Paul hadn't left his room in two days, and my mom was growing concerned for his health. As usual she refused to confront Natalia directly, but she was more than happy to get me to talk to her. Mom handed me a bottle of "Natalia's" favorite breakfast drink: a full bottle of Jack. Because as we all know, whiskey is the staple drink of every balanced breakfast. Terrified of what I might find inside the room I took a big swig from the bottle and knocked.
No answer.
I knocked again.
Silence.
One more knock.
Nothing, not a peep. I had to go in.
Inside I saw Natalia's figure laying in her bed beneath the sheets.
"Mom's worried about you," I said. Paul continued to give me the silent treatment.
"She asked me to bring you this," I walked over to the bedside table and sat it besides him. Paul's eyes were open but he was looking through the bottle, looking through the lamp behind it, and even past the wall.
"Paul," I said sitting down on the mattress. "We're worried about you. Can you please get up?"
He refused to acknowledge my presence. I placed my hand on his shoulders to comfort him, and then things got weird. Paul had dissapeared from beneath the sheets, leaving me on a messy and unmade bed.
"It's rude to walk in unexpectedly on a woman," I head Natalia's voice say from behind me. I turned around and saw her standing in a sports bra and ripped jeans.
"Paul?" I asked. At this point the weird had become normal so I didn't question the body of Natalia spontaneously warping behind me. What I did question was how she was dressed. Ever since Paul had taken over Natalia's figure he had refused to dress it up in anything that showed more skin than her hands and her face. Paul-as-Natalia had a strict dress code of long sleeves and jeans, despite the summer heat.
"What the fuck dude? It's me." Only one person would speak to me like that.
"Nathan?" I asked.
"Yeah, who the hell else could it be? Oh I see you brought me a drink," he walked over and grabbed the bottle from the stand then chugged it. He let out an ahh then continued speaking. "I'm about to take a power walk, want to join? This body is a real head turner."
"What happened to Paul?" I asked.
"Why the fuck are you hung up on Paul?" Nathan asked. "We broke up over a month ago after you ruined the best fuck I've ever had. Man I'm still salty about that, do you know how hard it is to find the perfect dick for your pussy?"
"No," I shook my head, "no this isn't right. We fought, do you remember?" I looked him in the eye. "You pushed me into the wall and Paul tried to stop you, and in the chaos I touched Paul and he, well you know."
"Can't you leave the fight behind you?" Nathan groaned. "It was the heat of the moment. I was pissed off because you cock blocked me, and yeah I liked Paul, but I told you that I'm sorry. Without you I'd never have had a chance with somebody like him. Speaking of which I think it's time to tell you," he sat down next to me, "Summer's almost over, which means our deal is coming to an end but I've been thinking about it and..." he took a deep breath and sighed. "I want to stay as Natalia. I can't go back to my old self, I was a pathetic ugly piece of shit. As Natalia I finally feel confident, I feel like I'm who I'm supposed to be."
I didn't answer, I couldn't not after everything.
"I know it's a lot to take in," he answered my silence. "Your best friend asking to stay as your fake cousin, but Natalia is what you make it and I made her my life, the life I needed. Look I'll even move out, I have a lot of money in Natalia's bank, I can easily find a place for my own. All you got to promise me is to not think about Natalia and touch somebody. Do we have a deal?" He stuck out his hand as if we were making a formal agreement. I didn't know what to do so I took it. I blinked and then everything changed once again.
Next to me in an oversized t-shirt and gray sweatpants sat Natalia's body. They held a half empty bottle of jack in their hands. The sports bra and jeans had dissapeared.
"Why are you still here?" Whoever-it-was-as-Natalia asked.
"Nathan, Paul?" I couldn't tell.
"Fuck Nathan, and fuck you," Natalia poked me with her left index finger then took another large swig.
"Paul," I assumed, "look I don't know what's happening but I swore I saw Nathan in Natalia's body right next to me. Paul, what's going on?"
Another big swig.
"Do you really want to know what's going on?"
I nodded.
"I'll tell you what's fucking going on. This body is hell incarnate. I'm a prisoner to your piece of shit suburban family. I lost my job, my fucking job that I worked for years to get. Do you know how hard it is to become a professional model?" He didn't give me time to answer. "Fucking hard. I worked my ass off to land that job despite my friends and family telling me to get a 'real job.'" He began crying. "Do you know what I did last night?" I remained silent. "I slit my wrists, and not the emo way either. I cut straight from my wrist to my elbow," he drew his left index finger down his right arm to illistrate. "I felt this body grow cold and weak, I thought I finally did it. I was finally free from this hell. I closed my eyes and drifted off into the sweat abyss of death. And then," he wimpered, "and then I woke up to the sound of you knocking on my door. I can't fucking leave this life," tears rolled down his cheeks.
I didn't know what to say. I wanted to tell him to look on the bright side like Nathan did, but I knew that would be stupid.
Paul cried and cried, speaking occasionally in Russian. I went to my desk and withdrew my unused tissue box. He used up all the box in a matter of minutes. Once his tears had dried up he looked at me again and said, "You are the devil, I hope you know that." He lifted what was left of the bottle and began chugging.
"Paul," I reached out to him to comfrot him, "we can fix this you just need to give me time." And with a soft touch of my hand upon his shoulder, Natalia had changed once again. In Paul's place sat Nathan in his sports bra and torn jeans, chugging away at the bottle.
"Ahhh," Nathan-as-Natalia gasped in satisfaction after emptying the bottle. "Got to stay hydrated before a big workout." He sat the bottle on the floor and spied the empty box of tissues surrounded by the wadded up used ones on the floor. "Have you been jerking off to me while I sleep?" He asked.
"What? No!" I answered.
"No need to be so defensive," he poked me. "I'd do the same in your position. Hot cousin sleeping in the room next to you. Maybe I'll have to get a little creative with my next set of pics." As expected, he winked then stood up. "The offer's still there for a power walk. You can get healthy and have a great view." Nathan wiggled his ass towards me and slapped it.
"I'm good," I said.
"Your loss. Ta-ta," he waved as he shut the door.
I sat there and stared at the floor as my brain worked a million miles an hour trying to process the morning.