The Fourth World Read online

  Two second-year boys saw the commotion, and Fintan heard one of them say “What’s going on?”

  The other answered “He’s finally getting Zack to ask that Japanese girl out”.

  “Oh.”

  *

  “Is she waiting for us there?” said Zack, breathlessly from being dragged.

  “It would be nice if she was,” said Fintan.

  “You mean you haven’t arranged anything?”

  “Nope. This is spur of the moment.”

  “What?”

  They entered the dining room, and there was no sign of Ayako or Nizhoni.

  “Well that’s it then,” said Zack. “You can let go now.”

  Fintan didn’t let go, and in fact tightened his grip as he led Zack towards the entrance to the girl’s common room.

  “We’re not allowed to go there,” said Zack

  “I’ll take the punishment instead of putting up with you another minute,” said Fintan.

  “What does that mean?”

  “You know exactly what that means!”

  The doors slid open to the girl’s dorms. Some girls were lounging around in casual wear and pajamas.

  One of them looked up and screamed.

  “Sorry,” said Fintan. He closed his eyes. He whispered to Zack. “Close your eyes darn it!”

  Zack obeyed.

  “Sorry,” repeated Fintan. “Can you ask Ayako Katsuragi to come out here? If she isn’t already here?”

  One girl answered. “Is that Zack?”

  “I’m Fintan,” said Fintan. He shook Zack a little. “This is Zack.”

  “Oh I get it,” said the girl. “Hang on.”

  There were a lot of giggles.

  “I’m going to kill you Fintan,” said Zack.

  “Good. Make it quick, better than this slow torture.”

  They could hear hushed whispers and giggles. One girl stood almost nose to nose with Fintan. He could feel her breathing.

  “If you open your eyes you’ll wish you’d never been born,” she said.

  “I already wish that,” said Fintan. “So maybe I should just open them.”

  She screamed and ran. There was a shuffling noise. Fintan assumed she was hiding behind something. More giggles.

  Then there was a hush. Fintan assumed that Ayako and Nizhoni had arrived.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” said Fintan

  “You’ve got a bad feeling about this?” said Zack. “What do you think I feel?”

  “What’s going on here?” said a voice. It was an adult voice.

  “Uh-oh,” said Fintan.

  “Uh-oh Uh-oh,” said Zack

  “Sorry Miss, we got lost,” said Fintan.

  “Well of course you got lost if you are walking around with your eyes shut,” she said.

  Fintan recognized the voice. “Miss Parmour, is that you?”

  Miss Parmour was their astronomy teacher. Their really scary astronomy teacher.

  “Yes it is, Mister Reilly,” she said. “And you’d better stop lying to me. Why are you here?”

  Suddenly the bizarreness of their situation, and Zack’s image of the blob from the planet Mungo came back to him.

  He laughed. Long and hard.

  *

  Friday.

  06:55AM.

  12 hours and 5 minutes to go.

  “Ayako” said Zack. “Will you please come to the dance with me tonight?”

  He held up two tickets.

  “Yes.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really really?”

  “Yes,” said Fintan. “You see, it isn’t hard!”

  They were in their room, getting ready for breakfast. Fintan was helping Zack practice asking Ayako. He tore the black wig off and threw it to the ground. “I can’t believe I did that,” he said to Zack, referring to the wig.

  “Actually you looked good. Maybe I’ll ask you instead” said Zack.

  “I’m going with Nizhoni, remember?” said Fintan. “You know she’s always there at 7 sharp. I emailed Nizhoni last night and asked her to make up an excuse for why she’ll be a few minutes late. I will be too, so you have 5 minutes. Now go!”

  Zack wandered out the door. He was dragging his feet as he made his way towards the boy’s common room.

  “I can see you,” said Fintan. “Now hurry up!”

  He turned back to his terminal. It was an e-mail from Nizhoni.

  Target Alpha gone ahead to breakfast. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Is Target Dumbhead on the way? He better, or else…

  Fintan replied to her mail.

  Roger Roger. Dumbhead is inbound and weapons are hot. Over.

  He sat back, sighed and rubbed his forehead. This had better work.

