Her presence was announced with an innocent tinkling of the bell dangling just above the coffee shop’s door. Though in reality she was known quite well for her luscious golden legs and the brilliant auburn hair cascading down her shoulders, my eyes were drawn immediately to the devilish horns spiraling out from her skull, curving haphazardly around her pierced ears. Alexis flashed me a toothy smile as she removed her designer sunglasses, hanging them on the V-neck of her frilly white blouse before making her way over to me.

“Tara! It’s me, Alexis, the one with the apartment ad,” she introduced herself cheerily, blue eyes sparkling with excitement. Duh, we grew up together, remember?

Our history was extremely complex, to say the least. Having met in kindergarten and spent every waking moment together until a few years ago, it was almost insulting for her to act like I wouldn’t recognize her by the sound of her voice alone. I can still hear those parting words she gave me ringing loud and clear in my ears at night: how does it feel to be so alone?

I should’ve run away screaming, but for some reason, I smiled and asked, “hey, how are you?” Sitting down across from me, the imaginary version of Alexis made herself comfortable, gracefully shifting one leg over the other and leaning back in her chair.

“I’m a lot better now that my ex has finished moving the rest of his stuff out of my place. It’s so much less cluttered everywhere—I can finally walk through my living room without tripping over his shoes or his dumb video games! Boys love their junk, if you know what I mean,” she giggled, winking suggestively at the end. I almost choked on the Frappuccino I had been sipping, sputtering in utter disbelief.

In hindsight, I should’ve found it odd that the same day Derrick agreed to take over my apartment’s rent and moved in was the same day Alexis’s “ex” moved out. It was all too perfect to chalk up to coincidence, but I failed to give it much thought.

My mind was focused elsewhere.

“Do I get my own private bathroom?” I asked, regaining my composure and glancing up from my whipped cream-smeared straw. To my surprise, Alexis’s pupils had transfigured themselves into vertical slits amidst their pale blue irises, but she hardly seemed to notice.

“You guessed it,” she laughed, adding quickly, “and don’t worry, I made Wes clean it before he left.” Was that why Derrick smelled of ammonia on our date yesterday? “By the way, I’m seriously jealous of that nose ring you have. It looks so cute on you!”

“Aww, thank you!” I managed, swallowing down the bile rising in my throat. Her sugary sweetness, tempting as it might’ve been, was completely overshadowed by the turn of colors her eyes had taken on. Rings of amber gradually consumed her gentle blue gaze, closing in at such an imperceptibly slow rate that I assumed it was a trick of the light—until there was no more blue to be found.

“Why did you do it?” I whispered suddenly, breaking free of the constraints of my memory in a feeble effort to attain some real answers. Alexis paused her friendly act to gawk at me, her eyebrows and mouth screwing up with an air of disgust and mockery about them. “Why?” I repeated, asserting dominance through my steady gaze.

“Because it was easy,” she scoffed as if I were daft to think anything else. “Ricky told me all about your little donut date, said you were pretty cute. He’s not wrong, especially judging from those pictures he sent me while you were out together,” Alexis continued, viperous eyes glinting with malice. I shrank down in my seat unconsciously and twiddled my thumbs in my lap silently for a moment.

“I’ve known you practically my whole life, all your secrets, dreams, and goals,” I mumbled, clearing my throat uncertainly. Tears pricked my eyes, distorting the table dividing us. “Whenever we fought, you painted yourself as a victim while calling me negative, weak, pathetic, and so much more. You screamed at me, belittled me, in front of everyone around to hear. Over the years, I watched our friends come and go, warning me behind your back of the kind of lowly person you were, and every time, I defended you.” The sudden scornful laugh that came spewing from her mouth punctured a million tiny holes in my small balloon of self-confidence, deflating it in an instant.

Flashing a wicked grin, she asked, “am I supposed to care?” Amusement glimmered in the haughty expression of her face, fangs looming over her full pink lips. “It was your choice to stick around—nobody asked you to. And for the record, none of what I said was false. You whine constantly, you can’t hold a job, you gave up on NA where literally all you had to do was show up, and after all that time spent practicing, you never got a single callback,” she paused for her words to sink in before going for the throat, “maybe that’s why your dad left after your mom died?”

The chair beneath me screeched in protest as I jumped to my feet, leaning in dangerously close to her with a mixture of pain and fury marring my face.

“Listen here, you trashy horse-faced tramp. This is my dream. You’re not going to work your manipulative psychological bull crap and bat your eyes at me like it’s nothing. If you hate me so much, why set me up with your boyfriend? I mean, what kind of sociopath do you have to be to send your boyfriend off to court your former best friend? What’s the point?!” I snapped, my voice growing louder and louder by the second.

She had a knack for “coincidentally” showing up during my dates, often joining us to light-heartedly tease me in front of Derrick. Other times they would both be missing, leaving me no one to talk to for hours on end. On the other hand, I’ve seen Alexis go out with dozens of other guys—was it all fake? Were they even real dates or just actors involved in her elaborate scheme?

“We’re done here,” Alexis announced brusquely, rising from her seat and turning towards the door. “Go talk to Ricky or something. He’s better at handling idiots.”