Chapter 16 Not Who You Think I Am
***Kalie’s Point of View***
DJ Lani took my face into his hands and looked into my eyes wiping his thumb cross my cheek to push away my tears.
“Heather,” he said just loud enough for me to hear. “I was so panicked when Harlow and Harper told me they pushed you out. You don’t know how relieved I am that I found you and that you’re safe. I don’t know what I would do without you. I was a complete jerk before and I am truly sorry that I treated you the way I did. I just hope you will forgive me Violet.”
Now I was really confused, “What did you just call me?”
DJ Lani was even more confused than I was.
Before he could even open his mouth Heather said, “He called you Violet.”
“What?” was the only thing he could say.
“You called her Violet. It’s the old nickname that she gives only you permission to say. Sometimes you call her Vi for short.”
“How do you know that?” he asked with total confusion in his voice. “Heather…”
“Never tells anyone about her secret nickname,” Heather finished for him.
DJ Lani looked at me, then at Heather, then back at me, “But…”
“We’re not who you think we are,” she answered cautiously. “Something very strange happened to us out in the storm.”
Nick was just as confused as DJ Lani, “What strange thing happened?”
“We switched bodies,” I answered.
Nick looked at me, “You two did what?”
“When we were both looking for an unlocked door we slammed into each other and woke up in each other’s bodies,” Heather tried to explain.
“Are you girls playing a trick on us?” DJ Lani chuckled.
“The makeup artist tonight told me and the other Backstreet dancers a story about two girls caught out in a hurricane that had their souls switched. I know it sounds absurd and a lot like Freaky Friday but it happened to us tonight,” I replied.
“I am not Kalie,” Heather said to Nick. “I know I look and sound like her and I am wearing her clothes but I am not her. I am Heather. I am in love with DJ Lani. I should be enjoying the fact that you are holding me and kissing me but the only man I can think of is him right now and how badly I want to be in his arms. What other Nick Carter fan would actually pass you up to be with Backstreet’s DJ?” she tried to make light of the situation but none of us laughed.
“I don’t believe this,” DJ Lani was starting to sound a little angry.
“Why don’t you ask us a few questions that only the true Heather or Kalie would be able to answer?” I suggested calmly.
“Alright then,” Nick said first. He looked at me and asked, “If you are the true Kalie then what did I give you for your sixteenth birthday?”
I smiled, “You gave me a purple heart-shaped ring that I have been wearing on my right ring finger ever since you gave it to me.”
Heather looked down at my hand, “Oh wow I never noticed that. It looks like brand new.”
“That’s because I polish it every night before…”
Nick cut me off, “We say good night.”
I smiled, “And every morning after…”
“We say good morning,” I could tell in his voice that his suspicion was starting to fade and he was starting to believe us.
DJ Lani then turned to Heather, “Why am I the only one who calls you Violet?”
“My mom started calling me Violet when I first started loving the color purple. I became obsessed with the color and I still love it today. You, mom, and Steph were the only ones who called me that. When we grew older Steph stopped calling me Violet and then mom went crazy. You were the only one who called me that and didn’t make it sound like a punishment or a reminder of all the bad times with mom. You have always said it in a loving way making me remember the good times. No one else knows about my secret nickname; not even the rest of my family. What’s left of my family anyway.”
I felt DJ Lani’s grip loosen on me and I also saw another question form in Nick’s eyes.
“When was the first time we kissed and when did we finally confess our love for each other?” he asked.
I chuckled, “How could I forget our first kiss? We weren’t even dating yet and you were consoling me after you stopped that jerk Jasper from raping me. We were both scared out of our minds but we agreed much later when we did start dating that we both loved the kiss and we wanted more. And we first confessed our love for each other when I was lying in a hospital bed after waking up from a coma. I had to say it twice for you to realize that I meant my words as more than mere words shared between friends. Do you believe me now Kaos?”
He smiled widely and rushed over to me, “Of course I do! I knew when you recalled what times you clean your ring every day.” He wrapped his arms around me and I breathed out in relief.
“You still don’t believe us do you Rich?” Heather asked her boyfriend.
“I have one more question for you.”
“Shoot,” Heather said stepping closer to him.
“What is your family’s darkest secret?” he asked hesitantly. “I know it’s a painful question but it’s the only one I know that some imposture can’t bullshit.”
She looked at Nick and me before answering, “This doesn’t leave the four of us ok? My best friends don’t even know about this.”
“I promise. You helped me survive being locked out in a hurricane it’s the least I can do for you,” I answered graciously.
“My darkest family secret is that the doctors know exactly how my mom died they just won’t tell the rest of my family. Only Steph, you and I know that she died of a prescription drug overdose because she couldn’t handle being in a mental ward anymore and she hated being separated from my sister and I. My family also doesn’t know that my mom wrote me and my sister separate notes before she died expressing her love for us and how sorry she was that she had gone crazy. It was in that note that she called me her Violet for the last time,” she said in a quiet, saddened voice.
Rich took her up in his arms and exclaimed, “It really is you!”
“Yes it is baby,” Heather smiled as he squeezed her.
“Now…” Nick said, “How do we get you back into your normal bodies?”
“Kalie, what else did the makeup artist tell you?” Heather asked. “Did she say there was any way the girls could be switched back?”
I thought about the story that was told and replied happily after a few moments, “Yes! The girls were switched back to normal.”
“How?” asked Heather.
“She said that the village elders told them to go back out into the storm and do the same thing that made their souls switch in the first place. But…” fear settled in again, “I don’t want to go back out in that storm!” my body started shaking again thinking about going back out there.
Nick cradled me and kissed my forehead, “I’m here Kayl. If that is the only way to change you back, do it. I’m going to sound selfish but I want my girl in her own body. It took me way too many years to get the complete Kalie all to myself.”
“And I agree with Nick,” DJ Lani said leaning his forehead against Heather’s, “Don’t get me wrong Kalie you are beautiful but Heather is the perfect package for me and you’re body doesn’t match her personality.”
Nick nodded his head, “He’s right. You are both beautiful but it’s just not the same with your bodies switched like this.”
Heather walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, “You survived being out there before. Look at it outside. The rain has lightened up and I haven’t heard thunder or seen a single flash of lightening in a long time. Our men are here now. They’ll be watching us. All we have to do is get a running head start and run into each other like we did before. You’ll be safe. And you can do this. We’re going to do this together.”
I looked up at Nick and he pushed damp hair away from my face and rested his hand behind my ear, “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here. I promise Kayl.”
I took a deep breath in, “Ok. I’ll do it.”
