Joni woke up all out of sorts the next morning. She hadn't slept well, and as much as she appreciated Mrs. Black's cooking, all the food was getting to her; she felt uncomfortable and, well, bloated. They had waffles for breakfast, but she didn't have the appetite for more than a couple, which was irritating. She went upstairs after that.
She felt a slight twinge throughout her abdominal muscles as she went to the bathroom, and for a moment it felt like something was about to happen, but it passed without further event. She glanced down at her hands as she washed them. Karyn had given her a crash-course on makeup yesterday; they'd taken it back off before bed (apparently sleeping in it was bad for the skin?) but her nails were still done up in a soft pink. She probably didn't have time to get it off before school; she recalled Zoe having some paint-thinner stuff for the job, so it'd likely take a bit. At least it was relatively subtle...
She used the shower cap again; at Karyn's suggestion, she'd washed her hair last night so's she wouldn't have to in the morning. She thought back on the evening; it'd been strange and a bit of a revelation, having Karyn explain how all that stuff worked. She'd never realized how many components there were, or that there was a system to it; she'd just figured that you did makeup at your face until it looked however you wanted it to, but Karyn had laughed at that and made comparisons to Tammy Faye Bakker.
Truth be told, she'd always thought of it as something...not exactly shameful, but confusing. Her face was fine the way it was, wasn't it? Er, his face - but hers, too. It didn't seem like a normal human being-type face was something you should feel the need to hide. Okay, awkward teenage acne was one thing, but it wasn't like women stopped doing it once they'd grown out of that phase...
Karyn had been sympathetic when she'd expressed that view, and Joni got the impression that it was yet another facet of that old dilemma, fashion vs. convenience; but her counterpoint was that A. the goal wasn't so much to hide her real face as it was to complement and enhance it, and B. it could also be a form of stylistic self-expression, like clothes or hair.
She wasn't sure she really got it, but she had to admit it was impressive what even a self-proclaimed dabbler like her best friend could do with a little time and effort. When Karyn had finished with her, she'd looked in the mirror and been surprised to see not so much someone else looking back at her, but more another version of herself. (Well, another 'nother version of herself.) She couldn't give it a simple one-word summary like "hotter" or "classier;" rather, it was a Joni whose face had her best features highlighted, and the less great ones downplayed or smoothed over. It seemed like a lot of trouble for a relatively subtle boost, but...well, it didn't hurt to feel good about herself, did it...?
With a sigh, she finished her shower and dried off. The hot water had soothed her a bit, at least; but it didn't make the bloated feeling go away. Hell, her lower abdomen was even a little distended, and tender to the touch; she really hoped there wasn't some kind of gastric reckoning brewing for all the food. She'd probably have to watch how much she ate, 'til things settled down.
She went to get dressed, but the prospect of squeezing into these stupid women's jeans like this was not an appealing one. She thought about it for a moment and, with a sigh, began rifling through Karyn's closet in search of other options. She considered the skirts; they still would've been an improvement, but there was still the elastic around the waist...
Finally, she settled on a simple gingham dress. This was a little weirder than even the skirts; it was essentially open all the way to the hem, and she could feel the whole thing sway around her as she moved...but at least it was loose and comfortable around the waist. Still, she felt more than a little self-conscious; trying stuff on in private because Karyn wanted to show her was one thing, but actually going out in public like this...?
She knew it was irrational; she was a woman, for the moment, so there was nothing weird about her wearing women's clothing, was there? But it still nagged at her, and on top of everything else she was feeling this morning, she was in a somewhat foul mood when she came downstairs. Karyn raised an eyebrow, but said nothing; it wasn't 'til they got down to the bus stop that she turned to Joni and said, "You look nice in that, by the way."
She sighed, wishing she felt nice; but a little fragment of a smile crept in at the corner of her mouth all the same. "...Thanks."
Then the bus pulled up, and she felt self-conscious all over again. She wondered if she should just bail, if there was any way to get out of having to be around her peers like this; but it wasn't like she was actually sick. No one would know, she kept telling herself as she made her way down the aisle, dress swishing around her legs; but it was hard to internalize that. At the very least, she thought, trying to set her mind at ease, it wasn't like her day could get any weirder than this.
She'd more or less acclimated to the whole dress thing by the end of first period, at least to the point where she didn't constantly feel like people were giving her funny looks; it was still weird to think about, but then the whole situation was pretty weird. Weird to suddenly wake up as the opposite sex; to have the whole rest of the world think that was normal; to try and navigate a different social context; to try things she'd never really counted as for her (er, him) previously. While it was still on the fringes of her comfort zone, this really was just one more for the pile, if she was rational about it.
Joni was the last one left in the science room, at the end of third period. Today was the second half of an experiment on osmosis; they'd left eggs suspended in varying solutions of salt water, and then weighed them to see how they absorbed or lost water depending on the concentration. She'd volunteered to stay behind and clean up afterward.
It was curious, she reflected, as she rinsed out the beakers and set them to drip-dry. There'd been some nudges and titters and apparently risqué jokes surrounding the eggs between her classmates, but she couldn't see why; as far as she could tell, they were about like any other thing that ever came out the business end of a chicken. Though, for no particularly obvious reason, she felt a strange sense of melancholy when it came time to gather them up and toss them in the trash...
