Dinner

 

Chapter 8: Home Sweet Home

 

"...ney?" There was a warm pressure on my shoulder. The warmth rubbed down my arm and stroked back up. "Are you okay?" I struggled to peel my eyelids open. It didn't feel like I slept very long. ’Maybe a few minutes?’

"Sleep, please?" I rolled to lay on my other side to avoid the voice and hand trying to wake me up.

"Kim, if you want to sleep, you have a bed." I know I did, but I couldn't make it there.

Mumbling, I begged again. "Please?" Then I buried my face into the couch's cushion. There was a noise -- I thought maybe a resigned sigh -- right above me.

"Greg? Could you come out here?" ’Is Shelly going to have Greg carry me to bed?’ Now it was my turn to sigh. I rolled, but laid on my back and pried my eyelids open with my fingers to stare at the ceiling. "Oh. Awake? Greg, never mind."

’Awake?’ No. "Yeah."

"Good. We wouldn't want you to miss your 'Welcome Home' dinner, would we?" Stromboli, I remembered. ’Did they make anything else?’ I don't mind stromboli. I used to eat it in pieces dipped in marinara sauce.

I threw a fist up in the air and sleepily yawned a, "Yaaay." It took me a moment to register that I was falling back to sleep. "Shelly? Would you please help me get up?" I waved my hand around for her to grab.

She did grab it, but didn't pull. "Shelly? Not 'Mom' anymore?" Oops.

"Sorry Mom." My other arm was grabbed as well and I lazily lifted from the couch, but she did most of the pulling. I cringed when remembering my vow to not be a burden to this family. Quickly, I recovered myself, awkwardly stumbling to my feet, and attempting to balance myself so I could stand.

Dizzy. Very dizzy and the room was tilting on me. If Shelly didn't still hold my arms, I would have done more than having just fallen to my knees. Shelly was what held me up now from falling flat on my face.

"Greg!" Thunderous footsteps came into the living room.

"I'mfineI'mfine." I took in a deep shuddering breath and waited a few seconds, breathed out, regaining control of my breaths until I had a rhythm going. I lied, "Stood up too fast." I honestly had no idea what happened. I had blackouts before from standing up too quickly and that was much more than the lights going out or standing all wobbly. This time I managed to get back on my feet without issue. ’...Was I that frail?’ "Thanks Mom."

She didn't let go of me. Shelly had a hold of my arms and assisted me from the living room to the dining room. I was released when I sat in my chair at the table.

"Have you been blacking out often?" Looking up at Greg, I shrugged.

"Dr. Anstone has been making sure I rest at certain times." I watched Greg go around the table to take his seat. Brittany brought over a pitcher of some kind of dark juice and sat it on the table. There was breaded sections of the stromboli sitting on each of our plates. Well, all except for the spot that the father should be sitting in.

"We might want to get a hold of the hospital and ask about that. I don't want to risk scheduling an exercise routine for you without knowing -- what?" Greg looked at Shelly funny and I turned to see what she was doing. I must have missed it since she did a quick smile at me.

Looking back at Greg, I said, "What I miss?" He shrugged and said nothing. "C'mon!" ’If something was wrong with me, shouldn't I know?’Taking one more look up at Shelly, I asked: "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and went for her seat. "Nothing is wrong." That was bullshit, but I dropped it in favor of not starting an argument at the table.

When no one else said anything, I saw that the family was taking advantage of the moment of silence to quietly pray their thanks for the food. Then we dug in.

There was something I wanted to ask Brittany. "Brittany?"

"Hm?" She was busy washing down a bite with that dark juice. I squinted at it in wonder.

"You own a store, right?" While I asked, I pushed myself from the table to get up for a glass.

"Where are you going?" Shelly looked alarmed at me standing up. I waved at her to cool it.

"I'm just getting a glass." When I said that, Greg got up and out of his seat to beat me to the punch.

"Here." Opened and closed, he nabbed a glass and returned to the table with a smooth drop off in front of my place.

I sat back down and gave him my, "Thanks." That brought me back to interrogating Brittany. "Uh, the store. You own one. Is it around here? Close by?"

