Pulling At The Red Thread Of Fate - Chapter 4 - We're Definitely Not In Kansas Anymore. free porn video

Pulling at the Red Thread of Fate - Chapter 4 - We're Definitely not in Kansas Anymore. The period of time from the locker room to when I got into my car with Jen and Steve was a blur as I went through the motions of showering and getting changed. I wasn't even bothered by my earlier locker room hang ups because I was still trying to work out in my head what had just happened with Mike. I don't want to sound hyperbolic or hysterical about finding Mike attractive. By any measure, I'm sure anyone would find him quite handsome and despite my status as the starting quarterback, I knew that he was definitely more popular with the girls. Intellectually, I accepted this as fact... but this truth had no material impact on me BECAUSE I WAS NOT ATTRACTED TO HIM. I mean... at any other time, in any other place, maybe... I turned beet red as I realized that I was now in that other time and that other place. I pounded the wheel with a fist to try to break myself out of whatever spell Mike had obviously cast on me. If I think about this rationally - or at least as rationally as someone who is trapped in a body of a girl in an alternate universe can be - this is simply a function of biology. My body simply responded to its physical, biological urges. Just like I was able to tap into the depths of Ally's engrained physical ability, I was just inadvertently tapping into some of her other baser biological functions. Clearly my body was responding to Mike's pheromones, triggering this otherwise UNWANTED reaction on my body's behalf. That's science! Jen broke the silence by quipping, "So, I guess you're ARE a girl." I shot her an angry look and let out a frustrated scream, before starting the car and driving out of the parking lot. "That's not funny!" Steve, whose curiosity was piqued enough to look up from his phone, asked us, "What are you two talking about?" I suppose I couldn't blame him for being curious. He woke up to his sister screaming like a banshee in the morning and here she is again, going crazy at the end of the day. That didn't mean I had to humour him though, and I simply ignored the question by focusing on my driving. Jen was certainly game though and said with a slight air of annoyance, "Ally asked out Mike today!" I gripped the wheel with my hands as I tried to control myself. With my jaw clenched, I responded as calmly as I could in an angry staccato, "That's. Not. What. Happened." Jen shook her head and disbelief and ignored me as she went into more details, "Your sister here ran up to Mike and started flirting by playing football with him. Then they almost kissed!" From the tone of her voice, she seemed to be mortified by my behaviour... or perhaps even a little disappointed at how brazen she seemed to think I was. Certainly, she seemed to have no problem regaling my brother with what was already starting to feel like a mythical story. "I. Was. NOT. Flirting!" I insisted, knowing that I was starting to become the lady who doth protest too much with how much I was trying to deny it. My brother let out an annoyed groan, "So all that drama this morning was about Mike? You scared the shit out of Mom and Dad." "No, you little twerp! That was..." I stopped mid-sentence and went silent. Mom and Jen were probably more worried about my hysteria to actually give any thought to what I was actually trying to tell them, but how would someone actually react to me telling them that I was a boy in a girl's body... and that I had a completely different life? I glanced at Jen, who was shaking her head like a disappointed parent and sighed. I did promise to talk to her again, but now she seems convinced that this was all about me having a nervous breakdown over Mike. I shook my head and finished my thought, coming up with some excuse, "That was something else, okay?" "Whatever. Mom's going to freak when he finds out you have a boyfriend though." A convenient red light allowed me to stop the car and turn around to face him, "First of all, Mike is not my boyfriend. Second of all, NO ONE is going to tell anyone ANYTHING." I tried to give him a stern look, but he just had a shit-eating grin on his face. I let out a grunt of frustration and turned back to face the road, waiting for the light to turn green again. Sensing my frustration but not understanding why I was frustrated, Jen leaned in and gently stroked my arm, "It's not that big of a deal... everyone likes Mike. Even my Dad likes Mike. He probably would have thrown me party if I told him he was boyfriend." She sounded a bit wistful... was she jealous? I know "my" Mike and Jen were friends, mostly through me as their mutual acquaintance, but I never picked up a vibe between them. Or maybe I just never noticed it... I started accelerated again and shrugged my shoulders, "You can have him as far as I was concerned." I felt a little pain in my chest when the words left my lips, as if my body was protesting the mere suggestion of giving up Mike to another woman. I must not have sounded very convincing either, because I could hear Jen sulk as she sat back into her seat and said, "You don't have to be mean about it." I really didn't want to get into a fight about how much I didn't want to be with Mike, so I just let it go for the time being and continued to drive in silence. The muffled sound of video game noises started emanating from Steve's headphones as he got bored of our conversation and