Ill Appearances

Chapter 8: Andy

"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.