Chapter 32 - Ella Part 1

I stood there stunned. Not because of the vertigo, but because my well-thought plan had just blown up in my face. I also hadn’t expected to get ripped out of Kaylee’s body. Being in Ella was jarring. I hadn’t felt this disoriented since the first time I swapped.

Morgan’s eyes were wide, full of confusion and fear. She shook away Kaylee's hand, accidently dropping the stone to the floor. “What the fuck just happened?” she shouted.

“Aiden, calm down,” Kaylee said to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

I quickly snatched the stone up from the floor before A2 noticed it or any of us could accidentally step on it.

“What kind of trickery is this?” Morgan said, shrugging off Kaylee’s hand. “I was supposed to be back in my own body.” She pointed at Kaylee. “You promised.”

“Well, your friend Ella decided to have a change of heart,” Kaylee said. She turned to me. “What now?”

I was at a loss for words. Between the unexpected swap disorientation and looking at my former body, I couldn’t focus. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“D,” she said, putting her hands on my arms, “I need you to stay calm. I can’t have both of you freaking out.”

I nodded. She was right. I have to see this thing through. “We have to get her back here,” I finally said. I momentarily looked at Kaylee again. I wish I was back in that body. Her body was a warm blanket and I was out in the cold. I had to force myself to refocus again. For now, the three of us couldn’t swap until the cool-down period was over. Now that Aiden is in Morgan, he presents a risk to himself and the Guild. We just can’t let him free. I handed Kaylee the stone. “Watch Aiden. Take him back to the apartment. I’ll go after Ella.”

I didn’t wait for Kaylee’s response, as I rushed out of the office and through the Student Union. I was surprisingly nimble and fast. 

I could hear footsteps echoing through the halls. “Ella, wait!” The sound of someone going down the stairs. “Stop!” I launched myself down the stairs, four steps at a time. Then the sound of a door closing.

By the time I reached the exit I looked around and saw no sign of Aiden. “Ella!” I yelled. “Ella come back!” 

Nothing.

I stood there in the courtyard and put my hands on my hips and just looked around for any sign of movement. 

Just a light breeze rustling the trees and whatever leaves were still on them.

The sun had dipped below the horizon, making it harder to see by the minute, aside from landscape lighting. The ambient sound of the stadium was getting louder.

I remembered that I most likely have the ability to text him. There was a cellphone stuffed into the pocket of my athletic leggings. I held it up to my face and the phone unlocked for me.

It didn't take me long to find E and A2’s message thread. I’m sure there’s some juicy information in here, but I only wanted one thing. I hit the call button. 

It rang seven times before going to voicemail. I guess she doesn’t want to talk to me.

I then typed a message to her, “Ella, please come back,” and hit send.

The door opened behind me and I turned to see Kaylee and Morgan standing there.

“Any luck?” Kaylee asked.

“No,” I replied. “I lost her when she ran outside.” I looked at Morgan. “Aiden, where would she go?”

“I dunno,” Morgan shrugged in disinterest. “Home?”

“Home?” I echoed. “Where’s home?”

“The sorority house,” she said.

Great. The Delta House. That’s the last place I want to go in this body. “How is she going to get inside, while in your body?”

Morgan shrugged again.

“Great, you’re a lot of help, Aiden,” I said sarcastically.

“Hey, this isn’t my fault,” she spat back, gesturing at her new body.

I ignored that and looked at Kaylee. “She’s of no use. Take her away.”

“Let’s go,” Kaylee said, nudging Morgan along.

“Where are you taking me?” Morgan cried. “You promised to fix this!”

“If you want us to fix this, you have to cooperate with us.”

Realizing she had nowhere else to turn, Morgan’s shoulders dropped in acceptance. She seemed to pout as she let Kaylee lead her away. 

When they were gone, I stood in the front of the Student Union, deciding what to do. I listened to the soothing sound of the fountains. With no other information, I decided the best course of action was to follow A2’s uninspired idea, by heading back to the Delta house.

* * *

Greek Row was on the outskirts of the campus, and I had to pass by the dorms to get there. Thankfully this body was dressed casually. Despite a cold chill in the air, the sweater I was wearing was keeping me warm and I started to break a sweat before I reached the Delta House.

