The little things

9. Random Switching

(2029 words) Warning: Thoughts of suicide, DID talk, Switching, mentions of self-harm. If anything above is triggering, don't read please. Have a nice time.

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It was the perfect night, just like the nights for the past two weeks, just like every night Jamison was able to come to the cliff. Mystery boy had yet to miss a single day, Nerdy boy only showed up three times, but Jamison finally figured out that they were the same person, yet they weren't.

He did some heavy searching, going to the library, looking things up, even going as far as to ask the people he worked with. And now he knew why the two boys looked so much alike, because they were in the same body. Mystery boy and Nerdy boy shared a body and yet they were completely different people, because that is what dissociative identity disorder does. It forces completely different people to share the same body, at least, that is what Jamison got out of his research.

He looked it up and then tried to imagine the Mystery boy with it, and to Jamison it didn't seem too farfetched. He didn't have hardcore evidence and there was still a possibility of Mystery boy having an identical twin, that was why Jamison put aside the thoughts of diving off the cliff like the bottom was a pool of chocolate and focused on trying to come up with ways to cause a switch, something he learned while researching.

It wasn't ideal and if he was being honest, it was probably wrong of him to try this, but his curiosity was killing him.

And, Jamison thought to himself, if they do happen to share the same body, it would be easier to say goodbye.

He focused back on the scattered clouds that dotted the night sky, watching as some stars appeared and disappeared as the grey cotton candy moved with the wind. "Dad stopped hitting me," Jamison finally spoke after two hours of sitting there, it was one after all, "because now he's never home. After I walked in on him having sex with a random woman he started to go to hotels or their houses, he said I always 'killed the mood'."

Jamison let out an unamused laugh, then sat down criss crossed style, holding onto his knees, "The kids at school do more to make up for it though, like today, I had to skip every period after first since the guys decided to knock me out. Yeah, I was out cold, just chilling in the bathroom stall, until last period when they threw cold water on me to wake me up, then they kicked me a few times." Jamison sniffled, then looked behind his town to the dark abyss.

He waited until the soft wind passed, collecting his thoughts and willing his tears away, he wouldn't cry, there was no use. "Work is kicking my ass, three jobs is harder than it looks, but I guess my co-workers make it worth it. The girls even taught me how to braid my hair when we had a slow day."

He stopped to think back on that day, the girls came in a bit later but no one was there so Jamison decided to let them slide, only to be pulled into the back room when he informed them no one was in the store. He didn't fight back as they began to mess with his hair, then when they asked him why he never styled it, they taught him how to braid it.

That day they all left with braids in their hair, and it was quite obvious which one Jamison did.

Then he thought back to the Mystery boy, who questioned why Jamison decided to switch his style from the messy bun to the braids, letting the shorter know that the style fit him. Ever since that day he mixed both the messy bun and braids together, learning how to do it properly from the girls teaching him.

Jamison smiled softly at the memory, then looked down at his small town, his smile dropping off. "I wonder when Mystery boy and Nerdy boy will give up on showing me new things. Like Chinese Checkers, I didn't even know there were different types of checkers, the book nerd did though. He also taught me new card games while Mystery boy taught me how to use a sling shot."