Disclaimer: Not mine. JP's.


...and then one night, five years later, I reappear! My quarter ended and I was bored so I decided to revisit this story. I used to love writing this stuff. So I'm back. Hi. Cookies for reviews (that's how this worked, right?)


I was irritated. My favorite time, the time I looked forward to most all week, when I was at the height of peaceful, had always been Saturday mornings. A time with no obligations, no pressure to start homework or to get out of bed. And on this particular Saturday morning, I was filled with dread. My sacred time had been ruined. Why had I even agreed to go to David's stupid party in the first place? Really, what had become of my resistance?

I reached for my phone to text David. Feeling really sick, can't make the party tonight. Sorry.

A few seconds later, I got a response. If you're not here I will personally send a car to deliver you. You're not getting out of this :)

Damn all these rich kids and their personal chauffeurs. I pulled the comforter over my eyes and groaned. Maybe it would be good, I reasoned with myself. I reminded myself Nick was in the same position as I was. That brought me some sense of assurance. It wasn't enough to make it okay.

Slowly, I dragged myself out of bed and ambled out into the kitchen where my mom was making pancakes. I plopped down into a chair, frowning.

"Everything okay?" asked my mom.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, no. One of my friends is having a party tonight, and I sort of agreed to go. Don't think I can get out of it" I said, staring at the linoleum kitchen tiles.

"Melanie, that's great! You should go. You're assimilating so well, so fast…"

"Assimilating," I said, with a hard laugh. "I'm just going to school, mom. Not like I'm trying to integrate into a new species or anything."

I ate my pancakes angrily, stabbing them aggressively with the fork and glaring at the table all the while. I was resigned to my fate—there was no way of getting out of this party now.


Seven o'clock came faster than I would've liked. I pushed it at late as I could, but at around eight my mom took over, and picked out a black flowery dress and impractical shoes for me to wear. She drove me to David's house, and I could hear the booming bass from about a block away.

"Have fun!" said my mom. "Be safe! Call me if you need anything!"

"Yeah," I said, glum.

The Lexus disappeared around the corner, and I slowly walked up and knocked on the door. A tall brown-haired woman in her mid-forties answered, and directed me toward the backyard.

It was dark and loud, and I could make out a giant mass of people standing around, dancing, and drinking. I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I took a deep breath and waded into the mass. I scanned the crowd for a familiar face, and after a minute I saw Peter. It was dark, but my night-vision had always been particularly good—a trait that had never been especially useful until now.

"Peter! Hi!" I said, putting on the best smile I could manage.

"Hey, Mel! You're here!" slurred Peter, putting one arm sloppily around me. "You know, you just lost me twenty bucks. I was betting you wouldn't show up."

"Trust me, I wish you had won that bet," I answered tersely.

Peter just laughed. "You want a drink?"

"No thanks. Have you seen Nick?"

He grinned, and pointed off into one of the corners of the yard. "Over there with Julia. For pretty much the whole time we've been here." He sighed and stared off toward them. "Good for him. She's pretty hot. Good for him." He sort of stumbled backwards, and turned back to face me. "I need another drink."

I could feel my face heating up, and my chest was suddenly tense. I knew I had no right to be jealous—there wasn't even a logical reason for it. Instinctively, I started walking towards them. He was sitting on a chair, and she was on the corner of a stone bench, leaning as close to him as she could. I could see how visibly uncomfortable he was, and I felt some of my tension evaporate. Julia was in the midst of rambling about an article she had found particularly offensive in the latest Cosmo.

"Hey," I interjected. Nick looked up at me, and I could see relief melt the tension on his face. It was a subtle change, but I saw it. Julia was visibly annoyed.

"Mel!" said Nick. "You came! David and Peter had a bet about that."

"Yeah, I heard."

"I need a refill," mumbled Julia, who got up and walked toward the drinks.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Nick looked straight at me, very serious. "You saved me. I don't know how much more of that I could've taken."

"What, you mean to tell me you don't read Cosmo? Then how do you keep up with the latest celebrity gossip?" I joked.

"I know, I'm a disgrace to pop culture and modern society," he answered. We both laughed, and settled into comfortable silence. I looked up at the stars, and back down at him sitting next to me, and smiled. To my surprise, it didn't feel tense or horrible being there, as I'd expected. If I ignored the crowd of people and the blaring music, it all felt…familiar. It felt right. I was supposed to be sitting in a outside under the stars with Nick—this was where I belonged.

At this thought, I internally slapped myself. I'd never been one for sappy romantic ideals, like feeling at home sitting under the stars with someone. That wasn't me, and I wasn't about to let myself be that person. But I couldn't help but feel that this was somehow different. Sure, Nick was really cute and interesting and funny. But this didn't feel primarily romantic. It just felt like the most natural thing in my life, the most natural thing I'd ever felt. And that didn't make any sense.

"I've been having these flashes," said Nick suddenly, serious and intense, interrupting my reverie. "Dreams, I guess. You're in them. They're really disjointed. I just know that I'll look down, and I see the ground, really far away, and I see you."

"Weird," I said. I could feel goosebumps forming, and I shivered.

He stared at me for a second, conflicted, before starting to talk again. "I've been thinking lately, and—"

"I knew it!" interjected David with a grin, who had walked up from behind us. We both spun around in surprise. "I knew you'd be here! You won me twenty dollars for that."

"So I heard," I answered dryly.

"Come dance," he told us. I laughed at the thought of it.

"I don't think so," I answered.

"Yeah, me neither," said Nick, who was uncomfortable again.

"Didn't you say there was gonna be food?" I asked, sounding more accusing than I meant to.

"Um, there's chips and stuff on that table," said David, pointing off toward the drinks. I looked across the yard, at all the swaying teenagers, happy and relaxed, some tipsy. I spotted Amanda and friends talking to a group of junior guys. Typical. I don't belong here, I thought. This is not my life. All of a sudden, I felt claustrophobic and anxious.

"I have to go," I announced.

"But you just got here," said David, confused.

"I know. I have to go."

Nick just watched me with a guarded expression. I walked outside and called my mom. Ten minutes later, I was leaving. As soon as I got home, I changed into my pjs, crawled into bed, and closed my eyes.

I was strapped down to a table in a white room. There were metal braces securing my arms and legs to the table. I was only semi-conscious—enough to register everything around me but not enough to do anything about it. My body was somehow being compacted. My back had been opened, but I couldn't feel it. i was surrounded by people wearing lab coats and masks with scalpels, and I could only see their eyes. My mom and dad were both there, wearing the lab coats and the masks. I was too disoriented to be afraid. They were injecting something into me. No—inserting something. A chip. Into the base of my neck. And then everything was black.

I woke up in a sweat. I took a few moments to calm down, and then laughed at myself. Leave it to me to hate parties enough to have nightmares afterward, I thought. I closed my eyes, and drifted back to sleep.