Page 1 of The Bully Alien

1

Delana

Most people look forward to college. A way to make a fresh start, a clean state, and all of that.

I need that. In grade school, I was teased. In high school, I was bullied.

All because I look different.

All because I feel different.

When I was three, I was kidnapped. I was playing in my front yard. A guy rolled up in a while van. The door opened, and another guy jumped out and grabbed me.

They held me for three days. Most people don't remember when they're three, but I can recall every second. I was so scared. I thought I would never see my parents again.

I was half right.

They filmed me, showed my parents they had me, cut my left cheek so deeply that I scarred.

They wanted ransom for me. My parents had won the lottery not even two weeks before I was kidnapped.

They got their money, and I was released.

But when my daddy saw the video of my being cut live, he had such a bad panic attack that he had a heart attack, and he died.

The scar was why kids teased me in high school.

I went to counseling. It didn't help much with the PTSD.

And then in high school, I was bullied. There was a bomb threat, and I freaked the hell out. I had a major panic attack myself, and I thought I was going to die, and the kids didn't understand.

How could they understand the panic and terror I felt? They have comfy, cozy little lives without any more worries than who to die, who to kiss, who to go to prom with.

Me? Each day was a battle, and I strove to overcome any adversity I faced, even if the adversity was only in my mind.

I've been working on myself for so long now, and I think I'm finally getting somewhere.

Sun Valley University. I'm here to study space science.

Yes, I so badly want to get away from earth that I'm learning how to become an astronaut.

My therapist thinks it's because I want to escape, and that's part of it. I'm not going to lie.

But when I had been held captive, there had been a window in the ceiling. Not in any of the walls. I would just look up, watching the sun climb and then fall and the moon do the same. The stars were my friends. I would talk to them until my kidnappers came in and told me to shut the hell up, so I then would talk to the stars in my head.

One day, I'll visit the stars. I'll do what I can to leave this world behind. It doesn't matter what the assignment is. I need to go.

But hopefully, here, I'll be able to make a new start.

I'll be able to finally put my past behind me once and for all.

To my new beginning.

* * *

First day of classes. I leave my dorm room in plenty of time to get to class early. I'm still not sure of my way around campus yet, and I don't want to risk being late.

The sun is shining, and there's a light spring breeze in the air. I take a deep breath and smile. It's going to be okay.

---