“I know…whatever this did, it affected everything…I think the whole universe shifted to accept us in our new roles for some reason” Nate said.

“How horrible would that be?” Stephanie replied.

Nate shrugged but Stephanie thought back to the little boy and Mom who were coming out as they came in; when she recalled their actions and words, she shivered. “What if they switched too?”

Nate casually pulled out his wallet. He had been carrying twenty bucks and a Five below gift card in it along with his pass to the community Rec center. Now he opened it to find a driver’s license, credit cards, debit card, over 100 bucks in cash and a picture of his new self with his arms wrapped around a woman with red hair “Who the fuck is she?” he asked himself confused and lost.

Steph patted her flat chest and slender hips as inconspicuously as she could; her mind flying around trying to comprehend that she was once again a 13 year old middle school girl and no longer 28 years old “What about my apartment? My Car? I can’t even drive in this body at this age…what about my Mom and Dad?”

A shimmering light and glimpse appeared to her causing her to put a hand to her temple “I’m no longer the oldest child…I’m the youngest…my birth order reversed.

Stephanie now thought about it and could see her 24 year old brother Seth, her 20 year old sister Kaitlyn and even her 16 year old sister Hannah now all being older than her. “All the teasing I did to all of them…” now she replayed it all hearing the jokes she had said told back at her.

“I’ve got to fight this” Stephanie told herself biting down on her lower lip. She moved closer to the statues but they no longer looked like they would provide her with what she wanted. She bent down to peer into their eyes but instead of seeing jewels or light, a dull blackness met her.

More and more of the group came out of the restrooms and milled around their teacher, which just pushed Steph further to the side, away from Mr. Hopkins.

“Is everybody here?” Nate called out doing a headcount “I’m coming up with 25 so I’m saying yes”

A few of the girls who ignored him on a daily basis were now right in front of him, looking up to him, hanging on his words. A wave of nerves came and went as he realized he could speak up in front of them; he was no longer intimidated by these girls. They were just that; little girls to him; immature and not even somebody he would think about it the ways he used to think about them. His mind shifted and continued to shift; maturing rapidly as his new reality crashed around him.

“Alright everybody” Nate called out “Let’s head down the stairs to the elephant; Mr. Johnson will be there so we can meetup and head to our next stop!”

Steph looked up at him taking control of the situation and blindly followed the group to the main lobby. With a final glance over her shoulder at the statues, she sighed and walked forward. Her boots clung to her skinny legs, her top flapped a bit as she took the stairs, flipping her long hair back out of her face as she went.

Nate was in a trance, going through the motions and looking to hand off responsibility at least for a few brief seconds. Once he got his group to the rendezvous spot, he went up to Tyler “Hey, can you keep them all together for a sec…time for me to hit the restroom”

“Sure no problem man” Tyler Johnson replied. Their eyes met and for a split second a thought passed through both of their minds “What happened? Why are you here?” Before Nate smiled and hurried across the lobby to the restroom.

Inside, it was of course busy with men and boys coming and going constantly but that didn’t stop Nate from going to the mirrors and the sinks and staring gap jawed at his reflection. He looked over his new body, face and clothes thinking “The fuck just happened to me?!”

He splashed water on his face and slapped his stubbly cheeks “Wake up! Wake the fuck up Dude!” he kept telling himself to no obvious changes back to his reality.

He got more than a few funny looks as people went by but he didn’t care. He finally went into a stall and took several deep breaths looking down at his much larger frame “I’m a man” he told himself feeling his muscles move.

He unzipped and confirmed he was definitely a changed man as he took a leak.

He came back out with a nervous smile on his face “Just chill…relax…act like you know what you’re doing” he told himself.

Stephanie tried to get up closer to Nate but the crowd prevented that and she lacked the forcefulness to push her way through the crowd to the front of the pack. “I’ll get to him later; he’ll make time for me tonight when we’re at the hotel”

They stepped out and went down the stairs of the Natural History Museum and crossed the street to the American History Museum. The noise and movement around her disturbed Stephanie, it was all just too much for her so she slowly slipped further back to the far back fringe of the group.

