Galaxy Between Us

Chapter I

Knox and I turn ten on the same day. Both Leos. But of course, the day is more about him than me. Being born an Alpha, he’s already won in life. He’s the biggest in our class, most popular in our friend group, and on top of that, he’s got brain and brawn.

I smile and clap along with everyone else as he blows out the candles on our cake which was the one part of this celebration that we both got to choose since we were equally drawn to it in the catalog.

It’s shaped and decorated like the moon with a small fondant rocket on top preparing for take-off.

I stand next to Knox in my pointed birthday hat, smiling big for the cameras in front of us flashing vigorously. As an Omega, it would be impolite to seek attention and steal the spotlight. Even on my own birthday.

But I can’t be too upset. Presents are stacked high for us on my parents’ dining room table. Mom announces that we’ll finally get to open them once everyone has a slice of cake.

Bouncing impatiently, my eager eyes dart between the gifts and the cake, unsure which one I want to dive into more.

As if reading my mind, Knox plucks the rocket from the cake with an evil grin and flies it right into my mouth, smothering me in deliciousness.

Laughs and cheers ring out as we play-wrestle, swatting at one another with icing all over our hands, drowning in a swirl of chocolate and vanilla.

Marble cake! My favorite.

As the night goes on, everyone makes their way into the dining room, crowding around the two chairs Knox and I sit in.

Most of the gifts were for him, some for the both of us to share.

By the time we’ve ripped them open, there’s only one left with a tag addressed to me, and me only.

Knox’s Omega mother brings the large box to me with a genuine smile, her dark hair and sympathetic brown eyes reflecting his.

I’m awestruck by the size of the gift as she places it in my lap, and my eyes barely peek above the top. The crafty scent of wrapping paper and the cardboard hidden beneath fills my nose.

“Knox has been saving up all his allowance for this,” she tells me.

I turn to him curiously, meeting his bright, happy expression.

So kindhearted like the gentle giant he is.

He’s usually terrible at keeping secrets, but I have no clue what it could be.

I don’t have an allowance, otherwise I would’ve bought him a gift too.

The only thing I’m able to offer him is to do his next few homework assignments.

It’s not a bad bargain since I’ve been excelling in my studies.

Intelligence is the only reason I’m staying in school as an Omega.

Regular Omegas only stay until about twelve or fourteen which is long enough to learn the basics before they’re separated from the Alphas and Betas and sent to Omega boarding school.

Which is exactly what it sounds like. Where they go to learn how to be the perfect Omega for their future Alpha and a parent to their offspring.

Once they’re mature, meaning they’ve had their first heat within the four-year duration, the Omegas graduate and are either sent out into the real world or they pursue higher studies.

Regardless of what they wish to do in the future, Omega studies are a requirement. For those of us who are smart enough, we have the opportunity to continue another two to four years of school after our studies as long as we take blockers to ensure our heat doesn’t strike in the middle of class.

It allows us to potentially get a job someday.

As a cook, a house maid, an assistant, a receptionist. Though the options are slim pickings, it’s better than being mated off to some Alpha and stuck in the thrilling life of a domestic housemate.

I think I want kids someday, but I’d also like to live life for myself first.

Even though I’m set to graduate basic studies by twelve, I was shocked that my parents agreed to let me stay in school until fourteen before going off to boarding school.

Knox made it clear to the adults that I was his best friend, and he wasn’t ready to see me go yet.

We’re both seeking a higher education, so this was important for us.

I owe him big time for that. He gifted me a few more years of childhood, and on top of it all, this heavy, neatly wrapped box with galaxy-themed paper. I can’t imagine a universe without him.

Even so, not all Alphas are as caring and considerate as Knox.

“Come on, open it! I want to see what it is!” Chet whines, leaning against the sofa arm rest. He’s Knox’s other best friend and he hates me.

He’s also an Alpha just like most of Knox’s friends.

They aren’t the nicest to me and yet I find it easier to hang out with them than the other Omegas in the neighborhood who are more interested in looks than books.

Maybe I’m just a late bloomer but I don’t care for an Alpha’s attention on me. Most of them are big and mean.

Oblivious to Chet’s rudeness, Dad urges me on as well, positioning his camera with a smile.

“Go ahead. Open it up, Arius.”

I tear away at the paper to unveil the box. On the side of it, I see a zoomed in picture of the moon and I gasp. No way.

Flipping the box to its front, my eyes glaze over from the sight. It’s the exact same telescope model from the Everything in Space TV series Knox and I have been watching since…forever!

