Page 79 of Switch!
Jesse grins. “Well…”
Colin leans forward. “What? Spill it!”
“I did sit down with a fortune teller.”
“And?”
“It was total nonsense. She mostly just sassed me. And I think she tried putting a spell on me or something. I was so embarrassed that I ended up walking away while her eyes were closed.”
“These aren’t good stories,” Colin complains. “Where are the psychic friends I was promised?”
“You have to meet Trixie. I don’t know if she’s for real, but she’s definitely unusual.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief. Figuratively, anyway. I’m glad that the day’s events didn’t traumatize him. He managed to make sense of everything in his own way, but too many more excursions like this might have him questioning his own sanity. I don’t want that to happen, so I promise myself not to take control of Jesse again anytime soon. That sounds fine from a moral standpoint, but I need to decide what my next move is going to be. Otherwise I’ll spend the rest of my life as a passive observer.
— — —
Sleep, in my current state of existence, is a fickle thing. Normally when Jesse gets into bed, I lose consciousness at the same time he does. When that happens, the dreams I experience aren’t mine, populated instead by people and events from his life.
If I don’t want to sleep, I’ve figured out a way to cheat. I just have to be in my black box before he drifts off. I can stay there and do whatever I like, or I can leave and take over his body without rousing him.
I use this trick the night of the psychic fair, aware that I’ve already broken my promise. I won’t keep him awake for long. I don’t even get out of bed. I only sit up and reach for the phone so I can text Trixie.
Travis:Everything went okay. He thinks it was all make-believe.
It’s a little past midnight. She might not be awake. I’m about to give up hope when a response finally arrives.
Trixie:Even me? Am I his imaginary friend?
Travis:No. He likes you. Enough that he wants you to meet his boyfriend.
Trixie:Love it! What’s he going to think of these texts? More pretending?
Travis:He’s asleep. I’ll delete these messages as soon as we’re done, so he doesn’t see them.
Trixie:Asleep? How does that work?
Travis:I’ll explain later.
Trixie:Okay. Hey, if he might be texting me, then we need a code, so I can tell which of you I’m talking to.
Travis:Good idea. From now on, if it’s me, the first text I send will say… I don’t know. Circle of Light?
Trixie:How about body snatcher?
Travis:LOL That makes me sound like a criminal.
Trixie:Chameleon?
Travis:Not bad, but also not really what I do.
Trixie:I went through this embarrassing phase where I called myself a truth witch. Then I realized that I could abbreviate it to twitch. T. Witch. Get it?
Travis:Yeah. Is that the code? Twitch?
Trixie:That’s mine. You’re a snatch witch.
Travis:Ummm…
