“Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes,” M. Hoyvil told Antaska from outside of her door.
She wanted to talk to Potat some more, but the small cat was asleep.
“OK. I’ll just go to the bathroom and wash my hands first. I know the way there, but I don’t know the way to the dining room. Can you take me there?” Antaska asked him.
M. Hoyvil moved in front of the doorway, ducked his head, and stood just inside the door with the top of his head just a few inches from the ceiling. He spoke quietly.
“Sure, I’ll wait in my room, so I don’t wake up Potat. You know where it is right across the hall?” he asked.
“Yes, I know where it is, but don’t worry about Potat,” said Antaska in her normal voice. “She sleeps through almost anything. You can wait in here if you want to.”
“In that case, I’ll wait with Potat. I haven’t seen her for a while,” M. Hoyvil answered.
There was no Verdante adult-sized furniture in the room. M. Hoyvil sat down on the floor next to the circular bed where Potat slept.
Then Antaska got up and left the room. She wasn’t surprised by M. Hoyvil’s desire to spend time with Potat. She’d noticed that he was becoming attached to the little cat. So much so, apparently, that Potat claimed him as her own pet. She wondered again if Potat believed that she was also Antaska’s master. Or if Potat thought Antaska was the master, would that make Antaska also the master of M. Hoyvil?
While Antaska walked down the long hallway toward the bathroom, she forgot about the other Earthlings and their talk about drugs. But someone hadn’t forgotten about her. Freeta sat in a chair in the doorway to her own room. She faced out toward the hallway, so she could see whoever passed by.
Antaska’s mind was so filled with her own loud thoughts about Potat and M. Hoyvil that she didn’t notice Freeta when she passed by her doorway. When Freeta spoke up, Antaska jolted and stopped in her tracks.
“Hi again, Antaska. Are you here to visit me without those annoying children around?” Freeta asked.
“Sorry, I’m actually on my way to the bathroom to wash up for dinner,” said Antaska. “M. Hoyvil’s waiting for me, so I don’t have time to talk now.”
“OK. Next time then,” said Freeta.
Antaska started walking again.
No one was in the sumptuously appointed Earthling female bathroom when Antaska walked in. She realized that it had been a few hours since her last trip here. She needed to use the toilet, especially after drinking one of the beverage tubes that were stocked in a cabinet in her room just like in the space ship. The Verdantes required large amounts of the nutrient-rich fluid because of their part-plant, part-humanoid genetic structure. They encouraged the Earthlings to keep hydrated with a formula designed to keep them healthy and increase their longevity. In addition to a longer life span, this also caused extra trips to the bathroom.
Antaska went into one of the gold-trimmed stalls. After she flushed, just like the last time, she heard the voices of two women talking. She recognized the voice of the female named Totanna talking to Freeta. And again, they were talking about her! Antaska felt too embarrassed to go out there, so she waited inside the stall again.
“I really despise that Antaska,” said Totanna. “It’s so unfair!”
“Why’s that?” Freeta asked her.
“You know on the way here from Earth, we sat with Ms. Janeez in the adult section of the space ship’s dining hall. And at every meal, that hunky fitness instructor Eegor was there with his Verdante master and mistress, and Eegor’s human female partner Tilde?” said Totanna.
“Right. So?” Freeta said.
“I know I’m hotter than Antaska. Everyone knows that,” said Totanna. “And for two months, I tried everything I could to get Eegor to notice me. I wore tighter and tighter clothes, higher heels, and wilder hairstyles. But all he noticed was Antaska, who was most unworthy of his attention, in my opinion.”
“Yeah. Everyone saw him staring at Antaska everyday sitting with M. Hoyvil in the adolescent section,” said Freeta. “Most of us thought it was funny though.”
This is so embarrassing! thought Antaska inside the bathroom. And Freeta must know I’m in here. Why doesn’t she say something?
