The last year or so had been hard for Saige, but she always found a crumb of comfort when she went to spend time at home. After graduating high school in 2021, Saige had started college at Harvard in Massachusetts with a major in psychology. Just weeks before, Saige had passed her finals with a GPA of 3.1 and then came home for Christmas. Now it was New Year's Day, and she was visiting the University Of Chicago campus where an old friend was attending.

When Saige came to the rendezvous point she'd arranged, she saw her friend Bailey Anderson waiting there for her. "Hi Saige!" Bailey said, opening her arms to hug Saige.

"Hi Bailey," Saige said, returning the hug. She and Bailey reveled in their embrace, feeling each other's hair between their fingers.

When they broke free, Bailey asked "Ready to get some lunch?"

"Of course!" said Saige.

Saige and Bailey both went over to a food truck that was parked nearby. The girls both ordered hot dogs and chips and went to go sit down. While they ate, they talked and caught up about life.

"So how'd your finals go?" Bailey asked.

"Not bad," Saige answered. "I ended up with a 3.1 GPA."

"Nice," said Bailey. "I've only got a 3.0."

"That's good."

"So when does the next semester at Harvard start?"

"Next week. My mom's gonna drive me to the airport on Friday so I can fly back to Massachusetts."

"I'm starting next week too," said Bailey.

Saige chewed and swallowed her bite of hot dog before speaking again. "So how's Olivia?" she asked.

Bailey's smile faded. "She's...not great," she said.

"Uh-oh," said Saige. Even though she and Olivia went a way back, Bailey had known her even longer. Bailey had been Olivia's bunkmate at the Y. F. F. H. foster home four years ago, before the girls had discovered what was really going on there and fled. Crazily enough, Saige had gotten herself roped into Olivia and Bailey's struggle with their old foster mom Miss Johnson. But in the end, they'd defeated Miss Johnson and started anew in Chicago. "What happened?"

"I don't know. She hasn't texted or called me in a couple weeks. I tried to reach out to her, but she said she didn't want to talk."

Saige was getting a bad feeling. "You guys didn't have a fight, did you?"

"No, I didn't do anything," said Bailey. "I don't think."

"Well, what about Christina?" Saige asked, referring to Olivia's girlfriend.

"She didn't say anything either."

Wow, Saige thought. She was really out of the loop with her friends. "Are you sure she's okay?"

"I don't know. I've wanted to go to her place and talk to her, but I've been too busy with school."

"How about we go there?" Saige suggested. "Maybe we can find out what's going on with her?"

"Sure," said Bailey. "I was thinking about going, but I wasn't sure what I would say."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine."

***

Once they were done eating their food, Saige and Bailey left to go to Olivia's apartment. She lived in the suburbs of Chicago, just a few blocks away from the Burger King where she worked. Like Bailey, Olivia had gone to the University Of Chicago after she graduated high school, but after her first semester, she decided to put her academic career on hold and focus on work. She'd gone through three different jobs before starting her job at Burger King, which was where she still worked at now.

Saige and Bailey approached Olivia's apartment and faced her door. "Do you want to knock?" Saige asked.

"No, you do it," said Bailey.

Wuss, Saige thought. She rapped on the door three times and waited. After a minute, the door was answered by none other than Olivia. Her black hair was messy and uneven, and she was wearing only a white bathrobe.

"Oh," Olivia said when she saw Saige and Bailey. "Hey guys."

"Hi Olivia," said Saige.

"What are you doing here?"

"We just wanted to come see how you were doing."

Olivia sighed. "Well, thanks for asking. I'm horrible."

"What happened?"

"Come inside."

Saige and Bailey went inside Olivia's apartment and sat down on the couch. Olivia sat in a chair and faced her friends. "So what's going on?" Bailey asked. "Why haven't you been answering our calls?"

"I'm sorry, Bailey," said Olivia. "I just...can't."

"Why not? Did you lose your phone?"

"No, I didn't."

"Did I do something-"

"No, Bailey, you're okay," said Olivia. "But Christina isn't."

