Staying awake until 5 AM is nothing unusual. This time it was a rush of ideas, none of them really had anywhere to go. I lay awake, nice and warm beneath my covers. Clutching my pillow, I just let the process begin. The walls opened, unfolding the river bridge back to my escape. Traveling back to the third star from the fourth planet didn’t take too long despite the distance. Usually, the distance is the fun part, but tonight the experience was more pressing than distance. I floated carelessly onward, rocking slowly, and loudly (whatever that means). I was stopped. My eyes darted about. Everything was unfamiliar. That is, until I heard a set of eyes touch my mind.
“I keep forgetting not to destroy my surroundings when I land.”
I woke up. What? There was a female staring me down from across from my bed. This definitely breaks open hours. I shook myself. I wasn’t even asleep before, when did I wake up?
“Why haven’t you said anything yet?” She spoke with a carefree volume, clearly not understanding the horrible repercussions of invading my dorm at… I turned my head to look… 5:17 AM. My roommate was also not a heavy sleeper. I expected him to wake up at any moment, but much to my surprise he-
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything. But you probably can’t hear me anyway, I guess I’ll just leave before you question whether this was real or not.”
It was very cold outside, there was snow everywhere, even coming from the sky? The sky?!? Why was I outside? I don’t usually go outside when I’m not wearing a shirt or socks. Yeah, usually I don’t go outside when I was in my bed five seconds ago either. I snickered. Humor will keep me warm. She turned around and noticed me before I noticed her. I’m not sure which of us was more shocked, but she seemed a bit more surprised than she should have been
“Oh shit, you can hear me.”
Now I was laying back under the covers, but much less comfortable, mind you. She pressed her figure apologetically next to me on the bed. “I’m really sorry about that, it’s not very common that someone can see me and hear me.” Her translucent wings were now tucked back into their casings. Now that those were out of the way, I got a look at her less obvious features, which gee they’re still pretty obvious. A small, non-apologetic smile contradicted her tone of voice and posture. She had short, brown hair and she was about the same height as me, maybe taller, but maybe shorter. Same skin tone as snow (or Grove City, I chuckled to myself), but definitely unnatural amber irises. Her shirt was white and fanned out at the bottom, just as her sleeves did. Her pants were just black sweatpants. What were the features less obvious than her insect wings yet still quite obvious? Well, she was beautiful. And I often do not think that. Somehow, she had waited patiently through my inner dialogue and horrible attempts at jokes.
“I’ll say my name first because I crash landed in the middle of your university and invaded your room advertently. I’m Haela. What’s your name?” She sat up slightly and rested her chin on her hands eagerly. For some reason, I was crying. “Not now, man.” I whispered,
“I’m Kevin, hello there, Haela.” Her brow furrowed, but her eager expression did not change.
 “Why are you crying? Don’t worry, he can’t hear you.” She said, obviously referring to my still sleeping roommate. I wiped away tears.
“I’m not too sure.” I still spoke secretly. “I think you reminded me of someone.” She frowned.
“It’s the wings, isn’t?” I gave her a quizzical look. Yup, definitely those. I asked her the most obvious question first.
“Why are you still awake?” Pausing for a moment, then bursting into medium-pitched laughter, she looked at me with non-vacant eyes for the first time and smiled at me.
“Yep! I think you were the only one awake enough to care that I came!” She bobbed back and forth as if listening to an offbeat song. “I had hoped to find housing rather quickly, but now it feels like I found a second home!” She abruptly stared me down with a serious look. That halted my attempts to make a really bad joke rather quickly. I straightened up to get a better angle at the sudden change in atmosphere. “You’re going to have to help me with that imagination of yours. Because not only am I going to live there for now, but I’m also going to use it as camouflage. I’ll explain it in more detail tomorrow but…” She looked at the clock which somehow said 3:31. “You should probably get some…” I fell over with a soft thud.