Chapter 3

Eleanor 

I reached for my face, pulling my cheeks just to confirm if all of this was real or not. 

No. 

This couldn't be happening. It must be a dream or something. I stared at the mirror with disbelief as I tried to understand what had happened. 

I racked my brain, trying to recall any unusual occurrences but besides the accident and the hospital room, my mind was blank. Completely blank. 

Just when I was about placing my hand on the mirror, I heard a soft knock on the door which startled me. "Honey? Are you okay?" A voice followed, making me even more confused. 

What the heck was happening? I stared at the closer door before glancing at the vanity again. "I heard you scream…did you trip again?" The voice came again and I slowly walked to the door. "Honey? Is everything okay in there?" 

"Umm…who's there?" I finally worked up the courage to speak. 

There was a slight pause before she spoke again, "It's me…your mother." She said, sounding a bit taken back. 

"Mother?" My brows dipped and I instinctively reached for the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. 

"Yes?" A woman who was probably in her early forties and had the same blonde hair as mine walked in with her hands outstretched. She then cupped my face, her eyes flicking from one part of my face to the other. "Did you hit your head or something?" 

"N…no. I'm fine." I stuttered. 

"You don't seem fine…" she said with a worried look in her eyes. Of course I wasn't fine…one minute I had thought I was dead and the next I'm waking up in a body that doesn't look anything like mine and is obviously younger and this woman here acted like nothing was wrong. 

"I'm fine. Really." I forced a smile on and even though I really wanted to ask her a lot more questions, I felt like I was supposed to keep this to myself and figure out what had happened and why I was in this strange house looking like a 19 year old. 

The woman…who was supposed to be my mother eyed me with suspicion before she finally let go of my face. "Okay…but hurry up and get ready." She turned to leave. 

Get ready? What did she mean by that? 

"Get ready…for what?" I asked, trying not to sound suspicious. 

She then turned slowly, the confusion evident in her expression. 

"For school?" She narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you didn't bump your head honey? Because you're asking some really weird questions." 

I blinked, trying to process her answer. Did she just say school? But I was done with school two years ago. 

None of this was making any sense. 

I then realized that the woman was still standing waiting for me to say something to her. "I'm fine….mum. It just slipped my mind." I smiled weirdly before leading her towards the door. "Now if you'll excuse me…I have to get ready for um school." I gently pushed her out the door before giving her a small wave. 

"Bye bye." I shut the door in her face and it was only then I realized that I had been holding my breath. With my "mum" gone now, I rushed to the mirror again staring at my reflection. 

"Okay…" I blinked. "So somehow instead of dying I ended up in this place." I said, gazing at my reflection with widened eyes. "In this body. With this face. And this hair." I ran my hands through my long hair. 

Is this something that happened to everyone after they died? 

"Or maybe this could all be a dream." I tried to convince myself. "A very vivid, lucid, intense, lifelike, hyper-realistic dream." 

"It's not a dream." my inner voice taunted. 

"Argh." I groaned out, running my hands through my hair again, anxiously this time. I was careful not to be too loud again so no one would hear me. 

I then dropped my hands to my sides before taking in a deep breath to steady my racing heart. I glanced around the unfamiliar room again, my eyes landing on a neatly folded set of clothes on a nearby chair. 

Whoever used to be in this room or owned this body must have been a crazy neat freak because this room was crazy clean. It was obvious that the clothes were for school and now all I needed to do was get ready for school and pretend to be this girl while I figure out how I got here. 

That's not so hard is it? The thought crossed my mind as I pressed my lips together. 

Of course it was hard. 

I walked over to the set of clothes and hesitated before picking up the outfit. It was a pastel sweater with a pleated skirt and a pair of white sneakers. It wasn't something I would have chosen for myself, but then again nothing about my current situation reflected my old self. 

My fingers grazed the fabric as countless thoughts ran through my mind. I had absolutely no idea who this girl was, or how I ended up here, hell I didn't even know what was supposed to be my name. 

"Ugh." I let out another groan before a soft chime echoed in the room, drawing my attention to the phone lying on the bedside table. 

"Right, how could I forget?" I sighed, rushing towards the phone. Even though I knew nothing about this girl, her belongings were still here and that also included her phone. 

