This story takes place in Morpheus's Twisted Universe.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

I sat in the shade, my legs sprawled out, in a vain attempt to catch more air. What with it being over a hundred degrees in the shade it didn't help much. A few years ago I would have been on the equipment with my cousin Suzie. I don't know how she did it, how I used to do it. Still living in Washington state I just wasn't used to Arizona Weather. Back home one hundred degrees was a heatwave, here it was a Tuesday.

Oblivious to the heat, Suzie was doing handsprings from one end of the play area to the other. Then she'd jump, do a half twist and start again in the other direction. Already several younger girls were joining in, or at least doing cartwheels in line with her. I sighed and pulled out my phone, refreshing my Facebook feed, still nothing since the PM from Amanda.

"honestly, Lee, you think you could put that phone down for one minute," mom said from the other side of the picnic table. Aunt Grace nodded in sympathy. "Suzie's been begging her father for a phone, since Christmas."

Good luck with that Suzie, I thought. My uncle Todd was a positive dinosaur, despite being Dad's younger brother. Old fashioned as it gets, it was a miracle that he let Suzie out of the house in anything other than a floor length skirt, though she still had to wear them any time they went to church, and stuff.

Mom picked up the last of the cucumber sandwiches, we'd had for lunch. The family at the next table had burgers from the kiosk. Thick, and glistening with cheese and bacon so crunchy I could hear it cracking from here. But no, we had to have healthy food, what with Suzie being in training for a gymnastics meet. I pushed away from the picnic table, still holding my phone, "I'll take a few photos."

"hay squirt," I said to Suzie as I passed. She was done with flips and was balancing above the horizontal bar in a perfect splits position. She looked over at me and blew a raspberry;.

"Say cheese short stuff," I said snapping a photo of her.

"Hay, you better delete that. I wasn't ready for my close up" she called after me.

The play area was covered by sails of shade cloth, arranged in vast triangles, high overhead. Beyond that, a hiking trail wended past. Somewhere to the left it switched back and headed down towards the canyon floor. A five thousand foot descent. I'd seen several groups start down earlier in the morning. Still, the edge would make a great place for a selfie. Well if not for the great big honking safety barrier that had to be at least five feet tall. Just because some people were idiots the rest of us didn't get to enjoy the view.

I leant against the barrier, and flipped the phone over, trying to angle it so it looked like I was living on the edge. but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the barrier out of the shot, it looked lame. Maybe I should have gone with dad to the city. At least the hotel had air conditioning and a pool. Dad was delivering his paper today; Evidence of Neolithic Hot Air Ballooning among the Plains Indians. It was interesting stuff even if Dad's delivery wasn't all that exciting.

Mum and aunt grace had shifted over talking to the woman at the next table over, and Suzie was now doing a handstand. Not on the ground, but still balanced on the bar, while a gaggle of other girls watched in amazement. If I got a bit higher, I thought, maybe I could get a photo without the dumb barrier blocking half of it.

Getting up to the handrail was no trouble at all, what whit the cross bars in the barrier. I squatted there for a moment, getting my balance. I scooted up as far as I dared, arching my back over the top of the barrier, this was going to be an epic selfie.

The phone played its shutter sound. Then the pain started. at first, it felt like pins and needles running down my back and arms. making my muscles spasm, so much so that I dropped the phone. Then lightning started to play across my skin, arcing into the wire mesh I was leaning against.

"Lee!" mom screamed from the far side of the playground.

The heavy wire of the barrier was glowing a dull red, and then it bent under my hand, the whole section I was leaning against tearing away. I was falling, blue sky filled my vision for a moment and tumbled away again. I saw the rock face before i crashed into it chest first, with a loud grunt.

The impact knocked the breath out of my lungs. I flailed my hands out trying to grab onto something, but I was already rebounding away into the open air. My body went head over tail, and I saw the floor of the grand canyon rushing up to meet me. I was twisting, that had to be it. The quantum lightning made my muscles spasm again and my vision dimmed around the edges. then I passed out.