I double-checked my phone on the way there. E hadn’t replied. I also took this opportunity to send a message to my anonymous email account telling them where I was heading. K or whoever was checking that account replied with a thumbs up and let me know that A and A2 had returned. They were taking turns watching over A2.

Unlike previous visits to the Delta house, this was the first time I didn't need to knock. I walked up the faux-marble steps and opened the front door.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do here. If I was lucky, E had snuck in and was in her room. Maybe one of the sisters had seen Aiden poking around.

I walked through the foyer and towards Ella’s room where I ran into Lauren. I stopped short. I needed to keep my interactions brief. “Lauren. Hi.”

She took a step back from me. She had a look of deep concern on her face I’d never seen when I was Jasmine or Morgan. “Girls, she’s back,” Lauren called out.

I cocked my head. “What’s going—”

Then a whole bunch of sorority sisters in various states of dress came out from rooms and hallways. Most girls were dressed in school colors, some in fancy dresses, some in Delta Pi Theta T-shirts, all of them accessorized with streamers in their hair and glitter face paint. 

“Do we have to do this now?” one girl whined.

I looked around the hallway from girl to girl trying to figure out what I had just walked into. “I don’t understand.”

“Ella, honey,” Lauen said softly, taking my hand. “This is an intervention.”

“An intervention?” I echoed, attempting to free my wrist from Lauren’s hold. “No. I don’t have time for this.”

Lauren wasn’t letting go. “Neither do we. We’re supposed to be going to the game. But you’re our sister and you are more important to us than any football game.”

“Umm… where’s Jasmine?” I asked, hoping I could change the subject and escape this.

“Something came up today. But this isn’t about her, it’s about what’s been going on with you. Come, let’s take a seat.”

I managed to twist my hand out of Lauren’s grasp. I backed up and turned towards the door only to see a pair of girls blocking my exit. Well, this had turned out to be a big mistake. I wonder if A2 knew this was going to happen.

“Ella,” Lauren gravely called my name.

With nowhere to turn, I sighed. “I uh… fine. Let’s get this over with.”

I was led to a comfy couch in the middle of the living room. I crossed my arms and my legs and plastered a dissatisfied scowl on my face - something I expected Ella to do in this situation.

Another girl I only barely recognized from Halloween sat next to me. Her hair was filled with glitter and she smelled of hairspray. I had to turn away from the noxious cloud.

“I’ll go first,” Lauren stated, remaining standing. She unfolded a piece of paper and cleared her throat. “Ella. You’re my big sister. I love you. Since I met you last year at rush, you have been the light guiding this sorority. You were the first one to plan things. You were the first person to console one of us. You took me under your wing when I was alone. But over the past month, I’ve seen that light in your eyes fade. You’ve never been a private person, and we've been afraid to pry, but it’s evident something is going on. We want to help. We want you to let us in.” She smiled, folded up the paper and sat down.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been myself lately—” I started.

“It’s not your turn yet, Ella,” a girl interrupted.

“Yeah, let us all speak,” another said, clearly annoyed.

There were about twenty girls in total sitting in the living room. This was going to take forever.

After four girls gave emotional speeches about how they felt like I was in trouble, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that they’re right - Ella is in trouble. But I’m not Ella.

The fourth girl talked about the “old Ella” and how she acted differently, dressed differently and talked differently. If only she knew how close to the truth she was. She followed it up with, “the old Ella would be with her dance team right now.”

That statement got the gears turning in my head. The dance team? They’d be at the football game right now. That’s not the first place I’d go if I wanted to be alone. But maybe E didn’t want to be alone. Maybe she was seeking something else. Does she miss the dance team?

The fifth girl was my old friend Regina George. Of course, since it’s no longer Halloween, she doesn’t look like that anymore. Instead, her hair had streaks of brunette, in pigtails tied up with school-color ribbons, and with lots of glitter on her eyelids. At the Halloween party I was jealous I had to swap with A. Of course, A got to have fun with Regina, and I got assaulted by Aiden, which started this whole mess. What would’ve happened if we didn’t swap and I got to have a little fun with Regina?

“Ella,” Not-Regina began, “there’s an Ella-shaped hole in this sorority. We don’t know what happened to you, but we want the old Ella back.”

