They shared a look with each other for a long quiet moment.

At first, Niki seemed confused, giving just a little head tilt. Her gaze shifted to the open spot on the bed and the rising realization colored her face.

Milly couldn’t stand the tension building in her chest. What made her think this was a good idea? She was such an idiot. A little kid crawling into bed with a parent to avoid having nightmares was normal. Suggesting a similar thing to your roommate was ridiculous.

Niki probably thought she was weird, or making fun of her, or worse.

“...I blame Ruth for this,” Niki muttered while she slung her feet onto the ladder, starting her descent. A few steps in she snatched up her pillow and tossed it at Milly’s face.

Or not!

Milly batted the pillow away and giggled. “Well, she did say that we could.”

Given that this was exactly what she’d aimed for, Milly would have thought she’d feel less nervous about it. She couldn’t have been more wrong. She watched as Niki descended the ladder, each step just made her feel more anxious.

Milly just needed to focus on something else. Like, where did Niki shop for nightwear? Her pajamas were red and gold with some kind of strange abstract floral pattern to them. It looked intricate, not to mention expensive.

Was it possible to feel underdressed for a sleepover? Milly wouldn’t have thought so five minutes ago. Sky-blue cotton pants with stars on them and one of her dad’s old football jerseys suddenly didn’t feel like the height of fashion.

This wasn’t helping.

While she was admiring the clothes, though, she noticed something else. Niki's movements were oddly stiff. Maybe she was sore from their ordeal. Or maybe this whole idea was as spooky for Niki as it was for her? Yeah. If Milly felt unsure, she couldn’t imagine Niki felt much more confident. She should come up with something to make it easier on her. But what?

Taking a quick look around for ideas, Milly spotted Niki’s pillow. It hadn’t done much good as a projectile, but maybe it could serve as a welcome mat. She laid it out next to her own then patted the mattress beside her just as Niki stepped off the ladder. “Could you be any slower? Come on!”

“Geez, alright,” Niki mock grumbled as she climbed in. “If you are that impatient, next time you can climb up.”

“Maybe I will!” Milly grinned. She felt a little better already as Niki laid down beside her. The warmth against her shoulder helped stave off the chilling thought that the creature was out there.

This had been a good idea.

“This is not too bad,” Niki said while she wiggled around till she managed to pull her phone from a back pocket. She looked a lot more comfortable afterward as she settled back down. “A little cramped perhaps.”

“Yeah, well last time we had a whole street to ourselves.” Milly chuckled. “At least it’s less cramped than that, uh, ‘corner booth’ in the pizzeria with…”

A gentle prod at the elephant in the room.

“It is far too early to go to sleep.” Niki strictly ignored the comment and started busily flicking through her phone instead. “What sort of movies do you like?”

That topic was off-limits, it seemed.

“Uhm, cartoons, I guess? I really like Slingshot Sue.” The second the words left her mouth, Milly regretted them. She wasn’t a kid anymore. She was already fourteen! How embarrassing. She should’ve said something cool and mature. What even was cool or mature in the big city? Music videos? Documentaries? Fashion? …The news?

Actually, would they be on the news? A monster attacking a pizzeria had to be news, right? Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t blurted out that one. The whole point was to take their mind off this mess.

♫ Fastest sling in the west! ♫

The Slingshot Sue theme song?

It came from Niki’s phone, which she was securing to the bed slat right above them. She’d found the first episode.

“A western?” Niki gingerly pulled her fingers away from the phone, ready to catch it should it fall. Once she was satisfied, she let her arms drop. Making herself comfortable on the covers, she shot Milly a smile. “So, what is it about?”

Though she still felt a flush of embarrassment, Milly decided she would commit now that Niki showed interest like that in something she liked. “Well, Slingshot Sue lives in ‘one-horse town’ on the prairie. In each episode, there’s some kinda trouble she’s gotta solve by figuring out a mystery, making some new friends, or fighting some bad guys. Sometimes all at the same time!”

“Sounds thrilling,” Niki said with just enough of a playful tone that Milly was still none the wiser on whether she actually liked it or if she just liked trying to get a reaction out of her. Maybe it was payback for when Milly’d done something similar at lunch.

“Fair warning, once you start you’ll be hooked. Soon you’ll join me in agonizing wait for season four!” Milly laughed.

The first episode passed by, swiftly followed by the second, third, and fourth. Occasionally they’d chat about the characters and speculate at the plots. A couple of times Niki even proved she was paying attention by pointing out a plothole.

“I dunno, maybe she used the leftover silver sling-bullet for something else after the werewolf?” Milly feebly defended. “Or maybe she just forgot. That’s a realistic thing that happens.”

“I do not dispute that someone forgot, just who.” Niki grinned while she swiped down to check the time. It was evening already. “But seriously, I enjoyed it. It’s a good show.”

“I know right? Whenever I’m having a bad day, it never fails to make me feel better.” Milly smiled.

“I would certainly classify today as a ‘bad day’ and this did make things better,” Niki smiled back. She paused and rubbed her eyes like she was nursing a headache. “Listen, I appreciate you giving me some space before, but… if you still want to, I am ready to talk about ‘lunch’ now. I am sorry that I made you wait.”

