This story was written as a serial for my Yahoo group
The Role Exchanger 3
By Morpheus
Part 1
A glowing ball of blue light slowly moved through the atmosphere, guided
by an alien intelligence as it sought out its next destination. Humans
who knew of this strange being called it the Role Exchanger, though it
didn't think of itself as such. In fact, the very idea of names was
alien to this being.
The Role Exchanger shifted direction and descended from the clouds,
traveling back to the ground far below. Its attention was locked on the
ground below, and on the strange beings/aliens/creatures that inhabited
this world so far from its own. It had been some time since it had last
observed/assisted/experimented upon these aliens and it was ready/eager
to do so again. It would improve/clarify its understanding of this
worlds inhabitants before it returned to its own home.
Once the Role Exchanger was low enough it continued traveling overhead,
unseen by any except as a faint blue glow in the corner of the eye. It
moved overhead, having no specific destination or goal in mind as it
observed the throng of aliens called humanity. They were so different
from its own kind... so different from each other. It could not
understand these beings who were so alien even from their own, though
this only made it curious.
Time had little meaning for the Role Exchanger, but after it had been
wandering aimlessly for several risings of the sun/day star, it found a
large gathering of young ones. It paused to observe/notice them for
awhile, becoming aware of just how much these young ones were shifting
into the separate roles that would define them. Such a thing did not
happen where it came from and it became curious/concerned over this
process.
Eventually the Role Exchanger decided/concluded that it would
assist/experiment upon these young ones. It would continue its
works/experiments/charity to understand this world and the
diverse/confusing/distinct beings that inhabited it.
--------------------
It was first thing in the morning and the students were just starting to
flood into the Everett Prescott High School with varying degrees of
alertness and excitement. As far as any of them were concerned, it was
a morning like any other with nothing special about it.
15 year old Ben Thompson gripped his book bag tightly as he strolled
down the hall, his eyes darting back and forth with a wary alertness.
He absently ran a hand through his dark hair and looked behind him,
letting out a faint sigh of relief a moment later. Though he was only a
little taller than average, he felt like he stuck out a great deal.
"Damn Chris," Ben scowled in annoyance.
Chris Brechard was a senior and one of the biggest bullies in school.
Unfortunately some events last week had drawn his attention to Ben who
just couldn't match the older boys size or strength. Normally Ben had
no fear of bullies, a fact which was responsible for his current
situation with Chris.
Just last week Ben had made the mistake of crossing Chris. He'd seen
Chris picking on some guy he didn't know and had decided to play hero on
impulse. All Ben had done was bluff Chris into thinking the school
principal was coming up behind him so the other boy could escape, but
Chris took it personally. Ben had made a fool of him and he'd sworn
he'd make Ben pay for that. Since then, Ben had been watching his
back... just in case.
"Maybe he's just trying to scare me," Ben muttered to himself. "Get his
revenge by having me look over my shoulder all the time... " he snorted.
That would be a good revenge, but it didn't really seem likely for
someone who was used to more direct methods like Chris.
Once Ben saw that there was no sign of Chris he relaxed a little, though
still felt annoyed at himself for reacting like this. He'd never had
problems with bullies before and he'd never ran from a fight. He hated
this apprehension and almost wished that Chris would just come at him so
they could get this done and over with.
"When he does come," Ben grimaced, "I'm not going down without a
fight... "
Just then Ben saw his friend Kim just down the hall. She was a cute
brunette that some guys called really pretty, though he'd never really
thought of her much like that. They'd been best friends since
elementary school and he tended to think of her more like a sister than
a potential girlfriend.
"Hey Kim," Ben called out as he hurried to her, "do you have the notes
from Mr. Rembers history class?" He winced visibly, "I lost mine... "
Kim rolled her eyes, "You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached... "
"Then it's a good thing it is attached," he grinned with a slight tug on
his head to prove that it was firmly attached.
"Mine are at home," Kim grinned back, "you can come buy after school to
pick em up if you want... "
"Cool," Ben sighed in relief. "I want to look them over before that
test tomorrow... "
"Then maybe I should charge you for them," Kim said with a twinkle of
amusement in her eyes, "after all, I'd be saving you a whole nights cram
session... "
Ben snorted, "You know I don't cram... "
"You don't study either," Kim pointed out.
With a shrug, Ben responded, "Then how come my English grades are always
better than yours... ?"
Kim stuck her tongue out at Ben but he barely noticed. Instead his
attention was drawn to another figure that was walking down the hallway.
It was Ms. Coolidge, the English teacher he and Kim shared. He felt his
heart race slightly as he stared at the teacher he had such a crush on.
She was twenty years older than him, but she was still the prettiest
teacher in the entire school.
"Oh," Kim elbowed exclaimed as she elbowed Ben, "That's why you get such
good grades... She's the only teacher you'll pay any attention to... "
"You don't know what you're talking about," Ben protested though he knew
it was no use. Kim knew him far too well for that.
"Yeah, right," Kim rolled her eyes, "Well, I'll see you later... I've
got to get to first period... "
"Later," Ben waved to her as she hurried off.
Ben took a look down the hall again to where he'd last seen Ms. Coolidge
and sighed in disappointment that she was gone. That was all right
though as he'd see her again in English class. English might not be his
favorite subject, but it was definitely his favorite class thanks to the
teacher.
Just then Ben noticed a faint blue glow from the corner of his eye. He
snapped around but didn't see anything there. He frowned, somehow
having the feeling that something just wasn't right. It was like a
feeling of doom... like something big was going to happen soon. He
shuddered at that, then continued to his own first period class, shaking
his head at his own overactive imagination.
Part 2
Aaron scowled as he walked through the school hallway, adjusting his
backpack with one hand and his glasses with the other. Then he let out
a loud yawn, regretting that he'd stayed up on his computer so late last
night. Because of that he'd probably sleep through half his classes
today, or at least wish he could.
Once Aaron had yawned several more times he then looked around
nervously, hoping not to see any signs of that jerk Chris, who'd been
giving him such a hard time lately. In fact, if it hadn't been for some
other kid saving him last week, Chris probably would have really hurt
him.
"So he doesn't like nerds," Aaron snorted to himself, wondering what it
was that made short guys with glasses and acne such tempting targets of
ridicule by their luckier classmates. "I'll never understand it... "
With a shake of his head Aaron continued on his way, pausing only when
he suddenly caught a glimpse of a blue glow from the corner of his eye.
He turned around to look for the source of the glow, but didn't see
anything. He scowled, wondering if it was in his imagination. After
all he'd been under a lot of stress lately and he hadn't slept much the
night before.
"I definitely need more sleep," Aaron muttered.
