---

I cringed when I saw Bill walk in. He was so hunched over and miserable looking! I've been watching him for weeks, and he's getting worse. And he won't talk about it! I'm probably his only friend, but he keeps a lot back from me.

"Hi Bill, how are you?" I asked.

"Fine." was his only reply. We used to talk a lot, but lately one word answers are the best I can get out of him.

Class started then, so I didn't have a chance to ask him anything else. But I was done talking, anyway. If he wouldn't tell me what the problem was, I'd just have to find out on my own! Fortunately, I came prepared. As the teacher droned on about the civil war I grabbed my amulet and concentrated.

Whoa!! What an aura! Bill was even worse off than I thought. He looked about ready to kill himself, and I could finally see why. He's a girl.

---

I tried to get Bill to open up at lunch, but he wouldn't talk. After school was the same. I even dropped a few hints about his female soul, but he either didn't pick up on them or pretended not to. So I hurried home to talk to my mom.

"Mom, I'm home!" I called out as I came in.

"Hi honey, I'm in the kitchen." she replied. "How was your day?" she asked when I got to the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Okay, I finally figured out what Bill's problem is." I said.

That got Mom's attention. I've been complaining about Bill for a while; it was her idea to take my amulet along and look at his aura. "You used it, then?" she asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, and he's really messed up. I think he might be about ready to kill himself. But I found out that he's really a girl!"

Mom looked surprised at that, "Really? Well, that would explain it, then. What are you going to do?"

"I've been thinking about that all day. Bill won't talk to me, even when I dropped hints that I know he's a girl. So I'm going to have to take drastic action before he does something horrible!" I said, shivering at the thought.

Mom frowned and came over to sit next to me, "I don't know about this, it sounds like you want to transform him. If you've misread his aura..."

"I haven't, Mom, it's really obvious if you look at it! Changing him into a girl physically is the only thing I can do if I don't want to lose my best friend." I said tearfully. I really was so worried about him. He's been my best friend almost our entire lives!

Mom hugged me and said, "Okay, sweetie, if you really think this is best why don't you invite him over? I'll take a look at his aura and if I can't see any reason not to change him, I'll help you."

I hugged her back happily, "Okay, I'll call him right now!" I grabbed my cell out of my purse and called right there, hoping he'd actually answer. He's not real great about that.

"Hello?" came Bill's dispirited voice. I really hate to hear him like this!

"Hi Bill!" I said in as upbeat a tone as I could manage. "It's Jessica. Could you come over to my house? There's something I want to show you and it's really important!"

Bill sighed, "I suppose." That was all he said, and then he hung up. I was used to that by now, though, so I didn't worry. Well, not too much, anyway.

We don't live far from each other, so he got there about ten minutes later. When he knocked I opened the door and let him in. "Come on Bill, we need to go in the kitchen." I said, dragging him along by the hand. I admit, I drag him around a lot. But he's so slow!

Mom was waiting for us at the table. I dragged Bill over and sat him down across from Mom and sat in the chair next to him. "Well?" I asked, directing my question to Mom.

Mom looked intently at Bill, who wasn't really paying much attention to anything. I felt like he was slipping away so fast! A moment later she sat back with a sigh, "You're right, dear, he's a girl."

That caught Bill's attention! "No I'm not!" he yelled. Well, actually it was more like a scream. I nearly fell out of my chair in surprise, it was such a change from how quiet he normally is. At least, anymore. But he's never been very loud.

Mom was a little surprised, too, but recovered a lot more quickly than I did. "We're going to have to do this the hard way. I'm sorry Bill, but this is probably going to hurt." Mom said regretfully. She gave me a look and I nodded.

"I hope you can forgive me Bill, but we really need to do this." I said as I cast a paralysis spell on him so he wouldn't run away like it looked like he wanted to do. Despite not being able to move he still managed to glare at me somehow. "Are you sure we can't do this the easy way Mom?" I asked, looking hopefully at my mother.

Mom shook her head, "No, I'm afraid he's too far in denial to accept our help willingly. And you were right, he's ready to kill himself. We don't have time to get through to him. Here, take my hands." She stood next to Bill's chair and held her hands out to each side of me. I took them, closing the circle around Bill. We concentrated on what we wanted to happen and a glow slowly began to fill the circle, obscuring Bill from view entirely.

The spell wasn't an easy one. For any of us. The paralysis spell couldn't keep Bill from screaming in pain as his body reshaped itself. And we felt the pain right along with him. When the spell was done Mom and I collapsed back into our chairs, gasping for breath. The glow around Bill remained for a little while before dissipating like a mist.

