Chapter 12
Ana went to college the next day.
She found Tiffany outside the cafeteria, picking up a donut and a bottle of water, by herself and oblivious to Ana's presence.
"Hey," Ana said quietly. Tiffany stilled. "Hey." She responded. 'Well this is bad,' Ana thought. She didn't think Tiffany would stay mad for this long. "Listen Tiffany, I'm sorry I haven't told you yet, and for what Megumi said, I swear she means well, she's not that bad-" Ana got cut off by Tiffany's stare. "Do you think I can't keep a secret?" Tiffany asked blankly. "Y'know Ana, despite my sort of, spontaneous nature," Tiffany made a blowing up motion with her hands and rolled her eyes, "I can keep my mouth shut when it's important, I know when to be serious. Thought my own best friend would know that."
Ana faltered and bit her lip. She knew Tiffany wouldn't tell anyone, why was she even keeping int a secret from her?
Ana sighed as Tiffany stared at her with a raised eyebrow. There was only one thing Ana could do in this situation. As she looked up and met Tiffany's eyes, she came to her decision.
"Okay." Ana said. "Okay?" Tiffany asked, eyebrow still raised. "I'll tell you. Everything. But it can't be here, at my apartment, I'll show you what I've been hiding."
This seemed to lighten Tiffany's mood. Ana gave her a sheepish grin. "Walk with me to class after I get some food?" She asked. Tiffany nodded, a smile playing about her features. "Sure Ana."
--
Ana felt great now that Tiffany wasn't mad at her anymore. Despite her mind being preoccupied with learning how to use her new power, Ana still missed her best friend. She really wanted to show Tiffany all the things she could do, get her opinion on Ana's identity, it was all stuff she wanted to share with her best friend.
"-And she keeps calling me to tell me that he won't take her back, like yeah girl that's what happens when you sleep with his brother-!"
Ana cringed as she listened to Tiffany, loudly, update her on all the gossip she'd missed over the weekend. She could tell Tiffany was happy about the two of them talking again too, because right after she had finished rattling off her story, she turned to Ana with a shit eating grin that made Ana's stomach drop almost instantly.
"No- what- stop-" Ana spluttered, but it was no use. Once Tiffany was in 'Ana humiliation mode' there was no taking her out of it.
"SOO-" Tiffany started. "No no no we have class! We don't have time for this-!" "Tony was soooo worried about youuu!" Tiffany loudly teased. "LA LA LA LA – I DON'T HEAR YOU!" Ana yelled, speeding down the hallway. She heard a few people snicker and make comments like "Didn't realize we were back in middle school." But Ana didn't care. Her face flushed like a tomato when she was embarrassed and Tiffany has been exploiting that since day one.
As the two of them speed walked, because they couldn't run, throughout the hallway, Ana found herself laughing and a weight coming off of her chest. She was glad Tiffany was her best friend.
--
Tiffany wasn't free during Ana's free period, a renowned brain surgeon and their midwife spouse were coming in to speak with and answer her class's questions, so Ana didn't bother her for the time being. Tiffany is fascinated by the human body and could easily be doing a majority of the questioning right now.
Ana wouldn't be surprised if Tiffany had taken over the class at this point.
So fate brought Ana, alone, rushing down her school's hallway, going down to the robotics wing. During her first class she couldn't help but find herself sketching and scrapping designs for her new costume, even though she had spent all evening after she left Megumi's brainstorming.
She had two designs she had decided on, though she wasn't able to decide on which costume to go with, both of them used the same technological accessories, which is why she was going down the robotics hall.
She had a friend in this department, and she wanted to ask them if there was anyway that these devices could work.
Ana darted around the hallway, nearly bumping into another student. She was about to mutter an apology when she saw who she bumped into. "Sanchi!" The dark-haired girl blinked in surprise, shaking her head slightly before replying. "Hey… Analise right?" She asked.
Ana cringed slightly at the use of her full name but nodded. "Ana's fine." Sanchi nodded. "Okay." Ana was buzzing with excitement, Sanchi was in the robotics department, and the second person she was looking for. Another great thing about Sanchi was she was dating the first person she was looking for-
"Sooo, did you need something?" Sanchi asked awkwardly.
Ana blinked in surprise. "Oh! Yeah- I'm sorry! I was looking for you actually!" Sanchi looked confused. "Me? Why?" "Well you and Ron technically. Is he here? I wanted to ask you guys something." Ana said, bouncing on her toes. Sanchi sighed. "If this is about the lacrosse team wanting those super kickers again-" "No no no, it doesn't have anything to do with- what?" Ana asked as she processed what Sanchi had just said.
