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“Same as last time.” A low, mechanical beeping echoed from the speaker of your phone, prompting a slight frown to tug at your lips. Though you'd only tried calling the number twice, the last time being yesterday, you received the same busy tone as you had before. “Maybe it's not a real number.” Unable to come up with another explanation, you nodded to yourself as you ended the call. “Yeah, that's probably it.” As you shoved your phone back in your pocket, you caught a flash of red hair disappearing behind a nearby corner. “What the...” Confused, as you were sure that had to be Kallen, you found yourself following after her. If she was running, did that mean that someone was chasing after her? Worried that this might be the case, you quickened your steps.

When you turned the corner, which led to a small, dead-end of an alleyway, you realized that no one was perusing her. Though her hair was in a drastically different style than usual, and she was facing away from you, you could still tell that it was her. “This should do.” Not bothering to see if anyone had followed her, Kallen pulled a deep red bandanna from her hair, letting her hair fall to her shoulders once more.

At this point, you weren't sure if you should just walk away and hope she didn't notice you, or if you should say something. Not all that confident in your ability to be stealthy, you quickly decided to call out to her. “Kallen, is that you?”

“What?” Spinning around to face you, her usually kind eyes narrowed into angry slits. If Kallen had an evil twin, this is what you would have imagined her looking like. “Who are you?”

Her question made you want to laugh and cry at the same time. Were you really that forgettable, or was her memory simply that bad? Forcing a weak smile onto your face, you sighed. “You forgot me again, huh? I don't know why I'm surprised.”

“Forgot?” Her voice was far different than what you were used to as well. Actually, everything about her was different. As she studied your face, however, trying to place where she knew you from, her expression and tone softened. “Wait, it's you, from that game.”

“Yeah, it's me.” She hadn't remembered your name, but then again, you weren't actually sure that you'd ever given it to her.

Suddenly looking much more like the Kallen you knew from school, or that you thought you knew, she began gently brushing her hair into place with her fingers. You weren't sure how she managed it, but even her frame looked frailer than it had just a moment ago. When she spoke to you in a quiet, delicate voice her transformation was complete. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw you running and thought you might be in trouble.” Too confused to even speculate what was actually going on here, a crease formed between your brows. “I guess you're just feeling a lot better. That's good.”

Realizing now that you had seen far more than she thought you had, Kallen started to look worried. “I'm fine. At least, I'm not in any trouble.” Turning her eyes to the ground, she tried to come up with a way to explain herself out of this. Quickly giving up, she slowly let her eyes meet yours again. “Just, forget about all of this, okay?” Almost begging for you to keep this incident quiet, she placed a slender hand on your shoulder. “Please?”

“I don't think I can forget about this, but I won't tell anyone about it. It's none of my business anyway.” No matter how curious you were about all of this, it wasn't your place to interfere. Fully intending to keep your promise, no matter how difficult it might be, you offered her a slightly awkward, but honest smile. “I'm just glad your health has improved.”

“Thanks.” Looking almost guilty, Kallen lowered her hand from your shoulder and nodded.

“Don't mention it.” Nodding in return, you started to leave but stopped yourself. “Before I go though,” Suddenly nervous about asking, your hands turned clammy. Hoping she wouldn't notice that fact, you held up your phone so that she could see the screen. “...Is this the right number? I've tried calling it, but I just get a busy signal.”

In a matter of seconds, Kallen's went from looking confused to shocked and then finally guilty. “Oh...”

That answer, or lack of one, confirmed what you had been trying to deny all along. No longer able to deny it, your heart dropped to your stomach, leaving an empty feeling in its place. “You gave me a fake number, didn't you?”

“I didn't know you, so giving you my real number could have been dangerous.” She did have a point, and a good one too. When you thought about it that way, it was pretty hard to blame her. “I just didn't want to seem rude.” Her voice growing quieter with each sentence, Kallen looked down to the old, cracked pavement and sighed. “I guess giving you a fake number was still pretty rude of me, but I honestly didn't think you'd ever call it.”

“Oh.” Now understanding why she'd done what she had, you couldn't blame her. You weren't sure you would have just given away your number to someone you didn't know either. “That actually makes a lot of sense when you put it that way.” Feeling much better about the whole situation, you simply deleted the number from your phone. “Still, without having your real number, that lunch date's never going to happen.”

Judging by the flash of confusion that filled her eyes, Kallen had forgotten all about that too. “I didn't think you'd remember that.”

“I did.” You would have still enjoyed going to lunch with her, even if she did seem to lead some sort of strange double life, but if she was actually interested in doing the same, you doubted she would have forgotten. “Apparently my memory is a lot better than yours.”

“Yeah, it seems that way.” Her sights downcast once more, she nodded again.

A few seconds of silence was all it took to turn an already awkward situation unbearable. Not wanting it to get any worse, you decided it best to excuse yourself. “Well, I'll just, let you get back to whatever you were doing then.” Taking a half step back, you smiled as you prepared to leave. “Sorry for bugging you.”

“Hey, wait.” Snatching your phone from your hand almost before you noticed it was gone, Kallen punched in her number and saved it to your contacts. “There.” Giving a firm nod, she held out your phone. “That's the real deal. You can call it now just to be sure if you want.”

“Right.” Though a bit hesitant to do so, you reclaimed your phone and dialed the number she had given you. This time, there was no busy tone on the other end, it was actually ringing. A second later, a phone Kallen was holding began playing a cheerful little tune.

“There, now you know it's real.” Slightly flushed, as if giving you her number had been an embarrassing experience, Kallen returned her phone to its place. “I still can't promise I'll answer if you call me though, since I'm usually pretty busy, so a text might be better.”

Her embarrassment quickly proving contagious, you nodded as you managed to force out a single word. “Alright.”

Looking relieved for some reason or another, Kallen took a deep breath in as she smoothed her hair back once more. When she let her eyes meet yours again, she was wearing a warm, cheerful smile. “Now, I should really get going before someone else sees me.”

“Huh?” Too busy wondering how she managed to change her appearance so drastically, and with such ease to focus on what she was saying, you found yourself agreeing without knowing exactly what you were agreeing to. “Oh, okay.”

Her cheerful smile still lighting up her face, Kallen stepped past you. As she reached the end of the alleyway she turned around just enough to wave goodbye. “I'll see you at school.”

Returning her wave with one of your own, you watched her disappear around the corner. Once she was out of sight, and out of earshot, you couldn't keep yourself from sighing. “I doubt it.”