I felt self-conscious at being out in public for the first time as a girl and I kept glaring at mom and aunt June, blaming them for dragging me here to the mall. They said it was to get me some clothes to fit my new body, but I secretly suspected a conspiracy to humiliate me.

As I walked through the mall, I felt as though everyone was staring at me, and that at any moment someone would point me out as a fraud or a crossdresser. I knew that this was mostly just my imagination and a little paranoia. In reality, they were more likely to call me a tomboy.

At the moment, I was in what seemed to be my ‘normal’ girl form, a female version of my usual self. I was kind of cute but certainly no bombshell. Of course, that could be changed with little more than a thought, but I was already self-conscious enough and didn’t want any more attention.

“We’re going to need a variety of clothes,” mom said thoughtfully. “We’ll need things to fit you as you are now since this seems to be your default, but we’ll need some things for when you use your talent as well.”

“And perhaps for his…her Were form,” aunt June commented thoughtfully.

“Good point,” mom agreed. “That one will be a little more difficult to find things to fit for.”

“Come on,” I snapped in annoyance, blushing brightly as mom gestured to a lingerie store. “You guys didn’t even try changing me back to normal…” I glared at aunt June and insisted, “There has to be some kind of spell.”

“Not really,” aunt June started, but she hesitated so I knew she was hiding something.

“There is a spell,” I exclaimed, glaring at her suspiciously. “Why didn’t you try it?”

Mom looked to aunt June and asked, “Is Aaron right?”

“Well,” aunt June responded with a shrug. “Yes and no.”

Mom and I both glared at aunt June so she let out a sigh. “There is a possibility, but I didn’t mention it because I’m pretty sure it won’t work and I don’t work to get your hopes up.”

“What do you mean?” mom asked with a scowl.

“There are spells to change a person’s gender,” aunt June answered. “I don’t have any of them, but I can get my hands on one fairly easily. The problem is, any of the ones I would be able to cast would only be for a temporary gender change…for an hour or so. But I’m afraid even that might not work well for Aaron.”

“Why not?” I demanded impatiently.

“Because your sorcerer’s mark is branded to your being the same way your talent is,” aunt June explained. “Sorcerer’s marks tend to…resist any attempts to remove them. They overwhelm any spells that would change them. Because of that, I could use a spell to change you back into a boy…but it might not work at all. It might only work for five minutes before your sorcerer’s mark caused the spell to break. And even if it did work, it would only be for an hour or two. I’ve already contacted a friend to give me a copy of the spell so we could try, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

“So, even if the spell works perfectly,” mom said grimly, “Aaron will still be a girl.”

“His…her sorcerer’s mark means that she’s now female by default,” aunt June agreed.

I stared at aunt June and then down at myself. I wasn’t sure why I suddenly had this cold lump in my stomach because aunt June had already told me yesterday that this would probably be permanent. It wasn’t like this was news. Of course, she’d said that there was a possibility that the spell could turn me back into a guy…at least for short periods. It wasn’t much to hope for but I did.

“Then either way, we still need new clothes,” mom said with a sigh. “Though I do wish you would have told me this earlier.”

We continued our shopping trip, though it was something of a nightmare for me since all three of us had different ideas of what kind of clothes to buy. I wanted jean and T-shirts, the same kind of stuff I always wore. If I was stuck being a girl, I wanted to at least be a tomboy.

Mom, on the other hand, thought that I needed girl clothes that would look ‘cute’ on me. I had to protest vehemently when she tried getting me a pink jacket or a shirt with butterflies on it. But as bad as mom was, aunt June was even worse. She thought that I shouldn’t just look like a girl but that I should try to look like a woman. She wanted makeup and clothes that would show off my feminine curves, especially when I was in my sexier form.

By the time we stopped off at the food court for lunch, I was already exhausted and we still had more things to get. I shuddered at the idea of getting a bra, which was where mom and aunt June both insisted we go next. Of course, I already knew that aunt June would push for the sexy and lacy lingerie that would make me die of embarrassment.

“I’ve been thinking,” aunt June said while we ate.

Mom immediately responded, “That must be a novel experience.” The two of them glared at each other for a moment and then burst into giggles.

“I mean, this is going to cause problems with going back to school,” aunt June said. “You can’t very well explain the overnight sex change to a normal.”

“Oh God,” mom exclaimed with a look of horror. “I hadn’t even thought about that…”

“I have,” aunt June told her with a serious look. “I was thinking, Aaron should probably go to the Academy.”

“The Academy?” I asked in surprise.

Of course, I’d heard of the Academy before. It was some kind of private school just for the Touched. For the most part, Touched kids already knew how to control their talents perfectly well before going, so it was less about teaching them magic and more about giving them a place where they could be themselves. It was a place where Touched kids could be with other Touched kids and learn about the culture and history of our people.

I’d never even been certain if I was going to be Touched or not, so going to the Academy had never been a serious consideration. I’d always thought that even if I did turn out to be Touched, I’d just continue going to my regular school. It would have been a lot easier, and admittedly, I wouldn’t have to move away from my family.

“The Academy would probably be the best place for you right now,” aunt June told me. “They have experience dealing with unique situations.”

I just snorted at that. “Yeah, this is definitely unique.”

“There are probably only a couple dozen hybrids in the entire world,” aunt June agreed. “As far as I know, you’re the only one to have fully inherited both sides.”

“Lucky me,” I responded, rolling my eyes.

“Well,” mom told me with a faint smile. “You are a mythic and it looks like you can also draw enough magic to be a sorcerer. That sounds pretty lucky to me.”

“Speaking of which,” aunt June said, putting her hand on mine and staring me in the eyes. “That is another reason you should go to the Academy. And if you do decide to attend the sorcerer’s course…I would be honored to be your sponsor.”

I stared at aunt June, a little surprised by her offer since I knew what it meant. It meant that she was offering to take care of my financial needs at the Academy. That she was offering to give up a lot of time and effort to go to the Academy and tutor me. And it meant that for all practical terms, she was asking me to become her apprentice.

“I…,” I started but my throat suddenly felt dry. I gulped and answered, “I’d like that.”