Becky turned on the Playstation and they proceeded to beat the stuffing out of each other for quite a while. Andrew watched her in amazement; despite the sheer unbelievability of the whole thing, there was no doubt that this was his friend. She had the same postures and body language when she played, and even the same facial expressions.
It was dumbfounding; so much so, in fact, that Becky began beating him rather badly. "Hey, pay attention, man!" she laughed. "You don't want to get beaten by a girl, do you?" He snapped back to reality and began trying to catch up, but she was just too far ahead of him, and he came out the loser that time. They continued playing various games for several hours before they finally decided to take a break.
"So," Andrew asked, as they sat on the floor sipping caffeinated beverages, "this is for real? I mean, you don't just look like a girl?"
Becky nodded. "It's for real," she said.
"So then...you have the period thing, right? That must suck."
She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you have no idea. But it's not really something I can do anything about."
"And you're okay with being a girl?"
She shrugged. "It depends," she said. "It's easier some days than others, and it was really awful at first, but...well, it's not the end of the world, and it turned out to be a lot more painful trying to fight it than trying to get used to it."
Andrew nodded. "So...how did this happen? I guess it was that sickness you told us about? Tell me if I'm going too far with the questions, okay?"
"Nah, you're fine," Becky replied. "I'd be just as curious if I were in your shoes." She sighed. "I'll be honest, 'cause I know I can trust you with this. I was never really sick at all." She briefly explained about the note they'd found, and its effects on her family.
"And so I suddenly had girl parts," she said. "And my mom explained that since I was at the beginning of puberty, and I was the only one not protected from it by the magic, I was probably going to go through puberty developing as a girl instead of a boy. And sure enough, here I am a couple months later, just another thirteen-year-old girl, like I'd never been a boy at all."
"Man," Andrew said, "so...Jenny is...?"
Becky nodded. "She's actually a boy 'downstairs,' like Mom. But from the way the note was worded, it sounds like she's going to grow up as a girl except for her guy parts." She noticed the look of mixed sympathy and disgust on Andrew's face. "Weird, I know, but we're trying to keep a positive attitude about it, since she seems to be taking it so well. Heck, she's even said she wants to be a dad someday."
"'Weird' is an understatement," Andrew said. "But she's a good kid, I guess. Still, it's gonna be strange for any girls she starts putting the moves on. And what about you? Do you like boys now? Do you feel like a different person?"
Becky shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I don't really 'like' anybody yet, and I've been too focused on the more obvious stuff to really think about it all that much. I guess I'll just have to kind of figure it out as I go. But nah, I'm the same person I've always been. I've got some new feelings and sensations to deal with, but I don't suddenly like pink and My Little Pony just because I'm a girl."
Andrew chuckled. "That's a relief. I was worried we wouldn't be able to kick each other's asses like we used to!"
"Hey," Becky laughed, "don't forget which of us was doing the ass-kicking today!"
Andrew flushed a deep red. "Hey!" he sputtered. "You'd be off your game, too, if you'd just realized your bud had turned into a girl!"
"Yeah," Becky grinned, "but it doesn't change the fact that you lost!"
"Alright," Andrew shouted, grabbing a controller, "that's it! Rematch!"
Becky picked up her controller. "Bring it on!" she giggled. The two friends played for well over another hour, Andrew regaining at least some of his lost honor, until Becky's mom invited him to stay for supper. After supper, he went back home, and Becky headed up to her room to read for a little while. She felt reassured by Andrew's acceptance of her, and she was glad to have a friend she could share her secret with.
