It’s crazy how your whole life can change in an instant.

I grew up on Werayne - or Pecayen, depending on who you talk to - which from what I’ve heard was meant to be an intense and traumatic experience but, even now, looking back, it was totally fine. I know there are places on Werayne that are stricter, more military than my home. I was happy with where I was though, surrounded by my family, my neighbours and friends. Sure, I’d grown up learning about the history of my people’s oppression, and yeah I suppose the sky was never clear and there was an uneasiness to everyone I knew that doesn’t sit right now, but that didn’t mean there weren't good things happening.

It surprises people when they hear that the day I was taken I was on my way to the beach to go surfing. As if Weraynians aren’t supposed to have fun. Surfing was my thing, man. I had a few mates I would vibe with, catch some surf, eat some snacks. I never quite got there though. I don’t remember exactly what happened, it’s kinda fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure the weather was really weird, like a lightning storm was coming, and then I had the wind knocked out of me.

The world spun. I found myself sprawled on what felt like dirt, not sand, and I was completely disorientated.

Suddenly I heard a voice say, “This can’t be happening.” I looked up and there was a girl who I didn't know sitting there, Lexie of course! She looked like she had seen a ghost. I felt like I needed to reassure her that things were okay, but the more I looked around the more I realised that I had no idea where I was or what I was doing here.

We were in a little park-like place, a tiny spot of nature strangled by buildings on every side. There were a few trees, and Lexie was sitting on a log. It’s where she likes to go to draw or think or just get away from life. She stood up and came over to me, eyeing me like I was about to explode. I didn’t understand what was happening. My head was still woozy and I felt light; from my position on the ground I looked up at the sky and realised it was all wrong. I shifted so I could sit up a bit.

“What’s happened? Where am I?”

Lexie ignored my questions, which I don’t blame her for - she was in mad shock. She looked me up and down, taking in my size and enhancements, like the metal plating on my leg from an injury when I was a kid.

“You’re a Weraynian.” she said.

I was confused by her wording but now I was looking at her, properly, and realising that while she did have grey skin and some similar features to me, she was far too small for a Weraynian and there was something distinctly unlike me that I couldn’t quite place.

“You’re not?” I said intelligently.

“Of course not!” she burst out.

“Oh, so what are you doing here? How did you get through the force field?” I asked her, because I guess I hadn’t figured out that I was clearly not on my home planet.

“What?!” Lexie stared at me in bafflement for a long time before taking some deep breaths and speaking in a much gentler tone. “What’s your name?”

“Jayken.” I said. “How about you?”

“My name’s Alexa. But you can call me Lexie.” she gave a half hearted laugh, still trying to process everything going on. I still feel very honoured that she immediately let me call her Lexie. Normally for people who aren’t her family she doesn’t like them using her nickname, but she has always let me. She’s always accepted me as her family. She has been so good to me. “Jayken, I don’t know what’s happened or how you got here but this isn’t Pecayen. You’re on a whole different planet, Halapatov.”

I gotta say, I didn’t believe her at first, but I was still pretty out of it. There were huge gaps in my memory which wouldn’t come back for a while longer. Lexie was freaking out, muttering about visions, so she grabbed me up and bundled me back home. Something you need to know about Lexie’s house, it’s not in the best area, it’s rundown and it’s crowded but it’s one of the warmest, safest, happiest places in the world. She lives with her parents, two aunts and an uncle, three siblings and five cousins. When Lexie dragged me into her lounge room, everyone emerged to see what all the commotion was about, and found a Weraynian guy passed out and Lexie in near hysterics.

Lexie’s family is the best thing that ever happened to me. I could’ve been found by anyone, like a Halapatovian official who would’ve probably immediately locked me up and questioned me and in general it would not have been a fun time, if my experiences with Halapatovian authorities have taught me anything. Did I mention that I was fourteen when this happened? I was young and scared and apparently a terror to Halapatovians and Paladanians, and even to some Aandriggians. Lexie’s family was different. They were all so kind to me, so understanding. They didn’t treat me like a threat, but like a kid who needed protection. It helped that, as Aandriggians go, they were very pro-Werayne. By that I mean that they didn’t see the Weraynians as the bad guys, but as the victims due to the way the other planets treated them, trapping us in a force field, treating the refugees from before the war as lesser. Lexie’s aunt is actually a prominent activist in the community, trying to change the way people view Werayne, combat the propaganda. Anyway, Lexie explained what had happened to her family as I regained consciousness, and while they knew they wouldn’t be able to keep me a secret indefinitely, they decided to let me stay with them.

