The next day, Sebastian felt… lighthearted. He watered the crops on the farm, fed the chicks - and kept catching himself failing to suppress a grin. He felt like a complete idiot. One moment of holding hands on the beach, and he was acting like a firework in a match factory. But no matter how often he scolded himself, his smile kept coming back.
He had always found Charlotte attractive. But after last night, he felt connected to her beyond the body swap.
Opening the door to the chicken coop, he was pleased to see the two chicks running straight to him. He knelt down before scattering some feed on the ground. Watching them eagerly peck away, he wondered when they'd start laying eggs. They were getting bigger - but still far from fully grown. He'd suggest to Charlotte that they get more chicks if she wanted fresh eggs in the winter. Charlotte...
Quickly, he straightened up and replaced the hay. He spent a few more minutes with the little feathered balls before stepping back outside.
The warm sunlight touched his skin, and he could feel the energy it filled him with.
Was that some kind of superpower from Charlotte's body? Or would his own be capable of the same if he didn't spend half the summer holed up in his room, shut off from the world by thick, cool basement walls?
That was exactly where he planned to go later. Robin would be at one of Caroline's fitness classes, so she wouldn't notice if he snuck back in.
Charlotte had told him there weren't any urgent jobs at the moment, but he wanted to check for himself. Besides, the longer he avoided dealing with his future, the further away his life in Zuzu City would drift.
He still needed an apartment, for example. Originally, his plan had been to start viewings in the fall - but so far, he hadn't received a single response to his listing, and every ad he had inquired about was already offline, or the landlord just never got back to him.
He sighed, letting his gaze wander over the farm. The tall, golden wheat fields, the shimmering pond, the wildflowers buzzing with bees.
He used to avoid this place, seeing it as the embodiment of everything he hated about Pelican Town. But now, he recognized that it was simply another version of what he wanted for himself. His own little kingdom, free of restrictions. Except that this wasn't his kingdom. It was Charlotte's. Charlotte…What was wrong with him?
Charlotte's skin burned. Her face, her arms, her neck - everything was red and tender.
Of course, she had applied sunscreen before heading to the beach yesterday - and had even reapplied it after a while - but apparently, that hadn't been enough.
No wonder Sebastian avoided the sun like a vampire. The moment she noticed the skin on her neck starting to peel, she seriously wondered if he was one.
She would have loved to stay in the pleasantly cool basement - this summer felt even hotter than usual. But it wasn't the summer that had changed. It was her body that wasn't used to these temperatures.
In the end, the urge to check on her farm won out over the reluctance to step back into the sun.
Arriving at the farm, she spotted Sebastian sitting barefoot by her pond, his face tilted toward the sky like a sunflower. Unconsciously, she smiled and walked over to him. When she leaned over his face, blocking the sun's rays, he blinked in confusion.
"Hi!" she called before straightening up again.
"Don't mind me, I'm just stopping by the coop real quick and then heading inside. Your… body is definitely not built for summer."
Half excited, half surprised, but absolutely grateful, Charlotte realized that Sebastian had already taken care of everything. The plants, the chicks - if she was seeing it correctly, he had even cleared away the branches that the storm had knocked down. Not that she had expected him not to do the things she had asked. But he seemed to have done even more than what had crossed her mind.
"Well, you're handling a few jobs for me too," Sebastian had just said with a shrug, and Charlotte had shaken her head as she headed toward her house. Normally, she would have loved to sit down next to him by the pond, but she wasn't about to put her irritated skin through that.
Instead, she followed the cobblestone path across the farm and noticed that the little red flag on her mailbox was raised. Mail? "Haven't you emptied the mailbox yet?" Charlotte called over her shoulder.
Sebastian looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "I actually did first thing this morning - but there was only a Joja Mart flyer in there."
"Hm... weird. Must have arrived while you weren't outside," Charlotte called out as she walked over to the mailbox, ready to pull out more junk mail.
She didn't notice that Sebastian had gotten up and was also approaching.
She opened the mailbox flap and almost missed the small white note inside. But then she spotted it and pulled it out.
She didn't immediately recognize the handwriting. It was a little crooked, but not ugly. The letters had definitely been scribbled down in a hurry - and Charlotte couldn't help but grin as she read the message.
Sebastian watched the way her eyes lit up—and felt a knot form in his stomach when he read it, too.
