A Wish Unwanted (Part 1)

by Limbo’s Mistress

I was attempting to finish prepping the last of my maps for an upcoming session of Dungeons & Dragons when Cindy burst into my room looking like a cross between a lottery winner and the cat who ate the canary.

“Sam! Thank god you’re not doing anything important!” she squealed, closing the door behind her. “I really need your help.”

I sighed and put the sharpie down, turning around in my chair to face her. Not that it was a really difficult task. Looking at Cindy Mueller was one of my all-time favorite things to do.

“The gang is heading into the Cave of Woe to retrieve the Amulet of M’kran. I’d say that’s pretty important.”

She rolled her bright blue eyes and stuck out her tongue at me. “You know what I mean,” she said. Her tone was jovial, but I noticed the way her gaze flickered over to the map on the desk behind me for a brief second. A longing, almost barely perceptible, appeared and vanished in a millisecond.

“You know,” I said, smiling. “If you wanted to join in …”

She opened her mouth, then closed it as she shook her head.

“I’ve got ballet and cheer pretty much eating up my entire weekend. Thanks, though.”

I merely nodded solemnly. “Of course.” Lacing my fingers behind my head, I turned my attention fully back to her. “Now, how may I be of assistance to the only cheerleader at Benson High who doesn’t think getting within ten feet of me is cause for taking a shower?”

Her unblemished complexion reddened and a tiny frown creased her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Sam. I’m trying to get them to stop picking on you.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “No worries. It takes more than the malicious snipes of mean girls with more boobs than brains to get me down.”

The frown deepened and I mentally smacked myself in the head.

“Cindy, I didn’t mean …”

She shrugged, glancing away. “It’s okay. You’re not wrong in your assessment.”

“I was not including you in that grouping. You know that.”

Another shrug.

I wanted to throttle myself. Cindy and I had been friends for almost ten years. Since second grade. Like me, she’d been a nerdy outcast interested in anime, rpgs, and science-fiction. The two of us were like peas in a pod. Everyone else could say what they wanted about us, as long as we had each other, they could all go take a flying leap.

Then the Puberty Fairy came to visit.

I got six inches in height, with none of the girth to fill out my form. I went from a short, gangly dork to a tall, even ganglier dork with runaway acne and a scalp which could have applied for membership in OPEC.

Cindy, however, got it better. Or worse, if you asked her.

She, too, gained inches. Not so much in height, but across the chest and hips. Her formerly stringy head of dirty blonde hair turned into waves of silky gold from the increased hormones. Her complextion, already decent, became pristine.

It was like the tale of the Ugly Duckling. Though I’d never considered Cindy ugly in the first place.

By the time we started our Freshman year, she was being drafted into all the popular cliques. Almost against her will.

The cheerleaders wanted her out helping them raise school spirit. The drama club wanted her to audition for every performance they were producing. And her own parents, mainly her father, pushed her to take ballet classes so she would have even more stuff to put on her college application.

Our time together dwindled to the occasional weekend movie get-together. She didn’t have time for role-playing, or discussing the latest Star Trek movie.

No matter how much she wanted it, her new obligations wouldn’t allow her the time.

“Seriously,” I said. “I really wasn’t talking about you.”

“I know, Sam. Still stung a bit, though.”

“I’m sorry.” Then I leaned forward, looking into her wide, blue eyes. “What do you need my help with?”

“This!” she said, pulling something out of her purse and holding it up.

It looked like an ordinary rock.

At least, it did at first. However, the longer I stared at it, the less “ordinary” it became. It was a dark green color, like an emerald, and perfectly square, around four or five inches on each side. The front of it had some type of carving on it. It resembled a man’s face in a way, though I thought the expression presented there was one of disgust.

Cindy held the stone out toward me, urging me to look closer at it.

Every molecule in my body wanted to recoil from the thing. No matter how irrational it might seem to be afraid of a simple piece of carved gemstone. That rock was bad. I could feel it.

“What is it?” I asked, finally prying my gaze away from the disturbing thing. “Where did you get it?”

“It’s a Wish Stone,” she said. Again, she bounced up and down on her toes with excitement. Causing other parts of her to bounce as well. “It grants wishes.”

I blinked, daring to look at the ugly object in her grip again. This time, the face seemed to be a little less malicious. Rather than disdain, I saw impatience. It still made my skin creep, but not quite as badly as before.

“A Wish Stone?” I asked, giving her the same skeptical eyebrow raise we both used to do to imitate our favorite Vulcan. “Seriously?”

The shrugged in that way that people do when they know they are right, but can’t explain to you why they’re right. A sort of “what can you do?” gesture.

“It was in my ballet bag. I found it this afternoon when I got home.”

“Who put it in there?”

“No clue. But if I knew, I would thank them.”

I leaned back, shaking my head. “If you don’t know who gave it to you, how do you know what it is?”

She winked playfully at me, and turned the stone around.

The back side of it was smooth and flawless. Someone had taped a piece of paper to the surface. Slightly slanted black print flowed across it.

“This is the Stone of Invidia. It will grant a single wish to you and another.

Use it with someone you trust, for each of you will be wishing for the other.”

I snorted, drawing an annoyed look from Cindy.

“You don’t believe it?”

I pointed at the rock in her hand. “A magical stone that grants a single wish? No, I don’t believe it.” I shook my head. “Come on, Cin. Don’t tell me you actually think that thing is real? Someone is pulling a joke on you. You used to be smarter than that.”

A cloud of anger descended across her pretty face.

“Oh, so now I’m stupid? Is that what you think?”

I sat up, waving my hands in defense. One of these days, I was going to let my brain get fully engaged before opening my mouth.

“No. I just mean … come on. Wishing? Magic?”

She planted a hand on one curvy hip and pointed at the desk behind me.

“You would think you’d have a more open mind about these things. With all the fantasy crap you enjoy.”

I sighed. This was the problem our friendship had suffered over the past three years. Every time we got together, I started to feel inadequate. Like a peasant standing before a noblewoman. I’d been in love with Cindy since the fifth grade, but never behaved as more than just a pal.

Now that she was out of my league, it was hard not to be resentful of my own shortcomings.

“You used to like this crap, too, you know.”

A small pout formed on her face. “I still do. I miss it. I miss being goofy and hanging out all day on Saturday, eating pizza and doing dungeon crawls.” She held up the stone. “This can help me get that back.”

“You don’t need a wishing stone to do what you want, Cin. It’s your life.”

She looked away. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just walk away from everything.”

“Sure you can,” I said. “Just tell those skanks you don’t want to be a cheerleader anymore. Quit spending your free time in activities you hate. With people you hate.” I shrugged. “See? Easy peasy.”

The look she gave me screamed just how ignorant she thought I was about the matter.

“Everyone looks at me and expects … things. For me to act a certain way. Like specific things. Behave according to the way they believe I should behave. I’ve tried to fight against it, Sam. It’s like fighting a force of nature. Just easier to go along.” She glanced away and sighed.

“Is it really that bad?” I asked, trying not to sound too disbelieving. If she was really unhappy with the path her life had taken, she sure never showed it before. Not at school. Not with me.

“Did you know I signed up to take AP Physics at the beginning of the year? Mister H. denied my request on the grounds that it was too risky.”

Douglas Hauser was Benson High’s academic guidance counselor. It was his job to make sure that the students were happy, well-adjusted, and prepared for their futures. He was also a Class-A douchenozzle whose sensibilities were stuck back in 1985.

“Why would you taking AP Physics be risky?” I asked.

“Because, he thinks it will hurt my chances of getting into college if I flunk. Never mind the fact that I won three science fairs in a row back in middle school.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know.”

Originally, I thought she’d opted to not take the advance class with me because she would rather hang out with her new besties. To hear otherwise made me feel guilty for being angry with her.

“I’m supposed to focus on cheering and doing things that are more social than academic. Mister H would only approve the most basic level of subjects for me. So, rather than learning about quantum mechanics and advanced number theory, I’m in beginner’s chemistry and rudimentary algebra.”

I was speechless. Cindy was almost as smart as me. Maybe smarter in some areas. I couldn’t imagine what torture it must be to sit in a boring lecture day after day with dummies who could barely follow the material. It’d be enough for me to claw my eyes out.

“What about your folks? Couldn’t they talk to Mister H. for you?”

“I tried that already. My dad just ended up agreeing with him.” She held up the stone again. “This is my one chance to change it.”

I shook my head, not wanting to look at the eerie block again.

“Even if it was real, Cin, you know how these things go. Magic wishes always come with hidden strings and pitfalls. How do you know you won’t make it worse?”

“Nothing could be worse than not being in control of your own life, Sammy.”

I opened my mouth, but realized I couldn’t really argue against her point. Sure, my life wasn’t a bed of roses by any stretch of the imagination. However, I could do what I want, when I wanted, and with whomever I wanted. The few friends I still had didn’t care one way or the other.

“I don’t know,” I said, finally looking back at the rock in her hand. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

I had to admit, there was something about the thing that led me to accept, at least partially, that maybe it did have some type of power. The uneasiness that had washed over me the first time I saw it was still there, but had lessened to a degree that didn’t seem possible. Was it making me more amicable to the idea of using it?

“You’ve got it lucky,” she said, pulling my attention back to her. “Just being a guy by itself opens a lot of doors us girls have very little hope of opening. It’s really not fair at all.”

I waved my hands dismissively. How could Cindy possibly be jealous of me? Surely she remembered I was a lanky, glasses-wearing dork with a face which looked like I’d been bobbing for French fries.

“It’s not all that and a bag of chips, you know. Being a guy isn’t like some cakewalk. We have our own issues to deal with.”

“I never said it was a cakewalk, Sam. Just that it was easier than being a girl.” She walked over to stand right next to me. “That’s what I want you to wish for me. To let me have more control over my life. Like guys do. I want to be free from all the bullshit pressure and societal obstacles that come with this.” She gestured at her body.

I glanced over at the stone. Now that it was closer, I realized there as a glow emanating from inside. Not extremely bright, but noticeable. Was there something inside it? Waiting for us to voice our desires? If so, it was a fair bet it wasn’t a friendly entity. The smart thing would be to throw the stone into the middle of the ocean and forget it ever existed.

Sighing, I looked away from the stone and up at Cindy with the intention of appealing once more to her common sense.