"Hmm... Not really. It is across the river." ’There's a river?’ Also, I guessed that meant she’d go over a bridge or took a ferry to cross.

"Why not live on the other side? Wouldn't that be easier?" With another bite, she grinned at me and gave a thumbs-up.

But Shelly spoke out about that. "Not without showing me you can manage." Brittany coughed, choked, and took a big swig of the dark juice before responding.

"I'm almost there. All I need to do is obtain a male model and I can start photoshoots." Her gaze drifted over to Greg. "You said you would --"

"Not while I'm in school. They denied my work permit." I had never obtained a job. As Chase, I relied on my mother to enable me. There wasn't much demand from me except food and drink. Any games that I kept playing were supplied by pirating them from my PC and porting them into my consoles. So I had no idea how after-school activities, like work permits, functioned.

I raised my hand. "I could? Not like I'm in school right now anyways and all you need is someone to wear clothes for a photo -- oh." While I had my thoughts on being Chase, I’d forgotten in that moment I was a girl. She needed a guy.

"That's not a half-bad idea." Brittany was grinning ear-to-ear at me.

"No." And Shelly's was a positive upside-down smile. "Kim could barely walk to the kitchen just now."

"I told you that I stood up too fast. I blacked out."

"Kim, I'm serious. Even if it was normal, you having to rest so often is not." My mind drew a blank on that one. No clue how to respond because I agreed, and didn't want to be agreeing too, nor did I want this argument to continue, but I also wanted to be of some help to someone like Brittany. I was conflicted.

"That's a shame. With Kim's haircut, she'd pass for a boy in those clothes." ’I would?’ I guessed so. I would have agreed that my image definitely had an androgyny in it. I glanced at Brittany and saw her give me a shrug. "Don't worry about it." She gave me a wink and went back to eating.’Did that wink mean something or was that her way of showing appreciation for my trying?’ No idea.

For now, I moved onto my next task. I wanted to try out something to drink other than water. Taking the pitcher of that dark juice, I hastily poured a glass.

Brittany immediately spoke up, "Uhh, I don't think you should -- oh hoho, oh no." I pulled the glass up and drank as my loving big sister laughed, watched, and was delightfully amused by what she witnessed I’d done.

Wine.

My eyes were wide open as I tasted it. I should have put the glass down and offered it to Brittany to finish, but as of that moment I didn't care. It was something other than water and I was going to drink it. Before anyone took it from me, I guzzled.

"Whow, hold on there!" Brittany did try to take the bottom of the glass, but was being careful not to cause me to spill it over myself. Shelly gasped while I was drowning myself. Greg, I wasn’t sure because I didn't hear anything from him.

Finished, I let my big sis take the glass. I didn't say anything. I wanted to tell them something witty, but nothing came to mind. A grin would have been neat, but I was rather straight faced about it. I just returned to eating my stromboli.

"I'm sorry. I'll move it." Brittany took the pitcher and relocated it to the counter by the sink. Knowing that Greg can outrace me, I didn't have a chance of drinking anymore of that potent grape juice with a kick. Right now, I didn’t believe I wanted anymore. I was not even sure why I’d drank that wine like that. Something in me just said, 'Fuck it,' and I did.

That was very impulsive and stupid. So very very stupid.

Closing my eyes, I said, "Sorry," and went on to apologize. "That was a dumb move. I don't know what came over me. I --"

"Teenage Spirit," was Shelly's answer. "I know. I've experienced and Brittany still has some left over."

"Why not include the actual teen there?" Brittany pointed at Greg as she sat back down.

He held his hands open for her to respond to and said, "Have I ever done anything rebellious?" My big sis was quietly thinking to herself until she gave us all a shake of her head. "There, that's why." I guessed Greg did appear to be mature for his age. It was hard to imagine him as a teenager still. If I didn't know how old he was, I would have guessed he'd be in his charming twenties. ’Maybe that was a part of why all the girls went for him and he preferred older women?’

A couple of seconds went by and I felt flushed. No alcoholic buzz for me though, which was kind of a bummer. ’Maybe that would have came if I drank more or had been steady with my glass?’ Dunno. Never was a drinker.