She squinted and cocked her head, stopping dead in her tracks for a moment when she saw the small boy and his Mother that she saw coming out of the Egypt room sitting on a bench.

The boy swung his legs back and forth well above the concrete while the woman sat with her knees together and her hands in her lap talking to him.

Steph saw her group heading toward the main steps but she couldn’t help herself. She quickly slipped to the side to get closer to them and hear what they were talking about.

“…I can’t even still remember everything about being a man and it just keeps going…”

“I know honey and I can now think of things I never could before and there’s memories of me giving birth to you…”

“That’s impossible!” You’re not my…”

“Come on Steph! What are you doing over there?”

Stephanie spun, her heart cold in her chest but beating like mad. “The entrance is this way!” Emma yelled laughing.

Steph stood flat footed, unable to move. Her jaw went up and down a time or two before her paralysis broke and her gangly legs carried her up to her group.

“What are you doing back there weirdo?” Savannah teased her as she bumped up against her shoulder laughing.

“Nuh…nothing” Steph said smiling nervously. Abby and Emma were also by her now and she felt oddly comforted in this cocoon.

Gathering up again in front of the statue of George Washington, they were counted again before they started a winding path through the more popular wings of the museum.

Stephanie wouldn’t remember much about her 2 hours there. The exhibits passed before her vacant eyes as she zombie walked through. Every time she tried to concentrate, her mid shifted and broke it up a little bit more. Serious thoughts and hard memories of college and her life began to break apart and dissipate bit by bit. She couldn’t help it and she couldn’t stop it but by the time they gathered back up again; Stephanie was no longer Miss Namath; 28 year old 8^th grade teacher. Now she was Steph; 13 year old 8^th grade student.

15 years of education, experience and maturity had eroded away despite her trying to cling to it the way a drowning woman would cling to a life raft. It all just slipped out of her mind and through her fingers as she walked helplessly through the museum.

Nate was having his own difficulties as he walked in a similar trance like fashion. Building blocks kept coming into his mind. As new pieces of information locked into place, Nate’s mind would picture Lego’s fitting perfectly together.

He would be walking, strolling really, when something would just pop in; books he had now read, movies he had seen, events he had witnessed that he wasn’t alive for previously. As the news cycles in his head shifted backing up his birth year from 2004 to 1989, songs and trends now also came into his head.

High School and college came to him as well as general knowledge and maturity. His whole outlook on life was changing beneath him, molding and shaping a new person out of the old. By the time they completed their loop, Nate was no longer a 13 year old student; he was Mr. Hopkins, 28 year old teacher.

As they came back together, he called out “So; how did you guys all like it? Did you see some cool stuff?”

Almost all of the kids called out some kind of answer all at once and Mr. Hopkins just smiled “Alright, so we’ve got a little bit of a walk now so keep together. We’re heading to the Washington monument and then we’ll walk down to Lincoln, Vietnam and the Korean War statues before the buses will pick us up and take us to the hotel for the night. We’re going to have pizza delivered for dinner but you’ll be responsible for getting your luggage and getting to your assigned rooms; does everybody understand?!”

Nods went up and down “Good!”

As they began to move in mass toward the mall, Nate drifted to the back where he picked up walking next to Stephanie.

“So…how are you doing?” he asked.

“Not very good at all Mr. Hopkins; I’m kinda like, freaking out here” she said with all the awkwardness of any 13 year old girl.

“Yeah, me too Steph, me too” Nate replied with a reassuring smile and wink “Keep it together though you know; we’ll figure this out”

“Are you sure Mr. Hopkins?” Steph said “I mean, I can’t even bring myself to call you by your first name now”

“Well Miss Namath” Nate began as Steph smiled “How does that make you feel?”

“Better and worse” she admitted. “It’s like I haven’t earned that name yet. I only get called that when I’m in trouble…kind of like when my Mom breaks out Stephanie Jean on me”

“Yeah the dreaded middle name” Nate laughed.

“So I saw these two people, a lady and a kid, coming out of the Egypt room right before we went in and you know, I was all like, that’s weird when I saw them cause they were acting all weird. The boy was stomping around and the Mom was like wobbling on her heels…then I saw them again outside the museum and I heard them talking and they were all like we are…I swear the little boy was the Dad with a daughter when they went into that room and when they came out, he was the son to her Mother” Steph said in a single breath.

