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“Wow,” says Mak, raising an eyebrow at me. “I didn’t realize Theo hosted foreign exchange students…”

“I’m not hosting her,” I say quickly. “My family is. My parents. They host…Catholic students sometimes, through the church. She’s visiting to…to try and see if she wants to do…grad school here.” The words tumble out of me and I wonder if Annoth is somehow influencing them. I can barely even think right now.

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Mak squeals. “Where are you–”

“Hey, Makie,” I interrupt, “we’d love to chat, but we’re actually on our way to a-a…private campus tour…for Annika. Can I promise to text you later?”

“A text?” Mak hisses, smacking me in the arm with her bundle of fliers. “Seriously? Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been about you? Ros keeps saying you’re alive and you’re fine, but…fuck, Theo! You’ve had us all scared to death!”

“I know!” I groan. “I know, I’m sorry! Look, it’s just been really rough.”

“Youknowyou can talk to us about it!”

“I just haven’t wanted to bother anyone with all the woe-is-me–”

“Oh, quit that stupid toxic bullshit! You’re not like that! You’ve never had a problem talking about stuff before.”

“I just…didn’t know what to say, alright? This is different than…anything else I’ve been through. I felt like I had to deal with it on my own.”

“I get it, Theo,” says Mak gently, putting a hand on my arm. “I just hope you know that we’re all here, whatever you need. We miss you!”

“I know,” I tell her with a smile. “I promise I’ll get there. What are you pestering people about anyway?” Mak works for the city, doing marketing for tourism and recreation, but she also volunteers with a lot of local non-profits, and I can only assume that’s why she’s out on a Sunday morning with a stack of fliers. She eagerly hands me one and bounces as she explains.

“It’s a fundraiser for the city animal shelter! We’re bringing some animals up for adoption, and a bunch of local vendors are selling pet stuff, plus there’s going to be a cash bar and food trucks. You need to come out!”

“Brilliant,” I chuckle. “Get people drunk and then convince them to adopt. I like it, but…will Ros be there?”

Mak frowns. “I thought you two were on good terms.”

“We are, I guess, but I just…don’t think we’rethereyet.”

“Well, she probably won’t be around. Didn’t you see? She got a new job back at your old high school.”

“I haven’t been on social media at all,” I mutter.

“Oh, well, that’s good,” Mak laughs. “It’s terrible for your mental health. I doubt Ros will be there though, so you have no excuse, other than the fact that you look like the Wolfman.” She grins and reaches up to prod my beard.

“I’ll do my best to be there, Makie, and I’ll do my best to get a haircut first,” I promise, taking the flier and putting it in my pocket. She leans in and gives me another spine-crushing hug, then smiles at Annoth.

“So nice to meet you, Annika! I hope you can make it too!”

“If Theo goes, I will go also,” Annoth says in her fake accent. I fight the urge to roll my eyes and Mak lifts another eyebrow at me, then bounds away to harass a group of church-goers just leaving a service around the corner. Annoth rushes tocatch up when I start walking away quickly, tamping down on my emotions, unwilling to let her take advantage of them again.

“You almost fucking killed me,” I hiss at her.

“Younearly killed the both of us!” she snarls back. “What were you thinking?”

“I was having a panic attack! I couldn’t think straight, and I don’t want to be your little puppet, Annoth!” I stop walking and turn to face her. “I don’t want to hurt people, ok? I’m trying to find you a one-way ticket home, but you won’t stop fucking around! If you’d have just stayed inside me like I told you to–”

“Very well!” she snaps, folding her arms and averting her eyes. “I will no longer attempt to take advantage of your emotions, ifyouwill swear not to harm yourself.” There’s something different about her demeanor, as if watching my near-death experience actually put the fear of God into her. At least now she knows I’m not bluffing, but I still don’t trust her. I turn and continue toward the church we’re headed for, hoping that we aren’t too late to catch the priest outside after Mass. Annoth falls into step beside me.

“Did they give you acting lessons in Hell too?” I ask. “That accent was something else.”

“I saw a television program that mentioned foreign students visiting your universities here,” she replies with a shrug. “The woman on the program had an accent, and I thought it might make a sufficient cover story for you.”

“That was…very good planning,” I tell her, refusing to actually say thank you. She doesn’t respond, and we’re silent for a good portion of the walk, but I can’t help noticing that she seems interested in the city, taking everything in as if she’s on vacation in another country. Everything seems to fascinate her, and I can hear her reading the signs under her breath. Even looking as normal as she possibly can, I notice that she attracts plenty of attention herself. Both men and women check her out as we walk by, then they see me and raise their eyebrows. Probably because I look like a hobo and she looks like a Victoria’s Secret model.

“Your city is cleaner than I expected it to be,” she remarks as we wait for a light to cross the street. “I was told that human cities are cesspools of filth and sin.”