Agnes in JackieLand

Chapter 13

"Jackie, get up!"

Huh? I opened my eyes.

"Jacko, we're hungry," whines a little kid.

It takes me a moment to realize where I am, although it is day five in Jackie's body, I should be used to it. My vision clears from sleepiness, and two little faces hover above me. I groan and close my eyes again.

"Jackie, get up." One of the boys says.

"Pretty please." The other one chimes in.

I grin. How could I refuse those cute little voices? I opened my eyes to a pair of smiling faces. They know that they have won me over. "What do you little monkeys want for breakfast?"

They jump off my bed in unison as I swing my legs out. "Pancakes," they both say.

I grimace, probably not a good idea. "How about cereal?" I suggested.

The one in the blue pajamas, whom I think is Matt, says, "There is no cereal left."

Crap. "Ok. Well, we will see what we can find. Now get out of here so I can go to the bathroom."

Jake, the one in red, runs over and hugs me. Matt follows suit, and they squeeze me with love shining in their spring eyes. I feel my throat close up a bit. I squeeze them back and say what a sister should say: "I love you, little monsters."

They let go simultaneously, saying "ewe," and ran out of Jackie's room. I chuckled as I made my way to the bathroom. After doing my business, I eyed myself up in the mirror. I was a mess, still wearing the clothes I had worn yesterday. It had been a full day of drama and chaos. After Jackie's mother had left the house under sedation, Mr. Franklin had yelled at me for over a half hour. Afterward, he locked himself in his office, leaving me to make dinner for the two scared boys.

The boys had been abnormally quiet for the rest of the day and didn't complain about their dinner, which didn't turn out too bad. The Kraft Dinner was a bit dry yet overdone, and I still wondered how I managed to get it that way. The chicken fingers were only a tad burnt. All in all, I considered it a success, especially compared to the spaghetti disaster.

After dinner, I had the boys bathed and in bed by nine, and I hid myself in Jackie's room. I had gone over the astral projection book I had checked out at the library. I decided it was an interesting concept, and I tried very hard for several hours to get my soul out of Jackie's body.

Frustrated and fed up, I reached for the phone and dialed Graham's number. When it went straight to voicemail, I remembered that I was Jackie. Before, I had used Jackie's phone, and Graham would not answer for me. I listened to my best friend's voice on the voicemail and cried. I missed him terribly.

Fat tears had slid hot down my cheeks. I grabbed a giant pillow and sobbed into it. I didn't know how long I had cried; all I knew was that I woke up this morning still wearing the same clothes. It would have to do for now; I had to feed the hungry twins.

Downstairs, the boys were sitting at a counter in the kitchen. I rummaged through the cupboards and fridge, coming up with eggs and fruit. I had watched my dad make scrambled eggs a thousand times. I had to crack some eggs into a bowl, add milk, salt, pepper, and a splash of vanilla, and, voila, perfect fluffy scrambled eggs. I could do this.

What, in theory, was easy enough was not as easy as my dad or my mind had made it seem. I was definitely not good at cooking. My eggs turned out rubbery with little crunchy bits of all throughout them. I was never going to be a culinary genius like my dad.