Nervous wasn't nearly enough to describe how Sebastian felt as he stood in front of Sam's door with his sister. He felt like the curtain was about to rise, and he was standing on stage - without even knowing which play he was supposed to perform. The feeling wasn't helped by his outfit, which felt more like a costume than actual clothing.
But he had to give credit where it was due – Maru had outdone herself. To be honest, he had never really noticed that she was interested in anything other than her robots. But watching her work with a makeup brush, he had to admit – she wielded it almost as skillfully as a screwdriver. It surprised him, given that he rarely saw her all dressed up either. Then again, he had never really paid attention.
Now, however, both of them stood in front of Sam's door, dolled up and - at least visually - ready to party. And if he looked at his sister, she seemed unusually excited for the evening. She playfully pinched his arm.
"Come on, pull yourself together. You're Charlotte now. What, almost a week? You just need to get through this night, and then I'll keep working on a solution. You're young, you're smart, and - if I may say so - you look insanely hot." Maru grinned. "You can decide for yourself how much of that is just the body swap."
Sebastian sighed and glanced down at himself again. When he still made no move to open the door, Maru took the initiative. It wasn't locked, and they could already feel the pounding bass beneath their feet before they even stepped inside.
The first thing Sebastian saw when he entered the room was his own, utterly shocked face. If he weren't so nervous, he probably would have laughed.
Charlotte clearly hadn't expected that Maru had jumped at the chance to finally have a sister to get ready with. Just the time it had taken to find an outfit! The top combination had been buried in one of Charlotte's moving boxes - ones Sebastian had initially refused to touch. But Maru had decided that Charlotte had simply not yet had the chance to unpack her non-work clothes. After all, there weren't many occasions in Pelican Town to wear something like that.
Maru had tried to convince him to pair it with a short leather skirt she found in the same box, along with a pair of high heels - but Sebastian had firmly refused. That particular box of party clothes had felt like peeking into the life of a completely different person.
At first, he wasn't even sure they belonged to Charlotte. So many short skirts, dresses, glitter, leather… If he hadn't already thought Charlotte was attractive before this whole mess, the mental image of her past self, dressed up for a night out, sealed the deal. She was stunning.
At the same time, the thought of anyone else at Sam's party realizing the same thing sent a queasy feeling through his stomach.
When he told Maru he was just going to wear one of his own pairs of pants, she called him an idiot - until she saw the result. The dark gray fabric hung low and effortlessly on his - Charlotte's - hips, fitting surprisingly well. Since Charlotte was a good 10 centimeters shorter than him, he had to roll up the hems, but otherwise, it worked. "Boyfriend style," Maru had noted, raising an eyebrow knowingly as she caught Sebastian staring at himself a little too long in the mirror, wondering how Charlotte might look in the rest of his clothes.
"Charlotte, hi!"
Sam had already rushed over to greet his newest guest but seemed to remind himself not to be too eager. He pulled Maru into a warm hug first before stretching out an arm with forced nonchalance to pull Sebastian into his embrace.
"Happy Birthday!" Sebastian tried to make the hug warm but not too close, barely holding back a laugh when he swore he noticed Sam subtly sniffing him.
What an idiot. What a lovable idiot.
"What can I get you to drink?" Sam asked, excitement flashing in his eyes. His best friend had reminded Sebastian of a golden retriever more than once–but in this moment, the resemblance was downright undeniable. All that was missing was for him to start panting, for God's sake.
"Cuba Libre," Sebastian replied, caught off guard by such a simple question he hadn't prepared for at all. Drinking was probably not a great idea –but then again, Charlotte had never explicitly warned him against it. She had only ever told him not to smoke, and since he had stuck to that, surely it was fine to indulge a little.
Sam nodded. "Coming right up! Ah –Maru, what can I get you?" he asked, and Maru raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that Sam had almost forgotten about her again.
"I'll just help myself, thanks," she replied, making her way to the buffet, where an assortment of bottles was lined up. Once Sam had also walked off to get Sebastian his drink, Sebastian found himself standing a little aimlessly in the room. Normally, he'd go straight to Abby –but judging by her irritated expression, she wouldn't be too thrilled about Charlotte's company. There was no way he was going to Charlotte, either –not after what had happened with Shane. He had no desire to fuel even more rumors.
So, he waited. For better times or just for Sam to return with his drink, he wasn't sure.
Charlotte spent the next few hours actively trying to avoid Abigail –and for the most part, she succeeded, either by taking way too long in the bathroom or by clinging to Sam so persistently that Abigail eventually seemed to lose interest. Maybe it was even enough to make her ditch her plan altogether –Charlotte couldn't imagine wanting to sleep with a guy who barely paid attention to her.
Then again, she kept catching herself looking for Alex.
He hovered between the dance floor –currently occupied only by Emily and Marnie –and Haley, sipping from a glass of water. But much to Charlotte's satisfaction, his gaze kept drifting to Sebastian. Or rather, Charlotte's body. It was obvious that he was looking for an opportunity to talk to her –but for some reason, Sebastian was engaged in conversation with Penny instead.
Maybe she felt like the safest person to talk to without blowing his cover. And honestly, he was probably right.
But then Penny left the party much earlier than expected –giving Alex his opening.
"Get home safe," Sebastian murmured as he gave Penny a brief hug goodbye. She had been the only person at the party who seemed just as out of place as he felt, so he had tried to pass the time with her.
