Chapter 21

It was on my way back from class that I got the text from Sydney.

“D, who is Kaylee?”

My breath stopped. I had successfully pushed Kaylee out of my thoughts for the past two days. But Sydney asking this question means she doesn’t know. I didn’t write about Kayee at all in Sydney's journal. I replied, “A girl I was trying to date.” Of course my mind went to why Sydney was asking. Was she scrolling through her message history? I then added, “Why?”

I eagerly waited for five minutes for Sydney to respond. My guilt and curiosity was burning me up.

Then the reply came. “She wants to apologize for running out on you last week. She wants to meet.”

I could feel a flutter in my chest as I wasted no time and promptly called Sydney.

“Hi,” she answered.

“So, what did she say?” I cut to the chase.

“It was just a text. She said she was sorry. She said she was scared. She wants to meet me again.”

“Oh.” I was holding back on my excitement. I had gotten my hopes up once before and they got dashed.

“So you were trying to date her,” Sydney probed. “What happened between you two?”

“She came over for our book club.”

“Book club?” she asked in surprise. “Wow, a lot has happened since I was last Sydney.”

“Well no, it was a… private book club. Just me and her.”

“Oh. A private book club. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“No, I’m serious. We were reading a book together.”

Sydney giggled. “I know, I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“Well, we were talking about the book we were reading together. We started to get close. I thought we were going to kiss. Then she gets up and runs away. I thought maybe she’s straight.”

“Attempting to date a straight girl, huh? I’ve been there before.”

“Yeah, it sucks,” I agreed.

“What do you want me to do, D? Do you want me to hear her out?”

I didn't know what to say. I didn’t want to get my hopes up and have them dashed again. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear her apology.”

“At least tell me more so I can properly meet her. You said nothing about her in my journal.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I kept her to myself. I broke another rule.”

“That’s not a rule, D, but it helps us be able to continue schoolwork and relationships when we swap; so we’re not suddenly surprised like I was today.”

“I know, I know. I just… I was selfish.”

“You like her. And you wanted to be the only one to date her?”

“Yeah. I know that’s stupid. I’m in the Guild now, I can’t think singular anymore. I’m sorry. I’m rambling. I can send you a recap of our interactions.”

“Thank you,” Sydney replied. “What if she is straight and just wants to be friends? Can you handle that possibility?”

I hated that possibility. “I guess that’s OK then. I enjoyed spending time with her. She’s cute. She’s got a brilliant mind. Spending time in her presence made me forget about everything else.”

“OK. I’ll hear her out then.”

* * *

The wait was excruciating. I knew Sydney and Kaylee were meeting. And I wasn’t there. It was killing me.

I was having reservations about Sydney meeting up with Kaylee without me. She assured me it would be OK. Saying I was nervous was an understatement. I paced back and forth in my dorm room anxiously trying to keep busy. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything I wanted to do here. I wanted to be with Kaylee. I wanted to be with her. I wanted to hear her explanation for last week. Not cooped up in this room.

Crazy thing, isn’t it? I have a car. I can go wherever I want. I have freedom. But the one place I want to go, I can’t. So, I must stay here and pace and wait for Sydney to text me or something.

There was a knock at the door. I quickly raced across the tiny dorm room to open it. Sydney was standing there with a sheepish smile. “Hi, D.”

“How did it go?” I asked her, skipping right past saying hello and inviting her in.

“It went well,” she said.

I escorted her into my room. “Tell me what happened. I need all of the details.” I sat on the bed, waiting on every word.

“Well, Kaylee apologized for the other evening,” Sydney began, sitting next to me. “She was spooked because she had never had feelings for a girl before.”

“So she is interested in me - I mean Sydney.”

She giggled. That was a good sign. “Most definitely.”

I realized I had stopped my breathing. I had to take a deep breath. “Well, what happened?”

“Well,” Sydney said, swallowing hard. “Kaylee… well, she took the initiative and… kissed me.”

“She kissed…. you?” I said, my jealousy betraying me.

“Yeah,” Sydney said nervously, patting her thighs with her hands.

Silence hung in the air for a pregnant moment.

“But, I felt guilty,” Sydney continued. “I knew Kaylee was really interested in you. Not me. And you’re interested in her, right?”