However, the wide, pleading eyes she stared at me with snapped my resolve like a tree in a hurricane. Even if we had drifted apart some over the past few years, she was my best friend in the whole world. If it was truly possible, didn’t I owe it to our friendship to give her what she wanted?

I also couldn’t silence the voice that perked up to whisper that a Cindy who was no longer beholden to her circle of shallow friends would probably be more agreeable to spending time with me. Something I couldn’t think of as a bad thing.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “You win. I’ll do it.”

The pouty look vanished in a second, replaced by a huge grin of happiness.

“Thank you, Sam!” she squealed. For a second, I honestly thought she was going to jump and down with giddiness. “You are the best friend ever!”

I shrugged, then turned to look the stone. Better to get this over with before the rational part of my brain talked me out of it.

“I wish,” I began, the words sending a chill up my spine the moment they passed between my lips. It was like being at the top of a rollercoaster. That sensation you get in the pit of your stomach when the car you’re in crests the apex of the climb. In that moment before gravity snatches you and drags you down into the abyss, you realize you’ve crossed the point of no return.

“I wish Cindy…”

“Wait!” She said, quickly placing her finger over my lips. “Better use my full name. Just to be safe.”

I started to protest that any magic that could rewrite reality should be competent enough to understand to whom I was referring. However, I merely nodded and began again.

“I wish Cynthia Joan Mueller had a life that was as free from pressure as mine.”

Out of my periphery, I could see Cindy practically bouncing out of her Nikes.

“Granted!” came a voice from front of the stone.

I turned back to Cindy.

“There you go,” I said with a playful tease in my voice. “One future free from the terrible burden of being a hot, popular girl. Have fun spending your Saturday nights studying with us nerds.”

Her eyes narrowed as her lips pressed together in anger.

“That was mean,” she said in a voice that sounded too much like one of her stuck-up cheer buddies. “And I haven’t given up my social life, Sam. Just broadened my future possibilities.”

I was taken aback at her reaction to my jest. “Whatever. At least you’re happy now.”

She arched a brow. “What about you? What’s your wish?”

I looked at the stone, then turned around in my chair, returning to the nearly completed map. “No thanks, I’m good.”

Cindy grabbed the back of the chair with her free hand and spun it back around.

“We both have to have a wish, Sam. Or else it doesn’t work.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want a wish, Cindy. I like my life as it is. Just take your rock and go.”

“The transaction is not complete,” the stone said. “The other party must declare.”

“What?” Cindy and I said in unison.

The stone, however, didn’t repeat itself.

Cindy turned to look up at me. “Looks like you don’t get a choice, Sammy,” she said as a smirk formed on her face. “I can’t get what I want until I give you something you want.”

“I told you that I don’t want anything.”

She gave me a skeptical look. “That’s bullshit. Tell me what you want and I’ll wish it for you.” Her eyes drifted down to my lap. “How about a larger penis? Guys always wish theirs was bigger.”

I quickly cupped my hands over my junk. “Stop that!”

I was instantly struck by the fear that she would utter the words, and I’d wake up tomorrow with a two-foot long schlong. Or one that reached the ground. I didn’t trust the wishing stone one bit.

She pouted again. “Stop being such a scared pussy, Sam. Tell me what you want so I can wish it. I can’t get mine until you get yours.”

“No thanks. I’m not shallow enough to need magic to make my life better.”

As soon as I said the words, I regretted them.

“Shallow? You think I’m shallow??”

“Cindy, look …”

“I can’t believe you! You know the shit I’ve had to put up with since puberty reared its ugly head. The leers, the stares, the rumors flying around like crazy. I smile at a guy, he starts thinking about how to get in my pants. I try to excel in academics, and people tell me I’m too pretty to worry about something as base as learning. I constantly have people pushing me to doing certain things and acting a certain way just because of how I look. Nobody sees the me beneath this body. I mean, I thought you did, but you’re as bad as the rest of them.”

I shook my head and stood up, practically leaning over her. A wave of anger I couldn’t explain rolled over me in a way I couldn’t begin to fathom, making my heart race and my head begin to hurt.

“Cry me a river, Prom Queen? You want to about annoying things that never stop? Your bitching. I’ve known you for over ten years, and for the last four of them, you’ve done nothing but complain about how things have changed for you. Guess what? We all go through changes. However, most of us don’t get the blessings you got. Yet, we learn to accept that and move on.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock at my outburst. However, the pounding in my head spurred me on before she could formulate a retort. It was as if my something inside me had broken open, preventing me from holding back from speaking my thoughts.

“Of course, you don’t mind using your ‘horrible’ lot in life when it suits you, though. You complain that people don’t look past your appearance, but then you jump right in and count yourself among them. If you had any real conviction, you would stand up to your so-called friends. Especially when they’re dumping on someone who is supposed to be your best friend!”

Her eyes hardened in a way I hadn’t seen them do since the day in fourth grade when I accidentally broke her favorite pencil. She was past angry at my outburst. She was furious.

“I can’t believe you, Sam. You’re passing judgement on a situation you have no clue about. You’ve never been popular in your life. You don’t understand the pressure I have to deal with. What I have to put up with on a daily basis.”

I threw my hands in the air, my exasperation with her pushing rational thought aside.

“Well, excuse me. I’m sorry that I can’t understand what it’s like to be a beautiful girl who’s wanted by everyone.”

She narrowed her eyes as she stuck out her chin. “Well, I wish you did understand what it’s like.”

“Granted!”

Cindy’s eyes widened. I felt mine do the same. We both looked at the stone in her hand.

“The transaction is complete!”

**********************************************************

“You better get up,” a voice that sounded very much like my mother’s called to me through the darkness. “You’re going to be late!”

As I swam up toward the waking world, I tried to recall the horrible nightmare which had dogged my sleep. Cindy had wanted me to do something for her. Something I was reluctant to do. The more I focused, the more my memories came flooding back. Bit by bit until the very last thing I remembered slammed into my mind.

My eyes flew open as I sat up, gasping from shock.

I was in bed. Only, it wasn’t my bed. Nor my bedroom.

Not exactly.

The stream of sunlight drifting in through the part in the curtains illuminated the scene before me.

Gone were the posters of Jedi and Sith battling for the fate of the universe. Absent were the multitudes of miniature figures ranging from half-elf barbarian to dwarfish cleric that used to line the shelves. The pile of dirty clothes resting in the corner, a constant staple at least five days a week, was absent. The desk against the far wall, under the window, was no longer cluttered with maps, dice, and monster manuals.

Instead, the walls were adorned with blue and white pennants broadcasting spirited slogans such as “Go Raiders!” and “Benson High Football!” There was also a pair of framed posters hanging on another wall. One a photograph of the lower legs and feet of a ballerina standing on pointe. The other a marquis advertisement for the New York Ballet Company’s production of The Nutcracker.

The shelves held small photographs surrounded by decorative frames. From my position on the bed, I couldn’t see the people in the photos clearly. The white whicker hamper in the corner of the room, however, I could definitely make out. Particularly with the way the yellow sunflower affixed to the front of it seemed to capture, and amplify, the sunlight.

The desk was neatly organized and relatively clutter-free. Other than a laptop computer smaller than the one that was previously sat there, I spotted a couple of textbooks stacked next to a dark brown purse.

I sighed and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“This is exactly the thing I was worried about,” I said aloud. Even though the words came out in a breathy alto, rather than my usually scratchy baritone, I didn’t bother to act surprised. The very nanosecond the words were out of Cindy’s mouth, I knew what my fate beheld.

Yeah, I know. Every story where a guy changes into a girl has the obligatory scene of him freaking out as he checks, at least a dozen times, for his missing dick. From there, it’s the wide-eyed and slack-jawed groping at his new breasts, followed by the tentative “I can’t look” event with a mirror. That’s when it finally dawns on him that he’s no longer a member of Dudeville.

Tres cliché.

I lifted one arm up for examination. The limb was almost as slender as is used to be, but possessed more definition, and a lot less hair. The ends of each of the thin fingers at the end of it were tipped with perfectly manicured nails painted a glossy peach shade.

“Well, isn’t that so cute,” I murmured in a mocking tone. “I hope I don’t accidentally chip one doing girly stuff.”

I remained where I was for another five minutes, listening to the sound of the robin outside my window. The song she sang seemed rather joyous and I found myself daydreaming about finding a bottle of nail polish to throw at her. Once my homicidal tendency toward avians passed, I figured I should go ahead and take a full survey of the damages.

Tossing back the covers, I discovered I was the proud, well maybe not proud, owner of a pair of shapely and toned legs. They emerged from the bottom of a pair of pink silk sleep shorts and terminated in ten little digits, all sporting nails painted the same shade as my fingers. I wiggled the toes, feeling a tiny twinge of pain from the big toe on the right foot. The area around the nail, I noticed, was a bit bruised.

Probably from ballet. Considering the pictures on the wall, not to mention the complaints from Cin, it’s a fair bet I’m also a tutu-wearing leaper.

I climbed out of bed, instantly aware of the shifting of flesh around my torso. My hands almost flew up to grab at them, but I managed to refrain. Probably be plenty of time to grope myself later.

There was a full-length mirror attached to the front of the closet door. It’d been there before my friend’s ill-spoken wish, but then it had been covered in a myriad of superhero and sci-fi stickers. Leaving only a tiny clear spot where I could look at my face, if I desired.

This mirror had the same dimensions and identical wooden frame. However, the only item blocking any portion of its reflective surface was a small photograph, like those you would get taken at a carnival photo booth, jammed in one of the upper corners.

“Moment of truth, Sammy,” I said softly as I walked over to the mirror.

I paused for a good while, staring at the person in the looking glass who stared back at me.

She wasn’t blonde, to which I was immediately grateful. Instead, silky strands of chestnut, parted in the middle, hung down in a cut that stopped just at the top of her shoulders and curled the slightest bit at the end. Her eyes were a strikingly rich green, and wider than I expected, giving her a look that was equal parts surprise and sultry.

Her pale lips were full, just the tiniest bit pouty. They sat pursed together beneath a nose that was a smidge wider than thin. Coupled with high cheekbones, a nearly perfect complexion, and a smooth rounded chin, the whole package was, to put it mildly, beautiful.

Beneath the face, she had a body that was obviously accustomed to extensive exercise. Dressed in a white, v-neck half-tee, it was easy to see the curve of her biceps and the slightly ripped muscles of her abdomen. I turned slightly, causing the girl’s midsection to twinkle.