Nate furrowed his brow trying to keep up with teenaged girl speak. Steph was on a roll and talking very quickly as they crossed the busy street keeping their distance from everyone else. “So what you’re saying is that those statues did this to other people and if that’s the case there has to be others like us out there and maybe one of them has figured out a way to get them to reverse it”

“Uh-huh…we can search the internet or even put our own story out there and bring someone to us” Steph said.

“But until that happens…” Nate warned.

“Trust me Mr. Hopkins; I’ll keep our secret if you do” Steph said looking up at him.

“I’m sorry Stephanie” he said “I’m sorry you…oh how do I put this?” he said.

“Got turned into a kid again” Steph said “Yeah, it sucks”

“I feel guilty about being on the receiving end of all of this” Nate admitted “It doesn’t feel fair at all to you”

“Well, it’s not fair” Steph said without remorse “You gained everything that I worked for and lost”

They stopped.

“I can’t think beyond my level and my age” Steph said bluntly. “I think and talk and act like a 13 year old kid while you now are an adult. I don’t have any remaining knowledge from college or even High School for that matter. I’m guessing you have my apartment, my car, my job…my knowledge and experience. It’s like I traded with you but got nothing in return”

“I’m sorry” Nate hung his head.

“I could be really mad at you” Steph said “But, I also know that you didn’t ask for this or make this happen. We both stumbled into this”

“You even got the adult body and I’m stuck having to be in my awkward stage all over again. I’m skinny and geeky and have braces and a flat chest…so yeah…so awesome to be me today”

Nate squirmed uncomfortably.

“But hey, at least you get to be hot” Steph told him making him blush hard.

“Stop. Please stop” Nate told her.

“Not if it makes you uncomfortable” Steph teased him “You’ve gotten enough from me today so you owe me the chance to give you a hard time”

“Okay” Nate conceded. “You’ve got me there”

People were crowding together and their chance to talk slipped away for the time being.

“Are you feeling okay?” Steph heard Abby’s voice next to her. She nodded “I’m okay” she said.

Abby looked at her closely, examining her expression “You just don’t seem like yourself”

Steph gave her a wan smile “Travelling doesn’t always agree with me I guess”

Abby smiled “It’s fine, but I know, the pressure right. So what were you and Hopkins talking about?”

“Oh. Nothing really; he was just asking me how I liked it so far and we were talking about some stuff in the Egyptian room”

“Yeah, I saw you two left Cook’s so stimulating lecture on mummification” Abby replied.

“Maybe I should have stayed over there” Steph said mostly to herself but loud enough that Abby heard it and laughed.

“What…did you two think you were going to go on some Scooby Doo adventure? Curse of the Mummy’s tomb” Abby said nudging her friend.

“Well you got the curse part right” Steph said with a sarcastic smile.

Savannah ran up to them “Hey…come over here I wanna tray something; a selfie at shoe level of the three of us with the whole Washington monument in the background!”

Steph posed and made faces for them before they wandered off again. She found herself walking in a group of her former students who were now her classmates. Gavin Ashcroft and Liam Rogers brushed past her before she found herself standing next to Parker Timmons who was playing Pokémon Go on his phone.

She didn’t say anything, she just looked up at the monument when he said “Hey Steph”

“Hey” she responded.

Parker had on a t-shirt with the design plans of the Millennium Falcon on it. He was tall and skinny, short close cropped blonde hair, brown eyes and braces. He let out a long sigh and rolled his eyes as he failed to catch his target.

“Hopkins will take your phone if he sees you playing a game on it” Steph said with a smile.

“I know” Parker replied looking around. He nervously ran the zipper of his navy blue hoodie up and down but kept playing.

“You rebel” Steph said sarcastically.

Parker chuckled and ducked his head with a smile. As Steph looked up to the top of the Washington Monument he asked “Are you looking for Spider-Man?”

“That would be amazing and actually make this trip exciting” Steph answered as Parker just rolled his eyes.

“Amazing…you had to go there” he said.

“Yep!” Steph said actually relaxing for the first time which scared her even more.

