The Easter egg hunt was supposed to be for their little sister, but Michael was bored enough to wander off a bit and pretend to play along. That’s when he spotted it—hidden beneath a bush, a shiny green egg with golden swirls spiraling across the surface. “Looks cool,” he muttered, tossing it into his jacket pocket without much thought. Ashley had been nagging him all day anyway—he needed something to distract himself.
The car ride home was tense. Their parents were talking up front, oblivious to the rising heat in the back seat.
“You just don’t get it,” Ashley snapped, arms crossed in her lap. “You get to throw on some slacks and call it a day. Meanwhile, I’m expected to spend two hours doing hair, makeup, shaving, squeezing into heels, and smiling through it all.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “You act like I’ve never been stressed about something. It’s just a dance.”
“It’s not just a dance,” Ashley shot back. “God, you’re so clueless. You couldn’t last one day in my shoes.”
Michael smirked as he reached into his pocket, fiddling with the egg. “Maybe I should,” he said sarcastically.
The egg popped open with a strange puff of golden mist—and the car seemed to tilt.
Everything went hazy.
Michael blinked.
Suddenly, he was staring back at himself.
Ashley stared at him, eyes wide. “Oh my god…”
They scrambled into the house, rushing upstairs and locking the bedroom door.
Michael, now in Ashley’s tall, curvy frame, looked in the mirror and gasped. The silky waves of blonde hair framed a gorgeous, slightly panicked face—his face, now hers.
Ashley was pacing in his body, grabbing at her—his—short hair. “What the hell just happened?!”
Michael tugged at the strap of Ashley’s bra under her hoodie. “That egg… it did something. We… swapped?”
“No, no, no. We have formal tonight!”
Michael looked down at Ashley’s toned legs and the tight blue dress hanging on her bedroom door. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. And mom’s not gonna believe ‘the magic egg did it,’ so we have to go like this,” she said, tossing him a bra and heels.
Michael groaned. “This is your idea of a ‘hard day’? You win.”
Ashley arched an eyebrow from his body. “Oh, we’ll see who really wins.”
Michael stood frozen in front of the mirror, still in a daze. The silky blue dress Ashley had picked out for formal hung like a warning on the back of the door. Its fabric shimmered slightly under the light, clinging to every curve in a way that now, disturbingly, his body would be expected to wear.
Ashley—wearing his face—plopped down on the bed, flipping through her phone as if this were just any other day. “You should probably start getting ready,” she said casually, not even looking up.
Michael turned to her. “Ashley, what if… what if we can’t change back?”
She hesitated, finally looking up. “We’ll figure it out. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the egg just needs time or something.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” he asked, voice tight and unfamiliar. He reached up, brushing a strand of blonde hair behind his ear. “What if I’m stuck like this?”
Ashley didn’t answer right away. “Then I guess you’re going to have to get used to makeup and heels.”
Michael swallowed hard.
The next few minutes passed in a blur. Ashley handed him the blue dress, and with trembling hands, Michael began to undress. The feeling of slipping out of clothes he didn’t choose and into something so foreign was overwhelming. When he finally slid the dress over his shoulders and adjusted the thin straps, it clung to his new body like it had been custom-made.
He turned to the mirror slowly.
Long legs. Defined waist. Soft lips. Wavy blonde hair falling just past his shoulders. It wasn’t just a costume.
It was him.
Michael stared, his heart pounding in his chest—or rather, Ashley’s chest. The reflection stared back, her eyes wide with fear and uncertainty.
He turned back to Ashley. “Promise we’ll fix this.”
She nodded, but there was hesitation behind her eyes. “Yeah. Of course.” She said as she headed to the car wearing Michael’s button down and yellow tie he picked out for tonight to wait for her brother.
But the way she said it didn’t exactly calm him down.
Michael looked at his reflection one more time, pulling the dress down to smooth out the wrinkles.
Spring formal was starting soon.
And he’d be going as his sister.
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