Shaking it off, she returned to the sink counter and dried the beakers out with a towel. Was she just getting emotional for no reason because she was a girl now? Was that actually a thing? She wasn't sure; she was aware that there were differences in hormonal balance between the sexes, but she didn't know where science fact ended and cultural stereotype began. Was she truly subject to her body's whims?
She gathered the beakers together; they went in the cardboard box with the corrugated spacers, and the box went in the cupboard in the corner, under the counter. She grimaced as she hefted it; her general discomfort was getting worse. If merely eating too much could get her in this much of a funk, maybe the idea that the mind was a plaything of the body wasn't so far-fetched after all....
(Carrying stuff like this was another minor weirdness. It wasn't that the box was any heavier, or that she was particularly weak - but she had to hold it further out from her chest now, and that made the angle all wonky compared to what she was used to.)
It was when she squatted to open the cabinet, setting the box on the floor, that it happened. There was a tension in her gut that she hadn't fully realized she was feeling until it suddenly released. A weight shifted in her abdomen, and she felt the distinctive pool-table clack of hard objects colliding from deep within her. The sheer abnormality of the sensation left her paralyzed for a moment while she tried to process the question of what the hell was happening to her.
Not for long, though. She'd hunkered down with her knees together - it seemed like the right way to do it, in a dress - but some instinct flaring in the back of her brain really insisted that she have her legs apart for this, whatever this was. She spread them, and the mass in her gut - no, masses, plural - dropped down to her pelvic floor, as waves of muscle movement began to ripple through her abdomen. She wondered briefly if this was gastric vengeance starting, but she realized with horrible clarity that they weren't headed down that path.
She was gripped by the sudden realization that something was going to come out at the same time that she felt it actually begin to do so. Her conscious mind struggled to make sense of it - this couldn't be happening, she wasn't pregnant, even she knew that much, even if it probably was possible for her now - but her lizard brain was strangely matter-of-fact about it, as if this was nothing abnormal. Which wasn't to say that her body wasn't wracked by the sheer physical intensity of it; her breathing was ragged, and she felt tears stinging at the corners of her eyes...
Bit by bit, wave by wave, the thing inside her worked its way out; but then she felt it straining against her panties. This got a reaction from her inner animal; she scrambled to work them loose, but her legs were still spread. Finally, she got them far enough down her thighs to clear the way, just in time for it to crest, slide free, and drop a short distance to the floor.
She managed to slide her underwear down in the brief interval before the second mass shifted into place and she felt the need to spread her legs again. She found herself instinctually squatting as low to the floor as she could manage; that drop had been worrying, to the part of her that didn't find the whole thing fundamentally crazy and freaky. With no further obstructions, the second thing was out in relatively short order. The waves of contraction subsided, her breathing stabilized, and then it was over.
Joni landed on her tush, catching herself with her hands and sprawling back onto her elbows on the floor of the science room. She could barely even comprehend what'd just happened to her, but the explanation rolled out from under the hem of her dress to stare her right in the face.
An egg.
For a moment, she couldn't even think straight; then she slowly got back up and knelt, reaching her hand out to touch it. It was hard and smooth, slightly moist, body-hot. Speckled blue-and-white, like her dress. Larger than an emu's, but not nearly as large as an ostrich's; maybe four inches across, seven or eight inches long. She could feel the other one between her legs, pressed against her body; something about the contact was instinctively comforting, but her conscious mind was screaming that the feeling couldn't possibly be right, that the whole situation was insane and wrong, that HUMANS DIDN'T LAY EGGS.
She resolved this inner conflict by abruptly bursting into tears.
It was too much. Everything, everything weird and confusing about this little trek into an alternate reality paled in comparison to this. Being a girl was strange and unfamiliar, but at least it was something she could rationalize as possible. But this? It was insane, it simply didn't happen; man or woman, humans were mammals. Nothing about this was even slightly normal; but some subconscious part of her brain treated it as the most natural thing in the world; but it wasn't, she knew that...
As she knelt there, bawling her eyes out, still feeling the other egg nestled safe and secure against her pelvis and still completely unable to deal with the fact that that felt comforting, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and someone pulled her into a gentle hug from behind. "It's okay," a girl's voice said. "I know it can be stressful when a clutch catches you off-guard, but it's nothing to be ashamed of."
She turned to see Nadine, who gave her a gentle, knowing smile. "I wondered if you were...like me," she said, "but I didn't want to pry. But, well, you were so shy about undressing around the other girls yesterday, and it wasn't hard to figure out why." She sighed. "I really don't think it's anything to feel embarrassed about, but some people will pick on anyone who's different; it's no wonder some of us try to keep it a secret. Believe me, you're not the only one."
Joni stared at her in utter bafflement. Did she really think this was normal!? Wait, was it normal, in this reality...? "Wha...? B-but, uh, y-you...?" she sputtered. Wait, did Nadine also-
"I-I, uh, don't make a secret of it," Nadine said, a little defensively. "I just...don't talk about it a lot. I mean, it's kind of private, you know? And, well..." She smiled sheepishly. "...I feel like you can't really understand unless you're one of us. I, uh, I know that sounds prejudiced, but...it's just such a special connection..."
