Switch

Pulling into the school parking lot with the top to the convertible down, Natalie still tried to think about how she would make it through the day in Julia's body. No doubt it'd be interesting to see how the other half lived, but she didn't want to be stuck that way forever. Hell, Natalie was still trying to convince herself that everything was a dream, and in no time at all she'd wake up in her own bed, back in her own body. She had meant it when she told Julia in the bathroom that she liked her life just the way it was.

Sighing, Natalie shut off the car and pulled the keys from the ignition. "All I have to do is stay clear of those obnoxious friends of hers, find Julia...I mean...me...and get this whole situation figured out."

Grabbing the backpack out of the front seat, Natalie got out of the car, not even bothering to lock the doors considering the top was down and it would make no difference, and headed toward the front steps of the school. Eyes scanning the rest of the parking lot to see if she could catch just a glimpse of Brian's black car, Natalie's heart dropped when she saw no signs of it.

Smiling, Natalie saw her friends: Matt, Kita, Meg, and Zack, all sitting in their usual spots on the front steps, waiting for the bell to ring. She picked up her pace a little until the reality hit her once again. They'd never accept her in Julia's body. It was a rather disheartening feeling, and her smile quickly turned into a soft frown as she neared them. But she couldn't bear to look away.

Catching her stare, Kita's gaze hardened. "What are you looking at?" she spat at Natalie, and the other three stared hard at her as well. Pausing, Natalie wanted to say something to them, but her voice got caught in her throat. What difference would it make anyway?

"Move along now. Okay, bye," Meg said, flashing a mean smile and waving her away. Sighing, Natalie hefted her backpack higher up on her shoulder. Stepping through the double doors to the school, she instantly wished she'd stayed outside.

"Julia!? Oh em gee... What are you wearing?" Kendra asked, Danielle and Pam flanking her as they stood at one side of the hall near the entrance, as if they were waiting for her to arrive.

"Um...just a little something I pulled out of the closet..." Natalie mumbled, passing the girls and hoping they wouldn't follow. And, of course, they did.

"Not to like...get you mad or anything but...weren't you the one who said no black?" Danielle asked, her voice sounding timid, and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure, whatever..." she said, not paying much attention to the girls.

"But I do have to say, those Pumas are so adorable," Kendra then gushed, as if making up for her first outburst.

"Oh...um, thanks," Natalie said, heading down the hall toward her locker, the girls following her the entire way.

"Like, why are you breaking into that locker?" Pam asked, smacking her gum as she chewed on it. Natalie glanced at her over her shoulder as she stopped putting in her combination. Pam may have looked like a horse with the way she was chewing, but she did have a point. If she was stuck being Julia for the time being, she was going to have to use Julia's locker, go to Julia's classes, and try and act like Julia as best as she could. Yeah...right.

Sighing, Natalie headed down the hall a little ways. Considering the fact that their last names were relatively close to each other, their lockers were in the same hall.

"Oh my God, Julia, look at Donna Palmer's outfit today. It's completely hideous, like-"

"Girls," Natalie said sharply, turning on her heels and holding her hands out as if to keep the three obnoxiously rude girls away. "Can you please, for just...five minutes...stop talking?" she asked, letting out a sigh as she did so. Turning back around and walking away, surprised yet happy the girls didn't follow her due to the wounded expressions on their faces, Natalie wondered how even Julia could put up with Kendra, Pam, and Danielle for so long.

She was only five minutes into the school day, and already she wanted to go home, her home, and crawl into her bed, her mother coming up to check on her and making everything alright. Her real friends hated her, and Julia's friends wore out her nerves.

She needed to find Julia, and fast.

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

The ride to school with Brian was quiet, but Julia didn't mind one bit. The less interaction she had with him, the better, and she couldn't wait to get away from him to go and see her own friends.

Getting out of the car before Brian had even shut off the engine, Julia straightened out her halter top and shorts before walking toward the school.

"Baby, will you wait up?" she heard Brian call from behind her, his voice sounding aggravated as he jogged to catch up to her. Almost shuddering as he took her hand in his, Julia saw that Brian was heading straight for his and Natalie's friends.

"Brian, can we, like, just go right inside today?" Julia asked, causing Brian to look down at her, an eyebrow arched.

"Um, like, no?" he said, mocking her tone. "We always hang with the guys before school starts."

Scoffing, Julia tried to pull away from Brian. "Yeah, but...I just don't want to see them right now."

Stopping, Brian held Julia out from him by the shoulders, looking into the deep brown eyes of Natalie, that looked into Julia's soul.

"What is wrong with you this morning?" he asked, his voice soft and his eyes showing concern. "First, you have an issue with the smoking, then you won't even let me kiss you. You're dressing funny, and now you won't go over and see your best friends?"

Sighing, Julia didn't know what to say. "I told you, I just don't feel well today..."