And to his surprise, Penny was a lot funnier than he had expected. Her humor was sharp, intelligent –maybe she spent a bit too much time in her book world, as evidenced by the number of literary quotes she casually dropped – but he couldn't deny that she was a great conversationalist, once she felt safe.
Which made him all the more disappointed when she finally said her goodbyes. Parties weren't really her thing. Besides, Sebastian had noticed - or at least imagined - that she kept sneaking glances at the birthday boy himself. She even smiled whenever Sam did something ridiculous. But the fact that Sam only ever came over to check on Charlotte – or rather, Sebastian in her body, ever the gentleman –seemed to make Penny retreat into silence. Of course, Sebastian didn't bring it up. But he was pretty damn sure something was going on.
"Can I give you a compliment?"
Alex's voice pulled him back to reality as he dropped onto the couch beside Sebastian, his gaze drifting from the messy curls down to his shoes. Sebastian was sure that if Charlotte were in his place, she'd be blushing. And the fact that he thought of that irritated him, especially with that weird sensation bubbling in his stomach again.
"Sure," Sebastian replied, bracing himself for some cliché pickup line.
"You're beautiful," Alex said.
Sebastian blinked at him, caught off guard.
Alex's tone was sincere, his smile subtle – but his gaze locked directly onto Sebastian's. And if anyone were to look deep enough to see that it was actually Sebastian sitting there and not Charlotte, it would've been Alex. That's how piercing his stare was.
But he just kept smiling, clearly waiting for a response.
And when Sebastian's cheeks flushed at the sheer awkwardness of the situation, Alex seemed to take it as an answer.
His grin deepened, and he casually draped his arm over the back of the couch, making Sebastian shift closer to him involuntarily.
"Thanks," Sebastian muttered, wishing he had more than just his second Cuba Libre in his system.
Though, judging by how strong Sam had mixed it, or maybe just how little tolerance Charlotte had, two drinks were already enough to make his tongue feel a little heavy.
What was Alex even drinking? Gin and tonic? Water? Weird guy.
"You know, I really enjoyed our run the other day," Alex said smoothly. "We should do that again sometime."
Sebastian's eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape. Who exactly could get him out of this? That's when he realized – Charlotte wasn't there.
Throughout the night, he had caught glimpses of her chatting with Sam –but now she had been missing for a while.
Watching himself from the outside was like witnessing a car crash –or following a gripping game. He couldn't not watch. And yet, it felt wrong.
Then, he noticed Abigail walking toward Sam's bedroom door. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then slipped inside –where the light was still on. And for the briefest moment, Sebastian thought he saw Charlotte sitting at Sam's desk. But then Abigail pulled the door shut behind her.
Charlotte took a deep breath in and out as she sank onto Sam's desk chair. This evening was overwhelming her. It was too loud, too many people around her – which normally wouldn't have bothered her if she were actually herself –and yet, she couldn't think about anything other than Sebastian and what he might be saying to people who thought they were talking to her.
She had slipped into Sam's room, grateful for a few moments of quiet. But those moments were abruptly interrupted when the door swung open –just as quickly as it was shut again.
"Found you!" Abigail announced excitedly as she strode toward Charlotte, who quickly stood up, ready to make her way back to the door.
She had to prevent Abigail from seeing this as an invitation to resume her plans for the night.
But apparently, it was already too late.
Abigail stepped in front of her, placing her hands on Charlotte's chest. She looked up at her.
"Abigail... this isn't a good idea," Charlotte sighed.
Something flickered in Abigail's eyes.
"Abigail?" she giggled. "Sounds kinda… hot when you say my name like that."
This was a no-win situation.
Abigail was blocking Charlotte's way out – sure, she could shove her aside, but she wasn't about to do that. So, she decided to handle this another way.
"Abigail, we need to talk." Charlotte tried to sound as confident as possible, and for a split second, she almost felt guilty when she saw Abigail's expression falter.
"Oh, okay," Abigail replied.
Charlotte scratched the back of her head, then sat down on the edge of Sam's bed. She patted the spot beside her.
When Abigail sat down next to her, Charlotte suddenly didn't know where to begin. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say –only that she didn't want to hurt Abigail unnecessarily… but also didn't want to put Sebastian in an awkward position. After all, she had no idea how he really felt about his best friend.
"Abigail, you're important to me," Charlotte said, feeling like a traitor.
She was sure Abigail was important to Sebastian, too. But when Abigail's eyes sparkled, Charlotte knew she had just sent the wrong signal.
"And you have no idea how important you are to me!" Abigail beamed before suddenly swinging herself onto Charlotte's lap.
"No, please, let me finish," Charlotte pleaded. Abigail pouted playfully.
"Abigail, you're my best friend, and I don't want to ruin that," Charlotte tried again.
Abigail didn't want to hear what "Sebastian" had to say. She brushed a strand of hair from Charlotte's face and giggled.
"Something this beautiful can't ruin anything," she whispered before leaning in without warning.
Charlotte lost her balance, catching herself with one arm on the bed, leaving them both in a half-sitting, half-lying position. Instinctively, she had held onto Abigail to keep her from falling off the bed.
But Abigail took that as an invitation to go all in. Her lips met Charlotte's, her fingers tangling in dark strands of hair, and her body pressed tightly against the one beneath her.
Charlotte froze. She was so overwhelmed that she didn't even notice the room's door opening – only the loud, angry bang as it was slammed shut again.