Chapter two

Duncan Morgendorffer

Duncan groaned when his alarm sounded. He ignored it for a moment. His eyes were still closed, but he still saw light. There was too much light, he realized.

He sat up abruptly, grabbed his glasses and put them on. He looked at the clock; it was seven-ten.

"Oh hell, coach is going to kill me!" Duncan said groggily, hopping out of bed and rushing to the bathroom.

He stood in front of the toilet, reached into his pants, and found nothing.

Duncan looked down alarmed. He also noticed that he was wearing a black pleated skirt instead of his usual jeans.

"OH, WHAT THE HELL!?" he shouted and noticed his voice was a lot higher than normal.

He looked in the mirror and was startled. He was sure he was losing his mind now.

His reflection was of a plain looking girl with shoulder-length auburn hair. She looked like she could have been his twin sister. She wore glasses, but her glasses were thick rimmed compared to his usual wire rimmed.

"OH, MY GOD!" Duncan yelled, unsure of what to do.

"Daria, why are you shouting?" Jake inquired on the other side of the closed door.

Duncan opened the door.

"Dad, something's wrong," Duncan said nearly hysterical.

"Is it a woman thing, 'cause I think you should wait 'til your mother is around, or ask your sister," Jake said uneasily.

"Well, yeah. It kind of is, but that's the problem. Dad, I'm a girl!" Duncan said flustered.

Jake gave her a concerned look, "Honey, um, maybe I should call a doctor or something."

"And do what? How can a doctor fix this?" Duncan said distressed as he looked in the mirror. The girl was still looking at him.

"Daria…" Jake started.

"I'm not Daria," Duncan said firmly, "I'm Duncan, dad. You know, your son."

"Honey, I have two daughters. You don't have a brother," Jake said.

"Two…? Quinn!" Duncan said and rushed to Quinn's room. He banged on the door, "Quinn!"

After a few moments, a bleary eyed and disheveled Quinn opened the door.

"What?" Quinn snapped looking at Daria and Jake.

"Quinn, tell dad that I'm Duncan. That I'm your brother," he said hurriedly.

Quinn looked at Daria confused and then to Jake, "Well, dad. It's finally happened. Daria's lost her mind," she said and walked back into her room, slamming the door.

"Dammit, Quinn! It's me!" Duncan cried, slamming his fist on the door.

"Daria, let's go downstairs and I'll call you mother," Jake said gently, placing a hand on Daria's shoulder.

Duncan shrugged it off. "I'm not Daria, and I'm not crazy," he said frustrated.

"Okay, ah, uh, Duncan," Jake said, "Let's just call your mother."

Duncan gave up and nodded. He followed Jake downstairs.

Duncan sat on the couch while Jake went into the kitchen.

What the hell is going on? I'm not this girl, Daria, Duncan thought confused and feeling scared.

Jake came back into the living room.

"Your mother is coming home. She'll take you to the doctor," Jake explained.

"Dad, it's me," Duncan said wearily, "I'm Duncan, your son."

Jake looked her searchingly. "Honey, you'll be all right. I promise," he said and sat with Daria on the couch.

"Whatever. I have to go use the bathroom," Duncan said and worried about how to go about that. This wasn't his body and he felt wrong using it.

Half an hour later, Helen returned.

"Jake!?" Helen called sounding worried.

"Kitchen," Jake called back.

Helen entered the kitchen and saw Daria and Jake sitting at the table. Daria had a bowl of cereal in front of her. She looked somber.

"What's wrong?" Helen asked looking at the two.

"Well, uh, Daria here thinks she's, ah, um Duncan," Jake explained, "She thinks she's a boy."

"I am a boy," Duncan stated.

Helen looked confused, "Daria, what brought this on today?" she asked.

Duncan looked at his mother confused, "What do you mean? Do I normally have problems or something," he asked worriedly.

"No. I just don't know what to say to this absurdity," Helen said, "You're a normal girl," she said firmly.

Duncan looked at Helen. He realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with these two. To them he was their daughter, Daria; whoever she is.

"Well, let's get to the doctor," Helen said, "It could be a brain thing," she said worriedly.

