‘You can’t be serious! He attacked you last night!’ Kate’s friend, Pip, said in shock while they walked side to side. She wasn’t as nerdy as Kate, preferring sport over intellectual pursuits. However, despite their differences in what they wanted to do with life. They stuck together through thick and thin.

  High school was like any other day to Kate. She went to classes, talked with a few people, and participated in some activities. From the outside, it would seem like she was fine and just being an average girl. No one could imagine or suspect that she was saved by an alien who was crashing at her house.

  The way he spoke, his emotionless demeanour. Kate couldn’t help but doubt his intentions as to why he helped her. If he remembered at all. Or worse, he just didn’t care about it.

  While the bells rang to indicate that school had officially finished. Everyone gladly rushed outside to go home, Kate wasn’t in a rush. ‘Yep, and a guy stood up to him.’ Kate continued, recapping the events of the night she was attacked.

  Pip smiled, eager to hear about the mysterious stranger who saved her. ‘What’s his name? Is he cute?’

  ‘Ew, no!’ Kate cringed, ‘he is just some guy who came out of nowhere and stood up against Butch. He is staying at my place right now because he’s homeless.’

  ‘Okay, so what does he look like?’

  Kate paused for a moment. The last thing she needed was to reveal that Jackson was an alien. ‘Old looking, in his forties. Well, I think he is that old. He has a lot of scars, too.’

  ‘Ah, and he just came into town and saved you from Butch?’

  ‘Basically.’

  Pip raised a brow. She wasn’t unconvinced by the story or thought that Kate was making up any details. However, Kate could tell that something didn’t add up. Like Pip, she was as confused as to what Jackson was doing in town, as it was clear that they were not a local.

  But with nothing to point to anything else, Pip shrugged. ‘Well, if you need somewhere to crash and cool down. You know where I live.’

  The lips on Kate cracked to form a subtle smile. She wasn’t the sort to ask for help or favours in case of a crisis. But after the confrontation with Butch and her encounter with an alien. It felt good to her that a friend was willing to give her a place to cool off whenever.

  ‘Thanks, that means a lot to me,’ Kate warmly said.

  Without warning, Pip wrapped her arm around her shoulder and pulled Kate close. ‘Sister, you mean a lot to me.’

  They continued on their way, walking through town as they talked about their day. Laughing and sharing a bit of banter here and there. The archetype of a proper friendship. They say opposites attract, and they would be the living embodiment of that saying.

  Yet even when they are having a good moment to themselves. They wanted to visit another friend from town. What was funny to Kate was that the person she and Pip became friends with worked at a funeral home that was just next to her place of work. A place to have a coffee near someone’s dead loved ones. Kate would joke to herself every time she walks up to the building.

  The funeral home wasn’t remarkable, as it was just a simple house refurbished to look after the dead. But in a morbid way, it was Kate’s and Pip’s favourite gathering spot. A secluded area where no one could bother them with mundane matters.

  It was also the last spot Kate’s father would search for if she decided that helping out on the farm was too much for her to deal with.

  The old woman working at the front desk lit up as Kate and Pip walked inside to greet her. The town knew the woman to be Madam Josephine. But Kate knew her as Lady Jo.

  When they first met, the old woman was hostile towards Kate and her friend as they would smoke marijuana behind the building. Yet, like all the good things that came into the world, they grew to like each other. Jo was also the last person to turn down a free coffee.

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  ‘Well, what brought you two here?’

  ‘Sharing some tea and seeing how you are doing.’ Pip chuckled while she pulled a chair up to sit in front of Jo’s desk. ‘Kate was harassed by Butch last night.’

  Jo turned to Kate with an unamused expression. ‘Did you kick his ass?’

  ‘No,’ Kate admitted. ‘But someone did turn up to…’

  Kaet was cut off as Jo raised a finger. ‘Hold that thought for a moment.’ She reached for her desk top drawer and pulled out a bottle of red wine to pour into her coffee mug. ‘Okay darling, continue.’

  Eagerly, Kate retold the entire story to Jo. The only thing she left out was what Jackson looked liked and his strange behaviour. All that mattered to her was she got to witness the town thugs run away in fear after one of them had their rib broken with a single punch. It was cathartic, retelling the story over and over again. She found comfort in them getting hurt, and she wasn’t alone, as anyone who was willing to listen also enjoyed the tale.

  Lady Jo listened intently, soaking in every little detail and constantly asking questions about the whole incident. What made Kate love Jo as a friend was because she gave Kate unconditional support for all of her woes. Even though she was almost 60 years older than them, Jo loved a bit of town gossip and the odd high school drama. To her, it was more fun to listen than to participate. Especially because gossip was the sort of meal best served with a cup of red.

  ‘It is good that he got his ass beat. A shame Butch didn’t get the same treatment.’ Jo said before taking a sip of her wine. ‘But we can all hope for the day for some person to smack some sense into him. If Butch is even capable of the thing.’

  Kate chuckled, finding the concept that Butch would change laughable. ‘Well, hopefully they will leave me and my family alone. But yes, I am disappointed that Butch wasn’t the one to be punched.’

  ‘Sing it louder for the choir.’ Jo replied before standing up and walking over to her printer. She pulled the tray out and revealed pink A4 printing paper inside. ‘Now it is my turn to share some gossip.’

  ‘Pink paper?’ Pip rolled her eyes. ‘What? Is it too girly for you?’

  ‘No, the idiot who got me this paper did it deliberately!’ Jo replied before slamming a few sheets down on her desk. ‘I keep ordering white. White! But for some reason, that idiot at the office supply store keeps getting me the wrong colour.’

  Kate examined the paper herself. She could tell that it was some high-quality printing paper, perhaps even more expensive than the typical paper Jo would get. ‘Didn’t they give you blue paper last time?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Yes, but that was more acceptable than bright pink!’ Jo grumbled as she leaned back in her chair. ‘They are out for me. There is a conspiracy by the office supply store in an attempt to drive me mad.’

  Pip smirked, the type Kate knew she was about to say something unhinged. ‘I think they want to send you to a retirement home.’

  ‘Ha! They’ll have a better chance sleeping with your dad than putting me away.’

  Kate let out a sigh of relief, thankful that what Pip said was really mild to what usually comes out of her mouth when she made that sort of smirk. It was typical for Pip to have a little banter with anyone. The problems only arrive when she says something entirely out of left field.

  However, despite her age and lively spirit. Jo was capable enough to spar with Pip. A glorious sight Kate would often witness, even if they were temporarily kicked out of the funeral home if Pip went too far.

  In the end, it gave Kate a sense of calm, something to get her mind off when she really needed to escape. It won’t last forever as Kate would need to go home to her family and help on the farm. But after the incident with Butch and being saved by the reptile. She figured it would be best to stay with her friends for a bit longer.