Daydream Believer

This started off as something else, until they knock heads and then this weirdness happened. If anyone can think of any problem I might have missed for either character, get in touch and i'll try and put it in.




I suppose it all began with a daydream. Mandy was new to our office and had been given the desk next to mine. I always found it difficult to talk to girls, and even more difficult to talk to pretty girls. Just passing the time of day with Mandy was nigh on impossible, she was that beautiful. Anyway; the daydream. I was stood here waiting for the tube when I had it, my mind wandering to Mandy. We had actually exchanged more than automatic greetings that day, she had asked me for some help regarding a piece of paperwork. Although it was just work talk it was an improvement on ‘good morning’ and I relished the chance of a conversation with her, even if I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. That was what the daydream was really about; it had made me think. There was nothing sexual involved, such as what she looked like naked. It was simply musing about asking her out for a drink, something I knew I’d never be able to do.
I smiled to myself and opened my eyes.
“Hello Dave. I don’t remember seeing you smile like that before.” It was Mandy, standing next to me on the tube platform with a wry grin on her face.
“M…M…Mandy. W…What are you d…doing here?” I managed to say.
Her grin widened into a smile.
“Catching the tube silly, what else do you do at a tube station?”
I went a bright red.
“S…sorry. S…stupid question.” I was really flustered now.
“Are you always so suave around women?” Mandy laughed, taking pity on my woeful attempts at conversation. I was about to try and make a witty retort when I dropped my briefcase that I had been nervously fiddling with. As I quickly bent to retrieve it so did Mandy. Our heads met with a thud.
“Ow! That hurt.” I said, looking back up and seeing……my own face wearing a puzzled expression!
“What the hell just happened?” The other me said.
Only one thing occurred to me.
“Mandy? Is that you in my body?”
“I think so.”
“Then that must mean…”
“You are in mine. This is surreal, it can’t be happening.”
“But it is. What can we do?”
There was a pause, then the Mandy-me suggested.
“We could try banging our heads together again.”
“Worth a shot I suppose. When you’re ready?”
Mandy nodded my head. We pressed our foreheads against one another, pulled back a little and then smacked into each other.
“Oww!”
“Damn!”
We looked at each other.
“Didn’t work did it?” I said.
“No. Try again, but harder?”
“Okay.”
SMACK!
“Good grief that hurt.” She said. “Anything?”
“Well, I’ve got a splitting headache now, but other than that…” I shrugged.
“No point in me asking for a date now then.” Mandy grinned. Briefly I wondered if I looked like that when I used that face to grin.
“That’s a very boyish thing to say.” I accused instead.
“Well, I am a boy at the moment.” She laughed.
“Well, I wouldn’t say something like that to a pretty girl.” I muttered, forgetting that I was the pretty girl just now. Then suddenly the same thought appeared to occur to both of us. “You’ll see my…” I said, my eyes closing.
“And you’ll see…” Mandy said, her hand going to her/my mouth.
“I think we’d better stay together. Who lives closest, me or you?”
“Fifth stop down the line.” Mandy said.
“Mine is the sixth. So we’ll get off for your place and then have another think. How does that sound?”
“First sensible suggestion I’ve heard from MY mouth.” Mandy smiled. I was sure she was making better use of my face than I ever did.

The tube train arrived, giving me a surprise when a blast of air lifted my/Mandy’s skirt. Luckily I had my hands down already. Mandy silently nodded her thanks. She led me onto the train, grasping my hand amidst the crush of people. We couldn’t afford to lose each other, both having the keys to one flat and the knowledge of the other flats location.
We must have looked like a pair of apprehensive lovers, the way we clung to each others hand as we left the station. Mandy said her flat was only a short distance away, but even that brief walk was giving me problems.
“How do you manage walk in these high-heels?”
“Those? Those aren’t high.” She smiled. “It’s just practice. Relax, that body knows what it’s doing. Try taking shorter steps.”
Grumpily I did as she suggested. It was a little easier.
“This skirt keeps blowing open.”
“That’s the long strides you still keep taking.”
“And these tights…”
“Are you going to criticise my entire outfit?”
“Sorry.” I said shamefacedly. “I’m just not used to girl’s clothes.”
“Do you think it’s any easier for me?”
“Well, you have probably worn jeans or slacks at some point.”
“But not boxers.”
“How did you know about them?”
“I peeked.” She grinned.
“MANDY!”
“Oh come on, face up to it. Sometime soon we are both going to have to get undressed and then we’ll see…well, everything.”
I sighed.
“I suppose I knew that, but I didn’t want to think about it. It’s embarrassing.”
“Why? Got yesterdays boxers on?”
“NO!! And why are you teasing me so much?”
“Must be because I’m the boy.” She gave me another one of those grins that I wanted to try when I got my body back. “Anyway, here we are.” She indicated a front door. Inside was a flight of stairs up to another front door.

