The_Luce

  Lily was having a weird, incredible, incredibly weird day.

  It all started st night - a night she spent like any other. Pying video games, voice chatting with her friends, and wishing desperately to wake up the next day as a beautiful, unquestionably feminine cis girl while trying to fall asleep.

  She never expected it to actually come true. Not since she was a kid, anyway.

  Her morning passed in a giddy daze, unsure if she was dreaming, but not really caring if she was. She felt like she was in paradise. Holy crap. She was a real girl! Well, that wasn't the right phrasing, but just thinking like that made her euphoria meter max out! She couldn't help it. She had boobs! She was blonde?! She even had a new name, apparently: Bel. She wasn't sure whether she liked it yet, but she'd definitely try it on for size.

  Even more than that, she was one of the popur girls, friends with the rest of them! She had never had any kind of girl friend before, and it was an amazing new experience. Zeke was nice, obviously, but he wasn't a girl. She could hang out with him ter.

  She was just like the other girls now! They could talk about girl things like, um... well, she wasn't sure what girls really talked about yet. She couldn't wait to find out, though! Lily kept pinching herself over and over, jumping in excitement each time the pain reminded her that this was real.

  Then, at lunch, Mike Burnell kissed her. Mike. The guy who tormented her for years. Kissed her. On the lips. That knocked her off of cloud nine like a bucket of ice water. "Last night was great, babe," he said with a wink.

  Was he supposed to be her... boyfriend? Her boyfriend?! She was never really sure of her sexuality in her - could she call it her old life? That felt weird - old life, but this was a heck of a way to be exploring it. She was so bewildered that she couldn't even recoil in disgust as he held her in his arms.

  The shock of being Mike's girlfriend forced her to ponder a question she really should have asked herself earlier: just who was this Bel... and where did she go? Oh gosh, did she somehow kill her by taking over this life? Did she go somewhere else?

  Whatever happened to Bel, or wherever she was now, Lily hoped she was doing alright.

  ***

  Who the hell was Lily, and why did Zeke just call me that? It wasn't my name, but it was a girl's name, and I was desperate for any kind of lifeline right now.

  "Wh- ...what did you call me?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper. Did he have some idea what was going on? Did he know how to fix this?

  "Hm?" he backed away from the hug, and part of me felt disappointed, "Oh, um, do you not want me to use your name at school, even in private?"

  Use my name? Sure, that wasn't my name, but why did he think it was? I turned to look him in the eyes, my own wide with frail hope, "What do you mean 'my' name? Do you know what happened to me? Why I'm like this?!"

  "Huh?" he blinked, an inkling that something weird was going on starting to show on his face. "What are you talking... 'what happened'? Are- are you okay?"

  I scoffed in disbelief, "Do I look like I'm okay?!"

  Zeke stared at me with worry, looking bug-eyed through his gsses (I didn't say that to his face). He shook his head.

  Finally, I had an opportunity to release some of the frustration that had been building inside of me all day. I could never get all of it, but I needed any outlet I could get. He knew something. Barely keeping my voice below screaming, I continued, "I am- I am so abso-fucking-lutely not okay! I hate being a boy! I hate it! Hate it, hate it, hate it! I'm a girl. I'm supposed to be a girl. Did you know that? I bet you fucking know that, 'cause you called me a girl's name!"

  With a heavy sigh, I looked down at my feet. What did he think about that?

  A moment passed, and then another. I peeked up to see him looking at me like I was some sort of pitiful freak, "Yeah... It sucks. I'm sorry."

  'I'm sorry'? The freaking nerve! I jumped over to jab my finger in his chest. I seethed, "The hell do you mean, 'I'm sorry'? Why am I a boy? Do you know? You know, don't you?!"

  His visible confusion increased tenfold, "...Lily-?"

  "And why are you calling me that?" I interrupted, "My name is Bel!"

  The silence was deafening. I felt awkward, like maybe I had misread the situation. "...What?" he asked, looking utterly baffled.

