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be a major issue since Harry and I were room-mates, co-workers, best friends and spent all our time together traveling. Thismeant “us” living together, sharing bunk beds and hotel rooms, working and playing together, and hanging out in our free time.
    Harry struggled to keep his both love life and our friendship intact. He really liked her, and he was trying to make things work. But it was difficult, and after a year together it was beginning to take its toll.
    I was always walking on eggshells around Jackie because I didn’t want to hurt Harry’s feelings. It was like trying to relax with a ticking time bomb by your side.
Tick tock
. No sudden movements.
Tick
. Keep a neutral face.
Tock
. Stay away from Harry.
Tick
. You don’t want to piss her off.
Tock.
    It was only a matter of time before the explosion …
    After a few minutes of hushed conversation, he hung up and went to his room. Minutes later he was dressed up all handsome and ready to leave.
    “I’m going out to meet Jackie. Talk to you later,” he said in a hurry, waving goodbye and closing the front door after himself.
    The rest of us stayed home, chatting and chilling. Becca came over to discuss our schedule, telling us about the autograph signing we were scheduled for tomorrow in a famous bookstore downtown. When evening came, we ordered some food for dinner. It was a peaceful and uneventful night.
    After dinner, we all said our goodbyes and I went straight to the bathroom to take a hot shower. Tristan relaxed in the bed, watching TV.
    As I turned off the shower I caught a glimpse of a shadow outside the bathroom.
    “Tris?” I called out, watching as the foggy shadow advanced towards the bathroom door. I peeked out of thecubicle, sweeping my wet hair out of my eyes. There was no one there. “Tristan? Is that you?”
    No reply. Maybe Tristan had gone to the kitchen to grab a glass of water or something. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself and then put on my comfy PJs. When I walked into the bedroom, all the lights were out and Tristan was fast asleep in the bed, the TV lights flickering softly over his face.
    As I looked around the room I noticed that the door was open. I was sure I’d closed it before going in the shower, but maybe I just thought I had. I walked into the hall and leaned over the landing banister, surveying the living room downstairs. The lights were out: the house was quiet and peaceful. I squinted my eyes. Nothing moved; from up here, the room didn’t look any different than normal. I shrugged and went back to my bedroom. Maybe I was too tired and my mind was playing tricks. It was nothing …
    So why I couldn’t shake off this eerie feeling?
    I shut the door behind me and locked it. We had a pretty good security system in the house, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
    I scuttled under the covers and took the remote out of Tristan’s hands. I turned off the TV, leaving the room in near-darkness, the only light coming from a small beam which slippled through a slit in the blinds. My eyes were just adjusting to the dark when I saw a shadow moving by the wall on the other side of the room.
    The floorboard gave a tiny squeak. I started to freak out.
    Shadows weren’t supposed to make any noise, right?
    I reached out for the lamp on my nightstand, almost knocking it over in my urgency to switch it on. The lightflickered and then bathed the room in its soft, reassuring glow. I glanced urgently around the room.
    There was nothing there. I bit my lip, contemplating waking Tristan up. But then I just felt stupid, like those useless wimpy girls in horror movies that can’t do anything by themselves. I didn’t need to call Tristan. What was he going to do, anyway? Look around and find nothing, like I just had? It was just shadows playing in the room, I told myself; totally normal shadow behavior. And houses always made odd noises. I sat on the bed and huffed, annoyed at myself for being such a wimp. I’d never been scared of