Read Online The Swap by Megan Shull - Free Book Online

the hand that’s poking me.
    Chill! I think, slowly opening my eyes.
    Holy jeeeeez!
    Please don’t think I’m insane when I tell you this. I swear to you.
    When I open my eyes?
    I see my own face staring back at me.
    For a few seconds I’m sure I look a lot like a little baby playing peek-a-boo.I close my eyes tight, then open them again.
    Close. Open!
    Close. Open!
    Close. Open!
    Same result every time . . . my own face is three inches away from me, inspecting me like I’m some sort of full-on freak show.
    To make matters worse?
    The me standing there? The me I’m staring at?
    I’m not looking too good.
    Both my eyes are a little bit black, my nose is banged up, and there’s a streak of dried blood on my upper lip.
    This is some crazy dream! I reach out and touch my cheek. My face jerks back and I hear my own voice let out a squeal. “Ow!”
    Okay, this is getting weird. I guarantee you, I’ve never squealed in my life.
    Close. Open!
    Close. Open!
    Close. Open!
    â€œWould you stop doing that!” says the voice— my voice , sounding rattled and much deeper than it does when it’s in my own head.
    For just a split second, I take a big deep breath and quietly hope that my brothers are going to jump out from behind the nurse’s empty desk. “Surprise!” they’ll shout. “We’re just rippin’ you, Jacko!” they’ll tell me. “Easy there, bud, settle down!” Only, my brothers aren’t here. Nobody is here. Nobody except for—
    â€œHello?” I say weakly. And by weakly I mean I don’t want to actually admit that I’m speaking to what looks like my ghost standing two feet in front of me, and I don’t want to tell you the voice that comes out of my mouth sounds like a GIRL!
    â€œWhat the—” I mutter out loud. Obviously I’m dreaming, right? I’m talking to myself, so you can imagine my surprise when my own body—dressed in my light-blue polo shirt and jeans—reaches out, grabs me by the hand, and yanks me up to my feet and toward the full-length mirror hanging from the back of the closed nurse’s room door.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
    ..................................................................

    â€œLOOK!” I POINT TO THE mirror. The two of us are standing in front of it, side by side, me and Jack. Only, um . . . I don’t really know how to say this, because if I say it, if I say it, like, out loud, uhhh, you are going to think I’m—
    â€œWhat the—” Jack starts, and I watch him staring into the mirror. “This . . . wait, dude, whoa! C’mon, man! This can’t possibly be happening. This doesn’t make sense!” He grabs me by the shoulder and shakes.
    â€œStop!” I say. “What are you doing?”
    â€œAre you real ?” he asks.
    I push him back, kind of harder than I meant to, and he stumbles.
    â€œDoes that feel real?” I say.
    We both turn back toward the mirror, as if the mirror is going to suddenly change what we see.
    What we know.
    What is clear as day.
    I am in Jack’s body, and he is in mine!

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
    ..................................................................

    â€œI DON’T GET IT,” I say.
    Actually, I keep saying it over and over again. “I don’t get it. I don’t get it.”
    I’m pacing across the small nurse’s room, from one cot to the other, back and forth, like that is somehow going to change things.
    Worse, Freckles is starting to cry like a total girl, except—
    She’s me.
    I have never seen myself cry .
    This is unreal.
    â€œFreckles!” I say, realizing I don’t even know this girl’s name. “Dude, you’ve got to stop crying, you know? You’re freaking me out!”
    â€œYeah, well, your nose is