ANIMORPHS: The Game Chapter 5: Allie, an animorphs fanfic

CHAPTER 5

Allie

I HAD FOUND THEM. I couldn't believe it. You have no idea what it's like coming to a new school and knowing that everywhere you turn someone is an enemy and you have to try to find your only allies.

The animorphs.

Marco and I live in the same direction, so we walked together. He was cute. But it wasn't just that - he was funny, and he had this...charisma, I guess is the only way I can explain it. But as we were walking, he was nervous.

"So where do you live?" he asked, not-so-casually shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Oakridge apartments," I replied.

"No way!"

"What?"

"I live there too. What apartment?"

"Two B."

"No way! I'm in Two D! We live right across from each other!" he exclaimed. He seemed a little too happy about that. "So, ah, what do you parents do?"

"Oh, I live with my brother. He works for the government." The Yeerk government.

Marco raised his eyebrows. "Doing what?"

"Research..." I stalled. I can't believe I had actually told him the truth. I can't blow my brother's cover. "On cancer treatments."

"Really? That must be pretty cool." He smiled, meeting my eyes. I blushed and turned away.

The truth was, I already knew a lot about him. More than he thought I knew. I knew his dad worked at a software company, I knew that he was usually very suave around girls, but most importantly, I knew that his mother is Visser One, a kind of "president" in the Yeerk empire.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked. "A personal one?"

I nodded.

"What happened to your parents?"

I swallowed hard. It was so difficult to dig back into my mind, to find the right words.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Believe me, I know what it feels like. My mom died a few years ago and it's still hard to talk about."

"Except she's not really dead." I said it before I realized the words had even entered my mind. "-I mean, she's in your heart, right?"

Marco gave me a sly look. "That's not what you mean. You know, don't you? What you said, about how you were with us through every battle, through every moment and emotion...you know about my mother's true identity?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I hope you don't mind. I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that."

"It's okay," he replied. "It's nice to be honest with someone for a change."

"Then I should be honest with you." I took a deep breath. "My parents were killed in a car accident a year ago. My brother's taken care of my ever since."

"Wow. I'm sorry, Allie. That must be really terrible."

"You get used to not having them around. I've got a lot more freedom. My brother is hardly ever around. He leaves a wad of cash on the table and I basically take care of myself." I paused. "But it's a lot more lonely too."

We had reached the hallway where our apartments were. I took out a key from under our mat and began to open the door. Marco paused before entering his apartment.

"Do you thing you'll be able to find your way back to Cassie's barn?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I think I'll manage."

"Are you sure?"

"Well," I stalled, "it would be nice to have some company. Do you want to come inside?"

He smiled. "Sure, that would be great."

I opened the front door and put the key back under the mat. "Paul?" I called as I stepped inside. "Paul? Are you home?" The house was empty with no reply. I looked on the kitchen table, a note was scribbled addressed to me.

"Sorry, Al, I won't be home tonight. Major breakthrough at the lab. I put some cash on the coffee table in the living room for groceries. Get whatever you want. I hope you had a good first day at school. Love, Paul." I read it silently.

Yeah, right. Love, Paul. You mean: Love, the evil Yeerk posing as Paul. Controlling his mind. Taking over his body.

Marco read the note. "I'll say you have a lot of freedom. Doing your own grocery shopping?"

"Believe me," I replied, setting my backpack down on a kitchen chair, "it's not as glamorous as you might think. You wanna watch some tube and grab a coke before we leave? We don't have to be at Cassie's for a while."

Marco nodded. "Sounds good to me."

I opened the fridge and grabbed two cans of soda, handed one to Marco, and led him into the living room. I grabbed the remote and plopped down on the couch, flipping through the channels and finally deciding on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch.

Marco opened his soda and took a sip. "A wrestling fan?" He sounded surprised.

"Yup," I answered. "New World Order all the way!"

He laughed. I liked his laugh, it was genuine, not forced. "So what was it like for you the first time you morphed?" he asked. I was surprised he was so open about it.

I shrugged. "I don't know...I guess it's kind of hard to explain."

"I'll never forget the first time I morphed. It was Homer, Jake's dog. A normal, everyday dog. But they're such...happy animals. It's like nothing makes them sad. And then I morphed a gorilla. Talk about power.

"And confidence," I finished. "The snow leopard was the same way. Gentle but violently calm. It was like I was in charge of the world and nothing scared me."

He nodded. "Exactly. But wait until you morph and ant. That's terrible."

"So I've heard," I said. "Remember, I know all about that incident."

"I keep forgetting that. If I were in your situation, I think I would have just walked away, not wanting any part in it."

"Believe me, Marco, you wouldn't have just walked away. You couldn't. No matter how scared you were." I silently sipped my soda, hoping he wouldn't ask me any more questions about what the Ellimist had done.