Five days after Lola got home from the hospital....

She woke up one morning to find herself in a room that wasn't hers. Nor was it Tatianas....

It was a small room with blue walls and tiles on the floor. Lola felt immediate panic and looked down to see that once again, she wasn't in her body. "Oh no! What's happening to me now?!" She rasped in Tatiana's adult voice.

A door opened a woman in a white uniform came in. "Good morning Ms Tiche. How was your first night with us?"

Lola's brain had a traffic jam. The noise that came from her mouth sounded like a humback whale having a stroke.

"Not very comfortable I guess?" said the woman. "Well don't worry, you'll get used to it."

The woman lay down a tray of... What Lola guessed was breakfast, but it looked like the stuff she ate while staying at her grandpa's old folks home.

The woman mentioned group therapy at ten am if she wanted to join and just before she left Lola managed to ask where the phone was.

...............................................................

Tatiana awoke in her nice clean bedsheets.

"My new life of sobriety day six-AGH!!!" She yelled in shock at the sight of Lana Louds face staring into her soul.

"Lola? Are you okay?" Lana had climbed onto the bed and perched over Tatiana's body like a house cat.

"Lana, let her breathe for Petes sake!" Lori pulled the seven year old off of the sheets.

Tatiana clutched her heart for dear life and saw the entire Loud brood had surrounded her bed. It didn't take a genius to figure out where she was. Which meant that Lola....

"Hey Lol, how are you feeling today?" asked Lori

"Do you need mr sprinkles?" asked Leni

"Chicken soup?" asked Lincoln

"your I-pod?" asked Luna

"A rubber chicken?" asked Luan

"A professional therapist to figure out your recent changes in behaviour?" asked Lisa

Tatiana made a mental note of what Lisa said and replied, "Actually, I really need my phone right now. And a little privacy, if its not too much trouble."

The siblings found Lola's phone and left the room, reminding her that they were here if she needed anything.

The moment they left, Lola's cellphone rang.

....................................

The other orderlies in the clinic came out into the hallway in alarm. Tatiana Tiche was swearing into the public phone till she was blue in the face.

One doctor approached very cautiously. "Ms. Tiche? this is supposed to be a place of calm."

The girl in Tatiana's body snarled at him and he ran off in fright.

Inside the phone a young voice replied. "Okay. That's out of your system."

"Youuuuuuuuuuu...." Lola growled

"Yes. Me."

"You lying.....stinking....backstabbing.....drunk."

"Hey! My hygiene is as good as yours. I don't stink."

"do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"....No but my imagination is strong enough to make a pretty accurate guess."

"I was puking all night! They had to put tubes in me, I thought I was gonna die! You....." Lola's eyes started to tear up with emotion.

"Lola...."

"Why would you do something like that to me? And in front of my family! They're asking me all these questions and I don't know what to say because I wasn't even there!"

Tatiana said nothing.

"I thought you were this really big smart lady, but your just an awful....mean....horrible person who can't stop thinking about booze." Lola started breathing heavily. She was bout to start crying any minute.

"Alright Lola. Your obviously not ready to have this talk. Call me later tonight-"

"I'M NEVER CALLING YOU AGAIN! STAYAWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" Lola slammed the phone down and ran back to her room as fast as she could and began crying into her pillow.

One of the orderlies ran and got Dr. Lomyer, the head of the clinic. "Doctor. Ms Tiche just had some kind of emotional breakdown."

Dr Lomyer smiled. "That very interesting. She must finally be ready to open up. Lets give her a few hours and I'll stop by to talk to her."

.......

"Hey Lola, how are you feeling sunshine?" Rita said as she saw her daughter enter the kitchen.

"Like a raincloud in Cuba." Tatiana retorted.

She sat at the table and looked at the nice home cooked meal Mr Loud had made. It smelled delicious and tasted as such. "thanks daddy." she said

"I'm glad you liked it."

The other siblings were eating at the dinner table as well but there was an awkward silence that filled the air. And Tatiana couldn't have asked for anything more. This time, she wanted to switch bodies.

"Guys, I'm really sorry about what I did." Tatiana said, trying her best to mimic Lola's cutesy way of talking.

"It's okay dude, we're just glad your not hurt." said Luna

"It's not okay. it was stupid. The truth is, I was trying to be more grown up." (naturally Tatiana had these words practiced and ready to go almost the same day she dumped her bottles with Sarah)

"You see, I felt really bad about my birthday party and decided I needed to grow up and be more mature. so I was trying all these different things, like hanging out with Luna and having big science conversations with Lisa." (that should cover Lisa's suspicions. Tatiana thought to herself)

"And then I saw this commercial on tv for Mackendale whisky. They said it was the "Mature drink for mature tastes" and I saw those kids drinking a bottle of it at the restaurant and I...I thought I'd try some. I thought it might make me feel more grown up. It actually didn't taste too bad. But then after the fourth sip I didn't feel good. I don't remember what happened after that."

