In My Shoes

by Stephens, Adrian

  “That makes sense,” she seemed to think aloud.

  “I usually put a little gel in my hair while it’s still a little wet, and I kind of mess it around. I brush the sides back.

  “Next, I put on deodorant.”

  “I think my brother keeps some in here for when he is home,” Nicole said as she opened the cabinet below the sink. “Yep. Here it is.”

  “I guess that’s better than wearing yours,” I replied. “Once you are done, you can finish getting dressed.”

  “Do you put lotion on or anything?” she asked.

  “Well, no, not really. You can if you want to, though.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I feel all itchy if I don’t have lotion on. I’ll finish up and be right out.”

  “You know, it’s kind of weird putting my brother’s underwear on,” she called out.

  “Probably not any more weird than putting mine on,” I said, laughing.

  “Well, that’s a pretty good point.”

  After about three minutes she came into the bedroom. “Wow, don’t get me wrong…I don’t want to stay in your body, but I could sure get used to this 15 minutes to get dressed thing. Shall we head over to your house?”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said. “Are you getting hungry, because all of a sudden I’m starved?”

  “Yeah, I could use something to eat. I’ve got sandwich stuff downstairs. I’ll make a couple of sandwiches and we’ll take them with us.”

  “Works for me,” I said.

  We went downstairs and Nicole went to work pulling out what she needed to make some sandwiches. Once she had made the two sandwiches, I helped her clean up the mess. “What do you want to drink?”

  “Do you have any Pepsi?” I asked.

  “We probably have some in the fridge in the garage. We don’t drink a lot of soda in our house, but we try to keep our fridge stocked for guests.” She headed into the garage, and came back a minute later with a Pepsi.

  “Here you go. Soda isn’t real good for you. Keep in mind that I don’t drink a lot of soda, so if people see you drinking a lot, they might notice the change. Plus, I want you to keep my girlish figure intact,” she said with a smile.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking the Pepsi. “I’ll do my best. So what do you drink?”

  “Water. I drink milk or orange juice in the morning. Usually milk with dinner. But mostly water. How about you? What do you like to drink?”

  “I prefer Pepsi, but I’ll drink anything that is available. I’m not very picky.”

  “So, I can drink whatever I want and nobody is going to look at me funny?” she asked as a matter of fact.

  “No, probably not.” Do people really pay that much attention to things like…what I drink?

  “Okay,” she said. “That’s good to know.” She grabbed a bottled water, we gathered up our things and headed for her car.

  “I’m not allowed to have anyone drive my car, so you had better drive. If I drive, anyone watching would see you driving my car. My parents would take my car away for a week if I did that.”

  “No problem. I can drive.”

  We got in her car, backed out of the garage and headed toward my house. With her car, my house was only about 30 minutes away. Now that I knew where she lived, I knew how to get where I was going.

  “Can I ask you something?” I asked.

  “Didn’t you just do that?” she said.

  Why do people always think that’s funny? I didn’t respond and eventually, she said, “Ask away.”

  “Well…I know we agreed to cooperate to get through this.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, you are being almost nice to me right now. With the way that things went this morning and yesterday, and with what your mom told me you said about me yesterday…”

  “Oh no! What did she tell you I said?”

  “Well, she didn’t get into specifics, but she said you seemed proud of how you treated me yesterday.”

  I looked over at her and saw what looked like shame on my face. Again, the expression wasn’t quite mine, but it was on my face.

  “I wasn’t proud of myself for saying what I said to you. I was frustrated at how the day went yesterday. You were the third guy to come up to me and I was beginning to feel like a piece of meat. The first two guys were arrogant and one was crude. Your antics in class just added to my annoyance.”

  I wanted to interrupt her, to tell her that I wasn’t goofing off in class, but I didn’t think that would help at the moment. I let her continue without saying a word.

  “When you came up to me, I was kind of fed up. I waited to hear what you had to say, and it sounded like you were headed down the same road as the other two guys. I was more proud of myself for standing my ground. I tend to be too polite, and sometimes I feel like certain people take advantage of that.”

  She stopped for a minute as I drove in silence. After a minute, she continued her thought. “I don’t really know you that well, and don’t think for a minute that I’m over you flashing your friend. But…I may have taken my frustrations out on the wrong guy. Time will tell. If so…I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “If so,” she emphasized, “you’re…welcome.”

  “So,” I continued, “That still doesn’t explain why you are being so nice to me now.”

  “I like to think that this is the way I normally am. I’m not really being nice as much as I’m being polite. I’m usually this way with everyone.”

  “Well,” I said with a smile, “that’s what I thought before yesterday.”

  “Look,” she offered, “maybe we should just start over.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said. “Maybe after this is all over…”

  “Yeah, don’t push it,” she stopped.

  Maybe after I grow on her a bit…

  It didn’t take long before we were pulling up to the curb in front of my house. My house is a single story house built in the early 90’s. It doesn’t really stand out in our neighborhood. All of the houses are single story and they are all painted in shades of brown. After seeing Nicole’s house, I was feeling a little self-conscious about my own house.