“I can’t just accept this!” her mind screamed at her “You’re 28! These are kids…these were your students…are your students…will be your students again you can’t just…what was I saying…I’m 13…I need to …God! What’s going on? I…these are my friends…my classmates. Why is my head so screwed up!?”

She bit her lower lip concealing her panic and anxiety and the frustration she was feeling trying to sort through everything in her very confused mind. “If you don’t fight this; you’re going to adapt and become a kid again” she scolded herself.

The group was moving on; walking down the mall past the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial.

Nate made his way around the base of the Monument watching the kids. More and more thoughts crowded into his mind as he did; much more of his personal life now appeared to him.

Girls he had dated in school came up before he finally caught up on the woman in the photo with him; his fiancée Reagan. Red hair, green eyes and a soft smile and laugh but a temper and stubborn streak to challenge him.

He compared his thoughts on Reagan to a girl who walked past him; Riley.

As early as this morning, Nate had a crush on Riley. She was so pretty to him, it made his chest hurt and he could never work up the courage to talk to her. Now his mind could barely comprehend that feeling. She was a little kid to him, childish and immature as she flipped her hair and clumsily applied make-up to her youthful face “Why does your Mom let you wear shit like that?” was his thought now when he saw her “Does she want to raise a stuck up little brat?”

“Why does it change color up there Mr. Hopkins?” Riley asked him.

“Oh; that’s because the stone came from two different sources. They started it, then had to stop for a while during the Civil War and when they picked back up, they used different stones that were a little bit different in shade” Nate answered without hesitating.

“Cool” she said with a smile before walking off to rejoin her friends.

Nate just blinked and gave his head a shake.

He watched all of them come and go past him. “This morning I was your age and now I’m not” he thought. “This morning I was in your class and now I teach it; this is the wildest thing that has ever happened to anybody”

They hit the rest of the spots they were scheduled to see before getting back on the bus to head to the hotel.

Nate and Steph sat next to each other on the ride, whispering and talking through clenched teeth under their breath.

“I don’t think I can hold onto my adult mind or adult thoughts” Stephanie confided in him.

Nate nodded “Being a kid seems so long ago; not just this morning but all the way back 15 years”

“It’s so weird to lose your mind slowly over the course of a day” Steph said “I should just be screaming at the top of my lungs; I lost my age, my body and all my adult knowledge to you and yet all I can think about is what room I’m going to be in at the hotel. My mind is in overdrive trying to normalize this”

“Me too” Nate said. “I honestly don’t know what to tell you; whatever magic grabbed us is still at work that much is obvious but what the end game is; I don’t know”

“Can I just say that I’m scared” Steph said.

“I am too but I can definitely see why you would be. The courage you’ve shown today to just keep functioning after what has happened to you is astounding. You are the strongest person I’ve ever met Steph” Nate told her.

Their eyes met as Steph’s welled up. She quickly blinked away the excess moisture though “That’s the continuing magic you mentioned. It has to be something to keep us both from going crazy at what happened to us”

“Excuse me” They both looked up to see the Principal standing in the aisle next to them.

Steph instantly went quiet and got nervous as Nate said “What’s up?”

“I called ahead and the pizza’s should be there about the same time we arrive since this traffic sucks” Mr. Johnson told him “We’re going to gather up in the lobby but I’ll need you to help me get everyone signed in at the front desk and get room keys passed out”

“No problem” Nate replied.

The buses made it to their exit and once on the side roads, made better time to the hotel.

The chaos that ensued was like trying to herd cats during the fall of Saigon.

Despite the teachers yelling and trying to get everyone together, kids kept wandering off and goofing off. Nate just started checking everyone off and separating key cards by group. He would then go out and find the four assigned to each room and give them their cards “You’re old enough to remember not to lose this and the number that goes with it” he would tell them with a knowing smile.

Pizza arrived soon after and Nate saw Steph sitting at a table talking and laughing with his old friend group as she ate and drank.

He drifted over and realized that she knew their little inside jokes and secret vocabulary as he refilled drinks and never got a second of rest.

