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Author's Note: See right back to Season just like I promised. Everyone seemed to think I was abandoning this story lol. My Dearest Daughter was something I had planned for a while actually, I was just waiting for Maggie to finish Cindy's story before I could write it. i'm afraid not a lot happens in this one but I promise to have some action in the next. But now that that's out of the way I can finally get back to Kelly. I'd like to thank djkauf for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

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THIRTEEN:

It was hard to look in the mirror now and not see my female self. Even now that I was back to being a boy, I could still see her. It didn’t help that after this last change back, my hair was longer again and my face was even softer. I almost had to squint now to not notice it. I still looked a bit like me but there was a lot of her there as well. Even now as I stood here without my shirt, I started to notice other changes as well. My nipples looked bigger and my body was a lot thinner than before. I never really had any muscles to begin with but those I did have were now different. I can’t really explain it. Then there was my hips and butt both of which looked definitely bigger.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening. It seemed every time I turned back I was losing a part of myself to her.

That wasn’t the scariest thing about all of this either. The scariest thing was the fact that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It’s been nearly a week since my grandmother and the Coven gave me that necklace and so far it’s been working. I’m me again, the boy I was meant to be. I thought that by changing back things would finally be different. For the most part they were. Everyone at school who thought of me as a girl no longer did, I was back in boy’s PE and Jack had finally stopped hitting on me all the time. In fact, he had started to pursue someone else. My grandmother told me the Coven took care of all that. I’m not sure what they did but it was like the girl me never existed. I thought it would be absolutely perfect, finally being able to be myself. I got to be myself through Thanksgiving, got to sit there and wonder about my parents and worry. Got to be a bit envious of Mary too, she was happy and I felt off.

I felt empty.

My thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the bathroom door. I quickly pulled my shirt on, even though my hair was still pretty damp from the shower. Upon opening the door, I found Mary.

“You know you may be a guy again but you sure spend a lot of time in the bathroom.”

She was back to being a bitch again.

I didn’t respond. Though we were speaking to one another again, we didn’t really have much to say. I think Mary was more thrilled than anyone to see that I was back to normal. It was clear that throwing her down the hall like that really pissed her off. I guess I couldn’t really blame her. I would have been pissed too, especially if my previously Dud cousin was the one who did it. I couldn’t help but sigh a bit, as I thought about it though. For a very small moment, I had magic. The thing I’d dreamed about my whole life and now it was gone. Of course, I tried doing some after I changed back, I tried for hours but there was nothing. So as a girl, I was a powerful witch and as a guy, I was a nothing.

Thanks a lot Powers That Be.

After I finished getting dressed, I headed into the kitchen. My grandmother was sitting at the table, coffee cup in hand.

“Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?”

Wow. I never thought I’d hear those words out of her mouth. Sure, my grandmother always sent me a card on my birthday with some money but I couldn’t remember the last time she actually showed up to one of my parties. Frankly, with everything that had been going on, I almost forgot it was coming up. Sure it was in the back of my mind but without my parents around. I figured it was going to go ignored this year.

Mom and Dad talked about a big party with all my friends. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I didn’t really have any.

“Can I have a party?” I asked.

She set down her coffee and stared at me for a minute or so. “If that’s what you want.”

“What does he want?” asked Mary as she came into the room, drying her hair.

It amazed me how quickly she took a shower.

“Your cousin’s birthday is this weekend. We were discussing what he wanted to do for it.”

It was strange to have such a normal conversation with these people. It was almost like we were a real family and actually liked one another.

“So he gets a party?”

“We were just discussing it. Before you complain, I seem to remember you not wanting a party for your 16th birthday, something about Sweet 16’s being clichéd and overrated.”

“But he gets one” she snapped. “He’s a guy.”

For a split second I almost shouted, “I am not” until I realized what she just said. She called me a guy, not a girl. It was a rarity for me. I was glad I stopped myself though because for a split second I actually forgot I was a guy. That little bit scared me. Over the past week, I kept catching myself doing things---like almost walking into the girl’s room, looking at myself in the mirror more. I even mistakenly started gossiping with Maggie at lunch the other day. I got a strange look from both her and Misty and an even stranger one from our new table buddy---Jack. What was worse was the fact that none of them remembered the girl me. Whatever spell the Coven used, it made everyone in town---except me and the witches---forget about female Kelly.

