Alice pulled her SUV around, and James the orderly had no trouble loading Tom’s box of clothes and other items into the back. James thanked him for his help and got into the passenger’s seat. Normally he would be driving his car with Alice in the passenger seat, but his license still showed his old picture, and he really didn’t want to try to explain it all to a cop if he got pulled over before they were able to update his ID.
“Are you sure you’re old enough to be sitting in the front?” Alice said teasingly as she pulled away from the hospital.
“Shut up!” Tom said, sticking his tongue out at his fiancé. “You’re just jealous because you don’t have this youthful body.”
“Oh yeah…a youthful body that struggled to pick up a box of clothes.”
“Hey! That box is super heavy! That kid has a lot of stuff in there besides clothes!”
“Well, it’s your stuff now, so I’ll let you have the pleasure of sorting through it all.”
Tom sighed and looked out the window. He was still unsettled by the unfamiliar reflection in the glass. He ran a hand through his shaggy red hair. He wondered if he should get it cut. It looked good on this new body, and not ever having shaggy hair before, Tom was tempted to keep it for a while. He wondered if this kid had always kept his hair shaggy. He had grown up in foster and youth homes. How did they pay for things like haircuts? Was it done through a private facility or government taxes? How would he file taxes next year? Would there be problems with his body change? And he was supposed to be getting married later this year. How would all that affect things?
“Hello?? Tom?!” Alice’s voice called out to him from the driver’s seat.
“Huh? What?” Tom said, looking over at her. She glanced at him briefly while the car was paused at a red light.
“You had your head in the clouds,” she responded, returning to face the front and accelerating the car as the light turned green. “I was asking you if the stack of papers that the doctor gave you includes all the important paperwork to get your new license and everything.”
“Oh, yeah, I think so,” Tom said, looking down at the copies of the papers the hospital had given him. He hadn’t really looked at them at all except for that brief moment in the hospital. He focused on the first page, and found the letters still seemed out of place, almost as if they were jumping around on the page. He slowly read through the first couple of lines, but the block of text seemed almost uniform, and he lost his place a few times. Even after he read the full paragraph, he realized he had been so focused on the words that he hadn’t really comprehended anything that he had actually read.
“Babe, my head is still bothering me, and I think I really need some caffeine. Since coffee seems to be out in this new body, can we make a quick stop at the convenience store by the apartment, and I can run in and grab a soda or something?” he asked Alice.
Alice glanced down at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost 1:00PM. “Ugh…I really need to get back to work, Tom, but I suppose as long as you’re fast, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I might as well top off with gas anyways. Gives me an excuse to be a couple of extra minutes late.”
“Thanks, Babe!” Tom said. He figured once he got some caffeine in his system, whatever weird phenomena was affecting his ability to read would go away. Alice pulled the car into the corner convenience store and parked in front of the gas pumps.
Tom jumped out of the car and made his way into the convenience store. He scanned the racks of soda and other drinks until his eyes fastened on the Bang energy drinks. Tom had never drunk energy drinks before. He had tried Red Bull and 5 Hour Energy in college and had disliked them both, so he had kept his distance from them. But for some reason the idea of a Bang right now seemed the perfect drink in his head. He looked at the flavors, trying to decide what one he wanted the most. He was tempted to buy a bunch to find out which one was the best, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to carry them all. He decided to look for a basket or something and walked towards the front of the store. As he passed the chip aisle, something that caught his eyes were the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. He remembered liking spicy food now, and these chips in particular almost seemed to be calling to him. He quickly grabbed a couple of bags. *Now I need to get something to drink with these chips.* he thought. He returned to the back of the store where the drinks were, and then he realized that he had already been there, and he had been looking for something to carry all of the drinks he wanted to try. He figured he was already pressed for time, so he grabbed a Bangster Berry and Radical Skadattle Bang and took his new snacks up to the register. The guy behind the register scanned all the snacks, but then Tom saw some Grandma’s brand Chocolate Brownie cookies and some Sour Patch Kids near the checkout stand, and on a whim, added them to the snack horde as well. He paid for the snacks with his debit card, and then took the bags and headed back to Alice’s car.
