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Chapter 8
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Over the next few days, Judy narrowly avoided walking into the boys’ locker room out of habit, and entered the girls’ one with some timidity. She remained calm when she realized that no one was looking Judy’s way because every girl was too busy changing clothes or chatting out of sight.

Each day, it didn’t last long before someone noticed her who had known her as Julian, and the girl who noticed her would scramble to cover herself up, regardless of whether she was dressed or half-naked. It was then that Judy noticed a few girls gossiping and giggling while glancing her way. She made her attempts to ignore it, and then Denise would join her in the corner of the locker room, making the rest of the world not matter quite so much.

On Tuesday, Denise eyed and smirked at Judy’s hair, which was now styled after pixie cuts. Judy’s mom had fixed it up a little to look more gender neutral, given how short it was. Judy had to explain as much to her friend during their class time.

Their gym clothes were generic and unisex, so Judy didn’t have to buy anything new when she’d learned that the old set still fit. Her 32a bra protected her sensitive chest from the painted lettering on her shirt, and she was thankful for that. Denise let Judy use her locker until the school got with the times and assigned a new one in the girls’ room. Neither girl knew when that would happen.

Some of the boys and girls laughed at Judy, and some did not. A few even whispered to her that she was brave, whatever it was that had happened.

Then came Friday when she had swimming. Everyone saw Judy in her one-piece suit, which combined a few shades of purple. The lighter shades shot across the front and back of it diagonally and blended into the darker one along the edges of the light, crooked streaks.

After seeing this, the few people who remained negatively verbal about Judy’s change were seen as assholes and idiots around the school. But Judy and Denise didn’t care, because they had something else in mind than simply showing off her new figure that she was comfortable with.

First, though, came the moment of truth. Judy had been able to take showers up until now, but no one had been in the water with her, so she could not say yet if her power was safe around other people. She reined in her worries, and sat on the edge of the pool while dipping her feet in one by one.

No one flinched or showed signs of being electrocuted.

Judy nodded to Denise, who was already in the pool waiting for her, and then she slipped the rest of the way in. Her exhalation of relief came while she was submerged, and Judy came back up when it was over. Goodness, it was nice to breathe easy again.

Denise challenged Judy, “Hey, I’ll race you. Three laps across the length of the pool.”

“You’re on,” Judy said.

She swam hard and took a breath when she could. Judy had never done any swimming since her transformation, but she was doing well enough, she thought. However, one of the awkward class clowns was swimming the other way and was bound for a collision with either her or her friend, or both. Judy had to stop halfway through her first lap to avoid him, and he kept going like nothing mattered in the world.

Judy would have said something, but the idiot had a reputation for getting defensive no matter how wrong he clearly was.

Meanwhile, Denise didn’t stop. She used the depth of the pool to duck under the idiot and keep going. Seeing this, Judy pushed herself to catch up to her friend. She pushed herself so hard that she started to feel that buzzing energy grow within her.

No, not here. Don’t shock everyone here.

So now she had three tasks to contend with: catching up to her friend and beating her at the race, avoiding the idiot swimming the shorter length of the pool, and trying not to use her power. Judy wasn’t entirely sure of the effect that electricity had on chlorinated water, but she was willing to bet it wasn’t pretty.

Judy kicked off of the wall at the end of the first lap, as did Denise shortly before her, and she kept up her strokes, preparing herself for the interloper to their race.

She dove in deeper into the water and changed her stroke to try to match or compensate for the maneuver. However, Denise was once again pulling away. Her friend was too good of a swimmer, but Judy did not give up.

Rising back up to the surface, she stroked like she had never stroked before. Even though Denise passed her a few seconds before Judy could finished her second lap, she kicked off of the wall and pressed onward. This time, no one was getting in their way. This time, Judy would catch up and pass her friend.

These thoughts reinforced every stroke, and every stroke reinforced those thoughts. The water was growing too turbulent for her goggles, so she closed her eyes. She breathed in at one chance with her head above the water, and she breathed out the next, then back in the time after that. She pushed the water behind her as hard as she pushed against her electric power.

Then she felt a hand on top of her head, prompting her to stop. It was another classmate, who nodded to Judy and swam off before Judy could fully process the fact that she nearly rammed into the wall.

Denise was a few short feet away with her chin and arms sprawled out along the edge of the pool. She looked at Judy whilst breathing just as heavily as her. She said, “That was the best race I’ve ever had. Good job, Judy.”

