Plurality

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 17 of 17

“You’ve led kind of a sheltered existence,” she said, “being Jennifer only in relatively safe places at safe times. Most girls are in danger of that kind of thing at least a few times a year, if not every day — it depends on their circumstances. But it’s still worth it, being a girl.”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 16 of 17

Nancy recommended a couple of hangover cures, which required ingredients the dining hall didn’t have, but I made up a makeshift with orange juice and hot sauce, which took my mind off the hangover if it didn’t cure it.

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 15 of 17

Scott had thought his jacket was unisex enough to suit me, and he wasn’t completely wrong, but I wished he’d bought something that went better with the skirt. And his blue stocking cap wasn’t very flattering, but... I wasn’t trying to impress Dean or even Glenn.

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 14 of 17

“Are you regretting changing schools and majors?” she asked.

“No. I still think this is the right thing to do. I’ve been volunteering at the hospital when I have time to spare from studying, and the more I do that, the more sure I am that I want to be a nurse.”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 13 of 17

I read somewhere that the ancient Goths used to debate any important question twice, once drunk, and once sober. I had gotten into the habit of doing something like that with jekyllase; I would think something over once as myself and once as Jennifer before coming to a decision.

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 12 of 17

I was distracted all afternoon, worried about the fallout from last night’s disaster. Would Alice tell anyone, and if so, how would the rumors mutate? How would Emily react?

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 11 of 17

He obviously suspected that my talk of writing a term paper about the clinical use of jekyllase was a cover story, and that I or someone I knew was taking jekyllase and changing sex.

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 10 of 17

“We know they like being us, or they wouldn’t keep taking jekyllase. We just have to point out that they’ll get more benefit from being us if they change at a convenient time for us to meet up.”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 08 of 17

“If you could be Jennifer all the time, would you want to?”

 

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. I like being me, too, but if I had to choose between never being Jennifer again, and always being her... I think I might choose Jennifer.”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 07 of 17

“I think those books are wrong,” I said dismissively. “Sure, I enjoy being a girl, and Scott likes being me, but he’s not disgusted with being a man like those transsexuals we read about. I think what’s going on with us is more complicated than that. Or maybe simpler. I don’t buy that everybody who isn’t completely masculine or feminine is crazy, either.”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 06 of 17

“Then maybe it’s something else. Some feminine side that you’re not letting yourself express... could you maybe be a transsexual?”

 

“A what?” The term “transgender” wouldn’t be coined for decades yet, and “transsexual” wasn’t exactly a household word. I’d never heard of it.

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 05 of 17

“I’d have liked to see you change, but I guess I should have said so directly, instead of just hinting that I’d like to meet Jennifer.”

 

“Oh. Scott thought it might be easier to get here unchallenged if I were already Jennifer. Maybe next time.”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 04 of 17

“Hi,” I said. “I’m, uh — I’m fixing to turn into Jennifer, okay? So if you could not look this way while I’m changing clothes, that would be good.”

 

“Sure, man,” he said. “You got some chick threads at some point?”

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 03 of 17

Another thing I liked a lot was her healthy lungs, her ability to breathe so deeply and easily and go for hours without feeling the need for a cigarette.

Listening to Jekyllase, chapter 01 of 17

Jekyllase is in the news again as several states are considering decriminalizing its possession; some referenda, such as Proposition 118 here in Oregon, would go farther, making it effectively an over-the-counter drug. It occurred to me that I could dust off a memoir I started writing some time ago, edit it to focus more closely on my experiences with jekyllase, and offer it to the public (anonymously, by necessity, as these propositions are not law yet) as a contribution to the debate.

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