Beep, beep, beep.

The alarm blared rhythmically, echoing throughout the bedroom. Ed’s arm flailed around sleepily, trying to silence the alarm clock. Waking up, he felt the warm comfort of the quilt, trying to convince him to sleep again. No, I can’t go to sleep... I need to figure out where I am. The softness of the pillow called him back to sleep. Maybe five more minutes will be fine.

“Sarah, wake up. Breakfast is on the table.” A voice came from downstairs.

Like a lightning bolt striking, Ed’s mind was suddenly clear. Sarah, where have I heard that before? That’s right, the file I read was Sarah’s. Am I in her house now? Looking around, he saw a messy room. Clothes were strewn about everywhere, and a bunch of empty bottles were scattered across the ground. On the walls were various band posters from Metallica and Slipknot to Deicide, Edge of Sanity and DevilDriver. Man, this place is filthy. How can someone live like this? Throwing off the blanket he got out of the bed and stood up. How will her mother react when she sees me? I can’t just go down there, maybe I can sneak through a window and figure out what's going on?

Moving to the window Ed spotted himself in a mirror and froze. Instead of seeing his usual tall, lanky self and the familiar messy black hair, he saw a completely unfamiliar woman.

Standing several inches shorter than he’s used to, long black hair with vibrant green streaks loosely fell down her back. The left side of her head was shaved, and her eyes were a striking green. What the fuck? Trying to process what was going on, Ed continued to study the reflection. Adorning her face was a series of piercings; several on her ears, a nose ring, and a few lip rings. Feeling something on his tongue, he opened his mouth and through the mirror saw a stud on the girl's tongue. I guess I’m Sarah, but why did this happen? I didn’t turn into a butterfly the last time, so why did I change now?

“Sarah! Come down here before the food goes cold.”

I shouldn’t keep her waiting. “Coming mom.” She called out in a slightly raspy voice. Why did I call her mom? Stepping over the mess, she opened the door and went out. Looking around, Ed saw various family photos hung on the walls. This house is pretty nice. Making her way to the kitchen, she heard running water, and saw a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon on the kitchen isle. On the other side of the isle was her mother who was washing the dishes.

Hearing the footsteps, she called out. “Quickly eat your breakfast before you get ready for work.”

Maybe I can get some information from her. Nodding, Sarah quickly shoveled the food into her mouth before heading back upstairs. Damn, why didn’t my body listen to me? Getting back into her room, she suddenly froze before moving again. I’ve gained control again. It seems that sometimes Sarah will gain control and follow her usual routine, like some form of muscle memory perhaps. She gained control when I tried to ask for information. Maybe this is some kind of way to prevent me from doing stuff that she wouldn’t do. I have to admit that this could be quite useful. I’ve got no clue what’s going on and I don’t want to see what happens if I do something that could give away that I’m not her. I guess I should get ready for work. Grabbing a towel, she made her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. Getting undressed Ed noticed a few tattoos as well as a belly piercing.

After showering she wrapped herself in the towel before heading back to her room. Now where is my work uniform? Instinctively, her body moved to the bed and picked up a black top, underwear, and a pair of black jeans. I guess this is it. After getting dressed she slung her bag over her shoulder before rushing back downstairs. “I’m heading to work!” She called out to her parents in the other room before grabbing her skateboard and rushing out the door.

My body knows what it’s doing so I’ll just let it take me there. It’ll give me some time to think. Stepping on her skateboard, she quickly made her way down the street. Taking a few turns here and there, she reached the main street of the town, across the road from her work. Speeding up, she raced across the street, narrowly missing a car before coming to a stop. Woah that was close, did she even bother to look? Picking up her board, she made her way to the back area of the supermarket and stuffed everything in her locker.

Clocking in for work, she got to the registers and started working. That was close. I need to keep an eye out when I get off from work, maybe I can take control of the body and slow down. Going into customer service mode, she quickly got the customers through when they come up to the registers. During the gaps between customers, she tapped her fingers rhythmically on the counter, knocking out a simple beat to distract herself.

A customer walked up to the counter and slams her basket down.

“Excuse me, why are you just standing there?”

Looking up, she saw an angry look on the woman’s face. “I’m sorry, I must have been distracted. I’m still a little tired” she said while scanning through the woman’s items.