Sadly, I couldn’t forget and that was part of the problem.

“So Kelly, the choice is yours”

A real party, with actual friends.

“I can invite anyone?”

“It is your party.”

I smiled. “I think a party would be great.”

Of course, I didn’t know the first thing about parties. Back at home, most of my birthday parties consisted of me and Tommy sitting around playing computer games. We’d have dinner with my parents, cake and ice cream then a sleepover. It was like that year after year. We did the same thing when Tommy’s birthday came around. Every once in a while his parties would have some of his family but it was usually the two of us, best buds for life. Well it used to be that way. I was pretty convinced that this year was going to be different. It was already different. Tommy was born in July so when his party came over the summer, he neglected to invite me. Not that I would have wanted to go, it was one of those big boy girl parties. Lots of music and dancing---something I wasn’t really interested in.

“We should make a list” sad Maggie as the two of us walked down the hall.

“What for?”

She rolled her eyes. “For your party. Tell me who you want to invite and put them on the list.”

“You, of course, and the other Duds. Misty definitely” I sighed. “I really don’t know that many more people.”

By that time, the two of us had walked into the lunchroom. We got in line, slowly moving along as usual. It was definitely a strange day but no different than the ones I’d been having all week. Though I looked more like a girl than ever before, everyone thought of me as a guy. Whatever magic spell was used to change their minds was amazing. Weeks ago I would have been thrilled by that prospect but for some reason I felt a little let down. I’m not saying I didn’t want to be called a boy---that was a dream come true actually---I was just a little surprised that no one thought of me as a girl anymore. I was so used to it that I didn’t know to react otherwise.

We went through the line and found our usual table. Jack was already there with Misty. He was pouring on the charm like usual. Misty didn’t seem too impressed by it though.

“One date”

“No.”

“C’mon” whined Jack, trying to woo her with puppy dog eyes. “You might really enjoy my company.”

“You’re not my type.”

Misty had come a long way from the cold and quiet girl hiding in the back of the classroom. She was still a little cold but I think making friends with her helped a lot. She didn’t dress as masculine now, either. She wasn’t wearing a skirt of course but she had ditched the hoodie. Surprisingly I did as well. There was no reason to hide myself away now that everyone thought I was a guy. The hair bothered me a bit though---I currently had it pulled back in a ponytail. The strange thing was that no one seemed to notice or they thought it had always been that way. Mary kept scoffing at it though, she being one of the few who remembered what had happened.

When we got to the table, Jack turned to me. “Dude, Kelly, tell her what a great guy I am.”

“I can’t because I’m not prone to lying.”

Maggie and Misty laughed.

“That’s cold dude.”

“Ok guys” said Maggie after she was done laughing. “It’s Kelly’s birthday party this weekend and you’re both invited.”

“Count me in,” said Jack.

“I’m not sure if…” Misty turned and looked across the lunchroom, toward the table Mary was sitting at.

“Screw her,” I said, “she’s not in control of things in our house.

You’re my guest and I want you there.”

Misty smiled at that. “I’ll try to make it.”

After that, Maggie got up and started making the rounds. Ever since the first day I’d met her, she was starting to open up a lot more. She’d been moving through the inner circle of geekdom in Ravencrest High. I was happy for her, too. Maggie had been such a quiet, shy girl at first but now she was really opening up. I found her currently talking to a group of guys I knew from Gym, two of them---Takeshi and Wallace---sometimes sat with us. From there it was onto a table of girls---Ashley, Leslie and Jan. They were a bit outside our social circle but I saw what Maggie was trying to do. She knew that I didn’t really know a lot of people so she was trying to get me as many friends as possible. The last table she went to of course was Mary.

Mary cast me a nasty glance. One of these days, I was going to have to get to the bottom of her malfunction.

Eventually Maggie came back to us.

