A few miles away, at Lake Point High School, the gymnasium was starting to become a hubbub of activity. The bus from Mount Valley had arrived on time. The officials from the state athletic association were on their way. And the Lake Point Panthers basketball team of 11 young women was starting to get ready in the locker room.
For Nicole Forsyth, this was something of a new experience, because it was. Once upon a time, or as recently as last week’s contest at Shadow Hill, getting ready for a game involved putting on a sports bra, fixing your hair, and ensuring that you looked good. It was a far simpler affair now that there were no bras to deal with, girls kept their hair short, and looking a little messy was considered kind of feminine. Her reverie about this improvement was interrupted by a boisterous voice walking in.
“Hey gang!” It was, surprisingly, a formerly shy nerd Nicole had barely known before. Kyla Leeson was not athletic or outgoing, but as with so many people Nicole had met today, they had been turned on their heads. “Guess what?”
“Oh great, Kyla,” Sam sighed. “What boy did you get laid now?”
“Stephanie Farber! Boys like him just come so easy… they don't have the strength to fight and they get overwhelmed by popular girls like us.”
Nicole was still processing this conversation when another girl she sort of recognized but had yet to see came up to her. It was Melissa Smith. She realized that Melissa was in the gym class when this entire sequence of events began.
“How you've made times change, Nicole,” she chuckled, half joking and half serious. She then leaned in and whispered something more. “I could get used to this any day. Thank you so much,” she added.
The team then headed out onto the floor to practice. At the other end, Mount Valley's team was noticeably out of sorts. Nicole realized that they must have gone through some change on the way here. The stone must only work for so far out, she thought. She wondered how the away games went.
As the fans started filing in, so too did the cheerleaders, all in uniform. Nicole caught a glimpse of Jonatha and Jade, smiling and chatting with the others.
At ten minutes to 7, an announcer, a girl wearing a letter jacket, as well as a girl with a guitar around her shoulder and a boy in a shimmering red dress stepped forward and congregated around the scorer's table. Nicole and the girls were at their bench area. She finally looked at the bleachers. They were packed.
“Good evening, gentlemen and ladies, and welcome to the Moore Gymnasium, the home of your Lake Point Panthers! Undefeated at home for twelve consecutive seasons!”
Nicole heard that last sentence and felt an immense amount of pressure, but she also felt an undeniable connection to her wish. It would make sense that they were undefeated because their opponents are all coping with new bodies!
“Tonight, we welcome the Mount Valley Vixens!” A few Mount Valley fans cheered, then tilted their head in surprise. Some of them looked down and noticed that their shirts read “Go Vixens”, not the “Go Foxes” that was on them when they got dressed in Mount Valley.
“And here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game! First, Mount Valley. Number three, Meg Williams.” A girl, looking confused, hesitantly stepped forward. “Number 13, Shan Jackson.” The crowd booed with each name announced.
“It’s Shannon!” she called out, only to be taken aback by her new voice. The announcer shook her head, looking at the sheet.
“Number 21, Sym Anderson.” Now the Mount Valley coach, a middle-aged woman in a polo shirt and khakis holding a clipboard in one hand, walked over to the center with some confusion and whispered a few words. The announcer shook her head again and the coach retreated in frustration. Why were all these names weird? Megan, Shannon, Symone. Everyone else in this region can get it right. Why not Lake Point?
“Number 34, Ash Miller.” Hesitation, and more boos from the partisan Panther fans.
“And Number 55, Erin Lindell.” “At least you got my name right!” she yelled back at the announcer.
“And now, the starting lineup for YOUR Lake Point Panthers!” The gymnasium roared. The cheerleaders shook their pom-poms. The crowd was pumped.
“Number 1, Nicole Forsyth!”
“Number 5, Karyn Black!” With each name the cheers grew louder.
“Number 12, Kyla Leeson!”
“Number 22, Sam Gomez!”
“Number 40, Mel Smith!”
“And now, we ask you to please rise and kindly remove your caps. Tonight’s national anthem is sung by Lina Drullers with guitar by Yuki Meshida!” As Jonatha listened, he was stunned at the musical transformation of another two people in his class. He had to admit that Lina Drullers, despite his rather wide figure, looked amazing in a dress, though the fact that someone with the last name Drullers was wearing a dress was still foreign to him. The anthem singing still sounded a little off to Jonatha’s ears — it was so weird to hear such a high voice out of a boy — but it must have been excellent in the minds of the crowd, which delivered a loud round of applause at the end.
The lights came up, eight minutes went on the clock for the first quarter, the referee brought the ball to center court, and the game of the night was under way.