Wallmart, Flagstone Arizona

I'd always known that I might be twisted, but it never really sank in. There weren't many twisted back in Darvel, maybe half a dozen in my high school, and only one other in my year. Karen had always been kind of nerdy and then she went and twisted. She was binge watching the old Lord of the Rings Movies at the time, and now she was tall, willowy and had pointed ears.

I stood almost naked in front of the change room at Walmart. My reflection could just as well be a stranger. All of four feet and four inches tall, blue eyes that looked too large and a button nose that looked too small.

I'd always had pasty skin, just like dad, you know the kind that burns in minutes but can't develop a tan. Now I looked Like I'd just stepped off the beach. On the plus side, I was ripped. When I was ten I would have killed to have muscles like this. My arms and legs looked sculpted. Even relaxed I had a six pack and my pecs had some serious definition, which looked kind of weird on a little kid.

On the down side, I'd lost a little something other than hight in my twist. The panties I had on, borrowed from Suzie's wardrobe, didn't bulge in any way. For all the muscle, I was a little girl, and it felt damned weird. I turned sideways and looked at my chest, well at least I wouldn't be needing a bra anytime soon, or possibly ever.

A pile of clothes lay on the bench beside me ready to be tried on. Jeans, shorts and an assortment of tee-shirts. I had put my foot down and said no when Suzie suggested a skirt. And to think only yesterday I'd been a boy, trying to take a cool selfie. This was one hell of a way to learn about risk assessment. Still, I was alive, and that was better than being a smear at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

I'm not sure how long I had laid there at the foot of the cliff before consciousness returned. But the first thing I noticed was the sun, baking my bare skin. The second thing was a rock digging into my lower back. My eyes felt glued shut, and I couldn't move. I groaned.

Voices echoed down to me, the sound of a woman sobbing, people yelling. I forced my eyes open, only to close them again on account of the glare. "Grumpf"

After several more minutes, my muscles started working again, letting me move. I rolled over onto my left side and tried to sit up, pushing myself up on shaking arms. My vision cleared. It looked like a pretty good twist at first, then I noticed the slit between my legs and tried to scream, well I opened my mouth anyway, but no sound came out.

Just the act of sitting up took the wind out of me. I had to rest before I could roll onto all fours and crawl out of the burning sun. I curled up beside a bush. and sat there hugging my legs to my chest, rocking backwards and forwards.

The rangers found me still huddling in the shade half an hour later. Seeing them was a shock in itself. They seemed so much bigger, then they should be, or rather I was smaller.

One of them squatted down, "Hey sweetheart, where did you come from?"

I pointed upwards at the cliff behind me. "Yes, I think I had my twist, and I fell," I said, my girlish voice rising to a hysterical squeak.

The ranger's eyes widened. he looked over at his partner, who was talking on a handheld radio. "Can you tell me your name."

"Lee Jones," I said, "My mum and Suzie, they must be freaking out up there."

A few minutes later I had an emergency blanket wrapped around me like a towel and was trying to walk up the trail. the gravel bit into my bare feet and my legs shook with every step. It seemed I was learning to walk all over again. One of the Rangers helped me stay upright as I shuffled along. "How Bout if I give you a ride?"

"Yes please," I said, rubbing one foot against the other shin to clear out the grit.

He let me climb onto his back, then set off at a rapid pace, soon we arrived at the foot of the trail. Turns out they had an electric cart ready to take us back to the top.

When we got back, I was out of the cart and running almost before it stopped. Mom looked frantic, her face was tear-streaked and red. Aunt Grace was stopping her from running down the trail towards us. She looked straight past me, searching for the teenaged boy she was expecting. "Where's my son." She yelled.

"Mom, I'm here, it's me,"

"Lee?"

I nodded solemnly. "I, I think I twisted."

She enveloped me in a hug so tight I thought she was going to crack my ribs. "What were you thinking?" She said over and over again.

I spent the rest of the day at Flagstaff medical centre. The Police interviewed both me and Mum separately to establish I was really Lee Jones. Then the doctors got to poke and prod and ask a million questions.

Apparently, kids went through their twist while on holiday often enough that they had a protocol for it. When we finally left the hospital I had a certificate saying that I was safe to fly. As to how I survived falling five thousand feet, one of the doctors gave us a long lecture on the Darrington field, but what it boiled down to is that they couldn't explain it either.