“Ok so mission successful. I’ve managed to secure Takeshi and Wallace, Ashley is a definite, Leslie and Jan are maybes. Greg said he’d be there and Tracy too but I think your cousin might try to talk them out of it.”

“You think Charlie and the others would come?” I asked, hopeful.

Charlie and I didn’t really hit it off but I was hoping to change that.

“I can ask,” said Maggie, giving me a hopeful smile.

Ok so I wasn’t sure how many people would eventually show up but at least my first successful birthday party was well on its way.

The ringing of my cell woke me. I was lying on my back again---something that I’d been doing since after changing back. I guess those nights as a girl, trying not to squish my breasts had ingrained something in me. When I felt the weight though, I thought for a split second that they’d actually come back. As soon as I opened my eyes, however I was slightly disappointed to see that it was in fact Diamond. Yes, disappointed. It was hard to even think that but it was the truth. What sane, normal guy was disappointed to not wake up with breasts?

I tried to force that thought away as I scrabbled for the night stand. I grabbed my cell, glad it was still ringing.

“Hello” I croaked in a groggy tone.

“Oh sweetie, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

I snapped up instantly in bed, Diamond flew across the room. I think there might have even been a thud when he hit the wall.

“Mom” I gasped, instantly awake.

“I didn’t wake you did I?”

“Yes, but I don’t care” I said, finding tears running down my face. “It’s just so good to hear your voice too, I’ve really missed you.”

I could hear the tears in Mom’s voice too. “I’m really sorry about all this sweetie. Your father and I are glad you’re safe. We were a little worried these last few days. Your grandmother called us after…well after what happened.”

“I’m fine Mom. There was a little strangeness for a bit but it’s better now. I’m back to my old self.”

I felt a bit hollow saying that though.

“You don’t’ sound so sure. Is everything ok?”

I wanted to lie to her but I couldn’t. She was my mother after all; she could always tell I was lying. So I told her the truth, told her about my confusion, about my fear. I finally admitted to her and myself that I kind of liked being a girl. I’m not saying I wanted to be one but something about it felt right. That was the real part of all of this that I was afraid to admit. I was scared of what saying that might mean, I was still scared telling her too. I let it all out though. All my fears, all my joys. It was scary sure but it was a bit liberating too. All week it had been bottling up, most of it I didn’t really understand until it came out of my mouth.

It was so simple though. I was a guy who felt better as a girl.

“Can I ask you one question honey?” she asked when I was finished.

“It’s not bad is it?”

She laughed. “Not at all” I sighed before she continued. “What I want to know is do you feel happy when you’re a girl?”

I wanted to say yes right away but I gave myself some time to think.

Mom took my silence to mean something else.

“It’s OK that you’re unsure. You need time to think about it and I understand that. You and I can discuss it more when I get back.”

“When are you getting back?”

“Soon I hope.”

“Does that mean you caught them?”

Mom took a moment then sighed. “No, it’s strange. The last time we were here they went out of their way to try and stop us but now…” her voice trailed off. She laughed. “You don’t want to hear about this. I don’t want to talk about it either. I called for a reason. My baby is turning sixteen tomorrow.”

“Mom” I groaned at being called a baby.

She ignored it of course. “Your father and I are a bit upset about not being there but I promise we’ll make it up to you when we get back. I’ll throw you a great party. How does that sound?”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that my grandmother was already doing that so I told her it sounded great. Hopefully that was one of the lies that she didn’t detect.

After that, she wanted to know everything about my time as a girl. I gave her the cliff notes version. I think she rather enjoyed it. I tried to leave nothing out. I even made the mistake of telling her about Jack. She got a kick out of that one. She laughed for quite a while which was not embarrassing for me in the least. When I got to the part about the magic though, she went real quiet. For a moment, I thought she’d actually hung up on me.

“Mom, is everything OK?”

“I suppose it makes sense,” she finally said. “You had no gift as a boy but of course as a girl your magic would have to manifest itself. I tell me you didn’t do anything stupid?”

I lied again. I’m not sure she believed it or not but she didn’t say anything.