“That’s not good enough. You are at work, you should be focused at all times so that you can serve the customers like you are supposed to.” The woman said smugly.

Looking at the woman's shit-eating grin, Sarah forced a smile. “I’m sorry ma’am.” She scanned through the items quickly, just trying to send the customer on her way.

“Actually, I don’t want that item, take it off.” She said while pointing at the item that was just scanned.

“Okay” Sarah took the item from her bag and removed it from her purchase.

“Did you remove it? I don’t want to pay for something I don’t want.”

Wow she is being incredibly rude. Is this what retail is like? “Yes, I removed it.” she scanned through the rest of the items.

“Wait a minute, I need to go grab something.” She said while walking off.

Glaring at the back of the woman’s head, she called up a coworker to serve the customers in line. A couple minutes later, the woman came back with nothing in her hands. “I’ll be paying by card.”

Barely keeping her smile together, Sarah quickly sent the woman on her way. “What a bitch.” she mumbled under her breath.

A few hours passed by as she called someone up to the register to take her place while she went on break.

Rummaging through her locker, she grabbed a bottle of water and sat down to scroll through her phone. She saw a message in a group chat telling her to meet up at the usual place after work. I feel pretty safe in here, clearly, the main danger is going to be the roads, but as long as I’m careful I should be safe.

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Quickly time passed, and she clocked off from work. She grabbed her stuff from her locker and ran out the door. Setting her skateboard down she rested a foot on it before stopping. Careful now. Picking up the skateboard, she looked both ways, making sure it was safe, before crossing the street. Immediately after getting to the other side, she raced off on her skateboard. That’s the best I can do. I guess it’s pretty hard to stop her from doing things differently. Riding off, she took a few different turns before making her way to a dingy skate park. Already waiting there is the band’s bass player. Walking up to him, she slapped him on the back to get his attention.

“Took ya long enough.” He said while breathing out a puff of smoke.

“I got here as soon as I could asshole.” She smiled while snatching his joint from his hand, breathing in a lungful. Seeing him reach for it, she rode her board down into the bowl, flipping him off as she did so. I guess they’re pretty casual with each other.

Chasing after each other, they messed around until the rest of the band showed up. Grabbing her stuff, they went to the lead singer’s house. Opening up the garage door, she tossed her bag into the corner before sitting at the drums. Twirling her drumsticks in her hands, she waited for everyone else to set up.

“What are we doing today?” asked the guitarist, while plugging his guitar into the amp.

“Let’s play stabwound, I feel like beating the shit outta something.” Sarah said.

Nodding their heads, the band signalled that they were ready to go.

“All right. 1, 2, 1234”

~

Lying in Bed, Sarah casually scrolled through her phone. That was exhausting, but at least I know what I’m dealing with. I even have a little helper nudging me towards the types of things Sarah would do. I can even hand over control if I just want to relax and think for a while. If I’m careful, I can make it through this punishment without dying. I wonder when Buddie is going to pull me out. This has already been significantly longer than the previous punishments.

Watching the time tick by, Sarah started to feel tired. Nothing should happen while I’m sleeping. If I’m right, I’ll wake up here, if not I’ll wake up back in the room. Wrapping herself up tightly under the blanket, she fell asleep.

~

She slowly woke up and noticed she was still in the messy room. Looks like I was right. Getting up she grabbed her phone and noticed that it was 11am on a Saturday, Sarah lazily made her way down to the kitchen to have something to eat. Looking at her phone she saw a message in the group chat.

“Meet up at my place at 3.”

Heading back to her room, she spent some time just lying in bed, knowing that she had more than enough time to get ready. Her life seems a lot easier than mine was. Of course, I didn’t have to deal with rude customers, but something about just playing your heart out to music seems so much more relaxing. Maybe when I get out of here, I can learn an instrument myself.

Heading to the bathroom, she quickly showered before returning to her room, thinking about what to wear. I’ve got no clue. This is my first time wearing something that isn’t work or sleep related in her body. I’ll just let her sort this out. Rummaging through the clothes, she pulled out a crop top, a leather jacket, a red and black skirt, fishnets and a pair of converses. Quickly chucking everything on, she skated over to his house.

Banging on the garage door, she shot across a text saying that she was there.

BEEP. Hearing a car horn from behind, she turned around to see everyone piled into a car.