That brought me back to thinking over why having a teenage spirit had anything to do with that stupid stunt. ’Rebellious? Was she implying I drank that in retaliation? For what?’

I sighed and gently shook my head. "I'm still sorry for doing that."

"You're not driving anywhere and this is your 'Welcome Home' dinner. I think we can let it slide tonight." I gave Shelly a smile and nodded my thanks to her.

Greg had finished his plate before anyone else had. I wasn't full, but I felt compelled to stop eating when I was only halfway through the stromboli. Leftovers, I supposed. Shelly and Brittany finished off their plates. It wasn't a wonder why they had smothering chest pillows. Probably where all the fat goes compared to the rest of their figure.

Looking at Brittany, I saw her puff out her bust. "Aww. It's okay." I raised my gaze and brow. "If they fill your hands or more, then they're big enough." I knew what she was talking about, but I had a delayed reaction from the wine, probably. My posture straightened and I looked away from her to see how the others reacted.

Greg had ignored it by getting up and taking his plate, Shelly's and Brittany's, and carefully mine to the sink or counter. Mine was set on the counter for the half-meal to be stored in the fridge.

Shelly had facepalmed and shook her head in reaction to Brittany grinning and giggling while holding up for me her all natural gifts.

Even if the mother and daughter looked almost identical, their age being the difference, their personalities was certainly a great way to tell them apart. I glanced at Greg, wondering if I would have the chance to compare him with the father someday. That brought me a thought.

"Where's..." I threw my thumb at the empty seat at the table to silently indicate the absent Gregory.

"Work." How Shelly said that sounded like she wasn't very pleased. Tense. I guessed so, considering that we just had my 'Welcome Home' dinner and not everyone was in attendance. One would think the father of this girl would have called off for one day.

Brittany took her glass of wine and left the table to go after that pitcher. ’Was she going to finish it all?’ I watched her and saw Greg quickly grab it to hold the container high over our big sister's head.

"Greg, come on." He shook his head at her and aimed it over the sink. "NO!" There was amusement in his smile as he was tipping it to the spilling point. "Fine. What do you want?" I raised a brow, wondering the same exact thing.

"Nothing." I glanced over at Shelly and saw she had already got up to leave the kitchen with her cell in hand. While I had been wondering who she was texting, what Greg said next made me curious what he meant. "I already have what I want." Looking back at them, I saw Greg's hand slip around and out from behind Brittany's waist.

I sat there and stared at them in utter shock and disbelief. There was no way that meant what I thought it meant. ’Morality in this world didn't dive that far down, did it?’ No. I was misreading what I saw. ’Maybe she tried to grab for the pitcher and he caught her from falling back?’ I'd go with that. I've been drinking, so I could blame that mistaken view on my poor judgement.

"Uh, I'm going to call it a night." Getting up from the chair was a little more difficult when recovering from a false alarm like that. At least, I hoped it was a false alarm.

I watched Brittany leave Greg with the pitcher to come by my side. "Do you want me to help you with anything?" Pausing, I thought about that for a moment.

"I should be good. Just going to shower before hitting the hay." I got my not-so-buzzed looking head ruffled before she grabbed my empty glass from the table.

"Let me know when you are heading for bed. I want to talk with you about an idea you might want to sleep on." I nodded and she walked out of the kitchen.

Looking at Greg, I saw he was wondering the same thing I was. I had to ask. "Any idea what she's talking about?"

He slowly said, "Ma-aybe? Mom didn't want you working for her, but she’s -- Sis is an opportunist. Brittany probably thought of a loophole." ’That was possible, but what?’ The whole reason Mom didn't want to -- Shelly didn't want to have me go was because of my episode out in the living room.

With that being put aside, I wanted to confirm something about this world here and now before I went any further existing in it. "Greg?"

He was placing a lid on the pitcher and placing it into the freezer. I wasn't sure why, but that wasn't a priority now.

Here goes. "You and Brittany..."

Glancing back at me, he closed the freezer door and leaned back against the whole fridge. "We fight sometimes." Instantly, his hands were flung up. "Okay, a lot of times, but we do get along. Same goes for Mom and us." I was taking that for granted, but it was a shame he didn't include the father in that.

