Sarah couldn’t be happier. Her shift was finally over. No more questions. No more cold coffee. And no more paperwork! That last one was almost enough to make her dance for joy as she walked to her car. When she got back to her apartment, she was going to take a long hot bath. After that, she might think about her day.

“Hey, Sarah!”

Sarah turned to see who was calling her. She half expected it to be the chief, but it was a woman’s voice she had heard. “Diane,” she said. “Can this wait? I’ve had a really bad day and I just want to go home.”

“I heard you met the new magical girl,” Diane said as she caught up to her friend. She and Lorie had met at the police academy and had become fast friends. While Sarah was a third-generation police officer, Diane Bridges was the first in her family. Sarah had helped her friend explain her motivations to her family. Even with Sarah’s help, Diane wasn’t able to fully explain herself. But her family did accept that she was happy.

“Not you too,” Sarah moaned as she rubbed her forehead. “I’m tired of talking about the new magical girl. I want to go home to my quiet apartment and take a long, hot bath.”

“But you did talk to the magical girl, right,” Diane asked. They started walking toward the parking lot.

“Not really,” Sarah replied. “All she did was tell me that those two girls would wake up with massive headaches. And that they may or may not remember being magical girls. Then she left. I don’t call that a conversation, do you?”

“Oh,” Diane blinked. “Then why did the Commissioner spend so much time with you?”

“Gossip is moving faster than normal today,” quipped Sarah. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because the rumor mill has been working overtime! Come on, spill.”

“He just wanted my impression of Hollow Point,” Sarah said. “Since I am the only one to have met her. He also doesn’t think this is the last of her. We’ll probably see more of her in the future.”

Diane agreed. “Yeah. She stopped two of those magical girls. But that was just two. We got a whole city of them. Do you think she can get the rest of them?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Sarah. “But I don’t think she’ll have to. It may be possible that not all of those girls are bad. From what she told the other two before she shot them, some of them are doing whatever it is they’re supposed to.” They arrived at Sarah’s car. “Look, I’m tired and I really don’t want to talk about this more right now. If you want to, maybe we can talk later, okay?”

“Alright,” sighed Diane. “I’ll hold you to that. Besides, what you told me will get the rumor mill really going. Oh, you are off this weekend, right?”

“Yes. Unless I get volunteered for overtime.”

“I’ll see you then, and you’d better be ready to talk.”

Sarah just shook her head and climbed into her car. She waved to Diane as she drove off.

* * *

Sam lay on his bed thinking about the day. He still couldn’t get over the fact that he fought and beat two magical girls. Not that he wanted to do that again. He wasn’t crazy. He knew it was luck that let him win. The next time, he might not be so lucky. He let out a sigh, then rolled onto his back. His chest was starting to hurt. “Stupid boobs,” he muttered.

Sam was just dozing off when something landed on his stomach. With a grunt, he knocked it off. “Fur,” he said, puzzled. He opened his eyes and stared. The cat, the one that was in the park, the one that turned him into a magical girl, was staring at him from where it landed on his bed.

“You,” hissed Sam as his eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

“Simple,” the cat replied. “I am your spirit guide. Where you go, I go.”

“Why do I need a guide?”

“Because you’re a magical girl,” the cat said in an irritated voice. “I thought that would be obvious by now.”

Sam shook his head. “Oh no I’m not,” he said. “I can’t be a magical girl. I’m a boy.”

The cat stared at Same for a moment. Then rubbed her face with a paw. “Please don’t let her be crazy,” she muttered. “How can you be a boy? You have breasts. Boys do not have breasts.”

“Sometimes boys do grow breasts,” Sam said darkly. “But that’s beside the point, cat.”

“Selene.”

Sam blinked. “What?”

“My name is Selene,” the cat said. She placed a paw on her neck. “See. I have it on my collar.”

