An Odd Trend
Tiktok, like any other social media platform, was known for its various trends and challenges among its user base. Trends varied widely on any given week from harmless face filters to dancing in the middle of a busy road. Needless to say, a trend can be risky and even deadly if taken too far.
Fortunately enough, some trends never take off due to lack of engagement. Unfortunately, however, one of the latest social media challenges to hit Tiktok didn't need a massive user base to take effect. Even with just two users the trend's effect will activate, and its consequences will be felt.
It was yet another slow day at the gas station for Ibrahim. As much as he enjoyed the easy money, he found himself getting bored very frequently. He took out his phone during a free moment and opened it to no new notifications. Ibrahim wasn't sure what he was expecting when he unlocked it, but he had hoped for at least something mildly interesting. He did, however, notice that his latest Tiktok had started getting attention. He opened the app and smiled at the sight of all his new followers. All he had to do was keep posting gym content. It bothered Ibrahim that most of the people engaging with his videos were men, but he knew a follower was a follower and soon he'll have enough so that he could focus solely on being a content creator.
With his dream of success in mind, Ibrahim decided to capitalize on his free time and make some more videos. He turned on the camera, ready to hit record, only to remember he had no idea what to do. He took a look around but all he saw was the same old convenience store. Ibrahim had already done himself at work so many times, he needed something fresh if he was going to go viral again.
He leaned against the counter as he began to browse the endless list of filters Tiktok had. Ibrahim had once made a recently released filter go viral. Everyone had given him the credit for starting the trend too. He was hoping he could do it again with the right filter. After scrolling for a while, Ibrahim was ready to call it quits for the day. But just before he closed out his phone, a certain thumbnail had caught his eye. It was a relatively simple design: two stick figures with a round about arrow connecting them along with the words "Me & You." Despite how plain looking the thumbnail was, something about it was indescribably intriguing. Out of sheer curiosity, Ibrahim clicked on it. Then, a little infographic about the filter popped up.
"Welcome to the Me & You challenge! Get ready to take getting to know other people to a whole new level! This filter will connect you to another person in live time. After a few seconds of conversation, just hit the button, and get ready for a once in a lifetime experience! Note: This is a beta version. We are actively fine tuning and fixing bugs as we find them. We thank you for your understanding!"
The description was straightforward enough, but Ibrahim was still confused on what exactly the filter was supposed to do. Despite the off feeling Ibrahim was getting, he decided to give it a shot anyway. He figured, after all, that the worst that could happen was his Tiktok would flop.
Ibrahim propped up his phone and hit the button to turn on the filter. He was expecting it to connect right away, but all he got was a buffering circle. As he waited, Ibrahim attended to a couple of customers that walked in. The app connected while he was busy, and he hurriedly finished helping the last customer. He picked up his phone and saw there was just some guy with a cowboy hat on the other end of the video call.
"Hey," Ibrahim said.
"What up," the other guy responded.
Their conversation ended up starting and finishing there. The two men stood around in silence, avoiding eye contact with the other.
"Do you know how this is supposed to work?" the other guy asked Ibrahim.
"No." Ibrahim answered.
Then the two waited in silence again. Luckily, a red button with a 🔄 symbol popped up not long after. Ibrahim saw the button and pushed it without hesitation. He heard a distinct clicking sound coming from his phone when he did so. Ibrahim then watched as the other guy's eyes widened and saw he did something on his end. He then heard the same clicking sound again. And with that, Ibrahim's phone flashed him with an intense bright light, causing him to kneel over to the ground.
Ibrahim was squirming in pain with his hands to his eyes. He could hear the other guy screaming too, but then he heard the call hang up. Not the Ibrahim cared, as he was busy enduring the eye pain as well as a sudden head pain.
A customer had walked in, and screamed at the sight of Ibrahim on the floor. She ran up to the counter and called out to him.
"Are you okay!?"
Ibrahim groaned as he massaged his temples. The pain was gradually going away with the coming minutes. Ibrahim then picked himself back up.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine, thanks,"
"Oh thank goodness," the woman sighed. "I was worried I'd have to call 911. But I doubt a big, strong young man like yourself would go down that easily."
"Huh? Big? Strong?"
Ibrahim looked down at his body. He began inspecting his body, all while the woman watched with a concerned look in her eyes. She looked at his name tag.
"Ibrahim, is it? Did you hit your head? I think you might have a concussion..."
"Oof... you weren't kidding, I AM big and strong! Check this out!" the store attendant shouted out as he flexed.
The man kept checking himself out, all while the woman watched. The woman kept asking him questions, and soon enough he started giving coherent answers. Then, after making sure he was mentally stable, the woman decided to flee the scene before anything else happened. The gas station attendant was then left all alone again, giving him the space to keep exploring his body.
"Oh man... I'm gonna enjoy this!!" he murmured as he lifted his shirt, taking a closer look at the goods he now owned.
