Here's my alternate ending! It'll be short, and hopefully… FUNNY!

Alternate Ending; Horror movies to horror reality!

Present…

Jade (duh!)

"Okay, no… don't…. don't do that!"

"Marco, it's a horror movie! Of course she's gonna do that!"

We watched as Jennifer Love Hewitt moved to the back of the trunk, and the scrabbling got louder. Then… she opened it…

"Oh, look what she found!" Marco said sarcastically as she screamed and ran. I poked him in the chest. He let out a soft laugh, then grabbed my hand and kissed it.

We were on his bed, watching 'I know what you did last summer' … just so we could criticize it. Well, Marco wanted to watch it for more than that, but I was just happy to point out the rules of a horror movie to him. And cuddle and… explore a bit.

His dad was out, and would be out for the rest of the night.

"Oh look, nothing's there now" Marco sighed, and I poked him with my other hand. He grabbed it, and we started to wrestle a bit. He tickled me, and I managed to tickle him back. But… he got me in the end.

"Okay, okay, I give!" I cried, listening as Miss Hewitt delivered her favourite line 'what are you waiting for!'

"Yeah right, like the killer's gonna attack in mid-daylight. And in a crowded place" Marco said, and I managed to just cuddle into him.

"You know what I've noticed? That the faster they run, the faster Mr. Killer catches them" I said, going in for the ultimate move, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Well, what I've noticed is that the slower the killer walks, the faster they di-hey! That's cheating!"

"Not it's not. I'm just… evening the scores, that's all"

"Well I'll show you…"

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"So says the one who did it first!"

"Oh come here you!" I grabbed his face with my other hand, kissing him passionately. He responded, by… making it a little more serious. We pulled each other closer, touching and kissing and just basically enjoying being teenagers.

The sound of someone else being mass-murdered on the screen meant nothing to us as we mucked around, giggling and making each other feel good.

In fact, we were enjoying it so much, we… uh…

"Marco!"

Marco's dad! I tried to scramble up off the bed, but my feet just got caught in the sheets at the bottom, and I started to fall off the side. And what happens when you freak and start to fall? You grab onto the first thing you can. And for me, that first thing just happened to be Marco's shirt.

"Hey whoa!"

THUMP! We both hit the floor in a tangle!

We both tried to scramble up, but it was too late!

"Marco! What's going on in there!"

Marco looked down at me, the fear of being busted clear in the T.V screen light. He'd managed to get to his knees. I was still on the floor. But I nodded, and closed my eyes. Immediately I began to change.

"Marco! I'm coming in!"

"No! Dad, I'm-" but it was too late. I heard the door open, even as my human ears shrivelled, and my extra legs burst from my chest. Now partly free, I managed to scrabble under the bed, still half-roach.

"Marco, what are you doing? What are you trying to hide!" his dad demanded, and I heard him moving to where I knew Marco was desperately trying to get up. I heard him bang his knee as he got up to greet his father. Now, I was three-quarters roach. All I had to do was shrink…

"Dad… I…"

I heard his dad sigh.

"Marco, you know you could have talked to me about this…."

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing…" I heard Marco's voice shaking.

(It's ok babe, I'm here. Whatever your dad says, just go along with it…)

I heard and felt the bed move under my six little roach legs as I hung from one of the slats of the bed. Someone had sat down. Then, another one.

"Marco, I think it's time you and I had a talk…"

And so, his dad… no joke… went on to explain the 'birds and the bees' in a sort of unedited version. A… uh… males version. I swear, by the end I was laughing my little roachie head off.

It didn't last long, about five minutes, but I bet by the end of it Marco was sure wishing he could run.

"Is it all a little clearer to you?"

"Um… yes?" Marco's voice came out a squeak.

"All right. I only stopped to get the carry-case Nora needs. We'll be back tomorrow, all right?"

"Okay"

The bed squeaked, and someone left. It wasn't until about five more minutes later that Marco spoke.

"All right, he's gone. Squealing tires and all. You can come out now"

I did, and was still laughing as my mouth became human, and my vocal cords rearranged themselves enough so I could laugh out loud. I rose from beside the bed, laughing even as my extra legs finally slurped back into my chest. Now, I was just me. Laughing so hard I was crying.

"Well, I didn't think that was very funny" he complained, looking at me and folding his arms "We could have been caught"

That certainly calmed me down a little. I sat beside him on the bed, thinking about if his dad had caught us. Lots of questions…

This time, it was Marco who started laughing. But it was a relieved laugh.

"Oh man, that was so close"

"Close, but we're Animorphs, remember?" I put my arms around his shoulders, then thought "Although, I'm not an official Animorph. I'm a part of the Animal Eyes team"

"Ani-what?"

"Animal Eyes. Ithiell chose the name right after our last battle"

"Oh whatever" he laughed, then lay me down on the bed and kissed me gently. I broke up laughing. Soon, we were both laughing… and cuddling… and just…

Just being us.

For now, it was all I wanted.