SOUL SWAPPED

CHAPTER SIX

ELI

This whole soul-swap thing is so bad. So, so bad.

Everything was going fine; For the past forty-six minutes, I was able to finish most of Hailey's school work, do all of Hailey's chores, and even managed to avoid speaking to anyone in the Parker family. Everything was great, and I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Now, I hear scrambling coming from across the hall, as well as a few curses in anger. From what I could guess, the person behind the cursing is Monty. From the footsteps making their way towards Hailey's bedroom door, I have a feeling that my intuition is correct. Just as I had been expecting, there is a knock outside Hailey's door seconds later, and it sounds like the person behind it is agitated.

I hurry to look natural, though I feel as if my heart is beating completely out of my chest. I throw myself under the covers, opening a random social media app on Hailey's phone before letting out a breath. After a few beat, I yell "Come in!"

In comes a boy with curly brown hair and the same piercing green eyes I see when looking at Hailey. The boy is obviously in a bad mood, and I try to think of what Hailey would do in this situation. They're siblings, and siblings tease each other, right? Is that something Hailey might would do in this situation? Hoping for the best, I say jokingly, "Jeez, what happened to you?"

"My computer froze in the middle of my essay!" exclaims Monty. He fully walks into the room now, pacing across the floor has he rants on, "I told Mom that I needed a new one after the water was spilt across it, but no, she tells me 'don't worry, Monty, it's just a little water, it'll be fine!' Obviously it's not fine! My essay is literally gone!"

Monty pauses his pacing, taking a deep breath in through his nose as he turns to face me. I look at him expectantly, waiting to hear whatever it is he has to say. Finally, he asks, "Is there any way I can use your laptop to redo my essay? I know you have yours finished already, so can I please borrow it for a few minutes?"

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, before sliding the laptop his way. "I don't care if you use it, you need it more than I do right now. Just try not to spill anything on mine this time, please!" I tease.

Monty flips his middle finger, but there's a smile sitting across his lips. He mutters out a 'thank you,' before leaving the room with the laptop in hand. I go back to looking at Hailey's social media, and I honestly can't get enough of just looking at her. She's the most beautiful girl in the world, but judging by how she acts in pictures and videos, she doesn't even realize it. She seems so shy and timid, like she wants to hide herself in the background instead of basking in the spotlight. It almost blows my mind to see someone so beautiful but doesn't act as if they know it.

Everyday, the boys and I are surrounded by beautiful girls. I almost felt used to it, because it just happened so often that I couldn't help but get tired of it, and now I think I understand why. The girls that would hang around us are different than Hailey; they are the opposite of timid and shy, and they want to make their presence known. They would walk into a room and automatically assume they are the prize to be won, whether they had found their soulmate or not. Hailey is like a breath of fresh air, and is my reminder that there are people in the world that aren't so cocky and arrogant. There are people that are genuine and kind, and though I haven't met her in person, I can already tell that is Hailey.

Part of me can't help but wonder how I became so lucky so fast. My whole life, it was assumed I would never find the love everyone else would have. I never got the connection like everyone around me, and I could never understand why I had to be the person that is destined to be alone forever.

But now...now everything has changed. Now I am the person who knows their soulmate—maybe not personally, but at least knows who they are. I am the person who has a connection, after years and years of thinking I never would. I am the person that gets to know what real love feels like, instead of missing out on what everyone else is able to have. And it feels fucking amazing knowing that one day soon, I will have the love I was once craving.

It almost feels selfish being this happy. Never did I expect to find this level of pure joy in my life, yet just sitting in this room, I am the happiest I have ever been. for this, the only person I have to thank is Hailey. I haven't even met her yet, and she has already flipped my world upside down in the best possible way. Before her, I only had music to keep me sane, but now everything is different. But the strangest part of all of this is that I am weirdly okay with everything.

Sure, I would rather not have a heart attack every time Monty Parker enters a room, but that seems to just be something I will have to deal with the longer this goes on. It seemed that Lia and Riley didn't think Monty knowing the swap happened would be a good idea, so I have to just continue the act of being Hailey for as long as needed. Which, yeah, this isn't the most convenient thing that could have happened, but I would never change this for anything in the world.

A part of myself does miss my own life, though it has barely even been a day. I can't stop wondering what is happening at the studio and whether the boys finished that song we had been working on. I do want to be there, helping them with our upcoming album we have been so excited to release. But, I can't say I would rather be there than know I have a soulmate, which I now know.

Like with the boys became so crazy so fast, we all started learning on each other to get through it. Before the band, each of us posted our own covers on YouTube. We were all approached one day by our record label, saying they knew how to turn us into starts. We were placed together in the band, flown out to LA, and started living in an apartment together to write songs and see if we had chemistry. Luckily, we had lots of it.

Our first single did fairly well, but our second single absolutely blew up. It felt like we became the newest sensation overnight. We started to get recognized when we would go places, tons of people wanted out picture, and our following grew from a few thousand to millions. Everything happened so fast, it was hard to understand all of the changes in our lives. Looking back now, I still can't believe how fast everything happened, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Getting myself out of my thoughts, I begin scrolling through some of the games Hailey has on her phone. I play through a few of them mindlessly, trying to waste time until I can do more research on her laptop. Time seemed to move extra slow, and my nerves were starting to rise for no reason. It's like I had a spidey-sense kicking in, telling me that something is not quite right in this situation.

Obviously, this couldn't be true. I know Monty is writing his essay, and has no idea that anything is going on. He is completely oblivious, which is what Lia and Riley want. I still don't know why they want this so badly, but I am just trusting that they know what's best here. 

I take in a deep breath, and let it out through my nose. Everything is fine, so I don't know why I am so worried. No one has caught onto anything going on, and as long as I play my cards right, no one will. I have to trust that Lia and Riley know what's best; they're Hailey's best friends, so they definitely know more about this family than I do.

Almost like it was on cue, Monty reenters the room looking confused. I sit up, closing Hailey's phone as I look his way. Unless he is the fastest writer on the planet, it is not possible for his essay to be finished already. Though, I casually say, "How's the essay coming?"

Monty looks at me, his eyebrows furrowed. He retorts, "How's being in my sister's body?"

My eyes widened, and my face goes pale. I feel like a deer caught in headlights. Judging by the change in Monty's expression, there's no saving this now. I have completely given myself away, and no lie I tell can make him believe otherwise.

I am absolutely fucked.