"One, two, three, four, we're the tigers, do the roar!" Genesis cried as she and her fellow cheerleaders shook their pom-poms. In response, all the spectators in the bleachers cheered. The cheerleaders watched as Eastern Plains High's star batter Rupert Lacey hit a home run and ran all three bases before skidding onto home plate. There was another round of cheering as Rupert beamed with pride.

"Yeah, Rupert!" said the cheer captain and Genesis' stepsister Ramona said. "You're the man!"

"And look at that!" Rupert said, looking at the scoreboard. "We won!"

There was a loud and collective "Woohoo!" from all the Eastern Plains High students, teachers, and parents that had come to the baseball game. It was now March, and baseball season was in full swing. This was Eastern Plains High's first big game, and they'd won.

Now that the cheerleaders had done their job, Genesis left the edge of the field and went to the bleachers. She saw her dad and stepmom there, but there was someone else she wanted to see. It was her boyfriend Jesse Pindle.

"Hey Genesis," Jesse said, hugging his girlfriend on sight. "You did awesome out there."

"I know," said Genesis. Even though Jesse went to a different school than her, she still appreciated him coming to the game to support her.

"I'll bet you're the reason Rupert scored that home run," said Jesse. "You and your squad cheered him on and gave him the motivation he needed."

"Maybe," said Genesis.

Another of the cheerleaders, Charlotte Shetty, came up to them. "Hey lovebirds," she said. "You still down to come to my house for the sleepover tonight?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Jesse. "I just had something come up. My dad needs me to go with him to help my uncle move."

"That's okay," said Charlotte. "My parents didn't seem to want me to have a boy at my sleepover anyway."

"Not even a former boy?" Genesis said with a smirk.

"Well, they don't know you used to be Gene," Charlotte reminded her friend.

Genesis laughed. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll be there."

***

There were only a handful of people at Charlotte's sleepover. There was Genesis, Ramona, Charlotte, Modesty, and Cassy, along with Charlotte's parents-and her aunt, who was visiting for the weekend. They played some party games like Spin The Bottle and watched some TV for a while before they all went to bed. While Ramona, Modesty, and Cassy slept in the living room, Genesis slept on the floor in Charlotte's bedroom.

While she slept, Genesis had a very vivid dream. Usually, her dreams weren't too remarkable. At least, she assumed they weren't, because she never remembered them. But this one was different. It felt like she was actually there...wherever it was. She was standing in a long, forever-stretching series of white plains beneath a dark sky.

"Hello?" Genesis asked. Was she in Purgatory? No, that couldn't be. She was asleep and dreaming...wasn't she?

"Genesis."

Genesis looked around. There was no one there except her. "Who's that?"

"Someone you've hopefully come to forgive."

"Huh?"

Before Genesis, a cloud of vapor formed and solidified into a humanoid form. As the personage took on more details, Genesis started to realize why that voice sounded so familiar.

"I'm the one who turned you into a girl," said the ghost of Mirna Abbot.

Genesis' jaw dropped. "Mirna?" she sputtered. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Last fall, right before school started, Genesis had been a horny teenage boy named Gene who'd made sexual advances on girls. As punishment, Mirna had turned Gene into a girl so he could experience the harassment he'd inflicted on a fair number of girls. Mirna had promised Genesis that she'd change her back when she'd learned her lesson, but before that could happen, a random criminal had shot Mirna. Genesis had been there when the paramedics came to try to save Mirna, only for her to die from her wounds. As such, Genesis had no choice but to stay a girl.

"Yes, it's me," said Mirna. "Now, I know you might still have some anger in you for what I put you through."

"Anger? Well..." Genesis wasn't sure what to say. She certainly had been angry when she first became female. However, over time, she'd adapted to her new life as a girl. She'd forged a better relationship with her stepsister, helped create a gender-changing serum for people in the trans community, and got herself a proper, endearing boyfriend. By now, her old life as Gene didn't seem to matter anymore.

"So I was right," said Mirna. "You have forgiven me." When Genesis didn't respond, Mirna said "I've been watching you, you know. From the spirit world. I saw everything you did after I died. And I must say, I'm very proud of you for learning the lessons I wanted you to learn."

Genesis smiled. "Yes, I did," she said.

"You've even done the trans community a huge service. For that, you're deserving of recognition."

"Well, about the gender-changing serum...it wasn't all me. Rachel Miller was the one who donated her blood."

"And it was you who initiated the endeavor to get it," said Mirna. "Your sister Ramona is right. You've morphed into a much better person than Gene could've dreamed of being. So much that I've decided to make you my successor."

"Successor?"

"Yes, my successor. You see, when a witch dies, her magic doesn't always die with her. Before passing onto the true spirit world, a witch can decide if she wants to transfer her magic to someone new on Earth-someone who they want to carry on their legacy. In many cases, they'll choose a friend or relative. But you, Genesis...I've decided you deserve my gift."

"You mean you're gonna make me a witch?"

"Yes," said Mirna. "You're a much better candidate than my nephew Lucas, wouldn't you agree?"

Genesis shuddered. Lucas had threatened her life more than once. "Definitely," she said.

"However, you must be warned," said Mirna. "I may be giving you a gift, but you must be wise with how you use it. Even though knowledge of witches is much more widespread nowadays, there will still be some who are opposed to witches-especially if you decide to use your powers for bad."

"I won't," said Genesis.

"I hope not," said Mirna. She put both her hands on Genesis' shoulders, then closed her eyes. Her noncorporeal hands glowed as Genesis felt a tingling sensation all throughout her body. The feeling reminded her of when, after their road trip to Georgia, she'd been at Jesse's house and had sex with him. Genesis couldn't resist moaning with pleasure as she felt Mirna transferring her magic to her.

"And there you go," said Mirna. "You, Genesis Rookwood, are now a witch."

"Oh my gosh," said Genesis. "Thank you, Mirna!"

"You're welcome," said Mirna. "But you will still need to be trained, and Awakened."

"Awakened?"

"It's a procedure all witches must undergo to truly unlock their magical abilities," said Mirna. "Another witch must perform it. For that, you'll need to consult the Council Of Witches."

"Council Of Witches?"

"It's a council that was formed by the surviving witches after Circe Reyna was killed," Mirna explained. "They are responsible for governing the witches and making sure they don't try to take over like Circe did. If you can get in touch with them, they will send someone to perform the Awakening on you, and to train you." Mirna handed Genesis a business card with the Council Of Witches' information on it. "Don't worry, you'll have it with you when you wake up."

"Got it," said Genesis. "Thank you, Mirna."

"Good luck," Mirna said as the dream started to fade away.

***

When Genesis woke up, she was sweating.

"Genesis?" Charlotte asked. She'd just woken up herself, and was looking down from her bed at where Genesis was lying on the floor in a sleeping bag. "Are you okay?"

Genesis reached down into her pocket and, to her delight, found that the business card Mirna had given her was indeed there. "Charlotte, you're not gonna believe this," she said. "But I'm a witch now!"

To be continued...

By the time Genesis finished explaining her dream to Charlotte, her friend's jaw was hanging open.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Charlotte. "Mirna actually decided to make you her successor?"

"She did," said Genesis. She looked down at her hands, wondering what it would be like to conjure light or fire or something from them. She felt no different, which made sense-Mirna had said she'd have to do some kind of Awakening ritual to unlock her powers.

"Why would she do that?" Charlotte asked. "I thought she didn't like you."

"Maybe she didn't at first," said Genesis. "But it sounded like she's changed her mind."

"Wait till Cassy hears about this," said Charlotte. She picked up her phone and looked at the notifications. "Oh. Cassy left early."

"That's okay," said Genesis. "We'll tell Ramona and Modesty about it." She got out of her sleeping bag and put her tank top back on.

"Wait," said Charlotte. "Were you just sleeping in your bra?"

"Yeah. Didn't you notice?"

"No."

Genesis shook her head. "Let's just go see if everyone else is up."

Genesis and Charlotte left the bedroom and went out to the living room area. Charlotte picked up a note left on the counter and read it. "My parents already left," she said. "They had to take my aunt to the airport."

"Already?" said Genesis. "Wow."

"Where's Ramona?" Charlotte asked. "And Modesty?"

"There they are," said Genesis, pointing out the back window. "They went into the backyard."

When Genesis opened the back door, Ramona and Modesty looked over at her. "Good morning, Genesis," said Ramona.

"Hey Ramona," said Genesis. "What are you doing out here?"

"Modesty and I found something," said Ramona. "Charlotte's aunt must've left it behind by accident." She held up a half-empty cigarette pack.

Genesis crinkled her nose. A few years ago, when she was Gene, he and his friend Wallace had tried smoking cigarettes, but they found they did not like it at all. Even now, she found smoking to be a very disgusting habit. "You should probably put it back where you found it," she said. "If Charlotte's aunt comes back looking for it-"

"Actually, I'm kind of curious," said Ramona. "I've always wanted to see what smoking actually feels like."

A year ago, Genesis wouldn't have given two shits about Ramona Dunby smoking. But times had changed. "Ramona, don't do that!" she said. "Smoking's bad!"

"Yes, yes, I know the risks," Ramona sighed.

"Trust me, it's not fun," said Genesis. "I tried it before, and it was disgusting."

"Calm down," said Modesty. "It's not that bad. My mom smokes every day, and she's fine."

"Ramona, please," said Genesis. "Don't try smoking. It's just not a good idea!"

"It's okay," said Ramona. "I just want to try one cigarette. That's all." She pulled a cigarette out of the pack and put it in her mouth. She took out a lighter that she must've found with the cigarette and clicked it. She lit the tip of the cigarette, and it started to smoke.

Ramona's eyes widened as she felt the smoke enter her lungs. She coughed out some of the smoke and said "Oh my gosh," she said. "This is just..."

"Are you okay?" Modesty asked.

To everyone's surprise, Ramona sucked even more smoke from the cigarette. "This feels great!" she exclaimed.

Genesis groaned. Ramona had done it. She was already addicted to smoking. She'd tried to talk her out of it, but she couldn't. "Trust me, it won't feel great for long," said Genesis.

"You got that right," Charlotte said grimly. "You should hear my aunt coughing after she's blown through a whole pack of cigarettes."

Ramona kept smoking until the cigarette had burned right down to the filter. When it did, she threw it onto the ground and stomped on it to put it out. "Okay," she said. "That was fun." Reading Genesis' expression, she added "Don't worry, Genesis. I won't do it again."

"You'd better not," said Genesis. "Or else I might have to cast a spell on you."

Ramona's stoned expression morphed into one of confusion. "What?"

"This is gonna sound crazy, but I'm a witch now." Genesis told Ramona and Modesty all about her vision of Mirna.

"You're JOKING," Modesty said when Genesis was done.

"No, I'm not," said Genesis. "I'm going to be training to become a witch!"

"Wow," said Ramona. "I'm jealous."

"Why?" said Genesis. "So you can turn me into a mouse?"

Ramona laughed. "Maybe."

"You'd better call up the Council Of Witches," said Charlotte. "Have them set you up with someone who can train you."

"Good idea." Genesis got out her phone and the Council Of Witches business card, then dialed the number.

The phone rang for a minute before someone answered. "Good morning," said a smooth feminine voice. "You are speaking with the Council Of Witches. How may we be of assistance?"

"Uh, yeah," said Genesis. "My name's Genesis Rookwood. I'm calling because there was a witch named Mirna Abbot who died recently, and she wants to pass her magic powers on to me."