“Well, I didn’t think it was funny and neither did Eegor’s partner Tilde,” said Totanna. “Tell me how could a plain, too tall, skinny female possibly attract a fine specimen of a man like Eegor? Especially when his partner was probably the world’s most beautiful woman. Not that I’m exactly a loser like Antaska,” said Totanna.
“Here. Have another puff of this,” said Freeta. “You sound like you need it. It’ll make you feel better.”
“I thought you’d never ask!” said Totanna.
There was another moment of silence.
I need to get out of here and get going! Antaska thought. This is so awkward!
Then Totanna spoke again. “Yeah. I noticed Antaska sneaking guilty looks back at Eegor. What a wimp! If I’m interested in a man, I’m not shy about it, even if he has another woman with him.”
Antaska heard Freeta laughing.
“Of course, Tilde was really big and strong,” Totanna went on. “I saw the martial arts moves she used on Antaska in the fitness class after she got mad at her. So actually, attracting Tilde’s notice probably wasn’t a good idea, but that clueless Antaska did it anyway.”
“Bad move!” Freeta agreed with her.
“The longer that trip went, the more mad I got at Antaska. She started working out extra to get in better shape, so that Eegor would notice her even more. I could see her toning up even under that frumpy ship suit she always wears. And then the Earthling males on the space ship noticed too,” Totanna fumed in a slurred voice.
Antaska wondered if the drugs Totanna had taken were getting to her.
“It was so unfair!” Totanna went on. “The fitness class for us Earthlings who were going to stay on the Verdante planet for life was much easier than the class the humans going to space took. The class that Eegor and Hilde taught. At the start of the trip, our fitness instructor told our class that if we wanted to, we could join the harder class, but of course, no one wanted to. Still, it wasn’t fair. Antaska had an unfair advantage.”
“You look good even though you didn’t take the harder class,” said Freeta.
“Yeah. My bod looks sooo hot in this outfit Ms. Janeez made for me. Sure, I don’t look like fitness girl, but I’ve got the curves, baby. I can’t believe any man would even notice her in that stupid ship suit with me around! They’re probably looking at her because she’s such a freak. Someone should put a sack over her head!” said Totanna.
“By the way, Antaska’s here in one of the stalls,” Antaska heard Freeta tell Totanna in a loud whisper.
“What! Why didn’t you tell me before?” asked Totanna.
This is totally humiliating! Antaska thought, but she didn’t come out or say anything.
“Oh, you know. It’s so boring on this planet. I have to do what I can to make things more interesting,” said Freeta.
“That’s no excuse!” Totanna practically shouted. “You acted like you were my friend, and now you do that to me?”
“Wait. I am your friend,” said Freeta. “Here. Have another puff. It’ll make you feel better.”
“You owe me one after this,” said Totanna.
Another moment of silence passed, and then Totanna spoke again.
“Thanks. Maybe we can still be friends after all. We’ll see.”
“Oh, you’ll be my friend when you want some more. Everyone wants to be my friend,” said Freeta.
“Anyway, it’s time to get going,” said Totanna. “Time to get to the dining room to show my fine self to the Earthling males. Let’s go, Freeta. It’s the first dinner, and I want to see the males I’ll be living with for the next 300 years.”
“I’m not ready to go yet,” said Freeta. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”
“You’re waiting for her?” said Totanna. “Well, I’m out of here. I’m sure none of the males will care if she’s there or not.”
“What a dippy airhead!” Antaska heard Freeta say a few moments later. “She’s gone. You can come out now, Antaska,” Freeta said in a louder voice.
Antaska reluctantly got up off the comfy toilet seat and pushed the door open. She walked over and started washing her hands in front of a sink next to Freeta. Antaska hated this kind of confrontation, but now she had to say something.
“That was so embarrassing!” Antaska said. “And I heard you say that you knew I was in there, but you were still talking about me. That’s not right.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Antaska. Don’t be mad at me. It’s just my sense of humor. But I know you won’t understand. You won’t ever know what it’s like to be stuck on this planet for hundreds of years,” said Freeta.
“You’re right. I don’t understand,” said Antaska. “And you were saying bad things about me and laughing at me!”
