So the girls went out to get some food, it had been a long weekend, a confusing couple of days. To say it was a whole new world would only cause the girls to have a feeling like they should break out into song, but it was an apt thing to say, it seemed nothing was as it once was.
The journey of deciding where to eat was only more evidence of this, as the girls who were once guys wanted their normal faire of a burger joint, and the girls who had always been girls wanted something lighter. They settled on Red Robin, which had both, and they ordered accordingly, but when the food came out the two girls who had gotten salads seemed to have made the better choices. Jen, Miranda and Jade could barely finish half of their burgers, the texture seemed off, the taste too strong, and something within them told them that this was wrong, like they were skipping class or stealing for the first time. They all actually felt guilty at what they had on their plate. The experience was not much better for Karyn who had never cared what she ate before, yet now as she looked about the menu she found she was more picky about what she wanted in her body. Nadine had the same experience but in that she seemed to not want any meat, she had never cared about that before, but now it just didn't seem as appetizing, she had just been given this great body and a part of her wanted to keep it. Still it was good that the two girls had gotten what they had, for they ended up sharing with the rest of the group. A lot of burger was left on the table that night. These new eating habits were not the main event of the dinner though, that was the conversation. It started with Jade.
"I was afraid of this, it seems our appetites have changes with our bodies. But what else is new?"
Miranda responded.
"What are we going to do...I can't take much more of these changes. I don't want to be this person...I'm not! I like burgers, I swear I do!" She was getting emotional, which was new for her.
At this outburst the other girls found themselves in a wave a empathy, all of them had gone through the same thing, more or less and all of them felt a bond of the trauma which they shared. As guys they wouldn't have known what to do with a crying friend but as girls instinct took over and they all hugged and felt a need to be there for each other, no matter what. The level of support would have been embarrassing had they been guys, but felt right at the moment, and to all the on lookers at the crowded restaurant did not seem too out of place, a little drama between teenaged girls, nothing more.
Karyn spoke up
"We need a plan. She has an endgame and we don't. Right now we are just puppets to be played with by Mis Holloway, till we are the prefect little team she wants us to be, and it seems the more we live these lives the more we will fit that mold. If we are going to do something, it's got to be soon."
Her strength and character changed the dynamic of the group from coddling a wounded friend to attention. There was something new about Karyn that had not been there before, a sort of leadership and confidence she had never felt before.
"Jen I think we need to read everybody in on what's happened."
From the look on Jen's face you could tell she wasn't on board with this idea, so Karyn pushed the idea further.
"They are as affected by this as we are, they should know what's happened."
At this all eyes turned to Jen. Opinion was set, everyone wanted to know.
Jen sheepishly agreed to share.
"So two weeks ago my grandfather died."
The empathy kicked in again and one of the girls asked.
"oh were you close?"
to which Jen responded.
"No, I mean yes, I mean...as a guy I was as a girl I barely got to know him...we went to the beach that year instead..."(which she remembered to be the best trip EVER!) all of this was besides the point, Jen was falling into remembering again, she got that far away look in her eyes for a second, then snapped back.
"Sorry, mixed memories again." her voice seemed a bit higher and feminine as she said this, then as she got on with her story it returned to its normal flat speech.
"So I was gifted, Bequeathed, is that a thing? Anyway, he left me this stone, and it's magic. It grands wishes."
The girls were amazed at this. Jade spoke first.
"Do you still have it? Can we use it to change us back?" Their was hope in her voice.
"The stone has some rules to it, wishes are can't be wished back, once a thing is changed, it's the way it is. Karyn found that out the hard way didn't you." Jen said that last part trying to take some of the pressure off herself.
"Karyn wished for Sarah's boobs and hair." Jen said.
"On accident!!" Karyn interrupted, embarrassed by her own envy.
"But Karyn has always been a busty blonde, it's why you and Sarah became friends." was Miranda's reply
"In this new world yes, before we were NOT friends, and I used to be a red head, and I didn't have anything close to these."
Miranda's recall of events was confused, and it worried her slightly that she had gotten that wrong.
"I don't remember that, do you?" Miranda asked the other girls, they all agreed, they couldn't picture Karyn as anything other than a busty blonde.
"The reason you don't remember Karyn that way is you didn't hear the wish, that's the other rule, if you hear it you can remember what was before, but if you don't then the world was always the way that it now is, sort of like how we can remember both lives, but everyone else seemed to react to us as girls."
Jade cut to the point.
"So can we use this thing or not?"
"Well..." Jen didn't want to share this part. "I made a reckless wish. I wished that something interesting would happen and the stone created Mis Holloway as an avatar of itself to answer that wish."
"Wait what?"
"Mis Holloway is a part of the stone, she's using the same magic, so the stone won't work on her."
Part of the air left the room at this, disappointment.
"or on what's happened to us."
The rest of the air followed, Extreme disappointment.
"So you did this to us?" Miranda got angry.
"Not on purpose, I had no idea that this would happen! I didn't even mean the wish!" Jen quickly tried to defend herself.
"You had a magical stone these whole three days and this is the first time you are telling us this!" was the outrage that Nadine expressed. "I've been thinking it was witchcraft this whole time. Are you a witch?"
"No I'm not a witch, I had nothing to do with what happened, I didn't want this."
All the girls were mad at Jen for this revelation. Now they had someone to blame who they could fight for what had happened to them.
Jen whimpered.
"please I'm sorry. I'm just as affected by this as you are."
tears came.
The other girls got up to leave, there would be no comforting for these tears.
Come on, we've got to tell the other girls." Miranda said. "We'll deal with this later"
Karyn and Jen were left at the table.
Karyn looked at Jen, who was sobbing.
"well that could have gone better."