  “Well, it doesn’t compare to your house, but it’s home,” I said meekly.

  “I hope you don’t think that matters to me,” she said, affronted. “I love my house, but my parents raised me not to be about things. I realize it may not look like it from the size of our house, but if you look closely, it’s very functional.”

  I particularly liked the functional movie theater. “I noticed. It’s just…well, it’s just very nice.”

  “Well, thank you, but I saw your house earlier. It’s not as big, obviously, but it seemed nice. At least what I saw of it as I was running out the door. It matters a lot more how you live than where you live. I didn’t feel uncomfortable in your house. Okay, so I did feel uncomfortable in your house, but it was more about waking up in a strange place and a strange body than it being your house. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine in your house while I’m here…hopefully just for today. Although…I don’t know if I’ll get used to sleeping in your bed.”

  “What’s wrong with my bed?” I asked.

  “It’s your bed. I should say, it’s a guy’s bed. It just doesn’t seem right.” She was smiling when she said it, so I figured she was being playful.

  “You should talk. I’m not exactly looking forward to sleeping with all of the frilly flowers on your pillows and blankets. And pink. Everywhere pink.”

  “Well then, let’s just hope things are back to normal in the morning,” she countered.

  We had made our way in through the front door. “So,” I continued, “this shouldn’t take too long. The living room is to the left. We usually save this room for company, but we don’t have a lot of company, so it’s almost never used.

  “You can get to the kitchen through that opening in the living room or you can just walk straight down this hall.”

  I turned l
eft and faced the kitchen. “The fridge is on the left, there. Feel free to help yourself to anything in there. The pantry is to the left of the fridge. You can help yourself to anything in there also.”

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  “Sure. Okay, so I cook for my mom usually about three times a week. If we are still switched…”

  “No problem,” she responded back. “My mom does most of the cooking, but she’s taught me quite a bit. What do you cook for your mom?”

  “I’m not a great cook,” I said, “but she always appreciates the effort. I can make just about anything with instructions on the box. Feel free to prepare anything you see. If she acts surprised, tell her you are trying something new. She’ll tell you it’s great…and she’ll mean it.”

  “Got it.”

  “Okay,” I continued, “as you can see, the kitchen not only opens back to the living room and the hall, but around the island it opens to the dining area and den. We either eat at the dining area table or we eat at the island, and we watch TV in the den. There is a bathroom against that wall next to the television.”

  We circled back around the island to the hallway we entered from, facing the front door. From where we were standing, we headed left down the main hallway.

  “Everything else is straight down this hallway here. On the right, there is a guest bedroom and then the door to the garage. The washer and dryer are in the garage. Sorry, but I do my own laundry.”

  “I’m sure I can figure it out. I know the basics. Do you…do your mom’s laundry?”

  “Sometimes, to help her out. She won’t ask you to, and she doesn’t expect it, so don’t worry about it.” She seemed to show a bit of relief on her face, not that I could blame her. I wouldn’t want to do some strange woman’s laundry either.

  “On the left, here, is my mother’s room.” We headed into my mother’s room.

  “What is your mom’s name?” she asked.

  “Oh, sorry. Her name is Angela. Matthews, same as mine.”

  “What about your dad?”

  “I don’t know much about my father. My mother doesn’t say a lot about him, and I’ve never pushed the subject much. It’s not that she says anything bad about him. It’s more that she seems really sad and angry when I mention him. I know his name is Steve Matthews, and he left when I was one or two years old. You won’t really need to know anything about him. It’s not a subject that comes up with my mother or my friends.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t be. I’m not feeling sorry for myself. This is what I know. It’s not like I knew him when he was here, and then he left.”

  “I…guess that’s a good way to look at it. It’s just hard for me to imagine. So…this is your mom’s room, you said?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “She has a small walk-in closet at the far end of the room. Straight ahead and to the right is her dressing room and bathroom. I’m not in here very often. Usually, I am just bringing laundry in or out.”

  We headed out of her room and made a left. “Straight ahead is my bathroom, and my bedroom is on the left. First, the bathroom. Not much to it. There’s a shower. No tub, sorry.”

  “I’ll live,” she said. She sounded put out, but it seemed like she was teasing.

  “So, the bedroom is here. I have a standard closet. No walk-in. Bed is there and my clothes dresser is at the far wall there. Feel free to look around.”

  She started walking around the room, opening drawers and memorizing the contents. “Is there anything in here that I should stay out of?”

  “No,” I replied, “I don’t have anything to hide.”

  After a while, she turned to me and asked, “Do you have my purse with you? I need my cell phone.”

  “I think I left it in the car, but you can use the phone on my nightstand,” I said.

  “Girls never leave their purses laying around. I never leave my purse in my car. It is either on me, or put in a safe place like my desk or my room.” She seemed annoyed that I left her purse in the car.

  “Sorry. I’ll go get it.”