“Now, Antaska. I had to do that because Totanna was there. To make her happy, so she’ll be my friend,” said Freeta. “I didn’t mean any of that, and I want to be your friend too. That’s why I waited for you to give you some of this stuff. It’ll make you feel better.”
Freeta held up a small glass bottle. A spray nozzle topped the colorful curving atomizer.
“Is that what you gave to Totanna?” Antaska asked. “Is that drugs!”
“Yeah, it’s drugs,” said Freeta. “It’s the good stuff the Verdante females take. You’ve never had anything like this. Here, have a puff.”
“No! I’m not taking drugs!” Antaska insisted. “We were taught about drugs on Earth. They’re dangerous and unhealthy.”
“Ha! What a child you are!” said Freeta. “This stuff isn’t dangerous unless you take as much as the Verdantes do. That much could kill you, but I’m only going to give you a bit. You’ll be fine. More than fine. I’ve been taking this stuff for 200 years, and it hasn’t hurt me.”
Antaska took a close look at Freeta. She couldn’t see much of her body beneath the loose dress, but her skin was lined and kind of puffy with dark circles around the eyes.
She must be about 250 years old, Antaska thought. Living with the Verdantes is supposed to make Earthlings healthier and live longer, but she looks worse than the humans I remember about that age on Earth.
“No thanks,” said Antaska again.
As if she hadn’t heard her, Freeta lifted the bottle and sprayed a puff of its contents right in Antaska’s face. Shocked, Antaska held her breath and quickly rinsed her face off with water from the sink.
“Why did you do that?” she asked Freeta. “I said ‘no.’”
“I don’t like taking ‘no’ for an answer,” said Freeta. “Anyway, holding your breath and washing your face won’t do any good. This stuff goes right into the skin. You should be feeling it about now.”
Antaska turned off the water and dropped her hands to her sides. She was feeling something. She felt euphoric and relaxed but also kind of sleepy. Her mind felt numb.
“See. It’s great. Isn’t it?” said Freeta.
“No. It is not great!” said Antaska. “You drugged me! I wasn’t going to tell anyone, but I’ll have to tell M. Hoyvil now.”
“Oh, you’d better not tell him,” Freeta threatened.
“Why not?” Antaska asked.
“Because if you do, you’re the one who’ll get in trouble. I’ll tell Ms. Janeez that you took her drugs from her room. She’ll believe me, and the adults will believe her over M. Hoyvil. Then who knows what will happen to you. They don’t like Earthlings who make trouble. They might give you a lobotomy, or they might make you and M. Hoyvil stay here on the Verdante planet.”
Oh, no! Antaska thought. That would be awful.
“Fine. I won’t tell M. Hoyvil,” said Antaska. “But stay away from me and keep your drugs away from me.”
Antaska turned and walked toward the door.
She heard Freeta laugh behind her. “Sure. I’ll stay away. But you’ll be back wanting more when it starts to wear off. Happens every time.”
In spite of the tranquilizer she’d just been given, Antaska felt panicky.
I’ve got to get away from here! And M. Hoyvil must be wondering why I’m taking so long, she thought.
With the easy speed she’d developed from her intense exercise program on the space ship voyage to this planet, Antaska ran out of the bathroom and down the long, curved hallway toward her room. The distance from the Earthling female bathroom was about a half of a mile, which was far by human standards but merely spacious to the gigantic Verdantes.
Antaska raced down the long corridor. Up ahead, she saw an Earthling female dressed in a jungle-print catsuit with matching stiletto heels.
That must be Totanna! Antaska thought.
The curvaceous Totanna strolled along at a slow pace, wobbling somewhat unsteadily on her six-inch heels.
“Showing off again!” Antaska heard Totanna say as she dashed by, but Totanna’s dislike was the least of her worries.
Antaska slowed down to a walk just before she reached the door to her own room. She tried to look calm and composed as she entered, so M. Hoyvil wouldn’t suspect anything.