Stuck in a Rut.
By Rosalie Redd

Casey Church is a normal 13 year old girl, full of hopes and dreams and fears and anxieties. But in a world where there hasn’t been a girl born in over a century, what is normal?

Chapter 26.

Luna walked into class and I snuck a glance at the kitten. She was literally playing that theme up. She had on the collar, of course, but had several other new items that suggested it. A lacy headband with kitty ears and a long faux tail that peeked out from under the maid dress she had on certainly gave her that cat-girl look. I managed to resist going over and hugging her, but her cuteness was deadly.

I noticed that she was sitting in the spot previously occupied by Marcia, and when the twins came in, they took up positions on either side of her. Just like when they were Marcia’s bodyguards. The three of them started to whisper to each other, with occasional glances my way. All during the class the three whispered and glanced around. I noticed at the end of the class that Amy had walked over to another classmate, this one only just beginning the outward signs of her transition. She had stood there while looking around, and whispered something to her.

I sat in English class, pondering what was going on. I felt the buzzing feeling of my phone vibrating in the pocket of my jacket, and I slipped my hand in and fished it out. There was a message from the kitten.

>> MEW MEW. SMTHG UP W/TWINS. INFO LTR- KITTEH<<

Pondering the message, I went back to listening to the teacher drone on about punctuation. Class crept by slowly. Math seemed even longer, but lunch eventually came.

I sat down in my usual place, the war with Marcia had only claimed it for a brief moment with her power play. Now that she was gone, it was free once again. DeShaun slid up beside me on the left, and Janie joined us, sitting across from us. I showed them both the message from Luna. When I had explained to him about Janie and my arrangement with her, he had been less than thrilled about it, but I had explained that I didn’t love him any less, and he reluctantly accepted it.

Janie was the first to say something about the message. “I heard that the twins were talking to a new girl in one of their classes.”

I nodded. “I saw them do the same in the class I have with them.”, I stated.

We all sat around and pondered this new situation the rest of lunch. At the end of the lunch period, we saw Amy talking to another girl that was obviously at the beginning of her transition. May was standing nearby looking around , with a suspicious look on her face.

On the way out, I felt someone bump into me. I looked and saw Luna, she glared at me and walked off.

I put my hand into my jacket pocket and felt a piece of paper. I quickly took my hand out and walked on, arriving at my locker. Getting my books out, I headed for Biology. I sat down in my normal spot, and Janie came in a couple minutes later. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I returned the gesture.

I reached into my pocket and took out the small slip of paper. It simply said ‘will call you after school – Your Kitten’.

I took out my books, and as I did, I passed the paper to Janie. “Perhaps you should come over tonight”, I said.

She looked at it and frowned. “It seems so”, she exclaimed.

The rest of the school day went by like a blur, even Study Hall with Janie and Home Economics with DeShaun seemed to go quickly.

Mom picked the three of us up, Janie having agreed that we all needed to be there when Kitten called.

We were all sitting in my room when the phone rang. I greeted Luna, and told her that we were all there. She was silent for a moment, then asked me if I had skype.

A couple minutes later, we were gathered around my computer as she called us on it.

“First of all Casey, thank you Mom for the computer and phone and the plans for them. If not for her, I couldn’t call you like this.”, Luna said. She was lounging on her bed, laying on her stomach in the same cute dress with kitty accessories.

“I will!”, I said to her, trying not to coo over how cute she was.

“Secondly, about Amy and May. They are definitely up to something. They didn’t take the news about being drugged well, and certainly are not happy that that is the reason they are girls. They haven’t really talked to me about their plans, but they seem to be trying to build a base with newly-minted girls. That’s a very logical thing to do, I think because they are unsure of themselves, they have insecurities that are easy to prey on, and they are a rapidly growing group.”

Deshaun spoke up. “What purpose would gathering together all these new girls serve?”

Janie spoke up. “Well, it’s not exactly a new tactic. If you want to gather up a base, you target the young and the inexperienced. Cigarette companies do it by targeting kids with things like music giveaways, and so forth. Alcohol sellers make it look cool to drink. So if you want to build an audience, you start young.”

Luna nodded on screen, and spoke up. “Right now though I don’t have any idea what their endgame is. Gathering the support of new girls ensures them that as they get older these girls will support them as they go through school, even up into the Junior and senior classes. But for what, I have no idea.”

I looked at Luna, and blushed at the pure cuteness. “Well, I doubt they are trying to build a base for something like senior homecoming court, or something that far off in the distance. I think their goal has to have a quicker payout.”, I said.

“Student council?”, I asked.