Chet rolls his eyes, disappointed as most kids would be at receiving a telescope rather than the latest toy.

He can groan all he wants because I am absolutely mind blown.

It’s the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received.

I’m already thinking of all the clusters, nebulae, and planets I’ll be able to spy on with it.

I thank Knox with a tight side hug, not ready to set down my amazing gift yet.

I hold it up for Mom and Dad to take a picture, and they smile softly at my excitement, but there’s a wistful look of resignation behind it.

I know they think it’s a strange hobby of mine.

An Omega yearning to learn about the sky of all things.

Behind their tight smiles they’re hoping that soon I’ll grow out of this “phase” and magically develop an interest in cooking and cleaning and babies like any respectable Omega.

I suspect they even blame Knox for getting me interested in outer space, but the truth is that I’m the one who got him into it.

Through the angular window of my bedroom ceiling, every night I’ve watched the changes of the night sky as closely as a bird watches its nest. Here on earth, the possibilities for an Omega are extremely limited.

Learn to cook, learn to clean, get mated, have babies.

But in space? Possibilities are unfathomably endless.

Who knows. There could be universes in which Omegas run the world.

Four years later

Knox and I are catching up with the latest episode of Everything in Space at his house.

Even though his mom just finished making us breakfast, she allows us to stay in the living room so we can watch while we eat.

With plates of scrambled eggs and bacon, we sit on the floor as close to the TV as possible.

Knox is wearing his PJ pants with the planets of our solar system swirling around in a repetitive pattern.

My lounge clothes are a little more mature with simple light blue stripes against a plain white fabric.

I used to wear fun stuff like Knox, but as I get older, my parents want me to dress a little less childish.

It’s funny because Knox is the one who physically matured much faster than me, yet his youth shows in his clothes and hobbies.

He’s about a head taller than I am and getting wider with muscles each day.

But there was once a time in which I could beat him at arm wrestling, and I’ll hold that over his head no matter how giant he gets.

“Have you asked your parents yet?” Knox asks me through a mouthful of eggs, engulfing them with a ravenous appetite. My mom warned me that Alphas eat a lot. Whenever you dish their plates, always give them twice as much as whatever you think is enough.

I run to get him a napkin too before he ruins the carpet. With Knox, it’s bound to happen. Alphas are messy. That I know from experience.

“Not yet,” I answer him as I scurry to the kitchen and back. “I’m still waiting for the right moment. I really, really, really don’t want them to say no.”

“Maybe I should be there when you ask,” he suggests as I rejoin him on the floor.

“Yeah, that might help. But they’re not going to be happy to know how much a ticket costs. I will need to sell forty-seven bags of Omega Scout candy if I want enough money to buy it myself.”

I chew at the end of my spoon anxiously. Doubt and hopelessness cloud my thoughts. As the episode of Everything in Space wraps up, they roll the same advertisement for Beyond Our World camp (BOW camp). Every day, the deadline to apply for a ticket creeps closer and closer.

This isn’t just any summer camp. It’s a camp for elite kids who are trying to secure futures in the world's most successful space program, Comet XI. With a signature from Knox’s parents, and a forged signature from my parents, we already took the placement exam to get in. Both of us passed!

But there’s no way we can sneak off to camp without our parents knowing. At least, not without my parents knowing. Knox’s parents are more than happy to have the house to themselves for six weeks. These six weeks could be the last that we have with one another for the next eight years…or ever.

In the fall I’ll be heading to my Omega studies. That makes this the last thing we can do together. By the time I graduate post-Omega studies to become a working Omega, Knox will likely have scored at least an internship at Comet XI. Hopefully, I’ll be right behind him.

We promised each other that we’d meet in the grand entrance of Comet XI in front of the public telescope displays.

There are positions available in astronomy for selective Omegas.

Positions that aren’t as involved as those reserved for Alphas, but still elite, nonetheless.

If I do land one, I won’t be working anywhere near Knox.

But just knowing that we’ve both made it into the same building we’ve dreamed of since we were younger, that’s the dream.

Heck, as an Omega, I probably won’t even be within proximity of a telescope.

But maybe with time they’ll see the potential I have, and I can become an engineering assistant or a material handler.

I may be reaching too high but as long as I make it somewhere within the massive Comet XI industry, I’ll consider my goal achieved.

But none of that will happen at all if I don’t secure my spot at BOW camp. I need to ask my parents if I can go.