Wally returns to his room in a daze. On autopilot, he washes up and prepares for bed, replaying the events of that evening in his mind. He lies down and stares up at the ceiling, repeating what he knows, or at least what he thinks he knows, over and over in his head. Anna is dead. An alien took over her body. The alien wants to find her killer. The alien might be her killer.

Either way, Anna is dead. That’s the only thing he knows for certain. And yet, no matter how much he thinks about it, it doesn’t feel real. The truth slides off of his brain like water on wax. As if it will only be true if he accepts it.

He closes his eyes, trying to fall asleep and escape this nightmarish reality. Tossing and turning, he eventually gives up and grabs his phone from his nightstand. He scrolls through his camera roll, starting from the very beginning: the first picture he took with his brand new smartphone. He’s 14, two months into his freshmen year of high school, sitting at a school desk. Behind him, Anna sticks her tongue out and makes bunny ears behind his head. Seeing the flower pin in her hair reminds him of the conversation he’s been trying to forget, so he moves on to the next image. But there’s nothing he can do. Anna and that pin are inseparable. Or rather, they used to be.

Wally flicks through the images, disappointed by how few of them feature Anna. He had always been camera shy, but now he regrets letting his low self-esteem bar him from capturing all the moments they shared. Pictures of stars, planets, constellations, rocket ships, and galaxies clutter up his screen, all worthless to him now. He would trade all the stars in the universe just to talk to her, the real her, one last time.

He pauses at the most recent photo he has of her. It was from a few months ago, during their winter break. He and Anna decided it would be fun to try out paintball. She was small and agile, able to hide in crevices and quickly duck behind walls, while he was too tall, clumsy, and uncoordinated. He never stood a chance. In the photo, Anna’s hair is disheveled and stray splotches of paint coat her face. She’s grinning triumphantly, striking a pose while holding up her index and middle fingers. It’s not a peace sign, her voice echoes in his memory. It’s a ‘V’ for victory. It’s finally starting to sink in that she’s gone. As he stares at her smiling face frozen forever, a bright light in an otherwise dark room, Wally can’t hold back his tears anymore.

That night, he dreams about her. They’re playing paintball. She’s giggling, shooting at him as she retreats behind a barrier. “You’ll never catch me,” she taunts in a singsong voice. He laughs through the sting of the shots and chases after her, catching her from behind. His shots are wild, but he manages to hit her once on the arm and once on the back.

“Finally got you!” he cries. But she doesn’t turn around, doesn’t move at all. She just stands there with her back turned as drops of red paint slide down the back of her shirt.

“Anna? You okay?” he walks up to her and puts a hand on her shoulder, turning her around to see her face. He’s greeted by pulsing flesh lined with rows of serrated teeth.

Wally screams.

***

I woke up early the next morning, still filled with anxiety from the night before. Wally was willing to help me, which opened up so many new possibilities. But he also knew my secret. And he wasn’t very fond of me, to put it lightly. It was Tuesday, which meant I had a 9 AM chemistry lecture and chemistry lab in the afternoon, both with Nessa. I was relieved knowing I wouldn’t have to attend a class with Wally, given how tense things were between us. In public we would have to act like nothing had happened, which wasn’t going to be easy.

Chemistry lecture was uneventful, as expected. Thanks to Nessa’s notes, I had no problems following the professor’s discussion of the redox reactions used to power batteries. However, as I was packing my things, Anna’s phone buzzed.

Wally, now

getting lunch at noon, meet me in food court?

Nessa peeked over my shoulder as I typed out my reply. “Text from Wally?” she asked.

“Yeah, he wants to have lunch together at noon.”

“Mind if I join you guys? We have chem lab right after that, so we could just head out together.”

“Sure,” I replied nonchalantly. Inwardly, though, I was glad. Nessa’s calming presence would be a great help in easing myself into interacting with Wally. It would give me an excuse to act as Anna, a mask I had grown attached to wearing, for a little while longer. Sure, I wouldn’t be able to eat anything with meat, but I was still satiated from the previous night’s meal, so I wasn’t very concerned. And really, I wouldn’t be able to order anything at all until I found a way to obtain more money.

Nessa’s face lit up. “Great! See you then,” she said cheerily before heading off to her next class.

I spent my down time in the library, perusing shelves packed with textbooks, encyclopedias, and journals. The breadth of human knowledge was truly astounding to me; just a small portion of it could fill a whole building. I picked out a book about astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life and settled down to read it. The irony wasn’t lost on me. After finishing the last page, I checked the clock. 11:54 AM, just enough time to make it to the dining hall. I returned the book to the shelf and headed out.

As I made my way through the dining area, I spotted Wally and Nessa sitting in a booth and maneuvered my way to them. Seeing me approach, Nessa grinned and waved. Wally did not share her enthusiasm, doing his best to avoid making eye contact with me.