“What? You mean you knew how far behind you I was the whole time?”

“It’s an affinity I have. I can tell when someone is near me when I have my eyes closed; it’s also good for finding walls before they find my head. Being a somewhat practiced swimmer helps too.”

“My power almost came out earlier when that guy cut us off. I’m starting to think that I should ask someone who would really know whether or not pool water conducts electricity.”

“On the bright side, you would have been the fastest swimmer in this school.”

“Denise.”

“I’m only joking. So, do you have any plans after school?”

“I have a doctor’s appointment. It’s the one your mom recommended.”

“OK. Then we can figure it out later,” said Denise

“Figure what out?”

“Your hero name, silly. It’d be totally cool if you had one.”

“Yeah, that would be awesome.”

“Do you want me to go in with you, or would you like me to wait out here?” Mai asked when it was Judy’s turn to head into one of the examination rooms.

“I think I’ll be fine,” Judy said to her mom. “If the lights flash an S.O.S., then you can come barging in with a full squad of heroes and police officers.”

Judy went into the room while carrying the paperwork that she was still filling out. Her mom had helped with the few questions she could not answer herself, and what remained now were her name and gender, which had not been legally changed as of yet.

Only after sitting down inside the examination room did Judy find it odd that a document at an O.B.G.Y.N.’s office would ask for a gender.

“Dr. Terrell will be with you shortly,” said the departing nurse.

Most doctor’s offices liked to have posters or diagrams in their examination rooms that related to their field of expertise. However, as Judy looked around the room, there wasn’t any such poster in sight. The room was instead decorated with subtle, feminine colors and a few photos that looked as though they were taken by someone using a travel power, like flight or super speed.

Judy was looking at one of the possible flight photographs when the door opened behind her. In walked a friendly looking woman with the quintessential white coat.

“Ms. Tanimoto!” Doctor Terrell stopped for a moment, and checked her chart. She mumbled something that Judy could not catch. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Feel free to call me Trish, or Doctor.”

They shook hands.

“Did you have any questions about that paperwork there?” the doctor asked.

“Um, well...” Judy began. “I understand most places require a legal name and gender, but if I put those down you might think I’m being silly or something.”

Trish handed her a couple sticky notes. “Usually, I have to tell new patients that the gender question is only there because the state requires it, but, for the sake of completion or honesty, whichever you care for more, put the one you identify as on the actual document and your former identity on either note. One for your name, and one for your gender.”

“Seriously, it’s that easy?”

“My people have their moments. So then, you’ve been referred to me by someone.”

“A family friend, yes.”

The doctor raised a brow toward Judy as if she were trying to get a better read on her. “Female to male transgender, born a boy but woke up a girl, or . . . ?”

“I was born with boy parts, but was going through hormone therapy when this happened. It’s a long story, which involves superpowers.”

“How so?”

Judy did her best to recount what had happened at the other doctor’s office last week, to which Doctor Terrell winced but let Judy go on, and how she had gone to the computer lab at the school library so that she could research her newfound power.

“When I came out of the computer, I looked like this with girl parts instead of boy ones. I’ve been eating, sleeping, and everything else like this ever since,” she said.

“How do you like it?” the doctor asked.

“How do I like what?”

“Being a girl. Well, having the body of one.”

“I’ve always wanted this, it’s like a dream. But, for the first few nights including last night, I broke down crying. Is this really happening? Will it last? Why did no one tell me that going to the bathroom was so different? Things like that.”

“That’s to be expected. Transition periods take a long time for good reason; people wishing to go from one gender to the other need time to adjust, even if what they always wanted is a full transformation. You’ll be fine, I’m sure. Let me see this.”

Doctor Terrell examined the paperwork that Judy had finished filling out, except for one question halfway down the second page. Judy could see her gaze land on that question, and the smirk twist on her face.

“There’s no shame, you know,” said the doctor. “I can respect your privacy for not wanting to tell me how often you masturbate, but just so you know, it’s perfectly normal, even at the age of fourteen.”

The lights flashed. Had Judy ever blushed this hard in her life?

Judy tried to keep it under control for fear that her mom might barge in demanding answers or wanting to thump heads. She made as much effort to get some words out. “I haven’t. I mean, not since I transformed.”

