Hi, Welcome to the longest story I have ever written. This story was inspired by a conversation I had with anarosewood. The total word count is just under 30,000. I tried to do a decent editing job but I’m sure I missed a lot of stuff.

I have posted 8 teaser chapters ahead of my book which I think have been well receieved. I have revised my book a couple of times and I think I’m at a place where I am happy with it. Before I post each chapter I will go over it again to check for grammer and content. I have no idea what to call my book so I am going to use the working title of ‘Nia’ because everyone who has read the teaser chapters is familiar with that character.

I hope everyone enjoys my effort.

Thank you to everyone who has shown interest in and is going to read my story :)

I really appreciate it.

If you have missed any of the teaser chapters, you can find them below.

https://theprose.com/post/255818/the-village

https://theprose.com/post/256669/first-day-of-school

https://theprose.com/post/258276/the-birth-of-katy

https://theprose.com/post/259552/stranger-in-the-woods

https://theprose.com/post/261189/katy-s-day-out

https://theprose.com/post/262272/history-lesson

https://theprose.com/post/264883/memories

https://theprose.com/post/265818/voices

The sun came up Saturday morning. I get to spend the entire day with my mom. It's not that my mom's a drag or anything it's just that she's kind of a drag. She has this idea that she should spend at least one day a month getting to know her children. Last Saturday was my sister Lisa's turn. This Saturday it's mine. I get my mom all to myself. The thing is I'd rather be hanging out with my friends. I had no idea what my mom had planned for our day out but I was pretty sure it wasn't worth wasting a whole Saturday on.

I hear a knock on the door bright and early. "What is it?" I yelled through the closed door.

"Get up kiddo!" My mom yells back, "We've got to get out of here bright and early if we're going to get anything good."

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore" I yelled back through the door and what did she mean by find something good.

"You'll always be a kiddo to me" She answered back as if that was supposed to make it less lame.

"Coming!" I yelled in response. I get up out of bed and throw on some old clothes that just happen to be laying on the floor. When you're hanging out with your mom, what you are wearing isn't going to matter all that much as far as your reputation goes.

"Can I at least have some breakfast?" I ask when I get into the kitchen. Mom throws me a breakfast bar and I roll my eyes. We get on the road. I would much rather still be in bed.

"So where are you dragging me to?" I ask in an irritated voice.

"It's a surprise." my mom answers enthusiastically, completely ignoring my bad attitude. "So how's school?" She asks trying to make small talk.

"It's okay I guess" I say nonchalantly. After that there is silence. We turn down streets and drive past buildings. I start to notice there are less buildings and more trees and we finally stop in front of this run down old place. The sign above the door says "flea market" but I'm pretty sure even the fleas wouldn't want to be caught dead here. I see some other cars around so the place isn't deserted. My mom gets out of the car and motions me to follow. I reluctantly get out of the car as well and follow her inside.

The inside is just as impressive as the outside. It looked like stuff was just thrown all over the place and wherever the stuff landed is where it stayed. When I say stuff I really mean junk. My mom starts rummaging through a pile. I think the best part of this place is that there is no chance of seeing someone here that I actually know.

Instead of standing there being bored I start rummaging through a nearby pile. It all looks the same to me. I mean junk is junk. Every once in a while my mom shows me something she thinks looks cool but it's still junk. My mom is losing herself looking through all this 'stuff' and I'm bored out of my mind when she shows me something I've never seen before. It looks like a tin can but it's in the shape of a cube and it's completely enclosed. It's got tiny holes in it that you see barely see through when you put it up to your eye. Inside the can there are scenes like from a movie that you can barely make out.

The strange part is there is a different scene in each hole. It's kind of freaky. My brain starts whirling as I'm trying to figure out how the effect works. I take it up to the guy selling the stuff and I ask him how much he wants for it. He said I could have it for a couple bucks so I hand a couple bucks over.

I spend the rest of my time there trying to figure out how the thing worked. In each hole there is something different going on. Some of the scenes look like they take place outside and some look like they take place inside. There are people in some scenes and no people in others. The scenes are kind of blurry so I can't quite tell what is going on in them. I was almost thinking about prying the thing open just so I could find out what was really inside of it.

"Trying to figure it out are ya?" The shop keeper asked when he saw me fiddling with it. "Well, there's nothing inside those holes, it's all in your mind."

"What do you mean in my mind?" I asked.

"You'll find out soon enough" the shop keeper replied. It was freaky. I got the feeling the shopkeeper knows something he should be telling me but for whatever reason is deciding to keep it to himself. I asked my mom to look through the holes and she complied with my request.

"So what am I looking at?" she asked.

"Don't you see anything inside?" I asked getting irritated that someone was playing some kind of joke on me.

"I don't see anything" My mom replied, "It's too dark. All I see is darkness."

Okay, this is officially weird. Unfortunately for me, this wasn't the only place on my mom's list. She also thought this would be a good time to find some new clothes for me to wear. Now if being in the middle of nowhere with your mom is embarrassing, being downtown at a department store is even worse. I tried explaining this concept to my mother but she brushed it off. I was pretty sure this kind of thing happened to her when she was a teenager and this is some kind of revenge thing. If she couldn't get back at her parents she would do the next best thing and humiliate one of her children.

Even though I thought I was going to die, I managed to survive and when it was lunch time we ended up stopping at Taco Bell. Taco Bell wouldn't be my first choice but it wouldn't be my last choice either. Mom said it was cheap. It took me all of 30 seconds to gulp down my 2 taco's and burrito supreme. That breakfast bar really didn't do it for me earlier and I was really hungry.

After lunch my mom decided to take me miniature golfing. I had thought that all the miniature golfing places in town went out of business because nobody does that anymore but I was mistaken. There was still one left. Mom said she loved doing this when she was a kid and I thought that must have been at least 50 years ago. I was starting to think that mom looked on some web site somewhere that had a list of uncool things to do with your kids and she didn't notice the 'un' part.

After miniature golf we go to eat dinner at the Sour Dragon Chinese Buffet. It's all you can eat for $4.95. Mom says she loves the food there but it didn't look like real food to me and I'm wondering if somebody didn't die there. I find something that doesn't look like somebody has groped through it with their bare hands and give it a try. I take one bite and spit it out. I tell mom I can't handle the texture and I'm not eating anything there. Mom eats about 3 plates full and I just drink about 5 cokes. Just watching her eat made me want to throw up. We drive home after dinner. Thankfully my Saturday with mom is over.

When we get home I go to my room and throw my 'tin can' on the floor. By this time I had completely forgotten how freaked out I was by it. I spend the evening in my room watching You Tube videos. Around midnight I finally feel a little tired. I think the 5 cokes is keeping me up but eventually I fall asleep.

After a while I feel someone shaking me. "Come on Nia get up. You'll be late for school and if you’re late one more time you'll get detention." Why is some girl calling me Nia and why is she in my room? I open my eyes and I realize I'm not in my room at all. The girl has a grave look on her face like she's scared. The other thing I notice is that my body doesn't feel right.

There is a full length mirror on the wall like the one in my sister's room. I get up and stumble over to it and check myself out in the mirror. I have long brown hair that goes down my back and amazing green eyes. When did I become a girl and where the hell am I?

I am wearing a single piece nightgown which goes all the way down to below my knees. The girl with the frantic look on her face was pushing me to get going. There are two dressers in the room as well as two beds and I decided that the dresser closest to the bed I was sleeping on must be mine. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to wear but when I looked in a nearby closet I felt relief when the choice was already made for me.

Whatever school this Nia went to required uniforms and there were several hung up. It consisted of a white shirt which buttoned up the front and a skirt that went just below the knees. Anyway, I removed one of them and started dressing myself. I must admit I felt like a pervert because I normally didn’t have the opportunity to see girls without their clothes on let alone be able to touch one. Once I was done I grabbed a book bag that was on top of the dresser and followed the younger girl out the door.

I had no idea where I was going. Once I got outside I could see I was in a little village. It wasn’t like a little village like you would see in a documentary about some third world country, it was actually very nice and it looked like the people here took pride in its appearance. There wasn’t any trash lying around and the buildings looked well kept. As I was looking around I heard a voice call my name.

