Borrowing His Body Ch. 02

~Devlin~

Having survived the pitiably easy classes my new friend Jake attended, managing to tame my inner Hermione and refrain from answering too many questions in class -- I'll admit I couldn't resist responding to a few inquiries regarding some of my favorite topics, which of course resulted in general class-wide bewilderment -- I thought I was sailing smoothly through the rest of the day till it came time for the dreaded sports practice after school. I couldn't have been more misguided in this assumption.

When I had first arrived at school, I vaguely noticed a crowding group of girls, too numerous for the space they were occupying in the hallway, glaring at me. It was some sort of group cold shoulder attempt, but I found it comical as half of them, buried there in their huddling flock, seemed not to notice me till I had already passed them. I looked back to see all of them staring after me with these sour pusses on. All it did was amuse me.

Apparently, however, this meant trouble, and it met me, rather unexpectedly, in the cafeteria during first period lunch. I had just finished history, my favorite subject, and was seated with a detestable but ostensibly obligatory school lunch, avoiding conversation with my jock "friends," quietly musing to myself about Jake's experience in my own body and how I would normally have first period today with Kathy, Jared, and Luke, my three best friends. That's when I was, in my mind, subjected to random cruelty.

Out of nowhere, someone roughly pushed my shoulder. So I turned to face my discourteous assailant.

Julie Atherton, captain of the cheer squad -- she was a towering, built, blonde beauty -- having experienced a sufficiently dissatisfying weekend with her "supposed boyfriend," apparently thought that, "going home with another girl after a party at her house" and "refusing to text back to any of her, like, 17 texts," or "pick up when she called five times yesterday," constituted a break up.

I was so shocked, I couldn't even think, and as such my triggered response was unscripted and hardly thought out.

"Fine by me." I sassed back at her.

Things I excelled at: obtrusive social faux pas. Case in point.

Instantly, the table of jocks erupted in a chorus of, "Oh shit," "You've got to be shitting me," "Hot damn," and several other examples of typical colloquial expressions of shock.

Yet Julie almost instantly silenced them. "Are you...fucking kidding me?!" She was infuriated. "After seven months of dating, and so little sex I basically had to beg you for it! Strap you down, more like it! You're just going to go fuck Christina!?" She was working up tears now. "Really, Christina, over this!?" She gesticulated to her body in an outright expression of conceit, breaking the thin veil, that which normally did such a poor job of masking her vanity. As if everyone didn't already know how obsessed with herself she was...

Now, I may be bookish and pedantic, a bit on the timid side, and allergic to confrontation, but there is one thing I cannot stand, and that's spoiled, primped, and pampered bitches. I minded my own business, and though I knew I was only encountering this kind of trouble because of the bizarre body swap I'd experienced, I simply couldn't not react to such absurdity. So, reaching deep down, I made my best attempt at macho jock...

"Yeah bitch, you know what? I finally realized what a shallow bitch you are. You can get lost."

This earned me some points with the peanut gallery. One guy motioned to give me a high five, but before I could react...

"What!?!" Julie screeched, again. "No, this is not what happens to me! I don't get dumped like this, you asshole!" With that she grabbed my milk carton and whipped it to the ground. "YOU ARE SUCH A DOUCHEBAG!" She screamed, grabbed a water bottle from one of her girlfriend's hand, popped open the top and sprayed it all over me.

The jocks were dying. All I could do was cower and hold up me hands. But soon enough the storm had passed: Julie stamped her foot down, turned with a swish and, now flanked by an even larger posse of cheerleaders than that with which she had originally approached me, marched off across the teeming cafeteria.

The way the jocks around me howled and cheered, I felt like some sort of hero. A couple of guys around me remarked how it was "about time I dumped that ho." I was really feeling the effects of the rush of epinephrine the altercation had sparked throughout my body. I felt so not myself...so powerful and important...and cool.

It seemed most everyone was reacting to what just went down, and if I knew anything about the kids who usually sat juxtaposed to the popular jocks and cheerleaders, on the other side of the cafeteria, I was sure Jared, Luke, and Kathy had noticed what had happened, meaning Jake had likely witnessed as well. Then I was hit by a wave of trepidation and concern. This wasn't my life, and I was seriously screwing around with it, like I was some actor in a trashy high school drama.

Some of my jock friends had thrown napkins at me so I could sop up the water I'd been splashed with, so I turned to attend to that, and finally realized I needed to head to the bathroom if I were to really attempt to clean myself up. As I walked across the cafeteria, I felt a lot of eyes on me, but I barely even noticed, as I was preoccupied, desperately scanning the tables for any sign of Jake, for the mismatched outfit he'd dressed my body in, to see if I could catch his eye. And it didn't prove too difficult. As I passed the area I usually sat, I saw him staring at me, as were the vast majority of the denizens of this half of the cafeteria. I couldn't really gage his reaction by his expression. Regardless, I locked eyes with him and inclined my head towards the boy's room.

I would've died for a camera at that moment to capture the shock on Jared, Luke, and Kathy's faces. Jake, on the other hand, merely stood up, gracelessly, and started to follow me to the bathroom.

***************

--Jake--

In high school, gossip travels fast, but not so fast that I'd already picked up on exactly what went down between Devlin and Julie. So when I saw Devlin piloting my body towards me and the bathrooms just outside the cafeteria, splattered with water, locking eyes with me, and crooking his head in a clear invitation to join him, I didn't hopped up to follow him.

I got a few steps before I heard the group react.

"What the fuck, Dev!?" called Kathy.

"Yeah, where the hell are you do you think you're going!" said Jared.

I turned to face them, but continued walking backwards. "Um, I have a...sudden urge to pee."

"Yeah right, don't think we didn't just see him! That...that was a clear invitation—" attempted Luke.

"I'll be right back!" I cut him off, turned, and jogged a few steps in the direction of the bathroom.

"You dick, I said I called dibs on him!" I heard Luke yell as I made it to the bathroom. They're ridiculous, I thought to myself as I yanked open the bathroom door.

I walked in and as I turned the corner almost walked right into Devlin, well really my own towering body, who was apparently waiting for me, dabbing his shirt and work out pants with some paper towels.

"Whoops sorry..." he said as he stepped back a few feet. "But hey, I think I should offer you an explanation as to what just happened."

After a quick scan, it didn't seem any one else was in the bathroom. "Alright, spit it. From the looks of it you really pissed off Julie."

"Yeah...well I may have possibly told her to...um...fuck off..."

I stared at him.

"And...may have also dumped her..."

Holy fuck.

"And...well I didn't..."

"Wait. Hold the fuck up. You did what?!"

"I think I broke up with her...well I most certainly called her a shallow bitch..."

"Oh no, no no no no."

"Hey, your buddies generally seemed to agree! And after my altercation with her, I'd say I did you a favor. She's crazy, she assumed that..."

"No. Stop."

"But I..."

"No, Devlin, shut up. This is DEFINITELY not okay! You can't just fuck with my life like that! Julie was my girlfriend! Things were working out with that! She was supposed to be my cover till..."

Oh fuck...that was not supposed to come out. FUCK! Haha, yeah come out. Shit! I just said "cover" didn't I...

Devlin paused, clearly surprised. "Your...what?" he ventured.

Fuck. What could I say...shit.

"Um...fuck." I didn't know a way out of this. "Listen, Devlin, we need to talk about this shit. Fuck." I slammed my fists against the wall I was standing near. Ow, that hurt. The little guy's such a wimp. "You can't just go dropping bombs in people's lives like that!"

"I know but...it sounded like you just said she was your cov—"

"Look! I know what I just said. Fuck. We need to come clean and figure some shit out here. I think it'd be best if you skip practice...yeah. Here's the plan. You go home right away after school. I'll do the same. Tell my parents you have a very important project with me, as you obviously...I mean in your body...Ugh this is so confusing! Just ask my parents if you can have Devlin Patterson over to work on a partner project. Tell them you got practice excused, and—"

At that moment I heard the door to the bathroom open.

"Dev, you in here?" Luke's voice called from down the little hallway at the entrance.

"Shit!" I whispered to Devlin. "Quick throw me against the wall! Make like you're roughing me up!"

Devlin stood their dumbstruck.

"Now!" I breathed.

Luke's footsteps approached. "Dev?" he called.

Suddenly I was hefted into the air and pinned against the bathroom's tiled wall by my own body. Devlin grabbed me under the arms, lifted, and shoved me, a bit too hard, actually. There was a thud. I grunted. Devlin looked at me, nervous at first. Then he stared at me from behind my own eyes. His face was so close to mine and I swear he moved slightly closer with this lidded look in his eyes. Except they were my eyes, and it was kind of weird...

