"The body swap is a secret and you are not supposed to tell anyone" Dad explained "however we can tell our neighbors and friends that we are part of a experiment to exchange family members with other families, that would explain why David and Brad are gone and instead we have 2 new people"
" What about schools?" I asked a little afraid of what was coming
"Unfortunately, you two will have to cut ties with all your acquaintances
"What!?" I cried, my eyes starting to tear up a little "I cannot see my friend anymore!?"
"I am sorry, but that is not possible" Dad answered " Even if we let your friends in on the secret, there is no way that an eleven year old girl can spend time with your old pals without people raising some eyebrows; so the only sensible choice is to cut ties entirely.
At that moment I was already crying, little sobs escaping my mouth; I really did not want to, but my emotions started overwhelming me. Maybe it was my new brain or my new hormones but staying calm not as easy as it used to be in my old body. At that moment Mariah hugged me
"It's ok David, everything is gonna be fine" Mariah tried to comfort me "Although, things seem tough now everything is going to improve later"
Mom also joined the hug and said: "don't worry you can take this opportunity start anew and make even more friends more friends"
I looked at my dad, Lucas and Brad thinking that they would shame me for my outburst, but everyone was understanding; dad seemed a little sad and Brad was very upset, if not for his new body I bet he would be bawling right now. Even Lucas didn't make fun of me and was feeling empathetic.
At that moment everyone joined the hug and stayed like that until I felt myself calm down.
After a while, we separated and dad continued: "Ok, returning at was I was saying, since we are in summer vacations you and Brad will have 2 months to get used to your body and all the changes before returning to school, Brad will attend the learning program here in the facility, according to scientist he will be able to learn the basics faster and in a few years he will caught up with his peers. As for David, he will go back to 6th grade in a different school, the scientists thought it was too risky to go to the same one. Of course this school is not where Hailey attended, so you can basically start a new life"
"If Brad is going to be able to learn things faster, does that mean that I would be unable to understand or even forget my former knowledge?" I asked
"According to the scientists, that may happen" mom responded "since your brain is less developed and had not made the right connections you may forget previously known knowledge after a while if not used, but they also said that younger people has better neuroplasticity and if you refresh what you learned while the information is 'fresh' in your mind you should retain everything that you know." she made a pause and said with a smile: "actually, they also said if you do that, your brain may become more used to form new connections and retain new knowledge and in the long run this may improve your understanding and memory, it's only a hypothesis at this moment though"
At that moment I decided to: