Zoe and Athena were making their way to the pool for P.E., idly chit-chatting about nothing in particular. Athena still wasn't really used to being fifteen feet long, but she wasn't bumping into things as often as she had been that morning, at least. Zoe, for her part, was feeling quite a bit better than she had earlier. Wood nymphs weren't very common, she had gathered, but with most of her vines covered by her clothing or hanging in her hair, she looked human enough that she wasn't drawing much more attention than usual, though that was probably helped by the fact that she was standing next to a girl with the lower body of a snake.
"So I was thinking," Athena said, "after P.E. we can trade outfits, since we'll be changing out of our swimsuits anyway."
"I said not right now," Zoe replied. "I'm still getting used to this."
"Oh, come on!" the naga-girl cajoled. "I really think you can make something like this work. Besides, I just look silly wearing this outfit with a friggin' snake tail."
Zoe sighed. "You aren't going to give this up, are y-?" She stopped mid-sentence, staring ahead. For some reason, there were a bunch of of guys with sprayer machinery outside the entrance to the pool locker rooms. She and Athena rushed ahead to see what had happened.
As it turned out, there had been a strain of the change virus in the pool, and some students had been changed by it. P.E. was cancelled for the day so that the pool could be drained and disinfected, and the other athletic facilities checked.
Zoe smirked at her friend. "Gee, what a shame," she said. "No place to change outfits, and my swimsuit is in there anyway. Isn't that a pity."
Athena chuckled. "Fine, fine. But I will get you to try this out, no matter what!"
"Sure you will," the nymph replied. "Sure you will. C'mon, let's get to the library."
They proceeded towards that destination, and were nearly halfway there when they came up to the nurse's office, around which a small crowd of students had gathered. Zoe walked up to one of the bystanders and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey," she said. "What's going on?"
The other student turned to face her. "Didn't you hear!?" he asked, incredulous. "You know those six senior who always hang out together? Steve Farber's crew? They were in the pool this morning, and they caught the change virus and they all turned into mermaids!"
Zoe's eyes widened. She was about to try and get inside for a look when the nurse poked her head out of the door, scowling. "Get to your classes!" she admonished. "The last thing these poor girls need is a bunch of gawkers!"
That didn't clear everybody out, but the onlookers began to shuffle away one by one. Zoe returned to Athena, who had coiled herself up on the other side of the hall, and relayed the news. "You're kidding me!" she said. "Oh my God. Come on, let's get to the library before I burst out laughing right here."
Six freshly-minted mermaids were sprawled out on the various surfaces in the nurse's office, all exhibiting different manifestations of distress. Steve Farber (who had become the epitome of mermaid stereotype, blonde and buxom with a rich emerald tail) was cussing a blue streak and looking for something she could break without getting in trouble for it, but there was a nervousness underlying her profanities that she couldn't keep from getting through, about both the general situation, and the blood test that was being run on her and Biff's samples.
Biff Meadows had become more or less the mermaid version of a red-tailed black shark, a girl with a modest figure and deep, velvety-black scales with bright red splotches, with a dark complexion and long, wavy black hair to match. She too was nervous about the test, but just sat there trembling, not reacting to much of anything, not quite sure how to react.
The other girls, with lower halves resembling various different kinds of fish, were also reacting in different ways; one in hysterics, one in denial, one babbling to herself about nothing in particular, and one just completely spaced out.
The nurse plunked down the phone. "That was Ms. Tennenbaum," she said. "She's going to be bring some wheelchairs so you can get around on land. They're not especially nice, but they'll do until we can get better ones lined up for you girls."
There was a beep, and she turned to the sample-testing apparatus. "Ah, that's our first two," she said, opening up the device and removing the sample tray. She paused to read the results. "All right," she said. "Miss Meadows?"
Biff sat there for a moment, then suddenly snapped back to reality. "Y-yes?" she said, her voice quavering. The nurse reviewed the results again, nodding thoughtfully. "The good news," she said, "is that you aren't stuck as a mermaid. However, it looks like it's going to be about a year before you become human again. And..."
"A-and?" Biff's hands were shaking.
"Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this," the nurse said, "but you're going to remain female even after that."
"Enough about her!" Steve snapped. "What about me!?"
The nurse picked up Steve's results and reviewed them again to make sure. "I'm sorry, Miss Farber," she said, "but your changes are permanent."