Milly could practically feel the air in the room get heavier.

“That’s okay. So, uhm, I reckon a good place to start would be… thanks.” Milly averted her gaze as she rubbed her arm nervously. “For not abandoning me, I mean. You could’ve made it out if you didn’t take the time to shake me out of that daze and…if it wasn’t for you…”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She couldn’t bring herself to say the actual words, but she could easily picture herself still sitting at that table in complete shock. Unable to even process what was happening as the creature reached her.

Milly shivered and scrunched her eyes shut as though it would expel the dark thought.

“Hey,” Niki took Milly’s hand and squeezed. “If it was not for me, you would not have been there in the first place. I am really sorry this all happened.”

To Milly’s surprise, Niki was on the verge of tears.

Until now, Milly had assumed they were in the same boat. One very scary encounter with a monster. She hadn’t even considered that on top of that Niki had been struggling with the guilt of inviting her out there.

Was that why Niki had humored her with the cartoon? Was she trying to figure out how to make it up to her?

“It wasn’t your fault.” Milly gave Niki a squeeze back. With her other hand, Milly rubbed at her eyes now too. Seeing Niki nearly cry made her cry in turn. It was so stupid how that worked. She just wanted her to feel better. “Sorry.”

Niki reached out for Milly, but hesitated and came to a stop halfway. Her hands shook while she bit her lip with an anguished expression. Like she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go through with her initial idea.

Milly flashed back to that embarrassing scene they’d made on the street to seek comfort in each other. Niki had gone for it, but lost her nerve midway this time? Or was it something else? Either way, Milly felt Niki had the right idea.

Meeting her the rest of the way, Milly pulled Niki into a hug.

For a moment, Niki remained frozen in that state of uncertainty, but then she brought her arms around Milly. She buried her face in Milly's shoulder and held on tight.

Milly held still, just letting one hand stroke Niki's back, just hoping to put her at ease. Niki was so still. If it wasn't for the fact Milly could feel Niki's chest heave with each breath, Milly could swear she was trapped in the grasp of a statue. Not that Milly minded her current predicament. Niki felt so nice and warm. Her only concern was that she didn't understand what was wrong.

After a minute, Niki let out a shaky breath that rippled through Milly. “This… this is good. Sorry. I could not discount the possibility before that Ruth was just messing with our heads, but…”

“But, this is good.” Milly finished for her.

Milly had been certain of that from the beginning, but now her thoughts were elsewhere. She’d noticed it before, but Niki was hypervigilant of Ruth’s power. To the point that Niki wasn’t even sure if the sense of comfort they briefly had together had been from her own mind while Ruth was around. That kind of anger and paranoia couldn’t be just from a couple of nasty rumors. No way.

“Yes,” Niki agreed as the tension slowly flowed out of her.

Milly hugged Niki a little tighter as she looked past her out the window with a hard stare. Out in the evening gloom, Milly could see the lights of the upperclassmen dormitory in the distance.

She couldn’t bring herself to directly ask about it right now, but one thing was clear:

Ruth had done something to Niki before.

----------------------------------------

The ending credits of yet another Slingshot Sue episode rolled to a gentle western tune.

Though, at this point, only Niki was truly watching anymore.

Milly had sworn she only needed to hear the audio to picture the full episode. Which was true, but she’d also been lulled half asleep with her head on Niki’s shoulder.

“They are really building up this season finale,” Niki stroked Milly’s upper arm absentmindedly while she flicked at the screen. “I can hardly wait, but I propose we take a dinner break. Besides, I should call my parents and explain why I need a new laptop… and assure them I am unharmed.” She added as an afterthought.

“Gah! Dad!” Milly shot upright with a start, suddenly wide-awake. “What am I gonna tell him?! He’ll have me back on the ranch before I even get to the part where it ate the chair!”

“Ohh, that sounds bad,” Niki placed a hand on Milly's shoulder. A sign of support? “Well, good luck! Let me know if I am getting the room all to myself after all!”

“Oh, very funny! Git!” Milly pushed Niki off her bed, who quickly slid off while she laughed at her. “This is serious! Quick, does stuff like this happen all the time?”

“Hungry horror hams specifically? Not that I am aware of, but it seemed like ACE had tangled with it before. Supervillain attacks? Technically, yes, but statistically you should be more worried about getting hit by a car.” Niki listed that example off with such practiced ease that it had to be something city folk were regularly told. She plucked her phone from the bed and headed for the door. “The actual lethality of either is pretty low, though. Bulwark Bay has some of the most advanced medical facilities in the world… Does any of this do anything for you?”

“Oh, for sure. I reckon he’ll be thrilled to know I’m more likely to end up in the hospital than dead.” Milly grumbled as she brought up her phone. The first thing to do was actually look up some news articles and see if any of them had their faces and names. She felt like she’d swallowed lead when she recalled the picture Ruth had taken of them.

“You could always just not tell him.” Niki shrugged as she made her way to the door. “Anyway, I shall go get us some dinner while you call.”