Sanchi only held up a hand and shook her head.
"If you don't know it's best to keep it that way." She sighed. "Riiight.. I promise you guys it's not that, I just need to know if something's possible-" "Of course it's possible!" Sanchi replied on instinct. Ana looked slightly taken aback. "I- I didn't tell you what it was yet-" Sanchi grabbed Ana's arm and started pulling her down the hallway.
"Well then we're about to find out now aren't we?" Sanchi called over her shoulder.
--
Sanchi had brought Ana into one of the empty classrooms that were full of spare robotic parts, blueprints, and a white board covered in equations. Ana felt incredibly overwhelmed just looking at the stuff, she thought microbiology seemed impossible.
Sanchi stopped in front of a table where a guy with sandy blonde hair was pouring over something that Ana couldn't see. "Rob!" She called. "Yyyyup!" He called back. "You know Ana right?" She asked. Rob paused for a moment. "Ana who? Anna Baker?" "No, McGregor." Ana piped up. Rob looked up from what he was working on. "Oh you!" He called, setting his tools down and walking around the table.
"What's up?" He asked, a smear of oil on his face.
"Ana wanted to know if something was possible," Sanchi said, tilting her head towards Ana. "Pfft, anything is possible, it's all about execution!" Rob called, pointing to a model of a robot duck with smaller robot ducklings walking around on the table next to him.
'Cute,' Ana thought as she watched them.
Ana snapped back to the two of them. "Right!" She said. She reached over her shoulder and pulled her bag in front of her, pulling a small notebook out of it, then hiking the bag back over her shoulder. "I drew this- randomly heh, uhm, I was wondering if there was any way to make this a reality."
She handed off the notebook to Rob and Sanchi, who looked at it with interest.
"Well this looks like it would be self sustaining." Rob muttered to Sanchi. "Didn't you work on something like that last term?" Sanchi asked him. "Yeah but I didn't end up passing, I haven't had the chance to come back to it since I took on that other thing.." "Yeah.."
Ana awkwardly adjusted her bag. "Well if you guys don't think it can be done.." Ana said, reaching for the notebook. Rob immediately held it just out of her reach. "Who said it wasn't possible?" He asked. Ana bit the inside of her lip. "It's not that complicated really, the glasses are interesting though." Sanchi stated. "You doing a cosplay or something?" Ana looked confused. Sanchi shrugged. "That's what most people come to us for.." She said. "That or something for a project."
Rob was still looking at the drawing Ana had done.
"It looks interesting, it could be a fun side project." He said, snapping a photo with his phone then handing the notebook back to Ana.
Ana held the notebook to her chest and looked at the two of them gratefully. "You really think you could do it?" She asked them. Sanchi looked back at the photo and nodded. "Sure." She shrugged. "It's really not as complicated as you think it is, Ana."
The bell chimed overhead, signaling there was ten minutes until the start of the next period.
"Ah, shoot. I have an essay to turn in." Ana muttered. "Thanks for your help you guys." Ana told them. Rob shook his head, "It's fine! I've been bored to tears with these assignments anyhow." Ana smiled at them a final time before waving and speed walking back to her classroom.
Despite the final bell sounding when she was already inside the classroom, her professor still somehow deemed her as being late and spent ten minutes ranting about time management before allowing her to sit down.
--
Lunch time found Ana and Tiffany outside the campus, Tiffany holding her turkey and lettuce sandwich and fruit salad looking apprehensively at Ana scarfing down a Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, right after she had just shoveled down a large plate of pasta and two bottles of water.
"…Hungry?" Tiffny asked as Ana somehow pulled a box that was some sort of fast food that Tiffany could tell out of her bag. "Are you.. sure that's still good?" Tiffany asked. Ana gulped down half of her third water bottle. "I forgot I had it," Tiffany's face paled. "It was for breakfast; I was going to eat it then but I just decided to by some after I talked to you." Ana clarified scarfing down a cold breakfast burrito.
"What… has happened with you recently? Are you finally going through all those growth spurts you missed growing up?" Tiffany questioned. Ana halted her buffet eating and gave Tiffany a flat look. "Ha ha." Tiffany grimaced. "Please don't talk with your mouth full…" "No. You deserved that one."
Ana finished the rest of her water. "Megumi told me I need to keep up my calories or else I'm gonna crash again, like what I did the last time I was at the diner. I can't go back to my regular eating schedule yet." Tiffany looked concerned. "Yeah but if you keep eating like this won't you develop unhealthy habits? This is a lot of food Ana.."
