"Who's the cute guy over there?" Nikki asked.
T. J. and Sarah's heads swiveled abruptly to follow Nikki's line of sight to a good looking guy with a golden tan and long blonde hair loosely tied back. He had a sexy surfer kind of vibe going for him.
"A little less obvious next time?" Nikki rolled her eyes.
"New kid, just transferred in." T.J. answered. "He's in my Biology class. Dreamy isn't he?"
Nikki smiled as the new guy's eyes fell across her and her friends. "He's gorgeous." Nikki agreed. "He have a name?"

Episode 2

Nikki pulled up to the nearly full parking lot at school. "Mom gave you a note, right?" She asked Alicia.

"Yeah." Alicia adjusted the strap of her book bag.

Nikki stopped outside of the school building and took a deep breath.

"Come, on Nikki. It's not like they don't know already." Alicia stated.

"I know. It's just ... never mind." Nikki opened the door. "Remember, I won't be able to take you home tonight."

"Have a good day, sis." Alicia waved.

Nikki stood at the front office desk.

"How may I help . . . oh, Nikki. How are you?" Mrs. Greer greeted.

"I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Nikki forced a smile.

"I can see that." She smiled. "Well, you look very pretty today."

"Thanks." Nikki forced sweetness into her voice. Part of her hated that she looked 'pretty' or 'cute'. It was the male part of her brain screaming. "I'm just checking in." She stated. "Sorry I'm late, but it was difficult getting up this morning. I had a tough night."

Mrs. Greer smiled and nodded. "Your mother called and told me about your coworker getting shot. I hope he is okay."

Nikki nodded. Here's your hall pass. Let me know if you have any troubles."

Nikki smiled and waved as she ducked out of the office. If only Mrs. Greer knew the kinds of troubles that she was having.

Mrs. Burns did a double take as Nikki entered the class. She handed the History instructor her hall pass and looked to find her seat. As usual a few girls gasped and a few guys snickered. Nikki took a deep breath to try to keep from blushing. She found her desk and sat down. Nikki found her seat and looked around for help.

"Hey, Nikki." a familiar voice whispered. "Page two seventy-one."

Nikki opened her book to look upon the chapter dealing with the Black Plague. She began to wonder what she had walked into.

"Just imagine." Mrs. Burns stated. "Within one week half of everyone in your neighborhood is dead. Whole families wiped out. If you were lucky, only half of your own family killed. In most places only one of a family of four would live through the epidemic."

Only half of the class was listening, the straight A students were all grossed out, their faces turning white and in once case, green.

Nikki found the page in her book and quickly assessed why they were feeling ill. The illustrations of the plague were quite gross.

Class was over soon enough now she just had to get through the halls without too many comments and looks.

"Nikki!" a voice rang out over the cafeteria. "We saved a seat for you." Sarah, sitting next to T.J. waved.

Nikki smiled and tried to wave with one hand as she approached.

"Did you hear about the shooting at the mall last night?" Sarah asked as Nikki sat down.

"I was there." Nikki stated.

"Oh my God! were you working?" T.J. asked.

Nikki leaned her head in, the others followed her example, their foreheads just inches apart. "You can't repeat what I'm about to say." She looked from friend to friend. The two girls nodded eagerly. anything to get the latest gossip. "I mean it." She stated. "No one."

"What?" Sarah urged.

"I saw it." Nikki told them. "I was the one who called 911 and tried to keep Vic from bleeding out."

"No way." T.J.'s eyes were as large as tea saucers.

Nikki nodded. "You can't tell a single person. You two are the only ones who know, so if it gets out, I'll know that one of you blabbed."

"Did you see who shot him?" Sarah whispered.

Nikki nodded.

"Who?" both girls urged.

Nikki shook her head. "I can't. He saw me, well, he saw Nick."

"Crap." T.J. swore.

"Is that what triggered your transition?" Sarah asked.

Nikki nodded. Sarah grew up a few houses down from her. The two hadn't been close because Nick was all boy. but once He had transitioned a few times, Sarah and Nikki became friends.

"Does this shooter know that you are a gendermorph?" T.J. inquired.

Nikki shook her head. "I don't believe so."

