Switch

By the end of the day, Natalie was already so fed up with being Julia that she hoped her enemy had come up with something to switch them back. She couldn't remember a day of high school that had been worse than the one she'd just endured. Her friends all hated her. Her boyfriend hated her. Thinking back to the previous morning, Natalie chuckled in irony as she leaned against one wall of the bathroom, looking into her strange reflection.

She had asked Brian if anything would be different this year, defining it from all the rest that had come before. Well, she had her answer now. Only she didn't know if she'd ever get back home to her own body. What if whatever happened to them wasn't reversible? What if Natalie really was stuck being Julia for the rest of her life? Things would definitely have to change, that was for sure. And the first thing she would do would be to dump that meathead boyfriend, followed by getting a new set of friends. Natalie didn't care who would replace those three gossiping girls, just that there was no way anyone else could be as annoying.

Thinking back to the day before the switch, Natalie tried to remember every single thing she did that could have warranted such a change. She'd bumped into Julia in the hall that day, on the way to lunch with Brian - or rather Julia had bumped into her. But that was too trivial. People bumped into each other all the time, and nothing like this happened. Sighing, Natalie let her eyes drift down from her appearance, landing on the sinks. And then, something hit her.

The faucets. During the storm both she and Julia had been in the bathroom, and both had been touching the faucets when the lights had flickered. Natalie could feel the energy surge through her - she knew that lightning must have hit the school and traveled through her. Out of shock, she had grabbed Julia's arm, while the electricity was still bolting through her body. Eyes widening, Natalie stood up straight - what if it was the lightning, and instead of shocking them more than it had or even killing them, it had somehow changed the chemistries of their bodies, somehow transferring each other to the opposite body?

Seeing Julia finally arrive, Natalie went to her. Another girl walked in behind, and Natalie glared at her.

"Get out," she snapped, and the girl looked at her with wide eyes before hurriedly leaving. Shutting and locking the door behind the girl, Natalie then turned to her own body.

"I think I know what did it..."

Raising one eyebrow in question, Julia looked at her counterpart, crossing her arms. "Well?"

"The lightning. It shocked us both through the faucets, remember? And then I grabbed your arm at the same time, and it circled the current for that one second in time. Maybe that's what screwed us up..." Natalie explained, losing her breath due to spitting it all out at once.

Pausing a moment, Julia just stared at her. "...Okay, if lightning hit us, we'd be dead. Maybe it was a short-circuit in the school's system."

"Not necessarily. My uncle has been struck by lightning three times, and he's still alive. Didn't you hear the thunder? It was right on top of us - the same time the lightning hit. The bolt must have spread through every metal and electrical path it could in the school. That's why the lights went insane, and why the metal shocked us," Natalie tried to explain.

"...Well then how do we switch back?" Julia asked, thinking that maybe Natalie's theory wasn't so far-off.

"I don't know. It'd probably have to be another lightning strike through us, and we'd have to be touching."

"Are you insane?! That'd kill us, and I'd rather be stuck as you than dead," Julia said, and Natalie was surprised. Julia was one of those 'I'd rather be dead than...' people.

"It's the only way it can work," Natalie said, mostly to herself.

"Well, it's not raining, so what do we do until then?" Julia asked, sighing as she leaned against the wall, gazing at her reflection like Natalie had earlier.

"Well, we're stuck like this obviously," Natalie sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back against the sinks. "I think we should set up rules...or guidelines, or something. Stuff we're explicitly not allowed to do for the sake of the person we're stuck as."

"Alright, I guess," Julia said. Truthfully, there were a few dire things she needed to make sure never happened.

"First off, I want you to be nice to my friends. I know you don't like them and think they're freaks, but please. They're good people, and it was hard enough finding them the first time," Natalie said.

Sighing, Julia rolled her eyes. "Alright. I'll...try."

"And second, please don't do anything with Brian. He's very...hands-on sometimes, and I know he'll at least try to kiss you, but-"

"Say no more," Julia butted in, her face contorted into a look of disgust. "That won't be a problem. Trust me. Is that all?"

"I guess so. At least for the most important stuff."

"Alright then. I don't want you to do anything with Chad either."

"That meathead jock? Done," Natalie spat, groaning inside at the idea of Chad putting his hands on her again.

"Um...don't talk to people that are like, super low. Like nerds and stuff.... Don't spend my money either. Oh, and don't ruin my clothes..." Julia rattled off, and Natalie couldn't stop herself from sighing and rolling her eyes. Julia really was vapid.

"Alright, fine," she said. "Are we done here?" She stood and took a step toward the door.

"Mhmm...." Julia answered, so Natalie nodded and headed for the door, unlocking it. "Oh, wait...one more thing," she heard Julia say from behind. Turning, Natalie could see the devious smirk on her own face and couldn't help but think how awesome that look was on her.

"Yes?"

"You ever wear black again, and make me look like a freak...and I'll break up with your boyfriend," Julia said, smirking.

"...You wouldn't," Natalie whispered, glaring hard at her.

"Wouldn't I?" Thinking about it, she knew Julia would do something like that, and it angered her. Scowling, she grabbed the door handle and yanked hard, leaving Julia behind.

This sucked.