The cap, part of the janitor's uniform, possessed social invisibility powers. Noah flitted between students, between doors and chores the days blurred. The minimal occasional nod from Malik in the hallway reminded him of his foolishness. What had possessed him to act like an entitled brat?

He was not anyone's beloved or object of desire, much less Malik's. The facts sent pangs of longing and fired his imagination...no. He damped it down. He had to apologize for his erratic behavior during one of their weekly meetings, which happened to be in a few hours.

He could do this.

The reserved smiles from Liz on the other hand mystified him. She flashed him a smile then as he emerged out of the locker room, free of his uniform and into his street clothes. Today she wore grey leggings in the boots Noah had seen her in before, topped with a knee-length, oversized sweater. She waved at him then crooked her finger.

Noah glanced behind him then back at Liz who nodded. No one seemed to mind them in the crowded hall. Up close, Liz's fuzzy sweater had the texture of a teddy bear. Noah resisted the urge to run his fingers over it to test the theory.

"Hey,' She said.

"Hi."

"Um. I was going to go do some shopping and was wondering if you wanted to come along? It would be nice to have some company and...yeah..uh...wanna tag along?' Liz said in record speed.

Noah cocked his head to the side. Why would she want to hang out with him?

Noah had an image of himself being stripped down to his boxers. His clothes no longer there to keep him decent. Carmen and Jelani hooting with laughter.

Retard.

Spaz.

Rat.

"Did Jelani put you up to this?"

Liz scrunched her brows, "Who?"

"Never mind," Noah muttered, "I can't. Plans."

Liz sighed, "I knew this wasn't going to work."

Noah's heart sank. This was a prank after all. For the past weeks Noah had tried to get his coworkers to warm up to him. He spoke French to Jelani and Spanish to Carmen which served to irk them further. Carmen said he was flaunting white privilege. Apparently there had been a hideous skirmish between the residents Mid City. The news coverage had snapped photos of banners screeching No immigrants, White Lives Matter and Get Out. Appealing to Jelani ended in a sneer and telling Noah to stay away from his girl. Entertaining a friendship was foolish but couldn't they at least co-exist?

"Alright," Liz snapped him from his reverie, "I was supposed to be subtle and make up a story so you don't feel awkward."

He didn't feel awkward, he was awkwardness personified.

"Diane put me up to this. She said you looked like you were going through something," Liz spread her palms," I could spend months shopping. You need to shop..."

Since the horrid clash with Malik he'd been floating in and out of reality, often neglecting basic acts to pass for a normal human being. The other morning Mrs. Forester caught him barefoot again.

What happened to your shoes Mr. Davis?

Mr. Davis, are you aware the campus is not a Laundromat?

Where do you think you're going, Mr. Davis? Today is a national holiday.

"What do ya say?" Liz said, fumbling with the ends of her ponytail.

"I..thank you...no..." He side stepped to let a professor pass.

Liz shrugged. "Tough luck. You're going. No excuses."

She moved to grab his arm and he stepped out of reach.

"I made a promise," she said, "I ain't going back to auntie with my head between my tails."

The corner of Noah's mouth twitched. She got the idiom entirely wrong. Tail between your legs, was the right idiom. Hers was funnier.

"Mrs. Forester asked you to talk to me?"

He couldn't wrap his head around it.

Liz's sheepish smile widened. "My auntie did but Diane agrees." Liz leaned to whisper, "she doesn't want her team to know she has a heart."

Noah rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn't imagine his stern boss requesting such a thing.

"By the way, auntie will kill me if she knew I failed the mission."

Mission. Noah was acutely reminded of Liz sneaking into the archives. Was she involved? If he chose to tag along, would he be able to figure it out?

"Is Mrs. Forester your aunt?"

Liz started walking. "She is my auntie's partner which makes her my auntie."

Noah nodded. Liz chatted the entire way. She told him about her classes, poking fun of the assignments, which seemed pretty easy and required minimal effort. When she spoke of acting however, she glowed with renewed energy. Her kind features transformed into something remarkable.

"There aren't many auditions," she mused, "There are hordes of girls too. Way skinnier than I am. A fat girl like me has to have something extra. It's where the clothes come in."

Noah caught her eye. "You're not fat."

"Thanks," she said unconvincingly," I wanna score leather. I don't have an edgy getup."

Noah shrugged, the fashion lingo lost on him. They walked beyond the café strip, stopping for the security mall entrance. Liz dropped her cross body bag and Noah copied her.

The mall was as bland as the malls back home. It was a three story building, decked out in a beige and white color scheme. The second and third floors had mass production clothing stores, by leaning against the hallway rails; the ground was a massive food court.

"Ah. Liz?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I don't think I can afford anything here."

If he'd had a credit card he'd have been able to buy entire stores. Ironically however, his fortune had been reduced to ten dollars. The ten dollars, the source of this week's pounding guilt, was courtesy of a retailer's cash register.