Reaching down, my fingers brushed against a knob of chilly metal bisecting the skin of my navel.

A belly ring? You’ve got to be kidding me. I swear, if I turn around and see a tramp stamp, I’m going to kill Cin.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them to perform a cursory inspection on the two remaining areas.

As I could have guessed, my new body was well-endowed. Not so much as to be worthy of a porn star, but definitely a noticeable size. The tightness of the tee showcased the mounds, and the perky nipples attempting to pierce the thin cotton. Figures that girl-me wouldn’t sleep in a bra or anything decent.

I shook my head and placed my hands over them, giving a slight squeeze. Yep, firm and squishy. Houston, we have boobage!

In most of those stories, the guy immediately cops a feel and announces to himself that his new girlish form is a 36-C. Or some other random bra size. For myself, the only tits I’d had the luxury of touching, other than the ones currently hanging from my chest, belonged to Tracy Mallory.

It had been a long evening of playing Pathfinder, filled with a little too much sexual innuendo and a lot too much Mike’s Hard Lemonade. When the rest of the gang left, Tracy offered to help me clean up the mess. We’d chatted while picking up bits of trail mix and popcorn from the floor. Then, just as I was turning around from emptying the dustpan, she tackled me.

The kisses were sloppy, full of inexperience and wanton lust. After seventeen years on planet Earth, I thought I was finally going to find out what real sex, rather than the fake porn channel stuff, was all about. However, when I dared to slip one of my hands up under her sweater to fondle one of her flabby breasts, she recoiled from my touch and slapped me across the face.

I couldn’t help the adorable smirk that appeared on my new face. I might not know what size I was, but I sure as hell knew my breasts felt a lot better under my hand than Tracy’s.

Finally, I turned to the side to look at my ass. Considering the flair of my hips, I wasn’t surprised to see I now had some junk in my trunk. The curve of my backside was generous without being too bubbly. And the way the sleep shorts clung to the cheeks simply served to draw additional attention to just how well-formed it really was.

“Well, I can’t say I’m disappointed with what I see. Definitely a step up from a sweaty, pimple-faced dork.”

Don’t get me wrong, I never harbored any desire to be a female. Other than the occasional hormone-fueled daydream. I liked being a guy, with guy parts and guy thoughts.

But if a wish was going to make me get more in touch with my feminine side, I was able to find comfort in the fact that she was hot.

“You’re going to be late!” my mother called from downstairs again.

I glanced over to check the time on the clock on the nightstand and suddenly froze in shock and confusion.

Batman informed me that it was currently seven o’clock in the morning.

“What the hell?” I breathed, unable to stop staring at the Dark Knight’s visage.

That same clock had been sitting on a completely different nightstand before Cindy made her wish. In fact, it had been the only source of timekeeping in my bedroom for the past six years.

I’d seen it on a shelf in a comic book store right before Christmas. Offhandedly, I mentioned to Cindy that I thought it would be super cool to wake up to the classic Batman theme every morning. However, I’d already spent all my allowance on an entire stack of cross-title sagas and couldn’t afford to get it.

The day after Christmas, Cindy had handed me a gift-wrapped box. She’d grinned like a fiend as she watched me tear off the paper to reveal the front of the box holding the clock. Since her transformation into a lovely young woman with ever-decreasing time for her best friend, the clock always reminded me of who she used to be.

I spun around and closed in on the mirror. More precisely, to the photograph stuck in the corner of the frame. I pulled it free and looked at the quartet of black and white photos.

The boy and girl, each of them attempting to outdo the other with goofy poses, were approximately twelve years old.

The boy had short, spiky hair that stood straight up in most places, and stuck out at weird angles in others. He was skinny in that way boys go through when their bodies are completely confused by the influx of unfamiliar adolescent chemicals. A pair of black-rimmed glasses set on the bridge of a square nose dotted with multiple clogged pores.

The girl had long, dark hair that hung down to the middle of her back. A set of braces crisscrossed a toothy smile in one of the snapshots. She, too, had a couple of pimples dotting her forehead and chin. However, they were nowhere near as populous as those on the boy. She was cute, but it was easy to see the beauty she would one day become lurking just beneath the surface.

The same beauty being reflected in the mirror before me.

The memory of posing for those pictures, or at least, the original set came back to me. The Summer Carnival that had taken place three weeks after the end of seventh grade. Cindy had practically dragged me into the booth, threatening me with an atomic wedgie if I didn’t comply. The resistance I attempted to put up, as the Borg would say, was “futile”.

When it was over, I pretended as if the event had pained me down to my soul. I even demanded she destroy the evidence, lest it fall into enemy hands. She’d responded by tacking the photo strip to the corkboard in her room, promising to use it against me should I eventually become a mad scientist bent on global domination.

I flipped the strip over. On the back, in exquisite cursive script was an inscription.

“P & C: 6/28.”

I knew without a doubt the photos showed myself and Cindy, or the male equivalent of Cindy, but the initials were confusing me. Which of us was “P”, and which “C”? I wanted to assume that Cindy’s parents would have named their baby boy something that started with the same letter. But that logic required my parents to have named their little girl something that started with an “S”. Possibly something as mundane as “Samantha”.

Not that I really expected anything to make total sense. After all, I was currently living in a reality formed by a snappy, off-the-cuff wish made to a magic rock by my former best friend. For all I knew, I could be the “C”.

Caroline. Carrie. Charlene. Candace. Plenty of tolerable names there.

Paige. Phoebe. Piper. Prue. Okay, so maybe the stone hadn’t actually turned me into a witch. But I knew for a fact magic was real and I did have the body of a CW starlet.

I stuck the photo back into its spot in the mirror’s corner, then went over to the desk.

“Elementary, my dear Miss Watson,” I said as I opened the purse and pulled out a black leather wallet. “If you want to know who you are, you should start with checking your identification.”

Unsnapping the clasp on the wallet, I flipped through more than a half-dozen credit cards before I found what I was looking for. A driver’s license. I pulled it free from the frosted plastic pouch and held it up before me.

My jaw dropped in disbelief at the same time my mother yelled upstairs for the third time.

“Penelope Jean Davenport, get your butt down here right now!”

Penelope????

A Wish Unwanted – Part 2
by Limbo’s Mistress

“Penelope Jean Davenport, get your butt down here right now!”

The urgency and annoyance in my mom’s voice carried easily through the closed door of the bedroom, cutting right through the stupor which had descended over me the moment I glanced at the front of my driver’s license. As if to serve as universal confirmation, the name inscribed beneath the picture of the smiling brunette matched her words perfectly.

Penelope? That was bad enough. But Penelope Jean?? Wow, that had to be the perfect icing on the messed up cake Cindy’s wish had served me.

I had a younger cousin who was named Penelope who was quite the whiny little brat. Not only did she prance around like she was some sort of Beverly Hills teen heiress, she was also one of those types who steadfastly, vehemently, spurned any type abbreviated version of their full name.

“It’s Penelope,” she would remind me in a haughty tone I felt really required a derisive sniff of disdain afterwards. “Not Penny.”

Thirteen-year-old girls really could be such snots. Then again, considering the crowd I had to deal with on a daily basis, so could seventeen-year-old ones.

If I had to guess, it would my mother had snatched up the name first. You know, since she obviously had a daughter instead of a son. Which made me spend a half a second wondering what the former Penelope’s name was now. Probably Samantha.

I shook my head as I put the license back into the wallet and the wallet back into the purse. This was no time to continue the thrilling adventure of attempting to find out the important details of my new, hopefully temporary, existence. If I didn’t want my mom to come upstairs, knock down the door and drag me out by my silky new do, I better get dressed.

I walked over to the door, opened it a crack, and yelled, “I’m working on it!”

Without waiting for a response, I closed the door and went to the closet. I was halfway across the room when I suddenly stopped in mid-stride, realizing that I had no idea what day it was.

Cindy had come over with her +5 magic rock of screwing up sometime Saturday afternoon. Before dinner. Our little tête-à-tête may have lasted about thirty minutes, give or take. Which meant the wish had taken place approximately between six and six thirty.

However, the only thing I could recall since the moment we voiced our wishes was waking up a few minutes ago to start my first day as, ugh, Penelope. But what day?

Saturday all over again? I really hoped not. It seemed quite a bit of stuff from Cindy’s old life had carried over to be a part of my new one. Ballet being a prime example.

I honestly couldn’t count the number of times she’d whined and complained about how every single one of her Saturdays was devoted to dancing. First, it was two “excruciating” hours of instructional practice in the morning with a hardcase of a former ballerina who must have spent her formative years with the Klingon School of Dance.

After that, she was able to grab a quick, light lunch before enduring another two to three “exhausting” hours rehearsing for whatever production she’d been drafted by her folks into auditioning for. Not to mention all the “demeaning” ogling from every guy who noticed she was walking around in a leotard.

It was going to be tough enough to pretend to be Penelope by itself. If I attempted to pass myself off as someone who’d spent the last four years dancing, I was going to fail. Critically. Besides, even if I could roll a Nat 20 to Bluff, the last thing I wanted to do was spend my first day here pirouetting and posing.

No. Thank. You.

Maybe it was Sunday morning. It was possible the stone, even as powers as it seemed to be, might have required some time to completely remake my reality. That would certainly explain why I didn’t recall anything until waking up this morning. The magic had put me into some kind of suspended animation while it went about making me into a hot brunette.

I was able to dismiss that idea rather quickly. There would be no reason for mom to yell at me to hurry downstairs on a Sunday morning. There was nowhere to go for me to be late getting there. Our family didn’t attend church, so I usually slept in late, then spent the rest of the morning eating cereal and watching anime.

An idea popped into my head, sending me back to the purse on the desk. This time, I reached down inside, digging around inside. I finally managed to locate my cellphone beneath the heaps of makeup, gum, hairclips, hairbands, tissues, and other assorted crap living in the handbag of the average American teenaged girl.

The amount of stuff crammed inside the purse seemed as if it should far exceed its holding capacity. I mean, it was like the damned thing had been bought at a Gucci outlet on Gallifrey.

The smartphone, wrapped in a hot pink protective case, was one of the latest models. Of course. Though I was eternally grateful it was the kind that used a fingerprint to unlock. Since I wasn’t about to try to guess what sort of passcode “Penelope” might use to keep her digital life secured.