A persistent knock on the change room door broke my musings. "Hey Leigh, are you OK in there, let me in," Suzie called.

I pulled on the top tee and shorts from the pile. The tee was plain green, and the shorts were denim and came down to my knees, with small flowers embroidered on either side.

Suzie pushed in beside me as soon as the door was opened, and dumped her own stack of clothes on the bench. She looked at me then at the mirror. "I don't think green's your colour, here try this one. Mom says I can get something too."

Before I could respond she'd pulled her tee shirt off, and was undoing her shorts, letting them fall on the floor. I couldn't help comparing. Suzie had the same pasty skin I used to have, though with marked tan lines around her shoulders. Her stomach was almost as tight as mine, and her chest looked, not like she had boobs, but kind of puffy.

"mom says I'll probably need a training bra in a month or so." she said.

I looked down, feeling the blood rush to my face, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Hey don't worry about it," she said, "I mean your a girl now, right? And your still my favourite cousin."

"Yeah, but, don't you find It weird, I mean I was a boy like yesterday."

"yea and the night before that we were mock wrestling in the tv room, in our PJs, so what? Now that the looks much better."

I had to agree. This one had a very wide neck and only a hint of sleeves. It was cut so it flared out around my waist, with a very light blue at the top, getting darker as it went down. Suzie had put on the exact same tee, only matched with a white skirt. She smiled at me in the mirror, and grabbed my hand, "come on let's go show our moms."

Mom approved, and the outfit went in the to buy pile, as did Suzie's variation. In total, we made half a dozen trips into the change room and back, though Suzie didn't get anything else. Mom finally declared I had enough clothes to get on with. Wisely she hadn't pushed me into anything too girly. The tee shirts were mostly plain, and the bottoms were all shorts or pants. A few flower motifs and fine stones were inevitable, but kept to a minimum.

"OK we'll pay for these, and then see about getting some shoes," My mom said, dragging us through the sports section.

"Can we go to Rio's cafe?" Suzie said, "I'm getting hungry."

That's when I saw them. Hanging beside the swimsuit section, on special frames that kept them stretched out. Leotards, a whole hangar full of them, all bright and glossy and, amazing.

Mom tugged on my arm, but I pushed her away and ran to the side, grabbing the first leotard I came to. "I've got to have this."

"Really dear, it's rather pink isn't it?"

"But it's a leotard, I need it mom," I said, still clutching the leotard to me, and hopping from foot to foot. I tried for the pleading puppy-dog expression, letting my lower lip slip forward. Just like Suzie used on me every time she wanted me to play a girlie game.

Mom regarded me with a thoughtful look. "OK, maybe we should pick up a swimsuit too."

I nodded, not really listening. Moments later found me in another change room, pulling my clothes off to try on the leotard. It was a long sleeved version, in pink patterned with large white flowers. When I finally had it on my breath caught. I looked, well right, this is how I was supposed to be dressed, like a gymnast. Pitty the change room was so small or I'd try a cartwheel.

I skipped out to show Mom, Aunt Grace and Suzie. They seemed somewhat shocked, Suzie couldn't get her mouth closed again when she saw me.

"Well, how do I look?"

"Very cute, are you sure about this Leigh."

"Definitely, can I keep it on?"

Mom shook her head and shooed me back to the change room saying it needed washing, and I could wear it once it was done. I dragged my feet but undressed all the same. Then put on the boring shirt and Dungarees I'd come to the store in. they were also hand me downs from Suzie. I fit in clothes my cousin had outgrown months ago.

I got new sneakers, and a pair of leather sandals, before the promised lunch at the cafe, where I ordered a burger. Miss, I'm too inches taller than you now could only look at it and drool, while eating her chicken salad. Then it was back to the minivan and home, well Suzie's home anyway.

Ten minutes later we arrived to find our bags on the front lawn and Uncle Todd standing in the doorway.

Darvel High, Darvel Washington
"Are you sure you're ready for this Leigh?" Mom said.

She'd pulled up right outside the front gate of Darvel High. It was a warm day, and many of the students where still sitting on the front lawn, waiting for the bell to ring.

