It wasn't long before we'd helped Mr. Dirksen carry all of the equipment into the gym. The experiment was so big that we had to push two plywood tables together. We were in the middle of helping our science teacher as- semble it when Principal Blanco came in. A former gym teacher himself, he was a short, pudgy man with short curly black hair. He was wearing a green parka with a fur-lined hood.
"Afterschool activities are cancelled," he an- nounced. "The snow's knocked down some power lines. Some of us have long trips home and we're not going to make it if we wait much longer. How are you boys going to get home?"
"I'll call my mom," Alex said, taking out his cell phone. "We've got four-wheel drive." Principal Blanco turned to Mr. Dirksen. "What about you, Phil?"
"I guess I'll head home now," Mr. Dirksen said.
Mr. Krebs came out of the gym office. "Why don't you go home, too," he said to Principal Blanco. "I only live a few blocks away. I'll wait here until the boys get picked up."
"Thanks, Ryan, I appreciate it," Principal Blanco said. "Make sure you lock up."
I'd never heard anyone call Mr. Krebs by his first name before. Ryan? Talk about a wuss name.
Pretty soon, the only people left in the gym were Alex, Mr. Krebs, and me. Having nothing better to do, I kept assembling Mr. Dirksen's experiment. I'd helped him with it once be fore and pretty much knew where everything went. It was kind of fun, like putting together a big model.
"Oh, man!" Alex suddenly groaned. "I didn't tell my mom which entrance to use. She's gonna go to the main entrance instead of the gym."
"Can you call her?" Mr. Krebs asked. "I tried, but she didn't answer." Alex pulled on his coat. "I'll have to go outside and flag her down." Alex went outside, leaving Mr. Krebs and me alone in the gym.
"This is some contraption," Mr. Krebs said, looking over Mr. Dirksen's experiment. "How do you know where everything goes?"
I told him how I'd helped Mr. Dirksen put it together once before. Mr. Krebs wanted to know what it did and how it worked, so I explained it as best as I could. And explained it again, and again, because he didn't catch on too quickly. Meanwhile I plugged the heavy black electrical cables into the wall sockets. I wanted to make sure I'd connected everything correctly. Lights came on and the machine began to hum.
"Wow," said Mr. Krebs. Phoom! Suddenly every light in the gym went out and Mr. Dirksen's experiment stopped humming. The gym was totally black. It was a weird sensation. Almost like you didn't know which way was up.
"Sherman?" Mr. Krebs asked. It was so dark that I couldn't see him. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.
"Yeah?"
"A power line must've come down," he said. "Don't worry. The school put in a new emergency generator over the summer. It should kick in any second."
Whuuummmmpp! The next thing I knew, an explosion knocked me off my feet.
"What happened?" a voice asked in the dark. It sounded too young to be Mr. Krebs.
"Who said that?" I felt groggy and dizzy, and wondered if I'd been unconscious for a few moments. The air smelled funny, and my voice sounded strange. Much deeper than usual. Maybe my ears had been messed up by the explosion.
"I did," the voice said.
"Who are you?" I asked. "Mr. Krebs, who else?"
Still in a daze, I pushed myself up to my feet. For some strange reason my clothes felt tight. I wished I could see, but everything was pitch-black.
"Something must've gone wrong with the emergency generator," Mr. Krebs said. "You okay?"
"I guess." But I wasn't okay. Something was definitely weird. Not only did the clothes I was wearing feel tight, but my hair felt different. I ran my hand over my jaw. I had stubble!
"Sherman?" Mr. Krebs’ voice had a tinge of uncertainty ... as if he'd just felt his jaw. "I think something strange is going on."
In the dark I felt my arms. They were bulging with muscles. My stomach was as hard as a washboard. My neck felt like a tree trunk.
There was only one explanation. It had happened again!
Meanwhile in the dark, Mr. Krebs was talking to himself in that new voice. "These aren't my clothes. There has to be a light somewhere. I need a mirror. Something crazy's going on. What happened to my voice? Where are my muscles?"
Down at the other end of the gym, a door creaked open. "Jake? Mr. Krebs?" Alex called into the dark. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah," I called back. "Your mom here?"