Me and you both, sister. Wait. I just had an idea. Maybe if I suggested I go to the game with them, I could get out of this intervention and test my theory that the Old Ella is really with the dance team, or in their proximity. “Sorry for interrupting, but can we continue this… after the game? I’ll go with you.”

Several of them looked at each other and started nodding.

Lauren gave me a stern look. “No, this is important.”

I looked at the very spirited sorority girls surrounding me. “I’m serious. I heard you loud and clear. I want to go to the game with you girls. I want to recapture that Delta spirit. I want to find a way to bring back the Old Ella.”

Lauren looked at me. “Wait, you want to come with us?”

I faked a great big sorority girl smile. Thank God for muscle memory. I didn’t think I could smile that wide. “Of course I do.” I threw in a subtle giggle to sell it.

“The game starts at seven!” one girl exclaimed.

“We have to get you dressed,” another added, bouncing up and down.

“Totally! You can not go out as a Delta dressed like…that,” a third said.

“Fine, then make me over,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“What about my note?” Not-Regina pouted.

“I’ll make it up to you,” I replied. “I promise.”

And not a moment later, squealing girls dragged me all around the sorority house. Like a pit crew they all surrounded me with clothing, makeup, and accessories. My sweater was pulled off and replaced with a low-cut crop top emblazoned with the school mascot. The push-up bra and this low cut top really emphasised my cleavage. I was then ordered to shed my sneakers and athletic leggings and replace them with warm nude fleece-lined leggings and a mini skirt. Thankfully I was allowed to keep my sneakers.

Glittery extensions were attached to my blonde hair and then without warning someone sprayed me with that noxious glitter spray they’ve all been using. I felt like I was covered head to toe in glitter. My lungs were likely coated with it, too.

* * *

The whole sorority left the house loudly chanting the Delta Pi Theta chant.

“Delta Pi Theta. We're the best, hell yes, Delta Pi Theta!”

“D - E - L T A – P I The-ta wins the day!”

I tried to play my part the best I could, keeping a bubbly smile plastered on my face. I missed the warm sweater that came with this body. It was cold out here, and none of the girls were wearing coats. I suppose that was the point of the comfy leggings. But still, this crop top wasn’t keeping any heat in.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ella,” one girl said to me.

“Me too! I have the best sisters,” I replied, as effusively as I could manage.

I found myself walking next to Lauren, the only girl here I actually knew well. My only friend maybe? Even if she didn’t know it.

“How was Thanksgiving with your girlfriend?” I asked, trying to get out of cheering with the rest of the sisters.

Lauren stopped walking. All the color drained from her face as Lauren looked at me with a fearful expression I didn’t expect. Was it something I said? “How… how did you find out?” she stammered.

I was taken by surprise because I had assumed everyone in Jasmine’s and Lauren’s lives knew about them. Or maybe only Jasmine told her friends and Lauren was keeping it a secret. It’s also possible Ella wasn’t around because she was really A2.

I had to think fast. “You’ve been spending so much time together,” I said. “I figured—”

“Don’t kick me out, please,” Lauren pleaded. This wasn’t a joke. She was serious.

“Why… why would I do that?”

“Are you fucking serious right now, Ella? You’ve been making fun of lesbians since I met you. Teasing me about Jasmine and her roommate. You gave me shit for bringing her to the pledge mixer.”

I rolled my eyes. I remembered that as I was Jasmine at the time. God, Ella’s such a bitch. And I'm Ella at the moment. I didn’t know how to respond. “I’m so sorry, Lauren. I’ve been a total bitch. I don’t deserve you as a friend.” I gave her the most remorseful look I could muster.

Lauren said nothing and glared at me. As if she didn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me either. She resumed walking behind the rest of the sorority.

This at least gives me some insight into E. A homophobic girl thrust into the body of a straight man. Her gender and sexuality called into question. Perhaps this explains her desire for a return to normalcy. But why did she pull away at the last second?

Lauren and I walked the remaining half mile in silence, while surrounded by cheering and chanting sorority girls. 

This lull in the conversation gave me the opportunity to text the Guild my status.

“Who are you texting?” Lauren growled. “Aiden?”

“No,” I replied. Although that’s not a bad idea and maybe I should text E again. “Lauren, this past month has been… complicated.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” she muttered.

