3 WS
A/N: Just a reminder of who's in who's body:
Will - Cornelia - Taranee - Hay Lin - Irma - Will
Disclaimer: I do NOT own W.I.T.C.H.
Taranee frowned nervously. She had no idea what she was doing. She didn't know how to be Hay Lin or anything like that. Sometimes she even had a little trouble being herself, so how the heck was she supposed to be someone else? Taranee had always admired Hay Lin's carefree, bubbly, and happy spirit, but admiring and being we're two different things. She wasn't exactly sure how Hay Lin could even be so cheery all the time.
That's because it's a secret, a voice in her mind giggled.
Hay Lin? Taranee thought asked. She would know that giggle anywhere.
And Cornelia, Cornelia thought pitched in. What am I? Chopped liver?
Hmmmmm... So I guess we have our normal voices, while talking through our minds, Taranee thought observed. Interesting.
Yeah, I'm surprised Corny got the hang of your telepathic powers so quickly, Hay Lin thought stated.
Hey! Cornelia thought exclaimed sort of offended. It's not that hard broadcasting your guys' thoughts... Sort of.
Hey, Cornelia, Taranee asked telepathically. Do you think you can patch Irma and Will into our telepathic link?
Silence.
Sorry, Taranee, Cornelia thought apologized. I can't reach them. Maybe I just need more practice or something.
It's okay, Taranee thought replied.
"Okay class, for bell work today get out a piece of paper and draw something," the art teacher said from the front of the classroom. "Maybe it's something that happened over the weekend or a pet or your house or whatever. Just let your imagination flow and draw."
Taranee frowned. What to draw. What to draw, she thought contemplating. Normally she would draw a really badly drawn house or something, but now that she was in Hay Lin's body, everything changed. Hay Lin was really good at drawing, so the teacher would notice that if all of a sudden, she was bad at drawing. Something that happened over the weekend? Switching bodies, the park, switching bodies, Friday, switching bodies. Nah. Taranee couldn't really draw parks, what happened on Friday, or especially, switching bodies. How would you even draw switching bodies with your best friends and fellow guardians?
"What about a cat?" Hay Lin suggested out loud across from Taranee. "Everyone can draw a cat."
"That's a good idea, Ha-Irma. Hmmmmmm," Taranee said, unconsciously reaching for her glasses before realizing that she didn't need or have glasses while in Hay Lin's body. I actually sort of miss my glasses, she thought before starting to sketch her cat.
Cornelia leaned over from next to Taranee and glanced at her picture. Luckily for Cornelia, Taranee always kept back up glasses in her backpack in case her first glasses broke, got lost, or she forgot them, so now Cornelia could actually see stuff. "I guess not everyone can draw a cat. It sort of looks like an angry shark with ears," she commented, earning a glare from Taranee. Maybe giving her glasses was a bad idea, Taranee thought mumbled.
Hay Lin leaned over to look at the drawing, too. "Well, it sort of looks like a cat from this angle," she said, trying to be optimistic about it. "I mean I can see the ears, the eyes, the whiskers," she said, pointing to each corresponding thing in the picture.
"Those aren't whiskers," Taranee corrected unamused, pointing to what Hay Lin had called the whiskers. "Those 'whiskers' are its tail!"
"Oh," Hay Lin said a little sheepishly. "I see it now. Hehe, sorry."
"So now class, for the rest of the period, you'll be working on your paintings," the teacher announced. "By the way, they're due this week, so get them done!"
Suddenly, a lot of the students got up and rushed over around the room to get their stuff before everyone else.
Cornelia was about to get up to get Taranee's painting when Taranee gently grabbed her wrist. We like to wait until everyone else has gone, Taranee thought to her fellow guardian and friend. That way we won't get trampled by everyone.
Yeah, remember that incident last week? Hay Lin thought, chuckling a little bit at the memory. I'm pretty sure Irma will remember that for a while.
After most people were pretty much seated with what they needed, Taranee and Hay Lin went to go get their stuff while Cornelia waited at the table, seeing as she didn't know where anything was.
"Let's see... Paintbrushes, check. Paints, check. Palettes, check, paintings, check," Hay Lin listed off, arranging the items near the sink. "Hey, that's spacious. All of the items start with P's... Hmmmmmm... What else do we need?" She looked over to Taranee to see her glancing at something past her. "What are you looking at Taranee?" she asked curiously, turning around to see Nigel at their table with an arm around Cornelia's shoulders. He was laughing and talking to a very red faced 'Taranee', who looked very awkward and confused at what he was saying. "Ah, I see. It's Nigel, isn't it?"