It was not a huge flat, but it was a reasonable size, certainly larger than mine.
“Nice.” I said. “Do you think it would be big enough for the two of us, at least in the short term?”
“Why?” She asked suspiciously.
“Because I get the feeling that we both want to keep an eye on what the other is up too with our bodies.”
“Sounds sensible enough I suppose.” She said.
“Plus, I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely going to need some help.”
“With what?”
“Girl things. Make-up for a start; your body can’t go to work looking like some clown is trying out a new face. Same with your clothes; I don’t know what goes with what. And how do you put a bra on? I’ve taken one or two off, but…”
“I see what you mean. How do you go to the lavatory standing up?”
“Well, it’s not actually compulsory.” I smiled. “Just quicker and easier.”
“Oh!” She went red.
“Are we agreed then? We base ourselves here and help each other as best we can? Hopefully we can switch back somehow, but until then we try not to mess up each others life?”
“Yes. That seems to be a plan, for now.”
“Then we’ll need to pop down to my place to get you enough clothes until the weekend at least.”
“Good idea.” She wandered off into the kitchen. “I’m hungry. Do you want a sandwich?”
“I wouldn’t mind. What I’d like most is to get out of these damn shoes and tights and this skirt.”
“There’s a pair of jeans on the chair in the bedroom.” She called out. “Some socks in the top drawer, and trainers in the bottom of the wardrobe.”
“Thanks.” I said, slipping off the shoes before I went into the bedroom. Here I was confronted by a world I’d barely glimpsed; a woman’s boudoir. I took off the skirt and folded it up; it seemed the right thing to do. The tights followed, but other than untangling them I couldn’t work out what to do with them. The other clothes were exactly where Mandy had said. I put them on, thankful for her tidy mind, trying to remember if my flat was anywhere near presentable. In comparison to here, it probably wasn’t, I decided. I picked up the tights and walked back out of the bedroom. “Where should I put these?” I asked Mandy, who was carrying a plate with some sandwiches on.
“Did you ladder them?”
“Err, I don’t think so. I didn’t check.”
“Drop them in the laundry basket for now. I’ll have a proper look later. Have a sandwich.” She offered them to me. I took one, taking a big bite out of it. Mandy nibbled more daintily at hers. I looked at the two of us and couldn’t help smiling at the way we were doing everything back to front. “What are you grinning at?” She asked.
“Just the way we’re eating. You taking little bites and me huge ones. The wrong way round for the bodies we have.”
She stopped for a moment, looking at the sandwich in her hand.
“Old habits I suppose.” She shrugged.

We finished our snack and prepared for the visit to my flat.
“How are we getting there?” Mandy asked.
“I’m not sure which way would be quickest. My place is a bus ride away from the tube station. Perhaps we could get a taxi?”
“Might be expensive.” She cautioned. “The tube and bus might be better.”
“Why not? It’ll give me a bit more practice walking like a girl at any rate.”
“Short strides, remember?”
“I’ll try, I promise. Come on then, before I change my mind.”

My flat wasn’t in quite the state I thought, but it still looked messy compared to Mandy’s. I went and found my suitcase and threw some clothes into it.
“Fold them properly!” Mandy snapped. “I’ve got to wear those.”
“Sorry.” I apologised.
“What else do we need from here?”
“I could use my laptop. And we need my shaver and toothbrush.”
“And some clean boxers.” Mandy grinned. “Why the shaver? I’ve got a razor for my legs and under my arms.”
“Those are specifically for those areas. I don’t think you can shave my face with your leg razor.”
“I could have you grow a beard.”
“I had a beard, but it grows straggly. Clean shaven looks better.”
“You know best.” She shrugged.
“Not always, but in this case I think so.” I smirked. “Anyway, if I’m going to have to shave your legs, you can at least shave my face.”
“Good point.” She giggled. “Got everything?”
“There might be some stuff in the fridge we can use. It’s better than letting it go off anyway.”
“I’ll find a carrier.”

