“My brother always picked on me; I really don’t remember a time when he didn’t. No matter what my parents said or did to him; it didn’t matter…he always found a way to push me around. Always calling me names under his breath, pushing me down, taking and hiding my favorite toys; I swear he tried to drown me in our pool we used to put up in the backyard in the summers. He was always holding my head under” Paige was beginning to roll.

She went to a stack of books on her dresser and pulled out a yearbook from the elementary school “This picture is correct; that is my second grade picture but I just had it taken last October but here it is in a yearbook from 2012”

Kendra looked at the picture of the little girl with a gap toothed smile and pigtails before her eye trailed down one row “Holy Shit!”

“What?!” Paige said taking the book. Kendra’s eyes were as wide as saucers and her jaw was hanging open “Oh” Paige said.

On the next line down, was a picture of second grader Kendra Wells.

Her brown hair long and stringy, she was also missing a few teeth in her smile while wearing a plain green sweater.

“Do you have the yearbooks between then and now?” Kendra asked.

“Yeah” Paige replied. “I have the two that come before it too”

Kendra went white. She hadn’t looked at any pictures since her swap. She knew what she looked like in her school photos, it’s just now they were in different yearbooks and it finally hit her that the ones from 8^th grade on had been wiped out. She was no longer a member of the class of 2016…now she would graduate in 2022.

They spent a few minutes flipping through the pages “Unbelievable” Kendra said.

“I wasn’t supposed to graduate until 2028” Paige said “and I picked out a really stupid outfit in the 4^th grade” which made Kendra laugh.

“So back to the main story” Paige said clearing her throat “Yesterday was really like any other day until my Mom and Dad went across the street. Our neighbors got a new chair and my Dad went over to help them move it in and my Mom went over to talk; that left me alone with Grayson. I was running down the stairs to come down and play outside; I never saw him but once I came around the corner ‘Wham’ I went down face first. He had stuck his leg out and I tripped over it. I’m lying there flat on my stomach, rug burns already stinging my hands and knees and I hear him laughing behind me”

“’You went down so hard’ he can barely talk he’s laughing so hard at me and pointing at me. I spin over onto my back and I’m furious, I can feel my cheeks burning but I can also feel this heat inside of me, burning in the pit of my stomach ‘Shut up’ I told him and then he stops laughing just like that and pounces on me”

“Gray pinned my shoulders down with his hands and at the same time, he half sat half laid on my legs ‘Why don’t you make me shrimp?’ I’m squirming as hard as I can but he’s so much bigger than me, he has me pinned down and no matter how hard I struggle, I can’t get up or get him off of me”

“He starts doing that head thing…you know…” Paige mimics her brother leaning in and jerking his head back and forth “He’s going ‘Come on Paige; come on…whatcha gonna do about it huh?’ and ‘What’s the matter baby….can’t the little shrimp get me to move?’”

Paige looked up “I was just getting madder and madder and I felt like I was on fire; I was burning up. I felt something in the pit of my stomach that I can’t explain; I’ve never felt anything like it before. It built and built…I could feel my face getting hotter and hotter and this tingling was spreading out and I grit my teeth down and concentrated everything on getting him to move and I couldn’t do it”

Kendra was looking on enthralled. “Gray is just pushing down on me; I can feel the carpet on my back, and he’s got this look on his face…it looks like he’s really enjoying hurting me…I take a deep breath and I yelled ‘I wish you couldn’t hurt me anymore! I wish I was bigger than you!’”

Paige let out a long sigh but Kendra smiled and nodded at her to continue “What happened next?” she asked.

Paige half smiled but got really serious soon after “Well, next I felt that tingling really intensify: It was like if you really tense up all your muscles all at once…I started shaking but it was what happened next that surprised both of us. I felt like what you said, a spark or something…at the time I thought it was just static electricity but all of a sudden, I jerked up and lifted my shoulders up. The look on Gray’s face changed immediately. He pressed down harder but I threw myself up harder and lifted him up again”

Paige looked around “I started thrashing around, throwing my head back and forth and kicking my legs ‘Stop squirming! You’re not getting up shrimp! You can’t…’ Gray was right in the middle of mocking me when I did throw him off”

“He looked shocked. His jaw was hanging open just for a second before he regained his tough guy persona; ‘I let you up’ he said but I was getting up. I jumped up to my feet and I could tell something was different but I didn’t know what exactly yet. Gray popped his shoulders trying to look tough but his shirt looked big on him, like around his neck, the neckline was hanging down”

“He did another of his poses and I took a step back and he says ‘That’s right…run away. Face it Paige…I’m bigger than you and always will be and there’s nothing you can do about it’”

Kendra saw the light in Paige’s eyes change “What did you do?” she asked.