"Uh, what?" Taranee questioned, snapping her attention back to Hay Lin. She had been so distracted by Nigel and his shaggy light brown hair and warm brown eyes that she hadn't realized that Hay Lin was talking to her.
"Are you staring at him?" Hay Lin inquired, grabbing the paintbrushes, palettes, and paints off the counter as Taranee grabbed the paintings. "Because it's really obvious."
"Oh, I was just wondering what they were talking about," Taranee replied, glancing at Cornelia and Nigel from the corner of her eye. "And I can't contact Cornelia via mind," she added in a whisper, cautious of the other students around them.
"So you're worried," Hay Lin concluded as the two of them started to head back to their table. "Even though you shouldn't be. I'm sure Taranee's got everything under control," she said with a wink. "By the way, do you thi-"
"Hay Lin!" the teacher interrupted, rushing over to the two with a huge grin. Hay Lin was about to open her mouth to answer, but closed it after remembering that Taranee was in her body.
"Uh, yes?" Taranee asked, nervously gripping the paintings.
"It's been decided! You've been chosen to represent Sheffield at the art contest Wednesday!" the teacher squealed out excitedly.
"What!?" Taranee inquired shocked. An art contest!? She thought panicked. Why art!?
"Yes! And there's two parts to it! A drawing section and painting section, so be prepared!" the teacher exclaimed.
"D-Drawing and p-painting!?" Taranee replied, looking down in her hands at her bad painting of a dragon. It looked more like a giant red squiggly line. I can't paint or draw! She thought. But Hay Lin can! She can just draw something for the contest.
"That's so exciting!" Hay Lin said, grinning from ear to ear. She was totally going to make something perfect for the contest. In fact, she already had some ideas. "I'm sure Hay Lin will have something fantastic to whip up by then."
"What? No, dear, you don't bring your finished artworks to the contest. You have to draw and paint them on site," the teacher explained. "You know, to make sure no one's cheating or anything."
It was like Hay Lin's excitement shattered all of a sudden. "What!?" she asked, starting to sweat. "You have to draw on site?"
"Yep, and guess what? LeeLee Quinonez will be there! She'll be inspecting for fresh new artists to give free private lessons to!" the teacher added, practically jumping up and down from the excitement.
"LeeLee Quinonez!?" Hay Lin said shocked.
"Yeah, so do your best, Hay Lin!" the teacher said, looking at Taranee. "Because Sheffield will be counting on you!" The art teacher then walked away.
"Who's LeeLee Quinonez?" Taranee asked, turning to Hay Lin.
Hay Lin looked at Taranee with her mouth agape in shock. "Just about the best artist ever! In fact, she's your favorite artist!"
"Oh, so having free private lessons from her would be really cool, right?" Taranee questioned, really nervous and worried. What if she couldn't win the contest? What if people noticed her horrible art skills? Could that possibly blow her cover?
"Having free private lessons from her would be the most spacious thing ever!" Hay Lin answered. "We just need to figure out one thing."
"And what's that?" Taranee inquired, already knowing the answer.
"How to make you the best artist you can be," Hay Lin responded with an optimistic grin.
Even though she could feel the pressure of not messing the art thing up, Taranee couldn't help but smile a little at one of her best friend's cheeriness. But seriously, why does this have to happen? She thought wondered.
Cornelia felt confused as she walked down the halls of Sheffield Institute to her... Errrr, Taranee's second period. She also felt puzzled. And even more confused. What had Nigel been talking about earlier at art? She thought wondered to herself. Had it been what I think it was? Oh my gosh! What if they did do it? Cornelia gasped as she thought about her earlier conversation with Nigel. I don't believe it!
(Flashback)
"Hi, Taranee," Nigel said, smiling as he walked over towards the table Cornelia was sitting at. "What's up?"
"Not much," Cornelia shrugged as Nigel took a seat next to her. Yeah, not much unless you count switching bodies as something big, she added as an afterthought.
"Yeah, same here," he replied. "So Cobalt Blue has a concert tomorrow, and I was wondering if you guys would like to maybe come."
"Um, sure that sounds great," Cornelia answered, becoming a little nervous. "I'll tell the girls later."
"Cool," Nigel said, smiling.
Awkward silence.
"So how'd you like Friday?" Nigel questioned, breaking the silence.
Cornelia looked at him confused. "Friday?" she asked puzzled at what he could possibly be talking about. "What happened on Friday?"
