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-1-

Of all the boys in my biology class, of course, I would end up paired with Eddie Townsend.

It wasn't that I didn't like Eddie: just the opposite, in fact. I liked Eddie very much. Everyone did. He was one of the tallest kids in our grade, and handsome and strong and played on the baseball team, though I could never remember what he played. He was nice, and funny, and smart, with golden hair and flecks in his green eyes that matched—everything you could ever want in a guy.

The problem was I always felt funny around Eddie. I wasn't the smallest guy in our class, or the weakest, or the dumbest. I might have had the longest hair, but otherwise, I felt I was pretty average actually in just about everything if a bit chubbier than I'd like. But when I was around Eddie, I felt smaller and safer, and always second-guessed myself when it came to anything I said or did. Eddie had learned a long time ago he could get me to laugh or agree to just about anything with the right look. I think that was why we got assigned as partners so much. And when we didn't, Eddie would request me anyway or try to find a seat next to me in classes without partners. So much so that some teachers had taken to calling our names together during roll call—Eddie Townsend and Jamie West—even when we weren't side-by-side in the list of names.

It wasn't a problem, really, not as far as classwork was concerned. Eddie and I both were B-average students, so I didn't have to worry about THAT. But sometimes I couldn't concentrate on labs so well when he was there, and I'd fumbled things a few times only for him to have to come to my rescue.

I did just that while we were working on frogs in biology—nicking something in its bloated formaldehyde-soaked body that squirted all over me. It would have gotten in my hair and eyes and gaping mouth, too, if not for the face shield the teacher asked us to use instead of goggles for just such situations.

"Blegh! Gross!" I squeaked like I tended to do when I was surprised.

The teacher looked over from where he was helping another pair of partners and laughed. "Yeah, these things can be gross sometimes," he said with a grin. "Just feel lucky it didn't get in your mouth. Not only is the formaldehyde poisonous, but some species of frog can change their sex when breeding populations are imbalanced. Wouldn't want you turning into a girl, would we?"

That got a chuckle from the room, and I felt myself blush. That blush deepened when Eddie wiped off my screen with a paper towel and gently took the tools from my hands.

"How about I probe, and you take notes? Your handwriting is better than mine anyway," he said, smiling down at me.

I must have agreed because he gently shouldered me aside and took my place at the frog. With him in charge of the gross parts and me writing notes and feeding him information from our textbook, things went a lot smoother since he was less hesitant with the tools and less grossed-out by how icky the whole thing was anyway.

Even with Eddie handling the frog, I was still thoroughly sick by the time class was over, and definitely didn't feel like eating any lunch. Instead, I bypassed the lunchroom and headed straight for the concrete walkway with the stairs in it that sat between the main school building and the gym, dropping myself on an out of the way ledge and just thinking.

Could frog juice really turn me into a girl?

-2-

Our community had more boys than girls, so a lot of the guys ended up getting girlfriends from other schools. Did that mean our breeding population was imbalanced, like the teacher said? I didn't think so, since even with more guys than girls, plenty of the girls didn't have boyfriends, and not just the ones who didn't want them.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice my two classmates approaching me, or the slimy gift they had in their hands.

"Hey, Jamie!"

"Wha?" I started to say as I stood up, only for one of the two boys -- Allan something-or-other -- to grab me by the arms and the other one, Wesley something, grab my face, holding my mouth open and shoving something in it.

I felt that something squirm, and I felt a nasty liquid fill my mouth. I gagged and tried to scream, but the boys were holding me and laughing.

"Hey! Leave Jamie alone!" Eddie's voice rang out from somewhere, and immediately my attackers let go of me and ran, and just as quickly, I was on my knees, spitting and heaving.

The poor frog they had shoved into my mouth landed on the ground with a splat, but quickly righted itself and hopped away—I hoped none the worse for wear.

The same couldn't be said about my mouth as I cried and spit, trying to get the taste out.

A hand rested on my shoulder, and I flinched, but soon that hand was replaced by an arm as Eddie squatted next to me and gave me a one-armed hug. As soon as I realized it was him, I felt immediately safer, even as the tears rolled down my cheeks, and I sobbed.

"Here," he said, offering me a can of soda.

I took it shakily and brought it to my lips. The first swig I used to swish around my mouth and spit out, like mouthwash. The second one I swallowed, the bittersweet acidic bite helping to clear most of the nastiness out. Eddie gently rubbed my back and made soothing noises the whole time.

