Max:
Max woke up abruptly to the chirp of an annoyingly shrill alarm. Max groaned. She never set an alarm. Maybe Chloe or something pranked her.
She reached out with her hand to grab her phone on the nightstand. Maybe she set the alarm on it.
Gravity didn't seem to like her plan. She felt herself be pulled down off the bed. She let out a high pitched grunt as she felt her body smack the floor.
Max rolled over to her side and winced in pain. She had fallen right on her chest.
She opened her eyes. "Carpet?" she whispered in confusion.
Did she stay the night somewhere? On a school day?
"Fuck," she whispered. "School. Ugh."
She sat up. The blanket she wore was now annoyingly wrapped around her legs. She had to have have spent the night somewhere.
If she did spend the night somewhere, then where? Chloe would have come with her too, but she isn't here either.
She finally untangled her legs from the hot blanket. Immediately she was mortified by the hair.
"Oh my Dog!"
Max stared in shock at her legs. Light tussels of brown hair descended down. Her skin too was different. It was not the pale atrocity she was used to. Her skin was more fair now. Like she actually got a decent tan.
Max was freaking out. She grabbed her chest.
It was flat, more than usual. But this was flat flat. Tennis court flat. Like a guy flat.
There was only one way to find out. She looked down at her groin. Slowly, she lowered a hand.
Please. No.
Max squeezed her eyes shut.
Yep, she felt her face flush from sheer embarrassment. That's a penis.
She shivered in disgust. Not that she was against peni, but she never thought she would have one.
Is this a dream? It had to be a dream
Knock knock knock!
"Warren! Get up!"
Max jumped and let out a horribly feminine squeak. Who's Warren? Is that the guy's body she's in?
She heard a sigh from outside the door. "You were supposed to make breakfast this morning, but I'll let it slide because you were studying all night. I have to go to work."
"Uh, have a good day!" she shouted at the door. At least her voice wasn't too manly. If she is a dude. It was definitely boyish, but just enough to make it less freaky than it was.
"You too. Don't be late for school!"
"School?" she muttered.
She stood and waddled awkwardly to the unfamiar window beside her bed. Looking out, she gasped.
She did not see Seattle. She saw what looks like a small town.
"Wowser," she whispered. Who knew her imagination was so vivid.
Max jumped when she heard a phone go off beside the bed. Carefully, she grabbed the phone.
"Alyssa?" she muttered.
She wasn't going to answer the call, but her curiosity got the better of her. She pressed her finger to the "answer" option.
"Hello?"
"Hey sleepyhead. Hurry up and come outside. We'll walk to Blackhell together."
"Uh, yeah, okay."
"I can tell you barely slept," she chuckled. "Hurry up!"
Max hung up and sighed. Guess she better hurry. She walked over to the closet and stopped.
"Oh no…" she whispers. "I have to pee."
To say Max was confused throughout the rest of the morning is an understatement. She had to keep reminding herself that she was a boy. Somehow, she had to make it through this bizarre dream. Apparently, this one chubby girl and chubby guy were her friends. They were pretty nice, even though they assumed she knew where she was going.
Why was everyone calling her Warren?
Oh well, this dream had one positive thing about it: it looked like she were in a small town. It wasn't that Max disliked Seattle. It was a hubub of artistic expression and coffee after all. But Max always desired to live in a small town. There was a certain charm in it. Plus, there were plenty more animals to take photographs of.
After a selfie, the girl, Alyssa, asked if she wanted to go to a café. Max had found a wallet in her pocket. There was a card she found. If this were a dream she would be okay to spend money right?
"Sure that sounds amazeballs," she smiled.
Alyssa raised an eyebrow but she didn't say anything.
A block later, the trio stumbled upon a large stone school. The campus surrounding it looked like it suited a college rather than a high school. This Warren guy(?) was in high school right?
The rest of the dream passed by in waves of confusion. She had to ask Daniel repeatedly where her classes were, she ran into unrecognizable people who apparently knew this "Warren" person. She learned about the astronomical events of Twilight Hour. She also learned that apparently she was in a town called Arcadia Bay, and that a festival was taking place in just one month.
Max was interested in this festival, but hopefully she wouldn't make it. Right? She wasn't staying in this "Warren's" body forever right?
After an eternity, it seemed like school officially ended. Her "friends" rejoined her and led her back to a café. She spent the next several minutes eating delicious food and listening to Alyssa and Daniel talk. It was great. She still felt guilty spending so much money. Her friends gave her strange looks, but she ignored them.