I smoothed down my skirt and gave my mom a smile before opeing the door. The Darvel schoolboard had voted in uniforms over a decade ago, and I'd worn them since my first day. For boys, all the schools in the area had the same tan shorts or trousers and a button down shirt. At the High school level, it was white, though I'd worn navy blue in middle school.

But for girls, well, that was another story. The girls uniform was a skirt with optional tights for cooler weather. Right now I was wearing both, and I was very aware of it. The tights pressed against my skin in a way that trousers didn't. I fussed with the back of the skirt as I got out of the car, making sure the hem wasn't folded over or anything. the way it brushed against my thighs as I walked still felt strange.

"OK, don't forget I'm picking you up straight after school. "

"I won't forget, bye mom," I said before closing the door. At least she didn't ask for a goodbye kiss. Mom had been acting weird ever since we got back, almost as if she'd forgotten that I was sixteen and not ten. Looking like a kid was going to suck.

I'd come in early to avoid the bell time rush, but dodging the jocks in the corridor was still a chalange. That and the confused looks, from everyone who noticed me. The new girl who looked like she belonged in elementary school. I passed Dave and the usual suspects in our regular spot outside the library. Adam Wiliams and his twin sister where there too, which was unusual. The star of the school basketball team rarely hung with us second sringers. And as for Rebbeca, she was one of the school's 'it' girls. She noticed me, and pealed away from the group. "Hay there, are you lost?"

"No I'm fine," I said, trying to smile up at her.

"It's just this is the high school, you know that right?"

I nod, at that and weave past her, "I'm older than I look, thanks anyway."

She watches me walk down the hall, then shakes her head. I disappeared round the corner and slip into my Homeroom, Mr Crane's history classroom. The man himself was at his desk, reading through some paper work. He glanced at me over his reading glasses, "So Miss Jones, how would you like to handle things?"

"um, quietly," I said, " just call my name as normal I guess."

He nodded and went back to his reading, while I dragged the chair out and climbed onto it. It was too high, damn it. When I sat comfortably, my feet couldn't reach the ground. Five minutes later I understood why mom had insisted I get slip on shoes. Sitting with my feet dangling for six hours was not going to be fun. I toed my shoes off and crossed my legs instead, taking care to smooth down the skirt.

I was missing Suzie already. Uncle Todd had made his view on the twisted quite clear, with his meandering religious rant. He said something about Lilith and the curse of Ham. Then he started blaming dad and saying none of this would have happened, if Dad hadn't turned his back on Jesus.

Mom had called a taxi as soon as she realised what was happening, and when it arrived he was still going. Suzie had been banished inside by then, and we hadn't been able to say bye properly. Which was a pity. She had accepted the new me so easily, and I only hoped my friends here would do the same.

We ended up finding a room at the hotel where dad's conference was being held. Neither mom nor I felt like more sight seeing, so I spent the next few days hanging around by the pool. Turns out that a racing suit is close enough to a leotard to make me feel comfortable.

When we finally got back to Darvel Mom had to go in and talk to the principal, and then the school board, and the lawyers. All up it took two days before they agreed to let me attend classes. So here I was, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

A few other kids showed up before the bell giving me curious looks before finding their seats. Finally, the warning bell rang, and the room started filling rapidly. Dave came in and sat at the table next to me, giving me a curious look, before raising his hand. "Um sir, there's a ..."

"I'm aware," Mr Crane said.

I stifled a giggle, and sat still, watching the blackboard as if it was the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't wait to see the look on Dave's face. I figured I would be the centre of attention anyway, so I might as well get a laugh out of it.

The second bell rang and Mr Crane started running down the roll. As usual, he did it without bothering to look up. Not that it meant he wasn't paying attention mind you, Dave and I had tried answering each other's names once. And that little stunt ended in lunchtime detention.

"Leigh Jones." Mr Crane said.

I looked over at Dave, with a huge smile on my face, "Present."

Dave's mouth dropped open as he looked back at me. Whispered conversations started all over the room. Mr Crane gave them about 30 seconds before clearing his throat. "Miss Jones underwent her twist during the midterm break. I trust you will all remember that Darvel High has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bullying. And that you will do whatever you can to make her adjustment as easy as possible. I'm sure she will be happy to answer your questions after class."

