[TCP] Freshman Follies
by Trisha L. Sebastian


Summary: Follow an atypical day in the life of high school student Joann Wilson.

Disclaimer: This is an original story about people with unique abilities. No one can use
Joann Wilson or anyone else in this story without permission. This story is copyrighted
to me, Trisha L. Sebastian, 2002. Archive permission granted to Kielle, ONLY. No one
else may archive this as when I get comments, I'm going to revise this for possible
future publication. In other words, when I say "Copyright 2002" I mean it. Text set off
 in ~ indicates non-traditionally spoken speech. Notes are at the end.



 Ms. Smith looked around the classroom once more. She sighed and nodded to the only
 person who knew the answer.

 Joann Wilson lowered her arm and said, "Watson and Crick. They were the ones who
 described the DNA double helix." Everyone else groaned and stared daggers at the girl.
 She returned all their gazes coolly and brushed her hair away from her shoulders. The
 bell rang for the end of the period, and Joann carefully gathered up her backpack. She
ignored the low pitched mutter and turned to go.

"Hey, Joann! Wait up for me!" A girl with long brown hair and a smattering of freckles
on her nose waded through the crowd streaming out of the classroom, reaching
Joann's side. "Come with me to the bathroom. I need to fix my make-up."

"I already went, Sheila."

"Silly!" Sheila punched her in the arm, and tugged her off in the direction of the girls'
bathroom. "I wanted to ask you how you managed to get all the answers on the oral
quiz. We both studied our brains out yesterday, and I only got a six out of ten
answers right."

Joann tried to side step her. "But if we don't get lunch now, then we're not gonna be
able to eat," she protested, watching the door loom closer and closer. She swiftly
disentangled her arm from Sheila's. "I'll go get us some pizza, and meet you at the
usual spot?"

"Sure," Sheila giggled. "And don't forget to make mine cheese!"

Joann nodded, and walked briskly down the hallways towards the quad. Already, a mob
had formed in front of the counter and she squeezed her way through it, fighting the
people trying to get in and the people trying to leave until she found herself at the
counter. "One cheese and one pepperoni," she called out.

"You cut in front of me!" a guy behind her yelled, shoving her hard against the glass.
Joann elbowed him out of the way, plunking down exact change and picking up the
two slices.

"I did not," she returned. "You weren't paying attention. Can't be slow around here,
buddy." The guy's face froze in anger, his black eyes narrowing and he shoved her
again. She fell onto some senior and dropped the pizzas all over the cream colored
leather of his varsity jacket.

"Asshole!" she shouted, as she got up and shoved the first guy hard in the chest. He
flew backwards against his friends. Joann stood her ground as he got up and gave her
a menacing look. A janitor was already on his way over, and the one of the hall
monitors wasn't far behind.

"Why don't you watch what you're doing, bitch?" he growled.

"I was watching. You looked pretty damn funny falling on your ass," Joann replied. The
senior behind her snickered and stepped forward, his girlfriend fussing over his jacket.

"You were the one who started it, Tom," he said. "You don't shove ladies."

"Listen, Jack, I can take care of myself," Joann said, turning her head to look at him.

"My name's not Jack."

"Jack, Bob, whatever. I'm fine." Turning her attention back to the other guy, she
crossed her arms. "So, you gonna pay for my pizzas or what?"

"Bitch!" Tom sneered at the much more petite girl, towering over her.

"You know, your lines are getting old," Joann yawned. Behind her she could almost
hear the cheerleader-girlfriend whining at her boyfriend about her hair or her nails or
something. And the hall monitor was fast approaching. "Just give me the money, and
we'll call it even." Watching him carefully, she edged her backpack off of her
shoulders.

