It has taken nine years, but Cindy is finally a senior in High School. There have been some fantastic events, events that not all her friends are aware of. Cindy has a boy friend (It is really much more serious than that) and Bobbie and Andy have taken their love to the next step. Myrna Breckenridge is surprised to see that Cindy has a boyfriend; after all, she never had one before. But wasn’t there someone?

If you haven’t read the previous stories about Cindy and how she arrived where she is now, you should probably read them. Start with “An Incremental Journey”, “Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend”, “Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver”, “Cynthia and the Moment of Truth”, and “Cynthia and the High School Years — Part 1.” This story completes the Cynthia Chronicles, Volume 1.

Part 2 is almost as long as part 1. It is 12 chapters and 27,500 words long. There are many more stories out there, and bits and pieces are being discovered almost every day.

I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening, The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.

Holly really took me to task this time due to my poor sentence structure and punctuation. She wields a firm ruler and isn’t afraid to use it; my poor knuckles. Thank you so much, Holly, for making this more readable!

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Chapter 1 — The more you erase; the more marks you leave.

The first day of school is pretty much the same from one year to the next. Oh, there are those little incremental changes that almost go unnoticed from year to year; however, some changes seem to stand out. Or maybe, some people are just a bit more observant than others.

Myrna Breckenridge was one of the more observant. She saw Bobbie Schmedlap and Cindy Lewis approaching … and Cindy had a man in tow! If someone had asked her to rate Bobbie and Cindy in the overall category of best friends, they had to be in the 99th percentile. Myrna knew she was considered to be a good friend, but she didn’t really concern herself with how she might be rated on a scale of friendship. It wasn’t something she felt compelled to do. She didn’t have a thing to worry about.

Myrna continued to be very grateful for the little gift they had given her the previous year. They had told her no one would notice that she had changed from a 34AA-25-34 figure to a 34D-24-36, and no one had. Her popularity, since she had always been popular, didn’t change. Her boyfriend didn’t suddenly become a sex crazed maniac because of the change in her appearance. Things just continued the way they had been, with one exception. Myrna’s self esteem had shot through the roof. She no longer worried about what other people thought about her.

Her boyfriend, Avery Mankowitz, doted on her, and he always had. Avery was a bit of a nerd, very intelligent, and not particularly handsome; however, he was a kind and gentle person with a heart of gold.

Before her change, when Myrna had accepted Avery’s request for a date, she didn’t think that he was much of a catch. She’d just looked at him as a brief diversion before she found someone more worthy of her attention. Besides, he was Jewish. What she found was that Avery was a hidden treasure. He made her laugh, he made her feel appreciated, and when she decided that she would take his virginity, she found that as inexperienced as he was, he still put her first. He never once said anything about her (in her mind) less than adequate bust line. After they made love, he held her and gently caressed her.

He was so happy that he could bring her to an orgasm that he cried. He had thought that he was a loser, but Myrna convinced him he was a winner and his self esteem increased tremendously. Later, many wondered what the voluptuous, outgoing young woman saw in the nerdish Avery. If they actually asked her, she would just smile, and if he was there, give him a hug.

Now, Myrna watched as Bobbie approached. There was definitely something different about her, a little self assured swing that hadn’t been there before. Myrna figured it out pretty quickly. She remembered a line from ‘Shakespeare in Love’: “She has been plucked since I saw her last ….”

“Well, Bobbie, congratulations are in order I see.”

“I don’t think I understand.”

“That must have been quite a send-off you gave Andy. It’s about time.”

She turned to Cindy, deliberately ignoring Bobbie’s momentary discomfort. Cindy was walking almost as far off the ground as Bobbie, and Myrna could see the source of Cindy’s elation. He was holding onto her left hand. ‘My goodness he’s good looking: tall, slender, very self assured, and totally in love with Cindy, as she is with him.

This is crazy. Cindy doesn’t have a boyfriend. She has never had a boyfriend. She’s never dated anyone more than once. There has never been a steady. … Wait a second. There had been somebody. Who the hell was it?’

“Myrna, I would like you to meet Donald Brewer. Don, this is Myrna Breckenridge. We have been friends forever.

“Don and I met at camp last month, and really hit it off. We didn’t know it then, but his dad was coming to work at my dad’s company. They moved up here from Reston, Virginia. His dad just retired from the Air Force.”

“Don, all I can say is, hang onto your hat, because you have no idea how crazy this group is.” Myrna looked at him more closely. There was something definitely familiar about him. He was so handsome, he was almost pretty. God, those dark eyes, lashes, and those very kissable lips were to die for. His short sleeved shirt showed a well sculpted body. He was probably about six foot, maybe six-one, and weighed maybe 170 lbs. His dark complexion gave him a very romantic, Latin look.