"Oh, wow!" I breathed when I could finally see the new Bill. She was gorgeous! She'd lost consciousness, but the spell kept her from falling out of her chair. Her dull brown hair had gained red highlights and shone in the light. Her eyelashes were longer and fuller, and her features had become much softer and more delicate. I think she was shorter, too.

"And there's the proof she really is a girl." Mom said. "The spell shapes her according to her innermost desires. She has good taste."

I nodded numbly, as seeing Bill like this was doing things to me I hadn't expected. I'd never been attracted to anybody before, but I was definitely attracted to her now! "This is going to be awkward."

"What do you mean?" Mom asked with a strange smile appearing on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"You said this is going to be awkward." Mom said.

"Oh, I didn't realize I said that out loud." I said, blushing. Mom didn't say anything more about it, but I'm sure she'd figured out what I was thinking.

"Let's move her to the couch." Mom suggested. We did and I sat on the floor by her head and waited for her to wake up.

"How long will she be out?" I asked after a few minutes. I wasn't that anxious, really. I was enjoying just staring at her lovely face, and I also wasn't looking forward to her reaction when she woke up. She would be happier eventually, I was sure, or Mom wouldn't have helped. But she'd be pissed when she woke up!

"It's hard to say. She could wake up at any time, or hours from now. I doubt it will be longer than a couple of hours, though." Mom said, smiling oddly at me. I blushed again. It's hard to keep secrets from my Mom!

The time flew by as I stared at Bill's new face and brushed her hair with my fingers. I was reaching back up to brush more of her hair when her hand suddenly shot up and grabbed my wrist. "What did you do to me?!" she growled.

I gulped, a little afraid of my friend. Despite being a bit nerdy and a loner, she was never someone you wanted to get on the bad side of. Several bullies had found that out the hard way. She didn't seem to notice the change to her voice, but it caught me off guard. Even her voice was beautiful! "Uh...we helped you..." I said, not sure how to break it to her.

"I don't need your..." she said, trailing off as she finally noticed the change to her voice. She spaced out for a moment and then looked angrily at me, "You really did it! You turned me into a girl!"

I fidgeted nervously, "Well, actually, the spell shapes your body according to your innermost desires. So, technically, you turned yourself into a girl."

"No I didn't!" she screamed. But it was like she wasn't screaming at me. Or at least, not just at me.

"Please try and calm yourself." Mom said, kneeling down next to me. "Screaming isn't going to change anything."

"You should have let me die!" she said, breaking down into heart wrenching sobs. I gathered her up in my arms and held onto her while she cried with tears streaming down my face, too. I felt so guilty about what we'd done, but I couldn't just stand by while my best friend tore herself apart, could I?

Eventually she ran out of tears and pulled away. After wiping away her tears she settled back on the couch and looked at me. "Why are you crying?" she asked. Most of the anger seemed to have gone out of her face and voice.

"Because I hurt you." I said. I couldn't look her in the eye and stared at the carpet.

"Yeah, you did." she agreed, but there was no accusation in her voice. She was silent for a while, and then she put her finger under my chin and tilted my head up. "Please don't cry?"

"You don't hate me?" I said hopefully.

She shook her head, "No, I could never hate you. I'm not happy about this, but I don't hate you. But what am I going to do about my family? And school?"

Mom patted her hand, "We have our ways."

Her eyes went wide, "You can warp reality so everyone will think I was always a girl?"

Mom and I stared at her in surprise and then laughed, "Oh no, nothing like that!" Mom said. "Wherever did you get that idea?"

She blushed and mumbled, "The internet."

"Huh?" I said.

"Transgender fiction sites." she said softly.

"So are you admitting to knowing you were always a girl, then?" Mom asked with a smile.

She nodded, "Yeah. Do you think I'm a freak?"

My heart just about broke seeing the look on her face. "Of course not!" I exclaimed, glad to see the look ease a little.

"We don't think you're a freak. We care about you, that's why we changed you." Mom added.

She looked relieved, though still a little skeptical. "So, you're witches or something?" she asked.

"Something like that. Magic has been in our family for a very long time." Mom said.

"Okay. So how will you deal with my family?" she asked.

"We have ways to show them that you are still the same person. We can do the same thing with your school, but we'll have to meet with the principal or someone in the administration in order to do so. We'll probably have to dress you down a bit to start; you turned out very beautifully." Mom said.

"Really?!" she exclaimed.

