Being You

Chapter 10

A/N: My lovely friend rhi_thephantom drew Jeremy stuck in Ella's school uniform (see above). She's been a wonderful help giving me advice on my story and characters and encouraged me to keep writing. Thanks to everyone who's been following Being You so far!

Jeremy flopped down on his bed with a deep sigh. The day had been exhausting, trying to keep away from Jay and his gang, but he'd enjoyed Ashad's company in a couple of his classes, so it hadn't been all that bad. He was just looking forward to having a night to relax and to shift his focus from the currently unsolvable problem of his and Ella's body switch.

"Jeeeeerrrr," Ella called, diving face first onto his bed.

"Shh, Mum'll hear you."

"It's okay, the TV is turned up super loud. Do you think she's going deaf?"

Jeremy mumbled a response into his doona. Ella nodded as though she'd actually understood what he'd said.

"Hey, so I made a friend in your ICT class, Jer."

"Really? Most of them are utter jerks."

"Well, Toby's okay. He's friends with Ashad."

Jeremy sat up quickly. "Really?"

Ella sat up and looked him in the eye. She grinned. "You like him, don't you?"

"Who, Toby?" Jeremy wrinkled his eyebrows together. "No way, I've never even talked to him. And, unlike some people, I ain't gay."

"No, I meant Ashad, you dipshit." Ella cackled. "He's in my maths class, and you seem really happy whenever you've been to my maths class now..."

"Whaaaat?" Jeremy was confused now. "How the hell did an idea like that get into your head?"

"Oh, you should see the way you look when you talk about him, little brother. Your eyes go all gooey and I can see roses spinning around your head. Everyone will start thinking I'm straight."

"Ella, you are deranged. Sure, he's really nice, and his hair's always done perfectly, but a man can have a man crush without wanting to fuck the other guy." Jeremy knew he was pouting now, but he couldn't help feeling defensive.

"Sure, sure." Ella winked at him then switched on his TV. "So, you up for some Netflix and chill?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes and fished a packet of chips out from under his bed. "You bet I am."

. . .

It turned out that they both fell asleep halfway through the second Batman movie they watched. Ella woke early, and the only light in the room was cast by the red digits on Jeremy's alarm clock, telling her it was 4:12am. Ugh, why couldn't I have stayed asleep? Now she really needed to pee.

She wiggled out of bed then stopped when she looked at Jeremy. Overgrown crew cut. Defined jawline. She checked his chest and it was as flat as a board. "No way," she murmured in barely restrained delight.

Ella dashed to the bathroom and turned on the lights. It was the most wonderful bathroom visit of her life. "No dick," she whispered with glee. "NO DICK!" she shouted.

Shuffling footsteps sounded on the carpet. Her mum, clad only in a nightgown, rubbed her eyes. "Ella, what's going on?" she groaned.

"Uh, sorry, I had a weird dream," Ella apologised sheepishly.

"Right, right. You have such a potty mouth," the woman said, shaking her head as she traipsed back to the master bedroom.

Ella dashed back to Jeremy's room. "Jeremy!" she whisper-shouted. "Dude, wake up already."

Jeremy stared at her with bleary eyes. "What?"

"Check. It. Out. No dick!" she exclaimed again.

"Huh? Of course you don't have a dick, you're a gi—" He stopped. He checked under the waistband of his boxers. "Holy shit," he breathed. "We're back."

"We're back," Ella agreed, hugging him tightly. How many days had it been since they'd been themselves? Eight, if she remembered correctly.

"Come on, let's go celebrate," Jeremy said, eyes bright with an energy Ella hadn't seen in years. They quickly dressed for school and left the house at 4:45. The first morning bus to the centre of town left at 5:20, so they had to wait in the cold for a while.

The only place open at that time of morning was a 24-hour McDonald's restaurant. They ordered hotcakes, hash browns and an assortment of burgers. "I'm getting one of those stupid hipster coffees," Ella confessed, and came back with an enormous latte with soy milk and hazelnut syrup.

"To the best brother in the world," Ella toasted, holding up her coffee cup.

"To the best sister in the world," Jeremy echoed, raising his hot chocolate formally.

They collapsed into laughter, and by the time they finished eating, it was only 6:30 am. "What do we do now? We still have two hours before school," Jeremy mused.

"Dunno. Let's see if any shops are open," Ella proposed. Everything ended up being closed, but it didn't matter. Ella was glad she could walk with Jeremy and see him happy again. It had been so long since she'd seen him with a real light in his eyes, and now they could totally be themselves. No more charades, no more lies.