CARA

It was not a hard decision. Though it still haunted me to think that Bridgette would have sex with Dr. Newman with my body, I had to be realistic. I had to think of the possibilities and one of those was that we would never get the chance to go back to our original bodies.

I was pretty certain Bridgette would not dare make another mistake as stripping off her clothes in front of any man as of the moment. She may have a lot of urges and she could really get aggressive at times without thinking, but I knew she would respect my decision this time.

She had to at the moment.

Yes, I said she could date Dr. Newman because I was not a bad person. She could date anyone as long as she would just take good care of my body.

I couldn’t sleep so I spent the night planning for our next action.

BRIDGETTE

If you think I went straight to Dr. Newman to say I changed my mind and I would actually love to go out with him, you are wrong. I went to the locker room, sat down on a stool and crossed my arms over my chest. I thought hard about Cara’s sudden change of heart.

Did she think we would never go back to our bodies?

But she was the one searching for answers. In fact, we would visit a weird bookstore because of her.

I didn’t want to ask her so I kept my wonderings to myself. She was just going through a rough time. We both were.

Dr. Newman was outside, standing by the nurses’ station when I stepped out of the locker room. He caught my eye but I avoided his intense gaze for two reasons. First, I didn’t want to jump on him in the middle of the unit and devour his lips. Second, I was still thinking about Cara’s decision and whether or not I could trust myself to date Dr. Newman and not have sex with him--eventually.

CARA

I got discharged the very next day. Dr. Newman suggested the idea because he didn’t see any reason why I had to stay in the hospital when everything was normal from the start. I did not complain because Bridgette was just getting off her shift and I still had to dictate to her the endorsement. And then there was Quinn who kept on calling. And then Bernadette kept on texting if she should cancel the date with Todd or not. And Todd was competing with Quinn with the calls.

“You should really filter that phone,” Bridgette said hours later when we met for a cup of coffee after a long day of sleep.

“Quinn won’t stop calling. I don’t know what I should do.”

“What you should do is pretend nothing has changed despite the fact and that you should get on with your job. He shouldn’t be acting this way anyway. He’s about to get married to the greatest social climber in town and he should be building iron gates around his bank accounts before the wedding day arrives.”

I sighed. “And then there’s Bernadette and Todd. These two just have to go on that date and get it over with.”

“Okay. Why don’t you tell Bernadette to find a great dress, go to that date and have fun? Then tell Todd Bernadette is going and he should be nice or else.”

I was actually typing the words as she said them and sent the first message to Bernadette and then to Todd. I added the words I’d be busy the whole day.

“And Quinn?” I asked.

Bridgette rolled her eyes. I cringed at the sight of my face making that look. “When he does, answer the damn phone and tell him you are busy looking for the trick to get us back to our bodies. He’d be back in the state of shock and will not bother you for a few hours.”

“This is really crazy,” I uttered, leaning back against my seat. The sun was bright today and it felt great on my skin. If only it was my skin. If only I was not sitting there across the table having coffee with my own body.

“We better get going. We still need to make wedding plans after this trip.”

I got up and Bridgette followed. “I’ll drive.”

BRIDGETTE

The bookstore was not easy to find as we had anticipated. When we got to the place where it was supposed to be, we saw a sign that led us to another building and then to another door which led to a narrow alley and then to another door and then the bookstore. I was actually expecting the walls to move and then I’d find myself in the world Harry Potter.

And then I almost believed I was really in Harry’s world when we entered the bookstore. It was eerie and it smelled of old pages. Maybe the girl behind the counter would ask us for our list of school requirements from Hogwarts. Or maybe she would take measurements and give us our wands.

But she did none of those things. What she did was look at us like we were specks of dust in the air.

I cleared my throat but she did not budge. Her eyes were heavily lined with black eyeliner and her dark hair was everywhere. Hermione in the flesh, I noted to myself.

“Excuse me, are you open?” Cara asked the girl.

