I wake up slowly rubbing my blurry eyes and rub against my developing stubble grimacing at the growth and stand up, my head felt like I had been clubbed with a chainsaw severally.
Then I stare at the mirror and the nagging fact that had been prodding at me is clear, I wasn't me.
I had been David, the chubby kid always holding a snack bar at all times and still had rubbery arms but now I looked like a Norwegian supermodel complete with the piercing gray eyes and buffed physique. My skin was free of acnes and the freckles I had always hated, the bedroom felt different and too luxurious.
Everything was different.
My puppy wasn't lying by my side, I stared at the mirror. The face though it wasn't mine felt familiar, I had seen this face staring openly with jealousy at it or rather as it's owner.
I am Richard Kindle....
The all-american boy with the picture perfect life and the magazine cover house, sole heir to the Kindle fortune and the coolest kid in school.
I had been standing in front of a magazine kiosk, the design was barbaric and arcane. It was run by the old lady no one bothered to buy from mostly because of her eccentric dressing & behavior, a cold draft in the air chilling me to my bones and I had stared at the magazine once again decorating it's covers with the face of Richard Kindle.
I became angry, smashing my cholocate bar in my palm and feeling the sticky delight ooze out. Face it I was never going to be as handsome and perfect as him, people like him were one in a billion excessively rich but nice. He had saved me from some bullying episodes before but time after time I would walk away without saying thank you because he reminded me of everything I wasn't.
The magazine figure had moved, the piercing eyes mocking me and the voice distinctly similar to that of Richard Kindle asking me a question I had always known the answer to.
"Do you want to be me?"
"Yes".
I sat down, the part of how I had become Richard Kindle was surreal but how exactly was my old self, had it vanished from existence or was Richard trapped in my less than average body.
I stood up yawning enjoying watching my muscles contract in the mirror, I now had a narcissistic side loving the reflection of who I now was and will be. The shower panel was complicated and took me nearly ten minutes to get hot water, it washed over me and I loved it.
Usually my morning routine was cramming lots of sweets into my mouth as I dressed but now that I had a second chance I wasn't going to make a mistake, my closet was huge and gave up thinking of what Richard would wear opting for a black sweatshirt and skinny jeans.
Both were designers and I felt my phone ring, I had spent most of my life hating Richard but yet freakishly obsessing over being him. I knew all his friends & family not personally but the name on the screen puzzled me.
Naomi.
It was a female name but I knew Richard was dating Audrey Spencer and there were no Naomi's in his list of friends or family.
"How are you enjoying it?"
"What?"
"Living the life you always wanted, being the boy you always knew you could be".
The voice was cold and unforgiving, bitter but oddly familiar. I cut the call freaked out by this weird voodoo and went to the dinning room.
"Hon".
His or rather my mom kissed my cheek, it made me smile and reminded me of my own mom and put a mental note to look up how she was doing on the internet. The table was dressed for a feast but they were only three of us, my new dad stared at his phone texting and didn't raise his head when I greeted him.
"Sure kiddo".
My mom frowned and walked away, the tension became much as my dad watched her walk away briefly before returning to his phone and laughing heartily and I felt dumb standing there and watching everything.
Back as David, my parents disgusted me with their display of personal affection but the complete lack of personal affection made me queasy and nauseous. Maybe it was an off day for them and not a regular occurrence, I could only manage a few spoons of the tasty spread before I clutched my stomach and tried to make my way to my room to puke.
Keyword; Tried.
The Kindle mansion was huge and I being someone who had never been to their home got lost resorting to puke in a potted plant in the hallway just as my phone rang and picked without checking the caller ID.
"Enjoying breakfast?"
"Leave me alone".
I threw the phone against the wall and went straight to the car, a gorgeous black BMW that blew my mind away and made all the other problems melt away. Checking the pigeon hole for mints taking a few and enjoying the salty freshness reminding me of my sweets, the engine sang humming perfectly and I was relaxed.
David was younger by two years and a junior whilst Richard was a senior with a driver's licence, I took a detour to see my old home but it was for rent.
Strange.
I took a break parking my car to the curb reaching for my cellphone until I remembered it had been thrown against the wall and lay in pieces on the ornately carpeted floors, the car phone rang and I picked it up.
"Richard Kindle speaking".
"Do you want to buy a house?"
"What?"
"You're standing in front of a house for rent aren't you?"
The voice was cold and bitter, the retarded prankster who must be calling me constantly and knew more about what was going on. Despite the effect the voice was having on me I resisted the urge to either cut the call or turn off the phone system with a punch which surprised me since I wasn't a violent person at all which must mean these were carry -ons of the body.
"Your previous self has ceased to exist along with Richard Kindle thought that would be a consolation prize to him".
"What?"
"Think, you felt disgusted about the blunt hatred the parental units felt for each other but imagine experiencing it everyday since you were old enough to understand.
You're an avid eater but ever wondered why Richard only ate so little".
"Keeping in shape". I answered proudly, Richard was also captain of the school's lacrosse team and was the model of healthy eating.
"He can only eat specific types of food not more than a few spoons though, you thought your life was hell but you just entered the depth of hell".
I cut the call driving to school with a fury, so what if I couldn't eat like a hippo again I had been planning not to anyways. The parking lot was meager but Richard had a prime spot no one contested and I swerved my car jerkily, Richard might be a smooth driver but David had only driven in action movie fantasies.
My girlfriend was waiting, she was a stunner. 5"9 inches of ethereal beauty, crisply cool and reigning school president her word was law and most times I was law.
"I have a meeting after classes, could you drive me to La Fresh?"
"I was thinking we could go on a date".
"Too busy".
She hugged me and walked away, her hugs weren't compassionate and all smiles like I seen in the hallways but stiff and rigid keeping her distance. Her mini skirt swishing in the air and I smirked, Richard Kindle was handsome enough to date any girl in the school, girls who weren't so busy and selfish.
"You don't have to pretend to like her bro".
Richard's best friend Jason who had a picturesque life and just as handsome as Richard and wealthy too. His parents were famous photojournalists and everyone knew he would follow in their footsteps as well.
"We're dating aren't we?"
Jason looked at me like I grown eyeballs on my butt and I subconsciously tapped my butt and sighed in relief when I felt nothing.
"Your parents practically forced you to date her, her father running for senatorship".
I groaned, this so called picturesque life was looking pretty bad and Jason's phone rang before he picked listening intensely before handing it to me.
"It's for you".
I knew who the caller must be, Jason looked green and I put it to my ear with caution expecting the cold voice and I wasn't disappointed.
"A girlfriend who doesn't love you and a friend who doesn't want to be like his parents.
Your life was perfect before, change it before it's too late".
"How?"
"Excellent question, kill yourself"
I dropped the phone and saw a car racing through the parking lot with speed, the eccentric owner of the magazine shop was driving and she was most certainly the reason behind all this rampage but the car wasn't headed for me rather Jason who was unable to move all of a sudden.
I pushed him out of the way just as the car hit me and I crumbled hearing the sound of my head hitting against the ground,..
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I shot up from the bed with a startled back in my own bedroom and happy that I was finally back in my truly
PERFECT LIFE.