“Did you hear what happened to Emily last night?” Delilah asked, her eyes wide. She wasn’t exactly a genius, but hey, she’d made it into college. Maybe there were some untapped braincells just waiting to make an appearance. I nodded, watching her tear into her sandwich with gusto. “She totally got attacked! How bizarre is that?” I shrugged.

I stared out across the perfectly manicured, too-green quad. Sitting cross-legged on a beaten leather couch in the library has always seemed so much more comfortable to me than reclining on chemically-altered grass, but students are lying around out there all the same.

“I really need a tan.” Delilah’s still talking. I look down at the back of my hands. They’re really pasty, unappetizing. There I go, thinking of people as food again. I’ve only been sitting here a few minutes, but it’s already time for class.

“I gotta go, Bio.” I stand up, “We get to learn about crazy diseases today.” I pull my backpack straps over my shoulders and set off to the lecture hall.