“Nia! Nia!” A young girl called. She was dressed pretty much the same way I was and she looked pretty hot. She had dark hair and brown eyes. She wasn’t too fat or too thin and she had a beautiful sounding voice. I was starting to think there was a good chance that this Nia was popular.

“So I heard Bobby asked you to the dance Friday? He is so gorgeous. Did you give him an answer yet?” She said the whole thing very enthusiastically like she wanted gossip she could spread around the school. Wait, did she just call a guy gorgeous? Is that how girls talk about guys they like? I so wish I could take back the last 30 seconds because I did not need to hear that. I’m sure a girl has never talked to her friends that way about me. At least I’m pretty sure.

“I’m still thinking about it.” I responded. As I was listening to my own voice I thought my own voice sounded pretty hot too. Turning myself on was a completely new experience for me and I was hoping my cheeks weren’t turning red because I could feel

my pulse race a bit. I didn’t really know if Nia had already given an answer or not. But a girl does have a right to change her mind, right? At least that’s what I’ve always been told.

“What’s there to think about?” the girl responded, “He’s so hot and you two would make such an adorable couple.” Did she say adorable? The thought of dancing with a guy totally killed the mood I was in which was probably a good thing.

“There’s more to a guy than looks.” I said, justifying my previous response.

“Well, don’t keep him waiting too long or you’ll miss your chance.” She said scolding.

“He’ll be the one missing out” I retorted.

“Well, listen to you, I’ve never heard you talk that way before!” She noted.

“Maybe there’s things you don’t know about me” I said playfully.

“I’ve been your best friend since the third grade” She said laughing, “I know everything about you.” I don’t know how I was going to fool Nia’s best friend. Sooner or later she was going to get suspicious. We walked to school and made it to class before the bell

rang. We had desks that were right next to each other in the front row which made me really uncomfortable. I felt like everyone was watching me but having a body like the one Nia had, I couldn’t really blame anyone for staring. I’m sure the real Nia is so use

to it she probably doesn’t even give it a second thought.

As we studied our lessons I was pleasantly surprised by how much of it I already knew. This took the academic pressure off but it didn’t do anything about the social pressure. During the first break, this boy came up to me. He had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a uniform but instead of a white shirt, his shirt was blue and instead of a skirt, he was wearing slacks.

“So Nia,” The boy started off, “Have you thought about going to the dance with me?” I assumed that this must be the gorgeous Bobby my best friend was telling me about. The way he was looking at me I wanted to throw up but I kept it cool.

“Yeah, I thought about it.” I calmly replied.

“And?” He injected.

“I’m still thinking about it.” I responded playfully. I have to admit I was starting to get into it. Girls never gave me the time of day or if they did they scowled at me so to be the one to dish it out had a certain appeal that I was starting to enjoy way more than I should have.

“Your killing me” Bobby responded, “Is there something I can do to help you make up your mind?” He asked.

“Maybe” I answered. Was I flirting now? That is so wrong on so many levels.

“And?” he prompted.

“I have to think about that also” I said. I could tell I was driving him crazy. It really felt good to be the one in control for once even if I really didn’t want anything to do with this guy.

“You got to give me something.” he begged.

“Don’t rush me” I said sternly, letting him know I meant business.

“I’m not waiting for you forever.” He threatened.

“We’ll see about that.” I shot back as we left for separate classes.

My best friend, whose name just happened to be Lidia, just looked at me with her mouth open.

“I can’t believe you did that! Why didn’t you give him an answer?” She asked.

“Because boys like the chase.” I explained, “If you give them a good chase they will appreciate you more when you finally let them catch you. They will boast to their friends that they were able to catch you when other boys couldn’t. It’s a huge boost to their ego and they will love you for it.” I couldn’t believe I was saying all this garbage. I had to say something and it just popped out. I had no idea where it came from or if it actually worked or not but it sounded good. I really surprised myself. I had no idea I could come up with stuff so fast off the top of my head.

“I had no idea you were so smart” Lidia wondered, “How do you know all that?”

“I overheard someone talking about it once.” I remarked.

After school we went over to Lidia’s house and did our homework together. We gossiped about boys and painted our nails and listened to loud music. I had never been alone with a girl before. It was a shame that I couldn’t be alone with her as a guy. I was still in heaven though because I had her all to myself. Lidia is an amazing person. I can see why Nia is best friends with her.

I went home for dinner. Nia’s family all ate dinner together. Nia’s parents asked each of their children how their day went. I told them that I was driving Bobby crazy about the dance and Nia’s mother told me I shouldn’t make him too crazy. Nia’s father told me that I was playing games and that it would get me into trouble someday. Nia’s little sister said that boys were gross. I told her that one day she wouldn’t think that way but she protested.

The one thing I noticed in Nia’s world was that there were no computers. There were no TV’s. I had thought I saw a calendar in the kitchen so I went to check the year on the calendar. The year was 2351. That didn’t make any sense to me. If I was in the future, I would think there would be a lot of technology but there wasn’t much technology here at all. I found out that my bed time was 10:00 pm. Once I laid down I feel into a deep sleep.

When I woke up I was in my own room and in my own body. The clock that used to be on my nightstand but was now on the floor stated it was 10:30 am. I got up and rushed into the kitchen. My mom was just hanging out.

“Good morning Kiddo.” She said, “It’s about time you woke up.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’re usually up by 9, I was going to send your sister into your room to make sure you were still alive.” She joked.

“What day is it?” I blurted out.

“What do you mean what day is it? It’s Sunday. Are you feeling okay?” She asked a bit concerned.

“Yeah, I think so.” I said. I left the kitchen and went back to my room. I noticed the strange ‘tin can’ thing I bought at the flea market yesterday and I peeked inside the holes. One of the scenes was clear now. I saw inside a hallway. Several kids were there but this time I recognized a few of them. Bobby was there and Nia was there. Lidia was there too. I had to have been dreaming but how did my dream become a scene in the ‘tin can’? I am really starting to think I must be losing it.

I looked through some of the other holes in the 'tin can' thing again. The other scenes looked the same as they did before, they were blurry and I could barely make out anything. This new scene, the one I lived out in my dream, was clear. I could see Nia and

Bobby talking by Nia's locker. I could see the shocked look on Lidia's face. The shopkeeper said it was all in my mind and I'm beginning to think that it was. I wasn't really seeing the scene in the 'tin can' my mind was projecting it there itself. That has to be it. I had this elaborate dream. I mean it couldn't actually be real. If it was so far in the future, there would be technology but there wasn't because I'm not smart enough to imagine it.

I put the 'tin can' thing down on my nightstand and I lay on my bed. Why would I dream myself as a girl? That didn't make sense. Maybe I think girls have it better than boys. Maybe I wanted to feel the power I think girls have. I was starting to get a headache

from thinking too much but there had to be some reason. I hear a knock on my door and without waiting for a response my friend Mark barges in on me.

"Hey dude, what's going on?" He asks. He looks around the room and notices how messy it is.

"Your mom lets you keep your room like this? If I kept my room like this my mom would freak out." As he's talking he's moving around the room and notices my 'tin can'.

"Dude, what's this." He holds it up to his face and peeks into some of the holes. "It's all dark inside." He continues looking through various holes. "Hey, who's the hot chick?"

"You can see that?" I ask

"Yeah, in this one hole I can see what looks like this dude hitting on this chick in front of her locker and this other chick is freaking out about it." Mark explains.

"So I'm not crazy after all." I say with relief. "You're sure you see that?"

"Yeah. Dude. I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out at the comic book store with me." Mark explained as the reason for his visit.

"Mark, only old people go and hang out at the comic book store." I try to tell him but he brushes me off.

"Well, I like hanging out at the comic book store. We can check out old Avenger's comic books and walk down by the old railroad tracks." Mark offered. Mark wasn't all that with it but a friend is a friend.

"Okay, let me get dressed and we'll go." Mark saw himself out and I grabbed clothes that happened to by lying on the floor. Before we leave my mom asks me when I'll be home and I make some remark like I'm not five anymore but when she presses me I say I'll be home for dinner.

Mark and I head for the comic book store downtown. We walk for quite a while in silence and then I decide to speak up.

"Hey Mark, You know that weird thing with all the holes in it?" I asked.

"Yeah" Mark replied.