“I charged him” Paige said with a smile “I jumped at him and I put my hands up to his chest and pushed with all my might”

Kendra waited with baited breath as Paige paused. She swallowed and looked down before her smile returned “And he flew backwards”

Both girls laughed.

“He stumbled, a look of total shock on both of our faces. He was trying to look tough but his eyes weren’t selling it anymore. My body felt different than it had ever felt before; it was alive yet numb at the same time. I was tingling all over…I took a step towards him; I was going to push him again but that was when I saw him shudder. It was like he trembled from head to toe. He pulled his arms in and his legs came together. When he stopped shivering, I stopped moving ‘What?’ he asked me, his voice seemed vulnerable, the look in his eyes was one I had never seen before”

“I know my face was all scrunched up because I was confused; Gray didn’t look the same; he looked smaller. I knew how much of a difference there was between us and it wasn’t the same. I lifted my arm but my shirt was really tight now so I stopped and just looked at my arm; it was longer and thicker…it didn’t even look like my arm. So I looked down because I felt all my clothes getting tighter on me. I was wearing a pair of pink pants, they had been my favorites but they were a bit big on me. Mom said I’d grow into them but when I looked down, I could see my socks and my ankles.”

“What’s going on? I asked. I looked over at Gray who now had a look of panic ‘No…not again’ he said just before another full body shudder racked his body”

Kendra was getting into the story as Paige really got going.

“I gasped when I saw him after he stopped shaking and stood up straight. I wanted to scream but I didn’t, instead I just said ‘What happened to you Gray?’ I took a step forward; he was noticeably smaller than usual. His clothes were getting huge on him while mine were getting tight. I stopped and looked down as I felt this wave of warmth passing through me. ‘Oh wow’ I remember saying as I watched my legs lift me up. They were growing. I put my arms out and they were growing too. Gray had stopped shuddering but now he was steadily shrinking right there in front of me”

“He was almost 6 feet tall and now…now he wasn’t anywhere close to that but more than that, he was looking different; not just smaller but younger. He looked more and more like somebody I would be in class with. He didn’t look like an 8^th grader anymore”

“Just like you said, our heights matched up for a second before I passed him up. That was when I saw real fear in his eyes; the moment he had to look up to me” Paige said.

“So anyways, my chest was starting to hurt. I wanted to take off my shirt but I didn’t want to take it off in front of my brother so I just pulled on the front of it trying to stretch it out” Paige looked up “When I saw that I had the beginnings of boobs…my heart fluttered like crazy”

“What’s going on Paige? I remember asking myself in my head Why am I growing and he’s shrinking? Before I remembered my wish and what I had said so I blurted out ‘Oh my God Gray…we’re switching places…I’m going to be the bigger one’ I looked over and his jaw was hanging open ‘No…that can’t happen…that’s impossible’ he said and his voice already sounded different; it was much higher; like a little kid’s voice”

“What’s wrong with your voice?” I asked him, it just came out and it was kind of sarcastic sounding.

He didn’t say anything but he blushed. He shut his mouth and I saw his cheeks puff out and his eyes narrow down. His chin and jaw rolled forward and it really changed his looks from a teenager to a little boy.

“I felt my pants really tighten up over my butt. It was growing and getting bigger and my hips were coming on too. My hair was growing and hanging loose in my face, driving me nuts and my shirt felt like it was going to burst right off of me. I spun around and put my back to my brother as I ripped my shirt off. I guess he had a good view of my bare back as it spread out and my ass as it grew into what I’ve got now cause I somehow managed to get my pants off too but I was fascinated by my chest”

“I went from flat to these two cones pointing out to them rounding off and having enough to have to actually cover up so I ran into the bathroom and wrapped a towel around my chest. I could still feel them growing though because I had to re-tie and tighten that towel two more times” Paige said blushing.