Alice had already finished filling up the tank and was sitting in the front seat. “I was about to come in there after you. What took you so long?” she asked, starting the vehicle up and pulling out of the parking lot.
“Well, I’m still getting used to this new body and his likes and dislikes. Think of this as our first foodie adventure,” Tom said, pulling a Bang out of one of the bags.
“It doesn’t count if I don’t get to experience it with you,” she said with a smile. “And Bang? I thought you were going to get a soda.”
“Well, I figured I’m having a major caffeine withdrawal, so I might as well kickstart my caffeine intake…with a Bang!” Tom said, smiling at his own joke.
Alice rolled her eyes as Tom opened the can and took a sip. He found it to be surprisingly good! The sweet flavor filled his mouth, igniting his taste buds with the first really tasty thing that he had in this new body. Like a special treat that you only have at certain events, but worth every drink. He quickly started guzzling the Bang down.
“Geez, Tom! You’re going to give yourself a heart attack in that brand new body if you drink it that fast,” Alice said as she pulled into his apartment complex.
“I can’t help myself, Babe. This stuff tastes so good! You’ve got to try some!” He offered her the can after she pulled into an empty parking spot next to Tom’s apartment. She tried a sip of the drink.
“It’s all right, I guess. Not something I would want to have regularly. A bit too sugary for my tastes,” she replied, handing the can back to Tom.
“More for me, then!” Tom said, taking another long drink from the can. He opened the door and got out, getting his snacks and papers from the hospital. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and walked to his apartment door, unlocking it. Steve was still at work, and Matt was still at school, so he had the place to himself for a couple of hours.
He propped the door open with his snacks and made his way back to Alice’s SUV, where she was struggling to get the large box of clothes out from the back. “I told you it was heavier than it looks,” he said, coming up next to her and grabbing one of the sides of the large box. Between the two of them, they were able to carry it to his apartment. Tom was thankful that he lived on the ground floor.
They dropped the box off in the doorway to the apartment. “I’ve got to get back to work, Sweetie,” she said. He went in for a hug, and she returned it somewhat awkwardly. He moved in to kiss her like he normally did when they said goodbye, but she turned her face at the last second to where he kissed her cheek instead. “Sorry, dear,” she said. “I’m still getting used to all of this. The braces and your face and everything…I know it’s you there, but please be patient with me,” she said, pulling away from his embrace.
“I understand, Babe,” Tom said, dropping his arms to his side before running his hand through his hair. “I love you!”
“Love you too! I’ll see you after work! Maybe then we can have one of those foodie adventures!” she said, heading back to the parking lot. Tom grabbed the bags of snacks and let the apartment door swing shut, leaning against the box and the familiar smell that he liked. He reached over and grabbed his Bang, finishing off the contents and letting the drink fill him with energy.
*Might as well start unpacking and see what all I’ve got now!* Tom slid the box across the carpet towards his room. His apartment was three bedrooms, with his and Matt’s rooms on one side and Steve’s room on the other side. In the center of the apartment were the kitchen, living room, and main bathroom that he and Matt shared, while Steve got a bathroom to himself. It wasn’t much, but the rent was affordable between him and Steve, and it was in a good school district, so Matt was able to attend one of the best high schools in the area. He pulled the box into his bedroom, which was fairly simple with his bed, a dresser, a TV, a nightstand, and a closet.
He looked around the room and walked over to his dresser, pulling out some of his clothes. While he hadn’t been fat in his old body, he had been a bit overweight, mainly due to the sedentary nature of his job and the lack of time between work, dating, and parenting that limited his time at the gym. He had been 6’1” tall and weighed around 215 pounds in his old body, and his new body was probably around 5’7” tall and weighed significantly less. He found that while his T-shirts still fit (albeit rather baggy), all of his non-athletic shorts had waists that were far too large for his skinny frame. In horror, he pulled open his closet and looked at all of his work suits. He realized much to his dismay that none of his tailored suits would fit his new body at all. He was going to need to go suit shopping before work on Monday. Fortunately, today was Friday, and Bill had told him to take as much time as he needed to get acclimated following the procedure.
