Once she had gotten Mikey seated at the kitchen table and half-heartedly eating a bowl of cereal, Mrs. Madison turned to regard her other transformed son. "Thank you, Zoe," she said. "That'll do for now, but we'll need to get a skirt on her."
"What?" Jon sputtered. "I'm not wearing a skirt!"
"Yes you are, dear," her mom replied. "For today, at least; I'll pick you up something else while I'm shopping this morning. I don't care if the important bits are hidden, going around in public with an exposed pelvic region is just tacky."
Jon wanted to protest further, but her mother wasn't listening and went upstairs, leaving Jon to joing Mikey in glumly munching cold cereal. Mrs. Madison came back down a short while later, holding a skirt. Jon sighed, knowing that further argument was useless, and let her mother put it on her.
They finished their breakfast and began getting ready to go. As Jon and Mikey were grabbing their backpacks, their mother pulled them aside. "Okay, you two," she said, "I know this is still new and uncomfortable for you, but you need to just grit you teeth and get through today. Everybody's going to be watching you on your first day in a new form, and there are some kinds of kids that just wait for any sign of weakness. Don't let them have it. Okay?"
Jon nodded. Mikey sniffled, then did the same. Mrs. Madison smiled. "Good," she said. "Remember, in all likelihood, this'll be over in a couple weeks. You'll be fine. Now you'd better get going. And don't forget to check in with the school nurse!"