Interested? That doesn’t even come close. Maybe interested times 1000. “Oh, I am,” I gushed. “Every room is brighter with her in it. And it’s not just that she’s cute. I love the way she deconstructs a plot and how when she’s excited about something, she makes me excited about it too. What happened next?”

Sydney then did something unexpected. She leaned in and kissed me. It was not unwelcome. Sydney was the only female Guild member I hadn’t kissed. But I have kissed R. Her lips were soft and tasted like a lip gloss that I didn’t remember owning. I felt her fingers run through my hair.

After the kiss, we both pulled back. I was confused. I mean, R and I have had sex before. As multiple genders. But I always thought it was just fun. No attachments. Friends with benefits. It never occurred to me that R had feelings for me. I didn’t want that to be true. Me and R? That would go against Guild rules. 

I tried to consider that R wasn’t coming on to me. But what if she was just passing on Kaylee’s kiss? I never considered kisses to be transitive. “Are we reenacting what happened?” I awkwardly asked, trying to ignore the other possibility.

“No,” she giggled. Then her face got serious and she looked down. “What really happened next is I told her we couldn’t. She didn’t understand.”

“Oh, no.” What seemed so hopeful a few seconds ago now sounded like it was now out of reach. My imagination started to run wild. “What happened?”

“Well,” she said and paused for dramatic effect. “I told her the truth. That the person she was hanging out with the past week was a person named D and I was a person named R and we’re in a group of body swappers and the person she should really be kissing is you.”

My jaw dropped and my mouth hung agape. “You told her that?”

“Yeah, she didn’t believe me. Are you surprised?”

“No, shit. Oh, no. Tell me she didn’t run away screaming.” 

“Thankfully she didn’t. I’m glad she didn’t.”

“What happened?” I was on the edge of the bed waiting to hear the fate of a relationship I was trying to start.

“Well, D,” she looked at me and smirked. “When R told me the truth, I was, of course, skeptical. I demanded proof.”

“Wait, what?”

Sydney looked at me with a familiar smirk. One that I recognized from someone else. “Daniel, D, holder of my heart, I give you my name.” She then leaned in so her lips were right up against my ear. “You may call me K.”

I was taken aback. I stared at the smiling face of Sydney. But this wasn’t Sydney was it? Call her K?

“K... K-Kaylee?” I stammered.

“That’s me,” she replied. She reached over and brushed a strand of my hair to the side. “Daniel. You came to see me. On Sunday.”

“I did,” I replied. “I thought... I um-”

“After I ran out on Sydney - on you - You thought I was straight and you might have a shot as Daniel.”

I nodded, still in shock at what had just transpired. Sydney is Kaylee - or rather K. That must mean Kaylee is R.

“Well, I’m… um.” She turned red. “I’m bi. There. I said it. I didn’t think it’d ever say that out loud. I find some girls attractive. But I’ve always told myself I was straight. But here you are - you’re really a guy. What does that mean?”

“I have no idea,” I chuckled. “I’ve been in the Guild for just over a month. It has thrown my identity into chaos. I’ve spent most of the past month as a girl. And it’s been so crazy, that I now find this body - my original body - foreign.”

“Is that what you were worried about when we first met?”

“It is,” I admitted.

“Wow, I had no idea. It all makes sense now. Now I feel embarrassed about how trite my problems are.”

“No. Don’t. Your feelings are valid too. I enjoyed discussing it all.”

She smiled at me. “I missed you. I felt so bad. We started flirting with each other. I never flirted with a girl before, but I was enjoying the attention. I was worried I was leading you on. But I slowly started developing feelings for you. Then it got real - and I got scared.”

“So what now?” 

“R gave me 10 minutes,” she replied.

“Ten minutes? For what?”

“This.” She leaned in and gave me a kiss. She was forceful and I immediately melted into her. I closed my eyes and made out with K.

As I made out with her, I considered how different K was than R. R was confident. K was more sensual and timid. She was new to all of this. She was in a foreign body, making out with a boy she only met once last weekend. But she knew it was me. Occasionally we’d open our eyes and match each other's gaze. I’d see her face light up - which was bizarre itself. I had never seen that expression on Sydney before.

It didn’t feel like 10 minutes had passed when there was a knock on the door.

I cleared my throat and called out with some sadness, “Come in.”

