The Shifters - TG

The Shifters - TG
By: ThatGuy

“Whoa! Who’s this?”

Charlie looked up from his research for the first time in over an hour, to see that his friend Reese had gotten bored of video games while he waited. Instead he decided to start fooling around with Charlie's phone without asking. Even worse, he was flipping through Charlie’s photo gallery and his eyes were wide as he stared at something on the screen. Charlie groaned - he knew where this was going before Reese even showed him. All this time spent worrying about one problem, and he had accidentally let his lewd friend stumble upon another.

Most of the photos weren’t a problem, since most were just normal random pics. But in between the shots of Charlie’s used car and what he had for lunch today there were one or two that he'd been hoping to avoid sharing with anyone, which naturally Reese found. In particular, the photo he was looking at as was a selfie of a pretty girl standing in front of a mirror. She was dressed in boyish clothes, a simple long-sleeve shirt and jeans which might have even passed for Charlie’s own clothing if not for the way they accommodated her figure: while slender overall, she had long legs and was noticeably busty.

She wasn’t posing or showing off or anything. In fact it seemed like she was just taking a quick pic to catch what she looked like. It even cut off her face. But the damage was done.

“Is she a girlfriend I don’t know about? She’s a hot one! Nice going! Why’ve you been holding out on me?”

Charlie turned very red. “I haven’t been, it’s not like that.”

“Oh, come on.” Reese scoffed, waving off the denial. “That’s definitely your closet she’s posing in front of. I can see your posters in the background. You’re even wearing matching shirts. Who does that, anyway?”

“I mean it. She’s really isn’t my girlfriend.”

“Ok. That’s cryptic. So who is she?”

“You’re not going to be believe me.” Charlie hoped that would be that, but Reese was looking at him expectantly. Crude or not, his friend had a way of seeing through lies. Charlie could either waste time telling tales or reluctantly let the cat out of the bag. “I mean it,” he sighed. “You’re going to think I’m lying, but I’m pretty sure that’s… me.” He winced, waiting for the inevitable laughter.

To his surprise, instead of laughing at him Reese just stared for a moment. Though he looked as if Charlie’s head has just exploded. “What? C’mon, you can do better than that!” He said after a while. Then he laughed right through Charlie’s false sense of security. And when Charlie immediately didn’t own up to the lie, he laughed some more. “Hate to break it to ya, but that’s no guy I’ve ever seen - especially not you. I don’t ever remember you having such big-”

“I told you, I mean it!” Charlie shouted, shutting Reese up. Once he was sure there wouldn’t be any more jokes, he continued. “It’s… a long story, and I’m not sure of it all, so bear with me alright? You know that indie group that’s been putting up fliers all over campus recently? The Shifters?”

“The rock band? What about ‘em?”

“Well, they were handing out singles at the mall the other day, and I took one just for the hell of it. Then last night I was sitting around watching tv and thought I’d pop in one of their songs - ‘Tiresias,’ I think. It wasn’t half bad, either. I started getting into it, really into it. It felt like I was daydreaming. Stuff that wasn’t about the song, listening to the song over and over, seemed less important. I didn’t even catch onto what was going on until I looked down and saw, well, tits.”

Reese rolled his eyes. Charlie groaned. “I’m serious, Reese. I looked down and I had boobs. I ran to the closet to see myself in the mirror, and it was true. I looked just like that girl in the photo. And it wasn’t just me, either. That isn’t just a matching shirt she’s wearing: that’s my actual shirt, just… different. Everything about me was changing before my eyes. I knew it was the song, somehow, but for some reason I just didn’t want to turn it off. All I could think of to do was take a picture just to prove I wasn’t dreaming before going along with this insatiable urge to keep listening. Everything’s a bit fuzzy after that.”

“Oh really?” Reese said mockingly. “You sure you didn’t turn into Dolly Parton? Or get a night job as a supermodel?”

Charlie glared at him for a moment, but accepted the spirit of the question. “Nah. Taking the picture is the last thing I can clearly remember before waking up. Everything seemed normal, so I thought maybe I really did just nod off and have some kinda weird dream. But then I looked at my phone, and the photo was there. Then suddenly I could feel movement under my shirt - I checked it out and it was this.” He reached under his collar and pulled out the top of his undershirt. “Last night it turned into a freaking bra, and it was still changing back when I woke up!”

