Body Swap! 2: A Mother's Love

Next morning they’re on the phone—Emily in Ember’s tight little body, Ember in Emily’s. Swap still hasn’t fixed itself, so they pick the library, stack of dusty books, zero results until some librarian named Lauren sets down an armful of hardcovers and struts off. Left behind: a spell-craft manual. Page one, jack-pot—someone slapped a hex on them. Riddle sits in the middle of the chapter, both girls read it out loud: love of self, true love’s kiss to the cursed, selfless act, friend first, then the body-swap unwinds. Sounds like fortune-cookie bullshit. So Emily (in Ember’s skin) spits that she screwed her step-sister Gia last week. Air goes dead quiet, then everyone’s shouting. Ember huffs out, door slams. Staring at the wall, Ember mutters, “Maybe if I can crack this shit for both of us the selfless-act part takes care of itself—so now I just need a true love’s kiss. Who loves Emily the most? Hmmm—think I got it.” Two hours later she’s standing in Dana DeArmond’s living-room, Emily’s own step-mom sizing her up. Few lines of heavy flirting later the step-mom melts; they smash together in a sloppy, desperate kiss, hands everywhere. Then Dana starts talking dirty like Emily’s old news, and Ember freezes—looks like “perfect Emily” has some serious fucking secrets.