Switch

Grumbling, Natalie heard the alarm on her clock radio blaring beside her head. Reaching out, she swatted blindly for the snooze button, but only succeeded in knocking the clock to the floor, where it made a loud clatter.

"Ugh..." she groaned, wanting just five more minutes of sleep - se felt like she had just gone to bed. Sighing, she knew she had to get up and be ready for Brian to take her to school, so Natalie rolled out of bed, her feet sinking into a rather plush carpet. Opening her bleary eyes, she was almost alarmed that her room was dark. Putting it off to the idea that maybe her alarm had gotten messed up when she set it the night before, she trudged her way to the door, opening it and going down the equally dark hallway and into the bathroom.

Flicking the light on, Natalie squinted, trying to keep the bright fluorescent light away from her eyes. Yawning, she ran her fingers through her hair. That was when she first realized that something was wrong. Her hair felt thinner and smoother than her own, and when she looked at the strands between her fingers, she saw that they weren't the near-black color of her own. They were blonde...

Looking quickly into the mirror before her, eyes wide, Natalie was met with the one person she hated more than anyone. Screaming in fright and shock, Natalie watched as Julia's face screamed back at her, her perfect face portraying the sense of horror she felt. Once her scream had died away, Natalie's -- or Julia's, rather -- hands flew up to her face, touching and poking it to make sure it was real. Fingers moving over the perfect nose, Natalie gasped.

"It is real! Wow..." she said, and she was surprised to hear Julia's sugar-sweet voice come from her throat instead of her own.

Leaving the bathroom and moving back down the hall to Julia's bedroom, Natalie began to wonder how it could have even been possible to wake up in someone else's body. She thought stuff like that only happened in movies, not in real life, and unless she was dreaming, this was definitely real.

Flipping the switch in the bedroom and allowing light to flood each surface and corner, Natalie was met with a deep magenta carpet and stark white walls. The duvet covering the bed was made of a shiny satin, covered in a hot pink and black royal-looking pattern. The pillows atop the Queen sized mattress were very large and fluffy. Along the side of the room was a white vanity table, covered with various makeup items and a large circular mirror attached, a small, white wicker stool sitting in front of it. Along the opposite wall was a white dresser with five drawers, and a suede magenta lounge chair in the corner.

"This is so weird..." Natalie mumbled to herself. Seeing through the window that it was, in fact, dark outside, she rounded the large pink bed and picked the silver clock radio up off the floor, turning it over.

"Quarter to five!? Fuck that, I'm going back to bed."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two hours later and on the other side of town, Julia awoke from her deep slumber to an unfamiliar buzzing - something must have been up with the alarm clock, she thought. Stretching, she sat up in bed and opened her eyes. It was bright, light pouring in through the windows.

"I'm late! Oh my God!" she practically screamed, and it was only then that she realized she was in a very strange, yet oddly familiar room. Slowly looking around, she saw she was in a room with a deep navy carpet and stormy grey walls littered with posters of bands and photos. The room wasn't nearly as pristine as her own, with mismatching furniture placed in odd spaces, and when she climbed out of the rather comfortable bed, she looked down to see she was wearing a black tank and a grimy-looking pair of green plaid shorts.

Wondering how on earth she'd been abducted and put into a new room, Julia headed down the hall and to the bathroom. Seeing Natalie looking back at her in the mirror was neither normal, nor wanted.

Screaming, much like Natalie had when she realized the strange thing that had happened to her, Julia's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

"This can't be happening!" she squealed, gasping for air, and feeling enraged.

A knock sounded on the door and Julia jumped. "Natalie, sweetie, are you alright?" she heard a soothing yet worried voice from out in the hall. Julia didn't answer as she thought about what the hell could have happened to her. "Natalie?"

"Um, y-yeah, I'm fine," Julia called out, wincing at the voice escaping from her...erm...Natalie's lips.

"Alright honey. Well, you best get ready for school. Brian will be here in thirty minutes!" Natalie's mother called through the door before walking back downstairs.

"Thirty minutes!? I can't get ready in thirty minutes! It takes at least an hour to look as stunning as me!" she huffed to herself, seeing her emotions displayed across Natalie's face. "Or...well...the other me." Shaking her head at her reflection, Julia scoffed. "She is so going to pay for her little witchcraft trick."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Waking up for a second time that morning, Natalie still couldn't get over the shock that she had woken up in another house, and in another person's body for that matter.

Not bothering for a shower considering her hair felt perfect to begin with, Natalie opened the closet and groaned. A lot of the tops were either really girly and dressy, or were in various shades of pink, except for a few pieces. She frantically searched through all of the hangers, trying to find at least one thing she'd be comfortable being seen in at school.

School. Natalie hadn't thought about that until just that moment, and it caused her to pause her search. What would happen once she arrived at school? She couldn't very well hang out with Brian and her other friends - they hated her, or at least hated the body she was stuck in. And did this mean Julia was trapped in her body? Surely it must...

Sighing, Natalie perked up as she reached a hanger at the back of the closet, carrying the only black shirt of the bunch. It had a swooping neckline and was unfitted from the bust down, with frilly-looking straps, but Natalie would take it over anything else she had found in that closet.