"That's good, but not what I wanted to ask you about." His posture told me he was being alert and his silent stare spoke of his full attention to me. "Do you like her more than a brother should?"

His gaze drifted from me to the living room for a moment and then returned to me. "Not sure. I know what you mean, she's attractive, but if I've overstepped my boundaries..." He shrugged. I dropped my head and shoulders a little, staring at him.

"What do you consider 'Boundaries' here?" I could tell my breathing became a little shallow here and gulped. I was afraid of this answer.

"When she gets a boyfriend, I'll back off." That didn't answer my question precisely, but gave me a clue that their relationship was definitely deeper than just siblings.

"I meant, where is the line drawn between you two. What won't you or her do to each other?" He gave the living room a glance again before he jerked his head towards one of the two doors in the kitchen.

Following him, with my big brother being precautionary by holding my hand, we went down the stairs to the basement. This was my first time seeing it and I had to say that it looked pretty sweet. To start, there was a pool table in the middle of the entire vast room. Secondly, when I meant vast, it must’ve taken up the same space or more of the whole bottom of the house. There were recliners and couches that had to open up into futons. A TV was set against the wall that had to be the same height and length of the car. Books lined an entire side-wall of shelves with a lot of them having 'Accounting' on their binders in Roman Numeral Volumes.

When I stopped gawking at the furniture, appliances, accessories, I stared at the decor. The carpet under my bare feet was soft and cool, and I’d scrunched my toes up while padding my soles down on this awesome carpet, like I wouldn't mind it at all laying completely sprawled out on it for a nap. That was how good the floor felt. Lights along the entire wall were in a string rather than bulbs. ’I guess LED? Maybe?’ It was a complete circuit without it plugged into anything. Once again, I had to wonder how power worked in this world.

I walked over to the pool table to feel the velvety green cover beneath my palm. I so wanted to play a game. Not right now, but definitely sometime in the near future. We still had something important to be discussed.

Greg gestured for me to sit and I decided on one of the couches. I pulled up my legs and, instead of sitting, I laid on my side. Grabbing one of the pillows nearby, I fluffed it and jammed my head down into it until I found a comfy spot. My big brother smiled with a restrained laugh at me.

After a second recomposing himself, he gave me a curious question. "Okay. What is this about?"

"In the kitchen, I thought I saw you two getting a little too close." He held back another laugh behind that smile.

"What was too close?" With his hands on his hips, he favored a foot and leaned fully on it to the side while looking at me in amusement.

"I'm not sure if -- I did. I caught you holding her." He raised a brow at me.

"Like a hug?"

"No. You held her close."

"Like how I held you today?"

I knitted my brows. "No. Not like that at all. You held her with one arm."

"And I held you with two. Does that mean I'm closer to you than her?" I huffed and sat up, not comfortable at all anymore on this couch.

"No. You didn't hold me like that because you liked me."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't be doing that to anyone unless I liked them." That shouldn't have caused me to feel anything, but it did make my heart skip a beat. I shook my head. I was not going to be falling into this sick trap.

Pausing, I took my time to formulate my strategy and choose my words carefully. I chose the blunt one. "Have you been having sex with Brittany? Do you fuck your sister?" That last part was not necessary. I was thinking that 'Teenage Spirit' slipped out of me, or some of that wine spoke up, or I was just tired and confused, or Greg being difficult was frustrating me.

Greg dropped his hands from his hips and shrugged. He wasn't smiling anymore, but didn't appear upset. More like he was confused. "What's the problem?" ’Really? The world has come down to this? How low does the bar go here?’

It took me a moment to ask him what I should have from the beginning. "Is that normal?"

Squatting down to the floor, he looked down and sighed. When he returned his gaze to be locked with mine, he spoke softly to me. "You didn't know, did you. Your memory..." Shaking his head, he stopped talking and stood back up. Now he did look upset. I watched him start pacing in front of me in silence.

