Slowly getting out of the car from our session in church, I headed straight for my cousin’s house, who conveniently—yet awkwardly—lived next door to us.
And when I meant next door, I meant that our houses were conjoined together. Call it a coincidence, but it was a bit frightening when my father walked out to see his brother right next door. It wasn’t a bad thing for me, because now I got to see my cousin even more than I already did.
“Hey, I’m sure you have homework, mister. Make sure you get it done before the day is out,” my father said sternly, sorting through his keychain for the key to the door. My mother fumbled out of the car and headed for the front door as well. I nodded and gave them both a cheeky smile before placing my hand on the knocker of our neighbor’s front door. I gave it three short knocks before stepping back, waiting to be greeted accordingly.
“Ah, Alexander! Early, I see!” the door opened to my dad’s brother, my Uncle Dach.
“Good morning, Uncle Dach! We were just getting back from church, and I was wondering if Samantha was here?” I stammered, looking past his arm to see if she was around.
“Uh, yes, actually. In fact, she was wondering if she could stay at your house for a couple of hours. Her mother is going to be coming home pretty soon,” he looked behind himself, trying to spot her as well.
“Oh, that’s fine! I’ll leave the front door open so that she can just come in. Thanks!” I replied and walked back over to my house. Sliding through the doorway and up the stairs, I cleaned my room up a bit and sat at my computer, continuing a paper that was supposed to be due tomorrow.
Sooner rather than later, Samantha stormed into my room in a hissing fury.
“Can you believe it? Mr. Davidson wants that paper due tomorrow! We were only given a weekend to finish it!” She took a seat on my bed and stared out into the window, trying to calm herself down.
“Well, yeah. But he told us on Thursday, and that’s when I started it. You can’t be procrastinating like this, I told you before.” A shy smile formed through my mouth as I turned to her in the chair, watching her look up at the sky.
Samantha was only a year younger than me, but luckily for us we landed in the same grade in the same school: Pervicial Middle School. The school year was beginning to wind down unfortunately, and next year we would be taking on the big adventure known as high school. I wasn’t as scared, since I was a pretty good student—but Samantha, on the other hand, was a different story with her schoolwork.
“My dad made me do it before I came here. Probably to prove to my mother that I did something with my day instead of lounge around,” she sighed, putting her hands on her face for a brief moment. I rose an eyebrow, but shook this off as her being in one of her moods.
“Well, I’m just about done anyway, I figured I could just finish it later today,” I looked up at her. “So, what to do want to do? Bike to the mall? See an early movie?” I made an attempt to change the subject.
“No, no… well, I am pretty hungry. A bike ride to the mall doesn’t sound that horrendous, either,” Samantha rolled the idea around in her head.
“Alright, let’s go.” She finally made up her mind moments later. I grinned and closed my laptop, grabbing my wallet and heading out of my bedroom door with Samantha in tow.
“Mom, we’re heading out—make sure you tell Dad I promise I’ll get my homework done, that way he won’t scream at me when he notices that I’m gone. Oh, we’re also taking the bikes. Have you seen the other bike lock?” I asked my mom calmly, sifting through some cabinets.
“I think it should be in the shed, hanging next to the tools!” she yelled from another room. Samantha rolled her eyes. “Typical Alexander, always overthinking things.” I scoffed and shook my head, swiping my pair of keys from the rack.
“I’ll go grab my bike, since you’re taking this long. Yeesh,” Samantha sighed and exited our house. Picking up the pace, I rushed to the shed that resided in the back of my house and unlocked, grabbing my bike and quickly locking it back up. As soon as I got to the curb, Samantha was already at the corner of the street.
“C’mon, slowpoke! If you’re not fast, the mall might actually close!” she yelled in a joking matter. I smirked and put my feet to the pedal, quickly catching up to her and proceeding to the trail that lead to the mall.
-~-
“Why are robots good at rowing boats?”
“Why, Alexander…” Samantha said with an utterly bored tone.
“Because they’re row-bots!” A short chuckle emitted from my mouth. Samantha tapped her foot as we waited in line at the food court. She sighed and looked down to the side.
“Tell me, Alex––”
“Don’t call me Alex. You know how much I hate that.”
“Fine, Alexander––tell me, why do you always try and tell me jokes in order to pass the time?”
“I don’t know. I figured they’re a good time waster. Now, I have another one,” Samantha let out a fake cry of complete agony.
“Just hear me out, OK? It’s another robot-themed one. What does a robot say if it’s annoyed?” She gave no reply.
“Stop pushing my buttons!” Samantha turned to me in line and looked me straight in the eyes. After a couple of moments, she let out a snort, and then a giggle, putting her hand over her mouth in order to hold in a bigger laugh.
“Alright, alright… you may have got me on that one.” I grinned, finally feeling triumphant with this attempt. Samantha turned herself back around to find herself at the counter. She quickly ordered her food and pulled out money from her purse in order to open it. Following suit, we both made our way to the purchasing counter and picked up our food accordingly.
“Let’s just walk around the mall while we eat, how about it?” I nodded and quickly made my way next to her. A faint tug was made in my brain, but it seemed like nothing.
“Life just seems like one big pushover, doesn’t it? I mean, you follow the same schedule every day, and once high school starts—” Samantha paused to nibble at some of the fries in her hand.
“—it’ll be the same, but harder. You’ve had this conversation with me on the phone before, Samantha.” I finished her statement, sipping on some of my contained lemonade. The tug came back, but harder. I was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded. It must have been from the lemonade.
“L-Let me give you some pseudo-brotherly, ‘one year older than you’ advice. You just have to learn how to conform, Samantha. You may not get your way all of the time, but you try to compromise with your own life and just… deal with it, you know?” I looked to the girl, who was looking off into the distance. Now that I think about it, she tends to do that a lot. I rolled my eyes, following up with a smirk.
“Childish.”
“What was that?” The remark made Samantha glare at me with rage. I laughed and shook my head. “Nothing, nothing.” I replied back.
We passed by a couple stores before stopping at a big department store. Samantha demanded that we check out some clothes for her to wear tomorrow. I groaned, slowly regretting that we even went to the mall. I buckled up and wandered into the department store with her, watching her chase down an employee in order to find her section. I took another chug of my lemonade, kicking a stray price tag on the ground. Samantha made her way back to me.
“Still being slow, are we? Come on already, the girls section is this way.”
“I’m being slow because I’d rather not stare at bras and pretty dresses. I’ll be in the men section if you need me.” I quickly scooted in the actual direction of the men’s clothing section, breathing out a quick sigh of relief once I had made it. I started to look at some pants before—
“ACK—geez!” Something split inside of my brain, making my drink drop straight from my hand. The liquid, along with the ice, splashed all over the dark blue carpet, creating an even darker stain overtop of it. My vision was now starting to get a bit hazy. I stumbled and fell to a knee, gasping for a bit of air quietly. What the heck was happening to me?
“S-Saman…” I murmured silently. My eyes widened as I clenched my head. I knew exactly what was happening.
And out of all of the places, I didn’t want it to happen here. Someone could easily pass by and see… this.
My hand turned to a fist as I slammed it against the ground. I need to get it out of here. I staggered for a bit, but I couldn’t gather enough energy to even stand again. I crumbled to the floor, taking small breaths.
Just… let it happen…
I closed my eyes and sighed.
Fine, Alexa. Good luck.
-~-
My eyes flashed open, and quickly got back onto my feet. I looked around, becoming aware of my surroundings. I looked at my hands, which reflected as small and even paler.
Oh no.
“Alexander! I’m done!” A shrill cry rang throughout the air. I spun to see Samantha strolling down the hallways, turning her head back and forth in search of Alexander.
Good thing he was only here a minute ago.
“Oh goodness…” I muttered under my breath. I ducked behind some clothing racks in order to make my way towards the back of the store, stealing my image in front of a mirror.
I looked exactly like him. At least… clothing-wise. I had on his blue shirt and dark jeans. They were quite big for me, so I wouldn’t even be able to pass myself off as him even if I tried. I looked up at my actual bodily features. I wasn’t too tall—probably around the same height as Samantha herself. My face was a bit small as well, with small lips and pretty, light-brownish eyes. Black, long hair flowed out of my scalp as well, which was quite the stretch away from Alexander’s short hair. I peered down at my chest.
I shook my head and closed my eyes, refusing to look at myself no more.
I needed to switch back. I––I… I didn’t even know who I am. I quickly scanned around for the bathroom, and as soon as I spotted it, I slid my way inside. I stood in front of one of the scratch-covered mirrors, gazing down into the sink that stood in front of me.
“What am I? Who am I? I need to… I need to get out of here… Alexander…!” I heard the door creak open through my cries. I stared at Samantha, who had entered the bathroom. She went into one of the stalls and slammed it shut. My eyes widened, hoping that she didn’t hear me exclaim his name.
“Stupid kid… he takes me to the mall and then ditches me…” she growled. I stood there, frozen in my mind.
In spite of all of this, I didn’t feel weird in the slightest. I didn’t feel like a pervert or anything because… well, I was a girl. I didn’t have Alexander’s mind, for some strange reason. I had a mind of my own… just in the same body as him.
Was that bad?
A little bit, because now Samantha’s on a manhunt for him.
Was it good?
Yes, because who wants to be a dirty pervert?
I exited out of my mind and clamped my hands on the sink. A flush was heard, and Samantha fled the stall in a hurry. Samantha took notice of me as she was washing her hands.
“Hey, are you OK? You look a bit nervous,” Samantha said in a small voice. I could tell that she wasn’t famous for talking to strangers.
My mouth opened to make a response, but nothing was coming out.
Come on, say something!
“Do you… need help? Are you lost?” she began looking to the side in utter embarrassment. She probably thought something was wrong with me at this point.
“H-Help…”
“What?” Samantha was taken aback. I lunged myself to her, giving her a big hug.
“Help!” I yelled.
“Help? Help with what? What’s your name anyway, kid?”
“A-Ah… uhm…” I froze again, nothing even remembering my name. Did I even have a name?
“It’s… ah… ah… Alex… Alexa.” I managed to pop out.
“Oh, wow. What a coincidence. My friend’s name is Alex. Well, it’s actually Alexander. He hates being called that, apparently.” I dug my head deeper into her chest. I felt like I was her little sister at this point.
“And… wow, that awfully looks like the shirt he was wearing… today…” Samantha immediately shoved me away, getting into some sort of fighting stance.
“Hey! You mugged my cousin! Get the heck away from me!” she acclaimed. I waved my hands out of fear.
“N-No! I swear I didn’t hurt him! I actually know him, but it’s just that…” I paused, looking down at the ground.
“It’s just that what?” She walked up to me and slapped me square in the face, making my head flick to the side. Tears flew and bounced off of the tiled floor. “Tell me where my cousin is!”
“I am your cousin, Samantha!” I shrieked. Samantha stood there for a couple of moments before regaining her stature.
“V––Very funny. Now that’s a funny joke. He must be in the bathroom somewhere, hiding out because he didn’t want to see me looking at clothes. I looked her straight in the eyes. She noticed that my face was covered in tears.
“Prove it,” she said to me.
“I can’t. I just know his name. You have to take my word for it, I swear! Please, just help me change back! I don’t want to be here!” I cried out, falling to the floor. Samantha gasped, beginning to tear up as well.
“Hey, stop crying. It’ll be OK. I-I... I’ll help you. It’ll just be hard. I can’t see you being my cousin. You both are wearing the same clothes, but…” An idea flashed into her mind.
“Check your pockets. He brought his wallet to pay for his food… maybe his ID is in there.” She spoke calmly to me, coaxing me in the process. I dug my fingers into my pockets, and pulled out a black leather wallet. Opening it up revealed a school ID that detailed everything about Alexander.
“That’s Alexander, all right. With his sly smile and everything. You didn’t steal this off of him, did you?” I only shook my head in response, handing the wallet to her.
“You are him, then. You have to explain how… or even why… this happened.”
To be continued...
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