The Other Side of Me – Part 29
by Lily Rasputin

“Charlie? Are you okay?”

Sight and sound popped back into existence around me, revealing that I was in the living room of my apartment, sitting on the sofa with Samantha’s head resting in my lap. I glanced down to find her looking up at me with a concerned expression.

“Huh?” I asked, still trying to reacclimate to the dimensional jump. Unlike the previous swaps, this one was jarring. The difference between stepping across a threshold and stumbling across one.

Sam’s frown deepened. She reached up and placed her hand against the side of my cheek. “I asked if you were okay. You were telling me about your day and then just sort of … zoned out for a bit.”

My heart was thumping hard enough to hurt in my chest as I heard Sam’s comment. Leaping between universes had not only been seamless, but they had also been relatively instantaneous. The alteration should have worried me. However, the majority of my focus revolved around the scene I’d just left.

How did Charlie react when she blinked to find she’d gone from lounging around with her girlfriend to being held aloft in the arms of a boy I was pretty sure she didn’t know. Would Shelly help her come up with a plausible explanation that would get her away from Mike for a little while in order to explain things? Did she start screaming at him like a banshee, making him wonder if the girl he thought he wanted to be with was a lunatic?

Or … worse.

What if Charlie had just rolled with the situation and decided to take the hunky basketball player to bed while she was there?

That thought sent a wave of jealousy rolling through me, along with a bout of nausea. While I wasn’t so blind as to not see the irony of my concern, since I was the one who spent an intimate evening with the lovely redhead currently lounging in my lap, the idea that Charlene might be the first of us to have that experience with Mike made my heart hurt.

“Charlie?” Samantha dropped her hand from my cheek and grabbed the edge of the coffee table to pull herself into a sitting position, turning to face me. “What’s wrong?”

I grabbed all the incredibly vivid images of Charlene riding Mike like an enthusiastic rodeo diva and shoved them into the furthest recesses of my brain. Then I slammed and locked the door behind them. They pounded forcefully in an attempt to escape, but I wasn’t about to let them back out. I needed to be here, and now, before Samantha started to really freak out.

“I’m okay,” I said, forcing a smile on my face. “Just got distracted by a memory.”

She gave me a dubious look. “Not a pleasant one from the way you just stopped talking for a second.”

I reached out and took her hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze. She responded by arching a curious brow at me. Was that not something Charlene did? The lack of knowledge about what had transpired between the tantric love session and my return made knowing what to do, or how to act, rather difficult.

“Seriously, babe. I’m okay. Just got stuck woolgathering for a moment.” I hoped my smile had turned into something more reassuring. “I promise.”

She considered me for another few seconds, looked down at our joined hands, and gave a little nod of her head. Instead of resuming her place in my lap, she leaned against my side and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Anyway, it sounds like your day got better. I’m sorry your friend doesn’t want to accept your apology.”

Apology? Charlene actually apologized to someone? And it had been thrown back in her face? Though the list of possible candidates could have included anyone, the comment about it being my ‘friend’ narrowed said list down to Jackson.

“I’m sure he’ll come around,” I said. “I mean, he can’t stay mad at me forever.” My eyes drifted from the redhead to the phone lying on the table. “You know, maybe I should try again. Uh, let him know that I was being sincere.”

Had Charlene’s apology, if she’d really provided one, been sincere? Or had it been an attempt to gain access to the lab to engage in another destructive rampage? Part of me held out hope that my universal double might be trying to do the right thing for once.

Sam gave me a tiny pout. “Do you have to do it right now?” She extended her leg and ran sock-covered toes against my ankle while a sly smile played across her lips. “We’re not supposed to be at your parents’ for another hour or so. I was hoping we could find interesting ways to pass the rest of the afternoon.”

I thought about the fun afternoon I originally had planned. The one with the really handsome power forward. Of course, I couldn’t tell Samantha about that, could I?

The internal conflict I felt must have shown on my face, because Sam stopped her seductive actions and gave me a slightly hurt look. Tilting my head to the side, I tried to flash her a smarmy grin and salvage the moment. For Charlene.

“I dunno,” I said softly while reaching out to run my finger across the exposed flesh of one thigh. “Depends on what nefarious ideas you have in mind.”

Even though I didn’t feel the pull of attraction from before, I at least attempted to put some actual effort behind the flirting. Thinking about Samantha that way, in spite of intensity of our recent lovemaking, seemed to sit wrong inside me. I couldn’t stop imagining this scene from the other side. With me coming coyly onto Mike.

