It was rather interesting how things fell together. I knew The Ellimist said that things were going to be taken care of, but it was a bit ridiculous. All of our parents moved all across the same area where we were going to, with all of them landing jobs there. I was a bit worried that such a "coincidence" would make my brother Tom – a controller – suspicious, especially since he was moving to that area to start a new chapter of The Sharing (the Yeerks' way of gaining voluntary controllers). Of course, since Tom didn't know that I knew all of that, I had to be very careful with how I did things around him. Fortunately, it seemed like Tom's Yeerk either couldn't put two and two together, or didn't care enough to do so.

All of us moved across the country in different ways, not wanting rouse suspicion. Cassie and Rachel hopped a plane with their familes. Marco and I decided on a rather long road trip. And Tobias, Ax, and Erek took the longest route, using a Pemalite submarine to make their way over.

As it was, everyone was in different situations. Marco was living with Erek in an apartment just off campus. Ax and Tobias found a home in a nature preserve. Rachel and I were living in on-campus dorms. And Cassie was living with her parents about thirty minutes away. With everyone situated, we decided to meet up at Erek's apartment to get a good idea on how we were going to do things in our new home.

So, as I sat in the common room of the dorm, looking over my class schedule, I wondered if I could actually balance college life with being an Animorph. Was it a pipe dream? Perhaps it was, but dang if I didn't want to take a deep inhale and pretend I could make a future that didn't involve me being an alien-fighting guerilla.

I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard the door unlock. I looked towards the door with a snap before I forced myself to calm down, remembering that this wasn't my old home anymore. I watched as the door opened, and a rather tall black boy with dreads who was seemingly not much older than me walked in. He looked back at me with black eyes. He looked familiar. Where have I…?

"Jake?" he said, tilting his head. "You're Jake, right?"

"…We've met before, haven't we?" I said.

"Yeah, it's me, Antoine. Remember, we ate together at that restaurant after the college fair."

It took me a few moments. And then I recognized him. I remembered everything – about how he was a football player, and how he was from this very area.

"Antoine, hey!" I greeted as I stood up. He walked over and stuck his hand out. I took it and gave it a shake. "You're my roommate?"

"Apparently. Small world, huh?" He pulled his hand away as he walked over to the mini fridge that I assumed was his. "You're my roommate, and your friend Cassie is my new neighbor." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Your neighbor?"

"Well, more my dad's neighbor than mine." He pulled out two red and gold cans. "But yeah, Cassie and her family moved in next door to where I grew up at before I went off to college the first time." He tossed one of the cans at me. I caught the can with both hands and looked down on it.

"Ironbeer?"

"It's a Cuban soft drink. It's some good stuff."

I looked at him as he cracked open his can and took a long sip. During that moment, I recalled what The Ellimist told us – that there we were going to gain two more allies. I wondered if Antoine was one of those allies. Unfortunately, The Ellimist never told how we would know, because of course he didn't. However, the facts painted a story. Antoine, a random who we allowed to sit with us to eat, being from the area the college we decided to attend? Okay, that's one thing. It's not exactly something I'd bank on happening, but it wasn't too improbable. But not only was he attending this same college, he was also my roommate while his father was Cassie's neighbor? Either Antoine was one of our new allies and doesn't know it yet, or his presence was a huge coincidence. And as Animorph, I stopped believing coincidences a long time ago.

I cracked open the can of Ironbeer and took a sip. It was like a citrusy root beer – it was like nothing I had before. But what I can say is…

"This is dang good," I said with a nod.

"Ain't it though?" Antoine replied in agreement. "Well, I'm going to go in the room and vibe to music. Grab me if you need anything."

"Will do."

I watched him was he moved into the room. I then sighed.

A few hours later, I was arrived at Marco and Erek's apartment. It was pretty large, with more than ample room to fit a whole living room and entertainment system – and was furnished with such – and a decent sized kitchen. Since Erek and Marco each had their own room, I couldn't help but be a bit envious.

Anyway, everyone was seated in the living room, with Ax and Tobias in their human morphs and Erek with his hologram projected. So, as I sat down and joined the others, I reached over and grabbed a chip from the bowl in the middle.

"So how did move-in day go, Jake?" Cassie asked. I raised my eyebrows briefly.

"It went off without a hitch," I said. "My roommate wasn't there yet, so I was able to claim my bed with no issue. Not that there were much choices to choose from."

"Did you end up meeting him?" Rachel inquired.

"Yeah, I did. It's Antoine."

