Walking through the corridor, Alissa could not get the thought out of her head as she was walking beside Paul. She tried to stay calm, still confused. Her class had just finished and she barely listened to the professor as she was busy thinking about the possibility that Paul was not Paul.

How could he be it, though? She was puzzled. Why would Pennywise even pretend to be someone else? That would be a waste of time when it would have devoured her whole when they had so many chances of being alone together.

She realized Paul noticed she was quiet. She had to stay calm and pretend everything was fine, "I'm just really...not used to this."

"Not used to what?" He asked,

"We've been hanging out for a long time, Paul. And I don't even know much about you." She said and it came out of her mouth quick. She said she had to stay calm and play it cool but she could not help but ask him lowkey,

Paul stopped walking as well, "What do you want to know about me, then?" he simply asked,

She shrugged, "You tell me. You can tell me anything, Paul." She suddenly felt different, walked up to him and looked passionately into Paul's eyes, making sure that whoever it was in there understood that he could trust her greatly.

Paul paused then nodded, "Why don't we go somewhere?"

She sat beside him on a bench around the vicinity of the school. Alissa twirls the straw of her drink instead of drinking from it. Paul noticed that she really wanted to know more about him and was far more interested in him than the drink he bought her,

"...and I'm from Maryland." He finally ended sharing information about him,

She seemed to buy whatever it was he said. Paul was cautious, making sure that Alissa got what she wanted to hear, but unaware of the fact that Alissa had suspicions.

"So you ran away from the people who looked down on you and went here, a neighboring state, to start fresh?"

"Yes." Paul said with a smile,

She looked away, "I see."

There was silence,

"Thank you for telling me." Alissa said and looked at him, trying to see how he'd react. Paul seemed to really know what he was talking about. Maybe she was just paranoid? What if the reflection in the photos were just a coincidence?

Paul shifted in his seat, "Of course."

"I just thought I'd ask because we never really talk about you. I was afraid to bring it up because maybe you didn't want to talk about it."

"I am only interested in you, Alissa. I don't really have to talk about myself."

Alissa rolled her eyes, "Yeah well, surprise, there's nothing grand about me."

"Oh, you're very interesting, Alissa." He defended in a rather familiar tone of voice that made Alissa quickly turn her head to look at him,

Paul thought she was going to snap at him for sounding flirty, "I mean that in a way I see you as a friend." He joked and chuckled,

But Alissa only gulped, smiled very lightly and looked away, then back at Paul. She had to find out more.

"Why do you say I'm interesting?" She quickly acted as if nothing was wrong,

Paul chuckled again, "Because you are different, and I have your childhood stories as proof."

"Why do you never have other friends? There are far more interesting people in this campus."

"Are you still trying to get rid of me?" Paul titled his head and joked,

She shook her head, "I'm just saying the truth."

"Well I'd rather be your friend." He said to her in such a cool voice, making Alissa glance at Paul with passionate eyes. She could not help but think of Pennywise. If Paul was really him, and he's saying all this to her, she doesn't know what to feel about it.

She wanted the truth but she knew if she told him without even the slightest evidence, Pennywise could still trick her. She decided to investigate subtly and asked him one last question,

"Even if I'm not fun?" She mumbled the question as she twirled the straw on her drink without looking at him,

She felt his eyes on her,

"Oh you are fun."

"Even if I always fight with you?"

"Even."

"Even if I roll my eyes at you?"

"Even so."

She looked at him, "Even if I like clowns?"

He paused at her question,

"Like clowns, like, researching about that Pennywise clown?" She rephrased her question,

Paul paused, leaned away, and slowly nodded, "Even so." He said quietly, looking at her.

Alissa quickly thought of covering up. She laughed at him, "You sure you still wanna be a friend of someone with a scary past?" She laughed, hiding the fact that she's suspicious. Paul bought this and chuckled with her,

"I'm sure." He said with a smirk,

Alissa shrugged, "Alright. Well, I think you're fun, too." She said quickly, trying to cover up the topic so he would not catch up on her. She knew she had to start thinking of ways to prove to herself that Paul isn't Pennywise, otherwise, she doesn't know what she'd do if she found out it was the clown.

But why? She asked herself. If this man really is Pennywise, why didn't he kill her? Why is he pretending to be her friend? Why is he...flirting with her? Why is he still here? Is he enjoying every second of it? Is he having fun like she is?

Fun. Alissa never really admitted it to herself, but she always had fun with Paul even though she never thought of him that way. He was a good friend. He trusted her. But she couldn't trust him all that much now that she had her suspicions.