match. Once we’re bonded, nothing like that will matter.~

Aisha turned her gaze to the mirror, her mind returning to the image of Quinton convulsing on the floor. She lowered her head. But it did matter. It mattered to ~her~.