The black screen flared to life, and the wallpaper that emerged was a selfie of my feminine and a girl named Sarah Strand. Sarah was a member of Benson High’s varsity cheerleading squad. Penelope had her arm draped across the shorter girl’s shoulder, with both of them flashing sassy smiles at the camera. A string of letters, in pink Comic Sans, was superimposed across the bottom of the picture, announcing that the two girls were: “BFFS 4-EVR”.

Oh, that’s just wonderful. I have a BFF. And my apparent font choice is Comic Sans.

In pink.

I looked at the photo again, trying to figure out how I could be best friends with Sarah Strand. She wasn’t a bad person, per se. At least compared to the rest of the popular clique. Actually, she was the second friendliest person in the whole damned bunch. Which basically meant that she chose to ignore me, rather than join in on the teasing and tormenting.

The thing was, I didn’t recall her and Cindy being that close. Sure they were both on the cheer squad and ran around with the same group of friends. However, they were certainly not “BFFs”. Not by a long shot.

I guess that was another difference between Penelope and Cindy.

Tearing my gaze from the picture, I looked at the top of the screen, where the date and time hovered in white block letters.

Monday, October 14th. 7:15 am.

Monday.

7:15 am.

Oh, shit. Panic quickly climbed into the cockpit of my brain, secured its five-point harness, and took over the controls like a fighter jockey on meth. Mom hadn’t been yelling at me to hurry up for ballet practice, or church, or some impromptu family meeting where they would explain I was actually an alien from a distant planet, sent here when I was a baby.

She was yelling because I was going to be late … for school.

I spun around twice, looking all around as I tried to decide which task to do first.

Shower? As a guy, particularly one with uber-greasy hair and skin, bathing in the morning meant I was able to keep the oil production under control until after lunch. However, just as I took that first step toward the bedroom door, I realized there was a towel hanging a hook protruding from the back of it.

I hurried over and discovered that it was still slightly damp. A small wave of relief washed over me. Apparently Penelope was the kind of girl who bathed before going to bed. Probably something along the lines of a two-hour bath bomb soak.

I filed that bit of data away in the mental folder I’d begun the second I’d awoken to my new situation.

Okay, I didn’t need to shower. So, should I get dressed first? No, wait, I needed to put on makeup first, right? I tried to remember any clues Cindy might have revealed about what her morning routine was like. The only problem with that was the fact that, even if she did go into minute detail about the steps she went through to get ready for her day, my reptilian guy brain would have completely tuned it out.

Way to go, Captain Testosterone.

Common sense, which I hoped wouldn’t let me down in my time of need, said that my putting on makeup before getting dressed was just asking to make a mess of my clothing.

Plus, I was about ninety-nine percent sure I was going to end up looking like an applicant for clown college. Since I didn’t have the slightest clue about the complex process of applying foundation, blush, eyeliner, or anything else found in vicinity of the cosmetics aisle.

Later this evening, should I survive, I knew I’d be chained to the laptop, watching a ton of MeTube videos on how to make myself even prettier with paint. That was one of the benefits of being a guy trapped in the body of a girl in the Twenty-first Century. Life-saving information was always at your fingertips.

For today, though, I was going to skip the whole song and dance and claim I was trying out some new, au natural skin regiment.

No shower. No makeup. That only left getting dressed.

When I opened the closet, I stared in dumbstruck horror at the sight before me. Inside was the equivalent of a trendy fashion boutique’s entire inventory. Dresses, skirts, tops, sweaters, slacks. In nearly every color and style dangled from the rack running the length of the space. Rather than spend lots of money on games, videos, and expensive collectables, it seemed Penny preferred to live the girlish stereotype.

I shook my head, glancing back over at the bed, wondering if I could get away with pretending to be sick. Unfortunately for me, my mom still seemed like my mom. Which meant I’d need to be bleeding from both eyes and have a fever of 105 if I was going to miss school.

Resigned to my fate, I snatched a pair of faded jeans from a hanger, as well a black turtleneck sweater. The outfit was probably far more casual than Penny normally wore to school, but it was going to have to do. I might be handling the changes the stone wrought better than expected, but I wasn’t anywhere close to being ready to prance around in a miniskirt.

I kicked the closet door closed with the heel of one foot, then threw the clothes onto the bed as I rushed over to the dresser on the other side of the room. In the top drawer, I found about ten quadrillion pairs of panties. In every possible color and shade imaginable. Grumbling, I began to dig around, finding with some dismay that they all seemed to be skimpy thongs.

This was a joke, right? Another big laugh from the entity inside the wishing stone. I mean, what girl only wears thong panties? Did anyone really enjoy having a continual wedgie throughout the whole day?

Maybe I could just skip wearing underwear. After all, I’d done it multiple times back when I was a guy. Then I realized that going commando as Penelope was just asking for trouble. If I ended up having to dress out for gym, or go to cheer practice, everyone was going to see my lady-bits.

Which was so not going to happen. Particularly since even I hadn’t seen them yet.

After a few more moments of searching, I finally located a small pile of non-butt-floss underwear at the back of the drawer. I pulled a pastel blue pair free and flung them over to where the jeans and sweater awaited. I closed the drawer and pulled open the next one down.

Bras. Silk, lace, cotton, satin, strapless, and sheer. The styles were almost as numerous as the colors. It was as if someone had just knocked over a Victoria’s Secret outlet. As with the panties, I had to root around for a bit to find a thickly padded one I hoped would do a good job of keeping my new assets contained and well-hidden from view.

It was an off-white color, not even close to matching the panties. Honestly, I didn’t care. It wasn’t as if I was going to be parading around in them. I was going for function over form.

Before I could hurl the brassier over to the bed, curiosity grabbed my attention and I turned the garment over and studied the small, white tag attached to one of the straps. 36-D. Okay, so I was larger than I expected, but not off the charts into porn star status. Acceptable.

It took me close to ten minutes to simply get out of my sleepwear and into my clothes. The biggest time eaters were figuring out how to put the bra on without leaving the strap twisted, and squeezing my generous ass into the jeans. I eventually had to resort to hopping up and down like a deranged bunny a few dozen times to finally pull them over my curvy hips.

Aren’t jeans supposed to be comfortable attire? Who in the hell would deliberately design comfortable attire that required a shoehorn, an engineer, and the patience of a saint to get into?

Maybe I should have rethought the skirt route.

The third, and final, drawer in the dresser contained about fifty thousand pair of socks. Dear god, did this girl think about anything other than accumulating clothing? I grabbed a pair at random, ending up with a set that was dark gray and decorated with little yellow and blue butterflies. Perfect! I guess. I slipped the socks on my bare feet, then followed them with a pair of black and pink Nikes.

If I wasn’t brave enough for skirts yet, I certainly wasn’t sure enough in my new womanhood to wear heels.

I bounced over to the mirror, made sure I looked sufficiently “girly”, then quickly finger-combed my hair. Luckily, Penelope’s chocolate tresses behaved much better than mine ever did. Was it simply a matter of genetics? Female chromosomes causing my body to produce healthier proteins and less oil? Or was it a part of the magic? After all, I had announced, loudly, that I didn’t have any idea what it felt like to be a beautiful girl. Made sense the stone would make sure my hair was as close to perfect as possible.

Enough of my biological introspection, I needed to get my cute hiney moving. Shoving the textbooks on the desk into a bright pink backpack, I grabbed the purse and vacated the room.

As I descended the stairs, I heard mom talking with someone in the kitchen. It wasn’t my dad, since he always left home around six on weekday mornings. Could it possibly be whomever Cindy had become? This mysterious “C” person?

I slapped what I thought was a sufficiently cheery smile and stepped into the room.

Almost immediately, I froze in shock and surprise, nearly falling flat on my face. The identity of mom’s morning companion was not who I expected it to be. Although, to be fair, I should have already known who it was.

“Oh-Em-Gee, Peej,” Sarah Strand said from where she perched on one of the barstools next to the large island with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. “We thought you were, like, never coming down.”

The moisture in my mouth evaporated. I had planned on using the time before school to use Penny’s phone to try and figure out her schedule. As well as review her social media accounts to get advanced knowledge of who she got along with. And, more importantly, who she didn’t.

“Oh,” I said, attempting to recover from the shock of finding the other girl in my kitchen. “I … you know …” Hello!? Think, McFly! Think! Then, inspiration struck and I grinned wider, shrugging one shoulder. “I just couldn’t decide what to wear.” Sounds girlish enough, right?

Sarah arched one perfectly shaped brow as her hazel eyes drifted up and down my form. Then she tilted her head slightly to the side, a curious expression forming on her pretty face. As if she wasn’t completely sure that I was serious. Then she returned my shrug, settling back on the stool.

“Retro-casual,” she said. “I like it.”

I almost responded that there was nothing “retro” about jeans and a sweater, nor could you just take two words that didn’t belong together and Frankenstein a new term. Then I decided that it was possible Penelope wasn’t the kind of person to correct people in public and try to shame them.

Which Sam had done … on a regular basis.

So instead I simply said, “Thanks!”

It was then that it occurred to me that this wasn’t going to be quite as easy as I had believed. I wasn’t going to have to concentrate on acting like a girl. I was going to have to act like a specific girl in particular. One I really had no intimate information about. Well, other than her bra size.

“You girls better get going,” mom said, thrusting a silver coffee thermos at me. “Big day today.”

Somehow, I managed to keep from looking like I was having a stroke.

“Big day?” I parroted.

She glanced at Sarah, then back to me.

“Isn’t the first Homecoming Committee meeting this afternoon, Madame Chairperson? The first step in planning the, what did you call it, ‘second biggest social event’ of the school year?”

I was sure my facade would crack and send me over the edge into a screaming tirade that would a dozen phasers set to “stun” to quell. What the ever-living crap was this? Cheerleading and ballet weren’t enough extra-curricular activities? She also decided to be involved with school events as well?

Who the hell did I Quantum Leap into?

“Right,” I said, trying to sound like I was just being a momentary ditz. As if I weren’t fully awake yet. “Homecoming Committee. Yep. Big day. Have to stay late and do that planning thing. Of, you know, the Homecoming … thingy.”

Okay mouth. You better shut up before you get us dragged off for a padded jacket and a psych evaluation.

I quickly flashed my mom another forced smile, then turned to Sarah. “Ready?”

The other girl nodded, sliding off the stool and putting her cup on the island.

“Thanks, Mrs. D. I’ll have her back home immediately after the meeting.”

