Henry descended the stairs, each step feeling oddly natural, as if he’d always been this taller, older, more confident version of himself. The house felt familiar yet different in a way he couldn’t immediately place. He reached the kitchen to find his mom bustling around, holding their baby sister, a giggling toddler who cooed and babbled happily in her arms. His dad sat at the table, reading the morning paper with a mug of coffee in hand.
“Morning, Jeff!” his mom chirped without looking up, her voice cheerful as ever.
“Morning,” Henry replied automatically, though hearing himself respond in Jeff’s voice sent a thrill through him. He slid into Jeff’s usual seat at the table, glancing around to see if anyone was acting strange. No one even blinked. His dad gave a slight nod over the paper, and his baby sister reached for him with a chubby hand, giggling.
His mom set a plate down in front of him without hesitation: scrambled eggs, avocado toast, and a small bowl of fruit. It wasn’t something Henry would normally eat, but it looked like the sort of healthy breakfast Jeff would go for. Without thinking, Henry picked up the fork and dug in.
“So,” his mom said as she walked back to the stove, holding her daughter on her hip starting to smile, “aren’t you meeting that girl later this afternoon? You know, the one you keep saying isn’t your girlfriend?”
Henry paused mid-bite, nearly choking on a piece of avocado toast. “W-What?” he stammered.
His dad chuckled from behind his newspaper. “Sounds like a date to me,” he said teasingly.
Henry’s face grew hot. “It’s... it's not a date!” he blurted, his voice rising in a way that felt all too familiar—an almost instinctual teenage reaction. “We’re just friends.” not even knowing this girl or jeff was well going out or meeting up with, he jsut well said what came out with Jeffs body doing more to him than he thort.
His mom turned, a knowing smile on her face. “Sure, honey. You’re just friends. That’s why you’ve been texting her nonstop and making plans. Just remember, we trust you, but no sneaking off to anywhere sketchy, with you asking me and your dad on good places to take a girl who is not your girlfriend”
Henry groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Can we not talk about this, please?”
“Alright, alright,” his mom said with a laugh, turning back to the stove. “But don’t keep her waiting. You’d better look nice.”
Henry finished his breakfast quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment, not even knowing why he felt so embarrist with it being Jeff not him who is getting teasd and should be having fun with this hearing how his big bro is meeting a girl but well he felt like it was him so he finished The food, despite being healthy, was surprisingly good, and he polished it off without realizing it. He mumbled a quick “thanks” and excused himself, heading back upstairs to what was now “his” room.
As Henry entered Jeff’s—no, his—room, he shut the door behind him and leaned against it, taking a deep breath. His heart was pounding. Not only was he acting just like Jeff, but his parents and baby sister seemed completely unfazed. The pictures on the walls in the hallway had shown Jeff, his parents, and their baby sister together—there was no trace of Henry in any of them. It was as if he’d never existed now.
He’d noticed it in passing earlier but hadn’t given it much thought. Now, standing in Jeff’s room, he let the realization sink in. Henry didn’t exist anymore. But strangely, he didn’t feel panicked. It felt... right. He was Jeff now. This was his life for the next two weeks.
Shrugging off the thought, Henry grabbed Jeff’s phone from the nightstand and unlocked it. The phone buzzed to life, and the notifications on the screen were enough to make his stomach churn.
There were messages from someone named Maddie:
Hey, can’t wait to see you later! 😊
What time are we meeting again?
I’m picking the spot this time—don’t argue, okay?
“Maddie?” Henry muttered. He scrolled through Jeff’s texts, finding an ongoing conversation filled with teasing banter and playful emojis. They were close, clearly. His heart raced. “Oh no… Jeff has a thing with a girl?”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, scrolling further. From the messages, it was obvious that Maddie was looking forward to spending time with him. Whether it was a date or not, she seemed to think it was important.
“Well, guess I’m meeting Maddie today,” Henry muttered. He stood up, looking around the room for something to wear. If he was going to pull this off, he’d need to dress like Jeff, act like Jeff, be Jeff. finding some nice clothes he thinks jeff would defiantly weir to a well... a important meet up with a girl.
Before leaving, Henry peeked into the terrarium in the corner of the room. The snake—his brother, the real Jeff—was curled up and fast asleep still. Kain’s smooth black and cream scales glinted faintly in the morning light filtering through the window.
Henry grinned. “You’re missing all the fun, Kain,” he whispered. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything for now.”
He turned and marched out of the room, ready to take on the day as Jeff, wondering what it would feel like to step into his brother’s shoes fully. A mix of nervousness and excitement filled him, but as he headed downstairs and grabbed Jeffs shoes from the cubed, one thing was certain: he was ready to embrace his new life as a 15-year-old boy—girlfriends, teasing parents, and all.