"Hey, you're here!" Ellen said, ushering Becky into the house. "Laura's already here; we figured we'd keep it down to just the three of us to start with, until you get used to this. Think you can handle an all-nighter?"
Becky shrugged. "I dunno, but I can try. Do you have enough caffeine on hand?"
Ellen laughed. "You bet we do! Come to the kitchen and you can see for yourself!"
Becky followed her. Ellen's house was pretty nice; not exactly a rich-people house, but nice and roomy, and old in a good way, with lots of little artsy touches here and there. It kind of reminded her of the farmhouse her grandma used to live in, out in the country, but not quite as old. Ellen lead her to the kitchen and opened the fridge, revealing a wide variety of pop.
Becky grabbed one, and Ellen took one for herself before leading her into the living room, where Laura was waiting. She greeted Becky as well, and then she and Ellen outlined some of their plans for the night. They were discussing which movie to watch first when Ellen's mother walked into the room. "Pizza's ready, girls," she said.
Becky started for the kitchen with the other two girls, but she was stopped by Ellen's mom. "Hello, dear," she said, smiling. "You're Becky, right? It's nice to meet you; Ellen's been quite excited about having you over."
Becky smiled back. "Thanks," she replied. "It's nice to meet you, too."
Supper was over, and the Madison entourage were roasting marhsmallows over the campfire. Michelle's dad handled it like an old pro, but Jenny was insistent on roasting her own, even thought they tended to burn. She'd only been camping a couple of times in her life, and she was enjoying all the different experiences it offered. Of course, it helped that she had a friend there to share it with. Michelle was roasting her own as well, but she had more experience than Jenny; camping at the lake had been a family tradition her entire life, even before she'd become a mermaid.
Jenny wondered what it must be like to suddenly have your entire life change and to realize that only a couple other people know something is different. Even she had always known Michelle as the kid who sat in a wheelchair in the corner of the cafeteria, but according to Michelle, she'd been an ordinary human boy until a couple months ago. Jenny was secretly kind of glad that she'd changed; after all, being a mermaid was so much cooler than being a normal kid, and Michelle made such a pretty mermaid. But she knew that Michelle would be very offended by this, so she kept it to herself.
Having consumed as much s'more as one kid could possibly handle, Jenny laid back on the grass. She'd most likely be on a sugar high as soon as her digestive system caught up with her, but for now, it was nice to just look at the stars and watch the little flecks of glowing ash from the fire drift their way up into the sky. It had been a good day.
"All right, let me see if I've got this straight." Jason's mom was in her problem-solving mode now, which meant a more business-like demeanor. "You took the garbage out last night, and found a note specifying that you would have the genitals of the opposite sex?"
Jason nodded. "But," his mother continued, "it wasn't until you undressed before bed that you realized you had female genitalia?"
Jason nodded again. "And why didn't you say anything?" his mom asked.
"I...I thought it was a hallucination," he said, his voice trembling. "It was late and I was tired, and I figured I would wake up in the morning with everything back to normal."
"That makes sense, I suppose," she mused. "But obviously, that wasn't the case. And as absurd as it sounds to believe that a post-it could somehow do this to you, I can't really think of a less ridiculous explanation. All the same, we need to take you to see a doctor."
"I...I don't want to see a doctor for this," Jason said. "I don't want anyone to know, not until I talk to Becky."
"Becky? You mean the Connely's oldest?" his mother asked. "What's she got to do with this? I thought she underwent reassignment surgery."
"That's what she told everyone," Jason said. "But before that, back when she was still Benny, he suddenly started acting real weird and nervous, and then he disappeared for a couple weeks. We saw him again, and he was acting even weirder. Then he disappeared again, and a couple months later he came back to school as a girl."
"And you think he encountered something similar?"
Jason nodded. "I dunno for sure," he said. "But I have to find out! I want to know what's going to happen to me; I don't want to turn into a girl, not if I can help it!"
"Well, on a technical level, you already are," his mother said. "But I understand what you mean. Alright, you can try to get ahold of her tomorrow. But if she doesn't know what you're talking about, we're taking you to the doctor."
Jason sighed, tears beginning to form again. "All right."
