1. Death at the Sidewalk

Looking at myself in the mirror, I smiled. I had finally gotten rid of the old me and had become someone else. My smile grew larger.

The journey hadn't been easy, especially as I never had any friends to support me along the way. They were all like the old me. But I still made it. I had still won.

"I look nice," I mumbled. "Maybe it's finally time to treat myself."

I went outside, and the summer rays instantly heated up my skin. It felt great. I decided to head down to the ice cream parlor. The one I used to go to. A cheat day like today wasn't gonna hurt.

It was the first day of the rest of my life.

As I strolled down the street, the sun burning on my face, I kept looking in the window reflections. I kept seeing the new me everywhere. Smiling at people I didn't know, they'd smile back. It was almost as if my new look gave me a new personality as well. Like a snake shedding its skin and becoming something new, I, too, was now reborn.

As I neared the ice cream parlor, I spotted someone I knew.

"Hey, Lucas! Over here!"

Lucas was one of my old schoolmates. He was standing outside the ice cream shop along with his phone.

"Oh, is that Alex? The hell happened to you?"

"I lost some weight, I guess. Thought it was about time for a change."

"Well, nice. You look great."

"Thanks, man."

It was a while ago since I had seen Lucas. He was my best friend a couple of years ago but he moved away at the end of school, which left me all alone.

"How you been doing?" he asked.

"Great," I said. "I'm starting uni after this summer."

"Oh, dang," he chuckled. "I started last year, and it's been a hell of a ride so far. It's much tougher than you think. Especially if you still game."

"Haha, I can imagine. But I haven't really played much in a long time. I was too addicted."

"You don't need to throw away hobbies entirely to improve," he said, scratching his neck. "Just don't overdo it. That's my advice."

"Thanks, man. What have you been up to?"

"Not much. Just studying and gaming."

"You still play RPG games?"

"Sorta."

"What do you play the most?"

"Uh, it's called Thet... never mind."

"The what?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Anyway, I gotta go now. I was waiting for a friend to show up but he seems to be running late. I'll catch you later, Alex. Just text me if you wanna hang out sometime."

"Oh, sure."

"See ya."

Lucas turned and started walking away. I bought the ice cream and ate it while I stood there. I looked after him as he went. As I licked my chocolate cone, I couldn't help but notice a weird vision. Was I hallucinating? A weird girl stood on the other side of the traffic, wearing nothing but a black robe.

But she had a tail and pointy ears. I thought it was just someone dressed up as a cosplay character or something. But the weirdest thing was that no one seemed to notice her. People phased right through her like she wasn't even there.

I blinked a few times to make sure she was real. Then, I crossed the road to look more closely.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I said, reaching out to her.

She looked at me in the eyes, and a smile crossed her lips. "Good night, Alex."

"What?" I said. "What do you mean?"

But when I reached out, she vanished in front of my eyes. I stood there in shock, trying to comprehend what had just happened. But in the next moment, I realized that I couldn't move my legs.

"Hey, what the hell?" I said. "Why can't I move?"

I stood in the middle of traffic, but no one around me seemed to care. I was like an invisible man. I tried to shout at the people nearby, but no words came out of my mouth. I tried to move again, but I was completely frozen.

Then it happened. A car came from the other side of the road, and I was unable to move out of its way. I closed my eyes as it hit me, and everything went black.

The last thing I heard was the sound of my ice cream cone hitting the ground with the same girl crouching over it.

"What a pity," she said. "It would've tasted great."

At least I got to see her panties before I died.