Aaron took one more look around, wondering if he might be the target of
some practical joke, when he spotted a very pretty girl nearby. He
thought she might be a cheerleader, but he couldn't be sure because she
wasn't wearing any kind of cheerleader uniform and he wasn't the kind to
go to any sports games where he'd normally see them. However even if
she wasn't a cheerleader, she sure had the right body for it.
Suddenly Aaron felt a strange tingling rush through his entire body. He
gasped at the unexpected sensations, then felt horrified as everything
beneath his skin began to twitch and move at once. It wasn't painful,
but it was extremely strange... unlike anything he'd ever felt before in
his life.
"Damn," Aaron gasped, trying to make sense of what was happening to him.
Aaron felt his chest beginning to push out and grabbed at the two mounds
that were forming. He gasped again, his eyes going wide. He felt other
changes in his body as well, such as a pulling in his groin and a
tickling in his scalp, though he couldn't quite make sense of them all.
However he could see his hands and fingernails which definitely looked
different.
"My hands," he gulped, his eyes going even wider as he stared at his
hands. They looked different somehow, though he couldn't say exactly
how other than that they somehow seemed softer and smoother. What
really drew his attention to them though was his fingernails. Normally
they were chewed up stubs, but now they were long and perfectly
manicured. "I've got girls fingernails... "
Aaron stood there in stunned silence, only barely noticing the confused
boy who now stood where the pretty girl had a minute earlier. He was
grabbing himself and looking just as lost as Aaron. However Aaron was
too caught up in his own changes to notice and staggered away, thankful
that the strange tingling and changes had stopped, but feeling
completely confused about what had happened and what they meant.
"What's going on?" Aaron gasped, grabbing his chest again and gulping.
Somehow he had a feeling that whatever had happened it was BIG.
Aaron had no idea what had happened to him, but it was obvious that
something very strange had. He'd changed... He had to see how. He had
to see for himself. With a shudder of fear he hurried to the nearest
boys bathroom and rushed inside, thankful that no one else was already
in there... especially after he looked in the mirror.
"No... ," he squeaked out, too shocked to feel the horror he knew was
coming.
The reflection Aaron was used to had vanished from the mirror, only to
be replaced by one belonging to someone else. It was a girl. A pretty
girl. She looked similar to him... enough to be his sister. She had
the same brunette hair, though hers was much longer and more lustrous.
She had the same brown eyes behind his glasses and even the same cheek
bones. However she also had smooth and flawless skin, rather than his
normal acne, and she was very pretty.
After taking a good look at his face Aaron looked over the rest of his
changed body, feeling oddly calm. He had breasts... about B cups. A
gentle squeeze between his legs verified that he was really a girl there
too. He had somehow been transformed from a nerdy guy into a very
attractive girl.
Aaron carefully took off his glasses and frowned in annoyance as
everything became blurry. "Great," he scowled. "I go through all these
changes and my eyesight still stays the same." He sighed in
disappointment as he put his glasses back on.
Just then the door to the bathroom began to open. Aaron took another
quick look in the mirror and felt his heart jump. If another boy came
in and saw him looking like THIS... as a girl in the boys bathroom, he'd
really be in trouble. Aaron quickly dodged into one of the stalls just
barely in time to avoid being seen.
"Damn," Aaron whispered to himself as he heard another boy come in and
do his business.
For several minutes Aaron just sat on the toilet seat trying to make
sense of this all. It didn't make any kind of sense whatsoever to just
turn into a girl without any warning... or even with warning. And just
as strange as that was the fact that it felt so comfortable. Sure, he
was shocked at suddenly transforming into a girl, but his new body
didn't feel weird like he would have thought. It felt... normal.
"I'm a girl," Aaron whispered quietly so no one would hear him.
That statement wasn't one of disbelief but more of acceptance. It
somehow felt right to be a girl, as though she always had been one.
Though Aaron had only been a girl for such a short time, it was the idea
of being a boy that actually seemed wrong. She shuddered slightly when
she thought about what it had been like having that... thing between her
legs.
Once the bathroom was clear Aaron snuck out, thankful that she hadn't
been caught. She would have hated to explain what a girl was doing in
the boys bathroom. That would NOT have been fun at all.
"What do I do now?" Aaron finally asked herself.
Somehow Aaron didn't think she could just go to the school nurses office
and tell her about this. For one thing, no one would ever believe her.
After all people didn't suddenly have sex changes like this. If she
tried telling people, they'd think she was either crazy or playing some
kind of joke.
"But what caused this?" Aaron looked down at herself, not sure if she
really wanted to switch back or to keep that from happening. After all
she was a girl and perfectly comfortable to be one. "But what about my
friends and family... " But after remembering her lack of friends, she
shrugged, "Okay... What about my family? How am I going to tell mom
and dad about this?"
Aaron thought about it for a few more seconds and decided that any
explanations to her family could wait for the moment. The first thing
she needed was an explanation for herself. She had to figure out more
about what actually had happened. She started towards the library,
thinking that searching the internet on the library computer just might
help her figure out what was going on.
"A new name," Aaron suddenly exclaimed, "I need a new name... " She
frowned, knowing that she couldn't very well use a boys name now that
she was a girl. Then she grinned at the obvious, "Erin with an E...
Perfect... ." And with that Erin hurried to the school library and
hopefully some answers.
Part 3
Kim shook her head as she left her first period class, amazed at just
how strange it had been. The class itself hadn't been any different
than normal, but two of her fellow students had been acting very... odd.
That was about the only word Kim could think of to describe their
behavior, other than freaky.
Corey and Danielle came into class together the same way they did every
morning, which wasn't at all surprising since they were twins. However
in spite of being twins they'd always been complete opposites. Corey
was loud and obnoxious, while Danielle was quiet and shy, overshadowed
by her more outgoing brother. This morning though they were both
completely different.
"What got into those two?" Kim frowned in confusion.
Corey had been completely shy and had barely said a word during the
entire period, while Danielle wouldn't stop talking. She'd even told a
few dirty jokes, which were hilarious, but completely out of character.
It was almost as though the two of them had somehow switched
personalities.
"Like that's possible," Kim snorted to herself, wondering if Corey and
Danielle might be working together to play some sort of joke. "I'll
have to ask Ben what he thinks when I see him... "
Kim sighed and continued on her way, turning her thoughts from the
strange behavior of her fellow students to the big English test she
hadn't studied for. Maybe she could get Ben's notes on that class when
she lent him the ones from history. She already had her own notes but
it might help to read his as well, if she could read them. His
handwriting was so sloppy that half the time she couldn't make out what
he meant. Sometimes she thought it might even be intentional on his
part.