"Better?" He asked, and waited for me to nod. "Sorry, I didn't get here sooner. I was looking for you since I didn't see you in the lunchroom."

I took another drink of the soda, too big of one, and coughed a bit as it burned its way down my throat. "I think it peed in my mouth," I said, fighting back the revulsion.

"I'm gonna kill those assholes," Eddie said, and I felt him stiffen as he started to stand up. I didn't want him to get in trouble because of me, though, so I reached up and grabbed the hand he had been using to rub my back.

"Eddie, don't. it was *sniff.* They're just stupid jerks."

I let go of his hand, but he held onto my fingers for a few more moments before letting go himself.

"I think frogs carry some nasty stuff, do you want to go to the nurse?" He grimaced when I shook my head 'no,' but didn't push it. "Well, I'm not leaving you alone in case they come back."

I took another sip of his soda, then offered it back to him guiltily. "Sorry, I drank so much of it."

Eddie waved it off and smiled. "Nah, you keep it. 'Sides, you heard what the teacher said about frogs, I don't wanna risk cross-contamination."

He was only joking, I knew, but it put my mind right back on the train of thought it had been riding when I'd been ambushed. Only now, I had even bigger concerns.

-3-

After that day, Eddie was by my side as often as he could be, in or out of class. It seemed to work and stopped some of the light teasing I'd been getting anyway, though we would get some strange looks now and again when he would pull me close to keep us from being separated in the hallways. I didn't mind though: I liked how safe I felt with him nearby.

Things weren't perfect, though. Between the lab incident and the frog, I found myself without an appetite any time I smelled the bio lab, and stopped eating lunches entirely. Eddie asked me to go through the line with him, at least, but stopped trying to get me to eat anything after the first couple of weeks, though he would occasionally grab some extra celery or other items off the salad bar and give me a pointed look.

I didn't like the hunger pangs, but I did like when I noticed my jeans getting looser. Eddie noticed too, and though he was worried about me not eating, he complimented me on my weight loss. If anything, that just made me feel better about the missed meals, and I added a few exercises every day after school to try and lose more.

That frog was always on the back of my mind, though.

I didn't get sick, so I figured I was lucky but was I just imagining things or was I looking girlier as I lost weight? I certainly wasn't triangle-shaped like Eddie, or barrel-shaped like some of the other guys, but was I girl-shaped, or was it just my imagination?

Had my eyes and lips always been that big, and my lashes that long?

I knew I was going crazy, that it was impossible. I researched the frog thing, and while it was true, those frogs were in Africa, not Tennessee.

Still, I couldn't help the feeling that I was changing, looking less like a boy every time I looked into the mirror as my thoughts were filled with 'what if's.

What if it were true?

What if I were becoming a girl because of that stupid frog?

What if I were some kind of mutant?

Would Eddie still be my friend if that happened?

Winter arrived, and with my loss of weight came an increased chill. Eddie was going to spend the holiday break with family in Missouri, but we were staying home for the break. I felt a pang of loss when he said good-bye to me on the last day of school but told myself I'd see him again in the new year, idly wondering if by then, I'd be even girlier than I already felt I had become.

That thought stuck with me all the way home, and when I took my shower that night, I couldn't resist the urge to take my razor in with me. Dad had bought it for me to use on my face, though I didn't have any hair there to bother with yet. But there were other thoughts on my mind as I stood under the water and stared at it.

Just one stroke on my leg wouldn't hurt anything, right? Nobody would have to know.

Ten minutes later, I was standing under the water and looking at my smooth legs, asking myself just what I'd done.

Was it the frog juice making me want to do this? It couldn't be. That was all just... that wasn't real, was it?

I couldn't help liking the effect on my legs, though.

Thankfully winter plus my newly-discovered cold nature meant pajama pants were in order, so nobody in my family had to be any the wiser, and I spent the winter break enjoying the company of my mom, dad, and big sister Lanie, who had come back from college with an inexplicable tan and a number of stories she would only share with me when Mom and Dad weren't around. Since their work wouldn't break until Christmas Eve, I spent a lot of time with Lanie around the house. She taught me to bake, and tried to teach me how to knit as we would sit around watching Christmas specials and chatting. I found myself oddly interested in the things she did, and we wound up having some fun doing each other's nails after she caught me intently watching her paint her own. Mine were always done in clear, but it was still something special we enjoyed doing together.

