Barhopping

"Cody?" I asked, approaching my best friend as he sat at the bar, "Where the fuck have you been, man? I've been lookin' all over for ya! And are you -- smoking?"

He just turned around and looked at me. There was something weird in his eyes.

"And you are...?" he asked me flatly, and taking a big puff of the cigarette. I had never seen him smoke a day in his life, and yet there he was smoking like a pro.

"Cody..." I said, my stomach sinking, "It's me, Jimmy. You ok, dude? You look..."

"I look fine," he said in the same strange tone of voice, "Jimmy."

"Codes, I think we need to get you home, dude. Whatever you're on, it's not good."

"Look, dude," he said, standing up from the barstool, "I'm just gonna be flat-out with you. I ain't Cody. Got it? I just ran into this kid in the bathroom, noticed he was tuckin' a pretty big wad of cash in his back pocket, and thought I might use his body to get fucked up tonight. And hell, it ain't a bad body, either. Pretty good-lookin'. Who knows, maybe I'll even get lucky in it."

I stood speechless as Cody felt up his tight pecs through his shirt.

"Hey, bartender!" he shouted, "Gimme another one of these. Yeah, make it the good shit. I can afford it."

He turned to me and gave me a wink.

"So, uh, Jimmy, was it?" he asked, taking his place back on the barstool, "Why don't you just head home, huh? I promise you'll have your friend here back in the morning. Don't worry, I'll take real good care of him."

He flexed a bicep and patted it with a smug look on his face.

"Cody... please?" I asked as I watched him slam back another top-shelf drink.

"I mean it, kid," he said, crudely wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "Get outta here -- unless you'd rather have me take over your body for the night instead? Yeah... didn't think so."

I backed off and left the bar completely upset and totally confused. Whatever it was, I knew that wasn't my friend in there. It was somebody wearing my friend's body, as crazy as that might sound, and my only hope was that he would be back to normal by tomorrow.