Katie came in. Not a word was said. Nicki looked at Katie, and Katie at Nicki. Then Katie averted her eyes a bit, to try and stop herself from crying at the thought of losing her best friend. Nicki did the same. Katie then looked at Megan and asked, "it's all true, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so." The three girls were all now choked up, so Katie changed the subject.
"Um, I told my parents I was staying over, if that's okay. I just thought..."
Nicki sighed, then said it was okay, and lugged Katie's luggage in.
"You're just in time," Megan said as she set 3 plates of spaghetti at the table. As the three ate, there was a palpable silence.
"This is very good," Katie managed to say, and Megan thanked her. It would be impossible to fathom the awkwardness all three of them experienced. Katie, for learning that her best friend was about to transform herself into a 30-year-old man, Nicki, for actually having Katie here while she did this, and Mega, for being caught in the middle.
Eventually, dinner was over, and Megan cleared the plates. Nicki paced her way to her room, and changed out of her top, jeans, bra and panties, into a man's shirt, slacks and boxers, which fit loosely. They were Nick's old clothes, which they'd gotten out of storage. When she emerged, Katie laughed. She tried to help herself, but let out a great chuckle. "You look like the world's worst transvestite," she grinned, "but backwards. Or something!"
Nicki blushed and pulled the ponytail out of her hair. She didn't know how it would feel to have the hair sucked back into her head, and didn't want to create fiction.
Katie and Megan took seats on the couch, and Nicki stood in front of the TV.
"Lovely assistant," she motioned to Megan, "the medallion please." Megan handed her the medallion and she held it in her hands.
"Goodbye Nicki," Katie said.
Nicki paused, and said, "I'm not going anywhere." The both laughed. It was an in-joke. You wouldn't get it. Nicki said, "Drumroll please?" Megan banged rhythmically on the arm of the couch, Katie joined in and Nicki slipped the medallion over her neck. It brushed against the white collared shirt. Nicki drew in her breath sharply.
"Is it happening?" Katie was on the edge of her seat.
"Yeah," Nicki said. It sounded,, though, as if someone were standing on her chest. Her breasts, which were not well defined in the shirt, shrunk back into her chest, which broadened with her shoulders. Her abdomen became longer and thicker. Her neck thickened and an Adam's apple emerged. Nicki gulped and swallowed hard. "Yeah," she said again, this time in a cracking voice, like that of a pubescent boy. Her legs grew longer and thicker, and when she stood up straight, she was nearly a foot taller. Slowly, almost unnoticably, her slender, pretty girl's face gnarled and hardened and became that of a man. Her hair, in stages, shortened, until it was cropped rather short. The man collapsed to his knees in the painful transformation of his crotch. Within a matter of 36 minutes, the whole show was over. It was so gradual that it was imperceptible while it was happening, except to recall what Nicki had looked like. When it was over, Nick was on his elbows and knees, breathing heavily. His eyes were moist from a rush of testosterone at this very momentous occasion, of regaining his manhood. Katie rushed over to hug this large, rather sweaty, fully-dressed man.
"Well," Nick said, coughing slightly, "here I am."
Megan applauded slowly, in jest.
"Thanks," he snapped, "I appreciate that."
"So what now?" Megan asked, "gonna put your life back together?"
"Yes," he said affirmatively, "starting with one thing." He got up and walked over to Megan, unsteady because of his new center of gravity, "Megan. I was hoping..."
"Hoping for what? Nick, I loved you, but that was 3 years ago. I've known you longer as my, as my fake niece, for God's sake. I can't just, I can't just jump right back in."
"Megan..."
"I'm sorry, but this is all too weird."
"I don't think you're being fair," Katie interjected. They both stared at her, in disbelief. Nick was hardly especting her to be on his side. "I mean, you can't blame her-- him, for what happened, he just wants h-his life back."
"I'm sorry," she said, walking over to her room.
"Katie," Nick turned and put a hand on her shoulder, "thanks..."
"No prob, Nick," she said with a wink. "I don't see why she said that. Look at you... you're pretty hot."
Nick snorted a quick laugh. This amused him. He looked her in the eye and told her, "Y'know, if you were 10 years older..." he paused, mid-thought. "Listen, obviously you can't stay in my room, and I'm not staying with Megan. So go talk to Megan, I'm sure she'll let you sleep there."
"Oh it's okay, I'll sleep on the couch."
"No best friend of mine is sleeping on any couch," Nick said, "It's me Megan's mad at, not you."
"Okay, but..." Katie looked at the clock, "it's like, 8:30. Wanna watch a movie?"
So they sat, and watched Big Daddy, which was Katie's favourite Adam Sandler movie, and the one Nick could sand the most. Occasionally, Katie would try to get close to Nick, but he remained detached. Eventually, he had to get up and go to the washroom. Inside, he unzipped his pants and was about to sit down when he stopped himself. "How long am I going to keep doing that?" he wondered aloud. Eventually, though, they both got tired and decided to go to their respective beds. Katie felt in her pocket, though, when she entered the room of sleeping Megan, and smiled when she remembered what she'd put in there...