Kaylee walked into my dorm room and closed the door behind her. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

My heart fluttered at the sight of Kaylee’s body even though I knew that wasn’t her.

“Well, we were just reconnecting,” Sydney gushed, wiping saliva off her lips.

“R, what happened about getting permission form the Guild?” I asked.

“We’ve made exceptions before when we were intending on dating someone,” Kaylee responded. “Like James. You do intend to date Kaylee, right?”

I blushed as I looked at Sydney - who was really Kaylee. “Yeah,” I said with a big grin.

“Then that’s settled,” Kaylee, who was really R, responded. “K, are you ready to swap back?”

Sydney shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not really ready. Can I get a little more time?”

“The cool-down period is up,” Kaylee said, checking her phone.

“And sadly I’m grounded,” I replied. The girls looked at me. I didn’t feel like explaining it to K. “For reasons.”

"So, you can't swap?" Sydney asked.

"That’s correct,” Kaylee answered for me. “D isn't allowed to swap with anyone in the Guild until Friday afternoon."

I could see the gears turning in Sydney's head. Last time I saw that look she was processing some of my thoughts on The Fated Crown.

"So, let D swap with you," Sydney said conspiratorially, with a smirk.

"Enough rules have been broken lately,” Kaylee sighed. “It's bad enough that you reached for the stone when I tried to show it to you, putting us in this situation. I'm not digging myself into deeper trouble."

I looked at both of them, confused. “This swap was an accident?”

"But you wouldn't be breaking any rules by letting D swap into Kaylee,” Sydney persisted. “After all, Kaylee isn't in the Guild."

Kaylee's mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to find a counter to Sydney's logic. I myself wasn’t sure the exact wording of my punishment. I’m not sure Kaylee remembered either.

"I promise I'll bring D back before curfew.” Sydney added. “Then the three of us can do a restore."

"It's called a Reset," I gently corrected her.

Kaylee closed her eyes and took a deep breath before grunting in frustration. She looked so cute when she was frustrated - even if it’s R that’s controlling the body at the moment. "I imagine you are going to spend the next few hours with D regardless, and since Daniel has just started dating Kristy it would be good for both Kaylee and Sydney to leave Daniel's room together in case there are any prying eyes."

I heard the name Kristy and suddenly felt a guilty pang as I touched my lips. I could almost see the blood draining from my face. Damn. I forgot about her.

Sydney squealed with joy and clapped her hands.

"Two hours,” Kaylee insisted. “That's twice as long as I should give you." She reached into her bag and pulled out the stone.

I looked at Kaylee. It was so good to see her again. And now I'm going to be her. I never imagined things would go this direction, but my mind was racing with how this created so many new and exciting possibilities.

I reached out for her hand and five seconds later was looking at Daniel again.

I looked at my hands and felt a warm giddy feeling. A new body to explore! 

I wanted to go to the mirror, but instead Sydney pulled my hand. “Let's go, we only have two hours!” She dragged me out of the door, leaving Daniel standing there shaking his head, past Mike who looked dumbfounded, and out of the dorm.

* * *

The evening sky was already radiant with oranges and blues. It would definitely be dark before our two hours were up. We were still holding hands, as neither of us wanted to let go. As we strolled, it felt like we were a couple. We started walking toward the middle of campus. I felt all warm inside. Everything just felt right.

"So tell me all about this girlfriend of yours," Sydney implored.

"Ugh," I groaned. "Daniel just started dating Kristy,” I said dismissively. “She's in one of his classes." What had I gotten myself into?

"Wow," she mocked with a faux shocked tone, "You didn't wait long before moving on. I'm hurt."

“I didn’t - It’s not like that.” I stumbled over my words. "I thought R explained the difference between identity and body..."

Sydney smirked. "I wonder if I think you are cute when you are exasperated because this body is attracted to mine, or if it's the feelings I have for who is inside it."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

Sydney laughed. "Yes, R explained it to me. I'm just giving you a hard time. It's kinda fun to have this kind of control over you."

I wondered if that joy came from a desire to want to have power over her twin sister, but I didn't want to ask because it was really nice to see K this happy. Even if she’s in Sydney’s body.

"But you did go on a date with her, right? And clearly it went well, so I wanna know who I'm up against."

