When the world came back into focus, Riley and James lay on the ground, stunned. Their ears rang from the blast, and their bodies felt odd, like they were encased in a different skin. Slowly, they both sat up, blinking, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
"What the...?" Riley gasped, her voice sounding different, deeper somehow.
James sat up beside her, looking equally disoriented. "Did we... did we just get struck by lightning?"
Riley looked down at herself, her heart skipping a beat as she realized something was wrong. She was no longer in her own body—she was in *James's* body. The way her hands looked, the way her clothes fit... everything felt different.
"No way..." Riley muttered. She turned to look at James, now in her body. His wide eyes mirrored her own shock as he realized what had happened. "James... we... we switched bodies."
"Wait, what?" James's voice was full of disbelief as he stood up and looked at Riley. "This isn't real. This isn't happening. This isn't how this was supposed to go!"
The two of them were standing just outside the school, and the storm continued to rage overhead. They were frozen in place, trying to comprehend what had just occurred.
"This... this is your fault," Riley said, pointing at him. "I told you this was a bad idea!"
James threw his hands up in the air. "I didn't mean for us to *literally* switch bodies! What now?"
Before either of them could say more, the storm continued to rage, thunder booming in the distance. But they weren't focused on the storm anymore; they were too caught up in the unbelievable reality they now found themselves in.