The month long winter break flew by. Mom spent most of the break trying to make up for lost mother-daughter time with me. Faith ran interference a few times to get me out of it but I really didn’t mind spending more time with Mom. Dad was not quite distant. We still played chess in the evening every now and then. He loved playing against me. And I could still beat him occasionally.

Marc visited a couple weekends and got along great with my parents. He could not sleep over though.

A week before Christmas Eve, Grandma visited and we told her who I was. We did not tell Uncle Perry and Aunt Kate. Mom wanted to tell her sister but I did not want to have too many people knowing until a permanent solution was found.

Before I knew it, I was back on campus. I was still rooming with Robert since neither of us had a problem with living with the other. Dean Mittal was glad as even he did not like dealing with the staff at housing.

* * *

It was a week after the spring semester started when Robert rushed into our room and said, “Oh, good. You're here.”

“Glad to see you, too.”

“I had an idea. When you changed you tried putting on your old underwear. Have you tried any of your old underwear since?”

“I also tried putting on my men’s underwear the morning after it happened.

“So, that Friday and that Saturday. How about since then?”

“No, they would be very loose.”

“That's not the point. Maybe your body changes with your underwear. Had you ever worn female underwear before you did a few months ago?”

“Of course not.”

“So, give it a try. You have nothing to lose.”

“I already tried this.”

“Maybe whatever makes you change takes time to recharge.”

“Fine, fine.” I grabbed one of my old boxer briefs and went into the bathroom.

A moment later, male me was shouting “Oh, my god.” I stepped out of the bathroom in just my boxer briefs. “I'm me!”

“You're half naked and your makeup looks funny on Dave.”

“But, I'm me.”

“You’re welcome. Now, put the panties back on to see if you can go back and forth.”

“Why would I want...?”

“Are you crazy?” He said. “Why wouldn't you want to be able to switch back and forth? You were telling me about kissing Marc. You think he wants to kiss Dave?”

“But...”

“No buts.”

“Stop, stop, stop. I am having the worst déjà vu right now.”

“What?”

“The dream I told you about a couple months ago.”

“What about it?”

“You’re saying exactly what you said in my dream.”

“Whatever. You would be closing the door on the coolest life anyone could have. You've fooled around and I've seen you drool over guys. Don't you want to know what it feels like.”

“You did it again.”

“So, you apparently also have precognitive powers. Doesn’t matter. Do I have to be graphic?”

“No, no, I understand you completely. It's just... well, I am curious.”

“I could help you out there, too.”

“That’s it. I’m done,” I said. I got dressed and left without saying anything else.

I went to Shelly's room. When I opened the door she did not seem surprised to see me looking like my old self. I hugged her and we kissed.

“So, how did you find yourself?”

“Robert had the insane idea that there’s a recharge time just after a gender change that has to pass before I can switch back. Insane idea. But, it worked.”

“That's great. Can you still go back to being Eve, now?”

“What?”

“Was that a one time thing, a glitch in the matrix, or are you some kind of sexually morphic being?”

“If I never put on panties again, it won't matter.”

“But, what about Marc?”

Somehow between my dorm and her dorm, I had forgotten about Marc. I dropped into a chair in the room and just sat there for several moments. Shelly said nothing. “I have to tell him.”

“His first question will be whether you can still be Eve or not.”

“No, he'd ask if I want to be Eve again.”

“Which you are saying you won't do.”

“I have to find out.”

I went into her bathroom and removed my clothes. I started sliding the panties up my leg when I saw myself in the mirror. Am I Dave or am I Eve? I asked the naked man in the mirror.

The waistband settled on my waist and nothing happened. I removed the panties and grabbed my underwear and put them back on.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Oh, you’ll have to wait a day or two and try again. When you first changed you could not change back.”

She came over to me and hugged me. We kissed.

“Didn't we break up?” I said.

“We were on a pause until you could turn back to Dave.”

“Which I've done. Now I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend. You never struck me as the sharing type.”

“I would never share Dave with another woman. I also don't think I would be jealous of Eve being with Marc.”

“Seriously?”

“Just don't expect any threesomes.”

“Not even Dave, Marc, and you.”

“I-- I hadn't thought of that.”

“I should go talk to Marc while you fantasize.”

“Shut up!”

I went to Marc’s dorm and was let in. I knocked on his room door. Everything looked different being a foot taller now.

“Dave?” he said, stepping aside to let me in.

“I hope Ian isn't here.”

“He isn't. So, long time no see.” He sat on his bed. I sat on the desk chair.