went back into his own world, as Jen stared out the passenger side window, occasionally sneaking glances at my reflection when I didn't notice. I didn't mind silence because it gave me time to think. I'm not going to be here long enough to have to worry about dating Mike that's for damn sure. The physics thing was at least somewhere to start that made any sort of sense. I'm not sure what I'd do if I was in a coma or trapped in a computer or something. Jump off a cliff and hope the shock would wake me up before I hit the ground? Desperate times would call for desperate measures, but as much as I wanted to get back to my own life, I don't think I was ready to gamble on that yet. Ms. Chang's impromptu lecture gave me some hope, but even I could tell she didn't really believe what she was saying. But I'm living proof that something unusual has happened to the physical properties of the universe... I just need someone to see that. As we pulled into our street, I glanced over at Jen who was still moping and perhaps lost in her own thoughts. Jeez, if she really had a thing for Mike, maybe I could help her out while I'm here. Another quick pang of heartbreak hit me again as it was clear that Ally, or at least this body, had her own opinions on the matter. Ugh. The last thing I needed was to be in the middle of a damn love triangle. I was supposed to keep a low profile so I could go about my business without drawing attention to myself, not make myself the center of all gossip. I stopped the car in my driveway and could hear Steve quickly hop out of the car and start banging on the trunk for me to open it. I popped the trunk open to stop his incessant banging and watched as Jen quietly opened the door before turning back to face me. "Listen... I... I know you've liked Mike for a long time. You never said it, but I know. And I really am happy for you, okay? Just... I don't need your pity." "Jen... that's really not what I meant. Besides, believe me when I say nothing happened." I could see her roll her eyes before pointing at my phone by my side, "You might want to check why your phone has been blowing up for the last 10 minutes or so." With that, she got out of the car and closed the door behind her as she quietly walked up to her house and stepped inside. What was she talking about? I looked down at my phone and flicked it to wake the darkened screen. "You've been tagged in a photo!", it said, followed by what seemed like an endless list of notifications. I swiped at the tagged notification and gasped as I saw the picture. It was me, standing in the middle of the field, staring up at Mike as he held my hands. A wave of happiness washed over me as I devoured the photo with my eyes, my imagination wandering as I imagined how similar it looked to a wedding photo, where the groom would slip his ring onto his new wife's finger. "NO!" I startled myself with my own exclamation of protest and my attention wandered back to my phone to read the caption - TRUE LOVE! - and saw that one of the JV girls had posted it on the one of the school's bigger groups. I let out a groan of pain as I realized that everyone would be talking about it now, and given the amount of reaction emojis and comments, news of interaction with Mike was spreading like wildfire. I locked my phone, but not before my body decided to save a copy of the photo, and tossed the phone aside as I tried to disappear into the car seat and escape - at least mentally, if not physically - from this terrible, terrible reality. I must have been in the car for a while before I saw my Mom come out of the house to look for me. I didn't react until she came up by the car and knocked on the window, "Honey..." I turned to face her and smiled as best I could, before opening the door a little to give her the signal to let me open the door. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. No sense in worrying my parents I suppose. "Sorry Mom, I was just lost in thought for a moment." She walked to the back of the car to help me with my bags before slamming the trunk door shut and wrapping an arm around my shoulder as she led me into the house and whispered apologetically, "I'm sorry I didn't have time to talk to you this morning... we're just in the middle of a really important case at work..." I leaned into her and gave her a side hug. I guess even this version of her worked too hard sometimes. I was a bit envious of Ally in this moment, because I never had a close relationship with my Mom. I mean, I loved her of course, but most of my free time I spent with my Dad talking about sports or construction or cars or whatever. Ugh, was I so pedestrian and clich?? When I get back to my life, I'm going to make sure I spend some more time with Mom even it meant spending a day with her at that stuffy law firm she worked at. I released myself from the side hug and shook my head. "I just have something going on that I'm dealing with, but I'm handling it." She stopped and turned to face me with a look of concern, "You know you can tell me anything right? I know I've been busy these last few months, but I promise I'll make time for you if you need me." She was being so sincere that I had to resist my instinct to deflect from the awkwardness by making a bad joke like telling her that I was pregnant or something. Instead, I basked in the glow of maternal love for a moment and gave her a big bear hug. "Thanks Mom. I really appreciate it." I heard her yelp a little in surprise before she returned my hug, before