If you have the chance to be somebody in town, why not become someone famous? That is the very same question I asked Ron when he chose the night-shift librarian I shared Calculus classes with.
“He has a cute smile,” he said. Daniel does have a cute face after all. I sit across him and I get to see his soft pinkish cheeks and short shaggy black hair. Too bad, his face is often blocked by daily changing books. He loves reading and he prefers their company rather than talking to others. Nevertheless, he is pretty chill when he opens up to somebody. Especially for people who like books, like me. I never knew Ron was infatuated with him. I never saw the two talk to one another, let alone be in the same room.
Ron said Daniel’s entire name, surprised to hear him know his surname which is Carney. He slipped inside and then he was gone.
There in the mirror, I sat articulating my options. There is Boedy Hill, my supposed rival in town. He is Alex Hill’s grandson and got the same boxy head as his grandfather. I never really met the guy nor even know him. All I know is that his family is rich from their logging business and they live in their regal mountainside manor. People jousted that he should be my rival since our grandfathers are stark opponents to each other. I scoffed at their childish gambit. However, Boedy fell for it. The guy met me at Tiffany’s Milkshakes and said that he would fuck me up. He is handsome, sure. Muscular? Very. But getting fucked by him is a big no for me. I got his message but he never committed to it. He would send more threatening messages later and would sometimes brag about it on his social media as he beat me up. It was bad at first then everyone got tired of it, including me.
My thought trailed from the jock at the top, to the alcoholic homosexual who spread the ‘rival’ rumor in the first place - Dave Weldon. We are but a web to him and he is at the spider in the middle. One tug of intrigue and he is there to scoop the tea. He knows everybody and is known by everybody. The last instance of him appearing in my life is right now, on my phone. He retweeted a screenshot of Daniel Carney’s latest post of him with a selfie. The post says, ‘Thank the heavens, the local cutie grew the balls to take a selfie. Would hit him up, lol. No. Do not tell my boyfriend’. I know he has had boyfriends in the past but they never stay long. The longest one stayed for half a year before Dave moved on to a British twink who stayed for a year in town. I knew he had an interest in me in the past when he suddenly got too comfy around me. Thanks for the hugs but I do not want to form a committed relationship with someone who cannot commit.
Speaking of Dave, I remembered one of his previous boyfriends - Aaron O’Doherty. There are only three places where that bleached-haired buff guy stays. His house, the university, and the abandoned barracks by the cove. And the latter is where he stays the most. He turned the place into a rave dance club accessed only by the coolest teenagers around town. Freeside Cove, the place is called. I got inside at the behest of Dave Weldon while he still has his interests in me. The place is the heartbeat of music and lights. Colors filled the air and the ground thronged at the clamor of dancing intoxicated teenagers. Crowds, dances, and liquor are not my cup of tea but the conversation I had with Aaron made up for it. He is a pretty amazing guy knowing that he bounces between bartending and DJing, and he is skilled at both. He gave me a drink and called it liquid courage. I never said anything about my alcohol intolerance but one look at me and he knew. Small sips turned into shots. The world turned into a swirling whirlwind paint of colors. When he took a break and took the center stage, the beats he made lifted me from my seat and I danced like there is no tomorrow. Was it the drink or the beats that made me this way? I think it’s both. Dave and I danced till we passed out and we got kicked in the icebox - the backyard where bodyguards place passed out teenagers until they wake up. By then, I was wrought with a massive headache, I had a hickey on my chest and I was shirtless. Without Dave, I would never be able to enter the Freeside Cove again. But with this mirror, I could once I possess Aaron or someone cool enough to enter the place.
As I was thinking, I got a notification on my phone. It’s Daniel Carney, actually Ron, inviting me to a private server. This is where we can contact one another and send pictures of the body they possess. He already posted one, a picture that Dave shared earlier. He is smiling in the library, probably on his shift. Then on another channel called ‘NSFW’, he shared a picture of his dick. For a thin guy, he’s pretty hung. Not bad. Not bad.
Seeing that Ron is already enjoying his new body, I was giddier at experiencing someone else’s skin. Who did I pick?