“As I was grabbing the towel, I got a glimpse of my face. One, I was way higher up in the mirror and two, my face looked totally different. I mean I’m used to it now…it feels normal already but at that first moment, this face was totally alien to me. I looked like me but not…I was older, my features were bigger and different. I actually had eyebrows! My eyes were bigger, my nose looked huge! But I turned around and saw Gray and I forgot about me for a second, I wanted to see him”

“His pants had fallen down and he looked ridiculous. His shoes were like boats on the bottom of his short and skinny little legs. His shirt was hanging on him like a dress! It was down to his shaking knees. I could see almost all of his scrawny little chest through the neck hole of his shirt and his arms were like toothpicks sticking out of his sleeves. You saw him! He had that buzz cut hair even though it had been longer and styled”

“I walked up to him and leaned down. I was a foot taller than the person who had tormented me my whole life…all the power he had over me was gone. He looked so scared; I know that was the look I always used to have for him but now I got to see it. He stumbled trying to back away from me”

“I said ‘Look at this BIG brother…who’s the scared one now huh?’ and I poked him in the chest ‘Looks like I’m big like you used to be and you’re little like I was’ and he starts shaking his head ‘No Paige…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean it’”

Kendra looked worried now “What did you do to him?” she asked.

“Nothing” Paige said “It’s scarier to him that I didn’t just beat him up” she smiled “I’m not going to be like him just because I can be…I’m not going to go down to his level”

“Good for you” Kendra said. She was a bit uncomfortable that Gray had gone through what she had yet she had no remorse for him “He sounded like a real jerk”

“I know he’s going to grow back up again but hopefully it’ll be different for him. He won’t be tempted to be such a bully now” Paige said.

“We weren’t done yet though; not by a long shot. Gray stumbled back kicking and squirming out of all his clothes except his still way too big underwear and he got to the bottom of the stairs. I was standing a few feet away wrapped in my towel and there was this, I don’t even know if I can describe it, but it was like this whooshing. Like a strong wind whipped around us and through the house and just as fast as it came; it stopped”

“I was still catching my breath when I heard Gray let out a really quick scream. He covered himself and ran up the stairs but I noticed something; he wasn’t wearing huge baggy boxer shorts anymore; his underwear and changed to a tight fitting pair that had like Mario and Luigi on them”

Paige’s face scrunched up as she continued “I don’t know what it was but that gust changed everything. I looked down at my feet. I don’t remember taking my socks off but I must have because I was barefoot now. I spread my toes out and wiggled them since they were so much bigger and now they were painted green and it looked like it was a decent job. I couldn’t find any of my clothes. I had tossed them on the floor as I rushed to get them off but now they had vanished but that was when I noticed my latest addition”

Paige smiled to show Kendra her own set of braces “I sure as heck didn’t have these yesterday morning”

“I bet you didn’t” Kendra replied with a knowing smile.

“I licked my lips and my mouth felt different; it felt heavy. I slowly ran my tongue over my teeth taking in their bigger shape but also the metal that was now attached to them. I even stuck my finger in and ran it along my upper wire”

“Feels weird doesn’t it?” Kendra said.

“So weird” Paige replied.

“So I grabbed hold of my towel and went upstairs only to find Gray mumbling and throwing things around his room ‘this isn’t mine!’ he’s yelling ‘where’s my stuff?!’ and I peek in as I go by and his room is totally different; I mean completely changed around. He’s got toys and shit all over the place and a Minecraft poster on his wall where a girl in a bikini had been. I didn’t say anything but I tiptoed past and went to my own room”

“My jaw dropped when I opened the door” Paige said to Kendra nodding.

“Just like me…” Kendra said.

“Yes…I had everything a 14 year old would need” Paige said sweeping her arms out to show off the room they were sitting in “This is what I found; not a trace of being a kid. I had electronics for school, my phone…a total wardrobe…makeup…and I knew what to do with them!”

“I could still hear Gray fussing away next door as I got dressed. I closed my door and dropped the towel. Yes I took a second to look over my new body” Paige blushed and looked ashamed “Give me a break! You go from 8 to 14 and you’d look at your boobs and everything else too. I had curves and I’m tall and it was so foreign to me in a way but then, well, not”

“I’m not judging you!” Kendra said laughing. “That would be a shock worse than mine I think”

“So anyway, I had to put on real underwear and a bra! My first time wearing a bra was different than probably everyone else on the planet; but anyway it was on and I threw on some shorts and a black top. I fluffed out my hair and…yes I was making duck face in the mirror when I heard the front door open”