tapping me on my back. "Okay, I'm finding it hard to breathe now..." I laughed as I released her from my grip and we continued inside. We parted ways at the stairs as I headed back up to my room while she went to the kitchen to help my Dad with dinner. I absentmindedly did some chores as I cleaned out my bag and tossed my uniform into my hamper before picking out a clean one from the closet for tomorrow. I looked at my phone again and saw more notifications and a ton of messages that I purposefully ignored. One of them might from Mike... I pushed the thought away as I really didn't want to deal with that right now and resolved myself to focus on the only thing that mattered to me at the moment. If this really was some kind of alternate universe, then I just need to find a way to get back to my own life and leave Ally here with a pleasant surprise to deal with. Sitting at my desk, I turned on my laptop and typed 'Many Worlds Interpretation' into the browser and was confronted by a wave of scientific jargon that I didn't really understand. I found myself watching some videos on the subject, and as much as each host tried, I could barely get a handle on the subject. That was when I noticed that one of the videos was from a Dr. Rowan from the University in the big city. I searched her name and found her page on the Physics department website and one of her research interests jumped out at me - Quantum Theory! I scoured the page until I could find an email and excitedly clicked it. But just as I was about to start typing, the same realization I had earlier when I was in the car with Jen struck me. What the hell was I going to actually write? "Hi, everyone thinks I'm a high school girl but I'm actually a boy from a different universe. Please help send me back!" Yeah, I'm sure that wouldn't get deleted instantly... I decided to try a different tactic: "Hi Dr. Rowan! I saw your video on Quantum Theory and I'd love to be able to chat with you sometime! I'm a high school senior who really loves Physics and would like to learn more! I'm sure you're really busy, but I'd appreciate any time you might have to share with me. Thank you so much! -Allison McCarthy." Hey, I'm a teenaged girl. I'm allowed to use all those exclamation marks! I clicked send before self-doubt made me delete the message and put off reaching out to the doctor before I heard my Dad call out to me and my brother to come downstairs for dinner. As I sat down at the dinner table, Dad noticed that I had put on his shirt again from this morning and glanced at Mom, as if expecting her to react. She deftly ignored him and instead focused on Steve who was glancing at his phone which was constantly vibrating, "Could you turn that off please?" "It's not my fault! These random girls keep trying to send me messages!" That got my Dad's attention at least. "Girls?" Steve looked at me as he responded, "Yeah, SOMETHING happened at school today and for some reason they think I know all about it." "You know, back in my day, I'd have died for girls to call me at home." I couldn't help myself. "Like, with an operator?" I held my hand to my ear and put on an old-timey voice from some video I had seen. "I'm so glad to hear from you, doll-face". My Dad seemed slightly mortified but jokingly responded, "Doll-face? How old do you think I am?" We both shared a laugh as Mom shook her head at us and told Steve to turn off his phone again. He grunted in frustration as he turned off the phone completely, shooting me another annoyed look as he did so. I hoped we had the kind of relationship where we would have each other's backs at least, but I guess I'll find out if my parents suddenly feel the need to have a "very special" conversation with me at some point. A thought occurred to me as I ate. I assumed Ally was a virgin after all... but I have no idea if that's true. I didn't notice any pills in her bag at least... I suppressed a shiver as I put that thought out of my mind. I'm sure if I told myself yesterday that sex would be the last thing on my mind and I would want to stay as far away from it as possible, I wouldn't have thought I was going crazy. But here we are. Mom, ever the lawyer, steered the conversation back to what Steve had mentioned and asked the both of us, "So what did happen at school today?" Steve and I looked at each other briefly before turning to face mom and replied in eerie unison, "Nothing!" Well, that certainly wasn't suspicious at all. She narrowed her eyes and stared at us, like a predator deciding which prey she would strike first. She was clearly in cross-examination mode and I knew how dangerous she could be. She gave me a kind smile as she focused on me. "Now what could be driving all the girls crazy, hmm?" Plead the Fifth! I knew whatever I could have possibly said would have been picked apart by her sharp legal mind, so I stared straight at my plate and began to fiddle with my food my food. "Hmmmmmmm," she hummed contemplatively before turning to face my brother, "I suppose you don't have anything to say either?" Steve knew better than to answer her as well, and for a moment all anyone could hear was the sound of metal forks clinking against porcelain as we ate in silence. If she was anything like the Mom I knew though, there was no way that she would drop the issue. When my brother and I would do something bad, she'd eventually get us to confess, and I'd have no doubt she was already formulating a strategy to get an answer out of one of us. It was just a matter of