The room was dead silent, as everybody absorbed this. Mr Crane continued marking off the remaining few people on the list, then moved on to announcements. Everyone was invited to the pep rally on Thursday night. And Friday was the big Basketball game. Darvel High was through to the quarter finals for the first time in years, and I was going to miss it.

The first-period bell rang, and I slipped of the chair to pull my shoes back on. Dave paused beside me, his books clutched in front of him, "Dude, seriously why didn't you text me or something."

"What and spoil the surprise," I said," the look on your face was priceless, I wish I'd had a camera."

We headed out of the room, and towards English class. "I didn't even know one of your parents was twisted, so does your dad like have a cool trick or something?"

"Nope, Its mom and her trick is that she doesn't stand out. Even I had trouble remembering about it half the time." I said, dropping into my regular seat. The Williams twins were in this class and both of them were giving me the stink eye.

"I can't believe he tricked me like that," Rebbeca said to her twin brother. The Williams twins had always stuck together. Back in Elementary school they even dressed up as each other one Halloween. Of course, now that Adam had hit six foot that was no-longer an option.

"Freak," Adam whispered, soft enough that it wouldn't carry. I looked away from him focusing on the blackboard again. Miss Brice was sure to embrace me when she got to class. She did it any time we have a new kid in class, and I suspected I'd count as new.

I was right, she made me stand up, and tell the story of How I'd twisted. I certaintly got some incredulous looks when I got to the bit about falling into the grand canyon. At least until Dave remembered hearing about it on the news.

By Maths class the shock was reduced as pretty well everyone int the room had already heard of my Twist. Solving a problem on the board got embarrassing, Mrs Norris had written it near the top, which was a bit out of my reach. Then it was time for Gym.

I skulked into the girl's locker room. It was a mirror image of the boys one on the other side of the wall. Same benches, with hooks to hand your regular clothes on, no lockers, and a row of showers at the back.

I immediately spotted Karen, on account of her being half a foot taller than any other girl in the class. OK, the snow white hair was noteworthy too, I remember her complaining that she couldn't even dye it. She smiled at me and waved.

Amanda was next to her and was also now looking at me, her nose scrunched up. I'd forgotten I'd have gym class with Amanda. We'd been out a couple of times before the break, but that was before I started looking like this.

"Hey Leigh, is the girls change room everything you expected?" Amanda said.

I dumped my bag at an empty spot near the door. Then made a show of looking around. Just like on the boy's side this was always the last spot taken on account of the air conditioning vent right above it.
"Mirror world," I said.

Conversation resumed. I focused on getting changed until a shadow fell over me. Rebeca, glared down at me, her hands on her hips. "What are you doing in here you pervert."

I finished rolling my tights down, and stood up to face her in my panties, "I'm kind of a girl now, as you can see."

"And I bet you get off on it too," she said, knocking on my head with a knuckle. "what about up here ha?"

"leave off Becca," Karen said, from the other bench, "let her get changed in peace already."

"Seriously, you're defending this fake, how are we supposed to shower with him ogling us?

By then several more girls had finished and were crowding around me. Amanda gave Rebecca a death stare. "Well, she's defiantly not hiding anything in thouse panties, leave her alone."

Outnumbered, Rebecca huffed and stomped out of the room. "I'm going to talk to Mrs Green about this."

Most of the girls have a tee shirt, and wrap around skirt, with gym shorts underneath. But not me, I had something better, a school Leotard. It was regulation, tan, black and yellow and even had the school crest sewn on the front. Hardly any of the girls ever wore it, but it was still in the uniform guide. I slipped it on with a sigh of pleasure. Then sat down to put on sports socks and sneakers. When I looked up again, everyone was silent. "What?"

Amanda shook her head, staring at me. "OK, that settles it, no boy would willingly wear that."

"It's a compulsion, I'm kind of into gymnastic now."

Karen nodded in sympathy. "When I shifted I had to learn Elvish, from the Lord of the RIngs Books." she said, "English feels like a foreign language to me now."

Amanda held out a hand to me, and smiled, "Come on Leigh, let's get out there before Mrs Green comes in here to get us."

