"The usual things- money, fame, power. Though I'll settle for being able to make this joke once again."
You could almost hear the alternate you blink. "Well," she said, "if you aren't me, you're doing a really good impression. Pretty sure I'm the only one who ever makes that joke."
"And I bet you do it all the time."
"At least once a week," she laughed. "Alright, for the time being, let's say I believe you. First, let's go inside, then you can tell me what's going on."
You appreciate that she didn't feel the need to offer any threats, since that's what you'd have done in her situation. Although, maybe she wouldn't have in the first place? Would being born and raised female as opposed to male have really made that much difference to how you turned out? "Well, guess there's only one way to find out," you think as you follow female-you inside your not-house.
******
Your alternate world parents certainly had the same decorating sense, at least. Beige walls were nearly invisible under the fight for space being carried out by family photos and wildlife art. China cabinets stood full of antiques, and the World's Ugliest Plaid Couch dominated the wall by your not-Mom's piano.
Seriously, constantly needing to remind yourself that this wasn't your universe was going to be irritating.
You followed female-you into the kitchen. Knowing without even asking, she grabbed two cans of Mountain Dew from the fridge and chucked one at you. She took a sip from her drink as she looked you up and down. "Alright, let's hear your spiel."
You take a moment to collect your thoughts. "Well, to start with, my name is Charles James. You'd be Charlotte, I'm guessing?"
"Nope. Esther Meredith."
"Esther!?" You were slightly shocked at that realization. "Why would... wait... oh my God, Mom named us after Great-Grandma Baker."
"Bingo," Esther responded as you rubbed the bridge of your nose in irritation.
"How did she ever get Dad to agree to that?"
"Damned if I know. I'm sure there's lots of lovely women named Esther. Unfortunately, they're dead," Esther quipped.
"Alright, moving on." Anymore thought on this subject would beyond doubt prove fruitless. "Back in my world, I have a younger sister, Melody, two years my junior."
"Same."
"We had a cat named Smokie, and a dog-"
"Wait, what about Evan?" Esther interrupted.
"Who?"
"Our younger brother, Evan."
"I don't have a younger brother back in my world." Well, this was a bit of a mystery. Why had your alternate parents had another kid? Unless...
Your female counterpart beat you to the punch. "It'll have been Dad. He wanted a son to carry on the family name. Because you- well, I guess, we- were born male in your world, in his mind, he'd already achieved what he needed to. He always thought three or more kids was too many. Mom would have been the one pushing for a girl."
"Yeah," you sigh, "that sounds like Dad's logic alright." You loved your old man dearly, but he could be very old fashioned sometimes.
"But yeah," Esther continued as she finished off her drink. "Cat, Smokie, asshole. Dog, Georgie, psycho. Love'em both to death. Now, how did you get here?"
You proceeded to walk your female self through your journey- the weird phone call, the questions, getting pulled into this world, your own mother forgetting your very existence. Esther listened attentively in silence, waiting until you finished before asking further questions.
"I can understand why you chose to remain male. Why'd you choose the other-you to be a woman?"
"Well, I was kind of curious what I'd look like."
"And if I turned out to be some kind of murderous psycho, you figured your odds would be better if you had fifty pounds on me." You involuntarily flinched when she pointed that out. "Don't be that shocked; we're roughly the same person. I'd have tried something similar."
Esther crumpled the empty soda can in her hand before tossing it in the recycle bin. She leaned back against the counter as she looked you up and down. "Well, I'm virtually convinced you're being honest. I'll need a DNA test before I can say a hundred percent, but I am inclined to think you're telling the truth. Or we're both f@#$ing nuts, either or. Now, the next question is: what happens now?"
That... was actually a very good question. You technically didn't exist in this world. In all likelihood, all the id's in your wallet were worthless. You'd need a job, but could you even get one? Did you even count as being educated in this world? Where would you live? Christ, what would you do next?
Esther, seeing the signs of panic setting in (you really needed to work on your poker face), interjected before your emotions could spiral out of control. "Okay, calm down, boy. Jesus, nice to know male-me never got out of nervous teenager mode. First off, do you have any money on you?"
"Yeah, I've got a few hundred bucks on me," you answer.
"Good. Then for now, you'll live with me. I'm not sure what your plans were, but I'm going back to college starting next week. My room mate Daniella bailed on me yesterday; you moving in saves me hunting for a new one. You'll need a job to pay for your half of the rent, but we'll worry about that later. I just came to town to grab the last of my stuff. We'll hit up a Wally World before we hit the road so you can grab some extra clothes and toothbrush and the like. Sound good?"
"That sounds amazing. Thank you!" You had to restrain yourself from hugging... yourself. This was going to get terribly confusing.
Esther laughed. "Don't thank me yet. My couch is harder then a concrete floor. Now c'mon. You can help me carry some boxes down to my car. And let's hurry up; I'd really rather not have to explain you to Mom and Dad right now."
******
Street lights passed over the small car in streaks as the pair of you made your way down the interstate. You'd managed to pack up and do your shopping without incident, and Esther turned her car towards her college home about quarter to six.
Granted, she had failed to mention it was a six hour drive beforehand, but you were hardly in a position to complain.
The two of you had talked for a fair bit of the drive. While most of your lives were the same, certain details were off. For example, while both you were skilled academically, Esther was considerably more physically active, having played basketball in high school and regularly hitting the gym. By contrast, you hadn't played a single sport in school, being far too worried about looking like an idiot in front of others, and generally only went to the gym by accident.
Your paths in college were drastically different as well. While you were both drop outs, Esther had told her (your?) parents considerably sooner then you did. Rather then rack up failed courses and debt like you had, Esther had gone home and worked for a couple years to get her head on straight, and now was ready to give it another go.
You wouldn't say it out loud, but you were a little annoyed that your female-self seemed a lot more mature then you were.
By this point, it was fairly close to midnight, and the well of conversation had dried up as fatigue set in. As you traveled in silence, you looked over the female version of yourself. You hadn't been lying when you said you were curious about what you'd look like as a woman, and if you were stuck here, you might as well take a gander.
Honestly, and at the risk of sounding narcissistic, you were a pretty good looking woman. Esther had an elfin face with a delicate, symmetrical structure. She kept her wavy blond hair cut to chin length, and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle. While you had matching features, though with a considerably more masculine overtone, you'd always felt they were somewhat out of place on you. On her, they just seemed to work.
There was one particular area where Esther really stood out, however.
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