With this body, so different from her own, nothing was easy. Talking, moving, eating--everything felt as though she were in a costume. Walking on legs that weren't her own was particularly difficult--she kept stumbling and tripping as she moved around Ken's house. When she spoke out loud and heard someone else's voice, it utterly freaked her out.
Of course, she'd had the experience of spending a long time inside another person's body, but at least Tracey Devon was a girl. And something interesting occurred to her. Despite the fact that Tracey was a total nerd and she, Amanda, was fabulous, it hadn't been this hard being Tracey. She shuddered to think that maybe she and Tracey had more in common than she'd ever suspected.
Size made a big difference. She and Tracey were approximately the same height, but Ken was a lot taller. Going up and down stairs, reaching for things-- everything like that felt awkward. There was no way she'd go back to school until she could feel--well, not normal (she couldn't hope for that), but at least not goofy.
She still felt goofy that morning, but she couldn't stay at home another day or Ken's mother would drag her to a doctor. So she got up, showered with her eyes closed, put on jeans and a T-shirt, and just hoped that Ken wouldn't have to wear a tie while she was in his body--she had no idea how guys made those knots.
Checking herself out in the mirror, she wasn't displeased. If she had to be a boy, at least she was a good-looking one. And she had to admit it was kind of nice not to have to spend the usual time fixing her hair and putting on makeup.
She went down to the kitchen. Ken's father had already left for work, and his mother was helping his little sister with her coat.
"Feeling better?" she asked Ken-Amanda.
"Yeah, fine," she replied. She took a bowl and examined the cereal boxes on the counter. "Don't we have any Special K?"
Mrs. Preston was taken aback. "Special K? Why would we have that?"
Amanda always ate Special K in the morning, because it was supposed to be good for her figure. How stupid of her--guys probably didn't worry about stuff like that. She'd have to be more careful about what she said.
"Oh, I was just curious what it tastes like," she lied.
Mrs. Preston still looked puzzled. "You've been eating Cocoa Puffs since you've had teeth, Ken. I can't believe you're interested in trying something else now."
"I'm a teenager," Amanda said lamely. "We do crazy things." She poured herself some Cocoa Puffs and was amazed to find how good they were. It occurred to her that boys always seemed to eat a lot more than girls. She'd have to take advantage of this body and indulge in the treats she was always denying her real self.
Luckily, she could remember Ken's schedule from constantly looking at that photocopy she had, so she knew where to go when she arrived at school. Unfortunately, she didn't know his locker number, so she'd have to lug his stuff around with her all day, but Ken used a backpack, so that wasn't too bad.
She'd just walked into his homeroom when she felt a hard smack on her shoulders. "Hey!" she cried out in outrage, before she remembered that guys were always slapping one another on the back.
Barry Levin looked at him in surprise. "What's the matter?"
"Oh, nothing--I, um, pulled a muscle," she said quickly. "What's up?"
"Not much. You ready for the French test?"
Her heart sank. Amanda took Spanish. "Nah, I'm toast. I'm gonna blow it."
Barry grinned. "Yeah, right. Mister Straight A is gonna blow a test."
She managed a sickly smile. With any luck, there would be a smart person sitting in front of her whose paper she could copy.
As the day went on, she discovered some interesting facts about the social life of boys. They didn't gossip about one another, they didn't compliment one another's clothes or hair, they didn't talk behind one another's backs. She didn't have to talk much at all-- she just acted interested in whatever sport the other guys were discussing. Fortunately, Ken had a reputation for being pretty quiet, so nobody seemed to expect him to take the lead in conversations.
Her one slip-up came when some guy at lunch announced he'd seen a mouse run across the cafeteria floor.
"Ew, gross!" she shrieked. The other boys stared at her.
She managed a feeble grin. "I'm just making up for the fact that we don't have any chicks at the table."
It wasn't a very good excuse, and the boys still looked perplexed, but within seconds they were talking about something else and seemed to have forgotten her outburst. Which was another thing she decided was different about boys--if a girl did something uncool, her friends never let her forget it. At least, that's the way it was with her friends.
By the time lunch was over, she was feeling pretty satisfied with the way she'd pulled off her Ken behavior with his friends. No one was acting strangely around her or staring at her. Getting along as a boy with other boys wouldn't be all that difficult, she decided.
But getting along with girls might be. She was on her way out of the cafeteria when Cara Winters cornered her.
"Hi, Ken," she said coyly. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You were out yesterday."
"Oh, yeah. No big deal---just didn't feel like going to school."
Cara looked surprised, and Amanda realized that Ken was not the type to cut classes whenever he was in that sort of mood.
She amended her remark. "I had a sore throat. But I'm fine now."
"Oh, good. I was just wondering . . . could we get together before French today and go over some conjugations?"
So Cara was in the French class. "Uh, well, I haven't really studied."
Now she looked really surprised. "You haven't?"
"I completely forgot we were having the test today, and then I wasn't feeling good, so . . ." She let Ken's voice trail off, and Cara nodded understandingly. She moved in closer.
"I'll arrange the paper on my desk so you can see my answers," she whispered. "Of course, I know you don't like to cheat, but . . ."
"Maybe I could make an exception this time," Amanda replied.
Cara looked positively thrilled. And Amanda remembered a time when she'd been flattered that a guy had wanted to copy her paper. Boys really had it made.
Of course, her real test would come in the gifted class. Could she pull off her Ken act there? Last month, when she was Tracey, Madame could tell something was up after only a few days. And now she'd be sitting in the same room with her robotic other self. Would anyone sense that something was just slightly off?
She timed her entrance just like Ken did, at the last minute. And so did Other-Amanda. They practically collided at the door of room 209.
"Hi, Ken."
Could there be anything stranger than hearing your own voice speaking to you? Yes--seeing yourself through someone else's eyes. She couldn't even bring herself to look.
"Hi," she mumbled, just like Ken would have, and hurried into the room. Taking Ken's seat, she let Ken's silky blond hair fall into his eyes and peered out in a way that she hoped was unobtrusive.
Madame rose from her desk. "Yesterday we were talking about the ways in which you might be able to use your gift in your chosen career. Martin had just finished telling us that he wanted to hire himself out to people who wanted an enemy to be hurt. Does anyone have a question to ask him?"