who she would break first... Dad, who hated the awkward silences that would come when Mom entered her "parenting mode", tried his best to change the subject by asking, "So Ally, how were the boys today? You think they'll be ready for next week's game?" I almost choked on the bite of food that was in my mouth before I forcefully cleared my throat in order to clear it. I could see my Mom narrow her eyes at me as she was starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but she kept her cards close to her chest as she simply passed me a cup of water. I tried my best to ignore her and turned to face Dad. "Umm, I think they're fine... they're practicing really hard." My Dad snorted, "After last year's blow out, I hope they've been." I glanced up to see Mom still peering at me, but I directed my attention to Dad and asked, "Do you have any video of the game?" He'd often take footage of my games when I played, but given the circumstances... He shrugged his shoulders, confirming my suspicions and offered, "I mean, maybe a little bit? You have the video of the routine you and the girls put together at least." I couldn't help but be a little disappointed, despite the fact that it made perfect sense that he'd have no stake in the game itself beyond being an alumnus. I suppressed a smile as I remembered the photo of the yearbook I took earlier today, but decided to keep it to myself for the time being. Instead, I thought I'd ask him for his opinion, "So why do you think they got beaten so badly?" He gave me a thoughtful look, perhaps a little confused about why his daughter might care about his opinion on a game played nearly a year ago, but he provided me with a serious answer, "They got crushed by the blitz and couldn't move the ball at all." "What about Roger?" I asked, assuming the team would have tried the ground game. "The running back? I know you're focused on the cheerleading, but did you forget he broke his arm in the game before?" Wow. I suppose it would make sense that the most drastic changes would impact the one thing that I did the most, but hearing about how last year seemingly went to hell was a bit of a shock to me. I nodded solemnly as some of Ally's memories surfaced, as Roger's replacement simply wasn't able to run the ball at all. Mom saw the lull in our conversation took the opportunity to clear her throat and directed a request to Steve, "So Steve, you'll be helping me with the dishes today." I shot her a look before turning to my brother. I saw the deer in the headlights look that he had - he knew this was part of her divide and conquer strategy. I quickly interrupted, "Steve has had such a long day, I'll be happy to help out instead!" She turned to face me and gave me a rather sinister smile. "Oh no honey, you had such a long day yourself with cheer practice and everything. Besides, I really want to spend some time with your brother to 'catch up' on all that's been going on." Seems like this version of Mom is as stubborn and persistent as the one I knew, but I had to try something. In the sincerest voice that I could muster, I asked, "How about Steve and I take care of the dishes while you and Dad relax for a little bit?" I don't think Steve appreciated being a pawn in a mother-daughter drama though, and after finishing his last bite he simply stood up and said, "This is between you two!" before he practically ran out of the room and stomped up the stairs to his bedroom. Mom leaned back in her chair and simply stared at me as I continued to eat in silence, Dad practically withering in his seat wishing he had made a hasty escape like Steve. Now that she definitely knew something was going on, she definitely wasn't going to let it go. I wonder how long I can hold her off though. When I finished, I smiled at my parents and in polite voice asked, "May I clear the table?" That was an opportunity that my Dad was looking for and he quickly said, "Yes, thanks honey!" as he pushed his plate forward and stood up to head to the living room. I turned to face Mom, who pushed her plate forward as she made a "Hmmmmm" sound. But she didn't press the issue and decided to go join my Dad. As I began to gather the plates, a thought did occur to me though. If this is some kind of swap, for Ally's benefit I should at least keep her journal updated so that she could try to catch up with her life. Hopefully I don't do anything too mortifying for her... and vice versa! Bringing the plates to the sink to clear them off before putting them in the dishwasher, I started to think about what I needed to do to try to find a way home. I might try emailing some more professors just to see if I can get an answer, but I wasn't sure what I'd do to investigate some of the more fantastical alternatives. For the "God" alternatives, I could ask Pastor Jones, assuming we went to the same church here and she was actually our Pastor. She was one of those "cool and hip, connect with the kids" types so I figured she'd at least humour me. The last resort would be seeing a shrink, but if nothing else pans out... I mean, I don't think I'm crazy. I don't know how it could be possible that I would invent an entire lifetime of memories of being a boy, of playing football, of having very distinct male desires and subsequent male releases... but as Mr. Hesham would often say, "The simplest solution is usually the right one." Maybe I need to start rubbing some lamps and hope I find a genie, because almost anything would be better than admitting that this might