The air felt heavy. It was a familiar environment. One that I had previously felt safe in, but my new identity made me nervous. I couldn't tell them who I really was. I just had to keep this lie going, no matter what. Being here with people I knew quite well that didn't know the new me was what made me so uncomfortable. I ended up answering their questions as honestly as I could, trying not to say things that my old self was.

"Why don't we go to my room?" suggested Kat.

"S-sure." I responded.

I wasn't really sure how to feel about entering a girl's room. Since I had become a girl myself, it should be fine but, I still had the same mind from my previous gender! Before I could say anything else, Kat grabbed my arm and dragged me all the way to her room.

"I could have just walked here myself." I said.

"Sorry," replied Kat, "I just couldn't help myself."

"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked.

"We've known each other for a little while now," said Kat, "so I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn more about me."

Oh, you already know plenty. 

"So, where did you come from?" she asked, "It's almost as if you appeared out of nowhere!"

"Well..." I started.

"What's even weirder is how it's almost as if you've replaced Christopher!" she said.

"Don't be ridiculous!" I responded, "Nobody is replacing anyone!"

"How could I not think of it as strange?" asked Kat, "You suddently show up and your cousin has disappeared. The timing is very weird."

Crap. Was she catching on?

"So, where are you from?" asked Kat.

"Out of town," I said without thinking, "I'm here because of certain circumstances..."

"What kind of circumstances?" asked Kat.

"That's... classified." I replied.

"Come on," she said, "aren't we friends?"

"What do you want?" I asked.

"So do you like doing the same things as your cousin?" asked Kat.

"Huh?" I said.

"Well, you're a lot like him so I figured you'd have similar hobbies."

"I... guess?"

"So... what are those circumstances?"

"It's a secret."

"Come on!"

Her questions wouldn't end. Katrielle just kept asking me one thing after another and at least half of these questions were things I wasn't comfortable answering. I felt myself getting overwhelmed, so I ran out of her room and into the hallway where I tripped in front of Phil's room.

"Christina?" I heard Phil say, "Are you okay?"

I slowly got myself up off of the ground.

"I'm fine." I said, "I think."

"Is Kat bothering you?" he asked.

"Kind of." I said, "She kind of just dumped a lot of questions on me."

"Christina? Where'd you go?" we heard her say.

"Quick, in here!" he said, leading me into his room.

Without really thinking much of it, I went into his room.

"She won't bother us in here... probably." he said.

"You don't seem very sure of that." I replied.

"Anyways," he said, "she'll probably calm down after a little while."

"You're not going to start asking me questions too, are you?" I said.

"Look," said Phil, "I know there's a lot we don't know about you, but I know there are a lot of things you're not comfortable talking about."

"Th-thanks." I replied.

"Don't go looking under the bed," he said, "I don't even have anything under there."

"I know." I responded, without thinking.

"What?"

"What?"

"Did Christopher tell you that?"

"Ah, yeah, I think he told me."

I wasn't really thinking about it, but all the other times I was in this room were before I had even transformed. I knew a lot of things because I had been in there before. 

"Well, that aside, are you okay with being in my room?" he said.

"...Yeah, it's fine." I replied.

"It's just that... you seem pretty comfortable being in here." he commented.

"Is there a problem with that?" I asked.

"Ah, no, no... but it's almost like... you've been in here before." he said.

"Th-this is my first time in here." I replied.

This wasn't good. Things were starting to feel a bit awkward between us.

"Um..." I said.

"What?" replied Phil.

"Are you... not happy with me?" I asked.

"What gave you that idea?" asked Phil.

"It's just that when I showed up, Christopher disappeared." I said.

"That's just a coincidence, right?" he said.

If it only it were that simple.

"I heard from Christopher that you were disappointed that the two of you couldn't hang out." I said.

"Yeah," said Phil, "I know he's busy and all but I feel like he's been avoiding me lately."

"S-sorry." I said.

"Hey, it's not even your fault." said Phil, "Don't worry about it."

But is my fault. If only it were possible to be honest with him about this, but I don't think he would believe me at all.

"I'm sure the two of us will be able to hang out again." said Phil.

"I hope so." I said.

 

***

I wasn't really expecting Christina to show up at my house. My sister was the one that invited her over, but she ended up spending most of her time with me. I don't know what it was, but something about talking to her just felt nostalgic. It was like I was talking to an old friend. Perhaps she was someone I knew a long time ago? That's what I was thinking, anyways.

However, I know she's hiding something. I don't think she's a bad person and I'm sure she has her reason, but whatever she isn't telling me has something to do with my best friend. I wanted to be nice and not pry, but in my head I kept coming up with questions to ask her. Questions that never left my mouth.

Her conversation with me was a little odd too. Did Christopher really tell her himself that I didn't hide anything dirty. When I questioned her on that, it seemed like she wasn't sure about something. Then, there's the fact that she seemed fine in my room. I want to believe it's a coincidence, but so many things are bothering me about her, including her sudden appearance and the "replacement" of Christopher.