The Switch [COMPLETED]

Chapter 34

Paisley Monroe:

Mackenzie Eldridge was officially the bane of my existence. 

Ever since she had outed me in that stupid article, me and Asher's lives had become even MORE complicated, if such a thing was even possible. 

The only minor bright spot in the whole situation was that someone from my family had finally reached out to me after making good on their word to pretty much disown me for the past couple of months. That bright spot was dulled, however, by the fact that the family member who reached out was Ashley - and she was less than thrilled about the news that her kid sister was supposedly living out her wildest dream of dating megastar Asher Halen. 

She wasn't the only one who was angered by the news. 

Every day, my inbox became flooded with thousands of messages from fans of Ten Minutes to Midnight. Some were actually pretty sweet. Most were not. Eventually, I just deactivated all of my social medias all together. That still didn't stop the onslaught of negativity that cascaded into my life, however. People would find a way. 

I mostly felt bad because when we went out, the hate wasn't even really being directed at ME, per se. It was directed towards Asher, who was still very much stuck in my body. 

I saw the dirty looks and unkind words muttered under the breaths of girls who thought that I wasn't looking when we walked by together, and I saw the way Asher's eyebrows would pull together in annoyance even though he would simply hold his head higher and ignore the cruelty. When I WAS looking, however, the fans were as sweet as could be, complimenting Asher on the outfit he was wearing and telling him how pretty he was. 

Bunch of snakes, the lot of them. 

I would be lying if I said that their words didn't hurt. I had never been the subject of such negative attention before, and every day was a constant struggle to remain positive. But I managed. Because no matter how badly I was secretly hurting, I could see that Asher was hurting even more. 

Every time he looked at me I saw the haunted expression in his eyes. He was suddenly treating me like I was made of glass. The teasing was gone - the jokes were gone - all that was left was anxiety and guilt. 

I knew that every time he looked at me he didn't see ME. He saw Maddison, regardless of what body I happened to be stuck in at the moment. He was reliving his worst nightmare, and I was determined to show him that this time was different. I was not Maddison. And these jealous witches weren't going to break me...at least, I hoped they weren't. 

I DID wish I could have a chance to get back at Mackenzie though for her bogus "tip" to the magazine. We were FAR from best friends, and she was literally the last person on the planet that I would ever want to hang out with. I was fairly certain that Asher felt the same way, especially given the fact that he was currently the subject of lady-hate BECAUSE of Mackenzie. 

Much to my surprise, I actually got my chance a few days after the release of the article. 

"Hey," Asher said dully, walking into my room with his head hung low and looking at me hesitantly from underneath his lashes. 

"Would you STOP that?" I groaned, rolling my eyes and throwing a pillow at him with a smile. "I'm FINE - how many times do I have to tell you that?"

Asher caught the pillow and smiled slowly back at me.

"I know. You keep saying that, but...man, this seriously sucks so bad. I never wanted this to happen. Are you REALLY fine?"

"Really fine," I assured him, pushing the truth into the very back of my mind. Sticks and stones. "Now, what do you want?"

"I have some bad news," he sighed.

I looked at him warily from underneath my curls, anticipating the worst.

"Lenny is on his way in here," he continued. "He thinks it would be a good idea - what with all the new publicity surrounding your...reveal - that we do a free concert at your high school. He thinks it would make Ten Minutes to Midnight seem more 'relatable' and 'down to earth.'" He paused to roll his eyes. "I know the truth, though. He just wants to milk this newfound publicity angle for all its worth. You're nothing more than a piece of meat to him. A rich, juicy, new piece of meat that's going to make him thousands," he spat bitterly. 

"Gee, thanks," I said grimly, attempting to lighten Asher's mood with a sarcastic smile. 

It worked, barely. Asher returned a small smile before sighing and coming to sit down on the edge of my bed. 

"You can tell him no, you know," he stated, looking at me seriously. "The guys all understand - I already talked to them about it. We don't need any more publicity than we already have. Lenny can shove it up his fat butt if he's upset."

I giggled a little at Asher's inappropriate words before wrinkling my nose in thought. I didn't really want to do a concert at my old school. I didn't really want to do anymore concerts, period. I was getting much, MUCH better at impersonating Asher on stage, but the rockstar life really wasn't for me. Every performance was anxiety-inducing and exhausting, and I was always relieved when the night came to an end. Luckily, the boys' tour was almost over. What that meant for me and Asher, I still had no idea...

On the other hand, the thought of being able to confront Mackenzie WAS tempting. Especially since I was currently in control of her idol's body. 

My lips curled up in a wicked grin as I thought of all of the fun I could have as Asher Halen. The look on Mackenzie's face as she was being told off by her dream guy would be priceless...

"Uh...Paisley?"

I was snapped back to reality by Asher, who was looking at me curiously. 

"You alright there? You hardcore zoned out for like a solid three minutes."

I shook my head and blinked, clearing the image of Mackenzie's horrified face from my mind. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," I assured him, smiling brightly. "I'll do it," I stated, earning a shocked look from Asher. 

"You want to do it?" he asked incredulously, inspecting me as if I had perhaps come down with some sort of awful virus that made me delusional. 

"Yes, I want to do it," I stated more firmly. "I'm sick of Mackenzie and her lies, and I'm tired of being walked all over by her. She quite literally changed both of our lives forever with that stupid article, and I'm not going to let her get away with it."

Asher was beginning to smile, slowly at first but growing larger by the second. 

"I like your spunk, kid," he finally said, reaching up and ruffling my hair. 

I pushed his hand away and rolled my eyes before jumping off the bed and reaching for my sweatshirt. 

"Now, let's go find Lenny," I said, motioning for Asher to follow me out the door. "This piece of meat is ready to offer herself to the wolves."