“I see.” Reese raised his eyebrow and looked at the photo again. Those clothes did look a lot like the kind Charlie typically wore, but there was just no getting past that figure… “You do know that this ‘everything changed back’ story means you don’t have any proof,” he said skeptically.

“Maybe, but check it out.” Charlie opened his computer and pulled Reese over to read. “When I turned on my computer I found was logged into a whole bunch of Shifters fansites under this name.”

Reese leaned in to make sure he read it right. “Shiftersgirlx0x0? That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Right?” Charlie said, with no small amazement in his voice. “So I looked it up. This girl put up tons of posts in fan forums about how ‘dreamy and talented’ the Shifters were, then started asking about where they were playing. Turns out there was a free concert in the park yesterday night. They have pictures of it on their site.” Charlie opened a window he had closed, showing the photos in question. “There’s almost no guys in the crowd there, but look who is there cheering her head off.” Reese peered at the picture, and right there in the third row was definitely the girl from Charlie’s photo. He could barely make out her face, but he supposed she did look like she could be in Charlie’s family. An odd coincidence, he had to grant. “I just know whatever happened to me was because of their music. I’m afraid to turn the song back on, but their target audience is mostly college girls, right? I’m the right age, but what do you know? I’m not a girl. Makes you wonder.”

He trailed off, apparently trying to be mysterious. Reese, however, was not having any of it. “So… what,” he said with heavy sarcasm. “You think this new rock band is turning people who listen to their music into fangirls so they can boost their image? As apposed to just admitting that maybe you had a girl in here you don’t want to tell me about, who happens to be an obsessed fan? I mean, I can get being embarrassed about her choice in music…” He ended it there as if it were settled.

Reese family was from Korea and little sisters were obsessed with K-Pop, which he absolutely hated. So he obviously assumed that as the real problem, and that was starting to get annoying. “Yes, I do.” Charlie shot back. “It beats anything else I could think of on my own. And before you ask, no. I’m not about to listen to that single again any time soon just to prove it to you.”

“You better hope they don’t get a radio deal,” Reese snickered.

“How many times do I have to tell you I’m serious? If these hacks really are transforming people into their own personal legion of fangirls, someone oughta do something about it!”

Reese scoffed again. He snatched the computer and started fiddling around with it. “Look, this is nuts. They’re just a stupid. They’re just a stupid indie band that’s gotten to be a fad, see?” He showed the screen to Charlie, who gasped when he saw what he had done. Reese had opened up the Shifters’ website!

“Wait… stop! Close it! They put a sample song on their front page!” Charlie leapt to grab the computer away, but the window had already loaded. The sound of electric guitar and cheesy vocals filtered loudly through the speakers.

“Cover your ears!” He shouted, but he already knew it was too late. Not only was Reese already listening, but even he didn’t even want to follow his own advice. Not in the face of that strange feeling telling not be so hasty. This was turning out to be a surprisingly good tune. It might be unsafe, but maybe they could listen to a few more bars before shutting it off…

It was a completely different song from before but the urge was just as intoxicating. It was a pull to just stop worrying and listen in. He was only vaguely aware that he sat back down. And in the same way, he knew he was already changing - he could feel it - but it was like trying to think through fog. A pair of weights were growing out his chest, straining his shirt, but he couldn’t be bothered to look. His jeans felt tight around the hips, but all he thought to do was shift his weight a bit to get more comfortable as he swayed along.

He could pay attention to Reese, though. While he couldn’t bring himself to care, he could at least watch what was happening.

Charlie was fairly scrawny, but Reese was taller and worked out more. Watching him change was like seeing a shirt shrink in the wash in fast forward. Before Charlie’s eyes Reese’s figure redistributed itself, and in seconds he was completely different. He was shorter, slimmer, rounder. His frame became curvier as his hips widened, far past the size of the girl in Charlie’s photos - his level, Charlie realized (he had been wondering why his seat felt so thick). In fact Reese - or rather the girl Reese was turning into - looked like she was going to be more evenly proportioned. Rapidly forming in the place of his jock physique was the body of a young woman their age, not as bosomy as the girl Charlie knew himself to be changing into but more shapely in general. She was still taller than him, but then Charlie wondered if that wasn’t because he was getting shorter now too.

