It was the beginning of the school year, but that didn't mean anything to Kaffir. He wasn't planning on attending his classes despite his parents' concerns. He knew that they meant well, but he just couldn't take it anymore. It was hard enough being a teenage boy, but being an alien teenage boy made things even worse. They didn't understand what was bothering him, but he could see the way they looked at him and he knew what they thought. He was a freak and he wasn't one of them. So why pretend?

He was sitting down in a dark, but familiar alley. While his species generally preferred sitting out in the sunlight, he didn't want to risk getting caught by the police. This was their spot and everyone who was anyone knew it. He was throwing a rubber ball that he had found in his room earlier that day. The ball would hit the wall and return back to his hand. If he had miscalculated, his vines would help him catch it and allowed him to continue what he was doing.

They didn't always do much nor did they always say much but they didn't need to. Sometimes he wondered why they all hung out. But in a way, they were the same and they had reached some unspoken understanding. It was definitely something he needed in his life.

"Hey Hali," he said absentmindedly, breaking the silence. "Isn't your birthday coming up soon? Did you want to do something?"

"Do me and Eli have to get you a present or something?" he half-joked as he threw the rubber ball at his robot friend.

Hali was crouching on the ground, leaning forward to try to catch her reflection in the smudged basement window across the narrow alleyway. She'd decided to pin up her bangs: since she was with her friends in their spot, it was safe to show her third eye. The rhythmic sound of Kaffir's rubber ball against the wall had lulled her into a false sense of security, almost causing her to lose her balance when Kaffir abruptly addressed her, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, my birthday's on Monday. Just four more days!"

She tilted from side to side, half-pondering what she wanted as a gift, half-trying to get a better view in her makeshift mirror. It wasn't really working out. Deciding to be satisfied with her handiwork, she pointed her three-eyed gaze at Kaffir. What could she ask for as a present? She didn't have birthday plans any grander than eating birthday cookies on her roof at sunset with friends and family, and that was what she did every year.

"You guys should steal a spaceship for me, and we can ditch school and tour the galaxy instead." She smiled proudly, as if she had come up with the greatest (and most realistic) idea in the history of sentient life. "And then we'll eat cake. On the spaceship. Space cake!"

Elijah always wondered why the humans kept these "Aliens" separate from themselves. They didn't seem that much different. The only difference was their looks. Kaffir was green, with vegetation growing out of him. Hali had her third eye, which Elijah couldn't help staring at, as it was such an oddity. She never really showed her eye in public, so this was one of the rare times he could take a peek. Very strange indeed. Then again, Elijah looked exactly like them, and he was here with the "Aliens". Not that he minded.

The humans practically treated him like the "aliens", with distrust and fear. But he found that he did not treat the aliens with mistrust and fear, in fact, it was the exact opposite. After all, Elijah was now celebrating with the aliens what the humans called a "Birthday Party" That would mean Elijah had "Friends". Or at least theoretically.

"Stealing a spaceship is against several civil and federal laws. I am legally obligated to counsel you to not do so." Elijah gave Hali a concerning look, wondering why she would attempt something so dangerous. "Not to mention eating at cake while piloting a spaceship is highly unsafe. Distracting piloting causes approximately 437,338 fatalities a year."

After listening to Hali's birthday wish, Kaffir had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. That girl sure had a wild imagination. Then again, they were hanging out with a robot that can only understand logic so in a way they balanced each other out. "It is what it is," Kaffir said, shaking his head. "Maybe try to come up with an idea that doesn't involve leaving the planet. Whatever your crazy head comes up with, Eli and I will just have to do our best to get it."

Kaffir stood up to stretch his legs. It was almost time for their school to let out the other kids who actually showed up which meant that they didn't need to hide in the dark alley for much longer. Because he had been sitting there all day, he could already feel his leaves starting to wilt. He should probably catch some sunlight before the day ends. If he didn't, his mother would probably try her weird "artificial light" fad on him to ensure he has the proper amount of light energy he needs. It surprisingly worked, but it usually left him feeling all weird inside and he did not enjoy it.

Brrrrriinnnnnggggg!

That was their cue. School was officially out and they could come out of hiding. Kaffir waited a few minutes until he heard the stampeding of feet on the sidewalk. Then he waved over to his friends, as if to say "Let's go." He took the lead and did his best to slip into the crowd of high schoolers. His complexion had brightened up to a nicer green as the sunlight hit his face. It felt really good.

He stood out though. A speck of green mixed in with all the other more neutral-colored children. It didn't take long for someone to notice him. It only took a moment before Kaffir felt someone pull on his shirt and another moment for him to hit the ground.

"Hey Plant-freak! What do you think you're doing here? Go back to the stupid dirt where you belong," sneered a human boy that was around his age.

The other students that were watching began to snicker. Those who were maybe kinder and felt that the discrimination was wrong, were quiet and simply turned their heads away. Some of the guys were kicking the gravel of the sidewalk onto him. "Plant Freak! Plant Freak! Plant Freak!" they chanted.

The impact hadn't hurt Kaffir too badly, but they did a good job of ticking him off. The boy that started this whole thing was Brad Mallard who was notorious for bullying those that weren't humans. Brad also had the ability to rally the other students into bullying the aliens and/or robots. Kaffir didn't run into him often so today really was his unlucky day. The best thing to do was to take it until they got bored and moved on to something else. If Kaffir got into a fight, he would be the one to blame even though he was initially the victim. He'd seen enough of the news to know how these things worked. He bit his lower lip and did his best to ignore them. But in his head, he was cursing them all. Stupid, fleshy humans.