An entire day would pass before my mom and stepfather realized that I was missing. They tried calling my phone but found it ringing in my room, along with other of my untouched items. They weren’t worried for one bit. Quite the opposite. My mom mentioned that this is the best day of her life. She’s finally free from her ‘accident’, even for a single day.
Another day would pass, then a week, and a month. Not even the school realized that I was gone. I guess it’s expected since I never stood out that much from my classmates. I even go under the radar of the bullies in our class. That’s how insignificant I am.
But not Declan. It took me an entire week to fully incorporate Declan’s memories and mannerisms. I laughed the same way as he did. Even the Southern tic from his accent. No one, not even my parents who knew Declan from the moment he was born, knew that it was another inside this 12-year-old body.
Even my new bully was none the wiser. Here comes in the picture, Calvin Stone, another 12-year-old kid with brown hair that reached past his ears. He stands the same height as I, but the confidence gait and the strength in his voice made him far larger. When the day is uneventful, Calvin likes to spice up his day by bullying others. And for a kid with no original personality other than bullying, every day is a boring mess for him.
It was one hot afternoon and I was the last one to go to the shower rooms since I helped the coach in cleaning up balls we used for dodgeball. The room was lined with lockers and lit up with a faint overhead light, smelled like damp feet left under the sun for days. Calvin was there, sitting on one bench with a sly unmoving smile stamped on his face. I’ve beaten him twice during our play and I guess, he’s here for some payback backstage.
“Declan… Declan… Declan…” he said.
What a pompous ass. I heard him for the first time. No need to repeat for the third time.
“What do you want, Calvin? Here to bully me, again? Real original.” I retaliated.
“Is little Declan going to cry? Going to call mommy? Sike! You don’t have a real mother don’t you?”
Cycling through Declan’s mind, I’ve uncovered things that I can use for ammo in this battle. You see, Calvin picks the people he wants to bully. He never bullied the nerds or the loners of the class. He bullied the blonde kids with white smooth faces. I can’t believe the other kids didn’t pick up this pattern. Although not part of any sports team, Calvin often mingled with the male sports players of the class, and those kids usually had blonde hair. The guy has a type.
“Really? That’s the best you could do? It’s good for the first time but you ran that shit to the ground by now.” I walked closer. One soft push is all it took to put him on the ground. But the puddle he slipped in did most of the work. “You’re going to call me that same thing again and again until the end of the year. Find another thing to call me, fucking faggot.”
Calvin was aghast. His eyes are as wide as saucepans and his cheeks are flushed red. Never had anything like this ever happened to him. The people he bullied never fought back. Never! He’s supposed to be the better one, the stronger one. Not like this. This is so dang embarrassing.
Looking down, Calvin is vulnerable to my wishes.