Oh my gods, I'm so sorry it's been so long since an update on this story! I've just been helping my friend with this Harry Potter-fic of hers (she's got this story she wanted to write, but she needed help having it done in English... :)
Anyways, check out the chapter, lads...:
***
MARCO: THE SOLUTION
"Jordan?"
"Yeah?"
"If you were able to do magic... Like, for example, swap to people's minds, to make it really, really amusing - who would you swap?"
She looked at me in the funniest way. "What?" she finally said.
"Well," I said earnestly, turning in the couch, "think about it. Two people in the world who would really HATE to be each other, who's that?"
"If I could swap to minds?" Jordan repeated. "Like, give them each other's minds?"
"Yeah."
"I'd swap you and me, then I could make your body shut up while I'm doing my homework."
I sighed. "Oh ha ha, Jordan, very funny. You're the funniest sister a girl could ask for."
I got out of the couch and moved into the kitchen. It was all driving me nuts. I was Rachel. I was walking around in her house, having her sisters and her mother believing I was their female relative. I had a woman's body and had forced myself - in the respect of Rachel's reputation - to put on a girl's perfume in the morning.
Tomorrow night was our deadline. The Drode would come, and if we didn't have any swaps he'd appreciate he would let me stay as Rachel forever, most likely, and leave the rectless lunatic in charge of my gorgeously handsome one.
"Rachel?" Naomi cried from the bathroom.
It took me a moment to answer. It's not too easy, adapting to being called by a girl's name. "Yeah?" I finally yelled back.
"I was wondering if you could help me with something," she said as she came out from the bathroom.
I sat down by the kitchen table. "Uhm... sure," I hesitated. Help her with what? If it was doing her hair like on prom night or something, I would definitely refuse. Come to think of it, anything slightly girlish would be out of the question. In the last hours I had turned way too feminine to even discuss.
Naomi sat down across from me. "I need your opinion on a case..." she began.
"A case?" I said, surprised. I didn't believe a successful lawyer like Rachel's mother would be asking her daughter for advice on a case. But then again, maybe Rachel was good with law and stuff.
(Not that I believed that for a second, Rachel would probably solve a lawsuit by morphing into an elephant and attacking the jury members.)
"It's a matter of moral, really," Naomi went on.
Oh, well. That makes Rachel all the better of a choice, doesn't it. Brilliance.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Well, I've been told to represent this man," Naomi began, "he's been sued by his uncle. The uncle says his nephew's been imitating him."
"Imitating him?" I repeated. "How d'you mean?"
"Well, the man - the nephew - I'm attorney for, he says he's such a big fan of his uncle he'll do anything to be just like him."
"Oh really."
Who would wanna be like their uncle? Hm. Maybe it's a really cool uncle.
"The problem is, the uncle doesn't like his nephew imitating him. He says his nephew isn't trying to be LIKE him, he says he's trying to BE him. As in turning into his own uncle. Like he's become obsessed with it or something, I don't know."
"So he's practically turned into his own uncle?" I asked.
"Yes, pretty much," Naomi sighed. "Anyways, now the uncle has sued him to get his personality to himself again, so to say. The nephew doesn't care, though. He says he's got every right to try and be like his uncle, and he says he doesn't wanna become who he used to be."
"Who did he use to be?" I asked, curiously.
"A loser, some say," Naomi smiled. "Or, at least in his own opinion. It's a really weird situation, you know? He's so, I don't know, SMALL, compared to his successful and powerful uncle. He's like a messenger boy for his uncle, doing everything he says and admiring him, but all the same he wants to BE him. That's why he's done what he's done, and now the uncle has realised it and wants the nephew to knock it off. It's quite complicated."
"Yeah, and insane," I added. "So what's the problem?"
"I mean, is it morally correct of me to defend this uncle?" Naomi asked. "I just wanna hear your opinion, because I feel sort of sorry for the nephew. He's just trying to be like his rolemodel. The problem is, the rolemodel hates it." She smiled. "What do you think?"
