A/N: Thank you reviewers. You have to pay attention to who's narrating.
Disclaimer: The Animorphs belong to K.A. Applegate.
(Jane)
My name is Jane. That's a first name obviously. My full name is Jane…
"Hey! Jane, I'm going out now so if you want to throw a wild party, go ahead!" yelled Toni. That's my big sister, she's been getting into the club called the Sharing lately. It actually sounds kind of cool, but I still don't want to join. Toni just doesn't seem to get the hint though. Also, I don't like how that if she isn't trying to make me join, she basically ignores me. She and I used to be real close.
"Okay!" I screamed back, not really caring if she went to another one of her stupid meetings. Besides Cassidy, who really wants to spend all of their free time cleaning after slobs when they could go shopping? Actually, Cassidy would only pick up the trash really if it would help the animals. And if Toni really wants to clean up something, she should try her room. But that's beside the point.
Anyways, I'm Jane and I'm your basic, average, teenage girl. I get okay grades, nothing to really brag about but good enough so that I always pass on to the next grade. I have friends, family, and a disease that can only be cured by large doses of shopping twice a week. I'm kind of tall for my age and into basketball even though I didn't make the Junior High team. You'd probably never notice me on the streets, unless I was in a punkish sort of mood. Like I said, you're basic, average teenage girl.
Oh, and you should probably know who Cassidy is. He's this really caring guy and has the ability to see people's motives. Cassidy always knows what to say to soothe an argument. Very into animals, probably the side effect from having your father work at the zoo and your mom owns a Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. He's about average height and black, not that it really matters. He had his hair long for a while, but he cut it which makes him look better. I guess you could say I like Cassidy.
It was a boring Saturday afternoon and I didn't feel like doing anything. But I knew I had to do something. I had slept over at Marcia's house and hadn't actually gone into my room yet.
Marcia has been my best friend since we've been in daipers. But we're complete opposites. She's very into comics and making jokes. We play Playstation together a lot, sometimes she beats me, but we're both pretty good. Thing is, she's able to see all the little tricks of the level. She's a person I'm absolutely able to trust, although she sometimes thinks I'm insane. She and her mom have been having a hard time with her dad's death, but they seem to finally be getting over it.
Anyways, if I wanted to do something, which I didn't, I'd have to go to my room. My bed, basketball, CDs, books, and homework were all in there. Plus, mom said she'd ground me for a week if I didn't clean it today.
I slowly trudged up the stairs and twisted the golden door knob of my domain. I stopped for a second when it wouldn't twist any farther. I thought I heard something. Something like a moan. It kind of gave me the creeps. After a minute, I decided to ignore the strange feeling and pushed the door open.
My bed was a mess, which was strange because I had actually made it the last time I slept in it. Then I saw why it was so messy. A guy was dead asleep on the floor next to my bed. He was wearing a way too tight T-shirt and bike shorts. This guy needed some serious fashion help, but I wasn't concentrating on that at the moment.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The boy bolted up and also screamed, "AHHHHHHHHH!"
(Jake)
We were lucky to regain consciousness before the Yeerks or the two hour time limit caught up to us. The minute we all woke up, we ran the heck away, not even caring about the DT. None of us saw the DT, so we assumed that it had exploded or something. At that point though, not even Rachel cared if it was destroyed or not. When I got home, I sneaked in and fell instantly asleep on my bed. I was thanking my stars that Tom was at one of his meetings for once, although it did mean he was a Controller.
When I woke up, it was to a girl at the door screaming. What could I do except scream back?
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU????!!!!" she yelled at me. She was pretty tall, with brown eyes and brown hair. I guess she looked a little bit like me in an odd, sort of feminine way.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU???!!!" I yelled back.
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!!!!!!!" she screamed. As Marco said, was this girl insane?
"YOUR ROOM! THIS IS MY ROOM!!!!!! NOW GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!!"
"YOUR INSANE!!!!! NOW GET OUT!!!!!"
"YOU GET OUT!!!" I yelled and looked around. What had she done when I was asleep? Maybe Tom put her up to it, this is the kind of thing he would do, or at least his Yeerk would do, if he was mad at me. She probably was a Controller. You can never tell who is and who isn't.
"MY NAME IS JANE!!!!! THIS IS MY HOUSE!! THIS IS NOT WHATEVER-THE-HELL-YOUR-NAME-IS HOUSE!!!! NOW GET OUT BEFORE I CALL THE COPS!"
"MY NAME IS JAKE. AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ROOM???!!!" I yelled.
"IT'S MY ROOM AND YOU KNOW IT."
"NO I DON'T!!"
A thought just struck me right then. This wasn't my room, but this was my house. I was sure of it. Come to think of it, Tom's Yeerk probably wouldn't even bother to do this. Jane. Jake. They had the J, A, and E in common.
"Oh my god," I said in disbelief. Excuse me for taking a leaf out of Marco's book again, but this was insane.
(Jane)
"Oh my god," he said in disbelief.
"Oh my god what? Oh my god this isn't your house after all?" I asked while feeling very annoyed. The nerve of that guy to not only sleep in my room, but then claim it was his! Some people are just nut cases!
"You said your name was Jane, right?"
"What's it to you?" I snapped. I need to ask my parents for a phone in my room.
"What's your best friend's name?"
"My best friend is Marcia. Happy?"
"Marcia…Marco…what's your cousin's name?" he muttered.
"Rich, Sandy, and Joey, now leave!" I snapped again.