“Mom” I said after another long moment of silence. “I’m kind of scared. I’m not sure what’s happening. I…I…wish you and Dad were here.”

The tears started flowing again.

“I wish we were there too, baby,” Mom was crying again. “When I get back, I’m going to want to braid this new hair of yours.”

“As long as there’s no bows.”

“Deal.”

My phone beeped after that, signaling the fact that the battery was low.

“I love you Mom,” I said, hoping it didn’t die before I got that out of my mouth.

“I lo…”

The phone went dead.

I held onto it for a while, crying. I’m not sure what I was crying about more though. The fact that I missed my mother so much or that I was never going to be a girl again, the one I just realized I liked being. I sat there and cried for a while. When I finally stopped, I got up and put my phone on the charger. With that out of the way, I started my morning routine. In the shower, I found myself taking the time to wash my new delicate and much softer hair. As I was doing that, I couldn’t help but notice that my nipples were a lot more tender than usual. I was transfixed by them the whole time I was in the shower. When I finally got out and looked at myself in the mirror, I realized them were a bit puffy too.

Must be the hot water.

Going to my room to get dressed, I found my pants a bit tight too. It wasn’t that I was gaining weight but it was almost as if my hips had gotten wider. I finally have up on the boy’s jeans and went to one of my shopping bags. It saddened me that Maggie didn’t remember going shopping with girl me. I pulled out one of my pairs of jeans and put them on. It scared me how well they actually fit. It also scared me that I enjoyed wearing them. Thankfully, my shirt went on without a problem. Before leaving, I stopped to grab my hoodie. I realized then that not only did I not need it, I didn’t really want it either. I left the room and headed down the stairs. When I walked into the kitchen, I felt lighter than air.

Mary was sitting at the table. She gave me a strange look when I entered.

“What the hell is up with you?”

“My Mom called,” I said happily, dropping into my usual chair.

“That’s great but the perky is freaking me out.”

Our grandmother came into the room after. We discussed the party, what I wanted to do and what she was willing to give me. It came down to the basics---at least on her end. I was to provide anything else. I was surprised when Mary said she’d help, she could get Tracy to lend us some high-end entertainment equipment. With that settled, breakfast was kind of quiet. After breakfast, the two of us headed outside to get our bikes. I was surprised though when a car pulled up with Tracy behind the wheel.

“Later loser” said Mary, running to the car.

When she opened the passenger door, I heard Tracy say. “Doesn’t Kelly want a ride too?”

Mary responded “No” and closed the door.

So much for things being different.

I went to our garage to get the bike Tracy had so nicely lent me. As I was taking it out, I noticed both tires were flat. I cursed. A small part of me was convinced that Mary did it out of spite. She said she hadn’t wanted a sweet 16 party but she sure was pretty pissed when my grandmother offered me one. I just never thought she’d go as low as popping my tires. Mary was out of control, someone really needed to put the little bitch in her place.

If I still had magic, I would definitely do it.

I could stew on things that might be though. Right now I had to worry about the here and the now. The here was school and if I didn’t get to it I was going to be in deep you-know-what. School was usually a fifteen minute ride by bike every morning, sometimes faster if I wasn’t being so lazy. I’m not sure how long it was to walk but I knew if I didn’t start moving, I was definitely going to be late. It was Friday; I didn’t want to be late because I might end up with Saturday morning detention or something. I know, it’s usually three strikes but that whole stunt of Melissa’s---taking me out of school like that, well it had some repercussions. Sure, I was with her but she did it without permission so we both got penalized for it. I got off with a warning but was told if I did anything like that, again I was going to be punished. I liked McC but he tended to be a little harsh when it came to things like that. It was like the man was an old man living in a younger man’s body; his methods already way out dated.

I stopped thinking about punishment and started walking.

I just hoped that that crazy Ravencrest thing didn’t kick in now. All I needed was to make it to school an hour after I left home. I asked my grandmother about it the other day and at first, she pretended she didn’t know what I was talking about but I pressed her further. She finally confessed it had something to do with the nature of the town. The town itself was built on some kind of magical vortex, that’s the reason there was a large concentration of Unseen here. Any one place in the world has Unseen but Ravencrest had one of the largest populations. There were other magical vortices like this too but not necessarily in the same form. She mentioned a town in New England for example, a place I’d heard my parents mention once or twice.