I thought about it for a second. I felt there was something familiar about what she was talking about. "Uhm... I think there IS a moral dilemma here," I finally replied, finally thinking clear. Had I really found a solution? It was possible...!
"I think the nephew should be allowed to be like his uncle," I concluded to Naomi. "That's my opinion, mom. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call Jake about something..." I got up and meant for the stairs to my room.
"Jake?" Naomi said, turning at me. "I didn't know you used to call him in the evenings, is there something special going on?"
"Er... yeah," I smiled, "but nothing big. Actually, I think I found a solution to it."
* * *
He picked up the phone at the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Yeah, hi, this is... oh yes, uhm, Rachel. Is Jake there?"
"Sure, cousin, I'll get him."
I heard Tom put away the phone as he went off to fetch Jake.
"Hello?" he finally said.
"Yeah, hi, it's Rach," I said.
"Oh. Hey, Rachel. What's up?"
"It's about our project work tomorrow," I replied. "You know, the one we agreed to meet at Cassie's and do tomorrow evening...?"
"How could I forget," Jake muttered. "What about it?"
"Well, I haven't got... all of the information, you know, so I was wondering if you could help me out?"
He hesitated. "Sure. What do you wanna know?"
"Well, I think I've found a possible good... angle. Mom inspired me," I added, smiling to myself. "But I need to know we're... allowed to use it, you know? So, I was wondering... Oh god, how should I put this..."
"Just tell me what the problem is," Jake said, I could hear he was nervous. He understood perfectly well what I was talking about, and he understood there was a difficulty in explaining my situation.
"Well," I said, trying once more. "If the angle we've chosen is a really, REALLY good one, and it... well, it meets the criterons, you might say... perfectly, at that. Would our teacher be able to object? I mean, there are certain rules, aren't there, and even he has to follow them... So if we found an angle that's just PERFECT, would he then have to go along with it, even if it wasn't to his personal liking?"
Jake was quite for a moment. I could tell he was thinking it over, trying to make sense of all the nonsense I'd been blabbering. Finally, he spoke: "Uhm... Yeah. I think so. If we give him a really great angle, something unexpecting I bet, too, that will be a really amusing... angle. Yeah, he'd have to go along with it, he's got those rules, yeah. School rules. Has to follow 'em. He said that. Just make sure the angle's brilliant, and he'll do it. Why, have you got a great angle...?"
"Yeah," I said eagerly. "Yeah, I do. It's brilliant. Our teacher's going to hate it, but he can't object to it, because of the school rules and all. He'll have to go through with it, am I right?"
"Yeah. Yeah. If he finds it good, although he doesn't personally like it, he'll have to go along with it. That's what he said.
"Great!" I beamed, and got off the phone.
I'd solved it. I had really solved it!
My discussion with Jake had turned out as I'd wanted it to: He'd understood my question. If the potential swap we offered was a good one, ironic, funny, insane, something like that, the Drode would have to go along with it, even if it was to be something he didn't personally like. These were the rules he'd given Jake, he had to follow them. He and Crayak are all about rules.
I jumped around in Rachel's room for a bit, dreaming about getting back into my own body. Then I stopped in front of her body-length mirror and caught myself smiling with her face for the first time.
"Hey, Rachel," I said to the mirror. "How's it going? You're hot, you know that?"
She - I - nodded back at me. "Yeah," I said. "Yeah. But don't ever tell Marco that, or he'll go crazy. Or, well, the one inside Marco will go crazy, rather. Marco already knows, but he doesn't tell Rachel. Although it's actually Rachel standing here right now, telling her reflection these exact words."
I paused for a second. Was I going insane?
Yep, I thought. I was.
But who cared? I had solved it!
And tomorrow evening I would meet up with my friends by Cassie's barn, and we would get a visit from the Drode. Rachel and I would swap our bodies back, and the Drode would get his new swap...