I began to nibble on my lower lip as I watched him. For me, I didn't think I needed to know anymore. Because of me, he wasn't having a very good night anymore. Now I was a reminder to him of how damaged his little sister was. She wasn't damaged like that, though. Somehow, I was thrown into her body and it was me who didn't know anything at all about this world, or more importantly this girl’s family.

Bowing my head, I thought about what I should do. ’Should I apologize for bringing this up? Would staying silent and waiting for him to cool off be a better idea? Maybe simply telling him not to worry about it, like they have been telling me, would work?’ No. That could be mistaken for sarcasm.

I should’ve honestly told him how I felt. So I did. "I'm sorry I brought it up. I didn't mean to upset you." There was the sound of him breathing deeply in and out. I didn't hear him pacing anymore and decided to lift my head to see how he was.

He gave me a reassuring look and grin. "It's okay. I've had a lot weighing on my mind."

"Maybe you could tell me about them over a game of pool sometime?" That caused him to laugh.

"Really? I thought -- Never mind. Sure." Smiling, I got up and off the couch.

"Thanks for being patient with me." Greg took a step to me and ruffled my hair.

"I'll always be there for you when you need me to be." I felt really happy to be told that. Inside my thoughts, I told myself not to ever do this, but it felt right for our moment together to hug him for saying that.

"Double-thanks then." I was hugged single-handedly while he still rubbed my head with his other hand.

"Always, Kim." Then he gave the top of my head a pat. "You said you were going to take a shower before bed, right? Might want to do that now before you keep Brittany up any later."

"Nearly forgot about that." I loosened my hug and he broke his hold around me. Backing away, I gave Greg a quick wave before disappearing up the stairs and making a sharp turn into the bathroom next door. I wanted to be quick before he decided to carry me upstairs.

When I had shut the door behind me, I froze. Turning around, I decided to lock the door. There was something I should have asked Greg, but didn't. ’Was Brittany the only sister he was sleeping with?’ I backed away from the door with this in my thoughts. Startled by motion to my left, I calmed when I realized it was my reflection.

Taking a good look at myself, I remembered something Greg said. He didn't like girls. I knew that I've been told I was eighteen, but I didn't look mature. With these scars on my face, I would be better passing as a tragic pretty boy than a maimed girl. How my hair was right now didn't help. Yeah, I had an hourglass figure going on, but I wasn't filled out like a woman.

I was not his type.

Taking a breather, I leaned my hands and myself down on the sink's edge. Looking up at the mirror, I had to wonder about myself for a few seconds. ’Did I really want to make life better for this girl or myself? What if that girl was trapped like I was in my world? Or worse, dead? Was what I was doing going to matter if there was no coming back for her? If there was, what would happen to me? Would I return to being Chase? In that case, what would I find that girl doing with my body? My life? Would she have been making things better for me too or would I find myself in a worse position than when I got stuck in this body?’

I had to pick a side. For either, I would still be working towards a better life, but if I chose myself over her... ’Then what?’ I didn't know enough about Kim to be Kim. I was Chase in a Kim-mask and costume.

It was easy to play off that I had no memory before the storm, but I did have memories. ’Would it have been easier for me if I had woken up not remembering who Chase was? In the event that Kim was dead, me not remembering Chase would mean his death too, then who would I be?’ I'd still be this family's youngest daughter and sister.

I couldn't hold myself up anymore. Not because I was feeling dizzy or weak. Kneeling with the sink at shoulder level, I just didn't want to chance looking at myself anymore. Those scars kept making me wonder what happened, how I got here, why this girl, why me...

With a punch, I painfully snapped my knuckles off the edge of the sink. Hissing in pain and regret, I’d clutched my clenched fist, but looked down without focus on the floor. I propped an elbow onto the sink and pulled myself back up.

After one look at my hand, I knew my skin over the knuckles broke and I bled. ’Was this really me being angry or did more of my impulsive behavior come from this 'Teenage Spirit' thing?’ Again, could be the wine or just tired. Also, Greg wasn't the only one with a lot on their mind.

’Maybe instead of a shower, I should relax in a hot bath?’ It always calmed me down. At least, it had calmed me in Dr. Anstone's office and mainly when she was the one in there with me. In comparison, being with her felt simpler. I had a routine that was entirely supervised and managed by her. I supposed she really did take good care of me.