all be in my own head. Closing the door on the dishwasher after putting in the final plate, I began to walk back to my room. However, as I passed my parents on the way up, my Mom very nonchalantly said to no one in particular, "So I just had a very quick conversation with Marian." Jen's mom. Shit. I didn't even think of her, but I suppose I didn't really share that many secrets with her in my actual life. Hard to tell the literal girl next door about some of the guy things I was dealing with. I loved Jen like a sister, but the Jen I knew is definitely a bit of a goody two-shoes and I wouldn't have been surprised that she would have told her mom what had happened today. I turned on my heels and tried to make a run for it, but she continued very sternly, "She sent me a link to a VERY interesting picture." I started for the stairs before she bellowed, "Allison Summer McCarthy!" and stopped me in my tracks. Why does the full name thing always work? Even when that's not my name! I think my Dad was hoping for some peace and quiet, but his hopes were definitely dashed. I could tell he wanted to escape to their bedroom or the basement or somewhere, but he knew better than to leave when my mother was in "angry Mom" mode. As I quietly approached the couch and stepped into in front of my parents, Mom turned to Dad and asked, "What do you think your daughter has been up to today?" He simply shrugged, knowing it was a rhetorical question. That's when Mom shoved her phone toward Dad, which he tentatively took from her. A big sigh escaped my lips, although I don't know if it was my own exasperation at having to deal with this or if it was Ally's body reacting to Mom's over the top reaction, but she definitely didn't take it well when she heard it. Before she could say anything, I pre-empted her with, "First, it's not what you think it is. Second, I'm a senior so even if it was what you think it is, it's not a big deal!" My Dad finally saw what we were both talking about and he seemed quite non-plussed about it and blurted out as he handed the phone back to Mom. "So you're dating the quarterback?" She snatched the phone away from him, annoyed that he didn't seem to have the same reaction as she did. "I thought WE agreed that she wouldn't get involved until after she graduated." I never would have expected Mom to be the protective one. I suppose given all the bad things that have come out in the news, I don't blame her... except in my real life, I remember her only telling me about informed consent not forbidding me to date altogether. "Look, they're just holding hands." "You act like you've forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. She's not even on birth control!" She turned to shoot me an accusatory glance. "Right?" "Jesus Mom, I told you it wasn't like that!" Although now that I thought about it, that would at least help with the "p" problem... if I was stuck here for that long. I pushed the thought of my head and continued in an annoyed tone that almost made me sound bratty. "We were just talking about football and for some reason who school seems to turning this into something that it's definitely not!" She narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a moment. I'm not sure if it was the "daughter" dynamic had changed the relationship I had with my parents, but just like this morning my Dad was happy to stay out of our way as we argued. I crossed my arms and stared back at her before simply stating, "I can tell you that I'm definitely not interested in sex and won't be for a while." It was a truth of sorts. Of course I was interested in sex, and I'd be lying if I wasn't at least a little curious about what sex would feel like in this body. But on the off chance that this was actually someone else's body, I didn't want to make that choice for her. That, and of course, it really was the last thing on my list of priorities. Mom seemed a little taken aback by my frankness, although I wasn't sure if it was because I was acting out of character or if it was the awkwardness of the entire conversation, but when she finally finished processing my words, she sighed and leaned back into her seat. "You're so close to College. I just don't want you jeopardizing that." College... I hadn't really thought about it that much. I just assumed I'd be scouted and go wherever I could play for another few years. I couldn't fathom what I would do if I was still here a year from now and didn't really have a response for her at the moment, but I think Mom took my silence as a form of contrition. Dad decided to chime in at this point. "Now, now... this could also be good for her. I think we both know the kind of guys that she'd meet at College next year. Besides, it's that Michael kid." Mom somehow threw him both an exasperated look and a confused look before my Dad reminded her with two simple words, "From camp." Memories of almost drowning in the lake at summer camp entered my mind and I turned away. Even though I hadn't experienced it myself, I could feel the pure terror of having water fill my throat, the sensation of choking and losing control of my body as I thrashed my arms and legs around in desperation. I also remembered the immense relief that came when I felt someone grab my arm and pull me close their body and the sense of awe I had when they dragged me back to shore. Who knows what would have happened if Mike wasn't there to save me? Save HER! HER! I felt my heart start to beat faster and my face flush and turn bright red as I