Chapter 2

Jude trailed after Rebecca like a ghost. He did everything she told him to: put his clothes, on, signed papers, and followed her to her car. His head, however, was still in that hospital bathroom staring at his reflection. Jude Harper was attractive. He was brown-haired and brown-eyed, warm and sunny. He was in academia, after all, and he had to be well kept. The person in the mirror was anything but. He could only be described as perhaps, a little goblin. Short, scrawny, and sallow-skinned, he had it all. A thick mop of greasy hair, thankfully, covered most of his face, and Jude couldn't bear to investigate further. Not that it mattered. Not that any of it mattered. The person in the mirror could have been the most beautiful omega in the world it wouldn't change a thing. Because it wasn't Jude in the reflection.

The most unsettling part wasn't his appearance, either. As he walked behind Rebecca, memories flit across his thoughts like butterflies. Memories that belonged to a different Jude, the Jude he was occupying. Jude Lennox. An 18-year-old loser who was ugly, depressed, and perpetually horny. Then again, that was true of many 18-year-olds. Jude scanned over the tragic life story of Jude Lennox and made his mind to try and find what soap opera it was based on. All of them, probably. Jude Lennox was the product of an arranged marriage between two wealthy families. His omega father passed away right before he turned one and his alpha father remarried shortly after to Rebecca, another person from an affluential family. They had an omega son, James. Jude was brilliant but socially inept. He wrote a program modeling chemical binding sites that got him accepted into a prestigious university. He did it, mostly, to get away from his hateful family. Brilliance was only so much to affluential families without the social skills to brag about it, after all. He was lonely. Lonely enough to want to die, Jude guessed, based on the bandages on his wrist. Jude couldn't care less about the poor, pitiful life of his body, though. It had nothing to do with him or his cool sexy life back in his cool sexy body. Which was probably dead, according to the shitty dream he had before waking up. Or maybe...not? If Jude Harper was in Jude Lennox's body, then could Jude Lennox be in Jude Harper's body? Hope started building up inside Jude. He had no idea what was going on but he had a lead.

Climbing into the backseat of Rebecca's sports car, Jude came face to face with James, who was sullenly glaring at him. James was 16, bratty, and got most of his joy out of being better than Jude in every possible way. Mainly that he was prettier. The house had been a little lonely without a Jude being gloomy in the corner. Jude noticed that he looked like his mother, with honey-colored curls and apple scented pheromones. They were still a little bitter and immature, but attractive nonetheless. James had a list of insults that he had wanted to say but fell silent upon looking at Jude's bandaged arms. Rebecca, however, had no such qualms and scolded the whole ride. She got distracted quickly though and kept going on tangents about the latest trends or gossip before snapping back to her point. The car ride was long, maybe an hour, and Jude had a headache by the end of it, along with a comprehensive understanding of the best purse brands for fall outfits that year. They pulled to a stop in front of an apartment.

"This is the first and last time I'm doing this Jude. Your father and I don't really care what you do as long as you keep quiet, but if it's going to be like this, then you're going to have to come back home. We don't have time to coddle you." Rebecca finished, tying up her hour-long tangent neatly. She seemed kind of proud of herself. As far as Jude could tell, she was kind of stupid but the way she ran with her words...impeccable. Jude was a little proud too. Trophy wives got better every year. As Jude opened the door and turned to leave, James grabbed his hand.

"You followed my Instagram, right?" he asked nervously. "You have to like every single one of my posts. You missed the last two." "I was in the hospital," Jude said dryly. Rebecca and James both looked at Jude weirdly as if hearing him talk was unusual. "Right. Whatever. I don't care. Just like them. And comment too. But not anything weird. Actually don't comment." Jude climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. It was nighttime, but even in the dark Jude could tell that the apartment was amazing. He climbed the steps and entered the passcode to his door, courtesy of Jude Lennox's memory. The door opened, revealing the biggest garbage dump that Jude had ever seen with his own two eyeballs. Or someone else's own two eyeballs.