  *

  Friday.

  07:05 AM.

  11 hours and 55 minutes to go.

  At 7:05 Fintan innocently strolled into breakfast. He saw Nizhoni entering from the opposite side – the way from the girl’s common room – and nodded to her. She returned his nod.

  With butterflies in his stomach, worse than those when he had asked Nizhoni out, Fintan tried to remain calm. He got his breakfast and sat beside Zack and Ayako. Nizhoni arrived at the same time.

  “Sorry I’m late,” said Fintan. “Couldn’t find my socks.”

  There was silence over the table.

  “Did Zack find his socks?” asked Nizhoni innocently. “You know. He’s a man, and a real man has a pair of, you know, socks.”

  Fintan nearly choked.

  Zack finally spoke. “Tonight is going to be the best night of my life,” he said. He looked to Ayako and turned to them. “She said yes!”

  *

  Friday.

  Dance Day. 6:45 PM.

  15 minutes to go.

  “I’ve asked the girls to meet us there,” said Zack, “I want to make a grand entrance with my costume, and have everyone see it at the same time.”

  “Ok,” said Fintan. “But let’s not be too late. I’d hate to keep Nizhoni waiting.”

  They returned to their room to get changed. Fintan had dry cleaned and pressed his dress uniform and quickly put it on. He glanced at himself in the mirror.

  He looked good. It wasn’t that anything physical had changed about him, but he realized that his weeks here had built his confidence, and when he thought of Nizhoni he walked with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. He was ready.

  “So how do I look?” said Zack.

  Fintan walked out of the room and gasped.

  Zack was dressed from head to toe in brilliant green, and had a huge bulbous head, also shining green, on his shoulders. Its eyes were large and black, and it had a tiny mouth. The top of the head was scraping the ceiling.

  “Are you supposed to be Trichallik?” said Fintan, trying not to laugh.

  “Yeah,” said Zack. “Or at least a caricature of her.”

  “It’s creative,” said Fintan, snickering.

  “It’s pretty cool, because her mouth is a one way visor that I can see out of. The only problem is the head is a bit top-heavy, so it wobbles a lot when I walk.”

  Fintan couldn’t help himself now. He flat-out laughed. Tears were streaming down his face.

  “We’d better go,” said Zack.

  “Ok,” said Fintan as he guided Zack through the corridors towards the dining hall. They passed some students who stopped and stared, mouth wide open as the odd couple passed. Fintan just shrugged with a ‘What can you do?’ attitude.

  “Do they like it?” said Zack.

  “Err, I think so,” said Fintan.

  It was a short train ride to the ball, so the stares that they got from the other passengers were easy to ignore.

  *

  Friday.

  Dance Day.

  Dance Hour.

  They finally made it to the hall.

  “Sorry,” said Zack. “I thought I could walk a bit quicker, but this head is killing me.
”

  “You ready?” said Fintan

  “Yep,” said Zack.

  Fintan opened the doors and they walked into the hall. It was the most beautiful room he had ever seen. Long and rectangular with floating lights lining it, and beautiful silks and fabrics decorating the walls. A band played in one corner. Their music was otherworldly and soothing.

  “Da daaaa,” said Zack, spreading his arms wide in a ‘look at me!’ gesture.

  In the distance, someone dropped a glass and it shattered on the ground.

  “Oh crap,” said Fintan.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t think it’s a fancy dress dance,” said Fintan.

  “What?”

  Fintan looked over the crowd. All the men, like him, were in dress uniform. The girls were in dresses.

  He saw Ayako and Nizhoni standing near the entrance.

  Ayako was wearing a lilac colored Kimono with Japanese platform shoes. She carried a parasol, her face was painted white, and her hair was long and straight. Fintan smiled as he saw her. She looked great.

  “I said I don’t think it’s a fancy dress dance,” said Fintan.

  “Uh oh,” said Zack.