looked down at my feet out of embarrassment. Was that all it took for Ally to fall for Mike? Did she even know anything about him? As far as I could tell they were only acquaintances, not friends. Maybe Ally was a romantic and believed in finding the "Prince". I'm sure Mom would have had a lot to say about falling for a man simply because saved me. I peaked up and to my surprise saw that she was flustered as well. I'm sure almost losing their daughter was just as traumatizing to them as almost drowning was to me, so they were surely grateful that Mike was there to save me as well. When we eventually faced each other again, Mom gave me a sympathetic look and said, "Okay... I... listen, you just need to be careful okay?" I was the girl who definitely protested too much when I quickly shook my head. "It's really not like that. Mike is a great guy and all, but I just want to help him with his quarterbacking." It may have been what I believed, but coming out of Ally's mouth it sounded like a complete lie. Dad stood up to give me a quick hug. "If you need anything, you know you can always ask us." I returned his hug and smiled at how strangely put together my Dad seemed considering this morning's reaction to my screaming. Maybe if you had an advanced Physics degree and could see if I'm from an alternate reality... Still, it was comforting to have my parents here to help me with my more mundane concerns at least. "Thanks Dad," I quietly said in response. Mom came up to us and joined the hug, turning this into a sappy greeting card moment. "Okay, this is getting weird," I joked, causing everyone to break off the hug and laugh. I started to slink away as they sat back down again, before Mom stopped me by asking, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened this morning?" I had no idea what to say to that. Certainly, there was nothing to gain from telling her the truth, right? I just turned away from her and said, "No... I'm fine." I tugged at the sleeves of Dad shirt before continuing in a joking manner, "I may start raiding your closet some more though, Dad." I didn't wait for either of them to respond as I made my way out of the living room and upstairs, just happy to be free from interrogation for the moment. I'm sure my parents were talking about me right now, but I wasn't really doing anything that they - or Ally - would need to worry about at least so I didn't feel too bad about keeping them in the dark. As I passed by my brother's bedroom, I noticed him sulking a little with his head buried deep within a game of Call of Duty, chatting with what I assumed was a group of his friends online. I noticed that his room wasn't all that different from the one I remembered, although he clearly didn't get any of my hand-me-downs. I gingerly stepped inside his room and grabbed a chair so that I could sit beside him at his desk and watched as he played. I don't know if my sudden appearance was unexpected, but he actually turned away from the screen to face me, giving me a "what are you doing here?" look. I shrugged and said, "Sorry you had to get dragged into that. Mom's cool now." I watched as he backed out of the game he was playing and took off his headset, probably a little annoyed to be interrupted, but also curious enough to deal with an unexpected conversation. He picked up his phone gestured at the screen. "Can you stop this as well?" I didn't even want to think how many stupid notifications I might have received. "Just ignore them? It'll go away in a couple of days when some other big piece of drama drops at school." "That's assuming you don't start dating Mike." I shuddered. "That is definitely not a possibility." He rolled his eyes, clearly not believing me as he saw the dreamy expression on my face when I started thinking about Mike. My mind wandered through several fantasies, fueled in no part by the knowledge I had of him from my own life, including Mike's hard, chiseled body and his fairly substantial - my eyes widened into saucers as I realized what I was doing and pulled myself back to reality. That was... did I just lose control? If I could tap into Ally's memories and thoughts, could her body tap into mine? I just need to remind myself that I ABSOLUTELY do not want to screw my best friend and hopefully my body will get the message. I blushed and my brother made an "ugh" sound before shaking his head at me. The little brat! I knew the kinds of things he looked at when he was alone. Hell, I knew we both had a thing for that Irish actress whose name no one knew how to pronounce. That's when I remembered something he told me a few weeks ago when he asked me for some advice with a girl in his class and I couldn't resist needling him. "What about you and that Mary girl? The one who's into Fortnite?" It his turn to turn red as his eyes widened in shock. I guess he still had a crush on her, but didn't ask Ally about it. He pawed at his headset controls to make sure he was still muted and then yelled, "How the hell did you know that!?" A giggle escaped my lips and I playfully replied, "That's a secret!" While he was still flustered, I grabbed the controller from him and started looking for a match. As the game loaded, I realized that I could at least give this version of Steve the same advice that I had given my Steve. "Listen... you just have to go for it. If she doesn't like you, then you take the L, pick yourself up, and try again with someone else." I wish I had known what Steve had done... or if he even spoke to