Thief Part Two: Confusion, in which Alaya doesn't know which way is up.

Yo Alaya: Meet me at Lookout point. WE MUST TALK!!!! Will you be there? I want to know what's wrong. Signed Your Friend LANCE

I looked at the note Lance had passed me in slight confusion. Everything in my head was a jumbled mess. I had memories that weren't mine, of a little red haired girl with a constant headache and a boy I thought I recognized from the school named Scott. I finally scribbled my answer and tossed it back to him.

Why should I go to lookout point to meet you, Rock Tumbler? I wasn't aware we were friends. Buzz off, and leave us alone.

Lance glanced over at me with a shocked look and scribbled furiously onto the paper, confusing the heck out of me a lot more. Then he passed the paper back with a somewhat hurt face.

Well, I thought we were friends. What the heck is wrong with you, Alaya? Since when do you call me that? ARE YOU OKAY?!

I stared at his response for a long while, and then I slowly moved my eyes back to what I wrote. I didn't remember writing it, and I had no idea what it meant. "Rock Tumbler"? "I wasn't aware we were friends"?

I stood and asked for a pass to the bathroom. Huxley gave me the pass and I left, looking back at Lance, who still looked hurt. I walked down the hall and right past the bathroom. I'd had enough, and I was going home.

I barely remember getting home and fumbling for the keys to my front door. I couldn't recognize my own house, and I almost walked right past it, headed for the bus stop. My keys were a blur, my memories were a blur, and everything was a hopeless fog. Finally I got the front door open and I rushed to the kitchen, forgetting to close the door behind me. I screamed when I walked right into a strange woman with several books in her hand. "Honey, what happened to your hair?" She asked. "Are you feeling alright?"

I shoved past her and sobbed, running into the hallway and to my bedroom, slamming and locking my door behind me. I fell onto my bed and fell unconscious, still thinking about Lance's hurt expression and that red haired girl.

"Alaya, sweetheart…come out now. It's time for dinner."

I came to my senses suddenly as mom knocked on my door. I was on the floor, wrapped in my blankets in a very uncomfortable curl. It took a minute to figure out where I was. Right. I went home. Didn't feel well. Hair turning white prematurely.

I stood and tripped on my blankets, twisted so firmly around me I couldn't move. Flat on my face, I muttered every curse I could think of. Sure, something horrible was happening to me, but this was just embarrassing. When did I lose my ability to not make a fool of myself.

My phone rang, causing me to jump up and trip again. At least I managed to grab the phone before I fell. I answered it and struggled to put it to my ear. "He-hello?"

"Alaya?" It was Lance. "I couldn't find you after class. You okay?"

"Um… uh-huh. I'm fine, Lance. Really. I just didn't feel well. Kinda nauseous and I had this killer headache. How are you?"

"Very funny. What's wrong, Lai? You tell me everything, right? And I tell you everything, it's our deal."

"Right, like when you told me about your crush on Kitty Pryde?" I tried to laugh, keep it light. Maybe if I embarrassed him enough he would forget about my issues.

"uh.. yeah, but what—"

" And the time you told me about cheating in Computer class to impress Ms. White in third grade?"

"Huh?"

"And that time you forgot your lines before the class play in first grade?"

"Alaya. Stop. I am not going to fall for that this time. What. Is. Wrong?"

I paused and stared at my ceiling. I had long since stopped struggleimg with my blanket and started playing with my silvery white streak in my hair. "Lance, I can't. You… you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Sure I would. Try me." Lance sounded upset and concerned. "I'm your best friend, Alaya. Just tell me what's wrong."

I was quiet for a minute, looking at a picture of me and Lance on my desk. Then I sighed. "You gotta promise not to tell anybody."

"Sure."

"You have to swear!" I pulled myself out of my blankets and stood up.

"Fine, fine! I Promise."

"Or else I tell everyone how you got your underwear stuck in—"

"Okay, I swear!!" He said quickly. "I swear. Now tell me."

I breathed a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Something's happening to me, Lance. Something really bad and weird and scary."

"Yeah, been there, done that."

"Not like this, Man."

"Sure I have."

I groaned. "Stay serious, Lance."

Mom knocked again. "Alaya! Get off the phone and get to the table!"

"I- um, I'll call you back, Lance. I'm sorry, Mom is calling me for dinner and you know how she gets."

"But Lai—"

I hung up and sighed. Thanks mom, I thought. Thank you so much.

I didn't want to lose Lance, the only person in the whole world who ever understood me. I just didn't know if he would understand me now that I was a freak.