Suddenly, the phone in her pocket went off. Max jumped and painfully hit her knees on the table before pulling out the phone.
"I'm late for work?" she muttered.
"Oh shit! You're late?"
Her "friends" were more stressed than she was about this. She didn't remember getting a job. Then again, she also doesn't remember being in a guy's body either. What the hell is going on?
"Um," she muttered. "Where exactly do I work?"
It had taken forever, but she finally managed to find "Warren's" apartment, get changed, and go to this restraunt that Daniel and Alyssa swore she worked.
Max stared in disbelief at the uniform before she put it on. Apparently in this dream, she worked as a waiter.
Jeez, she thinks, this is one crazy dream. Hella long too.
She bites her lip. It had to be a dream, right? Yet it all felt so real. Every touch, every sight and every smell just felt so real. Her brain must be working overdrive to deal with all of this.
Still, a part of her enjoyed being away from Seattle. She enjoyed the small town and actually liked some of the people here. She just wasn't sure why everyone was calling her "Warren".
When she finally arrived at the French restraunt, she got shit from the manager. Max thought the manager was a little mean, but she supposed she would be angry too if an employee of hers was almost a half an hour late to their job.
Max struggled throughout the night. Who knew waitressing was so hard. She messed up on orders, some of the customers were rude, and she couldn't remember what table had what.
To her relief, her manager didn't chew her out. Instead, she just quietly asked her to do better and to focus. That helped, but Max continued to be flustered throughout the night. It didn't help when a customer tried to scam the restraunt into giving them free food. She will forever be grateful to Brooke, her tireless manager, for taking that one. Even if it is a dream.
After what seemed like eternity, the last of the customers had gone. She was directed to sweep the floor. Finally, a task she could do without running the risk of angering or disappointing someone. At least hopefully.
"You didn't too bad tonight," Brooke said simply. Max could tell she was just being kind. She appreciated it all the same. "But still, I expect better from you tomorrow, alright Warren?"
"Yes, ma'am," she nodded. After all Brooke had done for her tonight, it was the least she could do to be polite.
Brooke raised an eyebrow. "You seem much more polite today. Are you on some sort of new medication today or something?" she joked.
"Uh, no. You've just been… really helpful."
"It's no problem," she shrugged. "Some guys can be real assholes. Ever run into one of them just grab me. You made the right call."
"Thanks," she smiled. She was so tired. She went back to quietly sweeping.
"Son of a bitch!" Brooke complained loudly.
Max turned on her heel. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Brooke sighed. "It's just my apron." Brooke turned to face Max. Indeed, her apron had been torn in a sizable way.
"It sucks. I'm going to have to order a new one. Which means more money out of my paycheck, plus it'll take a week to get here."
Oh, this was a chance. This was an opportunity to pay Brooke back for being so good to her tonight. "I can fix that."
"You can?" Brooke narrowed her eyes curiously.
"Yeah, come with me."
"Okay?" Brooke hesitated, but she relented when Max gently took the girl by the wrist and led her to the office.
"Do you have a needle and some thread?" she asked the manager.
Recognition flashed in Brooke's eyes. "I think there's a needle in the drawer right there, and there might be an old spool somewhere. Luckily, (Author's Note: I'm lazy.) there was indeed a spool and needle in the drawer in the desk. Max went to work. She was slowed down slightly by her now longer fingers, but after a few minutes, she had Brooke's apron repaired, and even added a little butterfly to the end of the seam.
"Wow, Warren. Where did you learn how to do this?" Brooke examined her work with a small smile.
"My mom. She's kind of a freak with this stuff."
Brooke hopped off the table she was sitting on. She undid her ponytail and let her hair fall down her shoulders. Max couldn't help but admire it. She wished her hair looked that good.
"I have to say Warren, I'm surprised. I never thought you had such a feminine side. I have to say I like that."
Max smiled while standing up. "Thank you. Anytime you need help you can call me."
Brooke nodded and matched Max's grin. "I might need some help shopping. We can see just how in touch you are with that feminine side then."
"I'm not the best at shopping," Max admitted, "but I can try."
"Awesome. I'll text you when. Go ahead and clock out. I'll see you tomorrow, Warren."
Max was never more happy to go to a stranger's home. The second she went home, she stripped off the work uniform, and pulled on the same clothes she was wearing in the morning (whilst avoiding looking at her… member…). The second her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.