The light and airy sensation not leaving him, still feeling hot and flushed but also a titbit tingly, especially in his groin area and around his breasts, Jacob turned away from the door and sighed. Thrilled that he'd managed to get through Emily's date without spoiling it, and that it was actually enjoyable, Jacob pushed away from the door. Kicking off the boots he was wearing he drifted toward the stairs going up. About to start upstairs he abruptly stopped when a woman's voice from the next room over asked, "How was your date?"
A quick change of direction and Jacob headed in the direction of the speaker. Upon seeing that it was Mrs Johnson, he leaned against the door frame and easily replied, "It was, nice, mom. Michael was a perfect gentleman."
Mrs Johnson, uttering a snort of disbelief, said, "It was only dinner and a movie, right? You two didn't get up to anything else?"
Suddenly feeling defensive, Jacob crossed his arms and exclaimed, "Mom. Michael would never do anything like that. He took me to dinner. Then to a movie. That was it. He was a gentlemen and he'd never," and trailing off, he glared at Emily's mom as she made another snorting noise and retorted, "Yeah, right. Teenage boys only care about one thing. It isn't until they get older that their mentality might get beyond that."
"Well Michael isn't like the others, mom," Jacob answered, still missing how he kept addressing Mrs Johnson.
A series of quick nods and the older woman waved dismissively as she said, "Keep telling yourself that, young lady. But sooner or later you're going to have to wake up to the truth. In the meantime, see that it stays only dinner and a movie. You don't want to end up like your aunt."
Unsure what had had happened to Emily's aunt, but able to make a guess, Jacob nodded. Whispering, "Yes, mom," he turned and headed upstairs.
Still feeling defensive, yet also hot, flushed, Jacob stopped at the top of the stairs and looked up and down the hallway. When he and Emily had been kids, they had played together, sometimes in Emily's room. Now, he wasn't so sure he wanted to go to her room, as he thought that doing so would introduce him to a part of Emily's life he wasn't meant to see. But, believing he couldn't stand out in the hall all night, Jacob sighed and headed in the direction of Emily's room. Passing Kaitlyn's door, he wondered if his sister was still up and if he could talk to her about the metal doughnut thingy. Deciding against it, thinking it could wait until the real Emily was present, he continued on until he came to the door to Emily's room.
Hesitant, a sense that he was about to cross over a boundary he shouldn't over step, Jacob looked down as he reached for the doorknob. Breathing evenly, watching the swell of his chest move as he did, feeling and liking the way clothes he was wearing shifted against his body as he did so, Jacob turned the knob and pushed open the door. Reaching over to his right, he flipped on the light and for the first time in years, he stared at Emily's room.
Her room was still painted in the same moon mist yellow he remembered from when they were kids. But the decorations were different. Were once there had been posters of cute animals and mythical creatures there were images of boy bands, cute looking guys and posters with motivational speeches printed on them. Her dresser was still the same, but what was atop it was different, as the toys had been replaced by make-up, a jewellery box and various other things he didn't really know what they were. A vanity that matched the dresser and a full body mirror sat along one wall where there had once been four bookcases. Noting that it was now only one book case full of books, which he discovered they were teen romances and teen mysteries when he investigated them, Jacob eventually sat down on the bed, which was now covered with a comforter that was white with pastel coloured polka dots.
A sense of being in over his head and in an out-of-bounds area, Jacob breathed evenly through his nose as he studied the purple beanbag chair sitting next to the mirror. His eyes drifting toward the dresser, knowing that eventually he would have to find a pair of Emily's pyjamas, he didn't move as he considered that it would be an invasion of privacy to see not only certain garments the girl kept in her dresser, but also to see her naked. Conflicted, Jacob was surprised when someone knocked on Emily's bedroom door and a female voice whispered, "Jacob?"
Confused, Jacob sat for a moment longer as he tried to figure out what he should do and who Emily might have told. Suddenly realising the speaker was his sister Kaitlyn, Jacob leapt up as there was another knocking noise and the speaker said, "Open up, Jay. We need to talk."
