Page 78 of Switch!

“I feel ya. Hey, give me a call soon. Or text. I can’t wait to hear how Jesse reacts to everything.”

If only I could share her excitement. I say goodbye, still feeling uncomfortable with the situation. My mind soon turns to other worries. This has been a long and very strange day. At least when Caleb and I went on our date with Ashley, we both wanted it. Jesse had no interest in the psychic fair. He wouldn’t have been there if not for me and even tried to leave after Gismonda booted me out of his body. We weren’t working in unison.

I wait until we’re in the parking lot of his apartment complex before I release him. Then I wait. He does too. Jesse looks around, grabs the rearview mirror, and angles it so he can see himself better.

“What the hell?” he says.

I’m having trouble reading his thoughts, but I can feel his confusion. It finally gives way to amusement. That’s a good sign. Isn’t it? He gets out of the car and walks to his apartment. The door is barely open before Colin comes bounding down the hall.

“Finally!” he says, grabbing Jesse’s hand and pulling him inside. “Tell me everything. I wish I could have gone! Did you like it?”

“Take it easy,” Jesse says with a chuckle, gently pulling himself free. “Unless you want to send me to the ER with a dislocated shoulder.”

“As long as I get to hear every single detail on the ride over.” Colin begins to sit at the kitchen table, his butt hovering a few inches above the seat. “Are you hungry?”

“I had dinner,” Jesse says. “With a friend.”

Colin gasps and plops down. “A psychic friend? Do we have a direct line to the netherworld now?”

Jesse’s brow furrows as he sits. “The what?”

“You know, the afterlife. All that spooky stuff.”

“I don’t think so,” Jesse says “In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s all BS. I ended up in this ridiculous group…” He shakes his head, too embarrassed to continue.

“What kind?”

“A group for people who have had unusual experiences.”

“I love it already!” Colin says. “So what happened? Did you hear anything crazy?”

“Yeah. There was an alien abductee and this woman who talked about gnomes like she had a pest control problem. Oh! And there was a teenage girl, Trixie, who claims she can tell when people are lying or telling the truth. I actually liked her. We ended up hanging out the rest of the day. We went to Pike’s Place, saw the Space Needle, ate dinner at this gorgeous Chinese restaurant…” He trails off when noticing his boyfriend’s frown. “What?”

“Get back to the psychic stuff! What else happened in the group?”

“There’s nothing to report.”

“Did you tell them how you found Caleb’s girlfriend?”

“No. I guess I should have instead of lying through my teeth.”

“Huh? About what?”

Jesse chews his bottom lip. “I pretended that Caleb didn’t actually die. I told them that his soul was part of me now. Like a passenger. And that the body I saw die wasn’t really his. It was just, I don’t know, an outfit that he was wearing. His real body is still alive in Wyoming, of all places.”

“Oh, honey.” Colin reaches across the table to take Jesse’s hand. “You shouldn’t feel bad. At all. This is simply your way of coping.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. You’re not ready to accept what happened yet, and that’s fine. If pretending he’s still with you helps, then why not? This must be what you need.”

Jesse squeezes his hand in response. “I’m not going crazy?”

“Nope. You’re working through it in your own way. If you’re still telling people this story in a few months, then we’ll have a serious talk. For now, keep going to your counselling sessions, okay? I think that will help the most.”

Jesse nods. “I will.”

“So you didn’t see anything real while there? Nothing interesting or unusual?”