...Like a pet.

Before I undressed, I turned the tub faucet on hot and ran my bleeding hand underneath before the steam started. Then I got to work removing Dr. Anstone's shirt and sweats. I tossed them on the far counter and went to take care of commode business.

Plan was, I'd shower quickly. After all, Brittany was waiting to talk with me.

One flush later, I waited a moment for the water temperature to right itself before hopping in and switching on the shower. I had to adjust the temperature again so I wouldn't have scorch marks from the jetting streams. Going through the works, I got regularly cleaned up, but didn't hop back out just yet.

Thinking about Brittany had me tempted to do something. Looking down, I raised my hands up to my chest. Not to cheat, I exhaled and stopped breathing, holding my breath to leave my tummy completely concave, thrusting my chest up and out, and finally pulled my palms up tightly against my perky mounds. They did a little more than just fit in my hands, and I didn’t want to try squeezing them until they did fit in my palms, but in comparison to every other busty woman I've seen... ’Why did I care if they all had bigger boobs than me?’

Letting go, I shut the shower off and got out.

I was a little angry at myself for groping myself. Especially since my hand started to throb from my violent stupidity earlier. That should have taken precedence over getting a feel on these mammies.

Grabbing a towel, I began by drying off my hand to get a look at how badly I had messed it up. The knuckles were going to bruise and maybe swell. I squinted down at my hand for a moment. I took a quick glance at the mirror.

My hair wasn't black like the family. Brown, dirty to light sandy blonde, some white from what I assumed was the lightning’s fault or overstressed, but the point I didn't see until now was that this was my hair. Chase was light blonde. I have been here for over a month and the range of brown to blonde hairs were still coming out. ’Was Kim transforming into me or were we already mixed and this androgynous person in the mirror was the result? How could I tell?’

"Shit. Is it me?" ’Was this a reflection of a girly Chase or a boyish Kim?’ I had to compare. I needed a photo of Kim before the lightning hit her.

Instantly, I unlocked the door and ran out of the bathroom at top speed. I nearly slipped on the kitchen tiles in my hurry, zipped into the living room, and threw open the brown door to speed into the hall with the three colored doors --

-- and slammed right into Greg. I expected him to be still downstairs.

"Whow!" We both cried out and I fell back. His reflexes were definitely out of this world by catching me instantly from falling flat.

"Sorry, I was in a hurry." He pulled me back upright and held me steady until my feet were good to resume their dashing.

"Yeah, I see that." After Greg said that, he took a step back and let me pass to open and jump into my room.

Searching for a photo took me a minute or two. I guessed I didn't take many pictures of myself… Kim hadn’t. Certainly a lot of boys were on the inside of my door. It took me booting up the PC for me to find a photo of Kim.

I took one look and confirmed it without a doubt. "We're mixed." That would explain a bit of why I didn't have big knockers like the rest of the family too. ’Why hadn't anyone said anything about that? In fact, why did Shelly lie about me resembling a grandmother? Kim was the same as they were with equally sized breasts, black hair, tall, and everything. Identical.

"What the fuck?" Shaking my head, I couldn't get around what the deal was with this world. They had to know something was wrong and didn't bother telling me. Looking at this photo, at least I knew that Kim really was eighteen. ’But why did everyone keep that from me? Was it because they feared I would be too shocked?’

I shut the computer off and looked away. That was when I saw I was no longer alone in my room.

Brittany was standing at my door. Again, I nearly forgot about her wanting to speak with me, but now I had something very important to ask her.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Tell you what?" She looked confused for a moment until I answered.

"How I've changed. I'm nothing like I was." My sister straightened up at the door and shut it behind herself. With a click, she locked it too. A jittery nerve was triggered by that sound and I thought of Dr. Anstone’s office.

"I guess you found a photo." I patted the PC. "Ugh. Dumbass." She shook her head. After a sigh, she sat herself down on the floor in front of the door. "No one in this family is to blame. The hospital ordered us to keep it quiet."

"Ordered? As in, they didn't think it was a good idea I found out?" That pissed me off and it was rising in my voice.

