Consequences - Part 5 of 9

For three months, I did as I planned: trying to act a little flirty toward Jack without being too blatant, and paying close attention to him in search of attempts to flirt back - or evidence that he was pursuing someone else. I got nothing out of him, though. As far as I could tell, his romantic life was the same as it had been for years: nonexistent. During that time, I did get asked out by someone else from our school, but I rejected him - not least because he kept calling me Kirsten, but also because my feelings for Jack weren't going anywhere.

One Thursday evening in January, I decided that I had waited long enough. I was tired of pining for Jack without doing anything about it, especially since I had plenty going for me: already being his long-time friend, not competing for his affections with anyone else (that I knew of), and, well, having the body of a beautiful girl (in most people's eyes, at least). Plus, the longer I waited, the more opportunity I gave the rest of the world to give me some competition. I resolved to ask Jack out after school the next day.

Consequences - Kirsten's Night Out

(This is a side story from Kirsten's perspective, taking place before Part 3.)

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I stood atop the front steps of Kayla's house, my car parked nearby. I took out my phone, opened the camera app, and switched it to selfie mode. Will Martin's face looked back at me from the screen. Unsightly, but probably the best I could've done for tonight. I snapped a picture and sent it to Kayla, accompanied by the message "Guess who?"

 

Soon after, the front door opened to reveal Kayla. "Eww. Who are you wearing?" she said, twisting her face into an exaggerated expression of disgust.

I giggled, pretty sure that was a joke. "Sorry about the body," I said. "I needed to swap with someone who didn't have anything better to do tonight than be a decoy."

"Don't worry about it," Kayla said, stepping back to let me inside. "It's not like any randos are going to see us with Will Martin."

Wish Gone Wrong - Part 3 of 3 (Finale / Choose your own ending!)

Note: I've removed some photo illustrations from this story because, in hindsight, I'm not sure whether they were made public with the consent of the people in them. Feel free to suggest appropriate replacement photos, as I seem to be bad at finding them.

[Two side-by-side images. Left: Amber. Right: Danielle's body with a ghostly image of Brandon's face behind it.]

Amber's dad took us into her room and closed the door behind us. "What unusual thing have you noticed about the statue?" he asked her.

Amber sighed. "My boyfriend made a wish near it, and now he and Dani have switched bodies."

"Hi," I said, extending my hand. "I'm Brandon."

Amber's dad shook it. "Pleasure to meet you, 'son'," he said, "but I thought you weren't coming here with my daughter."

"He didn't come here," Amber said. "I took the statue to Milwaukee with me."

Amber's dad's eyes widened briefly. "You must have thought it was just decoration, huh?" he said to her. "Damn it. I should have hidden it better. I thought if it looked like just another piece of attic junk, everyone would ignore it."