The Joys of Science (Part 5)

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When Monday morning rolled around, it seemed almost the entire Senior class had called out sick. Mrs. Graves looked at her first period classroom to see only a single student waiting for the lesson, and she didn’t recognize her.

“Excuse me, Miss,” Mrs. Graves asked, “Who are you?”

“Julia,” The student said, “I used to be Julian, but...uh...something happened. I don’t mind, but I will as that you abide by school policy and not deadname me...ever.”

“Right...uh...Julia...” Mrs. Graves said, fully aware of the school DEI policy.

It wasn’t quite what Julian had planned, but it should work out. With everyone out, he’d spend the day ensuring none of the teachers would reveal his true identity while cementing the idea he belonged in these classes. He’d slip back into the fabric of the school quietly while the chaos ensued when the other students returned over the next few days. He’d still get to revel in his revenge, but it would be in a sort of slow motion compared to what he expected.

Home Early

“What the heck is that?” A voice boomed from the doorway.

“Oh, Chris!” Sam said turning around, “You’re home from work already! I’m just making dinner.”

“Yeah, they were having some problems with the pipes, so the boss let everyone go early. But why is -- why is dinner glowing?” Chris replied.

“Were those gas pipes, Sweetie? It sounds like your seeing things! Now, you go watch some television in the living room while I finish in here.”

Sam ushered Chris into the living room, but he still wanted to see what was on the stove. Sam cursed. He knew he had to finish up fast; Chris was getting too curious. It had been two months now when he first served the stew with a magical potion that had transformed him from Samuel to Samantha and his wife from Christine to Christopher. He had always hated going to work and being the man of the house, but the magical stew had allowed them to swap places, genders, and roles. Now, he was the stay at home wife while Chris went to the office every day. The only catch was that he needed to have them both consume the magical potion weekly or else it would wear off. The mental affects were always the first thing to slip, and he was worried seeing the potion like this could trigger Chris remembering who she really was. And if that happened, this new perfect life could all collapse!

Potions

Damien loved his girlfriend Lilith. The fact that she was a witch was an added bonus filled with odd and unique experiences. The time she made his cat speak was certainly entertaining! Flying on a broom on a brisk autumn night was exhilarating! And then there was the time she accidentally swapped their bodies.

While Damien was worried he’d be fired if he didn’t show up for work, Lilith assured him she’d go in his place. Meanwhile, swapping back would be easy, she told him to just go back to her place and drink the potion she left on her kitchen table.

It sounded simple enough, but when Damien arrived back at Lilith’s house, there were countless potions scattered across her kitchen table. Damien wasn’t allowed to have a phone at work, so he couldn’t call to ask. And if they didn’t swap back in time, the magic would be permanent. With few options in front of him, Damien realized he probably had no choice but to drink ALL the potions, even though he was sure some of them would have extremely bad magical consequences.

Finally?

“Oh my God! They’re here! This is perfect!” Leila exclaimed with excitement, “Finally this nightmare is over, and I can switch us back!”

Ryan was skeptical. It had been a few days since his sister had made him try the magical potion that she had made that caused them to swap bodies. And they had been on the hunt for the ingredients so she could made a second batch to switch them back ever since. This wasn’t even the first time she had gotten excited about finding the supposed “right” ingredients. He had downed at least a half dozen different drinks that should have worked. And in the meantime, he had been forced to work her job as a masseuse while she got to go to his corporate job, which he only assumed she was absolutely failing at. He knew they needed to swap back as soon as they could, but he still doubted whatever she bought this time would work. Nothing had so far.

Recreate

Finding the rare flowers in the market was exactly the next ingredient Gordon needed to find in order to recreate the body swapping potion. Each ingredient had been pretty hard to find so far, and he still had several to go. Still, the flowers were quite the find. Even once he fund the rest of them, he still needed to find his original body. When this Asian woman stole it from him while he was on vacation, he wasn’t even sure what to do at first. Then locals started to explain the potion and its difficult to find ingredients. It gave Gordon hope, and an explanation. He knew he could recreate it...even if took the rest of his life.

Potion Party

Ed was getting pretty frustrated about the fact that Lana was refusing to drink the body swapping potion with him again leaving him stuck in her body. If he couldn’t get his own body back, at least he could make sure some of Lana’s friends joined in his personal hell. He made a big batch of the potion and decided to have a party. He served it to everyone, and he couldn’t wait for the effects to start to show. Over the next few days, he giggled to himself as he tried to figure out who was now who. Most people tried to hide who they really were -- fearful they were the only pair swapped -- but Ed knew to be looking, and he could tell little mannerisms or a personal item out of place. He was finally having some fun -- for the first time since he swapped with Lana.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Potions

Victor examined the mess he had made on the floor, and he couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of dread. He could only hope that Bethany knew how to make another vial of antidote for the body swap potion they had both taken earlier. He hadn’t enjoyed his time in Bethany’s body; being a woman was just too damned uncomfortable. From the awkward heels to the tight dress, it all just felt so weird. He had only agreed to swap because Bethany had been so into the idea of making these weird magic potions that he thought he’d humor her. How was he supposed to know one would actually work anyway?

Potion

Just a few more drops should do it. Luke had to be careful to mix the exact right amount of the potion. Then he was going to have to figure out a way to slip half of it into Amber’s drink before downing the other half himself. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but he did have one small advantage. She didn’t know that he knew about the magic body swapping potion that caused their swap. Sure, she had done it fairly stealthily, but once he was in her body, he found her notes in her room, which lead to an internet with the instructions. It meant he could reverse this swap and get his body back. He just needed to get close enough to use it...

Potion

Mischa had given Gerald a small paper cup containing a thick brown liquid. He looked at it, knowing that it contained the potion that would swap them both back to their rightful bodies. He looked at it, and swirled it around in the cup. He watched as Mischa downed the portion she had set aside in her own cup. He gave another look at the liquid, and then another look back to Mischa, who was staring at him. He lifted the cup, but missed his mouth intentionally, letting the liquid poor down the front of his body. He didn’t want to give this body up. It was pretty obvious that he was intentionally missing his mouth, but he didn’t care. With no more potion, there’s be no way to swap back, and he’d have Mischa’s body forever. He could see his former eyes fill with rage as the liquid poured down his body onto the floor.

Bumps

As Sal looked down, he couldn't help but wonder what his ex-girlfriend had slipped into his drink. Sure, he knew it was a dick move to dump her on Valentine's Day, but he was sick of her. He should've thown his beer out after he saw her fiddling with it at a bar the next week. Now whatever she put in it had caused him to grow giant bumps on his chest. His alcohol-filled mind took a little longer to realize it wasn't just bumps on his chest. The strange potion his ex had dropped in his drink had caused them to entirely switch bodies. She was now him and he was now her!