I got out of the shower, dried off, got dressed into underwear and a night shirt and returned to the bathroom to blow-dry my hair. If I weren’t so exhausted, I would probably have taken a few minutes to enjoy the view. As it was, I wanted sleep more. I turned the lights off in the house and crawled into Nicole’s bed. I was going to be asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
DAY 2
“Jake? Honey. Wake up. Are you feeling better today?”
I knew already that I wasn’t feeling better. If Jake’s mom was waking me up and calling me Jake, then I was still in his body. “Not really,” I said. “I’m still feeling pretty strange.”
“Is it your stomach? Try taking some Pepto-Bismol,” she replied.
“I don’t think Pepto is going to help what I’ve got. Thanks for the advice, but I’ll be okay.”
“I’m sure you will,” she said as she turned to walk away. “Oh, I almost forgot, there’s a girl on the phone for you.” She handed me a cordless phone. “She says her name is Nicole. Isn’t that the girl you were arguing with the other day?”
“Yeah…it’s the same girl.”
“Did something new happen between you two?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “I know you really like her,” she whispered away from the phone.
I’m sure Jake’s mom would feel bad to know she was giving away insider trading secrets. We’ll spare Jake about this. Well, we’ll spare us both. “Thanks…mom,” I said as she walked out of the room and shut the door.
“Hello?”
“Hey Nicole, it’s Jake,” he said in my voice.
“Hello Jake,” I sighed. “It looks like we’ve got more work to do.”
“Looks like,” he said. “I’ll get dressed and come get you. Your mom said that she and your dad are going out for the afternoon, so we can come back and work on things here.”
“Okay, I’ll get in the shower now and see you in a bit. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I grabbed the clothes I was going to wear today and headed into the bathroom. I turned the shower on so it would warm up, undressed and went to the bathroom…sitting down, of course. That was different. It’s easy to see how boys can make a mess. Those things are unpredictable.
I jumped in the shower and got myself cleaned up. Five minutes later I was out of the shower, drying off and doing my hair. I don’t want to tempt fate, but I could get used to this getting ready as a guy thing. On a bad day, it can take me two hours to get ready as a girl. I was done in 30 minutes today.
Once I was finished dressing, I decided I would wait in the family room for Jake to pick me up. I figured I would likely spend some time with his mom, but I should be okay if I was polite and didn’t talk much. If she seemed concerned, I would just play up the fact that I wasn’t feeling well.
I headed down the hall and into the kitchen where I would fix a bowl of cereal and some orange juice, Jake’s breakfast of choice, and then eat at the kitchen table. As I came into the kitchen, I saw his mother sitting in the family room watching television and writing something on a notepad.
“Morning,” I said with a smile.
She returned the smile. “Are you feeling any better yet?”
“Actually, I’m feeling a little bit better,” I said truthfully. “I guess the shower helped.”
I reached to grab a bowl out of the cupboard and found the glasses. Oops! Concentrate harder Nikki! I grabbed a glass, as though I had intended it, and placed it on the counter. I opened the bowl cupboard and pulled a bowl out.
Jake’s mom continued on as I finished in the kitchen. “Good! A shower always helps me feel better.”
I nodded.
“So,” she said with an inflection of curiosity, “what did that Nicole girl want? Did she apologize for the other day?”
Oh great. What did Jake say to his mom about the other day?
“Yeah, she actually did…yesterday. She said she was a little too harsh and didn’t mean to take things out on me.” That’s sort of what I said, right? Well, at least, that’s what I meant to say to him…I guess.
“Good. Maybe she’s not so bad, after all. Just be careful, Jake. Give it time to find out if she’s really the girl who apologized or if she’s the girl who hurt you the other day. I don’t want her breaking your heart.”
Great, she thinks I’m going to break Jake’s heart and we’re not really even friends. I will have to be careful not to give Jake the wrong idea.
“Don’t worry mom. We’re just going to do some studying together. It’s not like we’re even friends yet, but I think I’m going to find that she’s the kind of person I’d want to get to know.” Okay, that sounded cheesy. I wish I could take that one back.
“What I mean is, I think she’s a better person than what the other day showed, and it was probably just a misunderstanding.”
“Just be careful,” she said with a warm tone.
“I will.”
I finished my cereal and orange juice, rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
“So, what are you doing today?” she asked.
“I’m going over to…Nicole’s house to study.”
“You guys could study here,” she offered.
“I would have mentioned it, but she had already offered her house. Besides, she has a bigger place to study.”
“How do you know that?” she asked suspiciously.
Uh-oh. Did I offer too much? Be casual Nikki.
“I guess I don’t. I guess it just sounded that way from our conversation.”
“Okay, but next time I want you to study here so I can meet her.”
“Sure, if there is a next time. Anyway, she’s going to pick me up soon, so you can meet her then.”
“Oh,” she said surprised, “well I’m not dressed yet. I didn’t realize she was going to be here so soon. I’ll meet her next time.” She was in her pajamas still. I wouldn’t want to meet someone new in my pajamas either. If she only knew…
“I seriously doubt she would care, but that’s probably a good idea.”
