21. Two in One
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“First day at school as a plural system,” Brielle whispered over her oatmeal. “I’m not ready for this.”

Me neither, Maya agreed.

“You’ll do fine, honey,” their mother, dressed for work, said before kissing Brielle on the forehead. “The two of you have been through so much. You’re strong enough to handle this.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She finished her breakfast and placed her bowl in the sink just as her father came down the stairs.

“How are you two?” he asked.

“We’re fine, Dad, I promise.”

“Stay focused today, alright? I know it’s going to be difficult, but you have it in you.”

Brielle nodded. She grabbed her backpack and keys, then slipped out the front door. As she got into the front seat of the car, Maya had a moment where she realized this was the first time she’d be in the driver’s seat since they were first split from each other. Now that was a surreal thought.

Brielle dragged her feet when they got to school, but did eventually make it outside the library where the rest of their friends were waiting for them. The air was somber. Lily wasn’t there. Maya’s heart sank a little. Part of her had been hoping that Lily would show up to support her.

“Hi, everyone,” Brielle said. Forcing herself to smile, she asked, “Who died?”

“Is she… in there with you?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, hold on.” To Maya, she asked, Can you show them?

Maya pushed herself forward as Brielle receded, and took a second to get her bearings.

“Hi, everyone,” she said, pitching her voice up just a little. “I’m here. I’m alright.”

Everyone seemed to relax a little. Nobody seemed to want to be the next person to speak, though. The situation was awkward and nobody has any idea how to really move forward.

Then Jason asked Eric, “Did you get the notes from the other day?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll let you borrow them at lunch.”

The discussion resumed where it had left off when Maya and Brielle approached. Maya felt her whole body relax. Well, Brielle’s body. She felt Brielle’s body relax.

“Hey, Br—Maya,” Amelia said, “I was hoping we could go to the mall this weekend. There’s a sale on gaming accessories and I want to see if I can get a new controller.”

“Just use a keyboard and mouse like the rest of the world, Amelia,” Maya retorted.

“God,” Jason muttered, “It is so weird seeing Brielle… Brielle’s body… acting like Maya.”

Eric shot him a death glare real quick, then cleared his throat and said, “Actually, I was hoping that me and Brielle could hang out on Saturday. We’ve been talking about visiting that new diner down on Rea Road.”

We’ll have time for both, Brielle said.

“We’ll make both work out,” Maya assured the group. “Don’t worry. Our social life isn’t over.”

The bell rang, warning everyone to get to homeroom.

“Dammit,” Amelia muttered, turning to Maya. “I guess I’ll see you around, Maya.”

Maya nodded. She was going to miss walking to homeroom with Amelia. There were actually tears welling up in her eyes. Amelia held up her arms to offer a hug, and Maya walked into it. She took a deep breath and managed to hold the tears in.

Alright, she said when Amelia waked away, where are we going?

Brielle replied, Let me take charge.

Maya nodded and relaxed. She could feel Brielle sort of… push past her and take control again. Maya’s senses felt like they were dimmed, and the body started moving without any of her input.

Ready for class? Brielle asked.

Not at all.

Truth be told, though, Maya was a little curious to know what Brielle’s classes were like. They were the classes Maya would have taken if the split had never happened. A peek into Brielle’s life was enticing to think about.

Brielle’s first class was history. A boring start, in Maya’s opinion. But as she entered the room, Brielle was greeted by two girls standing at the front of the class.

“Hey, Mira, Stephanie,” Brielle said.

“Hey, Brielle.”

“What’s going on?”

Brielle took a deep breath.

“So…” she began, “you know how my sister was sick?”

Brielle, what are you doing?

Well, I have to tell them, Brielle responded.

She continued the story, explaining how the town mages had put Maya into her body. Her friends' expressions shifted from confusion to horror and back to confusion. By the end of the story, both had their mouths agape.

“So…” one of them, Stephanie, said, “she’s in there? With you?”

Oh, Brielle, Maya moaned, why did you do this?

“I wanted everyone to know,” Brielle told them both. “I’m part of a multiplicity, now. Er, that’s when two or more people share a body. I don’t want people forgetting my sister, alright?”

Stephanie and Mira exchanged a nervous glance.

“Okay,” Mira muttered.