"I found it that this creepy flea market way outside of town that my mom took me to yesterday". I explained.

"Yeah" Mark replied again.

"Yesterday when I looked through all the holes, I just saw blurry images but today when I looked through the holes I saw blurry images except for the one clear image that you saw." I tried explaining hoping Mark would get the gist of it.

"Yeah" Mark replied a third time.

"Mark, that scene you saw through one of the holes wasn't there yesterday!" I said in a dramatic fashion to get my point across.

"Dude, you need to chill out. I heard this guy say once that the mind plays tricks on you. That's all it is. Let's just go to the comic book store and have a good time. You'll be fine." He reassured.

We walk the rest of the way in silence. Joe's comic book shop has been in the same downtown location for at least as long as I've been alive and probably longer. When we get inside there are a bunch of old people hanging out and when I mean old people, I'm

not talking 70 or 80 year old, I'm talking old like my mom. Their thumbing through books and arguing about who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk.

Mark finds some old avenger's comic books and starts thumbing through them. I just pick something at random and find myself thumbing through some old Justice League comic books. I'm kind of confused though because Superman, Green Lantern, and

Wonder Woman are not anywhere to be found in these books. They have characters that I've never heard of but when I start reading them I find that the plots and dialogue are hilarious. I had no idea comic books could actually be funny.

I end up enjoying myself more than I thought I would and after we are done thumbing through old comic books, we walk back towards home by way of the old railroad tracks. I heard that a train actually used these tracks once and I guess that must have been the case because there's no reason the build railroad tracks if you don't plan on having a train run on them. That was so long ago that hardly anybody remembers it. I decide to speak up again.

"Hey Mark" I said.

"Yeah" He replied.

"There was something I didn't tell you about that thing with all the holes" I continued.

"Yeah" He said again.

"I had a dream last night. The dream seemed as real as you and I are now. I dreamed I was the girl in the scene that the guy was hitting on. He had asked her to this dance and he wanted to know what her answer was." I explained.

"You dreamed you were a girl?" Mark said. Moments later he started laughing. "Dude that is so messed up."

"Mark, this is serious. I fell asleep and woke up as this girl. I spent an entire day living her life. When I went to bed I woke up as myself again. I'm afraid when I go to bed tonight I'll wake up as her again."

"Relax, it was just a dream. You dreamed you were living this girl's life. It didn't really happen. You can do anything you want in a dream. If you dream it again, try and enjoy it."

Mark was starting to get irritated which took a lot for him because he was a pretty laid back guy. Mark went home and when I got back home I went to my room and looked through all the little holes again. They were all blurry except for the one from my dream. I went to bed that night wondering if I was going to wake up again as Nia. It took a long time for me to go to sleep.

I woke up early. I was Nia again. I wasn't as startled this time when I looked around the room that wasn't mine. I had no idea where this day was in relation to the last day I was here. Her little sister was sleeping in a nearby bed and she looked about the same age as she was when I was here before. I had no idea what time it was but nobody else was up. I took a sniff and decided I didn't smell so good and went to take a shower. I thought as a girl I should probably pay more attention to that kind of thing.

I am ready for school before anyone else in the house got up. When Nia’s little sister wakes up she eyes me suspiciously.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with Nia?” She asks accusingly.

All I need is for Nia’s little sister to be on to me. Little sister’s are a pain the way it is but if she thinks something is up she’s going to be in my business all the time. It’s going to be so annoying.

“What are you talking about you little squirt?” I shoot back in an annoying voice. I had no idea if Nia ever called her sister a little squirt before but I decided to take a chance.

“Nia has never gotten up early for school a day in her life and she has never been on time for anything in her life either. Mom even jokes she was late to her own birth” She explained still using the accusing voice.

“Relax, I had a bad dream and it woke me up. I thought since I was awake I would be ready on time for once. You know there’s a first time for everything. Why am I explaining myself to you anyway? ” I answer in an annoying voice.

“Okay, but I’m keeping my eye on you.” She says, relaxing just a bit.

“Whatever” I respond.

Lidia and I walk to school together. “You were so right about Bobby.” Lidia started, “I heard a rumor that he is going crazy. Before it was like he was all cool and he could take you or leave you but now he has to have you.”

“Told ya” I said smugly. So that actually worked? Who knew?

I feel a lot more comfortable in Nia’s skin this second time around. I’m more used to how different her body feels than mine does and her classes at school are a breeze. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed but this stuff does seem a lot easier than what I was used to but I guess if it’s all coming out of my own head it would be.

“You better give him an answer. The dance is tomorrow night you know.” Lidia reminds me as if I didn’t know what day it was, which I didn’t.

“What about you? Who are you going to the dance with?” I ask wanting to get the attention off of myself. Lidia paused for several moments and it got really awkward really fast. Lidia finally spoke.

“Tom didn’t ask me to the dance.” Her voice was shaky and I thought for a moment that she was going to break down and cry but she held it together.

“I’m so sorry.” I say and give her a hug to comfort her which feels amazing by the way. “Tell me everything that happened?” I insist.

“There’s nothing to tell, he doesn’t like me anymore.” I could tell that Lidia is crushed. I have no idea who Tom is but I already don’t like him.

“If you aren’t going to the dance with anyone, then I’m not going with anyone either.” I proclaim. This was actually great news because I had a perfectly good reason now to turn Bobby’s invitation down.

“No. I can’t let you do that. You go to the dance with Bobby and have fun.” Lidia protests.

“Lidia, you’re my best friend. You’ve been my best friend since the third grade. When you hurt, I hurt. You are more important than some boy. Even if he is the hottest boy in school.” I say trying to make her feel better. I had to admit talking like a girl sounds so weird. The fact that I was getting used to it sounds even weirder.

Lidia finally smiled. “Well, when you put it that way.”

“That’s better.” I say reassuringly, “Now let’s get to school.”

We got to school and I didn’t mind so much people staring at me. I was a lot less self conscious about it. It seemed like everyone liked Nia and I was beginning to wonder if I was casting her in a bad light. I mean I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong but I

have never been popular so I never really paid all that much attention to things that popular kids had to pay attention to. It really was a different world and I was starting to wonder if I was getting some of the expectations wrong. At break I saw Bobby.

“Bobby!” I yell across the hall. Bobby comes over when he hears me call his name.

“Hey there pretty girl.” Bobby says trying to sound smooth.

“I can’t go to the dance with you.” I say flatly.

“Why not?” He asks. I could see I let the wind out of his sails.

“It’s Lidia. Tom didn’t ask her to the dance and she’s really upset about it.” I explain.

“Just because Tom’s being a jerk doesn’t mean he has to ruin our evening.” Bobby offered.

“She’s my best friend. She needs me.” I say in that voice that girl’s always use when they want to get their way.

“Well, when you put it that way.” Bobby relented and gave me a smile.

“Will you walk me home?” I offer as I grab Bobby’s hand. I was really starting to get into the part. I feel a jolt of electricity immediately and let go. It catches me off guard. I wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction.

Bobby laughs, “You know that’s not allowed Nia but thanks for the offer anyway.” Not allowed? You mean you can’t walk your favorite girl home in future? What’s up with that? I was glad that Bobby was okay with Nia not going to the dance with him. I didn’t want to go to the dance with Bobby but just in case this isn’t really a dream I also don’t want to ruin Nia’s life whenever she gets back to it.

Something has been bugging me ever since I got here. I can’t help but wonder where all the technology has gone. I thought I saw a library down a side street so I decide to go there after school on my way home. Maybe I can find something at the library that can shed some light on what happened. Lidia asks me if I want to come over and I tell her I’m going to the library. She gives me this strange look and then tells me she’ll see me tomorrow.

Once I get to the library. I ask the Librarian where the books about history are. She directs me to a section of the library and I start to check out what’s available. Of course the books are mostly about stuff that hasn’t happened yet so I’m not sure what I’m

looking for. I was hoping that something would just pop out at me but nothing did. So I asked the Librarian for a book on the most important event of the 21st century. She starts thinking and after a few minutes she comes back with a book titled “The Ultimate

Machine”. It’s about this woman who helps design this artificial intelligence that ends up controlling everybody’s life. It’s not like an evil computer takes over the world kind of thing, It’s more like a mass organizer of the human race. Anyway there is a picture of her on the back cover and she looks kind of familiar like I should know her.

