Disclaimer: Own. Not. Animorphs. I.

A/N: I know not much has happened yet, but bear with me, lots of stuff happens in the next chapter! Lots and lots and lots! Also soon there will be Marco angst. (In case you're wondering, he is my favorite character. Ax is my second-favorite.)

Cassie

We were assembled in my barn. We wondered what Ax's 'something serious' could be. I confess, I was awfully worried, especially after Rachel's dream.

"Okay, Ax, what is it?" asked Jake, deadly serious.

I am afraid I have contracted an earth disease, Ax answered. That set us all on edge. Various horrible possibilities raced through my mind, among them 'leukemia', 'anthrax', and somewhat improbably, 'ebola'. Jake kept himself together, though.

"How so?" he asked.

'When Rachel's friend Melissa approached our table, all of a sudden, my legs weakened, I began to tingle all over, and then it became hard to swallow. Do you have any idea what this could be?'

For a minute, we just stared at Ax. Then, we all burst out laughing.

"Oh, man," gasped Marco, when he could talk. "Melissa Chapman is one hot chick!"

'What?' asked Ax, obviously completely confused.

Wiping tears of mirth from my eyes, I explained. "Ax, this is pretty normal. It mean-um-it means you like Melissa Chapman."

'But I like all of you.'

"Not like. Like," Marco chimed in. "Think Jake and Cassie. Or Rachel and Tobias."

"Or Marco and his dream girl, who does NOT exist!" snapped Rachel. I swear, if Andalites could blush, Ax would have turned maroon.

'Like a 'girlfriend'? Like 'kissing'?' he asked.

"Yep," answered Marco.

"You know," Rachel said thoughtfully. "Melissa seemed pretty taken with Ax herself." If Andalites could blush, Ax would have been not only maroon, but a deep shady purple.

'Oh,' he said in a very small voice.

Aximili Esgarrouth Isthill

I was embarrassed. Very embarrassed. But now it was the next day, and Rachel and I were going to Melissa Chapman's house. We rang the doorbell. She let us in.

"You know," Rachel said suddenly. "I'm awfully sorry, Melissa, but I just realized, I have this huge test tomorrow, and I have to go home and study. I should be back in an hour or so, okay?"

"Okay, Rachel."

Rachel left.

Melissa showed me into her living room.

"So where are you from?" she asked.

"I am from out of state. Tuh. Stay-tuh." I could not believe Rachel had left me by myself. I was extremely nervous.

"Yeah, but which state?"

"Um…um…Alaska!"

"Whoa. You came quite a ways."

"Yes. I came many lightye-I mean, yes, it was 'a ways'."

"Is it really as cold there as they say?"

"I do not know. How cold do 'they' say it is?"

"Just…cold."

"Ah. Yes, it is cold."

"So…how long are you here for?"

Another tricky question. "Until I go home." It was all I could think of to say.

"When will that be?"

"Quite a long time. You see, there are-problems."

I thought I saw a single tear glitter in one of Melissa's eyes. "Y-yes, I understand. My home-my parents-I have problems, too."

All of sudden, both eyes filled with tears, and she broke down and began to sob, face in hands. Shocked, I did not know what to do. I placed one of my thick human hands awkwardly on her back and attempted to comfort her. "It will be all right."

"No, no, you don't understand!" she managed through her tears.

"You are correct." I did not.

"It-it's my parents. They just don't-I don't think they even love me anymore." The tears came faster. Abruptly, I remembered what Rachel had told me of Melissa. Of how both her parents were Controllers and of how she sensed the change in them. Of how she felt that it was somehow her fault that they had changed. She wiped her eyes on her hands. "I-I'm sorry, Philip, I'm being an idiot. Here I am, blurting out all my problems to a near-perfect stranger."

"It is-it is all right. I do not mind. I-I-" I could not think of what to say. "I-that is not quite the problem I have, but my parents are far away. Very far away. Many light-years." I had not meant to say that, but perhaps Melissa would not notice. I sighed inwardly, thinking of the millions of light-years that separated me from my family. Melissa's blue eyes looked up at me.

Abruptly, she smiled, a watery smile, but nevertheless, it made the tingles begin again with great force.