“Gray goes tearing out of his room, flying down the stairs and I freeze until I hear my Dad say really casual ‘Hey Buddy, what’s up?’ and Gray freaks out and starts telling them everything that happened but here’s the thing; they laughed at him. I heard my Mom say ‘That’s quite the imagination and story you made up there’ and he’s going ‘No it’s true! Why don’t you see it? I’m 14 and Paige is 8…what is wrong with you two?’ he kept going on until my Dad snapped at him ‘Enough of this ok…joke’s over. Knock it off or you’re going to get in trouble’. I came down then with a confused look on my face and Gray is still going ballistic ‘Go To Your Room!’ Dad yelled as we passed on the stairs”

“I came down and was all like what was that about and Mom and Dad treated me like I was a teenager. Mom asked ‘What is making up stories about?’ and I said ‘I have no idea Mom, I didn’t even see him while you were gone; we were both in our rooms’ and that was it. I asked them about the neighbors and Mom started making dinner and…” Paige shrugged as she faded out.

“My mind started changing after that. I knew different stuff, stuff I hadn’t learned in school yet I had. People and events filtered in…I knew about you last night”

Kendra blushed “I didn’t know about you until this morning”

“That’s okay!” Paige shot back.

“So…” Kendra said feeling vulnerable.

Paige picked up on her friends’ vibe immediately “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t”

“We make a pact; right here right now between the two of us: This stays between the two of us”

“Yes…unless we figure out somebody else has had this happen to them and then we figure out a way to get it out of them and that’s it” Paige interjected.

Kendra nodded “We also include in our pact that we will help each other adjust to this. You get to help me be more energetic and act like a teen and I’ll help you act more mature when it’s needed”

“Deal!” Paige said. “We’re friends right?”

“Yes” Kendra said “I think we’re best friends”

Paige smiled.

Kendra’s phone went off “It’s my Mom; she’s coming to pick me up…she’ll be here in like 5 minutes” she said as she texted back to her Mom.

“Well we didn’t figure out what we’re doing for our science project did we?” Paige said standing up.

“Looks like slime wins” Kendra said gathering up her stuff.

“We’ll keep up at all this. More and more is still changing inside me I know”

“Me too” Kendra said “I don’t know how long it’ll take to adjust and I’m guessing we’ll never totally forget where we belong”

“I hope your sister gets back to you” Paige said.

“You’re going to need to talk to your brother” Kendra added.

They walked down the stairs and Kendra chatted with Paige’s Mom for a minute before her Mom arrived. As she went out to the car, her Mom got out and talked with Mrs. Underwood, they apparently knew each other through their girls being the same age.

After Kendra left, Paige made her way to her brother’s room. She knocked and opened it, finding him playing a video game on his Nintendo DS. “Go away Paige; I don’t want to talk to you” he said.

“I know you don’t, but we still need to talk” Paige said coming in.

“I hate you” Gray said flat out “I don’t know how you did this but I…”

“I know Gray, you should hate me but I’m telling you the truth when I say I have no idea why this happened. Have you ever heard of something like this happening; No. I was mad at you beating me up and picking on me and I just said something I had said to you a million times before; you know I’ve yelled that at you before and nothing like this ever happened so why would I think it would yesterday”

“Then wish us back” Gray said.

“I’ve tried but it’s not happening” Paige said. She closed her eyes in front of her brother and said “I wish me and Gray were back to our real ages”

After a moment she said “I wish this never happened; I don’t want to be bigger than him. I wish Gray was my big brother again and I was his little sister”

After another moment “I wish we could go back to yesterday morning”

“I get it” Gray finally said.

“I’m sorry” Paige said “But there’s nothing we can do about it, we’re stuck like this now; this is our reality now. I know you’re angry but at least you get to do it all again. You’re going to get to be 14 again and graduate high school and everything…it’ll take those 6 years again but…I don’t know what to say Gray” Paige finally said.

Gray was silent for a minute, he stared at the wall, his feet swinging above the ground as he sat on the edge of his bed.

“As long as you’re my little brother, I will never hit you or hurt you and I will help you in every way possible to grow up better” Paige said.

“I was a mean jerk wasn’t I?” Gray finally said.

Paige smiled and dropped her chin.

“I was…I was mean to you” Gray said “Never expected to be punished like this though”

“It is a bit extreme” Paige conceded. “I don’t know…I don’t know why it happened; it should be impossible especially the clothes and room changes and pictures and everything”

Gray nodded and the two sibling’s eyes met.

Paige turned and left “See you at dinner little brother”

“Okay big sister” he replied.

Kendra rode home with her Mom, they talked about school and mindless stuff. As they were getting out of the car, her phone dinged.

