It was Sunday morning and Denver's weather was cool and clear. Zach looked up the location of the University West Dorms online, then rode his bike over.

The dormitory was an old four-story brick building, just one block from campus. The ground floor started several feet above the ground, suggesting that the building had once been a warehouse or factory, built to accommodate shipping trucks or even trains.

Zach chained his bike to the rack outside, then hesitated at the front steps. The building housed both men and women, so Zach's presence wouldn't look strange, but being on a women's floor might. He just hoped he wouldn't run into anyone during his brief visit.

He stepped inside, wandered around a little for a moment while he searched for the stairs, then started to climb. Zach exited the stairwell on the third floor and immediately encountered potential trouble, or at least an awkward moment.

A blonde-haired woman was unlocking her door, carrying a large canvas laundry bag over one shoulder. She wore simple grey sweatpants and a white tank top with a purple bra strap visible at the shoulder. She turned to look at Zach and he saw that she was wearing round-framed glasses and no makeup.

"Zach?"

It was Erin, and for once she was the surprised one. Well, Zach was quite surprised too. He'd had no idea that Erin, a sophomore now, was still living in a dorm, and he'd barely recognized her dressed so casually. They'd been frequent study partners for a full year, but Zach realized he didn't know much about Erin's private life.

"Erin? You live here?"

She looked away, saying, "Yeah, I do."

"Cool. It's nice and close to campus," he said, just trying to fill the awkward silence. Then he remembered something he wanted to tell her. "Oh, by the way. I'm going to be missing a lot of class for the next couple weeks, including tomorrow." He paused, then added, "I didn't want you to worry."

"Oh, thanks for the notice. Can I ask why?"

"It's, uh, family stuff," he lied.

Erin nodded, looking defeated. Then she perked up and said, "If you need to talk about anything, I'm here for you. Just call."

"Thanks for the offer. Well, I'll be on my way."

Erin started into her dorm room, then she turned back and squinted at Zach. "Why are you here, anyway? And on the girls' floor?" She grinned. "Are you up to something naughty?"

"No! I'm just bringing a message from a friend, uh, to her previous roommate, who lives here," Zach babbled. "The roommate's name is Tiesha. Do you know her?"

Erin shook her head. "Nope, sorry. Well, I'll let you get on with it. Seeya tomorr— I mean, seeya around, Zach…" Then she disappeared into room 303.

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Zach waved, but she was already gone. He smiled at the coincidence of running into her of all people, then he continued down the hall to his destination: room 312.

He took a deep breath to settle his nerves after Erin's teasing, then knocked.

After just a few seconds, a woman with tightly braided black hair and dark skin opened the door. She was wearing black leggings and a t-back tank top, like she'd been about to go jogging. She raised one eyebrow, looking puzzled but not distressed. "Uh, can I help you?"

"My name's Zach Pike. Are you Tiesha?"

She nodded, then kept looking at him expectantly. She had wide and kind-looking eyes, dark with specks of light in them.

"I've got a message for you, from Evelyn Gilda—" He cut himself off. "Well, I don't actually know the last name she used over here."

Without another word, Tiesha grabbed Zach by the wrist and forcefully pulled him inside, then closed the door.

"Uh, what was that about?" Zach said, totally confused and now standing inside a very feminine dorm room. Everything was neatly organized and the room smelled lightly of perfume or scented candles.

She whispered, "Evelyn's still a missing person. I'd rather not have the cops around here again, asking questions I can't answer. It's just not worth the risk. Well, depending on your message. Is it good news? Please say it's good."

Zach smiled. He could see Tiesha really cared for Evelyn. "It's good news. I saw her, back at her real home with her dad, and she's doing fine. She said that she misses you."

Tiesha stomped her foot. "She'd better! I've missed her so much, and I was so worried about her. When she didn't return that last time, I was so scared she had— Nevermind. She's safe and home now, and that's all that matters."

Zach had said what he was supposed to and he didn't know what else to do, so he looked around the little room. There were two beds on opposite walls, and all the sheets and pillows were shades of pink or purple. Only one bed looked to get any use, which made sense, since Evelyn hadn't been back in months. On one wall, there was a poster of two anime characters Zach didn't recognize, girls in elaborate and colorful outfits.

"Wait." Despite the low volume, there was a hard edge to Tiesha's voice. "You were at Evy's real home? In the other world? How?!"

Zach shrugged. "I still don't know exactly. I flip over there every other day. It's total hell on my college attendance."

Tiesha nodded knowingly. "Evy said that was happening to her too, until she just didn't come back one day. What happened?"

"Oh, she found a way to stop the flipping, and she can't risk letting it happen again, or the King will freak out."

"The King? She really was a princess after all…" Tiesha muttered to herself.

Zach nodded. Then when Tiesha didn't say anything else, he cleared his throat. "Um, I have a lot of catch up work to do for class, so I should be going. If you have any messages for Evelyn, I can relay them to her."

Tiesha sat down hard on her bed, the one with ruffled sheets. "I have so much I want to tell her, but I can't get my thoughts straight right now. Can I text you?"

"Sure. I'll see her again tomorrow, so text me before 10pm tonight. And don't make it too wordy, since I'll have to memorize it. No cell phones over there."

"Right, right. Thanks, Zach, for doing this." She stood up and gave him a quick hug, but she still looked lost in thought.

They exchanged phone numbers, then Zach left the room. He passed Erin's room, but didn't stop. He didn't like lying to her about what was going on with him, but he wasn't ready to explain either. After all, it had taken Evelyn eight years to find someone in this world who believed her story.

It was a short bike ride back to his apartment, where he had a lot of studying to do. Even without all the missed tests and quizzes he had to make up, it was hard taking a full course-load on only fifty percent time. His grades were already sliding, but maybe that wouldn't matter, in the long run.