“You’re she and she’s you,” the girl uttered in a flat tone.

Cara and I turned at each other to share a creepy look. What the hell did she just say?

“The last one ended badly,” the girl added.

“What?”

“The last pair who had their souls swapped,” she answered and then she finally blinked. I saw life come back to her eyes and they actually kind of sparkled. She smiled as if we just came in. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can help you with your problem.”

“But we are--” Cara started but the girl held up her hand.

“The only way for you to go back is when one sacrifices oneself.”

“Sacrifice?” Cara and I said at the same time.

The girl nodded, looking at us with curiosity. “You’re friends but not friends. And then you are friends.”

What the hell was this girl talking about?

“You’ve lost us.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Why do I have to explain myself every time?” she murmured before she straightened in her chair and looked at us once again. “You two were friends a long time ago, right?” When Cara and I didn’t answer, she continued, “but something happened and you fell apart. But now you’re back together as friends in each other’s bodies.”

“Okay, we get what you mean. You have this gift of knowing things. But we only want to know one thing: how do we go back to our bodies? Is there a book for that? Or could you just say it since you know things?” I just had to say it because I was losing patience. Cara nudged me with her elbow but I ignored her. We needed answers fast.

“I just told you, didn’t I? The only way is through sacrifice.”

“What do we sacrifice?” Cara asked.

“I just told you, didn’t I? One’s self.”

“You mean--” I couldn’t finish the statement. I didn’t have the nerve to do so.

“You mean one of us will have to sacrifice her life?” Cara surprised me for being direct this time.

The girl shrugged and said, “That’s close, I think. Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I just see things. It doesn’t mean I understand them.”

“But--”

“I’ve answered your questions. I don’t have other important things to say.” She looked at Cara in particular and added, “Your friend is not going to have sex with the doctor, you know,” she winked after she said it and Cara gasped.

“You have a talent to see those things but nothing to explain the sacrifice thing,” I told her.

“Hey, I say what I see,” the girl said, holding her hands up.

I looked at Cara and both of us were thinking of the same thing.

CARA

We couldn’t sacrifice ourselves just so we could go back to being normal. The thought of one of us dying was horrible.

We left the bookstore without a word. Bridgette was deep in thought and so was I.

“At least it means you can date Dr. Newman,” I tried to joke but she didn’t reply. She just kept looking ahead.

To save me from the heavy silence that had fallen, my phone rang and it was Quinn.

“What?” I asked with irritation.

“We have to talk.”

“Yes. We need to talk about your upcoming wedding.”

“Cara.” His voice calling me by my name was like music in my ears but I shook the thought away, reminding myself that Quinn was no longer the boy I had loved. He was just someone who happened to know about my secret and he was someone who was about to get married soon.

“Let’s meet later tonight. The usual restaurant?”

There was a long moment of silence as if he was considering. “Okay.”

I was expecting Bridgette to say something about the conversation but she was still silent. Whatever she was thinking I had no idea. For all I care, she was already planning her date with Dr. Newman.

Quinn was standing outside the restaurant when I arrived. Bridgette said she was not in the mood to go and she would rather sleep than hear Quinn and I talk. She was certain we would not be talking about wedding plans but I was determined to get the job done.

“I made reservations. Why are you standing outside?” I asked, my tone casual.

He looked at me with those blue eyes of his. “We will not be talking inside.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me to his car.

“Hey, Quinn, what the hell are you doing? Do you know the trouble I went through to get a reservation to this place?”

“We will not be talking about weddings and reservations.” He opened the passenger door and pushed me inside. When he climbed behind the wheel beside me, he said, “Put your seatbelt on, Cara.”

“Quinn, I know you want to talk about something but I don’t. If you want answers to your questions, I don’t have them. Neither does Bridgette. We are both completely at a loss.”

“Just make one thing clear,” he said a while later after he veered the car on the road. “Is this another game of yours?”

“Game? Oh my God. You can’t think this is all about you, right? Because it is not! We are done with you. I’m over you and you should as well!”