"Um, our date," Nigel answered, giving Cornelia an odd look. Oh yeah, I think I remember Taranee mentioning that, she thought.
"Uh, right, it was fun," Cornelia responded, nervously flipping her now single braid over her shoulder. Would Taranee have done that? She thought trying to remember a time that Taranee had flipped her hair.
"Yeah it was!" Nigel agreed, laughing and wrapping an arm around Cornelia's shoulders. Cornelia just sat there awkwardly. "You couldn't stop making so much noise! I'm surprised nobody found us."
Cornelia blushed. Did he just reference to what I think he just referenced to? She thought.
"You know, I'm also really surprised that you've never done that before," Nigel continued, smiling. "I mean, wow... You were just awesome at it! You were definitely the best!"
"Uhhhhh," Cornelia replied, sort of shocked and speechless. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! She thought flabbergasted as she could feel the heat rise to her cheeks.
"I remember how at first you were really nervous and worried about it," Nigel reminisced. "But eventually you did overcome that, which I'm very proud of. Aren't you glad you tried something new?"
Cornelia nodded ever so slightly as the info started to sink in. I can't believe Taranee did that! She thought.
"And it was an amazing first time!" Nigel added, still smiling. "We should definitely do it again sometime."
Cornelia was speechless as she glanced at Taranee who was talking to the teacher with Hay Lin. Then, a smile appeared on her face as she thought, Taranee, Taranee, Taranee, you bad girl.
(End of Flashback)
"Can you believe that slut?" a voice said full of disgust, pulling Cornelia out of LaLa Land.
"I know right," another voice said. Cornelia looked over to see two girls she didn't know at their lockers. I wonder who they're talking about? She thought to herself.
"I mean who does she think she is screwing with other people's boyfriends?" The first girl said, taking books out of her locker and putting them into her backpack. They're probably talking about some stupid cheerleader, Cornelia thought figured, continuing to walk past them.
"Well, what'd ya expect?" The second girl asked nastily. "That's Cornelia Hale for you."
Cornelia immediately stopped in her tracks and turned around. Did they just say, Cornelia Hale!? She asked herself shocked and a little angered.
"I mean she made out with one of her best friend's boyfriends, while her best friend was right there!" the first girl continued. "What kind of best friend is she!? A horrible one, that's what."
"And to think that she already has a boyfriend!" the second girl said, shutting her locker. "What a cheating whore!"
If I'm going to be trapped in Taranee's body, I might as well use it to gain some info about this, Cornelia thought as she cautiously walked over to the two girls as they were shutting their lockers. "Um, excuse me," she started, getting the girls' attention. "Uh, what were you saying about Cornelia Hale?"
"Besides the fact that she's a cheating slut?" the first girl questioned.
Cornelia clenched her jaw, trying her best not to punch this person in the face. "Yes."
"Hey, aren't you one of her best friends and her boyfriend's little sister?" the second girl asked, looking at her more closely.
"Uh, yes, I'm Taranee," Cornelia replied. That felt wierd, she thought.
"Well, I hate to break it to you Taranee, but your best friend has cheated on your brother."
"What are you talking about?" Cornelia questioned, getting impatient.
The two girls looked at each other; then back at Cornelia. "Didn't you hear? Cornelia Hale made out with Matt Olsen in their first period math class."
Cornelia's jaw dropped. I made out with Matt? She thought flabbergasted. No, wait, who's in my body again? Oh right, Will. Wait, now it makes sense. She clenched her fists as the realization hit her. Will made out with Matt in my body!? My body!? And now my life is ruined! Steam practically came out of Cornelia's ears as she stomped to her next class. Will is so going to pay for this!
Hay Lin was happy. Sure, she was in her best friend's body, but it could've been a lot worse. For instance, she could've ended up switching bodies with Uriah, the school bully, which would've been more horrible than anything she could've imagined. Hay Lin shivered at the idea, but quickly recovered as she kept up her steady jogging pace. Right now, she was running laps along with the rest of the class as a warm-up for gym, which just so happened to be her new second period.
"Hey, Cupcake," a slightly nasally voice bellowed out from behind her.
Even without turning around, Hay Lin knew who it was right off the bat. She glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, hey, Martin," she smiled as he started to jog beside her.
"So how's it going, Sugarplum?" Martin asked, adjusting his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.
"Uh, good," Hay Lin said, smiling and sweating. I guess even in Irma's body, I'm still among the slowest runners, she thought as looked over to the majority of the class, who were a good half a lap ahead of them. "You?"