"Well, fix whatever problem it is you've got, alright?" Brian asked, not waiting for a reply before he pulled her toward the front stone steps of the school.

"Hey guys," Brian greeted.

"My Natalie!" Kita said brightly with a smile, taking Julia by the hand and pulling her down to sit next to her on the step. She couldn't help but grimace at the display of friendly affection, which caused Kita's smile to slowly fade.

"...Is everything alright?" she asked.

Sending a tight smile toward her like she had to Brian in his car, Julia nodded. "I'm fine."

"So yo, get this. There's some weird shit going on today," Matt said, speaking to the group as Brian took a seat as well, sitting behind Julia and placing a hand on her shoulder, as if showing his claim to her.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Brian muttered, and Julia couldn't help but think how right they both were.

"So Julia Stuart walks up to us right? And dude, she was wearing black and had like, raccoon eyes going on. It was insane."

"Yeah. She actually looked pretty hot," Zack said from the other side of Meg on the bottom step, and Meg didn't hesitate to reach out and cuff him upside the back of his head. "Ow, baby! What the fuck?" he whined, rubbing his head, and Meg sent him a glare. Julia felt a shiver travel down her spine at his words, feeling her stomach flip over. Zack Baker had actually thought she looked hot. Ew.

"You better watch it, Baker..." Meg said, though she wouldn't really hurt Zack...unless he was to go and break her heart, in which case she would not hesitate to break his face.

Grumbling, Zack continued to rub the back of his head.

The wave of sickness rushing through Julia over the fact that people had seen her in black and because of what Zack had said became almost too much for her to handle, and she needed to get away.

"Um...I need to...use the bathroom," she said hurriedly, and Julia got up, dashing into the school. All she needed to do was find her friends and everything would be okay.

When she did find Kendra, Danielle, and Pam standing in the hall, Julia thought how weird it was to not see herself standing with them. Walking up with a smile, Julia sighed in relief.

"Oh my God, you have no idea how glad I am to see you guys..." she said.

Scoffing, Kendra rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, the other girls doing the same.

"Did you like...get insomnia and forget where you belong, freak?" Kendra asked.

"Okay, even I know that it's amnesia, not insomnia..." Julia said, causing the three girls to look at her funny.

"Why are you even talking to us?" Danielle then spat, and Julia narrowed her eyes.

"Since when did you think you could talk to me like that?" she snapped, glaring evilly, surprised that it had no effect on Danielle like it normally would.

"Natalie! Just the girl I wanted to see!" Julia heard a voice - her voice - call from down the hall. Looking in that direction out of the fascination of hearing herself, she saw her own body march down the hall toward her and was instantly appalled at what she was wearing, at least from the waist up.

"I thought I had that shirt burned?" she growled to herself and when Natalie - or at least Julia assumed it was Natalie in her body - reached her, she grabbed Julia around the wrist and dragged her in the opposite direction toward the bathroom. Heads turned as they saw the two together, but Natalie and Julia didn't pay any attention due to the situation they were in.

Dragging her into the bathroom, Natalie let go of...her body...and watched as it turned around, locking the large main door behind them. Suddenly, Julia turned around and pinned Natalie to the wall in anger and frustration. If Natalie hadn't been stuck in Julia's body, Julia would have severely hurt her.

"Change us back!" Julia yelled, her hands holding Natalie into the wall. Natalie had to admit it was weird to see herself facing her. It was like some spooky sci-fi movie or something.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to get us like this in the first place!" Natalie hollered back.

"Well you must have used some sort of creepy voodoo magic...witchcraft thing," Julia spat, and Natalie was surprised that the voice emanating from her body could sound so much like Julia's.

"Newsflash, Julia: Neither I, nor my friends, know how to do voodoo, or witchcraft, or any of that other nonsense. I can't change us back!"

"Well, I don't want to be you for the rest of my life, so you'd better think of something," Julia spat, crossing her arms.

"Dude, chill. I'm just as freaked about this as you are. You think I want to be stuck as you either?"

It was silent in the bathroom after that, neither of them really knowing what to do or say to fix the problem they were facing. While staring at themselves, like they were standing before a mirror, the two girls who couldn't be farther from opposites of each other were really taken aback. It was just so weird.

"My God, my hips are huge! And those sluts didn't tell me!?" Julia said, looking over her body as if in a while new light. "You're going to have to go on a diet if we're stuck this way..."

"Excuse me? I am not going on a diet for you. Your body is fine..." Natalie replied, rolling her eyes, and then the bell rang out in the hall signaling that school had started.

"Look, we're both late. How about we meet up back here after school is over, and...try to figure something out?" Natalie suggested, trying to be reasonable. The agreement was made, and with that the two girls parted ways, trying to each figure out what they could to make things go back to normal.