"I don't think so. They ordered us. It was in their best interest to silence us." I backed down a bit.

"What? How could the hospital do that?"

"Why not? The Chancellor and State can do whatever they want." That made me pause all of my emotions for a split second. ’Did she mean we were ruled by a dictator?’ Immediately, I thought of Hitler and his governmental regime.

"Brittany. What will happen to us if it gets out I've -- this to that?" A kind of sad smile formed on her lips.

"This was why Mom didn't want you to come to my shop." ’Probably why Shelly lied to me too.’ I was wrong to have assumed about Shelly's reasons for keeping me at home. "That's why I wanted to speak with you."

A slight tingling fear climbed up my spine.

"Wait, before that. Can I ask you a personal question?" I was really afraid of the answer. ’Could I be wrong about Greg and the former Kim?’ "Did Greg have a thing for me before this?"

Her head yielded down a little and she stared at me. "What do you think? Back then, he could barely tell us apart --"

"Shut up." I shook my head. Imagining him having slept with this body made me feel ill. It wasn't exactly this body. Not after, but before the transfer or exchange... I shook my head again. "He didn't sleep with me, did he?"

"Ahhh... I guess you don't find him attractive anymore?" Cringing, I shook my head. "Then you might want to cease running around butt-nekkid."

One look down at myself and I freaked. I cursed myself for having only two arms to cover everything. Then I cursed myself again for not having a head on my shoulders. In my panic, I fell out of the computer chair backwards, rolled over and up on all fours to scramble across the floor, climbed haphazardly up my bed and pulled the covers off of the mattress in nearly the same instant to wrap myself up in it. After that, I sat down on my bed and scooted back to be a sitting living bundle of blanket and sheets.

The whole time, Brittany was laughing her ass off the floor and walking to the bed. She sat down with me and quickly took the opportunity of me being completely cocooned to hug me. "You are far too cute to be my -- my little sister."

There was an uncomfortable heat rising higher and higher in me. I have become the sum of pissed, frustrated, humiliated, and abashed to the point of blushing the hottest and brightest red I've ever felt or displayed. If my head wasn't so surely secured, it probably would have popped off with the great steamy pressure.

"W-w-what di-did you w-want to t-t-talk about?" I squirmed a bit to dislodge her and she relented.

Sitting back, she spoke with her laughter calming down. "Heh... Haa... Well, I wanted to ask if you are good with twenty bucks a photo?"

I shook my head and stared at her in confusion. "I thought we couldn't go to the shop?"

"I can. All I have to do is bring what I need back here." I got it now and nodded.

"Then, I don't want to be paid. You need the money to move across the river, right?" She scooted in close against me and stroked the top of my slightly wet hair until the fine inchlong threads were slicking back with each swipe of her hand. She soothed the tension out of me and I began to calm down.

"Kim, the you I remember would have tried raising that twenty to something ridiculous and working me to meet somewhere in the middle." Leaning down, she laid a kiss on my forehead and whispered. "I really hate myself for saying this, but I love this you so much better than how you were." ’Was I a bitch or something?’

"What was I like?" She lowered her face down a bit to stare me in the eyes.

"Greg couldn't tell us apart. Does that give you a hint?" I was like her. Not a bitch, but I could understand the tension between us two wanting and acting the same. We would have been stepping on each other's toes on purpose. Now I wasn't a competition, but a cute and fascinating marvel for Brittany.

With a nod, I told her, "Yeah."

"You still want to work for free?" My vow still held, so I nodded. "Alright. We could work something else out."

After learning so much already, I've come to a decision with what to do about how my life was now. "Brittany?"

"Hm?"

I hesitated for a moment, but worked up the courage to continue. "I know how you could pay me." 

Her face lit up with interest. "Go on."

If I understood correctly, I was kinda under house arrest by the state until told otherwise. That could change if I made a change. They were worried about me being compared to how I was. What if I chose to be someone else. "Do you really think I could pass for a boy?"

Her eyes widened for a second, then narrowed down at me, her laughter almost transformed into a witch’s cackle, and she was giving me the most wicked smile...