Despite himself, Sam looked. Around the cat’s, Selene’s, neck was a simple leather collar. There was a metal plate attached with her name written on it. For a brief moment, Sam wondered where the cat got it from. “That doesn’t matter,” Sam said with a shake of his head. “What does matter is that I’m a boy.”

“You are a girl,” Selene said. “Boys can’t become magical girls. Since you became a magical girl, you are a girl.”

“I know my body,” Sam said exasperatedly. “And that body is that of a boy’s. I just have a medical condition. One the doctors haven’t diagnosed yet.”

Selene had had enough. This girl was claiming to be a boy when she obviously was not. She was even claiming to have a medical condition. The girl must be crazy. She did not want a crazy human being a magical girl. But that would explain the strange weapons she used earlier. “Young lady,” she sternly said. “Now is not the time for such behavior. You are a teenage girl. And it’s time you start acting like one. You have an important task to do.”

Sam couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Sure, he looked like a girl. As much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t. But he knew he was a boy. And didn’t cats rely more on their sense of smell than their sight? Shouldn’t Selene have noticed that he didn’t smell like a girl? “I am a boy,” he said as he stood up. “And I can prove it.” With that, he dropped his shorts and underwear. He didn’t know a cat’s eyes could bulge.

Selene stared in shock. The girl, Samantha, stood up, claiming that she could prove that she was a boy. When she dropped her shorts and underwear, Selene saw something she had not expected. Samantha had a penis and testicles. She couldn’t believe it. But right in front of her face was the evidence.

“Do you believe me now,” she heard Samantha ask.

“That can’t be real,” gasped Selene.

“It’s real,” Samantha said. “I use it every day.”

“B-but how?”

“As I said,” Samantha said as she pulled her shorts up. “Medical condition. The doctors haven’t identified it yet.”

“You turned into a magical girl,” Selene hissed. “You couldn’t have done that if you are a boy, Samantha.”

“Samuel. My name is Samuel.”

Selene’s mind was reeling. Even her name was a boy’s. How could this have happened? The magic led her to this person. So, she, or he, had to be the one. Magic doesn’t make mistakes, right? This boy had to be the one. He did turn into a magical girl and stop those two from fighting. So, something has to be right.

“Now, about this magical girl thing,” Samuel continued. “I don’t think I can do that. I am a boy. And we both know boys can’t be magical girls.”

Before Selene could respond, there was a knock on Sam’s door. “Sam,” a woman’s voice came. “Dinner’s almost ready. Rebecca’s eating here too.”

“Okay, Mom,” Sam answered. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I just need to wash up.” Sam then turned back to his unexpected visitor. “Look, you can stay here until you get yourself straightened out. But do expect you to be gone by the time I go to bed.”

Sam sighed as he washed his hands. He almost felt sorry for that cat. If it wasn’t for him being turned into a magical girl, he would. But he couldn’t be a magical girl. He was a boy. Never mind the fact that he had been turned into one earlier. That didn’t happen. And he’d tell anybody who asked that too.

He dried his hands and went to go eat. “Hey Rebecca,” Sam said when he saw his girlfriend. He hugged her. “You alright? I couldn’t find you after the fight.”

“I’m fine,” she answered. “The police rounded up everybody they could. They questioned us for hours before they let us go. You’re lucky they didn’t get you. Where’d you go anyway?”

“I ran,” Sam answered as they got to the dining table. “I ended up in an alley somewhere. Once the fight was over, I flagged down a taxi and came home”

“I remember you running,” Rebecca said as she leaned into Sam. “I almost stopped because your butt looked so good.”

Sam blushed and stammered. He was saved from having to make sense by his mother entering the room. She was carrying a baking dish. “Hello Rebecca,” she said when she saw the couple. “Glad you’re here. Maybe I can get some news on the magical girl.”

“Hello, Mrs. Hathings,” Rebecca responded. “I’m happy you invited me over. I don’t know much, but I’ll tell you what I do know.”

“That’s good to hear unlike somebody I know,” Mrs. Hathings said with a significant look at her son.

