Gemini - 7. An Almost Ordinary Schoolday

Josh

I gave myself a once-over. “Are you sure this will work?” I asked, turning to Jacob.

“If I hadn’t seen you swapping clothes, I would have no chance to notice that you traded places,“ Ethan stated. Then he yawned. “Let’s go.”

We had gotten up at an ungodly hour, because I had wanted to make sure we got everything perfect. Ethan had protested about meeting at 7 am at first, but he had eventually given in when he saw how nervous I was about this day.

Jacob grinned at me. “See? You’ll be alright. Don’t worry about how to act, just reply with a friendly ‘hey’ when people greet you and that’s it. Ethan will help you out if you can’t answer a question or don’t know how to react.” I didn't get how Jacob managed to take this so easy.

Forcing myself to smile, I nodded and slung Jacob’s backpack over my shoulder. “You can do this,” he told me. “Good luck.”

“Hey wait,” I said, as he made a move to leave. I pulled out my keys and my wallet. “Here, just in case something unexpected happens.”

He shrugged as we exchanged our keys and wallets. “I doubt we will need it, but it can’t hurt.”

“Alright, we need to go now, or we’ll be late,” Ethan urged us on.

“Good luck,” Jacob told me again.

“Good luck,” I replied, and smiled at him as we left.

“You’re really worried that something could go wrong, aren’t you?” Ethan asked me, as we left the park and headed for the school.

“I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can react right when someone talks to me,” I told him.

“You worry too much about it,” he soothed me. “If you just go along with whatever happens, you’ll be alright.”

“I’ll try. You’re probably right,” I told him.

When Ethan and I got to the school gates, I saw Sarah walking over to us.

“Hey J,” she greeted me while pulling me into a hug. I stiffened for the split of a second before I relaxed and hugged her back.

She let go of me and turned to Ethan pulling him into a hug, too. He used the opportunity to whisper into her ear “That’s Josh, we’ll need your help today to shield him a bit from the others.”

She stepped back surprised, and looked at me closely. “Damn I would’ve never noticed,” she laughed. She leaned close to me and whispered. “Nice to see you, Josh. I knew that Jacob had cut his hair so you guys would look more similar, but I didn’t think you would pull something like this, and so early.”

I grinned at her and whispered back. “Nice to see you too, but don’t forget: Today I’m Jacob.”

The three of us headed to the homeroom together. We had barely passed the school gates when some random guy greeted us. “Hey J, Ethan.”

“Hey Brian,” Ethan greeted him, before I could say anything.

I gave Brian a nod and a smile. “Hey.”

Only seconds later, another guy greeted us, and this time I said my ‘hey’ even before Ethan. He grinned at me as we walked on. “See, it’s not that hard.”

There was a bunch of people greeting me or giving me friendly nods on the way to the homeroom. I smiled at them and replied with a ‘hi’ or ‘hey’ or ‘how’s it going?’, and Ethan always provided me with their names. I had feared that I would fail in my role as Jacob, because he was so self-confident around others. It turned out that wasn’t really a problem.

It was funny. I was usually shy, but today I wasn’t myself. I was Jacob, and Jacob wasn’t shy. Playing this role, pretending to be Jacob, was liberating. In the beginning, I had to watch my every move and almost force myself to smile, but after a few encounters, I started to enjoy it. Everyone was friendly to me, so I had no problems being friendly, too. Jacob really did seem to be popular and that made it much easier to be outgoing.

I was probably a little more withdrawn than Jacob usually was, but it wasn't that noticeable. I didn’t need to talk to people, they talked to me.

During the first breaks there were a few people who asked me questions or just wanted to hang out with us. Ethan and Sarah did a great job intervening whenever needed, either answering a question for me or changing the topic. Before long, it was the break before the history test. We were sitting on one of the benches in the schoolyard when a girl approached us.

“Ethan, you gotta help me. Can you summarize the most important facts and dates of the Civil War for me? I’m so screwed. I have no clue.”

