Chapter 16

I enjoyed a nice quiet night just being myself. I turned off my phone, cuddled up in my bed and resumed reading The Heroine Prophecy. It almost felt as if I was Daniel again - but I was still in Sydney's body. Maybe this is all I needed. Relax with a good book - one in which I started back when I was Daniel - to get in touch with who I am. 

After reading several chapters, I was itching to start the new book just in case I saw Kaylee.  So I switched to reading The Fated Crown. After several chapters of that, I finally got tired and decided to call it a night. I was looking forward to discussing some of the book’s twists with Kaylee.

In fact, that’s all I could think about during class. I found myself daydreaming and realized I forgot to write down ten minutes worth of lecture notes.

When I got to our Wednesday study session, I noticed nobody was talking and everyone seemed depressed. It was very unlike them. My guilty conscience immediately went to Aiden and Ella.  On, no. They know. I’m in trouble.

I bit my lip nervously and asked no one in particular. “Why is everyone so quiet today?” 

“The election results last night,” Daniel replied.

“Oh,” I replied. I was momentarily relieved this wasn’t about me. “I’m sorry - I really wasn’t following it.” It’s true. With everything going on in my life this past month, current events seemed like a low priority. I hadn’t even thought about it since I cast my absentee ballot over a month ago. Well before the Guild entered my life.

“Moore won,” Antonio said with all the enthusiasm of someone whose puppy just died.

I sat down, letting that news sink in. He wasn’t who I voted for. I knew the issues. Moore was a populist who pushed a nationalist agenda. His opponent, Clark, was more centrist and often was quiet on more progressive issues in fear of ceding voters to Moore.

Gabriel beat the table with his fist. “Dammit, we needed Clark to win.”

“We knew he was a long-shot,” Jasmine said. “He just wasn’t strong enough on LGBTQ issues.”

“But with Moore in charge, he’s going to push anti-gay laws,” Antonio replied. “This country is going to regress.”

“True, but Clark never publicly took a stance on any of those issues,” Daniel added. “We both know that the silence is condemning, and there is no guarantee that he would be better in that regard.”

“So, I shouldn’t be upset?” Antonio asked. “A whole bunch of people opted to abstain because Clark wasn’t strong enough. That’s fucked up.” This was the first time I’ve seen Antonio use profanity and show this much raw emotion.

“Hell no,” Daniel replied. “We should all be pissed, but let’s save that passion for when we can make a difference.”

“What can we do?” I asked. I was out of my league in this conversation, but I’ve grown to think of the Guild as good friends.

“As a group of gay and queer college students, we can make sure our voice is heard,” Daniel implored. “Don’t just accept the status quo. We stick together. We watch each other’s backs over the next term.”

A resigned silence filled the room as everyone nodded. It was the only thing we could do. For now.

“This could change things, you know,” Gabriel finally said. “We’ve talked about permanent swaps in the past.”

“Whoa,” Jasmine stopped him. “I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about that.”

There was a pregnant pause around the room and I could feel eyes on me of those who knew I was D.

While they weren’t talking about me, they were - indirectly. I decided I needed to speak up or else they’d keep trying to tip-toe around the secret being kept from me. “I know about Robert.” 

All eyes were on me as each student was wondering how I found out. Regardless, it felt like with the secret out in the open, a little bit of tension eased.

“Well, that was only a matter of time,” Jasmine chimed in.

Antonio sighed. “Fine. But now is not the time-”

“When is the time?” Gabriel barked. “You know damn well that since Robert left a few of us had the same idea. As I see it, a permanent swap will allow us to live as our authentic selves - regardless what our fucking government thinks our gender and sexuality should be.”

“But what if there’s a fight over bodies?” Antonio asked. “We’ve talked about this.”

“It’s not rocket science, M!” Jasmine argued. “R and S made a private arrangement about their own bodies. This doesn’t have to be a group decision. Nor should it.”

This was the first time I really saw the Guild members break character.  Role-playing was taking a back-seat to serious discussion about their future.

Antonio sat down and put his head into his hands. “I’m sorry. You’re right - I’m just emotional right now. I’m pissed and upset at the election,” he sighed. “I can’t be Antonio right now. A, can you take over?”

