Shifted [z.m au]

III. The Beginning.

◾ be·gin·ning

noun:
/ bəˈɡining /

the point in time or space at which something starts.

-

I hit the ground hard, landing on both feet. Pain shot up from my ankles, and I dropped to my knees.

The pain roared up my legs, my chest, my head. The woods turned bright scarlet.

Breathing hard, I shook away the pain and climbed to my feet.

Had it worked? Had our jump to the other side of the wall made us change bodies?

I turned to Zayn-but he had disappeared. "Zayn?"

I was staring at myself?

His mouth-my mouth dropped open as he stared back at me.

I lowered my eyes to examine myself. I was wearing Zayn's clothes-the sleeveless grey T-shirt, the back jeans and tattoos all over my arms.

"Oh, wow!" I murmured. I slid my hands over my face. Felt my nose. Zayn's nose. Reached up and ran one hand over my hair. Zayn's short hair. Not my hair.

I'm Zayn. I realized. I'm Rena in Zayn's body.

We were both giggling now. Both staring at each other, wide-eyed, not believing it. Staring and giggling.

Neither of us said anything. We both started laughing hard. We tossed back our heads and laughed up at the sky.

I felt giddy. I felt crazy. I felt out of control.

Tears of laughter brimmed in my eyes. Through the tears, I stared at myself. At Zayn in my body. It wasn't like looking in a mirror. I realized I had never really seen myself before.

I had never seen the single dimple that deepened in my right cheek when I laughed. Never noticed that my mouth curled up more on one side than the other.

I had never been able to see how my long hair glistened down my back. How it swished behind me with each turn of my head.

It's so strange, so totally strange. I'm outside myself. I thought. I'm outside myself watching me.

I'm Zayn now, watching Rena.

I stared as Rena's body or Zayn raised his hands to his cheeks saw his long red nails spread out against his face.

We were still laughing, tears running down our cheeks.

And suddenly we were hugging eachother, holding on to each other tightly. Laughing and hugging. Laughing and crying at the same time.

We started spinning. Holding on to each other tightly, we started spinning in a wild, joyful dance.

Spinning faster and faster. Rena and Zayn. Zayn and Rena. Shifted. Whirling together. Together. Not one. Not the other.

Spinning in a circle of both of us. Whirling and laughing. So much joy.

And then it ended as sudden as the jump that started it. And we dropped to our knees on the warm grass, breathing hard. And gazed at eachother with solemn expressions.

The giddiness vanished, and we realized what we had done.

We had jumped more than a few feet. We had jumped into new lives. Jumped into each other's life.

"We can't tell anyone." Zayn said, his voice hushed whisper now. His voice is turned like me now. "Not anyone, baby."

"Call me Zayn." I told him, grinning. "I'm you now. Call me by your name."

He hesitated. "I still think of myself as Zayn." he said. "Even though I look like Rena now."

"You're right." I agreed. "We can't tell anyone. No one would believe it anyway. We'll live eachother's lives for a while-"

"And when we get tired of it." Zayn interrupted. "We'll come back here to the Changing Wall. And we'll change back."

"Yes." I quickly agreed. Then I felt a pang of guilt.

"What's wrong?" Zayn asked. He must have seen my expression change.

"I won't want to change back." I confessed. "My life is the pits. I-I think you made a bad deal, Zayn."

"Rena, don't worry about it." He replied. "I think-"

"But my parents are so awful." I cried. "They're like watchdogs. Always sniffing, always alert, always waiting to catch me in some kind of trouble. And-"

He shrugged. "Baby, this was my idea, remember? I knew exactly what I was getting into."

I opened my mouth to reply, but there didn't seem to be any more to say. The sky above the trees darkened. The afternoon sun had started to lower itself. A warm breeze made the newly unfurled leaves shimmer and whisper all around us.

"We'd better get home." Zayn said.

"My mom will be waiting for you at the door." I warned him. "You'd better have a good excuse ready."

"I'll just tell her we jumped off a wall and shifted bodies, and that's why I'm late." Zayn said, grinning. My dimpled grin. He tossed back my dark brown hair as he started to laugh.

We both laughed. I still felt so giddy, so strange. I stretched my arms above my head. I took a few steps over the tall grass in my new body.

I felt awkward. The legs moved differently. The feet were huge compared to my girl feet. It took an effort to stand up straight, to keep the head raised.

Walking should be natural, I told myself. But I just wasn't used to a guy body.

A few more steps. I glanced back the wall. In the fading light it appeared to be gray blur. Just a dark cloud above the grass. If I didn't squint, I couldn't see it at all. As if it didn't exist.

Zayn and I didn't say much as we made our way through the woods to the street. I guess we were lost in our own thoughts, thinking about our new lives. Getting used to our new bodies.

A few minutes later we stepped back onto Linga Street. I saw two scrawny cats scampering along a row of graves in the cemetery.

We walked on silence. Zayn kissed my lips shortly, it feels weird tasting my own lips and Zayn's rough lips. Then I said goodbye to Zayn about a block from my house. "Good luck! I love you." I cried.

"I love you too." he echoed. Then he waved to me turned and jogged across the street.

I stood and stared. It was just weird watching myself run away.

I watched Zayn until the trees blocked him from view. Then I turned and headed toward his house on Mudbank Drive.

Can I really fool Zayn's parents? I wondered. Can I really make the Malik think that I'm their son?

And will I be able to fool Zayn's friends? Will I be able to fool my own friends?

So many questions as I hesitated at the bottom of Zayn's driveway and stared up at his little white Shingled house.

Remember, Rena-I warned myself-don't be sarcastic. Zayn is never sarcastic. You're the sarcastic one. Zayn is sweet and serious.

I took a deep breath and made my way up to the house. The front door was open halfway. I pulled open the screen door and stepped into the small entryway.

"Hi! I'm home." I called. "Sorry, I'm so late."

No reply.

The car was in the driveway. Zayn's parents had to be home.

"Where are you?" I called.

I started walk into the living room. But stopped at the doorway with a loud gasp. I blinked several times, but the gruesome scene refused to go away.

I grabbed the doorframe with both hands and stared down in horror at the dark puddles of blood. The slashed bodies sprawled on the floor.

And then I opened my mouth in a scream I thought would never end.

-