Ethan started trying to give her the basic information, and even though he had some idea about it, I had to keep myself from jumping in several times. He got some things wrong or only partly correct, but Jacob didn’t know shit about history, so I couldn’t join in on the discussion.

Instead, I used the opportunity to watch him. I couldn’t risk anyone getting the idea that Jacob was gay, and I was used to be careful where I looked, so that was not a problem. This opportunity was perfect though, everyone would think I was just intently listening. I watched his cute little lips moving and admired his ocean blue eyes. After he was done explaining everything to the girl, I felt sad that I couldn’t stare at him anymore, and it took quite a bit of willpower to keep my eyes away from him.

“Hey J,” a female voice startled me from my thoughts.

I looked around to see who had spoken to me and spotted a girl on a bench close to ours, looking at me expectantly. I knew I had seen her in Jacob’s folder. I couldn’t recall her name though.

“Huh?” I asked.

“I’m trying to get my homework for French done. Can you look over it quickly and tell me if you see any mistakes?” I just stared back at her. French? Yea I knew some French, but certainly not enough for this.

“Earth to Jacob, earth to Jacob,” Sarah called, as she waved her hand in front of my face. “You really are worried you will screw that history test, aren’t you? Did you sleep at all or did you study all night?”

I just shook my head in confusion, playing along. She got up and walked over to the girl. “I’ll help you out, I don’t think you want to risk him going over your text today. He'd probably get more mistakes in than out.” She laughed and winked at me.

I gave her a thankful nod and turned my head to stare off into the distance. Without Ethan and Sarah, this day would have never worked, I realized; at least not without me completely changing what people thought of Jacob.

We finally went to the room and I suddenly started to get scared. I had never cheated on a test before, and this was probably the boldest possible way to do so. I was restless and sweating. Ethan wouldn’t be sitting next to me in this class. He had drawn me a plan of the sitting arrangements and told me that some guy called Dylan would sit next to me.

When I sat down, Dylan was already in his place.

“Yo what’s up, you prepared?” He asked me.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I tried to say casually, but my voice betrayed me.

“Damn, are you nervous?” he asked me. “When have you ever been nervous because of a test?”

Oh, uh. Not good. “Uhm, nah,” I started. “I’m just not having a good day, I guess that’s why.”

“Well, good luck with the test then.” He nodded and turned to the other side to chat with some girl.

Phew! I needed to control myself better.

The test was like kindergarten to me. I finished early, despite my detailed responses to the questions. I tried to use not too many difficult words, otherwise Jacob would have some serious explaining to do when he got the test back. In order not to attract attention I pretended I was still working on the test until almost everyone had turned it in.

Ethan and Sarah were waiting for me in front of the classroom. I grinned at them. “That should be an A.”

“This is so unfair,” Sarah complained. “I should tell on you.”

I looked at her, shocked. “Oh my God, please don’t.” I said scared. For a second, I totally believed she would actually do it.

“Calm down, I would never do that,” she assured me. “I’m just jealous that you two can do this. I wish I had someone to write my history tests for me.”

We went to grab lunch and settled around a table to eat.

“So J, what kinds of girl does Jacob like?” Sarah asked me, after making sure nobody was close enough to hear us.

“How would I know?” I asked her.

“Well, you’re like clones. I thought you might have an idea.” She paused. “Or do you think he is gay, maybe?” She mused.

“Gay?” I asked her, surprised.

“Well, he has never dated a girl.” she told me.

“I hardly think that’s a proof, he’s probably just waiting for the right one” I told her. “Why, are you interested in him?” I added, teasing her.

She laughed. “Why? You afraid I would choose him over you?”

“Right.,” I told her, and grinned. “Dream on.” If only she knew.

After we were done eating I sent Jacob a text.

Hey, you still alive? Met Parker yet?