"You aren't being compared to her. This isn’t a competition. You are the one I am interested in. Sure, had I started dating Kristy before the Guild I would probably be happy with that relationship, but then again my experience from the Guild might have helped forge that relationship, so who knows?"

"Well I'm glad you joined the Guild. We wouldn't have met otherwise. I mean, I'm pretty sure Sydney and I have been in the coffee shop at the same time, but we've never interacted."

"Lesson one, you need to accept that you are the person you appear to be. Stop talking about Sydney in the third person. That's who you are."

"Sorry, Kaylee." She giggled as if she was mocking someone. Perhaps that’s how her twin mocked her.

I knew she put a ton of emphasis on calling me by her name, but I couldn't help but smile when she did. Maybe I liked the name Kaylee. It’s a cute name.

"But still, if Kristy is such a good fit for Daniel, and you are an evolved version of Daniel, I want to know what it is that makes her a good fit. Maybe I can become an evolved version of Kaylee that's an even better fit specifically for you."

"No!" I practically shouted. "You are perfect already. Besides, it's not right to change who you are for someone else.” 

Sydney giggled. “Says the girl who showed up Sunday afternoon as a guy because she thought I was straight.”

I bit my lip and pouted. She had a point.

She giggled at my visible frustration. “I want to be a guy next.”

“Next?”

“Yeah. I want to feel what Lenaria felt. To feel that strength.”

“Well, Lenaria became an Orc. We don’t have any Orcs in the Guild.” 

She nudged our shoulders playfully.

I chuckled. “Unless you count Gabriel.”

“Gabriel is an Orc?”

“No. He’s a giant football player.”

“Same thing,” she laughed sarcastically. “Sportsball Orc.”

“I’m not sure about joining the guild though,” I frowned. “We have a rule about dating other Guild members. We can’t. So we’d have to break up.”

“Whoa,” she said. “You move fast. Who said we’re a couple?”

“I- I’m sorry. I thought.” I looked at our hands clasped together, then back up to her face.

Sydney giggled again. “I’m messing with you. This is so much fun!”

We settled into a calm silence as we continued walking. She leaned up against me. We had no destination in mind. That’s what I thought until she said something.

“Umm,” Sydney said. “I have no idea where we’re going. I’ve never actually been here.”

“Oh,” I said. “First time on campus?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I knew my parents couldn’t afford college for both of us. So I just never visited any.”

“I was wondering about that. So your twin is in college?”

“Yeah. But she doesn’t go here. She’s at the community college. Another reason she stole the spotlight from me,” She sighed.

I got a devious smile on my face. “No. You’re wrong. That’s my problem at the moment. You don’t have a sister.”

She looked at me confused.

“That’s one of the benefits of being in the Guild. Remember, lesson one. You’re not Kaylee right now. You’re Sydney. Sydney doesn’t have a suffocating twin.”

“You’re right,” she said, eyes widening in finally understanding. “I’m not Kaylee. I’m Sydney.”

“That’s right. And since you’re Sydney for the next two hours - what do you want to do?”

“I want to be a college student for once.”

“OK, let's do it,” I replied. “It’s the evening now, so we’re limited on which classes are still in session. What field of study?”

“Surprise me.”

I led her through the Student Union and outside to the courtyard. Fountains and evergreen hedges lined the courtyard. The fountains sparkled and reflected the vibrant sunset colors.

“This is so beautiful,” Sydney remarked.

“You should see it in the spring,” I added.

“Hopefully, someone will invite me back,” she teased.

I smiled. Just a day ago I was sulking. Now in the moment, I felt like my future had just opened up in ways I hadn’t imagined.

We continued walking. I led her to the Engineering Department. I knew they had evening classes. We snuck into a lecture hall and found a seat in the back of the auditorium.

The professor was talking about mathematical models and equations were projected on the screen at the front of the class.

“What class do you think this is?” Sydney asked.

“Perhaps Calculus,” I replied, studying the screen.

The lecture went over my head, but instead I watched Sydney. She listened intently with a great big smile.

About five minutes went by before she noticed me watching her.

“What?” she mouthed silently.

“Watching you experience new things is pretty cool.” I whispered. “I’m the newest member of the Guild, so I’ve never seem someone experience a swap for the first time.” 

“We should get going,” she said. “While I find this lecture fascinating, I don’t want to waste all of our two hours in class.”