“Sure,” Daniel replied. “For what it’s worth, M, I didn’t want to come to class either. I wanted to dig myself into a hole and not talk to anyone else.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s get back on track,” he continued. “This is a study session. We can save the permanent swap discussion for Sunday. And let’s focus today on what we can control - studying.”

Everyone nodded and started pulling notebooks from their bags.

“Anyone have any major needs?” Daniel asked.

I raised my hand. “Music.”

“OK, I need R and M to help D.”

As everyone shuffled around the tables, Jasmine and Gabriel came over to me first.

“D, I’m sorry we kept that from you,” Jasmine said.

I simply stared at her and gave her a forgiving smile. I didn’t know what to say.

“We thought if you knew one of our members ran off with another member's body it would scare you away,” Gabriel added.

“I suppose that was my fear in the beginning,” I admitted.

“Is that still a fear?” Jasmine asked.

I thought about that question. With everything going on, would I be upset if someone decided they wanted my old boring life as theirs? I suppose it depended on who I got stuck with. I knew where this line of questioning would lead, and I wasn’t ready for that kind of self-reflection. “I don’t think so.”

“I’m glad you didn’t get scared off then,” she chuckled.

Gabriel nudged her. “What she means is she’s glad you’re here with us. You’re a good friend and a valuable member of the Guild.”

“Thanks guys,” I smiled.

Antonio and Morgan hovered over Jasmine and Gabriel.

“Sydney, are you ready for us?” Antonio asked.

“Yeah,” I replied as Jasmine and Gabriel left us to do their own thing.

Antonio and Morgan then gave me a beginner’s crash course in reading and playing music. I had already known Morgan was R, and I now learned that Antonio is M. Antonio was a very muted version of himself, but seemed to be working through it.

Over the next 50 minutes we worked through notes and fingering. “Try again,” Antonio patiently said to me.

“C C G G B-”

“A”, Morgan corrected me.

“Sorry,” I replied. “I’ll get it.”

“You’re doing good, Syd,” Antonio assured me. “Once you get the notes and the fingers, the rest will be muscle memory.”

I nodded.

“Try again. This time use your clarinet,” Morgan suggested.

I picked up the clarinet and started to play the notes. They came much easier. I glanced up to my tutors for acknowledgement.

“Don’t look at us,” Antonio said. “Keep looking at the music. The idea is to associate the notes with the fingers and the tone. It’s the same as learning any new language.”

I heard some giggling coming from the other side of the study room. I turned to see Jasmine and Gabriel having their own conversation. Meanwhile Daniel was by himself reading a book for Lit class. 

“Come on guys, keep it down,” Antonio asked. “You’re distracting Sydney.”

Morgan lightly grabbed Antonio’s wrist and looked at his watch. “Study session is almost over anyway.” She looked back up at me. “Keep practicing at home.”

“What do I do about the end-of-term music composition project?”

“Most likely I’ll be the one to finish it next time I’m Sydney,” Morgan frowned. “But It’d be awesome if you contributed when you’re ready.”

“I’ll try.”

Everyone started packing up.

As I started to disassemble my clarinet I glanced at Gabriel. I needed to borrow his body to investigate Ella further. In order to do that, I’d need the stone. I looked over to Jasmine. “Hey Jaz, do you still have the stone? I want to borrow it.”

“Yes I do,” she said, taking it out of her backpack and dropping it in my hand.

“Thanks.” I finished packing up and ran after Gabriel.

“Gabe, wait up.”

A librarian sternly hissed at me, “No running in the library.”

“Sorry,” I replied with a guilty grin, slowing my pace down to a speed walk.

“What’s up Syd?” he said, stopping to allow me to catch up to him.

“Can we swap for a few hours?”

He shrugged. “Sure. I had no big plans. Just dinner. But I do have an important practice tomorrow.”

“I’ll make sure to eat, and have him back to you later tonight.” 

“Deal.”

I held out my hand with the stone in it. He placed his much larger hand on top of mine. Five seconds later, I was the star football player again.

“Have a good evening, Gabe,” Sydney smiled, putting the stone in her bag and walkingtf towards the library exit.

“You too, Syd,” I smiled, adjusting the strap of the backpack I was now wearing and following her out.

