Parallels | Dylan O'Brien

5 - The investigation

-Dylan O'Brien-

"I found it," I tell Posey when he finally wakes up. Tyler, Julia, Skyler and I all stayed the night at Lydia's house to make sure she was okay and because Julia and Skyler were way too drunk to drive home anyway. Posey rubs his eyes and shakes his head awake before sitting up to listen to what I found. "She's right, she is from another universe," I start as I show him my phone. There's this site I found about travelling to other universes and how to switch people back.
"Have you been awake all night?" Tyler asks, his voice a little hoarse.
"Yeah, I can't sleep without my pillow," I whisper before turning back to my screen. "This site and many others I checked, says the same people from different universes can be switched during a full moon. They're a complete other version of themselves with completely different lives, only their appearances and name are the same," I explain to him, not even caring if he's listening or not. When he responds, I know he is.
"So, this Lydia is actually not our Lydia?" Posey questions.
"No, she's a different Lydia. She just looks the exact same," I tell him, and he nods.
"So, how do we get them to switch back?" I take a deep breath before I answer my best friend's question. All of this is too crazy for words. And I thought Lydia was crazy last night.
"During a full moon," I start, and Posey looks up to me in disbelief, "We have to cast this spell on her," I show him the screen again where a Latin sentence is displayed.
"Do you even know how to pronounce that?" Posey asks me the important question. I sulk in a bit, getting discouraged by the second.
"Well, no," I reply when I hear a door shut. We both look up and see the girl in question standing near the door. I remember in high school Lydia used to take Latin, maybe she might in the other universe as well. "But she might," I point at her, earning a confused look.
"What?" she asks, tilting her head a little like a lost puppy. I get up from the sofa I sat on during the entirety of the night and walk towards her to show my phone.
"Do you know Latin?" I ask without any explanation.
"Vi veri universum vivus vici," she reads out loud, then looks up at me, "By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe," she translates like it's nothing. Posey and I both glance at each other in a surprised manner.
"What other languages can you speak?" Posey asks curiously.
"Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and I'm still polishing up my Greek," she sums up and for some reason I fall even more in love with her, if that was even possible. Although, everything feels a bit weird now that I know this isn't the Lydia I actually fell in love with. You see, my Lydia wouldn't so proudly sum up the languages she speaks. My Lydia pretends to suck for Justin's sake.
"Holy cow," Posey mumbles. Lydia steps away from me to take a better look at the both of us.
"What is that for?" she questions curiously. Her eyes are squinted as if she tries to find out what's going on without us telling her.
"You were right," I start, "you're not from here. I've been doing some research last night as I couldn't sleep, and I found what has happened and how we can undo it." She looks surprised yet intrigued by what we have to tell her now. "Last night was a full moon and somehow you and our Lydia switched places. Our Lydia is now in your universe whilst you are here, with us." Lydia nods at the obvious part of my story. She has this look in her eyes that says, "I told you so". But the words don't roll off her perfect lips.

"So, how do we get me back to my universe then?" she questions, putting her hands on her hips. I sigh deeply. Now comes the bad news.
"Next full moon we have to cast this spell on you. That way, we can switch you up with our Lydia again and everyone will be happy," it sounds way harsher than intended, but I can't take it back now. Lydia nods her head, trying to process what I just told her.
"When's the next full moon?" Posey asks and without hesitation, Lydia replies to that question.

"July 20th," Posey and I both give her a puzzled look. How does she even know that by heart? "What? I read," she informs us with a sassy look on her face. Well, at least now we know she's equally as sassy as our Lydia.
"But that's like in a month," Posey notices.
"Yeah, I know," I mumble, scratching the back of my head.
"We make the most of it," Lydia sighs as she plops down on the sofa between Tyler and Julia. She looks at the sleeping girl and then at the other one on the other couch. "Who are they? Is that your sister?" she questions, walking closer towards the blonde girl on the couch.
"Yes, that's her," she definitely knows them, "That's Skyler. Those are your best friends here," Lydia looks up at me with wide eyes.
"These are my best friends?" she asks, and I nod. She opens her mouth to say something, but then changes her mind as she thinks first. "You should probably inform me a bit more about this universe." That's not a bad idea. I nod, agreeing to it. They may be the same person, but they clearly live a completely different lie.