“So Alice, I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

Alice and Julia were walking down on the main town green. It was the weekend again, and things were going well between them. Julia’s other friends seemed a little wary of her for some reason, but they were all friendly at least. But today, the two of them had been going through the nearby clothing stores and window shopping. Of the five stores they went to so far, each had only bought one top each. But trying out the looks of various outfits had still been pretty fun.

“Well, you don’t have to answer. But what happened when I put that helmet on you a few weeks ago? I know you said it was okay, but I still feel like I did something wrong somehow. You totally freaked out and it was my fault.”

Alice looked over and saw Julia’s guilty face. Did she really…?

“No, Julia. That was on me. It’s… it’s my own problem. I just overreacted. Sorry.”

Julia huffed and looked away and sat at one of the park benches. There was a squirrel with a black diamond on its back sitting on the bench staring at them for some reason. Julia shooed it off with her hands and after a few moments of hesitation it leapt away and climbed a nearby tree. Julia sat down. After a moment of hesitation, Alice walked over and sat next to her. Julia resumed the conversation.

“I just want to know what I should do. Like if there is anything else I should avoid…”

“No! I mean… I’ll handle it. You don’t have to act differently. It’s just…”

Julia was looking at Alice in concern, and she didn’t want to lie to her. She had lied to people in this town ever since she had gotten here. Was she really going to lose her first real chance of friendship here because she couldn’t tell the truth? If the ADF had their way, she’d carry the secret to her grave for her own protection. But it was affecting her, and Alice trusted Julia despite knowing her only for a short while. Making a decision, Alice turned to her.

“Can you keep a secret?”

Julia blinked. “I guess so? I’ve never really…”

“This is really serious Julia. I’ll tell you if you really promise to not tell anyone, even your parents about it. And its not very pleasant either if you don’t want to know…”

Julia sat back and really seemed to consider it. “Alright. I see how much this means to you. I cross my heart and hope to die. I’ll keep your secret.” She dragged her finger in and x over her heart and stared at Alice intently.

“Well I’m…”

Julia kept staring.

“I’m…”

Alice forced out the words in a low whisper. “I’m a survivor of Harmony.”

Julia’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “You… Are you serious? Wha… For real?”

Alice nodded.

Julia lunged forward and hugged Alice so tightly she couldn’t breath.

“Oh my god, I’m going to kick Josh in the nuts so hard. That must have been horrible, are you okay? Of course you're not okay, I’m so sorry for asking questions you’re probably so mad I’ve been so…”

“Urk. Julia. Let go.”

“Oh!” Julia released Alice. “Sorry. It all makes sense now. How you used that term ‘Infected’ for the aliens. How sensitive you are about it. I just feel like such a jerk for prodding and poking you about it all this time.”

“No, it’s okay. I know you were just curious. Is this… Are we still friends?”

Julia looked struck, “Of course! We’re definitely still friends. I was going to ask you later but… Would you like to sleep with me?”

“Uh, uh, uh.” Alice’s brain worked to reboot.

Julia stared expectantly at her, before she realized what she said. “No! Sleepover. I meant having a sleepover. Not like that. Oh my god, what is happening…”

“Sure.”

Julia looked up, her whole face flushed crimson. “What? You don’t have to, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that…”

“No, I get it. I get it…”

There was silence between them for a moment.

“So are we going swimming next? In your pool? I’m pretty fit, you know if you’re into that.”

Julia buried her face in her hands, “This is the worst. Stupid tongue, how could you betray me like this? It’s really not like that.”

Alice smirked. “I think you are protesting too much. Still not hearing a no on swimming. I liked the look of that pool…”

Julia peeked from behind her fingers and saw Alice smirking. “I’m never living this down, am I?”

“Nope.”

Another pause. The wind rushed by and rippled through the grass in front of them.

“You’re not really into girls though, are you? Just making sure.”

“No… I’m not.” Julia glanced at her quickly before looking away. After a strangely heavy silence, Julia spoke up again hesitantly.

“Almost wish I was though. You really are rocking that bod.” Julia put down her hands even if her face was still flushed.

Alice laughed and tried to act natural despite the awkwardness of the moment. “Hell yeah! You’re not too bad yourself. I’m surprised you don’t have a boyfriend. I’m a weirdo and everybody shuns me for some reason. At least before the thing with Josh people would talk with me a little. But you have a lot going for you.”

“Yeah. Well…” She whispered something, and Alice leaned in. “What was that?”

“I dated Josh, okay? He was really nice until he got drawn into all that conspiracy stuff and his parents divorced. He’s completely changed for the worse. Like really worse. That’s why I didn’t help you earlier. We had a messy break up, it was a whole thing. I’m surprised you missed it honestly, it was at the end of last year and he’s been badmouthing me ever since.”

“Wow,” Alice said.

