Page 5 of Bred by the Alien Prince

“Shut up and stop making sense,” I grumbled. “But you know what? Who cares if they’re trying to make history? History is made by those who take chances.” That was a slogan by one of those mining corporations.

“I think---” Mother was about to say something while coming downstairs after her obvious eavesdropping.

“I don’t care what you think.” I shot back, not at all apologetic. “You hid my mail from me and opened it too. You have no respect for my privacy.”

“I’ll respect your privacy when you make better decisions.” She sighed. “I’ve decided that we’re better off moving again.”

“What?! Why?” I asked, not as surprised as I had come across. “You said this was the last time.”

“I know what I said.” My mother looked haggard. “I thought a friend would be able to help us out, but it seems as if she can’t, so we should leave. It would have been nice to see you enroll in your future, but maybe not here…”

Enrolling in your future… The slogan of the University corporations.

I sighed, got up from the couch, and grabbed my bags, which were already parked at the front door.

“I have good news,” I said as smugly as possible. Jolie ate her gelato as if she was expecting some stupid shit to pour out of my mouth, and she was right to expect it. “It turns out Outer Worlds made a mistake with my application. I spoke to them on my account, and they said I was in, so I won’t be sleeping in some homeless shelter tonight or moving away to wherever you want to go now. I’ll be sleeping on the bus to Iowa.”

“You’re not going!” My mom exclaimed.

“Watch me,” I said calmly and grabbed my roller luggage.

“You’re lying your ass off.” Jolie chimed in with a chuckle. “Just let him leave. He’s probably spending the night at a friend’s house.”

“Okay, have fun in outer space.” Mom laughed and waved goodbye, but behind her cheerful smile was a flash of concern. She hid her emotions well, but not well enough.

Neither of them believed me, and they were right because Iwaslying my ass off. But you’re gonna find out real soon that when I lie, I pretty much commit to the lie to the point of delusion.

So, I headed straight to the bus station.

CHAPTER 2

Noguts,noglory,right? Well, I was about to find out how well that motto applied to my life decisions. Because I went to the bus station. Thankfully, I had about five hundred credits saved up, enough to buy a ticket to Iowa where Outer Worlds was stationed. If I took the bus, I would have about two hundred left to spend on food or whatever.

The Gen Ten had built a space elevator there that didn’t need to extend into space. Instead, a massive beam in orbit would lock onto the shuttles and pull them into space like a tractor beam. They helped save millions in fuel and made travel into space simple and easy for everyone…. well, every company with a space shuttle.

I sat down near the window, hoping no one would sit down next to me, but this guy did. He was tall and light-skinned with prominent features, curly hair, and blue eyes that stood out against his smooth, tanned skin.

“Hey.” He said, putting his bag in the overhead bin and plopping down to the seat next to me.

It didn’t take long for the bus to overflow with people, and it made me wonder how many of them were also going to Outer Worlds. Something told me all of them were going, unless there was something else going on in Iowa I didn’t know about.

“We’re in for a long ride.” The man huffed.

“How long? I didn’t see the schedule.” This was true, I was too busy cursing out my mom and sister in my head to see how long this nightmare ride would be.

“About twenty hours and thirty more minutes, give or take.”

“Ouch.”

“Ouch to our poor circulation is right,” he chuckled, displaying a full row of pearly whites. “By the way, I’m Derek.”

“Caspian, nice to meet you.”

“Same. I’ve been training for weeks for this trip. How long did you train?”

“Um… not long."

He shifted in his seat and smiled. “Well, maybe I overdid it then,” he laughed. “It's a part of my psyche, I suppose. At least that’s what the AI review board told me.”

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