"Mirna Abbot, you say?" the person on the other end of the line said. She (Genesis assumed it was a she) was silent for a moment, apparently looking at something on her computer. "Yes, our records do indicate that she was murdered recently. Apparently back in October, she was shot to death at the mall where she worked?"

"Yes," said Genesis. "I don't know it's taken her this long to decide who to pass her magic on to, but..."

"Well, she definitely wouldn't have passed it on to Lucas," said Ramona.

"Hang on, I'm getting something," the receptionist (?) said. After another moment's pause, she said "Our seer just told me that yes, Mirna Abbot has decided to pass on her magic to someone new. It sounds like you're the recipient of her magic."

"I am."

"Well, we'd be more than happy to assign a witch to train you," said the receptionist. "Where do you live?"

"Roanoke, Virginia."

"Ah, there is a witch there," said the receptionist. "She's fairly new-she only had the Awakening performed on her two years ago-but she should be able to train you. Her name is Megan Hawthorne."

Genesis was so shocked, she almost dropped her phone. "Megan Hawthorne?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"Uh...no," Genesis lied. "Are you going to get me in touch with her?"

"Of course," said the receptionist. "I'll reach out to her right after I'm done with this phone call."

"That's great. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day."

When Genesis hung up the phone, she turned to address Charlotte, Ramona, and Modesty. "What's wrong?" Charlotte asked. "Who's Megan Hawthorne?"

"Apparently, she's a witch in our area," said Genesis. "And, unfortunately, I have a history with her."

"What kind of history?" Ramona asked.

"Well, when I was a guy, well..." Genesis closed her eyes, embarrassed at the memory. "I was at a party that Megan also went to, and I got drunk and...well...I tried to rape her."

Charlotte, Ramona, and Modesty exchanged looks of horror. "You did what?" Ramona asked.

"I was only fourteen!" Genesis defended.

"Then you definitely shouldn't have been drinking," said Modesty.

"I know," said Genesis. "After I tried to rape Megan, she was so traumatized, her parents had to pull her out of school and homeschool her. After that night at the party, I never saw her again. But now she's a witch, and I have to have her train me..."

"Don't worry," said Charlotte. "Remember how you said Mirna cast a mass memory-altering spell, so no one remembers you as Gene?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe that means she erased that party from history. Maybe Megan won't even remember that you tried to rape her."

"But she's a witch. Would the memory-altering spell even work on her?"

"I don't know," said Ramona. "It didn't work on me, or your dad, or my mom."

"Only because I told you before the spell went into effect." But Genesis still wasn't convinced. By now, she was starting to hyperventilate from the panic.

"Hey, calm down," said Charlotte. "Even if Megan does remember, surely she'll see that you've learned your lesson. That was the whole reason Mirna changed you, wasn't it?"

Genesis took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Yes," she said. "Yes, it was."

"Just pretend you've never met Megan before," said Charlotte. "You'll be okay."

"I hope you're right," said Genesis. "I hope you're right..."

To be continued...

After the phone call with the Council Of Witches, Ramona and Genesis both drove home. As they drove, Ramona couldn't seem to stop thinking about how she'd smoked her first cigarette. "Wow," said Ramona. "I can't believe I actually smoked!"

"Neither can I," said Genesis.

"It felt so good," said Ramona. "Are you sure you didn't like it?"

"Of course I'm sure," said Genesis. "The cigarettes tasted awful, and they made me cough like crazy. Plus, I knew that if my dad found out I was smoking, I'd be grounded for life. So I stopped."

Ramona shrugged. "Oh well," she said. "I guess it's not the same for everyone."

There was a moment's pause before Genesis said "You know, you really shouldn't have smoked that cigarette. And if you try smoking more-"

"Genesis, will you please stop harping on about it?" Ramona groaned. "You made your choice not to smoke. And I'm gonna make mine."

Genesis' heart sank. Her poor stepsister really was addicted, wasn't she? And if she was going to delude herself that there was nothing wrong with smoking...well, then there wasn't really anything Genesis could do about it.

Right then, Genesis' phone buzzed. She pulled it out and saw that she was getting a call from an unknown number. "Is that Megan Hawthorne?" Genesis wondered.

"Only one way to find out," said Ramona.

Genesis answered her phone. "Hello?" she asked.

"Hi," said a sweet, feminine voice on the other end. "Is this Genesis Rookwood?"

"Yes," Genesis answered. "Is this Megan Hawthorne?"

"It is," said the voice. "I hear you were just made a witch, and you need someone to perform the Awakening on you and train you?"

"Yeah," said Genesis. "A local witch died recently, and she decided to pass her magic on to me. I'm not sure why she chose me, but she did."

"Well, I'll be more than happy to train you," said Megan. "If you'd like to come over to my house."

"Of course!" Genesis said, trying to sound less scared than she felt. "What's your address?"

"2018 Bigcloset Avenue," said Megan.

"Alright," said Genesis. "When can I come?"

"You can come whenever you like."

Genesis looked at Ramona. "How about now?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Okay. See you in a few."

After Genesis hung up, she looked at Ramona again. "Did you hear all that?" she asked.

"Your conversation?"

Genesis nodded.

"Yeah, I did."

"And? Do you think Megan still remembers that I tried to rape her?"

Ramona shrugged. "Probably not," she said. "She called you by name, and she seemed pretty happy to talk to you. If she did have memories of you as Gene, then she probably wouldn't have been so pleasant."

"Maybe she was just acting nice?" said Genesis. "If the witches knew who Mirna was, then surely they'd know she'd cast a spell on me?"

"Why would they? Why would Mirna have even told them about you?"

"Lucas knew about me, remember?"

"Only because Mirna was his aunt, and he inherited her old journals."

"Well, if she kept records of her actions..."

Ramona sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter," she said. "If things don't work out with Megan, then you can get in touch with the Council Of Witches again. Maybe then they'll transfer you to someone else."

"I guess," said Genesis, though she wasn't entirely convinced.

"I'll take you to Megan's place," said Ramona. "2018 Bigcloset Avenue, was it?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go."

***

Megan Hawthorne's place wasn't particularly big or fancy. It was just a small one-story house with a flat tiled roof, dark green walls, and black-tinted windows. The front lawn was an artificial turf, perhaps to avoid the hassle of having to mow it all the time. There was a car in the driveway, but it didn't look like it would actually run.

"Dang," Genesis said when she saw this house. "Megan's family must not be very rich."

"Maybe it's just a cover-up," said Ramona. "Maybe they want to hide the fact that their daughter is a witch."

After Ramona parked her car, she and Genesis got out and went up to the front door. Fighting down her anxiety, Genesis rang the doorbell. The door was promptly answered by a ten-year-old girl with long red hair and a dash of freckles. "Hello!" the girl said.

"Uh, hi," said Genesis. "Is Megan here?"

"Yes, she is," said the ten-year-old girl. "Hey Megan!"

An older girl came into view of the front door. This girl was Genesis' age, with flaming red hair, light skin, and big green eyes. Her build was pretty thick-not fat, per se, but some exercise definitely would've been in order. She wore black pajama pants and a loose yellow tank top. Judging by the way her boobs were bouncing, she clearly wasn't wearing a bra underneath it.

"Hey," said Genesis. "You must be Megan."

"And you're Genesis Rookwood?"

Genesis nodded. "I am," she said. "And this is my stepsister Ramona."

"Come on in," said Megan.

Genesis and Ramona came into Megan's house. Not surprisingly, it was even crappier on the inside than outside. The entry hall was pretty much nonexistent, as the front door went right into the living room. The carpet was smudged with dirt, and the bookshelf and entertainment center were covered with dust. All over the place, books, clothes, and pens were strewn about.

"Sorry about the mess," Megan said as she directed Genesis and Ramona to the musty couch. "Ever since my dad left us, my mom's had to work a second job. She doesn't have a lot of time to clean the house." Seeing that her guests were still standing she said "Oh, you can sit down."

Genesis and Ramona sat down on the couch, which creaked under their weight. "Don't you ever do any cleaning?" Ramona asked.

"We try," Megan answered. "But my sister Tammy and I often have a lot of homework to do."

Or maybe you're just one of those families who have just given up, Genesis thought, though she didn't say it out loud.

"So anyway," said Megan, "Are you ready to have the Awakening performed on you?"

Genesis nodded. "I think so," she said. "Is there anything I have to do for it?"

"Well, this is gonna be awkward," said Megan, "But you're gonna have to be naked for it."

Genesis' jaw dropped. "What?"

"Yeah, I know it seems strange," said Megan. "But it's necessary for the ritual."

"I don't know..."

"We can do it in my bedroom, if that makes you more comfortable," said Megan.

"Sure," said Genesis.

***

While Ramona and Tammy waited in the living room, Megan took Genesis to her bedroom. Genesis half expected Megan to just have an air mattress to sleep on. However, she had a real bed-albeit a small one.

"I'll just have you strip down and lie on the bed," said Megan. "Don't worry, it's just us girls here."

Genesis nodded. Megan did have a point. If Jesse were here, things would be pretty awkward. Of course, she had had sex with him right after their trip to meet Lanie Evans and Rachel Miller. But if he were here now, then it would be pretty strange.

Once Genesis had taken off her clothes, bra, and panties, she lay down on the bed. "Now, this may have some side effects," Megan warned. "You may fall unconscious for a minute. And this is the first time I've done the Awakening on someone, so..."

"It'll be okay," Genesis said, though she was really convincing herself more than Megan.

Megan stood over Genesis while waving her hands and chanting. Magic sparkles appeared in Modesty's hands, and Genesis started to feel a peaceful feeling come over her. Her worries about Megan seemed irrelevant now. It was like she was in a happy place...

The feeling probably only lasted a few minutes, but to Genesis it felt even longer. And it started to pass when Megan finished her chant. "There we are," said Megan. "You should be able to do magic now."

"Really?" Genesis looked around the room, hoping to get an idea of what to do. Her eyes unexpectedly fell on an old Magic 8 Ball on the floor. She waved her hand at it, hoping to levitate it off the ground. Unfortunately, the ball only rolled a few inches.

"There it is!" Megan exclaimed. "Your first magic!"

"Really?" This time, Genesis was so excited, she actually made the Magic 8 Ball float in the air for a few seconds.

"Yes, really," said Megan. "But you'll still need some training."

Genesis smiled. Maybe she was wrong, she thought. Maybe Megan really didn't remember what she did to her when she was Gene. Maybe things would work out after all. "I'm ready," she said.

To be continued...

Once they were finished with the Awakening, Megan took Genesis back out to the living room to teach her some basic magic skills. She didn't do anything too advanced. Megan just had Genesis levitate objects and will some of them to change color.

"Okay, good," Megan said after Genesis had performed her fourth successful levitation of an object. "It seems like you're getting the hang of it."

"That's good," said Genesis. She waved her hand at a nearby notebook, and it floated a few inches off the ground. "So what next?"

Megan thought for a moment. "How about we try fixing something?" She pulled out a pencil and broke it in half. "I'm gonna show you how to use a repair spell." She waved her hand at the pencil, and the two halves joined back together, with the cracks fading away as they merged. "Now, to fix something, you have to imagine it whole, as it was before it was broken. Just imagine the pieces fitting themselves together all over again, and they should do it."

"Okay," said Genesis. "What should I fix?"

"Here," said Ramona, who'd been sitting on the couch watching the training. "My earphones stopped working. Maybe you can fix them?"

Ramona pulled out a pair of earphones that, to Genesis, didn't look like they were broken. "Uh...can I fix earphones that won't work?"

"I mean, yeah," said Megan. "It's not that much different. Just imagine them working like they should."