"Like hell!" Tom stepped forward and gave her a hard punch in the shoulder. Joann
absorbed the impact, turning to her side and captured the guy's fist in her own. Using
his momentum against him, she pulled him close to her and flipped him head over heels.
He hit the ground hard, landing on the fallen slices of pizza. Joann followed up with a
disabling blow to the back and dropped down into a hold. By the time the hall monitor
and janitor got there, Joann had the guy on his stomach, his leg and arm held firm
against his own back.

"Just what is going on here?" Mrs. Li pushed through the crowd that had gotten larger
since the original incident. She motioned to the janitor to separate the two students,
and stood between them. "Tom, I'm not surprised to see you in the center of this.
Both of you, get to the principal's office, now."

Joann shrugged and picked up her backpack. "Sorry 'bout the jacket...Matt."

Matt smiled, his girlfriend still tugging on his arm. "Not a problem..." After a pause, he
inclined his head. "That's the part where you tell me your name."

Mrs. Li was looking at her impatiently, so she brushed past him to follow her. "Jo...
Joann Wilson." She turned and followed the hall monitor into the office.

***

"What's gotten into you lately, Jo?" Sheila had caught up with her after school and
was walking her bike alongside Joann's. "Getting into a fight? At school? This new judo
class you're taking is turning you into a female Jackie Chan!"

"I don't think he uses judo at all. He's studied a lot of different kind of wushu, but not
judo," Joann remarked.

"See what I mean? Until now, you would never have known what kind of karate Jackie
Chan does," Sheila said, nudging Joann with the front tire of her bike.

"Judo isn't karate--" Sheila gave Joann a look, and Joann chuckled. "All right. I admit,
I've become a bit of a boy about this. But I swear, there's a good reason."

"Really now?" Sheila huffed.

"Really. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Sheila laughed and hopped on her bike. "This is my stop. See ya tomorrow, 'Jackie'!"

Joann laughed, too, as she watched her turn the corner and pedal off. Then, she
reached out with her senses and called, ~Hey, you can come out now. She's gone.~

A boy about Joann's height emerged from behind a tree pushing a bike. "I thought
she'd never go," he said, scratching at his nose. "This jock strap is killing me."

"You're still wearing the jock?"

"I had to. I wasn't about to shower with all the other boys." He shuddered. "I don't
know why I let you talk me into this."

"Sure you do," Joann laughed. "Because we're friends, and because you wanted me for
my brain."

The other boy made a sour face. "Can we just get on with it? I'm starting to chafe."
Suddenly he grinned. "Or at least you're gonna be chafing in a second or two."

Joann pointedly ignored his comment and linked first hands, then minds. She closed her
eyes and felt along the physical connection to where he was. ~Ready, Joe?~

~Ready.~ He reached down into himself and using his mental powers, released the
strings that kept him temporarily attached to the body he was currently in. Then, the
waiting mind as an anchor, he traveled along the conduit and untied her strings. As if
they'd done this before, their minds merged briefly so that each could review what
happened during the day. Once they were back in their proper bodies, Joann opened
her eyes.

"Not bad work on the oral test, Joe," she said. "And I can't believe you got to meet
Matt Lampson!"

"Eh, he seems like a nice guy," Joe shrugged. "And I know you kinda like him..."

"Pig!" Joann punched him playfully on the shoulder, shoving him to boot. "Well, Kassie's
not ever going to talk to you again, just like I promised."

"I can't believe that worked." Joe snickered. "You girls can be really mean." He looked
at his watch. "Shit! We're gonna be late for class."

"Right," Joann said, swinging herself onto her bike. "Race you to the dojo! If I win, we
swap bodies during my period."

Joe made a sour face. "I haven't let you beat me yet."

"That's 'cause you're chicken," Joann called. "Afraid of a little bleeding?" She leaned
over and bit his nose, flooding his mind with images of a torrent of blood gushing from
his groin. At his nauseated groan, she pushed off and sped away on her bike.

"No fair!" he shouted after her, struggling not to throw up.

"All's fair in races and body swapping!"

Joe gave a sickened groan and pedaled faster.


-FIN-