Harry groaned as she stepped off the bus. This wasn't fair! Her mother had confirmed that, as she thought she remembered, this was something that happened about once a month, but she'd only been a girl for half that! Had the sun started her midway into the cycle? Not fair at all!
And that wasn't even getting into what a pain it was to begin with. Some painkillers she'd been given were helping keep things manageable, but even with that it still hurt. Her mother had been very sympathetic, but hadn't tried to soften the blow when she informed Harry that yes, this was normal for girls.
How could this be normal? And...if she wasn't a "real girl," why should she have to suffer through this? It wasn't like she wanted to be one, but if she had to put up with the hard parts, why couldn't she at least be a member of whatever "club" this was? She sighed.
Harry spotted Ken in the hall. She briefly thought of just walking on by, but...that wasn't going to help anything. She really didn't feel like getting into any kind of argument, not while she was dealing with this, but...the longer she put this off, the worse things were going to get.
She walked over to the fox-boy. "Ken?" she asked. "Can...can we talk for a minute?"
Ken hesitated. He still wasn't sure what he felt about this whole situation, and the thought of having to explain it all...but he did feel kind of bad about not knowing how to treat her, and she had seemed upset about something yesterday...
"Uh, h-hi, Haru," he said. "Um, yeah, sure, we can talk."
She could feel confusion and anxiety in him, but...he seemed kind of sincere, at least. They headed off into a side room, where she shut the door.
"I heard you talking with Brandon the other day," she said. "A-about me not being a real girl." She cringed; the accusatory tone she was trying to hold back had crept into that sentence. Why was she feeling so cranky all of a sudden?
Ken winced. Of all the ways for this conversation to start... "Uh, listen," he said, "that was, uh..."
She held up a hand, and he trailed off. "You...you're kind of right," she said. "I wasn't born a girl, and I wasn't intending to fool anybody into thinking I was...I'm sorry, I was going to tell you right from the start, but Zoe was being all protective, and I was afraid to say anything..."
"Um, no, listen," he said, "that...I didn't mean that how it sounded..."
"Well how did you mean it!?" she snapped. She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. "I, uh, I'm sorry, I..."
Ken shook his head. "No, it's okay," he said. "I guess I can see why you'd be angry. I was just...I messed up and I was mad at myself, and Brandon was trying to cheer me up...I wasn't even thinking about what we were saying...I, um, I'm sorry, I'm sure you have enough to worry about right now..."
Harry nodded. "I...I'm still not used to this and I just want to know what I am..." She caught herself. Tears were pricking at her eyes...was she going from angry to crying? Oh God, why did her attempt to sort things out have to wind up with her mood-swinging like a psycho? What would he think of her now? "I, uh, sorry," she sniffed, dabbing a tear off her nose, "I didn't mean to unload on you..."
The truth was that Ken was thinking of her less as a psycho and more as someone who might be only a stupid statement on his part away from hating him. He wanted to just back out before he screwed this up too. But...she seemed so troubled...he couldn't just bail on her like that.
"It's...okay," he said. "Uh, you gonna be okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah...I, uh, I don't know what you feel about all this, but I just thought you should know..."
He nodded. "Yeah, me neither. But...thanks for being honest with me...uh, see you at practice?"
She nodded, smiling weakly. "See you then."
Harry sat there for a couple minutes after Ken left, letting herself cry now that he was gone. When she'd gotten it out of her system for the moment, she thought about what to do that afternoon. She...she didn't have the troubles with the other band members she'd had with Ken, but maybe she should just tell them the truth, too.
And she still hadn't told any of them her real name...unless she was going to stick with "Haru." Her mother had been intending to talk with her about that, but hadn't gotten around to it. Harry had gathered that the big problem was that her mother thought she was trying to hide behind a new name...but if she told them the truth, she couldn't very well be hiding, could she?
She was...going to have a lot to discuss with the counselor tomorrow afternoon...