  He... he knew, didn't he? Why else would he call me Lily? Wavering, I crified the situation, "I- I don't know if you- you pulled me out of the wrong universe, or something, but I'm not Lily and I'm definitely not Danny and-" I started tearing up again, toppling onto my side, "I wanna go home..."

  After a few agonizing seconds of anticipation, Zeke pulled me into another hug. I cried into his chest as he cradled my head in his arms, "It's... it's okay. Everything'll... it'll, um, it'll be okay."

  Despite the needed comfort, I could hear the condescension in his voice. He was just humouring me. He didn't know shit. One thing was still confusing me about him, though. I asked, "...Who's Lily?"

  He paused. "You," he slowly replied, "You are."

  Okay, Mr. Useless. That answered nothing. "Yeah, okay, why am I 'Lily'? How do you know I'm a girl?"

  "Because you told me? You literally told me you're trans, a few months ago! I- I'm scared. Do you, um, do you need to see a doctor?"

  I rolled my eyes. Yeah, maybe Doctor Strange. Or Who. I doubted a regur old MD could help! "What's a 'trans'?" I asked. Maybe he did know what was happening; I didn't know what a 'trans' was, but I was 'trans'ported to another universe, or whatever the hell this was, so maybe it was about that? The way he said it, though, 'I' had been a trans for months at the very least.

  He gently pushed me away, looking down into my eyes, "Seriously, are- are you okay? Are you having memory problems?"

  I sneered, "No, I remember just fine. I was a normal fucking girl until I woke up this morning with a dick between my legs! That's the problem! Now answer the question, jackass!"

  Jumping to his feet, Zeke gred down at me. I must have struck a nerve. "Okay, I don't know what this 'Bel' thing is, but I'd really like Lily back right now, and-"

  The door opened, cutting off whatever he was gonna say next.

  "Danny?" called my mom, peeking inside, "Oh, hi Zeke."

  Zeke took a deep breath. "Hi, Mrs. McBride," he said, "D's not feeling too good today."

  "So I've heard," she replied, then looked at me, "They said you were crying, dear?"

  "Yeah. I guess so." I was exhausted at this point. I had run my well of emotions completely dry over the past few hours.

  Mom sat down and pulled me into a hug. Ugh. At this point, I was even tired of hugs.

  ***

  As soon as we got home, I rushed to my - Danny's... Lily's? - bedroom. I was in desperate need of answers, and this seemed like a good pce to start.

  The room, while just as bnd as I had first judged it, seemed subtly different somehow. This person, whoever they were, had a secret - and I was sure that secret was reted to why this bullcrap happened to me.

  So... where to begin?

  On - let's just stick with Lily - Lily's bedside table, I spotted a phone. Oh! Apparently, in all the trauma of this morning, I had somehow forgotten about bringing a phone, even though I used mine, like, every day. Some things were just more important, I guess.

  If I wanted to figure out who this body was, their phone would surely be a good pce. It prompted me for the passcode when I turned it on. Well, my phone's passcode was just my birthday, so...

  Yup, it worked. Lax security and cking creativity were a constant between universes, because duh. A small handful of games, some app called 'Discord', and a default background greeted me. Notably, no Insta, Twitter, or any other social media app. Jeez, was Zeke their only friend? I almost felt bad for Lily.

  God, that name felt so freaking dissonant from the body it was attached to, it was awkward just thinking it. I thought back to what Zeke said earlier: 'trans'. What did that mean?

  Opening iMessage, I found a long backlog of texts between Lily and Zeke. Scrolling upwards, I saw a load of incomprehensible memes from Lily involving... what, catgirls? Did he... they have some kind of fetish for them? Feeling grossed out from peeking at a guy convo, I scrolled back down to the present.

  Maybe I could ask him what trans meant. He should've had time to cool off by now.

  >hey>wt does trans mean>u didnt say earlier

  There. He was probably in css by now, but I knew he'd answer soon. I tossed the phone onto the bed. What next?