We walked back to the bus stop. Mandy had the case; I had the laptop and the carrier.
“You’re getting the hang of swinging your hips.” Mandy said.
“I’m not overdoing it am I? I wouldn’t want to ruin your image any more than being seen with me will do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on Mandy. Everyone at work knows I’m a hopeless dork when it comes to women.”
“Maybe the guys think that, but from what I’ve heard from the other girls, most of them think you’re cute.”
“They do? You mean all I had to do was ask them out?”
“Well, I can’t say for certain, but most of them seem to be prepared to go out on a date with you.”
“You?”
“Maybe, if you’d asked.” She smiled.
“Bugger!” I swore at my own stupidity.
Mandy laughed.
“Why so down on yourself?”
“Low self-esteem mainly. Bad experiences at school, lack of self confidence. Take your pick.”
“You know people are going to wonder why we’re sticking so close together. We’ll have to give them a reason.”
“Like?”
“Like we’re dating.”
“I told you, no-one will believe that. There’s no way that Dave would be able to get Mandy to date him.” I said flatly.
“Rubbish. It’s what I’m telling everyone anyway.”
“I can try I suppose.”
“I told you, some of the girls will actually be jealous of me. Or you as it stands.”
“The guys won’t believe you.”
“Then we’ll have to convince them.”
“How?”
“Good grief, how do you think? You be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you. What did you think I meant? Make out in the canteen?”
“An interesting thought.” I waggled my/her eyebrows. She burst out laughing.

Back at Mandy’s flat we prepared a meal and then sat down to discuss a few things.
“Do you exercise much?” I asked.
“Not really, a three mile jog every morning before I shower is all.” My eyes widened. “Only kidding.” Mandy laughed. “Just a few stretches now and then.”
“But you are a morning shower person, same as me?”
“Right.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“Other than how to dress? I don’t think so. What about you?”
“Nothing that springs to mind. Oh, watch my chin when you shave it. There’s a little scar that sometimes gets caught by the blades.”
“Scar on chin, careful when shaving. Got it.” She yawned. “Time to turn in I think.”
“Where shall I sleep?” I asked.
“The bed of course. It’s that body’s bed, and I’m the guy at the moment, so I’ll take the couch. There’s a nightdress under the pillow.”
“Are you sure? We could share the bed; keep an eye on what the other is doing with our bodies.”
“Why are you so worried about what I might do with your body?”
“I’m not. I’m worried about what you might think I’d do with yours.”
“Idiot.” She sighed. “If it’ll make you feel better, we can share. But keep your hands to yourself.”
“I’m hardly likely to feel up my own body Mandy.”
“Good point.” She giggled.
“The time has come then. Nakedness.” I said nervously.
“We can’t put it off forever. We have to change clothes sometime.” Mandy shrugged.
We went to the bedroom. By unspoken agreement we split either side of the bed to undress. I took off Mandy’s clothes, folded them neatly and then slipped on the nightie before I turned around. Mandy still had her back to me, having donned my rarely used pyjamas.
“Err, Dave, I seem to have a problem.” She looked around at me. Her face, MY face was bright red.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“A certain part of your body appears to have become…aroused. I didn’t do anything, I swear.”
I nearly laughed out loud at her discomfort.
“Relax. It’s just a natural response to being around a beautiful half-naked body.”
“But it’s my body, I’ve seen it before.”
“My body doesn’t recognise that. That secondary brain blokes keep in their pants just likes what it sees and reacts accordingly. With practice you can out-think it.”
“But I need control now.”
“Just think of something off-putting, it’ll get the message.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know; try the smell of new paint.”
“Does that work for you?” She sounded desperate.
“Most of the time. Just sit on the edge of the bed and think of something horrible.”
She perched on the edge of the bed.
“I’m so sorry.” She said turning around.
“I told you, it’s not your fault. Well, not directly. I always felt that way about this body when I had that body.”
“You did? Always?”
“Not exactly always I suppose. But there were times when I didn’t want to move away from the cover of my desk.” I smiled reassuringly.
“You’re not mad at me?”
“I swear.” I said, crossing my heart.
“And it is controllable?”
“Within reason. I mean, you never noticed me like that before did you?”
“No. I can’t say that I did.”
“See? You’ll find something that works. Now get into bed. We have to get up early so you can show me how to do your make-up.”
“All right.”
We climbed into the bed.
“Goodnight Mandy.”
“Goodnight Dave.”

