ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕥 : 𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 
𝕃𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 : ℂ𝕒𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕟 '𝕩𝕩𝕩' 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪 '𝕪𝕪𝕪' (𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕀'𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕓𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤... 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕦𝕤, 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕝𝕒𝕨𝕤)
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"I think you're mistaking something... Listen to me..." Aislinn Rhiannon Davis, an archeologist by profession, tried to make her long time friend understand.

"These are my feelings, not yours. How the hell can you even think I'm mistaking it?" Sevyn Cassandra Brooks, a philologist by profession, countered back. She wasn't ready to understand her friend this time.

"If only we didn't go to that damned place last year, none of this could've happened! Why don't you understand? It's just temporary and will eventually fade away... Please don't give in yet." Her friend tightened the grip of Sevyn's shoulders to make her point more firm. But, it wasn't really helping.

"Look here Ash. I know we've been friends for long, like really long time... Heck! We grew with each other. But, that doesn't give you the right to monopolize over MY feelings. Neither it's necessary that you will know every single thing about me. And this is not temporary." Sevyn loosened her friend's grip from her shoulders and shook her head.

"Look I know you're mad because I'm not ready to understand anything but please... You know this isn't true." Aislinn started once again. Their conversation was going in circles with no conclusions whatsoever. And nobody was at fault. Both of them had their views and morals to follow, after all.

"Isn't true? Are you even listening to what you're saying? And why the hell are we talking here of all places? Let's just go back and discuss the rest..." Sevyn stood from her seat, threw some money on counter and without even waiting for Aislinn to catch up, left the cafeteria where their whole team had gathered to celebrate the success of their last project.

"Sev please listen to me and walk slowly. It's not safe these days." Aislinn ran after her friend who was at least ten steps farther from her, both on road and, in life.

Sevyn felt wronged after that discussion. It felt as if Aislinn wasn't ready to accept her for who she was. More than anger, she was feeling hurt. Why? Why was it so hard to understand her feelings? And calling them 'temporary'? It really hurt her.

She fastened her steps to reach her one bhk flat, which was far away home from their (Sevyn and Aislinn shared the same flat after moving away) original home. In a corner of road, there was some dispute among the protesters and common people, resulting in severe violence. She just shook her head at the site.  It looked like the God was trying to prove that Aislinn may have been right about letting go of her feelings. It was somewhat comical to her.

The protesters were slowly moving towards the road and the police wasn't helping much. She stopped to see the protest for a brief moment when suddenly a guy ran towards her with a pointed knife, which was already smeared in blood. It looked like he was from the common people' side and was rebelling with other party when things turned messy. He had just stabbed someone and was trying to run away. He was running faster and wasn't even looking in forward direction. His eyes were glued to that guy who was on ground agonizing in pain with his hands on his lower left part of stomach, where he may have stabbed UNINTENTIONALLY.

Sevyn wanted to run but her feet didn't share the same plan. She stood glued unable to process why something like that just happened in front of her very own eyes. That very moment, the running guy moved closer to her and would've stabbed her due to his clumsiness with knife...

It would've happened if Aislinn had stayed at her place watching things unfold from afar. Rather, she rushed and barely managed to take the hit in her lower right abdomen, successfully shielding her friend. It was only after he hit someone UNINTENTIONALLY that he understood what he had done. Leaving his knife stuck there, he pushed her body and ran as fast as his legs could take him.

"Are you okay?" Aislinn limped towards her friend. It was only after the collision of bodies did Sevyn realize what her friend had done.

"Are you crazy? Why...? How...? And you're asking how am I? What do I do...? It's bleeding..." Sevyn severely panicked.

What happened afterwards was a blur for both of them. Police helped in taking Aislinn to nearby hospital. Her situation was stable but, Sevyn was deeply traumatized with the incidents. She couldn't help but blame herself. If only she'd have listened and not rushed...

The truth was Sevyn and Aislinn grew up and moved for work together. And recently, after they visited another country, Sevyn came across someone who managed to steal her heart with a single glance. Being with that special someone, her heart felt ease and she experienced the feeling of 'true love' for the very first time. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎?
𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛...

For months she thought of letting Aislinn know about her true feelings but, couldn't muster the courage. And when time came to leave the country, that 'special someone' refused to maintain their relationship. As if heartbreak wasn't enough, Sevyn started getting 'her' messages after months of returning. Of course, she wasn't going to go back to that person but it didn't ease the already existing pain. It felt bad to know how she was just a second choice for 'her'.

Then one day, Aislinn accidentally saw those messages and confronted her. She tried to explain her stance but failed terribly. And the result? Was today... Ash or Aislinn didn't mean any harm. It was understandable why it was so tough for her to understand these things. Her hometown didn't allow 'this type of love' and thus, something like this was unheard of. Even the protest today was because some people wanted the 'rights' to express 'their type of love'.

She went inside her chamber to check if everything's okay but what she saw was something she would never believe... Before her wasn't her friend's body but someone else's.

"What is this place?" She suddenly stopped creasing her forehead and turned towards Sevyn with curiosity leaking through her eyes. The person sitting in palce of her friend had the lightest shade of blonde as her hair colour with equally light blue eyes, and she had the palest complexion Sevyn had ever witnessed.

"Who are you...?" Sevyn's voice trailed off...

She couldn't believe what was happening. Her legs wobbled as she tried to balance her thoughts as well as herself. Her friend's body was just swapped with someone's completely different body. It must be God's way to punish her for doubting her friend. Where was Ash? How is she? And who's this person? Above all, why was it happening with Sevyn?

𝓦𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝔀𝓸 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 (𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓮𝓻) 𝓯𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 (𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷'𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀)?
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Number of words (excluding Author's Note) :- 1161
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Author's Note :

Alright... We're finally here with the very first part of the story.

What does it mean to fall in love with someone? Some say love makes the world go round so surely it can’t be bad. Falling in love can feel both painful and wonderful at the same time! This is NOT straightforward...

Like, our main protagonist Sevyn fell in love with someone so, it became something unforgettable and beautiful for her... Both in a good and bad way.

But then again, we're back at the question...

"Roses are red, violets are blue, when you reject me, what can I do?"

Absolutely nothing. We can do nothing.

Love is never free. There is always a price to pay for what each partner gives or maybe, takes.

From the beginning of any intimate relationship, love is never free. There is always a price to pay for what each partner is giving or receiving. If lovers do not pay attention to that reality, they will unknowingly charge what they are getting on “emotional credit card” that will eventually come due. Like Sev, she gave and gave... Somehow, she received a little in comparison.

Then we've Aislinn or Ash, who doesn't really want to see her friend suffer. But is her outlook towards love right?

Honestly, I don't know. Neither will I like to justify what's happening with her.

Also, any clues on who this girl is, and why Ash's body got swapped or, where's she now?

All the answers will be revealed slowly, one step at a time. Till then, take care of yourself and everyone around you.