  Nizhoni stood beside Ayako. She wore a simple light brown dress, with shawl weaved in the four Navajo colors draped over her shoulders. She had a band with the same colors woven through her hair, which was tied up in a bun behind her head. Sharp jade-colored earrings that looked like arrowheads hung down from her ears. Fintan realized that she was simply the most beautiful thing he had ever seen

  “Can Ayako see me?” said Zack as he slowly inched backwards towards the door.

  “Everyone can see you,” said Fintan.

  Zack turned and broke into a run, the head bouncing comically as he got faster.

  Fintan’s eyes met Nizhoni’s. He shrugged with a look that said “I’ll be back,” and followed Zack, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry.

  *

  When Zack and Fintan entered, this time nearly fifteen minutes late, a few people laughed, and Ayako looked ready to kill Zack.

  “Let’s get a drink,” said Nizhoni to Fintan.

  “Don’t you think we should hang out a little first?”

  “Let’s get a drink,” repeated Nizhoni, more firmly this time. “Ayako needs to talk to Zack.”

  “Ah,” said Fintan, and he joined her at the drinks buffet. She offered him a yellow liquid. “Desert Tea” she said. “It’s delicious”.

  She was right. The warm, sweet liquid flowed down his throat most delightfully.

  Despite the strange beginning, Fintan was entranced. It quickly became a magical night.

  Chapter 20: Study Party

  You are watching him closely aren’t you?

  Yes. His family relationship interests me.

  November seemed to pass in a flash. Every day was filled with work, more work and then homework. Despite that Fintan was happier than he had ever been in his life.

  He loved what he was doing. He even loved Cosmic History.

  But a dark shadow was looming over them. Christmas Exams in the second week of December.

  “It’s snowing back home by now,” said Ayako, one morning at breakfast. “It is so pretty in Japan when it snows.”

  “Everybody in my neighborhood is putting up their Christmas lights,” said Zack. “They like to compete with each other, and each year they up the ante. I think it’s brighter at night than it is during the day”.

  “I don’t understand Christmas,” said Nizhoni. “But that doesn’t stop me loving it. I’m looking forward to seeing my family again after the Christmas tests.”

  “Now she said it,” said Zack. “The dreaded words. Christmas tests. Thanks Nizhoni!”

  Nizhoni smiled. She looked to Fintan. “What about you?”

  “I don’t know,” said Fintan. “I don’t really like Christmas.”

  “Why not?” asked Ayako. “It’s a wonderful holiday.”

  “Yeah, you’d think,” said Fintan. He didn’t really want to talk about his family, but these were his friends. It would be a load off his chest if he did. But then something blocked him.

  “My family,” said Fintan, starting, but then stopping again. “My family is not very good at celebrating Christmas properly.”

  “Properly?” said Zack. “What’s properly? Isn’t it just a time to be together and have joy?”

  “It is,” said Fintan. “That’s the problem.”

  “There is no joy in your life, is there Fintan?” asked Nizhoni.

  “Wrong,” said Fintan. “There is joy in my life. Here. With you.”

  She blushed.

  “And Zack, and Ayako, and everything,” he continued. “I guess I just don’t want to go home. I’m probably going to stay over the holidays.”

  The clock ticked forward. They had to get up to go to class. As they left the dining hall, Nizhoni touched his hand gently. It felt good, and he could forget about home for a little longer.

  *

  “We should have a study party,” said Zack later that night from his side of the bedroom.

  “A what?” said Fintan.

  “A study party. You, me, the girls, maybe Raj and Heather, we get together to study for the exams. It’ll be much more fun than this.”

  “I don’t think it’s supposed to be fun,” said Fintan.

  “Why not?” said Zack. “As long as we’re doing the work we may as well be having a good time. I mean, this isn’t exactly fun, and I bet you’re too bored to work now, right?”

  Fintan thought about it for a bit. “You’re right,” he said. “How do we do it?”

  *

  “You’re kidding,” said Ayako.

  “For once I’m not,” said Zack. “Think about it. We work much better together in teams, right? Nizhoni and I did a far better job than anybody expected in the science project, and we got first place didn’t we? Nobody saw that coming.”

  “Speak for yourself,” said Nizhoni. “You were the one expected to flunk.”

