Flipping the Switch

Chapter 3: How To Train Your Cheerleader

Author's Note: OMG! So I am sooooo sorry it took me this long to update! I promise that I hadn't forgotten or abandoned this story, I was just so busy all school year and every time I did come back to this I had the worst writer's block! So this chapter basically took a year to write. I hope you like it! Reviews are greatly appreciated (;

"Food poisoning."

Astrid's cheer coach stared up at me with a lifted eyebrow. And damn, she was a babe. She was about five feet tall with huge green eyes and long, hazelnut colored hair. She couldn't have been older that 25. "You were late because you have food poisoning?" she asked. From behind Coach I could see Astrid, in my body, peeking into the gym from the main doorway in the distance and nodding at me with a sense of urgency, signaling with her hand for me to keep going with it.

"Uh... Yes," I replied with a soft nod, trying to act ill but not laying it on too thick. I couldn't tell if she was really buying it or not. "Yeah, I've been throwing up all morning. I'm still a little queasy."

"Well, are you going to be okay?"

I shook my head slowly, bringing my palm up to my stomach. "I don't think so, Coach. I thought I'd be okay but I think I need to go back home and rest more." Yeah, right. I just didn't want to fucking be here and make an idiot out of myself. It's not like I knew any of their routines, and no way was Astrid going to allow me to make a fool out of herself. The big school gymnasium echoed with the sounds of bubbly, teenaged girl voices as the cheer team practiced at the other end.

"Astrid, you do realize the competition is only two weeks away? As head cheerleader-"

"Yes, I know, Coach. But I'll be fine by Monday."

How many times did I have to be reminded about this stupid fucking cheer competition? It's in two weeks, you know. Hey, did you know the competition is in two weeks? Guess what, the competition is in TWO FUCKING WEEKS! Wow, thanks for fucking telling me! I would have never guessed!

She huffed. "Okay. You can go home for today, but show up on Monday fully prepared. Everyone is counting on you."

I gave an affirmative nod. "Thank you, Coach!" I said before hurrying off.

"And next time don't be late!"

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"It's not like me to be late," Astrid muttered as she drove us back in her white BMW, narrowed eyes set on the road before us. By now it was about ten o'clock. "I'm never late."

I really didn't know what to say. Was I supposed to feel responsible? It's not like I'd planned on switching places with Astrid and then missing her Saturday-morning practice. "Cheerleading is everything to you, isn't it?"

"Not everything," she snapped defensively, glancing in my direction. For a split second I saw my own green eyes turn as cold as steel. It gave me the chills. I had never before seen myself look so vindictive. "But it's important to me." Her eyes returned to the road as the tone of her voice- my voice- actually softened.

"Sorry," was all I could muster out.

The car was silent for the rest of the trip, several minutes passing by until we pulled up to the big, golden gate of Berk Heights. This was Astrid's neighborhood. "Wait, we're going to your house?"

"My mom is never home, and my dad's away for business. She won't know."

"Won't know what? That you missed practice or that you're bringing me to your house?" Not like I hadn't been here before, but now there was the two of us, and I could imagine Astrid's mom coming back from the gym and staring wide-eyed at Astrid in my body and then asking me, "Sweetie, who is this loser you're hanging out with?"

After Astrid punched the gate code into the keypad at the entrance of her neighborhood, the two majestic gates opened up into upper-class territory and we rolled right in. "Both."

Neither of us said anything else as we made our way down the winding roads of Berk Heights. Large homes with huge driveways and neat green lawns flew by, and as we crept higher up the hill I could see the vast, sparkling ocean down below come into view. Somehow I'd paid no attention to it when I'd left this morning. I guess I'd been too flustered about this entire situation to really notice it.

And then I quickly remembered how fucked we were.

"We'll figure this out. Right?"

Just as if my own voice were playing aloud in my head, Astrid spoke. But it didn't sound like her voice, because it was mine. And in her tone I sensed a foreign sense of helplessness, a desperate need for reassurance, even though neither of us knew what the hell we were going to do.

"We will. I promise."

My stomach dropped. Dad always said to never make promises that you can't keep.

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"Now, the first step to being me is confidence," Astrid said as she placed both her hands on her hips, standing up tall with a big, perky smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're gonna have to have to fix all... this," she replied, gesturing towards me with one hand while keeping the other on her hip.

My head fell to the side as my shoulders sank. "You just gestured to all of me."

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about!" She huffed indignantly and came towards me, pushing my shoulders back. "You aren't confident. You're a cheerleader now, and cheerleaders have good posture. Good posture is a sign of confidence. And you obviously don't have any."

"Thank you, for summing that up."

We were back in Astrid's bedroom, her bed already made and neat by the time we got back. I'd forgotten that rich people had housekeepers to do their cleaning for them.

"I can tell that you aren't confident by the way you talk and the way you stand," she said as she stepped back, crossing her arms and cocking one hip to the side as she looked at me with a lifted eyebrow.

I winced. I guessed she was right, though I had never really noticed before. Maybe these were the secrets to becoming cool and popular, and she was revealing them to me.

"Next, is-"

Buzz buzz buzz.