"It's called alcohol poisoning you doof. You nearly died." Lynn jr was blunt as always.

"I know that now. I promise I'm never drinking any alcohol ever again. (Tatiana couldn't help but sound sad as she uttered these words.) I promise. And I realize now, I don't need to grow up that badly. I just need to be more responsible and considerate of other people."

The family seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. everything was explained. they gave her the usual round of well wishes and gratitude. Things were back to normal.

"Hey Lana, want to go out and play?" Tatiana asked, trying to sound as young as she could.

"Sure!" the two girls ran out of the house as fast as they could.

Lana brought out a bunch of toys from the garage. "Want to play jump rope?"

"Oh you know I do." Tatiana replied without hesitation

She tripped over the rope and fell on her face.

"Huh? Your usually the best at jump rope. You sure your feeling okay?" Lana asked

"Of course! I'm just a little rusty after being in bed all week." Tatiana replied while thinking to herself, "not to mentioned the twenty years since I've ever touched a jump rope. but I have to do this. I have to get Lola's life back on track."

After a few tries at jump rope Tatiana eventually got her grove back. Then she and Lan spent the morning playing more fun games like pretend castle raid. The floor is lava and and Lola tag.(which, ironically, Lana had to explain the rules to Tatiana)

Then they rode a their bikes to the park where, to their surprise, a huge group of their classmates were playing.

including Tina the ballerina. And some snooty girl with a white dog.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the terrible twins come to ruin everyones good time again." The snooty girl replied upon seeing them

"0.3 seconds." Tatiana replied

"What?"

"That's how long it took me to dislike you. 0.3 seconds. Congratulations that's officially the worst first impression I've ever received."

"FIRST impression?" The girl made a spoiled little gasp and pouted, "We've been going to summer camp together for the last three years. You AND Lana the mess."

"Hey Lacy! Hey Victroi!" Lana waved as if she hadn't just been insulted. "Hey! is that a new chew toy?"

"Keep your grubby hands away from her. Victroi just got his nails done." the girl pulled her dog away in alarm.

"With that much hot air its amazing your feet are still on the ground." Tatiana snarked.

Before Lacy could reply in shock Tatiana turned to everyone else. "So what is everyone playing?"

"Capture the flag." Tina said emotionlessly with her arms crossed. she was still wearing her tutu.

"Cool! Can we play?" Lana said excitedly

all of boys gave a cheer.

"Sure Lana YOU can play. But we don't want to play with mean little stinkers like Lola." Tina turned her back.

"Aw, come on you guys, I thought we were over that." Lana cried, and before Tatiana could say "lets go somewhere else." Something rather special happened.

"Don't be mean to Lola!" came a voice from the crowd. Everyone took a step back as Genny the rash girl came forward in one of her new outfits. Sadly it was the yellow T-shirt with the black spots. Making her look like an even mushier banana in the sunlight.

"Lola said she was sorry, and she's really nice. You should let her play with us."

"Or better yet, how about she goes off and plays with you and we go have fun by ourselves." Tina turned away.

"I think we should let her play." said Roxie said taking her place next to Genny.

Soon two more girls came and joined them. One was a hispanic girl dressed all in grey. The other a curly haired girl wearing a shirt with a horse on it. Plus one boy named Zeke. and surprisingly, Poor Kylie shuffled over as well.

Lana stood in front and stuck out her chest. "Well, it looks like I've got MY team. and now I've got my flag." She said pulling a grease rag out of her trousers. "It looks like its game on."

The boys cheered and everyone broke off into four teams. Tina came up and whispered into Tatiana's ear. "Care to make it more interesting?"

"Sure, if my team wins, you have to do a dance for me to the Blarney the dinosaur song." Tatiana grinned

"And if MY team wins, I get to strap you to the hood of MY car and cut your fingers off with a spork!"

"Sweet Jesus." Tatiana gasp

"My dad says worse to me." Kylie said as if she was being helpful.

"Okay I'm sorry, Im sorry." Tina said as her face turned red, "I didn't mean to go that far. I just found out my parents are getting a divorce and it's made me all upset and I've been snapping at everybody.... My dad says I have to see the counsellor....you know what, never mind. If I win, you give we twenty bucks. Hows that?"

"Satisfac- I mean... You are SO going down." Tatiana grinned.

..................

The game was nothing less than a rip roaring thrill ride.

It started off tame. Lana hid the flag in a compost heap and left Kylie to guard it. The girls and Zeke spread out to try and get everyone else's flag and soon found themselves trying to keep up the athletic boys from class.

"Guys! hold on! we need to get organized!" Tatiana called but it was fruitless.

This was no board meeting. This was a bunch of children playing capture the flag. It was pure unadulterated madness with a side dose of what the f#$%?