  I went out to the car, grabbed her purse and brought it in to her. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks. By the way, do you have a cell phone?”

  “No, I don’t have the money for a cell phone.”

  “Well, if things don’t go back to normal tomorrow, we are going to have to go out and get you a phone. We are going to have to be able to communicate.”

  “I’m kind of on a strict budget.”

  “I will buy it for you. We will get you a prepaid phone.”

  “I don’t want you to have to buy it for me.”

  “Look, if we are apart for some reason, we will need to be able to contact each other to get answers. You have to have a phone. My parents gave me a credit card to use in case of emergency. I think this qualifies.

  “There,” she went on, “I just texted Jessica to collect my schoolwork so I can work on it this weekend. I asked her to bring it by my house tomorrow. I told her that I was sick.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “I should call Mike and ask him to bring my homework over.”

  “Well, you can’t really do that. If you call Mike, he’s going to wonder why ‘Nicole’ is calling him. I’ll call him. What do you want me to say?”

  “Right. Just tell him you are sick and you want him to bring my homework over tomorrow. Although, he probably still thinks I’m mad at him. Oh man, we just left him passed out on the floor today! I can only imagine what’s going on in his head. I hope he’s okay.”

  “I will use that. If he mentions this morning, I will tell him it never happened. How do you talk to him?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I mean, do you call him Mike or Dude or Hey You?”

  I smiled. “Well it depends on my mood. I’ve called him all of those before. Mike is not really…what would be a good word…eloquent? Try not to speak so proper.”

  I dialed the number and handed the phone to Nicole. She started talking and I realized that she was leaving a message. She told him she was sick and asked that he bring the homework by my house tomorrow.

  “Well, that was easier than I expected,” she said. “Okay, I think for the rest of the day we should stick to the basics. Let’s just get familiar with our houses and immediate family. We will recite it until we know it.”

  “My mother will be home in a couple of hours,” I offered. “We can stay here until five, but then we should definitely head over to your house. It’s Friday, so my mother won’t expect me tonight. I’ll just leave a note that I’m staying the night over at Mike’s. She won’t call. I spend a lot of Fridays at Mike’s house. Then, when you come home late tonight, if you run into my mother, you can just tell her that you started feeling sick.”

  “That’ll work,” she said. “We can spend the evening at my house, and you can get more familiar with my house. You can drive me back to your house at about nine. That will give you time to get back to my house before my parents arrive. You can just stay in my room with the lights out, and they will leave you alone.”

  Over the next few hours, she walked through my house, opening more drawers, simulating things I do when I am in my house. She had changed into some of my clothes and we washed her brother’s clothes so we could return them when we got back to her house. When five came, we packed up our stuff, piled into the car, and headed back to Nicole’s house.

  “I’m getting hungry,” I said. “Do you want to stop and get a pizza? We can take it back to your house.”

  “Yeah, I guess that would be okay.”

  We stopped at Giovanni’s Kitchen and ordered a pizza. We took it back to Nicole’s house and ate while we recited her immediate family’s info.

  I repeated the same steps that Nicole took at my house. I walked into the kitchen, opening drawers and cabinets. She would ask me for a drink and I would have to go to the cabinet to get her a glass and pour her a drink. When I was able to maneuver throughout the ki
tchen without making any mistakes, we moved to other parts of the house. She showed me how to work the theater. We went upstairs and walked through each of the rooms. We spent most of the remaining time in her room. She would tell me to get something and I would go retrieve it.

  “It’s almost nine,” she finally said. “You need to take me to your house now.”

  She started walking down the stairs and we headed into the garage. “Tomorrow, if things aren’t back to normal, we have to work on your walk. You so don’t walk like a girl.”

  “I actually take that as a compliment. Current situation excluded, I’m not supposed to walk like a girl. While we’re on the subject, you’ll need some pointers yourself.”

  “Fair enough,” she said.

  “So,” I thought aloud, “what happens if things are back to normal tomorrow?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, are we going to be…friends?”

  “Jake,” she said, “you may not be as bad as I thought, but that doesn’t mean we have anything in common.”

  We both got in the car and I started the engine. “Yeah, I guess swapping bodies doesn’t give us much in common,” I said sarcastically.

  She looked at me for a minute, seeming to consider the thought. Neither of us said anything for the rest of the trip. I pulled up in front of my house and she opened the door. As she started to get out, she turned back to me.

  “Whatever happens tomorrow, we should meet to talk. What are you going to do when you get back to my house tonight?”

  “I’m going to take a shower, follow all of your directions and go to bed. I’m actually exhausted,” I admitted.

  “Me too. I’m going to drag myself into bed and pray to wake up a girl.”

  “You may want to be more specific. You don’t want to wake up as some other girl.”

  “Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I waited while she walked into my house, and then I took off for Nicole’s house. This night couldn’t end fast enough. I hurried back to her house, went up the stairs, undressed, jumped in the shower and followed Nicole’s routine as well as I could remember.