Chapter 5

JPOV

The rest of the school day went about as smoothly as could be expected for a guy in a cheerleader's body. Luckily we all knew each other's class schedule in case someone needed to be reached in an emergency.

I went to all of Haley's classes and pretended to take notes, as I knew she would. But really I was drawing more comic book characters. Hmmm, maybe I should draw Claudia as a character. I set to work on the task. If anyone interrupted me I bossily shushed them, as I knew Haley would.

In between classes Roxanne, the mean-girl head cheerleader, stopped me to remind me about cheerleading practice. I told her I wouldn't be there. There was no way I would be able to do any of the moves and I didn't know the routines. Roxanne rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, Haley, more mime club? You really do spend too much time with those geeks. And the way you talk about them all the time is disgusting. Especially always talking about Jake. Jake this and Jake that. Ugh, too much!"

That caught my interest. "You think I talk about Jake a lot?"

"Just the fact that you talk about him at all is a lot. I don't know what you see in him anyway. He is such a dork." She is such a witch with a capital B.

"Well, I don't have mime club anyway, " I countered. "I have to practice for the play I'm star of, remember?"

"Whatever! You need to show more devotion to the squad." And with that she walked away.

I stood there wondering about what she said. Does Haley really talk about me a lot? What could that mean? Not that I would mind or anything. Haley is one of the most popular and beautiful girls in the school. But we are only friends, right? Besides I have a date with Claudia to think about.

After school I went to play practice. There I discovered that some poor sap had to kiss Etienne Liebowicz. The worst part was when I found out that poor sap was me. But when Etienne offered me cinnamon or wintergreen I snapped. There was no way I was staying! I told the director the only excuse I could think of that girls use to get out of things. "Sorry," I cringed grabbing my stomach, "Its that time of the month. Cramps!" Then I bolted as fast as I could.

In Headquarters Felix was there working on a way to switch us back. No way am I kissing some dude! I pushed for Felix to hurry. He was excited about discovering something. He was babbling about essence or something, when Haley came in.

She was her annoying self as usual. She flashed me a quiz she aced for me. Which I appreciate, by the way. Then she went on about JV Basketball and volunteering at the senior center. "It's no nice to someone with so much room for improvement." She said.

"Don't get used to it. Felix is gonna switch us back at any minute," I told her. She makes me so angry. She is always trying to improve me, to fix me. Well, I'm not broken! I may not be at the top of my class or most popular, but I have friends and I know who I am. I like me. Why is that not good enough for her?

She could have cared less what I said. She continued to ramble on about burping the alphabet with Cuddy and rat toes. It suddenly dawned on her that I was there and not at rehearsal. She started yelling at me about her being the lead and missing rehearsal. So I started yelling back about not wanting to kiss Etienne. We bickered back and forth for a bit when Felix cut us off.

"Guys! Guys!"

"What?" we both asked.

"The cube!" he gushed. "The water's working. I'm a genius!"

The cube did look larger than a few minutes ago. He continued, "At this rate we can make the switch by morning. Why don't you guys head home and get some rest. I'll stay here with the cube."

Don't have to ask me twice. Haley walked toward the elevator flashing the quiz at me. I followed her onto the elevator.

"What is your deal?" I asked her.

"I don't know what you mean?"

"Why are you always trying to change me? Am I not good enough for the Oh-So-Perfect Haley?"

"First off: I never said I was perfect." She stated. "And secondly: I'm not trying to change you. I'm trying to help you reach your full potential. So you can be happy." She reasoned.

"I AM HAPPY!" I yelled angrily. "I don't need all these extra activities to know who I am or to reach my potential. I am happy with who I am."

We both stared at the door of the elevator in silence. When we stepped off into the janitor supply closet that hid the elevator Haley asked quietly, "Do you really think that?"

"Think what?" I turned to her.

"That I don't think you are good enough?" She kept her eyes down, studying the cracks in the floor.

"Well, yeah."

"Why?" she asked not looking up.

I looked at her. She seemed shy and unsure. Not like herself at all. Then again her being in my body she doesn't look like herself. "Well, you are always trying to "improve" me," I said using air quotes. "Like today signing me up for things. Or "fix" me by rearranging my hair or clothes. You are always correcting me, my grammar or the way I do things. So yeah. I'm obviously not good enough for you."

"I never said that." She then looked up into my eyes. "You are more than good enough for me, Jake." She then walked out leaving me standing there stunned and confused.

I made it through dinner with Haley's parents. I almost slipped a few times calling them Mr. and Mrs. Steele. When I excused myself to Haley's room for the evening they looked at me like something was up. So I mumbled something about cramps and bolted from the room.

