The Intergalactic Fantasy

She didn’t talk much in the mornings. Everyday, 8 o’clock, second row, third chair on the left, there she sat. She was shy, especially being from Earth. It was her first month on her planet-exchange program. She was a human, who was spending an entire year on Mars. Her brain didn’t seem to have been active in Marzino until at least third period. He pushed her though, and refused to give up.

“Good morning Andrea!” He playfully yelled as he took his seat next to her in homeroom. She intimidated him a little bit; her long brown hair and tan skin made his insides tingle.

“Hello, Mitch.” She always replied with no intent on holding a conversation. It wasn’t her fault though, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk, or that she was angry, it’s that she genuinely couldn’t catch onto the culture difference every morning. It was almost as if she’d start to get used to the different world throughout the day, and while she slept, a reset button was pressed, and every morning she started over. Earth was a literal world’s difference from Mars. She was the only foreign exchange student that year, and not having anyone else from her home planet to support her was difficult.

Mitch Courser, the quintessential teenaged Martian, was six foot two inches of beauty. Not only was he smart, but he was charming, all the while a bit of a skater boy (who didn’t actually skate). Mitch had been eyeing Andrea for so long, but had never gotten anywhere with her. He only saw her during homeroom and would pass her in the hall on the way to lunch. Mitch never seemed to be aware of the people around him while walking in the halls, but everyday he spotted Andrea in front of her locker, with her water bottle in her left hand and her chemistry textbook in the right. He had this odd visual memorized because every time he passed her, she was all that he saw. The world around them had strangely become black, and there appeared to be what seemed like a spotlight aimed directly at her.

Attendance was taken, and just like that they went on with their day and would see each other the next homeroom. The next day came and the first thing Andrea heard was Mitch’s sly voice saying “You’re quiet you know.”

With a kind of annoyance, she explained; “No it’s not that I’m quiet, I’m just adjusting to the language.”

“You seem to be unhappy whenever I see you. Name me one thing that makes you smile.” Mitch cheerfully prompted.

“Mint chocolate M&M’s!” She answered so quickly it was almost as if she had been waiting for him to ask. He took in that small bit of information, and from that day on, she was greeted in homeroom by a small green package of smiles.

He helplessly tried everyday to get a steady conversation going with her but was never successful. Mitch always left homeroom frustrated because he was not usually unlucky when it came to talking to girls, but Andrea was so different. Three weeks later was the homecoming dance, and in hopes that she would say yes, Mitch approached her as she was drawing a small flower on the corner of her paper. He said, “I don’t know if they do this on Earth, but tonight there’s a back-to-school dance, and it would be super cool if you’d come.”

“Oh that’s cool, maybe I’ll stop by and see you there,” she replied. It wasn’t the exact answer he was hoping for, but it was something. As she turned around and continued doodling, Mitch watched her. He observed the iridescence that radiated off of her as she did something as simple as draw. He knew nothing about her, yet he wanted to learn everything there was to know about that girl.

As Mitch walked into the dance, he nonchalantly searched everywhere for the beautifully mysterious girl. No luck. Where was she? Why was she being so hard to get? He asked around to see if anyone knew where she was. Nobody seemed to know, which made Mitch even more confused. The night went on; and he had an okay time, but his mind was somewhere else the whole night.

“You ditched me,” was the first thing Mitch said to her as he plopped down a package of mint M&M’s the following Monday.

She smiled. “I’m sorry, I know, I was hanging out with my host family,” was her alibi. To lighten the mood she added: “You’re going to become broke from buying me all these M&M’s you know.”

His insides fluttered at the fact that she actually spoke more than one sentence. “Don’t you worry,” He whispered as he took his seat, grinning.

When Christmas came, Andrea’s host mother Connie told her they were eating dinner with a friend of hers and her family. “Her name is Mary Van. I think you might know her kids; they go to school with you.”

“Probably not, I don’t know many people, but I’m excited to see who they are.” As their car pulled up to the driveway, Andrea saw a familiar boy through the window. She smiled and walked to the door. “Of course it’s you,” She said the second Mitch opened the door.

“It’s not the morning so you have no excuse not to talk to me,” he swiftfully said with a huge smile on his face. Andrea walked in, her host mother following her, along with her brother and sister behind them.

As they ate, Andrea’s young host sister, Zena, spilled hot soup on her leg. As she screamed in agonizing pain, Mary Van ran and grabbed her an ice pack from the freezer.