Ana brushed her off.
"Trust me, after I hear another report on food and kitchen-based bacteria, I'm not going to be able to eat food for another two weeks." Tiffany shifted and took a few of Ana's fries. She looked around and leaned in closer to Ana. "Do these 'changes' have anything to do with what you're going to tell me later?" She whispered. Ana bristled slightly, then nodded. Tiffany leaned up and looked around again, satisfied that no one else was privy to their conversation.
"There's a lot to talk about," Ana told her as the warning bell rang, "But first I have to survive said class."
--
Ana was back at the diner, apparently another waitress had been hired so a lot of the workload came off of Ana's shoulders now that she had two people helping her.
She had been welcomed back by the rest of the crew after she assured them she was one hundred percent better, and after Stepanie did a thorough inspection of Ana's arms, and went back to work with no issues.
Tiffany came in near closing, which reminded Ana that she had promised to tell her everything, and only now beginning to slightly regret doing that. Tiffany was incredibly persistent, and if she was told she was getting something, she made sure she got it, especially if it was an explanation.
She and the rest of the crew were cleaning up and getting ready for closing so Ana decided to check something in the back room while everyone else was distracted.
She had slipped her cellphone into her skirts apron pocket and swiftly entered the backroom.
There was nothing inherently wrong with her going in there, in fact there was no real reason for her to feel nervous. It was just her intent to search around for something that made her feel like she was being sneaky.
Ana noticed she didn't feel any extraterrestrial desire to go back into the room this time, and Ana supposed it was because she was strong enough to resist Zalic's tricks. She pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, not bothering to check if the light had been fixed, it never was. Immediately Ana noticed something was wrong. The room had been cleaned, which wasn't too alarming, but it was alarming that she couldn't find the box she had gotten the rings from.
Ana searched the room up and down but was unable to find anything, not a track of the box or even a stray packing peanut, the box was gone.
Trying to contain her panic, Ana ran a sweaty hand through her hair and searched the room again, and again, and again. She found nothing. No secret entrance, nothing hidden behind the shelves. Nothing, zilch, zero. Ana let out a breath, getting slightly frustrated at this turn of events.
Ana was so immersed in searching the room that she didn't even notice the door opening until she heard Sally call her name. "Ana?" She said curiously, making Ana nearly jump out of her skin. Ana whipped around and stared at Sally, who was slightly taken aback by Ana's demeanor.
"Yes?" She responded, in an attempt to seem calm.
Sally shifted. "We're about to finish up, and your friends looking for you.." Sally glanced at the light in Ana's hand. "Are you looking for something?" Sally asked cautiously. Ana glanced at the light. "Uh, yeah but I can't seem to find it.. Has anything been taken out of here over the past few days I've been gone?" Ana asked. Sally thought for a moment. "Well… The owners came by, asked for a few things, but other than that…"
Ana felt her blood run cold.
"Do you know what it was exactly?" Ana asked. Sally shook her head. "No.. They were in quite a rush for it though, seemed way too important to be something just kept in a back storage room.." Sally cocked her head at Ana. "Did you know what it was?" Ana shook her head. "Not sure what they would be looking for.." "Really?" Sally questioned. "Seems like you guys might've been looking for the same thing.."
Ana let out a cold breath as she stared back at Sally, a whirlwind of questions going through her mind. "I'm sure it wasn't." Ana said lamely. "Just something I put back here for safekeeping; I was hoping it would still be in here." Sally held up her hands in defense. "Just messing with you." She smiled.
Though the smile didn't reach her eyes, and Ana wasn't convinced.
"Some stuff did get thrown out though, maybe Tony knows what you're looking for. He might've saved it for you…" Sally trailed off. "Yeah," Ana said, a nervous smile on her face. "Yeah I think he might." Ana turned off her phone's flashlight and walked out of the room, Sally moving out of her way.
"He seems to know a lot about you.." She said quietly.
Ana stopped in her tracks and turned back to Sally. "Sorry?" Sally turned to her and shook her head, her smile once again not meeting her eyes. "Nothing, nothing. Ignore me." Ana nodded stiffly before walking over to the counter, shivering slightly from that interaction.
When she approached, both Tony and Tiffany could tell something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" They both asked at the same time.
Ana gave them a tight-lipped smile before addressing Tony.
"Do you know if anything… important was taken out of the back room?" Ana asked Tony. Tiffany's gaze shifted between them. Tony bristled for a moment. "I-Important like what?" He asked, letting out a nervous chuckle. Ana shook her head slightly. "Important. Like anything. Something that maybe wasn't supposed to be here?" Tony looked confused at Ana's line of questioning.
