A life as Leah

Every now and again you feel a pang of melancholy. Deep seeded insecurities and a fear that despite all your efforts, you will never be worthy of the form that you have now taken as your own. Leah's role wasn't one that you had taken out of choice but out of necessary and you did feel guilty that you had effectively stolen her life from her. The alternative though? A family tragedy for the McBrides.

The cost had been a tragedy for your own family. The Andersons. For months you had seen tearful pleas from your parents on television and the local paper begging for a scrap of information about where their son David had gone. Investigations from police and even private investigators had failed to find any scrap of evidence. Jimmy had been the prime suspect of course. After all, you had told your parents you were going over to Jimmy's before you disappeared but your former best friend had managed to keep your secrets to himself. You hadn't seen much of him over the past few years. The A crowd didn't hang out with the plebs after all but whenever you did bump into him, he would just turn away with a guilty look and scurry away. Maybe he did have a conscience after all.

With the power of the brown pens, you had slotted yourself into Leah's life seamlessly. Her mannerisms and memories came to you as naturally as your own although there was no doubt they were starting to fade over time. Sometimes your David thoughts and habits slipped in but no one paid much attention to it. After all, who else would even fathom that the Leah McBride they knew had been replaced, now controlled by someone who used to be David Anderson. Momentary slip ups meant nothing to the ordinary person who wouldn't even begin to imagine what had actually happened to Leah.

Years had now passed since you made that fateful decision. The young university senior Leah who was hanging out with her friends on the campus lawn. The one who would occasionally brush her blond hair behind her ear and gaze into the distance with her greyish blue eyes. Eyes which hid the enormity of David's guilty conscience. Leah's life was now yours and whilst you had tried to stay the path that she had wanted, you had made some changes of your own. Your dream had always been to become a doctor but with your poor marks, you never would've made it. But with Leah's sharper mind, you were now on track to becoming a doctor. A far cry from Leah's own career aspirations to be fashion model. Not that you weren't putting your stunning looks to work as a social media influencer but every penny from that side gig was going towards your med school fund. And truth be told, with the money you were now making, becoming a doctor wasn't something you needed, but something you wanted. In your mind, it was a way to give back after you had done so much wrong.

You spot Sonya walking towards you with her boyfriend Mark and his best friend Liam in tow. As you wave to them, you spot something.