I sit down and start reading. It’s actually kind of interesting. Back in the 21st Century, people became dependent on technological devices to make their life easier. Eventually robotics and AI took over the day to day tasks of building things that people needed and freed everybody to do whatever they wanted. When people had too much free time and they didn’t have to worry about surviving they started living a life of hedonism. Birth rates dropped and once all the old people died, the population dipped down into a couple hundred million people. The AI that was organizing humanity started running simulations on possible solutions before humanity became extinct. After running millions of simulations to try and solve the problem, it decided that humanity was better off without technology. All the simulations demonstrated that the simple life was the best life. So it put into place a program to return humanity to a simple life. It took several generations for this to take effect but the plan proved to be successful. The book didn’t say what happened to the AI. For all anybody knows the AI could still be running things.

The story sounded like a sci-fi tv movie to me. I asked the librarian if the story in the book was true and she claimed that it was. I also asked her if she liked living the simple life. She said she enjoyed her life but that she didn’t have anything to compare it to.

When I got home, Nia’s little sister was waiting for me. She didn’t say anything but just stared at me like she was waiting for me to make a wrong move. “Don’t you have anything better to do than stare at me?” I said annoyingly.

“Where did you go after school?” She asks.

“None of your business.” I shoot back.

“I followed you to the library.” She stats as if what I did was a crime.

“So .....” I respond.

“Nia has NEVER gone to the library. What were you doing there?” She demands.

“I don’t answer to you” I say.

“I bet you were there with that boy you like, sneaking around.” She guesses.

“You can think whatever you want” I say again.

“Nia and Bobby sitting in a tree ...” She starts taunting.

“You are so annoying ...” I say leaving before she could continue.

Nia’s little sister followed me into our room. I was so glad I didn’t have to share a room with my sister in my real life. She continued harassing me and I finally broke down. “Okay, I was sneaking around with Bobby, are you happy now?” I asked frustrated.

She ran out of the room and as she left I heard her scream “Mooooooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!” I suppose she is going to try and get me into trouble with Nia’s parents.

We all ate dinner together again. This was kind of strange for me because not only did I not have my father around, we never actually ate any meals together. It was kind of nice though. Nia’s parents encouraged both her and her annoying little sister to talk about their day. They actually cared about what their children were doing. Tonight’s dinner was meatloaf and it tasted amazing. Nia’s mother was an excellent cook and I enjoyed every bit of it. My own mother hardly ever cooked at all and I could sure get use to this part of my dream.

“So Katy said you’ve been sneaking around with that boy” Nia’s father states in an even voice. I could tell he wasn’t happy but he didn’t yell. Katy was the name of Nia’s annoying little sister.

“Katy’s been bothering me all day. I just said that to get her off my back. She’s so annoying. I went to the library to do some research on a school assignment.” I proclaim.

“Nia, your little sister looks up to you. You need to set a good example for her.” Nia’s father stats, ” and lying just to get rid of someone is not setting a good example.”

“I know” I confess,” I’m sorry. I’ll promise to set a better example.”

“That’s my girl” Nia’s father says, “So tell me about this school assignment.”

“There’s not much to tell. I’m suppose to write a two page essay about a historical event. I haven’t decided which event I’m going to write about though. There all boring.” I respond.

“History isn’t boring, If we don’t learn from the mistakes of history, we will end up repeating them.” Nia’s father stats,“If you can’t decide I can help you sort it out.”

“Thanks dad, you know how I have trouble making up my mind.” I respond. I was taking a lot of liberty with Nia’s personality but so far nobody has said I am acting too weird so I think I’m doing a decent job. All in all I think Nia has a pretty good life.

Katy’s bed time was before Nia’s so she went to bed first. When I went to bed she was still up.

“You may have mom and dad fooled but you’re not fooling me.” She states.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, this time in a concerned voice rather than an annoying one.

“I know you’re not Nia. I don’t know what you’ve done with her but I know you’re not her.” She says.

“Why do you think I’m not Nia?” I ask.

“Because you’re acting weird and you never play with me anymore.” she says and then starts to cry. I put my arms around her to comfort her.

“When people grow up they change. I’m sorry you feel like I’ve left you out. I’ll always be your big sister and I’ll always love you.” I piled on the tenderness. I was hoping to distract her from her complaint. “I will try to not to leave you out so much, okay?”

She nodded her head and this seemed to satisfy her.

“Now we should get to sleep, okay?” I reassure.

“Okay” Katy responds. I tucked her in bed and then I feel asleep ............

I woke up to my mother shaking me. “Come on kiddo” She says, “You’re going to be late for school.”

“Mom I’m not a kid!” I scream.

“Let’s go” She orders.

“Okay, okay, I’m getting up.” I say in a half sleepy voice.

The weekend is over. It sucks when that happens and it happens a lot more often than it should. Since I’ve spent what amounts to two whole days as Nia, Friday seems like forever ago. The other thing is I didn’t do my homework so I’m in serious trouble. I catch up with Mark at school.

“Dude, did you get your homework done?” I ask.

“Yeah, why?” He inquires.

“I didn’t do mine and I need to copy yours.” I state plainly.

“You want to copy my homework?” He asks not believing what he is hearing.

“Yeah, I got to turn something in. You gotta help me.” I say desperately.

“Dude, you don’t have time to copy my homework.” He says matter-of-factly. Before he finishes speaking the first bell rings which means we have five minutes to get to class. I rush to class anticipating the humiliation I am going to have to endure from not getting my homework done. I notice how trashy our school is compared to Nia’s. Nia’s school doesn’t have any trash on the ground. All the students look nice in their uniforms. The classrooms and halls are all neat and inviting. My school looks like a garbage dump compared to Nia’s school. Like the Librarian said, if you don’t have anything to compare it to, you don’t know what you are missing.

I know there are a lot of nice schools around but most of those schools are private. I also notice everybody’s nose stuck in their phone. In Nia’s world everybody talks to each other face to face instead of doing it on a mobile device. When I get to class and everybody turns in their homework, I have nothing to turn in. I feel really self-conscious about it. I admit that I’m a slacker at times but I usually get enough done to get by. I look around the class room and I notice that Kayla is staring at me. When our eye’s meet she doesn’t turn away but instead gives me a smile. That was kind of strange. I’ve never noticed any girls staring at me before. Maybe I’m still dreaming. Class goes alright and during the break period I walk over to talk to Kayla.

“Hi” she says shyly.

“Hi” I respond. There is some awkward silence. I am a lot better at this kind of thing as Nia than I am as myself.

“Maybe you could hang out with me during lunch” She offers.

“Yeah, okay” I say back. I thought Bobby’s attempt at being smooth was lame but after I hear myself talk I decide that I just sound pathetic. When the bell rings telling us we have just a few minutes to get to our next class, we both go in different directions.

I spend my next class preoccupied with thinking about Kayla. She has dark hair and dark eyes. She is average looking. I don’t know her that well but she seems nice. I have to decide how I want to talk to her. I should probably just relax but the more I think about it the more nervous I get. I don’t know why I put all this pressure on myself, it’s not like I am going to marry her or anything. I start to think why it is so easy as Nia. What is the difference?

Well, the first difference is Nia’s a girl and I’m a boy. The second difference is that Nia is popular and I’m not. The third difference is that I don’t care if Bobby likes Nia or not but I do care if Kayla likes me because I’ve never had a girl like me before that I am aware of.

At that moment a light bulb goes off in my brain. The reason why I’m not nervous with Bobby is not because everybody loves Nia or even that she is a girl, it’s because I already know Bobby likes Nia and Nia is the one in charge. The class goes by in a daze but I manage to zone in just in time to write down the homework assignment. The bell rings and everyone is dismissed for lunch. I can feel my palms getting sweaty and suddenly I notice the rhythm of my own breathing. Mark comes up alongside of me.

“Dude, you okay?” He asks.

“Yeah, I think so. I’m going to hang out with Kayla.” I say.

“You are going to hang out with a girl?” He asks, “You mean you are going to hang out with a real girl?”

“Yes, I am going to hang out with a real girl, how it that so hard for you to believe?” I shoot back.

“Dude, I’ve never even seen you with a girl. Maybe she’s hanging out with you because she lost a bet.” Mark speculates.

