Chapter XXX

Lilly exhaled sharply as she stared up at the bespectacled girl standing confidently before her.

T-the stone? She wants Eric to give her the stone?!

It was such a ridiculous request that Lilly found herself unable to speak. As much as she had forgiven Liz for taking the stone back before break, that didn’t mean it was something they should just forget. Regardless of her reasoning, Liz still went behind their backs and stole from them. So how could she ever think Eric would just give it to her? Lilly had never seen the boy get truly mad at anybody but, in that moment, she felt he had every right to turn Liz’s request down without so much as a thought. So, she glanced over at him, curious as to his expression, only to find him regarding her with a look of interest.

“The gem?” he said softly. “That’s what you want from me?”

Liz nodded firmly, as if her request was perfectly normal. “That’s exactly what I want from you. I want you to lend me the stone until tomorrow afternoon. If you do, I promise I’ll have the situation with Damien all worked out.”

Lilly furrowed her brow. She was failing to see how Liz was connecting those dots and couldn’t help but to look to Eric once more. Yet he still didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the whole thing. Instead, he was looking more and more amused by the second.

“Is that so?” he asked. “And if you wouldn’t mind my asking, how exactly is the stone going to fix this mess? Last I checked, it was the reason for it.”

“You’re right,” Liz conceded. “It was the reason and I’m certain it can be the solution as well. However, I think I’d rather keep my plan to myself, if you wouldn’t mind. It’s a little personal.”

Lilly couldn’t help but to regard Liz in astonishment.

“A bit bold of you, don’t you think?” Lilly said sternly. “I mean, stealing the stone got you into this mess so how can you expect Eric to give it back for you to fix it? I am rooting for you, Liz, but don’t you think this is a little inconsiderate?”

The other girl eyed her for a moment, a sly look in her eyes as she smiled. “Inconsiderate, huh? Well, you know what I consider inconsiderate, Lilly? I’d say pushing the responsibilities onto your friend and then leaving her out to dry is a bit inconsiderate.”

Lilly cocked an eyebrow. “Uh, I mean, sure but…I don’t see your point.”

“Eric?” Liz said, turning to look back at him. “Don’t you agree? Don’t you think you owe me some help in fixing a problem you got me into?”

Eric chuckled. “Is that how you’re playing this, dear Liz? You plan to guilt me into giving you what you want?”

“That’s exactly what I plan to do,” she replied firmly.

Lilly couldn’t help but to look between the two of them. She realized then that their words had a deeper meaning than she had realized.

“Eric?” Lilly asked. “What’s she talking about? How on earth is this situation your fault?”

The boy glanced away with a guilty expression while Liz just sighed in exasperation.

“Well, I should apologize, Lilly,” she said. “I figured he would’ve at least told you.”

Lilly clenched her teeth in growing irritation. “Tell me what? What am I missing here?”

“Well, you see,” Liz began, “because Eric feared what would happen if he went against the majority’s wishes, he instead set everything up so that I could steal the stone, if I wanted to. He left his backpack unzipped when he went to the bathroom and gave me a look that made it clear what he wanted.”

Lilly couldn’t help but to gape at her in surprise. “Eric…set this up? You mean…?”

“Yup,” the other girl said. “Eric figured that if the stone was stolen then everything was out of his control. He knew he couldn’t just give Vinny the stone but he refused to leave Alice to suffer. So, he set it up so that I had the option to take the burden instead.”

Baffled by this new information, Lilly rounded on Eric, more furious that he kept it a secret as opposed to what he did. “Eric?! Why didn’t you tell me that?!”

He chuckled nervously. “Well, dear Lilly, I was admittedly afraid that you’d think I was a tad cowardly for putting the ball in Liz’s court.”

“Well obviously,” she growled. “How could you just have her do this just so you could get out of dealing with the consequences?!”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Liz interrupted. “I’m still my own person. Eric may have set the situation up but I still chose to go through with it. He didn’t make me do anything and I’m the only one to blame for the situation with Damien.”

