Every Day

A wakes up in Rhiannon’s body and can hardly believe it. At first, A thinks s/he’s dreaming, but A realizes soon that this is no dream. Every moment suddenly becomes precious. A worries, though, about Rhiannon’s privacy and wants to be extremely respectful of intruding on her life, taking more care than A has ever done for anyone else in the past. In trying to respect her privacy, A does not even take a shower, so A won’t have an unfair view of Rhiannon’s nakedness. Nonetheless, A can’t help but treasure every moment: “This is how it feels to raise her arm. This is how it feels to blink her eyes. This is how it feels to turn her head” (189).

At school, A is happy to meet Rhiannon’s other friends, but A is not so happy to see Justin. Justin, as usual, doesn’t give Rhiannon a chance to talk; he simply likes to hear himself speak. A struggles to stay in character and not use his/her power to have Rhiannon break up with him, as A knows this would end up dooming his/her relationship with Rhiannon. But when Justin calls Rhiannon “Silver,” A accesses a tender memory when Justin and Rhiannon were reading The Outsiders, and Justin was powerfully affected by it, especially by the line, “Nothing gold can stay” (194).