Freaky Friday

On her way into the school, Annabel runs into her three best friends, Ginger, Jo-Jo, and Bambi. She asks how school is going and is proud when her friends pretend that everything is going well for Annabel there. When they see that she is about to go into a meeting with the staff, however, they stop her and confess that Annabel skipped school all day, having told the girls that she might see them later in the afternoon.

Now very late for her meeting, Annabel hurries into the office, where the school secretary greets her frostily, informing her that since she missed her meeting time, she will have to wait. Waiting is fine with Annabel, who is consumed with concerns about where the other Annabel has disappeared to. She realizes how careless with her safety she sometimes is and worries that the other Annabel has been abducted or run over. This would leave her no body to return to and would make Ellen look like a bad mother. She wonders if it is possible that Ellen is in the Annabel body, deciding that if she is, she is a terrific actress.

When the principal, Mr. Dirk, finally calls her in, he tells her that, while he approves of Annabel’s “spunk and zip,” he feels that it needs to be balanced with “mature self-discipline and a sense of obligation to herself and her school” (75).