The one-sided switch

"Wake up Hunny, quick, you've got just 15 minutes to get ready," my dear mother urged me as she started pulling off my blankets. I didn't have the strength to open my eyes and so, just laid there, groaning and grumbling under my breath.

Suddenly, my blankets were yanked off me, the cool morning breeze hitting my bare skin, and a loud and stern voice shouted, "Lillian Rose Garcia, if you don't get up immediately I will give your ps5 to Nathan!"

That got me up right away, faster than you could even blink and I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash. Nathan was my younger brother who despite being just a year younger than me, doesn't ever fail to irritate me. Recently, I bought a ps5 with my own money, my part-time job finally paying off but according to my mom, I had to share it with Nathan. So we had a deal. I listen to what my parents say like an obedient child and my ps5 stays mine.

But something didn't seem right today. Why was I seeing the picture of a half-naked woman? And a white wall? Wait, my room had black walls with posters of marvel heroes so what was going on. Did mom try and renovate my room? Or maybe it was Nathan. If it was Nathan, he's going to regret the day he was born.

Still lying in the comfort of my bed, I was somehow seeing the washroom tiles of Nathan's room. This was just plain weird. What is Nathan doing anyways? I shouted out his name and in response, got a scream telling me how he was in the washroom.

No no no this can't be happening right now, I muttered to myself as panic started to rise. I shut my eyes tightly, wishing for all this to be a sick, weird dream and as I opened my eyes, I was back again in my room.

So this was all just a dream? All I could do was pray that it was because I had a really important college entrance interview today and I couldn't afford to mess it up.

I got up, leaving the comfort of my bed and I slid my feet on the cold tiles. It was winter here in Minneapolis and I think we all know how bad the cold can get here.

I shivered at the thought of the temperature dropping anymore as I hugged my warm hoodie tighter. Entering my washroom, I looked towards the sink with pure exhaustion in my eyes. I had stayed up till 5am last night, just lying in my bed after drinking a little.

It wasn't fun at that time and it isn't fun now as well. Hangover and lack of sleep do not go together, take my word for that one. Leaning down on the sink with both my hands pressed down on the cold marble, I shut my eyes, losing my control over them to keep them open.

After about a minute or so, I opened my eyes back as I noticed I was no longer in my washroom. Instead, I was in a closet with strangely looked like... Nathans! So that wasn't a dream after all.

I know I should be shocked but I wasn't. The sole reason for that being what happened last night...

"Come on, just one last drink lilyyyyy," my drunk girlfriends slurred as they practically begged me to have one more drink.

Being the most mature one, I should probably not take the drink but who cares. I needed to let go for one day, I thought as I gulped down the drink placed next to me.

"Wooohoooo!" I screamed, pulling one of my friends towards the dance stage as we started grinding on sweaty men. Oh my god, this is so fun, I thought in my mind as a cold hand gripped my biceps.

I turned around to face Nathan, my lovely younger brother. What was he even doing here, I thought, really curious. "I've come to get you. Come on Lillian, you're drunk," he replied, somehow reading my thoughts.

"That's because you are saying it all out loud Lilly. Now come with me and get out of here," Nathan said, frustration clear in his tone.

My drunk mind couldn't process anything and so, I started giggling uncontrollably. That was the last straw for Nathan as he dragged me across the club we were to its backdoor.

"What's up your ass?" I whispered softly, not meaning for Nathan to hear.

Apparently, when you're drunk, you say things louder than normal. So, obviously, Nathan heard this and shouted at me, "You wanna know what's up? Well, I had to drop my girlfriend off early and leave my date just because you decided to drink extra. You know what? You can walk back home, I couldn't care less, I'm not your babysitter!"

With this, he drove off on his motorcycle, leaving me there with an open mouth.

When I finally processed what had happened, I started walking towards my home. Fortunately, I still remembered where that was.

As I finally reached the street where my home was, I noticed this homeless, poor lady sitting at the footpath. I went up to her because at this point, I had nothing better to do and I sat next to her.

This didn't faze her at all as she looked at me and smiled. She had one of those motherly, caring smiles that made you spill all your problems and weep into their arms like a baby.

So that's what I did. I complained to her about how Nathan hated me and cried on her shoulders. Not once did she complain. Instead, she waited for me to get over peacefully while muttering some soothing words in my ears before saying, "What if Nathan doesn't hate you? You don't know what's going on in his life. Maybe he's just going through a rough patch and he let his anger out on you. Do you want to see what he's going through?"

This weird request intrigued me as I thought about it. And the more I thought about it, the more my drunk mind encouraged me to say yes so I did.

"Well then, my dear child, your wish is granted. Go back home and sleep, darling."

This was by far the weirdest conversation I'd ever had, but I shrugged it aside, thinking she was just bluffing and went to bed

She wasn't bluffing. I could see through my brother's eyes.