My Dad, Kimberly, and the Worst Semester Ever
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Title: My Dad, Kimberly, and the Worst Semester Ever
The air felt thick as I walked into the kitchen. My eyes fell upon a sight I was still struggling to get used to—Kimberly, my school's most stunning girl, standing there sipping coffee like it was the most natural thing in the world. Only it wasn't Kimberly, not really. It was my dad, the swap class teacher, who'd now been awkwardly transformed into my crush for the entire semester.
"Morning, Buddy!" Kimberly's voice rang out, though it was unmistakably my dad behind those eyes. I cringed inwardly.
"Uh, morning... Dad," I muttered awkwardly, grabbing a cereal box and pretending to focus deeply on the nutritional information.
Kimberly—Dad—grinned widely, like this bizarre situation was the most fun he'd ever had. Meanwhile, I felt like I was trapped in a poorly-scripted teenage drama. Things were already awkward enough, but Dad had taken it to a new level recently.
"So, Kev," he began, leaning against the counter in a very un-dad-like manner, "I was thinking. Since Kimberly’s your crush and all, and since I’m, well, Kimberly now, why not take the chance to get to know each other better? Whaddya say to a movie this weekend?"
I could feel my face burning. My dad had seriously just suggested going on a fake date—with himself, in Kimberly's body. How could this possibly get any worse?
"God, Dad, this is so messed up," I mumbled, setting my cereal bowl down harder than intended. I didn't dare look directly at him—her. "You told her? About my crush?"
Kimberly-Dad tried to offer a sympathetic look but failed miserably. It was hard to be sympathetic with a face like that; it felt too real, too much like the Kimberly I had silently adored from afar during math class.
"Buddy, I thought it might help break the ice," he said, looking uncomfortable for the first time since this semester from hell began. "Kimberly was actually, uh, kinda flattered. She thinks you're cute."
Somehow, Dad thought that bit of news would make things better. Instead, it only made me want to crawl into a hole and hibernate until summer. He may have meant well, but this entire situation was barreling towards disaster at breakneck speed.
Now, lunchrooms and corridors that were once just minor social minefields felt like walking through an active war zone. News traveled fast, and half the school seemed to know that "Kimberly" was frequently seen giving me rides home, which only fueled disturbing rumors.
Later that day, as I was stuffing books into my locker, I was approached by Greg, captain of the basketball team and current thorn in my side.
"Dude, is it true you're, like, dating Kimberly?" His tone bordered on disbelief mixed with admiration—the typical reaction among my peers.
"Not really," I muttered, desperately trying to sidestep him. "It's complicated."
Greg took that as a yes. "Man, you're one lucky dude!"
Luck had nothing to do with it, and if anyone should be in awe, it was my dad, for managing to make the universe's most nightmarish swap ever. But there was no point explaining it to Greg. He wouldn't get it. Nobody would. Not unless they were living my awkward, twisted life.
Kimberly's eyes—no, my dad's eyes—were waiting for me in the hall when I finally extricated myself from Greg and his endless questions. I wanted to bolt, but I knew there was no running away from this. Might as well get it over with.
"So about that movie this weekend," Dad started again, but this time he looked serious. "I know this sucks, and I know it’s weird. But there's only so much time until the swap wears off and things go back to normal. Maybe there's a way to make this less... excruciating for both of us."
Sometimes, against all odds, Dad was right.
I sighed deeply. "Fine. One movie. But that's it, okay? And we're not calling it a date."
Dad-as-Kimberly chuckled, and for a split second, I could see the humour in the whole mess. Maybe, just maybe, this semester wouldn’t end as the colossal disaster it was shaping up to be. But then again, knowing my luck, who could tell?
"And just so we’re clear,” I added with a half-hearted smirk, “you’re buying the popcorn."
Dad's laughter echoed through the hall, catching curious glances from some of the students.
Yep, this was going to be a semester to remember—or, more likely, one I’d spend years in therapy trying to forget.
This story was generated by user zach3 with assistance by one of OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model; prompts used to help generate the story are shown below.
Images were generated with OpenAI's AI system, DALL·E 2, or uploaded by the user.
