Vice Versa

“You know what? There is something fucked up going on with Brian. Especially since Alice came. I mean, like, Brian loses his memory just like that.” Matt snapped his fingers. “It just doesn’t add up.”

It was a hazy afternoon at Matt’s house where everyone was invited for a barbeque. Including Alice. There always had to be a barbeque in the Avenged Sevenfold family. It was sunny and hot, making the scent of the freshly mown grass and sizzling meat wafter in the air. The heat made the pool seem appealing; however Johnny, Matt, Zacky and Arin all sat in a semicircle next to the pool. Brian, or Alice, as truly was, was manning the barbeque out of earshot.

“Anything is possible.” Johnny shrugged, both of his hands nursing bottles of beer. He was slung lazily on a poolside chair.

“What do you think is going on eh?” Matt gave a small smirk. Zacky kept quiet. He knew what exactly was going on, but out of respect for Alice and Brian, he chose to not to tell.

“Alice is an alien from space and invaded Brian’s mind.” Johnny chortled. “With ass probing and all that.” The other men groaned, imagining Brian’s ass. Not something they would have liked to see.

“She’s the devil and Brian is a vessel for her demonic activities.” Arin piped up with a hint of smile.

“Ah… maybe,” Matt snickered. “She wants to kill us all…” As time progressed, their suggestions became more ridiculous. They were a mass of howling mirth and titters until Johnny stood up.

“Wait, wait. Maybe-. Guys! Maybe they swapped bodies? Cause you see, Alice is acting more like Brian than he really was these days.” He announced, attempting to quieten the clamorous group.

“Yeah… it actually makes sense.” Matt muttered, raising a finger. Everyone quelled to a silence. Zacky froze, perking up. “Too bad that shit doesn’t happen in real life.” The larger muscular man finished. Zacky rolled his eyes and leant back down. He wished that everyone would know what was going on. He had a bursting desire to stand up and blurt out that it was true. But Brian would kill him if he did. He gave a small chuckle. The image of tiny Alice waving a finger at him made him laugh.

“Z-Man? What’s funny?” Matt brought him back to Earth. Zacky’s bright green eyes flicked to the curious faces of his best friends.

“Nothing.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Mind your own fuckin’ business.”

“Hey, guys. What’s up?” Brian’s voice interrupted them. The four men looked up to see Alice standing there with a plate of cooked meat.

“Food!” Johnny cheered, instantly abandoning his two bottles of beer and shot for the plate.

“Thanks, Brian!” Matt praised in between mouthfuls of a pork chop.

“So… what were you guys about back there?” Alice questioned. Matt froze mid bite, Arin coughed in his sausage and Johnny dribbled a bit of his beer. Only Zacky gave an answer.

“Politics.”

“Oh.” Alice raised her eyebrow. The other three men nodded feverishly, confirming Zacky’s flimsy cover up. She knew that they were lying, but she let it slide. She gave Zacky a look, silently questioning if he told them anything about the swap. He responded with a subtle shake of his head.

“Right. I’ll go and get the ladies.” Alice disappeared into the house.

The actual Brian sat there on the bar stool, pushing up his borrowed cheekbones in boredom. The women’s chatter was a monotonous buzz to his ears. He was forced to be with them to the great insistence of Val. He had enough of female chatter. There was nothing more he wanted than a good shot of testosterone.

“So, what do you think?” Gena’s voice broke him from his boredom. He looked up to the blonde with a bleary and confused face.

“Were you even listening?” she persisted. Always the same, Brian thought derisively.

“I’m tired. Sorry.” He informally excused himself before bolting out of the stool. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t want to be the centre of attention. He was constantly bombarded with questions he couldn’t answer and then suddenly left alone. He wanted solitude with a bottle of whisky. A big bottle of whisky.

He collided face to face with Alice. The plate of barbequed meat scattered all over Brian’s white shirt and dripped to the floor. Great. Another annoying mess up to add to his list, he thought.

“Shit! Sorry!” Alice profusely apologised as she sank to the floor to salvage the dropped food. Rolling his eyes, Brian leant down to help Alice.

“You seem really… bored and douchey right now.” She commented. He gave an unamused snort.

“I have reasons to be a douche.” He shot back.

“Riiiiight.”

“Yeah.” His voice was short and sharp. He raised his eyebrow. Alice’s mouth was agape. She was shocked and appalled at Brian’s attitude. Deciding to take matters in her own hands, she left the food on the floor and pulled Brian into a room.

“You seriously were making me seem like an enormous bitch!” Alice hissed.

“Hey! It’s not like I intended to!” he countered.

“You’re not Brian! Not in the inside. But you know what I mean!”

“Look, we will figure it out-“

“Figure it out? You’re really dragging this out.”

“No! I want it to be over as soon as-“

“No. We figured it out, but it is a matter of time that we actually do it.”

“Figure it out? Come on! We hardly even know what we’re doing.”

“I do.”

“Really?” Disbelief slapped across Brian’s face.

“Yes. You need to stop being so self-involved. ‘Look around us’, remember?”

“So, what about you? What you got to do then?”

“Um… I don’t know…” Alice shrugged sheepishly before perking up. “I’ll figure it out! Just watch me.”
Brian gave a guffaw.

“Seriously!” Alice gasped. “And Artemis told us that we work well together well. We need to work together. Be nice to me, be nice to everyone, and we will work this out.”

“It’s not like you were nice to me either.”

“Well, you’re so fucking stubborn and thickheaded! I have to get through to you at some point!”

“Be nice to me and then I’ll be nice to you. Deal?” Brian set down his deal. Alice stood there, arms crossed. She stared down to Brian, contemplating.

“Deal. Anything that takes to be in my own body.”

“Deal then.” They shook hands, wearing grim forced smiles.

“What is going on?” the two debating people flinched at the new voice. They spun to find a very angry and confused Michelle by the door.