The Switch [COMPLETED]

Chapter 16

Asher Halen:

I looked around at my surroundings, looking for any sort of bus stop or cab station or anything even remotely helpful to get me to downtown Phoenix. It was SUPER inconvenient that Ashley had been forced to drive me to school. Having a car would be a lifesaver right about now. 

Unfortunately, there was nothing in the area except the school, a gas station / mini mart combo, and a couple little rural neighborhoods. It would seem that this town wasn't too keen on public transportation. 

I began to get frustrated as I twiddled Paisley's phone in my hands. It wasn't like I could just call my driver to come pick me up - not as Paisley. He would think it was some sort of prank call and hang up immediately. 

I glanced behind me and around the corner to where several cars were lined up neatly in the student parking lot. Maybe Paisley had a friend whose car I could borrow? 

I thought of the dismal conversations in her messages folder and quickly nixed that idea. Even if Paisley DID have friends, I had literally nothing to identify them with - no pictures, messages, or even names. I couldn't very well walk around the school asking random people if we were friends. That would be humiliating. Although...it technically wouldn't be ME who would be embarrassed...

I considered my bizarre idea for a few moments, but my decision was made for me when I heard a bell chiming from the school building. Dang it. Class had started already. It was too late to interrogate people, now. 

With a heavy sigh, I rummaged through Paisley's backpack once more until I found what I was looking for: a brown leather wallet with the monogram "PEM" embroidered onto it. I vaguely wondered what the "E" stood for while I unzipped the main pocket and began rifling through the contents. 

There were a couple of old receipts and some coupons for a frozen yogurt place tucked in amongst various old candy wrappers and bits of scrap paper. Ah. So THIS was where she kept her trash horde. Somehow seeing the unorganized mess of garbage made me feel a whole lot better about Paisley. Maybe she was human after all. 

Finally, after searching through a few more compartments, I found what I was looking for: a small wad of cash and a debit card. 

I was incredibly relieved that Paisley had a smartphone with internet and data capabilities, because it only took me a few minutes to tap into the school's wifi and download the Uber app. About twenty minutes later, I was in the backseat of a Honda Accord driven by a middle-aged man named Rick who apparently had two kids, three dogs, and a cat named Steve. It was hard to tell which creature he talked about more on the 45 minute drive into Phoenix, but when he finally dropped me off in front of the TV station and drove away, I was certain that I never wanted to hear anything else about babies, dogs, or Steve ever again.  

Just as I had predicted, there was already a small crowd formed outside of the TV station when I arrived even though the interview wasn't set to start for another hour or so. Groups of teenaged girls stood squealing and giggling, holding handmade signs professing their love for me and the band. I walked through the crowd with a strange feeling that was almost akin to having an out-of-body experience. I had never been able to mingle this closely with my fans before without being mauled or screamed at. Here, in Paisley's body, I was just another fan. 

"Do you think he's in there?!" one girl squealed, clutching a picture of the band tightly to her chest. "Oh, my gosh, I'm like...twenty-five feet away from Asher Halen."

She said my name the way a man stranded on a desert island might say "water." I couldn't quite hide the conceited smirk that crawled over my face as I heard the whispers of devotion coming from almost every girl in the crowd. It was so cool to be loved by people who didn't even know me.