There were other differences. The girl in the photo had short hair like Charlie, but Reese’s hair was falling over his face like curtains. The young woman standing in front of him (for she couldn’t possibly be considered a man now) was no longer wearing Reese’s shorts and shirt. His clothes had shifted into a bright pink skirt and top with jewelry, heels, and stockings - a whole ensemble. Charlie on the other hand was fairly certain he was still wearing more or less the same thing just like last the time. It was hard to look away, even with the song taking his breath away in the background. Reese was likewise looking at Charlie, probably seeing the same things he was.

For a moment they looked at each other’s faces. The shocked expression Charlie saw on Reese’s face still very recognizably his friend’s, and it clashed a bit with her now feminine face (for but a moment before the song made him forget it, he wondered if his own face had changed so much yet). “I-I think I believe you…” Reese said with a shaky voice. The tone was at least octave higher, and the sound shocked himself. But then Reese’s eyes suddenly glazed over and lost focus, and a second later he spoke again. This time there was no surprise, and the manner of speaking was so different it might as well have been a separate voice altogether. “… this band really is the best thing ever!”

For a moment Charlie was concerned. He knew he had been telling Reese something besides that. Something was very wrong. But at the same time… she was right! The Shifters were the best band ever! A look of horror flashed across his face and was immediately replaced with excitement. He was changing again, and he knew they were the ones doing this to him but who cared about stuff like that anyway? All though troublesome memories seemed to take a backseat, as new ones rapidly overlapped them.

“I know right?” She heard herself gush in a light alto… though that was a weird way of putting it, now that she thought about it. It was her voice, so why did she feel like it was something separate? “And they’re even better in person! What did we ever do before they came along? They’ve got a concert at the mall tonight, and I know where to get two tickets right now if you’re interested!”

“Definitely!” Her friend said without a trace of hesitation. “Let’s get going!”

——-

A few hours later the lawn outside Tanner’s Gorge Megamall was packed with fans waiting for the show to begin. Calls for the Shifters to come out and start the music were getting louder and louder as the crowd became more and more unruly. There were fans of many ages there, but most were college coeds from the local school trying to enjoy their Saturday night - they weren’t pleased about spending it waiting for the management to get their act together.

But it could have been a lot worse. The group was initially slated for a small indoor concert, but when the ticket sales started rolling in the mall was forced to change what should have been a small show into a huge outdoor event on the fly. It was just a stroke of luck that their manager had been prepared. He seemed to almost be expecting it, in fact. Once the problem presented itself he quickly met with the mall’s managers and negotiated a move to their summer concert stage, promising that the profit would be far worth the expense. And so far, it was looking as if he was right. The mall was packed and the stores were getting lots of business - especially when it came to Shifters merch.

The manager saved the day again when the fans were just about to hit their limit. The crowd went silent as he walked onto the stage, and when he grabbed the microphone they leaned forward in anticipation. “Are you all ready to rock?” He shouted with a  smirk. There was a thunder from the crowd. The manager grinned wider. “The Shifters will be out soon, but before the show here’s your amazing opening act: Gloria and the Rad Girls!”

Another wave of cheers followed this as the manager ushered an all-girl pop rock band onto the stage, taking a moment to once over their edgy matching outfits before slipping offstage. The Rad Girls didn’t get as big a response as the Shifters themselves would to be sure, but there was definitely energy there. The leader of the band shouted something or other to the crowd and gestured for the other ladies to start playing, but the manager was no longer paying attention - he had a whole show to run, and it wouldn’t do to miss the important work by actually listening to any of it.

He shook a few hands, directed a few staff members and signed a few papers before finding the leader of the band, Troy Gant, waiting for him backstage. The rising star was made up for the show but seemed a bit confused. Luckily confusion was normal. That’s what they had their manager for in the first place.