Genesis closed her eyes and concentrated. She tried to picture plugging those earphones into her phone and listening to music through them. She imagined rough, hardcore hip hop playing through the earphones and into her ears. She felt a tugging sensation in her gut, but when she opened her eyes, the earphones looked no different.

"Did it work?" Genesis asked.

"Let's see." Ramona got out her phone, plugged in the earphones, put one earphone in her ear, and Shuffle Played her Spotify playlist. After a moment, she shook her head. "Nope," she said.

"Huh?"

"Try it again," said Megan.

Genesis did try, but still nothing.

"What is it?" Genesis asked. "What am I doing wrong?"

"I don't know," said Megan. She looked at Ramona and asked "Just out of curiosity, what are you listening to?"

"1989. Taylor's Version," Ramona answered.

"Oh yeah," Genesis smirked. She was still waving her hands to try and magically fix the earphones. "It's an unofficial rule in our family. We always listen to Taylor's Version."

"Whoa!" Ramona exclaimed. "They started working again!"

"The earphones?"

"Yes!"

"Finally," said Genesis.

"Way to go," said Megan. She looked at her phone and saw that it was already past noon. "Well, I should probably start working on homework now," she said. "And maybe do some chores, too."

"Okay," said Genesis. "Thanks for training me."

"My pleasure," said Megan. "I'll get in touch with you so we can schedule our next session."

"Of course." Genesis started to leave, but then she faltered. "Megan?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

Genesis bit her lip. She was so afraid to ask the question that was on her mind, she didn't even know how to word it. "Am I doing well?"

"Yes, you are. Why?"

"Well...do you think maybe Mirna might've had a reason to make me her successor?"

"What do you mean?" Megan asked. She didn't notice Ramona shaking her head and mouthing at Genesis to stop.

"I mean, there are lots of other people in this world," said Genesis. "What is it about me that makes Mirna think I'm worthy of her gift?"

Megan frowned. "You didn't know Mirna before she died, did you?"

"No," Genesis lied.

"Really?"

"I mean...I did work at an internship for her nephew," said Genesis. "You know how Pride Laboratories just rolled out that gender-changing serum?"

"Yeah. Wasn't the guy who helped develop the serum arrested and sentenced to an asylum?"

Genesis nodded. "Yeah, that was Mirna's nephew Lucas," she said. "But I didn't know about that until after the fact."

"Hm," Megan mused. "Well, I'm not sure that's really relevant. Maybe Mirna just saw something in you that you don't see in yourself."

"You think?"

"It's like my mom always says," said Megan. "You just have to believe in yourself."

"I will," said Genesis. "I will."

***

That night, the Rookwood family had Jesse over for dinner. While they chowed down on potato soup and biscuits, Genesis told Jesse, along with her dad Reginald and stepmom Paulette, about the training session with Megan.

"Well, well, well," Reginald said when Genesis was finished. "My little princess is now a witch."

"Witch in training," Genesis corrected. "I feel like I have a long way to go."

"It sounds like you're off to a good start."

"I mean, I kind of am." Genesis touched her metallic gray spoon, and it turned gold.

"Whoa, King Midas," said Jesse. "Did you just make yourself a golden spoon?"

"I just changed its color, I think," Genesis answered. She picked up the spoon, and it felt no heavier or lighter.

Paulette guzzled down her biscuits. Since she was very pregnant, she needed to eat a lot of food to sustain the baby she had inside of her. "You said Megan was one of your victims," she said between bites of biscuit. "When you were a boy."

"Yes," said Genesis. "I was worried she might've been immune to Mirna's memory-altering spell and recognized me. But she didn't."

"Really?" Jesse asked.

"Well, I did kind of ask her," said Genesis.

"Which I still don't think you should've done," Ramona added.

"What do you mean?"

"I asked her if she had any idea why Mirna chose me as her successor over a million other girls in this world."

Jesse, Reginald, and Paulette exchanged glances. "And..."

"I was trying to probe," Genesis explained. "Luckily, she didn't seem to be on to me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Genesis. "Ramona, you were there. Don't you agree?"

"I guess," Ramona admitted.

"Well, if she doesn't remember, then that's good," said Jesse. "And you said you were planning on meeting her again, right?"

"Right," said Genesis. Without thinking, she blurted out "You don't think I'm worthy, do you? Of Mirna's gift?"

"I mean, sure," said Jesse. "Why? Do you not feel worthy?"

"Well...I mean, I know I've done some good things," said Genesis, "But I just...don't see myself as a witch."

"I'll bet you never saw Ramona as your sister," said Paulette. "But here we are now."

"This is different," said Genesis. "I didn't ask for this gift. And now I've got magic inside me, and I don't even know what I'm going to do with it once I've mastered it."

"Well, I'd think magic could come in handy," said Reginald. "It would make it easier to fix things, easier to clean the house, easier to help people...I think you could do a lot of good with your gift."

"I hope you're right," said Genesis. "I hope I can put this gift to good use."

To be continued...

For the next couple weeks, Genesis continued to visit Megan's house after school to practice magic. Since finals were coming up, and Genesis still had cheerleading practice to go to, she couldn't train with Megan every day. She only went to her house on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. She'd have either Jesse or Ramona drive her to Megan's house.

All of this made for a busy schedule for Genesis. But it wasn't until one Thursday at lunch when she realized there might be something else she should be doing.

As usual, Genesis got her lunch and went to sit down at her table with Charlotte and Cassy. For some reason, Ramona wasn't there yet. "Hey girls," said Genesis.

"Hi," said Charlotte. "Guess what I did yesterday?"

Genesis shrugged. Between her training session with Megan and the studying she had to do for an upcoming test, she hadn't had time to talk to Charlotte. "What?"

"I did a job interview at Tommy's Burgers," said Charlotte. "And the manager said he wanted to hire me on."

"Really?" said Genesis. "That's great!"

"I know," said Charlotte. "I'm gonna be a cashier. My first day is next week."

"Cool," said Cassy. Turning to Genesis, she asked "What about you? Do you still not have a job?"

"No," Genesis answered.

"Really?"

"Well...I did get hired on for an internship at Pride Laboratories, remember?" Genesis asked. "Except things fell apart when Lucas showed his true colors."

"Oh yeah," Charlotte said sympathetically.

"But I'm just too busy for a job right now," said Genesis.

"You're gonna have to get one," said Charlotte. "Once you graduate high school, you're not a kid anymore. You have to start working if you want to go to college and eventually start living on your own."

Genesis sighed. "You're right," she said. "I guess I'll start looking for someone who'll hire me."

Right then, Modesty came and sat down with them. "Where's Ramona?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Genesis. "Usually she's here by now."

"You and I rode with her to school this morning," Charlotte said to Genesis. "Did she end up leaving early?"

"Maybe." Genesis finished eating her sandwich, then stood up. "I'm gonna go look for her."

Genesis got up and left the cafeteria. She went out to the area behind the gym where she knew people sometimes went to hang out during lunch-maybe Ramona had decided to go there for some reason?

However, this was not the case. When Genesis came to the blacktop behind the gym, she saw a bunch of guys playing basketball. One of them, Andy Halverson, saw Genesis and came up to talk to her. "Hey," he said. "You're Genesis Rookwood, right?"

"Right," said Genesis. "I'm looking for Ramona. Have you seen her?"

"Yes, I have," said Andy. "Just a few minutes ago, I saw her headed behind the science building."

Weird, Genesis thought. "Thanks," she said to Andy before leaving. As she headed for the science building, she wondered what Ramona could possibly be doing back there. Had she got a new boyfriend who wanted to make out with her back there, or...

Genesis rounded the corner and froze in her tracks. There was Ramona, leaning against the wall and puffing on a lit cigarette. "Ramona!" Genesis said accusingly. "What are you doing?"

Ramona blew out a puff of smoke. "None of your business," she replied.

"You...you're smoking! Again!" Genesis looked at her stepsister like she'd slathered herself with dung beetles. "You said you wouldn't smoke anymore! You said you were just trying it out that one time!"

"Yes, I did say that," said Ramona. "But then I felt the cravings kick in. So I got my hands on some more cigarettes." To prove it, she held up a freshly opened cigarette pack.

"Oh, Ramona," Genesis said, shaking her head. "You're gonna get lung cancer from smoking those cigarettes."

Ramona shrugged. "What does it matter? We're all gonna die anyway. And if that's the case, I might as well enjoy life while I still can."

"Ramona, do you have any idea what smoking really does to you? It shrivels your lungs, it makes your teeth all yellow, and it-"

"For goodness sake, Genesis!" Ramona barked. "Do you think I haven't thought of all those things?"

"Well..."

"We all make our choices," Ramona said, putting her cigarette in her mouth and inhaling the smoke from it. "I've decided that, right now, smoking is something I enjoy. So that's what I'm gonna do."

Genesis pursed her lips. "Well, here's what I have to say about that." She waved her hand and focused her magic abilities. There was a loud popping noise, and the cigarette in Ramona's mouth turned into a red and white candy cane.

Ramona's eyes widened when she felt the sudden change in taste her taste buds were perceiving. "What the...a candy cane?"

"Better that than a cigarette, right?" Genesis asked.

Ramona got out her cigarette pack again, and she scowled when she saw that the rest of the cigarettes had been turned into candy canes, too. "Genesis, you bitch," she said.

"I'm just trying to help you," Genesis said, though she sensed a very intense flare-up about to occur.

"Who do you think you are, my mom?" Ramona asked. "If I make a choice, then I make a choice! And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Except maybe tell your mom," Genesis shot back.

"If you do, then you'll regret it."

Genesis slapped her forehead. "Come on, Ramona!" she said. "I thought we were past this! I thought we made peace with each other months ago!"

"Well, it looks like that peace has been disrupted again," Ramona said coldly. "Now get the fuck out of here, before I start screaming at you."

There was nothing Genesis could do but leave.

***

For several days afterward, Ramona still seemed pretty mad at Genesis. The girls' parents noticed the tension between them and tried to sit them down to talk about it, but neither of them budged. Genesis didn't like the sound of Ramona's threat, and she didn't want to risk snitching on her for smoking and further undermine their relationship. Likewise, Ramona telling her parents that she'd started smoking would've been suicide. So she kept her mouth shut as well.

Unfortunately, something very bad happened the following Sunday morning. While Genesis was putting on her dress for church, she could hear Ramona coughing and wheezing from her bedroom. At first, Genesis just internally scoffed. Yeah, that's what happens when you smoke, bitch, she thought. But after a minute, Genesis started to get worried, because Ramona really didn't sound so good.

"Ramona?" Genesis heard her stepmom ask while knocking on Ramona's bedroom door. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ramona said from inside her room.

"She doesn't sound fine," said Paulette.

Genesis said nothing.

A little bit later, Reginald, Paulette, and Genesis were all ready to go to church. "What's wrong with Ramona?" Reginald asked.

"I think she has a bad cough," said Paulette.

"No, I'm all good," Ramona said as she came out of her bedroom wearing her Sunday dress. She didn't look pale or thinned-out, but her voice was kind of scratchy.

"Are you sure?" Paulette asked. "Because that coughing sounded terrible."

"Remember what you told me when I was little?" Ramona asked. "Sometimes things look worse than they are?"

For a second, Genesis wondered if she should speak up and tell her parents that Ramona had been smoking, and that was likely the reason for her fits of coughing. But she'd worked hard to mend fences with Ramona. She didn't want to go back to where they were before Gene had turned into Genesis. As much as she didn't like it, she decided to just let Ramona feel the pain.