Luke rushed into the main part of the bathroom. "Hey! Put him down!"

Devlin turned, with this totally shocked look. Then basically dropped me, and with this really convincing act, turned, and roughly brushed past Luke to exit the bathroom.

"Asshole!" Luke yelled after Devlin as he left. I thought it was kind of funny. Then Luke came over to me and worried over me. That was even funnier.

"Oh my god, are you ok, Dev? And why would you even come in here with him alone like that!"

"I dunno, I guess I was just...curious to see what happened? Turns out he dumped Julie!"

"Holy shit! Really!? I thought they had the whole power couple thing going on. Please tell me he's gay and that's the reason...wait. Why would he even tell you that? You two don't ever talk."

Shit. I thought fast and remembered my plan for meeting with Devlin later, "Yeah, we have this project we're doing together."

"But...Jake's not in any of your classes..."

"Um... oh, yeah, it's this extra credit project I'm doing for, um...English! Yeah! I volunteered to help edit this long essay for him since he needed help and we have the same teacher."

"Right..." Luke did not seem to buy this explanation at all...

"Well, we better go back out there. Don't want everyone to think we're boning in here, haha." God why am I so awkward. I so need to work on this whole imitating Devlin thing.

"What!? Devlin, ew, you're like my brother!"

"Hey, everyone else doesn't know that!"

"Whatever...weirdo."

And with that we left the bathroom.

***************

~Devlin~

Dust flecks refracting light in sunbeams had never ceased to captivate my utmost fascination, and though I was wading knee-deep in anticipatory anxiety as I walked the deserted length of the rear hallway to the school's parking lot, this instance was no exception. Light filtered through the high windows of the echoing hallway, and as I passed through the streams the dust warped around me with the air I displaced. Though this may seem to be irrelevant detail, I distinctly recall my captivation.

I remembered an apt quote from Carl Sagan, something about the Earth being nothing more than a mote of dust trapped in a sunbeam. The quote suggests our "anthropocentrism," the hubris we hold, as a race of intelligent beings, is merely a matter of perspective. Skewed perspective. And that's what these floating, swirling specs had me cogitating: the unbelievable shift of perspective I'd experienced. And what an irrevocable shift it was. Even if I finally returned to my own body in the end, I knew I would have to come to terms with never seeing things in exactly the same light as before. I had zoomed out and caught a glimpse at this crystalline, bird's eye view of my own life. It truly was an illumination for me. So many misapprehensions I'd been operating under seemed to have lifted. My life seemed so insignificant; things I'd scoffed at, like popularity and sexual confidence and experience...

I sighed.

The anticipation was definitely eating at my psyche, and my mind was set wandering. To be honest, I wanted my own body back. I was nervous about my classes and grades, not to mention what would happen if I were actually made to go through with basketball practice...and more than anything, my imminent meeting with Jake.

I exited into the blinding, mid-afternoon light. A brisk winter wind sent a chill shuddering through me. A scent that spoke of coming snow enveloped me. Tugging Jake's jacket closer, I let out a deep breath I didn't know I'd been holding and my exhalation wafted skyward. I took a few steps in the direction of Jake's mother's car when I heard a rather obstreperous acknowledgement, an exaggerated rendering of "Hey dude!" Issued far to my left, I whipped my head around to spot one of Jake's jock friends waving and jogging towards me.

I lengthened my stride as I made my way to the car, forcing this jock to change his path. "Dude, hey, wait up!" He reached me, breathless. "What's going on, you leavin'?"

I scuffed myself to a stop and shoved my hands in my pocket, trying to look aloof.

"Yeah...um...I have to complete an English assignment. It's a cooperative endeavor...um..." My attempt at casual encounter was a constant, abject failure. I cleared my throat and pressed on, "Yeah this nerd kid is helping me out." "Nameless jock" was giving me this incredulous look. The wind whipped up and we both reacted.

"So you're ditching?" He breathed into his cupped hands and rubbed them quickly together.

"Yeah...dude...I sort of have to...it's due tomorrow."

"Alright man, I'll cover for you. Coach'll be pissed though, you know that?"

"Yeah..."

"But hey," interrupted "nameless jock." I really needed to learn this guy's name. As he wasn't one of my usual persecutors, I was completely unfamiliar with him. "I just came over to tell you I was really proud of you at lunch, ditching Julie." The jock pressed on. I was kind of confused, curious as to where he was going with this. "You know, getting a bit closer to who you really are. The true you."

