As Mom cleared away the drinks and headed inside, I kept my eyes on the neighbors as they went into their house.
"I've got to find that ring!" I declared.
"What ring?" Said a voice nearby. I turned and saw none other than Branden Green, a friend from school who lived in the same
neighborhood as me. Branden is only a few months younger than me, but we're in most of the same classes. In my old body he
was a bit shorter than me, but now he stood tall enough so that I needed to look up at his face as he walked up the driveway and
greeted me. His curly brown hair was matted down with sweat. He wore a gray tank top, athletic shorts with the school's logo on it,
knee-high socks and tennis shoes. Slung over his shoulder was an old duffel bag filled with sporting equipment.
"Did you lose something, Mike?" Repeated Branden in as helpful a manner as he could.
"More than you'd know, Branden." I replied, rather cryptically. "Forget about that for a moment. How was practice?"
"Same old, same old." He said, plopping the bag on the porch steps before sitting down in the rocking chair. He wiped the sweat off
his brow and let the summer breeze cool him off a bit. "Coach Kelvin wants to know when you're coming back."
"Does he not know I'm --- I'm ---" I sputtered. Surely the news had hit the whole school by now.
Branden nodded. "Yeah dude, he does. He wanted me to stop by and ask if you'll at least come to our practice meet against Ironrock
High on Saturday. Y'know, to show support and cheer on the team."
"Yeah, I mean..." I found myself conflicted. "I don't wanna make it seem like I've been dodging you guys. But I wouldn't exactly make
the best wrestler right now." Both of us were on the school's wrestling team. Even though I wasn't the strongest or most athletic on
he team, my technique and pinning strategies were top notch, and I could often outsmart my opponents, winning points on technical
execution rather than brute strength. But that was with my old body. I haven't wrestled since that fateful day Mary and I swapped
heads.
"It doesn't matter. You did well enough for your weight class and I know the team would like to see you again." Replied Branden.
If reality changed like anything else, he probably means the lightest possible weight class, if that, I thought to myself.
"I'd like to go," I added, placing my hands on my hips, "But my mom said this weekend I have an appointment with the doctor.
Nothing serious, just a regular checkup. She hasn't told me when it is, but there's a chance it might happen during the wrestling
meet."
Seeing me deep in thought, Branden continued, "I understand. So... Mike, I'm curious. How far along are you in the pregnancy?"
"About six months."
"So you've got -- what -- 3 months to go?"
"Don't remind me, dude."
"Why?" He asked. Receiving a glare from me, he continued, "Anyway, that means you'll be due around November, right?" He counted
on his fingers. "September, October, November. Right. We'll have been in school for around 2 months by that point in time. Do you
think you can handle all the attention? I mean, it'll be kind of hard for you to cover that up, and people who don't know you as well are
liable to get different ideas. That's how rumors start."
"And you're asking if I've thought about this." I deadpanned. Of course I have, what was I supposed to do about it?
"I guess. Also, are you gonna start wrestling again after the pregnancy is all over and done with?" He mentioned.
"Sure, I'll just smother you all with my enormous boobs and win every time. That's a legal technique, isn't it?" I replied caustically.
Branden laughed and looked at me. "Feeling a bit hormonal, are we?"
"Please, Branden, tell me you see something wrong here. Doesn't it seem weird that a 17-year-old guy has tits like these?" I grabbed
my breasts and felt them up in front of him. "Or that I have a vagina and can get pregnant? How can I be on the men's wrestling team?"
Branden thought about it for a moment and answered, "I dunno, Mike. It seems normal to me. You're like any of the other guys on the
team, except you've got a woman's body parts instead of a man's. Doesn't make a big difference to me, to the team, or to the sporting
director at the school district."
"I'm thrilled." I replied sarcastically, folding my arms.
But suddenly, I felt a great pressure building up in my nether regions. My bladder... not again....
"Oops! Uh, sorry Branden! I'll be right back!" I cried, leaving him sitting on the porch while I scurried into the house as quickly as I could.
Mincing over to the bathroom, I closed the door, lowered my pants and underwear, and plopped my cushion-like ass on the toilet seat.
I had gotten used to going to the bathroom frequently, it being yet another reminder of the pregnancy. What I couldn't accept was being
unable to stand up while peeing, something that I took for granted in my old body but now dearly miss in Mary's body.
And the need to go happened so unexpectedly...
After taking care of that for the umpteenth time today, I waddled back outside and rejoined Branden. I sat down on the bench and
straightened out my top.
"Feeling better dude?" He asked.
"Yeah. Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere."
"I wouldn't know." He shrugged dryly. Getting up and slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder once again, he turned around and said,
"Well, I'd better get going. Take it easy, bro. We'd all like to see you at Saturday's meetup. Even if you can't play,
it doesn't mean you're not part of the team."
"I know, Branden. I'll see if it works with my schedule, and if it does you'll be the first to know." I reassured him. He waved goodbye and continued
walking home from school.
With Mom inside the house, Dad still at work, Branden walking home, and Josh and Mary preparing for their anniversary night out,
that left me alone with nothing to do. It was, indeed, a nice day outside, even if it was getting into the late afternoon.
My house has a swimming pool in the backyard, I could cool off there for a while until Dad gets home.
Or... on second thought...
Mary and Josh would be away from the house all evening. I recall Mary giving me a backup key to their house, in case there was an
emergency, or I was ever locked out and needed some place to go. I could sneak into their house this evening and look for the head-
swapping ring while they're gone. I mean, if our bodies switched while I was wearing the ring, that must mean that Mary was wearing it the
moment after we switched. Which means that, if I ever wanted to get my body back with the help of that ring, the best place to look would
be in the Weber's house. Over the past month, I had ransacked my house already and never found the ring. So, if the ring was anywhere,
it would have to be in their house!
Assuming that they still had the ring, or it didn't magically disappear. That would be an unsettling thought indeed! Not being able to switch
back? I continued to hope that there was some way of undoing this mess, especially before I was due to give birth to Mary's baby!
Despite my sincerest efforts at adapting to her body, I still considered it as belonging to her instead of me. Similarly, I still viewed the body
underneath her head as my own, and I intended to fix everything.
There would be no better time to look than tonight. But is it worth the risk of getting caught? It would be hard to explain why I'd be pouring
through the Webers' personal stuff. And since they, like everyone else apparently, are oblivious to the swap, it would seem crazy to tell
them the truth.
