BEING YOU

Disclaimer: i don't own class of the titans. I wish i did. But i don't

"so what are we looking for again?" Atlanta stopped digging and leaned against the shovel.

"some pendant thing" her best friend, Archie, wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "Jay seems to think that it is important"

"and why are we the ones trying to find it?"

"Neil didn't want to get his hands dirty, Theresa is working with Morpheaus, Herry is with Granny, and Odie and Jay are trying to track down Cronus. That leaves us." Altanta nodded, secretly she was thrilled to be spending some time alone with Archie. Things had been so hectic lately that they had not been able to have any time off to go boarding.

Besides, she thought, it will give me some time to work out my feelings.

Atlanta had been trying to supress the strange feelings that she was having towards Archie for a while now. Every now and then he would do something so sweet that she was sure he liked her the same way she liked him but other times he was so oblivious.

It was a hot day, and Archie had taken his shirt off.

He's not making this easy, she sighed, oh well, at least i get to check him out, secretly of course.

They continued digging.

"what was that?" Archie's shovel connected with something and a hollow *thunk* was heard. He bent down and pulled out an old box covered with ancient Greek symbols.

"is that it?" Atlanta asked

"i think so," Archie replied, "I'll open the box to find out." he used his shovel to break the old, rusty padlock and the lid sprung open with a creaking sound.

Archie put his hand into the box and drew out an irregular shaped stone. He turned it over in his hand and it glowed a dull blue. Atlanta reached out to touch it but Archie drew his hand away.

"hey give it to me" she cried, outraged

"no way, i saw it first."

at that moment, Atlanta's hand connected with the pendant in Archie's hand and there was a crash of thunder.

Atlanta opened her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.

No wait, she thought, when did my hair get this short? She sat upright with a start, yelped and covered her bare chest. She looked down. Wait, she though, those aren't my abs, why don't i have a shirt on, she automatically covered her chest, and why am i wearing Archie's pants? Man, that was some weird storm, maybe i got hit by lightning.

She looked around for Archie but the sleeping figure beside her was a girl with shocking red hair. No way. Atlanta stood up and backed away. Behind her was the river. She turned and looked at her reflection. Except that the person looking back at her was Archie. She looked back at the sleeping red head. If she was Archie, then that meant...

"oh crap." she darted forwards and shook the shoulders of, well, herself.

"Archie, dork, wake up!."

Archie (now Atlanta) slowly opened his eyes and blinked up at the figure looming over him.

"Shit" he jumped up and reached for his whip.

"Archie, calm down" Atlanta raised her hands "it's me."

"what do you mean..." he cut off abruptly "what happened to my voice, i sound just like..."

he looked down at himself and then over to Atlanta.

"oh shit"

"that's what i've been trying to tell you."

"could you please put a shirt on" Archie (now Atlanta) asked self conciously "it's bad enough that your me but that doesn't mean that you get to prance around half naked." Atlanta smirked at him and waved to a group of girls out walking. The girls giggled when Archie pushed her. To them, he looked like a jealous girlfriend.

"Ow, my ankle hurts" Atlanta (now archie) whined "i don't know how you can put up with it"

"Jeez." Archie tripped over his new, smaller feet yet again. Atlanta reached out a hand to help her friend up but sent him flying into the bushes instead.

"Sorry Arch," she called out "i guess i don't know my, your, own strength very well."

she flexed her new muscles as Archie came out of the bushes, picking twigs from his hair and rubbing his elbow.

"well, its your body your beating up" he put a hand on his hip "would you cut that out"

Atlanta grinned at him but the grin faded

"watch were you're putting that hand. Just cuz your me doesn't mean you can do what you like."

"i'm not touching anything." he pouted "but if i did this" Archie grabbed the hem of his (atlantas) shirt and pretented to lift it up.

Atlanta gave a shreik of outrage, which sounded comical in Archie's voice, and tackled him to the ground.

"ow, cut it out," Archie tried to push Atlanta off but his female strength was no match for her "your punches hurt." she stopped

"Sorry Arch. I'm not used to being so strong."

together they sat on a park bench. Agreeing to avoid hurting each other until they could figure out a way to reverse what ever was going on.

A PMR rang and Archie retireived it from Atlanta's pocket

"Archie" he answered

"Atlanta?" it was Jay "why did you just call yourself Archie?"

"sorry" he stammered "it must be the heat."

"well did you find it?" Atlanta and Archie exchanged a look

"find what?"

jay gave an irritated sigh, "the pendant"

"no Jay" Archie answered "we're still looking."

"well come back, it's getting late, you can continue tomorrow." Jay hung up.

"what are we going to do?" hissed Atlanta. Archie shoved the pendant in his pocket.

