Maxe told herself Leo must be sick – too sick to text her.
When she arrived in the schoolyard, she saw her friend near the front door. Maxe made a beeline for him. She was angry.
2
Maxe woke up next morning more tired than ever. She’d had nightmares all night long. She kept trying to save Leo, who was being held captive in a cage floating in space. She got ready for school and went to wait for Leo on the front porch.
But he never turned up. Nervous about being late, she decided to leave without waiting for her friend. Leo always came to get Maxe every morning so they could go to school together – every single morning since their very first day at school.
“Leo! What are you doing here? I thought you must be sick! Why didn’t you come to get me?”
“Where’s it written that I have to come and get you?”
Totally dejected, Maxe watched Leo go into the school.
There’d been something “off” about her friend since the day before. Her hunch was confirmed in class. Leo was no brainiac.
He was an average student – but not today. In French class, he was suddenly perfectly bilingual. In math, he won the mental arithmetic contest. He even beat Timy, the unbeatable “human computer.” Maxe called him that because he was like a computer on legs.
He was super smart in math and computer science.
Timy went to see Maxe after class, knowing she was Leo’s best friend. Maxe was surprised. Timy never spoke to anyone.
“Leo left without you?”
“Yeah….”
“Did your friend have a brain transplant or what?”
Maxe really didn’t like it when people dissed her friend.
“Maybe it’s you who’s getting soft.”
“No way. Your friend’s had an update. You know…”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s what you do to improve the performance of your computer.”
“Leo’s not a computer. But you’re right, there’s something ‘off’ about him.”
They decided to walk together for a while. Maxe was so worried about her friend that she needed someone to talk to.
“Leo’s been behaving really weird since last night. I even had nightmares about him.”
“I love nightmares.”
“You’re weird. Who likes having nightmares?”
“I do. So tell me about these nightmares of yours.”
“They were all pretty much the same. Leo was in a cage, floating in space shouting, ‘I’m not myself.’ And today the nightmare goes on. Leo’s not the same. He ignores me and suddenly he’s head of the class.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being head of the class.”
“I know, but suddenly shooting up to head of the class overnight, how likely is that?”
“You think Leo’s not the same?”
“That’s what I just told you.”
Timy went home, leaving Maxe to think about what he’d just told her:
“If you think he’s not the same, maybe that’s because it isn’t him!”
