Page 105 of Switch!

Forty dollars times ten hours a day, if we can manage that, would mean four hundred bucks. Not bad. In three days we’d have enough to pay rent with a little left over for living expenses. Or we could go easy and work half as much over the course of a week. That sounds more realistic. In a month we’ll be sitting pretty. Except when we take a break an hour later, we’ve only pulled in another twenty-six dollars.

“I guess the other spot was better,” Trixie says with a sigh. “I’m hungry? Are you?”

“Yup.” We move to a bench and crack open the raisins. It’s not much of a meal, but neither of us suggests cutting into our profits.

“This will be an uphill battle,” Trixie says. “Especially since we’re in the hole already.”

“I know. Maybe we should sell the TV. And the laptop. That would take care of rent and give us more time to figure out everything.”

“Or,” Trixie says, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “We can try something different.”

“I’m game.”

“Remember you said that, because I’ve been thinking of our data entry session last night. One part in particular.”

We’ve been digitizing the content of my notebook so I no longer have to rely on a physical copy. During the process, we often stop to discuss different aspects of my abilities. Trixie keeps coming up with questions I don’t know the answers to.

“Which part?”

“The stuff about desire.”

“Oh.” I laugh nervously. “Yeah. I know it sounds weird, but I have to admire the guy if I want to possess him.”

“Handsome guys only?”

“Uh…” My shoulders slump. “I’m superficial, aren’t I?”

Trixie snorts. “Who isn’t? But if I’m hearing you right, after the accident, you saw Jesse and were relieved another hot guy was there for you to possess.”

“Kind of. I didn’t want to die, so yeah, in that moment I decided I’d rather be him than Caleb.”

“Uh huh. And when you saw Patrick half-starved and holding a gun to his head, you thought, ‘That’s exactly the kind of feller I’d like to be. Watch out ladies, here I come!’”

“Totally.” I nudge her playfully. “You know the real reason. I decided I’d rather be him than let someone die.”

She raises her eyebrows, as if her point is painfully obvious.

“You lost me,” I admit.

“You’re right about desire being important,” she explains, “but that can come in a variety of forms. When you made the leap to Jesse and Patrick, you didn’t have time to consider if you wanted to be them. It didn’t matter.”

“So I’m not superficial?”

“You totally are, and it’s fine, because you’ve already proven that you’re motivated by more. But the only kind of desire you need is a good reason.” She pokes me in the stomach. “Like not getting evicted or not wanting to starve.”

She’s right. When I first started out, all I wanted was to be an alpha male who could get the girl and fight off bullies. The last two switches had nothing to do with admiration. In fact, with the pain of losing Sarah still so raw, I’d rather be the kind of guy who womendon’tnotice. I have enough problems without adding romantic entanglement to the list. I’d much rather be rich. That would solve my immediate problems.

Trixie is watching me carefully. She must have faith that I reached the right conclusion, because she points to the nearest intersection. “The restaurant over there is crazy expensive. I scoped out the menu once and tried playing in front of it, thinking I’d score some major tips, but they chased me off.”

“You want me to switch with someone who can afford to eat there?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what?”

“Have them come listen to me and make sure that they’re feeling generous.”

The idea makes me uncomfortable. “Isn’t that a roundabout way of robbing someone? I’d basically be taking over some poor guy’s body before forcing him to empty his wallet.”