I awoke with a start. Crap! It’s Monday. I have to go to school. I buried my face into my pillows and pulled my covers over my head. Then it slowly dawned on me that it was only Sunday. I breathed a sigh of relief and all my muscles relaxed. I stayed buried under my covers though.

I sighed. Tomorrow being Monday was still going to be a problem. Dede was hell bent on me attending school. She keeps saying the DHS requires it. Could I run away? I mean, it wouldn’t be like an actual ten year old running away. In reality, I’m almost thirty years old. I should be smarter than your average ten year old. In theory.

I tossed the covers off me and sat up and gave Mr. Bunny a hug. I looked down at the stuffed bunny and said, “I don’t want to go to school tomorrow. What do you think?” I turned Mr. Bunny left and right to look like he was shaking his head. I gave the bunny another hug and sighed, “I’m glad you agree with me.”

As I sat on the edge of my bed, contemplating Mr. Bunny’s mute response, it slowly dawned on me how quiet the house was. I looked at the clock on my beside table. Mom’s usually up by this time. I slid off the bed and after taking care of my morning business, I padded quietly out of my room.

A quick sniff of the air verified there was no bacon cooking. No sounds coming from the kitchen. Dede’s shoes were still lying on the living room floor where she’d kicked them off upon arriving home. Her bra was still carelessly tossed on the couch. She must have been really tired from her big date last night. She had sent me straight to bed.

All my life, Dede’s underwear has always been radioactive. But I casually picked up her bra and looked at it. I giggled. Holy crap. Am I going to wind up with melons this big? That really got me curious again on my transformation. Is the little girl me related to the old man I had been switched to? That would make sense, but I’ve noticed a resemblance to Mom… er Dede. Thinking about switcher shit made my head hurt.

I walked over to Mom’s high heels, lying hap-hazardly on the floor. I straightened them up and I don’t know what compelled me to do so, I stepped inside them. They didn’t fit of course. I couldn’t imagine actually wearing shoes like this and I marveled at how well Dede navigated around in them.

I looked down at my feet still inside the heels. My thoughts drifted. One day I’ll be a woman and will probably casually wear other shoes like these. Will it be my fate whether I choose it or surrender to it? Those thoughts are just too heavy for a ten year old.

I heard a click sound from behind me. I turned to see Mom holding her phone up and grinning. She giggled, “That’s so cute! Do you like wearing Mommy’s shoes?”

I quickly stepped out of Dede’s shoes. I said, “It was just a flash of momentary insanity.” I paused a few moments and then asked, “When’s breakfast?”

Mom rolled her eyes. As she shook her head, she said, “Food. Food. Food. It’s like living with Jabba the Hut.” She poked the tip of my nose as she walked by. She giggled, “Only cuter.” From the kitchen, she yelled out, “Want to help?”

I shrugged and muttered, “Okay.”

As I entered the kitchen, Mom set out a glass bowl on the counter along with a carton of eggs. “While I cook the sausage, you can scramble the eggs. Try not to get the shells in with the eggs.”

Years ago, I’d help Mom (our mom, not Dede) with this before so I knew it was pretty easy. As I started to scramble the eggs, I suddenly stopped and studied the fork I was using, dripping with egg yolk. I couldn’t remember Mom’s face. No matter how hard I tried!

Dede broke my chain of thought when she asked, “Is everything okay, honey?”

I returned to scrambling the eggs. “Just some random thought, Mom. Nothing important.” I smiled at Mom and forgot what I was thinking about.

As we sat down to eat, Dede asked, “So. Are you excited about school on Monday?”

I swallowed a mouthful before answering, “I’ve told you a thousand times that I don’t want to go. If I’ve forgotten anything I learned the first time around, it just means it wasn’t important. Listen to me now and hear me later. I don’t need to learn how to be a girl. I’m telling you right now, I have no interest in doing girl things like dating boys or slumber parties or make-up. Full stop.”

Mom just grinned at me. “You look so cute when you get angry. Your little cheeks get red.” She paused and then a disgusted looked washed across her face. “Now you listen to me, sport. I’ve said this before and I’m done repeating it. If you don’t go to school, like a good little girl, CPS will take you from me and you’ll be fostered off. Is that what you want?”

I shook my head. “No. Of course not. I just don’t see the point.”

Mom set her fork down on her plate with a loud clink. “You just want to play computer games all day.”

I scowled at Dede. “That’s not true. I had a job before this switcher crap. So despite what Mom and Dad said, I wasn’t in my room all the time.”

Dede leaned back in her chair. “You’re going to get a job as a ten year old?”

I shrugged. “Maybe not right away.”

Dede leaned forward on her elbows. “Look Dear One. You’re going to school and that’s final. I have to go to work. I can’t leave you alone all day. I can’t leave you with April because she’ll be at school. Just go. You’ll make a lot of new friends. Meet some cute boys. You can go back to eating glue. It’ll be great.”

I took my final bite of breakfast. “Well, since you put it that way…”

Changing the subject, looking at her phone, Mom said, “Hey, how about a movie after lunch? You like Tommy Kincaid, right?”