My grandmother’s explanation made me wonder about this place. Did that mean Ravencrest chose who to screw with? It was strange that one day it would take ten minutes to get to some place and the next it would take forty-five. Or was it just that some people had all the luck and others were just unfortunate enough to get screwed. It was something interesting to ponder but definitely not something to think about as you were trying to get to some place fast.

I picked up my pace, hoping that maybe I could get there at a brisk walk. The worse part of it though was the fact that after leaving our little neighborhood, everything was up hill for about five minutes. Well, five minutes by bike, it was probably going to be more like ten on foot. I tried not to think about that as I pressed on, huffing up the hill. At the top, I could see the school in the distance. I cursed because there were people slowly filing their way inside. Usually a lot of the kids milled around outside for a while and didn’t really start ushering in until it was close to the bell ringing. Seeing the large group going in now told me that I was definitely going to be late.

I started run down the hill as fast as I could.

I was halfway down when I heard the car. I didn’t think anything of it at first because there were always cars coming over the hill. It wasn’t until it got a bit closer that I stopped to take a look. It was the revving of the engine that made me pause. What I saw sent a horrible chill up my spine: it was a black car, a very familiar black car. It was barreling toward me pretty fast, too fast. I cursed and unfroze, putting on speed. The car revved its engine; I could hear it pick up speed. It was those fucking bastards but how did they know I was here. I thought we lost them at the airport, I thought that I was supposed to be safe here.

How safe was this?

I ran as hard and as fast as I could. Sadly, only The Flash could actually out run a car. Any minute I was certain they were going to slam their bumper into the back of my legs and then it was going to be all over. I could feel the car, it was right behind me. I could almost hear those smug bastards laughing. I closed my eyes, tears running wildly down my cheeks. I didn’t stop running though; I just knew it was inevitable. But it didn’t happen. I forced my eyes open. The car whipped past me, barreling down the road a bit before it came to a screeching halt. I knew their plan. They didn’t want to kill me; they were just trying to grab me. It was just like before, back at home on the bridge. I had no idea what these guys wanted but it was clear I was part of their plan.

I came to an abrupt halt as well. I was at the bottom of the hill now; they were about hundred feet ahead of me. The passenger side door opened and Scar Face stepped out. Seeing him sent a sudden chill up and down my spine.

“End of the road kid” he said loudly as he started walking toward me. “Let’s not make this any messier than it has to be.”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I looked around, trying to find some way to escape. If I could just make it past them, I could definitely run the rest of the way to the school. But they had their car turned sideways in the road. The only way forward was to get past them and that was out of question. Calling for help was out of the question too because stupidly my cell was back home charging. One of these days, I was going to remember to charge it beforehand.

“This is stupid,” said Scar Face, he was almost on top of me now.

“There’s nowhere to go.”

I snapped to the left. The great thing about this particular stretch of road was the fact that there was woods on either side of it. I heard rumors of kids taking shortcuts through them to school all the time but I never really bothered with it because I always had the bike. Now though it seemed like the only option open to me.

Scar Face was within ten feet of me now. I could see the smug look on his face, as he got closer.

I took a deep breath and made a break for the woods. I heard him curse loudly and then he gave chase. I reached the woods first, crashing through the underbrush. A few seconds later, I heard him do the same. Thankfully, the woods were to my advantage. This particular section of it was heavily overgrown and a lot of the trees were closer together. Where I could squeeze through the gaps with ease, I could hear him cursing. It didn’t take long for me to realize he was no longer chasing me but I didn’t stop. I pressed on, tears flowing, heart pounding. When I finally found the end of the forest, I burst through.

I was on the east lawn of the school. The building was looming right in front of me. I took a moment to stop and catch my breath. Then I put whatever energy I had left into run and made a break for it. When I got to the building, I pulled the door open and practically threw myself inside. I stopped and caught my breath for a moment, wiped my tears and headed to class.

That was close. Too close.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF