I decided to change with my eyes closed so that I didn’t accidentally see anything I didn’t want to. It was clumsy not only because my eyes were closed but also because I was a whole lot taller than before.

But I managed to dress myself in my dark purple shorts and white polo shirt without badly injuring myself. I did end up hitting my head on my hanging lamp again, though.

I repacked my bag and hoisted it up on my shoulders. Stepping from my room, I quietly padded through the hallway until I reached the largest room in the place.

My sisters’ room.

I silently pushed the door open and walked over to the first of three beds: Eleanor’s. I gently shook her awake, and as her eyelashes fluttered, I covered her face with my hand.

“Ellie,” I called as softly as I could, knowing my voice wouldn’t sound like my voice. “It’s me, Amara. Don’t freak out.”

I slowly removed my hand to reveal her closed eyes. She blinked them open once my hand was completely free from her face, and when her eyes locked on my face, they widened.

And she screamed.

I immediately clamped my hand back over her face, this time over her mouth.

“Sh, Ellie, it’s still me,” I told her in a hushed but hastily tone. “I Switched last night.”

Her alarmed eyes slowly returned to their normal size as she stopped resisting my hand. So I removed it and helped her sit up.

“Gosh, Amara,” she whispered. “You scared the science out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” I told her before I told her, “I have to go now. I said I’d come visit, but I don’t want to scare the other two. Tell them I love them. I’ll see when I can visit.”

I gave her a hug as she whispered, “I will…”

I pulled away after a moment and saw her face. Her nose was scrunched as she looked at me. Her mouth was curved in a smile, though, and I knew this to be her thinking face. So I patiently waited.

“This is so weird,” she finally told me, reaching out to cautiously poke my arm. “I’m meeting your soulmate before you get to.”

I laughed. Of course this was what she was thinking! Her thoughts were always the most absurd of everyone around.

“I can’t wait to meet your soulmate,” I told her. “Never change, Ellie.”

I pulled her into a second hug before pulling away and leaving the room. But before I left, I turned and gave a small wave and a smile which she returned.

I have to tell Cass!

- - -

Apparently, you had to register yourself as Switched at the office. This was information I did not know, which made going to my room very very awkward.

I walked in the door to the girls’ dorm and through the hallway at about half past seven in the morning. I had half an hour to get ready for school, so I would spend that time unpacking my overnight items from my bag and packing my school items into my bag.

But I hadn’t made it halfway to my room when a scream came from behind me. I spun around, on full alert, and saw one of the girls who lived in the dorm, Grace, staring at me. She was in nothing but a towel wrapped around her body, probably having just come out of the shower, but then she was gone. She had sprinted right back into the showers at the end of the hall.

But unfortunately, her scream had alerted everyone. All I could do was stand there and watch as girls came out of their rooms only to see me, scream, and slam their doors.

I put my head down as I dove for the room with the metal number 35 nailed to its door. My and Cass’s room.

I shut the door as shouts continued behind the door, and I spun around and pressed my back against it.

Cass, or the girl who currently had Cass’s mind, was laying in bed. She wasn’t exactly awake as she pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes.

“Amara?” she asked through a yawn. “Is that y-?”

She stopped when she saw me.

“Wait, wait!” I told her, shoving my hands in front of me in a ‘stop’ motion. “It’s me, I’m Amara, it’s me!” 

“What?” she asked, her eyes blinking again. 

Her vision seemed more focused once she opened her eyes again, so I continued. “It really is me. You Switched yesterday, and when you sat beside me in Science class I asked who you were and to confirm that you were Cass, I asked you who I liked and you told me ‘Ezra’, which is the right answer.”

My words were so quick, a ramble falling from my mouth as this girl blinked up at me, shocked. 

“Okay,” she said, swiveling in bed to put her feet on the floor. “Did you register?”

“What?” I asked, thoroughly confused at her nonchalant attitude. “No test, no skepticism, nothing?”

“What do you mean?” she asked as she opened her closet. “I can tell it’s you. Your bag, your tone, your…” she gestured at me. “...rambling tendencies.”

“Huh,” I said, my arms finally dropping to my sides. I swung my bag off of my shoulders and it thudded to the floor. But then I paused. “Wait, register?”

“Yeah,” she said over her shoulder as she pulled her uniform from her closet and off its hanger. “You have to go to the office so that a note can go to all of the girls in the dorms. Y’know, so that no one panics when they see a boy in the dorms.”

“O-oh…” I said sheepishly. “Oops?”

She was halfway through pulling her shirt on when she turned to me. Pushed an arm through a sleeve as she cautiously asked me, “Amara. Did you register?”

“Ahem,” I coughed into a hand, ducking my head. “No?” I told her quietly.

It was dead silent in the room. It was only interrupted by the shouting going on outside the door. Cass looked to the door. Then back at me. Then to the door. And back at me.

“Oh my science, Amara,” she said as she pushed her other arm through the sleeve and pinched the bridge of her nose. “No wonder everyone’s screaming out there.”

Right then, the door burst open and someone stormed into the room.

“You’re not allowed in here,” she told me sternly. It was our dorm professor, Mrs Blackthorn. Then she turned to Cass. “You know you’re not allowed to have boys in here.”

“No, no, wait,” I said. “I’m not a boy.” I paused. “Well, I am a boy, but only on the outside. Wait. Uhm, I mean…” I squared my shoulders. “I’m Amara. I got Switched last night.”

“Amara?” Mrs Blackthorn repeated incredulously.

“Yes,” I told her. “I didn’t know we had to register and, uh, it created a bit of a disturbance.”

“Amara,” Mrs Blackthorn sighed. She leaned on the door and I could see that a bunch of girls had piled up behind her. “For Savior’s sake…” she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Come on, let’s get you registered.”

“Okay,” I agreed meekly.

“See you at lunch!” Cass called from behind me as I followed Mrs Blackthorn out of the room. The crowd of girls spread like birds as we walked through the hallway. “Have fun in class!”

“Yeah, I will,” I called sarcastically over my shoulder at her, rolling my eyes as she snickered.

- - -

It was weird in class. I wasn’t used to being so tall and my limbs were all clumsy and awkward as I tried to make my way through the crowded hallways. One benefit, though, was not only that I could see over the heads of most of the students, but people made way for me because of my height. I would have to measure later tonight so that I could know how tall I was.

But it seemed like registering did the job because most of the students didn’t so much as bat an eye at my different appearance, and neither did the teachers. But then again, most of them had Switched as well, so it probably wasn’t as surprising to them as it was for me. Or for the girls in our dorm.

But being Switched made me finally look around my class to observe who had Switched and who hadn’t.

It was strange seeing unfamiliar faces replacing familiar faces, but even more so to see familiar faces replacing familiar faces.

But in my third class of the day, Ancient Scripture, my eye caught on another girl in my class. A girl in the body of my best friend, Cass.

I smiled as I turned my attention back to my teacher. But not even a minute later, they announced, “Find a partner to finish your worksheet with.”

I looked up at the girl with Cass’s body and slowly approached her. If someone else wanted to pair with her, they would have time. Otherwise, I would ask her.

She didn’t have a partner by the time I reached her so I quietly said, “Hi.”

She turned to look at me and smiled. “Hi.”

“I’m Amara,” I told her, hugging my papers to my chest.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yvette,” she said with a smile.

“Likewise,” I told her. “Want to be partners?”

“Sure,” she said with a quiet smile.

We sat side by side, her sitting at her desk as I sat in the one adjacent, on her right. I set my papers on the desk, cautiously sliding the pencil case to the side as I did so. Then I turned to Yvette.

“So, uh,” I said, unsure of how to continue. 

What could I say? Hi, I know who your soulmate is? No, she’d think I was crazy if that was how we started talking. And I wanted her to like me, because she’s my best friend’s soulmate, and if she hated me…

“I’m guessing you’re Switched?” she asked me as she wrote her name at the top of her paper. 

She glanced at me with an almost shy smile as I breathed a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess my name doesn’t really match my body right now, does it?” I scrunched up my nose. “Or my voice.”

She laughed at this, and it sounded so weird because it was in Cass’s voice but didn’t sound like her at all. “Yeah, it sort of doesn’t,” she said. “I’ve been Switched, too, but it’s sort of hard to tell.”

I hummed and nodded. I had already known who she had Switched with (obviously) but it would definitely be too awkward to tell her that. But I wasn’t sure how to respond otherwise, so…

“You know this already, though,” she suddenly said, and my eyes shot up to meet hers. Her eyes were kind but also seemed strict. And to be honest, it scared me. “You’re friends with my soulmate. I remember seeing you yesterday with… uh, with myself.”

“O-oh, you did?” I said, suddenly very shocked. “Me, o-or this body?”

“You,” she responded. Then she smiled. “Tell her I’ll be at the parade band performance tonight for me?”

I think my brain sort of stuttered like a broken engine, but I couldn’t tell because I couldn’t think.

“Y-yeah, uh, s-sure,” I finally stammered.

I paused. Wait… we have a parade band performance tonight! How was I going to fit in my uniform?

I leaned my head in my palm and I could feel her looking at me curiously. I didn’t pay her much mind, though, as I tried to think. I mean, I registered, so maybe it would all be taken care of for me? I wasn’t sure though because I had no clue how the Switch worked. I’d only ever been focused on my studies and work, so…

I shook my head and looked back at Yvette. “Let’s get to translating, yeah?”

She looked confused for a moment before she laughed her tinkling laugh and we turned back to my work.

- - -

I walked into my parade band class, my last class of the day, to the confused stares of almost everyone around. I gave nervous smiles to my friends, and they gave a confused smile back.

I sat in my usual chair as I braced myself and waited for the inevitable mountain of questions that would, no doubt, soon begin.

And before long…

“Hi, Amara.”

“I know, I know, it’s actually-” I paused in my explanation. Turned to look at the girl sitting beside me. “Laine? How’d you-”

“Soulmate Switch week, Amara,” she told me with a knowing twinkle sparkling in her eyes. “You’re nervous and you’re sitting in your usual seat and I’ve definitely never seen…” she gestured to my entire body as she said, “this boy before, so…”

She shrugged.

I blinked at her. I opened my mouth to reply, to ask her, ‘how did you know?’ but then paused. Closed my mouth.

“Right, you’ve been Switched,” I decided to say as my brain finally caught up to what was happening.

She smiled widely and gave a light laugh. “I’m glad you got Switched, Amara. I know you were worried about it.”

“Thanks, Laine,” I said with a bright smile. “Also, how do I look like? Wait, no, I guess, what do I look like? Have you… wait, no, you said you haven’t…”

I mumbled my way through my thought process as she bit her lip, probably trying to stifle her laughter.

“Well, you have brown hair that is sticking up all over the place,” she told me, gesturing to my head. “And your skin is a lot lighter than before, almost like the color of cream.” She leaned in, squinting at my eyes through my new glasses. “And your eyes are black, along with the rims of your glasses.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding even though I wasn’t agreeing to anything. “Did you know that the system gave them to me?”

“Yeah, it’s been known to do that,” she said, nodding as well. “It gave you those clothes, too, right?”

I looked down at my white shirt and purple shorts. “Yup. And these are actually a lot more comfortable than the girls’ uniforms.”

“Yeah, right?” she said, her eyes widening in agreement.

We burst out laughing, and it felt like I was me and not me in some stranger’s body. Who knew friends could make me feel so much better, especially after yesterday night and my horrible fight with my mother.

“Laine?” came a voice from behind us. “Who’s that?”

We turned around to see Parker. He looked completely opposite to Laine. Their personalities were also polar opposites, but I guess it made sense. Opposites did attract, so…

Laine had dark brown hair, almost black but not quite. She had braided her shoulder length hair in tight strands, and she tied them up in a ponytail. This helped highlight the strands of blue that she had dyed some of her braids. Her skin was almost as dark as her hair, but not as much. Like dark chocolate.

Her eyes were just as dark as the rest of her and gave off a warmth that I had never seen before. She looked and felt like a warm home with a bright fire burning in the hearth. Well… like home in a person.

Parker was, again, opposite. He had bright platinum blond hair and pale blue eyes. His skin was so pale, he was almost transparent. His resting face was also very… angry. He looked like the definition of an icy winter storm. Pale and deadly.

He glared at me, and I was reminded of the day we met. I was terrified of him when I met him a few months previous, and a shiver flew up my spine.

“Laine,” he repeated, his gaze not leaving mine as I trembled. “Who. Is. That?”

“Oh, Parker,” Laine breathed, rolling her eyes. She seemed to be the only person in existence who wasn’t terrified of Parker. “Chill out. This is Amara.”

He raised a pale blond eyebrow and looked incredulously towards Laine. “Amara?”

“H-hi,” I quietly said as I lifted a hand in a small wave.

He turned his gaze back to me as his other eyebrow joined the first. “Amara?” he repeated. His eyes widened as I gave him a shy, awkward smile. “Oh my science, it is you!”

“Yup…” I twisted my fingers in my hands nervously. “It’s me…”

“Wow, I totally did not recognize you!” he said, his mad face melting into the face I grew to know: his wide teeth-flashing smile and crinkled eyes. “I’m sorry, Amara.”

I laughed lightly. “It’s fine, Parker,” I told him in my soulmate’s deep voice. “You took it better than most of the girls in my dorm this morning.”

They both laughed with me as he came around to sit on her other side. She looked over to Parker. “Yeah, remember when we got Switched?”

I quieted and leaned in, curious to hear this story.