"Oh," said Saige. An idea of what was going on had occurred to her. "You and her...you didn't break up, did you?"

"She dumped me," Olivia said miserably. "I don't know why she did it-she just came up to me one day and told me we were through. Then she just...disappeared. No calls, no texts, no anything from her."

For a few seconds, Saige and Bailey just sat there, speechless. "Olivia," said Bailey, "I'm so sorry."

"I don't even know what went wrong," Olivia said, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I made time for Christina, I was always there for her. I just..."

"I know what you're going through," said Saige. "After Tony and I broke up, I was conflicted for weeks about whether I should've stayed with him after all."

"You have no idea," said Olivia. "Ever since Christina dumped me, I've just been here in my apartment. Over the last few days, I haven't even been wearing anything."

"Oh," said Saige. Just now, she was starting to realize that there didn't seem to be any visible shorts or bra strips under Olivia's bathrobe.

"So you haven't even been going to work?" Bailey asked.

"No," Olivia answered. "I know they've probably terminated me by now, but honestly, I don't care anymore."

Saige and Bailey exchanged glances. "That really sucks," said Saige, "But you've gotta pick up the pieces and move on."

"You think I haven't tried?"

"No, but do you really want to die moping around in your apartment?"

Olivia sighed. "Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Get another job? Start going to school again?"

"I mean...I could try?"

"Olivia, I really am sorry," said Saige. "I don't know if there's anything I can do to cheer you up, but..."

"Actually," Bailey said as she remembered something, "I think there is something that can cheer you up."

"What?"

"Remember that witch hunt that went on in Frankfort, Kentucky?"

"Oh yeah," said Olivia. "That guy Zack who turned into Zoe because of a witch's curse-that was all over the news."

"I know," said Saige. "It's kind of ironic because...you know..."

Olivia gravely nodded. She and Saige had once been boys, but they'd been turned into girls just like Zack had. Olivia's old foster mom Miss Johnson had turned her into a girl just like most of the other kids at the Y. F. F. H, and Sage had become Saige in the exact manner Zack had become Zoe-he'd gone into the girls' bathroom at school and fell victim to a curse that had apparently been placed on the bathroom. All that had gone down more than four years ago, so Olivia and Saige had since settled into their lives as women. But when Zack/Zoe Fletcher's story was made public, they'd had a field day.

"Anyway, last week Zack posted on his Twitter that he wondered if anyone else out there had had a witch change their gender," Bailey went on. "He said he'd love to meet another witch's victim."

"So are you saying we should go down to Frankfort and meet Zack Fletcher?" Olivia asked.

"Yes."

"But would he even-"

"Of course he would! He said he'd like to meet another gender-swapped person like him, and you and Saige have had your genders changed. So maybe you can exchange stories with him."

Saige shrugged. "I guess that could be fun," she said.

"Olivia?"

"I guess," said Olivia. "I'll just have to...get some stuff together."

"Don't worry, I'll help you," said Bailey.

"Who's gonna drive?" Saige asked.

"We can take my car," said Bailey. "It'll probably just be a two-day trip."

"Okay," said Saige. "I'll go back to my house and start packing my suitcase."

***

Saige left Olivia's apartment and went back out to her car. She got into the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she didn't notice the woman watching her from inside a car parked across the parking lot.

"I think I found her," the woman said to herself. She pulled out her cell phone and called her boss' number. "My lady?" she said when her boss picked up.

"What is it, Josie?" the woman's boss asked. "I'm a very busy witch, you know."

"I think I found them," said Josie. "Well, one of them, anyway."

"One of whom?"

"The young ladies you want. The ones who were boys before your apprentices changed them."

Josie's boss squealed with excitement. "Which one?"

"One of the ones who overthrew Miss Sharon Johnson," Josie answered.

"Excellent," said Josie's boss. "Keep an eye on that young woman. If we can get her and one of her lackeys in our grasp, then we'll have what we need to exact our plan."

"I will not let you down," Josie replied.

To be continued...