They compared schedules and discovered they had several classes together. Most of the athletic competitors had their gym class at the end of the school day, so Bobbie, Cindy, and Don had gym for their sixth period. The four of them had their core courses, English, History, and Calculus together.

Myrna was naturally inquisitive, a trait that would help her as a research scientist when she left college. Right now her curiosity was piqued at a much more local level. Cindy was in love. Cindy, the very practical, almost intellectual at times, gorgeously attractive girl who never dated anyone was in love with a beautifully handsome, almost matinee idol attractive young man who she had known for only a few weeks. He was just as in love with her. None of this made any sense. Cindy just didn’t work that way.

Well, at least there was no mystery about Bobbie and Andy. It was surprising they had held off as long as they had. One thing for sure, she certainly hadn’t needed to use any magic to bag him. Bobbie would probably be a lost cause while Andy was at Wake Forest; however, they would be meeting on holidays. ‘I wonder if witches actually use brooms’, she thought.

Since they had class together just before lunch, it was easy for them to move en mass to the cafeteria. They could talk about many things; however, magic was not among them. Magic? Don and Cindy were thicker than molasses in January. Surely, he must be aware of her powers, probably Bobbie’s too. In light of Myrna’s transformation, it was easy for her to accept other things magical, and she was certain magic had to be involved in some way.

Myrna did not have a mean or vindictive bone in her body. She never bore a grudge, and if someone hurt her, that person became ‘shrouded’ for an appropriate period of time. After that, that person would have a clean slate. There was one exception, and that was her father. He had not done anything that she felt warranted her forgiving him. Well there was one thing, and that was he was no longer causing her mother unhappiness. Actually, there were two things. His absence allowed Sharon to become a part of their lives. It was a wonderful change.

Call it curiosity if nothing else. Myrna had to find out what had happened to cause Cindy to fall head over heels in love in just a matter of weeks. The fact that he was absolutely gorgeous had nothing to do with it. The fact that he was an excellent student who had traveled all over Europe couldn’t have been the reason either. He played soccer like no one she had ever seen. She sat with Cindy on a Saturday morning as he played a pickup game with the small group of players from the local area who found soccer to be more of their liking. He could do things with the ball that were unimaginable. Soccer, soccer … what was it about soccer?

Soccer was a spring sport. American football was a fall sport, and during the fall, the American style football players had priority over the field after school. Soccer style place kicking had found its place in American football more than forty years before, but still, it wasn’t as easy as it looked, and their high school had a problem. Their place kicker from the year before had gone off to college.

“Looks like they’re still trying to find a kicker to replace Garrett,” Bobbie remarked. They were on their way to the parking lot, and as they passed the athletic field they noticed a small group of football players attempting to kick the ball through the goal posts. It was almost comical. The kicker would kick the ball, and there were about forty-seven things the ball would do, and most didn’t include kicking the ball through the uprights. The ball might flutter to the left or right, or just bound down the field in the general direction of the goal posts while doing the erratic bouncing that only a football could do.

Cindy had never been a very knowledgeable fan of football, and attended games only because that was what high school students did. “What can be so hard about kicking a ball between those posts? I see them do it all the time.”

“It’s not so much about strength as it is about timing,” Don said matter of factly. “If you don’t hit the ball just right, it can do all sorts of things, and most of them are wrong.”

They watched for a few minutes as the kickers made mostly futile attempts to get the ball to do what was desired.

“See how they plant their foot? It’s all wrong. They have to get lined up just right or they cut across the ball. That will cause it to hook or fade. If they catch it too high or too low then it will pop up or they might just kick it into the linemen.”

“Have you done this before?” Myrna asked.

“A little: we had a football team on base in Germany. We played the schools from other US bases.”

“What did you do?”

“I was their place kicker.”

“Well, why aren’t you kicking for our team?”

“I guess because I’m not particularly fond of American football.”

“Don, I think you need to go over there and show them how it’s done. We’ll just sit here and watch.”

“Cindy, do you mind? This shouldn’t take very long.”

“Go right ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do anything with a football.”

They watched as Don approached the kicking coach and the players. They could hear the conversation, but not the details. Don was going through some motions, showing how the foot needed to be planted, and how the weight should be transferred. The holder simulated taking the ball from the center, and placed it on the spot. Don effortlessly kicked the ball through the goal posts, even though he was wearing street shoes. There was a bit of a discussion, and they moved back ten yards. Don again demonstrated some adjustments, and kicked the ball through the uprights. They moved ten yards further back, and the results were the same. The girls weren’t really paying all that much attention, but the last kick had been from 50 yards out.

There was some further discussion, and they could see that Don was protesting about something. Finally, an agreement seemed to be struck, and the coach shook Don’s hand.