Yes, it was another girly thing. Who cared if it was the frog juice talking if I was having fun with my sister, though.

Christmas came, and I was surprised when most of my gifts were clothes. Mom and Dad explained that since I was losing so much weight, they wanted to make sure I had things that fit, and though it wasn't all new, it was all nice clothing and the fact they had noticed how hard I was working meant the world to me. My favorite piece, though, was from my sister, a huge white cable-knit sweater she had made herself. She apologized for the size, telling me she had been working on it before she'd known I was losing weight and had wanted it to be big on me then, but I didn't care. I loved how it felt like a blanket, I could snuggle into and wear with me, and I told her that as I hugged her.

-4-

With January came the return to school, something I was excited and sad about. On the last day before she left, Lanie called me into her room and gave me a handful of her old clothes. I balked, but she told me it was old tees and other gender-neutral things but should fit me better than my old clothes with my weight loss. Then, she asked me to sit down, and she painted my toenails a soft pink. She said it could be our secret, and that it would help me remember how much she loved me, then she gave me the bottle of polish. We both cried as we hugged, and I promised her I'd keep them nice and pink for as long as I could, even if it meant I had to wear socks with my flip flops when things warmed up.

When the first day to return to school finally arrived, my stomach was in horrible knots, knowing that Eddie would be there. I needed all the comfort I could get, so I decided to wear the sweater my sister had knitted me and one of the super-soft tank tops she had included in the pile of clothes too. I loved the loose fit of the sweater, but the length of the sleeves meant I found myself gripping the cuffs in my fingers a lot of the time, and the constant tugging somehow kept the wide neck uneven, revealing most of my right shoulder and showing my tank top to the world. I still loved it, though, especially the way my shiny-clear nails looked next to the soft white faux-angora material.

Eddie was waiting for me when I got to school. I was afraid, and not really sure why. It was irrational to worry that he would somehow know I had pink toenails and shaved legs, but I found it hard to take each step as I approached him. He did a double-take when he spotted me, then gave me the biggest, warmest smile I had ever seen.

"Hi Eddie," I said, shyly. Why was I feeling shy?

"Hi Jamie," he said back, seeming to be almost as nervous as I was. "I like your sweater."

"Thanks." I grinned, rubbing the soft, warm material of the sleeve against my cheek. "My sister made it for me for Christmas."

"Well, it looks great on you," he said, blushing. "Um, I got you something for Christmas too." He was fidgeting, like he was worried about something.

"You did?" I asked, feeling the twisting in my stomach take a suddenly more pleasant turn.

"Ah, yeah. It's... can you close your eyes?"

I hesitated. Was this some attempt to play a joke on me? Then I looked into Eddie's eyes and saw so much of the same turmoil I felt reflected back. No, not Eddie.

I swallowed hard but closed my eyes and stood up straight.

I heard Eddie move and felt his arms resting on my neck, something cold touching me as his hands fumbled under my hair. The contact made me tingle, and I smelled something spicy and woody, with Eddie's smell underneath it. Had he gotten new cologne for Christmas? Then the spicy smell moved away, as did his hands and arms, but the coolness around my neck remained.

My eyes fluttered open to see an even more nervous Eddie standing surprisingly close to me, his hands clenched in fists at his sides.

I looked down to see my new gift and laughed.

There, dangling around my neck and sitting just above the neckline of my sweater, was a silver frog pendant. It had little green jewels for eyes, with gold flecks in them.

"It has your eyes," I said, lifting a hand to place over the gift. "Thank you." I frowned. "I don't have anything for you, though."

I looked up, and Eddie was giving me that amazing smile of his again. "Just wear the necklace. That's all I want."

"Always."

I didn't care about propriety. I didn't care that we were both boys. I closed the little distance between us and reached up, wrapping my arms around Eddie's neck and hugging him close, enjoying the spicy smell of him. It took a moment, but Eddie wrapped his own arms around me, placing his hands in the small of my back and pulling me even tighter against him.

'Stupid frog juice,' I thought, knowing how girlie I was acting.

Then again, if Eddie liked me being girlie... then was it really such a bad thing?

-End-

Here it is, the second story I submitted to Erin for Patreon, on BCTS at last! I hope y'all enjoy this one just as much as you did the last one: the response was incredible, and I can't adequately express how much it meant to me.

Melanie E.