Chapter XXXII

Vinny’s words weighed on his mind even after leaving him behind and making his way toward Liz’s first period classroom. Her teacher was a woman named Mrs. Lee, whom Damien had for world history the year prior. He knew what she was like and he knew how she taught so he wasn’t too worried about bullshitting his way through the class. It was the teachers he didn’t know that he was more cautious of. Of course, he knew he was being paranoid since nobody in their right mind would ever suspect him of being anyone other than Liz, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try not to embarrass her.

He took a deep breath, recalled where she said her seat was, and pulled open the door. Since the warning bell had already gone off, most students were already in their seats. Normally, this would mean Damien would be subject to a bunch of looks or glares, but hardly anybody even acknowledged his arrival. There were a few people who eyed him for a moment, but that was the extent of it.

God, this is so weird—to actually be somebody else…I just can’t get over how odd this feels.

Not wanting to act suspicious, he stopped looking around and instead made his way toward the second row of desks, taking his seat at the one in the back of the classroom. Unsurprisingly, nobody bothered talking to him or even to wish him a good morning. She might not have it as bad as him, but she was still certainly an outcast. He couldn’t help but feel a bit bad knowing that it was her association with the club that put her in that social position to begin with.

Well, I hope she’s doing alright. I’ve never really told her how often people glare at me so I hope it’s not making her too uncomfortable.

He had given her a warning but she had brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Although, he knew Liz was good at hiding her feelings so for all he knew, she might not be as prepared to deal with it as she claimed to be. He subconsciously moved his hand to Liz’s backpack laying under the desk where he was currently hiding the gem.

If something happens, we can always swap back.

At the sound of the bell, some of the chatter in the classroom died down as Mrs. Lee got up from her desk in the front corner of the room. She looked just as Damien remembered her. She was tall for a woman with long, straight blonde hair and a comforting smile that gave her almost a motherly appearance. She had always been relatively nice to Damien and so, he still had a certain fondness for her. At the very least, he was excited to get to spend one more day in her class.

“Alright, good morning everybody,” she greeted. “I hope you all had a lovely Monday afternoon. If you would pass your homework forward, that would be great. Then we can get on with the day.”

Recalling that Liz told him they had an analysis assignment due that morning, Damien quickly pulled her binder from her backpack and found it in the front folder. The girl in front of him glanced back at him, an uncomfortable look on her face as she waited for him to pass the paper forward. He quickly pulled it from the binder and gave it to the girl, who wordlessly turned and passed it on. At the front, Mrs. Lee collected all the stacks and placed them on her desk before turning to face the students once again.

“Alright, thank you, everybody,” she said cheerfully. “Now, today is going to just be a work day for you all to get into your groups and get started on your biography projects.”

Damien immediately felt his heart skip a beat.

Projects? Groups?! What the hell? Liz didn’t tell me anything about this! Does she even have a group?!

Most of the students were grinning at their friends as if excited to hurry along and join up. He subtly glanced around the room to see if anybody was looking at him but there wasn’t a single person.

Well damn. What now? If I ask Lee who my group is, Liz’ll look like an idiot!

Just as he was getting increasingly more panicked, Mrs. Lee glanced his way and smiled. “Is there anybody in here that has less than four in their groups?” the teacher asked.

Damien looked up in surprise as a group of girls raised their hands.

“Perfect,” Mrs. Lee said. “In that case, Miss Tao, you can join Miss Tavares’s group.”

Damien could clearly see the three girls suddenly look back at him with obvious expressions of nervousness and apprehension. He couldn’t help but to clench his teeth at the thought that they would find it so repulsive to be in the same group as his girlfriend. They were already judging her based on rumors and he would bet anything that they’d never even spoken to her. Despite his anger, Damien smiled at them but none of them returned it.

“Now, don’t forget,” Lee went on, “Your presentations are next Monday and I’m only giving you today and tomorrow to work in class. Don’t waste this time goofing off or you’ll be spending the weekend cramming. Nobody wants that, right? I’m sure you’d all prefer to spend your weekends sleeping.”

Damien smirked, knowing that regardless of what she said, most students would probably just spend the period talking with their friends. He knew Eric and Vinny had gotten themselves into a few stressful situations by wasting class time and having to rush their projects the night before it was due.