“That’s a lot to drop on us,” Stephanie said.

The bell rang at that moment, and everyone had to take a seat. Brielle sat in the very back of the class. She plopped into her chair and sighed.

I’m sorry, Brielle, Maya said, But you shouldn’t have told them.

And what? Let them think that you’re just gone?

Brielle had to pay attention as the teacher began the lecture, so the discussion was tabled. Maya tried to pay attention at first, watching Brielle take notes and listening to the teacher drone. And drone.

And eventually she just kind of tuned it all out. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a nap right now? Could she do that? It’s not like she was ever going to need to pay attention in school ever again, if Brielle was going to front most of the time anyway. It wasn’t too much to drop that responsibility on her sister, was it?

I’m bored, Brielle eventually thought.

Good. It’s not just me then, Maya replied. How are you going to get through a whole semester of this?

I was thinking about making you do all of it, actually.

Maya could feel Brielle’s lips twitch as she smirked.

Well, Maya continued, I guess I could. But then I’d be both the pretty one and the smart one. What would be left for you?

Brielle snorted and tried to focus back on what the teacher was saying.

After a moment, though, she added, What are you going to do for most of the day?

Think of it as practice for working life, Maya told her, You work all day, then come home and I take over to play video games.

Why would I agree to that?

Because you’re my bitch.

Brielle burst out laughing, drawing attention from the rest of her class. The teacher scowled at her, and Maya could feel Brielle blush and sink down in her seat. Inside, Maya was giggling.

Her mood soured, though, when after class ended Brielle stood up to head to gym. As they passed close to a couple of guys, Brielle and Maya overheard what they were saying.

“…inside her head? That’s crazy!”

“Fucking magic, dude.”

“I’d sooner die.”

Brielle tensed up and picked up her pace. She didn’t say goodbye to anyone on her way out. It seemed like she was determined to get to her next class without looking up from the floor.

Is this our life now? she asked.

We… we don’t have to always tell people about me, Maya replied. Maybe it’s better if not everyone knows I exist. It’s not like everyone will believe you, anyway. It would be easier to pretend to be one person.

Brielle didn’t respond. When she got to the girls’ locker room, though, she relaxed a little bit. Adeline was waiting outside the door for her. The two entered together. They got to talking. Maya was tense. She’d never been in the girls’ locker room before. Was she allowed to be here?

Maya kept herself distracted while Brielle changed. Brielle, thankfully, was careful not to look down and spook Maya. They were sure that Maya would have to get over this eventually, but for now she was still trying to get used to this new life.

“We gonna talk about this?” Adeline asked Brielle.

“Yeah. As soon as we get the chance.”

“I heard we’re running today.”

“Oh, joy.”

The class was brought outside to the school’s running track. Once the class was running, Adeline and Brielle fell to the back. As soon as there was enough distance between them and the others, they started chatting.

“Are you two okay?” Adeline asked. “There’s no blending or anything? Any side effects of the spell you’re worried about so far?”

“No, I think we’re fine.”

“You can hear each other alright? Can you switch?”

“Yes and yes.”

The teacher’s voice rang out, “Faster, ladies! Faster!”

Brielle and Adeline picked up the pace a little bit.

“How are you, Maya?” Adeline asked. “Are you comfortable in there?”

It’s nice not having to exert myself as much, but I could use some furniture.

“She’s fine.’

Adeline frowned and asked, “Can she speak for herself?”

“Yeah, hold on.”

Wait, hold on! I don’t want to run!

But Brielle slowed to a stop and relaxed. Maya grumbled, but pushed herself forward. She shook her head clear and started jogging again.

“Well, at least I’m getting exercise,” she mumbled.

“Maya?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” she admitted. “Hi.”

“You’re doing okay?”

Maya reiterated what she’d said a moment before. Adeline looked like she wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not. Maya just rolled her eyes.

“Thank you for thinking of me,” she said. “People have been kind of weird about the two of us being in one body.”

“I’ll admit,” Adeline replied. “It’s a new experience for me too. But just because you’re sharing a body now doesn’t mean that only one of you matters, Maya.”

“Yeah, thank you,” Maya replied, blushing. “And thank you for standing up to Arista. I know she’s your mentor and that must have been pretty hard.”