Janie shook her head. “Freshmen only are eligible for lower offices. True, they could parlay that into presidency as seniors, but I don’t see these two as the sort that would play some sort of long game.”

I sighed. “Better the enemy you know.”, I said.

Luna nodded. “I need to sign off now.” She said. And then she added a final “Mew.”

The thee of us pondered what else could be going on. Marcia had gotten her position of Head Cheerleader largely through reputation and nepotism. Amy and May didn’t seem that interested in that position. Whatever these two were up to, it was beyond us. The fact that as sisters they could conspire at home, out of Luna’s earshot, was a major plus for them.

Janie stayed over for dinner, and then headed home, DeShaun accompanied her. She was feeling better, but she still hid her arms behind wraps and long sleeves. Her forehead was healing, but she would still always have that scar along her hairline.

I sat on the couch, lost in thought for a good while, and DeShaun came over and sat next to me. I sagged into him, and rested my head on his shoulder. I could hear Mom shuffling around in the kitchen, while Dad was off in his office.

Suddenly there was a ringing of the doorbell. Dad walked out of the office and answered it.

I heard someone exclaim “Where’s my baby brother?”, in an excited tone. DeShaun and I both perked up immediately and looked around. He turned and saw the woman standing there. She was tall, almost as tall as my Mom, possibly even taller. Her cocoa skin was beautiful, and in her shorts and tank top, you could see she was athletic and fit.

DeShaun stood up and gawked at the woman. “Stevie?”, he asked, uncertainly.

The woman looked at him, and then hurried over and hugged him. “It’s Stephanie now, though I’m sure Mom and Dad never told you that part.”

He looked down at his feet and sighed. “No, after you um… changed, you were a forbidden topic.”, he said sadly.

Stephanie looked at me and looked me up and down. I sort of felt uneasy under her gaze, but then she rushed over and hugged me. “You must be the one I’ve heard so much about. Casey, right?”

I mumbled my “yes”, and she eventually let me go.

“Well little brother”, she said. “You sure stumbled into a pretty one here.”

I blushed and sat back down on the couch.
After the shock wore off, DeShaun finally got up the courage to ask the question. “What are you doing here Sis?”, He said uncertainly.

Dad spoke up next. “I invited your sister here to talk about things, with the added issues about the baby, we all need to talk about this.”

Stephanie stepped back and shot a glare at me. “Baby? You when and knocked this sweet girl up? Deshaun, you knucklehead. I thought I taught you better than that.”

I blushed and hurriedly spoke. “No, no… not me, I’m not even able to yet. It’s not me.”

Stephanie looked at her brother, an obvious look of disapproval forming. “Then what’s all this about a baby?”

Deshaun looked at the floor. “After you left, Dad got worse. Always blaming white people for everything wrong. It was unbearable. We had a fight, and There was this girl. Her name is Marcia. She’s really unstable, and has even hurt people. But at the time, I was stupid and angry and I was looking for a way to make Dad angry. I hadn’t met Casey yet, and I slept with Marcia, even though she’s a nutcase. Just to make Dad upset. Turns out though that the last laugh was on me.”

I sighed and continued the story. “You see, Marcia is severely mentally ill, she obsessed over DeShaun, and when I got too close to him, she retaliated by attacking a friend of mine with a knife, slashing her up badly. Thankfully Janie survived, but she’s going to have scars for the rest of her life.”

Stephanie nodded, then walked over to DeShaun, and smacked him on the back of the head. “Next time boy, think with the northern brain. So, is there any solid proof of this baby? Could she be making this up?”

Dad shook his head. “I’m afraid not. After we … obtained evidence of a whole series of her misdeeds, she had no other choice but to plead guilty. Unfortunately, she attempted to commit suicide, and the doctors confirmed at the same time that she’s about 2 ½ months along.”

Stephanie sighed and sat down and hugged her brother. “Take this as a lesson... never stick it into crazy”

DeShaun laughed at that, then sighed and hugged his sister. I moved over to a different chair and sat down. They needed this time to get reacquainted. I sat there and listened in as DeShaun talked all about me, and Janie and football, and all the things going on in his life. Then Stephanie brought out pictures of his nephews and DeShaun started to cry. It had been years, but the time seemed to float away, as they talked about what used to be, and what now was.

I smiled and went upstairs and got ready for bed. I stood in the bathroom, looking at the full length mirror. I looked even more girly than before, and my poor surrendering dick was just a floppy growth no bigger or thicker than my pinkie. I sighed, and looked at my flat chest. Why did everyone think I was so hot? I’m nothing, certainly not compared to Mom or Stephanie or even Janie or... Marcia.