“You’re the one who wants to be oh-so-perfect,” Linda muttered, “why don’t you go be a cheerleader.”
But the moment she uttered those words, she felt herself begin to change.
“Ah,” Susan said, “your mother doesn’t have the flexibility that she used to anymore, but I sure do have a daughter who loves cheerleading. I think I’ll leave the running and jumping stuff to you.”
Linda began choking. She brought the cloth napkin sitting on her lap to her mouth to cover the noise, even as the muscles in her arms toned up, as the slight wrinkles in her skin faded away.
“Are you alright, dear?” Susan feigned concern as she stood up from the table at the Oxbone Tavern, while Richard McMillan signed the check.
“You said you wouldn’t use magic to help me,” Linda hissed as she gestured to her newly-changed body, “so why are you using magic to hurt me.”
Susan lifted Linda by the elbow, easing the other woman out of her chair and lead her to the front door. “I’m not using any magic at all. This is your magic. It is your doing.”
Now in the parking lot, Linda had a better opportunity to feel out what had changed about her. She felt younger. Stronger. More like a teenager. But also more wrong. An unconfident soul in a confident body.
But the body was asserting itself.
“I’m not a cheerleader,” Linda muttered under her breath, mostly for her own benefit. But Susan heard.
“Well, perhaps not yet, technically speaking. But I believe that there is a single vacancy just waiting to be filled. Wouldn’t you just be the perfect fit?”
Linda shuddered. But despite herself, visions of being a cheerleader flashed through her head. Standing alongside her squad mates. Fitting in perfectly among them. She wanted that. She need that. She loved chee--
Linda shut down that last thought before it materialized.
“I love you, sweetie,” Susan cooed while Linda fought her own mind.
“I love you, Mom.” Linda didn’t even notice the words leaving her lips.