"You are the weirdest person I've every met-" she began.

My one, Human heart dropped into my shoes.

"-and the nicest."

My heart seemed to suddenly float out of my body.

"You are…very nice, too," I blurted. "And very pretty."

The shadow of a mischievous grin crossed her face, and she laughed a little. "I'm not nice when I play Monopoly."

I almost forgot to breathe. I was annoyed at the way my body was behaving.

"Monopoly?" I repeated. I could not think of anything else to say.

"Yeah. Don't you know how to play Monopoly?"

"No," I admitted. "Should I?"

"No…I mean…I don't know. It's just…it's my favorite game. Or was my favorite game."

" 'Was'?"

"Well, since my parents stopped…" her voice quivered and trailed off. My heart ached for her.

"My brother is…" I halted for a moment, thinking of Elfangor-how brave he was, how everyone thought such a lot of him, how I could never live up to his legacy…

"Yes?" Melissa prompted.

"Is…" Then I thought how he had always helped me, and been so very, very kind…

"Go on."

"Dead."

Melissa covered her mouth with her hand, a human gesture of shock. Obviously, she had not expected this.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "How did he…I mean…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, that is all right. He was…a warrior."

"A soldier! How old was he?"

"Approximately thirty of your years."

"Oh." The silence stretched for several minutes before Melissa said, "Um, I'll teach you Monopoly, if you'd like."

Monopoly is a complicated game. It involves receiving fake human money with which one buys property and then gains money from the other player or players. Monopoly is a strange game, but quite enjoyable. At one point, I landed on 'Chance'. This indicates that one must pick up a card which tells one that one has either gained or lost money. I gained it.

"You have won second prize in a beauty contest. Collect ten dollars," I read. "Yes, that makes sense," I said, as I removed '$10' from the 'bank'.

"Why?" asked Melissa, curiously.

"Because that means you have won the first prize."

She turned a darker red than is normal for Humans. It is an involuntary reaction that occurs when humans are embarrassed or pleased. In this case, I believe Melissa was both embarrassed and pleased. We played for a little longer and then began to discuss 'TV'. I said I had watched many 'soap operas' and I had never understood 'kissing'. It was not, perhaps, the wisest or most Human thing to say, but I was not thinking. Or perhaps my subconscious was more active than I realized at the time.

Melissa looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Humans do this to show puzzlement.

"You know," she said with a slight smile. "You talk so strangely that sometimes I'd swear you were from outer space."

I swallowed hard. I sincerely hoped that she wouldn't really swear that.

"But why do Humans 'kiss'?" I persisted, thinking to distract her, though I do not believe I chose the best approach.

She raised an eyebrow again, leaned toward me, and…

She was very gentle, and it was very pleasant, but very short, too. Then she pulled back and turned very dark red again.

"Oh," I said.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, ashamedly looking down at her hands.

"No, it was very pleasant. But on 'soap operas', it never seems so pleasant, although they do this…"

I opened my arms, moved them around Melissa, and copied her.

It was slightly longer this time. Melissa put her arms around me too, and I found it difficult to breathe. At that point, I heard, 'Ooh, Ax is really hot, isn't he?' It was Marco's thought-speak voice. I barely restrained myself from collapsing. Even so, I felt the blood drain from my face.

"I…I have just remembered. I must go home. I have a…um…a physical in ten minutes."

"Oh, that's too bad. Maybe you can come over again sometime?" Melissa replied, sounding disappointed.

"Um…um…if you will give me your…um…telephone number?" I couldn't even voice how sorry I was, and I could only hope that I would not hurt her feelings too badly.

"Oh, sure."

She quickly wrote some numbers on a piece of paper and gave it to me. I walked out the door. My mind was whirling. How could my Human friends betray me like this? My cheeks were now red. I pictured the room. There had been 'Melissa's' cat-Rachel, I was sure-and…several flies, one Marco, the other Cassie, Jake, or Tobias.

I had nearly reached Cassie's barn by now. In front of me I saw a familiar figure. Cassie. So she at least had not betrayed me.

"Ax, what's-oh man. They didn't…" her voice trailed off.

"Yes," I answered shortly.

"Look, come into my barn and demorph, and we'll talk, all right?"

"Yes."