Lilly glanced up at her in surprise. “You’re okay with this?”

“I am. However, at the same time, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t owe me one for helping him. Therefore, I’ve determined that we shall be even if he loans me the stone until tomorrow afternoon.”

Lilly couldn’t help but to sigh in exasperation. She didn’t even know what to think about it all. With Eric having confessed to pushing the burden of saving Alice onto Liz, she couldn’t exactly deny that Liz’s request suddenly seemed reasonable, especially if the girl intended to use it to somehow make amends with Damien. Since it was Eric’s decision to make, she waited silently for him to speak.

“I guess I can’t argue with that,” Eric said after a moment. “In that case, I leave this in your care, dear Liz.”

He then reached into his pocket and produced the stone before setting onto his desk. Their friend grinned happily as she swiped it from the surface so she could pocket it.

“I thank you, dear Reiner,” she replied wryly. “I won’t let you down. By this time tomorrow, everything between Damien and I should be water under the bridge.”

Then, with that said, Liz spun on her heel and took off. Lilly frowned, having hoped the girl would spend lunch with them but also realizing that she would probably continue to avoid Damien until her plan was set in motion.

“I wonder what she plans to do,” Lilly said softly.

Eric chuckled. “Is it not obvious? Though I’ll be damned if she actually convinces him to go through with it.”

“You don’t mean…?”

Lilly turned a dubious expression his way but he only continued to laugh.

“I do,” he confirmed. “And Liz seems rather confident so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. The situation with Damien is in her hands now, where it belongs, leaving us to handle Vinny.”

The girl couldn’t help but grimace, realizing something after their conversation with Liz.

“You’re blaming yourself, aren’t you?” she muttered. “Because you allowed Liz to steal the stone and help Vinny, you’re blaming yourself for what he did. Am I right?”

For a moment, Eric was silent, as if he were pondering her question. Then, he nodded.

“I am. I should have listened to you and Damien. You guys were right, after all. I knew how unstable Vinny was but, because I couldn’t allow myself to not help Alice, I went ahead and gave up the stone anyway. Now, Vinny’s heart has been tainted and it’s all my fault.”

“Then we fix it,” Lilly replied firmly. “Liz is making up with Damien. That means it’s our job to find out what Vinny did to Rina and Evan. We can’t help him until we know.”

Eric frowned. “And how do we do that? Vinny won’t ever tell us.”

“He doesn’t have to.” Lilly grinned. “Cause there’s someone else who knows…someone much easier to talk to.”

“Ah. Jay Brooks?”

Lilly nodded. “Jay Brooks.”

***

Damien grimaced at the biting cold of the afternoon air as he made his way home. January had gotten even colder than December, though it hadn’t snowed since the day after New Years. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the cold and he was constantly counting down the days until summer finally returned. Though he knew that was still a long way off so he simply had to persevere. In addition to the chill, the sun also set much earlier so, despite having left school earlier than normal, it was already sundown.

I still can’t believe Eric canceled club, he thought to himself. He said we were supposed to have some party today. After all his calls and texts begging me to make up with Liz and Vinny, I never would have thought he would have canceled on me. Damien grimaced. Although, that might not be a bad thing.

Despite his decision to finally work up the courage to approach Liz, after seeing her in class that day, he found himself hesitating once again. They had been friends for so long and they had been dating for most of that time. She was the one he should have been most comfortable around, so he hated how hard it was for him to talk to her. He missed her so much yet he couldn’t help but avoid her. He still couldn’t get the image of her sitting on that desk waiting for him out of his mind. It had been the moment that he realized Vinny hadn’t stolen the stone.

God, I need to stop this, he berated himself. It’s Liz. She’s my girlfriend. I love her. So I need to stop being such a loser and try to fix this. I can’t avoid her forever nor do I want to.