"So as long as you are in 'girl mode' you'll be safe." Sarah finished.

Nikki shrugged. "I guess. so long as he doesn't find out."

"So how do you keep from transitioning?" T.J. inquired.

Nikki swallowed. "Stress is my trigger." She stated.

"And sex." Sarah stated the obvious.

Nikki could feel her face redden at the obvious. Gendermorphs were thought of as freaks because they transitioned after having an orgasm. Other triggers also set off the sex changing process. Although Stress was one of the more common triggers. She had heard of gendermorphs who had triggers such as being tickled, being frightened, and she had even heard of one who transitioned after having allergy attacks.

"So we just have to keep you from stressing out for the next couple of weeks." Sarah smiled.

"How much stress are we talking about?" T.J. inquired. "I mean is it as simple as cramming for a Chemistry test? or more along the lines of getting into a car accident?"

"It varies." Nikki shrugged. "Stress is relative. I've been triggered by something as simple as getting asked to read a paragraph in English class. Once I was in a fender bender with my dad in the passenger's seat and didn't transition. It just depends."

"No warning, just wake up as a different person." T. J. shook her head with disbelief.

"Are you working tomorrow?" Sarah inquired.

"No. I have the night off."

"Good. then we can have a girl's night at my place."

"If I don't transition again." Nikki reminded.

"Yes. You cannot transition tonight."

"I'll bring the movies." T. J. volunteered.

"No more horror movies, T. J. " Sarah warned.

"Who's the cute guy over there?" Nikki asked.

T. J. and Sarah's heads swiveled abruptly to follow Nikki's line of sight to a good looking guy with a golden tan and long blonde hair loosely tied back. He had a sexy surfer kind of vibe going for him.

"A little less obvious next time?" Nikki rolled her eyes.

"New kid, just transferred in." T.J. answered. "He's in my Biology class. Dreamy isn't he?"

Nikki smiled as the new guy's eyes fell across her and her friends. "He's gorgeous." Nikki agreed. "He have a name?"

"I think it's Landon." T.J. wasn't sure.

"You think?" Sarah asked.

"I was a little to buys admiring his eyes and his arms." T.J. sighed heavily.

"He's too good looking." Nikki sighed. "He's probably an asshole or extremely stuck on himself."

T.J. shrugged. "Today's his first day. I don't know."

The new guy's eyes locked with Nikki's and he quickly became absorbed in his food.

"He looks kind of shy." Sarah smiled.

Nikki watched in horror as Ashley the queen of the mean girls of the school approached Landon and began flirting with him.

"Well, that settles that." Sarah sighed. "Ashley is pissing all over him, which means that he is off the market, for now."

"That Bitch can have any guy at this school just by waving a finger at them. Why does she have to zero in on him?" T.J. growled.

"You don't have phys ed today, right?" Sarah realized.

"Nope." Nikki smiled. "I report to study hall with you."

"Well, that's one good thing about you being a gendermorph."

"It comes in handy."

Nikki closed her locker and made her way to Study hall. Gendermorphs were excused from phys ed when they were not in their birth gender. Some paranoid parents encouraged the Congressmen and Senators of the state to pass the law. Supposedly it was for their own protection, but more importantly it was because some law maker's daughter felt 'wierded' out by a gendermorph seeing her naked in the showes or something after they transitioned. The law makers were just too stupid to understand that most gendermorphs were hetero-sexual regardless of what gender they were at the time. Nick loved petite redheads with freckles while Nikki loved strong athletic blondes with brains. It was just one of the reasons why gendermorphs usually stayed single until college.

Nikki set her books down on a desk near Sarah and sat down. She had Geometry homework to try and finish so that she didn't have to take it home after work.

The usual noise in study hall suddenly died out. Curious, Nikki raised her head to see Landon enter the room. His beautiful eyes scanned the room and those all staring at him. He confidently made his way to the instructor's desk and handed him his class schedule.

Nikki's heat quickened as he was pointed to an open desk one row over and one desk behind her. Those blue eyes would be able to watch her without her knowing. The idea both thrilled her and made her self-conscious. She put her head back down and tried to concentrate on her home work.

A note landed on her desk. Nikki unfolded it and scanned its contents. It was from Sarah.

