Wrong Bodies

Part 17

“Jordine?”

            Uh...who was that?

            “Jordine, wakey wakey!”

            Mom. It was mom’s voice.

            Groaning, I stretched out my arms and slowly opened my eyes. I was in my room. My pink wall-papered bedroom. I gazed at the cabinet next to the dressing table. All my stuffed animals—forty three in total. I named them all; Mr. Stormy the purple giraffe, Geoffrey the blue giraffe, Jolly the orange giraffe, Mr. Frosty the white polar bear, Dinkle Dee Dee Doo the unicorn, and so forth. My favorite was Dino the Iguana—and cute dolls were there, smiling at my direction as if saying ‘we miss you, Master.’ My mom opened the curtain, letting the morning sunshine in and spread the heat over my exposed feet—mom had folded the blanket neatly on the bedside. I wiggled my toenails. They were painted in red. I got out of bed in no time and stood in front of the big mirror. There, in front of me, I saw a reflection of 5.4 feet tall girl with sun kissed skin and long, brown hair. Ohmygod. I was back.

            “Go take a bath, honey. Breakfast’s ready,” mom said sweetly and kissed my cheek.

            “O...okay,” I said, still surveying around in awe.

            “What’s wrong? You seem confused.”

            “Nothing. I’m just...still sleepy. I’ll come downstairs in five.”

            I examined every inch of my body when I was lying down in the bathtub full of warm, lavender scent water. Everything seemed normal, as if I’d never cut my hair. As if I’d never gone to the hardware store. As if I’d never turned into a boy. Or maybe...it never happened in the first place. Was it all just a dream? Yes, yes. It must have been a figment of my imagination. I trotted along the corridor cheerfully. It felt like ages since the last time I wore a skirt.

            “Morning, Sista,” said Jayson who just climbed down from his attic in pajamas. Even Jayson behaved nicely toward me. As I entered the kitchen, I was greeted by the usual Ash family’s morning routine. Dad was pondering over business section on newspaper. Jessie was enjoying her toast, and mom sipping a cup of coffee. I sat down on the stool and fixed myself a giant portion of breakfast.

            “Whoa, slow down. You eat like a boy,” Jayson commented as he saw me munching a pile of sausages on my plate. Did he say like a boy? I laughed. Jayson asked what was so funny. I shook my head.

            “It’s just that I had a weird dream last night that I turned into a boy” I said.

            “Really? Wow that’s weird. In your dream, did your male version have a thick, long—”

            “Jayson! Watch your mouth. I don’t one anyone saying inappropriate words under this roof,” mom cut him off, glaring. Jayson shrugged innocently.

            “What, mom? I was about to ask if Jordine had a long hair in her dream. Now who’s the one with dirty mind?” he teased. Mom pursed her lips. Jayson had a natural talent to annoy her and get away with it easily.

            “Hey, is that yours?” Jayson pointed at a golden envelope on the floor. I said no. He took it and gave it to me. “It has your name on it. Jeez, it’s not Victorian era anymore. Your boyfriend should stop writing lame letters and use IM already. Oh, and if you meet him today, tell him he owe me a basketball match.”

I received the envelope hesitantly. What was Jayson talking about? I was single and most likely would end up as an old maid who lived with a bunch of Persian cats like our aunt, Muriel. What boyfriend? Gulping, I opened the envelope and found a card with a message in it. I read it in surprise:

            True love comes in many forms. Your will to sacrifice and care for others, that’s love. Live long and prosper, Darling. Remember, everything happens for a reason.

XOXO, Hilda

Suddenly, a sound of horn honking from the driveway dragged everyone’s attention.

            “Oh, that must be your ride, Jordine. Quick, don’t make your friend wait,” mom said, looking over the window.

            “What? Who?”

            “Natasha your best girl friend. You two go to school together every day, remember? Are you okay, honey? Because you look disoriented. You didn’t eat anything strange yesterday, did you?”

            When mom mentioned Natasha, I yanked my bag and sprinted to the foyer. A blond, pretty girl was waving at me from her Volvo. I blinked my eyes several times to make sure what I saw was real. Natasha. Natasha Jeter? Yes. It was her! She took off her sunglasses and grinned at me.

            “We made it, Jordan. We made it...” she said. I smiled and hopped into the passenger seat. On the dashboard, there was a photo of me and her, together with Max Maxwell and Kenny Lee with sparkling moonlight in the background. I didn’t recall when we took the picture. I didn’t even know what date today was. But I was sure of one thing: I had an exciting life and this would be a great day!