Mom nodded with a smile. “Just drive safe, girls.” She started to turn away, but quickly faced us again. “Sarah? Be sure to remind your mother that dinner is Saturday at seven. I mentioned it to her at bridge the other day, but you know how she can be.”

“I’ll be sure to reminder her. Bye, Mrs. D.”

I followed Sarah to the back door. However, before I got more than a few steps toward it, I felt a stare hit me in the back of the head. When I turned around, I saw my mother was giving me a strange, slightly hurt look.

Oh, dear god! Seriously? Mom and Penelope had that kind of relationship? All lovey dovey and shit? Gah! Sam’s mom was lucky if she even knew when he was coming and going. Expecting more than a half-mumbled greeting would have been expecting too much.

Of course, I wasn’t currently Sam, so I walked back over to my mother and put my arms around her in a hug I hoped didn’t feel too awkward.

“Bye, mom,” I said. Then added, “Love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetie. Have a good day.”

Once I was outside, I noticed that there were three cars in the driveway. One was Sarah’s Prius, which I recognized from the world before today. Not even the color had changed. It was still that same mint green that no other car in the world could respectfully pull off.

The second car was the red Buick SUV that my mom drove. Again, no change there.

The third vehicle was a little blue Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top. It was parked closest to the house, and when I walked around it toward Sarah’s car, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see the license plate was personalized. PJD.

So, Penny had her own car. Probably a fracking present for her sixteenth birthday. Figures. My father, Sam’s father, had offered to buy me a car when I turned sixteen. However, the trade-off would be that I would have to spend my whole summer working with him at the law firm.

I wasn’t about to give up a chance to attend three of the biggest comic and gaming conventions of the year just so I could get my own wheels. So I’d told Dear Old Dad that he could keep his offer and I’d stick with public transportation.

Either Penny had been given a different deal, or else she’d gladly wasted three months pulling files and making photocopies. Hell, she probably got the Jeep just so she could drive herself to all her practices and recitals.

“Hello?” Sarah said from the driver’s side of her car, drawing my attention from the four-wheel drive to her. “Earth to Peej! We’re going to be late.”

I blinked a few times, not immediately moving toward her. That was the second time Sarah had addressed me as “Peej.” The first time, when I’d entered the kitchen, I’d thought she’d said “Peach”. Which really didn’t make any sense. Not that “Peej” was that more logical.

Unless…

I groaned, internally, as I walked over to the Prius. Why was I not surprised?

Peej. A shortening of Pee-Jay. Which itself was short for Penelope Jean. Ugh. Really? Penny, while not great, was something I could deal with. Probably more than I could Penelope. But Pee-Jay, or Peej? I began to wonder if female me really was a bimbo.

Or maybe, just maybe, that was just Sarah’s pet name for her best friend. Like the way guys call their friends “Buttmuncher” or “Count Dorkus.” Something told me, though, that cutesy abbreviation ran deeper than just between a couple of girlfriends.

We climbed into the car and Sarah pressed the ignition button.

“I know it sucks to take my uber-lame Eco-Mobile to school,” she said, backing out of the driveway. “Hopefully your dad will let you have your car back before it gets too cold to put the top down.”

Oh? Well, wasn’t that was interesting? Apparently Little Miss Perfect was being punished for something. That punishment taking the form of the loss of her car. I wondered what she’d done that was so bad. Skipped a dance practice? Flunked a test? Caught making out with some dude?

I crinkled my nose a that last one. I certainly hoped I was way off base there.

As we rolled down the road, Sarah cut her eyes over at me.

“So …”

“So?” I asked, turning in my seat to look at her.

She waited a second before rolling her eyes impatiently. “Did he call you?”

Hold the phone. He? Who the hell was he? Why would this he be calling me? And what the hell was with that sing-song lilt in Sarah’s voice? Like she was auditioning for some Disney role.

“Did who call?” I asked, trying to sound teasing rather than confused.

I must have succeeded, because Sarah giggled and slapped me lightly on the thigh.

“I’m talking about Lee, dummy. Jeeze, Peej, what is with you this morning?”

Lee? Lee Who? I flipped open the imaginary yearbook in my mind. Lee. Lee. Lee. Lee … Taylor? No. That couldn’t be right. Though that was the only Lee I could think of that went to our school.

Lee Taylor was a senior. Blonde hair and the face of a male model. He was an All-American athlete, lettering in both football and baseball. When it came to friends, he had more than his fair share. No one ever said anything negative about him. Actually, it was usually the opposite.

So, of course, Penny would be into him.

I gave Sarah a sly little smirk as I slipped my hand into the purse by my side. I turned on the phone and swiped over to the call log. Sure enough, Lee’s name was there. Six freaking times. The longest being almost two hours yesterday evening. Jesus, what did they talk about for that long? How great Mr. Wonderful was?

Shutting off the phone, I looked back at Sarah.

“As a matter of fact, he did.” I told her. “Six times.”

Her mouth dropped open into a perfect “O”. I wasn’t sure if she was shocked that the popular boy had called me. Or if her response was because he’d called so many times in a single day.

“Wow. The must have been one hell of a first date. I’m a little jealous. I mean, it took Chad almost a week to call me after our first date. Remember?”

No, actually, I don’t. Because it wasn’t me who was there.

I nodded, casting a little line. “Do I ever. You were totally freaking out about it.” That sounded plausible, right? In the movies, girls were always getting upset if some guy they liked didn’t immediately stop everything to call them and confess their feelings.

Mr. President, I know we only have ten minutes for me to defuse this nuclear warhead before it blows D.C. off the map, but I really need to pause so I can call this girl I shared a look with on the subway and tell her how she’s the love of my life. Back in a jiff.

Sarah winked at me. “Well, Lee’s a smarter guy than Chad. Like, light miles smarter.”

Years. Light years.

“He’s alright,” I said in a non-committal tone. “We had, uh, fun. Then he called yesterday, several times even, and we …talked. Apparently a lot.”

Sarah didn’t seem to notice my flailing conversation. She merely nodded, swinging the Prius around a corner a lot faster than the little car liked.

“Well, I hope it’s the start of something. He’s only been asking you out for months now. I didn’t think you were ever going to say yes.”

“You know me,” I said dryly. “Not like other girls.”

Putting it mildly

“Man, if you and Lee start actually dating? Oh-Em-Gee, Jen would completely lose her shit. Like, totally.”

Jen. That could only be Jennifer Winters. Prom Queen. Head Cheerleader. All around Total Bitch. She was also the self-proclaimed it-girl of Benson High. Beautiful and extremely stuck-up. Most of the school lived in fear of getting on her bad side since she was known to hold grudges and was mean enough to make Regina George look like an angel.

When it came to Jen Winters, you were either with her, against her, or completely beneath her notice.

She had a special, extreme dislike for me. Well, for Sam. It was Jen who saddled me with the nicknames “Grease Pit” and “Fister”. Freshman year, she told everyone she’d seen me skulking around downtown, prostituting myself to older men. The fact that I’d been hanging around because I was waiting for the anime store to open was considered irrelevant.

For the sake of complete transparency, however, it wasn’t like her animosity toward me wasn’t deserved. I mean, there was the time in fifth grade that I deliberately splashed red paint on the front of her pants, then yelled to everyone that she’d gotten her period.

The teacher, Mrs. Miller, had made a big fuss over trying to explain to the crying girl, in front of the rest of the class, that she shouldn’t be upset. That the stain only meant that she was becoming a woman. Jen had been a county mile past mortified. Even after it was revealed that she was wearing paint, not blood.

At the time, I’d thought it was hilarious. Actually, I still found it hilarious.

Of course, seeing as how I was now a card-carrying member of the Monthly Flow Club, I had a feeling I would find it less humorous when my time came.

“So,” I said, this time not having to pretend I had different feelings. “Let her be pissed about it.”

Sarah blinked and then nodded in agreement. “Good point. After all, she was the one who dumped Lee to go out with that boy from Uni. Not your fault that Lee saw it as an opportunity to move up the dating ladder.”

I was a little shocked at her candor. Mainly because I always had the impression that those stuck-up cheer bitches were always chummy with each other. Through thick or thin. To find out otherwise was quite the eye-opener.

Sarah pulled us into the parking lot, angling her car into a tiny open space with a deftness that bordered on the supernatural. Then she shut off the engine and glanced over at me.

“Seriously, though. Watch your back. Jen might have thrown Lee out without so much as a backward look. That doesn’t mean she won’t get shitty about you and he hooking up. She’s the kind of brat who wants her cake and to eat it, too.”

“As well as other people’s cake,” I added.

“Totally.”

We climbed out of the car and joined the other arriving students in a death march toward the school’s entrance. My palms began to sweat as each step brought us closer to the doors. To a situation where I would be completely lost. I hadn’t had the chance to check Penny’s phone. Where was her locker? Did she even have one? If so, what was the combination?

I felt if I could get away from Sarah, even for just five minutes, I could at least get a clue or two. However, I couldn’t just abandon her out of the blue. It would be way too out of character for someone like Penny.

My salvation arrived in the hulking form of one of Benson’s star football players. He swooped in from just behind us, and scooped Sarah into his arms, spinning her around several times. For a second, I fully expected him to finish her off with a body-slam. Instead, he put the giggling girl down and kissed her quickly on the lips.

Enter Chad Barrow. Varsity linebacker of Benson High’s championship football team and eternal provider of toilet swirlies and nuclear wedgies to any nerd who had the misfortune of crossing his path.

I wondered how big of a shock it would be to him if his girlfriend’s bestie just up and kicked him square in the balls. Just for the sheer hell of it.

Chad kissed Sarah once more, then slung a beefy arm over her shoulder as he looked over at me.

“Pee-Jay,” he said, greeting me in a slow drawl that made him sound even dumber than he was. “How’s tricks?”

Well, shit. Looks like I really am a Pee-Jay after all.

“Hey, Chad,” I responded, trying to sound pleased to see him. Well, maybe not pleased. More like … accepting. Sort of.

He nuzzled at Sarah’s neck for a second, then cut his eyes back over to me.

“I heard from a little birdy that you and my boy, Lee, had quite the time Saturday night.”

Sarah gasped and elbowed him in the ribs, giving me her most-innocent look even as her cheeks reddened. Looks like someone’s been telling private girl-to-girl information.

“Chad, you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“I didn’t,” he insisted, managing to look hurt that his woman would suggest otherwise. “I promise. I’m just poking fun at Miss Pointy Toes.”