I nodded, "Yeah, want to see?" She nodded, so I helped her up and led her to my room. She'd been there before, of course, and knew all about the huge mirror I have on my wall. It takes up almost the whole wall.

When she saw herself in the mirror she swayed and I thought she might faint. I moved forward to catch her, but she steadied herself and looked closer. "That's really me?" she asked in awe.

"That's really you. You turned out to be a real babe, didn't you?" I said, smiling at how much happier she seemed just from seeing her reflection.

"Babe?" she asked archly.

"What?" I asked, blushing.

She stared at me for a moment and then turned back to the mirror. "Do you really think anyone will ever believe I'm the same person?" she asked.

"With our help, yeah, they will. There's a lot we can do, though not that reality warping thing. Think you could show me these stories you mentioned sometime?" I said, really curious about what went on in them. I mean, reality warping? Sounds kind of scary, to me!

"Sure." she said absently as she played with her hair. It had grown down to the small of her back and had some nice curl to it, too. It was weird being envious of her lovely hair, among other things, and simultaneously attracted to her.

"You want to try on some of my clothes?" I asked. Her old clothes were fairly big on her now, and of course, shapeless. I couldn't wait to see her in a skirt!

She looked at me through the mirror and smiled shyly, "I'd like that."

Turns out she's smaller than me, so most of my clothes didn't fit her very well. Still, she looked a lot better in a skirt than she did in those baggy pants! She seemed to agree.

"Are you okay, Billie?" Mom asked.

"Billie?" she said.

"Well, Bill certainly doesn't suit you anymore. If you have another name you'd rather be called, please tell us." Mom said.

"Katie?" she said, like she was afraid we'd be mad or something because she had a different name in mind.

Mom just smiled, "Katie it is then. It's getting close to dinner time, I think we'd better go over to your house and explain things to your parents."

Katie started to shake a bit, so I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's okay, I'll be with you the entire time."

"Okay." she said, squeezing my hand back. She gave me a timid little smile and off we went.

---

Katie's parents obviously had no idea who she was. Not surprising, but kind of funny anyway. Her brothers and sister were both there, too. We ended up sitting around the kitchen table so Mom and I could do our thing.

The spell we cast is kind of like what we do when we look at auras. Kind of. Anyway, it allowed Katie's family to see who she is. It's hard to explain, but it works.

"Bill?!" Katie's little sister Tess exclaimed. Katie nodded shyly. Tess just stared at her for a second, and then a huge smile spread across her face. "Cool, I have a sister!"

Mom, Katie and I all smiled at her reaction. Katie's mom kind of smiled weakly, too, but she was obviously having a bit of trouble with it. Surprisingly, her dad seemed more at ease.

"Dude, you are smoking!" Jerry, the older of Katie's brothers, said.

Katie blushed, "Thanks, I think."

"This is weird." Carl, the youngest of the family, complained.

"So..." Katie's dad said a little awkwardly, "you've always felt this way?" Katie nodded. He sighed, "Well, I wish you'd told us what was bothering you, but the important thing is that you're feeling better now. You are feeling better, right?"

Katie looked a bit shocked that her father was taking this so well, "Uh, yeah, definitely! I was a little upset with them changing me without asking at first, but this is what I've always wanted."

From there things went amazingly well. Katie's mother worried about how other people would react, but otherwise took things okay. Carl just wanted to go play and didn't much care if he had a brother or sister. He was a little weirded out at the magic part, though. Jerry kept staring at her, so their parents sent him to watch his brother because it was making Katie uncomfortable.

Tess was over the moon. We started planning a shopping trip to get Katie new clothes, and then we started planning out what we could do with her room. It was really bare and boring. I wanted pink, but Tess wanted purple for the walls. We were having so much fun we didn't notice that Katie was getting upset.

"Hey! That's my room you're talking about!" Katie said, kind of loudly.

"They have a point, honey. Your room is rather spartan. We should spruce it up a bit, so it looks like a regular teenage girl's room. That way you can have friends over without them thinking anything is odd." Katie's mom said.

"They can think I'm odd if they want, I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not anymore!" Katie replied angrily.

"Good for you, Katie!" her dad said with a big smile. We all looked at him in shock, except for Mom who seemed to agree with him. "That's the first time I've seen you really stand up for yourself. I can see this change is a good one for you. Girls, you need to let Katie find her own style. Help her, by all means, but don't dictate what her style will be, okay?"

Tess and her mom looked a little mad, but what Katie said really struck me. About not pretending to be someone she's not. "I'm really sorry Katie!" I said tearfully.

