Now or Never

"What did you just say?" Matt hissed, causing Sydney to wince at the harsh sound of her own voice. The guys, completely and utterly confused on what was going on at the moment, finally spoke up.

"Can you tell us what the fuck is going on?" Zacky growled, causing Sydney to give her attention to him. Sydney sighed, before telling her story...

"Seven years ago, my twin sister, London, and I found a book about on how to switch people's consciouses. We were joking around, going to try and switch lives with those who made our lives hell in high school, and ruin their lil reps. We didn't think it would actually work."

"But it did," Matt said. Sydney scratched the side of his neck out of her own habit.

"For London, yes. For me, something wrong happened and it didn't work for me."

"So how is your sister not dead?" Johnny asked; Sydney wrung out Matt's hands again.

"Her body is dead, yes, but she's still in the body of the woman known as Tracy Canton. Tracy had come to find me at the concert and got in a wreck when I told her to go to my house so I could explain later." There was a silence. "My sister watched her body be buried. We haven't spoken since."

"So, why are you jumping from body to body?" Matt asked over the phone. Sydney shrugged, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"I must have said something wrong, because now I change from person to person every three or four months. I have a week to meet up with the person, or I'm stuck forever."

"How long have you been in Matt's?"

"I'd say three days."

"So that gives us three or four days to get you fuckers to switch," Brian jokes, but there was still seriousness in his voice.

"Yo, Syd, I got a question," Matt said, causing Matt's brows to raise as Sydney spoke.

"Go ahead."

"What did Benji mean by, 'raising the Jap flag'?"

Sydney blinked before a few moments before letting out a loud evil cackle as she realized the meaning behind Benji's words. "Means my time of month is tomorrow."

A wide string of curses were shouted over the phone, causing the guys to laugh, also. Then the joking was over with quickly. There was a tense seriousness in the air.

"So, how are we supposed to get you guys to switch back?" Brian asked, set on getting his best friend back in his body. Sydney shrugged again.

"It's different with every person. Sometimes I have to recite some lines. Sometimes I just have to touch them."

Brian frowned, but nodded nonetheless. "So, how are we going to meet up?" Matt asked, causing Sydney to think for a moment.

"Well, the girls have a show in New York in three days. That is kind of stretching it, but I don't want them getting suspicious of me taking off in the middle of the night. Besides, I'm sure Collin wants to spend time together after our fight the other--"

"Sydney," Matt cut in, causing Sydney to have a look. "About Collin..."

Instantly, she caused Matt's eyebrows to furrow. "You didn't tell him to fuck off did you? We've been dating for years and we're about to get serious and--"

"He was cheating on you."

Sydney said no more for the rest of the night.



Matt moved around uncertainly as he tried to think of things to pack for Sydney for the three days the girls and she would be in NYC. He had done the basic packing - shirts, pants, shows, socks, club wear, undergarments... That was an awkward moment, having to go through her delicates drawer.

Speaking of delicates, Matt should have known better than to ignore Sydney's warning. Sure enough, when he woke up, there was a Japanese flag rising. He groaned when his lower back started to hurt, and he felt the unfamiliar cramps in Sydney's lower regions. So this is what Val went through every month? She was his new hero.

"Hey, Smokey-" Kassidy started, walking in Sydney's room before stopping and stepping back some. "Whoa, chicka! You need to take a serious shower, or something," she groaned, waving her hand in front of her nose. Matt frowned and held up Sydney's arm.

"Shit!" he yelped, pulling away from the stank that he hadn't realized he had caused from not showering for three days.

"Yes, you do smell like shit," Kassidy joked, causing Matt to laugh. Jesus Christ, he just realized how much they were like the guys.

Kassidy was so much like Jimmy, it was kind of scary. Both had the attention span of a goldfish, and their skills were crazy good on the drum. And they were the ones that kept everyone off each others' throats. They were the crazy mother fuckers that could brighten anyone's day.

And then there was Frankie. She was a mixture of Zacky and Johnny. She was constantly given shit for her Texan accent, but kept that calm and cool nature. Frankie knew how to give a good joke.

Brandy was the leader, much like Matt, kind of the momma of the group. She looked after everyone and was always there. As a shoulder to cry on or a wallet to pay your bail from drunken nights.

And then there was Sydney. The cocky one, that had a heart of gold that was constantly being stolen. She was the one that put on a front; the bad ass that was a giant teddy bear. The crazy partier that knew how to have fun, but also be serious when the time called. She was the clone of Brian with boob and no dick. She was sarcastic, humorous, loving; Sydney was everything a guy could ask for.

If they had met on a better occasion, Matt would have thought he found the one.

But they hadn't met on a better occasion, and Matt still had Val. Hell, they hadn't even officially met.

"Go take a shower, Smokes. I'll finish your packing." Matt watched Kassidy as she started to go about Sydney's room and moved things around and grab what she needed before tossing it onto the bed. He turned away, then, and walked to the adjoining bathroom. Stripping from the clothes of the show from the night before, Matt didn't dare look at Sydney's body.

When he scrubbed in the soap, it was quick and hard. It was too awkward, knowing he would see her from his point of view in a matter of hours. This made him think - how would things be between them? The guys knew about her - he knew about her. The girls didn't know, and if they did, then they didn't even let on that they did.

Matt was quick to get out of the shower and towel dry. Once back into Sydney's room, he found a duffle bag packed on her bed and a fresh pair of clothes with a bottle of aspirin.

So Kassidy knew? Would make sense; that way they would know why their friend was being a bitch.

Matt changed into the loose sweat pants and baggy tanktop. There was chatter coming from down stairs.

He took the bag and bottle of aspirin before walking down stairs. Sydney's long black hair was wet, and clung to the nape of her neck. Matt found it annoying, remembering how it felt to have long hair once. Out of habit, and the ability to do so, he flipped it over her shoulder to get it off her neck. He just noticed that there was a tattoo on her shoulder.

Taking a moment to himself, Matt stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at the tattoo. It was of a light blue feathered masquerade mask, with the name of the band underneath in defined black cursive. It was well done, and he had to remind himself to ask her where she got it done at.

Brandy came walking out of the kitchen, with a beer in one hand, her cropped blond and black hair was spiked in the back. She grinned at Sydney, waving her beer in the air. Matt laughed, moving again and into the kitchen, following her. There was a mild chatter in the kitchen between Kassidy, Frankie, and one of the techies that would be going with them.

Matt stayed in the background, watching as the girls joked before Frankie called it quits and they found themselves in Frankie's truck; Kassidy and Brandy in the back drinking beer while Sydney and Frankie took their spots up front.

From their town of Bridgetown to New York City, was close to a four hour drive. Matt found himself only entertained by Kassidy and Brandy's random deep thoughts and inner musings.

"I'm craving a steak taco," Kassidy said out of nowhere, causing Matt to chuckle, running his fingers through Sydney's still damp hair. It was close to lunch time.

"Let's stop for a bite," Brandy suggested, and Matt agreed. Frankie pulled up to a tex-mex fast food restaurant, allowing Kassidy to have her steak taco. Brandy and Matt gave Frankie their cravings and soon they were back on the road, munching into tacos and burritos.

New York City is so close, now. And it isn't until they see the cityscape that Matt realizes how much he's going to miss these girls that he has had to live with for the past week.

And he soon realizes that they'll never know that they had been in contact with Matt Sanders, even though the girls talked so highly of the band. In a way, he felt sorry for them. But wasn't it for the best?