“Would you rather talk to a psychologist or wear diapers to bed?” asked her mother.
Deborah thought for a second. “Diapers. I know that seems silly, but I can’t talk to a psychologist. I just can’t.”
“Okay, Alison,” said her mother. “Let’s just get something to eat. We’ll talk about this later.”
They had Burger King for lunch. Deborah bought the biggest Angus burger they had. It felt good to eat real food instead of cafeteria slop. While they were eating, Deborah watched as protesters gathered outside. They had signs that read “Murder King” and “Meat is murder.”
“What are those bozos up to?” asked a guy at the next table.
“Oh those are those PETA crazies. They protest a different fast food restaurant every week,” he said. “I belong to the other PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.” He took a bite of his burger.
As Deborah finished her burger, she scanned the protesters outside. There were just five of them. They held signs as people drove by and gave them the finger. One of the guys looked like the terrorist’s friend from the movie theater.
Suddenly, she had to go the bathroom urgently. She pushed her chair back from the table and walked swiftly to the bathroom with her hand in her crotch. She took the first stall, pulled down her pants and peed. “That was close.” She felt the crotch of her pull-up. Thankfully it was still dry.
She ate the rest of her food without saying anything. When she took the last bite, she said. “Let’s go. Please.”
Her mother followed her to the car and they got in. “Did you have an accident?”
“No, I made it.” She pointed toward where the protesters were. “Let’s avoid those guys,” she said. They knew the terrorist too. She didn’t share her thoughts with her mother. Even if she could somehow get past the body snatching aspect of her weird week she had been in Alison’s body, surely people would think she was schizophrenic if she was so paranoid she had wetting accidents when she spotted the terrorist or his compatriots.
“I’ll drop you back at school. You should be able to get there in time for Spanish class.”
“Sounds good,” said Deborah. Burger King and the PETA protesters were behind her and now out of her mind by the time her mother dropped her off at school. She got out of the car and went straight to Spanish class.
She was still a little early, but most of her other classmates were there. David Krouse was laughing and joking with his friends. Julia Grass and Evan Fiscus were attached at the hip as usual. However she couldn’t find Lia anywhere. She turned to David. “Where’s Lia?” she asked.
He stopped laughing and his smile faded. “Um, she…”
“She was supposed to tell me what I missed when I was at my doctor’s appointment.”