It was perfect.
***
There we are! Reviews, please?
Anyways, check out the chapter, lads...:
***
MARCO: THE SOLUTION
"Jordan?"
"Yeah?"
"If you were able to do magic... Like, for example, swap to people's minds, to make it really, really amusing - who would you swap?"
She looked at me in the funniest way. "What?" she finally said.
"Well," I said earnestly, turning in the couch, "think about it. Two people in the world who would really HATE to be each other, who's that?"
"If I could swap to minds?" Jordan repeated. "Like, give them each other's minds?"
"Yeah."
"I'd swap you and me, then I could make your body shut up while I'm doing my homework."
I sighed. "Oh ha ha, Jordan, very funny. You're the funniest sister a girl could ask for."
I got out of the couch and moved into the kitchen. It was all driving me nuts. I was Rachel. I was walking around in her house, having her sisters and her mother believing I was their female relative. I had a woman's body and had forced myself - in the respect of Rachel's reputation - to put on a girl's perfume in the morning.
Tomorrow night was our deadline. The Drode would come, and if we didn't have any swaps he'd appreciate he would let me stay as Rachel forever, most likely, and leave the rectless lunatic in charge of my gorgeously handsome one.
"Rachel?" Naomi cried from the bathroom.
It took me a moment to answer. It's not too easy, adapting to being called by a girl's name. "Yeah?" I finally yelled back.
"I was wondering if you could help me with something," she said as she came out from the bathroom.
I sat down by the kitchen table. "Uhm... sure," I hesitated. Help her with what? If it was doing her hair like on prom night or something, I would definitely refuse. Come to think of it, anything slightly girlish would be out of the question. In the last hours I had turned way too feminine to even discuss.
Naomi sat down across from me. "I need your opinion on a case..." she began.
"A case?" I said, surprised. I didn't believe a successful lawyer like Rachel's mother would be asking her daughter for advice on a case. But then again, maybe Rachel was good with law and stuff.
(Not that I believed that for a second, Rachel would probably solve a lawsuit by morphing into an elephant and attacking the jury members.)
"It's a matter of moral, really," Naomi went on.
Oh, well. That makes Rachel all the better of a choice, doesn't it. Brilliance.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Well, I've been told to represent this man," Naomi began, "he's been sued by his uncle. The uncle says his nephew's been imitating him."
"Imitating him?" I repeated. "How d'you mean?"
"Well, the man - the nephew - I'm attorney for, he says he's such a big fan of his uncle he'll do anything to be just like him."
"Oh really."
Who would wanna be like their uncle? Hm. Maybe it's a really cool uncle.
"The problem is, the uncle doesn't like his nephew imitating him. He says his nephew isn't trying to be LIKE him, he says he's trying to BE him. As in turning into his own uncle. Like he's become obsessed with it or something, I don't know."
"So he's practically turned into his own uncle?" I asked.
"Yes, pretty much," Naomi sighed. "Anyways, now the uncle has sued him to get his personality to himself again, so to say. The nephew doesn't care, though. He says he's got every right to try and be like his uncle, and he says he doesn't wanna become who he used to be."
"Who did he use to be?" I asked, curiously.
"A loser, some say," Naomi smiled. "Or, at least in his own opinion. It's a really weird situation, you know? He's so, I don't know, SMALL, compared to his successful and powerful uncle. He's like a messenger boy for his uncle, doing everything he says and admiring him, but all the same he wants to BE him. That's why he's done what he's done, and now the uncle has realised it and wants the nephew to knock it off. It's quite complicated."
"Yeah, and insane," I added. "So what's the problem?"
"I mean, is it morally correct of me to defend this uncle?" Naomi asked. "I just wanna hear your opinion, because I feel sort of sorry for the nephew. He's just trying to be like his rolemodel. The problem is, the rolemodel hates it." She smiled. "What do you think?"