Not much later, I got a lengthy response. Haven’t met him yet. It’s alright. Damn, your classmates are assholes. Nobody said a single word to me all day. Mr. Fisher is cool. Maybe I’d have liked history if he was my teacher. I can see why you like him. He’s the only person who paid attention to me today. Sitting in the schoolyard right now being bored, that’s why I’m writing so much. Food here is as bad as it is at our school. See ya later.

I smiled and sighed with relief that Parker hadn’t caused him any problems. When lunch hour was over, we went together to the last class. After school was over, we were walking towards the gates when someone approached us. That was Conrad, I decided. He looked like Ian, only taller.

“Hey guys,” he started, and turned to me. “Jacob, uncle James had an accident this weekend. We gotta go over and help with the farm. Aunt Mary is gonna pick us up. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but you were gone all day and in the evening I forgot to tell you.”

I panicked. That was not how we had planned this. “Uhm, ok, no problem,” I told him.

I looked at Ethan in despair. He looked worried and made a face but then he changed his look to a reassuring one and nodded slightly, like he was trying to tell me ‘you can do this!’.

I said my goodbyes to Ethan and Sarah and followed Conrad to the school parking lot. Ian was already waiting together with a woman who seemed to be Jacob’s aunt Mary.

When we arrived at the car, she gave me and Conrad a warm hug. “Thanks for helping out boys. That’s really nice of you.”

Conrad sat next to aunt Mary while Ian and I hopped in the backseat. I was almost shaking with panic, I only managed to keep myself from doing so, because it could have given me away. I felt like I was being abducted.

I pulled out my phone and quickly sent an sms to Jacob.

I’m sitting in your aunt’s car. We’re going to help her on the farm because your uncle had some kind of accident. Couldn’t do anything about it, Conrad just snatched me away after school. You have to go to my place and pretend you’re me. Just hang out on the computer or do whatever you like. Can you do that? I’m really sorry.

The response came quickly. Don’t worry, I got it covered. It’s not your fault. Have fun on the farm, tough work, HAHA.

When we arrived at the farm after a 20-minute drive to the countryside, I got really worried. I didn’t know this place at all and had no idea what I had to do, but things turned out easier than I thought they would. Aunt Mary gave us choices on what we could do and clearing the dung out of the stable sounded easy enough. Certainly not my favorite past time, but it didn’t require much knowledge or skill, so there was a pretty low risk that I would fuck up.

Conrad, Ian and I followed her into the house and she gave us boots and workwear, so we wouldn’t mess up our own clothes. She then went back outside so we could change in privacy. I changed extra slowly, so that when I was done, Ian and Conrad had already left. There was a toilet right in the entrance where we had changed.

I quickly went in, pulled out my phone and called Jacob. According to the time he had to be on his way to my place.

“Hey J, what’s up?” he asked me.

“Hey, I need your help quick,” I told him.

I described my situation and Jacob quickly told me where to find the pitchfork, where to put the dung and everything else I needed. After he had explained everything we wished each other luck and hung up.

I walked over to the stable and when I went in, I was shocked. It was huge. This would take forever. I sighed, grabbed the pitchfork and started to load the wheelbarrow. The dung was way heavier than I had first expected. After a few loads I was breathing hard and sweating like a pig. The smell in the air was horrible and now I knew why neither Ian nor Conrad had been very keen on this task.

I tried working a little slower, and more regularly, instead of trying to take as much as possible at once and rushing it. I had all day to get done with this, and there was no way out. Over the time, it became a brainless routine, load the barrow, shove it, unload it, shove it back, load it again, and so on. My muscles ached and I started to feel weak, but I ignored it. I also tried to ignore the smell, and after a while my nose got used to it.

Ignoring my body’s protests seemed to work and after a while I actually felt better than before. As long as I didn’t take too much at once, I was fine. When I had cleared out about one quarter of the stable, I took a break. I looked at the big pile of dung outside and then at the empty ground in the stable, and smiled. It felt incredibly good to look at what I had done so far.

