Jon was stuck as a girl now. No altered reality (or suddenly-pink room), no memory loss or memory changes in her or anyone else, no dresses and skirts, long hair, or makeup, no magic compulsions, no instant membership on the cheerleading squad, no sudden pregnancy, no body part trading. She hadn't even lost the rock, though she had decided to avoid using it unless there was an emergency. In short, Jon had become a girl, but not in any strange way that would introduce more complications. Of course, that was plenty of complication all by itself.
Jon entered the class, staying close to Karyn, and sat down just as the home room bell rang. Miss Robertson began taking attendance.
"... Jon Donaldson."
Jon raised her hand and said "Here!"
Miss Robertson gave Jon a funny look. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Your voice sounds like a girl's."
Jon knew she'd have to tell the class sometime. And it was best doing it once in front of everyone. "That's because I changed into a girl last night," she said. Half the class gaped, and then various students started laughing. Jon's face turned a little pinker with embarassment as the class began to think s/he was weird. "I don't know how it happened," she lied. "I was just looking in the sky and thinking about girls and I saw a shooting star. Then I was like this."
"Uh-huh..." replied the teacher. "Well, I don't know why you're wearing a stuffed bra and talking like that, but it's none of my business."
Jon heard various people muttering things. One boy wondered out loud if someone had made a bet with Jon to cross-dress.
Joseph, a friend of Jon's, happened to be sitting right near Jon and looked her over carefully. "That looks awfully good for crossdressing," he replied. "Jon's face is softer, he looks sort of curvy, and I don't think he's got a stuffed bra... Maybe he's telling the truth?"
"Come on, man, that's impossible" replied the other boy. "And how can you tell if a bra's stuffed anyway?"
"Will you kids be quiet!" yelled the teacher. The noise faded, and she said "Thank you."
At lunch, Jon was eating a sandwich, at a table with Karyn. Jon found out that they was utterly unable to eat in peace, because a crowd was starting to gather around the two girls.
Joseph was watching Jon, eyeing her new curves, which her T-shirt and jeans didn't conceal at all, once muttering to a bystander that Jon's voice sounded sexy now. Zoe, who had been at a friend's house for a sleepover the previous night, wasn't around, but Julian, a male friend of hers who had gone out in drag for the past three Halloweens, was. He was staring at Jon, with an almost envious look. Sarah McMillan was loudly arguing with Steve "The Stud" Farber over whether Jon really had become a girl--Steve just didn't think it was possible for anyone to fake being shorter and having wider hips. Every so often someone would ask Jon a question.
"What's your bra size?" "Like I'd tell you!"
"Are you attracted to boys? Would you go out with boys?" "No, and I really haven't considered it."
"Are you going to change your name?" "I'm hoping I might change back and not need to. If you think I need a new name, why don't you pick one for me?"
"Why are you still wearing the same clothes?" "Because I can!"
Finally, Karyn got up and said "Listen, everyone, Jon's been through a lot. Could you please stop bugging her about it? Please!" Then she sat back down.
There was mumbling about "she said 'her'" but the crowd did thin a bit. But only a bit.
After a remarkably frustrating lunch being the museum exhibit of the day, Jon had to go back to class. Following her usual schedule for Wednesdays, she went to....