“Alright, get into groups,” Lee said. “Let’s get to work.”

Damien sighed as everybody got to their feet and began to join up with their friends. He wasn’t sure why Liz omitted the fact that she had a history project, but he figured there was nothing he could do about it now. He would just have to go with the flow and hope he didn’t mess up. While Lee had been talking, he’d managed to find the rubric for the assignment in Liz’s binder so he had a decent idea of what to do.

He quickly gathered Liz’s things and walked over to the left side of the room where the three girls in his group had already joined up. Since he didn’t interact with anybody outside of the club, he didn’t know two of their names. The only one he recognized was Julia Tavares and he only knew that was her name because Mrs. Lee had said her last name. All three glanced up at him again, still looking a bit nervous, though nobody said anything.

“Hey,” he greeted, trying to break the awkward silence as he took one of the empty seats behind them.

However his effort was futile since none of them actually responded to him. Instead, they just looked at their rubric sheets and he could tell they were just pretending to read them to get out of talking to him. This time, he didn’t bother suppressing his scowl as he eyed the three of them irritably.

Honestly, I get that we’re a bunch of weirdos but do they really need to be so rude? At least pretend like you don’t care so we can get this damn project done. He noticed the three girls glancing at each other, probably thinking they were more subtle than they actually were. Alright, how would Liz deal with this? She must’ve had some sort of plan…but what? I wish she would’ve just told me! Why wouldn’t she?

For a second, he considered Liz and the way she typically acted. Since they had been dating for most of their high school years, he’d come to know her pretty well and so, he knew she wasn’t absentminded enough to simply forget. At the same time, she wouldn’t have thrown him into the situation for the fun of it. She kept this from him for a reason. So what was it?

Could it be…that she wants me to do something about this? he wondered. Does this group project somehow relate to the whole thing? Is this what I’m supposed to experience by being her?

The girls in the group were still fidgeting and seemingly hoping that one of the others would be the first to speak. It was such an awkward situation that even Damien was starting to feel uncomfortable so, hoping that he was doing what Liz wanted him to, he broke the silence.

“Okay,” he said, his tone neutral enough not to sound antagonistic while also not seeming in any way happy. “I’m just gonna be blunt with you guys. Did I do something to you?”

All three of them tensed up at the sound of his voice and once again looked to each other for a response. Luckily, this time, one of them got up the nerve to actually say something.

“Um, no, of course not,” she muttered.

Damien cocked an eyebrow. “Then why are we just sitting here in silence? I don’t happen to want to have to work on this over the weekend so why don’t we get started?”

All three cringed and for a second, Damien saw a bit of fear in their eyes. It was a familiar look—the very one students always directed his way. However, he had no idea why they’d be looking at Liz in such a way. What was so frightening about her?

“Uh, okay,” Julia stuttered. “Yeah, let’s get started. Um…”

The girl looked down at her own copy of the rubric and started biting her lip, as if trying to find a place to start.

Oh, for the love of…

“How about starting with figuring out who we’re actually going to report on?” he asked. “It says it has to be somebody from the seventeenth century so did you guys have somebody in mind?” They all silently shook their heads and so, Damien just forced himself not to roll his eyes as he continued. “Then how about Hugh Creed? The author of ‘The Five Colors of Meckingham?’ That sound good to you guys?”

Again, they all shrugged and muttered “sure”, making it painfully obvious that they were just letting him take the lead. He wasn’t even sure they knew who Hugh Creed was and he wouldn’t have been surprised if they had ever heard of the poem he mentioned. Creed was a very influential poet when he lived but Damien only knew a few people who had ever read his works. His poems weren’t as well known anymore and the only reason Damien knew of him was because of his poetry phase from freshman year.

“Perfect,” he grumbled. “Cool, we’ll do that. Creed it is.”

I’m doing you people a favor, he thought bitterly. Mrs. Lee’s going to be so impressed that you guys picked such a unique option. However, as he thought it, he realized that he wasn’t actually going to be working on the project and he didn’t think Liz had ever read any of Creed’s work. Well, I guess I’ll just have to help her.

He turned his attention back to the rubric to start reading the requirements for the presentation. Before he could get through the first point, though, Julia spoke.