Haley's room was what I pictured a stereotypical pampered princess room to be. The walls were pink, there were pictures of flowers and sunshine and hearts. There was a floral scent that filled the senses. It was like the Care Bears came in here and vomited peace and love. Urgh.

I continued exploring. I looked at the pictures of Haley winning various awards and trophies. Then I looked at the various awards and trophies. There were pictures of Haley with her parents and Haley with an old lady. I assume that was her grandmother. I spotted a picture of Haley, Felix and me next to her bed. That was the only picture she had of friends. It made me smile. Despite our frequent bickering, Haley, along with Felix, are my two best friends. It's nice to see she feels the same way.

Haley's bed was covered with pillows. Pillows of every shape and size. I jumped on the bed. I was surrounded by fluff. It was quite cozy. But the most comforting was the smell that engulfed me. It was all covered with the smell of Haley. A light floral scent with just a hint of berry. It was heavenly. I lay there breathing it in for a while. Then I looked around me and wondered which of these hundreds of pillows did Haley actually sleep on.

Before I had time to put too much effort into it the video chat rang. It was Haley. I sat down to discuss the day.

"Hey, Haley, what's up?" I answered the call.

"Hey, Jake. Wanted to see how today went for you and to remind you to memorize my lines in case the switch in the morning doesn't work out. "

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Felix has it under control and we will be back to normal before first period."

"Just in case, it doesn't hurt to be prepared, " She persisted.

"So anyway, how'd it go with my family at dinner?" I wondered if she had them fooled.

"Great! I did what I thought you'd do." She smiled proudly. "I showed them how far I could burp the alphabet."

I had to agree with her there. I probably would do that. So instead I redirected the subject. "So tell me about all these pillows. I've never seen anything like it." She rolled her eyes at me. "What exactly is this for?" It was a tiny, pink, ruffled, square pillow.

"It's an accent pillow. Its decorative."

"And this one? Is this the one you sleep on?" I held another pillow to the screen.

"No, it's a toss pillow. It's also decorative. Jake, do we really have to do this?" She was annoyed by all my questions.

"I'm just fascinated. Your bed is a sea of pillows. Accent pillows, toss pillows, throw pillows, novelty pillows. Where is the pillow you sleep on?" I teased her knowing it was annoying her.

"In the closet." Really? In the closet?

"You're insane."

"Me? At least I have a room fit for, like, humans. Do you have any idea how long it took me to clean this place up to disgusting?"

"What! I told you not to touch anything!" How dare she mess with my room!

"Calm down. I just tidied up a bit. I took all your dirty clothes and put them in one pile. Ewww by the way. " She had a disgusted look and held up one finger. So my room is a little messy. What teenage boy's isn't? Well, maybe not Felix, but he's not normal. She continued, "And I found some comic books you drew of Night Shield and Honey Ricochet. Gee Honey Ricochet looks familiar."

She held up the drawing raising her eyebrows knowingly. True, I did base the character on Haley. She is strong, courageous, witty, smart and beautiful. Everything a female superhero is made of. She was never meant to find that though. Those drawings are for me. Someday when I'm older and successful in the comic book field I can bring out some of the characters I created. But how now I am so embarrassed to be caught.

"Honey Ricochet is so much taller than you." I lied trying to cover.

Luckily, she was already on to the next subject. "And I repaired your little stuffed bunny. You're welcome." What on earth did she do to him? He looks so stupid!

"Mr. Tuttles is not a bunny! He's a beaver. Which is the most masculine of all the woodland creatures. I can't believe you gave Mr. Tuttles bunny ears. He looks ridiculous!"

"Well, I think he looks super cute." She kissed him. I got up to find something to use as leverage against her to change him back before Mr. Tuttles was scarred for life.

I found a glass of water. I held the glass up over the sea of pillows. "Lose the ears or the pillow get it."

"Do it and die, Collins." She didn't take my threat seriously. Just then I notice something tucked behind one of the larger pillows. I set the glass down and pulled out a journal.

"Ooo, look what's behind this pillow. A diary?" It said Haley's Journal Keep Out. "Check and Mate." I had her.

"One minute." She looked horrified and started trying to take those silly ears off Mr. Tuttles.

"I hope he is back to normal by the time I get home."

"Don't worry, he will be." She grimaced.

"Haley." I said in a singsong voice.

"Yeah?" She looked up.

"Sleep tight." I said sincerely. "Don't worry I wont read your diary."

"Thanks, Jake. Goodnight."

I walked over to the bed. Picked up one of the small accent pillows and smelled it. Ahh. So nice. Then getting a smirk on my face, I grabbed it and another like it and stuffed them into my backpack. Now I can have the scent of Haley whenever I want.

A/N Thanks for all the feedback and support. Makes me want to keep writing. There will be one more chapter then this story will be over. I probably won't be able to update for a week though. So please be patience. Enjoy!