"Alright," Paulette said. "But if you don't feel like you can last all through church, just let us know."

***

Ramona didn't even last fifteen minutes into church.

The Rookwood/Dunby family had gotten in their regular pew, and the minister had started talking, when Ramona started coughing all over again. Reginald whispered to her to try and repress it, but either Ramona was ignoring him or she just couldn't stop the coughing. Every head turned their way as Ramona started coughing up a storm. Even the minister stopped talking to see what was going on.

"Maybe we shouldn't have brought her here," said Reginald. "Come on, Ramona. Let's go home." He helped his stepdaughter up to her feet as she continued coughing.

They'd only gone a few steps when Ramona stopped. "I...I can't...breathe," she said. She gasped for air, then passed out and collapsed.

"Oh..." Since Genesis was in a chapel, she had to restrain herself to avoid swearing.

"Call 911!" said Paulette.

Reginald was already dialing his phone. "Yes, my stepdaughter just passed out," he said. "We're at the church building on Mason Blvd. Yes, thank you."

Reginald and Genesis carried Ramona out of the chapel. Since Paulette was pregnant, she couldn't help lift her daughter. They brought Ramona outside and waited for the paramedics in the parking lot. After ten tense minutes, an ambulance came rushing in to collect Ramona. They loaded her onto a stretcher and grilled Reginald, Paulette, and Genesis for details on what had happened. Then they hurried Ramona off to the hospital.

Not long afterwards, Genesis and her parents were at the hospital too. They were told to wait in the lobby while the doctors performed tests on Ramona. After what felt like hours, a doctor whose name tag identified him as Dr. Thomas Weis came out to talk to them.

"What happened?" Paulette asked. "Is my daughter okay?"

Dr. Weis shook his head. "Sadly, no," he said. "It seems she has developed lung cancer."

"What?"

"Yes, we were pretty surprised ourselves," said Dr. Weis. "It is very unusual for a girl Ramona's age to develop lung cancer. However, we have detected a tumor building up inside of her right lung."

"Oh no," said Paulette. "Is there anything you can do?"

"We've already started preparing her for chemotherapy," said Dr. Weis. "The tumor appears to be at a stage where chemotherapy is the most effective means of getting rid of it."

"Or I could get it out," Genesis blurted out.

Dr. Weis frowned. "What?"

"Oh...I'm a witch in training," said Genesis. "I just got magic bestowed on me recently, so I'm learning how to do magic." To prove it, she snapped her fingers and changed the color of her Sunday dress-which she still hadn't changed out of-from red to black.

"Well," Dr. Weis said, marveling at the dress' transformation, "That is certainly impressive. But you say you're still training?"

"Yes."

"And have you been taught any kind of healing spells?"

"Well...no."

"Then we shouldn't have you perform any magic on your sister," said Dr. Weis. "You could very well make it worse."

"Do you have any guesses at to what might've caused this tumor?" Reginald asked.

"We do not know," said Dr. Weis answered. "Obviously, the most well-known cause of lung cancer is smoking. But, like I said, it is very uncommon for a high school senior to develop lung cancer, with or without smoking."

"Ramona never smokes," said Paulette.

"Actually...she does."

"What?"

Genesis took a deep breath. There was no point hiding it any longer. "A couple weeks ago, when we were having that sleepover at Charlotte's house, Ramona found one of Charlotte's aunt's cigarettes and decided to try smoking it. I told her not to, I told her it was bad, but she did it anyway. She said she wouldn't do it again, but she was lying. Last week at school, I caught her smoking again."

"So there is smoking involved here," said Dr. Weis. "But even then, if she's only been doing it for a couple weeks, it shouldn't have done that much damage."

Genesis shrugged. "I don't know exactly how much she's been smoking," she admitted. "I only witnessed it twice."

"Well, hopefully we'll be able to at least reverse the damage done by Ramona's smoking," said Dr. Weis. "And in the meantime, we'll keep her in here as she undergoes chemotherapy."

"Thank you, Dr. Weis," said Reginald.

After the doctor had left, Reginald turned to Genesis. "So you knew Ramona was smoking," he said. "But you didn't tell us."

"I didn't know she'd make it a habit," Genesis defended. "And I knew that if I did snitch on her, she'd be really mad at me, and then we'd be enemies all over again."

"Yet now she's strapped down in a hospital bed, about to undergo chemotherapy," said Paulette. "If you'd just told us about it, then we could've stopped this before it even became a problem."

Genesis said nothing. She knew her stepmom was right.

"We're very disappointed in you," said Reginald. "We're going to ground you for a week."

Genesis' heart sank. "Yes, Dad," she mumbled.

As they left the hospital, Genesis was in a daze. She'd ruined everything. Ramona was mad at her for trying to stop her from smoking, and her parents were mad at her for being Ramona's accomplice. By trying to stay on everyone's good sides, she'd ended up getting on everyone's bad sides. Oh, how she wished she could go back to Charlotte's sleepover and hide those cigarettes so Ramona wouldn't find them. Or, better yet, decline Mirna's gift. Because if she was gonna screw things up like this, then maybe she didn't deserve that gift.

To be continued...

Grounded for a week.

It wasn't the first time Genesis had been grounded. When Genesis was Gene, he'd been grounded a few times by his father Reginald. But she'd almost forgotten how much it sucked. Her parents only let her leave the house so she could go to school, but not to meet up with any friends or extended family. She couldn't even go out to do something fun by herself.

Genesis' parents did, however, let her keep going to her magic lessons with Megan. They didn't let Jesse give her rides, of course-part of her grounding was that she couldn't see her boyfriend, either. Every day Genesis had a magic lesson with Megan, she had to depend on either her dad or her stepmom for a ride.

"I've got to get my driver's license," Genesis said to herself after her stepmom dropped her off at Megan's house on Monday. Of course, she knew that if she did have one, her parents probably would still ground her from driving the family's cars. All the same, she wouldn't be in high school for much longer. She was going to have to get her license sooner or later.

When Genesis knocked on Megan's door, Megan promptly answered it and let her inside. "Hey," she said. "How are you doing?"

"Not great," Genesis admitted. She told Megan what had happened with Ramona.

"Oh no," said Megan. "Your stepsister has lung cancer? That's horrible."

"I know," Genesis said glumly. "And now she hates me all over again."

"Well, I don't think she hates you," said Megan. "It sounds like she was mad about just this one thing."

"Megan, you don't understand," said Genesis. "Ramona and I used to really hate each other. Something like this might lead to our rivalry starting back up again."

"Just give it some time," said Megan. "Maybe, when Ramona gets better, she'll be willing to forgive you."

"Let's hope so," said Genesis. "And speaking of her getting better..."

"Yes?"

"I wanted to cast some kind of spell on her to make the lung cancer go away, but I don't know how. Could you teach me?"

Megan sucked in one cheek. "Well, healing is really advanced magic," she said. "Especially when it's for something like cancer. It's not something you can learn in just one day. But I can start teaching you how to transfigure humans."

"Transfigure humans?"

"Yes. Once you get a handle on turning a person into, say, a frog, getting rid of a tumor will be easy."

Genesis nodded. She'd already learned how to magically change the colors of objects, so she figured she could learn how to change humans. "Sounds good," she said. "Let's get started."

"We're going to start simple," said Megan. "First, I'll have you change my hair color from red to blue."

"Blue?"

"Yes. It's just like changing the color of your clothes. Just-"

Genesis waved her hand, and Megan's hair promptly shifted from red to blue. "What-did you do it?"

"Yeah," said Genesis. Looking at Megan's new hair job, she said "But I think I liked you better with the red hair."

Megan pulled out her phone and used the Camera app to look at herself. "I dunno. I kind of like this," she said.

Genesis shrugged. "It's your hair," she said.

Even so, Megan kept having Genesis change the color of her hair, her fingernails, and her clothes. She wanted to make sure she had the basics down before moving on to the more advanced stuff.

"Okay, good," Megan said when Genesis had successfully performed every task she'd asked of her. "Now for something more advanced." She raised her voice and called "Hey Tammy!"

Megan's ten-year-old sister Tammy came running into the room. "Is it time?" she asked.

"Yes, it's time," said Megan. "Genesis, I'm gonna have you turn my sister into a mermaid."

Genesis' jaw dropped. "A mermaid?"

"Yes. For transfiguring a human, it's best to start by turning them into a somewhat humanoid form."

"But why a mermaid? Why not a monkey, or a gorilla, or something like that?"

"Because I've always wanted to be a mermaid," said Tammy.

"Alright," said Genesis. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Practicing on inanimate objects was one thing, but Tammy was a real, live human. She could not afford to screw this up. Genesis waved her hands at Tammy and imagined her as a mermaid. She thought of all the movies and cartoons she'd seen over the years about mermaids, with their long fishy tails and flowing hair.

There was a thud on the floor in front of Genesis, followed by a cry of joy from Tammy. Genesis opened her eyes to see that Tammy was now lying facedown on the floor. Her clothes had completely disappeared, and her legs had fused together in a shiny, scaly mermaid tail. "You did it!" Tammy exclaimed. "I'm a mermaid!" She rolled over and sat up, then realized her A cup boobs were fully exposed.

"Maybe you need a seashell bra," Genesis chuckled.

Megan complied by snapping her fingers. A bikini top with cups shaped like seashells appeared around Tammy's chest. "There you go," she said.

Tammy tried to stand up, but without her legs she couldn't. "I think I need a swimming pool," she said.

"Here," said Megan. She waved her hand, and Tammy turned back into a human, clothes and all.

"Aw," said Tammy.

***

After that, Genesis practiced even more transformations on Tammy. She turned her into a dog, a cat, a pony, a spider, and a bear, in that order. Several times, something went wrong in the magic, but Megan was there to fix it. And as she kept trying again and again, Genesis managed to make every transformation work.

"Good job," Megan told Genesis. "I think you'll need some more practice, but you're off to a good start."

"When do you think I'll be able to learn how to get rid of Ramona's tumor?"

"Probably not for another week or two."

"Another week or two?"

"Don't worry," said Megan. "You said she was on chemotherapy, right?"

"The doctor said that's what they were going to do."

"Then you have time. In the meantime, though, transfiguring people is a useful skill."

"Oh yeah," said Genesis.

"Especially if you wish to punish someone," Megan added.

Genesis felt her stomach jump. "Punish someone?"

"Yes," said Megan. "You have a boyfriend, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if he ever cheats on you, well..."

"Jesse would never cheat on me," said Genesis.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," said Megan. "I knew a witch whose boyfriend swore he would always be faithful to her, only to go off and sleep with another woman."

That sounded scary. "What happened to him?"

"He's not a 'him' anymore," Megan answered. "Surely you know that. Witches punish bad boys by turning them into good girls."

The gleam in Megan's eyes disturbed Genesis. Her earlier fears about Megan remembering her as Gene were starting to resurface. Was she implying that she knew about Gene's affair with Mirna?

"Oh yeah," said Genesis. "I mean...how many stories are out there about witches doing that?"

"A lot," said Megan. "Ever since knowledge of witches became public, stories about them started popping up all over the place. But you knew about that..."

"Yeah," said Genesis. "Yeah, I did..."

***

Later that night, Genesis called Jesse. Her parents might've banned her from going out to see her boyfriend, but they hadn't said anything about calling him.

"Jesse," Genesis said when her boyfriend picked up the phone. "I think Megan's on to me."

"What do you mean, she's on to you?"

"She was talking about how witches like to turn boys into girls as punishment, and the way she looked at me..."