I looked down. The buzzing had come from Astrid's short pockets. I'd nearly forgotten about-

"My phone!"

Just as I began to pull Astrid's Sidekick out of my pocket she practically pounced towards me and snatched it from my hand. She flipped open the device and I watched her eyes quickly scan back and forth across the screen. Then, I nearly hurled as I saw her face soften before her thumbs began racing across the keyboard, making little rubbery clicking sounds.

"Lemme guess," I said with heavy-lidded eyes and a bleak expression on my face. "Snotlout."

Astrid glared up at me through her lashes. Then she flipped her Sidekick closed and set it on the nightstand behind her. "How about, it's none of your business?"

I scoffed disdainfully. "Well unless your boyfriend suddenly turns gay, you can't be his girlfriend while you're in my body. Remember?"

I could see the gears turning in Astrid's head when suddenly her narrowed eyes locked on me like a target as she shifted her jaw slightly. Her shoulders did a subtle rise and fall as she took in a breath through her nose and released it. Fuck. She was fuming.

And then, without warning, Astrid released a shrill battlecry and flew at me, her hands wringing around my shirt collar. I made a small yelp as I fell down onto the floor, attempting to break her grip, but she held on tight. My own green eyes burned with ire. "Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I wailed. I didn't mean-"

"This is all your fault! You better figure this out soon and give me my life back!"

"My fault? How is this-" I squirmed beneath her and struggled to push her off of me, but it was no use. "My fault?"

She pinned me down to the floor, straddling my hips. Her eyes narrowed threateningly. "You had to do something. We didn't know each other until last night, and then I woke up this morning as you! Explain that," she barked with gritted teeth, pushing me harder into the carpet.

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped. She had a point. Did our official meeting have something to do with this? It was rather peculiar that we'd switched places the day after we met.

"Astrid-"

"Astrid?"

We stopped and turned our heads to see Astrid's mom standing in the bedroom doorway, mouth agape. Then we quickly looked at each other before we scrambled off each other. "Uhhhh..."

I looked up at Mrs. Hofferson as I stood up, smoothing down my shirt. From my peripheral vision I saw Astrid stand up too. She smiled at her mom as she stepped beside me before taking a light jab at me with her elbow.

"Oh- right. Mom." I released a nervous laugh and pushed my bangs out of my face. "This is... My friend. Hiccup. He's... Uhm-"

"Hi, Mrs. Hofferson," Astrid said as she outstretched her hand to shake her mom's, putting on her most charming smile. "It's so nice to meet you."

"You too," she said, slightly squinting at her before averting her attention back to me. "I thought you were at practice."

"It got out early," I blurted. "Uhm... But then I saw Hiccup there at the gym so I asked if he wanted to hang out?"

Why the fuck had that come out as a question?

"What she means is," Astrid intervened, placing her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels, "Is that... Well, I was at the outdoor basketball courts when she saw me, and, well, we have English together, and she had a few questions about our homework so she asked me to come over and help her out." She pulled her eyebrows in and smiled again. "I hope that's okay."

Nice save. Astrid's mom stood there and nodded as she registered all this. Her blonde hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, her face still slightly flushed from coming from the gym. Uhh, could you say, MILF? "Oh, well, that's just fine." Again she looked to me. "Astrid, sweetheart, have to run some errands after I shower. There's some money in the kitchen drawer if you need it." She smiled before closing the door. "You kids stay out of trouble!"

Too bad we were already wallowing in it.

"I thought you said your mom was never home!" I said as I whipped around to glare at Astrid. She squinted at me and threw her palms up. "She isn't! How was I supposed to know she was going to stop by at a random time like this?"

"I don't know, this is your fucking house!"

Astrid shook her head. "Whatever. That was a close one," she grumbled before releasing a frustrated groan as she flopped forward onto her bed. "What are we gonna doooo," she whined, her voice muffled by the pillow she had buried her face in.

Suddenly I felt this pang of guilt, right in my gut. Maybe Astrid was right. Maybe this was my fault. But how? What could I have possibly done to make this happen? Before last night, Astrid didn't even know that I exist. And now today we were each other. Pure coincidence? Maybe not. This whole situation just didn't make any sense.

I came over and sat down on the bed next to her. "Hey," I said softly. "Come on, we'll figure this out."

Astrid turned her face and peeked up at me from her pillow. Then she huffed as she flipped over to lie on her back, placing her hands behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling. "I wish we could just like, I dunno, flip a switch or something."

I traced circles on Astrid's baby pink comforter. Then I squinted and looked up at her.

"Wait... Say that again."

"Say what?"

"You said-"

"Flip a switch?"

A few seconds passed before I drew in a sharp breath, my eyes widening as something suddenly clicked in my brain.

"Flip the switch, Hiccup! Flip the switch!"

"The janitor!" I exclaimed as I jumped off of Astrid's bed. "It was the creepy janitor!"

Astrid looked bewildered. "Huh?"

I grabbed Astrid's forearm and started lightly tugging her towards me. Astrid narrowed her eyes at me and sat up, yanking her arm away. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on! I know how to switch us back!"