“I’m so sorry, but I must take Zena to the hospital, her skin is already beginning to blister.” Mary Van ran to the door and held it open as Connie picked up her daughter and rushed her to the shuttle with Derek, her brother, following. “Andrea if you don’t mind, it’s best for you to stay here for a few hours. Things start to get messy at hospitals when there are a lot of people.” And just like that, the three Martians were in the shuttle, in the air, flying to the hospital.

“Looks like I’m going to have to take you home,” Mitch said once the dust had begun to settle. The two of them went to the living room as Mary Van and Mitch’s siblings cleaned up the kitchen. They talked for what seemed like decades. Quickly, Andrea had begun to regret ignoring him during homeroom all those days.

“Sorry that it seems like I’ve given you the cold shoulder the past few months,” she confessed. “It’s truly the adjustment. Life on Mars is incomparable to life on Earth.” Although still uneasy about their friendship, Mitch gave her the benefit of the doubt and accepted her apology. With the few hours they had spent talking with one another, he became hopeful that things would change between him and this human in front of him.

“It’s nearing midnight. Do you think I should bring you home now?” Mitch had asked the question he had been dreading. Those four hours talking to Andrea had truly been four life changing hours. Nothing significant had even occurred. They were simply talking. They talked about their families, Earth, school, Mars, and the most generic topics two strangers could possibly discuss. For some reason though, Mitch had come out of that night a different person.

“I had no idea it was so late; my host mom is probably worried about me. We should go.” She seemed hesitant, as if she was willing to risk getting in trouble just to be with the annoying boy who always brought her candy and helplessly attempted to converse with her everyday. They got into Mitch’s shuttle and within ten minutes they were in her driveway. She didn’t go inside for what seemed like forever. She just sat there, soaking in everything that she had experienced with Mitch. At that moment, something in her had changed. It was an unidentified change, but it was almost as if something in her had sparked.

“Thank you Mitch. Don’t forget my M&M’s.” She kissed him on the cheek and was gone in the blink of an eye.

From that day on, Andrea found herself thinking about Mitch constantly. The two spent many days together. Mitch gave Andrea a sense of rebellion, all the while maintaining a feeling of safety when she was with him. He introduced her to his friends, she spent time with his family, and they went all over Mars together.

When Valentine’s day came, Mitch invited her to dinner just the two of them at a local restaurant called ‘Moonrock Pizzeria’. There, they ate their meal, and Mitch presented her with a gift. He went back to his shuttle and pulled out a bouquet of Mars’ finest cherums, along with the biggest package of mint chocolate M&M’s he could find. As Andrea took her present, Mitch’s hand touched hers and his gaze held hers. It was not a flirtatious or charming glance as usual, but a gaze with which Andrea was unfamiliar. “I’m in love with you.” he confessed. “Listen, I know you’re human, and it’s crazy to admit it, but Andrea there’s nothing I can do about it. The thought of you keeps me up at night, and the sound of your voice is what keeps my heart beating.”

Mitch nervously rambled for a while, and Andrea had a look of uncertainty on her face as he had just confessed his biggest secret to her. “Jesus, relax,” was her only reply. “I love you too you idiot.” The two laughed. Being around Mitch gave Andrea nothing but pure joy. Before she could say anything else, he brought her into him and kissed her. Pizza grease was everywhere, but nothing would stop his lips from attaching themselves to hers.

Months went by, and Mitch and Andrea shared so many moments together. The two truly shared such a beautiful relationship; however, they both knew it was impossible that it would last. They did what they could, they took advantage of every moment together, but somehow, it still didn’t seem to be enough. June 16th. It was the day they never wanted to arrive. It was the day the two would be separated.

Her spaceship departure was 9:00 pm. Just like Christmas, the two families spent Andrea’s final hours together, eating dinner at Mary Van’s. While indulging in her last Martian meal, Connie and Mary pulled out a gift from under the table. Andrea opened it, and she saw that it was a picture frame with a photo of the two families together on a hiking trip they took. When lifting her head after admiring the photo, Andrea came to see that the entire table is full of Martians carrying tears in their eyes. “I love you all. Truly, every one of you has contributed to changing me as a whole. I’m forever grateful.” For another twenty minutes or so everyone had shared a memory or story they had with Andrea. Mitch, however, was silent. He had not contributed much during dinner, and even when Andrea was crying saying goodbye to her favorite people, he didn’t seem to mentally be there. She said her final goodbyes and Mitch grabbed all her bags and the two got in the shuttle. When arriving to her spaceship at 9:00 pm sharp, Mitch froze. Andrea turned towards him and just as she reached for his hand, rivers began to flow from her beloved boyfriend’s face.