She hugged tighter. Joni squirmed, partly from the awkwardness of the embrace, and partly because hearing her talk about special connections while her egg was pressed against her was triggering all kinds of weird hormonal feelings she hoped she'd never be able to put a name to.
"So, um, yeah," Nadine continued. "Between that and the fact that I try to dress modestly, I think a lot of people just assume that I'm part of the majority; but I...I'm not trying to hide it, really I'm not. U-uh, n-not that I'm judging...!" she said hurriedly. "I think it's up to you whether you want to tell people, I just...I wish girls like us would be proud of the way God made them. Well, I mean, not proud proud, but..."
Joni just sat there, mind reeling, trying to process it. She really was treating this insanity like it was normal, like it was a point of common experience, like there was nothing weird about laying goddamn EGGS. Both Nadine and her own Joni-brain instincts just accepted that as perfectly natural; but here she was, kneeling on the floor with this thing between her legs, underwear around her ankles...
She eased back onto her rump, bizarre new instincts making her feel a little regretful to lose contact with the egg, which set off a fresh burst of inner conflict as she shifted her legs around in order to get her underwear back on without having to hike up her dress; but she managed to keep from crying this time.
Nadine sat back and nodded knowingly. "If, uh, if you'd like," she said, "I can take them to the nurse's office for you. You know, i-if you're worried about anybody else finding out." Then she looked embarrassed. "Um, I...I'm sorry, but I have to ask - th-they're not, uh, fertilized, a-are they...?"
Joni was in the middle of wondering what the hell they'd want with them at the nurse's office when she heard that second part, and it took her a moment to fully process the implications. "Wha-!? N-no...!" she stammered, experiencing a full-body cringe as her face turned crimson. She definitely hadn't done...things...that could've-
She shook her head, trying not to even think about it. No, no, no, she knew full well that the objects that'd just come out of her would never be more than a mass of organic matter, never stir with life; there'd be no months of waiting for something to grow and develop and finally emerge into the world, nothing to hold to her breast and-
Her conscious mind went into tumble-dry when she felt a twinge of regret at the train of thought her brain had just conjured up unbidden. Nadine, meanwhile, had taken her response as assent, and tenderly picked up the first egg. Joni felt a momentary flare of panic when this stranger reached for her other egg, made to stop her, then abruptly burst into tears again when she realized what she was doing.
Nadine gently set the egg back down and pulled her into another hug, front-facing this time; Joni was far too muddled right now to bother feeling weird about their breasts squashing together like she had with Karyn. The other girl shushed her and patted her on the back reassuringly.
"It's okay," Nadine said, after a minute, "it's okay. I have strong nesting instincts, too." She smiled sheepishly. "Just between us? It was so hard for me to let go, back when I first started laying, that my dad actually took some of my eggs, blew them out, and filled them with foam sealant so I could brood without them getting all nasty. I, uh..."
She hesitated for a moment, while Joni boggled at how she'd apparently read as "distress at unfulfilled maternal instinct" what was really "distress at even having maternal instincts." Because, God, that's what this was, wasn't it. Some part of her Joni-brain, the part that thought this was fine and normal instead of insane and terrifying, actually wanted that; wanted to care for them, keep them warm, see them hatch, wanted to be-
"...I still sleep with them," Nadine admitted, her cheeks turning a little red. "A-and, uh, to be honest, I, I hang out on my bed a lot. M-maybe it's weird; I-I know the teachers all want to, to make sure we don't f-feel like we have to be, b-but..." Her voice was starting to quaver. "I-I just really want to be a mom, you know? I like the idea of devoting myself to raising a family; I think it's beautiful and, and Christ-like."
She bit her lip, and Joni could see that she was starting to tear up. "A-and it's s-s-so hard, sometimes; I know it's a big commitment a-and I'm probably not ready, and I'm s-saving myself for, for marriage, but...oh, some days I wish I could just skip straight to being ready!" She started crying, too, and threw herself on Joni's shoulder; despite her own emotional turmoil, Joni found herself comforting the other girl.
They were like that for a long moment before Nadine got herself together, smiling and sniffling and doffing her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes. "S-so, uh, hang in there, I guess?" she said, her voice still a little shaky. "I-I know it's hard, when your mind tells you one thing a-and your instincts are screaming just the opposite; but someday soon it'll be time for us to think about starting families." She brightened. "M-maybe we could e-even do brood coverage for, for each other...? I'd love to help keep someone's clutch warm, and I-I wouldn't mind if you tended mine, for a bit..."
She gave her another squeeze, got up, and gathered up the eggs; Joni didn't stop her, because she was too busy squirming at her own reaction to that mental image. "U-um, your last name's Madison, right?" Nadine asked; she nodded dazedly.
"Got it," the other girl said. "I'll mark it down so they credit these to your family's account at the co-op." She gave her another warm smile. "A-and, uh, I'll...be praying for you to find a good husband. I know you'll make a wonderful mother."