At one point Big Kyle somehow wound up sitting on Zekes head and farted on him. This stopped the game briefly so that Zeke could cry, and Big Kyle was punished by having to hop around on one leg the rest of the game.

Lacys dog got stuck in a tree and no one would help her get it down.

And then Crazy Rick (who wasn't there at the beginning) came out of nowhere and began trying to tag everybody and no one knew what to do because he wasn't on any team.

Then Roxie and Grabby Kathy got into a shoving match. Apparently words were exchanged beforehand. Rick saw the shoving and decided to help, bodychecking Roxie to the ground and skinning her elbow.

This caused Genny to go BERSERK and tackled Rick to the ground and started hitting him all over.

The game was stopped to watch the two fight. Rick went down on all fours and started snarling like a doberman. Genny got down and called his bluff, snarling just as loud. The two fought some more. Genny started biting for real. Rick called uncle.

The fight ended with applause. All the kids decided Genny needed a nickname change and after a brief vote concluded "Genny the Jaguar" was appropriate given her yellow shirt and the spots all over her skin.

Crazy Rick told Genny he loved her and made a marriage proposal. Genny said he shouldn't do that till they were grown ups. Rick agreed and postponed the engagement.

With the matter settled and Roxie given a bandaid the game resumed and Tatiana was absolutely blown away at how much freakin energy these kids had. She WISHED she had employees who could make decisions this quickly and run this long.

"Can we take a time out?" Tatiana asked. sweat dripping from her brow.

A dirty diaper was thrown at her head. Little Kyle had stolen it and the flag from the compost heap and had decided to declare victory by covering Tatiana in poop.

Lola's new friends surrounded Tatiana and asked if she was okay. And Tatiana felt a familiar sensation.

.........................

Meanwhile, Lola spent the day in the rehab clinic listening to stories from some very unhappy people. Apparently Poor Kylie wasn't alone in the world. Her type of family was quite common and the people who grew up in these families had a tendency to drink a lot of booze when they grew up.

Along with some other stuff Lola had never heard of and frankly didn't want to. "Angel Dust" should not have such a pretty name. Who ever thought of that one should have called it "death dust" instead.

Hearing all this pain and sadness really got to the little seven year old and after a ten thirty snack, she was filled with the urge to do something for the poor residents.

And Lola felt an equally familiar sensation.

..............................

"You are so going down."

...............................

"I've got to do something to make these people feel better."

..................................

"Hey Lola, are you okay." Lana asked her sister.

A light glistened in Tatiana's eyes. "Lana, get everyone together."

The other members of the team gathered around.

"Listen up ladies....and Zeke......by the time we get called in for lunch...we are going to have ALL of those flags. Every....last...one..."

Tatiana then began to quickly reveal her plan. She didn't feel tired anymore. A wave of youthful energy filled her mind and voice as she detailed her plan for success.

...................................

"Hey guys! want to go outside and play Lola tag?"

Everyone in the rehab clinic looked up at her like she was crazy. Lola couldn't understand it herself but she was suddenly filled with the urge to go play.

It took some persuading but eventually about a dozen patients followed her out back. along with a doctor to make sure no one got hurt. (some things never change.)

Lolas brain burst with all kinds of new ideas for Lola tag. The game where Lola makes all the rules. but this game was different. It was less silly. more clever. More adult.

And the penalties for being tagged involved sharing something personal about yourself.

an hour later, everyone was smiling and having fun.

and Tatiana realized she was no longer playing with little kids, but full grown adults. and a woman named Margie won Lola tag.

....................................

When Lola came to her senses, she was clutching four flags and her new friends where carrying her up in the air while Tina the Ballerina was dancing to the Blarney theme song.

The friends all went to Lolas house for lunch.

..................................

Text messages received at 6pm

Lola?

Hey

I didn't want to call you again in case you were still angry. I wanted to offer you my sincerest apologies for what I did to you this week. There are no excuses. Only one explanation. I have a serious problem. I didn't realize it until this week but I do. I was anxious about your success with my dinner party and in my anxiety I gave into temptation. And I am so, so sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my transgression. If you had died it would have been my fault completely and it is that knowledge, that I almost caused a death, that has led me to seek treatment. That is all I wanted to say. You can contact me through messenger if you would like to talk. They don't allow cell phones in here. I hope you weren't frightened by the clinic. Have a good night.

Thanks Tanya. Actually it was really nice meeting those people. it kind of gave me an idea of what your problem is. although I couldn't really share your personal story because I don't know why you were drinking so much in the first place. Why are you so drunk? You have everything I've ever wanted! Anyway. I'm not mad anymore. My friends all like me again. So I think we're square. Good night.

...................................................................................................................................

Too be continued

Haven't updated this story in a while. It's hard to find time to write.

I hope to finish it completely soon. Two more chapters until the truth of the magic becomes revealed. along with one last plot twist thats going to change everything.