“I love you. I have spent so much of my year loving you, and just like that, you’re disappearing. You’re leaving, and I won’t be surprised if I never hear from you again.” Andrea was taken aback by what she had just heard. Was he angry? Were those words just his emotions talking? What should she say? What should she do?

“Mitch, if you’re going to spend our last 10 minutes together being angry and upset rather than taking every second that I’m here to be nothing but loving and supportive of me, our entire relationship is not at all what I thought it was. I love you, but you need to get over yourself and spend our last moments together happily, not angrily.”

Mitch knew she was right. “You’re going to do great things. You’re the best human I’ve ever met.” He said, with a forced smile.

“I’m the only human you’ve ever met Mitch.” Andrea said as she jokingly hit his shoulder with hers and let out a teasing laugh.

“Open the glove compartment Andrea.” Mitch said. As she opened it, she lost the only part of her that was keeping tears from rushing out her face. “A small bag of green smiles so you’ll always think of me when you need a bit of happiness. It’ll be tough adjusting once you’re back, but you can do it. I love you, and I’m beyond grateful to have met you.” Andrea put the M&M’s in her bag and kissed Mitch one final time. Her face was burning and moist from her tears. Their kiss must’ve lasted 10 entire minutes, because before they knew it, flight 108 to Earth was being called.

She boarded the spaceship, and the next day she was home. Months had passed and Andrea and Mitch each sent a few letters back and forth. On the day that would have been their one year anniversary, Andrea received a letter in the mail from Mitch. It had been weeks since she had heard from him, so a random package on their anniversary was anything but expected.

‘Dear Andrea’ it read. ‘I’m writing this in the nicest manner I possibly can. Don’t come back. I’m fine without you, as I’m sure you’re fine without me. I’ve met someone else, and I’m happy. Do yourself a favor and stay on Earth.’ There were three more paragraphs worth of horrible words, but she didn’t need to go on. Andrea’s heart was shattered, and she had no choice but to live with this news.

As years had passed, Andrea had become successful. She went to college, got two degrees in biology, and was happy. She decided that since it had been years since her exchange, it was a good time to go back to Mars and visit her family and friends. Mitch, however, was not on the list of people she hoped to see. Their relationship had been terminated for a while, and she had no intentions on seeing him.

When she had arrived at her beloved family’s home, Andrea was greeted with her siblings, Zena and Derek, along with her mother, Connie. The family spent a few days together before Zena dared ask about Mitch. “He wrote me a distasteful letter telling me to never come back,” Andrea pitifully explained. “I don’t know what went wrong, but I have no feelings for that man now whatsoever.”

“That’s odd,” Connie replied. “Mitch talked about you nonstop for what seemed like forever when you left.” Andrea put the conversation to rest, until a few days later when Connie told Andrea that Mary Van was on the phone.

“Sweetie! It’s been so long! How are you?” It was comforting for Andrea to hear the sweet familiar voice of Mary Van.

“I’ve missed you so much, I’m well!” Andrea replied.

“Please come for dinner tomorrow night. It’ll be just me and you, everyone is out of town right now.”

After a few minutes on the phone, Andrea had finally been convinced to come over for an all-too-familiar supper. When Andrea arrived the next evening, she was greeted by Mary Van and the two sat down and talked while sharing a meal. When it was time for Andrea to leave, the back door swung open, and in walks Mitch.

“Surprise mom! I’m ho-” He stopped before he was able to finish. “Andrea, what are you doing here? How are you? You look so different.”

Andrea’s heart began to beat so hard she could hear the blood coursing through her body. “I’m doing fine Mitch. Thank you for asking.”

Mary Van let out a nervous laugh and asked Mitch what he was doing home. “I took a day off of work to come see you. It’s a wonderful surprise to see you Andrea; it has been so long.”

“Yes Mitch, it has. Please, feel free to pull up a seat,” she says.

Two minutes go by and it’s like they had gone back five years. They were so comfortable with each other that it had almost seemed like they once again were two teenagers in love. Hours passed before Andrea went home, and when she did, she and Mitch made plans to see each other again. On Andrea’s last day, she arrived at the spaceship and heard a familiar yell. “Wait! Don’t go! I let you leave the first time, and I’m not letting you go again,” Mitch yelled as she began to walk onto the ship.

“What, Mitch?” She questioned.

“I’m going with you. You’re still the love of my life Andrea. I’m not letting you go again.”

As I write this, I hear my parents downstairs listening to music while cooking dinner. My mother, Andrea, and my father, Mitch are happy, as they have been in their 27 years of marriage. Some things do just workout after all.