Switched Read Online Free Page B

vomited until my sides ached. My stomach heaved again and again, as if my whole body was trying to push away what I had seen.
    My legs trembling, I sucked in one deep breath after another, uttering low moans, waiting for my stomach to stop lurching.
    When I finally felt a little steadier, I made my way to the front door. I turned the knob.
    Locked.
    I started to call out, “Lucy!” But I stopped myself, remembering that she was Nicole now.
    I rang the bell. I heard it chime once, twice, three times inside my house.
    No reply.
    I stumbled off the front stoop and made my way around to the back. The kitchen door was locked, too. Even though it was dinnertime, the kitchen stood dark and empty.
    I knocked loudly on the kitchen door. “Anyone home? Nicole—are you here?” I called.
    Silence.
    I pressed my forehead against the glass on the door and peered in again.
    No one home, I realized.
    Where were they? Had they gone out for dinner?
    â€œLucy, where are you?” I whispered. “Lucy, you have to know what happened. I have to tell you, Lucy. I have to tell someone.”
    I couldn’t keep it to myself much longer. I couldn’t hold the horror in without exploding. Without going totally crazy.
    I backed away from the kitchen door, my hands pressed to my face. I expected to feel my long, red nails pushing against my skin. But, of course, I didn’t have my nails. I had Lucy’s short, chewed-up nails.
    Picturing the Kramers on their living room rug, I began to feel the waves of nausea again. I knew there was nothing left to vomit up.
    My mind spun wildly. Who can I tell? Who?
    The Shadyside police?
    How could I tell the police before I told Lucy? How could I tell them before we switched back into our own bodies?
    No, I decided. It would be too confusing. Too confusing and painful for all of us.
    I won’t tell the police until I’ve told Lucy, I told myself.
    And then Kent’s face flashed into my mind.
    Kent. He was so smart and kind. So thoughtful. So understanding.
    Kent will listen to me, I decided. Kent will believe me.
    Kent will help me.
    I swallowed hard, struggled to catch my breath, to stop my legs from shaking. I pushed back the moist strands of blond hair that had fallen across my forehead.
    Yes. Kent.
    Kent’s house was only two blocks away. I jogged down the driveway, glancing back at my house, so dark and empty.
    Two boys raced by on bikes as I reached the sidewalk. I didn’t see them until they were practically on top of me.
    â€œLook out!” I heard one of them shout.
    I saw them swerve to avoid hitting me.
    â€œWhat’s your problem?” the other boy shouted back.
    If only he knew, I thought sadly.
    I felt too strange, too upset to run. My heart fluttered in my chest like a dozen butterflies. My legs felt so heavy, as if I weighed a thousand pounds.
    I walked through someone’s flower garden. The wet dirt clung to my shoes. I nearly tripped over a blue skateboard someone had left at the bottom of their front yard.
    The two blocks to Kent’s house seemed a mile long. Finally I found myself staring up at the square, two-story redbrick house with its slanting, red tile roof.
    Behind me on the street a car rolled past slowly. Its headlights swept over me. I realized I must look like a mess. Like a crazed wild person.
    You can’t worry about that now, I scolded myself.
    If only I had been in my real body!
    Would that have made me feel any better?
    Probably not.
    I didn’t remember climbing the sloping lawn to Kent’s front door. But here I was, pounding hard on the door with my fist, shouting Kent’s name at the top of my lungs.
    Be home! Be home! I silently prayed.
    Someone has to be home tonight. Someone has to share this nightmare with me. Someone has to help me.
    The porch light flashed on, casting a cone of yellow light over the front stoop. As I blinked against the sudden brightness, the front door swung open.
    Kent