I rested my head on my folded arms on the table. I looked up at Mom and said, “Yeah. He’s funny. I guess.”

“Let’s go see his new movie today. No Time for Samurai. It looks like a hoot. It has that J-Pop band you like doing the music.”

“Okay. But I’m not wearing a dress!” I exclaimed.

Mom chuckled. “Okay. It’s not a date.”

“Don’t you look just adorable!” Mom grinned as she took my hand to led me into the school. I was already registered, but she had to drop me off at the office.

“I feel ridiculous,” I complained. I was wearing a short, ruffled denim skirt and Mom had tied my hair up in a pony tail with a bow.

Mom laughed as she flipped my pony tail up. “You are totes adorbs.” I rolled my eyes.

The office was located right at the school’s entrance so we didn’t have to walk far. A clerk smiled at us as she got up from her desk and walked over to the counter to greet us.

“Good morning! How can I help you ladies?”

Mom smiled and said, “Yes. I’m Dede Grant with my daughter Chrystal. She’s here for her first day of class at this school.”

The woman smiled broadly back at us. “Oh yes, Ms. Grant. Your daughter is all registered and set to go. Here in a moment, I’ll personally take her to her new classroom and introduce her to the other children.”

Dede bent down slightly to look at me at eye level, but it also emphasized that I’m not an adult on equal footing. “Have a great day, sweetheart. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

All my sassiness evaporating, I reached out to Dede, trying not to cry, “Please don’t leave me here! Please?”

Dede gave me a worried look. “Honey, you’ll be fine.”

The woman from the school stood directly behind me. “She’ll be just fine, Ms. Grant. We get a lot of first day jitters.” She looked down at me and said, “We’re going to have a great time, aren’t we?”

I thought you might but not me. I was never too crazy about school the first time through. Mom said good-bye again and with a wave turned and walked out of my life, abandoning me to my fates. I looked around for an exit. I just wanted to run, but where would I go?

The woman from the school lightly touched my arm. “Chrystal, we’re so glad to have you join us. Come with me. Let’s go meet your class.” She indicated she wanted me to follow her as she started to exit the office.

I sighed heavily. Maybe it won’t be bad. This was the same school I had gone to when I was a kid. The office, which I had visited many times, didn’t look much different from what I remembered. The main hall looked exactly the same. We passed the gym, which was also the cafeteria and had a stage for different events. It all looked the same.

A sudden bolt of fear ran through me. I really hope we’re not all going to be required to sing at a PTA Christmas show like the last time I was here. I frowned. Since not much has physically changed, all that is probably still the same as well.

I wondered if I was going to run into any of my old teachers from this school, David Crockett Elementary. The last time I was at this school was at least fifteen years ago. I thought for sure they’d all retired or died off by now. But they probably wouldn’t be all that old. But when you’re a kid, adults all just seem old.

I was then led outside. The classrooms jutted out like spokes from the spine of the main hallway. The doors to each classroom ran along the length of each spoke. There was no enclosed hall. You had to step out into the weather. It was a nice, mid-October day so it wasn’t too bad.

The woman stopped in front of a door labeled “D-5”. She said, “This is your classroom. Remember ‘D-5’. Your teacher is Ms. Roberts. Let’s go in and say hello.” She turned the knob and opened the door.

The teacher looked over expectantly as we entered her classroom. The room was filled with kids seated at small desks. They all turned to look at us…me.

The woman stood behind me and said, “Ms. Roberts. I’d like to introduce you and your class to a new student who will be joining you. This is Chrystal.” The woman handed Ms. Roberts a manila folder. I suspected it was a dossier on me. Okay, it was probably just my personal info the school used. Dossier just sounds cooler.

Ms. Roberts smiled cheerfully at me. “Welcome Chrystal. I’m excited to have you join us. There’s an empty seat right up front you can use.” Oh terrific. Sitting right next to the teacher. I never had her as a teacher, but I do recall Ms. Roberts. I don’t think she was mean.

Still smiling at me, Ms. Roberts said, “I’ll get you a list of supplies you need to bring to class and I’ll get you a workbook. For today, just try to follow along. We’re learning about fractions today.” Think she’d believe me if I told her I had a degree in computer science with a math minor?

She turned from me and went back to her math lesson. Several fractions were written on the chalk board. Instead of listening to Ms. Robert I turned to studying my fellow inmates. The first one to get my attention was a girl wearing a nice dress, her curly hair tied in several ribbons. She kept looking at me with a smug expression. I guessed and later confirmed she was the class bitch. Most of the other girls in class went along with her. A few boys were actually afraid of her.

There was a boy I correctly tagged as the class brain. He already knows everything. It was all so boring. And girls are stupid.

The rest I’d have to actually get to know before making any kind of evaluation. One girl in particular kept looking at me. It’s funny. My last round in the fifth grade, I considered all the other kids as just people. But not now. Now they’re just children, not peers. That was going to be the hardest adjustment to make. Just by virtue of having lived longer than these kids, I could easily be the know-it-all asshole. But nobody ever likes them.

I mostly stared out the window until lunch time arrived. After lunch we’d get a pile of construction paper where presumably I’ll get to eat some of the glue.

