We have shown a small bit of pride. While not substantial, it was exhilarating! Perhaps changing our personality a little will garner respect amongst our peers. Let us see what the rest of the day will reveal. The… teacher, as another mortal has called them, has apparently finished their lecture. We must now leave this room and venture to another? This seems wildly inefficient. Would it not be better, and less obstructive, if the teachers had switched rooms instead of us? I suppose if mortals made good decisions, less would follow the rule so early.

We stand from our seating and proceed to our next lecture with our friend. We descend down a flight of stairs to the previous floor as we converse of the note. We had informed her that no harm had been done, therefore it is not worth combating over. “Are you okay?” Our friend asks with a concerned tone. Have we failed at disguising our self? “We’re fine! Don’t worry!” We say with a soft smile. This was a regular action to take against this friend. They will often believe it.

“You just seem like you’re not yourself. Like, throwing that note out and the way you talk… It’s strange…” They appear to have noticed something. We may have miscalculated the impact of the minor motions we’ve made. We must flee from this situation somehow. As we decide this, a waste facility approaches in the hall. A… bathroom. “Sorry! We… I have to use the bathroom!” We quickly rush in without allowing our friend to respond. We exhale to calm our nerves. The weight of deceiving our friend is unusually difficult to bear.

This mind and body act in a way that it is not pleased to do, but that may be what made this mortal most upset with themselves. They did not have the courage to be who they wanted. We should return to our friend and simply tell them that we wish to behave differently than we once did. This way, there will be no more conflict to our change in personality. The door to the bathroom suddenly swings open. It’s the individuals who were speaking poorly of me in the prior lecture. From memory, we tend to avoid these mortals. They are not kind to us. As we turn to exit the bathroom, the two individuals stop us by blocking our way out.

“Hey! So just curious, what did that note from Brian say?” This individual is inquiring about the note? It contained nothing of particular interest. Why would they ask of it? “It wasn’t anything important.” We reply without making eye contact. Hopefully they understand that we do not wish to interact with them. One of these individuals quickly grabs us by the hair, lifting our head up to face them. “That’s not what I asked.” She says has she brings her face closer to mine. “I asked… what did the note say?” Suddenly the door to the bathroom opened. Our friend had entered with a disgruntled look on their face.

“That note was none of your damn business!” our friend shouted in our defense. Her interference had given our mind a sense of relief. The individual releases our hair. We step towards our friend as we rub our head. The individual looks as our friend with a hostile expression as she says “Just wait. You’ll get what’s coming to you. You and your whole friend.” This infuriates us, but we can’t continue to step too far from our host’s personality. We must back down for now. We exit the bathroom with our friend, defeated and humiliated.

Our friend walks with us. They are obviously upset over the event that took place. “I’m sorry.” These words leave our mouth involuntarily. Why did we say that? “It’s fine.” Our friend exclaims. We know it is not fine, but they are determined to hold a strong appearance. Our friend turns to us and looks us in the eyes with a serious expression. “This morning, I thought I lost you! I’m not gonna let you get bullied so you do something dumb!” The words they had spoken felt different than this mind has ever heard before. They made us feel safe, but… they also made us feel useless…

We want to shoulder our own burden so our friend doesn’t have to carry our problems, but can we do that without overstepping from this mortal’s original life? We… may need to change a little more… Let us hope we aren’t identified by doing so… We attend two more lectures together, then we arrive at a moment where my friend and I no longer share lectures. They stop me as we are about to part. “Don’t be alone for those girls to find you, okay?” We should heed their words. We must not let our guard down. We nod our head and continue on. From here until the end of schooling, we must manage on our own.

We manage to sit through another lecture, then a food intermission arrives. This will be interesting since we have not had food since our last host. We hope it is something delightful, yet easily eaten… we stand in line with other young mortals awaiting our turn to receive our food. We’re given our food. It appears to be a rather large portion of something called pizza. It looks rather stiff, but being that is was made yesterday, they had given us two pieces. This is a fair exchange. 

We sit at a long table on the far end where no other mortals are seated. This gives our body slight comfort. According to our memory, our friend is also supposed to be here. However, we don’t see her. As we eat, the two individuals who had challenged us earlier sit across from us. We barely give them so much as a glance as we continue eating. One of the two lean forward and whispers to us. “Hey whore. Wanna know where your friend is?” These words did not sound troubling, but we began getting frustrated. We stop eating. “Where?” we ask while trying to maintain our composure. “Check the bathroom.” One of the two says to us.

We glance at the two, understanding full well they had done something to her. The fury that fills us must be contained until we understand the extent of their hostility. We stand up and exit the room quietly. As we approach the bathroom, our dread and anger begin to climb. What could they have done to our friend? We open the door and immediately hear the soft crying of our friend. She sits in a secluded bathroom space. We knock on the door. “Are you okay?” our friend goes silent. “…This is your fault…” She speaks to us in a tone that hurts us emotionally.

“What did they do?” we ask calmly. Our friend quickly swings the door open. Her head is shaved in awkward and uneven patches. Small amounts of blood leaks from her mouth and scalp. “If you weren’t so weak, this wouldn’t have happened! I want to protect you, but not like this!” Her words… feel like a thousand needles piercing our heart. We feel the sadness swell inside of us as tears begin rolling down our face. This feeling… it’s unbearable! This is different from the previous pain we felt in a physically injured body. This is… much worse!

We can no longer hide our true nature! Following as this host would is not an acceptable lifestyle! We will solve this problem in our own way! We storm out of the bathroom as our friend shouts out to us. “Jessica! Where are you going?!”  Those words fall on deaf ears. Nothing else matters except…

Vengeance!