  The computer in the corner, where my vanity used to be, stood as the most conspicuous object in the room. Honestly, with this body, I was almost gd there wasn't a mirror there anymore.

  After turning on the computer, I was prompted to input a password. My birthday didn't work, so I was stumped. Who even puts a password on their home PC? Spies? There had to be something juicy on there.

  On the desk sat a 3DS in sleep mode with a charging cable plugged in. Curious, I opened it up to reveal that Lily had been pying one of the new Pokémon games - what was it, Sun and Moon? God, I hadn't pyed those games since White.

  Lily's character was a girl, dressed in a skirt and frilly top. Yet another clue for what was going on with this body's prior inhabitant. I was starting to suspect that they were like me, somehow. Where did she go? Was there another girl in this body even before her? How did that start? I shivered uncomfortably at the thought of being stuck here for months.

  While tempted to py the game, I knew I wasn't done looking yet. On the other side of the room was a closet, where I stored most of my clothes - in my world, anyway. I pulled open the door, wondering what I'd find there now.

  Dust, mostly. A couple of suits that looked like they hadn't been touched in years hung limply in a painfully empty space. Besides that, there was a beaten-up cardboard box in one corner, almost hidden from view.

  Well, well, well, what was in there? Maybe it was some kind of alien reality-warping technology, and I could use it to get out of this mess.

  ...Yeah, that was a stretch, but I didn't have anything better to do than hope.

  I pulled the box from the closet, nearly pulling a muscle as I strained. You'd think a guy's body would be stronger than this, but this one was kinda... scrawny. All the better, really. By the weight of it, the box was clearly filled to the brim.

  Inside? Jackpot. Here's where Lily was hiding: skirts, a couple dresses, thigh-high socks, a wig, a tube of lipstick, among other things. They were overwhelmingly pink.

  I tenderly folded the box shut, and tucked it back into the closet. Taking a deep breath, I colpsed directly onto the bed. Holy crap. This whole situation was starting to come together, in some bizarre way. I wasn't the first girl here.

  Lily got out. I just had to learn how she did it.

  ***

  "Danny, Gabe, dinner!" Dad yelled from the bottom of the staircase.

  I blinked as I realized how much time had passed. Dad didn't get home from work until 7:00 in the evening. For the past... five and a half hours, apparently, I had been pying Lily's Pokémon game. It took a while to get oriented, since I was pying on her save file, but it seemed, I dunno, disrespectful to delete it.

  The word 'dinner' made me realize that I hadn't eaten at all today. The sudden rumbling in my stomach confirmed it. I didn't really want to be around anyone right now, but at least I could just grab a pte and rush back up here.

  That idea fell ft as soon as I got downstairs. The dining table was set in the way it was when dad had the idea in his head that we needed to be a real family again. Stilted dinnertime conversations incoming, yay! Ugh.

  The wooden chair scraped out from the table, creaked when I sat on it, and squealed as I rocked it closer again. They were always this comfortable. Or actually, uncomfortable. Just wait until Dad starts talking about his childhood!

  Gabe tumbled down the stairs after me, clutching his iPad in one hand. He sat in the chair next to mine. "Danny, look!" he turned his tablet screen to face me, "I-"

  Before I could even process what he was showing me, Dad shot him down, "Gabe, no video games at the dinner table. We should be looking at each other, not our screens. Bad for your eyes, too."

  Despite everything, I stuck my tongue out at Gabe in amusement at his scolding. Just like old times. Well, except for the part where he was excited to show me something. That was new.

  Dad sighed, "Please be nice to your brother, Dan. And stop slouching! You're eighteen now, you should... well..."

  He trailed off after Mom shot him a pointed look. What was that about?

  "So, Gabe, how was school today?" Mom asked. I supposed she didn't have to ask me, what with the, uh, mental breakdown. I quietly picked at my mashed potatoes.

  "Um... boring. We had practice today, though, and coach says I'm getting really good, and I blocked like every shot, and we're gonna win the game next week and it's gonna be awesome."