"Whoa, calm down," said Jesse. "Just because she said that, doesn't mean she remembers that you tried to rape her."

"That's not what it sounded like!"

"Genesis, please," said Jesse. "Even if she does remember, the rape incident was years ago. Maybe she's forgiven you by now."

"You think?"

"I mean, she's had you over how many times now to train with her?"

Genesis took a deep breath. Jesse was right. She was being stupid. "I guess so," she said. "I guess...if she really did want to hurt me, she would've done it by now."

"See?" said Jesse. "It'll be okay."

"Yeah. Totally."

"And FYI, I would never cheat on you," said Jesse. "Never."

Genesis hoped those weren't famous last words.

To be continued...

When Genesis' grounding was over, her parents let Jesse come over. When Jesse came, he sat right down with Genesis in the living room.

"Hey beautiful," said Jesse. "How's your sister?"

"My dad talked to the doctor this morning," Genesis answered. "He said Ramona's doing a little better. She's staying awake for longer periods of time."

"Ah," said Jesse. "Has her hair started falling out yet?"

"What?"

"You know when you do chemotherapy, your hairs starts to fall out?"

"Oh, she's not quite there yet," said Genesis.

Jesse nodded. "Well, hopefully Megan will teach you a healing spell soon," he said. "Then she won't have to get to that point."

"Let's hope so." Genesis tossed a strand of hair over her shoulder before saying "What about you? How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," said Jesse. "I went to my school's Senior Banquet last night."

"Ooh," said Genesis. Jesse had told her about that the day before. She'd wanted to go to support her boyfriend, but it was the last day of her grounding, so she couldn't. "Did you win any awards?"

"Yep. I won Most Likely To Be President."

Genesis laughed. "Jesse Pindle for President," she said.

"Well, I'll definitely be better than Trump. Or Biden."

"Oh yeah, definitely," said Genesis. "Especially Trump."

"I know, right?" said Jesse. "I can't believe people still support him."

"Definitely."

"Oh, and I also got invited to a party tonight," said Jesse. "It's being held at my friend Carl Raxton's house. Wanna come?"

"Sure!"

***

Carl Raxton's house was one of the fanciest buildings Genesis had ever seen. It was three stories high with columns, balconies, and a finely tiled roof. The lawn and hedges were neatly trimmed, and the gates and fences were made of a dark metal. The property must've cost hundreds of thousands of dollars at least.

"Whoa," Genesis said when she and Jesse pulled up in front of the house. "Imagine if Megan saw this place."

"I know," said Jesse. "Her mom could never afford something like this." He put his car in Park and said "You might wanna be careful. Carl's parents are kind of strict about keeping their house clean-even when they're having a big party like this."

"Got it." Genesis and Jesse got out of the car and went up to the front door. Already, they could hear music blaring inside.

Before they could even knock, the door was opened by Carl Raxton. He was a six-foot-tall guy with short black hair and green eyes. "Hey Jesse," said Carl. Noticing Genesis, he grinned and added "I see you've brought your baby."

Jesse put his arm around Genesis' shoulder. "Yep, I did," he said.

"Well, welcome to the party," said Carl. "Come on in and have fun!"

Inside, Genesis and Jesse saw that there were already a lot of other kids there. They were talking with one another while eating pizza and chips and playing party games. "Wow," Genesis said, looking around. "This is a great party."

"Yeah, it really is," said Jesse.

"Hey Jesse!" said a guy Genesis recognized as Michael Benson. She'd met Michael once before when Jesse introduced her to him. "Wanna do a round of Battlefront 2?"

"Sure!" said Jesse. "Genesis, want to join?"

"I'll pass," said Genesis. She'd tried playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 with Jesse and Michael before, and she'd been absolutely creamed.

"Your loss," said Michael.

While Jesse went to go play with Michael, Genesis went to get some food from the food table. As she was getting a plate of pizza and Doritos, she ran into another girl about her age. "Oh hey," said Genesis.

"Hi," said the other girl. She was short and blonde, with a thinned-out face and a wiry body frame. The tank top and short shorts she was wearing somehow made her look even thinner. If she claimed to only eat one meal a day, Genesis would've believed her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Tina," the other girl answered. "Tina Peters. What's your name?"

"Genesis Rookwood."

Tina's eyebrows shot up. "So you're Jesse's girlfriend," she said.

"Yeah, I am," said Genesis. "How did you know?"

"Because I go to school with Jesse," said Tina. "I have English and Calculus with him."

"Ah," said Genesis.

"So how did you and him meet?"

"I got an internship at the lab where he was working," Genesis answered.

"Oh yeah. The one that just put out that gender-changing serum."

"Yep."

"You know, my cousin got the serum," said Tina."

"What?"

"My cousin Brianna was a closeted trans man," Tina explained. "But when Pride Laboratories put out their gender-changing serum, she took it. Now she's a he. And he goes by Brian now."

"That's great," said Genesis. "Are you a senior?"

"I am," said Tina.

"Me too," said Genesis.

"Do you have a job?"

"Not yet. How about you?"

"I work at Tommy's Burgers."

"Really? My friend Charlotte just started working there."

"Oh, that's so cool!" said Tina.

Tina paused when she heard someone calling her. "Oh, I gotta go," said Tina. "But it was nice meeting you."

"You too," said Genesis.

***

Genesis mingled with some of the other people at the party while Jesse did his video game rounds with Michael. Eventually, she was talking to Carl Raxton when she saw Jesse come back into the kitchen area and get a glass of fruit punch.

"There he is," Genesis said to herself. But before she could go up to Jesse, she saw Tina approach him. Jesse put down his drink so he could talk to Tina.

"What's wrong?" Carl asked.

"Oh-nothing," said Genesis.

Carl followed Genesis' gaze and saw Tina talking to Jesse. "Oh, Tina Peters," Carl chuckled. "That girl is so..."

"Sweet?"

"Well...yeah, she is," said Carl. "But she can also be kind of flirty with guys."

That should've worried Genesis, but it didn't. Jesse was faithful to her. Surely he wouldn't fall for a girl like Tina who-

"Wait," said Genesis. "What's she doing?"

Carl squinted and saw what Genesis saw. Tina was affectionately taking Jesse's hand-and he didn't even seem to be objecting! On the contrary, he seemed totally into it. He finished drinking from his fruit punch cup and then took Tina's other hand. "What the...is he actually..."

Genesis and Carl couldn't hear what Jesse and Tina were saying over the rest of the noise from the party. Without thinking, Genesis started towards Jesse and Tina. Which probably wasn't the best idea, but she did not like what she saw.

When she was within earshot, Genesis could hear Jesse saying "Yeah, you are really hot," to Tina.

Genesis' jaw dropped. She watched in horror as Jesse took Tina in for a kiss. The two of them kissed passionately, as if they were trying to eat each other's faces. "Hey!" Genesis shouted.

Jesse broke free of Tina and looked at Genesis. He looked a little woozy, as if he'd had a shot of alcohol. "What the...Genesis..."

"What are you doing?" Genesis asked. "Cheating on me?"

Jesse wilted guiltily. "Genesis, I...I'm sorry..."

Genesis shook her head. "Oh, Jesse," she said. "I thought you said you wouldn't cheat on me!"

"Please...I can explain..."

"Oh, Genesis," said Tina. "I should've told you. Jesse's been hitting on me for weeks! Just last week he said he was thinking about breaking up with you!"

"WHAT?"

"No, I didn't," said Jesse. "At least...I don't think so..."

Genesis slapped her forehead. "Jesse...how could you do this to me?"

"Genesis..."

Genesis' first instinct was to yell at Jesse that they were breaking up. But then she remembered what Megan had told her, and she got an even better idea. "Save it. I know just what to do with you."

"What..."

Genesis placed her hand on Jesse's shoulder. She mustered up as much of her magic as she could, since this would be a pretty major transformation. She imagined Jesse as a girl, just like how Mirna had imagined Gene as Genesis. Before her very eyes, Jesse started to change. He shrank in height, his hair grew out, his body lost fat, his pectoral muscles swelled into boobs, his package shrunk down into a vagina, and his thighs thickened while his legs slimmed out.

Jessie gasped when she felt her new body. "What-Genesis!"

"That's what you get," said Genesis. "You cheat on a girl who's a witch, you get turned into a girl. Then maybe you'll learn a lesson about cheating on your girlfriend."

"But you can't do this!" Jessie protested. "You can't turn me into a girl!"

"Oh, don't worry," said Genesis. "I'll change you back. Eventually."

Jessie glared at Genesis. "So you're gonna make me live my life as a girl? For how long?"

"As long as it takes for you to feel remorse."

"Then we're through," said Jessie. "We're breaking up." She turned and stormed off toward the front door.

Tina, who had been mesmerized by the whole affair, watched as Jessie left the party. "Did you really have to do that?" she asked.

Genesis closed her eyes. In the midst of her anger at Jessie, she was also feeling despair blooming inside of her. "Well...he did cheat on me," she said.

"You're right," said Tina.

"I never thought he'd actually do that," said Genesis. "Jesse and I, we..."

"Hey, it's okay," said Tina. "I totally get it."

"Do you think he-or she-will forgive me?"

"Maybe she will. Once she's learned whatever lesson you want her to learn."

Truthfully, Genesis wasn't sure what she was expecting Jessie to learn as a girl. Did she want her to end up with a cheating boyfriend of her own? Or did she just want Jessie to see how rough life could really be for a woman? Now that her anger was dying down, and the rational part of her was kicking into high gear, she really wasn't sure.

"Don't worry," said Tina. "You'll be okay."

To be continued...

The following Monday, Genesis met up with Charlotte at school to tell her what had happened.

"You've got to be kidding me," Charlotte said when Genesis had finished explaining what had went down at the party. "You actually turned Jesse into a girl?"

"Yes, I did," said Genesis.

Charlotte shook her head. "Well, I'll bet Jessie's gonna have a tough time adjusting to being a girl," she said. "Did he-or she-text you at all after you changed her?"

"No," said Genesis. "She said we were breaking up. And now I'm starting to regret turning him into a girl."

"Well, you said he cheated on you, right?" Charlotte asked.

"Right."

"You said it was with...what was that girl's name again?"

"Tina. Tina Peters."

Charlotte froze in her tracks. "Tina Peters?" she asked.

"Yeah. What? Do you know her?"

"Yes. She works at Tommy's Burgers."

"She does?"

"Yeah. She's a cashier there, like me."

"Wow," said Genesis. "That's quite a coincidence."

"Oh, but it's not just that, either," said Charlotte. "She used to go to our school."

This couldn't be. Before the party, Genesis had never met Tina. Then again, Eastern Plains High was a fairly large school, so there were probably a lot of people she'd never gotten to know. "Why'd she leave?"

"It was because of Ramona," said Charlotte.

"Really?"

Charlotte nodded. "When Ramona was in her freshman year, she was starting to take over as the school's 'mean girl.' Tina was already pretty popular, until Ramona became her rival. The thing is, Tina didn't know it at first. Ramona became part of Tina's clique, but then she turned Tina's cliquemates against her and kicked her out. After that, Ramona became the new queen of the school. And Tina became an outcast. That's why she transferred to another school."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Apparently Tina used to be the most popular kid in middle school. To have that taken away from her when she got to high school...that must've been rough."

"I'll bet it was," said Genesis.

"You didn't tell Tina you were Ramona's stepsister, did you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're sure Jesse would never cheat on you, right?"

Genesis frowned. "I thought he wouldn't," she said. "Until the other night."

"Well, what if he didn't want to cheat on you? What if Tina put something in his drink?"