“Get in, there’s gonna be a party tonight at my place, we’re gonna get some beer for it.” Yelled the guitarist. Hopping in, the car sped off towards the liquor store.

Picking up a couple cartons of beer, they tossed them in the trunk before driving back. I don’t get why everyone drinks beer. It just tastes like piss. I'd much rather have a glass of vodka... I might need to ask Buddie for something to drink later.

Getting back to the garage, they practised for a bit to kill time before heading off to the party. Pulling out a couple of beers, the people in the back seat started drinking. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that I’m in a different body, but this doesn’t taste half bad. Turning around the corner, they could already hear the music coming from the party. Looking at the sea of people in the front yard, the driver decided to park the car a little way down the road. Everyone got out and helped lug the cartons of beer to the house.

Squeezing through to the backyard, they placed the beers down onto a table before splitting off to go say hi to other people. Standing there, Sarah nursed a beer while thinking. I’ve never been to a party this crowded before. I’ll just let her go ahead and take control. I’ll sit back and watch. Maybe I’ll learn something new. Giving her control, she strolled around, casually chatting with different people. Meeting up with the other band members inside, she saw them rolling some joints. Sitting down next to them, she casually grabbed a joint, and they spent some time casually passing it around and drinking some more beer.

Feeling a bit tipsy, she noticed a cute girl standing in the corner by herself. Walking over, she waved at the girl, catching her by surprise. “You look a bit lost, is this your first time here?”

The girl looked at Sarah and blushed a little. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah, but that’s okay. If you want, I can stay with you so that you don’t feel left out. I’m Sarah by the way.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice, I’m Taylor.”

Chatting with Taylor, Sarah told her about her band, and asked her about her interests, helping Taylor to relax. The night slowly passed as Taylor opened up and started feeling comfortable at the party. Drinking a few beers, they both unwound and talked about their work. She found out that Taylor also worked retail and that it was stressing her out, which is why she came to this party in the first place.

“Tell me about it. I had this one customer at work yesterday who was causing all kinds of problems, she was rude, was changing her minds on things just to spite me, and even left for a few minutes, insisting that I wait for her.”

Blushing a little from the alcohol, Taylor leaned in close to Sarah and whispered. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. Let me make things better for you." Before Sarah could react, Taylor leaned in for a kiss.

Shocked by it briefly, Sarah leaned into it, quickly getting more intense. After a while, they both pulled away, breathing heavily. Huh, didn’t realise Sarah swung that way. I’ll leave her to it then.

The rest of the night passed in a blur as she spent it with Taylor. Come morning, both are knocked out and sleeping on the floor next to each other.

~

Waking up, her head ached as she looked around. Guess I must’ve passed out. Looking around, she saw Taylor next to her and smiled.

Slowly everyone left the party to go back home. Sarah made sure to drop Taylor off after getting her number and asking her out on a date.

Making it back to her room, she slept the rest of the day away, occasionally getting up to send a text or to get something to eat. Quickly the weekend passed and she was back to work. Rushing out the door, Sarah skated to work. Being careful while crossing the road, she dodged any incoming traffic before clocking in at work. Going through another boring day at work, she left as soon as she could, heading to meet up with the band.

~

A year passed as Sarah and the band continued to practice their music, playing at local bars and music competitions, they started to become somewhat popular in the local area. Sarah quickly hit it off with Taylor, and they started dating, eventually moving in together after they had saved up enough money to rent an apartment. Continuing to work retail, they both saved up money while pursuing their dreams on the side, Sarah with her music, and Taylor going to college to get an art degree.

Giving Taylor a quick peck on the cheek, Sarah skated to work. I’ve been here for a lot longer than I thought I would. Is Buddie just not going to pull me back at all. I don’t know what’s real anymore. It all feels real, like everything that happened with Buddie was just some twisted nightmare. But I know that none of these people are real. But I’m fine with that. I’m happy to spend the rest of my life like this. I guess sometimes it’s better to live in a fantasy then, especially when reality is so twisted and cruel.

BEEP!!!

A car slammed into Sarah, sending her flying off her skateboard and skidding across the pavement. Quickly bleeding out, Ed laughed in his mind. Well, it looks like that won’t happen. I’ll just sleep through this and wait for Buddie to wake me up.