Liz laughed. "You think we'll shop here? These are for conformists!"

She led them beyond the popular stores. A quieter area on the same floor revealed a second hand store. The mannequins were piled with crochet hats, a teddy bear sweater similar to what Liz wore and a myriad of colorful scarves.

'It's a dollar store," Liz pushed inside, "They have a fancy section for the expensive stuff," she pointed at a section marked Steal Deals, "Its old designer wear."

A tall man, built and with a gut spilling over his leather belt followed them inside. A middle aged woman in a loose bun came and spoke to him for a moment. He flashed crooked teeth at the woman.

"Hey Liz," the middle-aged said.

"Hey!" Liz did a small wave, "I got ya a customer."

The woman focused on Noah. "Welcome is there anything in particular I can help you with?"

His mind went blank. Slowly he remembered the cold.

"Um. A coat?"

They combed through the musty store. Liz tried the most outrageous outfits saying Elton John would've loved her style. A knitted octopus hat fit Liz like a glove; soon they had a basket of quirky items Liz intended to use for her characters. There were designer high heels too. They would've suited Pink, if Pink could just see them... As for the coat, they were out of luck. Shoppers had snatched the good finds ahead of snow and blizzard season. They settled on a thick wool pullover instead of the coat. Liz assured Noah, since they were practically the same size, that if she did find a coat she'd buy it and he could pay her back.

Noah found he'd actually had a good time. While Malik gave him butterflies and made his heart sing, Liz put him at ease. They goofed around and laughed. Liz felt like...like...

A friend.

"Black is a classic." Liz said.

Noah hopped on the electric stairs. "Collects dog hair.'

"Oh my god! You have a dog."

That was a slip. "I used to. Had to give her up." His voice hitched on the statement. Liz had the grace not to comment.

"Hey Noah," Liz tapped on his shoulder, "This guy is creeping me out."

Noah caught Liz's finger before she could point at the man.

"You mean Tweedledum from the shop?"

Liz snickered at the Alice in Wonderland reference. "Yup."

Noah had noticed he'd been following them.

"Do you know him?"

"No."

Noah had an idea. "Do have a mirror?"

Liz frowned but unzipped the front of her bag. The compact mirror Noah had seen fall out of her bag on campus emerged.

"Pretend you're fixing your hair? Try to see if he follows?"

The rounded a corner. Liz pressed a flap and the mirror opened. She smacked her lips together, her manicured finger tracing the edges of her lip smearing a skin tone lipstick on them.

Noah's spine stiffened. His chest tightened.

"Is he following?"

"Uh-huh." Liz whispered.

Noah reached for Liz's hand. She was sweating.

"You know where we can get a cab?"

"Yeah."

Liz stowed the mirror back in its place. They got off another set of escalator stairs.

The man followed.

"On my count," Noah whispered, "Three. Two."

He still Followed.

"Run!"

They circled around shoppers, a mother yelled at them. Noah dragged Liz forward. The man picked up speed. Hot on their heels.

"Left.' Liz yelled.

They turned.

"At the exit sign."

They pelted out of the mall into the night to an arena. The black and white cabs were lined outside. Noah wrenched the door to the nearest one.

"As fast as you can," Noah said to the driver and shoved Liz and the shopping bags inside.

Liz's eyes widened. "You're not coming?"

Noah smiled at his friend and rapped on the hood of the cab. The driver heeded to his request, the cab's wheels squealed to life taking Liz out of harm's way.

Tweedledum was out a minute too late. He didn't catch the cab's license plates nor did he see where Liz went. He locked his gaze on Noah, his crooked teeth formed in a nasty grin.

Perfect.

A Hard Day's Night , a Beatles hit, was the fuel Noah needed to fly. The beats were in sync with his heart, he let go and felt his limps extend. Tweedledum did not relent. He crossed every turn. What he lacked in agility, he made up for it in stamina.

The night's sky darkened and the Beatles continued to Rock N' Roll inside Noah's mind.

A graffiti lined alleyway was Noah's choice of escape. It let to the Hound and there Noah could disappear between the hordes of society's forgotten.

"Mr. Gold sent me to talk,' Tweedledum boomed, "He didn't appreciate your joke with our boy Pink."

Noah ground to a halt. The voice, a deep bellied voice, came from over his shoulder. Yet here he was. Tweedledum was right before his eyes.

Steady, Noah commanded his heartbeats, not now please.

I refuse to panic. I will not go insane.

"Here boy," Tweedledum said with a mouth that didn't move.

Noah glanced behind him and the man was there. He was there in front of him too. Identical clothes and buzz cut. The only difference a gleaming wrist watch. Since a person couldn't be in two places at the same time and Noah was not insane yet, he figured;

Tweedledum had a Tweedledee.