"Mine are Rachel, Sara, and Jordan. My crush's name is Cassie, what's yours?"
"Why would I tell you my crush's name?!"
"Please," he pleaded, "It's important."
"If it'll make you leave, it's Cassidy."
"Did you save a boy named Tobias from a swirly?"
"I saved a girl named Toby. How the hell do you know so much about me?"
"Lucky guesses. Is your brother Tom a member of the Sharing?"
She sounded very annoyed, "My big sister Toni is a member. What's it to you?"
He sighed deeply and looked troubled for a moment before asking, "Are you an Animorph?"
(Jake)
I know I took a risk when I asked her if she was an Animorph, but if I was correct, well, this was the weirdest thing I've ever done. This would make turning into an animal seem normal.
"What's an Animorph? My god, you are crazy!" Jane told me. Either she really didn't know what I was talking about or she was a really good actress. That or her Yeerk could be.
I decided to take another risk, "I can prove I'm a friend." I focused on the tiger within me.
The tail came first, orange and striped. Then my teeth grew longer and pointer. I grew bigger and heavier and my hands turned into paws just before I hit the floor with a silent thud. Fur grew all over me and my ears crawled up to the top my head. Claws extended out. I was a full grown male Siberian tiger.
When I was fully tiger, Jane screamed. Which made me wonder if she was just a really good actress or if she telling the truth when she said she wasn't an Animorph.
(Jane)
I was officially INSANE! I just saw a guy I didn't know turn into a tiger! What other explanation could there possibly be?!
"This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" I started mumbling.
Jane, are you alright? I heard his voice in my head.
I screamed again. I had heard a voice in my head. Voices in heads are not a good sign. Even I knew I was insane and I'm the insane person.
Jane, it's Jake. Stop screaming. he, it tried to calm me down. It didn't help any. I started looking around for the source. I had to be dreaming. Maybe I should start seeing a psychiatrist…right after I call the rubber room to tell them to pick me up.
It's called thought-speak. Only you can hear it. the voice said. The voice proved to me that I was crazy. Is the voice crazy too or did I just go off the charts when it comes to sanity?
"I've gone insane. At only 14, I've snapped. I belong in the nut house. I'm hearing voices!" I rambled.
Then the tiger turned back into a human with sickening sounds and sights. He turned into the guy that claimed this was his room. The guy, whom I noticed for the first time, looked almost exactly like me. He had the same brown hair, only it was cut shorter, the same brown eyes, and he was tall like me, but I was a couple inches shorter. He literally looked like a male version of me.
"Okay," I said calmly, "Who are you and why do you look like a boy version of me?"
(Jake)
"I don't know why we look so alike, but I can tell you how I can do that." I told her. She nodded.
"But first," I continued, "I need you to call Rich, Cassidy, Marcia, and Toby and tell them to meet in Cassidy's barn."
She picked up the phone and dialed Marco's, I mean Marcia's number and let it ring a couple of times before Marcia picked up, "Hey Marci! It's Jane! Yeah, listen, do you want to meet me at Cassidy's barn. Why not? What do you mean something weird is going on? Please come, please, it's important. Okay, bye."
"What was that about?" I asked when she hung up.
"There was a guy there, but she's coming over, so don't worry." She replied.
"Okay, that's good. What about everyone else?"
"I can't do Toby, but everyone else is fine to call."
"Why can't you call Toby?" I asked.
"I just can't okay." She said. I sighed, we could introduce Toby into all of this later.
In ten minutes, everybody had been called and we were ready to go.
"You better tell me what's going on when we get there." She snapped.
"I will, but you have to go alone. I need to get some people, DO NOT tell anyone that I can turn into animals or that we have even met." I morphed to peregrine falcon and flew off to find the others. I think she screamed once, but if she did, I barely heard it.
(Jane)
It was quite a walk to Cassidy's barn. What was I going to say to him, "Oh hi Cassidy, I'd like to tell you why I'm here but then a guy will turn into a tiger and rip me apart"? Yeah, sure, that's exactly the kind of thing I want to tell the guy that I really like.
Rich would probably get the answer out of me one way or the other. I mean, we're not exactly close, so it's kind of suspicious when you ask a guy you barely know to meet you at his best friend's house. I can just imagine me screaming for mercy. He may look like the cover guy for GQ, but he acts like G.I. Joe. Plus, he's been kind of distant since the whole Toby thing (long story, I'll tell you later) and he'll only really truly talk to Cassidy.
Marcia, well, if Marcia really did have a guy with her and it wasn't just her mom's boyfriend, I'd think she'd kill me. Literally, although, I don't really know because she's never had a guy with her really. Sure, she's goes on dates, but it's usually just one.
It was kind of a disturbing walk, picturing how they would all react when I told them about the tiger/guy/bird that I met. I kept imagining the van for the mental hospital coming and picking me up while I laugh histarically at the pink tap-dancing hippos on top of the gurney. Or, what's worse is that they will believe me and try to do it themselves...and succeed!
And yet I imagined about what they would do if they met the tiger/bird/guy. One scenario involved them screaming out of the barn. Another included another trip the mental hospital van, only I'm the sane one and when I'm left alone, everyone will suddenly realize that I am not sane, but insane and then I would go on a killing rampage while singing, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head".
Oh, my imagination can be cruel.
"I should have brought a gameboy," I muttered to myself.
A/N: Yes, this is an AU fanfic. Please review.