how good curling up under a warm blanket felt. I
burrowed deeper, shifting in and out of dreams, but in the end
neither the alarm nor the white rays of daylight were to blame for
preventing me from sleeping in. Behind closed eyes I was plagued
with images of Anne, William, and I walking hand in hand through
Providence every Halloween accosting people for candy corn. If my
plan failed, that would be my future.
Waking bright and early
wasn’t usually my favorite thing, but today I rolled out of bed
with a bounce, a stretch, a yawn, and a wriggle of my toes in the
plush carpet. Today wasn’t only the start of my return from the
dead it was also Wednesday, a school day. The significance brought
butterflies to my stomach, lines erratic as a Geiger counter to my
heart, and a messy jumble of black-ink doodles to my head. Today
I’d talk to Leo. And we had much to discuss.
Still not used to Audrey’s
body, I stumbled around my new bedroom as I pulled on her clothes.
I stood in front of the mirror, and naturally the shock that I was
someone else hit me, but what I noticed most was that my eyes
looked alarmingly like mine.
I took this as a further
sign that Leo would notice the real me.
Teri called Audrey to
breakfast and it took a few seconds to register that she called for
me.
“ You’re a big girl. You
can do this.” I stared at my reflection, glad that I wouldn’t have
to get used to seeing this other face. This swap was only
temporary. After I’d spoken to Leo, I’d return to being a ghost.
Right? Of course I would. But I could think about that later. For
now I had to get to school.
I put a quick stop to my
internal counsel, yelled, “Coming,” and grabbed Audrey’s school bag
and cell phone.
Before I stepped out the
room, I noticed the screen on the phone was blank. Hanging out of
the power socket was the charger. I plugged in the phone and prayed
I didn’t need anything stored in its memory, like the answers to
exam questions.
“ Would it kill you to keep
your phone charged?” I told my reflection.
The worst part of taking
over Audrey’s body was that I lived inside the body of a fifteen
year old, which meant I’d have to go down two levels in school. On
the up side, I’d already completed high school so the lessons
should have been a breeze. You’d suppose so, but by mid morning,
I’d discovered that somewhere in the last two years the dictionary
had been rewritten and every trivial thing known about the universe
had been changed. I couldn’t get a single answer correct, and by
late morning I’d given up even trying and etched doodles in my
textbooks instead. When the lunch bell rang, I headed straight to
the music rooms where I suspected Leo might be. I found him alone
amidst an orchestra of instruments minus the orchestra. I studied
him as he adjusted plastic chairs and music stands in readiness for
band practice that afternoon.
His hand paused above a
seat, and then he turned his head.
He’s looking right at
me , my brain screamed.
It was like I was watching
him for the first time. Tall, almost six foot, with killer biceps
from gripping the neck of an electric guitar and lugging two
hundred pound amplifiers around the studio.
“ Try outs are after
class,” he said.
“ Oh, I’m not here for try
outs.” Except there was no other plausible explanation for my
presence. “Well, not exactly. It’s a tossup between band and drama.
Or maybe even French.”
All of which were
lies.
“ What about cheerleader
try outs?”
I laughed so hard, I
almost tripped over my own feet. “I don’t think so. You need a
certain level of coordination, which I clearly don’t
possess.”
Even if I were to trade
bodies with an Olympic gymnast, I would never be the athletic
type.
The upright piano beckoned
and I was happy to take the call by sitting at the stool and
lifting open the lid. My fingers easily found the G chord and my
foot found the reverb pedal. A haunting tune echoed and words to a
song
burrowed deeper, shifting in and out of dreams, but in the end
neither the alarm nor the white rays of daylight were to blame for
preventing me from sleeping in. Behind closed eyes I was plagued
with images of Anne, William, and I walking hand in hand through
Providence every Halloween accosting people for candy corn. If my
plan failed, that would be my future.
Waking bright and early
wasn’t usually my favorite thing, but today I rolled out of bed
with a bounce, a stretch, a yawn, and a wriggle of my toes in the
plush carpet. Today wasn’t only the start of my return from the
dead it was also Wednesday, a school day. The significance brought
butterflies to my stomach, lines erratic as a Geiger counter to my
heart, and a messy jumble of black-ink doodles to my head. Today
I’d talk to Leo. And we had much to discuss.
Still not used to Audrey’s
body, I stumbled around my new bedroom as I pulled on her clothes.
I stood in front of the mirror, and naturally the shock that I was
someone else hit me, but what I noticed most was that my eyes
looked alarmingly like mine.
I took this as a further
sign that Leo would notice the real me.
Teri called Audrey to
breakfast and it took a few seconds to register that she called for
me.
“ You’re a big girl. You
can do this.” I stared at my reflection, glad that I wouldn’t have
to get used to seeing this other face. This swap was only
temporary. After I’d spoken to Leo, I’d return to being a ghost.
Right? Of course I would. But I could think about that later. For
now I had to get to school.
I put a quick stop to my
internal counsel, yelled, “Coming,” and grabbed Audrey’s school bag
and cell phone.
Before I stepped out the
room, I noticed the screen on the phone was blank. Hanging out of
the power socket was the charger. I plugged in the phone and prayed
I didn’t need anything stored in its memory, like the answers to
exam questions.
“ Would it kill you to keep
your phone charged?” I told my reflection.
The worst part of taking
over Audrey’s body was that I lived inside the body of a fifteen
year old, which meant I’d have to go down two levels in school. On
the up side, I’d already completed high school so the lessons
should have been a breeze. You’d suppose so, but by mid morning,
I’d discovered that somewhere in the last two years the dictionary
had been rewritten and every trivial thing known about the universe
had been changed. I couldn’t get a single answer correct, and by
late morning I’d given up even trying and etched doodles in my
textbooks instead. When the lunch bell rang, I headed straight to
the music rooms where I suspected Leo might be. I found him alone
amidst an orchestra of instruments minus the orchestra. I studied
him as he adjusted plastic chairs and music stands in readiness for
band practice that afternoon.
His hand paused above a
seat, and then he turned his head.
He’s looking right at
me , my brain screamed.
It was like I was watching
him for the first time. Tall, almost six foot, with killer biceps
from gripping the neck of an electric guitar and lugging two
hundred pound amplifiers around the studio.
“ Try outs are after
class,” he said.
“ Oh, I’m not here for try
outs.” Except there was no other plausible explanation for my
presence. “Well, not exactly. It’s a tossup between band and drama.
Or maybe even French.”
All of which were
lies.
“ What about cheerleader
try outs?”
I laughed so hard, I
almost tripped over my own feet. “I don’t think so. You need a
certain level of coordination, which I clearly don’t
possess.”
Even if I were to trade
bodies with an Olympic gymnast, I would never be the athletic
type.
The upright piano beckoned
and I was happy to take the call by sitting at the stool and
lifting open the lid. My fingers easily found the G chord and my
foot found the reverb pedal. A haunting tune echoed and words to a
song
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