Then Kim looked up and noticed her English teacher Ms. Coolidge standing
by the door of her classroom. Kim smiled faintly at the coincidence
since she'd just been thinking of her class a moment earlier.
Suddenly Kim felt a strange tingling rush through her entire body and
being. She gasped in shock and staggered, grabbing at the wall for
support. Her whole body felt as though it were changing somehow. Her
clothes began to pinch, making her extremely uncomfortable.
"What's happening to me?" Kim gasped as the strange sensations faded
away just as quickly as they had come.
Kim stood up, aware that something was definitely wrong with her body.
Her clothes were far too tight on her and she had a feeling that it was
more than just that. She frowned, trying to make sense of it, but there
was nothing she could make sense of. After a moment she slowly moved
down the hallway, staring at her hands which somehow looked subtly
different.
--------------------
Rebecca Coolidge stood in the door of her classroom as the last student
from her previous class left. She had no students for this coming
period and intended to use the time for grading papers. She looked up
and noticed a girl from one of her classes staring at her in the
hallway.
Just then Rebecca felt a massive surge of static shoot through her body.
She gasped and staggered into her classroom, losing her balance and
falling onto the floor. Her whole body was overwhelmed with a powerful
tingling feeling and the sensation that her very flesh was moving
around.
"What... ?" Rebecca gasped in terror, suddenly thinking of Edward, the
elderly teacher who'd had a stroke just the year before. At the age of
35 she thought she was far too young to have a stroke, but she had no
idea of what else it could be. There was definitely something wrong.
The strange tingling passed after just a minute and Rebecca slowly got
back to her feet, feeling strange and different. It wasn't necessarily
a bad feeling though. She frowned thoughtfully, realizing that she
actually felt a little lighter and more energetic. In fact her clothes
even seemed to have become a little loose on her.
"I never heard of a stroke making you feel better," she muttered with a
shake of her head, glancing to the cup of coffee on her desk and
wondering if one of her students might have slipped something into it.
"It wouldn't be the first time a student did that to a teacher... "
Rebecca scowled, not sure what to think. Should she go to the school
nurse just in case? It seemed silly to do that just because she felt
better than normal. Then again, if a student did slip some drugs into
her coffee it would be a good idea to find out for sure.
After a moment Rebecca sniffed her coffee which smelled strong and
bitter rather than pleasant like normal. This was the confirmation she
needed that something had been done to it. But at the same time she
hadn't noticed anything while drinking it. Nor had there really been
any opportunity she could think of for someone to spike it... not unless
they got into the coffee pot in the teachers lounge.
"What's wrong with me?" Rebecca shook her head, trying to make sense of
this.
Rebecca grimaced and reached into her desk drawer for the hand mirror
she normally kept there. She usually used it to touch up her makeup,
something the other teachers sometimes teased her about. Though Rebecca
would never admit it to anyone else, she took pride in being the sexiest
teacher in school, and having all those adolescent boys crushing on her.
She knew that it was probably compensating for the lack of male
attention she got in high school, but she still enjoyed it.
But when Rebecca looked into the mirror she could only let out a loud
gasp. Her eyes went wide as she stared at her face. She looked...
younger. About twenty years younger. She looked more like one of the
students she taught than a teacher.
"I look like a teenager," Rebecca gasped in shock, too stunned to think
of what to say.
Rebecca grabbed her chest, wincing when she realized that her breasts
were smaller. She'd probably lost about two cup sizes, much to her
growing horror. It was impossible... but also made her even more like a
teenager. She suddenly had a flashback of when she'd been in high school
as a student. She'd been a late bloomer and hadn't really come into her
own, until early in her senior year. Now it looked as though all that
had been undone.
"Fuck no," Rebecca blurted out. She normally didn't swear since it
wasn't ladylike, but if this wasn't the situation for it she didn't know
what was.
She grabbed her hair, which was still the same blonde as normal, but
she'd lost much of her curves and had become a skinny teenage girl
instead of the sexy adult woman she'd been. She gulped in horror, sure
that this was some sort of a nightmare.
"How can this possibly get worse?" Rebecca cried out.
--------------------
Kim stepped into the bathroom, well aware of the strange looks she got
from the other girls who were coming out. One of them had even
muttered, "Isn't she a bit old to dress like that?"
"There's something definitely wrong," Kim gulped, stepping in front of
the bathroom mirror and gasping in shock.
The image that the mirror reflected back at her was her... but
definitely wasn't. It certainly wasn't the reflection she had that
morning. In fact it wasn't quite a reflection she'd ever seen in her
mirror and hadn't expected to for another twenty years.
"I'm OLD," Kim gulped, her eyes going wide.
There was no doubt that it was Kim in the mirror, but she looked
older... . by twenty years. She looked like she was in her thirties
instead of her teens. She had laugh lines, the beginnings of crows
feet, and a face that made her think she could easily pass as her own
mom. A look down made her realize that this explained her tight clothes
as well.
"Oh shit," Kim exclaimed, grabbing her chest which had become a bit
larger. Unfortunately so had her waist. She hadn't become fat, but she
had put on a few pounds. And from the tightness in the rest of her
clothes, she guessed that she must have grown a couple inches taller
too. "I've become older... "
Kim just stared at her reflection in silence, trying to make sense of
how this could have possibly happened. Girls didn't suddenly grow up
overnight, in spite of what some parents suggested. This was absolutely
impossible. She'd never heard of anything like this happening before.
"How... ?" Kim asked herself.
She tried to remember what she'd been doing and thinking when this had
happened. She'd been looking at Ms. Coolidge and thinking about the
latest English assignment, as well as wanting to ask a few questions.
But when she thought about it, Kim realized that there was no need for
her to have asked those questions in the first place. She already knew
the answers.
"But I didn't know earlier," she scowled, confused since the answers
were now clear in her head and quite simple. In fact, when she thought
about it, everything about English seemed simple and obvious. She
wondered how she could have possibly had any questions. "It's not like
it's a difficult subject... " However she knew that her report card
said otherwise, which only confused her more.
Kim shook her head, wondering why she suddenly thought English was easy.
It was though. She could close her eyes and actually remember the
questions on the upcoming test, which was impossible because she hadn't
even seen it yet. That only made her even more confused.
"This is completely strange," Kim said with a scowl, "I've got to talk
to Ben... Maybe he'll have some idea... "
Kim took another look at her reflection and then left the bathroom. As
she started down the hall, she heard another student ask, "Is that a new
teacher? I don't recognize her... "
"Just great," Kim winced, "now people think I'm a teacher... I've got
to figure this out fast."
Part 4
Ben frowned as he looked up and down the school hallway, knowing that
something was wrong. He couldn't point out exactly what it was, but he
could feel it in his bones. Some of the other students were starting to
act strange, and several times he'd noticed a blue glow from the corner
of his eye, though there was nothing there when he actually looked for
the source.