***
Meanwhile, at a local city fair, a guy with a cowboy hat had fallen to the ground after his phone shined a white light into his eyes. Most the crowd ignored the young man rolling on the ground in pain. A young woman, noticing his condition, ran up to him.
"Alexis! Are you okay!?" The woman helped the guy back up to his feet. The guy nodded as he pinched the corners of his eyes. "What happened? Did you pregame or something?"
"What? No, I don't drink," the guy said with an attitude. He took his arm off her shoulder and leaned against a fence to help him keep his balance. He was still disoriented by sudden flash.
"Ha, yeah right," the woman snorted. "And I'm a backup dancer for Ariana Grande."
The guy looked up at her annoyed, but quickly changed his tone when he saw how beautiful the young lady was. Flowing black hair, clear light brown skin, and beautiful eyes. Her curvy figure was the cherry on the sundae; he was mesmerized with her.
"You sure you good?" the woman asked.
"With you here, I've never felt better..."
"God, always the flirt huh," the woman laughed. The man joined in too.
The two then walked together to find a table. The girl led the way while the guy lagged behind. Although his infatuation with her had distracted him, he soon realized that something was horribly wrong. There were tattoos all along his arms, tattoos he didn't have before. He also noticed his nails were painted pink, and groaned in disgust at the sight of it. As he walked, he could feel something on his chest. He rubbed his chest and felt the nipple piercings he now possessed. He soon put two and two together and realized that he was in the wrong body. Ibrahim's blood boiled at the realization, but quickly cooled down when he realized... who would ever believe him? Then, he felt the loneliness start to sink in.
"Look, there's a free table!" the woman claimed the spot and called her friend over. Ibrahim leaned against the table. He had no idea what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. The woman noticed her friend was deep in thought, and reached out to hold his hand.
"Hey, thank you." she whispered.
"Hm? For what?"
"For doing this. I mean, for taking me out. I know I haven't exactly been a good friend lately, but breaking up with Kevin was not easy. I'm just- so grateful to have a friend like you, Alexis. Someone that gets how trash men are."
Ibrahim listened carefully to everything the beautiful girl had to say to him. A girl like her would've dismissed Ibrahim as some scumbag fuck boy in his old body. But with a new body, Ibrahim stood a chance unlike ever before.
"Yeah, no problem. I'm glad I could help, I just want what's best for you."
The young lady smiled, and so did Ibrahim. The two held hands with a gentle grip. Ibrahim noticed how soft his new hands were, and how well they complimented her soft hands too.
"I wish more straight guys could be like you..." she gazed into his eyes. He returned the gesture in full. Ibrahim saw the opportunity, then took his swing at it.
"Hey, I have to confess something... I think I have feelings for you..."
The girl's eyes widened at first, but she quickly shrugged it off.
"That's just the tequila talking-"
"No! I swear it isn't, I haven't had a single drink tonight!" Ibrahim pleaded with her. He technically wasn't lying, and the girl could see he was more or less sober too.
"But... I thought you were gay..."
Ibrahim closed the distance between them. He held her close to him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Maybe... I'm feeling a little bisexual tonight..."
The two held each other close, then the two kissed- tenderly at first, then passionately as the feelings kicked in. With a straight soul in a gay body, arousal followed soon after. The two then left the fair early and proceeded to have the night of their lives.
***
Weeks had gone by since Ibrahim and Alexis became the first victims of the strange body swap filter Me & You. Although both had a rocky start having to adjust to their new lives, both men quickly found themselves right at home with their new bodies. Then as time went on, they had forgotten about ever having switched bodies in the first place. They had accepted and assimilated into their new identities without a problem.
Alexis kept up the all exercise needed to keep his new, muscular physique. But it was something he did with ease, especially considering how much he loved his new body. He took over Ibrahim's Tiktok following and even improved upon it when he gave all the gay followers what they wanted. Full body nudity and man on man action, both things Alexis provided with great joy. Ibrahim's old gym bros ditched him after he came out, but Alexis found new gym bros to grow close to (and in more ways the one).
Alexis showed off his body in front of the camera for another Tiktok, only to get interrupted by one of his gym bros coming from behind and squeezing his ass. Alexis smirked, then pulled him for a kiss on camera. Alexis loved his new body- and so did everyone else.
As for Ibrahim, although he was initially very against the idea of accepting his fate, he warned up to it after finding a special reason to stay. Ibrahim had found love in Alexis' straight girl best friend, and the two were madly in love. Despite this, Ibrahim could never get used to how queer his new body was. He began making changes gradually to make himself more comfortable in his new skin- taking out all the piercings, keeping the make up off of him, and even hitting the gym again. Some of Alexis' old circle of friends noticed he had changed, but none of them ever bothered to question it. So long as Ibrahim was happy and wasn't really bothering anyone, everyone more or less accepted their now straighter friend. All's well that ends well.