When we got out into the gym I could see Rebecca talking to Mrs Green. Her face was streaked with tears and she was twisting her hands, and pointing towards me. Mrs Green looked over, then turned back to Rebecca and decidedly shook her head. "The school is satisfied that Leigh is a girl," she was saying as we approached. "If you don't like it miss Williams, you can wait outside until she is done."

With that, Mrs Green clapped her hands and surveyed the rest of us. "Seeing as we have a new student, we should do another round of fitness tests. So we'll start with a timed one-mile run, line up girls."

There were several groans as we lined up for the fitness test. Normally we only had to do this once per term, but I guess Mrs Green wanted a new baseline for my new body. "Sorry" I whispered to everybody within hearing.

"This isn't over freak," Rebbeca hissed back at me.

I surprised myself. My running time was still respectable, not as fast as it had been, but come on I'd lost a foot and a half in height. Still, I wasn't at all winded at the end of it. And the strength exercises were a breeze. I was fastest at the rope climb and when it came to chin-ups, Mrs Green stopped me at a hundred. I felt like I could have kept going.

As we filed back into the change room I was getting a few more glowers from the other girls in the class, but they seemed reasonably good natured. I stripped off and headed for a shower, trying to ignore the fact that most of the girls were watching me.

"Honestly, she looks like my kid sister," Amanda said, pulling off her own underwear and heading for the next shower over.

I couldn't help looking. After all, I'd been dreaming of getting into Amanda's pants since freshman year. She was slim, hand some nice curves developing, and perky breasts. In my head, I knew I should be aroused, but I felt nothing. Not that I really know what being aroused was supposed to feel like as a girl. But still, i should have felt something. "Hay don't compare me to the brat."

"Hey, only I'm allowed to call her that," Amanda said.

By this point the showers were filling up. Karen had taken the other shower beside mine, "Be Honest Amanda, your little sister is a brat." she said joining our conversation.

I bit my lip and started soaping under my arms, looking at the white tiles in front of me. Finishing up didn't take long. I heard the other girls getting on with things, but kept my head down. Soon enough I was dried off and dressed again.

Rebecca was waiting outside, talking to Adam. Still, in her sports uniform, she gave me a cold glare, before heading in to change. The way Adam was looking at me now, sent a shiver down my spine.

The lunch bell still hadn't sounded but the Gym teachers were pretty relaxed on that score. I headed towards the cafeteria, not noticing that Adam was following me until he shoved me into an empty classroom.

The door banged shut, and he shoved me again."I'm going to give you a lesson you perverted scum," he hissed.

I half fell, half ran across the room, grabbing the end of the empty teachers desk. My heart thudded in my chest, and it felt like I needed to pee.

Adam loomed above me, fists clenched, and eyebrows drawn together over his eyes. "No one perves on my sister."

"I didn't and I wouldn't, and I don't think I even feel that way about girls anymore."

"So you're a poofter as well as a freak. They should sterilise the lot of you." he snarled and lunged forward, his right fist aimed at my face with every ounce of his weight and strength behind it.

I flinched, and closed my eyes, unable to dodge out of the way. And then time seemed to stand still. And something unfurled inside my head. It was like seeing for the first time, only not with my eyes but my skin. I could feel Adams fist an inch before it touched me, feel the force of the blow. And then it dissipated, flowing over and around, and never touching me. By the time his knuckles connected with my cheek, there was no force left, nothing but a feather touch.

My eyes snapped open and I screamed, a high pitched girls scream, that made my own ears hurt. The force of the punch reversed, flowing back from where ever it had gone and back into Adam's hand.

I heard his knuckles crack. His hand moved away from my face leaving a trail of blood behind. It fell on my blouse collar, my shoes and the floor. A heart beat later Adam was staggering away from me cradling his hand. His eyes wide with shock and fear.

Then the door swung open, revealing Coach Smith, still panting from having run up the corridor. Mr Smith was an excellent coach, but for a gym teacher, he wasn't exactly fit. He had a distinctive beer gut under his polo shirt. "What the devil is going on here."

my hands shook, and my knees seemed to collapse under me, I slid down the wall. "He tried. He tried to kill me." I said.

