You know that one kid at school, the one that is always silent, the one that is just weird in a way? That's Aleira. Aleira Robinson. The school's geeky misfit. Never in her life has she fit in. The one friend that she had dumped her for the "mean girls" of Sophmore year. But Aleira has a secret, nobody knew about this, and EVERYBODY at the school knew everything about her. Because of the news. Even if it did happen a long time ago, the fatal story spread like wildfire, and it still does. When Aleira was 9, she got in a car accident with her father, the towns infamous Gabriel Robinson. The scene was gruesome. Blood spattered everywhere, severe damage to the car, and a body flung off to the side of the road. That was him. They say that he was instantly killed from the pressure of the metal pole pushed up into and against the small car. Aleira you may ask? In the backseat, whimpering softly, waiting, crying for help, desperately. 5 minutes later police arrive, along with ambulances and fire trucks, and worst of all, her mother. Even with the crime scene tape up she burst through it dashing to her husbands aid, desperately holding onto him not wanting to let go. She swears she heard something. A soft cry, a plea for help. She looked down and realized what it was. The wounded father, grasping on to dear life with all his might. They quickly pull the mother away from the scene with all of their might because nobody knew, he was still alive. Aleira was fine, more stunned than hurt, thank god, but she was still badly injured. Both the bodies, not deceased, were rushed to the hospital where Gabriel was pronounced "dead". Aleira, in the other room next to her mother. It seemed time had stopped, but only Aleira had noticed this. She had blacked out with an unknown cause. She was okay and was able to go home a month later. Gabriel, still at the hospital, never to return. The funeral was that February on the 22nd. The year was 2042 and Aleira was still frustrated about the accident, she was still bullied. But something happened that night, it was strange and mysterious. Aleira could feel herself changing, shifting from one state to the other. She blacked out.
Misty opened her eyes, confused. She looked down at her ID and it read " Misty Cooper, 19, female". It had happened again. Aleira was no longer herself, she was Misty. The hot single that everybody was crushing on. Misty was of course older than Aleira, Aleira being 15 and Misty 19. Every night from 9:00-6:00am this would occur. It was getting annoying.
Misty sat outside of the building in her car, watching, waiting, listening. She finally gathered the courage to walk in to the party, the party of Daniel. Her frenemie. They have known each other since the second grade. Secrets, lies, anything and everything has happened between them. Some not always private. As Misty walked in, she was greeted by Addison, a caretaker of hers. Well, not so much.
"Come on! You're missing the party! You know what you were supposed to do tonight...with...Sam? C'mon he's waiting!". Misty was quickly pulled into the room alongside many other girls. Through the thin walls Misty could hear loud but muffled moaning. It was something every girl wanted to do, no regrets, everlasting love, but worst of all, mistakes. Many girls liked the temptations of the football players, bulky, impressive, fast. They needed a workout for their next big game anyway.
"I'm still not sure I want to do this Addi, my parents, my virginity, why? It must be great but I'm sorry I have to go..."
Sirens sounded, blasting throughout the town. Everyone knew what it meant. It was time. The "Foliating" was taking place and every teen, 13 to 19 had to rush to the town hall. The foliating is an event in which everybody had to take pills in order to stop the "feeling". The urge to disobey. Misty never took them, she loved and embraced the feeling of urge and the wanting. Yet, she still felt the need to obey the laws and respect others as the feeling pulsates throughout her body. She craved it.
Aleira woke up, in her bed, somehow. She checked her phone, nothing new, except a strange article. It wasn't about her surprisingly, but about something more strange. Shadows, peopleless shadows, roaming throughout the town, unheard but seen. More and more had been appearing and disappearing around town, it was like a sign, from who you may ask? Nobody knew. But someone out there did, they might not know, but it's somewhere deep inside them, hidden away in the deepest darkest part of them. Aleira thought nothing about it. She just got dressed, usual routine. Brushing your teeth, washing your face, taking a shower, getting dressed, breakfast. It was the same everyday. That too was getting annoying. Everybody wore the same thing everyday, the girls, pink white and blue blouses along with black skirts, the boys, white and black dress shirts with ties and longer slacks. Nobody noticed though, but Aleira did. Everything was boring to her. When she was in "the other world" she could feel excitement and pressure as well as freedom. It was like, a different universe approaching her every night within her dreams, but it was real.
People roamed the halls everyday at school, having the urge to skip class. Every time an even worse punishment would occur, eventually leading up to "transforming". Both of these worlds were strange and very similar in the same way, but nobody knew about them but Aleira, at least that's what she thought. As Aleira walked through the halls, she could feel her long, curly hair flowing down her back, but not for long. Every year the community would have this ceremony. It was like a birthday but for everyone on the same day. Aleira along with everybody else in Sophmore year was turning 16, the day everything would change. Girls would get their hair pinned up in buns, going straight towards the back. The boys, nothing would happen. It's like the community favored this certain gender for some very odd reason. Nobody knew why. This was overlooked for the people in their society weren't very skeptical or observant, but Aleira was. She could remember everything she saw, she analyzed it, and put it at the back of her mind for another day. It was amazing nobody had caught this by now. But Aleira had hidden it so well. She has since she was 9, on that fateful day after the car accident. Aleira didn't question it, she just went along. She felt powerless anyway because she was bullied for her action and looks, although they all looked the same. She wanted to know more, about her past, and possibly her future...