* * *

This evening’s mission was to see if I could actually talk to Ella. I could easily make my way over to the Delta house. What concerned me was that I wasn’t sure she was even home. I’m not Jasmine, so I can’t text Lauren to ask. So, I just have to go. Which led me to my next concern. I’m not sure Gabriel was ever at Ella’s place. Plus, last time I brought up Gabe, Ella acted like her dating the football player wasn’t common knowledge.

And a new concern that I just noticed. I was hungry. I forgot how much Gabe typically ate. I was going to need to stop to eat something before finding Ella.

I walked into the dining hall.  I could see the linemen already sitting at our table.  I didn’t want to get invited over, so I quickly got in the food line, and grabbed a cheeseburger… scratch that, I needed more. Two cheeseburgers… and a cup of fries and a brownie to go, and continued on my way.

Derek and Leech were standing by the entrance chatting, so I turned the other way, and found a back exit from the dining hall.  I managed to avoid anyone else that recognized me as I walked outside and headed towards Greek row.

While I walked I took a mental check of myself. I was inside the body of a guy again and I wanted to know if I was experiencing any of the dysphoria Robert talked about. I felt fine. I was wearing a long sleeve wicking shirt and cargo shorts. It’s not as cute as what I was wearing as Sydney, but this shirt was very flattering on my gym-toned torso. So far, so good.

I scarfed down my food before I got to the Delta house, wiped the crumbs off my shirt, and knocked on the door

A girl I didn’t recognize opened the door and stared up at the tall football player standing on the porch.  “Hi, can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Ella,” I said with a smile.

The girl looked me up and down and smiled. Her eyes lingered on my toned pecs. She then realized she was staring before responding. 

I grinned a little thinking of that old, “My eyes are up here” line.

“Let me see if she’s home.” She turned back into the house and announced, “Is Ella home?”

There were some muffled replies.

The girl turned back to me. “She’ll be right out.”

Twenty seconds later Ella came to the door. Normally she was taller than me when I was one of the girls. But now, I towered over her. She was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants and no makeup. Her long blonde hair was flat and frizzy. She looked almost nothing like I remembered. She looked at me curiously. “Hi?”

“Hey, Ella, I haven’t heard from you in a week,” I replied. “I thought I should check in on you.”

Her eyebrow raised and her eyes scanned me. “Do I-” then her eyes popped open. “Wait - you’re Turbo Rameriz!”

“The one and only,” I smiled.

She took a step back and looked me over again out of disbelief. “Wait - are we dating?”

“Kinda,” I replied. “Nothing official. We’ve been on a few dates.”

“I’m dating Turbo Rameriz?” she said rhetorically. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

I took a deep breath. This all but confirmed my suspicions that this wasn’t really Ella. Of course, I didn’t want to give away that I caused this, so I had to play along. “Where have you been?”

She timidly bit her lip trying to figure out how to answer that. Her normal confidence and superiority were gone. “Me? Oh, um.. I’ve been around. Uhh. I don’t know. I haven’t really been myself lately,” she chuckled.

I decided to press on. I smirked, “Well then, who have you been?”

Her eyes opened wider and her mouth hung open. “I’m.. uh. On my period. You know. Girls become someone else when they’re on the rag.” A ripe tomato could not have been redder than her cheeks.

The real Ella wouldn’t be so crass. Now that I knew this wasn’t Ella, I had to confess what I did to the Guild. I got what I needed from this brief conversation, so I think I should do this sooner rather than later. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” she abruptly said. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you back. Can I make it up to you?”

“It’s OK, I forgive you,” I said, waving my hands dismissively.

“Want to come up?” She opened the door for me.

She’s inviting me in? I didn’t really want to - I hate going into the Delta House. But since she’s inviting me in, I might be able to get more information from her. The more I know, the more I can tell the Guild when I confess. Not to mention, I’m here now as a totally different person. Every other time I’ve been here, I’ve been either Jasmine or Morgan. How would I be treated as Gabriel? Curiosity got the better of me. “Sure.”

Ella took my hand and led me inside. There were more sorority girls at this hour of the evening. I tried to keep a low profile, but as Gabriel, that was hard. As we walked through the house and through the halls, each girl stopped and stared at me. I wasn’t just any guy walking through a sorority house. I was the school’s star football player. 

That must be why the real Ella never invited Gabriel over. I saw a knowing smirk on this Ella’s face, however. I was being paraded around the sorority like a trophy. Something, I realized, would never happen to Daniel.