He groaned and turned the corner onto his street, his gloved hands shoved into his uniform pockets. He tried to push all thoughts of her from his mind but it was no use. All through the break, he had been thinking of Liz and trying to find some way to fix their relationship. He didn’t want to let a disagreement over that stone drive them apart. He refused to let that happen.

So I just need to talk to her. Yeah! Tomorrow, I’ll just bite the bullet and go up to her like always. That's how I’ll…

His thoughts trailed off and he came to a sudden stop. He was staring off to his left at his house where Liz Tao was casually sitting on his front porch, looking at her phone. He blinked a few times just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things but sure enough, she was right there.

What the hell…is she doing here?

Part of him immediately wanted to flee but the other part knew that Liz wouldn’t have come to his house without a reason. As afraid as he was of talking to her after all that had happened, he couldn’t help but be curious as to what she wanted. He realized that he was being given a prime opportunity to do what he’d been trying to force himself to do and talk to her. Struggling to calm his beating heart, Damien began walking once again. Moments later, Liz looked up from her phone in his direction. He couldn’t help but internally cringe, fearing what expression he might see on her face. So, some of the tension left his body when she smiled her usual bright grin. It was so familiar to him that it almost felt like nothing had changed between them.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted cheerfully, getting to her feet.

He forced a smile of his own as he walked up the porch, unsure of how to handle her sudden appearance. “Uh, yeah. Good afternoon, Liz. W-what’s up?”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s been a while so I thought I’d pay you a visit. That okay with you?”

What’s going on with her? She’s acting like nothing happened. Is she really that unbothered by this all?! Have I been making a big deal out of nothing? But…no. If it wasn’t bothering her then surely she would have reached out by now. She waited three weeks so…

Trying to hide his inner turmoil and, despite desperately wanting to escape the situation, he nodded. “S-sure. Come on in, I guess.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Awesome!” she chirped.

Not wanting to stand out in the cold any longer, Damien pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door before holding it open so Liz could go inside first. He followed after her, grateful to finally be inside the warm interior of his home. The building was dark and quiet since both of his parents worked relatively late on weekdays. Normally, Damien would be getting home from club around the time they’d be getting home but, since he spent much of his time in his room, they didn’t interact much. He had been thinking about doing some homework downstairs while he had the place to himself, but now it didn’t seem like that would be happening.

He walked through the dining room with Liz in tow and entered the kitchen. He flipped on the lights and glanced off to the family room on his right, deciding he and Liz could talk in there. He wasn’t sure what she wanted but he knew that this was his chance to try and make things right. He didn’t intend to blow it.

“You want anything?” he asked softly. “Water or food or something?”

Liz shook her head. “No thanks. I’m good.”

“Cool.”

God, this is so damn awkward.

“Well, we can talk in the family room if you want,” he muttered.

She nodded. “Sounds great.”

Swallowing his nerves, Damien walked toward his dad’s old leather armchair and took a seat while Liz casually sat down on the couch to his right, her cheerful grin still present. It was such an odd attitude given the situation that he couldn’t help but to suspect that she had something up her sleeve.

“So,” he began hesitantly. “What brings you by so suddenly?”

Liz chuckled. “I told you. I wanted to visit you. I mean, you didn’t even call me once over the whole break. Not even to wish me a merry Christmas! What kind of a boyfriend are you?”

“W-well,” he grumbled. “It’s not like you called me either. And can you blame me after everything that happened? Hell, I wasn’t even sure you wanted to talk to me.”

She frowned. “I always want to talk to you. I wouldn’t be dating you if I didn’t.”

For a moment, he found himself staring at her, baffled. He genuinely couldn’t tell if she was messing with him or not. Was she actually mad that he didn’t call her Christmas? Despite knowing he had every right to be mad at her given what she did, he suddenly found himself feeling guilty that he didn’t even do something as simple as wish his girlfriend a “merry Christmas”.

“So,” Liz suddenly continued. “On a scale of one to ten, how mad at me are you?”

