As she walked, she realized that she knew each and every one of the kids. Not just the ones who Carly had brought around or been on a team with, but all of them. She knew where her locker was and what her schedule was. She also knew that even though Carly hadn’t told her, she was now enemies with Sarah Brookings. Elizabeth thought they were still friends but now she knew there had been a falling out.

“What are you looking at Gnarly Carly?” Sarah sneered as she went past.

“Not you or your hideous unibrow” she replied with much more tween attitude than she thought she could have mustered. She continued on to her locker and first period science.

“I’m driving! I’m driving a car! By Myself! AAAHHH!” Carly drove off drumming the steering wheel. “And I’m an adult! I can order a drink if I want and I’m wearing high heels and I’ve got these” she looked down at her chest “But I’ve also got my Mom’s work knowledge and I’m going to work”

She drove across town and pulled into the lot at her Mom’s company. She too realized that she recognized and knew the people she was passing as she headed to her cubicle. She said Hi to some, waved and smiled at others and settled in like she should at her desk.

Seeing her school picture on the desk made her smile and think “Hope you like the Odyssey Mom…you get to take a test on it today”

She turned on the computer and her Mom’s password popped into her mind “I like this” she thought.

“Hey Liz” she heard from behind her.

She spun around “Hey Frank what’s up?” she said to her co-worker.

“Check your email…I sent over the last of the comparisons for your spreadsheet”

“Thanks man…I needed those” she replied.

Carly opened up excel and went to work. Typing and sending out her report and then moving on to the credit apps. It was all coming rather naturally to her. She felt comfortable here, good even. If she stopped and thought about how absurd it was that she was now her Mom, she would get taken out of the moment, but for the most part, she concentrated on her job.

She would look at the clock and think about where her Mom was in her day, what class she was in at that moment. She popped her heels out of her shoes and eventually sat at her desk barefoot at least until she got a taste for coffee in her mouth.

“I have never drank coffee in my life but I suddenly want it more than anything” she thought. She made her way to the break room and poured herself a cup. It tasted great to her, it smelled even better.

“Hey Liz”

“Hey Jess” she turned and saw her Mom’s friend a few feet away. They chatted and besides a few sexual references to Jessica’s husband, Carly pulled off their conversation without much of a hitch.

Carly made her way through her day without anyone knowing what had happened. “Whatever magic is causing this is definitely watching out for me” she thought.

Elizabeth too was making her way through her day but with more worry and feelings of being out of place. She kept to herself for the most part and just told Carly’s friends that she “just wasn’t feeling really good today” whenever they asked why she was so quiet.

She panicked internally when she walked into her first class and felt intimidated by the teacher. It was a woman she had met before and as an adult had told her call her Lydia. But now she was Mrs. Warren and she was bigger and older and smarter and she was in
control; she could punish and set rules and affect Elizabeth’s life in several ways as an 11 year old that she wouldn’t dream of doing to a 33 year old.

Liz sat at her desk and remembered that Lydia was actually only 31 but instead of being 2 years younger, she was now 20 years older than her. She was just another kid now. She couldn’t speak up for herself or she would be seen as a troublemaker and she couldn’t get Carly in trouble; she had to watch herself.

A girl she knew as Nina sat down at the next desk over. Liz looked over and saw that Nina was already developing. She immediately felt self-conscious about her body. She couldn’t help it, the feeling was just there and she was comparing chests with an 11 year old and she was the jealous one.

Elizabeth knew she wasn’t really 11, she knew she was really an adult woman and that this was just temporary but she also couldn’t help the emotions and feelings that were flooding into her mind from her body, her emotional and young and insecure body. “Just remember who you really are” she kept reminding herself.

She went through science just fine and luckily when she did have to take her test on The Odyssey, something kicked in that made it seem fresh in her mind instead of a book she blew off 20 years earlier.

Next up was Gym class though and that kicked off a whole new level of anxiety.  She went into the locker room to change into her gym uniform which was just a t-shirt and shorts in the school colors of Black and Gold.

Liz kicked off her sneakers and took off her jeans and top. She technically had on a bra, but it was just a flat strap of fabric that kept her nipples from showing. Some of the girls had small bras that actually concealed. She just shook her head to clear the thoughts again and put on her uniform. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and tied her shoes back up.

When Coach Taylor announced that Dodgeball was on tap, Liz felt her stomach tie into a knot “Great, now I get to get hit in the face by a rubber ball” she thought.

She did have more energy though and found that running back and forth didn’t wear her out as much as she thought it would but her motor skills still left something to be desired. She couldn’t throw as well as she thought she could and her reaction time to try and catch a ball just plain sucked.

She didn’t get hit in the face, but she did get a red mark on her leg from getting hit there. She was rubbing out the sting when she returned to the locker room at the end.

Liz carried out all of Carly’s discussions with her friends. She just kind of let it flow out of her to sound natural, letting the part of her that really was Carly just take over. She realized that part of her mind was Carly’s domain. Just like Carly knowing how to drive and what was due at her job was a part of her that still resided with her body.

By the end of the day, Elizabeth was just exhausted mentally and physically. “I have to do this for a week” she said to herself as she waited for the bus to take her home. “And I still have to do homework when I get home that has to be done before Mom…I mean Carly…gets home”

She shook her head a bit worried by the slip she just had in her mind. “I can’t think of her as Mom. She’s not the Mom; I am. I just have to live as Carly for a week, I’m not Carly”

But Elizabeth did go straight to the table and start her homework once she got in the house. She walked in and kicked off her shoes, leaving them by the door like Carly always did and not picking them up and putting them away like she usually did when she entered the house.

She ate a few cookies and drank a Coke though to assert that she was still an adult though. Carly wasn’t supposed to snack before dinner.

“Man…every class has some homework…this sucks” she thought as she moved from assignment to assignment, swinging her dangling feet back and forth under the table.

Elizabeth took a break and stood up. She looked around the room and took in how different everything looked at this height and angle. The counter hit her at the bottom of her ribcage instead of at her waist. “I’m about 8 inches shorter in this body”

She walked around and took in the house. Looking at wedding pictures and family pictures and school pictures on the walls, “One week…” she said to herself.

Liz made her way back upstairs and she went into her bedroom; the one she shared with her husband and she sat on the edge of the bed. Her feet no longer reached the floor and she blushed at the fact.

She jumped down and went to the closet. She pulled out a single red heel. She put her sock clad right foot in and shuffled it around as it was nowhere near big enough to fit her now. She pulled a pair of dress pants down and held them up to her waist and lost sight of her feet as the bottoms covered them and lay on the floor.

She only looked at the drawer that held her bras “HA” she laughed and she left her room. “That’s okay…I’ll enjoy feeling my back and being able to run for a week. Gotta keep it fun”

The back door opened and her husband Mike came in. For a second, Elizabeth froze. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. This was the first time she had seen him since this had happened. She was looking at him with a different body and eyes for the first time and it shocked her.

For one thing, he was huge: 6’4” and 220 pounds was more intimidating to her suddenly. He looked formidable to her and her first instinctive thought was “I don’t want to disappoint him. I don’t want him to be mad at me”

“Hey honey how was school?” he asked as he came in.

“Um…it was…good” she stuttered out totally confused. Her mind was reeling and turning too fast.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah” she smiled. “Sorry, just thinking about something else was all” she said and slid back onto her seat at the table where she took out her math notebook.

Mike went on into the next room to drop off his satchel in his office. “How was your test today?” he called out to his wife.

“I was fine; I think I did good on it” Liz replied.

“Do you want to go out for dinner tonight? I don’t know what your Mom is planning but she’s usually ok with it unless she’s got something thawing” Mike said.

“I don’t think she was planning anything special tonight Dad” she said. “She was just talking about work this morning; she had a project due or something”

“Yeah, anywhere you want to go?”

“It doesn’t matter to me really” Liz responded. She stood up and only came up to her Dad’s armpit. “I have to think of him as Dad for this week and it’s actually pretty easy to do that at this size” she realized.

About 15 minutes later, they heard a car pull into the garage. “Your Mom’s home” Mike said.
Liz didn’t respond but simply smiled and sat back in her chair.

Carly came inside proud of herself for how she had performed throughout the day: She did her Mom’s job just fine and she had driven home. She came in and a thought just popped into her head “I’ve told that girl to put her shoes away when she comes in the door, she knows not to just leave them here for someone to trip on”

Another thought quickly followed “Oh My God…I sound just like her”

She came in and saw her daughter at the table and her husband standing a few feet away “Hey guys...what’s up?” she said coming in.

“Nothing much; how was your day honey?” Mike came over and Carly knew she had to kiss him on the lips. She turned her head and mouth up and they kissed as he patted her upper arm.

“Carly” she said directing her look to her former body “How many times have I told you to pick up your shoes when you come in? You know I hate that and one of these days I’m going to trip over them and hurt myself”

“Sorry Mom” Liz shot back a bit ashamed. She hadn’t even realized she left them there; she had just come in the house and did her thing, even if it included something that had been a pet peeve of hers yesterday.

Carly looked at Mike; she was looking at him for the first time since she had taken on her Mom’s body, life and role in the house. She saw him differently. Her first thought was instinctive though of love and protection but she wasn’t intimidated by him in the slightest. She felt like his equal and no longer seemed like he was as big as he had been that morning.

“Want to go out for dinner?” Mike asked.

“Sure, I’d love to” she replied. “Get your shoes on Carly” she said. “Are you finished with your homework?” she relished being able to ask that question.

“Yes Mom I am” Liz replied proudly. She walked over to get her shoes from in front of the door passing by her old body. In her heels, Carly was even bigger than usual to her now and that feeling of intimidation came on her again. “She has the power now” she thought. “Carly can tell me what to do now and I have to do it”

As if reading her mind, Carly said “Carly…make sure you fill the dog’s bowl before we leave”

Liz looked up and blinked. She silently went to the pantry and got out the bag of dog food. It was heavy for her but she carried over to the other side of the room and poured in the food. Their dog came running at the sound and nearly tripped Liz as she carried the bag back.

“Thank You honey but you know your chores and I shouldn’t have to remind you” Carly said.

“Yeah Mom…sorry about that” Liz responded. Her Dad put his hand on her back as she went out to the car. She climbed into the back seat and settled in as her Dad and Mom sat in the front seat and talked about their days at work.

At the restaurant, she ordered lemonade and nearly jumped up when her Dad asked Carly if she wanted wine with dinner.

“Sure, I’ll share some with you” Carly responded calmly outside while excited inside.

She caught Elizabeth’s glare and stared back until Liz looked down at her menu again. “Do you know what you want Carly?” Carly asked.

“Yeah I think so” Elizabeth answered. She usually didn’t order a cheeseburger when she went out but it really sounded good to her that night. It was something the real Carly would order though so she figured that their taste buds must have switched in all of this too.

Carly had never ordered Chicken Parmesan at dinner before but she knew her Mom had and now it sounded good to her too. She was trying to play it cool when she picked up her wine glass and took a sip “That’s really good” she said.

“It’s decent” Mike responded.

“I like it” Carly declared and took another longer sip. She felt a slight burn and tingle as it worked its way through her. She put her glass down and tilted her head toward her Mom. Part of her mind wanted to put her tongue out but another part just said “Just enjoy it and relish it” Liz kicked Carly under the table.

Carly shot her diminished Mother a withering glance as she rubbed her shin.

After getting home, Mike headed to his office to work on some paperwork leaving the two women alone. With a simple jerk of her head, Elizabeth motioned for them to go upstairs. They went into Mike and Liz’s room and closed the door most of the way.

“So how was your wine?” Liz asked.

“What? Why can’t you at least let me try it? Technically I’m allowed” Carly said folding her arms and towering over Liz.

“I know; it’s okay but I wanted to see if you were still afraid of me at all so I thought I’d try to call you out on it” Elizabeth admitted.

“You’re cute when you’re mad and trying to play Mom” Carly said.

“I’m not playing Mom; I am still your Mom. Just because you have my body and some of my mind doesn’t mean you are me. I’m not you; I’m just you for this week”

“Keep telling yourself that” Carly said stepping out of her shoes. “God those hurt after a while don’t they?” she said as she flexed her toes and ankles.

“Don’t get too comfortable is all I’m saying: Don’t forget who you really are Carly” Liz said.

“I won’t: I promise” she said as she unbuttoned her blouse and untucked it revealing her bra and stomach. She walked toward the bathroom as she slipped the shirt off. She ran some hot water to wash her face and looked in the mirror. “So how WAS school today?”

Liz shook her head “I don’t know, I guess it was okay. It was different though and harder than I remembered I’ll admit. But I do have some of your knowledge to pull it off. I did get dinged today though for not showing my work in math class”

Carly shot her a look “Your job can be pretty boring sometimes”

“Yeah I know, tell me about it”

“It went fine but it is what it is; a job. Reports come in, I take numbers from it and put them in another report and send it out” she shrugged and put the washcloth up to her face wiping off her make-up.

“Yeah that’s pretty much it” Liz agreed.

“But that doesn’t mean I want to change back before our week is up” Carly said.

“You want to hear something crazy?” Liz asked.

“Sure”

“I don’t want to change back either yet” Liz admitted blushing.

“Really?!! I didn’t expect that at all” Carly said. “Why?”

“I think I’m getting to know you better; to understand you better and in the long run it might be the best thing for us”

“I think that too. I think this week will make me know what I’m coming up on and it won’t be so scary then. At least I hope that’s what it does and this will sound weird too…”
“It’s been a weird day” Liz answered.

“I can’t quite put it into words though…it’s a feeling I have when I see you like this” Carly pointed to her Mom. “I see you smaller than me and I feel a need to protect you and love you and…and I don’t know”

“What you’re feeling is motherly love. It’s that part of your mind that’s still me. That’s why I ask questions, that’s why I care: I’m your Mom and I want and need to protect you. You now see that; you feel that motherly sense…good”

“But should I feel it?”

“Yes you should. If you want to be me for a week you need to feel what I feel along with see what I see and feel what I feel and even taste how I taste. I know it works both ways” Liz revealed.

“How so?” Carly asked.

“When I saw your Dad…my husband as you see him: I saw him as my protector and not my spouse, not my equal. It’s weird and it’s different how my love came out seeing him. I had never seen him as anything but my husband and now…well…I can’t explain it either but I see him as you see him too”

“I’m tired; I know it’s only a little after 8 but I want to lie down” Carly said.

“Me too, I’m exhausted. We’ve been through a lot today Mom” Liz responded.

Carly smiled and turned around. “What?” Liz said.

“You just called ME Mom” Carly said.

“Huh…I did, didn’t I” Elizabeth admitted. “I don’t know why I just said that but…” she trailed off.

“We’re both tired…get some sleep and we’ll talk some more in the morning”

“Okay” Liz said and stopped herself before she could call Carly Mom again. “I really must be tired” she thought as she headed across the hall.

“Wow” Carly mouthed to herself in the mirror once her Mom was out of the room “She called me Mom unprovoked”  Carly unzipped her skirt and let it drop to the ground. She stepped out of it and took off her panties. She unhooked her bra and assessed her naked body.

Hair dotted the top of her pubic region as it had never done before. There was a thought in the back of her mind all day that she wouldn’t dare admit to her Mom. But now she snuck into the bathroom still naked and sat down. A few minutes later she managed to stand back up, her knees though still felt weak and she washed off her hands.

She looked at her face in the mirror a bit ashamed of herself but also not. It was her body for a week and she needed to know some things. She put on fresh panties and a nightgown and crawled into the King size bed and was soon asleep with a slight smile on her lips.

Elizabeth closed her door behind her and put her back to it. She put her hands up to her temples “Stupid! I can’t believe you actually called her Mom you idiot…you…” her frustration and more youthful mind wouldn’t let any other words out but she failed to even notice her lack of swearing.

She was embarrassed and felt like Carly had won something over her. “Yeah dummy, she won your body and life and adult status. She can do whatever she wants and you can’t”

Elizabeth stripped down and put on an old t-shirt and shorts she found in a drawer to sleep in. It took her a few minutes for her cheeks to stop burning and fall asleep but the next thing she knew, her door was being opened and a stream of light came in across her face.

“Carly…time to get up” she heard her Mother’s voice and her eyes popped open.

“I don’t want to get up Mom” she mumbled before her brain kicked in and she opened her eyes to see Carly smiling at her from the doorway and the events of yesterday rushed back to her. “I mean I’m up”

“Good; see you downstairs” Carly said as she eased back and headed down. Elizabeth listened to the heavy footsteps going down the stairs and dropped onto her back and pulled the covers over her head.

She gathered herself up and swung out of bed. She plodded her way downstairs to see a familiar scene in reverse. Carly was standing by the Keurig waiting for her coffee to brew while she spotted the cinnamon toast crunch box. The one thing that hadn’t happened though was what upset Liz; there was no bowl down and she knew she couldn’t reach one without boosting herself up on the counter.

She walked over and leaned against the counter and put her arm out to fling open the cupboard. She knew Carly was watching her as she eased up onto her tip toes and still couldn’t reach the bowls. Her feet left the ground as she leaned even further forward.

“Oh, I’m sorry honey, I forgot you can’t reach the bowls” Carly said sincerely.

Elizabeth gave her a withering look as Carly casually reached over and took down a bowl for her.

Carly let out a quick snicker.

“Shut up…it’s not funny” Elizabeth said.

“I’m sorry but…it’s just…I like being bigger than you and I like seeing you be the one who has to struggle with being short now” Carly admitted.

“It’s not funny” Elizabeth repeated and tried to not to let Carly see her arm shake as she balanced the full gallon of milk which was very heavy for her.

Carly came over and sat across from Elizabeth “So it’s Wednesday”

“I know…band day. I’ve never played a trumpet so I hope your mind kicks in when the time comes”

“It will” Carly said with a raise of her eyebrows and a sip of her coffee “It will”

Mike came downstairs and kissed his wife on the lips and his daughter on the head like most mornings but Carly was the one who pursed her lips today. “Bye Hun…have a good day” she told him.

“Bye…love you” He said before adding “Love you too Kiddo” to Elizabeth to which she could only say “Bye Dad”

Elizabeth got up after that and headed upstairs to shower and get ready. Carly sat for another moment to finish her coffee.

Elizabeth came out of her room wearing a pleated gray skirt, a black sweater and black flats with her hair pushed back with a headband. She was waiting by the door with her backpack when Carly came down in black slacks, a green blouse and black ankle boots.

“Ready to go?” she asked as she got out her keys.

“Sure” Liz responded as she headed for the passenger side again.

“You’re quieter today than yesterday” Carly said as she got behind the wheel.

“Well we had a lot to talk about yesterday but now, I mean, I feel, like I should just settle in and enjoy the week as you; you know just let it happen and take it in” Elizabeth said with a shrug.

“I do understand what you mean. It will feel good to just have a few days to just be the other” Carly agreed “Shit…I forgot my phone” she said getting back out.

Normally an outburst of profanity would get Carly in trouble but today, Elizabeth didn’t even consider correcting her. She merely thought “Glad I didn’t say that”

“Okay, now I’m ready” she said buckling up and backing out.

Their second days as each other passed without incident as did the third and fourth. It was Friday afternoon before either of them really knew it.

Elizabeth came home from school and decided to wait on doing her homework when it hit her “Oh man; Mom and Dad have that wedding they’re going to tonight”

She felt sick in the pit of her stomach and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “Oh No…no, no, no” she said running her fingers through her strawberry blonde locks.

Elizabeth was going to have a babysitter and that wasn’t even the worse part: It was her younger sister who would be watching her.

She had forgotten about getting her sister Emily lined up to watch Carly weeks ago so they could attend a wedding for one of Mike’s co-workers but now that she was Carly, Emily would be watching her.