I awoke the next morning, remembering the evening before, hoping that it had all been a dream, or if it wasn’t, then things had returned to normal. I was wrong on both counts; I was still in Mandy’s body. I heard the shower running and realised that Mandy had taken the plunge and decided to wash my body. I got out of the bed and padded into the kitchen to get something to eat. The cupboard was full of healthy eating. I grabbed something and ate it. Mandy came in half-dressed, carrying a shirt for today.
“You didn’t pick up any vests.” She said.
“I don’t own any. If I wear something under my shirt, it’s a t-shirt.”
“Oh! Okay then. I’ll make do.” She suddenly grinned. “Time for you to hit the shower now.”
I looked at her uncomfortably.
“What if I touch something I shouldn’t?”
“It’s all got to be washed Dave. Now go on. And don’t forget to shampoo my hair.”
I went.
To begin with I felt somehow ashamed. Ashamed that I was running my hands over Mandy’s soapy body. Then I realised that they were her hands anyway and that she had already managed to do the same thing with my body without freaking out. After that I relaxed and made sure I did a proper job. It was the least I could do. She was entrusting me with the health of her body, as I was doing with her. I got out of the shower and after drying off, went into the bedroom. Mandy had laid out a set of clothes for me to wear. A white blouse, a trouser suit and simple underwear. Oh, and a pair of socks and some flattish heeled shoes. I picked up the bra and studied it, trying to envision the order you did things to get it on. I thought I could see how it worked and tried it. As it turned out I was right.
“Managed to suss it out then?” Mandy said from the doorway.
“Seemed obvious when I really looked at the thing.” I replied, slipping the matching knickers on.
“It usually is.”
“Why the trouser suit Mandy? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing it.”
“I prefer a skirt to be honest, but it’ll be easier for you first time out, not having to worry about skirt problems. We can try a skirt or dress tomorrow if you think you’re ready.” I put on the outfit and then Mandy sat me down in front of the dresser with her make-up spread out on it. “I’m not going to do this for you Dave, but I will tell you how.”
“What if I mess it up?”
“Then we wipe it off and try again.”
“All right I suppose.” I sighed. “Where do I start?”

The end result didn’t look too bad. We’d kept it simple, just lipstick and eye-liner. Mandy’s face was so pretty it didn’t need much enhancement. I certainly seemed to be catching one or two admiring glances on the tube. It made me feel pleased and embarrassed at the same time. This predicament was so difficult to deal with. On the tube we decided on the details of our ‘dating’ story. That was kept simple too. Dave finally mustered the courage to speak to Mandy at the station. Despite his nervousness, perhaps because of it, Mandy agreed to go for a drink. They discovered that they have things in common and agreed to go out again. The elements of truth made it believable and we could add to it as time went on.
From Mandy’s desk I could hear the other guys coming up to Mandy at mine and asking if it was true, had Dave really got Mandy to go out with him? Mandy made a good show of saying all it had taken was the right approach. She kept grinning at me as she said it. The guys kept giving me sidelong glances of disbelief. Most of the girls came and asked me the same question at some point. I copied Mandy’s answer, saying that Dave wasn’t that shy once you got to know him, but warning them off subtly at the same time. I think between us we managed to convince most of them that we were really dating and by the end of the day interest was waning, other gossip pushing this strange new friendship from their minds.

