"That was the weirdest dream I ever had." I mumbled softly the moment I woke up the very next day. I still felt horrible and downhearted about what went down yesterday at the concert and if I had the chance to change anything for a different outcome, I would probably have thought about drinking a lot of water before entering the stadium. I know that me rushing to pee was the whole reason as to why I ended up sneaking into Sunset Flava's dressing room resulting to me being thrown out of the concert without even having the chance to plead my case to return.
I looked around my room and I found the eerie bejeweled bottle lying idly on the floor. It's not glowing like how it did when I first saw it but it was just lying there as if nothing happened. To my own realization, nothing really happened last night. I know it was just a freaky dream but I cannot deny the fact that it felt existentially real. I propped myself up and sat at the very edge of my bed as I was trying to recall the dream that I just had. The blue genie named Ezidem of Hejaz, the great genie of luster and luminosity felt so real that I could still feel his presence inside this room. Even the blue smoke that exploded out of the bottle, the wish that I just made and the magic that the genie snapped—they all felt very real.
I thought I was going insanely crazy for talking to an obvious mythical creature from a bottle who doesn't have some sort of legs and is just floating in mid-air with blue smokes oozing out of the holes around his neck. If anything from the genie to the wish was real at all, I should definitely be hanging out somewhere with the whole member of Sunset Flava primarily because that's the only wish that I have made. If anything was real, then I should probably be sitting at a breakfast table right now with the love of my life, Draik Redford sitting right in front of me.
That's how wishes from genies are supposed to be granted right? They are supposed to just magically happen right after you ask it. It supposed to be just a blink of an eye and yet here I am, fully awake and nothing has ever changed. Not one bit.
I grabbed my phone as I was planning on calling Janea again and I was just thinking about what could've happened when she realized the fact that I'm nowhere to be found. I'm just worried about her knowing that she's all alone at a concert that she only attended just because of me. To be quite fair, the blame was all on me for being a stubborn and an obsessed fan. I had no other choice but to leave her there because there's no way that I'm going to wait a full six hours outside while everyone inside is having the best moment of theirs lives. I'm not going to wait out in the loneliness of the night while everyone at the concert are raising their glow sticks out in the air waving it in slowly fashion as they sing along with the songs Emily Under the Sunset or Miss Never Want to Stay or Marina. I didn't want to burn and succumb out of regret and jealousy.
I was just about to unlock my phone when I quickly noticed something weird from my apparent reflection from the black screen. It's as if my hair was cut short and then as I stared long enough to get a better view of the reflection, I noticed that my face doesn't look like my face at all.
Anxiously grabbing my hair, it became apparent that my hair was cut short. "What happened to my hair?"
I was already on the verge of panic and confusion. I'm sure I have a longer hair because I haven't gone to the salon in over five months and while I do cut my bangs short a few times before, I would've never cut my hair this short just like a male haircut. But I could only feel my hair short like really short. I don't quite understand what's going on and my mind's already beginning to form some questions.
I jumped out of the bed quickly rushing towards the mirror and before I knew it, I was already screaming at a reflection of a boy.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" I squealed at the top of my lungs and so does my exact reflection. I'm totally engulfed in a blanket of fear and confusion when I saw a different person.
There's someone in the mirror and it's clearly not me because I'm seeing a boy and he's wearing my exact pajamas that has prints of Sunset Flava's logo.
Who is this boy standing in front of the mirror? I questioned myself and I even moved closer towards the mirror just to have a closer and much clearer look at the reflection that I'm seeing. I'm not really seeing a girl but rather a boy with a decent masculine features. I don't see my face at all. Instead, I'm looking at a boy's face with eyebrows that are a bit bushy, the eyelashes are now longer and fuller and the jawline is now sharper. Though the lips are still very much the same, I noticed that the mole under my right eye was still there and that was the exact moment that I realized that I'm exactly staring at myself.
I tried pinching myself just in case I was still trapped in another freaky dream but I felt the slight pain from the pinch. I took a few steps away from the mirror and as I moved and touched every single part of my body, the reflection mimicked every movement that I made.
This can't be me. This can't be me. I can't be a boy.
I had so much thoughts going on that I'm just overwhelmed with confusion. My head is bombarded with lots of questions such as; where are my tits? What happened to my hair? Why am I a boy?
