Today I have written not one, but two new parts to this episodic story. I might be a little rusty with this character, so he might not sound or act exactly like he used to. I hope it isn't too different, I tried to get back in tune with Kael before writing all this up..
Entry: Mar 29
Rio hasn't come up with anything yet, or if she has she's waiting to tell me. I don't see her all that much, in school or out. She's a class below me, so we're not in any classes together, we just wave on the odd time we pass each other in the hallway. I guess she'll probably just put another note in my locker if she does come up with something, or just wants to talk for some reason. Anyway, I'm getting off track. I'm writing this because another change happened today. I bumped into Tim.
I should probably explain Tim. He's a quiet nerd, really small and slim. He's probably going to graduate a year or two ahead, seriously, he's that smart. He's also the kind of guy that the jocks want to cheat off of or force into helping them with their homework. Or...I guess that's who he was.
For a little guy, Tim was really fast. He would always dash straight from one class to another, and sometimes he would run into somebody and drop half of his stuff. Some people laugh, nice people just help him gather it back up again so he can continue his sprint. I think I'm losing track of my tenses here. Anyway, he was doing that today and ran straight into me. I was fine, but he fell over backwards. I knew who he was because of his reputation, but I don't think he knew who I was and just assumed I didn't like him. He was stammering some kind of apology, but I offered my hand to help him up.
"T-thank you," he said, taking it and standing up. I already knew something was wrong: His hair had been short, and now it was halfway down the sides of his head.
"No problem," I said, trying to remain calm. It was all happening so fast. Now his hair was past his shoulders. His stereotypical nerd glasses seemed to break in half and fall off, showing off his bright green eyes, which looked even bigger since his face was getting smaller. Then his turtleneck opened up in the front and tightened around his stomach. He was already slim, but now his stomach was even thinner.The hair from his back was down to his hips now, and those hips grew wider and rounder. Suddenly the top few inches or so of his jeans flipped up and out, turning into a skirt and showing off his legs. Then the bottom part of his jeans turned to long dark socks, merging with the socks he'd already been wearing under his tennis shoes. They were tight, and showed off the rest of his legs, which were really girly. I'm not sure if they were before, or if they had changed just now.
All of this in the span of about a second or two. By now his hair was past his hips in the back, almost to his knees, and I heard a very high-pitched little gasp that made me look up. I was in time to see Tim's chest push out into the turtleneck, and I could see a little bit of cleavage at the bottom of its collar now. Then it was done.
I forced myself to focus back up at Tim's face. She was blushing, but there was this tiny smile on her lips. I realized her name was Tina, and some memories of seeing her around popped into my head the same way I had remembered Carlos as Carla. I couldn't help it, the first thing that came to my mind then was just how cute she looked. I pushed the thought back. She said "Thank you" again, in a soft, quiet voice. Then she broke off into a run again toward her next class. I had a class to get to too, and there wasn't really anything I could do about it.
I couldn't just leave her. I really have no idea how suddenly switching genders affects a person. I mean, I know it seems like every person I accidentally change is fine with it, or even happier than before, but I'm not willing to just assume that. I can't imagine being happier after suddenly turning into a girl, it just dosen't make any sense. So after school I found her walking on her way out. I walked up next to her and said, "Hey."
She looked over and up at me. She still had the same smile, but the blush was gone. "Oh, hi." It was the same soft sort of tone. It was hard to hear what she was saying without listening very closely.
"Are you..are you okay? After what happened this afternoon..."
"Oh, yeah. I'm great. Heh, you think a little fall like that would hurt me?"
"I don't mean that," I snapped. She pulled back a little bit, clearly scared, and then I felt guilty for getting mad. But I'm still afraid that I might be going crazy, so I was panicking a little bit. "Look, I don't really have any idea how or why, but I know I was responsible. It was an accident."
"Well, if it was an accident then you weren't really responsible, right?" Her voice was still soft, but had a kind of confidence to it. "Besides, I think I'm okay. It's.." She paused, looked around to see if anyone was listening, and then lowered her voice to a whisper, which was even harder to hear. "It's really not any worse when guys flirt than it was when they would threaten to beat me up. I'm not sure if it's better, but..well, I used to be nearsighted, you know. I like having good vision. And..a skinny girl is a lot more attractive than an emaciated guy. So, don't worry about it, okay? I gotta go." We were at the exit doors by the time she finished talking, and then she took off running. I swear, if she wasn't so busy studying she could probably run for track. What I mean is, even if I wanted to say something back I couldn't have hoped to catch up to her.
I left the building, and Carla caught up to me. "Hey, I didn't know you knew Tina," she said.
"I don't. She was.." I made an unclear gesture with my hand, I didn't want to explain all over again.
She understood. "Oh. Well, what's she think?" She started walking on our route home, and I followed.
"She says she likes not being nearsighted, and..something about being more attractive than Tim was."
"Tim?"
"Who she was before today."
Carla facepalmed. "Oh, yeah. Guess that should've been obvious. Is it just me or does your...whatever-power always pick names real close to the original?"
"I guess so. And she said if it was an accident, it wasn't my fault."
"Well, that seems like sound logic."
"So why do I still feel guilty?"
She stopped and gave me a look. "You know, I have no idea. Maybe you're more of a pervert than everyone thinks?" Her look turned to a vicious grin, and I could feel some heat in my cheeks. Then she laughed. "You know, I kind of wish you could try it for yourself. Just to get an idea of what it's like. Even if it doesn't make anything better, it can't make it too much worse. These days a person's gender isn't as important as who you really are."
I had to stop and think about that for a minute. "Maybe you're right. I don't know. Can we talk about something else for a while?"
"Sure. Let's go." We continued our walk.
I think I'm going to talk to Rio again tomorrow. I think even if she hasn't figured out what my power is, she's still probably the only person I know who can help me work out how to control it. I don't know, maybe I can stop myself from changing people when I don't want to.
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