Jay looked herself over in the mirror. She had to admit, the black dress Lisa had stuck her in did present a very classy image, especially with the "opera glove" effect the black "socks" on her forearms added. And the heels did indeed go quite well with that look. But...
"I dunno, Lisa," she said. "I mean, it does look good, but it's less 'news reporter' and more 'high-society dame.' And I'm certainly not looking to start writing jet-set fluff pieces any time soon."
Her friend laughed. "Oh, perish the thought. But there's got to be something that fits you better than those godawful skirt-suits you're wearing now. They look like you imported them directly from 1979. Do you think I need something to cover my, uh...?"
Jay chuckled. "Aww, I thought they looked professional. And no, I don't think so. Putting aside the fact that no other 'taur-type transformees bother, I still can't envision anything like that not looking like a tablecloth."
Lisa sighed. "True, that. There are those horse-drape things you see in medieval art, but I guess you have to have a larger stature for that to work...by the way, how are the heels?"
"Caparisons." The fox-girl looked down at her paws. "And they're...eh, I guess they're okay, but I think I prefer going barefoot. I could use a pair or two for formal occasions, maybe..."
"Well, I want to see you walk in them, at least."
Jay smirked. "You're lucky I like you, you know that?"
Lisa smiled. "Yep. I know that."
"I have a bone to pick with the designer of the female reproductive system," Jon groaned.
Karyn laughed. "Get in line," she said. "You're not the only one."
The slug-girl put a hand to her forehead. "Just...how is it that a muscle I'm not even using gets to suddenly start seizing up?"
The cecaelia-girl nodded. "Well, technically it is being used, but I know what you mean. But, you know, you could just wish this away, if it's all that bad."
"And have the stone invent some new complication?" Jon said. "No thanks. Besides, you know what this is? This is my chance to officially no longer have to put up with women telling me how hard they have it. If some girl starts giving me a hard time, I can just go 'oh yeah? I've suffered through the same thing, and you don't see me lording it over anybody."
Karyn smirked. "Ohh, like I said, just you wait until your first check-up. Besides, there's always the 'childbirth' trump card. Sheesh, and here I thought it'd build camaraderie..."
Jon cringed. "Yeah...I think I'll let them keep that one. And as for camaraderie, anybody who lives with it their whole life and still keeps a grip on themselves has my respect and sympathy, like you or my mom - it's the ones who think it makes them a martyr that I mind."
"Said the girl who's been giving me status updates for the past three days?"
Jon frowned. "Well, it's...this is a new experience for me, that's all!"
Karyn nodded. "Sure. So who's that girl you were talking with yesterday? Or would you like to tell me about the dark elf guy?" She smiled slyly.
"Her name's Brittany," Jon said, frowning. "She's sort of...from another time, if the clothes weren't enough of a clue. I think she's from Roman-era Britain or just after. And, uh...she kind of knows about the stone."
Karyn gaped. "What!?"
Effie was having a bit of difficulty concentrating on her debugging again. Dennis was down on the desk, experimenting and trying to find out what things he could and couldn't interact with, and...she found it difficult not to watch.
By this point it was no longer such a shock to realize that...well, she was attracted to guys, or at least to him, but she still wasn't exactly at ease with the idea. She'd never have felt this way as a guy, but now it came so naturally that she didn't always even notice it.
She wondered if this was the only significant change, as she smoothed out her dress and adjusted the curl of hair that stuck out from the top of her head. Was this behavioral - this mental shift - the only one, or was she going to keep changing until she was every bit the teenage girl she appeared to be?
The thought frightened her, and she felt an urge to call Dennis up to Mikey's shoulder, where she was sitting. She could ask for his help with her program, then maybe he wouldn't suspect, but she wondered if these excuses were starting to become as transparent for him as they were for her...
Effie's thoughts were interrupted by the looming figure of Mikey's teacher, Ms. Maple, the rabbit-woman. "Mikey?" she said. "There's an opportunity we could use your help on, if you're interested..."
