Page 40 of Switching Skates
Fuck.
I can tell the moment I wake up that I’m still in Daphne’s body, asleep on the couch, and I can’t ignore that my initial reaction feels a lot like happiness.
Obviously, I want to switch back, and, yes, there’s fear beneath the slight joy that now we have no idea how to change. Butttt I get more time with her, and that’s hard to be upset about.
I wonder if she’s up yet, although I’m sure if she was, she would’ve already stormed down here.
Tomorrow, I have that scrimmage, so while I’m glad I get another day with her, we need to find a solution sometime soonbecause there’s no way she can go on the ice, pretending to be me.
“Masonnnn,” Daphne sings solemnly as she descends the stairs and rounds the corner to the living room. “It didn’t work.”
“I know,” I say matter-of-factly, glancing down at Daphne’s body, flipping my hands over and over in front of me.
She drags her feet through the living room and sits down in the recliner, pulling her long legs up into her chest. “How in the hell are we going to fix this?”
She seems so unshielded right now, vulnerable. It takes everything in me not to be closer to her, to wrap her up in my arms and comfort her.
“I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out somehow,” I try to assure her.
“How long can we keep this charade up? I mean, eventually, Maeve is going to figure out that something’s up. I’m just glad she has Jackson to keep her distracted right now. Otherwise, she’d definitely already know.”
“True. She’s always been such a nosy little sister.” I laugh. “And we’ll keep it up as long as we need to. I mean, we changed in the first place seemingly randomly, so maybe it’s, like, a time thing. After a certain amount, we’ll switch back.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Daphne pouts, sinking deeper into the chair, and even though she is wearing my face, I hate to see her frown.
“Well, instead of sitting here, moping, let’s do something to cheer you up.”
Her eyes flick up at me.
“Name it,” I offer genuinely.
She stares at me, unreadable and stoic, and then the snarkiest, sassiest smirk tips up her lips and hoods her eyes. “I do have an idea. I think you might hate it, but I’ll love it. Best of both worlds for me really.”
If it makes her happy, I’m in. I don’t care what it could be.
“Daphne, you have got to be kidding me.” I run my hand down my face as we walk into a boutique. “What are we doing here?”
She throws her arm around my shoulders and pulls me into her side, my head barely reaching her collarbone. “You said we’d do something to cheer me up. Well,thisis it.” She pulls away and starts wandering toward a rack of shirts. “Oh my God, this color is so pretty.”
She grabs a flowy blue mineral-washed T-shirt and spins around, holding it up to my chest. “It’s not every day you can step out of your body to try on clothes. I mean, I can see it from someone else’s eyes. Literally. Every angle. Every possibility. It’s honestly a blessing in disguise.” She holds another color up to me—a lilac purple. “Ooh, I don’t know which one I like more.”
She tosses them into the air toward me. As I reach up and catch them, she vanishes. I spot her a moment later, three displays down at the jeans. She tosses a couple of pairs over her shoulder before beelining it for the next rack that catches her eye.
Taking full advantage of my body’s long strides, she dumps her armful into my hands. “Okay, you get started in the fitting room. Try one of the jeans with the purple shirt first.”
She stares at me nervously, gauging what my reaction will be, as if I might just drop everything and storm off.
I take a deep breath and accept the truth that this is the least of things I’d be willing to do for her. If she wants to dress me up right now, then so be it.
“Where are the dressing rooms?” I ask as my lips tip up in a smile.
Her face lights up, radiating sunshine and happiness.
She points to the corner farthest from the front doors. “Thank you! Thank you!”
I can’t hide my smile as I make my way to them, finding the first one open and slipping inside. Quickly, I hang everything up before turning to look in the mirror, seeing Daphne’s body looking back at me.