You have good taste. he is even cuter up close. BTW he's been watching you.

Nikki suppressed a shudder and tried to put the thought out of her mind. she was having a hard enough time concentrating on her school work without having to think about Landon.

finally a few minutes before class was to let out, she finished the last problem and closed her book. she darted a look behind her and blushed as Landon flashed her a smile.

"Hi." he mouthed.

"Hi." She mouthed back.

The bell rang and the class erupted into commotion as everyone scrambled to get to their last class of the day.

Nikki gathered her books and looked up to see that Landon was already exiting the room.

"He has the hots for you." Sarah giggled.

"Only until he finds out about me." Nikki shrugged. "The first person he asks will tell him I'm a gendermorph and he'll find the farthest seat in the room from me."

The two walked to their locker where Nikki put away her book. "What did I miss in Jazz this morning?" Nikki inquired.

"Not much. Just getting ready for the competition."

"Was Mr. Hill upset that I wasn't there?"

"I'm sure he'll understand, if he was."

Sarah and Nikki walked into the band room. Students were already warming up.

"I've got to warm up." Sarah smiled.

Nikki found Mr. Hill staring at a piece of music on his stand. "Mr. Hill?"

The band instructor looked up and blinked.

"Nikki?" he asked.

Nikki nodded with a smile.

"Well that explains why you weren't here this morning." Mr. Hill scratched at his already wild hair. "How do you feel?"

Nikki shrugged. "Okay."

"Do you feel like playing the sax today?"

"Sure." Nikki shrugged. She usually played piano in this band, but she was comfortable on sax as well. "Which one?"
"Tenor. We have a new student who plays the sax."
Nikki's heart skipped a beat. Could it be? could this Landon kid be a band geek too? How could he. he was beautiful. beautiful people didn't normally associate with the band geeks especially band geeks in Show Band.

Nikki quickly scanned the room and found the blonde transfer student sitting in the sax section talking quietly with the alto sax player and a couple of clarinet players who he'd caught the attention of.

"You have your sax?" Mr. Hill asked.

"In my car." Nikki stated with a nod.

"I would like you to play with Landon and get him comfortable with the music and cues.

"Me?"

Mr. Hill nodded.

Nikki's heart skipped a beat then began to pound. She was to spend the next few days with one of the cutest guys she had laid eyes upon in a long time. Suddenly she wished she had worn a skirt today, or at least tighter jeans. She gulped and nodded to her band instructor.

Nikki quickly retrieved her instrument and immediately stuck a reed in her mouth to moisten it. The Show Band was already starting their scales as Nikki pieced her sax together. Nikki tucked her lower lip as she put the mouthpiece to her lips and blew a long 'C'. She then ran up and down a chromatic scale before finding her way to the empty seat beside Landon.

"Hi, I'm Nikki." She smiled.

"I'm Landon." the blonde grinned back. His hair was a natural blonde that had seen lots of sunshine. lighter almost white pieces blended with the honey colored tresses.

"Mr. Hill asked me to show you the ropes and get you comfortable with the cues." She explained.

"Thanks." Landon smiled. "I've never been in a Show band before. Do you really perform in the local musicals?"

Nikki nodded before starting the next scale in the cycle.

"Most of us here can play multiple instruments. That way we can be more versatile with our sound. I play mostly piano in this band, but I also play sax, clarinet when needed and a little bass clarinet." She almost felt like she was bragging. "What about you? what others do you play?"

They started through some more warm-ups before Landon had a chance to answer. "Tenor is my primary instrument, but I play clarinet, and drums. and I can get by on the guitar." he shrugged.

"Are you in any other bands?" Nikki inquired.

"I started Jazz this morning." he nodded. "You?"

"I'm in Jazz too. I over slept this morning so I didn't make it in." Nikki blushed a little. "What are you playing in Jazz?"

"Right now, I'm switching out with your bass and I guess I'll be filling in with the sax from time to time. You?"

"Lead Tenor." Nikki smiled.

"So you're my competition, huh?" Landon smirked.

"No. Just a friend." She smiled back. "You'll never be able to unseat me."

Landon smiled even brighter. He had such a bright, engaging smile, she found it hard not smiling back.

