"Yes," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I know Eliza."

Jamal raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting more information. "Can you tell me more about her? How did you meet?"

I hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how much to disclose. "We met online," I finally admitted.

He nodded, giving me an understanding smile. "I see. And what is your relationship with Eliza? Are you two close?"

My cheeks warmed at the thought of how close Eliza and I had become. "Yeah, we've become really good friends."

Jamal leaned back in his chair, seemingly relaxed. "That's nice. It's always good to have a close friend, especially in times like these. Can you tell me more about her, like where she's from and how long you've been talking?"

I thought for a moment, trying to recall the details. "We've been talking for a couple of months now. She said she's from... California, I think?"

Jamal nodded, scribbling something down on a notepad. "And when you two talk, do you mostly use text messages, or do you also talk on the phone or video chat?"

I shifted in my seat, feeling uneasy. "We mostly text, but sometimes we talk on the phone."

"Would you mind showing me some of your conversations?" Jamal asked gently, sensing my discomfort. "It's just a routine check, and it will help us make sure everything is okay."

I hesitated, but finally pulled out my phone and opened the messaging app. As I scrolled through our conversations, I couldn't help but feel a sense of vulnerability, exposing something so personal to a complete stranger. But if it could help clear up whatever was going on, I was willing to cooperate.

I handed my phone to Jamal, watching as he scanned through the messages between Eliza and me. The silence in the room was deafening, and I couldn't help but worry about what all this meant.

"Is everything okay with Eliza?" I asked hesitantly. "Is she in trouble?"

Jamal looked up from the phone, his expression unreadable. "I believe she's okay, but we just want to make sure everything checks out. It's a precautionary measure."

Internally, I felt some of my anxiety subside, but I was still concerned. "What does that mean, though? What's going on?"

Jamal sighed and put my phone down on the desk. "I can't go into too many details, but we received some information that prompted us to look into Eliza and her connections. It's just standard protocol when something like this happens."

"But why me?" I pressed, feeling a mix of confusion and curiosity.

Jamal gave me a sympathetic look. "Because you're connected to Eliza, and we want to make sure there's no risk to your safety or anyone else's. We're just trying to cover all our bases."

I swallowed hard, trying to process everything he was saying. It was a lot to take in, and I couldn't help but worry about Eliza and what this investigation meant for our relationship. But for now, all I could do was cooperate and hope that everything would be okay.

Jamal stood up, holding my phone in his hand. "I'm going to just step outside the room and bring your phone with me, is that okay?"

I nodded reluctantly, feeling like I didn't have much of a choice. "Sure."

"I'll just be outside the door," he assured me. "I need to call this in so we can figure out what happens next. Just sit tight, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

As the door closed behind Jamal, I was left alone in the empty classroom. The silence was deafening, and I couldn't help but feel like my entire world was spinning out of control. My thoughts raced, anxiety gnawing at me as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

I looked around the room, taking in the posters on the walls, the scattered textbooks, and the half-erased chalkboard. Everything seemed so normal, so mundane, and yet, in that moment, it felt like I was living in a completely different reality.

As the minutes dragged on, the ticking of the clock on the wall became an unbearable reminder of the time I was spending waiting, not knowing what was going to happen next. The uncertainty was eating away at me, and the room felt like it was closing in.

I traced the patterns on the desk with my finger, trying to distract myself from the whirlwind of thoughts and fears swirling in my head. I thought about Eliza, about our late-night conversations and the dreams we had built together. Was all of that at risk now? What did this investigation mean for our relationship, for our future?

The sound of the door opening snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up, my heart pounding in my chest, and braced myself for whatever news Jamal had to share.

Jamal handed me back my phone and asked, "Can you please get your parents on speakerphone? I'd like them to be able to hear the conversation."

I complied, my hands shaking as I dialed my parents' number and put the call on speaker. They answered almost immediately, concern evident in their voices.

"Hello? Louisa, honey, is everything okay?"

“I think so,” I told her, “Is dad home, could you get him on the call too?”

“Sure honey, one second.” Then the muffled sounds of my mom rushing my dad to come to the phone, and that something sounds wrong.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Ok, we’re both here now, what’s wrong honey? Are you in trouble again for bringing those damn taxidermy’d rodents to school?”

“No mom, it’s not that… I’m… I was pulled out of class principal Johnson, and now I’m talking with a man named Jamal from the CIA. He wants to talk to you.”

Jamal cleared his throat and began. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Stroup. My name is Jamal, and as your daughter mentioned, I'm with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before we continue, I want to assure you there's no need to panic. Louisa hasn't done anything wrong. However, in an abundance of caution, we'd like to bring her in for questioning with some people at our headquarters in Langley."

My parents were silent for a moment, clearly shocked. Then my mom spoke up, her voice angry and disbelieving. "This must be some kind of sick joke! You expect us to believe that the CIA wants to question our daughter?!"

Jamal calmly replied, "I understand your concern, Mrs. Stroup, but I assure you this is not a prank. We have reason to believe Louisa has come into contact with someone of interest to us, and we simply want to gather more information."

My dad chimed in, trying to make sense of the situation. "But why can't you just ask her the questions here? Why does she need to go all the way to Langley?"

"We have specialists there who would be better equipped to handle this type of situation," Jamal explained. "It's standard procedure, and we'll do everything we can to make the process as smooth as possible for Louisa."

My mom's voice grew angrier. "Absolutely not! There is no way you're taking our daughter away without a better explanation than that!"