“No, really. You had your reasons for hiding your relationship, just like I have my reasons for hiding what’s really been going on with me and Aiden.”

“I get it. You like getting fucked by him.”

I rolled my eyes. I was glad I wouldn’t have to play that part when I saw him.

I could tell Lauren partial truths. Like Aiden trying to bribe Ella with sexual favors to pay off his Greek council debt. But that might open a can of worms I wasn’t ready to address. 

The stadium was visible now, and the massive lights were making night seem like midday. I needed to advance to the next step of my plan.

Huge crowds milled around the gates. Everywhere we looked were rowdy students dressed in their school spirit finest. That didn’t stop the sorority from continuing to chant, which drew the attention of some drunk frat guys who also started chanting their Greek letters.

After we showed our student IDs to get into the stadium, I needed to break away. Perhaps E was near the dance team. Obviously she wouldn’t be participating in Aiden’s body, but she could be watching. Before I was able to leave the sorority’s presence, however, Lauren grabbed my hand.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I want to see my old dance team,” I explained.

“I’ll join you,” she insisted.

I wanted to respond with, ‘I don’t need a babysitter.’ But I’m sure that’s what someone who managed to get out of an intervention would also say. “Sure,” I replied, hoping I could earn her trust.

I had no idea where I was heading as the crowds started to move faster towards their seats as game time approached.

I thought back to the week I was Gabriel, trying to remember the game-day experience. The excitement of getting suited up. Standing around the bowels of the stadium waiting to run out. Running out onto the field flanked by the cheerleaders and dance team.

That must be where she is.

“The tunnel,” I said to Lauren, grabbing her hand as we quickly threaded our way through the stadium hallway to where I remembered the team coming out.

There was no team yet, but there were people surrounding the tunnel that led towards the field. Just outside the tunnel I saw the dance squad, opposite of the cheerleaders, forming two rows leading out from the tunnel to the playing field. They were looking back towards us, waving their pom poms. 

I didn’t expect Aiden to be with them, but I expected him to be nearby. I scanned the various faces around us. Camera people, security, VIPs all littered the tunnel. That’s when I heard the loud clicks and clacks of cleats walking on concrete, walking towards us.

I turned around to see the whole football team behind us.

That was when security grabbed our hands and escorted us towards the wall to let the team pass.

The team stopped right at the mouth of the tunnel. The players towered over Lauren and me.

It was then I noticed the familiar hulking running back next to me. I couldn’t let Gabriel see me. If he recognized me, he would think I was A2, and not D, and he could derail my whole plan. I ducked behind another person who was against the wall. 

“Let’s go!” someone yelled and the team started pushing out towards the field like a rushing river. Lauren and I did our best to swim through the current to the side. We flattened ourselves up against the wall until the whole team was gone.

When the rest of the people started clearing out from around the tunnel entrance, I finally saw him. Aiden.

Unfortunately we saw each other at the same time and he took off sprinting down the hall.

Lauren noticed too. “Wait - is that—”

“Ella!” I yelled as I took off towards him.

I couldn’t bother making sure Lauren kept up with us. I knew this dancer's body was faster than either Lauren or Aiden. I was quickly gaining on him.

We were still in the basement of the stadium. There were no concessions down here, just storage, locker rooms, and random offices. As such there weren't many fans down here, either.

When he saw me catching up, he quickly ducked into a locker room.

I stopped in front of the door and laughed as I saw the sign. “Women’s Locker Room.”

I pushed through the door. The locker room appeared empty, though I know he was in here. “Ella, you can’t be in here. At least not in that body.”

“Leave me alone,” he yelled from behind a stall.

“Let’s talk,” I said. “I want to know why you changed your mind.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Aiden,” he said. “Go away.”

E thinks I’m A2. “I’m not Aiden. I’m D.”

The stall’s door opened a crack. “How are you D?”

“That stunt you pulled earlier,” I replied. “It forced us into random bodies. I’m D, and Aiden is Morgan now.”

From behind me, the locker room door opened a crack. “Ella, are you in there?” rang Lauren’s voice.

“Yeah,” both Aiden and I answered.

Aiden blushed and covered his mouth.

“Lauren, can you give me like… five minutes?” I asked.