“That’s harsh” I respond.

“Well, I’ll see ya, let me know how it goes later.” and with that Mark disappears into the crowd.

I get to the lunch room and I start looking around for Kayla. I spot her sitting with some of her friends. I start to get really nervous and I’m not sure if I can go through with it. I take a big gulp of air and start walking over toward where she is sitting. When I reach her I try to sound confident.

“Hi” I say in as much of a friendly non-threatening and non-creepy way as I can. She turns around.

“Oh, Hi!” she says warmly as she moves over a bit to make a place for me to sit next to her. I sit down and she just looks at me.

“What?” I say.

“Did you forget something?” She asks.

“Forget what?” I ask her back.

“Aren’t you going to eat lunch?” She finally asks plainly.

“Oh yeah, I kind of did forget since you’re the only thing I’ve been thinking about since we had our class together.” I say sheepishly. Did I really say that? That is so lame!

“That is so sweet” she responds, “What if I share my lunch with you so you don’t starve?” she offers. She only has half a sandwich left so she splits it in two and hands me half of it.

“Okay, that is really nice of you.” I answer. As I am listening to myself I realized I am sounding like a dork.

“Are you cold?” she asks me, “You’re shaking.”

“Yeah, I am a bit cold now that you mention it.” I respond. Man, can I sound any dorkier? I’m sure the answer to that question is yes. I take a bite out of the sandwich so I don’t have to say anything dorky for a few minutes. While I’m chewing the bite of the sandwich Kayla takes my hand and puts both of her hands around mine and rubs them together.

“Is that better?” She asks as if the answer isn’t obvious. Her hands do feel nice and warm and she can keep my hand as long as she wants to. When I’m done chewing and swallow my bite I answer.

“Yes, I feel much warmer now.” I try to relax my body so it will stop shaking,

“Have you done anything exciting lately?” I ask trying to get the conversation rolling.

“Not really” She answers, “How about you?” Okay, I guess that’s strike one for me.

“My mom took me to this really creepy flea market on Saturday. They had piles of junk everywhere and I ended up buying this thing that looked like a tin can. It had tiny holes in it and when you look into the holes you see still scenes like from a movie or something. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Sounds interesting. Do you want my fruit cocktail?” She asks, “I really don’t want it.”

“Okay” I answer and start eating the fruit cocktail. She seems nice and she seems like she’s interested in me but I really think I’m bombing here. I want to sound confident and take charge and not only did I not take charge I sound like a loser. The silence that follows is deafening. I’m starting to feel really depressed about it. Maybe a piano will fall on me or something and put me out of my misery. I am so relieved when the bell rings. I thank her for lunch and tell her I will see her later. I am sure she is relieved when the bell rings like I was. I take a few deep breaths and go to my next class.

When I get home from school I go to my room. I find the ‘tin can’ thing and I check the holes. This time there are two scenes that are clear. The first scene is in the hallway with Nia and Bobby. The second scene that is clear is a scene in Nia’s bedroom where Nia has her arms around her sister Katy comforting her. Each time I dream about being Nia, a scene becomes clear in the ‘tin can’. I wondered how many scenes there are and what is going to happen when all the scenes became clear. This time when I go to sleep, I am looking forward to waking up as Nia.

I wake up on time for school. I wasn't early like the previous day. I get ready and Katy is actually less annoying. Nia's mother prepared breakfast and I had time this morning to sit down and eat it. She made a fried egg and toast with a glass of orange juice. I could certainly get used to some home cooking. By this time I pretty much knew the drill, once I get out the door Lidia and I walk to school together and talk mostly about boys.

The school is a bit more excited today than the previous few days I was here and I am pretty much sure the cause is because of the dance that is planned for tonight. The girls talk of nothing else than who they were going with and what they were wearing. The guys talk about, well I don't know what the guys talk about because I was stuck listening to what the girls are talking about.

The entire day is a complete waste of time as far as I am concerned. The entire day is filled with dance related drama and I suffer through it the best I can. Lidia is alternating between being okay and breaking down and I do my best to try and prop up her self-worth. The dance is being held in the main gym and the whole village shows up for it. There are decorations everywhere. There is finger food and refreshments and there is more than enough parents to make sure that the conduct by the students is appropriate. The one thing I noticed about this place is that the parents paid a lot of attention to what was going on. They didn't seem self-absorbed in their own lives.

Lidia and I sit in some chairs sipping on punch. I would expect the punch to be spiked but somehow I'm thinking that's not going to be happening here. Lidia didn't really want to come and she is feeling sorry for herself.

A guy named Brad asks me to dance. I don't want to but Lidia pushes me out onto the dance floor anyway. The music is slow and I put my arm on his shoulder and he put his arm around my waist. It was kind of like the dancing you would see in an old movie.

"You look really nice tonight." Brad says paying me a compliment.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I respond. It feels really weird dancing with a guy and I try to play it cool.

"Since you're not with Bobby, why don't we slip out of here?" Brad offers.

"I'm sorry I can't" I answer, "I have to keep an eye on Lidia."

"That's right, I heard Tom really broke her heart. That's tough. Is she going to be alright?" He asks.

"Eventually" I respond.

"Well, you take care." He says when the dance is over. He leaves me and goes over to a different girl and dances with her. I imagine he is giving her the same offer he gave me and when I see them sneak out together my suspicions are confirmed. They aren’t gone long enough for anything to happen though. The parent's here are really on top of things.

I notice that Bobby didn't waste any time. He must have been stringing somebody along to get another date so quickly or maybe he just has them lining up outside his door. The girl he is with isn't as attractive as Nia is but she still looks really good. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and is wearing a blue dress. I walk over to him.

"Hi Bobby" I say greeting him warmly.

"Oh hi" Bobby responds. He seems a little uncomfortable.

"It's okay." I reassure him, "There's no reason why you shouldn't have a good time because of me."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Bobby asks. He must have thought Nia would be upset seeing him here with another girl or maybe he wants Nia to be jealous.

"Of course not but I would be upset if you didn't save a dance for me." I answer. I think I'm really getting the hang of this. Being Nia gives me a confidence that I have never experienced before.

"Sure, I'll catch you later." He says trying to play it cool.

I walk over to where I had left Lidia but she isn't there. I calmly scan the dance floor but I don't see her. I thought the only place left she could be is in the restroom. I hate going into the girl's restroom. It makes me feel really uncomfortable but I go in anyway. I don't see anybody but I hear gentle sobbing coming from one of the stalls.

"Lidia" I call but get no answer.

"I know you're in here." I say again. There is still no response.

"Okay, well I'm just going to have to wait here until you come out." I say in a stern voice.

After several minutes of just standing there. Lidia comes out of the stall. Her eyes are red. I put my arms around her and hold her close.

"Tell me what happened" I say gently.

"I saw Tom dancing with someone else and I couldn't help myself" She says still gently sobbing. Girls are so emotional.

"I'll walk you home." I tell her. Lidia nods her head. With my arm still around her I lead her out of the building and walk her home. When we reach Lidia's house I escort her to her room.

We sit on her bed. I have my arm around her and she is still crying. With her body so close to mine I start to have a hard time controlling myself. The thing is, is that her face is inches away from my face. The scent coming off of her skin is driving me crazy. I am doing everything I can not to kiss her. Then I think I could kiss her on the cheek. That's something that girl's do right? Sometimes they kiss each other on the cheek. I wasn't sure about that but I reach the point where I can't control myself any longer and just reach over a bit and give her a sweet kiss on the cheek. I wait a few minutes to see what Lidia's reaction is. She remains unchanged so I decide to give her another one. I feel really low kissing a girl in another girl's body.

I reach over to kiss Lidia but this time she turns her head in my direction and instead of kissing her on the cheek our lips find each other. Lidia doesn't pull away either and I'm thinking that maybe Lidia has been hiding in the closet. I know she is really shaken up over Tom though so maybe she is just confused. After our lips linger for a few minutes longer I'm the one who pulls away.

"I'm so sorry." I tell her, "I didn't mean to kiss you on the lips."

"it’s okay" She responds, "I kind of liked it." Nia would flip if she knew her best friend had been hiding in the closet. At least I think she would. I was really torn as to what to

do next. I wanted to kiss Lidia so bad but I also didn't want to ruin their friendship.