“How’s it going, Troy?” He asked. “You boys ready to get out there?”

“Oh yeah, we’re totally ready.” Troy said with a thumbs up, though he didn’t drop that confused expression. “But weren’t Roy and the Bad Boys supposed to open for us? We go way back.”

“I had to… replace them.” Their manager said. Troy’s eyes widened, but the manager put his hand up before he could put in a word of protest. “Creative differences. But I’m sure you’ll get along even better with these ladies.”

As if on cue Gloria turned around in the middle of her guitar solo and winked right at Troy. He froze. The manager rolled his eyes at the big dopey grin that formed on his face. Clearly there wouldn’t be much more objection from him over the new choice in opening acts.

“Uh… okay, I definitely see where you’re coming from,” Troy chuckled, giving his manager a conspiratorial nudge. He rolled his eyes again. “Still, I probably ought to.call him to apologize for cutting him out.”

“If you say so,” was the manager’s airy reply, and he waited patiently as Troy pulled out his phone and dialed a number. They stood in silence through about a minute of ringing, but no one picked up on the other end (further backstage Gloria’s cell phone rang unanswered in her purse, unheard by either of them). Troy cut off the phone before it could go to answering machine and stared at it, a worried look on his face.

“He’s didn’t answer. Hope he’s not pissed.”

“He probably just has another gig,” the manager said sagely. Troy nodded, though he still looked a bit concerned. Either way the situation was hopefully taken care of for now, so the manager walked away to make sure the other band members were ready as well. Troy stopped him again at the last second.

He put his hand on the manager’s shoulder and smiled. “I just wanna thank you, Vic,” Troy said, a sincere look of gratitude on his face. The manager, Vic, was a bit taken aback. “We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without you. I don’t know how you did it, but somehow you made into the most popular band in the county and we only have up to go from here. We really appreciate that.”

Vic smiled. It was a smug, oily smile but Troy was used to it by now, and since he had never had any reason to distrust his manager before he always accepted it. “All in a day’s work, Mr. Gant,” Vic said. “Now you round up the guys and get ready to go on stage. The ladies will be done with their set soon.”

Troy saluted, and off he swaggered to the dressing rooms like the wannabe superstar he was. Vic sighed and shook his head. Whatever paid the bills at the end of the day.

When he was satisfied that he wouldn’t be disturbed for a while, he dug into his coat and pulled out his special ear-buds that would ensure he couldn’t hear anything from onstage. Not that he was in any danger of being affected by anything strange and mystical: the enchantment on the Shifters’ instruments didn’t activate during live performances (it would be far harder to cover it up that way, even with magic), and even so Vic was immune to it. He just really hated their music.

He didn’t see anything wrong with thinking they were terrible behind their backs. It wasn’t his job to like their music, just to promote it, and he was doing an amazing job of that even if they were a bunch of hacks. Mixing in a little magic here and there was stroke of genius. How better to turn a bunch of nobody rockers playing in their garage into superstars than to create a fanbase for them? (Edgar totally owed him a hundred bucks - he thought it’d never work) Soon they would get so huge that they wouldn’t even need his help. Their popularity would carry them no matter how bad their music was. But until then someone had to keep those complicated spells properly maintained, not to mention get filthy rich off the profits.

This latest scheme of his was seriously a goldmine. The legions of fans practically printed money, and the more he made the more they spread the music around, making even more fans to bring him even more money! Even if someone realized what was going on, who would believe a rock band could seriously literally change people into fangirls? Nobody around here, at any rate. Though people who weren’t from around here were still a concern.

Anyone who knew him would immediately notice his fingers all over this, and this was a serious and highly illegal scam. Someone who knew how he worked could potentially figure out the whole thing in no time. Not that he was worried. If push came to shove he could just split, but he was also prepared for anyone who might track him here. He had a spell prepared for all of them, the moment they showed up anywhere nearby.

In fact, he practically dared one of his old rivals to show up. He hadn’t seen Seneca in a while…

WHAM!

