The morning after her fateful encounter with Europa and subsequent dinner plans was eventful. Christa was finally able to get a good night’s sleep and woke up refreshed. There was a weight lifted from her shoulders, though she knew this was only half of the battle. She and Talullah had to have a successful dinner for the plan to reach its conclusion and for Christa to reap the benefits, but she was concerned with thinking as positively as possible. When the teen left her room, she greeted her father and explained that one Talullah Cowden was free for dinner sometime that week and that she was a vegetarian, so the meal would have to be adjusted. Christa would help to the best of her ability.

Initially, her father was skeptical (due to his waning trust in his daughter recently), so he put her on the spot by asking a series of questions on this new dinner guest. Father and daughter sat at the dinner table for this exchange and for once, Christa didn’t see this coming. “Talullah? You haven’t brought her home before. Where does she go to school?”

Christa closed her book and sat back in her chair, organizing and reorganizing the information Talullah had given her about herself specifically for this purpose. Lists and modules would be made swiftly so as to keep up the appearance of knowing Talullah less superficially and more intimately. “She went to Meadowview as a senior last year, just recently graduated. She’s going to DCU in the fall, but I don’t know what her major will be.”

Alright, one hurdle down. Her father was hunched over a cup of coffee with the morning paper to his right. It was untouched, still crisp, indicating he would read it, but this matter was more pressing for the time being. “And how did you meet Miss Talullah? What brought you two together?” After another sip of his coffee, Benjamin’s eyes sought out his daughter’s and searched for any evidence that she was inventing this new friend as a way to sedate him and avoid the consequences.

Part of her wanted to blurt out that Talullah was involved in the same war she herself was, and as Europa, was a sort of mentor figure. Europa’s only form Christa knew of was that of an Eternal, one of the highest ranks a senshi could obtain. It was through her guidance that Christa was able to retrieve and dismiss her henshin pen and cell phone, and learned to ascend to space and visit the moon of her previous birth. But all of that sounded absolutely crazy to anyone not involved in the war in any appreciable way. No matter how much she wanted to, Christa knew she couldn’t say a word about it. “She and I are both into literature.” the teen started, quickly sifting through the information she had remembered from their last meeting. “And we were experimenting in athletics. She’s a swimmer, and a very good one at that.”

“Did you take lessons from her or something?”

Christa shook her head in the negative. “No, not exactly. I decided I wanted to try running track after seeing one of the meets during school. I liked the idea of the wind in your face rather than the chlorine in your hair. Besides, it makes me look green.” She idly picked at the book’s peeling cover as she spoke. “Talullah gets away with it without any problem because her hair is dark.”

Ah, a physical description. This Talullah person was almost starting to sound real. Benjamin felt a pang of shame in his disbelief of his daughter. He wanted to trust her, he really did, but something in gut told him it didn’t feel right. A sudden injury, some new athletic ability after denouncing it most of her life, a disinterest in writing horror and sudden interest in space smacked of something unusual. His daughter wasn’t the kind of person to suddenly change, not like most kids who experimented with identity in their younger years. “Can you tell me what she’s like? I’m interested to know how you two get along. Obviously she must think highly of you to accept the invitation. Why haven’t you brought her over earlier?”

The barrage of questions made Christa nervous, but she went about answering them in a mental list form which seemed much more manageable and more natural when spoken. “She’s a dedicated person – very interested in knowing everything she can. We’re very similar like that. Sometimes we’d stay in the library researching whatever struck our fancy because we just love knowing things.” There, that was one part of Talullah she knew to be true no matter what form she took. There were other things she noticed as well. “She’s very patient, especially when explaining things to me that I don’t understand. You know how that is.” Her father nodded and smiled, visibly relaxing as the description went on. “She’s a year or so older than me and she’s involved in a lot of activities. I know she was at least involved in the swim team and that takes up a great deal of her time. Now DCU prep has a hold of her, but she’s put time aside for us.”

“We should be thankful then.”

Christa nodded again. “And don’t forget that she’s vegetarian. She didn’t ask for anything specific, but I told her about those veggie patties you have in the freezer. Maybe she’d like those?”

There was a look of distinct satisfaction and relief on Benjamin’s face. His daughter apparently passed the test thus far, and she could tell her father was pleased. “Make sure to tell your brother to behave himself with our guest. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but he’s girl-crazy lately. Must be hormones.” And with that, Benjamin took up the paper and opened it, prominently displaying a headline that spoke of more terrorist activity and what the city would or would not do to protect its citizens.

If they only knew.

(Word count: 1,00 cool