"Maybe I'm going crazy," Ben muttered, not sure what to think of this
suspicion.
Almost as if on cue another boy came rushing past Ben with a look of
fear and confusion on his face. Ben stared at the passing boy with a
gasp of surprise, recognizing him, but immediately noticing that
something wasn't quite right. For one thing, the boy was normally
slender, but now looked overweight. In fact the loose clothes he
normally wore were stretched to the point that they looked as though
they could burst at any moment.
"What the hell?" Ben shook his head, sure that he was imagining things.
People didn't just put on fifty pounds over night.
Ben grimaced and hurried down the hall, determined not to think about
it. This was just too weird to be real, so it obviously wasn't. He just
had to forget all about any of this weird stuff and remember that it was
a day just like any other.
Ben hadn't gone very far when a girl suddenly came running out of a
classroom and collided with him, knocking him to the floor. "What
the... ?" he gasped, his first thought being that Chris was making his
move, even though he'd seen it was only a girl.
"Sorry," the girl apologized with an expression that held more than a
hint of panic.
For a moment Ben remained on the floor staring at the girl, who somehow
seemed very familiar. She was fairly pretty, though nothing
spectacular, and she wore clothes there were noticeably too large for
her. The clothes somehow seemed familiar as well, though he still
couldn't place who this girl was.
"I'm sorry for running into you Ben," the girl said, trying to hold onto
her dignity, though she looked as though she was about to start crying.
"What?" Ben blinked in surprise at her knowing his name. He frowned
suspiciously, "Who are you? Do I know you?" He tried to remember if
he'd seen her in one of his classes but that just didn't seem right.
"I'm... ," she started to answer, then paused with a pale expression.
She looked down at herself and muttered, "You wouldn't believe me... "
Then she forced a smile. "You can call me Rebecca. I'm sorry for
hitting you... "
"No problem Becky." Ben grinned to show that there were no hard
feelings. "It happens."
"Becky," the girl mused with a slight shake of her head, almost looking
amused for a moment, "I haven't been called that since... " She looked
down at herself and frowned, the quietly muttered, "Not since I was in
school... "
"What?" Ben frowned, feeling a little confused. Then he remembered the
near panicked look in her eyes a minute earlier. "Are you okay Becky?
You look like something's wrong... Maybe I can help... "
The girl... Becky looked at him in surprise. "You wouldn't believe
me... "
"You don't know until you try," Ben pointed out, trying to be as
reassuring as he could.
Becky forced a laugh. "You could say I'm going through an identity
crisis... " She looked around fearfully but Ben gently put a hand on
her shoulder to comfort her.
"I'm sorry," he pulled his hand back looking embarrassed, "I know I
shouldn't have... "
"It's okay," Becky chuckled, "I appreciate the gesture... "
"Are you sure you're all right?" Ben asked with a blush.
Becky stared at him for a moment before sighing, "There's nothing you
could do... " She shook her head. "I don't know if there's anything I
can do... "
Just then Ben heard a deep voice from behind him snarling, "Isn't this
cute... The loser has a girlfriend... "
Ben snapped around to see Chris Brechard standing there. Chris was
seventeen and one of if not THE biggest guy in school. He was tall and
heavily muscled. He probably could have been a star on the school
football team if it wasn't for his bad attitude. The very sight of him
sent a slight chill of fear up Ben's spine though he refused to show it.
"Oh, it's you," Ben responded with a dismissive sigh that hid how
nervous he was inside. He wasn't going to give Chris the satisfaction
of seeing fear.
"Listen punk," Chris snarled, glaring down at Ben from his seven inch
height advantage, "I told you that I'm going to pay you back... "
"You should probably get out of here," Ben told Becky while he continued
to force a smile.
Becky stared at him and then up at Chris, gasping in surprise. She took
a deep breath, looking extremely nervous and uncertain, "You can't do
this," she started to say, "this is a school... "
"What?" Chris blinked, then snorted, "Is she retarded or something?"
"Leave her alone," Ben snapped at Chris, beginning to get angry. "I'm
the one you've got a grudge with... not her."
"Well don't worry," Chris snorted, putting a hand against Ben's chest
and shoving him back against the wall. "I won't hurt your girlfriend.
I'm not into butt ugly skanks."
Ben didn't know why these insults to Becky were making him so mad but
they were. He grimaced and hit Chris as hard as he could, surprised
when the large boy gasped and bent over in pain. It took Ben a moment
to realize that he'd been lucky enough to get Chris in the solar
plexus... one of his few soft spots.
"Let's get out of here," Ben said, grabbing Becky's arm and half pulling
her down the hall.
"You hit him," Becky gasped as she followed behind, "you hit him
first... You can't hit other students... "
"I know," Ben grimaced, "my hand hurts... " Of course he knew that
wasn't what she meant. He sighed. If this was the real world he'd get
charged with assault or something and could go to jail... But it isn't
the real world. This is the wonderful world of high school, where he
could beat the crap out of me and maybe get suspended for a couple
weeks. That's not much of a threat to keep him from hurting me...
"And you think punching him is going to stop him?" Becky asked with a
skeptical look.
"No," Ben admitted, "but he was going to hit me anyway so I just delayed
it for awhile."
Becky stared at Ben for a moment with a strange expression, then she
shook her head, muttering, "Boys... " However he couldn't help but
noticing the faint grin which indicated she was more pleased about this
than she seemed.
"Well, I've got to get going to class," Ben sighed once they stopped.
He grinned at Becky and held out his hand, "It was nice meeting you. I
hope things work out for you."
"And I hope you can avoid being beaten up," she responded with a faint
smile. Then she looked down at herself and sighed, "I have things I
need to do to... "
"Maybe we'll run into each other again," Ben suggested hopefully.
Becky hesitated, looking extremely uncertain. Then she smiled weakly,
"I'm sure we will... once I get this fixed... " She looked down at
herself again which confused Ben. Then she quickly darted forward and
gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning and hurrying away with a
bright blush on her cheeks.
"Wow," Ben gasped, rubbing at his cheek in surprise. He'd never had a
girl do something like that to him before. "I can't wait to tell Kim
about this... "
Part 5
Liz shifted at her desk, pretending that she was paying closer attention
to the teacher as he lectured, though her attention was somewhere else
entirely. Though Liz was careful not to be too obvious, the true object
of her attention was Trey Walker, the cute boy who sat just across from
her.
"So perfect," Liz sighed with disappointment, knowing that she'd never
have him no matter how much she dreamed of it.