“Yeah, about that.”

“So, you're here. I'm guessing that means I was right about you and Eve.”

“You were.”

“Does this mean Eve’s never coming back?”

“I tried changing back. It didn’t work. Just like it didn’t work when I first became Eve. I just spent several months not feeling like myself.”

“So we're breaking up? I don't mind. Just don't string me along.”

“I just left Shelly's room. She was also happy for me. I never wanted to break up with her.”

“I see.”

“I also don't want to break up with you. I mean. At the moment, I'm not looking for anything physical with you. But, I--”

“So, I will see Eve again. And she still wants to be my girlfriend.”

“Assuming it doesn’t take three months between changes.”

“I should probably reject this idea. What if it only takes a day or two between changes? Would you switch back and forth that frequently?”

“Maybe.”

“Shelly had no problem with this?”

“She said she didn't. We won't know whether she or you or I can handle the idea of sharing me between you two until we try it. Insane as it sounds.”

“I'm willing to try. I really like Eve. And I think you were finally comfortable being Eve until you... You never did tell me how you became Eve.”

I sighed. I told him the story of the underwear. When I finished he laughed. “What?”

“How did it take so long for you to try putting on men's underwear?”

“I tried immediately. And the next morning.”

“But not since then?”

“No.”

“The gang is going to miss Eve at lunch tomorrow if you don't show.”

“Let's give the three-halves dating a chance first. If we find out we can handle it, we can tell the girls about my weird ability.”

“But not Ian.”

“God, not Ian. Are you daft?”

We laughed.

“I’ll try again Saturday. If it works out, we can get together as a couple and hang out.”

“It's a date. If you remain Dave, we can still hang out as Bros.”

“I suppose that's possible.”

“Dave, I might have a girlfriend with whom I can do guy stuff with. Nothing can be better than that. Having to share you with Shelly is worth the price of admission.”

“I'm glad you're so open about this.”

“I'm glad you were man enough to tell me why Eve wouldn't be in classes tomorrow.”

“Okay. I'm headed back to Shelly's dorm. Good night.”

We shook hands, awkwardly at first. I left.

* * *

I called Micah and when she found out how I turned back I could hear her biting her tongue. We put a hold on any name change. I went to the Dean’s office and he was less restrained. “This is amazing,” he said. “How did you not try to turn back with your own underwear immediately?”

“I did try it immediately. Even the next morning. I haven’t tried it since then until this morning.”

“So, you’ll be attending classes as yourself this semester, I assume.”

“I will. I might still be attending classes sometimes as Eve, assuming the cool down period isn’t weeks long.”

“You will?”

“Eve has a boyfriend. It would be unfair to just ghost him.”

“You seem a bit confused about what you want.”

“Tell me about it.”

* * *

Shelly and I were having lunch in the cafe on Friday when Marc approached us. Quietly, he said, “May I join you?”

Shelly said, “Sure. Have a seat.”

Marc looked very relieved as he sat. This was the shy Marc I first met a couple months ago. “I don't want to intrude.”

“No, no, you two should get to know one another,” I said.

“Should we?” he said.

“Why not?” Shelly said. “Do you have any plans with Eve or Dave tomorrow?”

“You told her?” Marc said.

“Of course,” I said.

“Good, good. Of course, you told her. No, I thought we'd just hang out. Did you want to do something specific?”

“Nothing specific. I'm up to date on my studying, though.”

“There's that movie you want to see,” Shelly said.

“No,” I said. “I don't think I'll enjoy as much if I'm Eve.”

“Really?” Marc said. “What kind of movie?”

“A stupid action movie. While I was Eve, I watched a couple similar movies and they were good. I enjoyed them. But something was missing. They weren't great movies to Eve. I rewatched one of them last night and it just landed better when I was Dave.”

“Testosterone?”

“Maybe.”

“You could watch it with Marc as Dave.”

“I think I want my first date since finding Dave with Marc to be a strictly Eve date. Maybe some other time, Dave and Marc could see that movie.”

“Sure,” Marc said. He visibly relaxed. “I was worried this might be hard to do.” He indicated with his hand the three of us conversing.

“It's a very unusual circumstance,” Shelly said. “It'll probably work because none of us are the type who feels the need to spend time with their significant other twenty-four/seven.”

“And my other relationship isn't a secret.”

“What if Shelly found another boyfriend or I found another girlfriend?”

“We don't have to decide that now. I just hope if that happened, you would tell the other two about it before it reached the dating stage. No secrets.”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”