"Why the fuck do I sound like a girl?" Craig stated in a high pitched, feminine voice.
Close by, Thomas continued to stare at his friend, his drink-addled brain unable to come to terms with what he was hearing and barely seeing. After a couple seconds, as his brain finally caught up, he managed to whisper out, "Dude. You're a girl."
Craig wanted to snap out, "No duh," as he became aware of the way his clothes, which now where too big for him, brushed against he body. Instead, he stared at Thomas, who stared back him and after a minute or so, each glanced in the direction of the girl's body, thinking nearly the same thing. To their immediate surprise when they finally saw what happened to her, they both stared at the empty clothes before finally Craig whispered, "What the heck?! She's indecent somewhere," as Thomas slurred out, "She disappeared, but somehow managed to turn you into her."
At first, Craig wasn't able to comprehend what his friend had said. But then, as he understood that at some point his words choice had changed, he glanced at Thomas and stated, "That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard."
Thomas, who continued to stare at the spot the girl had been, didn't say anything at first. Trying hard to come up with a way to point out that, because they had caused her death, one of them surely had been punished to assume the girl's life, he never got a chance as, from behind him, the voice of Ryan demanded, "What the fuck is going on? Jake won't shut-up and you two are up here, fucking around," then trailed off as he realised that the person sitting on the ground wasn't Craig.
Flummoxed, too drunk to understand why it was there was a girl wearing Craig's clothes, Ryan stared for a moment as Thomas opened and closed his mouth a number of times. From where he sat on the grass, Craig suddenly found himself in a mental tug-o-war as his mind insisted that he was 13, was 16, was a girl, was a guy, was inappropriately attired, was wearing what he usually wore, that these two were his friends, that they were complete strangers. Before he could resolve anything, Ryan's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts as he declared, "What in fuck's name is going on?! Where's Craig? And why is this girl wearing his clothes? He's not naked somewhere, is he?"
It was Thomas who finally answered with the explanation, "We killed her," he pointed at the clothes, then at Craig and proclaimed, "And as punishment, Craig became her."
On the ground, Craig once again snapped, "That's the most idiotic thing I have heard," then added, "That any of us has heard. There has to be a logical reason for what happened. People just do not turn into other people whenever they have an accident. And besides, if such a thing were possible, don't you think it would have happened to you instead of me? After all. You were driving."
"It's your car,"Thomas said lamely.
Unable to believe the girl was truly gone, that his friend had somehow become her, Ryan stepped closer and, after a moment, leaned down, and nearly fell over in the process. Feeling the clothes lying on the grass, he stopped when he felt something cold and metallic. Picking up the necklace by the chain, he stared at it blankly, before finally something clicked. Glancing over at Craig, he slurred out, "Hey, dude. Dudette. Whatever. Wasn't this the cheap costume thingy you found earlier?"
"Yeah," Craig said quietly. "I was holding it when I..." and trailing off, he peered into the dark at Ryan for a couple seconds before finishing with, "...holding it when I reached down to check her pulse," and suddenly feeling like it made more sense than Thomas' explanation, he nearly shouted, "Hey. I bet that was the thing that changed me into Sara Chambers."
A shake of his head and as Thomas exclaimed, "That makes even less sense," as Ryan demanded, "Who the fuck is Sara Chambers?"
Unsure who to respond to first, Craig sighed out, "I'm Sara Chambers. Or, I mean, she was Sara Chambers. Somehow, I don't know how, I can recall things only she knew," then added, "And it makes more sense that the amulet somehow changed me," before stubbornly spitting out, "If you don't believe me, why we try an experiment. Touch it to, my, Sara's, dress."
"I don't want to be no girl," Thomas sulkily responded and knowing he had his friend cornered, Craig inquired, "Do you think I want to be a girl?" even as his mind insisted that he was one and that he wanted to be so, then, before the drunken fool could respond, quickly asked, "Are you're willing to concede that the necklace somehow turned me into Sara?"
A derisive laugh, followed by, "No way," from Ryan, whilst from Thomas, Craig could hear, "Well, maybe."
Unable to believe what he had heard, Ryan glared from the girl on the ground to Thomas, then back. After a moment, she shifted in place, almost fell over again, and demanded, "Well, if this cheap piece of shit costume jewellery can do as you say, then make it change you back," and tossing the amulet at his friend, he waited.
Before he could pick it up, Thomas slurred out, "Um, dude. I, like, had a thought," then, taking a deep breath, he said, "So, like, what if the thing could, but it couldn't change back. It's like some punishment dealer. Or some kind of timer keeps from over use."
Disturbed by such a notion, Craig reached tentatively for the amulet. As he did this, Ryan snarled, "That's so fucking stupid. If such a thing could do as Craig said, then why would it need a wait time or what the shit ever? Why wouldn't it be able to revert whatever it had changed, or some stupid dipshit crap like that?"
Unable to answer his friend's question, his brain once again sinking back into the haze of drunkenness as the connections he made became more and more foreign to him, Thomas blinked owlishly at his friend. From where he was on the ground, the tug-o-war in his mind getting worse as more and more of Sara's memories and experiences crowded out his life as a guy, Craig wondered what he had to do. After a moment, he thought, "Please let it work," he touched to his bare skin, touched it to his clothes, touched it to both, tried rubbing it, licking it, and finally slapping it.
When it became clear that it wasn't going to change him back, he heaved a sigh and stared down dejectedly at the necklace. Upon seeing this, Ryan cried, "I told you," to which all Craig could think was, "You're a mean drunk, mister," as he whispered, "Maybe I am not doing something correctly," as he felt a rush of emotions wash over him and knew that he was close to crying.
Neither Thomas or Ryan, both of whom Craig saw more as two strange older boys who stank of beer than his friends, said anything to this. After a moment, Ryan flopped down on the grass and stared at the girl wearing Craig's clothes. After a moment, he said, "Thomas was right. We killed her and this is our punishment. Um, your punishment. You're to be this girl and live out her life and stuff. Be her. Do whatever girls do. Some shit like that."
"Will you please stop swearing," Craig declared before he could stop himself and feeling like he was losing himself to Sara, whom he suddenly knew had an issue with what she viewed as crude language, he sighed, "How do you figure it to be my punishment. Thomas was driving."
A nasty look crossed Ryan's face, which none could see, and he waspishly snapped, "Because it's your car."
A sensation that like he was about to be boxed in, Craig struggled for a moment to come up with a retort. Fidgeting with the amulet, wishing he knew how to make it work, he was taken by surprise when a voice close and behind him stated, "I think Thomas is right."