"I'll miss you," I tell Her. Before She can respond, She's swept away by a group of crazy students. It's the last time I'll ever get to see Her.

She was my best friend, yet, at the same time, my worst enemy. The fact that She was moving wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that I was also in love with Her. I wanted to tell Her this, but I couldn't. Something prevented me from it. Instead, I went home and got on my favorite app. This app is great because I can connect with people who feel the same way I do.

I opened the 'recently posted' section and immediately saw something that piqued my interest. Some person named Anony_Mouse posted about leaving before she could tell a boy she liked him. I commented about my similar situation and soon enough we were messaging.

I guess we are similar, she says.

I guess so, I say. Then I ask her to tell me about her frenemy.

She describes to me the exact thing that I had with Her. I tell her about Us. About how I've loved Her for so long and how I was always too scared to tell her. She says that she "feels me," whatever that means, and how this sucks. She wants to see him one more time to tell him how she feels.

I don't respond to her, though. I don't want to. I'm suddenly struck with this feeling of regret for even talking to her.

What's wrong with me? I do not know. All I know is that I should not be messaging her. At least, I assume it's a girl. But never mind that.

Suddenly, the silhouette of a slim female appears in my doorway. A big grin crosses my face. My cousin, and close friend, Aria.

"What are you doing here so early?" I ask her. Since she lives in one of those college neighborhoods, she never really shows up until late at night. I had assumed that I had hours before she got here.

She walks in and turns on the light that illuminates my bedroom. "I was bored, so I decided to see what you were up to."

I smile at her and she crosses the room and sits on my bed. "So, what are you up to?" she inquires.

"Just playing on this thing," I say, motioning towards my laptop.

She nods. "I see. Want to do something better?"

I shrug. "Sure, but what? There's nothing really to do around here."

"Why are you such a downer? Come on, lets go somewhere." She hops up and makes her way over to me. Before I can protest, she slams my laptop shut and yanks me out of my desk chair.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Somewhere to get you're mind off of that girl," she answers. I send her a wondering look.

"Yeah, I know all about it," she laughs. "I'm not stupid."

With that, she pulls me out of my house.

One annoying car ride and two coffees later, we enter the parking lot of the abandoned Landrum Academy. The building that used to be home to the preppiest and richest kids in the state, but now houses nothing but dust and rats.

"What are we doing here?" I question.

"Meeting some of my friends," she explains. "They have been dying to meet you."

We crawl in through an open window near the back and start walking towards the old cafeteria. Two people, a male and a female, are standing together quietly whispering to each other. When they see us, the immediately stop.

"Hey guys," Aria greets. "This is my cousin. The one you've been begging me to introduce you to."

"I haven't been begging, Katianna has," the male declares.

The female, whom I assume is Katianna, raises her hand. "Guilty as charged."

"That's Samson," Aria says, pointing to the male, "and that's Katianna." She points to the female.

I awkwardly wave hello. I begin to feel out of place as I realize that these three people are all college students and I'm a mere high school sophomore.

"Aww, he's just as adorable as I imagined," Katianna coos. Aria tells her to shut up and I blush. That makes me feel even more unfit to be with them.

That's when I start to get a bit worried about what it is we are doing in this old, haunted prep school.

"Don't worry dude, we aren't going to do anything illegal." Samson assures as if he could read my thoughts.

I smile sheepishly, embarrassed that I thought they might.

"Hey, you wanna know a secret?" Katianna asks me. I tell her sure. "I'm sure you've heard that this place is haunted. Well, what no one knows is, we're the ones that haunt it."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I always hated this place. In case you didn't know, I use to go to school here. When I met Katianna and Aria, we devised a plan to somehow get it closed down. When it worked, we weaseled our way in and have inhabited this area ever since. We know ever crook and cranny. We know where to hide and not be found. We know how this place works and how to 'accidentally' cut on and off the disconnected electricity. When gangs come around, or teenagers sneak in on a dare, we do our thing and scare them off," Samson explains.