When we finally reached Ella’s room, it was even more disheveled than it had been when I snuck in yesterday.

She started picking clothes off the bed and throwing them towards the corner of the room. “Sorry for the mess. I’ve been so out of it this week.”

“Did something happen?” I asked coyly, hoping to get the larger question out of the way.

She put her hand on her head. “Uhh.. our sorority Halloween party. I got fucked up. Maybe someone roofied my drink or something. My mind has been hazy and I seem to be forgetting a lot of stuff.”

She then pushed more clothes off the bed and motioned to me. “Sit.”

I pulled off my backpack and sat down on the bed. Ella sat next to me. Right up against me. Our thighs were touching.

“So, Turbo,” she said, placing her hand on my leg. “Can I call you Turbo?”

“It’s actually Gabriel or Gabe,” I replied. “I’m only Turbo on the field.”

“Right,” she said. “I forgot.”

“It's none of my business,” I said, looking her in the eyes, “but do you need help figuring out what happened? Have you talked to anyone about it?”

“I haven’t told anyone. Except for my other friend. Same thing happened to him.”

“Him?”

“Ohmygod, I mean a friend. He’s just a friend. Nothing’s going on with him. With us.”

“Whoa, calm down, Ella. I wasn’t accusing you of anything.”

“What I mean is, I think we were both roofied.”

“Did you go to the police?”

“No. Who would believe us?”

“I’m sure they’d believe that you were roofied at a halloween party at a sorority.”

“Right,” she agreed. “Maybe we should call them. I dunno.”

I needed to know if they were blaming Jasmine. “Were you both alone when it happened?”

“It’s not like that.”

“I believe you,” I reiterated. “I mean, do you have any idea who would have roofied you and… your friend.”

She was silent for a moment. “I have an idea, but my friend thinks it's crazy.”

“Try me.”

“Well, when I first rushed, my brothers said-”

“Brothers?”

“Sorry- my sisters said there used to be this fraternity on campus - Tau Kappa. And they all went crazy. They claimed a genie had cursed them.”

That’s not what I was expecting her to say at all. “Wait up - a genie?

“I knew you would think I was crazy too.”

“No - I just want to know whose ass I need to kick. You really think a genie roofied you?”

“I know - it’s stupid.”

I thought back to Halloween. I was dressed as a mermaid. Not a genie. Wrong Disney character. “I mean - it was Halloween. Are you sure?”

“There was someone else there with us. I just don’t know how she’s involved.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. “Who?”

“Just some girl who has been around a few Delta events. She was trying to get with me - I mean my friend. He is looking into it.”

I’d heard enough. Since I got what I needed from Ella, I should leave and swap back into Sydney. But then I wondered if I should pay Aiden a visit as well. 

“She’s not important,” Ella suddenly shifted gears. “What’s important is that you’re here alone with me now. I’ve missed you.”

I smiled, and tried hard to keep myself from laughing. She doesn’t even remember me, and yet she misses me? I wonder if this is what I or the other Guild members act like from the outside.

Ella’s hand that was on my thigh squeezed it and started inching up. “I’m sorry about this week. Can I make it up to you?”

I noticed she was leaning into me further. “How?”

She then grabbed my crotch. “I’m super horny. I bet you are too after not seeing me for a week.”

I took her hand off my crotch. “Maybe now isn’t a good time for this,” I feebly protested, feeling guilty. “With you not feeling…yourself, and all.”

“Now’s the best time!” she smiled seductively. She awkwardly slid her sweatpants down to reveal black lace panties. She then turned around and sat on my lap with the grace of a sumo wrestler. She grabbed my hands and placed them on her breasts and started squeezing them. “Oh, yes.”

“Didn’t you say you were on your period?”

“Did I? I’m not. Let’s do this, big guy.”

Wait - here I was thinking this was Aiden in Ella’s body. Would Aiden throw himself at a guy? Aiden wasn’t gay - that I knew of. “Ellla,” I objected. “Seriously, this might not be a good idea.”

She started grinding on my lap. Little Turbo awoke from his slumber and made his presence known. “Yes,” she moaned. “Fuck me.”

Whether or not this was Aiden, this wasn’t Ella and therefore wasn’t right. When the Guild swapped with each other, we were all consenting to have sex in each other’s bodies. Ella did no such thing. I pried my hands off her breasts and grabbed her under her arms and lifted her off of me and set her back down on the bed.