He suddenly slammed hard into something mid-daydream, and his papers went flying all over the floor. Apparently he had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t been watching where he was going and plowed right into a surprised young woman, who hadn’t been paying attention either. The hit only made him stumble back some, but she was knocked silly and fell clear onto her bum. It took Vic a moment to recover from the surprise. Meanwhile, another coed rushed to the aid of the first and helped her to her feet.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” The second one glared at him. The first stood up, but it also took her a moment to shake off the daze. When she did, she shot him an annoyed look as well.

For a moment he almost apologized and would have helped, before it dawned on him that these two were definitely not allowed back here anyway. “Watch out yourself.” He said, crossing his arms with a glare of his own. He was getting good at the whole ‘intimidating looks’ thing. Sean would be proud, between shaking his fist at him of course. “Not that I don’t mind the company of a pair of lovely ladies such as yourself, but who are you two supposed to be?”

All at once the two of them also seemed to realize that they were caught and their demeanors changed completely. With typical ‘deer caught in the headlights’ reactions, their expressions changed from irritated looks to guilty smiles. “We… uh… just got lost is all…” the second one started, clearly about to go into a ridiculous lie, but the woman Vic accidentally knocked down stopped her.

“We’re here for the concert. We thought that since the band was taking so long, we could… maybe… try and sneak in to meet them before the show?” She chuckled sheepishly. Her friend facepalmed, clearly not on board with telling the truth to anyone in a suit. Though luckily for them, Vic wasn’t just anyone in a suit.

He closely eyed them up and down, struck with a sudden intuition. The buxom one in the jeans that he’d gotten ‘acquainted’ with a moment before was clearly the more levelheaded one of the two, but from the way her body language craned to glimpse around him and the pleading tone of her voice he could tell she might practically lose it once one of the boys came into view. The other one, a curvy Asian girl in a short skirt, was more standoffish but Vic didn’t miss the not-quite hidden excitement in her face. Both had a serious fervor in their eyes when the first one brought up the band: they were practically hooked!

That was one admitted downside to the plan: the musicians had all the fun.

Though when you had magic to help that along, it could happen for anybody. In this case, it couldn’t be more obvious that these gorgeous lasses were definitely the result of Vic’s brilliant “advertising program.” Which meant that even though the band probably would’ve loved to meet like a pair like this too, there were even better ways to deal with them. “Sorry girls, but the boys are literally just about to get on stage,” he said. “Maybe you’ll get lucky after the show.”

A two-person wave of groans replied back. “I told you it was a stupid idea!” the Asian girl shouted, making the first cringe under her glare. So much for being the levelheaded one, though at least she had the grace to look apologetic. “And now we’re gonna get thrown out!”

“Maybe not! You get an A for effort, and I personally think that deserves a reward!” Vic said cheerfully. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out one of his on-hand advertisement tricks and started separating some out. “Here you go! Special coupons. 20% off on the purchase of any ten Shifters tie-in products. An amazing deal! Take the lot, tell your friends!” He shoved a small roll of coupons into their thrilled hands and started discreetly pushing them towards the exit (though his inner casanova hated to see them leave so soon. Maybe he really was maturing).

“I don’t think we have any friends who are fans yet,” the girl in the jeans protested, though ecstatic about the gift.

“You’ll find some, don’t worry about that.” Vic said quickly, putting his hands on their shoulders. They immediately removed them (Vic tried not to look disappointed), but they finally seemed to take the hint about leaving. Either that or Vic was starting to annoy them - either was possible. “And even if you don’t,” he continued with a grin, “You can reuse ‘em! Just enjoy.”

“Wait,” the second woman turned back and looked at him suspiciously. “You’re really not going to turn us in for sneaking in?”

“Nope! It’s all part of the fun, isn’t it? And incidentally…” he paused, taking an obvious glance at the first coed’s chest. “… if you decide to go crazy and toss your bras onto the stage, hey, I won’t stop you then either.”

She threw him a very unimpressed look, but thanked him for the coupon and walked away. She even stopped the other one from smacking him in the face, which was nice, though he was sure he could hear her friend mutter “pig” as she left before they started talking and laughing amongst themselves. Admittedly that was a bit perverted even for him, but it did get them out of his hair and away from backstage. The last he saw, they were excitedly divvying up the coupons before turning a corner out of sight.