Stephanie was in a room with Emma, Abby, and Savannah; her new best friends. They found their luggage and headed to their room. After they all called or texted home letting parents know they were okay, they settled in since they were all supposed to stay in their rooms after 7 o’clock.

Savannah let out a yawn “It sucked getting up that early this morning”

“But it was cool seeing the sights” Abby said.

“I call the shower first” Emma now called out with a smile.

“Whatever” Savannah replied stretching out on one of the beds.

Steph felt a bit self-conscious. She sat down in the chair by the window and took her boots off. She had on a pair of thick socks as well that she now slid off.

The other three girls were all still talking all at once as she saw her feet changed for the first time. Her toes had been professionally manicured this morning but now a rather garish blue color appeared to her eyes with a few chips that needed retouching.

Her feet looked bigger at the ends of her skinnier legs; long and narrow but softer. Steph’s skin was younger too which let it rebound quickly. She didn’t feel overly tired despite what she had been through.

“You’re quiet over there” Savannah said rolling over onto her stomach and crawling closer to her.

Stephanie smiled wearily “Just relaxing…letting my mind reboot”

“Ha! Like that melon of yours needs time to do anything” Savannah said “Everyone knows you’re the smart one…like how does it feel to have every test be easy for you?”

Steph just shrugged and blushed “I don’t know” she mumbled.

Abby laughed from across the room “So what did you and Spiderman talk about?”

“What?” Steph asked.

“I saw you and Parker talking by the Washington thingy…” Abby said putting her hands on her hips.

“Whatever?!” Steph replied offended “As if”

“As if you show interest in a guy?” Abby shot back “its okay if you do you know”

“I know that” Steph replied “But it was nothing”

“Sure” Emma said picking through her suitcase.

“Really…I don’t even…really?” Steph said “It’s not like that; I just made a crack about him playing a game on his phone”

“He’s always doing that” Abby replied.

“I know…” Steph said “Whatever…shut up!”

The other girls laughed and Steph knew there was no malice behind it; they were just teasing her as a friend. “Like you could even talk to Grant” Steph shot back at Abby “Here we are in our nation’s capital…going to go past a statue tomorrow of General Grant and you’re too chicken to say anything to him let alone sit by him”

“Shut up!” Abby shot back to Savannah and Emma’s laughter.

Steph stopped laughing though and craned her neck awkwardly around. She sighed, found herself blushing and embarrassed.

Emma was still getting ready to shower and as she had taken off her shirt; Steph saw she was rather well endowed already and wearing a regular bra.

Stephanie’s mind locked as she looked at Abby and Savannah’s bodies “They’re all bigger than me” she realized. “They all have better bodies than mine”

She swallowed, heat rose off her forehead as she looked down at her skinny and gangly teenaged body “This morning I was pretty; I was an adult with a nice body and pretty face and now I’ve been reduced to a twig! I’m ugly and a total geek!”

She pretended to be engaged in something on her phone but all she was doing was beating herself up “One day I’ll get these stupid braces off and my acne will clear up and then my hair will actually become manageable and then if I’m really lucky; my body will stop resembling that of a boy. Ugh! I hate being 13!” Steph thought to herself “One day I’ll actually be an adult”

Savannah turned on the TV and was endlessly flipping channels while Abby went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Stephanie curled up in her chair, bringing her knees up to her chin and resting her feet on the edge of her seat, folding her skinny body up and in effortlessly as she mindlessly watched the flipping stations.

Emma came out brushing her hair now wearing a pair of cotton shorts and a green tank top to sit cross legged on the end of the other bed.

While Abby showered, Steph got up and started rummaging through her bag. Nothing was the same as what she had packed this morning except maybe her toothbrush and toothpaste but even then, she couldn’t quite remember anything solidly anyway. Her clothes were all juvenile and smaller and all of her accessories looked different yet she knew they were all hers.

She picked up a pair of lounge pants and an oversized tee and remembered when her Mom had bought them for her and other times she had worn them. A pair or underwear several sizes smaller also came out. A brief vision flashed in her mind of what her body had looked like this morning but it was fleeting and left just as quickly as it had arrived.

She just blinked envisioning her ass as something round and desirable and dismissed it out of hand.

