HUMAN

"You should teach me how to be Human," Cyfrin said and continued to munch on the rotting apple that was sitting on my counter for the past few weeks now. "I like that you're not fighting against me anymore, Earthling. Smart choice,"

It's not like I am given much of a choice here. Its either I agree and I live or I disagree and I get killed.

I looked at him with a disgusted look on my face and snatched the rotten apple off his hands. "You do realize this is already rotten and not safe for human consumption, right?"

"Like I told you, I have so much to learn about being human. I didn't know I was not supposed to eat that. And what's it called? An apple?" he nodded like he finally understood what just happened. "Also, I'm not going to kill you, Earthling. Because if I would, I would have already. You watched too many bad alien movies,"

Those words did not make me feel better. "Stop calling me Earthling, I have a name,"

"I know your name, Maddison Hart,"

My heart skipped a beat hearing him saying my name. I don't know why.

"How do I even begin to teach you to be human, can you provide at least some context here?" I try to speak with much composure I could muster.

"I don't know. You tell me, you're the teacher here. I just have to blend in, I need some time to recuperate you know. I crashed, remember?"

"From what I know, you don't need any recuperating, alien," I rolled my eyes at him. He threw me off the ground and survived a stun gun without even flinching. Why does he think he needs to recuperate?

"I am much, much, more powerful than what you have witnessed so far, Maddison," he said, his voice deep.

I swallowed a whimper, his tone made me scared. All this time I have been faking my bravery, but deep inside, I am very much scared for my life. I am alone with an extra-terrestrial being who is basically unkillable and I am but a mere vulnerable mortal.

Feigning bravery has worked so far. The alien has not killed me yet.

If Cyfrin had not told me he was an alien or if I did not witness his capabilities firsthand, I would have mistaken him for a normal teenage boy. He looked about eighteen or nineteen to me. He is lanky with long arms and torso. He has light purple hair which looks almost white in the light.

"Hey, is your hair naturally purple?" I tried to change the subject.

"Hey Maddison, stop calling me "HEY" I have a name. And yes, this is my hair color,"

"Cool. People pay loads of cash to achieve that color here,"

Why am I having a casual talk about hair color with this colonizer? I almost forgot I was about to be enslaved.

I furrowed my brow at him, "So what's in it for me?"

"What do you want most in this world, Maddison?" he looked at me with such a serious expression on his face that a slight shiver went down my spine.

I was taken aback. I wasn't sure what I wanted. Become so rich that I could afford to live my artist dream life in Amsterdam? Pay off my father's debt? Can he bring someone dead back to life?

"Yes," he spoke out loud as he read my mind. I could do all that.

I choked back a tear. He could bring my mom back to life.

"Are you some kind of a genie?" I laughed at his face.

"I've heard about that tale. Jini did get executed on my planet for abusing his powers and revealing himself to your kind,"

"What? He's real? And he's an alien like you?" I'm starting to wonder what other legends are merely legends and what are based on true life experiences that were just too bizarre to explain that humans decided to remember it as just some folklore.

"There's so much of what you know of your planet that are watered down versions of what really happened, Maddison. If I tell you everything, you might just lose your mind completely,"

"Pass. I'd rather keep my sanity," I told him as I backed away from him a little.

"Good choice,"

Cyfrin looked around my apartment and started to rummage through my stuff. I live in a duplex alone. I could barely afford this rundown place but this is the most convenient place I could find while I juggle work and school at the same time.

He was still wearing the dark robe that he was wearing from last night, and with this humidity, I know he's cooking inside that robe.

"Cyfrin, you should change your clothes. I think I have some extra shirts in my closet. You can also take a bath if you want to. The bathroom is over there, I believe you know how to clean yourself right? We can discuss this Earthling agreement later. I am not in my right mind, yet,"

He laughed and said, "I'm not a baby, Maddison. Of course, I can clean myself. Unless that's what our lesson number one is. The basics of human anatomy, eh?" he winked.

This pervert!

He continued laughing and looked through my belongings. He grabbed the dictionary off my top shelf, propped down on my sofa, and browsed through the pages. An alien indeed. No normal human chose the dictionary for a random reading session.

I ran upstairs and opened my closet to look for some clothes I could lend him. Looking through my stuff, I realized I have not bought a single new item for the past 2 years. My wardrobe is composed mostly of dark shirts and skinny jeans from when I was in high school. Nothing has changed much since then.

I caught sight of a dark grey shirt from under all my other shirts. Why is this still here? I thought I had thrown everything that belonged to Louie.

Louie is some guy I know. I really don't want to talk about him.

I rolled my eyes, grabbed the shirt and one of my black sweatpants. I don't have much of a choice, don't I?

I ran downstairs and lo and behold, the alien was full on naked in my kitchen.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NAKED?" I screamed.

"You didn't have anything to dry me off on that little bathroom of yours,"

I threw the shirt and sweatpants to him and instructed him to get dressed while I keep my eyes closed. Although it was too late, unfortunately, I have already seen most of him.

Only most. He had his back to me. But nonetheless, it was too much, too soon.

"You can look now, its safe to look at me now, Earthling."

"Rule number one of being human, Mr. Alien, don't go around naked in someone else's house,"

"But you're not someone else, Earthling. You are mine. So basically, what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours. And I read, that's basically like being married, right?"

Like I said, this is just too much, too soon.