Getting to Know You
By Ellie Dauber © 2003

Another one of my older stories, served up for your consumption and your comments (if you please).

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Gary McFee was really anxious to know if Lisa Tolliver liked him. The SRU Wizard shows him what he wants to know, but hardly in the way she expected,

Getting to Know You
By Ellie Dauber © 2003

"Hey, there's Lisa Tolliver." Dan Kearns jabbed Gary McFee in the side and pointed.

"Where? Where?" Gary looked around frantically until he saw Lisa and another girl, Cassie Young, coming out of the Jean King. When he saw her, he sighed and leaned back on the railing they were standing against. "Oh, man, she looks so hot."

Dan took a long sip out of his soda. "You really like her, don't you?"

"What's not to like? Did you see how she looked?" He watched the girls walk down the mall corridor until they went around a corner.

"So ask her out some time."

"Me? Are you crazy? Lisa could have her pick of any boy in the school. Why should she want to go out with me?"

"Why shouldn't she? If a girl likes a guy, she'll go out with him, even if he's as big a loser..." Dan elbowed Gary again, "...as you are."

Gary grinned sheepishly. "That's just it, ‘if she likes a guy.’ I don't know if Lisa even likes me."

"So ask her. That shouldn't be too hard."

"Yeah, it shouldn't be. To tell the truth, I'm kind of... afraid to ask."

"Afraid? No way. The guy who skateboarded down Petersburg Summit, the Hamlin High Eagles best offensive lineman this year; my man, Gary, he can't be afraid of some little --"

Gary made a fist and held it in front of Dan's face. "Watch it, man. That's Lisa, you're talking about. You're my best friend, and I don't want to hurt you, but..."

"Okay, okay. Geez, talk about sensitive. I was going to ask if you were afraid of some little… brunette, but now I don't have to. My sympathies, man, you got it bad."

"Tell me something I don't know." He sighed. "If I asked her out, and she said 'no', I don't... ah, the hell with it -- I'll never ask, so I'll never find out." He finished his soda and threw the cup into a trash bin in the Food Court on the other side of the railing.

Time to change the subject. "Look, I heard somebody broke my record on the Pirate Cove game. I'm going over to see if I can beat his score." He started walking towards the arcade, then stopped and looked back at Dan. "You coming?" He walked on without waiting for an answer. The arcade was in the opposite direction from the way Lisa and Cassie had walked.

"Ah, true love," Dan said wryly. He took a sip of his own soda and headed after his friend.

***

They were almost to the arcade, when Gary suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute. Isn't the Photo Barn next to Pelham's Shoes?"

"Yeah, why?" Dan asked.

"Because now it isn't." He pointed. "Take a look."

"What the hell?" They were looking at a new store sandwiched in between the other two. Its front was what like a pretty good imitation stone, with a large display window.

A clothing dummy in the center of the window wore a bright red 1920s "flapper" dress, short and dripping with fringe. There were tables on either side. One was covered with a display of T-shirts. The top one was a dark pink with the words "If these were only brains" written across it in a florid pale pink script. The other table held a pile of old, leather-bound books and two trays of costume jewelry. A sign just above the window read, "Spells 'R Us" in large block letters.

"Never heard of them," Dan said. "Must be new."

"Yeah, but they've got some strange stuff," Gary said. He looked in. Behind the windows, they could see rows of shelves with all sorts of odds and ends. "Let's take a look."

"I don't know, Gary. There's something about this place that bothers me."

"What d'you mean?"

"How'd it get there for one thing? Does the Photo Bran look any smaller? Does Pelham's? Where's the space for this store come from?"

"The name of the place is 'Spells 'R Us.' Maybe they used magic."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Then stay out here. I'm even more curious now. I'm going in."

"Ribbit... ribbit." Dan said the words in a deep voice.

"What're you doing?"

"Practicing for when you come out. I never talked to an enchanted frog before."

"And you never will." Gary laughed and walked into the store. There was a bell over the door that rang when he pushed it open, and when it closed behind him.

"I'm back here, Gary," a man called from the rear of the store. "Just follow my voice." Gary did. The voice spoke an occasional word or phrase as he walked to keep him on track.

When Gary reached the back of the store, the man was sitting on a high stool behind a long counter. 'Looks like Santa Clause on vacation,' Gary thought. 'Same white hair and beard, but this guy's a lot thinner, and he's wearing blue, not red.'

The old man laughed heartily. "Very good, Gary; 'Santa on vacation', I'll have to tell that to Nick the next time I see him."

"How'd you know what I was thinking?" Gary asked. "For that matter, how'd you know my name?"

The same way I wedged my store in between the Photo Barn and the shoe store, magic." He watched Gary very closely. "I'm a wizard."

