"Save me! Can you hear me?"
"The one's out there is a fake—that's not me!"
"I'm the real Maria!"
Maria's eyes brimmed with tears as she dropped to her knees in front of the bathroom sink, her face twisted in pure desperation, clawing at the mirror.
Maria was totally lost, confused as hell, and it hurt like crazy.
Back when Barry had wrapped up dealing with her parents for her and was about to hand the reins back to her body, bam—in a split second, it hit her like one of his elbows. Her vision went black, and poof, she was out cold.
When she came to, she was right back to being a passenger in her own skin, stuck watching the show from the front-row seat of her own eyes.
And right then? Alan was pulling up to her place in the Porsche, hugging Lily goodbye.
Maria figured Barry had logged back in, so she tried calling out in her head—no dice. Then she glanced in the rearview mirror... and spotted Barry perched on the hat.
After that, Barry was chatting away with Alan, all smiles, and from the convo, it was clear they'd just been out having a blast.
The thrilling, edge-of-your-seat kind!
How—how could this be happening?!
Maria was not having it. No way in hell!
Cruising around in her bestie's ride, snuggling her Lily, tagging along with her lifelong buddy, all while hijacking her body.
This whole twisted scene?
It was a straight-up slap in the face to Maria—a total insult!
Are you trying to steal my life?!
Maria blew up, rage boiling over in a massive fury.
Then she watched, helpless, as Alan chatted with her mom, headed to her bedroom, slipped into her clothes, grabbed Barry, and stepped into the bathroom...
Squish! Don't you dare touch him!
In this unheard corner of her mind, Maria let out a gut-wrenching wail of despair.
Until now—
In the bathroom's massive mirror, Maria saw her reflection again and immediately started begging for help.
Would anyone hear her?
She clung to the hope of a miracle.
Barry, floating in the bathwater, suddenly shivered—like he'd picked up on something.
His chibi head scrunched up its eyes, looking all puzzled.
Huh? Why's my loser-dar going off?
That aura's screaming "downer" vibes—someone nearby's gotta be rocking the ultimate sad-sack face.
Barry followed his gut and looked over, spotting the mirror... and a desperate friend waving for rescue.
Oh, it's you calling me, Maria.
Well, that tracks.
Tonight's been a whirlwind of curveballs—Barry had straight-up spaced on one key detail: Maria hadn't taken back control of her body yet.
This had to be that naturally devious Alan's fault!
"What? Maria, is that you talking?" Barry blinked around in confusion, then zeroed in on Alan.
"Fuck me! You bold-ass demon! How dare you hijack my lifelong friend's body—you're begging for death."
Barry's eyes bulged in fury, looking like some wrathful Buddha on steroids.
Deep down, he was a good guy—Maria knew that—so all the shady stuff had to be Alan's doing.
Damn, Alan, why you gotta be so evil?!
Pfft!
Hearing that, Alan—mid-rinse—couldn't hold it together and sprayed water everywhere.
"Cough cough!" Choking on the splash, she shot him a death glare, screw the power gap.
She chucked her rinse cup at him and fired back: "What the hell's wrong with you?!"
Damn it, we're rocking the same face, same contract—don't give me this special treatment bullshit!
"What?! Still fighting back? So it is you. You rotten demon, get the hell out of Maria's body—now!"
Barry stood tall, all righteous fire, zero fear.
"Huff—!" Alan's chest heaved with rage, her pre-bath towel nearly slipping off.
Knock knock knock!
"Honey, everything okay? I thought I heard yelling," her mom Amy called from the door, all worried.
"I'm fine! Just video-chatting with Lily." Alan brushed her off with a quick excuse.
But that circus act? Show's over.
...
Bedroom.
Once her folks had turned in for the night, Maria finally faced her reflection again—this time in the little mirror on her dresser.
"This... what the heck happened? Why can't I control my body anymore? Or even talk to you guys?"
The Maria in the mirror was itching to bust out, frantic.
"It's all Alan's fault." Barry looked downright indignant, innocent as a lamb. "Alan, magic hour's up—time to head back to your spot."
Alan hesitated, glancing at Barry on the desk, then over to Maria in the mirror.
Her nails dug into her palm under the table, sharp stings hitting her one after another. She felt that pull, that ache—she didn't want to go back to being a useless bystander.
"I just made the same mistake any girl would. I wanted to be a normal human. I wanted to..."
She tried to buy a little more time, but Barry just shook his head.
Alan got the message and let out a defeated sigh.
"OK... See ya, Uncle Barry. Night."
"Night." Barry knew about her hang-ups, but he couldn't just let her run wild—Maria'd end up a wreck.
After all, the body's hers.
Maria's eyes went blank for a beat, then lit up with life.
She was back.
"Friend! Welcome home." Barry grinned wide.
Maria pinched her cheek, then yanked on it hard.
"Ow... that hurts!" Just before midnight, she was in the driver's seat again.
"Wahhh... I-I'm finally back. That was so scary." The soft, mushy Maria was alive once more, sniffling away, tears rolling like little pearls—enough to tug at anyone's heartstrings.
After a bit.
Maria pulled herself together and grilled Barry—the obvious insider. She remembered him bragging about knowing everything.
Sure, Barry's claim was mostly hot air, but Maria didn't know that.
Nothing to hide, so he spilled: Alan's backstory, her whole deal, how she tied into Maria, and her big dreams.
Alan: Hold up—who said you could spill?!
Maria was floored.
She'd had no clue that since day one, her twin sis had been ghosting around her, basically peeping on her life nonstop.
C'mon, give the kid some privacy!
Maria's face was a whole mood—shifting from shock to every color in the rainbow.
"Why does she know all about me, but I've been in the dark this whole time?" Maria voiced the question gnawing at her.
"'Cause she's been ghosting it up for ages—total pro at her powers by now."
"Will stuff like today happen again?" Maria hit him with her real worry.
"Long as you keep your guard up and don't invite her in, she can't pull it off. This time? My bad. Last time I shut her down, didn't think she'd pick up some real tricks... and use 'em on an unsuspecting you." Barry looked sheepish, guilty as charged.
"So... am I stuck carrying her around forever if I wanna keep going?"
Maria was lost, totally adrift. She hated the constant peeping, but kicking Alan out for good? That'd leave her sister homeless. No home at all.
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