Nadine was lost in thought as she headed towards her home. She lived near the school, so she had no problem walking, and she knew her parents couldn't afford to get her a car. She wasn't greedy, so she accepted that if she were going to drive, that she would need to earn the money to do so herself.
However, her thoughts were not presently on her lack of a car. They were on the changes to her body. She could tell that she had been changed mentally as well as physically. Without a mirror, she couldn't quite judge the extent of her physical changes, but the mental ones...she could feel those invading her thoughts.
Where once she had considered cheerleaders vapid and narcissistic, she now found the idea of joining the squad strangely compelling. No... she thought. I must not give in to pride and vanity.
However, that was one of the other aspects of her change that Nadine believed was inflicted upon her. She knew that she was now different, physically. Based on the others, she was no doubt pretty...and she liked that idea.
She was raised to believe that appearance was a non factor. The important aspect of any person was the purity of their soul, and their morals. As a matter of fact, her parents taught her that paying too much attention to one's appearance was a sin. This led to Nadine judging others who clearly valued their appearance over other aspects of themselves.
And it scared Nadine that she now had similar thoughts invading her mind.
She needed to get home and evaluate how much she had really changed. How different she now looked.
It took about fifteen minutes for Nadine to arrive at her house. She opened the purse that appeared when she was changed and looked inside. She saw her house keys, next to a rather expensive smart phone. She wondered for a moment how she could have that, but shook her head. "Dark powers are at work. A phone should not be the thing that surprises me." she said. She opened her door and stepped inside.
Though she was currently home alone, she ran to her room. Her mother volunteered days, and her father needed to work long hours to support their family.
Once in her room, Nadine put the purse on her bed, kicked off her shoes (High heels? Really? That woman is trying to make me some sort of harlot) and ran to the bathroom.
When she saw her face in the mirror, she gasped. Her earlier assumption had been correct. She was quite beautiful, and despite herself, she was proud of it. She stared at her reflection for a few minutes before backing out of the bathroom. As she did, she noticed for the first time the cosmetics that were scattered across the counter.
She turned and looked around her room, noticing for the first time that it, too, had changed. Her closet, which was ajar, was filled with clothing that, while most would describe as stylish, Nadine would call slutty and flashy. Not only that, but there was far more there than she had owned this morning.
Her old PC which she had used to do homework was replaced with a relatively new laptop. She also noticed that there was more make up on the desk that the laptop was resting on, along with a jewelry box.
"None of this makes sense." Nadine told herself. "This is all wrong." She remembered back to the phone in the purse and ran to dig it out. When she unlocked it, and looked at the contacts, she was shocked to see the amount of names and numbers there.
Among the list were her parents (each of whom apparently had cell phones now, which was another change), the others who were changed by Ms. Holloway, and even Sarah McMillan. She decided to look through the photos, and saw a number of images which contained various members of the new cheer squad posing together.
Nadine spent the next couple of hours going through her computer and phone, trying to make sense of all that was now different. She was only taken away from her search when she heard the front door open and close.
"Mom must be home." she told herself. "Maybe I can get more information from her."
Nadine ran downstairs to meet her mother, but was shocked to see her father standing there instead.
"Dad? Why are you home so early?" Nadine asked, shocked at his presence.
"Early?" Mr. Ferguson asked, looking at his watch. "Maybe a few minutes. Traffic was moving pretty quickly."
Nadine shook her head. This made no sense. Her father rarely got home from work before 7 PM, and here he was at barely 5:15.
"How was your day, sweetie?" he asked, going to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.
"Um...good, dad. How about you?" she asked, hoping to get some information out of him.
"Oh, it was fine. Richard decided to heap a new project on us, so..."
"Richard?" Nadine asked. Her father's boss was named Max, not Richard.
"You know, Mr. McMillan. My boss. Are you feeling alright, Nadine?" Mr. Ferguson asked, putting his hand to his daughters forehead. She flinched slightly as he did, remembering Ms. Holloway and how she worked her magic.
"Um, yes dad. Just, you know, tired." Nadine said.
"Well, how about you go rest up before dinner. Your mother should be home by 6, so we'll be eating at about 7."
"Yeah, that sounds good." Nadine said, leaving the kitchen. She headed back up to her room, shaking her head the whole time.
Whatever that witch did, didn't just change me. It changed my whole life, family included. She thought to herself. What sort of black magic could cause such a thing?