"What level?" Gary asked, sticking out his hand. "My best character is a twelfth level fighter-mage."

The man chuckled and shook Gary's hand. "Very, very, good. Gygax certainly did make a mark on this world with that game of his, far better than we all thought he would, back home."

"Are you saying... hey, who's kidding who around here?"

"I'd say that we're about even. I like you, Gary, but..." he looked up at a clock that hadn't been on the wall a moment before, "...time is wasting. So it's back to business. What's your problem?"

"You can read minds and do all this other stuff, and you still have to ask?"

"Oh, I know what your basic problem... Lisa. I also know of seventy- three... no, seventy-four different solutions to that problem. The way you answer my question will tell me which is the best solution for you."

Gary shrugged. "Makes as much sense as anything else. Okay, how... how to I find out if Lisa really likes me... likes me enough to want to go out with me?"

"Very good. No 'make her love me' or 'make her my sex slave.' I like that." He made a gesture. "Accio bracelet." A piece of jewelry from the window display flew into his hand. "Forgive a little bit of showing off. This should do the trick."

Gary looked at what the wizard held. It was a silver bracelet done in a very feminine style. Two small silvered objects, a thin rod, with a star at the end, and a scroll hung from small loops.

"A charm bracelet?" The wizard made another gesture, and the bracelet flew over and wrapped itself around Gary's right wrist. "What the hell?"

"Say, 'change me, so I can ask.' Say it, Gary."

"Why do I have to wear... okay, okay. Change me so I can ask." He suddenly felt very dizzy. He closed his eyes and grabbed the counter for support. It seemed to move, to get higher, as he held it. His body "thrummed" like a stereo speaker holding a very low base note.

After a minute or so, the dizziness, the sensations passed. Gary opened his eyes. Some hair had fallen down over his face, and he pushed it back. Then he froze. "My hair isn't long enough to cover my eyes like that. And it... it isn't blonde." He held out a strand, so he could see it. "It's blonde now."

He looked at the hand holding his hair. It was smaller than before, its fingers were slender, with long nails covered with a pale pink polish. His eyes moved slowly past the bracelet at his wrist and up his arm, his no longer muscular, hairless arm. The kept going until his... breasts came into view.

"I'm a girl," he yelled, only to stop when he heard his new soft, alto voice. He looked down at himself, at his body. He'd been wearing his green and gold Eagles team T-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. Now he wore a pastel green sleeveless top, with the gold Eagles logo on one breast, and a pair of low-cut jeans tight enough to show off his new female curves.

"Very good, Cheryl. What was your first clue?"

"Cheryl? Who's Cheryl"?

"You are, dear. The name Gary doesn't exactly fit you anymore."

"Yeah, but why'd you have to change me like this?"

"Because Lisa wouldn't talk frankly to a boy about what boys she liked or disliked, even under magic compulsion. Forcing her to do so might do permanent damage to her." He paused. "By the way, you owe me $14.95 for the bracelet."

"But will she talk about that to a strange girl -- one she doesn't know, I mean." Gary -- Cheryl -- reached into her jeans. "Where's my wallet?"

"Over there, in your purse." He pointed to a small green purse that was suddenly resting on the counter near Cheryl. "She knows you, or she thinks she does. You're Cheryl McFee, now, a girl she thinks she's known for years."

"McFee? Then I'm -- my real self -- is he still around?" She picked up the purse and took out her wallet. There were three tens in it, and she handed him two of them. While she waited for her change, she looked at the ID. The name said "Cheryl Susan McFee", and the picture showed a pretty blonde that looked vaguely like Gary. Except for the "F" for sex, the information was mostly unchanged.

"Of course, he is. What would be the point, otherwise?" He handed her the change. "Cheryl is Gary’s sister or a cousin or something. No one will really be concerned enough to think about her unless you push the matter."

"And when it's over, when I know what Lisa thinks, I'll change back, right?"

"Yes. You see those charms?" Cheryl nodded. "They're real charms, real magic items, if you will. The scroll will cause anyone within five feet of it to tell the truth any time they're asked a direct question. The wand changed you into Cheryl when you asked it to, and it'll change you back when you ask again. Be careful, though. There's only one charge left in it, and this is a magic item that can be 'crocked' very easily."

"You really do know D&D, don't you."

"Where I come from, Cheryl, we live D&D. And before you ask, I'm a binary seventh level mage."

"Seventh level, that does seem very high."

"I said 'binary seventh level -- that means two to the seventh power, 128."

"You're a 128th level..." Cheryl's knees felt weak. As she collapsed backward, a chair materialized to catch her."

"Something like that." He looked at the clock again. "You'd better go out before Lisa gets worried."

"Lisa? What's she doing outside?"