But lunch finally did arrive. I thought it silly, but we all had to form a line to march down to the lunch room. I was amused to see that there are constants in the universe. Slapped on our plates was creamed chipped beef on toast or what I learned from my dad was more euphemistically called shit on a shingle.

As I exited the line carrying my tray, a girl from my class waved, beckoning me to come sit with her. I was going to sit alone, but I set my tray down across from her and sat on the hard plastic stool that was part of a large folding table.

As I sat down, she said, “Hi Chrystal. I’m Brandy.” She pointed to a quiet girl sitting next to her and continued. “And that’s Emily. You’re one of us, aren’t you?”

I looked at Brandy with a curious expression. “Excuse me?” I asked. “How so?”

Brandy leaned across the table and took on a conspiratorial tone, “You’re one of us, right? A switcher. Why else would you arrive at school now? Emily and I arrived Friday last week.”

I saw no reason to be secretive about it. “Guilty as charged. Good to know I’m not alone.”

She held out her hand for a shake. “Nice to meet you, Chrystal. A little background on me so we’ll all know where we stand. Before being switched, I was a forty-seven year old business woman with a staff of fifteen under me. Married with three children.” Slapping her palm on the table causing a few kids to look our way, she said, “And then boom! I was switched with a nine year old boy. The government didn’t even consult with my husband. I was just fostered out. My foster family was decent enough. However I didn’t like being a boy and certainly didn’t like football. Well, it wasn’t long before I was crazy about football. I was placed in this school at the forth grade and when I got to middle school, I was on the football team.” She rolled her eyes. Hunching her shoulders, she continued, “And now we’re here. I got re-fostered because the old fosters didn’t want a girl. I went back to my original name Brandy.”

I shook my head. “Wow. That’s cold. I’m sure Brandy that you’re a fine girl What a good wife you’d be.”

Brandy gave me a cold stare. “Gee, I never heard that before.”

I gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Sorry. But I bet none of these kids here know.”

She gave me a half smile and said, “True. Now you know my story, what’s yours?”

For the next few minutes, I gave Brandy the run down on my switcher adventures from a dashing twenty-something stud-muffin, to a cranky senior citizen to the cute and cuddly ten year old girl that sat before her. It bothered me that she laughed multiple times during my story.

I glanced over at Emily. “Okay. Spill it Emily. What’s your story?”

Emily looked at her fingers and shrugged. “I don’t have a story.”

Brandy leaned over towards Emily and said, “Yes you do. Remember? We talked about it Friday.”

Emily just said, “I don’t know. I’m confused.”

I asked Brandy, “Is she okay?”

Brandy looked over at Emily and frowned. “Emily is the true victim in all this switcher crap. If for no other reason, Simon should burn in hell because of what happened to her.” Brandy fell silent.

“Don’t stop there!” I pleaded with Brandy. What happened with her?”

“This is what I managed to piece together eavesdropping on her foster parent talking to the principal. While running from authorities, Simon switched with Emily’s mother who was married and around twenty-seven years old. At the time, Emily was a two year old boy. Since the mother was holding the boy at the time, Simon immediately switched with the boy, transferring his mind into his mother’s body. That’s where we lose track of Simon in this story.”

Brandy paused to take a bite of her SOS. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Thinking he was helping, Emily’s father decided to stay married despite his wife’s body now had the mentality of a two year old boy… an adult with a child’s mind. The sick bastard got Emily pregnant. She had no idea what was going on. Several months after delivering a beautiful baby daughter, like us, she began to change into a ten year old girl. So now she’s ten with a mind that never really developed past a five year old. Her foster is trying to get her placed in a special care facility to try to get her mentally caught up to her physical age.”

I just stared at Emily for a moment. “No wonder she’s so confused. Going from a boy to a mother and then to a ten year old. Wow. I feel kinda lucky now.”

Brandy nodded. “Me too.”

The bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period.

Even though we lived within walking distance from the school, Mom had told me to wait and for this first day, she’d pick me up. She still had to have a key made for me. I was glad to be out of school and soon to be heading home. After Brandy’s story about Emily, I was depressed much of the afternoon. Even getting to eat some glue didn’t bring me out of my funk.

A car pulled up alongside me and I heard Mom’s voice, “Hey honey! Ready to go home?”

“Hey Mom,” I said cheerfully as I opened the passenger door.

Dede smiled at me. “Hey Chrystal! How was school? Learn anything?”

I laughed. “I learned about fractions.”

As she drove away from the curb, Mom said, “That’s cool. And you were afraid you’d be bored.” I rolled my eyes.

It only took a minute of two to drive home. I darted into my room as soon as Mom opened the house door.

“Dinner will be ready in about half an hour,” shouted Mom from the living room.

I was surprised to find a gift-wrapped box laying on my pillow, next to Mr. Bunny. Aloud, I asked, “Mr. Bunny. What’s in the box?” There was a card attached to the box.

The card read, “Congratulations on your first day of school! Love, Mom”

Driven by curiosity, I slowly tore the wrapper from the box. I was completely surprised by what I saw as I tore the wrapper away.

“Look, Mr. Bunny. It’s a Barbie doll!”

To be continued…