"What do you mean kind of?" I protest. OMG I'm flirting with Lidia now while she's vulnerable. Have I no shame?

"Maybe you should kiss me again then" She answers. She's flirting back! I should nip this in the bud right now but I don't. I move closer to Lidia and we press our lips together again. I can taste her lipstick.

"How was that?" I ask.

"That was good" She says breathlessly, "You better go. We'll talk about it tomorrow." She isn't crying anymore and she has a nice smile on her face.

"Yeah, your right." I respond, "I'll see you tomorrow."

I walk home. I am feeling pretty amazing and despicable at the same time. I ruined Nia's friendship with Lidia because I couldn't control myself. I am such an idiot. When I get home my parents ask me about the dance. I tell them that I had to leave early because Lidia was upset and they tell me that I am a good friend. If they only knew.

When I go to sleep I wake up in my own room. I check the 'tin can' thing and a new scene has become clear. I can see Nia and Lidia kissing in Lidia's bedroom. Of all the scenes that could have appeared it had to be that one.

I am up early for school. I decide to take it upon myself to actually cook breakfast for once. We have some eggs and I scramble about 6 of them and add some cheese. When I’m done I call my mom and my sister. My sister asks me what I put in them and I tell her it’s just egg and cheese. My mom feels my forehead and insists on taking my temperature.

When she’s satisfied that I haven’t come down with anything, she sits down and eats her eggs. Lisa is eating her eggs and I’m just staring at her. She feels my stare and looks up at me.

“What?” she says.

“You just look familiar.” I answer. I saw someone who looked a lot like Lisa and I was trying to remember where I saw them.

“Of course I look familiar, we live in the same house.” She responds.

“I mean I saw someone that looked like you and I’m trying to remember where I saw them.” I correct.

“You mean you saw someone who looked exactly like me?” She asks.

“Well, the person I saw was older but she did look a lot like you.” I say out loud. Then it hits me, Lisa was the person in the library book. She was the one who helped build the AI. My sister Lisa is going to take part in the most important event of the 21st century! Hold up. Wait a minute. I was just dreaming that, right? My brain selected Lisa because she’s someone I know not because she really is smart. I decide to test my theory by asking her a question.

“Lisa, What math class are you in?” I ask not so subtly.

“Trigonometry” She responds.

“Trigonometry? How did you get into trigonometry!?” I ask totally shocked. If she is doing Trigonometry she’s a lot smarter than I am.

“I had to pass an entrance test.” She responds proudly.

“Wow! I am really impressed.” I admit. This new information gives me a lot to think about. There is already a blurry line between my own life and Nia’s but now I am starting to think that maybe I’m not dreaming. Maybe I really am living Nia’s life without her

permission and screwing it up. I could handle screwing my own life up but Nia didn’t ask for me to screw her life up too.

I get out the door and I’m on my way to school. It was so much nicer walking through Nia’s well-kept village than taking the bus and I was starting to resent my own circumstances. Why do some people get nice things while other people have to wallow in

mud? It just doesn’t seem fair. When I get to school I don’t see Mark anywhere. It’s not unusual not to see Mark, a lot of kids go to my school.

In class I try to catch Kayla staring at me but each time I look over at her she is looking at her text book. I suppose she could be staring at me but if she is she doesn’t want me to know about it this time. I guess I screwed up my chance. How can I be so smooth as Nia but so dorky as myself? When class is over I move in Kayla’s direction to say hi to her but when I get there she is already gone. I am such an idiot. I catch up with Mark at lunch.

“So how did it go with that girl?” He asks.

“I screwed it up.” I told him.

“I totally called that” He says like he had bet someone on the outcome.

“Thanks for the confidence” I say sarcastically.

“No problem” He shoots back.

“I’ve dreamed about being that girl again.” I said, “And her life is way better than mine.”

“Well, duh” He said, “That girl looked pretty hot. I bet she has guys lining up wanting to bang her.”

“Dude, that is so not cool.” I say wanting to throw up.

“Dude, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t want to bang her.” He says accusingly.

“Yeah, but not while I’m being her!” I say, “And it’s really messing me up. Not only am I screwing my own life up, I screwing her life up too.”

“So what if you’re screwing her life up. It’s just a dream. It’s not real. You’ve made it all up in your head because your own life sucks so deal with it.” Mark says.

“But it seems so real and that thing I got from the flea market has three clear scenes in it now and all the clear scenes are from my dream and you can’t tell me you didn’t see the first one.” I said, “So I’m not crazy.”

“You just need to relax and get a grip.” Mark says, “You need a vacation.”

Maybe I do need a vacation. The lines between reality and fantasy were starting to blur and I was starting to not be able to tell the difference. I wonder how I am going to face Lidia after kissing her and how am I going to patch things up so their relationship isn’t ruined. I really felt like I was in over my head.

When I get home from school I notice Lisa is doing her homework. I never thought of Lisa as an actual contributing member of society before. I have always thought of her as my annoying little sister. I now look at her in awe and realize she is on a whole different level than I am doing things I couldn’t possibly understand. I just stand there and stare at her.

“What?” She says annoyingly.

“Nothing, just thinking” I answer.

“You were thinking. That’s pretty unlikely.” She shoots back.

“I was just thinking about how I never noticed how smart you were.” I answer.

“Really? You think I’m smart?” She asks.

“Yeah, I think you’re smart. I just never noticed before.” I confirm.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” She asks with genuine concern in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just never noticed before that all.” I say.

“Okay” She says really slowly in a voice that someone uses when they think something is weird. I check out the refrigerator and I notice there is some ground beef that needs to be cooked so I make Lisa and myself a couple of hamburgers. I think about adding some onion but I can’t find any. I do find two slices of American cheese though which turn our

hamburger’s into cheeseburgers. It isn’t much but it is something. Lisa enjoys eating her cheeseburger.

“So what is going on with you?” She demands after she is finished eating.

“I don’t know” I answer truthfully. I’m not sure if I should let her in on the details or not.

“Well, something is going on, you’re not usually this nice to me.” She states again.

“If I tell you will you promise not to tell anyone?” I say. She nods her head.

“Okay.” I go and get the antique I bought at the flea market and hand it to her.

“Look through all these little holes and tell me what you see?” I ask. She holds the antique up to one of her eyes and starts turning it around and looking through the holes.

“I see darkness” She says.

“I still see darkness” She says again as she continues turning it.

“I see two girls hugging in a bedroom.” She says finally.

“I see a girl and guy standing in a hallway” She continues.

“I see two girls kissing.” She says finally, “So?”

“When I got that thing, all the holes were dark.” I say. Every night I have a dream and every morning a scene becomes clear through one of the holes and I’ll prove it to you tomorrow. There will be a new scene.”

“So am I in your dreams?” She asks completely ignoring the scope of what I’m saying.

“No, you’re not in my dreams.” I answer, “But the two girls hugging are sisters and it made me realize that since dad’s not here and mom’s gone a lot, we need to stick together because we are all each other has.” I said this because I don’t want to tell her that she will be thought of one day as an important historical figure. She would really think I was crazy if I told her that. I give her a hug to emphasize how much I feel a connection to her.

“Do you have these dreams every night?” She asks.

“Every night since I got that antique.” I answer.

“What happens in the dreams?” She inquires.

“One whole day from when the older girl wakes up to when she goes to bed at night.” I say back.

“Are you in the dream?” She asks.

“No.” I answer.

“Maybe the antique is cursed. You should get rid of it.” She reasons.

“Or maybe it’s telling me a story while I sleep” I countered, “I really want to see how it ends.”

When mom gets home I hear a knock on my bedroom door.

“Come in” I call. My mom comes in.

“Hey Kiddo. You know, I am really starting to worry about you. It’s nice that you fixed breakfast this morning and made dinner tonight, but you’re not acting right. Do you want to talk about it?” Mom offers. Mom wasn’t the best person for talking your problems over with so I decided to keep them to myself.

“I’m fine. I just realized that with dad not being here and you being gone a lot that Lisa is all that I’ve got so I have to look out for her.” I offer hoping mom will buy my explanation. The expression on her face softens.