Kendra’s heart took off when she saw the message was from Maddie ‘R U mad?’ was all it said.

She was so nervous she almost dropped her phone trying to type back. She erased it three times before finally sending back ‘No…glad to hear from you. R U okay?’

Her phone went right off again ‘I’m great! R U okay?’

Kendra settled down ‘Yeah, I’m adjusting’

“Good! I’m so happy to hear that I was worried all day and afraid to text you bc I thought you’d be furious with me’

‘Not mad…never was…confused yes, frustrated yes, but I couldn’t be mad at u’

A crying and smiling emoji face came back then a kissing one ‘Thank U…I’ve been so upset’

Kendra was confused. She thought Maddie would have been living it up in her new circumstances but instead she had spent the day worrying about her ‘Thanks for caring about what I was going through’

‘Of Course!!!!!You’re my baby sister! I have to worry about you!!!!’ was Maddie’s reply.

‘I know u didn’t mean it and I met your friends today and I think I’m gonna be OK’ Kendra typed.

‘Thank God! As long as u r not mad!’

“No’

‘I’m coming home this weekend to spend some time with u; we’ll talk then and go over everything’ Maddie said.

‘Sounds good’ Kendra replied.

They went back and forth a few more times before saying good night. Kendra put her phone down and let out a long sigh as her Mom called her down for dinner “Life can be so weird” she said to herself.

The next morning, Kendra was walking into school when Paige caught up to her at the doors. “Hey!” she called out.

“Hey!” Kendra replied stopping to wait for her. They headed to their lockers talking about the previous night. “So did you talk to your brother?” Kendra asked.

“Yeah” Paige replied. “He was pissed at first…said he hated me but once I proved I couldn’t swap us back, he admitted that he had been a jerk”

“So he’s cool with it” Kendra said.

“No, I don’t think he’ll ever be cool with it but he’s accepting it and I promised to be nice to him and help him be better and I think he will” Paige said “I don’t know, it was weird”

“This whole thing is weird” Kendra said.

“So did Maddie ever text you back?” Paige asked.

Kendra nodded “Yeah, it’s…it’s okay. She was worried that I was going to be mad at her, that’s why she didn’t text me back. But we had a nice conversation back and forth last night…I’m okay with it. She’s coming home this weekend and we’re going to spend some time together”

“Awwwww” Paige said.

They went to their first class which bored them both to tears.

As they were walking down the hall Steph came up to them “Have either one of you seen Savannah today?”

“Nope” Kendra said.

“I usually don’t see her until lunch except passing her in the halls” Paige replied.

“Hmmm…that’s not like her” Steph said as she walked off.

They walked past Stephanie and saw Josh and Emma who were heading down the hall together. Paige and Kendra watched them as they stopped outside Mr. Cook’s room by where Savannah’s locker was. There was a boy getting books out of there today with a backpack slung up on his shoulders.

Paige and Kendra examined the boy and they noticed Stephanie and Josh were exchanging a look between them while Emma chatted with him like nothing was wrong.

Kendra and Paige both gasped in unison “Do you think?” Paige asked.

“Only one way to find out” Kendra added.

Emma grabbed Josh by the elbow and they headed into the science room while Steph looked upset as she hurried off down the hall.

“What are you doing at Savannah’s locker?” Paige asked.

The boy jumped back, his eyes were like a deer in the headlights for just a brief moment “Haha you two…very funny. You scared me for a minute; I didn’t hear you come up behind me”

“Yeah sorry about that” Kendra spied his school ID around his neck “Steve” What went unsaid was that his last name was Frantz…Savannah’s last name.

“But yeah, why would my sister have a locker here; she’s in the 1^st grade” he laughed nervously.

Kendra and Paige’s eyes went wide. “Yeah” Paige said knocking the heel of her hand against her forehead “Silly us”

“Yeah…so I’ll see you two in gym class!” Steve said as he sprinted off down the hall.

Paige turned to Kendra “We’re going to have to pry it out of him…you know that don’t you”

“Yes I do” Kendra replied. “I think he’ll crack like an egg”

Paige laughed but Kendra had a serious look on her face “What?”

“Did you see the look on Steph and Josh’s faces?” Kendra asked.

Paige thought for a moment “Steph was the one asking about Savannah; Josh and Steph both didn’t approach him…only Emma”

“I think we’ve got a few more candidates to talk to” Kendra said.

“Well if they’re like us…it’ll only be a matter of time” Paige said.