"No," Duncan said quickly, knowing that nothing was wrong with him and didn't want to waste time with a doctor.

Helen and Jake looked at her curiously.

"Look, mom, dad, I'll be fine. I'm just tired or something. I'm-I'm Daria. I'm sorry to have worried you," Duncan said, cringing internally.

Helen gave Daria a skeptical look. "You spent all this time saying you were a boy, Duncan, and worrying your father and me, and now you want me to believe you're fine now. Just like that," she asked, sounding a little annoyed.

Duncan shrugged, "Uh, yeah?"

"Daria…never mind. Just go to school," Helen said wearily.

"Actually, mom, can I stay home today. Just today," Duncan asked.

Helen considered it, "Fine. Rest and I don't want a replay of this morning," she said sternly.

"Okay," Duncan said and rushed back up to 'his' room.

Quinn was coming out of her room with her backpack.

She looked at Daria. "So, you found your mind yet?" Quinn smirked.

Duncan scrutinized her. "I take it you and I don't get along too well."

"Stop being weird, Daria," Quinn groaned heading downstairs.

Duncan gave her a sad look, "I'll take that as a yes," he said softly and walked into his room.

He sat on the bed and looked around the room. He was a bit confused at its décor.

"This Daria must be insane. This is an asylum not a room," he said missing his room.

His room was painted pastel green and looked normal. Even if his room did look like this, his mother made sure it didn't before they moved it. He did remember though that only his room had been redone.

Maybe now, he knew why. Duncan made a mental note to ask about the room. He really wanted to make sure it wasn't meant for him, but figured it couldn't be since the family let Daria run loose in the house.

He sighed frustrated. He didn't know what to expect from this family. They seemed like his, except he, or Daria, and Quinn didn't get along very well. Duncan was going to miss his Quinn.

Duncan was overcome with fear. If he was here, then someone had to have taken his place back home, and most likely, it was this Daria. He groaned.

In his world, there was a girl waking up in his body. He prayed that she wasn't some insane psycho and that she wouldn't kill his family and friends.

Daria Morgendorffer

The alarm startled Daria awake. She shut it off quickly and hid under the covers. It was too dark to be morning.

There was a knock on her door, "Duncan, get up," Helen said.

Daria opened her eyes. "Duncan?" she said groggily.

Daria sat up. The room was still dark. She grabbed her glasses and put them on. She took them off again; surprised at how light and small they felt.

They were wire instead of her thick plastic. She put the glasses on. She could at least see.

Daria looked at the clock and was appalled at the time; it was four-thirty.

"AM?" Daria questioned and was shocked at how deep her voice was.

She got up and turned on the light. She looked at her body.

She was taller and lean. The body looked toned and fit. And male.

"Oh, my god," Daria said and rushed to the bathroom. She almost screamed upon seeing her reflection.

She was looking at a boy; he seemed to be her age. He had short, messy, auburn hair. He almost had the same face as she, but his features were a bit more pointed compared to her round face. It was her, but as a boy.

Daria ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Her mother was drinking coffee looking over some files.

Helen looked up at him. She frowned.

"Duncan, you're not dressed. Hurry up or I can't drive you to practice," Helen said.

"Mom…I'm not…" Daria faltered. She looked like a boy and, obviously here, she was Duncan. There was no point in arguing.

"Dressed. I can see that. Now get your stuff so we can go," Helen pushed.

"Go where? School isn't until eight," Daria asked confused.

Helen looked at him confused, "Football practice, sweetheart."

"FOOTBAll?" Daria exclaimed, "Are you insane? I don't play football, I'm a gir-," she started, but realized she was actually a boy. "Oh, hell," she groaned.

"Honey, are you feeling okay. You know you always have football practice every Monday morning," Helen said, walking over and placing a hand on his forehead.

Daria didn't know what to say. She had no idea of how to play football and, apparently, this body didn't remember either since she felt no familiarity towards the sport.

"Actually, mom, I do feel kind of sick," Daria said and tried to look sick.

"Okay, well, I'll call Coach Wickson and the school," Helen said, "Go back to bed and rest."

"Okay," Daria said and hurried back up to 'her' room.

