Blue Bug From Outer Space - Part Five by: Enemyoffun Jaime Reyes is kid out of his element, who dreams of a life better than his own. He finds such a life when he stumbles about a strange blue stone in the garbage and his whole world changes.

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Author's Note: Here's five...Jaime's family comes home from church and boy are they in for a surprise. THen Jaime shows his school spirit in an interesting way. I'm not prone to spoilers in my notes but I couldn't resist that little tease. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for their wonderful characters.

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Chapter Five:

Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems to be going bad for you and then something goes right? It’s like falling in the mud and then discovering a Benjamin---that’s 100 bucks in case you didn’t know--- underneath you or getting smacked in the face with a basketball in Gym class and the jerk who did it gets three months detention for doing it deliberately. The latter one happened but God, I wish the first one had, too. Anyway, where I am getting with this. Well, I ran as hard as could home and when I finally got there, I discovered to my amazement that I actually had beaten my family home. My heart was pounding in my chest and I was so tired I could barely stand, but I still beat them. I couldn’t believe my luck. I looked up into the sky and thanked whatever Maker was up there. Ok, yeah I believe in God, the Maker thing is a Star Wars reference, don’t you people watch movies?

I took a deep breath, huffing my way up the driveway. I looked at my watch to make sure I got the time right. On a bicycle, it took me about anywhere between fifteen to twenty minutes to get from the shops to home. That was all depending on how fast I was going. But running it should have taken me another ten to twenty minutes or so. So it was twelve forty five now, which meant my family should have been home. Maybe God is on my side today. Or maybe my family decided to stop for lunch like they sometimes did. Whatever the reason I was in the clear and that was the best thing to happen to me all day.

I snuck along the side of the house and went in through the kitchen. I forgot to lock the door when I left but my neighborhood was so highly monitored by the neighbors that even squirrels looked around before taking a nut off someone’s lawn, just in case they got arrested for it. I’m over exaggerating, of course, but things were pretty tight. I slipped into the house, lumbered over to the sink and poured myself a glass of water. I chugged it and went back for a refill. My mother would have had a fit if she saw me drinking tap water. She had this thing about it, I’m not sure what but she was convinced that it was poisoned or something. If she used water to cook with, she boiled it before using it. My father tried to talk her into getting one of those water filters but she wouldn’t even trust it. My mother was strange like. She could wash dishes in the sink, but she wouldn’t let us drink from it. Go figure.

I stumbled up the stairs, skipping my room and went right into the bathroom. First, I went to the toilet. I lifted the lid and unzipped my pants but as soon as I did, I discovered a huge problem. I groaned when I realized there was nothing there anymore. I hate this. My face flushed red and then I stubbornly sat on the seat. It was definitely a new experience and if you think I’m going to describe it then you’re sick. I flushed when I was done and went to the sink to wash my hands. As I was doing so, I got a good look at my new face in the mirror. I was shocked at how cute I was now. I still looked a little like me but it was hard to tell. My pixie cut framed my face well. I still had my sparkling green eyes and my mother’s ears, but everything else looked foreign. My nose was smaller and more delicate, my cheekbones were higher, my eyebrows much thinner. I had full lips and when I smiled, I had these cute dimples.
I looked like a cross between my sister and younger pictures of my mother.

“What the hell did you do to me?”

“Are you not satisfied with how you look?”

I leaned closer to the mirror. Yes, I was a fox, but how in the world could this thing think I wanted this. There was nothing in my whole life that would make me want to be a girl. I was as manly as ever. Well maybe I was a little short and a late bloomer as far as puberty went but that didn’t mean I wanted to be a girl. I liked being a boy, I liked everything about it. I liked playing football in the street and rolling in the mud. I liked riding my bike until I threw up and playing video games until my eyes hurt. I liked drinking out of the milk carton and belching aloud when my mother wasn’t around. But most important of all, I liked peeing standing up. There was nothing in me at all that wanted to be a girl.

“I beg to differ.”

“You’re an Alien Interloper, what the hell do you know about it?”

“Perhaps a hot soothing shower can help clear your mind?”

