It was a fifteen minute walk from the school to Zack's house. All the way there, Zack contemplated how she'd break the news to her parents. Would she text them before she got home to tell them what happened? Would she knock on the door and say hi before telling them the whole story? Hundreds of different scenarios played out in her mind, each even worse than the last.

Eventually, Zack reached her house's front driveway. Okay, she told herself. Don't overthink it. Just go up and tell Mom and Dad what happened. Zack went up to the front door, pulled out her house key, and inserted it into the lock. Her heart beating rapidly, Zack entered her front doorway and looked around. "Hello?" she called. "Is anyone home?"

"What?" Zack's mom came around the corner and was surprised to see a young, 16-year-old redheaded girl in her entry hall. "Who are you?"

Zack forced a friendly smile. "This is going to sound really weird," she said, "But I'm your son Zack."

Zack's mom crinkled her nose in disbelief. "Don't be absurd," she said. "You're not my son. And I know I don't have a daughter either."

"Well, you do now. I went into the girls' bathroom at school, and it turned me into a girl."

"How is that even possible?"

"Er..." Zack hadn't thought of that. Why did that bathroom turn him into a her? Was there some kind of magic spell placed on it? Had he wished to be a girl at some point and forgotten about it, only to have said wish come true? But if it was the former, then could the boys' bathroom turn her normal? So many questions, but now was not the time to address them. "I don't know. But it did."

Zack's mom shook her head. "Enough games, young lady," she said. "Leave my house and go back to your real home."

"But this is my real home!"

"No, it isn't."

"Mom, I swear-"

"I am not your mom!" Zack's mom said with a slightly raised voice. "Now go!"

Zack hung her head. There was no way of making her mom believe her. She turned and left, shutting her front door behind her. All hope was lost. Her own mother did not recognize her, and therefore kicked her out. It was like Zack had turned 18 a couple years early. But Zack had no idea where to go. She didn't have any family that lived in the area, and she didn't have...well, there was Miles' foster home, but getting a bed there would be easier said than done. There was probably a lot of paperwork to fill out to verify that she didn't have parents that would take care of her. And if Zack's mom wouldn't believe her story about being turned into a girl, then who was to say that the police and social security workers would?

Zack sat on the curb and started to cry. She'd never been so quick to cry when upset before. It must've been the new female hormones affecting how she handled stressful situations like this. But Zack was so upset, she didn't care. She had lost everything, all because she'd used the wrong bathroom at school. What had she been thinking? She should've tried to find another bathroom at the school, or tried to hold it until she got home. Then none of this would've happened. But it had happened, and now there was nothing she could do.

After a few minutes of crying, Zack realized she should get away from her parents' house. If her mom or dad looked out the window and saw that she was still there, then things would get even uglier. So she stood up and started walking down the street. She wasn't sure where her destination was, exactly. Maybe she could go to Miles' orphanage to try and sort something out with the management staff there? Or could she talk to someone else from school?

Fortunately, she didn't need to do any of that. After she'd gone for a couple blocks, a white car pulled up beside her. "Excuse me, miss!" the driver called. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," said Zack.

"Nowhere, you say?" The driver got out of the car, and Zack realized with a jolt that it was Miles' foster home manager Mr. Al. Mr. Al was a man in his early forties with warm brown skin, a clean shaven face, and a sharp-looking black suit. His demeanor conveyed seriousness, but everyone who knew Mr. Al could attest that he was actually a really nice guy.

"Well...I don't know where I'm going," Zack admitted. "My parents just kicked me out of the house, so now I'm trying to figure out what to do next."

"I figured as much," said Mr. Al. "I've been taking in kids off the streets for years. I've learned to tell when a young man or lady like you has been disowned by their family."

"I'll bet," said Zack. She didn't want to give off the impression that she recognized Mr. Al, since that would lead to tricky questions about her gender predicament.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"And what's your name?"

Zack almost said Zack, but she caught herself. She couldn't go by a boy's name! But when she frantically scrolled down her list of girl names, she couldn't think of anything close to Zack. "Zoe," she blurted out.

"Zoe?"

"Uh...yes."

"Nice to meet you, Zoe. My name is Albert Chase, but you can call me Mr. Al. I'm the manager of the local foster home that specializes in taking in homeless kids like you. And if you'd like a place to live, then I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"Yes, please," said Zack. Or...could she call herself Zack anymore? She'd just adopted the moniker of Zoe, so...was that her name now?

"Very well. Then get into my car."

***

Zack/Zoe rode with Mr. Al to the foster home where Miles lived at. It was located downtown, and it consisted of a large, three-story building that took up a quarter of a city block by itself. Zack/Zoe had been there quite a few times over the years to visit Miles. She knew it was a really good foster home, and the kids and staff there formed a rather pleasant community.

