...meanwhile...
Geography teacher Bill Penner found himself curiously looking through his new purse. Until recently he had never owned a purse, opting to instead carry his work, his wallet, keys, and whatever else he didn't want in his pickets in a brown patent leather briefcase that his parents had given him as a graduation present. Then, that day, the P.A. had come on and someone (who was that, anyway?) had wished for everyone to swap.
The briefcase had been the first thing he grabbed. Being in a position of authority he didn't want to force anyone to trade with him. He had simply held it aloft while he stood at the front of the classroom and waited to see if there were any takers. There was one.
Jody Adams, student, preppie, teenager, was enjoying her geography class (one of her favorite subjects, you know) when the wish happened. She listened curiously, like everyone else, not knowing who the voice on the other end was. Then, as soon as the wish was said, she acted on it. She looked up and saw her teacher, Mr. Penner, holding out his briefcase. She didn't have a briefcase to swap, but she did have her purse.
Picking up her red leather purse she walked to the front of the classroom, avoiding the many hands which were handing things back and forth from various desks, and swapped with her teacher. She was sad to see the purse go, it was her favorite, but a fair swap is a fair swap, and she wouldn't give up the briefcase for anything!
Quickly she returned to her seat and began to examine her new prize.
Mr. Penner largely was ignoring the class as he emptied the contents of his new purse on the desk in front of him. He had begun to realize that his swap had encompassed more than he realized at first. He had discovered tampons, a cell phone, make-up (quite a bit of that), and breathmints and keys. No surprises there. Then he found her wallet. He looked up at Jody, who was rifling through his former briefcase. They had swapped wallets.
The wallet snapped open with a click, the magnetic clasp giving easily to his hands. All of her identification was inside. Correction, all of HIS identification was inside. He had swapped, fair and square, and he'd be damned if he'd reneg on a swap. He pulled out the driver's license.
Name: Jody Elizabeth Adams
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Address: 34 Crows Foot Crescent
Okay, he thought to himself, I guess that's that. He knew he'd miss his awesome downtown apartment, and he doubted that his girlfriend would want to be dating a 17 year old girl, so that would probably end pretty quickly. Pushing aside the sadness of loss, he decided that he would embrace his new life, since fair is fair and a swap is a swap. No going back.
"Jody," he began, "I mean, Mr. Penner, excuse me." He had reloaded the contents of the purse and had approached the desk occupied by the former Jody Adams. She was only now looking through his old wallet with a confused look on her face. Looking up and registering what he had said, she snapped the briefcase shut and stood up.
"I'm sorry, Jody, I'm in your seat, am I not?"
The former Mr. Penner sat down, crossed his ankles under his seat the way he had seen the old Jody sit many times before, and waited for class to begin again. Geography, after all, was one of her favorite class.