"Meet me at 7 at the Stardrop – A."
"You've got to be kidding me…," Sebastian muttered, briefly hoping that Charlotte found this just as ridiculous as he did.
Since when was Alex the type to write little notes? And secretly drop them into mailboxes, no less? But then, for just a second, he saw that telltale smile on her face and… was she blushing?
That had to be a joke. Why did guys like Alex always get everything?
He didn't even have to give Charlotte the slightest bit of attention - and yet, she was into him like some lovesick schoolgirl. He had tossed a fucking scribbled note into her mailbox instead of talking to her in person. If he had done something like that, it would've been seen as creepy. But when Alex did it - what was it then? Romantic? Was she fucking serious?
That one second was all it took for the self-confidence Sebastian had slowly been building up around her to collapse like a house of cards. He scoffed and was already turning away when Charlotte touched his arm.
"Do you think you could…"
"Not a chance," he snapped.
Charlotte raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Whoa, easy there," she laughed - but when she saw the serious look on his face, she hesitated. "You okay?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Sebastian replied.
Charlotte noticed his gaze flickering back to the note in her hand for just a brief moment. She felt a slight pull in her chest, and a smile spread across her lips.
"You're jealous," she stated. And she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. Was she… happy? Maybe even something more?
But Sebastian shut down immediately. He barely registered her reaction, already set on heading home, locking the door, and not leaving his room for the foreseeable future. His basement. The hole he sat in like a troll who only crawled out when he needed food. That's how she saw him, right? How could he have ever thought, even for a second, that she didn't?
He couldn't stop the thoughts from spiraling. They spun faster and faster in his head, making his skin prickle with goosebumps despite the blazing sun.
Charlotte noticed how pale he had gotten and realized this was about more than just jealousy. She grabbed his arm and dragged him inside her house.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped, harsher than she had intended.
Sebastian flinched before shooting her a furious glare. "That's none of your damn business," he hissed, looking away.
"Oh, I think it's very much my business!" Charlotte shot back, shaking her head. "Seriously, what's going on? Are you jealous or what?"
Sebastian sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze locking onto hers as she studied him closely. That only pissed him off more. Now she was mocking him too. The troll that had crawled out of his cave.
"I'm not going on a date with that asshole," he snapped, fists clenching.
Charlotte's eyes widened, and she felt anger bubble up in her stomach. "The only asshole I see here is you! What is your problem?" she shot back.
"None of your damn business!"
"It absolutely is!"
They glared at each other, neither willing to back down, until Charlotte finally shook her head in disbelief. "If you act like this, you shouldn't be surprised when people would rather go out with Alex than with you."
That one hit home. Charlotte felt it the moment the words left her mouth, and guilt churned inside her like bile. But her anger at Sebastian still outweighed it.
He only let out a bitter laugh. "Then go fuck him - you wouldn't be the only one."
The guilt vanished in an instant. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she yelled.
Sebastian pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping on it for a moment before shoving it in front of her face.
She squinted to make out the photo. It was slightly blurry, taken from a strange angle – but when she finally identified the two people in it, a surprised sound escaped her.
Charlotte recognized Haley – pressed passionately against Alex, her lips on his – his hands resting on her hips. She looked up from the screen to Sebastian, who was still glaring at her darkly – then back at the photo. Something tightened in her chest.
And then, the realization hit her like a punch to the gut. She wasn't jealous. She didn't feel betrayed. Not by Alex, anyway.
In a single moment, two things became painfully clear: It didn't matter to her that Alex was messing around with Haley. Maybe that was what he had wanted to tell her. Maybe that was why he had asked to meet her. But what did matter was the way Sebastian spoke to her.
And just like that, his tone washed away every feeling that had built up inside her, every emotion except the growing disappointment. She took a deep breath in, then out, before finally lifting her gaze back to Sebastian.
She didn't care that Alex had something going on with Haley. (Maybe he wanted to meet to tell her that.). But cared about the way Sebastian was speaking to her.
"I think you should leave…," she murmured.
"Yeah. Maybe I should," Sebastian muttered back, already turning toward the door - when it suddenly swung open with force.
"We got it!" Sam burst into the house, practically vibrating with excitement, with Maru right behind him. And Penny, who clutched a book in her arms like a newborn, glancing around the room in excitement. "We've got the translation! We know what to do to get you back to normal!"