“I can’t believe they bought it.” I said when we got back to Mandy’s flat that evening.
“Why not?” Mandy asked.
“Well, I wouldn’t believe it.”
“Again, why not?”
“I wouldn’t believe that dorky Dave had actually got up the nerve to ask the beautiful Mandy out for a drink, let alone get another date out of the deal.”
“You’re doing yourself a disservice you know? And how do you know how I’d have reacted if you had asked me for a drink.”
“Well, would you have come for a drink with me if I’d asked?”
“I might have, depends how you’d asked.”
“Very diplomatic answer.” I smiled.
“What if I’d asked you?”
“I’d probably have thought it was a trick.” I paused. “But I’d have walked into it anyway, on the off chance it wasn’t.”
“You like me that much?”
“Yes. Yes I do Mandy. I’d have gone stark naked into a bar with you if you’d asked.”
“It’s probably a good job I didn’t then.” She grinned. “How about if I’d asked you to dress up as a woman?”
“That too. Why?”
“I was just looking at these legs of yours. With the right clothes they’d look pretty good.” She said, waving a leg in the air.
“You’re teasing, right?”
“Nope. You have a nice pair of legs.” She couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and burst out laughing. I threw a cushion at her.

We spent the rest of that week practising being each other. I became pretty good at applying make-up and Mandy learnt how to shave with out nicking the skin. I learnt how she sat in a dress or skirt and she was able to listen to a dirty joke without blushing, something she was better at than me. That first weekend we went to my flat and collected some more of my clothing for Mandy. I picked up my i-pod as well; I needed some of my own sort of music to listen to. The stuff Mandy listened to was all right, but not exactly what I liked to hear. We grabbed a few DVD’s as well, film’s she’d not seen, to take our minds off the fact that we had no idea how long this situation would last.
On the Saturday night we were both feeling restless.
“Why don’t we go out for a drink?” I said.
“Do you really want to go to the trouble of dolling yourself up just for a couple of drinks?” Mandy asked.
“It doesn’t take that long in the morning.”
“I suppose if we go somewhere quiet and dark no-one will notice.”
“Are you questioning my skills with a lipstick?” I asked jovially.
“Actually, yes. Just this once, I’ll do it for you.”
She sat me down in front of the dresser again. Within minutes she had transformed my face, her face. It had always been pretty, but now it looked stunning.
“Wow!” I said as she finished.
“Pick out a dress while I get changed.” Mandy said.
“Are you sure?”
“I can always tell you to change it.” Mandy shrugged.
Slightly worried I opened the wardrobe and peeked in. There seemed to be a lot of clothes in there. A green shimmering dress caught my eye; I took it out and looked at it. This was the one, I thought. I slipped into it. It was a tight fit and I wouldn’t be able to take my normal long strides, but that was a good thing. Another outfit grabbed my attention. I couldn’t believe Mandy still had one of these!
“This schoolgirl outfit is just right.” I called out mischievously.
“What! You can’t wear that!!” Mandy came rushing in.
I smirked at her, dangling the uniform from its hanger.
“Why have you got one of these? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
She was reddening with embarrassment.
“It’s my old school uniform. It doesn’t fit anymore, but I don’t want to throw it away. Okay?”
“And there was me hoping you had a secret side.”
“This was because of the make-up crack, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Don’t doubt a man and his make-up skills.” I smiled. “Now let’s go and have a drink.”
“What are you going to do if some guy tries hitting on you?”
“I’ll set my boyfriend on him of course.”
“We meeting someone else then?” She laughed.

The next morning Mandy ran her hand down my leg as we sat at the table. Slightly startled, I asked her why.
“As I thought, they’re getting a bit rough.”
“Rough?”
“Stubbly.”
“I need to shave them then?” I asked.
“I think they need waxing.”
“What!!? Isn’t that painful?”
“Not that much.” She shrugged. “The effects last longer than shaving though, so I find it’s worth a little discomfort.”
“All right.” I sighed. “It’s still your body. What do I have to do?”
“I’ll show you.”