“Now there’s hundred dollars worth of merch sales. Each!”  He laughed. He shuddered just thinking of the spell books he could buy with this one. “I love this job!”

——

When he woke up, the first things Charlie noticed were that it was morning, he was back in his bed, and he had very weird headache. It was less like a hangover, and more like the dull feeling one gets from sleeping for way too long. He vaguely remembered something like that the first time, so maybe that’s just how people felt after changing into someone else. He wasn’t really experienced about such things.

The second thing he noticed was that his floor was practically covered in bags of Shifters merchandise. His fangirl-self had obviously been busy. He groaned and threw his head back into his pillow. For a second he thought maybe he could just dream it all away, but he couldn’t get back to sleep. Just his luck, but just as well. He would have to deal with this eventually.

Throwing himself out of bed, he poked through the various bags to assess the damage. Clothes, hats, posters, there seemed to be one of everything in there somewhere. The sheer amount of merch his alter-ego had managed to buy (tears would be shed for the probable death of his credit card) surprised him so much that he almost forgot to check himself just to make sure he really was back to normal. A quick pat down showed that everything was sufficiently flat and bulgy where they were supposed to be, though he once again changed back a little bit ahead of his clothes. There was the same uncomfortable feeling as his underwear shifted around and his clothes got looser, but that passed quickly.

Once that was done he checked his phone. Just as he thought, there were lots more pictures of the girl in the mirror at the Shifters’ concert - this time with a slightly tan girl-friend he assumed was Reese. The photos didn’t reveal much more than before, but this time she also left behind a chain of texts that were sent to Reese’s phone yet addressed to someone she called “Becky” (short for Rebecca. No guesses needed to figure that one out). Mostly they were asking where she was or gushing about the music (and/or the men performing it). Becky’s return texts identified his alter-ego as “Caroline.” All in all, he supposed she could’ve had worse names.

And speaking of “Becky,” Charlie supposed he should also check on the one responsible for this whole mess.

It didn’t take long to find him. The living room was also full of Shifters merch, and he spotted Reese lying on the couch, though he had to stop himself from bursting out in laughter as soon as he saw him.

Reese’s was back to normal, but just like Charlie his clothes were taking a minute to follow. Unlike Charlie however, Reese’s inner fangirl didn’t keep his taste in clothes. As if the photos and the vague memory of transforming didn’t make it clear already, Reese was obviously stuck with an alter-ego that was a heck of a lot girlier than Caroline. He was lying there half-dressed like himself, half looking like a dolled-up coed: Becky’s short pink skirt was only partway through turning back into Reese’s baggy shorts, his socks were still half-stockings, and his t-shirt had a few noticeable traces of blouse in it. He was even wearing a pair of pearl earrings, though they popped out of his ears and turned into headphone buds after a few moments.

It was a good thing Reese was still asleep, because his usually macho friend looked hilarious. Charlie almost took a picture, but thought better of it. Still, it was nice to have some funny side to the whole “forcibly changing into a tacky boy band’s fangirl” situation.

Sadly, by the time Reese woke up his clothes were mostly back to normal so Charlie couldn’t even rib him about it. As he sat up he still a bit groggy, but the memories started flooding back soon enough. Just like Charlie, he patted himself down to see if there were any left-over curves where there shouldn’t have been before looking around.

“Tell me that didn’t really happen,” he mumbled.

“Can’t.” Charlie said gruffly. He handed Reese his phone, which had a few pics Becky took herself. With every new photo and text message, Reese sunk further down into the couch. Charlie could relate, even if this was all Reese’s fault. He was in the same boat, after all. “I told you to believe me. If you hadn’t have been messing around we wouldn’t have changed. Count yourself lucky, this was my second time.”

Reese just groaned. “What’s all this stuff?” He pointed to the bags on the floor.

“I think that’s all yours. Mine is papering my room.”

