Young Writers Society

Eli tried to grab an apple from the tree, too, but they were too short to even reach the lowest branch. They also didn't have the confidence to climb up the tree themself, so they settled for standing at its base.

"That's very true," they admitted, smiling. Their smile faltered when they saw the apple in Sylvan's hand - they were starving after homework and apparition work.

The smile returned a second later.

"Can you hand me an apple?" they asked. "I'd climb the tree, but you know I'm not good with heights..."

They sheepishly rubbed the back of their neck.

Syl smiled, giving a light chuckle. "You know I'd help you up here if you needed, you could hold my hand if its too scary," He teased but took an apple down none-the-less, handing it down to Eli.

Eli blushed and took the apple - glad that their friend couldn't see how pink their cheeks were getting at the comment. Holding Syl's hand sounded great, but they really were too scared of heights to climb up the tree.

"Thanks," Eli said, more than a little flustered. They took a bite out of the apple. "So, um, what can you do? Apparitions always get new powers, don't they?"

He nibbled at his lip in thought. "Well, there's the sight I mentioned, and I can also do this," Syl sprouted a vine from the ground, a safe distance from Eli. He curled it into a heart with amusement.

He smiled to himself, he'd been practicing that particular trick for awhile.

"I'm also able to possess creatures, but I've never tried it out,"

Eli's eyes widened - not in shock or horror, but in awe.

"That's incredible," they managed to get out. They were grinning from ear-to-ear. They hoped Syl could hear that, somehow, in their voice. Just saying it was incredible didn't really show how impressed they were by their friend's new abilities. "When you do possess one, let me know! That would be so cool!"

Syl chuckled. Eli's excitement was quite adorable if he was being honest with himself. "I mean, I could test em out right now if you'd like, though you'd be my specimen." He looks towards his friend's whisp, thinking he might be able to make out a smile in it. He tosses the apple core on the ground, far away from his tree.

"Oh, uh," Eli managed to get out. They faltered. "I'm not sure I'm ready for something like that."

Possession seemed like an intimate thing, for one. But Eli also didn't know how the apparition side of them would react to being possessed, and they were honestly a little worried about the implications.

Syl smiled at his friend. Eli had always been a bit nervous around him, and knowing them, they probably thought of it as something intimate or romantic.

However, Syl enjoyed teasing.

"Don't think I'm forcing ya, but why not?" He giggles, "Got a secret your keeping?"

"N-No!" Eli stammered - in a tone that revealed that they very much did. It wasn't even the apparition thing that they were trying to hide; they just didn't want to admit how flustered the thought of being possessed by Syl was. They would mention everything with the school mysteries later.

Their feelings, on the other hand? They'd keep that to themself, thank you very much.

Syl hummed thoughtfully, to himself, smiling ear to ear. He grabbed the tress branch and hopped down, getting rather close to Eli. His eyes comically more focus on Eli's forehead then his eyes, as he couldn't perfectly tell where they were.

"Are you sure you're not hiding anything?" He was putting quite a bit of effort into breaking into a fit of giggles. Having quite a bit of fun with this.

However, he didn't notice the break in the field of grassy whisps, where he had dropped an apple core from his tree before. He stepped on it and began to fall.

In a frenzied attempt to stop himself from falling, Syl shoved his consciousness, his soul, out of his body. And consequently, into Eli's.

Syl panicked the second he opened his eyes.

What. The. Fuck.

What was he seeing? He knew there was a form lying in front of him, and they didn't look great.

Were they Eli?

Syl kneeled down hurriedly to check on who he assumed to be his friend, shaking their arm gently.

"Eli??" He questioned, before squeaking at his own voice. God his voice sounded different. It sounded like-

Oh. Oh no.

One moment, Eli was rushing to grab Syl before he could fall. The next, they were up in the clock tower again - as their apparition self. It was like they had never left.

They stood there for a moment.

Then tears started to prick at the corner of their eyes - not that anyone could see it underneath their mask. If they were here, everything in the woods must have been some too-good-to-be-true dream.

They didn't even say anything to the other two apparitions in the tower before they left this time.

They slipped back into the school as a whole, cloak trailing behind them as they wandered through familiar faces. Dealing with other apparitions sounded like a good idea right now. They could ground themselves in what apparitions were actually like - they weren't heartbroken dreams come true.

They sniffled and rubbed away the few tears that had fallen past their mask with the cuff of their sleeve.

Who were they kidding? They couldn't do that. They shook their head and decided it was best to let the apparition side of things go for today. They'd turn back to their human self and grab their homework from the clock tower.

They focused.

But their form wasn't magically human again.

It was still their apparition form.

They were so shocked that they stopped crying.

...What was going on?

They glanced around the hallways. No one could see them right now. They were sure of it. And they were sure apparitions could see them right now. They had run into a few on the way here. So they had to be stuck as their apparition self, but why would they be in the first place?

Syl shakily stood. He needed to find another apparition. He rushed towards the building. Since he looked like Eli, he could hopefully blend in with the other students. Seeing how Eli saw was weird. There were so many... details. How could he ever focus? Syl already felt like he was getting a headache. He was walking at a rather fast pace towards the school and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw an apparition through one of the windows. If Sylvan remembered right, that was one of the clock keepers. He'd never really talked to one before, but he was certain he'd be yelled at for possessing a student.

They caught a glimpse of movement out the window.

They turned.

Then they stared - the person outside the window was their human self. And their human self was looking just as confused as Eli felt, with a slightly unfamiliar touch to the expression on the face that was supposed to belong to Eli.

Without waiting for any sort of explanation, Eli booked it through the thankfully open window and darted over to where their human self was standing. They opened their mouth to say something - what were you supposed to say to yourself? - but was cut off by the arrival of someone in their grade.

Who looked shy.

And nervous.

And flustered.

Wait, was this a confession!?

Eli skid to a halt and darted for the girl instead.

"Wait, wait," Eli said, panicking - still using the deeper voice they normally talked in as an apparition, but forgetting that the girl couldn't see them like this. "That's not who you want to confess to. I mean, if you're confessing. That's not really who you think they are, and they're probably dangerous, and-"

Eli took the wrong step.

They tripped, stumbled, and then suddenly found themself staring at their body.

Even though their back had been turned to their human self.

...Wait, what were they wearing? A cute blouse, leggings, and stylish boots? With their hair suddenly wavy and put up in a way they didn't even know how to do, much less want to do?

They stared down at themself.

...They were their classmate.

Eli's - or the girl's - eyes widened.

Syl felt like crying. He watched the apparition possess the girl who had been walking up to him. Probably to stop something from happening to poor Eli.

"I'm sorry," he squeaked out. "I-I accidentally possessed my friend when I was in the woods with them and I don't know how to go back to my form," Syl felt his, well Eli's, eyes start to water. "I-I'm new to this sort of thing."

Eli's eyes widened even more.

A second later, they had popped out of the girl's body. They weren't really sure how, but that was something they could worry about later. They concentrated and took back control of their body - kicking Syl out before they really had a chance to explain what was going on.

"I'm sorry but something just came up and I really have to go," Eli apologized to the very dazed and confused looking girl. They grabbed Syl by the wrist and started heading off towards the woods. "We can talk more later!"