“Brielle loves you so much,” Adeline said. “I figured that if she was that willing to stand up for you, you were worth fighting for.”

Dang, Brielle said, now I’m going to blush.

Maya finished, “I guess it took a while, but I think I’m starting to come around to seeing you as a friend too.”

Adeline smirked and raised her hand in a fist. Maya just stared at it for a moment as gears turned in her head. When it clicked, she raised her own hand and fist bumped her.

Dorks, Brielle muttered.

“You shut up,” Maya relied, and Adeline giggled.

“So you can hear each other alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, and switching back and forth isn’t very hard. It’ll be difficult, but I think we can get by like this.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“…Why did you want to get into magic, anyway?” Maya asked. “How does somebody even get involved with that?”

Adeline grinned and began to tell her story. Eventually, Maya slowed down and switched with Brielle again so she could listen. Brielle and Adeline kept discussing magic and the things Adeline was learning for the rest of class. It was interesting, to say the least.

After class, Brielle took a quick shower and got dressed again. She said goodbye to some of the girls in the locker room and grabbed her stuff to leave. She took her sweet time getting to the lunch room even though there was a grumble in her stomach.

Are you always this hungry? Maya asked.

Not… always, no.

Doesn’t it feel like people are still staring at us?

A little. But I was honestly worried things would be worse.

So was I. Nobody’s actually confronted us about it yet.

Brielle was looking at something in particular, though. It took Maya a moment to spot him: the slim boy with a square jaw. Lucas was walking right toward them, and didn’t seem to realize it.

After a moment, Lucas locked eyes with Brielle, and worry crossed his face. He stopped right in his tracks and turned around. Lucas must have picked up the pace too, because he was gone into the crowd in a moment.

Fuck that guy, Brielle thought. No good troublemaker. He’d better panic when he sees me.

He sucks, but he did apologize, Maya replied. And he hasn’t really caused us any problems since then.

I guess not, Brielle said, pushing her way through a small group of students blocking the hall. But even if he is quelled, I’m not ready to forgive him.

…me neither, Maya agreed. The things he said and did were pretty awful.

As they got to the cafeteria, though, the two were met by another familiar face they weren’t expecting to see. A girl with curly brown hair was weaving her way through students to get to them. Maya groaned as Charlie closed the gap between them with a wide grin on her face.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” she asked. “You’re really stuck together now? That’s why Maya isn’t here.”

“Go away, Charlie,” Brielle muttered, trying to walk past her.

Charlie blocked the way and continued, “Everyone is talking about what happened. I was hoping I could get an interview—”

“No,” Brielle growled.

“—after all, people want to know and it’s good for you to get out in front of this thing before the rumor mill—”

“I am not doing an interview with you!” Brielle cried. “We had a deal! Leave me alone!”

“Brielle, surely you can’t expect me to give up a chance like this,” Charlie said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure Maya is telling you right now that you can trust me.”

Oh god, Maya moaned, make her go away already.

“Maya doesn’t trust you,” Brielle said. “I don’t trust you. Nobody trusts you, Charlie. The reason you don’t have any friends is because you’re pushy and insensitive. You don’t care about anybody but yourself. I am sick of being your pet project. You have caused me and my sister so much grief over the past couple of months and we want you to stop.”

Charlie looked stunned, then her lips started to quiver.

“Shut up,” she said, sounding strained, “I do too have friends.”

“Where are they, then?” Brielle demanded.

Brielle… you’re being a little harsh.

“What do you know, magical girl?!” Charlie cried, getting attention from some nearby students. “I… if Maya were here, she’d tell you to stop being such a bitch!”

“Oh?” Brielle asked, before relaxing her body.

Maya started to panic as she was thrust forward. Before she could stop it, she was in control and looking right at Charlie, who was glaring at her through wet eyes. She gulped.

“Charlie, it’s me,” she said softly, and Charlie blinked in surprise.

“What? Is this some kind of trick or—?”

“No, it’s really me: Maya. And you need to stop.”

Charlie didn’t respond.

Maya continued, “I’ve asked you to leave me alone before, Charlie. If you don’t this time, I’m going to the administration and asking them to do something about you.”

She walked past Charlie, who seemed too stunned to respond.

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