“OK, but the game is about to start. I’ll be right outside.”

The locker room door closed.

“She cares about you,” I told Aiden.

“I know.” He let the stall door open all of the way so we didn’t have a door between us.

“The sorority organized an intervention for me this evening - Well, I guess for you.”

“They did? Wow. I knew Aiden was doing a shitty job at being me. I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“Thankfully I convinced them to let me come here. Though Lauren is babysitting me.”

Aiden looked at me and ran a finger through my glittery hair. “This is so cute.”

“I wish I could take credit.”

“This is definitely Taylor’s work.”

“OK, so talk to me, Ella.”

“What’s there to say? Something is wrong with me. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me. You’ve now seen me as three different people.”

She sighed, looking down then back up at me. “Did you say you do this often? Swap with people?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’ve been doing this since September. Including your body, I’ve been seven different people.”

“Have you ever been a guy?”

I chuckled. “Ella, I am a guy… Or maybe I was… I mean… I’m trans… I think.”

“So you were born a guy, and now you’re… not going back to your original body?”

“Yeah. I mean, I haven’t told many people. And I haven’t really told many people I’m trans yet either. Just my girlfriend. But the more I say it out loud, the more… the more I think it might be true.”

I could see tears well in his eyes. He brought his hand up to his mouth to bite on his knuckle. “I don’t want to be trans.”

I exhaled. I wasn’t really qualified to have this discussion. Hell, I haven't even settled on my own gender. I had to try though. I reached through the open door and put my hand on his shoulder. “Come out of the stall. Let's sit down together.”

He nodded and walked out of the stall. We sat on a nearby bench.

“So let’s not jump to any conclusions or talk about labels right now,” I said. “I’ve learned that they tend to get in the way during these initial conversations. Walk me through what’s going on.”

“When I first woke up in this body. I was terrified. I used to be this cute girl. And now I was this… mid guy. But then I remembered that Aiden had power. Like a lot. I loved wielding that power.”

“I could see that.”

“Then there was the sex.”

“The sex?”

“Yeah, I think Aiden is a sex addict. He came onto me almost right away. I can’t believe I had sex with myself. How crazy is that?”

I nodded with a knowing smirk.

“And then other girls came on to me. I enjoyed it. I told myself. It’s not gay if I’m a guy, right?”

I smiled, choosing to not say a word and instead let E tell her story.

“It was fun. I enjoyed it. I knew Aiden enjoyed it too - kinda. I know he enjoyed the sex. I dunno about the other stuff. He quit the dance team without asking me. I had worked so hard for that. But I started to miss my old life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Then Thanksgiving happened.”

“What happened over Thanksgiving?”

“We decided to go our separate ways for the weekend. I expected Aiden’s parents to be complete dicks like he is. But they were the sweetest things. How they raised such a womanizer is beyond me.”

“What else?”

“They told me they were proud of me.”

“Of being a womanizer?” I asked, confused.

“No,” she scoffed. “For getting into college. Being the President of the Greek Council. Did you know Aiden actually has decent grades? Better than me.”

“I didn’t know that. Did your parents ever tell you they were proud of you?”

“They did, in their own way. I was pretty. I was athletic. I was a good dancer. They were proud that I was going to make some guy very lucky. It’s like they weren’t proud of me, they were proud of the guy I would bring home.”

“Is that why you changed your mind earlier?”

“No. I was ready to return to normal. That’s all I wanted. To be normal. To put the past month behind me. But at the last second, I freaked out. I liked being a girl. I really did. I liked my body. I liked my friends and I liked my sorority sisters. I liked dating guys. I wanted to be normal. I liked being normal. I needed to be normal. But… being a guy? I was free. Free to do what I wanted. Act how I wanted. Free to just be. Nobody looked down on me - unless of course they knew of Aiden’s reputation - which I’ve already started to repair.”

I shifted my feet, her words uncomfortably close to my own truth. “I know what it's like to feel disconnected from your own body. I used to be Daniel. A ghost. A guy who coasted through life. Who immersed himself in fantasies to escape real life. By living these other lives, not only did I learn how much more fulfilling life can be, but I felt free as well. I learned to love myself, and I realized I couldn’t be that person anymore.”

“But that means you can’t be normal anymore.”