He walked back over to the box and opened it, starting to pull out all of the contents for the first time. It was mostly clothes on top, and basic ones at that. Several T-shirts, a large number of undershirts and A-shirts, several baggy pairs of shorts, several pairs of jeans (ranging from skinny to regular fit), and all plain boxers and boxer briefs. Many of the clothes were well worn. Most of the jeans had holes in them (as did some of the shirts), and some had clearly not been washed before being thrown into the box. Tom figured that most of this kid’s clothes had been hand-me downs or thrift store purchases, further highlighting his low-income status. The distinct smell that he had smelt the previous times looking through the box was strong on the clothes, particularly the ones which were not clean. Tom couldn’t quite place the smell, but he knew it was relaxing and comforting. He sat for a few minutes, just breathing in the smell. His thoughts seemed to calm just a bit while breathing it in. Maybe the kid burned incense or something to help him concentrate.
Tom was about halfway through the 4-foot large box by this point, stacks of clothes around him organized by type. He found several worn hoodies that also particularly smelled strong of the same smell, and they looked really comfy. Tom hadn’t been a huge hoodie fan, much preferring jackets or sweaters when he was cold, but he had to admit that these hoodies felt remarkably comfortable in his hands. He would definitely try them on if he went out when it was cold. He also found a uniform for King Soopers, the local grocery store chain. It looked like this kid also had a job at one point. *Well, that’s pretty impressive for only being 16,* Tom thought. *Not a lot of kids his age probably have jobs.*
The bottom of the box had various items in it. Tom found a pair of beat-up skate shoes, and a well-used skateboard. Tom put the skateboard down on the ground and stood on it, wondering if his new body maintained the muscle memory to skate. Tom had never skateboarded before in his life, but just standing on the skateboard, even on the uneven carpet, felt comfortable and natural. He was going to have to experiment with that at a later point.
The last thing in the box was an old backpack that had some weight to it. He pulled out the backpack and opened it. The inside of the main pocket of the backpack had two textbooks- Basic Geometry and Natural Science, along with a few notebooks. Tom curiously opened them and saw a bunch of doodles surrounding some scrawled notes that he had trouble reading. This kid obviously wasn’t a genius. There was a math text in one of the notebooks with a 62 written in a red circle on the top. Tom looked at the text, but while not as jarring as the text on the hospital paper, he still found the numbers and shapes somewhat challenging to read. He had hoped drinking the Bang would have stopped whatever was bothering him, but it still seemed to be affecting him.
He reached into the side pocket of the backpack and pulled out a simple cell phone. It looked like one of those prepaid phones. He tried to turn it on, but the battery was dead. It had a basic micro-USB charger port, and Tom had an extra cable for charging his Kindle Fire tablet, so he brought the phone over to his nightstand and plugged it in. The light came on showing that it was charging.
He felt himself drawn back to the backpack and pulled open the zipper pocket at the front of the backpack. Inside were some pencils and pens and some Axe body spray, pretty standard stuff for a teen guy. But there was something else there. As he felt into the pocket, he felt something heavy and slightly bulky in the pocket as well. He peered in closely but didn’t see anything. Something drew him to the top part of the inside of the pocket, where he realized that the back part of the pocket had been torn open but was held in place by Velcro tabs. It made it to where someone just glancing in the backpack wouldn’t be aware that there was a hidden pocket inside the backpack. Tom curiously pulled back the Velcro and felt inside. He pulled out a plastic baggy, a glass pipe, and a lighter. He looked at the baggy and realized that this was the source of the smell that seemed to permeate the box and all of its contents. The relaxing scent that calmed his brain every time he smelled it. And he began to realize what all it entailed. The baggy was filled with weed.