"Not yet, Mr. Krebs," Alex replied. "But all the lights went out. I heard an explosion. I came in to make sure you were okay."
"Everything's fine," I said. "Go wait for your mom. We'll be out in a second." The door creaked shut. The gym was still pitch black.
"What's going on, Sherman?" Mr. Krebs, I mean, my voice quavered. "You better call me Mr. Krebs," I said. We'd switched bodies. The funny thing was, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "You're not me. I am."
"Not anymore." The door at the end of the gym creaked again. "Guys?" Alex called in the dark. "She's here."
"Come on, we better go," I whispered.
"Go where?" Mr. Krebs in my body asked in the dark. "I'm not going with you. I'm going home."
"You're not old enough to drive," I said in his body.
"Get off it, Sherman."
"I told you to call me Mr. Krebs," I hissed. "Hey, you guys coming or what?" Alex called from the other side of the gym.
"I don't know what this is about, Sherman, but I've had enough of this game. Unless you want to clean the bathroom with a toothbrush for the rest of the year, you better tell me what's going on."
"You wouldn't believe me." I started to feel my way around the plywood tables in the dark. Every time I bumped into one, it made a squeak as its legs scraped on the gym floor.
"Hey, where are you going?" Mr. Krebs, in my body, called behind me. "Out of the gym. I'm not spending the night here."
"But I can't find my keys." I reached into my, I mean, Mr. Krebs pocket and pulled out a heavy ring of keys, then jingled them in the dark. "They're right here."
"Give 'em to me."
"No way, Sherman."
"Don't call me Sherman!" Mr. Krebs in my body snarled. Screeeck! "Ow!" He must've banged into a table.
"Careful, Sherman," I said. "That's my body you're banging around."
"Stop calling me Sherman!" he shouted. "I'm Ryan Krebs And when I get you, you're gonna be sorry."
"What's with you guys?" Alex called from the other end of the gym.
"Sherman's just a little freaked," I said. It was still dark in the gym and Alex couldn't see who was talking.
"I am not!" Mr. Krebs in my body shouted. Screeeck! He banged into another table. "Ow!"
"Take it easy, Sherman," I said. "You're gonna pay for this!" Screeeck! "Ow!"
"Don't call me!
"Hey, Jake, chill," Alex said. Phoom! Suddenly the lights went back on.
I had to squint in the brightness, but as my eyes adjusted, I looked down at myself. I was wearing Mr. Krebs sweatpants and dark blue polo shirt. I had his massive arms, legs, and hands. Several tables away, Mr. Krebs was looking down at himself, I mean, myself since he was now in my body. He pulled my shirt away from my body. He stared at my hands, then squeezed my arms. With my fingers he felt my face. Then, with an expression of total disbelief and astonishment, he looked across the gym at me in his body. "I don't believe it!" he gasped.
"Don't believe what?" Alex asked from the doorway.
"Sherman and I switched bodies!" Mr. Krebs cried in my body. "What?" Alex looked at him like he was crazy. "Sherman bumped his head," I said in Mr. Krebs body. "I think he's a little confused."
"Why you!" In my body, Mr. Krebs charged
between the tables at me.
He tried to hit me in his body, but I grabbed him by the shirt collar and held him back. He started hitting my arm, but it didn't hurt much. It was kind of depressing. I'd never realized what a weakling I was.
"Chill out, Jake," Alex warned. "You can't hit Mr. Krebs. You want to get suspended?"
In my body, Mr. Krebs stopped swinging and glared at Alex. "I'm telling you for the last time! I'm not Jake! I'm Ryan Krebs!"
Alex frowned and glanced quizzically at me in Mr. Krebs body.
"Head trauma," I said.
Alex nodded gravely. "Come on, Jake, my mom's waiting. We gotta go." "I have to come with you," I said in Mr. Krebs body.
The lines in Alex's forehead deepened.
"Why, Mr. Krebs?" "uh, my car doesn't have snow tires," I said. "I'll never make it home and I can't stay here all night."
"Well, okay, I guess we can drop you off at your place," Alex said.
That was a problem. I didn't know where Mr. Krebs lived, and I really didn't want to go there anyway. "I better go home with Jake and make sure he's okay," I said in our gym teacher's body.