"She's waiting for you to come out after you buy this bracelet you saw in my window. You and she are out shopping."

"But Lisa was with Cassie, and I was with Dan."

"Cassie came with you and Lisa, but you girls ran into Dan, who was here by himself. He took Cassie to the movies."

"Not bad," Cheryl thought. "Dan's dated her a couple of times."

"And he's doing so again. It was the easiest way for you and Lisa to be alone." He helped the new girl to her feet. "Now scoot. And good luck."

***

"Did you get it?" Lisa asked as Cheryl walked out of the shop. "Was it as creepy as I said in there?"

Cheryl stared at her for a moment. As far as Lisa remembered, Cheryl had been the one to go in. 'And to buy the charm bracelet, no less,' she thought. She held up her arm, so Lisa could see the bracelet. "It wasn't creepy at all. The guy who runs it is a nice old man."

Lisa shrugged. "Maybe so, but you won't catch me going any place like that." Then she smiled. "Besides, there are better places to go." She grabbed Cheryl's arm. "Come on, Topsides is just down this way.

Topsides was about halfway further down the corridor. The store sold women's tops: blouses, sweaters, scarves, and such. Some sort of fall clearance was going on, and the store was crowded with girls and young women.

"Over there," Lisa pointed. A table was piled high with short-sleeved blouses, all marked "20% off."

Cheryl followed her over to the table. Gary's only concerns with women's clothing were the body of the girl inside them and how to get the clothes off, so he could see her better. Cheryl caught herself wondering how she'd look in some of the blouses. 'That magic works pretty good,' she thought, as she began to look at them

Lisa went through several piles and picked four blouses that she wanted to try on. "This would be perfect for you," she said, holding up a light brown one with rows of lacy trim all across the front. "Well, I got enough to start trying them on. How are you doing, Cheryl?"

"I've got these three." She picked up a blue tank top. "Make it four."

"Then come on," Lisa said. "There's probably a line."

There was. The two girls waited about fifteen minutes before two women came out of one of the small changing booths. "I guess we share," Lisa said leading Cheryl into the booth.

The booth was rectangular, about five by six. One long wall had a row of hooks coming out from it at about the five-foot mark, with a long bench running the length of the wall underneath. A metal bar near a shorter wall connected the two long walls. A wide mirror was fixed in the wall behind the bar.

Lisa put her blouses on the bench, so Cheryl did the same. Then Lisa began to unbutton her blouse and hung it on one of the hooks. From the waist up, all she wore was a pink Lycra bra, so sheer that Cheryl could see Lisa's nipples and the dark area around them clearly. It was something most of the boys in school would have given their left arm to see.

Cheryl stared at Lisa for a moment. 'Nothing,' she thought. 'That magic works too damned good.' She shrugged and took off her own blouse. As she did, she glanced down to see that she was wearing an almost identical bra. 'And my ti... my breasts look just as nice as hers do.' She shook her head. 'Yeah, it works way, way too damned good.'

The two girls giggled as they tried on the blouses, posing in the mirror to see how they looked. "Can I try on that green embroidered top you brought in?" Lisa asked.

"Only if I can see that gold one of yours," Cheryl answered. Somehow, she knew that she’d look good in it.

Lisa wound up buying an ivory tank top. Cheryl bought two, the gold top that Lisa had liked and the blue one. 'I can afford it,' she thought. 'When I change back, I won't have spent the money.' Aloud she said. "I'm thirsty. Let's pay for this stuff and get some sodas." She would use the truth charm and then change back in time to invite Lisa out that very night.

***

"So," Cheryl said, taking a quick sip of soda, "what do you think of my... uh... my cousin, Gary?"

"He's a nice guy... kind of cute, too."

"Cute! Yes!" Cheryl grinned. In her mind, she made a fist and jerked her whole arm back triumphantly. "Cute... okay, cute enough to date? I mean... do you think I'm... think he's cute enough that you'd go out with him?"

"Yes, yes I would... Cheryl, what's going on? Why are you asking these crazy questions? For that matter, why am I answering them?"

"It's this magic charm," Cheryl said, holding up her arm to show off the bracelet. "Shit, it's making me answer, now. The scroll is m-magic. It... it makes anybody within f-five feet of it truthfully answer any direct question. I got it at that Spells 'R Us store wh-when the wizard changed me into Cheryl."

"Changed you into Cheryl? Who were you before? Why did you change?"

Cheryl bowed her head, knowing that she had to answer. "I-I'm Gary. The wizard changed me into a girl, so I could find out how you felt about me."

"This is the most... if you're really Gary, what's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?"

