VICTORIA'S POV

Far from it.

Those words were still ringing in my ears as I stood under the cascading water.

Everything we had just discussed was going through my mind.

I didn't get to ask the important questions.

Tomorrow.

I was so overwhelmed as it was, and I knew that this was just the beginning. I needed to stay sane, and the only way to do that was digest the information in bits and pieces. If I tried to learn everything all at once, I feared I would combust. I could wait.

I should have been thinking about my situation, and were I was and why I was here. But I couldn't stop thinking about his words. About how he viewed the world. He had an outlook on earth that brought out my inner conflict. All my life, I felt like an outcast. I never really fit in anywhere. I didn't feel abandoned as most adopted children probably felt. I knew that my biological parents loved me. They just left this world and left me behind, it was their time. I knew that mom and dad loved me too, but that love became mandatory as the years went by. Their affection lay in Nessa. I didn't make any friends at school because I couldn't stand people pitying me or acting like they understood me. No one really did.

I remember trying to join a group online in high school for adoptees that had families with the biological children to their adoptive parents. I thought that maybe they would understand and I could learn from their experience. But all they did was badmouth their families and talk about how nasty their siblings were to them. Nessa is a true sister to me, and mom and dad are, were, good to me. They gave me all that I asked for.

When I found that no one could really understand me, I started to think that the problem must have been me. I started to resent myself and thought of myself as a worthless burden. But I had never tried to take my own life. I was too much of a coward for that.

A lot of the time I found myself wallowing in my self-misery. I felt empty and questioned my existence, my purpose. I stuffed myself with food, because it was my only comfort.

As I was washing my hair, my hands stilled in my hair.

Maybe this is my purpose. Maybe I was meant to be abducted by a gorgeous human from another planet.

But then shook that thought out of my head. I don't even know why I was abducted. I had to make sure to ask him once I was done. I tapped the yellow circle and the drier came on. I thought it would be like a blower, but it was more like something was sucking all the moisture downwards. It wasn't uncomfortable. It made a slight humming sound as it sucked, and stopped after about two minutes.

Where has this been all my life?

It saved so much time and effort. I stepped out of the shower and realised that there were no towels.

Great.

I walked towards my sink and looked at myself in the mirror. My pimples had somehow reduced. When I say reduced, I mean they hadn't grown and popped up suddenly, out of nowhere. I looked at my eyes, they looked a shade lighter than the brown I was used to. Then I gasped.

My glasses! I'm not wearing my glasses, but I'm seeing just fine.

I blinked a couple of times, squinted my eyes then opened them fully. I looked around the bathroom and could see everything clearly.

What is going on?

Another question I had to ask. Right now I was putting on the weird dress I had worn earlier.

Where the heck did they put my underwear?

I walked back to the mirror and thought of what to do with the mess that was my hair. It barely fell to my shoulders. It was black and a little curly, naturally. I opened the drawer above my sink hoping to find a brush. I knew there had to be one, considering how long his hair was.

Funny, I forgot to ask what his name was.

I found a long pick like thing, which I used to part my hair in half down the middle, and a brush. I brushed and braided two large French braids. I turned to see if they looked ok, and I deemed them satisfactory. I was still barefoot and walked out of the bathroom.

He was standing by the window looking at the stars. His hands were held behind his back. I understood that was how he usually carried himself. So dignified. He must have heard me for he turned. He walked towards me and then turned to the closet. He placed his palm on the door and it opened. He motioned for me to follow with his head and I entered after him. He stood facing my side of the closet. I looked at our reflections in the mirror and noticed how much taller he was than me. He was a full head taller than me.

I looked back at him as he opened the drawer closest to the entrance.

Both sides of the closet had drawers that were knee high running from the entrance to the mirror. Above them, two thirds of the space closest to the door was filled with more of the weird dress I now wore in black. The other third was filled with boots and other shoes, maybe trainers, without laces. Everything was black. The drawer he had opened contained some white garments. He pointed at them and said, "Your sleep attire."

He closed that drawer and moved to the next one. This one with black garments, "Your inner body masks."

Inner what now?

He moved along to the last drawer. I inched closer. He opened it and said, "Your training attire."

Training? What training?

This attire was black as well.

Are black white and grey the only colours they have?

Even the furniture followed this colour code.

Bland, yet they pulled it off elegantly.

He closed the drawer and straightened himself. I bit my lip and looked at my feet. "Um, what about, what about..."

"What is it?"

I can't believe I'm about to ask this question.

Kill me now.

I bit my upper lip now. I was still looking at the floor. He shifted his weight.

"What about underwear?"

"I showed you the inner body mask," he replied.

"No, not that. As in, underwear."

I wish the floor would swallow me, or a door could suddenly open and pull me into space. "You know; the stuff you wear under your clothes?"

I looked up at him. He seemed confused. Then realisation dawned on him after a second. He brought a closed fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. He was looking everywhere but at me.

"Ah, I see. Uh, we have no need for that here. The inner body mask works for that purpose."

"Oh.... what about when I sleep?"

"You only clothe in your sleep attire."

He looked so uncomfortable standing there. It was almost funny, except I was embarrassed as well.

"I shall leave you to it then."

He hightailed it out of the closet. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I fanned myself with my hand while the other rested on my hip.

Is it hot in here or is it just me?