Katie hugged me and smiled, "I'm sorry, too, I shouldn't have bitten your head off like that. It's just that, for the first time in my life, I don't have to pretend anymore. I'd really like to do things my own way, you know? That doesn't mean I don't want your help, or yours Mom, Tess."

I was really impressed with Katie. She got her mom and Tess calmed down pretty quickly and we started planning things her way. Not that she got whatever she wanted, of course. Even I had to admit the fifty inch flat screen TV was a bit much!

---

The next day I went to school with Katie, Mom, and Katie's father. We ended up talking to the principal. He was shocked to learn Katie had been Bill, and that magic was real! He adjusted pretty well, though, and got all Katie's records changed and gave us a note for the teachers. We'd dressed Katie in more of my clothes. They were loose enough not to broadcast the fact that she's completely female.

After that school was a bit of a nightmare, really. Katie wasn't as strong as she used to be, but she'd never relied on brute strength anyway. So the bullies were surprised when she was still able to defend herself. A bit of magical help from me didn't hurt any, either!

We couldn't do anything about the taunts and name calling, though. And there were some nasty ones!

"Are you okay Katie?" I asked after one particularly bad mouthed group had their say.

Katie nodded, "Yeah, I am. I'm me now, so their words don't mean anything. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, I think it does." I said. Katie was way more talkative now. Even more so than Bill had ever been before he got so depressed. I was always happier with Bill, but now it was like there was this glow around Katie. It warmed me kind of like a fire does, if that makes sense, so I always wanted to stay close to her.

The funniest part of the day is when Katie got asked out by three different guys that didn't know she used to be Bill. Katie was obviously uncomfortable with that kind of attention, so I helped deflect them. "Not interested in guys?" I asked with a grin after getting rid of the third one.

She looked at me really intently then, "You know I'm not." That kind of threw me. I mean, sure it looked that way, but there was a deeper meaning there I wasn't getting.

"Huh?" I said. "What do you mean?"

Katie blushed and looked down. School was over, so we were headed to our lockers to get our books and go home. She walked in silence for a while until we reached our lockers, which are right next to each other. "You really don't know, do you?" she asked.

"Know what?" I said, confused.

"I'm interested in you." she said, quickly turning to open her locker. I stood there in shock until she closed her locker with a bang. "Earth to Jessica!" she said, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry." I said, turning back to my locker. Once I had everything I needed and closed up my locker we started walking again. "Did you really mean that?"

She sort of bumped into me and laughed, "I can't believe you didn't know that!"

"What?" I said, still really confused, but starting to get this warm feeling inside like she was warming me from inside and out at the same time.

She shook her head bemusedly and, with laughter in her voice still, said, "I've been in love with you pretty much since we met!"

"Oh." I said, feeling really stupid. How could I have missed that?

"It's okay." she said, suddenly seeming much more like her old self, "I know you're not interested in me like that."

She didn't look as bad as Bill had the day before, but she definitely didn't look like the Katie I was getting to know. "Uh, I'm not so sure about that anymore." I said, blushing.

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better." she said, sounding a little angry at me.

"I'm not! Ever since you changed I can't keep my eyes off of you. Being around you is almost like a drug or something! I don't know if this is love or not, I've never been attracted to anyone before, but I'm definitely attracted to you!" I blurted out and hid behind my hair when I realized what I'd said. I just hoped nobody else had heard me!

Neither of us said anything for a while. I was afraid she didn't believe me, and also confused by my own feelings. Why was I attracted to her now?! Shouldn't I have been attracted to her before?

"You know, I think you've been doing the same thing to yourself you started to do to me, yesterday." she said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, you thought I should have a typical teenage girl's room, complete with lots of pink because that's the stereotypical girl color. And don't tell me that's not why you wanted that color." Katie said.

"Well, yeah, I guess that was what I was thinking." I admitted, not sure where she was going with this.

"Well, I think you were trying to fit in, too. But you weren't attracted to guys, so you didn't let yourself be attracted to anyone. Because it's normal to be attracted to guys, but not to girls. At least, not when you are a girl." she replied.

I thought about that for a while. Her complaints about our ideas for her room made even more sense in that light. "You might be right. But isn't it kind of shallow to be attracted to you now when I wasn't before? I mean, we've been friends forever!"

She shrugged, "I don't know, but I don't think so. It's just the way you are. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"You're just saying that because you're glad I'm attracted to you!" I said.

"No, but I am!" she said, smiling. I smiled back, and before you knew it our lips were touching. It was amazing!