Daria sat on the bed, trying to figure things out.

"Okay. I was a girl yesterday. I woke up a boy today. What god did I piss off to deserve this?" Daria asked aloud and then laid her head under the pillow.

Daria had dozed off, but was woken a couple hours later by a knocking on her door.

"Yeah?" Daria called, her voice still deep and she was disappointed that she was still a boy.

The door opened; it was Quinn. Daria was surprised to see her.

"What do you want? It's too early," Daria moaned irritated.

Quinn looked surprised at his comment.

"Mom told me you were sick. I just wanted to see how you were," Quinn said.

Daria looked at her confused. "To see if I was dying, right?" she asked.

"Dunny! Of course not. What's wrong with you?" Quinn asked.

Daria was surprised that Quinn actually sounded hurt.

"Uh…sorry, the sickness or something," Daria apologized awkwardly.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to school now. I just wanted to make sure you aren't that sick. I was just worried because you usually hate to miss practice for any reason," Quinn said, walking over to Duncan.

Daria was surprised when Quinn kissed her cheek.

"I'll get your homework for you and let Jane know what's up," Quinn promised and then gave him a sad look, "And I'm sorry about Sandi. I didn't think she'd treat you like that," she said sincerely.

Daria looked at her puzzled, "Sandi? And since when do you talk to Jane?"

"Dunny. I've always been friends with Jane, ever since you two met," Quinn said looking at Duncan confused, "And sorry about bringing Sandi up. You probably don't talk about her now," Quinn said and rushed form the room, "See you later, Dunny!" she called from down the hall.

Daria was confused about the whole conversation and Quinn's bizarre behavior. "Dunny? Sandi? And you're friends with Jane?" she said, but gave up on thinking about it.

She sat up, not feeling tired anymore.

The sun had fully risen and Daria could now see her room perfectly. It wasn't her room. The padded walls were gone, so was the handrail and her poster of the bones in the sand. The walls were pastel green and bare. Daria got up and walked to the window. The left over bars were completely gone too. It looked like the window had never been barred.

Daria didn't know what to do or think. She was still tired and hoped it was just a very realistic nightmare.

She knew it wasn't though.

Daria sighed and decided that she needed a shower, but was unsure if she wanted to look at this body. She felt a bit embarrassed. It wasn't her body, but she did need to take care of it.

Daria walked over to the closet and looked into it. She was surprised that it was full of clothes. Mostly jeans and different colored T-shirts.

She looked through the clothes, unsure of what to wear. She never had to put together an outfit. She decided on jean shorts and a green shirt. She headed for the bathroom.

"Hey, sport," Jake greeted as he came out of his room.

"Oh, hi, dad," Daria said awkwardly.

"Mom tells me you're not feeling well," Jake said concerned.

"Not really, but I should be fine tomorrow," Daria said.

"That's good. Well, I'm heading to work now, if you need something, just call," Jake said.

"Okay, dad," Daria said.

Jake headed down the hall and Daria went into the bathroom.

She placed her clean clothes on the sink.

Daria felt overwhelmed with anxiety. None of this made any sense and she knew that this wasn't her family. They may look the same, but these people were different. If she was truthful, they seemed normal compared to the family she knew.

She also worried about school; mostly about the people she had to know or might not know. It didn't help that this Duncan was on the football team. She had no idea of how to play and she could only see herself ending up in the hospital or dead. She really didn't want to die in this body, not that she wanted to die in her body either. She really didn't want to deal with this.

Daria turned the water on and let it warm. She started to remove her shirt, and then stopped. She realized that she would be seeing a boy's, naked, body. She never had before and felt uncomfortable.

She sighed resignedly. She knew she had no choice. She needed a shower and she had to clean this body, every part.

Daria removed her glasses and closed her eyes.

She removed her clothes, peeking though squinted eyes, and stepped into the shower. She kept her eyes close, but then it dawned on her. If she was here, replacing a boy, then a boy, Duncan, was replacing her and he would end up bathing her body too.

Daria blushed deeply, "Oh hell," she said and hoped he would at least show her body the same courtesy she was showing his.

She finished her shower with her eyes closed.