CHAPTER 7: THAT WAS ME

History class was going quite well, for me, that is. More than half the class was dozing off or already asleep. I was jotting down key points, when my pen started moving without my consent.

'My place after school,' it wrote on the side of the paper and then the ink completely faded seconds later. I turned to see Meghan smile at me. I smiled back. The first time she tried talking to me via a pen, I completely freaked out. As much as I didn't want to create a scene, I was…breathless, but in an overwhelming way. I thought it was a sick prank, so I looked around to see if anyone looked suspicious. My eyes caught Meghan grinning as she mouthed, 'That was me,' with a wink.

'Okay,' I mouthed back.

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I knew Mike would be waiting for me outside since History was the last class for the day and the class was over. I rushed to meet him but I bumped into our Drama Club president Joanne. She was awfully pushy and overbearing. I had been ignoring her for about a week now, but only because she wanted us to perform a boring musical she wrote. She was with other Drama Club members. God! There were so many of them. I turned to look for an escaped route but there wasn't any. I had been cornered.

'Meghan. How nice to finally meet with you,' she faked a smile.

'Hi Joanne,' I smiled back.

'We haven't been able to discuss the play. We want you to be our main character. It's a musical,' she said while the others chattered.

'Maybe we can talk about this later. I have somewhere to be right now,' I contested.

'I'm sure you do, that's why I got you a CD. Ya know, to help you prep before practice tomorrow.' She collected the disc, alongside the script from a girl next to her and handed it to me. I looked at it.

'It's Sound Of Music,' I said surprised.

'Why'd you change your mind?' I asked. I loved classic musicals. Sound of Music was my favorite.

'Well… we voted and we chose this instead.' Joanne said faking enthusiasm. I could tell she still wanted to do the play she wrote.

'Great! I love it.' I rejoiced.

'So you'll be coming for practice tomorrow, for real this time?' She asked crossing her arms below her chest.

'Sure.' I said as I walked away.

When I got outside I met Mike giving a driver directions to a hardware store. The driver seemed familiar but I couldn't guess where I knew him from. I walked closer to get a better view, but the man zoomed off.

'Hi,' Mike greeted with his hands in his pocket.

'Hi, sorry I made you wait,' I said smiling apologetically.

'It's ok. It's only been a few minutes,' he smiled back.

'After you,' he said motioning for me to walk beside him as we strolled towards my house. I was still thinking about the man in the car. I could swear I knew him.

'Michael, the driver you were talking to, what did he want?' I inquired.

'He wanted directions to Jimmy's Tools, the hardware store. Why'd you ask?'

'Nothing,' I replied as I stared on the ground as I walked.

'So… what are we gonna be doing at your place?' He asked.

'Do you like musicals?'

'Yeah…' he answered.

'Good, we'll be practicing for my play. You'll be my audience.' I said happily.

'Sounds…interesting,' he smiled.

'What musical is it?' He continued.

'Sound of Music,' I answered.

'Classic. What part will you be playing?'

'I'll be Liesl,'

I don't know why but it surprised me that Mike liked musicals and most importantly, that he had a great voice. He never auditioned for anything. We rehearsed non-stop. There were shops, cars, people, pets and so many other things on the street. I thought the sky was unusually bright, but it was probably because it had been a while since I took a walk. Walking with Mike, I realized I felt…free around him. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he knew that I wasn't human. There was no need to pretend.

We chose a longer path to home. Mike knew the way so, why not? We did most of the rehearsals on the way, every minute felt like an intriguing adventure. We got to a place that looked like a vegetables and fruits market. We both sang as we walked through the market, causing trouble. I listened to Mike as he gave me a tour, I grew hungrier. Striding, I saw a table filled with red tempting apples, arranged in piles and I picked one.

'Hey, you didn't pay for that!' The apple seller yelled at me. His loud manly voice startled me, but I was quick to recover.

'Pay for what?' I asked smiling with my gaze fixed on the table.

'You took that apple from this table,' the man said furiously.

'Did I?' I smiled, still looking at the table.

'You…' The man turned and counted the pile. His shoulders fell and his furrowed eyebrows became straight.

'I apologize Miss,' the apple seller said before taking a seat behind the table. I just walked away. It took seconds for me to realize Mike wasn't beside me. I turned back to see him standing a couple of inches behind me. He gave me a stern look with his hands on his waist.

'Let's go!' I chuckled.

'I saw what you did there,' he smiled, raising his left brow. It was a look I was getting used to.

'What?' I laughed lightly.

'You STOLE the man's apple and replaced it with magic,' he whispered.

'Exactly, I replaced it!'

'Someone might have seen you, you shouldn't have done that.' He said trying to fake a serious tone.

'You know what we should do? We should walk faster. The sky's getting darker.

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