"for starters," he said "we're going to hide this."

When Archie and Atlanta arrived at the brownstone, Athena was serving dinner.

"there you are" the Goddess looked at the dirt covered teens "you'd better have a shower before dinner."

Archie ran up the stairs, closely followed by Atlanta.

"Don't you dare" she warned.

He looked at her innocently "i'm just doing what Athena wants"

"Fine" Atlanta stalked into the bathroom

"what are you doing?" Archie sounded worried but she smiled at him sweetly.

"i'm going to take a shower."

"hey!"

"okay, we can't stay dirty, it will raise suspicions so here's what i say we do." Atlanta pulled out a bandanna. "I'm you right. So, you blindfold me, and i get into the shower and you wash me. Then we swap."

Archie raised an eyebrow. "don't you thing the others will bet suspicious if we shower together?"

Atlanta sighed "good point. Look, were best friends, we should be able to do this without feeling awkward, right?"

"right" Archie agreed.

"so we'll have to bite the bullet." Archie nodded, silent. He went into his room and grabbed some clothes. He gave them to Atlanta. She did the same.

As he was going into the bathroom, she stopped him. "just don't do too much looking." she said.

"I won't if you won't" they both blushed and agreed before Atlanta went into the boys bathroom and Archie, the girls.

They met at the top of the stairs to head down for dinner. Both stared at the ground awkwardly for a minute, not looking at each other. Archie tried to lighten the mood.

"Not bad Lannie, not bad." she punched him and frowned.

Damn, Archie thought, defiantly the wrong thing to say, but Atlanta added,

"you're not to bad yourself." and Archie blushed.

"Hurry up guys, i'm starved" Herry called from the dining room and the next challenge began.

Athena had really outdone herself this time, a huge feast was set out.

Archie filled his plate with stuffed tomatos and dolmades. Theresa gave him a funny look.

"wow Atlanta," she said "i thought you hated tomato." from across the table Atlanta was scowling and Archie gulped.

"yeah," he said, "i guess i thought it was something else." he reluctantly put the tomatos back.

As dessert came, Atlanta, was about to tuck into helping of walnut cake.

"At..Archie" Archie warned "you're allergic to nuts, remember" Atlanta put down her spoon and sighed. Around the table, the others were exchanging looks. Achie and Atlanta were behaving very strange.

Atlanta stood up.

"wanna go for a run Arch...Lannie?" Archie jumped at the chance to get away from the awkward stares.

Down at the track, they prepared to run. Both needed to clear their heads. As they sprinted off, Archie was surprised to be in the lead and he beat Atlanta easily.

"i beat you," he jumped up and down, squealing in Atlanta's feminine voice "for the first time ever, i beat you!"

"Archie" Atlanta whispered urgently and gestured for him to stop. Archie looked around, everyone had come out to get some air and they where looking at him funny.

"Atlanta..." Odie frowned. "you always beat him"

"..." Archie faltered "I know, I just like to rub it in his face."

One by one, the other hero's retired for the night, leaving Archie and Atlanta alone on the steps.

"we need to sort this out now" Archie said, he pulled out the pendant.

"maybe if we both touch it again?" Atlanta reasoned and put large, manly hand over Archie's small and delicate one. Both touching the crystal, they cringed and thunder sounded. But when they opened their eyes, nothing had happened. Archie was still Atlanta and Atlanta was still Archie.

"hey, whats that?" Atlanta reached down to pick up a piece of paper that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"read it out" Archie said.

"this is the Pendant of Psykhe " she began "you have been affected by this stone because of suppressed feelings towards another. One week will be granted to you to live as another lives. Make decisions wisely, learn, live and love. But a work of caution, if you are not in the same room, at midnight, touching the pendant, you will be trapped as the other eternally." Atlanta finished.

"wow," Archie ran his fingers through his red, spiky hair. "Eternity is a long time to be you" he said. Atlanta stuck out her tongue.

"wasn't Psykhe the mortal woman who fell in love with Eros?" She asked

"i think so. Live, Learn, Love, wonder what that's supposed to mean."

"Suppressed feelings," Atlanta laughed at the words on the paper"a load of crap, don't you thing Arch?"

Archie didn't answer, a thought had occurred to him.

This pendant is all about bringing people together, he thought, maybe this means that i can finally confess to Atlanta that i love her. He yawned and stretched.

"it's been a long day Lannie, i'm going to bed."

she followed him into the dorms.

"Ahem, Archie" she cleared her throat and when Archie turned around she smirked, "my room is that way."

"i knew that" Archie said sheepishly and walked off down the corridor, he turned back "just don't go through my stuff, ok?"