I suppose it wasn’t that painful, if you like having hairs ripped from your legs that is, but worse was to follow. Towards the end of that second week I awoke feeling hot and bothered and unaccountably grumpy. Mandy asked me what was wrong while we ate breakfast.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” I snapped.
“Ahh!” She said knowingly. “I should have warned you; my period is due, you’re suffering from PMT.”
“What!” I snapped. “As if things aren’t bad enough already?”
“Sorry. It’s a natural function of my body.”
“There’s nothing natural about any of this.” I practically snarled.
“Calm down Dave. If women throughout history can get through this, so can you.”
“It’s easy for you to say.”
“Yes it is; I go through it once a month, remember?”
“Sorry. Of course you do. But it’s a problem I could have done without.” I was calming down. “What do I do?”
“If it’s affecting you that badly, I suggest you ring me in sick today, and stay here out of everyone’s way.”
“On my own? What will I do?”
“Shout at the telly? Tell the kettle it’s slow? I don’t know. Get blind drunk perhaps. Unconscious would be good for me.”
“What do you do Mandy?”
“Put up with it; hold my temper in check and suck it up.”
“You do that every month?”
“It doesn’t seem to affect me as badly as it’s affecting you.” She shrugged. “Stay here; look for solutions on the net. Maybe there’s something there that will help you. But stay out of people’s way, please.”
“All right. I don’t want to annoy your friends at work. I’ll find something. Go to work. I’ll call in sick; say I’ve got a bug or something. How long will I be like this?”
“A couple of days at least. Until the period starts.”
“How will I know?”
“You’ll know. Believe me, we’ll all know.”
I can’t say that it was the most enjoyable week I’ve ever had, but I survived. I reasoned if half the population of the world can put up with it, I could too, but it wasn’t fun for me or Mandy. She managed to keep me reasonably calm and told me what to do when the period started. I just wished I’d paid more attention in health education classes.

We were nearly three weeks into our strange experience when I took the phone call.
“Hello sweetie.” A mans voice said.
“Hi… Dad?” I hazarded.
“Your mother and I were just saying we haven’t seen you in a while. Is it all right if we come over for a visit tomorrow?”
“You want to come and see me dad?” I asked so that Mandy would hear. She just shrugged helplessly. I took a deep breath. “You don’t need an invite dad. You know that.”
“We thought we might this time, what with your new boyfriend and everything.”
“Oh. You heard about me and Dave then?”
“Yes. Do we get to meet him?”
“I can safely say he’ll be here. See you tomorrow dad.” The line went dead. I looked at Mandy. She didn’t seem terribly happy. “What else could I say?” I protested.
“It’s going to be a hell of a test for you Dave. No-one knows me like my parents.”
“Then I’d better get it right hadn’t I?”

I thought we’d managed to pull it off. Mandy’s parents seemed more interested in Dave than reminiscing about Mandy’s past. Then her mom suggested she and I go to the kitchen and make some coffee. Helplessly I followed her. She filled the kettle and put it on and then turned to face me.
“It’s Dave in there, isn’t it?” She said.
I went cold, but tried to bluff it out.
“With dad? Yes.” I said, looking towards the other room.
She didn’t buy it, and reached up and tapped my temple.
“No. In there.”
My shoulders dropped.
“Yes.” I said quietly. “How can you tell?”
“Little things really. You’ve got most of her mannerisms down, but, for instance; she holds her cup differently, the result of a childhood accident. And she doesn’t drum her fingers, she uses her thumb.”
“I hadn’t picked up on those. But why aren’t you surprised?”
“Because it always happens sooner or later to women in my family. I should have warned her earlier, but she never seemed serious about any of her boyfriends.”
“But I’m not her boyfriend. We made that up so we could keep an eye on each other. I’d barely considered even asking her out.”
“But you had thought about it. When?”
“I was daydreaming about it about thirty seconds before we clashed heads and switched.”
“That would explain it.” She smiled at me. “It seems to click into action around that point usually.”
“So you and your husband went through this?” She nodded. A thought struck me. “I take it you have swapped back?”
Again she nodded.
“After about four weeks. It’s like you’re given a taste of what it’s like to be the other person, gives you a better understanding of them. It works too. How long have you been switched?”
“Around three weeks now. I’ve known Mandy longer in my body than in hers.”
“Soon be over anyway.” She smiled encouragingly.
“I’ll be glad when it is, but a bit sad too. We won’t need to be together after that.”
“I think you might, but for different reasons.” Mandy’s mom grinned knowingly.
I found out later from Mandy that she was having a similar conversation with her father.
“Mandy? Are you all right sweetie? I know it’s you in there love.”
“How dad? Dave is very good as me. No-one has spotted the difference.”
“He is good at it, but we knew this might happen. We came to warn you and Dave, but saw quite quickly that we were too late. Sorry love.”
“You mean you and mom switched?”
“And back again. It is only temporary. And it only happens with your soulmate.”
“Soulmate? But I barely know Dave. He’s been me for longer than I knew him before the switch.”
“So?”
“He hadn’t even asked me out.”
“But he was thinking about it?”
“Daydreaming about it, he says.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before, but you never seemed to have found the right boy, so we kept putting it off.”
“This doesn’t happen to everybody does it?”
“No. As far as I know it only happens through the female side of your mother’s family.”
“And she’s telling Dave this now I suppose.”
“Yes.”
At this point Mandy’s mother and I came back in.
“She told me.” I said. “You are sure this is only a temporary thing? I don’t want to forget how to be me.” Both of Mandy’s parents nodded. “Good. I believe we were waiting for coffee?” I heard the kettle begin to boil.
“I’ll help.” Mandy said following me.
“So, they saw through me?” I asked her.
“They were half expecting us to be switched anyway. Dad thought you were very good as me.”
“I hope that’s a compliment?”
“Yes it is.” Unexpectedly, for both of us I think, Mandy gave me a quick hug. It’s a very strange thing to be hugged by what you know is your own body. That’s why we quickly broke apart, but it did set me thinking.