I picked up the phone, ready to go through it quickly and get all the information I could find. Thankfully it needed a Face ID for recognition and not a password, if not God knows what I would have done. 

The second I got in, I began swiping through the phone but was interrupted by a knock. A louder one this time. 

I stiffened. "Who is it?" 

"It's me." A voice came from the other side of the door. Unlike the previous one, this one sounded more girlish and a lot younger. 

I was about asking the person to give their name when I realized that this was supposed to be my house and surely everyone in here was family and I was supposed to know them even by their voices. 

Oh God. 

I rushed to the door, unlocking it. "Wha…you're still in your jammies? Elvis is leaving in 10 minutes!" A girl who was almost my height stared at me from the other side of the door. From the way she was dressed up, I could tell she was also getting ready for school. If I were to guess, she was supposed to be my sister…I just didn't know if she was older or younger….or even a twin! 

"Elvis?" I blinked, hoping she would give more information. Unfortunately she didn't. 

"Yes, Elvis." She said, sidestepping me as she walked into the room. "You know Elvis doesn't like to wait. If I were you I'd hurry up." She said heading towards my dressing table and picking up what looked like lipgloss. Then she grabbed a bottle of perfume and sprayed it on her clothes. 

"Um…okay." I shut the door. I didn't exactly have a sister or a sibling but I heard they normally share stuff and Cassie and I used to share our stuff all the time, so I guess this was normal. 

"What?" I asked when the girl turned to face me with a wrinkled forehead. 

"You're not saying anything." 

My brows dipped as I tried to understand what she was saying. "I'm confused." 

"You normally yell at me for using your lip gloss and perfume and today you didn't say anything." She explained, lifting her shoulders in a small shrug. 

"Oh." My brows shot up. So Miss four eyes here was a neat freak but didn't like sharing. Okay. Noted. 

"I…I just decided to let you use it today." I said, hoping she wouldn't ask me more questions. "I guess I just got sick of yelling at you all the time." I added when I realized she still wasn't buying it. 

"Well…I guess I better shower so uh…Elvis wouldn't leave me." I wasn't still sure who this Elvis was but I was still going to find out eventually. Most people could just assume he was a relative like a brother or a cousin or something, since people didn't exactly call their dad by their name but there was nothing realistic about my situation right now so anything was possible. 

Plus, he could even be the driver because from the size of this room, it was obvious that these people were rich, really rich. 

I could still feel her gaze on me as I slipped into the bathroom, with the phone still in my hand. I decided to prepare and check the phone later so as to not raise suspicion. For some reason I didn't want to expose myself…whatever that even meant in this situation. 

I quickly showered and by the time I got back out, the girl was gone. With minutes to spare, I got dressed as quickly as I could and I had to admit, the clothes fit perfectly but they kind of felt foreign on my skin. I glanced down at my hands again. They were smaller, paler and uncalloused. I then blinked letting out a shaky breath and it wasn't until I was drying my hair that I heard a loud horn from downstairs. 

"Thea! Where are you?!" A voice followed and I could tell it belonged to the girl who was in my room earlier. 

I didn't need anyone to tell me that it was me, they were calling out to. I mean I wasn't certain I was the only girl left in the house but I was still getting ready so…

"In a minute!" I yelled back. Knowing I had no time to do my hair, I quickly grabbed a hairbrush, conditioners and a few other stuff like lipgloss and mascara before heading down. 

I hurried down the stairs and was about heading out the door when a voice stopped me in my tracks. "What in the…" I turned to find a guy sizing me up with his brows furrowed. He had a huge, half bitten red apple in his left hand while his phone and a car key were in the other hand. 

"What happened to you?" He asked, lifting a brow. I then followed his gaze to my disheveled hair and half worn shoes. I was still trying to understand what was happening when I recalled the neat room and how "Thea" must have been a neat freak. 

I wasn't certain but it was obvious from the way this guy was looking at me that this was an unusual look for me….or Thea rather. 

"I got up late and got distracted." I said, answering his question but he was still staring at me like I'd grown two heads. I'd been getting stares like that ever since this morning. "I'll get ready in the car." I flashed him a weird smile before heading out the door. I'd also been smiling like that ever since this morning. 

Oh God. I never thought switching lives was going to be this hectic. This is definitely gonna be a long day.