Liz had liked Trey for what seemed like forever... for at least a month,
though he didn't even notice her. Instead, like every other boy in
class, he only had eyes for Missy Sawyer, the busty girl in the front
row. As pretty as Liz was she couldn't complete to a knockout like
Missy.
"The bitch," Liz glared at Missy with envy, wishing that she was the one
getting all that attention from Trey. She hated the other girl for
having what she couldn't, though she'd never admit to the real reason,
even to herself. She envied Missy's impressive breasts and the
attention earned her from all the boys. "I bet she's a real slut too...
"
After a moment Liz turned her attention back to Trey, smiling faintly as
she let out a quiet sigh. She could sit there admiring him all day
long. She almost regretted that the class would be ending soon and she
wouldn't be able to stare at him this way until tomorrow.
Just then Liz suddenly felt a little strange, though she couldn't point
out exactly why. She frowned as she thought about it for a minute
before turning her attention back to Trey. However the sight of her
long term crush did little for her. She frowned even deeper, suddenly
wondering why she'd ever found him attractive in the first place. The
very sight of him no longer did anything at all for her.
"I thought mom was kidding when she said it was just a crush that would
pass," Liz muttered with a sigh, not sure what to think of her sudden
loss of interest in Trey.
Liz shrugged and turned her attention back to the teacher and the
lecture she had been pretending to listen to before this. But while she
was listening her attention slowly drifted, until she realized that she
was staring at Missy again. Liz frowned out of habit but found herself
unable to tear her eyes from the other girl. Missy was so... sexy. The
very sight of the other girl inspired thoughts that Liz wasn't used to
getting about other girls.
"What's wrong with me?" Liz gulped, unable to stop fantasizing about
Missy and those wonderful breasts. Her heart raced as she thought about
them which made her blush and hope that no one else noticed the way she
was staring. "Am I gay... ?"
Liz quickly glanced over to Trey, confused since she'd been crushing on
him like normal just a few minutes ago, but now found him utterly
uninteresting. However she did notice that he was no longer staring at
Missy at all. In fact he kept looking down at himself with a strange
expression.
"Weird," Liz muttered before turning her attention back to Missy and
smiling, "such a babe... " She sighed and slipped back into her dreamy
fantasies, having a feeling she was going to have some interesting
dreams about Missy that night.
--------------------
Cindy paused to adjust her glasses, then went back to writing her notes.
She paused again to glance up at the teacher and listen to his
description, making sure she had it all before she added this latest
addition to her notes. She had no doubt that she had the most accurate
notes in the entire class, a fact which she took pride on.
While the teacher continued to repeat himself, something he did quiet
often since most of the other students didn't pay as much attention as
she did, Cindy looked around. She felt somewhat smug as she saw that
the other students weren't paying attention. No doubt they would do
pretty back on the final test compared to her.
The pretty girl Missy seemed to alternate between looking at her nails
and typing quick text messages on her cell phone. Several guys were
staring at Missy, as was one girl. That surprised Cindy, since Liz was
usually making goo goo eyes at some boy in class, not at Missy.
"Weird," Cindy muttered, feeling a chill down her spine. Something very
strange was going on.
Just then Cindy felt a strange tingling run through her body. She
gasped in surprise and looked around, noticing that Missy was looking
around in surprise too. However Cindy was too intent on the strange
things she was now feeling to pay much attention to that bimbo.
Cindy's chest itched and tingled as it began to slowly swell larger.
Her small A cup bra became tight to the point it was almost painful,
much to Cindy's disbelief. She grabbed her chest and looked around
fearfully, hoping that no one saw this. She saw Missy reacting
similarly though with a look of pure horror on her face.
"My... ," Cindy started, then gasped again as her vision blurred. She
took off her glasses to clean them and was surprised to find that she
could now see perfectly fine. She stared down at her glasses in
amazement, then at the rest of the room which should have been badly
blurred, but which no longer was. "I can see... "
Cindy's exclamation was cut off as the pressure from her chest became
too tight. Then in the snapping of a bra the pressure was released and
her larger breasts were free. Cindy grabbed them through her now very
tight shirt, drawing the attention from the entire class, though she
didn't care about that. She could still feel them growing.
At the same time countless other changes occurred in Cindy's body, but
she was too caught up in her growing breasts to notice. Her hair grew
longer and more lustrous. The acne that had been the bane of her
existence for the last two years faded away to nothing, leaving smooth
and unblemished skin. Her muscle tone tightened up as her curves
developed, giving her a very sexy body instead of the skinny one she had
before.
When the changes finally finished Cindy was busty and very sexy looking.
She stared down at herself, amazed that even her fingernails had
changed... becoming long and perfectly manicured. Her shirt had been
torn open, but that was hardly a concern as her new breasts were
magnificent and almost demanding to be shown off. Cindy stared down at
herself in shock and disbelief, then a surge of growing excitement as
she realized what this meant.
It was only then that Cindy looked around and realized that every single
person in the class room was staring at her with their mouths dropped
open. Even Liz, the girl who'd been giving the goo goo eyes at Missy,
was staring at her with a look of... very obvious interest. Cindy
blushed horribly and glanced to Missy, only to gasp again.
Missy had changed not only as much as Cindy had, but in almost the exact
opposite way. She had become nearly flat chested and lost nearly all of
her curves, leaving her with a very skinny body. Her hair had become
short and limp, while a splatter of acne was now visible on her face.
And from the way she was squinting badly, Cindy had a feeling that
Missy's vision had gotten much worse.
"Oh shit," Cindy whispered.
Missy was grabbing at her chest with a look of absolute horror on her
face. She stared at her hands and then began to sob loudly before
turning to stare at Cindy, a look of pure hatred and envy burning in her
eyes. Then she let out a loud scream that was nearly drowned out by the
school bell that began to ring.
Part 6
Kim frowned as she walked through the school hallway, feeling self-
conscious about the way her body had changed and her clothes no longer
fit properly. She was sure the students were staring at her, though
they all assumed she was a substitute teacher and didn't say a word.
For that she was thankful.
"At least no one is making fun of me," Kim mused to herself with a sense
of relief.
She looked at all the students around her, suddenly struck by just how
young they all looked. They were barely more than children. This
realization struck her hard since she knew that she was really the same
age as them... and even younger than many.
"What's happening to me?" Kim demanded to whatever force was responsible
for making her age twenty years. She was more than twice her old age.
"But I don't really feel... old... " She shook her head, thinking that
it made no sense.
Another thing that made no sense... as if her sudden age change did, was
the fact that she somehow knew things that she didn't know before. When
she thought about it now, she knew just about everything about English
class... which had been one of her worse classes. In fact she was quite
sure that she knew much more than would be taught that year.
"It's as if I got the knowledge I'd have if I really was this old," Kim
mused with a faint surge of pleasure at that. Knowing things she didn't
know before certainly wasn't something she'd consider a downside. "But
I know more than that too... " She shook her head, trying to make some
sense of it all.
Kim had no idea of what had caused her sudden transformation but she
knew she'd have to tell Ben. After all they were best friends and had
always shared everything. And if anyone could help her... .or at least
comfort her about this, it would be him. Of course she didn't think
he'd know anything about this or be able to do anything about it, but
that wasn't the point. There were more ways to help someone than just
that.
"I've spent enough time hiding in the bathroom and thinking about this
myself," Kim told herself with determination, "now I have to do
something about it... "
Kim knew Ben's schedule by heart so had no problem guessing where he'd
be right then. He usually stopped at his locker where the two of them
would meet up and go to class together. Ironically it would be English
class... the one that she normally dreaded, but was now confident enough
in the knowledge that she was sure she could even teach it. In fact,
something about that seemed vaguely appealing.
"Like I could possibly be a student in the class looking like this," Kim
looked down at herself.
Just then students started to pour out of a classroom just ahead of her.
Kim wouldn't have thought much of it except for the fact that at least
half the kids looked freaked out and on the verge of panic. Several of
them were even screaming as they ran down the hall as fast as they
could.
"What the... ?" Kim gasped in surprise.
"I'm getting out of here," one girl exclaimed to another, "I don't care
if I get in trouble for skipping... I'm not gonna stay here with
this... "
"What's going on?" Kim demanded of the girl.
The girl stopped and stared at Kim with a look of surprise and then
fear. Kim was startled at that but quickly realized the girl thought she
was a teacher and was afraid she'd been caught about to skip. Kim
grinned faintly but forced her expression to become firm, deciding she
could use that.
"Something happened... ," the girl stammered, her cheeks going red.
"I gathered that much," Kim said, relaxing a little and gently asking,
"What's happening... ?"
"There's a girl... " the girl blurted out, "she just went completely
flat chested in class... Right in front of everyone... "
"She turned ugly too," a second girl, the friend of the first quickly
added. The first girl nodded while the second girl continued, "And
another girl suddenly turned big breasted and beautiful... "
"What?" Kim gasped in surprise, realizing that this sounded an awful lot
like what had happened to her. "Where are these girls?"
The two girls Kim was interrogating looked around the hallway with blank
expressions before the first one responded, "I don't know... They
already left... "
"Great," Kim grimaced, silently cursing that her one... or was that two
clues about what happened to her had vanished. "Thank you," Kim told
the girls who quickly ran off.
With a sense of even greater urgency Kim continued on her way to find
Ben. She found him exactly where she expected to, standing beside his
locker. He was grinning a bit, which made her curious.
"Ben?" Kim asked hesitantly, not sure how he'd react to what had
happened to her.
"What... ?" Ben blinked and stared at her with a blank expression for a
moment. Then his eyes went wide in recognition, "Kim?" He stared at
her in stunned disbelief.
Kim nodded self-consciously, "Yeah... Something strange happened... "
She gestured at herself and sighed, "I don't know how I suddenly got
older... "
"No fucking way," Ben gasped, still staring at her.
Kim frowned, beginning to feel annoyed at the way he keep staring. She
suddenly realized just how young he was, and how much younger he now
seemed. She hesitated, not sure she should talk to him about this
anymore, but then she reminded herself that he was her best friend and
they'd always shared everything.
"I'm not the only one," Kim told him as calmly as she could, "Other
people have been having weird things happen to them as well...
impossible things."
"Other people?" Ben asked, his expression shifting to one a bit more
sharp and thoughtful, "What things?"
Kim repeated what she'd heard from those girls just a few minutes
earlier while Ben listened without interruption. Once she was done, she
asked, "What do you think?"
"I've noticed some weird things," Ben admitted thoughtfully. "I mean,
I've seen a few people acting really weird today... I didn't actually
see anyone changing like that, but that would probably explain why they
were acting so weird... ."
"Then you do believe me," Kim sighed in relief.
"Why wouldn't I?" Ben asked, almost surprised. It wasn't like she made
a habit of lying to him or anything. "I mean, you look almost like your
own mom... ."
"Thanks," Kim responded crisply, not sure that she appreciated the
suggestion that she looked 'old'. She certainly didn't feel old, though
Ben did seem so much younger to her now than he ever had before.
Just then a girl's voice exclaimed, "It got you too... didn't it?" Ben
and Kim turned to see a very attractive girl standing there in ill
fitting clothes.
"What did you say?" Kim demanded, staring at the girl, her eyes going to
the girl's clothes and then quickly down to her own.
"I couldn't help overhearing you," the girl said nervously as she
adjusted her glasses. "I'm Erin... "
"What do you mean?" Ben asked her, trying to ignore her nice body and
focus on the matter of hand though it wasn't easy.
Erin blushed and adjusted her glasses again in what seemed to be a
nervous habit. "It got me too... . I wasn't sure if it was staying
here or if it just got me... ." She blushed again. "I was a boy this
morning... "
"Oh shit," Ben gasped in shock.
Kim's eyes went wide and she looked at Erin again, realizing that Erin
wasn't just wearing clothes that didn't fit... she was wearing boy
clothes.
"I've heard about some others too... " Kim shook her head. "I don't
know what's changing us... "
Erin was silent for a moment before grimly stating, "I do... "
Kim and Ben both stared at her in surprise. "What?" Ben demanded,
"What's going on then?"
Erin paused to adjust her glasses yet again. "I looked it up online on
the library computer... " She took a deep breath. "It's called the
Role Exchanger... At least that's what they called it on the websites I
found... "
"The Role Exchanger?" Kim said the words, getting a bad feeling from
that name.
With a nod Erin continued, "It's done this before... several times. It
goes around switching people's traits around and messing them all up. I
read something from this college reporter who claims it's an alien of
some sort and it's using us all for experiments... ."
"Great," Ben grimaced, "aliens... "
"Just one as far as I know," Erin sighed, "at least that's what the
reporter said... "
"So we find it and make it change you back," Ben said, looking to Kim.
Kim nodded with a frown, not looking quite as enthusiastic as Ben would
have expected.
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy," Erin admitted quietly. She
took another deep breath. "I read that it's made of energy or something
and you can't even see it most of the time... It goes around
invisible... but supposedly you can see it from the corner of your eye."
"Just great," Ben scowled, "then how are we supposed to catch it?"
"I don't know," Erin admitted, not mentioning that she wasn't even sure
she wanted to catch it. "I don't know... "
Ben just snorted, "Great. Then what are we gonna do?"