“What was that all about?” Cindy asked as Don returned to the group.

“Well, it seems our Friday nights are going to be busy in a different way than we thought. Apparently, I am now the place kicker for the team. Coach Robinson said he would picket our house if I didn’t sign up. Besides, he made the argument that if I was a good place kicker, it wouldn’t hurt my scholarship opportunities.”

Don got his chance in the very first game when he kicked a fifty-two yard field goal. The field goal did little to affect the final outcome of the game. Truthfully, their team was not particularly strong, and they would be fortunate to finish one game above .500 for the season. Several things were accomplished, though. Don set a league record for the number of field goals and field goal attempts, a number that happened to be the same. He did not miss an extra point, either, though there weren’t that many. He set a state record for the longest field goal, 62 yards. All this meant was that his team didn’t score very many touchdowns, and he had to kick a lot of field goal so they wouldn’t come away scoreless on a drive. He was furiously recruited by several universities.

One other thing happened, and it happened in their very first game. When the 52 yard field goal split the uprights, he gave a little fist pump and a little kick that was sort of an exclamation point. Cindy was ecstatic that he had done so well.

For Myrna, it was something else.

It created a huge amount of confusion and a feeling of real weirdness. She suddenly remembered watching a soccer game with Cindy. There was a beautiful Latina girl, who was a magician on the soccer field. This was really weird. When she scored a goal, she gave the same little fist pump and kick. She and Cindy had been lovers, and it wasn’t a secret.

This just didn’t make sense. Cindy and Don Brewer were madly in love with each other, but Cindy had been in love with a girl. Myrna was sure of it.

But that couldn’t be. Cindy was straight, maybe a bit aloof, or very selective, but she didn’t hang out with girls in that way. Well, while she and Bobbie were joined at the hip, they weren’t lovers, and never had been as far as she knew. It was almost as if two images were superimposed. She could swear she remembered Cindy and a beautiful girl walking hand in hand.

Myrna figuratively shook her head. It couldn’t be. That was Cindy and Don Brewer, but it wasn’t. The other girl was several inches shorter than Cindy. She had to have a name. If Myrna could come up with a name, maybe she could make some sense of this.

‘What was her name? Who remembered names from a dream? Her name was Don. No, that’s his name. Her name was Don. Stop that; her name was Donna. Shit, her name was Donna, Donna Brewer. His name is Donald, Don Brewer. She was an orphan. He has a family. Christ, they could be twins; brother and sister. Those eyes, those eyes are identical!

‘Something very strange is going on here, and it has to have something to do with magic. This whole thing reeks of magic.’

Myrna’s boyfriend, Avery, it was much more serious than that, was a freshman at MIT, and was unable to make the short trip home for the weekend. What it boiled down to was that Bobbie and Myrna were ‘class B’ bachelorettes, as their boyfriends were not there.

Don was able to clean up after the game at the school, he didn’t get very dirty, and he was going to take the three girls to the local drive-in for some after game refreshments.

They were relaxing in the car with their drinks, and Myrna felt it was time to ask the question that had been bothering her. “Okay everyone, I have some questions. You may throw me into the river after I ask them, but I have to know something. Something has really been bothering me.”

“Myrna, you’re our friend,” Cindy said, looking over the back of the front seat, “If you have a question, we will certainly try to answer it.”

Myrna took a deep breath. “Does Don know everything? Maybe I’ve already said too much.”

“Go ahead, it’s okay.”

“I mean does Don know everything about you and Bobbie.”

Don turned to the back seat, “Do you mean do I know that they are witches?”

“Well, that answers that question. Okay, if that’s the case, then I think I can pursue this a bit further. I have a conflict of memories, and they are all about Don, or should I say Donna.”

“Oh dear,” Bobbie said to no one in particular. “I think we just found someone outside the families who remembers. I guess the cat’s out of the bag. If Myrna remembers, then it must be alright. Cindy, why don’t we go over to your house? I think Myrna needs to know what happened and what didn’t happen. Obviously, if she’s figured out this much, it must be alright to tell her.”

“Oh my God, Don is Donna! I knew it! I knew it! This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. It hit me after the field goal. I remembered your reaction. I can’t believe it. How could anything like this happen? I mean I’ve heard of sex changes, but nothing like this. I mean, Donna was an orphan, but Don has a family. This is really strange.”

“Myrna, you don’t have even an inkling of how strange, but not strange, everything is, but I guess we are going to have to tell you.

Next time: Myrna is brought fully into the group. She may not have magical ability, but she has tremendous ability in many areas. In the next chapter Myrna finds out what happened to turn Donna into Don. She also finds out about Cindy and Bobbie’s origins. She expresses her appreciation to The Wizard for what he did for her.