Just as he was trying to get his thoughts together, her question threw him through another mental loop.

How mad am I? Hell, I don’t have a clue! I don’t even know if I am mad! I know I should be. She stole the stone from Eric after we all decided not to use it for Alice. She betrayed us. I should be furious, but I’m not cause I don’t even know for sure if she did the wrong thing. I guess…what I’m feeling is…

“I’m not mad,” he replied softly. “I’m just hurt. Why didn’t you talk to me? Did you think I’d be mad that you disagreed with me or something? Is that how you see me?”

“Of course not. I know as a fact that you would have respected my viewpoint and would have heard me out no matter how much you disagreed.”

Her answer was instant. She didn’t beat around the bush or sugarcoat anything. She simply stated exactly how she felt. Yet it didn’t answer his question.

“So why then?” he asked. “Why hide it from me? Why go behind my back? Why steal from Eric? What was going through your head, Liz?”

The girl smiled softly and shook her head. “I wanted to talk to you. I really did but…I just couldn’t. I…was afraid.”

He furrowed his brow. “Afraid of what? If you knew I wouldn’t judge you then…?”

“It’s hard to explain,” she interrupted. “You see, throughout the whole thing, I was desperate to help Alice. I needed to help her. I spent those nights just laying awake, desperately trying to figure out what I could do for her.”

“You…?” he whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me? It never seemed like any of it was getting to you. Hell, you didn’t even look tired.”

“I’m not a bad actor, am I? I didn’t want you guys worrying about me since you already had so much on your plates. Between Vinny getting all stressed and everybody worrying about Alice…I thought it was better just to keep quiet.”

“I would’ve listened to you,” he instantly said. “If you were hurting, I would’ve wanted to know why. I still do, if you’ll tell me.”

“And that’s the problem,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you why. And because I was bottling it all up, when you and Vinny clashed over the stone, I…saw a chance to act. I knew Vinny was unstable but I also trusted that he could help her. But now, looking back, I wish I hadn’t been so impulsive. I wish I could have done things differently.”

Damien sighed, his thoughts briefly flashing back to his argument with Vinny out on that forest path a few weeks back. “Yeah. I wish I’d handled some of it differently, too.”

“And with that said,” Liz continued, “I think I’m ready to be honest with you. A chance has presented itself and I think I’m ready. I want you to understand why I was so desperate to help Alice.”

Damien sat up a bit straighter in anticipation. “So you’re going to tell me?”

“Well…” Her smile was oddly sly. “I wouldn’t say that. Instead, I think it’s better to say that I’m going to show you.”

Damien frowned and was about to ask what she meant when she suddenly reached into the pocket of her coat. What she pulled out left him sitting there stunned and speechless.

You’ve gotta be kidding me. Not again! Why that damned thing again?!

Clutched in Liz’s hand was Eric’s gem.

“Now don’t get the wrong idea,” Liz said. “I didn’t steal it this time. Eric gave this to me of his own free will…though I won’t deny that I begged just a teensy bit.”

Damien clenched his teeth. “Why do you have that? What the hell could you possibly need that for?!”

Liz didn’t seem bothered by his irritation in the slightest. Instead, she only continued to grin. “Well what do you think?” she asked. “We’re going to switch bodies. What else?”

“Switch…?”

He tried to speak but found that his voice failed him. Was she actually seriously suggesting that they swap bodies? He could hardly believe it. He’d been so upfront about how against using the stone he was so he couldn’t help but think she was joking. However he knew her well enough to be able to tell a joke from a serious suggestion and the look in her eyes told him that she meant it.

“No,” he flatly refused. “I won’t. That thing was the source of some of this mess. Why would I ever consider using it.”

“Because I’m asking you to,” she replied. “As your girlfriend, I’m asking you to trust me. If you do this, everything will be clear. I promise.”

Damien shook his head. “And why can’t you just tell me? Why do you need that thing to get your point across?”