Mary, so I could give him some more concrete advice. That said, this was pure "do as I say, not as I do" advice though, because I was too scared to try asking out Violet myself. And of course it's just my luck that for some reason, she seems to hate Ally, so it's not like I'd learn anything about her that I could use when I get back. But whatever, if this is some weird fantastical journey to learn more about myself so I can live a better life, one of the first things I'm going to do when I get back and drive up to Violet's house and ask her out. When the match started, I tentatively started to move my character. In a way, it felt like the experience I had when I threw the football. Ally clearly didn't have the muscle memory and her fingers and thumbs felt very stiff as I began to play, but my own memories began to assert themselves and suddenly I could feel myself getting into the rhythm of playing again. I'd be lying if I said I was great at the game, but I wasn't terrible either. If my brother had a follow-up to my impromptu advice, he soon forgot about it as we both became transfixed by the screen. I got my first two kills in quick succession, and he pointed at the corner of the screen to indicate another player that I was able to shoot quickly. "HOLY SHIT!" He grabbed his headset and quickly put it on my head so that I could hear the game and I managed to get a couple more kills and activate a killstreak. I'm sure he must have had questions about how I could not only know how to play, but how I would know the map, but he started getting excited and starting shouting at me to "go there!" or "watch out!" Nothing was more annoying than backseat gaming, but I couldn't complain as he was actually helping me out. I don't know if it was just the match I was put into, my brother's encouragement, or whatever x-factor came with being Ally, but I was playing well... really well. When I hit 15 kills, I could feel the tension in the room as my brother clutched the back of my chair with a white-knuckled grip. When I got to 20 kills, I could feel him jump up and down in excitement as he couldn't believe what his sister was doing. When I got to 25, he just got quiet like he was at a golf game watching someone take a putt. For my part, my hands began to tremble as my nerves began to catch up with the reality of what was happening and but the time I was at 29, all I could do was scream and yelp at everything that happened in the game, desperate to find that last kill before I died or time ran out. We both let out a loud scream when I turned a corner and ran into a couple of guys, shooting them before they had a chance. I could hear my brother scream hysterically, almost as loud as my own undecipherable screaming, "USE THE NUKE! USE THE NUKE! USE THE NUKE!!!!" I mashed the button like there was no tomorrow and watched as my character activated the nuke, before jumping out of the chair and screaming even more. We both watched as the bomb came in and the screen went white before we hugged and shouted incomprehensibly at each other, our voices blurring into each other: "I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT!" "OH MY FUCKING GOD!" We didn't even hear our parents rush up the stairs to investigate the commotion, likely more than a bit worried after my little episode this morning. When Mom and Dad saw us hugging each other, jumping up and down and yelling profanities excitedly at each other, they looked at each other in confusion before my Dad yelled at us to get us to stop, "What the hell is going on here?!" We turned to face them and started excitedly trying to tell them what had just happened. Even if they had any idea what we would have been talking about, they definitely wouldn't be able to understand a single thing we were saying. Heck, I'm sure Ally would have no idea what was coming out of her mouth if she could hear what I was making her say. It was Mom's turn to yell at us to get us to stop, "QUIET!" Although sensing our excitement, she was definitely not as worried as she was this morning. We calmed down, although we were still clearly still amped up by what I had just done. That's when my brother exclaimed, "Oh shit!" and went back to the console so that he could save the clip of the game to send to his friends. I don't think either of my parents really cared about what was going on, although I seemed to be the cause of a lot of drama for them today. Giving us an exasperated look Mom said, "Ally... go back to your room, do your homework and get ready for bed. Steve, turn that thing off!". With that she turned to face Dad and shrugged her shoulders before walking out. Dad, for his part, only added, "You heard your Mom! Let's go!". He ushered me out of the room and toward my own, before turning to chase after Mom, probably to debrief each other about teenaged girls and their dramatic mood swings. I was still jittery with excitement when I entered my room, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Well now I knew for sure that I could tap into my own skills too, but I didn't expect to do that well! My Steve would never believe what happened and I guess there'd never be any proof, but I'd know... I sat down at my desk and flipped open my laptop to check my email. No reply from that professor I had emailed, but I was probably shouldn't expect to get a reply so soon. There were dozens of new notifications though, all from that stupid picture. And more than a few direct messages that I quickly ignored. