"Man, I've got no idea why you called me over," Collin said. "We're not even doing anything."
I stared at the football in his hand.
It was Saturday afternoon. Everything should've been just fine and dandy, but something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Collin, how much do you weigh?" I asked.
He gave me a bewildered look. "What?"
"How much do you weigh?" I repeated.
"Why do you need to know?"
"Just answer the question!"
He sighed. "Nearly two hundred, maybe more. Why?"
I attempted to swallow back the fear in my voice. It didn't work. "You ever feel like something's changed about you?" I asked quietly. "Then you go and look in the mirror, but everything's the same? And then you tell yourself that you're not going crazy, but deep down you feel like the world's coming apart?"
Collin gaze me a curious look. "What's going on, Andy?"
I met his gaze, unable to hold back my fear. "I don't know. One day I'm working out and lifting my normal amount, then the next day it seems way too easy. Then suddenly I nearly rip the door off my car, and then I snap a pencil in half by just picking it up."
Collin's eyes narrowed at me. "You don't seem like you're lying...but how can I be sure?"
I scowled. "That's your response to this?!" I exclaimed angrily.
"Woah," he said in a warning tone, "calm down! I didn't mean for it to come off that way."
It was then that I realized how hard my fists were clenched. I loosened them, seeming that my knuckled were turning white. I sighed. "Sorry. I've just...I've just been having a rough day. And about your weight, I wanted to know if that'd be able to help me figure out what's going on. I need to know how much you weigh so that I could see if it normally wouldn't take much effort to lift you."
Collin shot me another questioning glance. "What are you gonna do exactly?"
"You'll sit on my back while I do push-ups," I replied. "It normally would take some effort to do that, but if it's easy for me now my suspicions will be confirmed."
He sighed. "Guess it's worth a shot." He walked over to me and sat down.
I scowled. It felt like he wasn't even there. Frustrated, I did several push-ups like normal.
Collin yelped.
I stood to face him. "I'd never be able to do that normally," I said, my voice shaking. "Strength like that at my age and stature...it's not normal."
Collin stayed silent. "It isn't my place to tell you," he said quietly. "My advice is to ignore what's happening. The less you know, the better."
I gave him a bewildered look. "What?"
He just shook his head. "I hope you're day gets better. See you later."
I stood there in stunned silence as he exited my room. The silence continued until my phone started ringing. "Carmen," I breathed. I nearly lunged for the phone, grabbing it up eagerly. "What's up?" I asked.
"Please come help me," she whispered. "I ran into Steven while I was out and he won't leave me alone. I managed to get to the bathroom, but he's waiting for me outside."
I scowled again. "You at the mall?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"I'll be right there." Anger began to bubble up in the pit of my stomach.
After about fifteen minutes of searching, I found Carmen.
Her shoulders relaxed at the sight of me. "Look, Andy's here so I should go," she said to Steven, hurriedly making her way to me.
Steven quickened his pace as well. "That hardly matters. You can just hang out with me." He reached for Carmen's hand, but I got to her first.
"She's with me," I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. I pulled Carmen to my side, then shot Steven an icy glare.
"What's your deal, man?" he asked. "You two aren't even dating."
"Y–you're wrong!" Carmen stammered. "W–we are dating!"
"Yeah right," Steven sneered. "I've never seen you together once at school. I'm sure if Andy had a girlfriend the entire school would know."
"I'm sorry about this," I whispered to Carmen, then pressed my lips to hers. To complete and utter surprise, she kissed me back.
Steven scoffed. "Whatever."
I immediately pulled back after he left. "I'm really sorry," I mumbled. "I don't think he would've left if I hadn't--"
Carmen laughed. "It's fine." She smiled, lacing her fingers through mine. "Let's get something to eat."
I sucked in a breath. Seemingly having no choice in the matter, I followed her to the food court.
She gave me a sheepish smile once we got in a line. "I didn't ask if you were hungry before dragging you here."
"It's alright," I said, returning her smile.
"Good. We'll get ice cream, then."
I nodded.
Carmen suddenly let out a yelp.
I frowned. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," she stammered. "I...I'm just feeling a bit queasy right now. Can we go sit down?"
I led her over to a table. "Are you sure you're okay?"
She nodded. "It's probably just stress. Maybe I should go outside...?"
"I'm not sure. Do you think you just need some fresh air?"
"Maybe..."
I helped her up again, then led her outside.
She leaned against a tree. "Wow, I'm dizzy," she breathed.
"I can go back in and grab you a bottle of water," I said.
She shook her head. "I'm fine. I just need...need to rest for a bit."
Suddenly, the smell of smoke filled my nose. "Carmen!" I exclaimed.
She jumped back just in time to see the tree burst into flames. She fell into my arms, a sigh escaping her lips.
"Crap," I hissed. I didn't have the time to find someone to put out the fire. I needed to get her to my car. I picked her up and walked into the parking lot. I didn't waste time getting to my car.
"Call Mara," Carmen whispered. "Please..."
I grabbed her phone.
"Carmen?" Mara's voice asked.
"It's Andy," I replied. "Carmen and I were at the mall and she wasn't feeling good. She wanted to get a bit of fresh air, and she ended up setting a tree on fire."
Mara was silent for a moment. "Get her to Castar's," she said finally. "I'll meet you there." She hung up after that.
I scowled. "Guess that's what we're doing." I tried my best to stay under the speed limit during the drive to Castar's lab. Getting pulled over for speeding wasn't an option at that point.
