The Swap

Allison 5.1

The alarm goes off at eight o'clock. I turn it off and look around. It still isn't a dream. With a sigh I get out of bed and head downstairs. Zachary's house feels so unwelcome and desolate, but when I step foot on the stone-tiled ground floor, I notice I'm not alone. A tall girl with long brown hair hastily wrangles on her coat. As she does, we make eye contact.

"Oh, good morning, Zach," she smiles before immediately switching back into a panicked expression, "You're up early, or maybe I'm just leaving late, haha."

I just stare back at her and mumble a good morning back. Soon enough, she finishes putting on her coat, picks up her briefcase and leaves the house after saying goodbye.

Zachary wasn't kidding when he said his sister is overworked. With that thought, I sit down at the table and eat breakfast. With his sister, Sarah, gone, the house really is empty and silent.

He said his parents were gone, but what did he mean with that?

I notice the two chairs at the table, only two.

I look around the room and spot a cabinet with foto's on it. A woman is depicted in one of them - his mom probably. A few more line the cabinet, but strangely enough his dad is absent on all of them. Is that just a coincidence?

After finishing my lonely breakfast, I head back upstairs and brush my teeth. Once again I note the lack of toothbrushes. I change into the school uniform and jeans, take a moment to feel uncomfortable in them, and do my hair. Apparently, no gel, only water, so I follow those rules. Lastly, I check his schedule and pack his bag accordingly.

The walk to school is much easier this time. I make it on time, and head to class. Now that I'm not in a rush, it feels a lot worse that everyone makes way for me. I keep wanting to tell them to stop. I wonder where Zachary is right now. It feels so weird to want to know exactly what another person is doing. I feel like a stalker.

The teacher arrives, and we all swarm into the classroom. I sit down somewhere random and am about to turn my brain off when a boy sits down next to me and greets me.

Red hair, tall and familiar: this must be Evan.

"So, you're not late today," he starts.

"N-No."

"Did you get into trouble yesterday?"

"Uh, the principal wanted to have a talk with me."

"How did it go?" he asks intrigued.

"I-I don't know..." I mumble, "It went well, I guess?"

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? You went to the meeting, didn't you? It's not like you paid someone to go to the meeting for you."

I tense up. Does he already know?

"N-No, I-I went to the meeting," I quickly assure him, "D-Damian and I apologised and that was that."

"No way, you actually apologised?"

"Y-Yeah? The principal was there."

"Ok, yeah, then I guess you can't really not. And Damian also apologised?"

"Yeah, but afterwards he immediately got mad at me. N-Nothing happened, but I don't think he's over it."

"What a brat. I can't believe people like that exist, always looking for trouble," he sighs.

"I-I know, right?"

"By the way, Damian said some pretty messed up stuff. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, don't worry."

Wow, Evan is a pretty nice guy. He's so different from Zachary, which is pretty much exclusively a good thing. Why couldn't I have been swapped with this guy?

During the lesson, we pretty much chat the whole time. I'm surprised the teacher doesn't disturb us, but it's probably because he's afraid of Zachary. Another perk? What I'm even more surprised about is how Evan doesn't seem suspicious of me in the slightest. Does Zachary normally stutter and talk under his breath so much?

When the class is dismissed, we walk out of the classroom. Secretly I hope we share another class together so we can keep chatting. I don't ask him, but I do follow him and he doesn't seem weirded out by it yet. We turn the corner and I cross eyes with Zachary, standing next to Megan. What's worse, Evan stops in front of the same classroom they're standing in front of.

Don't tell me Zachary and I share this class.

All of a sudden, I feel tense and my throat tightens. I don't dare say a word to Evan anymore with Zachary within listening range. Instead of talking to Evan, I decide to eavesdrop on Zachary and Megan's conversation, but strangely enough they're also silent.

Didn't he say he was going to fix things?