I thought about it for a second. I felt there was something familiar about what she was talking about. "Uhm... I think there IS a moral dilemma here," I finally replied, finally thinking clear. Had I really found a solution? It was possible...!
"I think the nephew should be allowed to be like his uncle," I concluded to Naomi. "That's my opinion, mom. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call Jake about something..." I got up and meant for the stairs to my room.
"Jake?" Naomi said, turning at me. "I didn't know you used to call him in the evenings, is there something special going on?"
"Er... yeah," I smiled, "but nothing big. Actually, I think I found a solution to it."
* * *
He picked up the phone at the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Yeah, hi, this is... oh yes, uhm, Rachel. Is Jake there?"
"Sure, cousin, I'll get him."
I heard Tom put away the phone as he went off to fetch Jake.
"Hello?" he finally said.
"Yeah, hi, it's Rach," I said.
"Oh. Hey, Rachel. What's up?"
"It's about our project work tomorrow," I replied. "You know, the one we agreed to meet at Cassie's and do tomorrow evening...?"
"How could I forget," Jake muttered. "What about it?"
"Well, I haven't got... all of the information, you know, so I was wondering if you could help me out?"
He hesitated. "Sure. What do you wanna know?"
"Well, I think I've found a possible good... angle. Mom inspired me," I added, smiling to myself. "But I need to know we're... allowed to use it, you know? So, I was wondering... Oh god, how should I put this..."
"Just tell me what the problem is," Jake said, I could hear he was nervous. He understood perfectly well what I was talking about, and he understood there was a difficulty in explaining my situation.
"Well," I said, trying once more. "If the angle we've chosen is a really, REALLY good one, and it... well, it meets the criterons, you might say... perfectly, at that. Would our teacher be able to object? I mean, there are certain rules, aren't there, and even he has to follow them... So if we found an angle that's just PERFECT, would he then have to go along with it, even if it wasn't to his personal liking?"
Jake was quite for a moment. I could tell he was thinking it over, trying to make sense of all the nonsense I'd been blabbering. Finally, he spoke: "Uhm... Yeah. I think so. If we give him a really great angle, something unexpecting I bet, too, that will be a really amusing... angle. Yeah, he'd have to go along with it, he's got those rules, yeah. School rules. Has to follow 'em. He said that. Just make sure the angle's brilliant, and he'll do it. Why, have you got a great angle...?"
"Yeah," I said eagerly. "Yeah, I do. It's brilliant. Our teacher's going to hate it, but he can't object to it, because of the school rules and all. He'll have to go through with it, am I right?"
"Yeah. Yeah. If he finds it good, although he doesn't personally like it, he'll have to go along with it. That's what he said.
"Great!" I beamed, and got off the phone.
I'd solved it. I had really solved it!
My discussion with Jake had turned out as I'd wanted it to: He'd understood my question. If the potential swap we offered was a good one, ironic, funny, insane, something like that, the Drode would have to go along with it, even if it was to be something he didn't personally like. These were the rules he'd given Jake, he had to follow them. He and Crayak are all about rules.
I jumped around in Rachel's room for a bit, dreaming about getting back into my own body. Then I stopped in front of her body-length mirror and caught myself smiling with her face for the first time.
"Hey, Rachel," I said to the mirror. "How's it going? You're hot, you know that?"
She - I - nodded back at me. "Yeah," I said. "Yeah. But don't ever tell Marco that, or he'll go crazy. Or, well, the one inside Marco will go crazy, rather. Marco already knows, but he doesn't tell Rachel. Although it's actually Rachel standing here right now, telling her reflection these exact words."
I paused for a second. Was I going insane?
Yep, I thought. I was.
But who cared? I had solved it!
And tomorrow evening I would meet up with my friends by Cassie's barn, and we would get a visit from the Drode. Rachel and I would swap our bodies back, and the Drode would get his new swap...
It was perfect.
***
There we are! Reviews, please?