“Ella,” I reasoned. “What is normal? How is anyone normal? I wasn’t normal when I was a guy. I was shy, reserved, and not really present. I’m not normal now. Every day I watch someone wearing my body and being a better me than I ever was. I’m in love with the girl whose body you saw me in earlier. I’m in love with her life. How the fuck do I tell her that? Any of that? Were you normal before? You were a complete bitch to me the first time we met. You constantly made fun of lesbians. How is that normal? 

E was silent, perhaps for the first time coming to terms with how she treated people.

I continued, “You know, if you and Aiden want to permanently swap, that’s your choice. If you don’t, so be it. You can even swap back and choose to transition in your original body if you so desire. You can be whoever you want to be.”

E looked at me stunned. As if nobody had ever told her that. “I want to stay in Aiden. For maybe a little longer.”

I smiled. “Then you should have that discussion with him. I have a feeling he’d be open to the possibility.”

“OK,” he nodded. 

“Let’s get out of here. Why don’t you come sit with us?”

“Sit with the sorority?”

“They already think we’re dating. Maybe it’ll be a great way to interact with them, but not as Ella.”

“I—”

At that moment, the locker room door opened. 

“Get back inside the stall,” I whispered to Aiden as he stood up.

But there wasn’t enough time as two girls rounded the corner. Both were in dance team uniforms, very bright, shimmery, short dresses. One was limping while the other supported her weight. They both looked in my direction and both recognized us.

Aiden froze, having been caught.

“Ella,” the girl helping the other said. “What are you doing here? What is he doing in the women’s locker room?”

I needed to think fast. “We, uh… got into an argument.”

“Yeah, we needed a quiet place where we could talk things out,” Aiden added.

“Are you sure you weren’t fucking in one of the stalls?” one of the girls asked.

It’s crazy that Aiden and Ella have gotten such a reputation in the short month they’ve been swapped. “No,” I replied. “We were just leaving,” I turned to Aiden. “Let’s go.”

“What happened?” Aiden asked, nodding towards the limping girl.

“Cassie sprained her foot,” the girl without the limp responded.

“Oh, no, Cassie,” Aiden said, with empathy that didn’t sound right coming out of his mouth. Not to mention knowing the name of a girl he just met.

“I’ll be OK,” Cassie assured us. She then tried to put her weight on that foot and she yelped before clutching the other girl.

“Sit down,” the other girl said calmly, leading Cassie to the bench.

“I’m so sorry,” Cassie cried. “I won’t be able to perform our routine.”

“It’ll be OK,” I said. “Your health is more important than the routine.”

They both looked at me like I was crazy. Clearly that wasn’t something Ella would say.

The healthy girl got up and found an ice pack in the medical cabinet, squeezing it until it made a soft popping sound. “Here, hopefully the swelling will go down.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Cassie asked, cautiously placing the ice pack on her ankle.

“What can we do to help?” I asked.

The healthy girl pointed at Aiden. “You. Out.” Then she looked at me. “Ella, help me try to get the swelling down.”

I turned to Aiden. I didn’t want to separate.

Aiden understood the dilemma. “Call me when you’re done here.” He walked out of the locker room. At least he didn’t run.

Healthy girl watched him go. “I can’t believe you quit dance because of him.”

“It wasn’t the only reason,” I replied. A guess, mostly. It was A2 who quit. I can only imagine his reasons.

“You really let us down, Ella,” the healthy girl said.

“I’m sorry," I replied. “I wasn't in the right headspace. I couldn’t lead you. You deserve a captain who can do better.”

“You’ve been on teams before, right?” Cassie countered. “You could’ve talked to us. Told us what was going on.”

“I already got an intervention from my sorority this evening,” I held up my hands. “I don’t need another.”

“Fine,” healthy girl scowled. “Can you check out her ankle?”

I knelt down beside Cassie. “I’m going to lift your leg up.”

Cassie nodded. She took the ice pack and placed it beside her and leaned back to let me have access to her leg.

I wasn’t a doctor nor pre-med in any of the lives I’ve swapped in, but I did sprain my ankle once in high school. I gingerly slid my hands under her calf and lifted her leg up and onto the bench. She was wearing nude stockings. I examined her ankle, but it was definitely swollen and I needed to see under the sneaker. “I need to take this off.”

