The World Through Various Eyes

[12] Contacting Myself (Jade's POV)

All the loose information (well, most of it) was coming together now. Come to think of it, there was even a logical explanation for me being in this room. The only thing I really needed to know, besides how this had happened in the first place, was the meaning behind the message.

Who was "beaglelove21"? It occurred to me that maybe she was a close friend of his but two elemental factors made that argument invalid. For one thing, he did not have many other friends than me. More importantly though, if this "beaglelove21" had been a friend, she would have signed with her real name, not a username. She would have signed with her name, and Alex would have known exactly who it was.

Not only did I not know, I had a feeling that Alex didn't know either. The part of the message that said "I don't know what kind of submissions and requests you receive, I just know that you get a lot." suggested that he received multiple requests like this, and this wasn't just a one time favor for a friend.

Not knowing something is probably the best (or worst, depending on your point of view) punishment to sentence me to. Although this current situation was not a punishment, it sure felt like one to me. I had to find out the meaning behind the request message. It would eliminate at least one piece of unnecessarily unknown data, and that much I could get behind.

Seeing as my previous call to Alex's phone had led me straight to... well, Alex's phone, I basically performed reverse psychology on the cell. Reverse psychology can be defined as doing the opposite of the desired result to achieve the desired result. It usually, almost always, was a term applied to persuasion and interactions with animals or humans. But too bad, I was using it on a mobile phone.

In doing so, I called my own cell to hopefully reach Alex, as I originally intended to. This time, I dialed off of his cell, a metallic red flip phone with a thin screen and prominent buttons. It began to dial, with its loud tone not even beginning to calm my nerves.

"Please let this work, please." I pleaded quietly, in my new and lower tone. Okay, this was going to take some getting used to. But I didn't want to have to!! I wanted to be Jade, myself, my own person!!

"Hello?" a voice I recognized as the one I had only hours before I woke up said. Things could be looking up. If I was correct in my assumption, the response should have come from Alex. If I were him, he must have been me. Just for clarification, I dared to ask.

"Hello? Alex, is that you?" the voice I now possessed replied, desperate for a reply that would hopefully clear up the lines between truth and prediction that had, as of recently, been blurred.

The line was dead for a second, and I removed the phone from where I held it up to my ear, making sure that the person on the other line hadn't hung up. It said the call was still in session, so I awaited a reply.

"Oh, sorry!" they replied, a sense of embarrassment flooding the words.

"I was just processing what I had just heard. You know, it's rather strange to hear your own voice greet you when you're not the one using it."

I chuckled, half nervously and the other half just happy that it was him. "Alex, you're there! Are you alright?"

Okay. so maybe that was a bit too enthusiastic.

"Well Jade... you sound different. But I could still tell it was you." his higher voice joked with me, a lighter tone to it due to the change.

"Shut it, Swaltz. As if you always sound like a seventeen year old girl."

Without even seeing, I could tell that he had smiled at this.

"Jade- should I call you by my name or just continue to call you Jade?"

"Jade is okay." I replied promptly. "Calling me Alex when you're Alex would just creep me out."

"Good point. We don't need any more creepiness than necessary."

"What the hell is going on anyway? I feel like I'm in a bad science-fiction film."

"Hey!" he replied defensively, an avid fan of sci-fi culture.

"I said bad." Trust me, I knew better than to insult his movie choices, especially this specific genre, in which he obviously felt strongly about.

"But seriously!" I said, attempting to divert the conversation's attention to something more relevant, as I often had to do. "What is going on? I'm seriously concerned. You wouldn't happen to know of any possible causes of this bizarre phenomenon, would you?"

He sighed with exasperation, then spoke, his voice dropping off at the end out of uncertainty.

"Not a clue."

Yeah, what good did that do us? I was trapped inside the body of my best friend and the best he could muster was a casual "Not a clue." Didn't he realize the repercussions of recent events? How would I go to school? How would I face my mom? Oh that's right, I wouldn't even be able to! How long would this last? Was it temporary or permanent? Did these questions even concern Alex at all??

"Listen Alex, I'm not in the mood. Now that I know what's up, I think it would be best if we went about our own business and started getting adjusted to our new lives. Enjoy your life."

I felt like a total asshole after uttering these words, but I guess that's what stress can do to you. I often felt like I had to take care of Alex, what with him having no mother himself and me being older and more mature. As if that weren't enough, recent events had just been dropped on me without warning. Without even asking if my shoulders could fathom the burden.

"Alex?"

Hopefully he was still there. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had hung up, though.

"I'm here." His response was clearly created to answer my unspoken question. He knew me too well, and no doubt had predicted the intent behind my saying his name.

"I'm sorry. We're both apprehensive because of what has happened, but that doesn't justify my words. If we're going to figure this out, it's going to take two. Forgive me?"

There wasn't even a pause.

"I forgive you."

"And count me in."

Hey reader! Thanks for reading my latest chapter in "The World Through Various Eyes"! If you enjoyed it, make sure to comment your thoughts about the book's plot so far, and your opinions on it in general. Also, if you think it deserves it, make sure to vote for it! Thanks again!

~DistantDreams (Claire)