Aunt Mary must have seen me leaning against the wall, because she came out and handed me a soda. “Thanks,” I said to her, the exhaustion obvious in my voice.

“You’re out of practice, huh?” she grinned at me. “I should have you boys come around more often, the city is not good for you.” She winked at me to show that she was only kidding.

She looked into the stable and praised me for having done so much in such a short time. I smiled at her. The praise made me feel great. After emptying the soda, I went back to work with new strength. I had to go a little slower, because it was an exhausting work, but it also felt good to see the progress.

It was already late when Ian came into the stable and told me we had to stop working. He said we would return tomorrow and finish. I was about halfway done with the work. He said I should go shower first, he and Conrad would work for a little longer.

I took a quick shower, changed back into my clothes and went out onto the porch. It was great to feel clean and smell fresh air again. My muscles were sore, but the hot shower had helped a lot. Ian was already waiting for me and went into the bathroom as soon as I came out. Aunt Mary had prepared dinner for us. There was salad, mushroom soup with roasted chicken and apple pie on the large wooden table.

I sat down and waited for Ian and Conrad. After only a few seconds my stomach growled loudly.

“Jacob, what are you waiting for?” Aunt Mary asked me motherly. “You look like you can eat a horse. You have worked all day, don’t worry about Ian and Conrad. Go ahead and start eating.”

It was totally against my upbringing, but this was different. In fact, I was so hungry, she had barely finished her sentence when I started to fill my plate. I smiled at her thankfully and started to wolf down my food. It tasted amazing, but after a day of work on a farm probably anything would. Especially if you had never done any work of this kind.

After all of us had finished eating, Aunt Mary drove us back to Jacob’s place. By the time we arrived, it was already half past nine. Jacob had told me that he often went for walks in the evening and his parents didn’t mind, so once we had left the car I told Ian and Conrad I would be out for a bit.

I walked down the road, pulled out my cell and called Jacob.

It rang only once before he picked it up. “Hey Josh,” he said cheerily.

“Hey Jacob,” I replied. “I just got back, and we have a problem. You can’t leave the house at this time. My parents would throw a major fit. I’m sorry it took so long. We cannot meet before tomorrow morning.”

“Hey, don’t worry, it’s cool,” He said. “I see why you don’t like your parents much, but still, I kind of enjoy being you for a bit. Oh and to be honest, your computer is pretty fancy. I wouldn’t mind keeping this going for another day or two. If you are okay with that? If you don’t feel comfortable with this, we can switch back first thing tomorrow morning. It’s your choice, but I wouldn’t mind.”

Another day of work at the farm? Ugh. I could still feel every muscle in my body ache. Then again, it was really nice to get out and do something new. It had been hard work, yes, but it was also satisfying. In a way, I felt really good about what I had done. Also, I definitely didn’t mind spending a few days at school without being constantly ignored or picked on. I couldn’t really see what Jacob liked about my life, but if he wanted to, why not.

“Sounds cool. Your aunt is an awesome cook, by the way. I think a few days can’t hurt, but we gotta take notes at school so we don’t miss anything and I have a bunch of tests next week, so we have to switch back then.”

“Alright, it’s a deal!” He said excitedly. “Oh and don’t perv on my brothers too much! I don’t want them to think I’m gay.”

“I would never do that,” I said to him honestly, almost feeling insulted that he would even think of it.

There was a long pause. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I was just teasing you.”

We hung up and I finished my walk around the block. When I got back it was almost half past ten. Ian and Conrad were about to call it a night, so I quickly stripped down to my underwear and slipped into Jacob’s bed. It was smaller and harder than mine. I had a king size bed in my room and he had only a single bed, but I got used to it quickly. When Ian and Conrad started to strip down I turned away and closed my eyes.

Thoughts of Ian and Conrad, the farm and the school day flew through my head. I imagined what my life would have been like if I had grown up here instead of with my parents, and slowly but surely I drifted off into a peaceful dream world.