Glorious Beach Day Chapter 1 Page 2

"Yes, that's me." The woman smiled. She took a sip of her iced tea and sighed. "I won't be in Fernham High next year, though - my dad's got a job in another state."

"Oh, good luck then." Warning bells were still ringing in Gloria's head but she could not identify the danger.

"Before I go, there's something that's been bothering me."

"Oh?" Gloria uttered cautiously.

"I'm curious about what's happened to you."

"What do you mean?" Gloria asked blankly.

"You fell from the bridge. Yeah, trauma can mess with a person's memory. But your whole personality's changed too."

"Yes, I did fall from the bridge," Gloria confirmed.

"Okay, here's the thing." The woman twisted in her stool to face Gloria. "Everything points to you being Annie - your fingerprints and DNA matched. But somehow, something tells me you're not Annie. You're not even reacting to me now the same way Annie does."

Gloria bit her lip. It was true that she was not Annie. However, before her was a person she had barely known at school confronting her about it. She still felt uncomfortable with the other person's presence. She wished she had some time to poke through Annie's memories for more details.

"You tested my fingerprints and even my DNA?" Gloria asked.

Selina nodded.

"Why?"

Selina glanced back to see the boy running the drink stand busy with a customer. "Trade my secret for yours?" she offered.

"What kind of secret do you have?" Gloria asked.

"I'm really twenty-one."

"Really?"

"See, I've already got my wisdom teeth." Selina opened her mouth and pointed inside. "You don't get your wisdom teeth until you are seventeen."

"So what were you doing in Fernham High?" Gloria asked.

"That's the secret I'll trade for yours."

Gloria took a deep breath. "Okay. So, what do you want to know?"

"Are you really Annie Billings?"

Gloria stared at Selina for a moment. "I'm not Annie Billings," she admitted. "I'm actually Gloria."

"I guessed that much. But isn't 'Gloria' Annie's middle name?"

"That's the name I use." Gloria took a look to see that her belongings were still where she had left them on the beach. "I don't really know who I am."

"You don't?"

Gloria shook her head. "No. I don't have my previous life's memories."

"If you're not Annie, you'd have trouble adjusting to her life if you didn't know anything," Selina pointed out.

"I did have a little trouble," Gloria admitted, "Though not as much since I've Annie's memories. They were a little help, sometimes - if I can find what I'm looking for."

"Can you explain how your fingerprints and DNA matches Annie's?"

Blue eyes flicked to Selina. "How did you get my DNA?"

"Hair sample from your schoolbag. I compared that to a sample I took from Annie before the accident. So how did you fool DNA?"

"That's because this really is Annie's body," Gloria explained, "My soul got switched with Annie's."

"Does such technology exist?"

"Um, no. It was done supernaturally."

Selina looked at her closely. "What do you mean?"

"When Annie threw herself from the bridge..." Gloria began.

"So Annie really did commit suicide."

"Um, yeah," Gloria confirmed, "Anyway, when she fell from the bridge, her soul was collected. But when she survived, a soul was replaced - mine."

"How could that have happened?"

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