I sat on the couch next to her and noticed she was watching QVC.
“Oh, I love this channel!” I exclaimed. I had forgotten myself for a minute and realized from her look that this was not something Jake would say.
“Since when do you like QVC? I watch it every Saturday and you never give it two looks.”
“Well, love might be a strong word. I was at…Mike’s…last weekend and his mom had it on. There was a really cool clock that caught my eye. That’s all.”
“I remember that clock. It didn’t seem your style, but I liked it, too.”
“Yeah,” I said, “maybe not my style, but it was interesting.
“You know,” I continued, “Nicole should be here any time. I’m going to go outside and wait for her.”
“Okay. Have a good time and behave. I love you.”
“Uh…okay. Bye mom.”
I grabbed Jake’s backpack out of his room and headed out the front door. Wow! I almost blew that a couple of times. I hope Jake is doing better at my house.
Jake arrived about five minutes after I came outside to wait for him. He pulled up to the curb, got out and walked around to open the door for me.
“Thank you,” I said, “but girls don’t usually open doors for guys.”
He blushed. “Right, sorry.”
“No, it was a nice gesture. It’s just not something people would see me doing.”
He went around the other side and got in the car. “So, how did it go?” he asked.
“It went fine, except…you now like QVC.”
“What, the shopping channel?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
How did that happen?” he asked.
“I was sitting down next to your mom, when I noticed she was watching QVC. I just happened to mention how much I loved QVC. I backtracked a little. You mainly liked a clock they had on last week. I told
her you saw it at Mike’s house last weekend.”
“Hmm.”
I looked at him, hesitantly. “What?”
“Well, I hope she didn’t catch on to the fact that I wasn’t at Mike’s house much last weekend.”
“Oh, sorry. I thought that was a pretty safe story. I thought you spent a lot of time at Mike’s on the weekends.”
“I do. I just didn’t last weekend.”
“Well, she didn’t seem to notice. I’m sorry, I was just trying not to be anti-social. That one just got away from me a bit.”
“That’s okay. Nobody’s perfect.” His tone seemed a little more than forgiving.
“That sounded leading. Did something happen at my house?”
“Well, your dad asked if I wanted to watch Twilight tonight for movie night. I might have mentioned that Kristen Stewart is hot.”
“You what?”
“I know, I know! I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I think I played it off okay, though.”
I turned in my seat to look at him. “What could you possibly have said to play that off?”
“Well, I realized what I said right away. Your dad was kind of just looking at me. I told him that all of the guys are sooo in love with her right now, and it drives me crazy. Then I told him that I liked the guy, what’s his name?”
“Robert Pattinson?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you say Robert Pattinson?”
“No, I couldn’t remember his name.”
“So after telling my dad that Kristen Stewart is sooo hot, you told him that you really like what’s his name?”
My voice was getting louder, and I could tell he was getting a little nervous. “Yeah, but it seemed to work for him. He just said ‘okay’ and left.”
“What else could he do after that? Jake, you’ve got to be more careful than that. I don’t want my family and friends getting funny ideas about me because you’re being a guy in my body.”
“I know, I’m sorry. It’s not like you were perfect either. Look, we’ll get better at this.”
I stopped and calmed down a bit. “I wish we didn’t have to get better at this. I don’t understand why this is happening.”
“Do you think we are being punished?” he asked.
“I thought about it. For that to be true, I think we would both have had to do something similarly wrong that was deserving of this. I don’t know about you, but I know I haven’t done anything so bad that I deserve this.”
“Do you believe in God?” he asked.
“I most definitely believe in God. Although, I don’t remember reading about this in the Bible.”
“Well, maybe God wants us to be together.”
I laughed. “Nice try. God doesn’t work like that. He doesn’t just force people to be together. We all have free will to make our own life decisions. If we didn’t, how could we be judged on our choices?”
“I guess you’re right. But then, what else is there?”
“I don’t know. I’m guessing that we will find out when the time is right. In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of work to do, so we don’t make any huge mistakes. Let’s start by getting you a phone. Well, actually you have my phone. Let’s start by getting me a phone. We can stop at Target.”
“Okay,” Jake agreed. “I’m guessing Mike didn’t bring my homework by this morning?”
“No he didn’t.”
“I figured. Mike doesn’t usually get out of bed until eleven or so on Saturdays. After we get the phone, let’s just go by his house and pick it up.”
“Sure,” I said.
Jake was driving, heading in the direction of Target. “You know, it’s really weird being driven around in my own car. You are the only person who has ever driven my car, other than me.”
Jake just smiled. My smile, but not quite the same. I looked out the passenger side window. “You know, your mom told me that I need to be careful with…well me. She thinks I’m going to break your heart.”
I turned to look at him, and he was blushing. He gave a quick glance in my direction, and then looked back to the road. “Well, are you?”
“Only if you get the wrong idea,” I said. “Jake, when this is all over, don’t go getting any ideas about us being together.”