“Well,” she purred, resuming caressing my shin with her toes. “Since Jeff is spending the evening with Stacy, and both George and Tony will be at work until much later, I thought maybe I could pay you back for this morning.”

“Oh?” Now I began to see how Charlene had responded to waking up to find she was no longer a prisoner in Jackson’s lab. Apparently, discovering she was free and in bed with a beautiful girl had provoked at positive response. “Refresh my memory about this morning.”

Sam’s jaw dropped open in mock indignation and she shook her head. “Oh no. You don’t get to just act like it was no big deal, Charlie. I could barely walk to class thanks to you.”

Okay. So, it would seem that Charlene’s oral skills were not only superior to mine, they were also superior to any of Sam’s other lovers. I probably shouldn’t have felt a little swell of pride at that discovery. You know, since it hadn’t been me doing the work. But, it had been my body, so I figured I was entitled to a bit of the glory.

I nodded slowly, becoming increasingly aware that, whether or not this was right, I was becoming extremely aroused by Sam’s antics. At this rate, clothing was definitely going to be shed. After that, I would just have to deal with the guilt of my actions.

“That, uh, that sounds like quite the plan,” I said, keeping a relaxed smile on my face.”

Her eyes drifted down to my crotch and her mischievous smile widened. “I might not be able to make you come three times in a row, but I’m gonna make you feel like you did.”

Then, grinning like the cat just about ready to eat the canary, she reached out and placed her hand on top of my stiffening member, giving the base as much of a squeeze as she could through my jeans.

“Looks like someone agrees with that idea.”

I mentally began to kick myself. I needed to derail this train before it left the station. If not, then I needed to be prepared for whatever Charlene and Mike did back on the other side of the dimensional barrier. But was stopping now even possible? Not without completely torpedoing my … uh, Charlene’s … blossoming relationship with Samantha.

Something I was sure would have a result far less pleasant aftershocks than just unwanted sexual intercourse.

“Uh, of course. He always does.”

Samantha kept her hand on my bulge and slipped off the sofa, lowering herself to her knees between my feet. She smiled up at me as she began unbuttoning my pants and lowering the zipper in a manner that was almost pornographic in its slowness.

Once free of its denim prison, my straining manhood poked up through the parted material, pushing painfully against the front of my boxers. Samantha ran her fingertips along the edge, nails gliding sensually across the cotton wrapped around my shaft, she sighed wistfully.

“I’m glad we decided to make ourselves exclusive,” she said in a pleased little one while continuing to stroke me through my underwear.

So, Charlene had actually pushed the relationship with the redhead to the next level? Was this, and the attempted apology to Jackson, the start of a personal turn-around? Even if Charlene was doing all of this in the hope that it would become her life, the fact that she was building bridges instead of burning them gave me pause.

I let out a little laugh and tried to think of something witty to say. However, just as Sam slipped her fingers under the waistband and took me in her warm hand, a fresh wave of vertigo slammed into my brain, causing my eyes to roll back in my head.

The accompanying blackness was swift, total, and seemed to last more a few seconds.

Instantly, light and sound crashed back into me, causing me to stumble over my own moving feet. I was barely able to catch myself and keep from falling face-first onto the athletic field as the world came back into focus.

From beside me, Shelly’s grip on my upper arm tightened, helping keep me upright. “You need to chill out, okay? I will explain everything later. But right now, Charlene, will you please stop freaking out.”

It was just as I expected. Charlene had gone from relaxing as a guy with Samantha in his lap to a girl being cradled in the arms of some strange guy and had reacted badly to the sudden shift.

I looked at Shelly and shook my head. “Not her.” Then I glanced behind us to see Mike standing pretty much where he’d been when I left, watching the two of us with a look of pained confusion.
“Fucking hell,” I murmured, turning my attention back to Shelly. “How bad was it? Did she scream?”

The girl holding my arm gave me a surprised blink before leaning closer. Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Charles?” The single word question rang with suspicion. As if she thought this was a trick of Charlene’s to get away before she got locked in Jackson’s lab again.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m back” I subtlety tilted my head in Mike’s direction. “So … how bad?”

Shelly frowned. “Well, first you went completely limp for, like, three seconds or so. Then you jerked and glanced around. I mean, Charlene did.” Her description of the swap seemed to match what I had experienced myself. “Then you screamed at Mike to put you down. You scared him so badly the poor guy nearly dropped you.”