“And people notice your flinching and panic attacks, you know? Especially once they started paying attention. No one is sure what will make you react and it makes people not sure how to interact with you. It makes sense now with what you’ve told me. They feel like they’re hitting a puppy or something if they set you off. No one wants to be like Josh.”

Alice felt a stab of hurt, but tried to move on. She knew Julia was just saying what other people felt, and tried to lighten the mood. “I thought I was sexy? Now suddenly I’m a sad puppy? How is this fair?”

Julia shrugged and smiled. “Hey speaking of, do you want to do the sleepover tonight? Otherwise we’d have to wait until next Friday or Saturday so we can stay up and not deal with school.”

Alice thought of the ADF, only to shrug it off again. She should live her own life, she couldn’t control what they did. And they didn’t control her either.

“Yeah, let’s do it tonight," Alice said, "Best to deal with it early before any…” She wiggled her eyebrows, “Misunderstandings… ” Julia grunted and put her hand over her heart as if to fake a stroke.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“...Happen,” Alice finished.

“Alright, I guess I deserve that. Now great master, teach me your tricks.” Julia faked a little bow from a sitting position towards Alice.

“Huh? What trick?”

“The eyebrow thing! I’ve always wanted to be able to do that so perfectly. Teach me, great master!”

“Er, I just kinda do it. I guess it’s only practice.”

“Well, then show me again!”

“Okay.”

So for the next thirty minutes, the two of them sat there making funny faces at each other as Julia tried to perfect her eyebrow wriggle. She didn’t quite get it, but there was definitely some improvement. And the awkwardness between them rapidly faded.

— — — O — o — O — — —

The sleepover wasn’t nearly as awkward as Alice had expected it to be after what had happened. After teasing Julia a few more times about the slip, Alice retired the joke for now. Julia was taking it with good spirits, but clearly she was still incredibly embarrassed by her words.

Julia started off by telling Alice all about her up and down saga with Josh.

It really was hard to match her picture of a somewhat caring if forgetful boyfriend with the bully and jerk that taunted Alice in the beginning of the year. They talked about everything they could think of as the sun went down and Alice began to blow up the air mattress she had brought on the floor. Julia had offered her the bed, but Alice felt weird making someone else sleep on the floor.

Eventually, the looming topic they were both thinking about and had left unsaid had become too apparent for either of them to ignore. “So… Julia… I guess you want to hear about Harmony.”

Julia’s entire posture radiated curiosity. “No. Not if it’s too bad. Wait, here.”

She rushed into her closet and retrieved a large white stuffed penguin.

“Here, hold this. I know it’s childish, but Mr. Flippers really helps with this stuff. He really helped after my breakup with Josh.”

Alice accepted the penguin and hugged it to her chest and oddly enough she did feel a little better. Before she could second guess herself, she started talking.

“Well I guess it started when I was pushed down the stairs from behind. Things were bad before that, but I hadn’t noticed yet. I got a concussion.”

She hugged Mr. Flippers tighter.

“The hospital… It was overrun. I didn’t know it, but most of the staff were already aliens by this point. Infected, that’s what the Neighborhood Watch called them. Because they would give something to a person, then the parasite would burrow in and control their bodies. There was something messing with our minds in there, forcing us to not pay attention. When I first noticed it was like a pressure on my mind pressing inwards from all sides. If I had tried to focus a little I could have easily overcome it, and noticed things were wrong earlier. Maybe my old friends… Wouldn’t have been killed and replaced.”

Julia covered her mouth with her hand, but now that Alice had started speaking she couldn’t stop. Mr. Flippers was getting crushed. But everything felt distant as she brought back all the memories she had been trying to avoid.

“I knew something was wrong, but not what. I escaped the hospital on my own, but one of the Infected caught me. If Bill hadn’t been there… I would have died. The thing mutated into a monster and shattered concrete with its fists. Bill just shot it with his magic pistol and killed it in seconds. I left him behind, you know. He was captured or something and I left him behind to die. Even… even after all the horrible things I know he did now, I left him to die.”

Julia moved to interrupt, but Alice kept talking not wanting to be stopped now.

“I didn’t know what they wanted to do, I thought they were helping people. A friend helped me escape, shot one of his coworkers dead right in front of me. I still see his face sometimes. I don’t think I ever even learned his name. I hurt others too, so my friend wouldn’t have to kill them. I did it so easily, without even thinking about it. Then I got outside and thought it was all over. So sure that my friend who stayed inside would make it right. But he failed and Bill still killed everyone. And it was all my fault. I should have done more.”

Alice remembered when she had read the documents in Francis’ spatial pouch after everyone in Harmony had already been killed. It laid out the Neighborhood Watch's whole plan almost from start to finish. That was before the ADF had formed and taken the pouch away for her ‘protection’. Major Davis had been transferred away and couldn’t protect her anymore.

