Colton stared, dumbstruck, into his own eyes. His own visage glared at him, an evil smirk that filled him with undiluted fear. The impossibility of the situation coupled with the potential threat of physical violence was horrifying.
Colton didn’t think, he acted. Normally, he’d confront his problem head on, as strength was his major asset. Presented with the most peculiar of situations, however, he was surprised to feel his new legs moving, running him towards the door.
His new body may be small, and somewhat agile, it was still no match for a body that had been running since 1st grade, often burdened with heavy football gear and in the hot sun of the South. He was snatched by a strong hand, his hand, before he could make it more than 5 feet from the window.
“Hold up.” His body commanded. The voice was... his voice, drawl and everything. He flashed a terrified look up at his old body. “Look, I’m not actually going to hurt you.”
To prove the point, Colton felt his arm be released. He looked into his former face, fearful, yet curious.
“You know, I’m just as freaked out as you are, right?” His old body said.
“S-sure...” Colton stuttered.
“Do you even know my name? It’s Liam.” The former nerd said.
“You know mine?” Colton asked. He may be out of his body, but his default self-absorbed egoistic personality had followed him.
“Colton, of course. Star quarterback, hot girlfriend, nice ass.” Liam spouted off. “But of course id know who you are, but you’d know nothing about the guy you were about to pound down...”
“Look man, I don’t think we need to discuss the ethics of high school social hierarchy. Let’s just... undo this, right?” Colton implored.
“This was your doing, though. You held this out to ME, remember?” Liam chided, holding up his half of the stick. Colton saw his own piece still clutched in his smaller hand.
“I- what? I didn’t know this would happen! Besides, the stick like... made me do it.” Colton explained. He pushed up the glasses he forgot he was now reliant on. It felt natural, like a reflex.
“I think if we put them back together, it will reverse this. As amazing as your abs feel, I don’t feel at home in the body of a bully.” Liam explained.
Colton glared at him, but he held up his stick anyways. The two pushed the ends together, but nothing happened. The two pieces didn’t even seem to fit together anymore. The ends of each half terminated at a flattened point. There were no interlocking clasps, no slides, nothing to suggest they inserted one way or another together.
After a while of fitfully jamming the sticks together, the two boys realized it was fruitless. For all they knew, this was a permanent arrangement. Liam even had Colton explain where he got the item.
“Let’s go to the store then!” Liam exclaimed.
“Not so fast, cowboy. The place... umm... well, it vanished?” Colton threw his arms up in defeat.
“What do you mean it ‘vanish?’” Liam asked, agitated.
“When I walked out of the shop, the wind kicked some dust into my eyes. When I could open them again, the store was gone.” Colton explained.
“That’s fucking impossible!” Liam yelled.
“Dude, look at us! This is impossible!” Colton said, pointing at his new chest.
Liam put his face in his hands. He sunk into a desk chair, looking defeated. “What do we do?” He gasped into his hands.
“Look, we aren’t going to solve this tonight. I do know though that my girlfriend is meeting me at the movie theater around 9... ohh fuck.” Colton suddenly grabbed at his diminutive frame.
“Yeah...” Liam said, knowing exactly what was being realized. “We kinda have to... be each other?”
Colton gulped. “I don’t know the first thing about you....”
“I have an idea.” Liam sat up straight. “In my backpack, I have paper and pens. Let’s make lists... like a sort of... ‘how to be me’ crash course.”
“That could work.” Colton nodded. “We should also put anything coming up down. I’ll let you know the date plans for tonight with Alice. Oh, and we should figure out how to work each other’s phones.”
“Good idea.” Liam pulled out Coltons phone. They went to the task of getting each other into their phones, followed by a crash course of how to be Colton and Liam.
“Wait, addresses too!” Colton added.
“My bike is out front. You aren’t old enough to drive anymore...” Liam said.
Colton looked at his hands. They weren’t small just because Liam was weak. He was a freshman, young and underdeveloped. His old body was a senior, filled out and brimming with vitality.
“I guess I play football now, too.” Liam noted.
“Look, all I can hope is that a lot of this stuff is muscle memory or something. Because I can find my way to your house, but what about the subtle things?” Colton asked.
“What do you mean?” Liam inquired.
“Like the way I hold my girlfriend. Or the way we greet the people in our families. Do you have any quirks that if I don’t do, someone might notice? Being someone else isn’t like... acting? It’s like trying to pretend nothing is different. This is insane!” Colton panicked.
“Calm down! This isn’t going to work if you lose it. I have logistical questions too... but we’ll have to deal with things as they come.” Liam soothed.
“I guess so.” Colton said, dejectedly.
The two exchanged a few more details, but for the most part they had to resign themselves to trust. They could only prepare for so much. Colton insisted that Liam leave first, and he’d wait to depart a few minutes later.
As he watched his body leave, he sat down in the now silent classroom. He picked up Liams phone, turning the camera on to look at his new face. He hadn’t noticed the light speckling or freckles across Liams nose and cheeks. His nose that turned up slightly, giving a puckish effect to his new face. His hair was just long enough to brush to the sides, the red strands soft and fine.
Finally, realizing he could leave, he went to the door. He felt the doorknob, as if it was too large and too heavy. The door was hefty, and he had to really throw his weight into opening the old fashioned, solid oak door. It occurred to him that he was only just facing the realities of life in a new body.