Stealing their best bits - Part 1 (Patreon)

"I need to talk to her," Helen whispered. “I shouldn’t have helped her. I shouldn’t have tricked Cheryl and those other girls to stay still.” Sighing, she sat alone at the food court with a sad look on her face for what felt like hours. For the first time in years, she felt alone and behind. She was the extroverted friend who always dragged Liz out. 

Sure, they weren’t very popular, but parties weren't the only social gatherings in the world. Still, Helen could never convince her best friend that parties weren't the biggest thing in her life. But to Liz, being able to go to a party and be treated like a normal human being was one of her major priorities.

However, things had changed. Liz had become a popular girl after swapping body parts with the people who wronged her. Now, her life had gotten so much easier. Her hair was so bouncy, and her eyes were always twinkling. She couldn't hide the excitement in her voice whenever talking about her latest hobbies, and all the guys on campus looked at her as though she was the hottest thing to walk into their lives.

But deep down, Helen could tell that something wasn't right with her friend. Her smile had changed, and her interests were growing smaller. Even her vocabulary had dumbed down. The worst part of it all was that Helen knew how intelligent Liz used to be. She was the human calculator, and she was the smartest girl she knew. She'd been that way since high school. Sure, she was self-conscious about the way people looked at her, but people admired her for her personality.

Liz used to care deeply about other social outcasts. She always did what she could to make people feel loved and appreciated. Now, after using the body part swapping gun to turn herself into the perfect woman, Liz had completely changed. The sad part was that her intelligence had gone down too, and her best friend had become lost to the whims of the jocks.

Walking around campus and exploring new stores alone, Helen missed the way things used to be. But she couldn't just abandon Liz. If she had any chance at making things right, she'd have to confront her with the truth. Liz didn't know how to explain everything. She didn't know the toll the gun took on her mind or body. So, she confronted her in her dorm room, and she was met with another altered version of Liz. 

She was wearing a sweater, but she could see the faint outline of Cheryl’s breasts. It looked like other parts of her had changed too – her brown hair was longer and straighter, and her skin was actually clear. Helen’s heart skipped a beat as she opened her mouth, only to be scoffed at almost immediately when she asked Liz to cut down on swapping body parts with their college classmates.

"Like … you're just totally jealous," Liz said with a punchable smirk on her face. "Why don't you … like … run along?"

"Seriously, Liz, just listen to me," Helen insisted. "Come to the mall with me. Like old times. We'll sit down and talk things through."

"And talk about what? Never using MY gun again? Gosh, this was the best thing I've ever made. I'm not going to throw it all away just because you want to try it out. Like … are you serious?"

Helen rapidly shook her head. "I don't care about ANY of that! Look at what it's done to you. Sure, you're beautiful. I'll admit that. But there's a price to everything. Look at how you're treating me right now."

Sadly, Liz ended up shutting the door. Helen fought back tears. She couldn't understand why things had to be this way. She never meant to encourage Liz's cravings for perfection. She never meant for things to get this out of hand. Maybe if she just waited. Maybe she could still bring her best friend back – but deep down, she was just afraid. If Liz continued using the gun without realizing, she would probably experience far worse things down the road.