"A lot better now that you're here," Martin replied with a cheesy grin on his face. "Definitely a lot bet-"
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Uriah interrupted with a cocky grin while running up alongside Hay Lin. Hay Lin immediately started jogging a lot closer to Martin. Oh no, she thought nervous and a little scared. It's Uriah.
"It looks like Dork One and Dork Two," Kurt, a fellow member of Uriah's gang, answered with a smirk while coming up alongside Martin.
"Yeah, seriously, geek alert!" Clubber, another member of Uriah's gang, pitched in while coming up behind them. Great, Hay Lin thought sarcastically. We're trapped.
"Hey!" Martin exclaimed. "Leave us alone!"
Uriah laughed. "Did you hear that fellas? 'Leave us alone!'" he mimicked as Kurt and Clubber started cracking up, too.
"G-Guys, c-c'mon, seriously," Hay Lin stuttered. She wasn't sure why she was stuttering. If she was really Irma, she wouldn't be stuttering. She would be more confident and not let Uriah pick on Martin and her.
Uriah threw his head back and laughed, making Hay Lin flush in embarrassment. "Wow, I guess it's just nerd love," he laughed, tripping Martin. Martin fell face first into the dirt as Clubber jumped over him to avoid tripping himself. Hay Lin stopped running and ran over to help Martin up.
"C'mon guys, let's just leave these two lovebirds alone," Uriah said as he and his gang kept on running and laughing. "We wouldn't want their dorkness to rub off on us."
"Wow, those guys are real jerks," Martin commented as soon as Uriah's gang was out of earshot.
"No kidding," Hay Lin replied, picking Martin's glasses off the ground as Martin dusted himself off. She then handed him his glasses.
Martin smiled. "Thanks, Sugarplum," he said, putting his now dusty glasses back on. His face then turned serious. "You know, sometimes I just wish that those guys could be taught a lesson. Maybe get a taste of their own medicine."
Hay Lin hesitated. Normally, she would say that doing that would make them just as bad as Uriah, but as soon as she saw him trip and shove a few kids ahead of them, she just sort of snapped. Enough was enough. "I wish Uriah would just run into a wall," Hay Lin mumbled. Run into a wall, she thought. Run into a wall. Run into a wall.
Martin's gasp of astonishment broke her out of her thoughts. "What is Uriah doing?" he asked.
Hay Lin looked over to where Martin (along with the rest of the class) was looking at and gasped herself. It was none other than Uriah running into the side of the school building over and over again. He would run into the brick wall, then run back about ten feet away from the wall, and then slam into the wall all over again. His nose was already red with blood from continuously slamming his face into the wall, and Hay Lin feared that it would get even worse if he didn't stop.
"Uriah!" Kurt yelled, grabbing Uriah's left arm to try and stop him from running into the wall again. "Stop, man! What are you doing!?"
"Are you going crazy or something!?" Clubber questioned, grabbing Uriah's other arm.
Uriah wasn't listening. He was too busy thrashing around and struggling against his friends' hold on him. It was like he had to keep driving his face into the wall or else he would die. And the rest of the students weren't much help. They just stood there, watching the whole thing like it was a movie or something. And the teacher didn't do much either. She just stood there, gawking at the events that were unfolding.
Hay Lin paled as a wave of guilt washed over her. Irma's mind control powers! She thought a little panicked. I must've accidentally mind-controlled him to run into the wall! She looked over to Uriah and saw him still freaking out. Stop. Stop. Stop!
Suddenly, Uriah stopped moving. He turned around and looked Hay Lin right in the eyes before he passed out in his friends' arms.
"Take him to the nurse," the teacher said to Clubber and Kurt after snapping out of her trance. "He looks really badly injured."
"Okay," Kurt replied before Clubber and he carried Uriah to the nurse's room.
As soon as they left and the teacher left to go phone the school nurse, everyone started talking about what just happened.
"I knew Uriah was crazy, but not this crazy," Martin commented, shaking his head in sadness. Even though Uriah bullies him a lot, it doesn't mean that Martin wants him to get hurt badly.
"Yeah," Hay Lin agreed quietly as a new wave of guilt washed over her. What have I done!? She thought.
"But you know, it was almost like he was under a trance or something," Martin stated, rubbing his chin in thought. "Because hurting himself by wall doesn't sound like Uriah at all."
Hay Lin cringed. "Yeah, a trance," she mumbled, thinking about Uriah's bloody nose. I can't believe I just did that! She thought sadly and guiltily. I just hurt Uriah!
Thanks to storyLover58 for reviewing! Thanks for reading!