I grabbed and squeezed my chest first but I can't feel my tits or any kind of bump in there. I know I'm not that blessed with such a balloon-like breasts like most girls do but I still know that at least there should be some kind of a bump in my chest and yet they're gone. I checked it inside my clothes and I saw nothing but two really small and bean-like nipples. And then I suddenly thought about my genital area.
"Oh my god!" I gasped frightened at the thought inside my head.
I slowly let my hand slide down my crotch hoping that nothing has changed down there, however, I felt a bulge and I don't remember having a bulge down there.
"Oh god! What the fuck is this?" I asked myself and even though I think I know the clear answer to that; I just can't believe this is happening. When I tried to take a peek on what's down under, I found something hanging in between my legs.
"Is that a....????" I paused and then my mind just continued what I was just about to say. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! I'm inside a man's body!!!" I yelled and I almost feel like I'm about to faint.
It took a while for me to take things in and then I suddenly realized that my voice doesn't sound like my voice at all.
"Ahemmm…..Ahemmm…" I cleared my throat twice before eventually speaking up loudly in order to hear my voice. "Heellllooooooo???!!!" I made a stretched vocal fry to check my voice again and I'm exactly right. I'm hearing a masculine voice and that's the moment I noticed I have an Adam's apple too.
I felt my knees go weak and I just had to sit down on the floor to slowly let things sink in.
I saw the bejeweled bottle lying idly on the floor and my first thought was the dream that I had about a genie named Ezidem. Maybe that wasn't a dream at all. Maybe everything was real. Even if it's real, this isn't the wish that I asked for. I asked to be with the love of my life, this can't be it. It's clearly not it.
I nonchalantly grabbed the bottle and shook it like how I did last night. I was hoping that something would happen, perhaps the genie was real and I shook it more than twice but nothing's really happening. The bottle's not even glowing or vibrating.
"What did you do?!" I scowled at the bottle and right when I was about to smash it on the floor I heard my phone ring.
"Kriiiiiiiingggg!!! Krrrriiiinggg!!!"
I was thinking of ignoring the phone but it kept on ringing and I just had to answer it to make it stop from making such annoying noise when I'm already anxious and agitated.
"Hello?!"
"Good morning, am I speaking with Andie Lopez?" A woman answered.
"Yes, I am Andie Lopez. How may I help you?"
"Hi, my name's Lucinda Williams. I'm the manager of Sunset Flava and I'm just calling to let you know that you just passed the final interview for the job." The woman went on and I was completely dazed for a short while. I heard everything that she said loud and clear but everything's just happening so fast that I haven't even had the chance to breathe.
Being the biggest fan of Sunset Flava, I absolutely know who Lucinda Williams is. She's been managing Sunset Flava ever since they started.
"H..hi." I didn't know what to say. It's not that I'm speechless but I'm just trying to figure out if this is some sort of a sick scam or something. Why would Lucinda call me about passing a final interview? I don't recall applying for something and this is certainly fishy.
"Congratulations! You passed the final interview and you may start right away."
"I'm sorry. What kind of job is this again?" I asked. I don't even know what kind of job is this that I allegedly applied for.
"You don't recall what you just applied for?" She asked and I had a feeling this is true and is not a scam.
"No, it's just. I applied for a lot of jobs and I forgot which one is this one." I had to create a lie on the spot.
"You just applied to be a personal assistant for Sunset Flava and once again, congratulations! You got the job." Lucinda answered and I was gagged to learn this new information.
This cannot be happening. My anxiety just flew away in a matter of seconds and I was feeling more than glad and excited about this. The genie was real? No, the genie was real and learning about this makes me think that my wish was granted after all.
"I'm currently sending an email to you right now and I'm hoping to meet you this afternoon." Lucinda uttered over the phone and I couldn't help myself but bite my arm just to contain the overwhelming feeling of happiness. I'm finally meeting Sunset Flava. My wish to be with Draik Redford is granted. Ezidem was real after all.
"Oh, okay. I'll wait for it." Lucinda can't see me right now but I'm already jumping out of pure joy and excitement. Holding the genie bottle in my hand, I started kissing it like it's the best gift that I have ever received.
"Alright. Thank you so much, Andie. I'll see you later, bye for now."
I was engulfed in pure ecstasy. I'm finally going to meet Sunset Flava in person, what in the actual fuck?