"Now, I'm going to have to go through some paperwork to officially 'adopt' you as part of my foster home," said Mr. Al, "But for right now, I'm gonna show you to your new room."

"Okay," said Zack/Zoe. When the car parked, she got out and followed Mr. Al into the building. He led her up to the second floor, where there were about twenty dorm rooms all lined up with one another.

"You're gonna have three other roommates here," said Mr. Al. "And they're all gonna be girls, if that's okay."

"I guess so," said Zack/Zoe.

"Alright then," said Mr. Al. He went up to Dorm #105 and knocked three times.

"Come in!" said a voice from inside.

Mr. Al opened the door to the dorm. "Good afternoon, young ladies," he said. "Welcome your new roommate, Zoe!"

"Hey guys," said Zoe. Screw it, that's what she was gonna call herself. She'd chosen that name, might as well live with it.

"So Zoe, this is gonna be your bunkmate Avery," Mr. Al said, indicating the girl who'd said they could come in. She looked to be a year older than Zoe, with bushy brown hair and freckles covering her face.

"I am?" Avery asked, surprised. "I mean, yeah, I am," she said. "It's nice to meet you, Zoe."

"It's nice to meet you too," said Zoe.

"And these are Geraldine and Roxy," said Mr. Al.

"Hi, uh...everyone," said Zoe. The girls seemed nice, but everything felt kind of overwhelming. In just one afternoon, Zoe had been yanked out of her life and dropped into a new one. The change may not have been all bad, but it was still very drastic. Zoe wasn't sure if she liked it.

"Now, is there anything else you need to get situated here?" Mr. Al asked.

"Uh...I don't...I think I might need more clothes?" said Zoe.

"Ah, yes," said Mr. Al. "Perhaps I could have one of my employees take you clothes shopping?"

"I guess so," said Zoe.

"Want me to go, too?" Avery asked curiously. "I could help."

"Sure, whatever," said Zoe.

***

Mr. Al got one of his employees, a woman named Mrs. Winnaker, to take Zoe and Avery to the mall to get some new clothes for Zoe. Fortunately, the magic (?) bathroom had given Zoe a pair of panties, a bra, a tank top, a skirt, and a pair of girls' shoes, all of which she still had with her. So it was easy to look at the sizes on the clothes' tags and determine which would fit Zoe the best.

Zoe suffered through it all-sifting through racks of shirts, feeling the tight jeans, and-erp!-doing the bra fitting. Twenty-four hours ago, she would never have dreamed she'd be clothes shopping as a girl, but here she was now. Strangest of all, Zoe couldn't help noticing that Avery was looking at her funny. Every time Zoe fumbled on a piece of girls' clothing that she wasn't sure how to wear, Avery would watch her with great scrutiny. Why was she so intrigued? Was this why she'd volunteered to join Zoe-to watch her try and get used to being girly? Except Avery couldn't have known the truth about Zoe...could she?

All was revealed when Zoe and Avery were taken back to their dorm room at Mr. Al's foster home. "Well, thanks for the help, Avery," Zoe said, trying to be as polite as possible.

"No problem," said Avery. "It's always a pleasure to help a new roommate."

"Did you get a bunch of clothes?" Geraldine asked.

"Yeah," said Zoe. "I don't think I've ever had this many different types of clothes in my life."

"Actually, speaking of which," said Avery, "There's something I wanted to ask you about."

"What is it?"

"Zoe, ever since you got here, you've been acting...not so feminine, considering you're a girl."

Zoe felt her stomach jump. Avery was on to her. "So?"

"So, it's weird. You're sixteen, right?"

"Right."

"Then why was it so hard for you to try on all those bras? If you're sixteen, then you should be used to it by now."

"Uh..."

"You used to be a boy, didn't you."

Zoe's jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

"Because we were, too," said Roxy.

She might as well have hit Zoe with a sledgehammer. "Shut up!"

"No, it's true!" said Avery. "Well, they were, anyway. I was always a girl. But Geraldine and Roxy-they were born as boys, but then they got turned into girls. Lucky Mr. Al took them in, or else who knows what would've happened."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Zoe. "So this whole foster home is full of boys-turned-girls?"

"Not everyone had their gender changed before coming here," said Geraldine. "But yes, a good amount of the girls here used to be boys."

"What about the boys? Were any of them girls before?"

"What-no, there aren't any changed girls. Everyone here is either a biological boy, a biological girl, or a boy who was turned into a girl."

"But why? How did this happen?"

Avery, Geraldine, and Roxy exchanged glances. "It's kind of complicated," said Avery. "You should probably ask Mr. Al."

"Mr. Al?"

"Yes. He's the one who took us in after we got transformed."

"Really?"

"Come on," said Avery. "I'll take you downstairs so you can ask him yourself."

To be continued...