I always get too much food.

The performance would be resuming soon, so I was wolfing down the snack, wishing for water, and slipping through the crowd of almost-familiar people. It’s difficult to concentrate on staying calm when I feel so self conscious.

Ahead stands a couple, blocking the double doors. By reflex I slow my pace, watching as another girl in purple excuses herself, exiting the auditorium as she moves past them. Approaching me now with a smooth gait, I notice her dark, styled hair, expressive eyebrows, and black plastic-framed glasses. A kind of knowing smile graces her mouth.

“Hello,” she says cheerily, catching my eye, moving away before I can return the greeting.

My brain, at that moment, could have been a choking VCR. I hastened back to my seat, unsettled.

That could not have been her. I would have recognized her. Such a brief glimpse wasn’t enough to tell for sure-

We are plunged into darkness and music plays. The rest of the play is nearly ruined by the distraction.

Who is she?