“Um, Tao?” she muttered.

“Yes?” Damien replied without looking up.

“A-are you mad?”

He couldn’t help but turn and stare at her in confusion. All three of them were looking at him as if in anticipation of his answer.

What the hell? Does Liz get mad often? I don’t think I’ve ever even seen her seriously glare at anyone. I mean, what kind of question was that?

But before he replied, one of the other girls continued.

“We’re sorry for being so rude,” she said. “So…please don’t tell your boyfriend.”

Damien frowned. “Tell my…? What? Why would I…?”

It was then that it clicked for him. Those looks of fear and hesitance weren’t directed at Liz Tao specifically. They weren’t afraid of her. They were afraid of him…and they were terrified that she would tell him to go after them. As always, those looks of fear were directed at Damien Clark.

He suddenly felt his stomach churn and for a moment, he feared he might be sick. He understood what it was Liz wanted him to see. She wanted him to understand just how she was perceived around the school. She wasn’t just a member of the Magic Club. She was the girlfriend of the infamous Damien Clark. She was seen as somebody who could tell him who to attack, as if she was his puppet master of sorts. She was someone who they should tiptoe around for fear of what she might have Damien do to them.

That was how Elizabeth Tao was perceived.

Because of this, they would avoid her and keep their distance. It would keep her from forming any relationships outside of the club. Vinny, Eric, and himself were all she had and there was no way to change that.

And it was his fault.

They weren’t afraid of her.

They were afraid of him…as always.

***

Damien’s hypothesis only continued to be confirmed as the day went on. In second period, he carefully watched the way students acted around him. They kept their distance when he walked by, they refused to look directly at him and when they did, it was anger or irritation. Nobody talked to him unless they couldn’t avoid it and when they did, they didn’t say much. The only class he shared with Liz was third period but they never got a chance to talk since she had arrived to class late. Fourth period was the same and finally, when lunch arrived, Damien felt mentally exhausted.

So this is how it is, huh? I never knew. Liz never told me what her life was like. And of course she didn’t. She knows this is all because of our relationship. It’s…the same as what was happening to Alice. No wonder…she felt the need to help her.

As he walked through the halls, he kept off to the side so as not to get in anybody’s way. It was his normal habit and, even though he was being stared at far less than when he had his own body, he was now more aware of the nature of why they didn’t look his way. He kept his head low as he walked down the stairs and to the first floor. He and Liz made plans to meet up in the courtyard that afternoon to talk and now, he realized why that was.

When he arrived out in the snow-covered courtyard, he glanced around until he saw himself, or rather Liz, sitting at one of the tables on the opposite side of the lawn, eating the lunch he’d packed for her. He exhaled softly before making his way across the lawn. When she saw him heading her way, she raised a hand in greeting and grinned.

“Howdy, friendo,” she said. “Looking beautiful as always!”

He raised his eyebrows, knowing she was essentially just complimenting herself, as he wiped the snow from the bench and took a seat across the table from her.

“Yeah, thanks,” he muttered.

Liz laughed, looking as if she were having the time of her life. He was glad she was enjoying herself, and while he normally wouldn’t have gotten right to the point, he found himself unable to hold back.

“So, I appreciate you not telling me about first period’s project,” he grumbled. “That was quite a surprise.”

She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head guiltily. “Yeah, sorry about that. I just thought it’d be better if it were a surprise.”

“Meaning?”

“Well…who’s in my group?” she asked.

He frowned, trying to remember the girls names but failing once again. “I honestly don’t know. One of them was Tavares but I don’t know the other two.”

“Oh, Julia,” Liz chirped. “Yeah, I know her. She’s always seemed relatively nice.”

Really? That’s what you consider nice?

He found that didn’t help the sick feeling in his stomach at all.

“How’d they treat you?” Liz continued, sounding more serious than before.

Damien snorted. “They hardly said anything, awkwardly looking around or at each other and, when I did start taking the lead, they looked scared of me. Turns out they really didn’t want you reporting back to me and setting me on them like you’re some beset master.”

The sad look on Liz’s face confirmed for him that he was correct in assuming that’s what the point of their swap had been. She had wanted him to see that.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly. “Why didn’t you just tell me that’s how people were looking at you? I’ve never had a damn clue that…I was isolating you like that!”

