"I just don't think anything is gonna happen, Win."

"Nonsense. You'll never know if you don't try. What do you say?"

I had joined Winnie in her backyard that sunny afternoon with the intent of training more, not testing her theories. Regardless, Winnie still continued to beg for us to test her memory theory. It seemed simple enough, but I didn't want to invade her memories if anything did happen.

The air was sickeningly humid and the lack of wind didn't help my sweaty pits. The sun shone bright and everlasting as it continued to beat down on our heads. Winnie and I sat on the rusty, old swing set that's been in her backyard for ages. She had been constantly swinging to wrap her mind around, well, mine. These past couple weeks have been strenuous on both of us—the rising temperature didn't help.

My neck continued to sweat while I lost myself in thought. Not able to handle the heat, I quickly pulled my shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and took a swig from my half empty water bottle.

Testing Winnie's theory couldn't hurt. Could it?

My equally-as-sweaty friend looked at me expectantly, waiting for my answer. Her green gaze pierced through my soul. She stopped swinging and continued to silently beg with her convincing eyes.

"Alright, I'll do it. But I don't think anything is going to happen."

Winnie seemed pleased. "Yes!"

We slipped off of our swinging seats and sat on a patch of green grass in front of us. The switch of seating helped cool us a bit.

"What are you gonna think of while I read your mind?"

"I haven't really thought about it yet."

"If you had, I would've known," I grinned.

Winnie broke into a fit of outrageous laughter. Her practically rolling on the ground made me crack a genuine smile. It was one of my first in days.

"How about when we first met?" Winnie offered once she calmed down.

"I always wondered what it would be like to meet myself," I sighed absentmindedly.

"Time to find out."

I turned my gaze from the cloudless sky above to Win's green eyes. I could easily get lost in the sky, and boy could I get lost in her eyes too.

Winnie gave me a reassuring nod telling me that I could start my exploration. Shifting my body to fully face hers, I began the process of searching her head. I put all of my attention into her sea green stare. My intense, concentrated gaze poured into her gentle one. I could sense myself getting closer to her thoughts.

Almost there.

I expected to be met with her ideas. I assumed that her whispered thoughts would reach my ears. I did not expect to be met with a distant memory in which I also share.

I reached out my hand to be met with Winnie's pale complexion. I grabbed a tuff of—not really—my hair. I was met with the thick ginger locks I knew all too well. Her hair was slightly shorter than it is now and didn't have the faded ocean blue tips. My—her—feet were the size of a child and sported Twinkle Toes.

I'm in Winnie's body!

I studied my surroundings to find that I was in my old fourth grade classroom. In fact, Mrs. Orceur's desk was only a couple feet to my left. Small, empty desks were assembled into table groups scattered across the room. The walls were lined with amateur poetry and start-of-the-year art projects. The classroom seemed to be deserted except for one small girl in the back. Her hair was sprung up in every possible direction. She looked disarray as she struggled to collect multiple papers. She looked helpless.

The body I was inhabiting—no, possessing—walked toward the unruly fourth grader. I didn't walk toward her, Winnie did. It was as if I was just a vessel and was by no means controlling her body. I was just in it for the ride.

Winnie continued to approach the girl. I could feel Win getting more and more nervous. Her pudgy fingers began to tangle themselves as she stopped in front of the other girl's papers. Winnie gained enough courage and cleared her throat despite still fidgeting with her hands. The girl's eyes met mine and I felt my breath hitch.

Holy cow. That scrawny, little girl is me.

Looking back into my own green, cat-like eyes was scary. Of course I remembered that day, but I never knew how crazy I must've looked to Winnie.

No wonder Win was fidgeting like crazy. I looked like a madwoman!

"Do you need help?" I heard Winnie's timid voice question.

If I wasn't the girl in front of Winnie, I would've had no idea what expression she was making and why. But I am her, so I know that I hadn't had the best social skills at the time and I was scared. Scared of something I had never done before. Scared of making a friend.

"Yes," Mini-Macyn softly spoke.

Winnie bent down to my level and started to collect the scattered scraps of paper. In a matter of minutes, we had formed a small pile of my nearly unreadable scribbles. I was apparently grinning like an idiot since the cleanup time wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. On the other hand, Winnie started to fidget again, nervous and unsure of what to do.

After a short moment of silence, Winnie decided to speak. "I'm Winnie. I just moved. My classroom is across the hall though."

My wide eyes met hers again. We both wore small smiles.

"I'm Macyn. I've lived here my whole life, but I never really got to make friends."

"Me neither. Why were your papers all over the ground anyway?"

I knew the answer before it exited my own lips. Ally was going on a rampage of sorts after Mrs. Orceur chose me to answer a question instead of her. Needless to say, Ally did not take it well. Over the years Ally has evolved from just being whiny to bratty to now being manipulative.

"Ally, this mean girl, took my papers out of my hands and threw them around the room. Don't be friends with her."

I guess some things never change.

My smaller self slowly rose from the carpeted floor and hesitantly held out a helping hand. Winnie made a life changing decision that Autumn day. She decided to trust me. Win took her—my—hand when she went to stand up.

Her gaze returned on the younger me and I was forced to look into my own eyes. It's weird to look at yourself, you know. I don't mean in the mirror, it's different than that. It felt almost surreal to look at myself in person, not in a photo or mirror, but in person. My younger and normally self critical eyes looked over Winnie. Instead of holding the self loathing look of a teenager, my eyes held a sort of fondness. I didn't look angry anymore, I looked proud. And I was proud. Proud of myself for talking to a possible friend. Proud of myself for not scaring her away.

My eyes were locked on, well, my own eyes. The rest of the classroom began to fade into nothing, I could see from my peripheral vision. Our hands were still clutched to each other when our bodies began to fade. Winnie's Twinkle Toes disappeared, but I couldn't avert my gaze from the emerald eyes in front of me. The world began to disappear till only my own eyes were left staring back at me.

I blinked and was met with the present day Winnie. She was confused and concerned—for me I assumed.

"Mace, what happened?"

I was at a loss for words. My mind couldn't begin to comprehend, much less explain, what I just experienced. I must've looked like a trout with my mouth wide open.

"Did anything happened?" Winnie asked cautiously, unsure of whether I was in a delicate state or not.

I snapped my trout-mouth shut. "Something definitely happened."

"Well what?"

I could tell I was getting on her last nerve. Not wanting to keep an anxious Winnie waiting, I began to stumble my way through an explanation.

"I went back to the first day we met. It was almost like a time machine or something. Everything was crystal clear. I was reliving the day we first met, but through you. It was weird to see everything in your point of view."

"I told you that something would happen," Winnie grinned from ear to ear; she looked like the Cheshire Cat.

"That you did. That you did."

A comfortable silence came over us. We both welcomed the lack of words. My gaze returned to the clear sky ahead. I couldn't stop thinking of my own green stare.

I can live through other's memories. How weird is that?