Shy

With the freedom of college now before them, many freshman discovered that skipping a class here or there had far fewer consequences than when they were in high school. When the winter months came, early morning classes became an easy one to miss. But Neil made sure to attend his 8AM statistics class every day. The lessons weren’t particularly engaging; he just spent the time staring at a girl who sat in the front row of the class. He kept trying to build up the nerve to talk to her; he hadn’t even yet figured out her name. With December closing in and the semester soon coming to an end, he knew his window to build up the courage to say hello was closing. He couldn’t take his eyes off, thinking about what he was going to say. That’s when the teacher called on him. Neil knew he wasn’t paying attention; he didn’t know what was asked. He fumbled for a bit...that’s when the world changed forever.

It would come to be known as the Great Shift, but that wasn’t something Neil knew yet. He was still sweating being on the spot. The teacher suddenly felt closer and more in his face. Then he realized he WAS closer; he was sitting in the front row. But he hadn’t moved chairs; he had moved bodies. And it seemed like just the luck that he ended up HER body, the body of his crush. The teacher canceled class, and all the students rushed out. His nerves were shot. Should he talk to his former body? Before he could think about it, it was too late. He walked the campus nervously. He didn’t want to take off her winter coat, even inside. He wanted to stay covered up. If he had been shy before, he felt even more shy now. He didn’t want to speak up. But now he had no choice. He had to find about her; he had to find out who he was now.