I was baffled by the compassion they were showing me. They took me in as their own. Lexie let me stay in her room, which she shared with her cousin who was around the same age. For the next month or so, I basically lay low and hung out in their house..

I got to know her family, who are all very cool, some more chatty than others. I helped with household chores, especially cooking, which had always been something I loved doing. Her uncle took me under his wing when he realised I was interested and I spent heaps of time in the kitchen making meals or desserts or snacks. I’d liked cooking before but because I had to stay inside day in and out it gave me lots of free time to kill and cooking became a real hobby of mine. It always made me feel really happy when people would come home from work or school or a day out and I’d get to give them something freshly baked, and they’d all tell me how much they loved it.

Though Lexie’s family was so good to me, I did miss home. I missed my family and my friends and my day to day. In a lot of ways, I felt distant from them and very different to when I’d been on Werayne. My mind felt different. I wouldn’t find out until later that the portal thing that had brought me here had affected the way my brain worked. Still, I knew that it was a matter of time before people who hated Weraynians found out I was here.

Lexie slowly opened up to me. She told me about recent events in her neighbourhood, how an alien girl and a Paladanian had gotten all mixed up in these ghosts who’d appeared and apparently whatever they’d done had involved some other dimension, and ever since Lexie had been seeing images she didn’t understand, mostly when she was asleep. She hadn’t properly realised what it meant until she had a vision of a Weraynian guy in a park and then that vision had come true before her eyes when I arrived. She wasn’t sure what to think of this new development, she was scared to go to anyone about it because it was scary and weird and she didn’t know what would happen.

My first reaction had been, “You can tell the future? That’s really cool!” but she’d shaken her head and told me that it didn’t work like that, she rarely could tell what she was seeing and the only time it had been useful at all was when it had led her to me. I’d smiled at that and she smiled too, her first smile in ages. It was a shame because Lexie was such a joyful person at heart. I’ve seen her relaxed while just chatting with friends and family, and it’s like she doesn’t have a care in the world. But the world is cruel. Lexie is so angry all of the time, raging at the injustice that she faces as an Aandriggian, that her family faces, her fear for me and for my people. It was inspiring really. I couldn’t dwell on those things or I ended up bogged down. I did my best to stay positive. But she stays angry because she can’t stand seeing how messed up the world is. She longs for better, and she deserves it. I hope that one day our people, Aandriggian and Weraynian alike, won’t be treated the way we are now, and she won’t have to live with all this anger in her heart.

Almost two months after I’d arrived on Halapatov, and I’d gotten quite settled in, Lexie came home from school all pale faced and grabbed me. “Jayken, more Weraynians are coming. I just saw it. I don’t know when, but it seems different to you. Like they’re forcing the portal open. Jayken I don’t know what to do. Should I tell somebody?”

We were both freaking out a bit. She showed me a sketch of her vision. The guys who had come through in it had symbols on their clothes from a really dodgy group, basically a terrorist organisation. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been too worried about more of my people escaping the force field. So Lexie and I had to decide. We could tell the authorities, reveal myself and also Lexie’s powers and end up in the spotlight. Or we could say nothing and people could get hurt.

In the end our consciences got the better of us. I broke my quarantine and accompanied her to give our story. A few days later the guys came through with a bunch of weapons and tried to start something, but there were people there just in case and it got stopped really quickly. In the meantime I had some pretty bad days. To back up our story I had to be outed as a Weraynian, and that just started a long line of interviews and scans and tests and visits by officials. I tried to stay upbeat but really it was awful. All I could think about was Lexie and her family and how this would affect them. And I hated being on my own.

After the Weraynian thing happened those involved were taken to a high security prison where all the mob from the Weraynian scares were kept. They tried to figure out what to do with me. Lexie’s family and some other Aandriggians protested and petitioned for me to not be kept in a facility. I was just a kid, they reasoned, and I’d come here by mistake. I couldn’t be a malicious Weraynian plot; I’d even helped stop one for goodness’ sake. Eventually the authorities who were holding me relented and I was allowed to live with Lexie again, but under close watch.

Life hasn’t been the same afterwards. There are a lot of things hanging over me; Lexie’s visions are getting worse, the Weraynian war is looming more and more each day, and in the meantime I’m being checked on by the government and having my every move monitored. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to go home, to Werayne, Pecayen. I know Lexie would like to go there one day as well, it’s the Aandriggians home planet too after all. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Things have been crazy but I try to focus on the good things.

On baking fresh bread. Helping Lexie’s little sister with her homework. Sitting around the dinner table with family and friends. On the happy memories that I’m able to make even in the hardest of times. No matter what happens, I know that there will always be something to make life worthwhile, and I look forward to the future.