"same applies to you" Atlanta called back. "G'night...Atlanta"

he grinned at her "night Arch."

Atlanta settled into a pair of Archie's comfy flannel pants and an old t-shirt, pulling back the covers on the bed. The room smelled like Archie and she breathed in the scent. She turned on the lamp on the bedside table and went to turn off the main light but she stopped. On the centre of the table was a photograph. Atlanta smiled and picked it up. It was a picture of her and Archie, he had his arm around her shoulders and they both looked incredibly happy. There was something else in Archie's eyes too, a softness that she had only just begun to notice. She looked at herself in the picture. She had that look too. The more she studied the picture, the more she realized how much of a couple they looked like. She put the picture down but continued to stare at it until she fell asleep.

In Atlanta's room, Archie was looking for something to read. None of her girly romances appealed to him so he grabbed an old skateboarding magazine off the desk and flipped through it. He stopped at one particular page. A skateboard was circled and in big read letters, Atlanta had written; ARCHIE. Archie smiled, she had given him that board for Christmas last year, their second Christmas in the brownstone. That night was the first night he realized how much he loved her. Sure, he had known he liked her but until then, it had only been a crush. He lay down, embarrassed for enjoying the feel of silk pyjama pants. He made a note to never mention this to anyone.

"Atlanta, are you okay?" Theresa asked Archie. She had walked into the bedroom, looking concerned and brandishing chocolate. "is everything fine between you and Archie?"

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?" Archie eyed the chocolate and tried to act like Atlanta. She never did anything girly so he knew that this would be tough.

"Well the other day you mentioned that you, you know, like him." she paused for effect, "then the two of you go out today and come back all awkward and i'm just wondering if something happened between the two of you."

Archie didn't reply for a moment. He was too thrilled,

Atlanta likes me, he thought, now confessing won't be so hard.

"no, nothing happened." he told the other girl "it was...uh, windy in the park and i think we both caught a cold."

"right." Theresa didn't sound convinced but she dropped the subject "so, lets gossip about Archie and Jay!"

Atlanta woke in the morning with a start. She didn't know where she was or why she felt so weird. Then she remembered her predicament and groaned. She showered and dressed. Trying not to check Archie's body out too much, before heading down to breakfast.

"you're looking particularly well groomed this morning Archie." Herry commented through mouthfuls of cereal. Archie took a seat beside her.

"i wish i could say the same for you Atlanta" Odie sniggered. Atlanta looked over at Archie. The outfit he had put together was creased and his, well, her hair was sticking up all over the place. She glared at him and he self consciously tried to smooth it out.

"it looks like you two have swapped." Joked Theresa, "usually its Atlanta who's neat and tidy!"

"Funny that." Laughed Archie half-heartedly.

"Whats happening today, Jay?" Asked Neil changing the subject much to the relief of Archie and Atlanta "i want to know if i have enough time to get down to the salon."

"Well i want to check out a knew lead on Cronos. I'll take a few of you with me. The rest can try and find that pendant."

"Whose going with you." Theresa sounded a little too eager.

"uh, Odie," Odie stood up, "Neil," the blonde groaned "and Atlanta" Atlanta stood up and joined them.

"Archie? What are you doing?" Asked Herry. Atlanta blushed.

"sorry, i guess i heard wrong."

"Now, Guys," Jay Continued "We have a pretty strong lead so we're going to go scout it out, it may take a couple of days."

Archie caught Atlanta's eyes and they exchanged a panicked look. Days. It was day two of the Archie/Atlanta switch, they needed to stick together or something bad could happen.

"can i go too?" Atlanta asked. Herry sniggered

"Sorry Archie," Jay said sympathetically. "you have to stay here, you're the only one who knows where the pendant might be."

"Atlanta knows too." she complained.

"Yes, but i need her tracking skills to help find Cronos."

Archie shot Atlanta a terrified glance. As they were preparing to leave he pulled her aside.

"i don't know anything about tracking" he worried

"you'll be fine." She assured him. "Odie will have a map on his GPS and he'll know where you're going." She put a hand on his shoulder. "when in doubt, follow the position of the moon, Artemis will guide you"

he hugged her. "i hope this works out"

she reached out and touched his face, smiling fondly. "of course it will."

Archie watched her as she walked away. It was weird, he realised, looking at yourself from another persons point of view. He shook his head, i don't know what i'd do if i didn't have Lanta. He thought. He loved having her as a best friend but he still lusted for more.

Atlanta sat down on Archie's bed and sighed. They had never really been separated before and she knew she would miss him. She caught sight of her reflection in the window.

"at least i can still see him every day." she said.

Well, what do you think so far... i'm excited for what happens next even though i know what happens!-

read and review- next chapter coming soon...