“I don’t need it, but I don’t think I can explain it to you better. If you see what I want you to, I think it’ll be more effective. And the only way you can see it is if you’re me. Please, Damien. Just once. After this, I’ll never ask you to use it again. I swear.”

“But…” He paused for a moment, desperately trying to gather his thoughts. “For the sake of argument, what would you even have me do?”

She chuckled, as if him asking that question meant she was convincing him. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll meet you here and we’ll swap bodies. Then, we’ll head to school as each other and go through the day. We’ll swap back after school lets out. That’s my plan.”

Damien raised his eyebrows. “The whole day? You want to swap the whole day? Don’t you think that’s a bit risky? What if somebody noticed that something was off? I’m not exactly good at mimicking you…not that I’ve actually tried.”

“Oh who cares,” Liz replied with a wave of her hand. “Everybody thinks we’re weird anyway. No one will bat an eye if we’re behaving a little off.”

Fair point, he silently conceded.

“And what about…other issues. I mean, you’re a girl! Don’t you think it would be weird to switch bodies with me all day?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “So? Eric and Lilly swap all the time. Who cares? You’re my boyfriend, after all. Sounds like fun to me.”

“That’s not…”

Why am I even entertaining this?! It’s ridiculous! I swore I wouldn’t use the stone! I don’t want to, but… He exhaled softly. Liz says I’ll only be able to really understand her if I do this. I don’t want to use the stone but…I want to understand her. It’s been tearing me apart inside all break. I want to know why she did what she did. If this is the only way to understand then…do I really have a choice?

He glanced up at her as she smiled sweetly at him. He cared about her more than he could put into words. She was the first girl he ever fell for and she was there for him in a way few people ever had been. He didn’t want to lose the relationship they had over a situation like this.

“Damien, I promise you won’t regret it,” Liz assured him. “One day. Then never again if you don’t want to. I’m not saying that what I did wasn’t wrong. It was. It was so wrong. But I need you to understand my reasoning. Please?”

He stared into her dark brown eyes and found himself encapsulated by her beauty. Every logic center in his brain was telling him not to but despite that, he knew he didn’t have a choice. How could he turn her away? He wanted her back and if this was the way to get her back then it was a small price to pay. He just needed to swallow his fear of the stone for one day.

It’ll make me look like a hypocrite to the others though. I’ve spent so much time telling them it’s not a toy and that they shouldn’t just use it like one. If I did do this, wouldn't I be going against everything I stood for?

“The others…” he began but was instantly cut off.

“Eric gave me the stone. Knowing him, I’m sure he understands what I want to do. He’ll explain everything to Lilly and Vinny. Nobody will judge you, Damien.”

“But if I use it now…after refusing to use it for Alice…” he whispered. “What kind of asshole does that make me?”

“It doesn’t make you one,” Liz stated. “You didn’t want to use it then because you were scared of how Vinny was acting and because you knew the consequences could be dangerous by getting Rina and Evan involved. But here? There’s no consequences. We’re safe. Using it once isn’t going to hurt you. We know this.”

“Safe, huh?”

She makes a good point but…can I really do it? I want to do what Liz wants. I want to understand her. But is it worth using the stone?

Yet, even as he asked himself that question, he knew deep down that he couldn’t turn her away. After agonizing over what to do all through break, Liz was providing him with an answer.

He couldn’t just ignore it.

***

Damien’s parents normally left before he had gotten out of the shower so he knew they’d have privacy to use the stone once Liz arrived. He still couldn’t believe he had allowed her to talk him into going along with her plan. To think that he was actually going to use the stone after four months of refusing to was insane to him. Part of him considered texting Liz and backing out but every time he did, he stopped himself, remembering that he was agreeing to this for Liz’s sake. It was all for her. He couldn’t forget that.

Jeez, maybe Eric and Vinny are right. Maybe she does have me under some siren song.