“That’s totally alright too,” the doctor consoled. “When you’re ready, you’re ready. Just be careful when you do it. You don’t want to hurt yourself. Now, since this is an examination, I’m sure you’ve just been looking forward to what’s next. If you’d be so kind as to remove your pants and underwear, and lie back.”

Flicker.

“Everyone’s favorite part,” the doctor’s lie was about as obvious as the sky being blue, and she doubtlessly knew it. “Just lie back and relax. I am a professional, and you are in good hands.”

Judy did lie back. In an attempt to calm herself, she asked, “How long have you been doing this?”

“Since the early 90s. I came to Paragon and opened this office fifteen years ago. Now, take a deep breath.”

The exam went on with tools one might expect for a young lady. Before the doctor could test for depth, she saw that Judy had a hymen and commented on it:

“Your transformation appears to have been pretty thorough. You are every bit a virgin and healthy young woman, but I would like to run one more test to be sure that everything is there. The problem is that the device is electronic.”

“How is that a problem, Doctor?”

“Your electrokinesis. We’ve already seen what it does to the lights, but what if your power short circuits the device, or you drain it of energy before it can do any good? Hmm... As to the former, you’re able to take baths and showers regularly, yes?”

“Yes, Doctor. I’m even able to go swimming without harming anyone. I found that out today during P.E.”

“Good, that solves the likelihood of my device shorting out and exploding in my hands. That leaves power drainage.”

“That only happens if I’m nervous or scared.”

“I haven’t scared you too badly, have I? Tell you what, you can put your underwear back on, but I need you to continue lying back. Let me get the Vit-Scan.”

Judy was glad to put her panties back on, and wasted no time doing so while the doctor grabbed something from the dresser. The device had two parts, which weren’t connected through any cable. One looked like a video pad from science fiction shows, and the other like a crazy computer mouse with three tubes along either side.

“Is this going to hurt?” asked Judy.

“Of course not,” the doctor responded. “But some of my patients have told me that it tickles a bit, so be ready for that.”

Somehow, there was no flicker.

Trish rested the flat bottom over Judy’s bare tummy, and she pressed a button on the top. The device lit up with a little blue beacon near the middle, and Judy felt some vibrations moving throughout her lower torso. It didn’t take long, but she found herself resisting the urge to jerk or laugh.

She watched as the doctor tinkered with the video tablet, though Judy could not see what was on it.

“Well, well,” said the doctor. “Everything’s all there. That makes you a marvel, my dear, considering how you transformed. And you’re inside the device now. Good thing I took a screenshot in case you wanted to see it.”

Sure enough, Judy was inside the device. She guessed this meant that her ability was not limited to large computers. While she was there, Judy took a look at the screenshot of her insides, and immediately looked away. It was just so weird. Surreal, even.

Using the same trick as before, she moved out of the device. However, she did so while imagining a better landing than the last time, and Judy landed on her feet once she was out. The change in gravity caught up with her, and she caught herself on the exam table.

“Sorry about that,” Judy said. “It just tickled too much, and I got really curious as to what you were looking at.”

“Don’t you worry, I was a teenager once myself,” said Doctor Terrell.

“So now what?”

“Well, we have a couple options regarding your legal name and gender. I can easily sign away whatever documentation you need to go to a judge, and spend needless amounts of time and money so that everywhere you go matches up their records, or you can leave it to us. You’re a minor, and I know transgenders aren’t known for their enormous wallet sizes. Besides, I suspect I know what happened with your last doctor, and I mean to hold them accountable for it.”

“How long would the legal change take if I left it with you?”

“About a week, or maybe less. You like that idea.”

“I do,” Judy said.

“Very good. Now, I have a simple favor to ask of you in return. Keep a journal, or a diary, whichever. You have more changes coming, and a lot of adjusting to go through. It doesn’t need to be every day. You can write en entry once a week, or every time something big happens. Watch how being a girl physically affects your emotions, keep a lookout on the changes in your habits or lifestyle, and feel free to share your highlights with me during your annual check-ups. Deal?”

“Sure.”

“Great. Now, before you and your mother run off thinking you can go a whole year without seeing my glamorous face again, I’d like to schedule a follow-up in about a month, or whenever the soonest is that we can get you in after that time.”

“OK. May I ask why?”

“You can, but I’m hoping you’ll find out by the time your next visit comes. If not, then I’ll let you know all about it then.”