Part 7
Becky leaned back against the wall, hiding in the corner enough so that
most people wouldn't notice her. She remained where she was with a
scowl as she watched the students walking back and forth through the
school hallway. She'd been there for the last fifteen minutes, barely
having moved at all.
Then Becky turned her attention to the doorway across the hall again.
It was her classroom, the one she should be in at that moment. Her
class was about to start but she didn't dare go inside. What if her
students recognized her? What if they didn't? She looked at herself,
knowing that she didn't look much at all like her normal self.
"I'm so much younger," Becky muttered to herself with a grimace. Not
only had she lost all those years, but also much of her development.
She was skinny now, not well developed and sexy like she had been just
hours ago. "Too bad I was a late bloomer... "
Becky shook her head sadly, not sure of what to think of her situation
or what she could possibly do. She still had no idea why she had
suddenly lost twenty years of age and become a teenager again. That
kind of thing just wasn't possible, but how could she deny what had
obviously happened?
Several students were gathered around the door to her classroom,
wondering aloud where she was at. It certainly wasn't her habit to be
late to her own class. She was tempted to go to them and say, "Here I
am... " Of course she knew that wouldn't work. They'd just think she
was another student who was joking or crazy.
"No one will believe I'm me," she sighed, trying to think of a single
person she could go to. She might try some of the other faculty, but
she had a strong suspicion that none of them would even give her the
chance to explain. After all she looked like a student now so that's
what they'd assume she was. "They'll just think I'm a student playing a
prank... "
Becky tried thinking about who she could possibly turn to for help, and
to her surprise the only one she could think of was that boy Ben, who
was in her class. He'd been so kind to her earlier and so willing to
help her when he didn't even know who she was.
"And he's pretty cute," she mused to herself, blushing brightly as she
remembered the way she'd kissed him.
Becky was still surprised at herself for the way she'd behaved with Ben,
and for the way she was thinking about him. In all the time she'd had
him as a student, she'd never once thought about him the way she was
now. The way she was thinking about him, it was almost as if she was
crushing on him. Of course she knew that was impossible. He was a
student and she was a teacher... even if she didn't look like it at the
moment.
"But he is cute," she admitted defensively.
With a shake of her head Becky tried clearing her mind of those
inappropriate thoughts. She was a teacher... She couldn't think that
way about a student, no matter how nice and cute he was. Instead she
tried thinking about her lesson plan and what she'd planned on teaching
that day. But to her annoyance she came up blank. She couldn't
remember what she was going to teach.
"I just can't concentrate," Becky grumbled in frustration.
Just then Becky's attempt to get Ben out of her thoughts was ruined by
the sight of him walked to her classroom. However Ben wasn't alone. He
had two girls with him. One was a very shapely girl with glasses, while
the other was a grown woman, probably a substitute teacher Becky hadn't
met before. All three were busy talking and didn't even look in her
direction.
"Ben," Becky whispered, feeling a surge of jealousy. How could he
possibly be interested in her as she was now when he had someone like
that girl with glasses. "It's not fair... " Then she frowned, "But I'm
not interested in him like that... I'm not... I'm a teacher... " Then
she sighed, "Or at least I was... "
Becky stared at the three of them for a few more seconds before the
grown woman and the sexy girl in the glasses both separated and went in
different directions. She briefly thought about going over to say hi to
Ben, but he went inside the classroom first.
"Damn," Becky grimaced, knowing that she didn't dare go in there now.
Then with a sigh she turned and walked down the hallway, her thoughts
and emotions swirling in confusion.
Part 8
Jordan Eckles looked over his classroom and scowled in annoyance. There
were far too many empty seats for his liking. In fact a full third of
his class simply hadn't shown up and he had no idea why. After all the
students didn't know he planned on pulling a pop math quiz on them
today.
"Does anyone know where your fellow students are?" Jordan asked aloud,
glaring at the remaining students as though it was somehow there fault.
"You're not holding senior skip day early, are you?"
"No sir," Mark responded from the front row. He was a bit of a suck up,
but that was all right with Jordan. He rather liked it when his
students treated him with extra respect, even if they were doing it to
suck up for special treatment.
Jordan sighed and scratched at his nearly bald head. He had the Captain
Picard hair style as his students frequently joked. He was entirely
bald on top with just a fringe of hair around the side and back.
"Okay then," Jordan said after a minute, "let's get started. Those of
you who showed up are lucky enough to get this lovely pop quiz that I'm
about to pass out... "
"You didn't tell us we're gonna have a quiz," one of the students
gasped, sounding horrified enough that it brought a faint smile to
Jordan's lips.
"Of course not," he responded pleasantly. "If I had, it wouldn't be a
pop quiz, would it?"
One of the girls groaned as she looked over the quiz, "This sucks... "
Patricia, the girl who'd spoken groaned, then dropped her head onto the
desk in such a way that her long hair covered nearly the entire surface.
"You should be thankful that your fellow students chose not to come,"
Jordan told his class with a smile, "because we're so short today, I've
decided to give you all one extra point just for showing up... "
There were a few mumbles about that, mostly relieved. The students knew
that every little bit helped, especially when they weren't paying as
much attention in class as they should. Jordan was sure he'd actually
heard two separate students snoring during his lecture on angles and
tangents yesterday.
Suddenly Jordan felt a strange tingling sensation run over his scalp.
His scalp itched horribly and he reached up to scratch it, only to find
that his fingers didn't touch the bald skin like he'd expected. Instead
his fingers found hair where there had been none... long hair.
"What the hell?" Mark exclaimed from the front row, staring at Jordan in
shock and disbelief.
"How'd you do that?" a girl asked in awe.
Jordan grabbed at his new hair in confusion, finding that he now had a
full head of hair that was long enough to go down well past his
shoulders. He shook his head, sure that he was imagining this, but the
hair actually fell down over his face and kept him from seeing anything.
He had to brush it all back, having the feeling as he did so that he was
in some sort of strange dream.
Just then one of the girls in Jordan's class let out a blood curdling
scream. He looked at Patricia and gasped in shock at the sight of her.
Her long luxurious hair was all gone, and in its place was a Captain
Picard hair cut, very much like what he normally saw in the mirror. The
hair was gone entirely from the top of her head, leaving only a little
short hair around the sides and back.
"Patricia... ?" Jordan gasped in confusion.
Patricia stared at him in horror, her eyes locked on the long hair that
he now possessed. Her hands grabbed to her bald scalp, clutching
desperately as though she could somehow find her hair and pull it back
out. Then she let out another scream, this one even louder than the
first. However Jordan could barely even hear it as every student in his
class began to scream and run for the door.
--------------------
Mark looked around his math class, wondering where all the other
students were. He thought it was kind of strange for so many kids to be
skipping at once, but maybe it had something to do with those rumors
he'd been hearing. He'd been hearing all sorts of rumors of strange
things going on around school that morning, but he didn't really pay
them much attention.