“Over me?” he threw me a glance. “Are you, Cara?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice faltering. “So please, don’t make this any harder. I am already going through a lot without you wanting answers to questions I myself have no idea answering. Just forget about everything. You can think of me as Bridgette, your wedding planner. Erase the idea of me as Cara.”

“It is already weird to think of you as Cara with that look. But it is harder to ignore that inside that body is the girl I once loved.”

I think the last statement took us both by surprise.

I didn’t know what to do so I looked out the window at the passing streetlamps and the shadows of people walking in their coats. They had no idea that passing by was a soul trapped in another person’s body.

“I’m going to be married soon,” Quinn said, breaking the silence. Was he trying to remind himself of the fact?

“If you are having some kind of internal battle, please do it on your own. I have enough war going on in me as well.”

Quinn suddenly stopped the car and my head almost smashed against the dashboard if not for the seatbelt around my trunk. “Why did the two of you turn up at this time of year?”

I didn’t answer. What would I say? It was a big mess of coincidences.

“I can’t believe this.”

“Believe it.”

“I mean I can’t believe that you’re trapped in there somewhere and your vessel is no other than the very woman who ruined everything for us.”

I frowned. “Quinn, Bridgette--”

“I mean it, Cara. If it was not for Bridgette, you may be the woman I am planning a wedding with.”

“It was us who--”

“I know I should be blaming the two of you.” He looked at me and turned his head just as suddenly. I realized then that he couldn’t stare at Bridgette’s face while talking to me. “I kept telling myself that you were in it as well; that you both played a big joke on me. For years I learned to make myself believe that I hate you both. But when I saw you--I mean when I saw Bridgette--I realized I had been fooling myself. A big part of me wanted to forgive you and then another part says that there is nothing to forgive--that like me, you were a victim.”

Tears fell down my face. All these years I wanted him to say these words. I wanted to hear that he knew the real story--that I could never turn what we had into a joke. “It has been ten years, Quinn,” I started to say. “Don’t you think it’s time we forgive everyone?”

“Do you forgive her?”

“I no longer blame her for everything that happened ten years ago, you know,” I said with a sad smile. It still hurt to think about what could have been if Bridgette was late that night. That she was sick. That she left Quinn and me alone. But it happened. That night happened and I had to face the fact that I lost my first love because my friend had been very stupid. “I think I wanted too as well,” I continued. “I lost you because of her. I felt like I lost everything that night and it was because of her selfish nature. But then, she was also the reason why we were together. If it weren’t for her, you would not have given me a second glance. If it weren’t for her…” words failed me. I knew he understood what I wanted to say.

I saw a faint smile appear on Quinn’s lips. “I don’t know, Cara. When I look at your right now, when I hear your voice, it is all Bridgette. I get this weird feeling of hate whenever.”

“Then maybe it’s time you start forgiving. You will be meeting me a lot and I think it will help you by being exposed to this face, to this voice. Maybe then you will learn to forget the hate. What do you think it felt like when I first realized I was inside her body? Should I kill it and get it over with? Should I splash acid on her face? Such things ran through my mind but I knew I could never do anything close to what she did to us.” I looked out the window. “We are not asking you to forget everything. There are still greater things to remember of ten years ago to do that. But I hope that you can learn to live with the memory.”

I heard him scoff.

“What?” I asked with a small laugh.

“You always say things that way,” he said, giving me a glance.

We shared a smile and I held out my hand. “Why don’t we start by meeting anew? Hi, my name is Cara but this is not really my face. I’m borrowing it from someone else at the moment. I hope we can both work well together. I have great ideas for your wedding.”

He sat there for a while looking at my hand. Finally, with a forced smile, he took it and gave it a gentle shake. “Nice to meet you, Cara. Your face is fine, but I hope you return it soon enough. I will do my best to work with you though.” He squeezed my hand and at that moment, we finally managed to compromise.