“That is so grown up of you to want to look out for your little sister.” For a moment I think she even tears up a bit. Mom leaves my room and closes the door behind her. I start to get really anxious about going to sleep because when I wake up as Nia I’m going to have to have that conversation with Lidia.

I hear a voice.

“Nia wake up!” Correction, I hear an excited voice.

“Come on Nia!“The voice I hear is Katy who can hardly contain herself. If I remember my days right this should be Saturday. There should be no school today and my body doesn’t want to get up.

“Katy” I say in a low groggy voice. “I don’t want to get up.”

“But today is the day we’re going to the lake!” She says with barely contained excitement, “Everybody is ready! Come on!”

I open my eyes and see Katy dressed in a one piece swimsuit. I drag myself out of bed. Katy has already taken the liberty of getting my one piece swimsuit out for me. I change into my bathing suit and put on jean shorts and a T-shirt over it. Nia’s body is a serious distraction and I’m wondering how many minor accident’s it is responsible for.

I’ve never been to a lake before and once the idea sets in I’m actually looking forward to it. I grab a glass of orange juice and we head out for the day. I don’t know why I didn’t notice this before but there are no automobiles. There are streets here that an automobile can drive on, but there are no cars anywhere. Nia’s family each has a bicycle. I’ve ridden a bicycle before but it’s been a long time. I suppose though if you’ve done it once you should be able to do it again. I get on Nia’s bike and follow the rest of the family to the lake.

Once we get to the edge of our village, the street ends but a path continues out into the country. After riding for what seems like forever we finally reach the lake. Behind Nia’s father’s bike there is attached something like a wagon that he pulls behind his bicycle. In this wagon there is a blanket, a basket with food and some assorted items for swimming. When we get to the lake there are already a lot of people here. It’s like the whole village came out to the lake together as some kind of planned event. I wonder if there will be any games and prizes. Nia’s parents find a nice spot on the grass (there’s a huge grassy area here) and lay out our blanket. Katy runs down to the lake to cool off in the water. I look around to see if there is someone Nia is familiar with.

“Hey pretty girl.” I hear a familiar voice coming from behind me and I instantly know it’s Bobby. I turn around. He’s wearing swim trunks and is shirtless. I notice the tone and definition of his muscles and I have to admit I’m jealous. If I looked like that I’m pretty sure I’d have girls lining up outside my door and down the street.

“Hi Bobby, isn’t this great. It’s such a beautiful day.” I comment.

“I saved a dance for you last night but when I looked around I couldn’t find you.” He says.

“I’m sorry about that. Lidia had a breakdown and I took her home. Maybe next time.” I offer.

“It doesn’t look like she’s too upset to me. I saw her earlier and she was glowing.” Bobby explains. This doesn’t sound good.

“Really? Last night she was heartbroken.” I say.

“Well, she’s not heartbroken now. It looks like she’s rebounded.” Bobby continues.

“Do you know who with?” I ask excitedly.

“Well, I haven’t seen her with anyone. So I don’t know.” He says.

“Thanks a lot, now I’m going to wonder who it is.” I say playfully.

“You’re her best friend, just go on and ask her.” He says impatiently.

“Yeah, I think I will do just that.” I say and I leave Bobby standing there to go find Lidia. As I’m walking it really does seem like the whole village is here and everyone looks like they are having a blast. I notice several kids from Nia’s school and when I spot Lidia, Bobby was not wrong about her glowing. She looks like she is infatuated with someone and I am thinking it is probably with Nia. I walk up to her.

“Hi there.” I say warmly.

“Hi” she says with a smile on her face. She gives me all of her attention and it makes me feel like I’m the only person alive in the whole universe. I start to feel self-conscious for the first time since I sat in the front of the class that first day.

“You look really good.” I tell her.

“I feel really good” she responds giggling.

“Want to take a walk” I ask.

“Sure” She says and with that we both start walking away from prying ears.

“Do you want to talk about last night?” I ask her.

“Do you want to talk about last night?” She mirror’s back.

“Yeah, I do. You’re my best friend and I don’t want anything to ruin that.” I answer. I really want to let Lidia down gently.

“I don’t want anything to ruin that either.” She says back, “but I liked kissing you. I feel safe with you and I know you would never hurt me.”

“Lovers always get hurt.” I say back in a tender voice, “and I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt.” I can tell this is going to be really hard.

“Lovers don’t have to get hurt, maybe we can be different.” She pleads.

“We would have to keep it a secret, do you really want to be my secret lover?” I ask.

“Yes, oh yes I do!” she confesses,” I want to be your secret lover.” Lidia looks like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders with this confession. I am trying to let her down gently but it’s not working out so great.

“What about boys?” I ask, “You were just all broken up over one.”

I still like boys,” She says, “I just like you more.” This is not going well at all and I’m silent trying to think of how to respond. After several minutes pass Lidia speaks again.

“Nia, are you okay?” She asks.

“It’s just a lot to take in.” I say, “You’re my best friend and I would do anything for you ....” After a long pause I continue, “Even be your secret lover.” I just can’t do it can I? I’ve always been horrible at making tough decisions and I hate hurting people’s feelings. Now I’ve gotten Nia into a relationship with her best friend. There’s no question I’m going to enjoy it, but when Nia gets back into her own body she sure is going to be in for a shock.

I can’t help but wonder where Nia is right now and what she is doing. Will she just wake up X number of days from now like it was a moment after she went to sleep 4 days ago?

Lidia’s face lights up when she hears the news.

“Are you sure about this Nia? I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something you don’t want to do.”

“I’m not, I promise.” I answer, “You know me better than anybody and I know you and I enjoyed kissing you as much as you enjoyed kissing me.” When she hears this her face literally beams. I’ve just made her the happiest girl on the planet. Good job me.

“I wish we could hold hands.” She says as we walk back to the lake and the crowd.

“I know, I want to hold your hand too” I respond. I wanted to hold her hand so bad. I can see there’s no way this ends well for Nia but there’s nothing else to do now but ride it out until it crashes and burns.

When we get back to everybody, several children are playing in the lake. In the huge grassy area people are playing games. I see Frisbee’s and sack races and several people are sitting on blankets watching everybody else. Everyone is having a great time. I get back to Nia’s parent’s blanket and take off my shorts and t-shirt and Lidia goes off to talk to some other girls. The sun is out and it feels really good on my skin. Nia’s mother takes out some skin protectant and insists that Nia apply it to her exposed skin. I guess there is no skin cancer in Nia’s future along with no nice tan either.I go down to the lake and dip my foot in the water. It feels a little cold but I figure it won’t take long to get used to it.

“Did you get roped into babysitting?” a voice says from behind me. The voice belongs to a girl from Nia’s class that I haven’t really spoken to before. I look around and notice that all the kids in the lake are smaller children. The older children Nia’s age are all hanging out in groups.

“Yeah” I replied. I had that deer in the headlights look because I didn’t want to ruin Nia’s reputation and I didn’t know what else to say.

“Well, have fun” She said and walked toward one of the groups of older kids. I feel a splash and when I turn around I see Katy laughing. I get a big smile on my face and I splash her back gently. She laughs some more and the splash fight is on. After a while I notice that I’m use to the water and it feels pretty good. Katy is having a great time and I feel good that Nia is keeping her promise by playing with her. I lose track of the time.

After some time passes somebody blows a whistle and everybody stops what they are doing. All the children in the lake get out and go to their parents. All the older children stop talking to each other and do the same. All the parents that were visiting with each other return to their blankets. Katy and I go to Nia’s parents.

When I get to Nia’s parents blanket. Nia’s mother gets out some sandwiches and chips. In a bottle she has some cool lemonade. I get the idea very quickly that it’s time for lunch and I guess everybody eats lunch at the same time. It’s kind of creepy. It’s like one of those tv shows where everybody in a town is perfect but they are all hiding some dark terrible secret.

Once I started eating lunch however, I forget all about my conspiracy theories because my sandwich is really good. It is some kind of tuna salad type of thing. It goes very well with the patato chips and lemonade and when I finish eating I feel very satisfied.

After lunch I decide to lay on our blanket and soak up some rays. I already know I’m not going to get any benefit from it but the sun feels good on my skin.

“So did you find out who Lidia’s new crush is?” a voice says. Bobby has come back around.

“No” I answer.