Sarah’s face seemed to relax a bit, though she still gave me a wary look. Like she expected me to rip her hair out for saying anything about my date with Lee to Chad.

“Well, just as long as you don’t go spreading it around school, I guess I can forgive you.”

“Cool,” Chad responded, already seeming to have lost interest in the conversation. He glanced from Sarah’s face, down to her chest, then over to me.

“Hey Pee-Jay, think you can survive without my girl attached to your hip? I need a little one on one time before the first period bell.”

Before I could sarcastically ask why I would die from Sarah not being by my side, she poked him in the ribs again and rolled her eyes at me as her mouth twisted into a giddy smile.

Guess the Neanderthal needed a little lip and tongue action in order to jumpstart his tiny brain.

“Sure,” I said, giving Sarah a return eye-roll. “Just make sure you return her to me in the same condition you found her.”

Chad looked momentarily confused at my request, then grinned and winked at me.

“I won’t break her, P. At least, not here. I can’t make that same promise after hours.”

Ah, yes. There’s the overt boasting about sexual prowess that I was expecting. I was just surprised Chad didn’t plant his hand on Sarah’s curved apple ass the moment he joined us. Guys like Chad always made it a point to do things like that in public, just in case someone else thought about horning in on their turf.

And heaven help you if you were an unpopular dork who accidentally bumped into Sarah because the two of you had lockers next to each other. A faux pas like that could result in a trip to the nearest garbage can. Inside said garbage can.

Sarah grabbed Chad’s hand and started walking toward the small grove of trees near the corner of the building. She flashed me an embarrassed smile.

“See you in first period,” she said.

I waved to them as they left, then continued my journey toward the doors, pulling my phone out of my purse. According to the clock, I had approximately eleven minutes to figure out Penny’s schedule and prepare myself for an entire day of smiling, nodding, and trying not to act too out of character.

Several people called my name in greetings as we passed each other. Well, they called Penny’s name. It took me a few times to realize that they were actually speaking to me. That they were actively noticing me, in a friendly way. Then I wasn’t sure if I should respond back or simply give them a nod to let them know I’d heard them.

Sue me. It wasn’t like I had a ton of experience receiving warm greetings from random peers.

One of the voices, however, was really insistent.

“Pee-Jay,” it said. “Hey, Pee-Jay. Wait up.”

Something in the tone caused me to stop perusing the phone in my hand and stop walking. I turned around, looking up just in time to see Lee Taylor step up to me, closing to within a foot of my personal space.

If not for the huge, beaming smile on his face, I would have likely taken two large steps backward. Managing to keep myself planted firmly in place, I looked up into his bright blue eyes.

“Hey,” he said.

I arched a brow, still peering at the boy standing a good foot taller than me. “Hello.”

His smile faltered, just a bit. Then it reemerged. Like a cloud momentarily passing before the sun.

“I just wanted to tell you that I really had a good time Saturday.”

I nodded in response. Lee might have been a member of the In-Crowd, but he’d never done anything mean to Sam. At least, not personally or directly. Conversely, he’d never done anything to stop or call out his friends when they decided to be a bunch of dicks. So, while he wasn’t exactly a saint, he also wasn’t particularly evil.

However, I could hear the clock ticking down in my mind, and I didn’t really have time to waste chatting with a boy. No matter how cute he might be.

“So you’ve said,” I replied, holding up the phone. “I’m glad it was fun.” I hooked my thumb at the entrance. “I really need to go.”

His face fell, even as he tried to keep it from happening. A tiny stabbing sensation formed in my chest and I realized I couldn’t just blow him off. It wouldn’t be the Pee-Jay thing to do.

“What I mean is, um, I really need to get inside … to the bathroom. Yeah.” I placed my hand over my stomach. “I’m having some … issues. Can we talk later?”

His brow crinkled a bit as he looked down at my hand. I hoped the expression on his face wasn’t because he thought I was talking about diarrhea. After a moment, he nodded and that happy smile appeared again. When it did, the pokey feeling in my chest vanished.

“Of course. I’ll see you in English, then.”

I started say something in response. Before I could, he moved closer and gave me a hug and a light peck at the corner of my mouth.

“See you, Pee-Jay,” he said, moving off to join the flow of students heading up the steps.

I stood there, unmoving. I was stunned. Speechless. Flabbergasted. Stupefied.

I’d been a girl for a little over an hour and already experienced more attention from the opposite sex than all my years as a guy. Granted, I looked and smelled better than I did as Sam, but that didn’t change the facts. Lee Taylor liked me. Sarah Strand liked me.

And from the way the rest of the students waved or spoke, they liked me as well.

For the first time in years, I didn’t feel the need to look over my shoulder for threats coming from my blind side. I didn’t have to pay attention to where my eyes landed, to keep from getting accused of leering at some jock’s squeeze. I could head into the halls of the school, safe in the knowledge that I wouldn’t get my head pushed into a toilet or my books knocked askew.

It was a delightful feeling.

I smiled at no one in particular and jogged up the steps into the school. In the phone, I’d located a notepad app with a dragon’s horde of information. Not the least of which was a class schedule, a calendar for Penelope’s extra-curricular activities, and a locker number. With combination.

Perhaps this was going to be an easier gig than I thought after all.

A hand grabbed my upper arm as I walked past the girls’ restroom. It yanked me sideways, causing me to nearly drop my phone. Before I could recover from the sudden attack enough to protest of fight back, I was pulled into the bathroom and released.

I turned around to see a Tracy Mallory walk over and lock the door, trapping me inside with her.

“What’s the big idea?” I asked her.

Tracy ignored my question. Instead, she went over to push open every stall door, checking to make sure they were empty. Apparently satisfied that we were alone, she walked back over to me.

She was a big girl. Not obese, exactly. Just a little thicker than average. Her jet black hair was slightly limp, and hung down to her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of green cargo pants, a grey t-shirt imprinted with a Borg cube and the phrase, “You will be assimilated.” Her green eyes were nestled behind a pair of thick glasses, giving them a slightly fishbowl appearance.

Tracy wasn’t ugly. She just wasn’t … pretty. However, she was one of the few girls at Benson High who actually liked sci-fi and gaming stuff. Which is how she ended up in our Pathfinder group.

We hadn’t spoken in the six months since our two minute make-out and groping session. She always seemed to have an excuse why she couldn’t make it to the sessions. Or would claim to be feeling unwell whenever we invited her to the movies.

I knew it was because she didn’t want to be around me. Around Sam. But I could never fully understand why.

“I said, what’s the big idea?” I put what I thought might be the right level of snobby in my voice. I hadn’t discovered if Penny was one of those mean types of girls or not yet, but it was a safe bet she wouldn’t take kindly to being manhandled. Particularly not from one of the members of the Dork Patrol.

She blinked a few times, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Then she shook her head, grinning like someone who knows they are several chess moves ahead of their opponent.

“Wow,” she said in a hushed tone, leaning in closer. “Holy shit! Look at you!”

Her eyes roved over my body, like the way someone might gawk at a shiny new sports car. One that no one else had ever seen before.

I remained rooted to the spot, staring back at her.

“Never, not in a million years, would have expected this.” She took a step backward, crossing her arms over her chest. “That thing really did a number on you, didn’t it?”

A sudden shudder ran through my body, raising goose pimples on my arms. As if someone was stepping on my grave, while I broke a mirror as walking under a ladder with a black cat in my arms. Absolute dread swam in my soul and tried to choke reason from my thoughts. It wasn’t just the way the other girl was acting. It was what she was saying.

What she was implying.

Still, as caught off guard as I was, I couldn’t stop myself from asking the asinine question hovering on the edge of my lips.

“What did a number on me?”

She laughed, it was an ugly, tortured sound. Like amusement, being drowned in a lake of heartache and sorrow. It was the sound someone might make right before the gallows platform dropped from under them.

“The Stone of Invidia, Sammy.” She shook her head again. “You used the wishing stone.”

A Wish Unwanted – Part 3
by Limbo’s Mistress

Tracy beamed at me, as if daring me to try to deny her accusation.

The sounds of the other students passing by the bathroom, on their way to their homeroom, served to remind me that I really didn’t have time to play games with the other girl. She not only knew about the wishing stone, she knew that I had used it. She was completely aware that I wasn’t Penelope “Pee-Jay” Davenport. At least, not originally.

“I … but how…” I rambled like an idiot, trying to find the words I needed to say. Problem was, I didn’t know exactly what to say.

Tracy laughed and shook her head. Then she walked around me, coming to stop back in her starting point.

“You turned out great, by the way,” she said, sounding just a tiny bit jealous. “I just never got the impression you were like that.”

“Like what?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from squeaking. I felt like I was being judged and graded in a competition that I not only didn’t realize I was in, but also where I didn’t know the rules.

“That you were trans,” she said, sounding a bit impatient. “I mean, you never gave off any sort of vibes that you really wanted to be a girl.”

My mouth dropped open as the gears in my brain, gears that had already had a tough time getting any traction, seized and left me standing there with a stupefied expression on my face. All I could do for several seconds was blink at her, trying to find a way to respond to her statement without screaming like a banshee or collapsing into a fit of hysterical giggles.

Fortunately for my sanity, or at least the appearance of it, Tracy filled in the gap based on my reaction alone.

“Oh, shit,” she breathed, covering her mouth with one hand. The nails of which, I couldn’t help but notice, were ragged and uneven. “Oh … shit. You didn’t wish to be a girl, did you?”

I was finally able to close my mouth, feeling my cognitive processes slowly start to flow again. It was like dropping out of hyperspace. One moment, an infinite void of streaking stars. The next, back in real-space with Alderaan’s rocky remains whizzing past the cockpit.

“Of course I didn’t do this to myself,” I said, planting my hand on my hip. “I was perfectly happy being who I was.”

Okay, maybe not completely, totally, one-hundred-percent true. However, I didn’t really want to jump down that hole at the moment.

“Oh,” Tracy said, shifting from amused to sympathetic. “I’m sorry, then.”

I waved my hand dismissively. While I was thankful she was no longer laughing at me, or accusing me of having engineered my new Double-X life, I didn’t want her pity or compassion. I wanted answers.

“How did you know I wasn’t me? I mean, Penelope?”

“Anyone who has used the stone get inoculated to any future changes to reality.”

“Inoculated?”

