The Other Side of Me

Chapter Fourteen: The Other Side of Me

"There. Now you're ready." Emily says as she smooths out the dress I am wearing. She turns me around and I see my reflection in the mirror. She smiles. "I didn't want you to wear the outfit you came in. I'm pretty sure the dirt stains are not moving any time soon."

I smile in the reflection. I am wearing a crisp yellow dress that reminded me of sun rays peeking through clouds. My hair looked lighter with the bright dress and my eyes don't even look like my own. I look out the window. "It looks bright outside."

"And very hot too. So this dress is perfect."

"I have never seen it so bright before. On Darkani, all I see is clouds."

She looks at my hands. "I'm surprised you are not sun deprived. Do you think your planet is climate controlled?"

I shrug. "I don't know. They talk about climate control in our greenhouses. It might be a possibility. I never feel very cold, even though there is no light. But the Dark Angels probably never feel anything."

I twirl a strand of hair, watching my reflection copy me. "Thank you for buying me clothes." I say. "And believing me and my crazy story."

She stands up. "You told me things that only my sister and I knew. You convinced me pretty well." She chuckles. "And going shopping is part of the Earth experience. I'll take you next time." She looks at me. "Going to the towne center might have been too much to process, so this party is the perfect first experience in my opinion." She looks at the paintings on the wall. "Is she doing okay?" She asks. "Being an art teacher and all?"

I nod. "She has been my art teacher since I started school. I always knew that she paid more attention to me than the other students. It was probably because I wasn't like the others when it came to art." I look down. "But it might have been biased, since she knew I was part of the project."

Emily shakes her head. "I don't think Tanya would do that. If you are her favorite, it must be because you are a great artist."

I pull my fingers through my hair and looks into my reflection's eyes. "I hope so."

I walk outside and watch in the grass as Emily pulls her car out of it's storage area called a garage. I look at the car, knowing right away that this is much more advance than any car I have ever seen on Darkani. This one was even weirder than the cars that were around on the streets. It is a yellow car with large headlights and a tall roof. She rolls down the window and props her elbow as I come to the window. She smiles. "Just a sidebar, when you see a car like this one." She nudges me with her fist. "You hit the person next to you and say 'yellow punch buggy'. Got it?"

I touch the car. "Why?"

"I honestly have no idea. It's just a thing that us humans do."

I scrunch my nose. "Humans do weird things."

Emily laughs. "Welcome to the club."

...

Driving down the roads quickly becomes one of the best experiences in my entire existence. Emily rolls the window down and I let my hair fly in the wind as I stare at awe. There were so many things to look at. I see every color imaginable come out in signs and the cars surrounding us. I lean my head against the car door and look up at the picture perfect sky. Birds fly above me, outnumbering any number of birds that I have seen on Darkani. I look at Emily and surprisingly I see her looking back at me through the mirror.

I smile. "It's beautiful here." I look back out the window. "There's nothing on Darkani besides grey."

Emily looks back out in front of her. "We have those days here too but I wouldn't want that every day." She looks back at me. "When do you have to return?"