Still, she appreciated the excellent vessel they were on. Every girl got their own little mini apartment, plus this common area. She'd been able to clean up and make herself as presentable as possible--she'd even gotten a new dress to wear.
Nothing like the beautiful people, of course, but it was clean and flattered her waist. Again, she kind of assumed it was out of pity. One of the group managers brought it to her.
Graecey. She was kind.
But still, the process took several days for the prep, plus the travel time. They were given some basic knowledge classes about these future mates. Grooms. Whatever one considered them to be. Janae hadn't considered them much of anything, honestly. One look around, and she knew that she didn't have a shot, surrounded by such beautiful females. She was there for the warm bed and food.
They were encouraged to make friends, and at first, everyone had been friends. Even the pretty ones were nice to everyone. Sereya even tried to show her some basic beauty tips, including ideas to help with her scarring.
It was almost sweet like sisterly, kind of. She carried some hope that she'd leave this making a bunch of friends.
Then it came out that the Kantenans were only choosing a small handful of females.
That's when it shifted.
The females began to get competitive--showing off who they were in ways that made others look bad. And while Janae couldn't blame any of them for wanting to be treated well by a mate--she would appreciate that if it came to be--but she wasn't going to be mean.
She'd tried to make friends at first, but not many were receptive. The female competition grew day by day.
Oh well. At least she had the experience. When Janae didn't get chosen, maybe she could get a job with the placement company. Now that she'd been through the process.
A job with housing benefits was always appreciated. Especially when you didn't have a home or anything regarding assets to speak of. She had even asked about job opportunities in the organization, and Graecey said the project was quite competitive in its options if one could get in.
After this, it was something to look forward to, anyway, because she wasn't leaving with much.
Except maybe a couple of friends that weren't as wickedly competitive as the others. Janae watched the way the groups moved in and out of each other. The prettiest ones were all congregated together, and the others were scattered about.
They should be studying this, she mused. That would be something to see what they could learn about females because it is evident that not many males understood the female mindset anywhere in the galaxy. At least they'd be more educated.
Through the crowds, she saw a familiar swath of fiery red curly hair, and she couldn't help smiling as the owner of that hair got closer.
"Here," Adryel said as she dropped down on the couch next to Janae. She handed her a little baggie and a bottle of energizing juice.
Adryel was the only friend she'd made on the ship, aside from Graecey. Clarifying: genuine friend. Other friends were not that friendly when things started getting competitive.
Still, Adryel was fun and spoke her mind. Two things that Janae needed to remember to do and stop worrying so much. She couldn't help it--living on the streets made her worry about everything. Her next meal. Next place to sleep--would she be able to sleep--and how she'd care for herself.
She'd not told anyone about her circumstances, and it didn't matter here. It was like living in a bubble.
A warm, dry bubble. With sonic showers.
Janae accepted the bottle from Adryel. "What's this for?"
Adryel fluffed her red hair that hung in wild curls down her back. It didn't matter what she tried to do with it; it always seemed to be unruly curls. Made her easy to spot in a crowd.
"I heard one of the pilots saying that we'd be landing soon. I figured we'd better grab some food. Just in case." She had her own bag and bottle of energy juice.
"You seem pretty certain that we'll be staying."
"Either way, I think we had better be prepared for a long stopover."
Janae rubbed her forehead and felt the rough skin. The red, raised skin tended to flake. Touching it now, she felt a little flake and pulled it off. "Are we going to another world after this one?"
Adryel slapped her hand. "Stop it. You’re only going to make that look worse right before we go down."
Janae shrugged. "It gets worse when I'm nervous, regardless of touching it."
"Well, you don't need to do anything to mar your skin more just before we meet our mates." She reached up and started brushing Janae's bangs back into place. "Keep your hands down at your sides."