She nodded. “Think of it like resistance and immunity. I’m resistant to the changes your wish created. I still recall you as you used to be, but I also sort of remember you as you are now. Get it?”

I shook my head. “Not completely.”

However, that was when the first bell began to ring, altering the students and faculty of Benson High that the school day was about to begin. There would be another bell in approximately five minutes. After that, I would be considered late.

Something told me that Penny was the kind of girl who was never, ever, late to class.

“I have to go,” I said to Tracy. “But I still need to talk to you about this. You’re the only one who can help me?”

A tiny smirk appeared on her face. “Help me, Tracy Mallory. You’re my only hope?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Something like that. I just hope we don’t have to blow up a Death Star. Right now, I’m having a hard enough time trying to figure out simple crap like the location of my new locker.”

She patted me on the shoulder. “Okay, maybe this will help. A lot of things have not changed.”

I glanced down at the twin swells barely contained beneath the black turtleneck. When I glanced back up, Tracy rolled her eyes in response.

“Well, yeah, there have been some big changes. But not the stuff that doesn’t matter. Things that don’t depend on you being Sam or Penelope are still the same. You woke up in the same house, right? Same parents and shit?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Me too. Which probably means that reality has only changed enough to support the life it gave you. The basic stuff remained the same.”

“Like my locker combination and class schedule?”

She frowned a bit. “Locker, yes. Classes, probably not. Before my change, I would never have been caught dead taking Calculus. With you being who you are now, the subjects you’re taking have likely switched to be more appropriate.”

Now it was my turn to frown. I remembered how upset Cindy had been when she was denied taking AP Physics. Considering what I’d learned so far about Pee-Jay, I had the sinking feeling I was going to be in a bunch of dummy classes with the rest of the jocks and bimbos.

Lovely.

Tracy walked past me to the door and unlocked it. Glancing back over her shoulder, she gave me a tiny smile.

“Good luck, Sam,” she said. “I mean it.”

“Wait,” I cried, hurrying over to her. “When can we meet and talk some more about this?”

“We both have third period as a free time,” she said. “Meet me in the library. Back in the history section.”

“Third period. Library. History section. Got it.”

She nodded. “See you then.”

She started to walk out the door, but my brain was suddenly zapped with one-point-twenty-one gigawatts and I reached out to grab her arm.

“Cindy Mueller,” I said. “You remember her too?”

She nodded, this time looking more … resigned, than sympathetic. “I do.”

“What happened to her? I mean, I realize she’s turned into a guy. Other than that, I have no idea.”

“She the one you made the wish with?”

I nodded.

“Well, I guess the two of you really screwed the pooch then.” She pulled her arm free from my grip. “I have to go. See you in a couple of hours ... Pee-Jay.”

Then she was out the door, leaving me to stand there feeling more disoriented and confused than I’d been all morning. I could almost swear Tracy had deliberately held stuff back. Stuff I was sure I’d consider important.

However, she’d at least helped me a little. Hopefully.

I exited the bathroom and walked extremely briskly down the hall and around the corner. The rows of gray steel lockers lining the walls were assigned to the students by the administration office. As was the padlocks keeping them closed. If what Tracy had theorized about the wish, it would have reacted like any other type of energy and taken the path of least resistance.

Stopping right in front of the door with 3-8-5 printed on a black plate at the top, I held my breath and spun the dial. Left, right, left. The two halves of the lock separated and I nearly did a backflip in celebration. Victory!

I opened the door and grabbed the three books inside, quickly shoving them in the already crowded backpack. Better to be prepared for everything. I also noticed a vanity mirror affixed to the inside of the locker door, as well as several photographs, all of Penelope with members of the popular crowd.

The only thing that was missing was a paper heart with an arrow running through it and two sets of initials separated by a plus sign.

I sighed as I slammed the door closed and hurried down the hall toward Mrs. Thomas’ room. So far, Tracy’s surmising had been correct. Minor things did seem to have been left alone by the wish’s magic. Homerooms were assigned by student number, which was assigned by last name and date of birth.

I’d already confirmed, via Penny’s license, that we were both born on June 1st. I crossed my fingers that I was right as I breezed through the doorway into the classroom right as the tardy bell stopped ringing.

Mrs. Thomas was seated at her desk. She turned to peer at me over the tops of her granny glasses as the last shrill cords of the bell faded away.

“Good morning, Miss Davenport,” she said in a disappointed tone. “So glad you could make it.”

I felt my cheeks grow warm, knowing that every eye was now turned in my direction. Penny might enjoy being the center of attention, but Sam always preferred to remain as anonymous as possible. Forcing a contrite smile on my face, I stepped closer to her desk and lowered my voice as I spoke to her.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” I deliberately looked away and down for a second. “I was in the bathroom. It’s … that time.”

Her eyes widened a bit, before dropping down to my mid-section. Just as Lee had done. Then the old bat looked back up at me and nodded, her face moving from stern to … slightly less stern. “Very well. Please take your seat. The announcements are about to begin.”

Wow. I haven’t even been a girl for two hours and already I’ve used my membership in the Sisterhood of the Bleeding Vajay-jays to get out of situations I didn’t want to be in. Was that a normal thing? Or more the perspective of a guy in a girl’s body?

I turned around to look at the room. As expected, most of those present were looking in my direction. Great. I should have worn a neon sign or something. My idea of trying to lay low was quickly coming unraveled. At this rate, someone was going to figure out that Pee-Jay Davenport was acting a little off.

There were two empty desks left in the room. One of them was behind Derek Jensen, one of the guys I regularly gamed with. While not quite as big a geek as me, he had a nasally voice and often got mocked for sounding like he was a stoner. The hardest drug Derek had ever done was espresso-laden energy drink. Half a drink, actually. And even then he buzzed around and jittered like he’d just mainlined the Speed Force.

The other desk was in front of Candace Ripper. Like Sarah and myself, she was a member of the cheer team. She also had the distinction of possessing the largest chest in our school. Probably even the district. Among us dork plebes, she was known as “Candy Stripper”. Even though we knew we’d get our asses kicked if any of the jock meatheads heard us call her that. Apparently she’d dated almost the entire lacrosse and football teams during her three and a half years at Benson.

My choices were practically nil. There was no question about which seat was mine, so I walked down the aisle, nodding at those who smiled or said hello. When I reached my seat, I slid into the chair and set my backpack on the floor.

The television high on the wall over Mrs. Thomas’ desk flared to life. On the screen, Assistant Principal Hughes and Claire Bender, media queen extraordinaire, sat behind a mock news desk.

“Good morning, Benson High,” Hughes said, smiling at the camera. “It is Monday, October 14th, and here are today’s announcements and briefs.”

As soon as the two of them started talking, I sensed Candice leaning forward. I responded by leaning back, though I kept my eyes on the screen. The morning announcements were about as interesting as the third Highlander movie, but Mrs. Thomas had no problem giving detention to anyone she caught not paying attention.

“So,” Candice said in a near-whisper. “You and Lee, huh?”

I almost whirled around to tell her that was supposed to be a secret. However, I managed to catch myself in time. I waited until the teacher’s gaze moved back up the television before I answered.

“Where did you hear that?” I asked.

“Morgan Bradshaw works the concession stand at the AMC. She saw the two of you come in together. Holding hands, supposedly.”

I groaned. Really? Penny went out with Lee Taylor and he took her to a movie? How cliché.

“Maybe Morgan was mistaken. Might have been Lee with someone else. Or maybe not even Lee at all.”

Mrs. Thomas glanced over our way, but seemed to be satisfied that we were full enraptured to listening to Claire drone on and on about the fall carnival the marching band was putting on to raise money for new uniforms. She pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and turned back to the screen.

“Come on, Peej,” she said. So, it wasn’t just Sarah who used that nickname. Probably the entire squad did as well. “Lee’s been asking about you for weeks now. Hard to think he would just quit chasing at this point just to go out with someone else.”

“You never know,” I whispered back. “Maybe he found out I wasn’t the girl he thought I was.” Had there ever been a truer statement?

“Whatever,” she said with a tiny huff. “For what it’s worth, I think you two make an awesome couple. Lee’s so freaking hot and you are tote adorbs. Oh, your babies would be gorgeous.”

This time, I couldn’t stop myself from turning around to stare at her.

“It was one freaking date. And I’m not even sure I want to go out with him again. So let’s reel in the whole marriage and kids thing for now, m’kay?”

Her eyes widened and she nodded as she sat back in her seat. The skin of her cheeks and neck was really flush.

I gave her another two seconds of hard staring, then faced forward again. Just in time to see Mrs. Thomas shake her head in my direction.

Just perfect. Now I was going to end up spending my free period in detention doing nothing, rather than in the library getting answers.

I spent the rest of homeroom staring at my lap. More precisely, the phone nestled between my legs.

Okay, after homeroom was French with Ms. LaCroix. Nothing altered there. Except it was less likely that Penny would be ogling the young, attractive teacher. For Sam, it had been one of the high points of his day.

Second, third, and fourth periods were also unaffected by the wishing stone.

After French was Honors History. Which sucked because that class was taught by Mr. Andrews, the only teacher in the Western Hemisphere who could be so boring that a hopped-up meth head would lapse into a coma. Why couldn’t the magic have put me in Home-Ec, or something. Then I could at least learn something I didn’t already know.

I suppose Penny used the time to touch up her makeup and think about cheer routines.

Third period was my Free Period. Every student had one, though not all at the same time. Officially, it was fifty minutes designed to allow students to prep for any upcoming tests. Or finish homework they hadn’t completed the night before.

Unofficially, not even the nerdiest of the nerds did that.

Normally, Sam and a few of his fellow nerds would meet behind the sports building to argue and debate the latest episode of Young Justice, or hang out to read some comics. It was a time to just kick back and decompress from the first two hours of dealing with a school full of self-righteous assholes and rest up in preparation for the rest of the day.

I didn’t have the slightest clue what Penny did during her third period. Other than know for a fact it wasn’t spending time discussing which Green Lantern was the best. Today, however, I planned on being in the library with Tracy.

Four period was lunch. The jocks and cheerleaders always sat at the tables in the quad outside the cafeteria. When the weather was nice, that is. Otherwise, they commandeered the tables furthest away from the kitchen and the garbage cans. Despite being mid-October, the temperature was in the upper seventies. Which meant I’d be dining outside.

Actually, that sounded nice for once. Even if the company would be less than ideal.