"…Antoine?" Cassie replied, tilting her head.

"You mean the guy who ate with us after the college fair?" Marco added.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Um, forgive me, Prince Jake, but I don't who this Antoine is. Isss. I – "

"Antoine is this guy who we ran into after the college fair," Marco explained, apparently not in the mood to listen to Ax play with his words, as he tend to do at times. "Anyway, I knew I saw earlier this week at the football practice field."

"Practice field?" I replied.

"Yeah, Marco and I saw Antoine on campus and tailed him. And he ended up unwittingly pulled into a walk-on tryout for the football team."

"And how did that go?"

"…Apparently, I'm a running back and wide receiver now."

I took in a breath, then released it. "Marco," I began.

"I know, I know, but hear me out." As he said this, he brought his hands out and gestured me to calm down a bit. "With me on the football team, I can get close to Antoine and see if he checks out. Plus, since college football players are often put on a pedestal, there's likely going to be a controller or two on the team. I can keep an eye out in case any of them discuss plans."

I thought about it for a moment. I then nodded. I had to admit, when Marco was right, he was very right.

"Well, before all of that, we'll have to find the Yeerk pool," Rachel pointed out.

"Easier said in done," I said. "There are three major cities in this area, many malls, and that much more areas where a lot of people gather. We're going to have to do a lot of leg work."

"Do we?" Tobias asked. We all turned to look at him. "I'm just saying – all we need to do is find one controller and tail him. And that's even assuming they built the Yeerk Pool in the first place."

"Finding one will be easy," Cassie said. "There's going to be a sharing interest meeting during the first week of school. We find out who is heading it up, and we'll have out target."

After mulling it over, I nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Any objections?" Everyone remained quiet. "Okay, that'll be the plan. We'll wait for the first day of school and scope out The Sharing interest meeting. We'll figure out who the controllers are, then tail them. So what do we do in the meantime?"

"I say know the lay of the land for now," Erek suggested. "We're in a new area, so the more we know about our surroundings, the better."

"Antoine did offer to show me around," Cassie added. "Maybe we can all hang out with him on the weekend and get a feel for him."

It sounded like a good idea. And it was a good idea. But I had a funny feeling in my chest then. At the time, I thought it was just me being paranoid or cautious about Antoine possibly being a controller. But, looking back at it, it was more than likely me being jealous.

"Okay, we'll do that. I'll talk to him when I get back."

After the meeting, I went back to the dorm. As soon as I entered, Antoine was on the couch, going through a binder. I closed the door behind me. "Studying for class already?" I asked.

"Nah," he said while, not lifting his head from the binder. "I'm looking over the playbook. Figured I'd increase my chances for next season."

"Next season?" As I asked, I walked over and took a seat next to him.

"Yeah. The way things are looking now, I'm likely going to be redshirted. And if I'm not, I'm probably going to be fourth string at best." He looked at me. "Especially since there are two juniors duking it out for the top spot." He turned his head back to the binder.

"I see." I nodded. "Hey, you doing anything on Saturday?"

"Saturday…. I got nothing. At least, not until the evening – there's the freshman barbecue then. Why, what's up?"

"Well, I got back from hanging out with Cassie… as well as Marco and Rachel. You remember them?"

"The Hispanic kid and the blonde bombshell? Yeah, I do." He then paused as he blinked. He looked over at me. "…Are they also…?"

"Yes."

"So y'all just attached at hip, huh?" He said while chuckling.

"Let's just say, life has a funny way of bringing people together. Anyway, she told me you offered to show her around. And, I was wondering if you can take a ride with you to see what the area is like… if it's okay with you."

"It's cool with me." He looked at me. "How far are you willing to go?"

"I'm thinking the whole Tri-County. We'll help you out with gas and everything."

"Okay." He nodded. "But we'll be leaving early – unless y'all want to skip out on the barbecue."

"We'll see how it goes," I said. I stood up. "I'm going to head to bed early." He nodded as I walked towards the room. After I closed the door behind me, I sighed.

For a moment, I remembered when David was one of us. While I still believed he was off his rocker before we brought him into the fold – especially when he acquired and morphed my dying relative before throwing his body down and elevator shaft – I couldn't ignore the fact that there were several mistakes made on our side. If Antoine was one of our new allies The Ellimist was talking abou, we had to be careful. He would have to ease him in. He didn't seem like he had any baggage. But even if he did, there was a good chance he'll look at things from a different light. But as I lay down on my bed, I couldn't but ask a different question.

Who was the other ally?