My second chance in a strange reverse world!

I was grateful for the timely interruption from Peyton's friends when I was momentarily speechless. Rarely had I been speechless from shock. Most of the time, it was because I chose to be silent and prided myself on having good control of my tongue. If I hadn't had it, I probably would have gotten more beatings than I did.

But still, as I watched everyone in the living room walk merrily towards the exit, chatting animatedly and laughing uproariously, I remained in contemplative silence. Knowing that your family is in debt is always enough to shut up a person with common sense.

However, what I was silent about was simply because I had several questions. Did I have money, or did the me here have money? The thing is, he could have easily helped his family, but he chose not to. Why? In this world, was I a piece of shit? Sure, I knew that people could easily have power go to their heads, so my hypothesis was, maybe being born into a world where he was basically treated like glass and being 'good looking' made my counterpart totally deplorable? Or was he saving it for something else? I felt more inclined towards the former, since ever since I heard Luna say the advice my counterpart had told her about her looks, it made me start to hate him.

What kind of brother says that to his younger sister? A deplorable person, that's what.

The people around me seemed to sense my mood, so I got some playful nudges and a few jokes where I had to pretend to laugh as we got into Peyton's father's minivan. I get  in with the other guys in the back, and although I doubted we’d all fit, surprisingly we made it, a little tight, but it was nothing we couldn't handle for a short stretch to the mall.

"To the mall, right?" Jordan confirmed, looking at us through the reflection in the rearview mirror.

"Yes!" cheered everyone except me.

"Good," he nodded, and so the car began to move, with an electric hum that I had heard earlier in Nola's car.

"Mr. Jordan, please play some music!" shouted a boy on the opposite side of my seat.

He got a chorus of agreement, and Jordan obliged. "Okay, but I'm Jordy to you guys, not Mr. Jordan. You're making me feel old," he joked.

Eliciting a few chuckles, the music started to play, reverberating off the closed windows of the car and the one I had my head leaning against, bringing a tingle to my brain.

It was strange, no doubt, but I always appreciate finding new artists regardless of whether I liked them or not. After all, you can always brag about knowing an artist early on if they become famous someday. So I closed my eyes slightly, falling back into a drowsy state from being in a car as the various artists came and went by. It was somehow comfortable and almost relaxing...

That was until they started singing in unison.

"Who run the world?"

"Boys!"

"Who run the world?"

"Boys!"

"Who run the world?"

I shuddered. This was a scene out of a bad female empowerment story, in this case male, and I just wanted this to be over. But it seemed that again, Lady Luck and Murphy joined in a plot that would embarrass the most complex size of politics, and they joined forces – one to abandon me, and one to show up. Like a doll out of a horror movie, one of them turned to look at me, a jet-black-haired boy.

"Alex is not singing our song!" he accused.

They all turned to look at me, radiating an almost palpable pressure of indignation and surprise in equal measure. It was an almost visible atmosphere of social pressure gathering around me like a toxic gas. I could resist and retain a little dignity, but I couldn't... so I could only go with the flow, even though that song was very embarrassing.

I shrank back in my seat as I said, "Boys..."

However, the bloodthirsty boys seemed to find my participation unsatisfactory. "Louder!"

"Boys."

"Louder!"

"B-boys!"

"Good!"

I wanted to die.

Who the hell wrote this song? I couldn't help but question myself.

(***)

With a silent braking, the minivan came to a stop, and I practically jumped out of it into the mall parking lot, my spirit broken after being forced to sing more than three songs about male empowerment.

Was this what was called friendship? Forcing yourself to do things you don't like, while being the center of attention for a group of people laughing with you and not at you? Probably not.

Peyton's hand patted my back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I shook my head.

Maybe he was getting used to not receiving much more information when he asked about my condition, as he didn't press further. Instead, we turned to see all the guys getting out of the car and gathering around Peyton's father, who had rolled down the window to talk to us.

"I'd like to stay, but I have some things to do, so... I'll pick you up in..." He paused, looking at the time on his wristwatch. "About four hours from now, is that okay?"

'Four hours?!'

Kevin looked alarmed too, and I didn't blame him. Four hours was too long for a simple walk to the mall. "So little time, Mr. Jordan?!" he whined. "There are so many bargains today, Leshku has all their outfits on sale! We won't be able to see them all!"

I looked at him dumbfounded, waiting for Jordan's reaction, and sighed in relief when he stood his ground. "Sorry, but that's all the time I'll give them. A bunch of youngsters can't be alone that late."

Everyone pouted (except me) but finally relented, and with that, we said our goodbyes. Jordan started the car and drove off, leaving us all in the parking lot.

As I was about to ask about the plan, Peyton put on a smile and struck a pose with his purse dramatically. "To the mall!" he shouted, marching gleefully towards the entrance of the huge building.

"Aye!" said someone playfully, and they followed him.

With no choice, I began to walk with them as well, resigned to a boring afternoon with this group. That was until Peyton spoke again.

Peyton looked over his shoulder, a playful smile on his face. "Guys, I have a surprise for you!" he said.

The one closest to him grabbed him by the shoulder, his blue eyes almost seeming to glow. "What is it? What is it?"

"Invite Lineth too!" Peyton revealed cheerfully.

"Ehhh! Great!" One of the boys, who had been sincerely hesitant to ask their names until one of them blurted it out in random conversation, cheerfully celebrated.

"Just what we needed, a lesbian's opinion!" another said, and it wasn't a joke.

A lesbian? Is this the equivalent of the famous gay friend of a girl who secretly wants to fuck her?

Kevin pointed ahead as we all approached the mall entrance. "There she is!"

I searched with my eyes for the said girl and finally caught sight of her. She was almost hidden behind a potted plant with a rather large flower in it. She was wearing a simple pink sweatshirt that hugged her body tightly, almost seeming to be a size too small. Her face was plain, with light freckles scattered across her slightly pale complexion.

She saw us too and immediately blushed at the sight of the guys, probably due to their attire. A lock of black hair revealed itself as she turned her head away and seemed to take deep breaths before turning back to us with a hesitant smile. Her eyes wandered over each of us, stopping on me and looking almost disappointed.

Lesbian my ass.