Grabbing the shirt, Natalie headed to the dresser, digging through each of the drawers for a pair of panties and a bra. At first she was quite put off and a bit disgusted about wearing someone else's underclothes, but then remembered it wasn't her body going in them, but rather the owner's. Quickly finding a nice-fitting, faded pair of jeans in the bottom drawer, Natalie took the clothes and placed them on the unmade bed.

Grabbing the hem of the satin and lace cream-colored pajama top, Natalie pulled it over her head and dropped it to the floor. Glancing down at the breasts that didn't belong to her, she noticed they were a little smaller than her own - back on her body - but that they were quite round and perky. Moving her hands up hesitantly, as if she might get caught, she cupped them in her hands, lightly squeezing, and marveling at how firm they were. But she also felt a spark of surprise shoot through her.

"Wow... These are real too!? Didn't see that one coming..." she mumbled, but then shrugged, pulling the rest of the pajamas off and getting dressed, finding a pair of pristine white Puma sneakers and sliding her feet into them.

Moving over to the vanity, Natalie took a seat. Combing the long, beautiful blonde locks back into a pony with her fingers, she fastened it with a black hair band and then searched around the various make ups until she found a stick of black eyeliner and the tube of volumizing mascara she'd seen Julia using in the bathroom the day before. Lining her eyes in the thick fashion she normally did and then applying the mascara, Natalie smirked into the mirror. Boy, would the kids at school get a kick out of see the Julia Stuart show up like this.

Quickly rolling on a fresh-scented deodorant and spraying herself with Victoria's Secret Sexy Little Things perfume, Natalie looked at the clock and realized it was near time she should be leaving for school. And then a problem arose. How was she going to get there?

Sighing, she grabbed the purse she had seen Julia with the day before off the dresser, searching through it until she found a set of keys with a BMW logo pressed into the black-handled key. Eyes widening in delight, Natalie grabbed the backpack she saw on the floor and left the room, leaving the coveted purse behind.

She was surprised as she nearly ran through the large house that she realized hadn't changed much since the last time she'd been there when she was only ten. She was the only one there. No parents. No siblings. Not even a maid. She knew Julia was an only child, but she didn't expect her house to be so...quiet, so empty.

Shrugging, she stepped out the front door, seeing a shiny new silver BMW convertible sitting in the driveway, calling to her. Natalie smirked.

"If I'm going to be stuck in this body...might as well have some fun."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Scowling at her appearance, Julia wondered what she could possibly do to improve what she had to go to school as. She had already searched through the closet to find something that was flattering and not black to wear, and had come up with a satin, sequined purple halter and crisp white Bermuda shorts that looked like they'd never been worn (which they hadn't).

On her search for underclothes, Julia had been appalled when she discovered none of Natalie's bras and panties matched unless they were plain black or white. But she had at least managed to look halfway decent for being trapped in Natalie's body, and had even done color-coded make up, using a sheer purple eye shadow she was surprised Natalie even owned. She also went light on the eyeliner and heavy on the mascara in hopes she wouldn't look like such a...freak.

"Nat, Brian's here for you!" Julia heard Mrs. Raine call from the stairs and she nearly growled as she snatched up the bag full of textbooks. She despised the very thought of being near Brian Haner, Jr., and now she'd somehow managed to land herself in his girlfriend's body.

Eyes growing wide, Julia stopped halfway into the hall. What if he tried to kiss her!? Grimacing at the thought, she headed down the stairs.

"Have a good day at school, sweetie," she heard Mrs. Raine call from the kitchen, and Julia vaguely remembered from seven or eight years ago that she was a stay-at-home mom for Natalie and her preteen brother, Scott, and a housewife.

"Uh...yeah. Bye," Julia said, feeling very strange, and for a fleeting moment she wished her own mother, or even her father, was home in the mornings to see her off to school.

Stepping outside, Julia saw Brian's old black Camaro parked against the curb, the engine running as he waited for her. His black hair looked just as disheveled as always, but when he smiled at her, Julia was embarrassed to admit to herself that Brian looked the tiniest bit more handsome when he did so.

Trying to hold back a cringe as she slid into the passenger seat, Julia sent him a tight-lipped smile in return, her eyes darting to the lit cigarette between his fingers, hanging out the window.

"Ew..." she whispered. Julia had a thing against smoking.

"Hmmm?" Brian asked, taking a drag, and Julia frowned as he blew the smoke out away from her.

"Do you think you could put that out?" she asked, trying to be polite for once. Cocking an eyebrow at her, Brian shrugged.

"It's never bothered you before, but okay," he said, flicking the unfinished cigarette onto the pavement. Smiling as he turned to her again, Brian leaned in, intent on placing a kiss on his girlfriend's lips like he did every morning, but Julia turned her head once he was close and Brian caught her cheek instead. Pulling away, he frowned.

"You feeling alright, baby?" he asked.

Clearing her throat, Julia nodded. "Just a little sick I guess..." she muttered, and Brian shrugged before putting the car in drive and heading to the school.