“So what, is it just that I’m not your type, or do you still think I’m a clown?”
It seemed to really bother him that I called him a clown. “I don’t think you are a clown so much anymore. And…it’s not so much that you’re not my type as it is that I’m just not looking for a boyfriend right now. I’ve been working my whole life to prepare myself for college. The last thing I need is to find a guy who will start complicating my life.”
“So, you don’t date?”
“No, not really. There will come a time, when I’m done with college and I’m working. Then I can start looking for a man to let into my life.”
He kind of laughed, more to himself. “You know it doesn’t work like that, right?”
“What doesn’t work like that?” I asked.
“Well, it’s not like you just get to choose when everything happens to you. I mean, your idea sounds good on paper, but if you wait until you start your career before you start dating, you could very well let the guy of your dreams slip through your fingertips. You don’t get to choose when your true love shows up.”
“You’re assuming that every person has one true love,” I said.
“Well, I don’t know about the ‘one true love’ idea, but I’m not about to take a chance on losing the person I’m meant for just because it doesn’t fit into my schedule. If someone is interested in me, I’m going to at least get to know them.”
“Well, you’re entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to mine.”
“Just as well,” he said. “If a guy asks you out, I’m telling them no.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. That’s really what I wanted, but it felt more like he was getting his way there. “Can we just change the subject? I think this whole situation is complicated enough without adding dating to the mix.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said.
We went into Target and got a pre-paid phone, added minutes and headed out. “Hand me my phone out of my purse,” I said. He pulled it out and handed it to me. I programmed the new number into my phone and handed it back to Jake. “Okay, I put the pre-paid number in my phone under your name. If you get in a pinch, call or text me.”
Next up, Mike’s house.
“Okay,” he said. “This is going to be a little tricky. I am really close with Mike and his mother. They know me really well and I know them really well. I knock, and then walk right into their house.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked with a little bit of panic in my voice.
“Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it. You are going to act like you are in a hurry and can’t stay to talk.”
We got into the car and headed toward what I assumed was Mike’s house. “So, when you get there, go to the door, rap three quick knocks on the door and open it. You will probably see Mike’s mother in the main family room. His house is sort of like mine, but the front area is more open. So, as you walk in, it is one big room. That’s where you will see his mom. Her name is Diana. When you see her, say ‘Hi Diana’ and keep walking forward toward the hall on the right. Tell her you just came to pick up your homework from yesterday. If she’s dressed tell her she looks nice.”
“Wait,” I said, “you mean she might not be dressed?”
“No, she’ll be dressed, but she might be in her pajamas. She knows me well enough that it doesn’t bother her if I see her in her pajamas. They’re not revealing.”
“Okay, so knock three times, open the door, say hi to Nancy,”
“Diana!”
“Right,” I corrected, “Diana. Tell her she looks nice if she is dressed, and continue walking forward toward the hall on the right. What next?”
“If she says anything more, tell her a friend drove
you over here and you don’t want to keep them waiting. Then make a right down the hall and make your first right. That is Mike’s room. Just barge in. That’s what he does to me, and that’s what I do to him. I can’t promise what you’ll see when you walk in, just be prepared for anything.”
“I’m not going into his room if he’s naked.”
“He’s not going to be naked, but he will probably be in underwear and his room will probably be a mess. Oh and he has posters of girls on his walls.”
“Classy,” I said.
“Yeah, well I never said he was classy, but once you get to know him, he’s a good friend.”
“Okay, then what.”
“Mike and I don’t talk like you and I talk. Call him Mike or dude. Don’t be too proper. He will wonder what’s up with you, and he’ll probably tease you.”
“Nice,” I said.
“Look, he’ll probably be sleeping still. Just go in there and say something like ‘Mike…dude where’s my homework. Did you get it like I asked?’ He’ll probably tell you where it is. Say thanks, grab the homework, and say goodbye to Diana as you leave. Easy, right?”
“Yeah, easy.” Why do I see lots of potential for problems here?
He pulled up to what must be Mike’s house and parked in the driveway. He left the engine running. “I could go in with you,” he said, turning to face me.
“No!” I said with emphasis. “After yesterday, I don’t want him getting any ideas about why I am at his house.”
“Right. I will wait in the car, but you shouldn’t be in there for more than five minutes, and that’s really pushing it. If you’re not out in five minutes, I’m going to knock on the door.”
“I won’t be,” I said confidently.
“Last thing…what’s his mom’s name?” he quizzed.
“Diana.”
“Good. Say it like you’ve known her forever, and not like the first time you’ve greeted her.”
“Got it. Wish me luck.”
“Luck.”
I walked up the driveway, down the short walk to the front door. I paused for a minute to gather my courage. Okay Nicole. Let’s see how good of an actress you can be.
I knocked three quick knocks on the door and opened it to the see the main room. I walked in and saw what I guessed was Mike’s mom peek out from the kitchen. “Hi Jake. I’m getting ready to make breakfast. Are you hungry?”
In My Shoes Page 6