Gary looked like he had just eaten a sour lemon. "When... when I was seven, my mom dressed me as a -- please, Lisa, I'm sorry. Don't make me a-answer. I-I was seven, and, for Halloween, she-she --"

"Forget I asked," Lisa said quickly. When she saw how relieved he suddenly looked, she said, "It's got to be magic. I could tell how much you didn't want to tell me what happened." Her eyes widened. "Then you are Gary. You actually let some magician turn you into a girl so you could find out about how I felt."

"Ummm, yeah, I did. I guess I should apologize."

"For what? I had fun. I got this neat blouse." She held the package up. "And I found a boy that likes me enough to let himself get turned into a girl."

Cheryl shook her head. "I don't understand?"

"Don't you see -- no, I guess you don't. Most boys are much too macho, too hung up on their 'thingies' to give them up, even for a little while. And they don't care about what a girl thinks, just how she looks."

"And I don't?"

"No, you cared enough to be changed. If you care that much, then you're the sort of boy I really want to go out with." She looked at Cheryl and giggled. "Or you will be once you change back -- you can change back, can't you?"

Cheryl held up her arm again and pointed, in turn, at the bracelet. "Sure I can. The scroll makes people tell the truth. The wand will change me back."

"Okay, then, wand," Lisa said. "Do your magic, so Cheryl and I can go out on a date tonight."

The wand glowed. A beam of light shot out from it.

And hit Lisa.

Time seemed to stop around them.

Lisa grew taller. Her brown hair seemed to be pulled back into her head until it was a short, man's haircut. Her body filled out, becoming less round, more angular, more muscular. Her breasts sank down into her chest, hardening into firm pectorals. Her jaw became squarer, and her nose grew a bit larger.

Her feet were bigger now, straining at her pumps. Her hands were bigger, too, more callused, with stumpy fingers. Her fingernails were shorter, rounded. There was hair on her arms, her now flat chest, and her legs.

The make-up faded from her face. There was no longer any polish on her finger or toenails. Her perfume changed scent from "Autumn Mist" to "Old Spice."

Her bra grew into a cotton T-shirt that was now under an Eagles team sweatshirt. Her panties became a pair of cotton briefs, as an opening formed in front. Her jeans shifted to a masculine cut, darkening from pastel blue. She had black socks and a pair of sneakers on her feet, instead of the knee-high stockings and pumps that had been there moments before. The last, the crucial change was in her groin. Her female opening disappeared as a penis and testicles grew out from that place to fill out the front of her pants.

"Lisa?" Cheryl said in amazement.

"No... it's... I'm... Les. I remember being Lisa, but I-I remember always being Les, too."

Cheryl remembered the wizard's warning. She looked at her wrist. The bracelet was still there, but the only thing hanging from it was a small silver heart.

"Oh, my gosh; the charms, they-they're gone," Cheryl said, feeling very scared. "I've got to get back to that old wizard in the store."

"Wizard?" Les looked even more confused.

"Yeah, the... wizard changed me... changed us. I've... we've got to find him and make him change us back." Cheryl jumped up and ran back down the corridor towards where the store had been. "I have to find it," she kept saying as she ran. "I'm a guy. I have to change back. I can't be girl."

The store was gone. There was nothing between the Photo Barn and Pelham's Shoes now, just the two or three feet of blank space where one store's ended and the entrance to the other began. Cheryl stood about where the door to the Spells 'R Us had been and stared at the blank wall.

Les caught up to her a moment later. "You run pretty fast, Cheryl. You should try out for the track team next spring."

"Next spring?" Then she realized what he'd said. "Who cares about the track team? The store where I got this crazy charm bracelet is gone. The charms are gone. We're... we're stuck like this." She felt helpless. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"It'll be okay," Les said, sounding very confident. "I'll take care of you." Cheryl noticed he had a real cute smile. He put his arms around her, pulling her in close. She rested her head on his broad chest. She could hear his heart beating, and she felt safe and protected.

"What's happening to me?" She thought. Les moved her head to look up at him. He leaned down a little and kissed her. She was floating on a warm cloud, her whole body tingling pleasantly. Les kissed her again, and she heard herself sigh. She suddenly “remembered” that she had been dating Les for a while.

"No!" She pushed him away. "We can't have dated. This... this isn't real." She felt tears forming in her eyes. "It can't be real."

"It can, and it is." Les stepped forward and put his arms back around her. He gently pushed her head, so she was resting it on his chest again. "And if it is... if we're stuck this way, I'll be with you. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be stuck like this with than you." He tilted his head and kissed her gently on the forehead.

That safe, warm feeling wrapped itself around Cheryl like a blanket. She found herself snuggling in closer to him. 'Maybe being a girl -- being his girl -- won't be so bad after all,' she decided. 'At least I know that she... that he really likes me."

The End