“What the fuck?” she said angrily.

“We can’t do this. You don’t even know who I am.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, falling down to her knees and crawling between my legs. “Maybe sucking your cock will jog my memory.” She reached for the buckle of my cargo shorts.

“What?” I reactively said, pushing her hand away.

I thought back to when I first met Aiden. He was a creep to me as Jasmine. The way his unwanted hand touched my hip. Then at the halloween party. The way he pinned me to the wall. I wanted nothing to do with him. Even if he was now a hot girl between my legs. She grabbed my wrist and stared at me with her eyes. Just like Aiden did to me.

This is Aiden. Why he’s trying to have sex with a guy, I can only imagine. She was fingering herself with her other hand and looking at me eagerly. Aiden - male or female - was a predator and I wanted nothing to do with them.

I stood up and grabbed my backpack. “Sorry, I gotta go.”

“So soon?” she pouted, standing up with me. 

“Coach gave us a curfew,” I lied, shrugging my shoulders. “Nothing I can do.”

She attempted to push me back down. Attempted. She was too weak. She grabbed my wrist with both hands with the same result and got frustrated. “I can make it worth your while.” She licked her lips.

“Ella, we can’t-”

“What the fuck, dude! I’m the hottest girl on campus and I’m throwing myself at you.”

“That's the problem,” I said. “The Ella I know wouldn't just throw herself at me.”

“Maybe I want to be the bad girl for once,” she growled. “Yes. Punish me. Stick that cock in my pussy and split me in half!”

“I’m out of here,” I said disgustedly.

“What’s the matter?” she spat. “Are you gay?”

I looked at her. She looked pathetic. I wasn’t going to dignify that with an answer, so I turned and left the room.

She didn’t stop me as I strode straight out of Delta House, a few more girls turning to watch me go by.

My mind was swirling. I held my backpack in front of me to hide that my dick was still straining against my shorts. Aiden was creepy no matter which gender he was. 

As I walked back towards my dorm, I texted Sydney, telling her to meet me there so we could swap back.

* * *

When I got back to my dorm room, Derek was reclined on his bed studying the playbook for our next game.

“Yo, bro, where ya been?” he suddenly spoke up. “I wanted to go over some of these plays with you before practice.”

“I, uh, had to study,” I stammered. “I was at the library.”

“Bullshit,” he countered. “Red said he saw you headed for the Delta House.”

“Oh, that. That was nothing,” I explained. “I had to return a book I borrowed.”

“Sure, dawg, whatever you say,” he laughed. “You had to return… a book? To a sorority girl? What was it? Moby Dick?”

I cracked a smile.

“Yeah, boy!”

“OK, that was a little funny.”

“Now can we go over these plays?”

“Sure,” I replied. Then my phone buzzed.  Sydney was outside. “Hey man, be right back.”

* * *

After I swapped back with Sydney, Gabriel asked how my evening went. I was tempted to come out to him. To tell him I made a mistake. To tell him I used the stone on Aiden and Ella. Or, at the bare minimum, that I went to see Ella and she threw herself at me. But telling him that would lead to telling him about her erratic behavior which would lead to my confession. I wasn’t ready to make that confession just yet. Instead I shrugged it off casually. “It went good.”

He took that as an answer and left it at that.

I next needed to see Aiden in person. I needed to see how the real Ella was handling the swap. I also needed to see what Aiden’s Ella was talking about when she said, “My friend is looking into it.” Did this mean they were investigating Jasmine? Would they eventually find out about the Guild?

Just thinking about it also confused me, and made me realize why Guild members assigned letters to each person’s spirit. I think moving forward I would have to call Ella’s spirit ‘E’ and Aiden’s spirit… ‘A’? No, that’s Antonio. ‘A2’? Sure, that works.

I pulled out my phone and texted Antonio. “Can I swap for a few hours tomorrow afternoon?”

It took a few minutes, but he replied, “Sure, I’ve been meaning to go to a few stores.”

I chuckled, remembering that’s all Sydney is. Just a body with a car.

When I got home, I decided to crawl under the covers with The Fated Crown.  I needed to push this Aiden and Ella thing out of my head, and the best way to do that was with a good book.  And a promise of talking about it with Kaylee.