Who Is in My Mother’s Skin?

Once the SATs were behind me, I was finally done with dorm life and came home. I hugged my blanket and rolled around on my bed.

Mom and Dad were eager to spoil me. They felt terrible about how hard I'd studied in school and how much weight I'd lost. Honestly, I felt like I was floating on cloud nine.

But one day, I noticed something felt off.

Senior year had been so packed that I barely came home. Even winter break was just a few days, so I barely spent more than 20 days at home all year.

Now that I'd been home longer, I could tell something was different, like there was someone new living here.

When the three of us were in the living room watching TV, I kept feeling like someone was lurking in a corner, watching me. It gave me the creeps.

We live on the sixth floor of a secure building. Mom was a stay-at-home mom, so realistically, no one could sneak in without being noticed.

I asked Mom about it while she was cooking. She tapped my forehead and told me that I was probably just wound up from studying, that my nerves needed time to settle, and that it'd pass soon.

But after half a month, the feeling only got stronger. I could still feel "it" sometimes right beside me, other times drifting by before me—like it knew the house inside and out.

I thought maybe the stress from school was getting to me, and that was why I was seeing things.