“Hey guys, hope you didn’t wait long,” I said as I put my bookbag on the seat next to Nessa.

“No worries,” she said sweetly, “I just got here a minute ago. I’ll go get in line now, see you two in a bit!” She scooted past me and headed toward the taco station, leaving me alone with Wally.

“Hey…” I said quietly.

Wally looked up, frowning. “Why’d you bring Nessa? Nothing against her, but I asked you to meet me so we could discuss things. And we can’t exactly do that with her around.”

“S-sorry,” I replied, flustered. “She was sitting next to me when I got your text and asked to come along. I thought it’d be weird to say no since she and Anna were close.”

Wally sighed, his harsh expression easing somewhat. “It’s fine. Maybe a cafeteria packed with people isn’t the best place to talk about a murder, anyway. I just didn’t want to… um, never mind.” His eyes moved downward, once again avoiding my gaze.

He didn’t finish his sentence, but I had a pretty good idea of what he intended to say. He didn’t trust me enough to meet with me somewhere secluded. I cracked an amused smile, recalling how nervous I had been to meet with him by myself. Although, unlike him, I had no concerns about being eaten.

“Anyway,” he said hastily, eager to change the subject, “what are you going to get? I’ve heard the veggie burgers here are pretty good.”

My smile went away. “Actually, I used up all of Anna’s money the other day. You can go ahead and order, I’ll just wait here.”

His wide eyes shot up to look at me. “Wait, you used all of her money? How?” He kept his voice down, but didn’t bother hiding his shock.

I blushed, painfully reminded of how impulsive I had been. “I didn’t realize her funds were so limited, so I went a bit overboard trying human foods…”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly exasperated. Then, he pulled a $10 bill out of his wallet and held it out to me. “Here, you should be able to get a decent meal with this.”

I gaped at the gift, surprised by his generosity. “Are you sure? You don’t have to, I’m still full from… um, you know…”

He placed the bill in my hands impatiently. “Just take it. Vanessa would think it’s weird if you came here for lunch and didn’t end up getting anything.” With that, he left to get his own food.

I ended up taking his advice and ordering a black bean burger. It didn’t look remotely like meat, but I was willing to give it a try. As that was being prepared, I gazed wistfully at the freshly baked cookies displayed on a shelf nearby. Knowing money was a precious resource, I had to restrain myself. After paying for my food, I returned to the booth where Wally and Nessa had just started their meals.

I took my first bite of my burger, and while I wasn’t expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised. Despite looking like charred vegetables encased in black mush, it had a satisfying savory flavor. It was certainly rich in protein, which was essentially what I needed from meat. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something. A good option for when I couldn’t have meat. I eagerly took another bite.

Although Nessa had asked to tag along, it was Wally who initiated the conversation. As it turned out, the two shared a passion for science. Initially shy, Nessa began to open up, speaking enthusiastically about a particularly interesting elective she was taking that delved into the structure of the atom. As it turned out, physics and chemistry weren’t so disparate after all. Though I had nothing to add, I was also fascinated by the subject, listening intently as I ate.

In what felt like no time at all, nearly an hour had passed, and it was time for Nessa and me to leave. Wally waved goodbye, grinning as he thanked Nessa for such an interesting chat. But that smile fell when his eyes fell on me, as if he only just remembered I was there. For a split second, his features darkened. He waved again, more subdued, the edges of his mouth forced weakly upward in a strained smile. Then, he turned away and began gathering his things.

Chemistry lab was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I assumed that, because I knew the theory behind it well, the lab would be simple. In reality, there were so many variables to keep track of, so many techniques one needed to know, that I found myself ill-prepared. Thankfully, Nessa more than made up for my incompetence. She was able to multi-task with ease, watching the heating mantle controlling our reaction while jotting down notes and observations, then switching over to the mortar and pestle to grind up a reagent that would be needed several step from now. Meanwhile, the flask I was meant to watch heated too quickly, giving rise to a runaway reaction that caused our product to spill out in foamy globs. A flustered Nessa rushed to help me get things under control and clean up the mess.

“Sorry,” I whimpered, wiping away sweat from my forehead. “I wasn’t sure when to turn the heat down…”

Once things had settled, Nessa patted me on the back. “No biggie! You wouldn’t be Anna if you weren’t terrible at chem lab.” She chuckled, and I responded with a shaky laugh. For once, making a mistake had worked in my favor.

As soon as I returned to Anna’s room, I collapsed on the bed, exhausted more mentally than physically. After taking a few deep, calming breaths, I decided to check Anna’s phone. There were a few missed texts.

Wally, 30m ago

We have a lot to discuss. Can we meet up for dinner? I’ll pay.

Wally, 29m ago

Meet me in the lobby at 5.

Wally, 26m ago

Oh, and please come ALONE this time.

Okay, see you then, I responded before setting the phone beside me and shutting my eyes.