I find his answer a bit weird and, quite frankly, kind of idiotic. But I don't tell him that. All I say is, "Oh."

That's when I start to feel a weird invasion of privacy. Not physically, but mentally. It's as if someone is searching the innermost thoughts of my brain. I would say it was an ache, but it was more like an itch. Not an itch to scratch, but an itch to know. To gain knowledge. A powerful itch. One that can only be satisfied by one thing.

Hunger. It is hunger. Hunger for what? I have no clue. Then I realize, it isn't my hunger. And that's the thing that freaks me out.

I furiously look at my cousin for help. I mentally scream her name because no words can come out of my mouth. Without realizing, my hands go up to my head and start grabbing fistfuls of hair.

Other than Aria, only one thing is running through my mind: Invasion. I'm being invaded.

Then, all the sudden, it stops. The sudden emptiness of the hunger and invasion goes away and I'm mentally left alone. I crumble to my knees at the power of the removal.

And out of the ashes of those thoughts, new ones arise: Her. My best friend. My worst enemy. Anastasia.

For some reason, she's all I can think about. Besides, of course, Anony_Mouse. Wait, I'm thinking of something else. It's like a line... a connection of some sort...

Oh. Wow.

Could it be? Could Anony_Mouse really be my beautiful Anastasia? Maybe. Possibly. It would make so much sense...

"Hey Cuz, you okay?" Aria asks. Her words cut through my thoughts and consume me.

I don't know. Am I okay? What does okay even mean?

"Anything we can help with?" Samson questions.

I shake my head no as I pull out my phone. I have to talk to her. I need to talk to her.

AnonDuck: Is it you?

AnonDuck: I feel like it's you.

AnonDuck: Hello??????

AnonDuck: ARE YOU THE GIRL??? I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND IT MAKES TONS OF SENSE OH GOSH

I spam her with messages until she responds. Finally, she answers with a few questions marks, meaning that she's confused. I tell her that I believe she is the girl.

"Are you talking to that girl? What's she saying? I wanna know," Katianna pesters.

I ignore her because I get an incoming message.

Anony_Mouse: Are you...?

I want to tell her who I am, but I can't. To keep this app anonymous, you have to accept a user agreement saying you will reveal any names. Then, she suggests she says she'll say something that only the boy she loves will know. She's smart, just like my Anastasia.

I just stand there ignoring the rest of the world while I wait for her to ask me her question. The question that will determine if she's my girl and if I'm her boy.

The message pops up on my screen. She describes an event that happened a few weeks ago. It seems vaguely familiar, yet foreign at the same time. Something tugs at the back of my mind, though I cannot quite grasp the thought. And when I go to respond, I feel it again.

The hunger. The probing. The invasion.

All of the sudden, my mind goes blank.

Who is this girl messaging me?
Why was she in the men's room?
Why was the boy crying?

I'm confused. I'm so, so confused.

Aria appears at my side and starts rubbing my back. "I know what you're thinking. You thought it was Anna, didn't you?"

I sadly shake my head yes. Apparently, it's not. Wait, how did Aria know? I didn't tell her.

I go to ask her, but my mind goes blank again and forget what I was going to do.

"Why don't you tell her you're not the one she's looking for?" Katianna suggests.

I agree and tell her that I'm not the boy. It hurts to type because I know she's feeling exactly what I am and I know this will crush her.

Whoever she is.

Katianna, Samson, and Aria all engulf me in a warm embrace.

"There are other girls in the world," Samson explains.

I nod solemnly.

"It's okay. It will be okay, Noah," Aria consoles.

I smile, but I can't help but feel a little bit concerned. Something was off about these three. Though, I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Besides, why worry about girls when you have two new siblings coming soon?" Katianna says.

I chuckle. Then I realize, I haven't even told Aria about the twins. How does she know?

How do these people seem to know things I never tell them?