"Maybe they all went to some big party last night," Mark mused, suddenly
feeling jealous at the thought he hadn't been invited. Then again he'd
never been invited to those kind of parties nor had any interest in
attending. But still he usually at least heard about them.
The teacher Mr. Eckles didn't seem to have any idea about where the
students were either and just continued with his normal routine. Today
that routine seemed to include a pop quiz. Mark grinned at that,
confident that he'd do great. He usually did since math was his best
class.
Suddenly something strange happened and Mr. Eckles made a strange
notice. Mark looked up and gasped in shock as he saw his teachers hair
growing longer and longer. Within seconds the normally bald Mr. Eckles
had hair that would have done any girl proud. It was the same dark gray
as before, but now it was long and wavy.
"What the hell?" Mark gasped in shock.
That drew the attention of everyone in the class, but not as much as the
scream that came from the girl who sat behind Mark. He snapped around
and stared in disbelief as he saw that she'd suddenly become nearly
completely bald. That was impossible though... He'd seen her just
minutes before and she had all her hair... Then again, Mr. Eckles had
suddenly grown all that hair right while Mark was watching.
"Holy shit," Mark exclaimed, suddenly remembering all the strange rumors
and fearing that something like this might suddenly happen to him.
Almost as one nearly every student in the class jumped to their feet and
rushed for the door. Mr. Eckles didn't even try stopping them.
Patricia, the girl who'd lost her hair, was clutching her head and
sobbing loudly. Mark barely paid any attention to either of them though
as he rushed to the door along with everyone else.
Mark reached the door at the same time as Lita, the goth girl who always
sat in the back of the class. She was dressed all in black as usual,
with shoulder length electric blue hair. She had several visible
piercings, such as a stud through her nose, one through her lip, a ring
through her eyebrow and a half dozen rings through each ear.
"Watch it," Mark snapped at her impatiently.
"Fuck off, teachers pet," Lita snapped back, spitting at him and shoving
him out of the way in spite of the fact that he was nearly five inches
taller than her.
Suddenly Mark felt a strange tearing at his very being. He screamed, or
at least tried to before everything went black. The darkness only
lasted for an instant, but when it passed and his senses returned,
everything felt completely wrong. He gasped and fell to the floor, his
body feeling strange and unresponsive.
"Watch it," someone snapped at him as the rest of the students rushed
past him to escape the classroom, not even bothering to wait for him to
get back to his feet or out of the way.
Mark grunted and started to get up, freezing though when he saw his hand
on the floor. His eyes went wide in horror as he took in the sight of
the hand that looked almost nothing like his. This one looked smaller
with electric blue painted fingernails. He even had on several rings
which he certainly hadn't been wearing before. Then he looked at his
arm and the rest of his body, gasping aloud as he did so.
Mark scrambled back to his feet, staring down at himself as he did so.
He was wearing almost all black, when just a minute earlier he'd been
wearing something entirely different. More importantly than his clothes
was the fact that the very shape of his body was different. He had two
small swellings on his chest which were just noticeable enough to make
him VERY uncomfortable.
"What the fuck?" blurted out a voice beside Mark.
Mark turned and stared up at what appeared to be... himself. He gulped,
suddenly having an extremely bad feeling about this. He looked himself
over again and poked the swelling on his chest which he could feel a
little too much and then whispered, "Oh shit... "
"No way," Lita exclaimed from Mark's body, staring down at her current
body and then at the body she'd lived in until that moment. It suddenly
struck her that her own body looked kind of short in comparison.
Mark on the other hand stared at his own body, hardly able to believe
how short he felt in comparison. He stared at his hands again then
placed them both on his face, feeling the piercings which he now
possessed. He was cold with shock as he finally pulled his hands away,
knowing that somehow he and Lita had exchanged bodies.
Then as one Mark and Lita turned to each other and demanded, "Give me
back my body... !"
Part 9
Ben stared at the front of the classroom, feeling extremely worried as
he did so. He looked at the clueless substitute who currently sat at
the teachers desk, doing nothing more than keeping an eye on the
students. Then again, Mrs. Billings was a PE teacher, not an English
teacher, and she sure hadn't been expecting to watch the class.
"What happened to her?" Ben whispered to himself, thinking of Ms.
Coolidge who hadn't shown up to teach her own class. Normally that
wouldn't have concerned him too much since he would have just assumed
she was home sick, but he'd seen her at school just a few hours earlier,
and that strange Role Exchanger thing Erin had told him about was
wandering around messing with people. "I hope she's okay... "
When all the students had arrived in class, Ms. Coolidge had been
noticeably absent. There wasn't even any substitute there in her place
which was more surprising. When no teacher showed up ten minutes after
the bell rang, one of the students went to the school office and told
them. They didn't seem to have any idea of where Ms. Coolidge was
either, though they sent Mrs. Billings to keep an eye on things.
Ben scowled, realizing that the teachers didn't have any more idea of
what was going on than the students. In fact they probably had less
idea since they were set in their ways and less likely to listen about
strange things. In fact, if it hadn't been for Erin, Ben wouldn't have
known about that weird Role Exchanger alien either.
For a brief moment Ben thought about going to the school office and
telling them what he knew, but he quickly discounted that idea. He'd
seen enough movies to know that when weird stuff happened, the teachers
never believed the students. At best they'd think he was playing some
sort of joke on them, and at worse... .they'd think he was crazy.
"But what about Ms. Coolidge?" Ben frowned, worried about his favorite
teacher. The irony was that she was probably the only teacher he'd feel
halfway safe telling, and she wasn't there. In fact, with that weird
alien thing going around messing with people, there was a good chance
she'd already had her own encounter with it. "Not good at all... "
Ben couldn't help but thinking of Kim and Erin, both of whom had been
drastically changed in the course of the morning. Kim had suddenly
gotten a lot older and seemed different in other ways too. She somehow
seemed more... mature. It wasn't just in the way she looked, but in the
way she was acting.
"She's acting almost like she really is that old," Ben mused.
And Erin... Ben shook his head when he thought of her. She told him
that just a few hours earlier she'd been a guy, but she certainly didn't
act like it. In fact, Ben never would have guessed she had ever been a
boy, even from her behavior. It was like she was all girl and liked it
that way.
"That thing is weird," Ben reminded himself, thinking about everything
Erin had told him.
According to Erin some college reporter had written this big thing on
the internet about this Role Exchanger. It supposedly just went around
switching things between people. And according to Erin, just about
anything could be switched. Personalities, age, skin color... even
entire bodies. There was no way Ben would have believed that story if he
h