  Zack made a face at her. “But still-“

  “And what do you think Fintan?” said Ayako

  “Why not?” said Fintan. “We’ve revised everything already, so we can continue doing it until we are sick of it and demoralized, or, we can at least have fun working a couple of times a week as we count down to the tests, right?”

  Ayako pursed her lips. Nizhoni raised her eyebrows.

  “Ok,” said Ayako. “Let’s do it.”

  *

  “That’s a great idea!” said Heather. “I’ll bring the drinks.”

  “The drinks?” said Zack

  “Of course,” said Heather. “It’s a party, right? Someone brings food, someone brings drinks, someone brings dessert. You guys host and decorate.”

  “We host?” said Zack.

  “Of course, it’s your idea.”

  “Oh, yeah, I suppose,” said Zack.

  “Afraid we’ll see that you have a messy room?” said Heather. “Of course you have a messy room. You’re a boy!”

  *

  “I think I’ve given birth to a monster,” said Zack. He and Fintan were back in their room. The party was only a day away.

  “Meaning?” said Fintan.

  “Look at this place, it’s a pigsty!” said Zack. “I think I smell my underwear from back in September.”

  “That’s because they’re still in your closet, unwashed,” said Fintan. “And something is probably growing on them. And besides, look at my side of the room. You could eat your dinner off the floor here.”

  “Only if you wanted to die of something horrible.”

  They laughed.

  “Fintan,” said Zack.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you mind going and rustling up some decorations. I’ve some tidying to do.”

  Fintan sighed.

  *

  Just like it didn’t have a Halloween costume shop, a city designed to build humanity’s readiness to
go to the stars also wouldn’t have a Christmas store.

  Or so Fintan thought.

  “Of course we have a Christmas store!” the worker said. “We’re still human you know, or at least most of us are! Speaking of which, have you seen our new Alien decoration?”

  “Err no.” said Fintan.

  “Oh you’ve got to see it, it’s delightful!” she said. She went to a shelf and took down a small box. Out of it she took a plump and rubbery character. It was an alien, wearing a Christmas hat.

  “Yeah. Pretty.” said Fintan, unconvinced.

  “Oh you haven’t seen the best part yet!” said the woman. She flipped a switch at the bottom of the figure. Nothing happened.

  She clapped her hands and the figure started dancing and singing ‘Jingle Bells’ in a very loud, very shrill, headache-inducing voice. When it started he nearly jumped out of his skin. Then he laughed.

  “I’ll take it” said Fintan. “Scratch that, I’ll take two.”

  *

  He made it back to the dorms overladen with tinsel, holly, paper stars, real stars, lights and the two singing aliens.

  He got into his room and dropped them all on the floor.

  “You carried all that yourself?” asked Zack.

  “Yeah,” said Fintan. “Not sure how”

  “And now look!” said Zack. “Your side of the room is so messy and mine is so tidy”

  “I was wondering what the smell wasn’t.” said Fintan.

  “Oh ha ha.”

  *

  They finished decorating the room in the nick of time. Fintan had been careful in finding decorations that would appeal to everyone. He guessed that Ayako would like the pale pinks, and whites, which would remind her of Cherry Blossoms and the snows of Japan. For Nizhoni, he had taken white, blue, yellow and black papers and fashioned Christmas tree murals on the walls. For Zack and Heather, as well as the usual red and green, he had some American red, white and blue. Finally for Raj, he had bought some small candles, having read that Indian celebrations use little candles that they called ‘diya’.

  The aliens would be for everyone. He set them to flank either side of the door, and cranked up the volume so they were as loud as he could get them. The idea was that when people walked in, they would trigger the songs.

  Ayako was first, carrying a plate of Sushi. She didn’t flinch, just laughing as she entered. “They sound like Japanese Opera,” she said. “Except not as bad.”

  Nizhoni was next. When the aliens started singing, she moved in a blur, kicking one across the room with her right leg. It zipped past Zack’s ear. In a blur she turned and kicked the other into the door. All this without spilling a single one of the Tacos she carried.

  The statue behind her continued singing, but its singing slowed, grew deeper and stopped with a painful cry.