Liz shrugged, looking right at him with a smile. “Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter,” she said simply. “Because there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just how life is…and how it's going to be.”

“But…” He shook his head. “Why date me then? If we weren’t together, maybe you wouldn’t be…”

“Don’t,” she interrupted sharply. “That should be obvious, Damien. I’m dating you because I care about you…more than I care about my reputation. I wouldn’t trade you for a damn one of them.”

She meant it. He could tell just by the sound of her voice that she truly meant what she was telling him. He couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to. Despite the situation, he couldn’t help but feel a little better to know just how much she cared about him.

“Then…what was the point of all this?” he asked. “Why did we have to switch? Why not just tell me?”

At that she shrugged once more. “I guess I could’ve told you but…I think it’s easier to understand by experiencing it. I wanted you to know what a day as me was like so you could feel what I feel. That way…you can see why I was so desperate to help Alice.”

“It’s because you know how it feels,” he answered, “to be judged and hated because of who you care about.”

Liz nodded. “It is. That’s one reason, at least. After all, she had it far worse than I ever did. I understood Alice and so…I needed to help her. Vinny was right…letting that spiral out of control would have been bad…especially when we had a chance to fix it. But I knew I couldn’t convince you to use the stone—”

“My current state begs to differ,” he said wryly, motioning to his body with a wave of his hand. “It seems like I am under a siren song to an extent.”

She laughed softly, glancing around to make sure nobody was paying them any attention. “Yeah, but that was different. Using the stone on Evan and Rina had risks. This doesn’t.”

He nodded, conceding her point as he motioned for her to continue.

“Again…going behind your back was wrong,” she said. “And I can’t stress how sorry I am. I acted in the moment. I did what I thought I had to do and…after looking back on it, I know I was wrong to lie. I should’ve just told the truth in that meeting but…”

“You didn’t want to have to explain everything,” he finished. “You knew I’d catch on to the fact that you had reasons you didn’t want to tell me.”

“I did,” she admitted. “I know you too well, after all.”

He sighed. “And why hide it? Did you not trust me or…?”

“Don’t even say that. Of course I trust you. I hid it from you…because I knew you’d blame yourself,” she replied. “I knew that if I talked about it, you’d blame yourself for bringing it on me… I didn’t want that hanging over you. I still don’t but…you deserved to know why I did what I did. There was no longer any hiding it…if I didn’t want to lose you.”

Damien glanced down at the table, considering everything she said and all he had experienced thus far that day. He still didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about Liz’s theft of the stone but, after everything, he found he couldn’t hold it against her. He couldn’t be mad. He knew why she did it and she already made it clear how sorry she was. As long as she didn’t go behind his back again and talked to him instead, he would put it behind him. He wanted her back. Those weeks without her were painfully long.

“I understand,” he said. “I really do. And I don’t want to lose you.”

She smiled bashfully. “Thanks.”

“So, shall we put this all behind us and move on?” he suggested. “I think we’ve both learned something from this mess.”

She nodded. “I’d like that. And also,” she quickly added. “We can swap back now. You’ve…seen what I wanted you to so if you want, you can take your body back.”

Despite his earlier discomfort with both using the stone and being in a body that wasn’t his own, he found the thought of switching back in that moment odd. Surprising himself, he shook his head.

“One day was the deal, yeah?” he asked wryly. “Wouldn’t want to toss in the towel so close to the end, right?”

She looked at him in surprise for a moment before rolling her eyes and laughing.

“No, I guess we wouldn’t.”

***

For reasons still unknown to him, Eric had canceled the previous day’s club activities despite having initially talked about having a party. When Vinny asked if he was moving it to the following day, Eric had told him that he was canceling club for the remainder of the week and that he would get back to him when he had the rescheduled date. At first, Vinny had been concerned since Eric rarely ever canceled club. Even when almost all the members were absent, he still went and spent his afternoon in the room. So, Vinny couldn’t help but fear that something had happened. After everything that went down between them the last time they were all gathered in the clubroom, he was afraid that it was all taking more of a toll on Eric than the boy was letting on.

I hope he’s okay, he thought. Maybe I should talk to him again? After all, he seems the most content not prying into what happened to Rina.

