Usually I am the smart one in school, but in this school, I am not. I don’t know anything about this planet or galaxy. It was like I was starting over again.
I ran into the girls room stall, sat on the toilet and cried. I felt weird going into the girls room, since I was originally a boy, but now that I am a girl, the boys' room was off limits.
I almost went into the boys room one time, but I learned my lesson and was shocked by the force field door protecting it.
The EID that was put inside me the other day knows I am female and stops me and other girls from entering into the wrong room.
I have a feeling its the same for boys as well.
I entered the girls room and ran to the stall. I started crying.

Brianna, one of the girls in my class, heard me crying out in the hall and came into the room. She had eight arms that looked similar to an octopus on Terra. I bet she could get a lot done at once. I never mentioned it to her, but I bet she would agree.

“Mikayla?” She spoke through the doorway, stepping in.

“It’s Courtney,” I sobbed.

“Oh, sorry. I thought you were Mikayla,” she apologized.

“It’s okay, I get that a lot now days.” I move out of the stall. You could still see tears in my eyes.”

“Why are you crying? Did someone hurt you?” She put one of her tentacles around my shoulder.

“No,” I wiped my tears. “When I was on Terra... I was one of the smartest students in my class. Now that I came to Saclaurilia, I am not as smart. In fact, I am dumber.”

“Don’t worry, you will catch up soon.” Brianna spoke softly and calmly. Which helped me out a bit, but I still felt unhappy.

We stepped out of the girls' room and headed to class. It looked like they were working on art. We both scanned our arms, which gave us both tardies. That made me worried. I knew two more tardies meant my dad would be called.

“Sorry for being late,” Brianna and I apologized.

“Where were you two?” Our teacher asked while we sat down at the art table.

“Potty break,” I answered, “And sorry again for not telling where we were going.”
Our teacher scanned us with a device which told her that we were telling the truth and because we were honest, she signed us in as a bathroom break, and we didn’t get a tardy after all. That was a relief for me. I want a perfect record. As for Brianna, she was glad she didn’t get the tardy. She already had two.

Today in art class, we were told to paint something special. It can be our imagination, and it could be something that you have enjoyed in our lives. Since I was a good painter, I decided to draw an elephant. I painted the long trunk and the ears perfectly. By the time I was done, I felt like adding a few trees and even a waterhole where the elephant could drink from. I even added a lion on the other side of the waterhole drinking from it, just for fun.

The teacher came over to me and stopped to gaze at the painting.

“Very nice Courtney,” she sang. “What are you drawing?”

I stopped painting and looked at it. Then up at my teacher. “It’s an elephant and a lion in the meadow. Don’t we have them here on this planet?”

“They seem familiar, but I have never seen them on this planet,” she answered and continued moving around the room. If they are not on this planet. Where could they be?

After class, we had recess. We went outside and played on the jungle-gym. I looked up at the sky.
“Why is the sky pink?” I asked Brianna.”

“I don’t know,” she said, gazing up the sky as well. “Isn’t the sky pink on Terra?”

“The sky on Terra is pink only during sunset or sunrise.” I explained. Otherwise, it’s always blue during the day and black at night?”

“Sunrise? Sunset? Night?” Brianna looked confused. “What are those words?”

I forgot. This planet doesn’t have a sunrise or sunset, and their night time is a brief minute or two. But the sun doesn’t disappear. It reappears an hour later. And with the other sun in the sky, it keeps it from getting dark.

“Well, you know when the sun...”

“What’s a sun?” she cocked her head to the side.

“The huge glowing thing in the sky?”

“Which one? Dol or Ego?” she smiled, still looking at me.

Now I was confused. I decided to show her after school at my house. We continued playing. I showed Brianna how to play Hopscotch. They didn’t use chalk on this planet, which was weird. I guess it’s only used on Terra. I ended up using a rock to make the squares. Mikayla noticed what I was drawing and joined in, which basically attracting other kids. Eventually, we drew a crowd, and everyone wanted to play the game. I guess I just introduced the game of Hopscotch to planet Saclaurilia. I wonder what other games I should introduce to them.

Before I could show them another game, the bell rang and it was time to go back inside for more class.

After school, Brianna and I were about to go to my house, but her mother said she had to go shopping and take a rain check.

When I got home, I saw dad sitting at the table looking through an old photo album. It was weird that we still made photos, since everything is on tablets and computers, but sometimes photos have better memories than the digital type.

I sat down next to dad and realized he was looking at photos of mom. Why was he looking at her? Did he still love her?

“Do you miss mommy?” I asked?

“Oh Courtney, I didn’t hear you come in,” he smiled and gave me a kiss on the forehead. If I were a boy, I normally would have thought that was gross, but for some reason as a girl, I didn’t mind.

“As I was saying, do you miss mommy?”

“Oh honey, I have always missed her. We grew up together in school. I have known her all my life, ever since Kindergarten. She has never hurt a fly. The only reason why I left her was because the Saclaurilian government told me. If there was a way to bring her here, I would.”

We sat there for a while. Which was a hard thing to do. “I wish I could talk to her,” I said after a while of silence.

“I know you do,” Dad agreed. “I know you do.”

Mikayla marched through the door. She was in a gleeful mood.

“Guess, what?” She happily cried. “Never mind the guessing, I was invited to a sleepover on Friday at my friend Lily’s house. She even invited you and Brianna over if you want to go as well.”

“Really?” I jumped out of the chair and hugged Mikayla. “Of course I want to go. I have never had a sleepover before. This will be my first time.”

“It will be my first time too,” she said, “If only...” She looks over at dad.

Dad chuckled. “Of course you two can go.” We both cheered and jumped up and down.

-Meanwhile, at the Saclaurilian Government Building-

“I’m so glad we got Courtney and Mikayla off of Terra when we could.” Jane said, watching a monitor with live video feed of Terra. It didn’t look pretty. “It’s sad to see this happening. Such a young planet, and it’s going to end in a matter of days, if it keeps up.”

“Should we warn those who lived on Terra about the news?” asked Brock Jane’s assistant, who was also watching the monitor.

“No, they will find out soon enough.” Jane shuts down the monitor. “It will be on the news in a few days. Besides, Courtney and Mikayla’s mother is still on the planet. I don’t want the children to be unhappy.”

“Why don’t we get her off the planet then?”

Jane looked at Brock. I have thought of bringing her to this planet many times. But because she is Goahirian...”

“It doesn’t matter if she is Goahirian, she is the mother of those children.”

“I will think about it, but I doubt she will be delighted to see her husband after all these years.”

“And her son, who became her daughter.” Brock chuckled. “I have one question that’s been on my mind. Why are you so obsessed with those children anyways?”

With a smile, she sat down in a chair. “Because they're my grandchildren.”