Halfway across the room, he stopped as he realised what Kaitlyn had called him. Slowly walking the rest of the way across Emily's room, he cautiously opened the door and before he could stop her, Kaitlyn barged in, began pacing back and forth, telling him, "You find this hard to believe, or you may not, but I'm not Kaitlyn. I'm Emily," as she did this. Closing the door, Jacob felt like his head was starting to spin as Emily began recounting the events of how she confronted Kaitlyn in an effort to find an answer to their problem and what had come of it.
Taken aback by all he'd been told, Jacob slowly took a wobbly step away from the door. Suddenly needing to sit down, he stumbled back across the room and flopped on Emily's bed. After a moment, he whispered, "How do I really know you're not Kaitlyn and this isn't some hoax your weirdo brain has cooked up?"
A scornful look crossed Kaitlyn's youthful face and she snapped, "Because. I can tell you about how we played as children. I can tell you about how you've always secretly had a crush on me," and seeing the look on Jacob's face, Emily nodded and said, "Yes, I've always known. But, figuring you would never ask me, I moved on," and heaving a sigh, she began to confess on all the things they had done together, some so secret, Jacob was sure that not even Kaitlyn would know, like the time they went skinny dipping together when they were seven, the first time, and only time, he'd see Emily naked, and the time they had been fooling around with a baseball bat and song rocks and each had accidentally broke a window on an abandoned house near the elementary school.
Afterward, Emily collapsed in the chair in front of the vanity and didn't say anything. From where he sat on the bed, Jacob studied her, thinking that something was different about Kaitlyn. After a moment it came to him that she looked better groomed and didn't have the same wild, unkempt, tomboyish look. Suddenly everything hitting him, he lay back. Looking up at the ceiling, he put his hands over his eyes and announced, "You're Emily, I'm Jacob and my sister is running around in my body."
"What do you mean, your sister," Emily demanded and sitting up, Jacob looked at her, puzzled, before blinking and replying, "I didn't say she was my sister. We both know my sister is, Ashley."
Emily, giving him a searching look, almost as if she knew he'd been about to say that his sister was Kaitlyn and had switched at the last moment, eventually said, "So, what are we going to do? I know for a fact that you cannot remain in my body. And while I could stay as Kaitlyn, I do not want to."
The worlds hitting home, Jacob heaved a sigh and nodded. After a moment, he whispered, "I actually enjoyed your date, including kissing Michael. And honestly, the only thing that caused me any real anxiety was when I had to use the bathroom," and aware that Emily had stood up at some point, he found it comforting when she sat down next to him and hugged him close.
Soothed by this, Jacob breathed deeply and listened as Emily explained, "We'll get through this, I promise. In the morning, when we leave for school, we'll march over to your place and demand that Kaitlyn switch us back."
Slowly, he acknowledged by moving his head up and down in response. Certain this was the best course of action, he whispered, "And you shan't think I am some, I don't know, pervert for sleeping in your room. Seeing you naked. Dressing in your clothes," to which Emily laughed and told him, "I'm afraid, for just this one night, you're going to have to do that," and standing, she held out a hand and said, "Here. Let me show you how to remove that make-up. Them I'll help you pick out a pair of pyjamas. Okay?"
Numbly, Jacob nodded and stood. Not even able to articulate all the different emotions that had suddenly washed over him, he allowed himself to be led over to the vanity where he sat and watched as Emily began to go through the various things on top of it. After a moment, she selected a couple bottles, a number of containers and some wipes. Kneeling down, she gently began to remove the mascara. As she did this, Jacob had a sudden dreadful thought and, before he could stop himself, he asked, "What if we can't change back. What if you're stuck as Kaitlyn and I am stuck as you? Or, what if Kaitlyn doesn't want to change back?" to which Emily simply stated, "We'll cross that bridge when we get that far," before continuing on with what she was doing.