Genesis almost scoffed at Charlotte's suggestion. Then she remembered that Jesse had been acting kind of woozy after she caught him kissing Tina. "Maybe," said Genesis. "But why would Tina do that?"

"I don't know," said Charlotte. "I wouldn't be surprised if she still wanted to get back at Ramona. But how could Tina have known you'd turn Jesse into a girl when you saw him 'cheat on you?' And what would she have to gain from it?"

"If she really was manipulating me..." Genesis was starting to feel worse than ever. Why didn't she see it before? It should've been so obvious that Jesse was drugged into kissing Tina. Maybe Charlotte was right about Tina conspiring against her, maybe Tina was just pulling some stupid party stunt, but it didn't really matter. She owed Jessie a huge apology.

"I've gotta get in touch with Jessie," said Genesis. She pulled out her phone and accessed Jessie's contact information. She dialed the number, but was immediately met with the click of someone hanging up on her. "What?" Genesis cried. "She blocked me?"

"Oh no," said Charlotte.

It was all Genesis could do not to burst into tears right there. She'd pushed away her boyfriend-the only boyfriend she'd ever had! And, just like with Ramona, it was all her fault. She should've seen through Tina right away, but she didn't. "Oh, Charlotte," Genesis sobbed. "What have I done?"

***

Later on that day was yet another training session at Megan's place. However, when Genesis showed up, Megan immediately knew something was wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," Genesis admitted. "I just made my boyfriend break up with me."

"What?"

"Me and Jesse went to a party, and I thought I saw him cheating on me with another girl, so I turned him into a girl. But then he-er, she-said we were breaking up."

"Ouch," said Megan. "Maybe she'll be willing to forgive you? Maybe when you turn her back-"

"It won't work," said Genesis. "She's already blocked my number. Jessie's already shut me out of her life." She sat down on Megan's couch and started crying. "Oh, Megan, what am I doing? First Ramona got lung cancer, and now my ex-boyfriend's a girl, and she hates me. All because of me using my magic on them."

"Oh, Genesis," said Megan. "Neither of those things were your fault."

"Yes, they were," said Genesis. "Why did Mirna have to make me her successor? Just why?"

"I'm sure she had her reasons," said Megan.

"But all I've been doing with my new powers is screw things up," said Genesis. "I've already burned bridges with Jessie, and even if Ramona does get cured of her cancer, she'll probably still be mad at me for the whole smoking thing."

Megan thought for a moment. "Well, there might be a way for you to undo your mistakes," she said.

"What?"

"By preventing them from happening in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just last week, I heard that the Council Of Witches was developing a new magical contraption," Megan explained. "They were creating a device that could create a magical rift in time. In theory, it could let you go back days, months, or even years."

Genesis' heart leapt. "Really?"

"Really."

"Do you think they'll let me use it?"

Megan's face fell. "That's the hard part," she said. "It's a semi-confidential project. It's not likely that they'll let you, or even me, use it. We're probably going to have to sneak into the Council Of Witches' headquarters and steal it."

Genesis felt a jolt of dread. "What?"

"It might not be so hard," said Megan. "I've been to their headquarters before. I know where they keep their secret projects. If we get in there, I can get us to where their time-travel device is. Then, once we're in there, we can use it to go back in time to prevent Tina from drugging Jesse, and Ramona from smoking those cigarettes. Then we'll come right back to when we left and put the time-travel device back. No one will be the wiser, I promise."

Genesis didn't know what to say. She'd copied off her classmates' papers in the past, and she'd once borrowed an eraser and failed to return it, but breaking and entering was in a different league altogether. But the way Megan said it...it sounded like they might be able to get away with it. And if it could get Genesis her stepsister and her boyfriend back, then it would definitely be worth it. "Alright," she said. "Where's this headquarters?"

"It's right here in Virginia," Megan answered. "Just an hour's drive away from here."

"Can you drive?"

Megan nodded. "Meet me here after school," she said. "Then I'll take you to the Council Of Witches' headquarters."

"Alright," said Genesis. "I'll be here."

To be continued...

The whole next day at school, Genesis felt her nerves amounting. She had not forgotten her agreement to meet up with Megan after school, and the 3:00 bell could not come quickly enough. She wanted more than anything to undo her mistakes in order to get her boyfriend back and prevent her sister from getting cancer.

When her last class ended, Genesis met up with Charlotte, who'd agreed to give her a ride to Megan's house. "So you're actually gonna do it," Charlotte said as Genesis got in her car. "You're actually gonna break into the Council Of Witches' headquarters."

"I know," said Genesis. Already, she could feel her nerves amounting. "It's gonna be risky, but it's worth it."

"I gotta tell you, I don't think this is a good idea," said Charlotte. "What if the witches catch you? Imagine how they'll punish you for trying to steal their time-travel device."

"Megan thinks it'll be okay," said Genesis. Though truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure herself.

Charlotte sighed. "Well, how'd you like to stop by the hospital on the way?" she asked. "Maybe say hi to Ramona and tell her you're about to fix her cancer problem?"

"I can't," said Genesis. "Megan wanted me at her house as soon as possible."

"Alright," said Charlotte. "But I'll go after I drop you off. I'll tell Ramona."

***

Charlotte kept her word. After she'd dropped Genesis off at Megan's house, she drove down to the hospital where Ramona was being treated. When she arrived, she had to go to the hospital's front desk to be approved as a visitor. Once they let her in, Charlotte went down to Ramona's bedroom.

There, she saw Ramona lying in the hospital bed, covered in sheets and with an IV in her arm. As a result of her chemotherapy, her skin was already drying out. "Hey," said Charlotte.

Ramona weakly opened her eyes and saw Charlotte. "Who, what...Charlotte?"

"Hi Ramona," said Charlotte. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great," Ramona admitted. "Chemotherapy really sucks."

"I know," said Charlotte.

"The doctors think I'll be able to recover from my lung cancer," said Ramona. "But it'll be a while before it happens."

"Well, I don't think you'll have to wait for much longer," said Charlotte. "Because Genesis is gonna try to go back in time to prevent you from trying smoking in the first place."

"She what?"

"Genesis told Megan about how you'd gotten lung cancer, and Tina Peters tricked Jesse into cheating on her so Genesis would turn Jesse into a girl, and Jessie would dump her. So now Megan's taking Genesis to the witches' headquarters to steal a time travel device."

As Charlotte expected, Ramona did not look happy to hear this news. "Oh, Genesis," said Ramona.

"Yes, I know," said Charlotte. "I told her it was a bad idea, but she was really desperate."

"On the other hand, if she does go back in time and fix things, it'll be a lot easier than chemotherapy."

"True," said Charlotte.

Ramona sighed-which, given how much pain she was in, wasn't easy. "I just don't get it," she said. "I only smoked for a few weeks before I got lung cancer, and I didn't even smoke that much. I only had, like, one cigarette every day or two."

"Really?" Charlotte asked.

"Really."

"Just out of curiosity, where'd you get the cigarettes?"

Ramona hesitated. "Well...this is gonna be a surprise, but...I got both of my packs from Megan."

"What?"

"Yeah. One day when I took Genesis for her training session, I got to talk to Megan for a minute, and she gave me a pack of cigarettes. Apparently her mom smokes, and Megan nabbed a pack of cigarettes so she could try it."

"Megan gave you cigarettes?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah."

Charlotte just stood there, speechless. Something did not seem right here. Ramona getting lung cancer from smoking cigarettes way too early, and her cigarettes were from a known witch...that couldn't be a coincidence. Could it?

***

Later that evening, Charlotte had to go to work again. And, just her luck, Tina Peters was working the same shift. Ever since Charlotte had heard about the incident between Genesis, Jesse, and Tina, she'd been really suspicious of Tina. Not that Tina appeared to have any beef with Charlotte, but she still felt like she had to be careful around her.

However, something very strange happened a couple hours into Charlotte's shift. Charlotte was getting some cups out of the back while Tina was on her break. When Tina's break ended, she got up to get back to work, but she mistakenly left her phone on the table. At first, Charlotte didn't pay it much attention. However, when she was walking by the table, her eyes fell on Tina's phone's screen. It showed a stream of text messages with someone named Megan.

Troubled, Charlotte looked a little closer at the text stream. When she read it, her eyes went wide. But before she could react, Tina came rushing back into the break room to grab her phone. "Sorry," said Tina. "I left my phone behind on accident."

"That's okay," said Charlotte. But what she'd read...she was gonna have to confront Tina about it.

She got her chance later on that evening. At around 9:30, business was slowing down, and it was just Charlotte and Tina standing around by the cash registers waiting for any customers to potentially show up. Since the manager was off in the office doing manager stuff, Charlotte decided to make her move. "Hey Tina," she said. "What do you know about Megan Hawthorne?"

Tina jumped. "What?"

"Megan Hawthorne. Do you know her?"

Tina hesitated. "No," she answered.

"Don't lie to me," said Charlotte. "Remember when you left your phone behind earlier? I saw your texts with her."

"You read my texts?" Tina glared at Charlotte.

"I didn't mean to. You just left your phone on the table, and I happened to notice that you were texting someone named Megan Hawthorne. About my friend Genesis." Charlotte looked Tina square in the eye and said "You know Megan, don't you?"

"Yeah. She and I go to the same school. So what?"

"So, you're gonna tell me everything you know," said Charlotte. "Or else I'm gonna show this to the manager." She pulled out her phone and opened up a picture she'd taken the other night. It was of Tina vaping from an elfbar in the employee break room. Charlotte had taken that picture in the hope she could use it to blackmail Tina for something-and now was her chance.

Tina gasped. "When did you-"

"Tell me now," said Charlotte. "Or else I'm gonna show this to the manager, and you'll get fired."

Well, that was all it took to break Tina down. "Me and Megan have been working together to sabotage Genesis," she said. "When Megan was assigned to be her trainer, she knew it was her opportunity. She still remembers Genesis as Gene. And that he tried to rape her."

"So Genesis was right," said Charlotte. "Megan really does remember!"

Tina nodded. "She didn't just want revenge on Gene. I wanted revenge on Ramona. I was the most popular girl at school-I was on top of the world-but Ramona took it away from me. I was so humiliated, I had to move to another school-one where I was even more of an outcast. But at least that was where I met Megan. And when Megan became Genesis' trainer, we knew it was our chance. So Megan gave Ramona enchanted cigarettes to give her cancer, and I drugged Jesse so he'd 'cheat on me.' That way, Genesis would lose her boyfriend."

It was all Charlotte could do not to strangle Tina on the spot. "You little bitch," she said. "You wanted to trick Genesis into turning Jesse into a girl so he'd dump her!"

"It was an agreement with Megan!" Tina defended. "And it's not even the end of it, either!"

"You're damn right," said Charlotte. "I read those texts. About their heist tonight."

"You mean at the witches' headquarters?" Tina asked.

"Yes," said Charlotte. "Where they're gonna steal the time travel device."

"Megan's not really gonna help Genesis fix her mistakes," said Tina. "She's gonna-"

"I know," said Charlotte.

Right then, the manager came out to the retail area. "Is everyone okay over here?" he asked.

"I, uh...I'm not feeling very good," Charlotte blurted out. "I think I'd better go home early."

"Really?"

Charlotte clutched her stomach like she was feeling nauseous. "Yeah," she said. "I feel like I'm about to throw up."

Tina opened her mouth to protest, but then she remembered Charlotte still had the dirt on her.

"Fine," said the manager. "You can clock out."