“Great. Just great,” he groaned. He haphazardly poked through his new “collection,” tearing through each of the bags for anything salvageable. “Aw, what the hell? Bras? Necklaces?” He said, almost laughing despite himself as he pulled out a very feminine necklace with the Shifter’s logo inside a silver heart. Without even bothering to comment, he tossed it back in the bag and kept rummaging. “Man, even the clothes are all in girls’ sizes! If we had to buy this crap while under their stupid spell, the least they could do is make it turn into something we could actually use after we change back. What are we supposed to do with all of this?” A lightbulb suddenly went off in his eyes, and he looked up. “Hey, maybe we can sell ‘em to some actual fans. We can charge twice as much, so this fiasco won’t be a total loss.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anyone who could use these that’s an actual fan of their music. Most of the real women I know think they’re crap.”

“Just you wait. Real girls probably aren’t immune to this mumbo jumbo either - I think I saw my ex-girlfriend in one of those photos, and she hates rock music. If I could con her into buying some of this crap for like five times the cash, that’d make all this worthwhile!”

“Leave it to you to find a way to take advantage.” Charlie sighed. “But we should still probably keep some of it, though, just in case we get changed again. Maybe if they already have the merch here, those fangirl versions of us won’t feel the need to buy new ones.”

Reese stared blankly at him. “You’re fooling yourself.”

Charlie sighed again, feeling too young for this kind of craziness. “I know.”

They didn’t say anything for a while, just taking a few moments let it all sink in. Finally Reese asked the big question. “So, what now?”

“We just avoid anything Shifters related, period. As for all this crud…” Charlie idly at one of the bags on the floor. A very skimpy Shifters brand bikini fell out of a box inside, in full view of both of them. Charlie suddenly lost his train of thought and stared at it, his mouth slightly ajar. Meanwhile Reese became very interested in the bumps on the ceiling.

Turning a bit red (though he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t even his alter-ego’s bag), he quickly stuffed the swimsuit back into the bag and continued (with a little difficulty) as if nothing happened. “Er… anyway, like you said, I think it would be best if we could unload some of this stuff somewhere. If we can’t find someone willing to buy it, then we could at least donate it someplace.”

“Alrighty then, let’s take a walk to wherever we go for that sort of thing,” Reese said quickly. He dove to his feet and walked straight to the door without even bothering to grab a jacket. Charlie didn’t miss the annoyed look he threw Becky’s bags as he left. “I could really use a distraction right now anyway.” He was already holding the door open and waiting for Charlie to follow. He seemed testy all of a sudden, Charlie thought it was more funny than anything.

But, it wasn’t like Charlie didn’t need some air away from this insanity either. He was happy for the excuse to get to get out of there too, though he still shot his friend a knowing smirk to irritate him more. Charlie laughed to himself. Maybe that bikini would make a good joke after this whole situation was over. If it was ever over.

On the way to the elevator they ran into one of Charlie’s next door neighbors. A gruff looking grad student a couple years older than them, or at least Charlie assumed he was a grad student from his age since he didn’t know the guy too well. They had only met once or twice, and even so it had been quick meetings like this without many words passed. Charlie and Reese waved, and he muttered a hello in response before turning his attention back to a radio he was carrying. He wasn’t wearing any headphones so the sound was loud enough that could all hear it, especially when they all shuffled into the elevator. It was tuned to a popular hip hop station, though something seemed different about it today…

“Hey all you listeners out there, this is DJ Plain Jane coming at you live with the top pick of the day!”

Reese shot the radio a confused look. “Doesn’t that station usually have a different host? DJ Jack Smack?” He asked.

The other guy shrugged and kept on listening. But Reese stayed suspicious as the DJ continued to talk.

“I was just sent a new CD this morning, and it’s the best I ever heard! Couldn’t wait to share it with y’all!”

Charlie and Reese shared an alarmed look. A sinking feeling was forming in the pit of their stomachs. Nervously, they turned to stare at the radio - and in doing so they failed to notice as Charlie’s neighbor, oblivious to their uncertain looks, pressed the ground floor button. The elevator slowly doors started to close, but the two boys were too busy waiting on baited breath for the DJ’s next words to notice…

“Sure to be a number one hit, here’s ‘The Girl I Know You Can Be” by… The Shifters!”

“NOOOO!”

Charlie and Reese dove for the exit just as the doors slid closed in their faces.

End