They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking In Circles!

Chapter 31

They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking in Circles

Chapter 31

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a part of me felt proud of my choice, but the other part of me was screaming at me that I was stupid and that I made the wrong choice.

I kept my eyes shut tightly, fighting back the tears. I wanted so badly to just curl up in a corner and cry myself to sleep, but I had to be strong. I kept telling myself I did the right thing, but then I had to wonder why it hurt this much. And this was considering I hadn’t even gone back to Halloween night yet.

Or had I?

I quickly opened my eyes and found I was alone, still sitting up on the bed I had been laying on while I waited for the man. I looked down and still saw blond strands of hair. I hadn’t switched yet. I let out a sigh and flopped back down on the bed, chest heaving up and down rapidly as I tried to calm myself down.

The scariest part was the not knowing when I would switch, because he never specified. It could happen at any moment. Would I feel pain? Would it feel weird? What would happen?

I turned on my side and took deep shallow breaths, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill but failing miserably. I decided at that moment that I would let it all out at that moment and remain strong from then on.

That was the first time I ever cried myself to sleep.

&&&

I woke up but didn’t open my eyes; I only shivered slightly, curling up. I felt my bare legs slide on a hard floor and my eyes shot open. Why was I on the floor? I took in my surroundings and quickly realized where I was. I was in the locker room at my old school, East Ridge High. I quickly sat up and took a shaky breath before scrambling up, mechanically walking to the mirror.

I kept my eyes down as I walked and when I came to a stop, I closed my eyes. Did I really want to look? I wasn’t sure why, but I was scared. I finally forced myself to look up and open my eyes. I saw my hazel eyes widen significantly as I took in my reflection. Short, chestnut brown hair tied up in a high, messy ponytail, olive-shaded skin, baggy jersey and shorts stared back at me.

I was me again.

My chest constricted and I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply and letting the air out after a second. I wouldn’t cry. I had sworn to myself I wouldn’t. Did it hurt to know that Forrest and I would never again be together? Did it hurt to know that everything we had was forgotten, that it was as if we had never had something? Of course it did. But I wasn’t going to break my oath and cry. I liked to think that I was stronger than that.

So I tried to think of the positives. My friends and family were happy again; not that they knew there had been a time when they weren’t. Serena had her life back, which reminded me: I would have to smack some sense into that girl to get her to get over her fear of what people might say and just be with Finn, since that was so obviously what she wanted. Lisette Ramos was alive again. Even though I didn’t know her and had a good reason to dislike her, I felt glad that I had saved her life. And most importantly, to me, at least, I had my body back. I had my life back. I was Shay again, in every sense of the word.

I grinned to myself and ran out of the locker room, into the gym, sliding to a halt when I saw the familiar surroundings. There were Halloween decorations put up, there was a huge crowd in the stands and I could see my teammates grinning over at me.

“Shay!” Emily cried, running over. “We thought you fell asleep in there or something.”

Technically, I suppose I did. “Um…”