He smirked, glancing once more at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was already dressed in his uniform and ready for school but he kept finding himself anxiously making sure that he hadn’t missed anything. He was giving his body over to Liz for the entirety of the school day so he wanted to make sure he didn’t forget anything.

Although I don’t even know why it matters, he thought. This is Liz, after all. She probably wouldn’t judge me for anything anyway.

Knock Knock Knock.

At the sound of the door, Damien sighed, prepared himself for the insane day he was about to have, and turned to leave the bathroom. He headed down the hall, swiped his backpack from the door handle of his room and made his way to the front door, all the while trying to steady his rapidly beating heart. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the same cheerful smile he always looked forward to seeing.

“Mornin’, Damien,” Liz greeted cheerfully, her hand already held out with the gem in her palm. “You ready?”

He swallowed nervously. “So just like that? You don’t even want to come in first? You just want to switch?”

“Yup,” she said. “No point in waiting, right? Might as well get this party started!”

He eyed her for a moment longer before lowering his stare to the stone that had caused him so much stress over the last few months. It was glittering in the morning light and, aside from looking pretty, didn’t seem to be anything out of this world. Yet it was the magic Eric always sought. If he touched its surface, he would become Elizabeth Tao through means he could only explain as magic. Its entire existence contradicted his logical view of the world and it only served to broach so many questions that it terrified him. They knew nothing about it. They didn’t know what it was or where it came from. It was an unknown variable in every sense of the word. And here he was, about to use it.

I’ve gone insane, he told himself. Just the fact that I agreed to this means I’ve lost it. But I have to do it.

Without speaking another word, Damien held his breath, reached out, and placed his palm upon the surface of the gemstone. What happened next shouldn’t have surprised him. Eric, Vinny, and Lilly all talked about the formless world of white that they saw whenever they swapped bodies. He hadn’t expected it to be anything too crazy and yet, once he found himself there, he couldn’t help but to panic for a moment. Not having a body made him feel suddenly claustrophobic and he could feel his anxiety start to set in. But it ended in an instant and before he knew it, he could feel again. His vision was somewhat blurry but he knew he didn’t have to see to know it had worked. He could already feel how different his sensations were. After a few seconds, his vision became clearer and he instantly noted that he was looking through a pair of glasses.

And beyond that glass was himself, or rather Liz, standing just before him.

“Man, I know I’ve done this before but damn. I forgot how weird it is,” Liz said with a chuckle. “Oh, right, my voice is different now! This is so cool!”

Damien wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to react. Just seeing his body getting all excited over his voice was enough to make him feel like he was imagining everything. It was such a surreal sight, not to mention he was forced to look up at himself due to their height difference. Liz was already putting her hands on her chest and looking her body over. Part of him wanted to do the same but the other part was still processing everything. However, after a moment, he decided there was no avoiding it and so, he looked down.

The first thing he noticed was the gem still clutched in his now much smaller hand. There were strands of black hair hanging in his vision and Liz’s headphones were strapped around his neck. Their uniforms were identical from the waist up but below he was now wearing a skirt and black leggings that gave him pause. He also took note of the drastic differences between the genders of their bodies but that was something he decided to try and ignore for the time being.

“Well, this should be fun!” she chirped, grinning like a little kid. “You ready to go to school, Liz?”

Damien narrowed his eyes. “Uh, sure.” He instantly reacted to the higher pitch of his voice but quickly cleared his throat and continued. “And I hope you’ve actually got a good impression of me,” he grumbled. “Cause I don’t need you running around in my body, acting all bouncy like that.”

Liz grinned slyly. “Why not? Maybe showing a more cheerful side will make people less afraid of you.”

“I doubt it. Hell, it’ll probably scare them more.”

“Maybe.” She then held out her hand, her smile losing its slyness and returning to its earlier cheer. “So? You ready to go?”

For a moment, he looked down at her hand, marveling at the strange feelings he was experiencing once again. Then, he sighed, slid the gem into his skirt pocket, and took her hand.

“Let’s go,” he said. “This should be a hell of a day.”