"I'm not sure.." "Sally said the owners came and asked for some stuff out of the back room." Tony bristled further. "I'm really not sure what they got but…" Tony trailed off, sparing a glance at the back room, and Ana didn't miss the shudder when he looked back. Tony snapped out of his gaze. "I'm not sure what was back there but they were eager for it. In and out quick. Didn't even care to look at inventory or the register, just left."
"And you didn't see anything weird?" Ana asked him seriously.
Tony squirmed a bit. "No, Ana, what's with this line of questioning? Your stare is so intense I feel like I'm being interrogated.." "There's no reason it should feel that way-" "Ana, are you, okay?" Tiffany asked her. Ana took in a deep breath. "I'm good, I just, had something in there. It was important and I need to know what happened to it." Ana said.
Tony gave a half curious, half nervous look.
"Could you tell me what it is?" He trailed off. Ana looked back at the room for a moment and caught Sally's eye. Sally gave her a blank stare and quickly went back to what she was doing. Ana narrowed her eyes. 'What was this girl's deal?' "Ana?" Tony called.
Ana snapped back to him. "It's fine. If you didn't see what they took it wouldn't be much help. I'm sure once they realize they took the wrong thing they'll ask about it. Sally also said some stuff got thrown away so, maybe that's it." Tony nodded slowly but didn't look convinced.
"Sso, Ana, you ready to go?" Tiffany asked slowly.
"Mhm." Ana nodded, her tight smile back again. She quickly grabbed her bag from under the counter and went back into the bathroom to change, thoughts turning over in her head as she did so.
What exactly did the owners take? What on earth was in that backroom besides the box from Zalic's lab that they would need to get immediately? Were they really working for Zalic?
Does this mean she still isn't strong enough to resist Zalic's calling?
Ana burst out of the bathroom, a sudden fiery rage within her. She strode out into the main hall, getting confused looks from the new waiter and Tony and Tiffany.
"How important was that thing exactly.." Tiffany asked.
"It doesn't matter, let's go, I've kept you waiting for how long already." Ana said, hiking her bag over her shoulder. Both Tony and Tiffany looked taken aback. "Uh.. You guys need a ride?" Tony asked. Tiffany turned to Ana. "Could we? I really don't want to take the bus after what those doctors told us today." Tiffany said. Ana cringed, but nodded. She remembered her first year of microbiology. She didn't touch anything without disinfecting it for a month.
"We'll be outside." Ana said, shuddering at the memory. Tiffany followed suit, giving Tony a confused look when she chased after Ana. Tiffany called for Ana to wait up but for some reason Ana just couldn't calm down. There was something that was infuriating her that felt just like the chip that was calling her. It was suffocating. She barely even noticed when Tiffany finally caught up to her.
"I don't know what the hell you were looking for back there, but he knows something. I've been cheated on enough to tell when somebody's lying about something." Tiffany said as the two of them continued speed walking away from the diner.
"Yeah, well he's not the only one." Ana muttered. Tiffany paused. "What do you mean?" Ana huffed. "Sally, she found me in the back rooms, it seemed like she knew more than she let on." Ana felt a gaze on her and saw Sally in the doorway, staring at her with a look that could kill. Ana gave her a hard stare back, wondering what the hell happened to Sally that made her go from cheerful and quiet to… whatever this was. Like an angry younger sibling that's jealous the older one has something they wanted.
"I get weird vibes from her." Tiffany said, following Ana's gaze. "There's just something that doesn't.." Sally had left the door way as Mike began locking the door. "..sit right with me.." Tiffany finished.
"I know what you mean," Ana huffed, looking back at Tiffany. "When we were in the back room I saw something shift. She had a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and she made a weird comment about Tony always knowing what I wanted." Ana said with an uncomfortable sneer. Tiffany mirrored the expression before shifting back into her regular stereotypical mean girl stare as Tony approached.
"Smells like jealousy.." She trailed off as she adjusted her lip gloss.
"Well now you know what it feels like to be left in secrets limbo." Tiffany told her. Ana rolled her eyes and walked in front of Tiffany. "When we get to the apartment, I will tell you. And this thing that happened tonight is going to seem a lot more severe once you know." Ana glanced back at the diner.
"What do you mean?" Tiffany asked, concerned. Ana gave the diner another hard stare as Mike pulled down the awning and tossed the keys to Tony, all while still bickering with Stephanie.
"It means that the owners of that diner could be involved in some shady business."