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that Mike had sent me that message he had promised he would, which made me quickly close the window. Out of sight, out of mind... One from Jen read, "I'm sorry. :( Mom asked and I couldn't lie to her." Ah Jen, I couldn't get mad at her even if I wanted to. I typed a heart emoji and sent it back. I saw a message from Steve pop up on my screen with a link to the video he captured and a question: "When did you learn how to play?!" I smiled and typed: "That's a secret too! ;)". I closed the window, leaving him to speculate on his own while I pulled out my books to try to do some work for tomorrow. I have to keep up with Ally's courses after all... and when I get back, who knows how much time would have gone by? It'd be worth doing this work for my own sake as well. When I was finished with my homework, I pulled out Ally's journal and tentatively began to describe today's events, writing to her as if I was communicating with another person. "Hi Ally... My name is Allen, the guy who's in your body at the moment. I have no idea what's going on, but assuming you're out there somewhere waiting to come home to your own life, I thought I'd leave some notes for you so you aren't lost when you get back. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that you're definitely on Mike's radar. I'm not sure if that's what you wanted, although from the way your body seems to react whenever I even think about him, I pretty sure you owe me big time. There's a picture that was posted online today that you'd probably want to print and frame. I'll leave that little surprise for you to discover. The flip side is that Violet seems to hate us now... well, maybe hate us even more. I have no idea what you did to her, but I know how quickly animosity can poison a team so you should really hash things out with her before it gets too out of hand. Otherwise, we did well at cheer practice today - I really don't know why you weren't on Varsity last year, because you can obviously do the cheers... but I'll try my best not to pry into your life more than necessary. I think Jen might be mad at us too after what happened with Mike. She seems to think you have a crush on him, so maybe she's feeling a bit jealous. I would be happy to try to set them up, although I can feel that you wouldn't like that. The last thing I need is to get involved in a love triangle though, I'm going to leave it to you to figure that out. Steve will have no idea what's going on with you, but try to help him out with his girl troubles okay? I'm sure you'd have a much more unique perspective than I would. The girl he likes is called Mary. Mom and Dad are probably confused as well, but they're still great. I'm a bit jealous that you and Mom are so close though - don't take that for granted! I did have a bit of a freak out this morning, given the whole 'waking up in a girl's body' thing, so everyone's a bit stand-offish with me right now as you might expect. If people are still asking about it when you get back, just tell them it was a weird nightmare or something. Oh yeah, I'm also probably making some questionable fashion choices that you'll have to explain, but you can tell them that you were looking for a change or it was a phase. Sorry! I hope we can both be back to where we're supposed to be soon." I shut the journal and sighed. Hopefully that's useful to her... and more importantly, hopefully I won't have to write too many more entries. I absentmindedly went through my evening ritual before bed while I thought about my next move. I reconsidered some of the options I thought about earlier. Maybe my next step would be Church and speaking to the Pastor, although I wondered what she could offer me that would help me with my problem. My mind wandered to the more fantastical possibilities again. If this was some kind of coma dream or simulation or something, every movie or show I've seen ends with the main character pretty much rejecting the fake world by making a big "leap" to find their way back home. I don't know if I'm ready to think about that... As certain as I was that this was not my world, it still seemed so real and doing something so drastic was something I wasn't prepared to do at the moment. And if this was just magic? It was absurd, but I'm living in the middle of absurdity right now. But if this was a malicious genie or some kind of ancient spirit or something, I'm pretty much screwed aren't I? At that point jumping off a cliff or a building might be the only option I have left to try to get home. But let's not think about that... By the time my mind was done running through my options, I was back in my bedroom putting on various lotions and creams on my face and skin before changing into my PJs and getting into bed. At least I wasn't freaked out by seeing myself naked anymore. I stared at the ceiling before turning off the lights to my room. Maybe when I wake up tomorrow, everything will be back to normal and it'll turn out that this whole day was a really weird dream. I let out a sad laugh. Yeah, if only it'd be that easy. I closed my eyes and let the quiet stillness of the night envelop me, thankful that the day was finally coming to a close. Thank you for the comments on my last chapter! The story is still in slow burn mode as I flesh things out a bit more, but I'm hoping the journey is worth it. As always, you can reach me via email [email protected] or leave a comment here as any feedback is appreciated. See you in a couple of weeks!