My dad tried to calm her down, his voice soothing. "Honey, let's just hear what he has to say. Maybe there's more to this than we know."

The conversation continued, a lengthy back-and-forth between my parents and Jamal, with each side trying to assert their position. I sat quietly, feeling helpless and small as these strangers discussed my fate. The weight of the situation pressed down on me, and all I could do was listen and wait.

My dad's voice grew firm, and I could sense his determination as he said, "Alright, well, you aren't pulling our daughter out of school without us meeting you. We're going to come down there, is that alright with you... Jamal, was it?"

Jamal nodded, his expression remaining calm and professional. "Of course, Mr. Stroup. I completely understand, and I'll be here waiting for your arrival."

Before leaving the room, Jamal reached for my phone. "In an abundance of caution, we don't want Louisa to message Eliza until we've sorted everything out," he explained. I handed my phone over, my heart sinking at the thought of not being able to reach out to Eliza during all of this.

Once Jamal had left, I sat alone in the empty classroom, my thoughts racing. I couldn't help but worry about Eliza and what was happening to her. What had she gotten mixed up in? And how had I become tangled up in it too?

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

Sitting alone, waiting, I suddenly heard a voice in my head that filled me with equal parts love and confusion. "Lou, it's me, Eliza. Please don't be mad at me."

I looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. I checked behind the door, thinking maybe someone had hidden there to play a prank on me. I scanned the corners of the ceiling, searching for any sign of a hidden speaker. My gaze swept over the windows, but they were closed, and there was no one outside. Confused, I even wandered around the room, opening the one cupboard and rifling through its contents, finding nothing out of the ordinary. I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the teacher's desk, but there was no trace of Eliza or any device that could have been transmitting her voice.

"I'm not in the room, Lou. This is a telepathic connection, you dig?" Eliza's voice sounded in my head again.

I was confused beyond words, my mind struggling to make sense of what was happening.

"You can whisper and I'll be able to hear you. Can you talk to me, Lou? I want to explain what's going on. It looks like I've gotten you involved with something that is not very groovy."

Still feeling disoriented, I hesitantly whispered, "Eliza?" wondering if she could truly hear me and if this was all really happening.

"Alright, Lou, so here's the thing," Eliza began. "Last night, when you were talking about telling the whole world we were in love, I actually did it. Like, for real. It seemed pretty radical at the time. Really out of this world."

"Turns out, announcing to the whole world that telepathic communication is possible wasn't as groovy as I'd hoped."

"See, I'm telepathic," Eliza continued. I was still in a state of confusion and disbelief, struggling to process the information. "You know, like, I can communicate with people through my mind."

I hesitated, still trying to make sense of what Eliza was telling me. "You mean... like, you can read minds? And talk to people without speaking out loud?" I whispered.

"Yeah, exactly!" Eliza replied. "I didn't mean to get you involved in all of this, but now it seems like some people have taken notice."

I struggled to accept the reality of the situation. I had so many questions and felt overwhelmed by the implications of what Eliza was telling me. "This must be some kind of joke," I muttered, still in denial. "It just can't be true. People can't just... talk with their minds. It's impossible."

As calmly and slowly as I could, I told Eliza she needed to get out of my head. "Eliza, please... I need some space to think right now."

Her presence faded from my mind, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I took a deep breath, attempting to center myself in the midst of the chaos. It felt like my mind was a tornado, and I was trapped in the eye of the storm.

I tried to piece together everything that had happened. Eliza, a sentient cloud from another planet? Telepathy? The CIA? It all seemed so surreal, and yet, there I was, sitting in an empty classroom, waiting for my parents to meet with a CIA agent because of my connection to her.

How had my life become this bizarre in such a short time? Yesterday, Eliza had been a kind and loving friend, someone I'd fallen for without ever seeing her face. Now, I wasn't sure what she was or what any of this meant.

As I sat there, I began to think about the way Eliza had made me feel. The warmth and love that filled me when she was near, even if it was only in my mind. Did it really matter where she came from or what she was? I had to admit that the idea of her being a sentient cloud was both fascinating and terrifying, but it didn't change the fact that she had been there for me when I needed her most.

Could I still love her, even if she wasn't human? I pondered this question, weighing the pros and cons in my mind. My heart ached at the thought of losing her, but I also couldn't ignore the fear that came with the unknown.

The sound of footsteps in the hallway snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. I took a deep breath, bracing myself for whatever would come next. My world had been turned upside down, and all I could do was try to find my footing in this strange new reality.

It couldn't be real though, could it? This had to be some hallucination. I'd finally had a mental break. Mom had always said that the time I spent sewing ball gowns for squirrels, I was bound to snap sooner or later.

The door opened and Jamal entered the room. I looked up at him, my eyes pleading for some semblance of normalcy. "Jamal, could you please get me a glass of water?" I asked, my voice shaky. "I think... I think I might have completely lost my mind."

Jamal furrowed his brow in concern as he looked at me. "I'll see what I can do," he said gently, before stepping back out of the room.

Left alone once again, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. Was I truly losing my grip on reality? The thought terrified me, but at the same time, it was almost comforting to believe that all of this was just a figment of my imagination. It would be so much easier to dismiss the situation as a delusion rather than accept that my life had become entangled in something so much bigger than myself.

When Jamal returned with the glass of water, I gratefully took it from him, my hands shaking slightly as I sipped the cool liquid. I searched his face for any sign of understanding, but found none. It seemed that, for the time being, I was alone in my unraveling world.