Play Date - Part 1

Jack, his sister Abby, and Abby’s best friend Julia were playing out in Jack and Abby’s backyard one Sunday afternoon. Jack always had a bit of a crush on Julia, but he always kept it close to his chest. Julia found a strange rock buried in the dirt.

“Huh, this must’ve been here since the previous owners,” Abby inspected the rock.

Jack gasped, suddenly looking down at his hands - or rather, Julia's hands. He felt his heart racing, but it wasn't his heart anymore. It was Julia's.

"What... what just happened?" Julia's voice came out of Jack's mouth, sounding panicked and confused.

Abby stood there, mouth agape, looking back and forth between her brother and her best friend, "You guys... you just... switched?"

Jack, in Julia's body, felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He stumbled slightly, unused to Julia's height and center of gravity.

"This can't be real," he muttered, hearing Julia's voice instead of his own.

Julia, inhabiting Jack's body, ran her hands through her now short hair, her eyes wide with disbelief, "How is this possible? It must be the rock!"

They all turned to look at the strange, glowing thing.

Abby snickered, “Oh, this is way cool.”

“Julia!” Jack and Abby’s mother called from the house, “Your mom is here to pick you up!”

Panic seized both Jack and Julia. They exchanged frantic looks, realizing the gravity of their situation.

Jack, still adjusting to Julia's body, took a deep breath. "We have to switch back, now!"

Abby, sensing the urgency, snatched the rock from the ground. "Here, both of you touch it again. Maybe it'll reverse the effect!"

With trembling hands, Jack and Julia reached for the mysterious stone. Their fingers brushed its smooth surface simultaneously, but nothing happened.

"What do we do?" Julia whispered urgently, Jack's boyish voice sounding strange with her inflections.

"We can't let anyone know," Jack replied, his words coming out in Julia's higher pitch, "We have to pretend to be each other until we figure this out."

Abby, sensing the urgency, quickly took charge, "Okay, Julia - I mean, Jack - you need to go with Julia's mom. Act natural. Jack - I mean, Julia - you come inside with me."

"Julia!" Julia’s mom called this time.

"Coming, Mom!" Jack yelled back in Julia's voice, wincing at how strange it felt.

Abby quickly shoved the mysterious rock into her pocket, "We'll figure this out later. For now, just... be each other."

Jack, in Julia's body, sat stiffly in the passenger seat of Mrs. Thompson's car, his mind racing. He tried to remember everything he knew about Julia's life, her family, her habits. His palms were sweating, and he kept wiping them on Julia's jeans.

"Are you feeling alright, honey?" Mrs. Thompson asked, glancing at him with concern, "You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine, Mom," Jack replied, trying to mimic Julia's casual tone, "Just... tired from playing outside."

Mrs. Thompson nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer, "Well, dinner will be ready soon. Your father's making his famous lasagna."

Jack's stomach churned. He'd never had dinner with Julia's family before. How was he supposed to act? What if he said something wrong?

His eyes drifted down to his petite, feminine frame, and a wave of discomfort washed over him. He couldn't believe that he was now in the body of his crush.

But as he looked at her curvaceous thighs and dainty hands, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement. Maybe this whole experience wouldn't be so terrible, after all.