Unhappiness reigned in the school pool that evening. After it had been disinfected and re-filled, the six mermaids had been left there, with an adult supervisor; none of them had pools at home, although Biff Meadows's parents had been planning to get one. That was being addressed, but for now their parents and the school officials had thought it best if they stayed here; there was more room to move around than they would have had staying in a bathtub in their houses, and it wasn't like they needed their old clothes for anything right now. They had been issued two-piece school bathing suits, although they only needed the top, and after much cajoling and threatening had been persuaded to wear them. Their textbooks were already at school, and some of them had had their parents bring a few personal items from home, but the fact remained that they were stuck here.
Naturally, nobody was in anything remotely like a good mood. After all, even Anders, the one transformee who was going to return to manhood, was still facing a solid three-quarters of a year in this form; some of the others were going to at least become human again, but all of them besides her would remain female for the rest of their lives. The six of them were in various states of anger or depression.
Steve huffed irritatedly. There had to be a way out of this. She'd watched other people be changed over the course of her life, but it couldn't happen to her, not like this. Not forever. The nurse must have screwed it up somehow. Maybe she worked the machine wrong, or maybe it was just on the fritz; she didn't think that thing had been replaced since she graduated from grade school. This was going to be a giant pain in the ass, but it wouldn't last. She'd be back to normal in a month, tops. So why wouldn't they let her go home? Why couldn't she sit this out until then? The last thing she needed was more people seeing her like this; it was going to be hard enough to live it down as it was, but she'd manage. Just a month or so, and then she'd be a man again. And not a moment too soon; four weeks without getting laid was almost more than a seasoned ladykiller like Steve could bear to contemplate.
Henry was curled up at the bottom of the pool, head buried in her hands, sobbing in great slow heaves of water. She was stuck like this. Stuck. She didn't even get to have legs again, she was just stuck, for the rest of her life. Anders got to be a man, at least, and the others might be stuck as girls, but they weren't going to stay confined to the water. But Steve got the same raw deal as her; they had to live as mermaids, as girls, until the day they died. What could she do? How could she live like this? She wasn't a girl! Or at least she hadn't been; but if she was still a guy inside, that was what counted, right? As long as she didn't start liking guys or acting girly, she was really a guy, no matter what her body was like? Besides, it wasn't like there were any mermen to fall for, right? Well, except Anders, but she was still a girl right now, and by the time she became a guy again, Harry should be able to know for sure that she didn't like guys. Because she didn't. At all.
Biff sighed, hanging on the edge of the pool, watching TV on a little portable set, but not really paying much attention to it. She was looking at a whole year of this, and even after that she was doomed to life as a girl. Why? Why had this happened to her, let alone the other five? Was it some sort of justice for the way they had treated Sarah? Biff felt particularily guilty; after all, she had turned on her own girlfriend for the same change she had experienced today. And she'd known it was wrong, but she had gone along with the others anyway. Maybe she hadn't intended to do any serious harm, but she wasn't too sure about some of the others. Maybe this was them getting what they deserved for their actions.
But she had never really believed in karma or anything like that. It just looked that way because she was trying to find a reason for something random, that was all. They had just had a run of incredibly shitty luck today, only they'd had it in life instead of a game. Trying to find a reason for it was just going to wind up making her feel worse. She tried to concentrate on something else, and found herself wondering about Sarah. How was he doing? Was he making any new friends, now that the old ones had left him? Was he going to get used to being male, or was he going to want his old body back for the rest of his life? If he did get used to being male, if he started liking girls, how could he live with it? There was, like, one other person his size in the school, and probably even in the world, since that change a week ago, and she was best friends with one of the people Sarah hated the most. How could that work?
How did Sarah feel about Biff, for that matter? Was he still mad at her? She wouldn't blame him, but although their relationship was over, she still hoped that maybe they could be back on decent terms again. But could Sarah forgive her for what she'd done? Biff had no idea, but one thing she knew for sure was that the next time she saw Sarah, an apology was in order.