“You’re such a liar” Bobby says playfully.

“I am not” I shoot back in an irritated voice.

“I saw the two of you walk off together. I know she told you who it was.” Bobby says.

“Well if she did I’m not telling you.” I shoot back.

“Why not?” He asks.

“Why do you want to know?” I counter. Then I thought that maybe Bobby wanted to get with Lidia. Since Nia turned him down he wants to get with her best friend for revenge. I was pretty sure that Bobby really had it bad for Nia.

“I just want to know” Bobby explains.

“You like her!” I say with the kind of face someone makes when they’ve put two and two together. It felt really good to mess with Bobby like this.

“No I don’t” Bobby protests.

“Yes you do! Why else would you want to know who she has a crush on” I reason.

“Your crazy!” He says and walks away. I could tell that Bobby was going to try and put the move on Lidia. I couldn’t wait to see how that turned out.

I played with Katy some more and after that I gossip with some girls from school. At dusk we see the fireflies come out and when the sun goes down there is this huge camp fire where people roast marshmellows and eat smores. They also sing campfire songs which I have never heard before.

That night Katy asks me to tuck her into bed.

“I had so much fun today.” She says, “The best part was playing with you.” Her face beams and for once I don’t feel like a complete jerk.

“I had fun today too and you know what?” I ask.

“What?” She answers back.

“The best part of the day was playing with you too.” I finished. Katy smiles.

Katy falls asleep fast and once I say goodnight to Nia’s mom and dad, I drift off to sleep as well.

I wake up a little bit early. I get my antique and I check all the holes. The other scenes are still there but a new scene is added. I can see Nia and Katy splashing in the lake. At least I can be proud of one thing I did when I was Nia. I go wake Lisa up.

"What time is it?" She asks, "Why are you waking me up?"

"Lisa, look" I shove the antique in her face, "There's a new scene just like I said there would be." Lisa looks through all the holes.

"Your right, there is a new scene. Two girls playing in a lake somewhere." She said.

"It was so much fun." I say, "The whole village was there and everybody had the best time."

"Sounds like you had a good dream." She says, "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Yeah, okay" I say. I go into the kitchen and make breakfast again. I scramble some eggs with cheese and make some toast and it's ready when Lisa and my mom get up.

"I can get used to this." my mom says as she is eating her breakfast while Lisa eyes me suspiciously. I leave for school and I find Mark before class starts.

"Hey dude" I say.

"Hey dude" He says back.

"I'm going to take Kayla out on a date Friday." I say confidently.

"Does Kayla know about this date?" Mark teases.

"Not yet, but she'll find out about it during lunch." I inform.

"Since when did you get to be such a big talker?" Mark asks.

"When I decided to make my own luck" I shoot back.

"You know you're going to have to back that up now, right?" He says not convinced.

"Yeah, I know" I respond. When I get to class. I look around until I see Kayla. Just like yesterday, she is avoiding eye contact. I am going to project confidence. At least I am going to try and project confidence. I haven't had much luck before now but I am not going to give up. I am going to make my own luck.

Lunchtime arrives and I take a deep breath and enter the cafeteria. Kayla is sitting with the same group of friends she sits with everyday at lunch. I walk over and sit down beside her without being invited. She looks over at me but doesn't say anything.

"So is there any reason why I can't pick you up around 5:30 on Friday?" I ask her.

"5:30 for what?" She asks.

"I'm going to take you out to dinner in appreciation of you sharing your lunch with me." I explain, "So is there any reason why I can't pick you up around 5:30?" I ask again.

"You are just going to assume I'll go out with you." She says as more of a statement rather than a question.

"Is there any reason why you wouldn't?" I ask. She thought about it for several minutes before replying.

"I guess not." she answers not to sure of herself.

"Great then I'll see you around 5:30 Friday evening" I state matter of fact and get up and walk away.

"Okay, what just happened here?" She asks one of her friends.

"You just agreed to go out on a date" is the reply one of them gives her. As I leave Kayla wondering what just happened, I am on top of the world. Now I just have to figure out where I am going to get the money, where I am going to get the ride, and where I am going to take her. Whoever said the devil is in the details was not kidding at all. After school I catch up with Mark.

"So dude, did you get that date?" He asks.

"I sure did!" I say proudly.

"Wait, you did?" Mark asks not believing his ears.

"Yep, now I have an even bigger problem." I say.

"What's that?" Mark asks.

"I have to find some money and I have to find a ride." I state plainly.

"How are you going to do that?" He asks.

"I don't know but I have to figure it out by Friday at 5:30." I reply.

"Good luck with that" He says.

"Yeah, thanks for all the support" I reply sarcastically.

"No problem" He shoots back ignoring my sarcasm.

When I get home, Lisa is sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework. I walk by her without saying anything and go to my room. I feel really in over my head about Nia. I am pretty sure it is going to start affecting my health. I'm kind of anxious and excited about my own prospects though. I lay down on my bed and just try to relax but I have to admit that I am feeling the pressure. I've always been a 'go with the flow' kind of guy but now I have stepped way out of my comfort zone.

Friday is the day after tomorrow. I have 2 days to come up with something. I try to think if I have anything worth selling. I have some old CD's but nobody buys those anymore. I just have to face it that my mind just isn't going to come up with anything. I need to ask somebody smart. Then it occurs to me that Lisa is pretty smart but did I really want to tell her about my date? Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. When I go back into the kitchen, Lisa is still there doing homework.

"Hey," I say.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Lisa shoots back.

"I need some money." I say matter of fact.

"What do I look like, a bank?" She doesn't appear to be in a good mood.

"I've got a date." I blurt out. "I've got a date and now I need money to pay for it." Her whole demeanor changes. She wasn't interested in talking to me before but she is now.

"You mean like a date with a girl?" She asks acting surprised.

"Yes, with a girl. I need money to take her out somewhere to eat." I explain.

"What's her name?" She probes further.

"Kayla" I answer.

"Why don't you just make her something yourself and take her to the park and that way you can get mom to pay for it." She advises.

"What should I make her?" I ask.

"You could make her a baloney sandwich and take some chips and a 2 liter of pop." She replies.

"That sounds like a good idea. Thanks." I say.

"Your welcome. Now leave me alone." She says annoyingly.

I go back to my room. I feel a little better because at least I have a working plan now even if it does sound pretty lame. I don't really like boloney sandwiches so I thought I would make turkey instead. Other than that I think Lisa's plan is probably the only thing I can do. There is a really nice park close by and it would be a nice walk. Of course my idea has loser written all over it but I don't really have a lot of options. I am thinking I should have put some effort into finding a job. She will probably think I am cheap for not taking her somewhere but I'll just have to risk it. When mom gets home I approach her with the idea.

"Hey mom, could I talk to you for a moment?" I ask as soon as she walks in the door.

"Sure kiddo, what do you need?" She replies.

"I need some shaved turkey, tomato, cheese, mayo, a bag of potato chips and a 2 liter of coke." I respond.

"Woah" she replies," What do you need all that for?"

"I asked this girl out on a date but I don't have any money to take her anywhere so I thought I would make something and take her to the park." I talk really fast and just blurt it all out.

"You asked a girl out on a date?" She repeats. Why does everybody keep asking me that?

"Yeah" I say after I let myself start breathing again. She looks at me kind of funny and makes that face and puts her arms around me. She beams with pride like parents do when

their kid learns some type of new life skill like using the toilet or something.

"That's wonderful, who is this girl? what is she like?" My mom switches into prying mother mode where she asks me endless questions I don't feel like answering because it's super awkward.

"She's just a girl from school. It's no big deal" I say trying to deflect the coming onslaught of questions.

"No big deal, my only son has his first date with a girl and you say it's no dig deal!" She exclaims.

"It's not like I'm getting married, we're just going to hang out." I toil in futility trying to bring my mother down from whatever high my news has seemed to take her. If she had any idea I've already kissed a girl she would just flip out. My mom gets a grip on herself though and calms down.

"Okay, when is this date?" She asks.

"Friday at 5:30" I reply.

"Okay, I'll make sure I get all those things you need tomorrow on my way home from work." She promises.

"Thanks mom" I give her a hug and go back to my room. As I was drifting to sleep I started to think about what I was going to do about Lidia.