---

We went to my house, and then Mom drove us over to Katie's. There we picked up her mom and Tess so we could go get Katie her own clothes. I was still flushed from that kiss, as well as being excited about the shopping trip. Mom had given us, and particularly me, a funny look when we got home. She obviously suspected something had happened, and was simultaneously amused and happy about it. Mothers!

Once we got to the mall Tess and I started dragging Katie into every clothing store we found. I kept bringing her skirts and dresses to try on, as I thought she'd look good in a skirt. Tess and her mom thought so, too. She seemed to be enjoying it at first, but when her mom started gathering up a huge pile of skirts and dresses to pay for them she kind of exploded on us.

"I'm not just wearing skirts and dresses all the time!" she growled. And I do mean growled!

"But you'll look so good in them!" Tess complained.

"Argh, it's like my room all over again!" she whined.

"I would really like to see you in a skirt." I said hopefully.

She smiled weakly at me, "I know, and you will. But I'm wearing jeans more often than not. To me, dresses and skirts are more for dressing up than for everyday. Even most of the girls in school wear jeans!"

I pouted, until she found a pair of really tight jeans and modeled them for us. "Ooh, you have to get those!" I exclaimed. She joked about me drooling but I didn't! I think.

It didn't take Tess long to figure out there was something going on between Katie and me, but her mom seemed oblivious. I was just as glad, 'cause this lesbian thing was still new to me. And Tess teased us mercilessly as it was!

Okay, really she just kidded around a little. She's a great sister to Katie.

---

We ended up eating at the mall and not getting back to Katie's until eight! She needed a lot of stuff, but part of the problem was that, unlike Tess and I, Katie's mom didn't take the hint. She kept trying to get Katie to wear 'what all the other teenage girls are wearing'. Katie was getting really frustrated with her, but was trying not to yell at her or anything.

Katie's dad about had a heart attack when he saw all the bags we brought home. Or, at least, he pretended to. I never knew before that he could be so funny!

Her mom kept pestering her about doing things like other girls her age were doing. She finally snapped and yelled at her, "I am a teenage girl, Mom! I don't have to prove it!"

To his credit, Katie's dad smoothly got between them and dragged his wife off to the kitchen to talk. We didn't hear any yelling, so I figured it wasn't too serious. When they got back she apologized to Katie and they hugged, so I figured she'd finally gotten the message. Not that I was one to talk, I'd done it twice, too!

Katie gave us a mini fashion show, but it was getting late so we had to leave. She surprised me by kissing me goodbye right in front of everyone! Not that I was complaining! In fact, I think I would have floated right out the door if not for what happened after that.

"Katie, I know you like Jessica but it's not appropriate for you to have a relationship with her anymore." her mom said sternly.

Everyone kind of stood there in shock at that one. Even Carl looked like he thought she'd gone nuts. Katie broke the spell when she ran crying into her room. I looked at her father and he kind of nodded me towards her room, so I followed. I didn't hear what happened after that, because I was too busy trying to console Katie. I was starting to hate her mother a little bit, but I tried not to, really!

Her father came in a while later and asked us to come out. Katie didn't want to, but he managed to convince her that it wasn't anything bad. Even so, she nearly crushed my hand and was shaking a little.

"Okay, Katie, I think I've explained things to your mother in a way that make sense to her, but I think it would help if you said it, yourself." her dad said.

Her mom looked like she'd been crying. Katie nodded reluctantly and said, "Mom, I've been trying to tell you. I'm not just some generic teenage girl that does things the same as every other teenage girl. I'm a unique individual and I have my own ways of doings things. I don't happen to like pink. I have no interest in having posters of boy bands up on my walls. I'll give makeup a try, but don't expect me to wear much. Earrings are fine, I like them. And I like Jessica. No, I love Jessica!"

She'd already told me that, but hearing her declare it in front of her whole family, and my mother, was something else. I couldn't keep the tears from rolling down my face and my jaw was starting to hurt, my smile was so big! Katie smiled at me before continuing, "I know being different is hard. I've been different all my life, believe me I know! But I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not just to fit in. I tried that once, I hated it!"

I probably would have been really impressed with her speech, but really I was just totally overwhelmed by her declaration of love for me. Next thing I knew I was wrapped around her with my lips pressed against hers. There couldn't have been a single molecule of space between us! When we separated we were both blushing and breathing a little hard.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry!" her mom said. "I've been foolish, haven't I?"

"A little, but I understand you were just worried about me, really." Katie said. They hugged again at that, and I knew things were going to be okay between them. As for us, well, I wasn't too worried!

---

The End