I looked at my watch. It usually took my family about an hour and a half to eat lunch. My father liked to sit and drink a whole cup of coffee and that took forever. Sometimes he even drank two and they always liked to go to this little diner. You know how long it takes to be waited on in those places. So I had time, I had plenty of time. So a shower was a good thing. This time though I turned the water on first and got a towel beforehand. I made a grab for one of my blue towels; there was no way I was going to let this girl thing get the better of me. I tossed the towel on the toilet seat and made sure to lock the door. I didn’t want any surprises.

I was about to strip out of my clothes but as soon as I did they vanished. It was the creepiest thing in the world. One second they were there and the next they just disintegrated. It would have been cool if it wasn’t so freaky. My watch vanished too, which wasn’t so impressive. I tried not to think too much about it, there was still a lot of this alien stuff I didn’t quite understand. Instead, I just closed my eyes and stepped into the shower. The hot water was soothing and felt so much different on my body. I was completely hairless now, except for the patch between my legs and on my head. It was definitely a new experience as the water washed over my body. I bit my lip and fought back every urge to explore down below. Hey, I’ve seen movies; I know what girls do down there.

My nipples started to harden but I stopped myself. I know what you’re probably thinking, and no I’m not some shower perv. Ok so maybe showers are my thing but this doesn’t mean that I get off every time I get into one. It’s just that the last few days my body has been super sensitive and the water is so soothing. You know what I mean, so I don’t need to explain things.

I used some of my sister’s shampoo again and instead of using soap, I found this body wash she liked to use. It was real smooth and felt fantastic on my skin. I can’t even describe it but it was the most invigorating thing in the world. I lathered my whole body with it, rinsed and did it again. I spent about fifteen minutes in the shower, making sure I was good and clean. When I got out and wrapped the towel around me, I didn’t even second guess the fact that I wrapped it like a girl. This time though it didn’t seem so awkward because I actually had something holding it up properly. I unlocked the door and slipped down the hall. I was in no rush, because it would be a while before anyone came through the door.

I went into my room, looking around. Ok, I’m not exactly the neatest person in the world, but I had no idea I was such a slob either. My clothes were strewn about like my dresser had exploded and there were papers scattered all over the place. I sighed. How could I live like this before and more importantly, why do I care so much now. If it’s a crazy chick thing, I’m so checking myself into Arkham or something. It’s a mental institution in case you’re wondering. I saw it on the news; it’s in Chicago or something. There some big story about it, I don’t really remember the details.

I walked over to my bed, still wrapped in the towel, and sighed. This morning I was a normal kid, well, semi-normal, who was only slightly feminine. Now I was the poster child for the female movement. I looked down at the globes on my chest and I burst into tears. Ok, yeah I’m crying again. You would be too if you suddenly turned into a girl. Ok, not suddenly but you know what I mean. I cried for a while, my tears mixing with the water already covering my body. I don’t dry off; I let the air do it for me. I know it’s weird but it’s hardly the point. Anyway, I’m going off again. I cried for a while, burying my head in my hands again. I shouldn’t be crying but I couldn’t help it. I think it’s all the female hormones; they’re overriding my body and doing strange things to me.

“You should get dressed,” said Khaji, breaking the mood.

I ignored him. I wiped my eyes and looked around the room. I got up and looked through the drawers but nothing there was going to fit. I started to think about my mother’s things, we were about the same size now, so surely something of hers might fit. I started for the door when my skin started to crawl again. When I looked down, clothes started materializing on my body. First, it was the underwear, a most bra and a pair of panties. Then it was ankle socks and finally a baggy t-shirt and a pair of pink sweat-pants. I groaned. I didn’t even ask for this but I guess it was better than rifling through my mother’s drawers.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“If we are to cooperate, you and I must come to terms. I knew this is what you wanted and I am here to serve.”

“Just like that, huh? No more fights, no more struggles for control.”

“You have my word that as long as you and I walk around together I will not try to take control.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

He didn’t say anything.