Rebecca gave her blushing boyfriend a hug. “Don’t blame him. He put his legs to good use. Why don’t I help you get the food on the table? Then I can tell everybody at once.”

“That’s a good idea,” beamed Mrs. Hathings. “I’m glad you’re dating Sam.”

Sam shook his head as his girlfriend and his mother walked into the kitchen. Part of him feared what they would talk about. Rebecca was sneaky, and his mother wanted him to wear better fitting clothes. The two women returned, his mother was carrying another backing dish and a bowl filled with some kind of vegetable while Rebecca was carrying a large bowl of salad. As they place the food on the table, his father and sister entered the room.

“We’re all here,” his mother said. “We can start eating.”

“Sam and Rebecca had a bit of excitement today,” Mrs. Hathings said after everybody had served themselves. “They saw the new magical girl.”

“Did she really kill those girls,” his sister asked.

“Caitlynn,” his mother said sharply.

“What,” Caitlynn asked. “That’s what everybody’s saying.”

“No,” Rebecca answered. “She didn’t kill them. From what I saw, she somehow removed their powers.”

“She can do that,” his father asked. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“I don’t know if that’s what she actually did,” Rebecca said. “All I know is that when she shot them, they turned back into normal girls. The police should know more. The did take them to a hospital.”

“There may be more on the news,” Sam put in. “You know all the local channels will be all over this.”

“That’s probably true,” Mrs. Hathings said. “Harold, we can check the news later.”

“What did she look like,” Caitlynn asked.

“She was so cute,” Rebecca said. Sam gave his girlfriend a sharp look. “She was dressed as a Japanese school girl. Her skirt was a pleated black and dark purple plaid. She had a dark purple necktie and a white button blouse, and her jacket was black. She was also wearing brown penny loafers and white knee-high socks. Oh, and she had a black backpack that had white skeletons with ribbons on their skulls. She had her hair in two pig-tails that reached down to her knees.”

“Sounds like you got a good look at her,” Caitlynn said.

“She was cute,” Sam aske as he eyed her.

“Not as cute as you,” Rebecca said. “Besides, I don’t even know who that girl is. For all I know, she’s some bimbo.” Sam grumbled a bit but said nothing.

“So why did she attack those other girls,” Harold asked.

“I couldn’t guess,” Mrs. Hathings said. “Do you know Sam, Rebecca?”

Sam shook his head. “I don’t know,” Rebecca answered. “Before they started fighting, the three had, what looked like, an argument.” Rebecca shrugged. “Then they started fighting.”

“So, Sam,” Caitlynn said while her parents thought about Rebecca’s answer. “Why is Rebecca answering all the questions?”

“Because I ran,” was Sam’s simple answer. “As soon as the first two started fighting, I ran. And I didn’t look back.”

“Sam’s got some legs,” Rebecca said with a grin. “And he knows how to use them.”

“That’s my boy,” Harold said. “None of you can fight a magical girl. Running is the only answer when they start fighting.”

“But he left his girlfriend behind,” Caitlynn pointed out. “That’s not very manly.”

“I ran in a different direction,” Rebecca said as Sam glared at his sister. “None of us was facing the same direction when the fight started.” She gave Caitlynn a look. “When the fight started, we just took off in the direction we were facing.”

“Sam, you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow at 10,” Mrs. Hathings said. She was not going to let her children start fighting over Sam’s condition.

“What,” a puzzled Sam said. “I do? Since when?”

“They called while you were in your room. The doctors believe they may have found out what your condition is.”

“And you didn’t tell me,” Sam yelped. “Mom, that’s important. Did they say what it is?”

“No,” Mrs. Hathings said. “They said only that you need to be in the office. And we should be there with you.”

“Oh,” Sam said as his excitement visibly deflated. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

“Good or bad, we’re here for you. Aren’t we?” Mrs. Hathings’ voice dropped on the last part. She also gave her daughter a look.

Aware of her mother’s look, Caitlynn nodded. “Yes, I’ll be there too,” she said.