Steph brushed her teeth and took her allergy pill that her Mom had made sure to pack for her while Abby sung her way through her shower behind her.

Once the bathroom was hers alone, Steph stripped down and really got the first look at her full body since the swap.

She wasn’t upset though. This was just her body. She had lived with it before and now, it was hers to deal with all over again. Steph’s mind was accepting herself as an ordinary kid again and all the moods and problems that went with it were replacing her other worries.

Any thoughts of bills and making sure she was doing enough with her life were gone; now tests and being accepted by her friends were more important again. She was worried she’d never get a boy to pay attention to her and what High School would be like next year.

After showering, she wrapped her long and heavy wet hair up in a towel after she got into the clothes she was planning to sleep in. She padded out and plopped on the bed next to Emma.

“I know it’s not cool to admit it, but I’m tired” Emma said.

They could hear talking through the wall behind them and knew that the whole floor was basically theirs. “Bet you teachers will be out prowling the halls like prison guards all night” Steph said.

“Yeah” Abby laughed and agreed.

After the room doors had all closed, Nate and the rest of the adults had just either sighed, laughed or wanted to collapse. They had kept back a few pizzas for themselves and now took the time to eat and unwind.

“Still can’t drink a beer” Nate chuckled “Wouldn’t be appropriate” as he took a seat. There were only three males on the trip; Tyler Johnson, Jim Cook, and himself. All the other teachers were female so they had their work cut out for them.

Tyler had been eyeing him up all afternoon; almost like he knew something was up and Nate didn’t belong but he never said a thing.

Nate sat down across from his boss “How you holding up?” he asked.

“Not too bad” Tyler replied digging in to his food. “How about you?”

“Tired…been, uh…been an eventful day” he said nodding.

“Yeah, I’m sure it has been” Tyler looked up and their eyes met.

Nate cocked his head; a flash vision of Josh Brown came to him but slipped away in an instant “Enjoying this?” he heard Tyler ask him.

“As much as I can” he replied seeing Tyler smirk.

“Good; glad to hear it” Tyler replied. “I wonder what they’re all talking about up there. Their little boyfriends and girlfriends…what they got away with today”

Nate shrugged and continued to eat.

“What are they going to try tonight? Sneaking between rooms…an all-out dash up and down the hall or just stomping around until the people on the first floor get ticked off” Tyler said shaking his head “I’ve seen it all”

“I bet you have” Nate replied. His Principal was 10 years older than him, married and with two kids. “You should try and relax on one of these trips some time…kick back and take in the sights” Nate said.

Tyler laughed “So should you”

“Not going to happen”

“For me either” Tyler said standing up. He walked around talking to the other teachers and chaperones while still munching on a slice of pizza.

Nate sat back and looked around at his surroundings; his teachers were now his colleagues and he honestly couldn’t even clearly remember them being his teachers. He had a different set of people in his mind when he thought back to school.

There were a couple of parents along for the trip and Nate made his way over to talk to them. Just small talk at first but eventually, it went towards raising kids and their concerns about what their kids were going through.

The longer he got to talk to adults, the further his mind changed. Every one of the teachers and chaperones ended up in a discussion about the internet and YouTube and trying to monitor what kids had access to.

After they talked for a while and the pizza was gone, they headed up to man the floor.

The chaperones rooms were spread out amongst the kids with one at each end and Tyler’s room directly across from the elevators.

Nate and Jim Cook were sharing a room at the south end to watch the stairs. Each would take a walk down the hall every half hour or so just to make sure no room was getting too loud.

Steph and her friends eventually calmed down. They kept talking of course and the longer Steph immersed herself in her 13 year old world, the farther and farther away being an adult felt to her. Almost like being hypnotized by the endless chatter of teenaged girls, by the time she drifted off to sleep sharing a bed with Emma, it seemed like a dream.

Another full day awaited them as cell phone alarms went off all over the floor at 6.

Nate was already up, showered and dressed; standing in the hall with his phone out listening for groups to get up. He would spend his morning down in the breakfast area of the lobby watching and monitoring that room.

Steph awoke bleary eyed. Her long stringy blonde hair was everywhere; tangled and messy and in her eyes as she sat up. Emma flipped onto her other side and grunted as she slipped her long skinny legs out and made her way to the bathroom.

No one else seemed to want to fight her for it so she got ready first.

Only a vague uneasy feelings persisted with her which she shrugged off as just being in a different city on a trip. Thoughts of being a 28 year old woman trapped in the body of a 13 year old were nowhere to be found. This was her life now.

She stripped down, not upset at all about her diminished assets and social standing in the world. No thoughts or anger resided in her heart about no longer being able to drive or go wherever she wanted whenever she wanted. Now she would need her parents’ permission for the next 5 years instead of being 10 years past all of that.

Steph Namath; teenaged girl on her class trip to Washington D.C. wrapped a towel around her skinny body and dried off as her friends now crowded into the bathroom. “Guys…you should have gotten up one at a time” she told them to their assorted grumbles and protests.

She got dressed in a pair of jeans and a white and blue striped shirt. Her usual undergarments were in place but she wasn’t upset any more than usual about not needing a regular bra yet. She laced up her tennis shoes and waited for someone else to be ready.

Abby was getting close so they decided to go down to breakfast together. A tour of the Capital and the Supreme Court were up first then it was off to the Art Museum and Air and Space.

“Hey Mr. Hopkins!” Stephanie said upon seeing her teacher as she entered the breakfast line.

“Morning Steph…morning Abby…how are you two doing today?” Nate asked with a smile.

“Fine” Stephanie replied. Their eyes met and for a brief second, a pulse passed through their brains making her smile quiver and his eyes squint.

“Fine” Abby said a split second later breaking the connection but as Abby passed by; the two of them reconnected.

Nate cocked his head as Steph raised up her chin.

Stephanie now remembered and felt a burning sensation in her chest as Nate’s complexion paled. He nodded slightly embarrassed and ashamed at forgetting where he had come from and what she had lost.

Steph kept eye contact for what felt like a long time but in reality was just a few seconds. “Are we going to still feel this whenever we’re around each other?”

“Maybe only when we’re around each other will it pop up” Nate replied in a whisper.

“I’d almost forgotten; how crazy is that?” Steph whispered.

“I think it’s for the best if we do at this point…we’d go insane if it were always on our minds”

“True” Steph acknowledged with a nod. She smiled her brace faced smile and blushed at even the thought of being older than Mr. Hopkins “It just seems weird to think about the opposite now”

“I know it is, but we know it’s true” Nate told her.

“But it’s not true anymore” Steph countered “It’s just too weird to think of me being the teacher and you being the student. This seems right now because it’s what we are now”

“You’re right. Reality has changed and this is who we are and how old we are now and we’re adjusted to our roles in life” Nate told the young girl in front of him. He could barely remember and picture what she had looked like yesterday.

Steph could barely remember and picture what she had looked like yesterday either and was having a hard time picturing Nate too.

The line was moving and building up so they simply smiled and Steph moved on scooping eggs and sausage onto her plate. Instead of coffee, she went for the orange juice.

The morning was rolling and they had limited time before they had to get on the bus. The other girls came down but Steph and Abby went back up to grab their jackets and get to the buses.

A full day of sightseeing was ahead and there was little down time to reflect on the bigger picture. Steph caught Parker’s eye and they walked by each other during the tour of the Supreme Court but lost each other entirely in the museums.

The last stop of the afternoon found them in the Native American Museum. Steph passed by a set of statues depicting various people; adults and children and didn’t even blink.

Nate was too busy corralling restless kids to even spot them on his way by.

After taking over a McDonalds for dinner, the amount of noise can only be imagined; it was back to the hotel for the second and last night. Their final day would be a trip to a few more spots before the ride home and once again, there wouldn’t be much time for anything else.

By this time, neither Steph nor Nate was feeling anything like they had two days prior. Nate was simply exhausted and Steph, while tired, was fueled by the energy level only kids could know.

She stayed up talking with her friends until well past midnight not worried about lack of sleep at all.

They all packed up and made sure everything was accounted for before setting out for their last stops. As they boarded up for the ride home, Steph didn’t sit by Mr. Hopkins though, she was sitting in the third row on the left-hand side next to Parker which brought a smile to both their faces.