AI Prompts
Prompt: Things can get very awkward when your dad is a swap class teacher. He’s been teaching the class for a couple years now. Usually there’s an even number of students but this year it was odd. He had to swap with one of the hottest girls in school this semester. So now he swapped bodies with Kimberly the hottest and bustiest girl in school. All semester she's going to be at my house acting like my dad. God this is awkward and even worse my dad somehow found out my crush on her so now he is going to try and have a fake date with me and he has told her about mu crush too. How could this get any worse.
Response: Title: My Dad, Kimberly, and the Worst Semester Ever The air felt thick as I walked into the kitchen. My eyes fell upon a sight I was still struggling to get used to—Kimberly, my school's most stunning girl, standing there sipping coffee like it was the most natural thing in the world. Only it wasn't Kimberly, not really. It was my dad, the swap class teacher, who'd now been awkwardly transformed into my crush for the entire semester. "Morning, Buddy!" Kimberly's voice rang out, though it was unmistakably my dad behind those eyes. I cringed inwardly. "Uh, morning... Dad," I muttered awkwardly, grabbing a cereal box and pretending to focus deeply on the nutritional information. Kimberly—Dad—grinned widely, like this bizarre situation was the most fun he'd ever had. Meanwhile, I felt like I was trapped in a poorly-scripted teenage drama. Things were already awkward enough, but Dad had taken it to a new level recently. "So, Kev," he began, leaning against the counter in a very un-dad-like manner, "I was thinking. Since Kimberly’s your crush and all, and since I’m, well, Kimberly now, why not take the chance to get to know each other better? Whaddya say to a movie this weekend?" I could feel my face burning. My dad had seriously just suggested going on a fake date—with himself, in Kimberly's body. How could this possibly get any worse? "God, Dad, this is so messed up," I mumbled, setting my cereal bowl down harder than intended. I didn't dare look directly at him—her. "You told her? About my crush?" Kimberly-Dad tried to offer a sympathetic look but failed miserably. It was hard to be sympathetic with a face like that; it felt too real, too much like the Kimberly I had silently adored from afar during math class. "Buddy, I thought it might help break the ice," he said, looking uncomfortable for the first time since this semester from hell began. "Kimberly was actually, uh, kinda flattered. She thinks you're cute." Somehow, Dad thought that bit of news would make things better. Instead, it only made me want to crawl into a hole and hibernate until summer. He may have meant well, but this entire situation was barreling towards disaster at breakneck speed. Now, lunchrooms and corridors that were once just minor social minefields felt like walking through an active war zone. News traveled fast, and half the school seemed to know that "Kimberly" was frequently seen giving me rides home, which only fueled disturbing rumors. Later that day, as I was stuffing books into my locker, I was approached by Greg, captain of the basketball team and current thorn in my side. "Dude, is it true you're, like, dating Kimberly?" His tone bordered on disbelief mixed with admiration—the typical reaction among my peers. "Not really," I muttered, desperately trying to sidestep him. "It's complicated." Greg took that as a yes. "Man, you're one lucky dude!" Luck had nothing to do with it, and if anyone should be in awe, it was my dad, for managing to make the universe's most nightmarish swap ever. But there was no point explaining it to Greg. He wouldn't get it. Nobody would. Not unless they were living my awkward, twisted life. Kimberly's eyes—no, my dad's eyes—were waiting for me in the hall when I finally extricated myself from Greg and his endless questions. I wanted to bolt, but I knew there was no running away from this. Might as well get it over with. "So about that movie this weekend," Dad started again, but this time he looked serious. "I know this sucks, and I know it’s weird. But there's only so much time until the swap wears off and things go back to normal. Maybe there's a way to make this less... excruciating for both of us." Sometimes, against all odds, Dad was right. I sighed deeply. "Fine. One movie. But that's it, okay? And we're not calling it a date." Dad-as-Kimberly chuckled, and for a split second, I could see the humour in the whole mess. Maybe, just maybe, this semester wouldn’t end as the colossal disaster it was shaping up to be. But then again, knowing my luck, who could tell? "And just so we’re clear,” I added with a half-hearted smirk, “you’re buying the popcorn." Dad's laughter echoed through the hall, catching curious glances from some of the students. Yep, this was going to be a semester to remember—or, more likely, one I’d spend years in therapy trying to forget.
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