My heart seized. I wanted to turn around and run back to Mike and tell him that it hadn’t been me yelling at him. But what could I say? Josie barely believed my story, and she’d obviously heard some of the crazy stories about Jackson from Charlene and Shelly. What chance did I have to get the gorgeous basketball player to accept it?

Would he accept it? What if the thought of the girl he was attracted to was actually a guy on the inside was too much to deal with? What if knowing that I’d spent the first nineteen years of my life as a male from another universe was a gigantic turn-off?

“Charlie?” Shelly hissed. “Are you still in there?”

“Yes.” There was no hiding the gloom and doom in my voice. The happiness I’d felt on the bench that morning had completely evaporated. Now, I just wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and die. “Then what happened?”

Shelly shrugged. “You looked from him to me, saw me on the phone, grabbed your bag, and took off. I managed to catch up and grab your arm to try and talk some reason in you, uh, her. But you went all spazzy and nearly fell over.” She shrugged again. “I guess that’s when you came back.”

I glanced back at Mike again to see that he was still looking our way.

“What am I going to do, Shells? I can’t tell him the truth. He’ll either think I’m a complete lunatic or he’s going to decide he’s not the type to date another dude.” I sighed, feeling tears beginning to well up in the corners of my eyes. “This sucks.”

She nodded. “Yes. But you currently have bigger problems than your love life, hon.” She let go of my arm and held out my phone. “Way bigger problems.”

Her ominous tone struck my already frazzled nerves like a sledgehammer. My hand shook as I took the phone from her and saw Jackson’s number on the Caller ID. The call was currently on hold, so I tapped the phone icon with my thumb and placed the device next to my head.

“Okay, Jack,” I said to the person on the other end of the line. “Give me the bad news.”

“Charlie? Boy Charlie, I mean?”

Despite everything, Jackson’s confused voice made me respond by looking down at the generous cleavage poking up from the opening of my sports bra and the smoothness of the front of my leggings. It felt indescribably right to see myself from this angle. The naturalness of it picked at my brain.

“Not physically. But, yeah, it’s me. What the hell happened? Charlene and I swapped places for, like, a minute. The swap, though, was … different.”

“There was a huge spike of energy from the mirror. I think that’s what caused you two to get transferred for such a short exchange.”

“Were you running some test or something? Is that why it spiked?” I asked, finally turning around to look directly at Mike. I lifted my free arm and waved. He waved back and gave me a small smile. I knew I had to come up with something to tell him. Sooner, rather than later. “Next time, would you mind giving a girl advanced notice?”

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the call. Then Jackson’s voice went soft and serious. “Charlie, the spike didn’t originate from this side. Your version of me must have done something.”

I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn’t see me do it. “That’s not possible, dude. The machine over there is bashed all to hell. And the mirror’s got a huge fucking crack in it. There’s no way it could have been him.” I chewed on my lower lip for a moment, still watching the boy waiting for my return. “Is it still spiking?”

“No. The quantum fluctuations seem to have settled for the moment. I’m trying to analyze the data now, but it’s not anything like I theorized could happen.”

“Well, you can’t be an expert in things you’ve never dealt with before, right? I trust you though.”

As soon as I said the words, I realized that I meant them. Despite his insistence that I be sequestered away this morning, I knew that Jackson’s personality wouldn’t let him stop trying to fix things. Which meant if I felt one hundred percent positive that I wanted to stay in this universe, I was going to need his help.

“Charlie, I don’t think you’re seeing the whole issue.”

“Uh … okay?”

“If the surge wasn’t due to my counterpart’s actions, then there is a degree of likelihood that he entangled connection is becoming unstable.”

“Wait. Unstable?” Shelly looked at me with a confused expression. I switched the phone to speaker mode and turned the volume down so that only the two of us could hear. “If the connection between Charlene and me is becoming unstable, what does that mean? Exactly?”

There was a stomach-curdling length of silence his end before Jackson decided to just rip the band-aid off and send my day into a tailspin.

“The connection between you two is what keeps pulling you back and forth, sort of like a yo-yo. The instance and duration are already random, but with the entanglement behaving in such an unpredictable manner, the swaps could become even more random. Plus, the information transfer that’s allowing the two of you to be the other relatively easily? That could move beyond basic physical manifestations and muscle memory.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Shelly asked, looking at me.

I had already guessed at the answer before Jackson confirmed it. However, even suspecting what he was going to say didn’t help soften the blow one bit.

“There is a very real possibility that Charles and Charlene may begin exchanging memories and personality traits.”