She nodded again.

I gently removed the sneaker and Cassie moaned in pain. I examined her ankle from multiple angles, but she was still wearing ankle socks. The skin was puffy around where the sock’s elastic was. “Yeah, it’s swollen alright.” I gingerly removed the sock and placed the ice pack on it. “But it doesn’t look broken.”

“What if the swelling doesn't go down by showtime?” Cassie asked.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that there was no way it would go down by halftime, which would be in an hour. The game was most certainly going on as I could hear the crowd roaring above us, along with the muffled voices of the play-by-play announcer.

Instead her friend answered, “then we either leave a hole in the formation or we find someone who knows the routine.”

That’s when they both looked at me.

“Whoa, no,” I said, raising my hands. “I quit, remember? I haven’t practiced in…” I wasn’t sure exactly when A2 had quit the team. How many weeks ago?

“The routine hasn’t changed.”

“I-I can’t.”

“We need you, Ella,” Cassie pleaded. “You were just telling us how we deserve leadership. We need you.”

Shit. I’m in it now. I was able to get out of the sorority intervention. How would I get out of this? “I’m going to be rusty.” It’s true. Muscle memory only gets you so far.

“We can run through it real quick,” healthy girl suggested.

“Please,” the girls pleaded in unison, looking at me. They looked adorable with their wide-eyed faces of pure innocence. I honestly felt bad for them. They didn’t ask for this. It wasn’t their fault their dance captain up and quit on them.

The solution just came to me. E knows the routine. I could bring her back. We could swap. Of course, the next problem is - I don’t have the stone. But I can call the Guild, and have them run down here with the stone. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to consult with E before agreeing to have her perform.

“OK, fine,” I relented.

“Yay!” the girls cheered.

“We still have your uniform with us,” the healthy girl said, pulling a rolling wardrobe of hanging garment bags.

“Great,” I said. “Hey, I need to make some quick texts.”

I first texted E. “Cassie sprained her ankle and I got roped into performing with the dance team. Are you willing to take my place? One last time?”

Then I texted Lauren. “I got roped into performing with the dance team.”

E responded. “Sure, let's swap when you’re ready.” I smiled. This is going to work.

Lauren responded. “OK. I’ll go sit with the sorority. I trust you.”

Then I texted the Guild. “I found E. I need the stone right away.” 

“Hey Chelsea,” Cassie said. “Can you get me my bag?”

Thank God I got her name. Chelsea delivered Cassie's bag to her, then handed me a garment bag.

Inside the garment bag was the same shimmery dress. It was cute, but certainly wasn’t my style.

My phone buzzed. It was E.

“I’m back,” the message wrote.

“Excuse me,” I said to Cassie and Chelsea. I walked out of the locker room to find Aiden leaning up against a pillar.

“Let’s swap,” He eagerly said. “I’d love to perform with those girls one last time.”

“Um, we can’t yet.”

“Why not?”

Was I still keeping the existence of the stone a secret? “Um, the thing that lets me swap isn’t here. I gave it back to my friend. They’re on their way.”

“How long?”

“Soon.”

That’s when Chelsea poked her head out of the locker room. “I hate to break up you two love birds, but Ella, if you’re truly rusty, you really need to practice.”

“OK.” I shared a glance with Aiden.

Chelsea ducked back into the locker room.

“Have you ever danced before, D?” Aiden asked.

“I’ve gone clubbing,” I said. “I’ve danced at weddings.”

Aiden shook his head. “Holy shit, you’re in way over your head.”

“My friend will come,” I said. “Then you can do this.”

“Um, Is your friend here at the stadium?”

“No. But they live nearby in the off-campus apartments.”

Aiden chuckled. “One of us has to be on the field in like 10 minutes. There’s no way your friend shows up on time.”

“It’s still only the first quarter!” I countered. “Halftime is like an hour away.” 

“Um, you’ve never seen the dance team have you?” Aiden asked with sass.

“No.”

“Typical. We don’t perform at halftime. That’s the marching band. We perform at the quarter breaks. In maybe 10 minutes.”

I didn’t say anything. But my fear was clear on my face.

“Looks like you’re the one that is going to need to practice,” Aiden said, giving me a bemused smirk.