“Really helpful.” Milly reached for the first throwable thing in her bag and tossed a pair of folded socks at Niki. They bounced off the door as Niki quickly made her escape. “Ugh!”

She let herself fall back on her bed and held up her phone with a quiet dread.

There were definitely articles about the attack. At a glance, they didn’t have the picture or even the names of any of the people involved aside from that trio from ACE. Also, apparently, this really wasn’t the first incident involving the monster, who had now officially been dubbed ‘Meatcrawl’.

If Milly had to guess, that name was probably Terra’s influence. It was in the same vein as that hotdog comment. Just slightly less off-putting. Maybe there was somebody that sanitized the names before they went public.

Meatcrawl’s rampage had so far taken out a butcher shop, fishmonger, and now the local pizzeria. Nobody had any leads on Meatcrawl’s motives, but there was some mention of the damage it was causing, blah blah, Milly didn’t care anymore.

She closed the browser with a sigh of relief. “I’m in the clear.”

At least she would not have to worry about being outed before she had her story straight. For right now, she would just find a mirror, clean up, and a school shirt. Straighten her collar, fix her necktie—no, she better leave that off. If she was too proper that would be way more suspicious.

Once she was satisfied, Milly sat her phone down at the deck then started up the video call.

After the second ring, the screen came on and was jostled around until it settled on a grainy closeup of a human ear and dark blonde sideburns.

“Milly?” Dad’s voice rumbled through the desk.

“Howdy, Daddy,” Milly replied with a chuckle. “Look at your screen.”

“What?” There came another rumble of the screen. This time they ended up face to face. As soon as he saw her, he smiled broadly. “Ah, here we are! How was your first day? Find everything alright?”

“It was great. We didn’t have to do anything yet. Niki, that’s my roommate, helped me get around. Did you know the dorms were open for a whole month already? Oh, also there’s lots of students with superpowers! We even saw some chase off a villain in the city during lunch. Speaking of the city, I didn’t realize it would be so noisy. I’ve not seen a single road without a car on it. The food is good, though. Niki says she knows the best spots. She’s into Slingshot Sue too, well now she is, anyway.”

Milly rapidly rattled off the day's events. She wouldn’t lie, but she could at least downplay the attack.

“Well, I reckon I better turn this car ‘round then, I was already on my way to come pick you up.” He made a show of miming one hand on the wheel. “Figured you’d have more complaints than you could shake a stick at by now.”

“Daaad, quit messing around.” Milly rolled her eyes. She could clearly see he was indoors by the weird plaid curtains in the background. Actually… She brought the phone closer and squinted to get a better look, but she didn’t recognize those at all. “Where the heck are you even?”

“Mhm?” He looked over his shoulder. “Oh, this? Just figure I oughta redecorate while I’ve got the chance. You don’t get a say if you don’t live here, ya know. Less you were thinking of coming on home?”

Strange. The curtains were dark, but their home was hours to the west, the sun shouldn’t have set just yet. There was no way he was home.

“Pass, but I guess that means you don’t get a say on how I decorate my room either? I’ll take that deal.” Milly gave a faltering smile. She already felt bad about not telling the whole truth, but it was somehow worse to know they both weren’t being honest with each other. “I gotta go, Niki’s here with dinner.”

“Alright, have a g’night.”

“G’night.”

Milly hung up and let the phone rest on her chest while she stared up aimlessly.

What was up with today? Had everyone always kept secrets and she just never noticed before? Well, she was going to get to the bottom of all of this.

She just needed to figure out how to start.

“Okay, step one. Dinner. No sense trying to think on an empty stomach.” Milly hopped up and ditched her school shirt before she headed for the door. Maybe she could meet Niki halfway.

As soon as Milly opened it, she spotted Niki in the hallway. She was leaned up against the wall across from their door, messing with her phone.

Notably, without dinner.

Niki looked up as she noticed Milly and gave a weak smile. “Hey, I just thought maybe it would be better if I brought you along, I do not know what you like.”

Something felt off about the story. Was she supposed to believe that Niki’s plan had been to stand there until Milly randomly decided to leave the room instead of wait for her as they agreed? She could’ve just texted her or something for what she wanted.

“So, you decided to stake out in the hallway?” Milly asked as she looked both ways down the hall. Nobody else was around. “Why didn’t you just come in?”

“I did not want to interrupt your call,” Niki said with a dismissive wave then she reached out a hand. “Are you coming or what?”

As silly of a thought as it was to entertain, Milly held off for a moment while she considered whether shapechangers were a thing. While she hesitated, it seemed Niki noticed her reluctance and glanced down the hall.

At the end of the hall loomed the staircase. Dark and foreboding without the daylight shining through the windows.

Had it always been so scary-looking? She’d barely even paid attention to it last night.

“...I see.” Milly breathed deep to settle her nerves. She gave a little nod then took Niki by hand as she led her toward the stairs. “Going together does sound like more fun.”

Niki flashed a relieved smile. “I thought so too.”

Milly smiled back as they braved the darkness hand in hand.

Aside from the constant underlying feeling of dread, she could get used to this.