Woah. What was this guy saying?

"Anyway, Julie isn't the one for you, and I'm glad you're finally making some baby steps, dude."

"Right...thanks?"

"Haha, I know you know what I'm getting at. It's okay, no need to repeat yourself. I got you. Well, catch you tomorrow, then, I gotta get to practice!" The guy started jogging away. As he turned I saw this incredibly smug look on his face. Then, deftly turning mid-stride to face me again, he threw up his arm while continuing to jog backwards, and yelled, "Baby steps, bro! Baby steps!"

I was, at this point, oblivious to the information this individual was privy to, yet I couldn't help myself piecing things together. Something was seriously suspect with Jake's sexuality from what I was gathering. What with his solecism earlier in the bathroom, calling Julie a "cover," and now with this strange, knowledgeable acquaintance implying the revelation of some hidden truth regarding Jake's identity...

I reached my borrowed car and was soon embarking on the daunting return trip to Jake's house. I had no idea what I could expect to find on my path into the immediate future.

***************

--Jake--

"Hello?" I answered Devlin's cell phone.

"Hey Devlin. Do I have the clear to come on over?"

I was still weirded out by hearing my voice on the other end. Freaky as fuck. That is going to take some getting used to. Shit, but hopefully I won't have to...

"Yeah...it wasn't an issue at all. Haha, your parents were even a bit overexcited to hear that you'd finally be focusing on your schoolwork. Seems to be, let's say, an anomaly?"

"Alright, I'll be straight with you, I have no idea what that means. I'm coming over."

I was about to hang up when Devlin quipped, "Oh I'm sure you'll be perfectly straight with me Jake."

Um...what the hell was that? "Yeah...um..."

"Oh just fooling around a bit!" Devlin chuckled to himself and added, "Make sure to bring my materials to make this look more convincing..."

"Yeah, I get it, I'm not fucking retarded." I hung up the phone on him. Who the fuck does this guy think he is? I hated hearing that vocab spewed at me in my own voice, and to be honest I was feeling kind of vulnerable already. That gay joke definitely got to me.

Ugh. My life was kind of falling apart. I had a really crazy weekend, a black the fuck out kind of weekend and I still hadn't patched things up from that catastrophe. Devlin had thoroughly fucked things over with Julie, likely beyond the point of smoothing things over, and I honestly had no idea what I did or where I was for a good three hours this past Saturday night. Not that I could even really think about that as I was currently trapped in this scrawny little body, in this clean-cut life, in a house that constantly smelled like pine needles.

I ran downstairs to find Devlin's mom in the kitchen washing dishes. I gave her the heads up as to where I was headed, and I walked past her to the garage.

"Hold on just a second young man."

Great.

"You know the rules around here, we ask permission when we have plans. You know who's in charge." She was basically impossible. Man do I pity Dev and his sister...

"Alright then, can I head over to my friend's house to work on a project with him?"

"Well...I suppose so, but honestly, Devlin, I don't know what has gotten into you lately, you—"

"Mom, I really gotta run! Talk to you later!" And with that I bolted from the kitchen and slammed the door on my way out.

I had already hopped in the car and clicked the garage door button when she came out. Windows rolled up, whatever she yelled after me was muffled, but she didn't stop me as I started to pull out, so I didn't bother and continued on my way. What a piece of work.

Ten minutes later I was shivering slightly as I knocked on my own front door. Goddamn, this kid is literally skin and bones. Shit, this is nerve-wracking...

I was prepared for this, so when my own mother answered the door I put on my best nerd face, introduced myself, and politely asked to see Jake.

"Sure thing, sweetie, he'll be coming right down." She turned and hollered upstairs for her son. I was still standing on the welcome mat when she turned back around. "Oh come on in here! We don't bite! Besides, it is bitter cold out." She tugged on my coat as I stepped inside. I was practically knocked over by the wave of heat. God I miss this place already, I thought to myself.

My house had this warm, welcoming feel to it, pretty much year-round, but especially in the winter. My mom likes to bake and is otherwise obsessed with the smell of apple pie, so whether it's from the Yankee Candle scent or the real deal, my house frequently smells of cinnamon and warm apple goodness. The fireplace was going, and I quickly shucked my heavy coat. My mom reached out and offered to take the fluffy thing from me.