Vinny sighed, taking a bite of his sandwich as he looked up across the table to where Alice was quietly sitting. She’d seemed pretty out of it since the previous day and, since she kept brushing it off as being tired from the first days back, Vinny was content to let her relax. They were eating out in the courtyard where the chattering of students could be heard from the tables all around them. He shivered a bit, missing the warm interior of the clubroom and wondering if he should’ve just chosen to eat inside.

Damn, I really should just pull myself together. Eric and Liz are right. I should just talk to Damien again and see where his head lies. Even if I can’t tell him the truth, maybe I can find some other way to smooth this over so we can go back to normal.

For a moment, he even considered going to Lilly and seeing what she thought of the matter. The two of them hadn’t talked since the last club meeting so he didn’t have any clue what she thought about everything. The only reason he hadn’t yet was because every time he saw her, she was with Eric. The two seemed inseparable all of a sudden and he really didn’t want to ask her to talk to him alone with Eric around. He knew it would make it seem like he didn’t trust Eric, which was far from the truth.

Ah, like hell that’s an excuse. I could always just text her but…well, who knows. Maybe she’d tell Eric if I did. God, this is getting ridiculous. These people are my best friends.

He thought back to what Liz had said to him earlier that morning when he asked about Damien. She’d told him to just go and talk with Damien—similar advice to what Eric had said to him. However, each time he thought about talking to Damien, he couldn’t help but to think back to their last conversation out in the woods. Their ideals were too different. He couldn’t help but to wonder if they’d ever be able to come to an agreement.

So what do I do? Should I talk to him…or wait for him to come to me?

“Hey, Vinny?” Alice said suddenly, shaking him from his thoughts.

“Mmm?” he grunted. “Yeah?”

She glanced sideways for a moment, as if thinking about something, before replying. “I was just wondering if you’re okay? You were staring off into space with this weird look like something was bothering you.”

Damn, was I that obvious?

He shook his head, not wanting her to suspect that there were any issues surrounding the resolution to her bullying. He didn’t want her feeling like she caused the club to start falling apart.

“Nope, just thinking,” he replied. “I was trying to figure out why Eric canceled the party. I was really looking forward to it.”

Not technically a lie. I was trying to figure that out, after all.

She nodded. “Yeah, that was weird. I know I haven’t known him long but that didn’t seem like something he would do unless he had no choice. Something must’ve come up.”

“But what?” Vinny wondered. “I mean, it’s the start of a new semester so I can’t imagine he has studying to do. I mean, if he had a doctor's appointment or something, he’d just shut it down for a day even if he didn’t leave everything to Damien or Lilly, but it’s completely unheard of for him to shut down for a whole week.”

Alice frowned. “You think…it has anything to do with…you know…?”

Evan and Rina? Honestly, maybe. For all I know, Eric’s conducting some investigation into the whole matter. Not like Rina would tell him anything though. She’s probably scared shitless of him now. Although, Jay…

Vinny couldn’t help but cringe a little. Jay had been acting off ever since the night they used the stone and he knew Damien had already picked up on it. With how good Eric was with people, it wouldn’t be too unthinkable for him to find some way to make Jay confess.

He better not, Vinny thought irritably. Maybe I should talk to him again just to make sure he stays quiet.

Vinny sighed. “I don’t think so. Like I said, it’s all dealt with. There’s nothing more to look into.”

For a moment, he noticed a hint of suspicion in her eyes but she didn’t say anything. Instead she just nodded and went back to her food. He could tell that she didn’t fully accept the fact that he kept dodging her questions about the whole matter but he didn’t want her to know about what happened. It wasn’t something she needed to know and so, he would keep avoiding the subject until it was all behind them.

But to put it behind me, I first need to make things right with Damien. But how do I…?

His thoughts went blank as he noticed two students walking hand in hand past the tables and toward the main school building. They were talking and laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world. Normally, this wouldn’t have surprised him. It was a common sight for him, but he hadn’t expected to see it so soon.

Damien…Liz… She told me they hadn’t made up yet. When did they…? He exhaled softly. There I have it. Liz wanted to fix the issue and so she did. I don’t have an excuse anymore. I have to talk to Damien. I have to fix this.