It was 10pm when I shut the voice call on my computer with Lance off and fell into my bed.

We didn’t get up to his earlier ranking of 2.5k today, but we did get him back up to 2440. I hoped that it would get him off my back tomorrow. He was being a nuisance all day about me playing badly the day before, and I was worried that I would have to deal with it again the next day.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

When I left the school building after classes ended for the day, I caught a glance of Zoey engaged in a heated argument with Gwen Diaz. I assumed that it had to do with her new relationship, but the bus was waiting at the side of the street so I couldn’t stick around to find out what was happening.

I could only hope that it wasn’t a big deal. Well in any case, I think her new relationship had undoubtedly made her life worse than it was before. It’s almost enough to make one wonder why she decided to date him in the first place.

Perhaps my dream had warped reality?

No. That can’t be.

But hypothetically... what if it really was my fault?

I thought that it was just a coincidence or even just prophetic, but…

What if I…

What if I became Zoey in my sleep?

And…

And what if, while I was Zoey…

I shook my head before these thoughts could continue. Entertaining fantasies like those made me feel like a middle schooler, so I tried to take my mind off of it. But for some reason, I couldn’t just let it go. If they weren’t just fantasies, then I would be responsible for the situation she was in.

After all, that dream felt far too vivid to be just a dream. The details were so clear in my head that it felt like something I had experienced in reality. It was nothing like the foggy dreams I had had before it.

It’s almost certainly not possible, but... there’s still a chance that I’m the one who sent the text message that started their relationship. The more I ruminated on the circumstances, the more difficult it was becoming to pass it off as a mere coincidence.

Am I capable of becoming someone else while I’m sleeping? I had never heard of that kind of thing being possible before. The only difference between that night and every other night of my life was how much I was thinking about Zoey. I was desperately racking my brains to think of ways to ask her out. Once I realized that I was close to deciding to do it, my feelings only snowballed until I was thinking about her obsessively during my every waking moment, to the point where I had difficulties falling asleep that night.

That had to be the key. If there was any chance that I could enter her body in my sleep, then thinking about her as much as possible would be the first step to recreating it. With that in mind, I grabbed the melatonin bottle at my bedside and popped a capsule into my mouth. Then, I took the time to rest my head on my pillow and closed my eyes.

“Zoey…”

I smiled as I recalled our conversation at lunch earlier..

“I’m glad I got to talk to you today.”

I filled my brain to the brim with images of Zoey Brahm.

My heart pounded like crazy, but I tried my best to rest it by clearing my thoughts.

And the second I did, I fell into a deep slumber.

---

I found myself awake in a familiar room. It only took me a moment to realize what had happened. I was once again dreaming that I was inside of Zoey’s body. Just like before, the sensation of being in a woman’s body felt strange to me somehow, but I decided to ignore it. After all, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

I ran straight to her clothing drawer and started ruffling through her underwear again. Unfortunately, the sensation still wasn’t remotely arousing to me. It made sense since I doubt that Zoey would find her own clothes stimulating, but it did feel like a waste to me.

I decided to ignore it and look around. Once again, what stood out to me was the realism of it all. My memory hadn’t done that aspect of the situation justice. Unlike normal dreams where everything felt like a vague blur of consciousness, this felt like I was wide awake and experiencing everything first-hand. If it weren’t for the fact that I was in a different body and a different room, I would have believed that I was wide awake. And what’s worse, the events of the past 24 hours had led me to doubt that these were just any ordinary dreams.

It’s terrifying to think about, but I needed to find out if this was actually happening. I picked up Zoey’s phone and was greeted with a plain white background on her lock screen. Her muscle memory undid the lock once again. This time, I recognized her password as the numbers 1, 9, 0, 8, 0, 3.

“Well, let’s see here.”

Sure enough, the text message history was different than I remember. More precisely, there had been more text messages shared between Zoey and Ben since the one I sent.

Apparently, although she had been placating him for a little while, his obsessive style of texting did eventually push her away from responding to him. She hadn’t sent a new message to him since 4pm, and yet there was still a wall of new texts from him asking about how she was doing.

I decided that I would apologize to Zoey immediately if this all turned out to be real. That aside, if the only reason it got this much worse is because of my decision, then I also needed to make amends by fixing the situation for her.

But the question on my mind was, what should I say to him? What magical arrangement of words would turn this mess into a solved issue for Zoey? Causing any more drama was the last thing I wanted to do, so it had to be something that would let him down easy.

Numerous options ran through my head. I could tell him that I was drunk, or that it was meant for someone else, or perhaps that one of my friends sent it as a prank, then explain that I was too embarrassed to correct the misunderstanding in person. However, they all sounded like pathetic excuses that would probably only antagonize him further.

It was so exhausting that I decided on the spot that I didn’t want to be a girl anymore. Dealing with guys is more trouble than it’s worth. And I say that while fully aware that I am one of those annoying guys. Seeing boys through the eyes of a girl had filled me with a unique sense of self-hatred.

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I sighed in resignation.

Since I am a guy, I decided that the best thing in this situation would be to approach the rejection from a guy’s perspective. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t want to be lied to. I’d want everything to come out honestly and cleanly, so that I could properly digest and accept what actually happened.

It was a mystery as to whether that was what Ben even wanted, though. Maybe he would get mad and lash out at her even over a situation like that. Though he said to Naomi that hitting his ex was just an accident, I had my doubts as to whether that was really true.

I began typing a text message.

Ben, I think I made a mistake, I don’t think we’re a very good match for one another. I’m sorry, but I’m breaking up with you.

