Both Ben and Elma slept well as their fun from earlier completely drained them. Both remained asleep as almost nothing could wake them up. The only thing that was able to wake up at least Ben from his sleep was the sound of his mom’s phone ringing. Had it been Ben’s phone, the ringer would have been turned off but Amanda never did that. Instead, Ben woke up to the sound of her phone going off.
Slowly, Ben picked his head up and looked slightly confused as he didn’t expect to hear anything this early in the morning. He scanned the room and began to realize that his mother’s phone was going off. Ben reached an arm over and picked the phone up, seeing that he was getting a call from “Grandma”. Seeing this name immediately made Ben’s heart sink as he didn’t think getting a call from his mom at this time of day would be a good thing.
“Hello?” Ben answered the phone, sounding a bit groggy as he was sleeping just a few moments ago.
“Hey dear! You know what day it is?” Ben heard his grandmother’s voice say from the other end of the phone. Immediately, Ben was confused, not knowing what made today important nor why his mom would call him this early in the morning.
“Uhhh Friday? Mom, why are you call me at… 4 in the morning?” Ben said as he looked at the time, surprised to see that he was only asleep for a few hours.
“Because it’s not just any Friday, it’s Black Friday! I knew I’d have to call you because you’d forget.” Ben still wasn’t getting the point of this phone call. Sure, it was Black Friday but what did that have to do with him?
“Forget about what?”
“What happens every Black Friday, duh. You know every year I go out with your two grandmothers to do some holiday shopping. Seeing that you are now me, I think you know why I’m calling.” Immediately, Ben could feel a sense of dread take over his body as this was the last thing he wanted to hear. He was just starting to enjoy the Body Exchange but getting this news put an abrupt halt to his enjoyment. Ben wanted to groan and complain but knew that no matter what he wasn’t getting out of this. What made this strange was the fact that his other grandmother was included in the shopping. Now, instead of trying to act like his mother in front of strangers, Ben would have to act like her in front of strangers plus his new body’s mother. Ben let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes before responding.
“What do I have to do then? Do I drive to you or what?” Amanda giggled as she felt excited to do some Black Friday shopping with Ben. As Ben had gotten older, the two hadn’t spent much time together and this was the perfect excuse to have some bonding time.
“So you’ll have to pick me up and then drive over to Grandma Bella’s house. You should get a move on soon though, we already are starting late.” Amanda was having fun just imagining the day they had in store with each other. While Ben was just waking up in bed, Amanda had already been dressed and was sitting in Elma’s favorite rocking chair, drinking her coffee in the living room.
“Alright, I’ll see you soon,” Ben replied as he continued to slowly wake himself up.
“I’ll see you honey,” Amanda replied as she hung up the call. Ben continued to yawn as he set Amanda’s phone down, still not over the fact that he’d have to go Black Friday shopping, even on a few hours of sleep. Hearing Ben speaking did wake Elma up as she rolled over to face Ben. She was surprised to see him fully awake as he was staring up at the ceiling.
“Black Friday shopping?” Elma asked as Ben nodded.
“Black Friday shopping,” Ben replied.
