SECOND CHANCE

I’d been teaching for over twenty years. I’d gone through a wife. A full head of hair and had a couple of kids who more hated me than treated me like their father. It wasn’t the life I’d dreamed of when I left college. I thought I was going to change the world, but I was an idiot. A teacher. What the hell was I thinking? I should have done something more, I don’t know . . . exceptional, fun? But it was too late.

I sat at my desk, the room quiet as I watched my high school class finish a pop quiz I’d sprung on them at the last minute. Honestly, it made me happy to mess with their perfect little lives. I looked up, Jeremy Goldstone covering his paper so the jocks couldn’t cheat off him. This kid was your typical High School train wreck. Brilliant. Awkward. Class President mostly because nobody else wanted to be, and he had no idea what to do with the girls . . . not that any had any interest. He acted like a mini-adult, wore ties and made straight A’s. He was a lock for Valedictorian and living at the bottom of the high school food chain. It was a story I’d seen play out a hundred times, and even though he had ZERO clue right now, he’d grow out of his awkward looks and become a handsome rock star in college. I envied him and all things he had ahead of him.

Putting down his pencil, he folded his quiz up and stood, headed for my desk. He made it three feet before Todd Broski, the popular jock who’d no doubt peak in High School and grow up to run his dad’s gas station, tripped Jeremy. The poor kid fell on the floor hard, skid toward me and hit his head on the edge of my desk. The entire class laughed, Todd throwing out a quick “Nice work Geekstone.”

How original, I thought.

Jeremy pulled himself up, ran a trembling  hand through his wavy dark curls and placed his test on my desk. He was shaken, trying to ignore the class laughing behind him as he straightened his tie.

“You okay, Jeremy?” I asked.

He nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t. “May I leave before the bell and use the bathroom?”

I agreed and he grabbed his backpack and iPod off his desk. Without another word, he ran out the door. High School was killing this kid. I gave the class a stern look of warning, they shut up and starting working again. I walked into the hall just in time to see Jeremy disappear into the bathroom. I knew the other kids would cheat as soon as I left, but I honestly didn’t give a shit.

I followed Jeremy into the bathroom and found him sitting on the floor, head in hands.

“It’s not going to be like this forever,” I said.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. You have your entire life ahead of you, and I honestly envy you.”

“If you want my life so bad, you can have it.”

“Jeremy . . . you . . .”

“You can have it.” He looked at me, deep and sincere, almost as if he’d never wanted anything more in his life and I suddenly felt strange. My insides began to twist, my head pounding as the world began to blur in and out of focus. I fell to the floor and everything went black for a brief moment. Then, I opened my eyes. I was lying on the floor. I guess I’d blacked out or something and . . . as I looked up . . . I saw myself, I mean, my body standing in front of the mirror staring at myself. It was strange, like an out of body experience. My body stared at itself, touched my face my receding hairline, straightened my bow tie and adjusted my glasses before pulling my pocket watch from the vest and glancing at the time.

My body then looked over at me with a smile, my mustache dancing over my own lips as my body looked down at me.

“You can have it,” my body said, walking by and exiting the bathroom. It was insanely strange and I started to stand.

“Wait, you can’t . . .” My voice was different, smaller . . . younger, but I recognized it. I looked down at my body, it was lean and my hands were young, smooth. I saw the crisp white shirt and Jeremy’s tie. His iPod in my hand. I stepped over to the mirror.

My reflection wasn’t my own anymore. It was . . . I was Jeremy Goldstone. I was seventeen. Maybe eighteen. Wavy brown hair. Dark eyes. Class president.

I reached up and touched my lips, ran my hands through my thick hair. I felt my dick bulging in my pants. It was big, strong . . . young. I couldn’t help but smile, sliding my hand into my pants pocket to feel my dick, Jeremy’s dick get bigger. Was this really happening? Was this really my life now?

“I’m Jeremy Goldstone,” I said, standing a bit straighter than Jeremy ever had before.   

I smiled at myself again in the mirror as the bell rang. I felt a surge of excitement pulse through my body as I took a snapshot of my new body. This WAS me. This WAS my life now and I was going to do it right this time. I was going to have my first kiss again. I was going to go to college and do something important. I was going to survive high school and have an amazing life as Jeremy Goldstone and I couldn’t wait to take him from smart virgin to college hunk.