Fortunately for Mikey, her teacher was one of those adults who just instinctively know how to keep kids in line. This kept the stares and whispers to a minimum when she walked back into the classroom, but there was no chance of eliminating them completely. After all, even for kids who'd grown up in a world where this sort of thing was commonplace, Mikey's new form was an attention-getter. Mythical transformations were somewhat rarer than mundane animal transformations like Karyn's, and demons were unusual even by those standards. The children had seen pictures of them when they learned about the disease in first grade, but this was the first time any of them had ever seen one in person.
Interestingly, this was a contributing factor to the surprising quiet; the other kids were so focused on what Mikey was that nobody really thought about who she was. Only a few of them even got around to making the connection between the demon-girl's being seated at Mikey's desk and her probable identity. Not that this did much to comfort Mikey, since it just meant that the whispers were addressed to "demon-girl" instead of her name. Still, at least they weren't teasing her about turning into a girl, yet.
The day proceeded a bit more normally than she'd expected, but there were still some new and uncomfortable experiences for her. One thing she hadn't missed due to her long breakdown in the nurse's office was gym, which her class did later in the afternoon. Mikey didn't want to participate, and tried to protest, but her teacher took her aside and gave her a little pep talk about how avoiding her problems wasn't going to help anything. She wasn't particularily convinced, but the events of the morning had exhausted her will to argue. Sighing, she went into the locker room to change.
Mikey was only twelve, and he'd never really understood the mystique that the girls' locker room held for the older boys. So she was less disturbed by having no reaction to the scene than Jon probably would have been. The sight of a dozen girls in various states of undress did nothing for him, but at this age there wasn't really much that did. Besides, most of them were only just beginning to develop, though some of them seemed excited even by that. Mikey shrugged and made her way to a secluded corner, where she set her gym clothes down on the bench and stared into a nearby mirror.
The demon-girl stared back. Mikey knew that this was her reflection now, but it still seemed so alien. But the girl in the mirror looked just as confused as she felt, her face a perfect reflection of what Mikey was feeling. Her eyelids were still a little swollen from the crying, her hair more than a little mussed up from the same...maybe it didn't feel like this was her, but it at least felt like someone she knew.
Mikey hesitated for a moment, wondering what to do. Could she really follow what the girls - the other girls - were doing, changing into their gym clothes and going out? Would that mean she was giving in, somehow? Well, she reasoned, if nothing else it would mean she could take the stupid skirt off. The skirt dropped to the floor, followed by the panties her mother had made her wear. Finally she removed the shirt, which hadn't been very comfortable anyway, and she was undressed.
Mikey didn't look back to the mirror, since it would only have made her feel weirder, but she had to admit that she did wonder what she looked like this way. Still, she could check that any other time, when she was actually ready to find out. She grabbed her gym clothes and put them on; it took a bit of adjusting to get the fabric to sit comfortably around her tail, though.
"So what's your name?" came a voice behind her. She turned to see another girl, short, freckle-faced, and strawberry blonde. She looked at Mikey with an expression that was difficult to read; she couldn't tell if the girl was sizing her up as a target, or just intently curious about the first demon-girl she'd ever seen. "I, uh," Mikey stuttered. "I'm - uh, Mikey."
Crap. That was not what she had meant to say. She tried to think of a better response, but the girl had already caught on. "Mikey?" she said. "Mikey Madison?"
Mikey hesitated, but there didn't really seem to be any way around it now. She nodded limply, wishing she were anywhere else right now.
"Wow," the girl said, half to herself. "Weird. But we can't call you Mikey! That's not even one of those names that can go either way. We'll call you Michelle from now on. Are those real horns?" She reached up and grabbed ahold of one of the boney nubs on Mikey's forehead.
"Yeah-uh, no!" Mikey stammered. "That's not my name!"
"Oh, come on," the girl scoffed. "You're a girl now, right? Mikey sounds stupid for a girl. We could call you something else, but I think Michelle suits you. You'll get used to it, I'll help you. My name's Erica. Come on, Michelle, we have to get out there with the rest of the class!" With that, she dashed out towards the gym proper. Mikey followed with less than perfect enthusiasm; this was not what she needed right now.