I believed that about as much as I believed that Milagro didn’t have a sugar problem. She’s a bit of a candy nut. She’s so bad that my parents won’t let her anywhere near the stuff. I guess I should have mentioned that before I made the analogy but my brain’s all fuddled today. Can you blame me? He was hiding something; there was no way he was going to give up that easily. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it right now; I had other problems to attend too. I groaned, rubbing my temples. I started back toward the bed but then my stomach grumbled. God, when was the last time I ate. I grabbed my stomach and went back to the door, pulling it open. I slipped out into the hall, creeping slowly down it. I got to the top of the stairs and froze; Milagro was standing on the bottom of it, dressed in her white church dress. Our eyes locked for a moment, neither one of us saying a thing. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. She continued to stare at me, trying to figure out who I was and what I was doing in her house. It didn’t take long for my mother to walk around the corner. She stared at me too, glaring like I was a serial killer. But when she spoke, her voice was soft and welcoming:

“Hello, are you a friend of Jaime’s?”

I took a deep breath and gulped. Here goes nothing. “Hi Mom.”

I felt a little lightheaded after that. Can you blame me? The world seemed to disappear and everything just started rushing around me. There was a sharp pain in the back of my head, I think I hit the stairs and then I blacked out.

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When I opened my eyes, I saw three very concerned faces staring down at me. I’ve never seen my family so worried before, but it’s not every day that I collapse on the stairs. I fainted, didn’t I? How girly was that. I suppose it was kind of a shock though. I was trying to figure out the best way to tell them about all this and never expected to be thrown in to it. But fainting, I never expected that. It was kind of funny, in that weird 80’s teen movie kind of way. I mean, how many people actually faint. You see it in movies all the time but you never hear of it in real life. There was this girl in elementary school who passed out during a Chorus practice but that was because of heat stroke. I guess that’s not really fainting but that’s the only incident that even comes close, that I know of.

I sat up. Milagro’s face was closer than my parents. I nearly bumped into her head when I sat and she showed no signs of moving. She kept staring at me, probably trying to decide if I was her brother or not. I gave her a lopsided grin but that didn’t tell her much. So I decided to do something haven’t done in a long time. I used to do this thing to her when she was younger where I’d reach over and tweak her nose while puffing my cheeks out at the same time. It was supposed to make her laugh and it worked but I stopped doing it to her when she got too old to laugh anymore. But as soon as I did it now her face lit up and she lunged forward, throwing her arms around my neck. I was stunned for a second but wrapped her in a hug too.

It’s been a while since we’ve hugged.

“Umm, Milagro, why don’t you let her go and leave us alone for a minute,” said my mother after a few minutes, placing a hand gently on my sister’s shoulder.

Milagro pulled away, tears in her eyes. “I thought it was you. I’ve always wanted a sister.”

I laughed. She let go of me and reluctantly left the room. When she was gone, my parents glared at me. I knew that look and its meaning: they didn’t believe me. Of course, who would? How many people come home and find a strange girl in their house, claiming to be their son. A son I might add that was very much a boy a few hours ago. It was kind of mind-boggling and the look they were giving me said it all. I was a stranger to them and no amount of explaining was going to convince them otherwise. But I had to try. I opened my mouth to say something but my mother stopped me with a hand, halting anything I was about to say.

“Look you may think you’re my Jaime but I think you’re a very confused young woman,” she said, crushing any attempt I had at being convincing. She looked at my father. “What my husband and I want to know is where is our son and what are you doing in our house?”

That crushed me even further. How could my own parents not believe me? I felt like crying. In fact, I felt the tears coming. But I held them back and instead took a deep breath. “I am your son, I’m not pretending anything. Something happened to me, something I can’t explain.”

I told them the story. I left out the part about transforming into a blue armored badass, that they wouldn’t believe. But I explained about finding the stone in the lot and how it changed me. I told them about my dreams and about how for the last few days my body was slowly feminizing itself. I pointed out how they noticed the changes. I told them how Brenda cut my hair and how it grew back. I told them to call Paco and Brenda and that they’d verify the story. I ended with lying to them this morning because I was too changed and I didn’t want to freak anyone out. I left out about going into the city; there was only so much someone could handle.

When I was done with my story, my father spoke first. His question was one I didn’t expect: “What’s the name of my favorite socket wrench?”