Charlotte clocked out, then ran out to her car. She knew it was probably already too late, but she didn't care. Because if what Tina had said was true, then Genesis was in serious danger.

To be continued...

By the time Genesis and Megan got to the witches' headquarters, they'd already gone over their plan. Even so, Genesis felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack. She was about to break and enter. And since it was a witches' place that she was breaking and entering into, she might face some very serious consequences.

The headquarters was three stories high with a slanted roof. The two uppermost floors seemed to be mostly windows, which seemed rather impractical for a haven of magic. Perhaps it was a repurposed office building or science lab or something? Whatever. It didn't matter. Genesis was here to find a time machine, not wonder why the witches' headquarters had so many windows.

Megan led Genesis into the headquarters' lobby. There, they saw a receptionist sitting at the desk working on a computer. The receptionist looked rather young-probably around 21 years old. Her blonde hair was tied back in a bun, and her business suit was ruffled, as if she'd slept in it. "Good evening," the receptionist said when she saw the arrivals. "Megan Hawthorne? Is that you?"

"Yes," said Megan.

Genesis looked at the receptionist and realized she looked familiar. "Wait," she said. "Is that Saige Johnson?"

"Yes," said the receptionist. "I am."

"No way!" Just weeks ago, Genesis had met some of the other TG girls who'd famously vanquished the witch Circe Reyna-Lanie Evans and Rachel Miller. Genesis knew Saige was friends with them, but she had no idea she worked for the Council Of Witches. "You actually work here?"

"I do," said Saige. "After I quit my last job, my friend Lanie Evans told me the Council Of Witches was in need of a new receptionist, so I applied for the job. They were more than happy to hire me. And I must say, it's a great gig. They pay me well, and they provide me with health insurance, and I'm already contributing to a 401K retirement plan." She pulled out a cigarette and put it in her mouth. "Plus, they let me smoke on the job."

Genesis grimaced. After the debacle with Ramona, she was pretty sensitive about people smoking. "I didn't know you were a smoker," she said.

Saige lit her cigarette and took a puff from it before responding. "Oh yeah," she said. "I started smoking just a few months after we defeated Circe. All the fame and attention was a lot more stressful than I expected. But, luckily, I found myself a stress reliever." She inhaled another puff and smiled as the nicotine worked its magic.

Megan cleared her throat. "That's great," she said, "But we are here for a reason."

"And what is that?" Saige asked.

"I have a witch in training," Megan explained, "And I wanted to take her to the headquarters to show her some of the magic experiments that are being worked on here."

Saige looked at Genesis. "Genesis Rookwood, I presume?" she asked.

Genesis nodded.

"I've heard about you," said Saige. "You'd be Rachel's childhood friend's new girlfriend, right?"

"Ex-girlfriend now," Genesis said bitterly.

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Genesis.

"Ah," said Saige.

"That's why I took her here," Megan ad-libbed. "I thought maybe it would take her mind off the breakup."

"Alright then," said Saige. "You're clear to go."

As they walked off down the corridor, Genesis breathed a sigh of relief-not just because she didn't have to smell cigarette smoke anymore, but because of how smoothly things had gone. "That went better than I expected," she said.

"I know," said Megan. "But that was the easy part."

Megan led Genesis down the corridor toward the headquarters' workshop area. They passed by rooms where witches were mixing potions and assembling what Genesis assumed were magical devices. Eventually, they came to a set of metal doors barred shut.

"Okay," said Megan. "Now this is why I needed you to come with me. Opening these doors requires the touch of two witches at once. You and I are both going to have to touch these hand scanners."

Megan had already warned Genesis of this, so she knew what to do. Genesis placed both of her hands on the hand scanners on the bar holding the doors shut. Megan did the same with the other set of hand scanners, and there was an electronic beeping as it recognized both their magic. There was a hissing noise, and the metal bar slid out to let the doors open.

"Alright," said Megan. "Now, be very quiet. We have to find that time machine without getting caught."

Genesis and Megan crept into the secret room. Strangely, there wasn't much interesting stuff in there. Most of what Genesis saw was a bunch of metal contraptions and long wooden sticks-magic wand prototypes, maybe? There was one device that looked kind of interesting. It was a metal bracelet that glittered with magic sparkles.

"Over here," Megan said in an undertone. "I found it."

Genesis turned and saw a...gun? Really? Was that the time machine? Genesis had imagined some kind of metal gateway that would have a portal in it, not a gun. Admittedly, it didn't look like any regular gun. The barrel was elongated near the end, and there was a dial-presumably date and time settings-where the bullet chambers should've been. But it was still a rather strange sight.

"Expecting something else?" Megan asked.

"Yeah," said Genesis.

"Well, this is what I'm gonna need," said Megan.

"Alright," said Genesis. "I guess you just put the date in that you want to go back to?"

"It seems so."

Genesis thought back to the date of Charlotte's sleepover. "March 9," she said. "That was the day Ramona had her first cigarette. That's when we have to go back-"

"Oh, I'm not going back to that day," said Megan. "I'm going even farther back."

"What?"

Megan glared at Genesis. "Genesis," she said. "Or should I say...Gene."

Genesis' heart stopped. "What?"

"Isn't that who you are?" Megan asked. "Gene Rookwood, the guy who tried to rape me?"

"So you do remember..."

"Of course I do," said Megan. "Mirna's mass memory-altering spell didn't affect me, because I'm a witch. I never forgot anything that you did to me...you guy-slut."

"But-but I've changed!" said Genesis. "I don't sexually harass women anymore!"

"Cut the bullshit," said Megan. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that a leopard never changes its spots. And you, Gene...you have no idea much your attempted rape really affected me. When my dad found out, he was furious at me. He told me he was very disappointed in me, that I couldn't stand up for myself when a guy made an advance on me. 'I raised a better daughter than this,' he said. He and my mom got in a big fight, and then he walked out on us. Ever since then, we've been living in poverty. And it can all be traced back to you. That is why I'm going back in time to when you were just a little kid. I'm going to kill you and prevent you from trying to rape me, or Cassy, or anyone else in the first place!"

"No," Genesis protested. "You can't do that!" She thrust out her hand and launched a fireball at Megan. Megan held out her own hand and absorbed the fireball in her fist. Grimacing, Genesis waved her hand and made a rack of tools fall toward Megan. Megan had to dart to avoid getting hit by the tool rack.

"September 1, 2014," Megan muttered as she fiddled with the dial on the time travel gun. "You would've been about nine at the time, yes?"

"Yes," said Genesis. She still remembered that day. She'd been Gene back then, and it was his first day of Third Grade. He'd gotten in a fight with the school bully and walked away with a black eye. Gene had sat down on the curb outside the school crying about the fight when an older girl came by and comforted him. It was one of the sweetest memories Genesis had of her old life. But now it looked like that day might be ruined.

"Well, it looks like it'll be your last day," said Megan. She fired the gun at the wall and opened a red portal. "But I can't have you following me." She raised her hand, ready to fire another spell at Genesis.

"Hey!" a new voice shouted. Genesis turned and saw Charlotte charging into the room.

"What the-Charlotte?" Genesis asked.

Before Megan could react, Charlotte threw the book she was carrying at her. The book hit Megan in the head and made her drop the time travel gun. Genesis took her chance to throw another fireball at Megan. This time, she hit her square in the chest. Megan doubled over in pain and clutched her torso.

"You bitches," Megan cursed. She probably would've kept fighting, but then the light from the portal started to fade. "I must go," she said. "But be assured that I'll have my revenge." She jumped into the portal, which promptly disappeared.

"Oh no," Genesis gasped. "She actually went back! She's gonna...she's gonna kill me!" She looked down at her hands, wondering if they were gonna start fading before her.

"I know," said Charlotte.

Genesis looked up at her friend. "How did you know?"

"Tina broke down," said Charlotte. "She and Megan have been working together to sabotage you. They gave Ramona cancer, and they drugged Jesse so he'd cheat on you and you'd get the wrong idea."

Genesis slapped her forehead. "I knew it," she said. "I knew I couldn't trust Megan!" She sat down on the floor and started crying. "Why? Why did I have to be so stupid? I thought Megan might somehow remember that I tried to rape her, and I was right!"

"Genesis, calm down," said Charlotte.

But it was no use. "This is all my fault," Genesis sobbed. "It's because of me that Megan's about to erase me from history. I...I'm really not worthy of Mirna's gift."

"Hey," Charlotte said, sitting down next to Genesis. "This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is."

"No, it isn't. What Megan did was very bad, but it was her choice. No one forced her to swindle you like this."

"But...but what am I going to do now? Megan just went back in time to kill me. For all I know, she's already aiming a gun at my head."

"Speaking of guns..." said Charlotte. Genesis followed her gaze and realized Megan had dropped the time travel gun before going into the portal.

"We can still stop her!" said Genesis.

"Then let's do it," said Charlotte.

To be concluded...

When Genesis left the time portal, she couldn't believe what she saw.

It was her old elementary school, Hammerhead Elementary School, exactly as she remembered it from when she was a (boy) kid. There was a marque out front with announcements about the start of the school year and a mural painted on a wall. There was even the old statue of a hammerhead shark in front of the cafeteria. The sight of it shocked Genesis. She used to walk by it every day-until it was taken down halfway through her Fifth Grade year. Yet here it was in all its former glory.

"Wow," said Genesis. "We definitely went back in time."

Charlotte looked around. "Where's Megan?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Genesis. "But if she's looking for little boy me..."

"Then we have to find you," said Charlotte.

"Hm..." Genesis tried to remember her first day of Third Grade, which was the day that they'd gone back to. Gene's mother had dropped him off at school before going off to her job, and then Gene had gone to Ms. V's class for the first couple hours of the school day. Then they'd had snack recess, then another hour and a half of class, then lunch, then another couple hours before they could go home. "What time is it?"

"We should go to the office," said Charlotte. "Maybe they can help us."

Genesis led Charlotte to Hammerhead Elementary's office. There, they saw that it was 11:45 AM-right about the time lunch recess started. Sitting at the front desk was the school secretary Mrs. Gilmore. "Hello," said Mrs. Gilmore. "May I help you?"

"Hi," said Genesis. "I'm looking for Gene Rookwood." It felt so weird to be asking for herself.

Mrs. Gilmore frowned. "What do you need him for?" she asked.

"I'm...his sister," Genesis lied. "He has a dentist appointment that got rescheduled for today at the last minute. So my mom asked me to come pick him up to drive him to the dentist's office."

Mrs. Gilmore's eyebrows drew together in suspicion. "Is that so?" she asked. "If it is, then your mom should've called us to let us know."

"Well, my mom is pretty neglectful," Genesis said bitterly. "That's why she sent me to pick up my brother instead of doing it herself."

"That is unfortunate," said Mrs. Gilmore. "But Gene needs a parent's permission slip to be excused from school early." She looked at Genesis like she was some kind of child predator.

Fortunately, Megan had taught Genesis a trick. "No, he doesn't," she said. She snapped her fingers and willed Mrs. Gilmore's mindset to shift.

Mrs. Gilmore's expression softened. "No..." she said, as if in a trance. "I...just remembered....your mom did email me....you can go ahead...."

"Thank you," said Genesis.

Just then, the lunch bell rang. "Oh," said Mrs. Gilmore. "That's the bell."

"The bell?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes," said Mrs. Gilmore. "You'll probably find Gene in the cafeteria."

"Got it. Thanks," said Genesis. She and Charlotte left the office and made a beeline for the cafeteria.

"Nice going," said Charlotte. "I thought she was going to kick us out."

