6th grade

Mikey started sixth grade strong. He rapidly progressed though the belts in karate. He was an orange belt with a black dash at the end of the summer, and within a couple months was a blue belt with a dash. His sensei, Jodi, said he had a fine knowledge of his body. He certainly did. Switching between Mikey and Michele let him realize differences that affected his coordination and balance. It also help him focus. He found the breathing helped him in karate and in softball. Academically, he got straight A's as both Mikey and Michele. His parents were proud, and he was happy that he did better than his brother did in 6th grade.
Diane and Mikey were together as much as possible during the day. They did share a few classes, and were almost always in the same group for projects. Henry, Davis, Heather, Krista and Vicky tried to be part of that group when possible, as they got the project done well. Diane and Mikey sat near eachother on the bus. Sometimes they would have dinner at eachother's houses. The parents thought it was cute. Mikey's mom even made a joke about the being married when Mikey was a boy.
Mikey got to spend a lot of time as himself after the summer. Krista felt a little guilty about going off with the necklace for a week, so she started to use it less. The novelty of the necklace wore off for Heather and Vicky. Diane only used it from time to time, mainly so she could spend the night at Mikey's. Mikey spend the night at Diane's as Michele sometimes when Krista had the necklace. In fact, from time to time, he would intentionally take the necklace off so he could have a sleepover with her. He also would sometimes spend the night with Davis and/or Henry too. He sometimes thought about bringing the necklace to put it on one or both of his male friends, to see how reality would change to make sense. Or maybe to put it on his male friends to watch them panic, but decided the risk wasn't worth it. He didn't want to take any extra chances to lose his ticket to being Mikey.
Diane and Mikey would occasionally do some research on the internet about where this necklace may have come from. There were some sites about a medallion that changes bodies based on clothing or contact. There were rings that did all sorts of things. But those sites seemed to be more fantasy than fact. They delved into mythology, but didn't find anything. There was something on Ebay once or twice, but it was out of their price range, even if they combined their savings.
Mikey noticed that in the locker rooms, both when he was with the girls or boys, more conversation was about the other sex. The guys talked about girls and their eyes, breasts and clothing. The girls told about guys' eyes, clothing and sometimes muscles. Davis talked about all the girls, even Vicky, who he broke up with after 4-5 weeks. Mikey, for reasons only some people knew, was able to share a lot of information about the other gender. Monte tried too, but he hadn't been a girl for about a year, so his information about the female body was helpful, but his gossip was useless. Using the necklace, he was able to share how some people felt about others. He started to play matchmaker, which usually ended up in a couple dating for a few weeks. It was 6th grade, so not much was expected. When he was Mikey, the boys asked him about Diane and about "how far they got." Mikey changed the subject. He saw Diane as a friend. They had kissed and held, but not much more. He just didn't feel the need. He enjoyed just being with her.
After Christmas, Krista, Mikey, Heather and Diane found the lady that sold the necklace to Krista at the church rummage sale