“Agreed.”

We walked out of the lecture hall and headed outside. We resumed our slow stroll and held hands again.

“So why are you grounded, D?” Sydney asked.

“Because I broke a rule,” I replied.

“That makes sense that your group would have rules. What did you do?”

“I swapped two people without their consent.”

“Oh.” She noticed my body language. “I’m guessing they deserved it.”

“Yeah, but it was still against the rules.”

“So your self-imposed purgatory ends tomorrow?”

“Who said it was self-imposed?” I protested.

“R did. They said you were punishing yourself. That your only punishment was not swapping. That it was you who decided to lock yourself in your dorm for a week.”

I groaned. “Yeah, I suppose I did that.”

“So tomorrow are you going to be Sydney again?”

“I dunno,” I replied. “Why?”

“Because I want to know who’s taking me on a date this weekend, silly.”

I couldn’t hide my smile. “You still want to date me even though I’m not the same person from week to week?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a smile. “You're cute. I mean... Sydney is cute. I mean I’m cute. Wow, this is confusing.”

“You get used to it,” I shrugged. “But I like you for you. You’re easy to talk to. I enjoyed talking about books with you. I want to know you better. I want to know K.”

Sydney smiled but then had a confused look on her face. “How does dating work in the Guild? Would I be dating Sydney or D?”.

I frowned. My selfishness was still present. But I had to accept this outcome. “I think Sydney. Just like James.”

“Who is James?”

“Antonio’s boyfriend. Antonio is another member of the guild. When he joined he tried to break up with James. But James didn’t want to break up. Then he was told the truth. So pretty-much, James is happy dating six versions of Antonio.”

“That sounds crazy.”

“It is.”

“So I’d be dating six versions of Sydney? What if I wanted to date... Just D? How would that work?”

“I - I honestly don’t know. The whole premise of the Guild appears to be role-playing. That’s literally rule one.”

“Were you role-playing with me?”

“No. I was myself. I went to that coffee shop to clear my head, and stop role-playing for a few hours. Besides, there is no Sydney to role-play - that’s a long story too.”

Sydney stared down at herself, then back at me quizzically. “I look forward to you sharing it with me.”

We stopped under the glow of a campus street light. I took both of her hands. I went to lean in for a kiss, but Sydney’s eyes got wide and she instead pecked me on the cheek and gave me a hug.

“We should probably head back,” she said.

I was weirded out by that, but we resumed walking and holding hands as if the attempted kiss didn’t happen.

* * *

We returned to Daniel’s dorm where he was waiting for us. 

“How was it?” Daniel asked.

“It was wonderful!” Sydney gushed. “We have to do it again.”

“We’ll see.” Daniel grinned. He held out the stone and we all touched it.

When we reset I was Daniel again. I closed my eyes and sighed. But then I looked up at Kaylee and I couldn’t help but get warm all over again.

“D, I had a wonderful time,” Kaylee said, squeezing my hand. She reached over and gave me a hug. “I hope Kristy isn’t too upset that I made out with her boyfriend. Hey - if you’re someone else, wanna hang out Friday afternoon?”

“I’d love to,” I smiled.

I watched as Kaylee left my dorm. I then turned to Sydney who was watching me with a smile. “What?” I asked.

“That looks like it went well,” Sydney observed.

“I dunno,” I replied, looking down at the ground. “She freaked out when I tried to kiss her.”

“Remember, you were in her body. I seem to remember you freaking out when we had sex when I was in your body.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Besides, I freaked out after.”

“Just give her a little grace, D.”

I nodded.

“You two were so cute together, though,” she added before walking to the door.

I blushed.

“Alright, Daniel. Have a good night.”

I was left alone with my thoughts. Mostly excitement, with a dash of worry.

There was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Mike. I smirked at him. “Yes?”

“Dude!” he exclaimed. “More girls. Two at a time. How do you do it?”

“Those girls were just friends. I’m dating Kristy now.”

“That’s the redhead right?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice!” He nodded in approval. “So if those girls who just stopped by are just friends, maybe set me up?”

“Sorry, man, all of my lady friends are lesbians,” I smiled. A little white lie. But I certainly wasn’t going to set Mike up with anyone in the Guild - or Kaylee.

He stood there in disappointment.

“Goodnight, Mike,” I said, closing the door.