He was a good sax player too; as she found out during the class. He sight read well and was able to anticipate the cues and quickly adjusted to changes made in the music.

"Thanks for your help, Nikki."

"No problem. It was nice meeting you."

"You doing anything after school?" he asked.

"Sorry. I've got to work."

"Oh." his face was crest fallen.

"New school, new town. It must be hard." Nikki tried to empathize.

Landon nodded. "That is only part of it."

Nikki thought for a moment. "I'm not busy tomorrow after school." she left it open ended.

"Perhaps we can hang out?" Landon asked hopeful.

Nikki's heart raced. "We'll see." She nodded.

In her head she was screaming. What are you doing? What if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed tomorrow? If you transition tonight he'll never speak to you again. He'll look at you like most of the other boys do. as a freak.

She could just tell him. but then he'd freak out in front of her. Maybe, just maybe, She'll be Nikki again tomorrow so that he would be able to get to know her better before finding out.

"Nikki, can I get a ride to the mall?" Sarah asked as she was putting her sax away.

"Sure."

Sarah lowered her voice. "Lucky bitch." She stated. "You spent all class period talking to him. he was flirting big time."

"He was not." Nikki defended.

"Oh yes he was. He is really in to you."

"Until I wake up on the wrong side of the bed."

"You never know. Some guys are open minded. Especially surfers from California."

"I didn't ask him where he was from." Nikki realized. "He does look like a surfer though."

Nikki signed in to the computer at work and made her way to the women's locker room.

"Hey Nikki." Darlene greeted. "It's funny how I was just talking to Nick last night about not seeing you, and here you are. How are you doing?"

"Everyone keeps asking me that." Nikki sighed. Darlene was one member of the population who insisted on treating gendermorphs as two separate people. Some religions did that to feel better about the possibility. "I got a bit stressed out last night and was triggered into waking up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I heard you were the one who saved Vic's life." Darlene ventured.

"I was just the first person to arrive." Nikki shrugged it off.

"Did you see him get shot?"

Nikki shook her head. That way she wouldn't have to lie.

"Was there a lot of blood?"

Nikki nodded. Two shots to the chest, one to the abdomen. Of course there was a lot of blood.

"You sure are brave." Darlene stated. "I don't know what I would do."

"Probably the same thing I did." Nikki stated. "Call 911, apply direct pressure and try to keep him conscious."

"You sure you don't want to take today off?" Darlene asked.

"I didn't know it was an option."

"I'm sure if you go to H.R. and told them that you weren't feeling well, they'd let you go home with pay." She instructed. "It's the least they could do for you saving a co-worker's life."

"I was hoping to just get lost in the music." Nikki pulled off her blouse and pulled on a button down blouse. It took her a moment to adjust to the buttons being on the opposite side.

She slid off her jeans and wormed her way into her nylons before stepping into her knee length black pencil skirt.

"Which clothes do you prefer?" Darlene asked.

"What?" Nikki's mind was elsewhere.

"Do you like wearing skirts or pants better?"

"I prefer skirts over ties." Nikki stated. "Pants, skirts. it all depends upon my mood."

"What about heels?"

"Sometimes I like them." Nikki shrugged. "There are a lot of guys dress shoes that hurt just as bad if not worse than pumps."

"Really?"

"Try wearing a tux and ill fitting tux shoes. I think I'd rather wear pumps than those shoes ever again. besides, there are a lot of very cute shoes for women. Guys don't have as much of a selection."

Nikki slipped into her three inch pumps and checked herself in the mirror. "Do you have any mascara I can touch up with?" She asked.

"Sure." Darlene pulled some out of her locker and tossed it to her.

"Thanks."

After touching up, Nikki picked up a folder of music and made her way to the center of the store where the piano was quietly awaiting her arrival.

Opening the lid, she sat down on the bench, making sure to tuck her hands along the back of her skirt. She looked around and took a deep breath. she closed her eyes and took a second deep breath as she placed her fingers on the keys. Lightly she began playing an easy piece as a warm up. She kept her eyes closed as she played, listening to each note, checking its pitch and feeling the keyboard's response time.

When she finished, she opened her eyes and spotted Lil' Foot across the store, watching her.

To Be Continued...