LUNA
You’re stalking your own family.
I cringed at the absurdity of the thought. And yet, here I was hiding behind one of the big planter boxes on our pool terrace.
Nui’s body was almost six inches shorter than mine, which made it easier to conceal myself. I hoped none of our neighbours would spot and ask me to leave. Mom was reading a magazine on her lounge chair in the shade, mindful as ever of her fair skin. A few years ago, she had declared Wednesday afternoons her me time, avoiding meetings or appointments, and simply took the time to relax and do things for fun. Luke and I were told we should only bother her if there was an emergency. At first we’d resented it, but now I could see the benefit of having a mental health day or at least an afternoon. I sniffed and raised my hand to wipe away the tears. Scowling at Nui’s hands and darker skin didn’t magically change the fact I was still stuck.
This was my first chance to see Mom since she’d returned from Chicago. My last class at BIS, Bangkok International School, had been cancelled as the teacher had called in sick and they didn’t have a replacement readily available. Media Studies was one of the few classes Nui and I didn’t share, and I slipped away without telling her. Now, I wondered if that had been such a good idea, as the sight of Mom made me realise the futility of my situation.
It had been over a week since Nui had point blank refused to switch back with me into our own bodies, a week that had kept me in a constant state of anxiety. I’d had visions of avenging her betrayal and devising plans to reverse the situation without putting myself into more jeopardy. My last attempt to push Nui out of my body and into her own had backfired big time and showed that brute force was not the way to do it.
A month ago, my biggest gripe had been that we, as a family, moved too much, and I wanted a chance to stay in one place instead of upending my life every two years to follow Dad’s appointments as General Manager of five-star hotels. My complaint seemed trivial now, and I didn’t care if there were a hundred more moves as long as I could be with my family.
Mom sat up as one of our neighbours approached her to chat. She smiled and nodded, holding her hands up to shield her eyes. I missed her. Sure, she and I had had our disagreements, but never in a million years had I envisioned myself without her steady presence.
What’s keeping you from going up to her, Luna? I almost stood up to do just that, but then crouched down again. She won’t recognise you. She’ll think you’re Nui and, maybe, could be suspicious about why you’re here.
I stifled a groan.
Even if I could convince her somehow that I was really her daughter in Nui’s body, how was I going to explain the reason for our switch? I didn’t like the life we were living, Mom, so I switched with Nui to enjoy her life. Right, that would go over well.
I sat with my back to the planter and locked my hands around my knees. You really fucked up, Luna. Now what?
NUI
I didn’t see Luna at the last bell. Normally we’d walk out of school together, but last week had changed everything. Outwardly, we were still friends, but underneath ran a tense current that made me twitchy with nerves. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Not that I truly considered Luna an enemy, but right now the scales could tip either way, not least because of what I had done. I had promised her we’d switch back into our own bodies during meditation, or more specifically, while we were both having an out-of-body experience, but at the last minute I reconsidered, and now Luna and I were stuck in a catch-22 situation.
I’d expected her to be openly hostile, but, to my big surprise, she had carried on as if nothing had happened. These days though, we only spoke about school stuff, nothing personal, and most of all we avoided the big elephant in the room. I could only imagine what was going on in her mind, but I suspected she was plotting to get me to switch back with her sooner rather than later. I was getting more stressed every day, trying to figure out what she was up to, and I scrutinized her every word for deeper meaning.
Rationally, I knew I should have upheld my side of the bargain, but I was desperate to visit the States at least one time to find out if the country and people really matched my fantasy. I’d begged Luna to let me go with her family at Songkran, our Thai New Year in April, to look at colleges of her choice, and I promised I’d switch back with her afterwards. Understandably, she didn’t trust me to keep my promise. I couldn’t really blame her.
Shit, Nui, you’ve really turned into a selfish person. I ground my teeth and in the back of my mind I could see Khun Yaa, my grandmother, shaking her head at me with disappointment and disapproval.
A hand grabbed my arm as Yumi bounced up next to me.
“What are you doing this afternoon, Luna?” she asked. “Want to see a movie?”
Yumi had been Luna’s classmate in Shanghai and had recently moved to Bangkok with her dad after her parents divorced. Obviously, she had anticipated to resume up her friendship with Luna, but I had to keep her at arm’s length after she became suspicious of my ‘memory lapses’.
“I can’t, Yumi. I have to work on my TOK essay. I’m so far behind, it’s not even funny.”
“Boo, you can always do that later tonight, can’t you?” Yumi said with a pout, then dragged me forward, bouncing on the ball of her feet. “Come on, a movie is much more fun.”
“Sorry, Yumi. Not today. I need to get this done and Mom said we need to have a family pow-wow tonight.”
That thought sent an icy shiver down my spine. I had been waiting to hear from the Royal police about the outcome of their investigation into my blog, which had been banned as potentially anti-monarchist. If the police deemed it derogative, or wanted to use my case as a warning to other foreigners, they could technically sentence me to prison. My nerves had been buzzing all week, and I knew I had lost some weight because I hadn’t been sleeping well or eating properly with my life out of whack.
Yumi squinted, clearly not convinced.
“Are you avoiding me?” She asked.
The honest answer would have been yes.
“Don’t be silly. Of course not.”
“You never want to do anything, anymore. What happened? You used to be a lot more fun,” Yumi said.
“You know I missed a few days in school. I’m just behind right now, that’s all.”
I had to smile despite myself. Yumi was super high-energy, to put it mildly, and just fun to be around.
“You’re so boring. Fine, but we’ll definitely do something tomorrow, no excuse.”