Coach looked at me and Adam and his bleeding knuckles. I'd never seen him so angry before. He grabbed Adam by the bicep and pulled him towards the door, ignoring his moans of pain at having his hand jarred. "Principal's Office, now, and stop whining you, baby, that's what you get from punching a brick wall. Leigh, you too."

It took me two attempts to scramble to my feet I was still shaking so much. That must be my trick, I could redirect kinetic energy. Finally, I knew how I'd survived falling down a cliff. "yes sir," I said.

As we walked I tried focusing on my hand, but the field I felt earlier wouldn't come back, no matter how hard I tried to concentrate. Before I knew it we were in the front office. Coach Smith pointed towards the hard wooden bench in the hall. "Wait here, Leigh."

He knocked on the door but didn't wait for an answer before pushing Adam inside. The school nurse showed up a few minutes later, and then the paramedics. Adam was playing up the moaning as they took him away. You'd think he'd busted every bone in his body rather than a knuckle or two.

I waited, still trying to feel the air around me, like I had for that one second, but without success. By the time mom arrived I had a headache, and my stomach burned. I'd missed lunch. Mom took one look at me and pulled me into an embarrassing hug. Luckily there was no one there to see it other than Principal Davis. "Mrs Jones, Leigh, please come in."

The principal's office showed signs of being well used but organised. The only loose paper being in designated in and out trays on one corner of her desk. She sat behind the desk and waited for us to get as comfortable as the hard wooden chairs on our side would allow. "Leigh please tell me what happened after Gym class."

"Adam pulled me into a classroom, and he said, I was filth. He accused me of perving on his sister, I didn't honest, she wasn't even in the change room. And then he tried to punch me in the face."

Mrs Davis frowned, leaning forward on her elbows, "Did you use a trick on Adam Williams."

"Well, Um, Not really, I mean I didn't know I had a trick, and it's not like an attack or anything," I said, looking at mom, instead of the principal. This wasn't working. I took a deep breath, and met the principal's gaze, "I think my trick lets me reflect kinetic energy. So when he punched me, all the force he put into it got reflected back at him.

"I see, and can you use this force to hit people?"

"I don't know, I don't think so. When it happened I could sort of feel the air around me, but I can't make it come back, I've been trying while I was waiting."

Mrs Davis walked over to the book case. she pulled down a thick leather bound volume but didn't open it. "In the last hour, I have spoken with Adams and the head of the school board."

"It is perfectly clear that what we have here is a case of bullying, and that Leigh is unquestionably the victim. However, the active use of a trick complicates matters. Until Leigh's abilities have been fully tested and certified I can not allow her to return to school."

"Are you telling me that my daughter is being suspended for being assaulted by another student?" mom said.

Mrs Davis sighed. She put down the book, unopened, and picked up several sheets of paper from her out tray. "Unfortunately yes. Now let me be clear I know that Leigh did not start this, and I believe that she is not a danger to anyone. But my opinion is not enough to sway the School board. Here is the necessary paperwork. I've also included contact details for a clinic in Seattle, If they sign off on Leighs Trick, she can return to school."

Mom took the papers and motioned me to stand. "Thank you for your time, Principal Davis. Leigh lets go home."

Dave and Amanda were waiting at the cross corridor, both looking worried, as we passed. I gave them a little wave but didn't say anything.

"hay Leigh, I'll bring your homework round after school," Dave called.

Mom stopped and put a smile on her face before looking at my friend. "That's very kind of you David, but Leigh will be out this afternoon, maybe tomorrow."

The car was parked directly in front of the school again, I got into the passenger seat. Then heard moms door slam closed. "I'm sorry mom, I didn't know."

She pulled me into another hug. I didn't fight it this time. "Oh Leigh honey, it's not your fault, none of this is your fault."

I felt the sobs building up inside me, and I just couldn't keep them in any longer. The tears came first, hot on my face, and then I was shaking, as mom held me tight. I don't think I'd ever cried this much, not even the time I'd broken my arm. I hadn't done anything to Adam, or Rebecca. I'd never asked to be twisted or to be a girl. And it was so hard.