Dreamer

Chapter 1: Guilty

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Everything is pitch black. Then, one by one, each of my senses returns to me.

First, hearing. I can hear the faint beating steps of sneakers and the occasional clicks of heels. Somewhere above me, a bird softly chirps, singing a duet with another of its kind nearby. Then, a car cruises on a road with its radio turned on loudly, the music fading as it drives farther away.

Second, touch. Denim scratches against my calves and a wool scarf is wrapped around my neck, barely touching the tip of my chin. I trace my fingers over the grooves of wood. I'm sitting on a bench.

Then, smell and taste. The exhaust from a car driving by lingers in the outside air. Then, I recognize the smell of coffee close by. The coffee is mine, I realize, when I notice the faint bitter taste on my tongue.

Lastly, and most importantly, I regain my sight. Light and color gradually floods my vision. My surroundings blur and focus like a camera and soon, everything is clear. The evening sun casts a deep orange hue on the shops and cafes lined up on the street. Tiny birds rush to fly home in their trees as the sun slowly descends. Families get out of their car and stroll to the nearest restaurant, hungry for dinner. I look down. My jeans are a few sizes larger than what I usually wear and the scarf I'm wearing turns out to be scarlet. The coffee I imagined earlier is sitting right next to me, still a bit warm.

I form a small smile of relief and gratitude. Even though I had planned for this life-switch to only last twenty minutes at most, I'm still grateful that I didn't switch bodies with a homeless person in Detroit like last night. 

Whenever I fall asleep, I switch lives with someone else in the world who is awake. The person who I've switched with stays sleeping in my body while I go have fun in his/her own. In the past, I've switched with a Japanese schoolgirl, an English fireman, and a millionaire from New York. The possibilities are endless, and some nights I get lucky, but fantasies don't last forever. I'm a light sleeper, so if a noise wakes my body up, the life-switch immediately ends and we both return to our own lives. It's a blessing and a curse.

A couple strolls past me, interrupting my thoughts. He has an arm around her shoulder and they're laughing like they're madly in love. I inhale the fresh air and exhale, letting all my built-up stress and worries fade away. I'm about to decide whether to get up and see what the person I've switched with looks like or stay and relax for a bit longer when I hear a familiar voice. It sounds as if he has just ended a call. I glance around.

Then, I see him.

As soon as I recognize him, my stomach quirks with excitement. If he's here, I must be somewhere in Los Angeles near campus. I feel my lips form into an amused smirk. Out of all the places in the world, I woke up here in my hometown.

In the far distance, he slowly walks in my direction, his eyes glued to his phone and hand shoved into his pant's pocket. Should I say hi? I wonder. I bite my lip. There's no harm in doing so, I decide. I stand up from the bench and take a sip of the coffee that was sitting next to me. My face scrunches with disgust and regret. Too bitter.

Suddenly, he glances up from his phone and his dark eyes focus on me. It's the same look he gives whenever we're about to spend a whole day laughing and having fun together. Warmth washes all over my body as if I'm falling in love him all over again. Without thinking, I start taking a few steps towards him until the smile on my face drops to a frown. His eyes and crooked smile are no longer directed at me, and they never were, but on someone behind me.

I turn my head and see a girl walking towards him. Tall, slim figure, thick dark hair, warm eyes, and the face structure of a famous actress. Pretty, I think, and then sip more of my bitter coffee to wash away such thoughts. It doesn't work.