Chapter Three
This isn't my room. It's not the most comforting thought to wake up to, but I had. This didn't feel like my bed, and the air smelled faintly of a vanilla scent. A feminine scent. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. This wasn't even my house! A Backstreet Boy in the poster on the wall was staring at me, and it was creeping me out. But the framed photograph of Annie and her mother on the night table was even creepier.
And then it hit me.
My heart rate accelerated and I leaped from the bed in panic. I'm in Annie's room! How did this happen? I tried to think hard about where I had been when I fell asleep. After Annie left, what had I done? Wait, she left because I told her that I was sick. Then I went into the family room and… I must have fallen asleep on the couch. Was it possible that she never left? That she dragged me all the way up the street and to the Phillips' household? No way I could have slept through all that, but how else was this possible?
Wait a second! The slurpee! Damn it, Annie had drugged me! I really should have known better.
I wondered how I was ever going to explain to Jack and Molly why I was in their house, and how I got there. Glancing around the brightly colored room, I noticed how happy and eerily Annie-like that it was. I had been in here only once or twice before. Actually, I had never noticed how big the room was, although the colors were more or less blinding, so it wasn't easy to really take a good look around. It just felt a little weird, though. Even the ceiling seemed a little bit higher than usual. Maybe they had to replace it because Annie had crashed her head through the old one? She did have a passion for jumping on her bed.
The door flew open, startling me. "Hey Annie, can I borrow your calculator?" It was Jack. His gaze settled on me expectantly.
Before he did anything crazy, I said quickly, "I can explain!" And then my eyes grew wide. And then my hands flew to my throat in horror. "My voice," I whispered.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," he said. He gave me a look as he walked past me to Annie's desk, picking up her enormous translucent green calculator. He continued giving me a weird look as he retreated from the room, slowly closing the door behind him. I made a mad dash for the bathroom connecting Annie's room and Molly's and looked into the mirror.
And screamed.
This can't be happening. It just isn't possible. It's a dream! I desperately tried to convince myself. I had turned into a monster. Overnight, I had transformed. No, it was worse than a monster.
I was Annie.
There was a shuffling of footsteps from the staircase and from the view of the mirror, I saw Molly standing in the doorway of Annie's room. "Did you scream? Is everything all right?"
I turned and stared at her in disbelief. Was everything all right? This was a living nightmare! "Where am I?" I demanded. She stared at me blankly, and I shook my head. "No, I mean—where's Carey?"
"At his house?" She shrugged.
"Wait till I get my hands on that conniving little—"
"Are you sure you're okay?"
I stopped muttering and smiled. "Yes. I'm fine!"
Molly shook her head slightly and laughed. She looked so cute like that that I almost wanted to—no, Carey, get a hold of yourself. "Well, why don't you get dressed, and then when you come downstairs, breakfast will be on the table," she suggested. I nodded, not taking my eyes off her as she retreated into the hallway. Breaking from my trance, I eyed my surroundings. There was a large wooden dresser next to the door and I hastily pulled open a drawer. What the hell? I thought, disgustedly shoving her clothes aside. No wonder Annie's outfits never matched. Why did she have such a horrible taste in clothes? Everything was either stretchy or strappy or too bright or too tight or all of the above. Teenage girls are crazy, especially this one. Is there anything normal? Finally I found it, buried on the very bottom of the drawer: a blue t-shirt. A little plain, but it would have to do. Now for pants. I yanked open her closet doors and gasped.
Let's just say that Annie has single-handedly made leopards an endangered species.
Having no other option, I grabbed one of the pants and squeezed myself into them. I threw on the shirt and scrambled down the stairs for breakfast. Sitting myself down at the table, I smiled brightly into the awaiting faces of Molly and Jack. I stabbed my fork into the pancakes and brought it to my mouth, taking my first bite of what was bound to be a very interesting day.