Annabelle was happy to see her body return, as she was now prepared to play the long game and not show weakness in front of the guy who had ruined her life in more ways than one. It had been a couple of days since his return, and the guy had spent most of that time locked away in her room doing God knows what. But one day, she awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of glass smashing.
She quietly wandered downstairs, where she saw the smashed wine glass on the floor.
“Clean that up!” said a female voice, but it was not her own.
There, dancing with her own body, was a random woman who laughed with her body and drank.
“That’s the body you were in. Why is she still around? When I swapped with this woman, she ran for the hills,” said the woman.
On hearing this, Annabelle’s stomach dropped. To hear that she was not alone, that there were others who, like her, had had their lives stolen, was in some ways both a positive and negative thing to hear, as it meant others were going through what she was.
They made her sit and watch as they danced, kissed and drank. She thought they were hoping it would make her upset, but she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction like last time when she broke down.
As they got more drunk, she overheard them talking about previous bodies they had been in, which indicated to her that they could swap multiple times, which was good.
It was nearly 4 a.m., and the other woman’s body lay asleep on a chair as Annabelle’s drunken body sat next to her. For some reason, she decided it was maybe time to ask some questions of the guy who had stolen her body.
“You must love being a woman?” she asked, and the guy laughed and drank some more. She didn’t expect him to reply, but he said,
“Hell yeah! Look at me, I am gorgeous!” he said as he playfully squeezed his boobs.
“Do you ever wish you were a guy again?” said Annabelle, who watched her body almost throw up.
“Sometimes. I don’t like when women get their periods. I sometimes miss having a penis, I guess!”
“So why don’t you be a man again for a little while?”
He looked at her and laughed. “What?”
“You said you miss it. You’ve been in my body for ages now. Why not take a break?”
“And whose body am I supposed to use?”
Annabelle shrugged, trying desperately not to sound too eager.
“Mine.”
He stared at her for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.
“You want me to swap back with you? Swap back into that old useless body”
“Only temporarily,” Annabelle said quickly. “You could have my body back whenever you wanted. You clearly know how to swap more than once.”
His smile faded slightly.
Annabelle knew immediately that she had accidentally revealed too much.
“Been listening to us, have you?”
“It was difficult not to.”
He took another drink and looked at Annabelle's borrowed male body.
“You know what? Maybe I do miss being a man.”
Annabelle's heart began pounding.
“Then let's swap. Just for tonight.”
“And you'll give this body back tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Annabelle said immediately. “I promise.”
He slowly stood up, stumbling slightly.
“All right, then. Let's do it.”
Annabelle could barely believe what she was hearing. After everything she'd been through, getting her body back might actually be this easy.
She followed him, trying desperately to hide her excitement.
Then he stopped.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Finally, he started laughing.
“You really think I'm that drunk?”
Annabelle froze.
He turned around, wearing her face and grinning at her.
“Did you honestly think you were the first person to try getting me drunk and convincing me to give a body back?”
Annabelle's heart sank.
“Nice try, Annabelle.”
He staggered away, still laughing.
Annabelle wanted to scream, but this time she didn't. She had failed, but she'd learned something far more important.
He could swap again.
And if he could swap again, then one day she could get her body back.
The other person awoke and told the guy told him about what Annabelle had tried to do and woman and laughed and got up walking over to her.
"Who would ever want that body! when we have these bodies!"
They then both went upstairs together, and Annabelle was made to listen to another night of the guy using her body to have some fun plus she believed they were being extra loud just to try and make her react but she just closed her eyes and held back the tears as she tried to sleep.
She had to take strength in the knowledge that she was not stuck in this life. She could possibly swap back, but soon she would have to experience more hardship before that could happen.