Alice almost continued but remembered that she might be bugged by the ADF even now. She couldn’t say the next part out loud. Francis failed because she didn’t do enough. She could have given the government all sorts of weapons to help them get in the dome. But she was afraid. Afraid that they wouldn’t let her go if they discovered her massive Potential. Which she would have to do to explain how to power the weapons. She had been selfish.

“That’s heavy… It’s not your fault though.” Alice looked up through her tears as Mr. Flippers was folded nearly in half. Julia reached out and hugged Alice again as she cried, Mr. Flippers squished between them. Julia patted Alice’s back.

“It’s okay. You did your best. You’re so brave, so strong.”

“Wha… You th… think so?”

Julia released the hug and leaned back. “I mean, yeah. You put that helmet back on to go kart. I saw how much it scared you. You looked like you would be sick whenever you had to put it back on. But you did it anyway, just so you could beat me in go kart. You didn’t immediately kill Josh for all the things he said, that had to have taken a lot of willpower.”

Alice snorted, but there was snot running from her nose now. “Ye… Yeah. Such a Je… Jerk.”

“I had a lot of fun when we hung out. You were funny and gave as much as you took. And you did all of that with all of this hanging over you!”

Julia’s voice was getting a little louder. Alice felt something stir in her. “Yeah…”

“Didn’t you stop your friend from killing more people? That sounds pretty heroic to me.”

“Yeah.”

“And remember when Shawna made fun of your hair and you totally roasted her fashion sense!”

“Yeah! Wait, I felt bad about that one.”

Julia waved off the correction, “Meh, she had it coming. But the point is you took no crap from her!”

Getting the point, Alice shouted “Yeah!”

Julia smiled, “There you go. You’re strong, you did all of those things even with what happened. You can be the very best you.”

“Yeah!!”

“You got this girl.” Julia sat back, her smile now matching Alice’s own. She was right. She was strong, and she had already made it a whole year despite everything that had happened.

It felt so good to get it all off of her chest finally. She had talked to her dad originally, but he was too horrified by what she told him already, so she hadn’t gone into the worst parts. The dead man. How she had seen her friends one last time from the back of the ambulance, half of their faces concerned and the others blank.

Alice sat back and the two girls jumped as there was a knock at the door. Julia looked at her, and she nodded back. “You can come in.”

Julia’s mom opened the door, “Sorry, It was getting quite loud in here… Oh.”

Alice wiped her face and felt that her cheeks were still wet and nose running, and saw that Mrs. Hanover was glancing between Alice’s face and Mr. Flippers.

“I see Mr. Flippers is still busy at work. Well, I’ll let you girls sort it out. And Alice, I’m happy to listen to whatever it is if you want and help you. Talking to an adult is more helpful than you’d think. Julia doesn’t use me nearly often enough.”

“Mom! C’mon, we were having a moment here. We just finished confirming how strong and brave Alice was. Er, sorry it got a little loud though.”

“Well in that case.” She looked at Alice who was looking away in embarrassment at the memory of how loud she had gotten when she got carried away by the moment. Julia’s mom smirked, and Alice blinked as that was the same expression Julia made when she thought of something clever.

“Always good to do one of those every once in a while. Maybe I’ll do one tomorrow. Seems to have worked on Alice.”

“OhmyGosh Mom. Just leave already, you’re embarrassing me!” Julia said.

“Ok, ok. Don’t stay up too late now.”

And with that, she left. Julia turned to Alice and opened her mouth. “She was nice," Alice said, "She didn’t have to offer to help.”

Julia’s mouth closed mid motion. “Yeah, that’s true. She really is helpful for this kind of emotional stuff. Maybe you can only tell her a little and she could help? I don’t know though…”

Alice shook her head, “I feel a lot better already. It was just all bottled up inside, nice to let it all out. But I think I want to do something else now.”

“Ok.”

The word hung in the air for a moment as Julia seemed to think for a moment.

“So, Crushes!" Julia said, "I saw the way you looked at Jason after class. You were practically drooling.”

“What, you saw that? I didn’t think I was that obvious.”

Julia shot her a flat look and used the patented eyebrow wiggle they had practiced earlier in the day. To moderate success.

“Well…. Well. I saw you looking at Dylan too." Alice shot back, "How is he hotter than Jason? I mean, really.”

“Haha. It is SO on now. Dylan has the best personality. Jason’s so full of himself…”

— — — O — o — O — — —

From a nearby tree, a squirrel with a black diamond on its back watched through the windows as the two girls chatted and teased one another. Even when it grew dark, Squirrel/Jessica did not move. Her Squirrel memories came to the forefront as her human side grew bored with the long periods of inactivity. The Squirrel knew how to remain still for as long as needed for survival.

When a predator was hunting, the impatient were eaten. Instead of moving, she stared with unwavering focus at the two human girls, watching their lips to follow the conversation as best as it could. After all she would only get one chance for first impressions. If that was lost, everything she had been working towards for the last year might be destroyed. Forever.