The fourth and hopefully last week of our body-swap seemed to drag for both of us, but at least we knew we would soon swap back. We avoided talking about ‘after’ in case it put a jinx, another jinx, on us, but it didn’t stop us thinking. Something came to me on the (hopefully) last Saturday. Although when I’d first seen her it had been Mandy’s looks that had captured my interest, since the switch I had become more and more preoccupied with her mind, the only bit that was still her. She was actually a bit shy, but a lot helpful. She had helped me through this month a lot more than I had helped her, and not just the clothes and the make-up. She had kept me cheerful and supported me through all my whining and bitching. And all I had done in return was show her how to shave my face with cutting it; at least that’s how it seemed to me. But I knew that I’d fallen in love with her and she seemed to like me too. I made a decision, a weird decision.
“Mandy.” I said quietly, unsure how she’d react. “Mandy, can I ask you something?”
She looked up from the magazine she was reading.
“Okay.”
“C…can we k…kiss?” My hesitancy had returned suddenly.
“Why?”
“I …I d…don’t k…know. It j…just seems t…to be the r…right th…thing to d…do.”
She looked directly at me, considering it.
“We never have kissed have we?” I shook my head. “All right. One kiss. Just to see what it’s like.”
She came over and sat next to me on the sofa. I looked into my face and somehow saw Mandy in there, in my eyes. Our lips met. Not many people can claim to have kissed themselves. And I’m not sure I can. As Mandy and I moved apart we both realised that we were back in our own bodies!
“You were right Dave. It was the right thing to do.” Mandy grinned at me, with her own face, lighting up the room more than I ever had. I hugged her and grinned back, trying to replicate the grin she had used so often in the past four weeks. I was about to kiss her again but I stopped suddenly. “What’s the matter?” She asked.
“What if we swap back?” I said.
“I’m willing to risk it.”
“Me too!” I moved back in for the kiss. I kissed her as me and stayed as me. “Thank you Mandy, you got me through this. Without your help I’d have gone nuts.”
“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have got into this at all.” She looked down sadly.
“I told you before; I’d do anything to be with you for even a short time. Maybe this was a little extreme, but we’ve been together for four whole weeks and I wouldn’t have missed that for the world.”
“You mean that?” She said, a tear in her eye.
“Well there were some things I could have done without, but the good far outweighs the bad I promise.”
She gave a watery smile.
“You are a nice person. All you thought about was protecting my image the whole time. You didn’t once say you wouldn’t do something. You are a special friend.”
“I want to be more than that Mandy. I fell in love with the only part of you I wasn’t, your personality, your mind I suppose. You were kind and helpful, fun to be with and mostly sympathetic. Apparently we’re supposed to be soulmates. I think that’s true. What about you?”
“It’s a strange way of getting to know someone, but you may be right. So what do we do now?”
“There are a few things we could do. But right now that school uniform is calling.” A smirk crossed my face.
“I told you, it doesn’t fit any more.” She laughed.
“How about a couple of beers and a takeaway curry followed by ‘Where Eagles Dare’ instead then.”
“A proposition no girl who’s just spent four weeks as a man could resist. You phone for the curry, I’ll get the beers.”
“But first…” I took her in my arms and we kissed again. A proper kiss with no worries about consequences or what the future might hold. A kiss of a daydreamer and a daydream believer. A kiss of soulmates.