  He was on some sports team? That was new; he never pyed any sports in the real world. Weird.

  Dad nodded, "That's great! Keep up the good work, bud." He reached across the table to cp him on the shoulder. He turned to face me with a sudden frown, "You know, Dan, I get how much you hate sports, but you really gotta do something. Go to the gym or- or take up hiking! Build some muscle, yeah?"

  Urk. I definitely didn't wanna make this body any more masculine, that was for sure. In my world I did cheerleading, but I doubted that was the kind of thing Dad had in mind. I shrank in my seat. "Um... I dunno, maybe..." I mumbled noncommittally, absently separating the corn from the peas with my fork. This meal was way bigger than anything I used to eat in my real body. Hm.

  Gabe perked up, "Yeah! Danny, you should py hockey with me! You can see my epic skills!"

  "Uh..." I gulped, looking down at my pte. They all saw me as a guy. Not just my cssmates, but everyone, even my family. Obviously, duh, but... fuck, it hurt. They all treated me like one, expected me to like looking like this, to act like one. Was I supposed to py along? God, could I even bring myself to?

  "That's a great idea, Gabe!" Dad smiled, pointing a fork at him before taking a big bite of his steak. "Girls don't like scrawny guys, Dan." He swallowed. He liked to talk with food in his mouth, and it was disgusting. "So if you wanna get a girlfriend any time soon, I know I did, you gotta have something to offer. Not your gameboy skills or whatever, they don't care about that. You get what I mean?"

  Get a girlfriend...? No, I wasn't a freaking lesbian. Oh, God, that was expected of me now. I was expected to like girls. Yech! At least this body wasn't hot, I wasn't sure I could handle a girl actually coming onto me.

  I totally wasn't homophobic, by the way! I just- I don't care what other people get up to but it's just- ugh, whatever. I wasn't hungry anymore.

  "Night," I muttered, scraping out my chair and evacuating to 'my' room, not even bothering to carry my pte to the kitchen.

  Dad called out, "Hey, wait, Dan-"

  I shut the door. Hm... had Zeke replied to my texts earlier? I eagerly checked Lily's phone, only to discover that he had left them on read hours ago. Agh, fucking jackass. This was important!

  More time on Lily's 3DS helped to cool me off, and distract me from the body thing. The day was almost over. Hopefully, if it worked out like I hoped, I would wake up as myself tomorrow and I could forget all about this.

  Ugh, as if.

  ***

  "Um, hello?" I called into the featureless white void I woke up in. No answer, or even an echo. Obviously, I was dreaming.

  Gncing down, I groaned in frustration. Even in a dream, I still had to be stuck in this body?! No, nuh-uh, I wasn't gonna let that stand. I was aware I was dreaming, so I must've been lucid, right? So, like, I could control the dream.

  I closed my eyes tightly, trying to manifest my real body. Come on, please, just for one minute I wanted a break, to be me again. Nothing happened, of course, because nothing went my way anymore.

  Whatever. Sprawling on the nothingness, I stared up at the nothingness. What a boring dreamscape. If only it were a bck void instead. That'd be more fitting.

  Like through a clouded mirror, I saw myself in front of me. My real self, my real body. I- she- I was in my room, along with my friends Kim and Teagan. I was beaming, curled up on my bed wearing my pajamas and hugging a pillow. I couldn't hear anything, but I was clearly talking, and gesturing, excitedly about something.

  I didn't remember this. It wasn't a memory, I was sure of that, it was... my body, right now. My body, talking to my friends, living my life. Smiling. And somebody else was inside of it.

  Somebody stole my body.

  ***

  The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the... the erection. I had to do something about that. It was totally freaking disgusting.

  More importantly, I was still stuck here. It wasn't a one day thing. Ugh! I clutched my head and pulled my awful hair in frustration. Then I remembered my dream. My body was stolen, and I had a pretty good idea who did it.

  I was gonna kill that Lily!