"Good thing Megan taught me a mind-wipe spell," said Genesis. But when they got to the open area between the office, cafeteria, and parking lot, she froze in her tracks. She'd noticed a girl about her age with flaming red hair marching in from the parking lot.

"There she is," said Genesis. "Megan."

Charlotte's face went pale. "Uh-oh," she said. "Do you think she knows where you are? Like, the past you?"

"I hope not," said Genesis. "You go find me. I'll keep Megan busy."

"Good luck," said Charlotte.

***

Charlotte didn't want to leave her friend at the mercy of a homicidal witch, but she knew there was no time to argue. She entered the cafeteria and looked for little boy Gene. However, as she scanned the faces of the many kids in the cafeteria, she realized she didn't even know what nine-year-old Gene Rookwood looked like. She'd sort of pictured him as a younger, male version of Genesis-but there were just so many kids in the cafeteria, it was hard to single out just one.

Charlotte turned to a nearby cafeteria lady. "Hey," she said. "I'm looking for Gene Rookwood."

"Gene Rookwood?"

"His sister and I are here to pick him up for an unexpected dentist appointment," said Charlotte. "And I-"

"I think that's him over there," said the cafeteria lady. She pointed to the other end of the cafeteria where a nine-year-old boy was leaving the food serving area with a tray of food. With a start, Charlotte realized it was exactly who she was looking for. It was the young Gene Rookwood! For a minute, Charlotte forgot why she was even there. It just felt so weird seeing the little kid version of her best friend that she didn't even know existed. Since Charlotte had been subjected to Mirna's mass memory altering spell, she only remembered Genesis as a girl-not that it mattered, since she never met her until high school. But still.

Charlotte snapped back to attention when Gene ran into a taller, beefier kid. "Hey Gene," the bigger kid-who must've been in fourth or fifth grade-said. "Where's my milk?"

"Milk?" Gene asked.

"What's the matter?" the big kid asked. "Did you forget over the summer? Every lunch period, I have to get a milk carton from someone in your grade. And today, you're the one who's gonna be giving me my milk."

"No I'm not," said Gene. "I already gave you my milk three times last year."

"I already don't care," said the bully. "Give me my milk!"

"Never!"

"Fine." The bully reached out and snatched the milk carton from Gene's tray of food.

"Give that back!" Gene protested. He grabbed at the milk carton, but the bully held it out of reach.

"No way," said the bully. "My parents can't afford to give me milk money. I've gotta get my milk somewhere."

"That's not my fault!" Gene dropped his tray of food and charged at the bully like a football quarterback. The bully easily sidestepped it and popped the milk carton open. He took a swig of milk before balling his fist. When Gene came back at him again, the bully socked him hard in the face.

"Hey!" one of the cafeteria ladies shouted. She ran up to accost the bully that had punched Gene.

Another cafeteria lady went to tend to Gene. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Gene sat up. Already, a bruise was forming around his eye. "Leave me alone," he said. He got up and left.

Right out the cafeteria door.

"Oh no!" Charlotte groaned. She started after Gene, but she wasn't looking where she was going. Without warning, she slipped on a napkin somebody had dropped and fell flat on her face.

"Oh, Gene," Charlotte sobbed. She was too late. She wasn't going to get to keep Gene safe from Megan.

***

Genesis and Megan both approached each other like wrestlers in a ring. "Well, well, well," said Megan. "You actually followed me here."

"You're the one who left that portal gun behind," said Genesis. "Besides, did you really think I'd let you try to wipe me from existence?"

"Did you really think I'd forget that you tried to rape me?" Megan shot back. "And that it ruined my life for years to come?"

"Megan, I was wrong to do that," said Genesis. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, NOW you feel some remorse!" Megan snapped.

Genesis sighed. "Look, I know it was traumatic for you," she said. "But you have to let it go."

"You expect me to let something like that go?"

Genesis thought of everything that had happened since she was turned into a girl-joining the cheer squad with Ramona, having many fights with her stepsister before finally reconciling, getting an internship at Pride Laboratories and then discovering Lucas' true colors, going down to Georgia while having Lucas stalk her, watching Ramona get lung cancer, and getting tricked into burning bridges with her boyfriend. So many hardships, yet she'd survived all of them. "Things happen," she said. "They can't be undone, but that doesn't mean you have to hold on to it forever. You've gotta keep moving forward in life. And if things are bad, you make them better."

Megan slowly nodded. "Yes," she said. "By doing this!" She threw a bolt of red energy at Genesis, who just barely dodged. She picked up a rock and threw it at Megan. Megan summoned a magic shield that deflected the rock.

The two witches then planted their feet and shot beams of magic energy at one another. The beams met in a flash of bright light. Genesis and Megan both pushed against one another, each hoping to overpower each other's magic. For a second, Genesis felt like she might buckle under Megan's magic. But then she thought of what would happen if she lost today. Megan would kill Genesis' past self, and she'd cease to exist. She'd never have a chance to reconcile with Jesse or Ramona again.

Genesis summoned the last of her strength and pushed her spell against Megan's. Megan took a step back as she started to buckle. Genesis kept pushing, and Megan finally lost their little duel. Genesis' bolt of energy hit Megan, and there was a blinding flash of light. When the light cleared, Megan was gone. And in her place was...

"A spider?" Genesis asked. She'd turned Megan into a spider? Only now, she realized she wasn't actually sure what she wanted to do with Megan. She just wanted to hit her with a magic spell and win the fight. But now she'd turned Megan into an arachnid.

Genesis was just starting to wonder if Megan still had magic powers as a spider when the cafeteria door burst open. A nine-year-old boy with a black eye sauntered out of the cafeteria with tears forming in his eyes. Before Genesis could say anything, the boy came up to the spot where Spider Megan was standing and, without even realizing it, stepped on Spider Megan. When the boy walked off, all that was left of Megan was a tiny patch of goo on the ground.

Genesis didn't know what was crazier-the fact that Megan had been killed by a random boy, or that she recognized the boy. It was Gene-her past self! And the craziest part was that she knew exactly what had happened. The school bully, Ricky Fox, had stolen Gene's milk again, and when Gene tried to retaliate, Ricky punched him in the face. Gene had been so upset, he went outside to cry.

"Oh my gosh..." said Genesis. She watched as her...self went up to the curb by the parking lot and sat down to cry. She thought back to when she was in that same position, and she'd felt so sad about the fight. Gene had been so tired of Ricky Fox picking on him, and he was already dreading the upcoming school year. He'd cried for a minute before an older girl had come up and talked to him.

Genesis looked around. Where had that girl come from again? She seemed to recall her walking up from behind and sitting down next to her on the curb. But when she looked around, she didn't see any other girls in the vicinity.

Wait...did that mean...

Genesis took a deep breath. The idea that had occurred to her was too insane for words, but if it was true, then she had to do this. Trying her best not to freak out, she walked up to where Gene was crying and sat down next to him. "Hey," she said, trying to sound calm despite the circumstances. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Gene sobbed.

"Are you sure?" Genesis asked. "Did something happen?"

Gene wiped a tear off his cheek. "I just got beaten up by Ricky Fox," he said. "Again."

"Who's Ricky Fox?" Genesis asked, even though she already knew.

"He's the school bully," Gene answered. "He steals kids' milk money and beats them up. And he...he just beat me up again."

"I'm sorry," said Genesis.

"Why does no one love me?" Gene asked. "My mom hates me, I never get to see my dad, and I don't have any friends at school."

"Well..."

"I'm a bad kid," said Gene. "I'm worthless."

"Hey," said Genesis. She remembered this day like it was yesterday, so she knew exactly what to say. "You're not worthless. Nobody is."

"Really?"

"Of course not. Sometimes bullies like that Ricky Fox kid try to make you feel worthless, but they're wrong. Everyone has a place in this world. Everyone. Even you."

"You think?"

"Of course," said Genesis. "If you make your way through school, and college, you can do anything you want. And when you get a job as a policeman, or a garbageman, or anything, you'll get to show everyone your true worth."

"My true worth..."

"Yes," said Genesis. "Trust me. I know."

When Gene didn't reply, Genesis looked directly into her past self's eyes with all the sympathy she could muster. "I know it may not feel like it now, but everything will get better. I promise."

"You promise?"

"I promise," Genesis affirmed. "Just know that you are loved, and that you are special. You're a good kid, and you have a bright future ahead of you." She wrapped her arms around Gene and hugged him.

"Thanks," said Gene. "Thanks so much."

A teacher Genesis recognized as Mrs. V came up to them. "Gene? Are you okay?" she asked.

Gene got up. "Yes," he said with a straight face.

"Come on," said Mrs. V. "Let's get you back to lunch."

Gene gave one last thankful look at Genesis. "Thank you," he said.

"Good luck," said Genesis. She smiled and waved at Gene, imitating what she remembered seeing the girl that she now knew was herself doing.

As Gene went back into the lunchroom, Charlotte came out. "Genesis? What happened?"

Genesis smiled. "Our work here is done," she said.

***

One week later...

Genesis sat with Charlotte, Ramona, and Jesse in the Rookwood/Dunbys' backyard. After Genesis and Charlotte came back from the past, they immediately set to fixing the mistakes they'd made. Genesis went to Ramona in the hospital and, using her magic, made the tumor in her lungs disappear. Then, after much persuasion, she got Jessie to let her turn her back into Jesse. Now the four of them were hanging out at Genesis and Ramona's house.

"Well, I'm glad you changed me back," Jesse said to Genesis. "And I'm glad we're together again."

"Me too," said Genesis. "And Ramona..."

"I'm sorry," said Ramona. "For everything. I know Megan was the one who gave me that tumor, but you were right. I should never have smoked that cigarette."

"It's okay," said Genesis. "Now everything's better."

"It is indeed," said a new voice.

"Who said that?" Charlotte asked.

"I did." In front of them, a misty, ethereal spirit faded into existence. It took a minute for Genesis to realize that it was Mirna!

"Mirna?" Genesis gasped.

"Yes," said Mirna. "After this conference, I will not be able to appear to you anymore. But I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."

"You are?"

"Yes. You trained hard to be a witch, and you overcame your mistakes. And, of course, you inspired your past self."

"What-you mean-you saw-"

"I did indeed," Mirna said with a smile. "Genesis Rookwood, I am very proud to call you my successor. What you said to yourself, about just how special you are...you could not have been more right."

"She's right," said Jesse. "You're the most amazing girl I've ever met."

"I couldn't have done it without any of you," said Genesis. "It's too bad we're gonna graduate pretty soon..."

"Don't worry," said Charlotte. "We'll stay in touch."

"You think?"

"Of course."

Mirna smiled. "I must go now," she said. "But you have done well. You truly are worthy of my gift."

Genesis smiled. "Thank you, Mirna," she said. "Thank you so much."

***

Whew. That took a long time to write. I started writing this chapter at, like, 11, and now it's almost 1AM. Wow. But at any rate, this is the end of Rebirth And Retribution. I never thought I'd make it this far, but I did. It's funny that, when I wrote The Most Extreme Punishment, I wasn't intending to extend it for as long as I did. But some people commented that there was potential for Genesis' story to continue, and that planted the seeds in my mind. Now I've given Genesis a boyfriend and some magic of her own.

As always, I'd love to hear what you have to say about my story now that it's finished. But I also want to thank everyone who's made it this far. Most especially, I want to acknowledge joannebarbarella, who's commented on nearly every chapter of the serials chronicling Genesis Rookwood's adventures. Your devotion to following my story is much appreciated, and I'm glad to see your investment in my characters. Thanks for being a fan.