“This tastes pretty bad,” I said.

My reluctance to have a drink was short-lived in the face of Zoey’s pleading eyes. She did carry that heavy cooler all the way up to the room on her own, after all. If there was one thing I learned above anything else that night, it was that I had a hard time letting her down.

“I think it tastes like freedom,” she said, taking another swig. “Ahhh, that’s so good.”

At the rate she was going, there was a decent chance that she would not enjoy waking up in the morning.

“So what happened when the feed cut off in the gas station? Did you get too far away from the phone or something?”

“Oh, about that…” I explained to her what happened.

About how I left the phone in the unlocked car, how someone broke in and stole it, how I hacked them using nothing but my vague memory of what their face looked like and separated them from the phone in order to retrieve it.

Her expression gave me no hints as to what she was thinking or feeling as I told the story. It looked like she was listening to just another world history lecture. Absorbing the information as calmly as always. Once I was done, she leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.

“So, you can do a second hack while you’re in someone else’s body?”

I thought I would get admonished for being so careless, but she completely ignored the implications of what might have happened. “Uh, aren’t you mad that I almost lost your phone?”

“Hmm? No, mom always does that when she goes out to the gas station. If it got lost, then it’s not really your fault. Plus, everything important is backed up on my laptop anyway.”

“She leaves her car unlocked when she goes to the gas station?”

“Well, she never shops at night so it’s not really an issue, but yeah.”

Zoey’s words reminded me once more about how little control I actually have when I’m in someone else’s body. It’s like, rather than becoming the soldier, I’m becoming the commander who gives marching orders.

“But anyway, I’m curious about the chain-hack you pulled off. Firstly, I have no idea whether you would’ve gone back to my mom’s body or just straight back to your real body if you didn’t bother thinking about her.” Certainly, I wasn’t sure about that much either. “And secondly, we don’t know if the first person comes along with you for the second hack or not. Like, what if my mom came with you into the thief’s body?”

“Is that something you feel like testing too?”

“Hmmm, it could be useful. If it is the case then I can join you on a hack as a spectator. It would get rid of the need for the glasses. But to be honest, I think it’s more likely that you ping-ponged between the bodies on your own.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” After finishing her third drink, she stood up from the seat and stretched with a yawn.

“Okay, I’m tired! I’m going to sleep.”

“Right…”

She slipped her sweatpants off right before my eyes. It was a wonder if she even saw me as a guy at all. Inviting me to her room with no reservations, falling asleep right in front of me, getting drunk, taking her pants off…

I felt like I was being treated as a passive herbivore. Just an impotent, worthless male who was too pathetic to ever make a move on her. If it were Benjamin or Lawrence, I thought, she would probably only consider making herself that vulnerable if she was open to something happening.

However, there was a part of me that thought that she did have these ulterior motives.

“Move over,” she said with a playful grin.

Her forwardness had been cute and alluring earlier in the day. But at that moment, I couldn’t help but feel distressed by it. Regardless, I obliged and scooted over to the other side of the bed, and she laid down right next to me.

I was in bed with Zoey. It was a circumstance I had dreamed of plenty of times. I fantasized about it so much that I figured that something that good would never happen to me.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

And yet, it had suddenly become my reality.

I laid my head down and found my face a few inches away from hers. Staring into those alluring eyes of hers that peeked into my soul. She was completely unembarrassed about how flushed her face was from the alcohol.

Just five hours ago, such a situation would make my heart go wild with joy. But at that moment, all that existed in my heart was torment.

“Zoey, when I hacked your mom…” Her finger held my lips down in place.

“Don’t tell me,” she said. “That’s none of your business.”

She was right.

Perhaps I was getting ahead of myself.

But... it wasn’t quite that simple.

The swirling range of emotions that had been coursing through me, that coursed through Mrs. Brahm. The feelings so overbearing that it was too difficult to even think about Zoey at all.

And when I compared that to what Zoey’s body felt when I saw her mom… There was very little there. A dash of love, a hint of resentment.

But it was so insignificant that I may as well have felt nothing at all. Sure, her mom might not have been the best parent.

But that stark difference was too cruel.

I wished that the two of them would just sit down and talk about their feelings.

I really wished that they would, if they hadn’t already.

It felt like my heart was being torn apart.

“Tristan.”

Her voice snapped me back to reality.

“Do you want to rule over the school with me?”

“Rule it…?”

“To be honest, your powers are incredible. So incredible, that I think you might be able to change the world with them. They’re like an invisible gun. If we used them right, we could rob the whole world blind. But that only matters insofar as they don’t get discovered. If you get arrested or if the FBI gets involved, then it’s over. You’ll become a tool for the government. Whether it’s scientifically or as a CIA asset, you would have to kiss your freedom goodbye. That’s what I think anyway. But thankfully, if you’re smart enough, then it’s impossible to get caught with an invisible gun. If we use your power selfishly, we wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of our lives. The possibilities are endless. Insider trading, understanding which businesses to partner with, blackmailing politicians for cash, there’s virtually no end to what we could do. And even past that, we’d have an actual say in the world. Not just the power of a single, measly vote in a pointless election, but we could move people. Move senators, move supreme court justices, move presidents. The world could be ours. But... I think we should start small. We should use this last year of high school to learn about your powers. To understand them. That way, when we enter the real world, we’ll understand our hand well enough to not make any mistakes. What do you think?”

Zoey’s words spoke of a world far beyond my own understanding. I sensed her ambition for greatness, and how delighted she was to have found something truly special.

But…

I couldn’t do it.

In fact, what she said only confirmed what I was beginning to feel after hacking her mom.

“I’m sorry.” I looked away.

“You’re sorry? Why?”

“I don’t think it’s right to use this power. I really think it’d be better if it just didn’t exist.”

I found myself clenching my fists.

The truth was, our values were simply too different. Zoey is probably someone who’s going to be extremely successful in the future. She’s intelligent, she has the drive, and she’s willing to sacrifice everything for her success.

But I’m not like that at all.

It’s like Lance said. I’m someone who always takes the easy way out. I’m not the kind of person who could sacrifice their naïve ideas of right and wrong for the sake of their own personal gain.

That’s why I couldn’t help her.

“Don’t say that, Tristan. You have something special.”

“I’m in love with you.” My words cut her off.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her breath and just stared at me with a blank expression.

“I’ve loved you for a long time. That’s why I’ve gone through so many hoops to please you today. I’ve gone along with all your whims. I’ve prostrated myself at your feet over every unreasonable demand you’ve made of me. But I didn’t do it because I agreed with anything you said. I just love you, and I wanted to believe that you really did trust me. Maybe you do. Maybe you really can see something in me that’s trustworthy. But to me, rather than trust, it just looks like you happened to get dealt a good hand and decided to go all in on it.” I paused. The words did not come out easy, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to keep going. “I don’t know if I can betray my ideas of right and wrong over a one-sided love like that. So, I’m sorry.”

Once I was done speaking, the room went quiet. For the first time that day, Zoey had no response to something I’d said. All she did was stare despondently into my eyes. There was no fight left in her. There was none of the usual tenacious, ambitious, yet playful Zoey.

She stared quietly, until she eventually decided to turn to face the other side of the bed. All I could see was the shape of her back outlined by the bed sheets covering her body.

“Do you really not remember me, Tristan?”

“Remember you…?” She mentioned something like that to me at the cafeteria too.

It sounded like we had interacted a while ago. But unfortunately, it wasn’t something that brought anything back.

I wanted to ask, but it felt like the wrong time to bring it up.

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” I responded.

She went quiet again for a moment.

“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way.”