I groaned. My father named his tools; it helped him remember them in the garage, especially when things got hectic.

“Julio” I said without even giving it a thought.

My father’s eyes widened. But he didn’t say anything. He gave me a curt nod and slowly left the room. My mother opened her mouth to say something, but I think she was at a loss for words. Instead, she watched him leave and then turned back to me. She stared at me for a while, her eyes narrowing into slits. For a long time she just stared until finally she reached out and touched my face. Her touch was gently, caressing my cheek. Her hand lingered there for a second and then slowly pulled away. She gasped, her lip trembling. Our eyes locked and then she started crying. I knew then that she believed me. She leaned forward and pulled into a hug. I started crying too. We cried in each other’s arms for a while, neither willing to let the other go.

When we finally pulled away, Milagro was standing nearby. “So is she my new sister or not?”

My teary-eyed mother nodded her head. Milagro ran into the room and gave me another hug. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to get used to this hug thing. Milagro held on for the longest time. My mother had to pull her away. She was teary too. But it was for a different reason. It was common knowledge that Milagro wanted a sister. After she was born, my mother had a complication and had to have surgery. The end result being that she couldn’t have any more children. When my sister found out that she was the last, it hurt her a lot. We weren’t that far apart in age but it was enough that there was a difference. Not only that but I was her brother, and let’s face it, besides being a big protector, older brothers and little sisters don’t have a lot in common. I think she was a bit jealous of Soledad and her two younger sisters.

“We’re going to have so much fun,” she said happily when she finally pulled away. “We can do each other’s nails and style one another’s hair. It’s a shame it’s so short but I can work with that. I can borrow your clothes too and we can talk about boys and…”

She rattled on for a bit about all the cool stuff we could do together now that I was her sister. I kind of tuned her out, not ready to enter the wonderful world of girlhood just yet. My mother seemed to see my distress because she asked Milagro to leave the room again. Milagro pouted but got up reluctantly. She gave me another hug, kissed me on the cheek and actually called me “sis” before she gleefully galloped out of the room. I’ve never seen her so happy in my entire life. I’m glad that one of us was because I was kind of miserable.

I started crying again and my mother was there to hold me. “We’ll figure this out, meho”

She cried some more too and then she pulled herself together. She got and grabbed the phone. She was a Mom on a mission now and her first order of business was to figure out what was wrong with me. She called the doctor and tried to make an appointment for today. But of course there were no doctor’s offices open on Sundays. So she made one for tomorrow morning as early as possible. I kinda of already knew what was wrong with me but I wasn’t willing to let her know that. Parents like to find out what’s wrong with their kids and hope it’s something medical that can be fixed. But there was nothing medical about me; it was alien.

My mother made a couple more phone calls. I think she really wanted to get to the bottom of this thing. Me, I just wanted to relax now that the weight of my family finding out was off my shoulders. While my mother talked, I slipped off the couch and slunk up the stairs. She didn’t even notice I was gone. I was in the clear and made my way quickly down the hall. I was almost home free when Milagro stepped out of her room, right in front of me.

She looked like she wanted to kick me in the gut. She glared at me. “I just got off the phone with Soledad. You were over at her house yesterday and let Viviana braid your hair.”

I groaned. Of course she was going to call Soledad; the two of them were practically connected at the hip. I paled. If Soledad knew then her whole family knew because she was the biggest blabbermouth in the world. What was Paco going to think? What was Brenda going to think? Milagro glared at me, clearly waiting for an explanation. I pushed her aside, not ready to go into “girl talk” just yet. She huffed and slammed her door. It was amazing how the tides changed. One minute I was her idol and know I was public enemy number one. I’ll never understand girls.

I rushed into my room and locked the door behind me. I dragged my feet over to my bed and fell face first onto it. The day was exhausting and before I knew it, my eyelids fluttered and I drifted off into slumber land.

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“Give me a G, give me an O, give me a B, E, E, T, L, E, S. What’s that spell?” I shouted as loud as I could with the other girls on the sidelines. “Go Beetles!”

It floated away, disappearing. I grinned. I was in charge of this operation now. I flexed my fingers and as I did so, the armor disappeared, oozing back into me from whence it came.