I reread the message in my head a few times. It’s an upfront and earnest message, but it doesn’t sound too harsh. With a confident nod, I hit the arrow button, and the message was sent out to Benjamin’s phone. The whole experience was painful for me, and I felt relieved that it was finally over.

It made me wonder why I even accepted the relationship on her behalf in the first place. I guess maybe I thought it was a dream, but did I really think that such a half-assed relationship would make either of them happy?

Perhaps it was simpler than that.

Perhaps I just thought I’d be happy if I got a text like that from Zoey. Really, I’d be on top of the world if it happened to me. And I’m sure Ben was too, even if it only lasted for a little while. But I was wrong. It wasn’t my text to send out.

I sighed.

The phone was buzzing up a storm due to Ben’s replies, but I honestly couldn’t be bothered to look into any of them. I felt just awful about putting her through all of that. Apologizing to Zoey was beginning to feel more and more urgent.

My eyes drifted around the room until I found a pen and a piece of paper on her desk. I decided that this would be the perfect way to apologize to her, dream or no dream.

“Let’s see…” I sat up at her study desk to write my message down.

I’m sorry for ruining your day today.

I did try to disguise my handwriting a little, so she shouldn’t know it’s me at a glance. Not that she knew what my handwriting looked like in the first place. I sighed.

“I guess I should leave now.” Though, I don’t exactly know how. Do I just will myself into waking up? Last time it happened I just needed to fall asleep in the dream, but I honestly had no idea if it would work again.

I sighed and fell back onto the bed.

Her phone was still buzzing.

The screen lit up with each text, and the plain white background repeatedly flashed into view. It was weird. When I thought about it, her phone’s wallpaper was different than it was yesterday.

If my memory served, the day before, it was just a photo of a brown Terrier. Was the dream a little different this time? But when I looked around, the rest of the room was basically identical. I won’t lie, my curiosity was piqued.

I picked her vibrating phone off the bed sheets.

On the white background of the lock screen was black text that read this: “Last camera roll picture.”

“Huh?”

The image confused me. Was it supposed to be a reminder to check her pictures for something? Why else would she set it as her lock screen background? It was strange. Something about it was definitely strange.

Zoey herself wouldn’t need a reminder for something like this. So it had to be a note for something else. Why would she write it? Unless it was meant for…

someone else…

A chill ran down my spine.

Whatever I would find when I looked at that picture probably wasn’t good.

It felt like a trap.

And yet, I was drawn to it.

Like a siren’s call.

I had done so much already, after all.

I snooped through her text messages and her underwear drawer, and I posed in her mirror.

Why on earth would checking her camera roll be the stopping point?

I unlocked her phone using the passcode 1, 9, 0, 8, 0, 3, and tapped a few buttons until I got to her camera roll folder. Once there, I open the latest picture.

And...

The sight of it petrified me.

I ended up holding my breath.

Surely, I should have suspected that something was off.

It had to be a nightmare.

It had to be.

My heart was beating out of my chest.

Why did I do this?

Was it a set up?

Why was it that...

Why was it that the latest picture on her phone…

Was a picture of me?

I recalled it as the scene of me leaving the school grounds after classes had ended.

She was having a conversation with Gwen at the time.

I’m certain of that, I saw her.

So how did she take the picture without anyone noticing?

Why was there a message on her lock screen about this picture?

No, of course I knew why it was there.

It’s because she knew.

She knew it was me.

She knew that I was inside of her body.

She knew.

Adrenaline surged through my (her) body at the realization.

I tried to calm myself down.

After all, there’s no way that she really knew.

She couldn’t know.

It’s pure sci fi, after all. There’s no way she would come to such a ridiculous conclusion.

Perhaps the picture was just a coincidence, and that by examining more of her camera roll, I would feel better somehow.

Such foolish thoughts crossed my mind. And yet when I scrolled through, I was quickly forced to come to terms with the cruel reality of it.

They were all pictures of me.

From after we spoke to each other at lunch…

Leaving the cafeteria with Lance and Naomi…

Sitting in class…

Leaving the school building…

All taken after our conversation at lunch.

How did she manage to sneak so many photos without anyone noticing?

I simply couldn’t understand it.

But… if there’s one thing I understood, it’s that none of them proved anything.

She couldn’t truly know that I had entered her body.

These pictures were all guess work based on what I said to her at lunch.

She couldn’t possibly know.

There was no evidence of it.

Except for...

The apology note.

That was evidence.

That was all the evidence she needed.

I tried to disguise my handwriting, but if she really was this certain that I was behind it, then I don’t think the half-baked job I did would be enough.

All she’d need to do is compare it to anything I’ve written before, and it would be game over.

I decided that I needed to get rid of it immediately.

I tossed the phone back at her bed and ran towards the note.

“Ah!”

Before I could get to the desk, I tripped over and fell flat on the floor.

“Goddammit, get up!”

My vision suddenly started spinning.

It was wearing off.

The dream was ending.

Even though I needed to get rid of the evidence…

“Come on… I’m so close…”

I reached out with all my strength for the study desk that was only a few inches away.

I reached and reached as my (her) outstretched hand did its best to struggle to reach the piece of paper hanging off the edge of the desk.

And…

I finally grabbed it.

However, the situation was still impossible.

My (her) legs wouldn’t work.

At this rate, disposing of the paper somewhere was just a dream.

Was there anything else?

After desperately searching my brain for an answer, I decided that I would have to swallow it.

My vision was already fading, so there was nothing else I could do.

“God… Dammit…”

With the last bit of strength I could muster, I thrust the piece of paper into my (her) mouth, as the light faded from my eyes.