Page 38 of Switching Skates

He sighs. “Must you always be difficult, Sunset? Just let me do this.”

“No, I don’t think so.” I hold my ground.

“Daph! Is everything okay down there?” Maeve shouts down from the top of the stairs. “Mason.” She grunts his name with warning.

Mason and I look at each other, wide-eyed and nervous.

I wave my hands quickly in the air and mouth the words,Say something.

“W-we’re just fine! Thank you! Just cleaning up the kitchen.” He rushes through his words, looking over at the stairs.

“Okaaaay,” she sings, and a second later, we hear her door click shut.

Mason turns back to me and looks down out of habit before realizing my eyes are all the way up here. “Anyway, why won’t you let me clean?”

“Is my plea not enough of a reason?” I retort.

He crosses his arms and looks down at his boobs, now pressed up tightly against his chest. “I don’t know how you get used to these things. They keep getting in the way.”

“Really? That isnothingcompared to the things I have to put up with right now.” I scoff, glancing down at my pants. “I mean, going to the bathroom is horrifying for me. I don’t want to eat or drink anything until this is all over.”

He chuckles with a smirk. “Fair point. How’s he doing? I miss him.” He sighs. “Oh, and I was going to the bathroom earlier, and I somehow blacked out, doomscrolling on socials. Sitting down when peeing is a trap.”

I stare at him, dumbfounded. I recall that I had to squat over the toilet and pee earlier because there was no way I was holding it to do so.

“Are you trying to distract me to get me off topic from the dishes?” I gasp, realizing far later than I would’ve preferred.

He smiles. “Did it work?”

“No.” I huff. “But I’m done arguing about this. Do the dishes for all I care. Enjoy yourself.”

I storm off without a word, feeling a tsunami of emotions flood me all at once, as if my brain is deciding at this moment to process everything that’s happened so far today.

I’m exhausted and … scared.

What happens if we wake up tomorrow and we haven’t switched back? What if we’re stuck like this forever? I can’t even think about that as a realistic possibility. I can’t think about my current problem as realistic either because this should be impossible.

But here we are. Stuck.

I need some air. My chest is getting tight, and the last thing I want right now is a panic attack to make everything worse, especially in front of Mason.

Stepping into the perfect late summer air, I force myself to take a few timed breaths to calm myself down as I sit on the porch swing, rocking myself back and forth.

Today has been so hectic. I feel like all of my guards crashed down at once when we scrambled to grasp what was happening to us. But I can’t keep him blocked out when I need him right now.

Ugh, why is this happening to us? It feels like some kind of cosmic punishment. For what? No clue.

Staring out at the calm lake, I’m taken aback for a second by its beauty. The starry sky twinkling above, the moon shiningbright. Loons sleep on the water, still and peaceful, the opposite of my racing thoughts.

I hear the back door open to my right.

“Hey, mind if I join you?”

Hearing my own voice catches me off guard, but I don’t think it’s something anyone would ever get used to.

I nod and scoot over on the bench seat, making room for him. He walks over and sits down, his legs dangling, hovering above the ground, and I can’t help but laugh.

But the normal laugh morphs into something uncontrollable. The kind of laugh that only comes out from intense stress, where all you can do is chuckle maniacally.