The Swap
Page 25
My eyes linger on the two of them talking and laughing. Jack told me about what happened. How much everything has changed. How his dad’s been so much more relaxed, laid-back. How they do fun things together, and they don’t have so many rules.
My mom is deep in conversation. She’s flipping her hair and leaning forward and laughing. The Captain version 2.0—I’m not gonna lie, he’s extremely handsome. The way he carries himself, strong, confident. He’s like that good mix of tough and gentle. I’ll admit it, as I stand there, about to get on the ice, as the Zamboni drives off into its little garage, the thought enters my mind. Crazier things have happened! I’m far away, but I can tell by the way she’s standing. My mom looks so happy. I actually hear her laugh echo through the empty stands. I step onto the ice, smiling at my secret wish, and I dig my skate in and I glide.
3 YEARS LATER
JACK
IT’S BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE everything happened. There’s so much to catch you up on, and I’ll try my best. We sold our place and moved to a beautiful house on the lake—an old cottage that my dad stripped down to the bones and completely rebuilt. We all helped. It took two years. All the wood we used was reclaimed from the old cottage. The joists, the floorboards. It smells like pine. Every room has a view of the water. Every morning I watch the sunrise, and in the summer we take a running jump off our dock and swim all the way straight across lake. Well, no. My brothers, Elle, and I swim. My dad and Summer paddle our canoe, cheering us on. There if we need them.
My life is pretty much perfect. I never thought I’d have a sister, that’s for sure. We all love Elle so much. She has four big brothers who would do anything for her. And you should see her play hockey! Man, she’s fast! Her stride is almost flawless, her long dark-red hair flowing from the back of her helmet. And I’m her big brother now—by one year—so I can brag.
This spring, she earned the lead role in the high school’s production of Fiddler on the Roof—as a tenth grader. Pretty badass. She was amazing. We were all there, all six of us, third row back, cheering like crazy. She’s only a sophomore, but she’s already getting recruited for soccer, hockey, and track. Her dream is Harvard. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna happen.
My dad wasn’t just saying it. He meant what he said. He changed. He changed more than I could have asked. First of all, he quit his job and works at home. He converted this old barn that was on the land into a wood shop. He makes sculptures now. They’re really cool. People buy them for a lot of money. And in the other half of the barn, he built us a space to shoot pucks and mess around. It’s better than The Cage. We push the giant sliding barn doors open and it feels like you’re outside, even when it’s snowing or pouring down rain.
My brothers, me, and my dad decided together that we would only play hockey during the season. It’s not a job, it’s a passion. We don’t touch the ice from May through August. We just lift and swim and eat a lot—anything we want. Summer’s even got us all—even my dad—hooked on yoga. Our new less-is-more approach, it’s really paying off. Jett and Stryker play for Boston College. Jett is a senior captain and a first-round draft pick for the Los Angeles Kings. Gunner retired from hockey after he had too many concussions. He’s playing guitar now, and he has his own band. They practice in the loft up in the barn. They’re really pretty decent. They play acoustic country.
I still write down my goals every night. But I am proud to say I got to check one off. This fall I signed a national letter of intent committing to play for Boston College after I graduate high school. Stryker will be a junior, and I’ll be a freshman.
I still visualize my dreams, but I’ve changed. I have a lot less fear. No more panic. My dad’s been the biggest role model in my life. He’s helped me become the person that I am. The only reason I am where I am is because of him. The discipline he instilled in me. The work ethic. He says, if you want to do something, just do what you love. Do it. And have fun!
My favorite times with my family are the warm, clear summer nights. The seven of us, Summer looking rad as usual with her flaming red hair and her incredible smile; my dad—he has a beard now. They’re always holding hands. We all sit around a big bonfire on the lakeshore.
Summer’s love and laugh has rubbed off on all of us. Just her presence, her strength. I guess if I had to explain it, she’s taught us softness is not the same as weakness. Gunner brings his guitar, and we sing the Beatles, the Eagles, or James Taylor, the bonfire raging, the lake shimmering under the starry night sky. We laugh so hard. Sometimes we even talk about my mom. We remember her, all the good times.
I still wear the gold chain and pendant around my neck.
I never take it off.
The pendant is engraved with one word in tiny scripted letters. You need a magnifying glass to see—
The word is LOVE.
I love my family more than I could ever say. When I look across the fire at Summer and my dad, Jett, Elle, Gunner, Stryker, I’m so grateful. I feel like the luckiest kid in the world.
And maybe I am.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I live in the house
near the corner, which I have named
Gratitude.
—MARY OLIVER
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK Katherine Tegen, Maria Barbo, Kate Morgan Jackson, and everyone at HarperCollins Children’s and KT Books who sprinkled so much of their own magic to get this book in your hands and make it beautiful.
A very special thanks to my wonderful literary agent, Margaret Riley King, and the entire team at William Morris Endeavor, expressly—Chelsea Drake, Laura Bonner, Jo Rodgers, Anna DeRoy, Erin Conroy, and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. What a gift it is to be represented by these smart and gracious women.
I owe tremendous gratitude to Ken Weinrib; he’s pretty much a superhero—everyone should be lucky enough to have him on their side.
And finally, to the quiet champs who cheered this story on. This work is a lighthouse shining with your kindness. I am more grateful than I can say.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MEGAN SHULL is the author of several books for kids, including the award-winning young adult novel Amazing Grace. Megan holds a doctorate in educational psychology from Cornell University, where she also earned her undergraduate degree. She lives in her hometown of Ithaca, New York, where she feels especially lucky to walk the quiet rolling hills alongside red-tailed hawks and waterfalls.
www.heymegan.com
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PRAISE FOR THE SWAP
“A beautiful feat of swapped voices. Hilarious! Seriously, truly, fearlessly funny—and I don’t want boys to miss it!”
—JON SCIESZKA, New York Times bestselling author and founder of the Guys Read literacy initiative
“Bravo, Megan Shull! The Swap kept me turning pages way past my bedtime! Hilarious and yet surprisingly touching at the same time, The Swap gives us a microscopically close insider’s view at the differences (and similarities) between the lives of boys and girls. I don’t know how Megan did it, but I’m really glad she did!”
—MEG CABOT, New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series and Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls series
“Funny, honest, and touching, The Swap is the perfect book for tweens ready to learn what’s going on inside the minds (and bodies) of the opposite gender. Jack and Ellie are such wonderful characters, and those brothers—wow!”
—FRANCES O’ROARK DOWELL, New York Times bestselling author of Dovey Coe and The Secret Language of Girls
“The internal lives of both boy and girl come across as both authentic and heartwarming. . . . Readers curious about how the other half lives will thrill at this view from the far side of the fence.”
—Kirkus Reviews
CREDITS
Cover art © 2014 by Photography by Elle Hanley/Getty Images (top) and iStockphoto (bottom)
Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons
CO
PYRIGHT
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE SWAP
Copyright © 2014 by Megan Shull
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shull, Megan.
The swap / Megan Shull.—First edition.
pages cm
Summary: When seventh-grader Ellie, who is having best-friend problems, and eighth-grader Jack, who is under tremendous pressure from his father, switch bodies and lives, they learn a great deal about themselves and the opposite sex.
ISBN 978-0-06-231169-6 (hardback)
[1. Supernatural—Fiction. 2. Self-actualization—Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 4. Middle schools—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction. 6. Single-parent families—Fiction. 7. Brothers—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S559428Sw 2014
2014001883
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
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EPub Edition © AUGUST 2014 ISBN: 9780062311719
14 15 16 17 18 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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