After lunch was where things took a sharp left turn into the Twilight Zone.

Penny had British Literature for fifth period, apparently with Lee Taylor. As Sam, fifth period had been AP Calculus, one of my favorite classes. British Lit sounded about as exciting as Honors History.

Intro to Trig was listed in Penny’s calendar for sixth period. Granted, it wasn’t Calc, but at least it wasn’t Algebra for Beginners. I couldn’t help but smile when I realized my grade in the class was about to go rocketing upwards.

My last class of the day was the real doozy. Physical Education. It had been Sam’s last class as well. Which was fortunate, considering I was usually a sweaty, stinky, greasy mess by the time it was finally over. So, instead of having to take a shower with everyone else, where I was sure to be harassed by some low-intelligence mouth breather, I could just throw on my clothes and go home.

As I scrolled through Penny’s schedule, however, I realized that my new life hadn’t changed the chief problem. My girlish side was certainly not the type to refrain from cleaning up after getting all physically exerted. Not a chance in hell. Which meant I was going to have to shower.

In the girls’ locker room.

With other girls.

Having finally solved the mystery of what class I was supposed to be in and when, I used the remaining ten minutes of homeroom to scroll through Penelope’s social media accounts. BookFace, Instantgram, Tweeter. SnappingChat. If it was a program that could be considered a public forum for a teenaged girl’s random thoughts, photos, and other narcissistic endeavors, Pee-Jay Davenport had an account.

There were postings about dance, school, cute guys, vaguely-described nemeses, and what ultra-trendy place was having a “totally happening” BOGO sale. Blah.

Then there were the photos. Cindy had posted what I always considered an excessive amount of pictures online. Something I was more than happy to point out to her every time she bitched about people not taking her seriously.

Compared to Penny, my former best friend was a complete amateur.

Pictures of Penelope by the pool in a dark blue bikini. On a beach in another tiny bikini, this one emerald green bikini. Penny on stage at some ballet performance. More ballet, but inside a studio room with mirrors on the wall, turning the image into a hundred Penelopes standing on their toes with their arms in the air. At an amusement park, or maybe a carnival, with Sarah, Chad, Tabitha Stevens and her boyfriend, Mark Byers. A group shot of the cheer team, still in their uniforms, crowded around a little table in a pizzeria I recognized.

Staring at the images itched at something in my chest. Envy? Jealousy maybe? Yeah, it was easy to look down my nose at the whole shallow flock of them. However, in every picture I scrolled along, the whole group of them seemed happy.

She … seemed happy.

I shut off the phone and stuck it back in the purse as the bell sending us to first period sounded. I slid out of my seat, waved bye to Candice, and headed out the door to French.

Was this the horrible life Cindy couldn’t wait to get away from? Granted, I still knew only about two percent of what it was like to be Penelope. Though, from the hundred or so photos, it looked like she was enjoying herself just fine.

Could it be a question of me, as a girl, being more resilient than Cindy? Maybe the stuff that drove Cindy crazy was the stuff the Penelope liked. Just because I was now the pretty, popular girl, didn’t mean I was exactly the same as her.

How fracking crazy would it be if I was better at being a girl than her?

The thought hit me like an optic blast and I stopped walking in the middle of the crowded hallway, nearly causing a catastrophic traffic jam. Had it been Sam Davenport who’d parked so abruptly, he would have been knocked over at least a half-dozen times within the first three seconds. Pee-Jay, however, was given the courtesy of having the stampeding throngs move around her.

“Come on, Peej,” Sarah said, sidling up to link her arm in with mine. “We’re going to be late.”

I glanced over and flashed the other girl a smile, a genuine one, then nodded. Together we walked like that down to the far end of the hall. Along the way, we were greeted, waved it, and occasionally cat-called in a playful manner.

And dammit if I didn’t like it a bit.

French went by a lot slower than normal. I guess when you’re busy conjugating various direct action verbs with a fourth of your attention while undressing the sexy brunette Parisian with the rest, fifty-five minutes goes by at Warp Factor 9. However, I felt too distracted by my own thoughts, and body, to spend more than five minutes studying Ms. LaCroix’s curves.

The cold water bucket dumped over my head that served to end the leering was the random thought that went through my head from out of nowhere. A thought which suggested that, while the teacher might have a more rounded bottom, I had bigger boobs.

Bam! Instant French sobriety. Merci beaucoup.

When it was over, Sarah went to wherever she was going while I went to History to have my brain numbed. Mr. Andrews, true to form, did not disappoint. He started with the myriad of entanglements and treaties that fell like dominos to start the confrontation known as World War One.

I spent the last thirty minutes with my leg vibrating at super speed as I watched the seconds tick by like hours on the big clock at the front of the room. When the bell finally rang, I almost expected to look around and see my classmates with long white beards and age spots. Surely there is some type of extreme time dilation that occurs when Mr. Andrews starts talking.

Snatching up my backpack, I hurried out the door, eager to meet up with Tracy.

In the hallway, I passed by Candice, who held up her hand to get me to stop.

“Pee-Jay…” she started.

I shook my head and kept going. “I have to go do something. See you at lunch.”

Benson High’s library was in a wing off the main building. It was two stories tall and have plenty of places for students to sit and work or socialize, quietly. Most of the activity took place on the first level. The second floor was all reference materials and boring stuff that no one bothered to read unless it was actually assigned.

When I reached the history section, I spotted Tracy at the end of one of the dimly lit stacks.

“Hey,” she said as I walked up to her. “I wasn’t completely sure you would come.”

“I want some answers. You have them. Ergo, I am here.”

She shook her head. “It’s weird to hear Pee-Jay Davenport say ‘ergo’,” she replied. “Hell, the whole thing is weird.”

“Try living it from this end,” I muttered.

“I have,” she reminded me. “Don’t forget that I, too, have experienced the stone’s power.”

I nodded. “So, first things first.” I gestured at her. “I’m guessing this wasn’t what you expected the result to be?”

Her eyes narrowed to hard little points. I recognized the expression from when her dice would continuously roll low during a gaming session. On reflex, I took a step backward.

“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “This isn’t what I wanted. It is, however, exactly what Tabby wanted.”

I blinked. “Tabby Stevens?”

She nodded. “The one and only.”

“Help me out here, Trace, because I’m starting to feel like the bimbo I resemble. Are you saying that Tabitha Stevens deliberately wished you to be … that?” I tried to keep my tone non-judgmental. I also think I might have failed.

She nodded, opening and closing her fists a few times. Then she seemed to relax and the chances of her going all Bruce Banner in the library decreased.

“I found the stone in my locker one day. It had a note explaining how to use it. Tabby and I were friends, so I thought she would be a good choice. We were both … plain. Not ugly, mind you. And certainly nowhere close to this.” She gestured at herself as I’d done.

“But, Tabitha got prettier? I mean, she’s the co-captain of the cheer squad.”

“Was the co-captain,” Tracy said. “But that’s another issue. However, you’re right. We talked about what we wanted for our wishes, and I went first. I said that I wished she would become a pretty and popular girl.”

“Of course,” I said with a bit more sarcasm than was probably necessary. “Seems to be the typical order.”

She shrugged. “Well, apparently that wasn’t good enough for the bitch. I made my wish and she got all pissed. Why did I wish for her to be ‘a’ pretty and popular girl? Why hadn’t I specifically said she should be ‘the’ prettiest and ‘the’ most popular?”

“Wow, talk about demanding.”

“Then she said if I wasn’t any better of a friend than that, I could enjoy being even more of a loser than I already was. Her wish was for me to be an overweight, unattractive nerd.” She let loose with a soft laugh that was just the other side of the border from insanity. “Guess I’m lucky the stone didn’t also throw in a penis on top of the rest.”

I shook my head. “But, why do I only remember you as … you? The Tracy Mallory I remember has been into science fiction and rpgs since freshman year. Since I used the stone, should I be … inoculated?”

She shrugged again. “The best I can guess, is that the memory of the reality before you made your wish is still your memory. Even though your whole reality has changed.” She held up her hand. “For example, I’ve been to Sam Davenport’s house dozens of times, right?”

I nodded.

“Okay. We both still remember that. However, no one else will. I mean, why would Tracy Mallory, nerdette esquire, be invited to Pee-Jay Davenport’s house? She wouldn’t. That still doesn’t change the fact that I could go there now and know the layout and details.”

I chewed on my lower lip. “So, following that logic, if someone else uses the stone to change things, they would remember me like this, and not have any idea who Sam Davenport is. But I would remember them as they were before they made a wish.”

“That’s my theory at least. And after you’ve used the stone, you also become aware when it’s been used by someone else. I woke up this morning, and instantly knew someone had made a wish.”

“You didn’t know who, though?”

“Nope. So I waited by the front entrance to see if I could spot them. When I saw you getting friendly with Lee Taylor, I knew I’d found my man. Err, woman.”

“So, you remember how the world as it was before my wish, and you also remember the world as it was after? Like, you know things about Pee-Jay’s past?”

She held up her hand and made a see-saw gesture. “Yes and no. When I first saw you, it was like my brain was identifying you as both Sam Davenport and Penelope Davenport. You know how sometimes in the movies someone will be having a false identity being confirmed and the scanner will flicker between being accepted and being rejected? It was like that.”

“That’s got to be a pain,” I said.

“It took a little getting used to. If I hadn’t seen you, though, I don’t think I would have figured it out. Until that moment, I only knew that someone had used the stone and changed reality.”

“I knew using that thing was a mistake,” I mumbled. “But she just wouldn’t listen.”

“Cindy?” Tracy asked. When I nodded, her frown deepened. “Or it might be more prudent to call her ‘Charlie’ from now on.” She shook her head. “You two screwed each other almost as bad as Tabby screwed me. And you guys weren’t even trying.”

I planted my hand on my hip, pouting a bit. “We both made our wishes while annoyed with the other. I wished she could have a life free from everyone hounding her and fawning over her all the time, just like mine. I mean, like Sam’s.”

Tracy nodded. “That clears up some things. What did she wish for you?”

I sighed. “That’s the really messed up part, Trace. We started arguing. I called her shallow and told her that I didn’t know why she was making such a big deal out of everything. I said that I didn’t understand what it was like to be beautiful and desired.”

Tracy’s frown curled up into an amused smile. “And her next words were something along the lines of her wishing you could understand it?”

“Five by five,” I said. “So now I get to shake my assets on the football sidelines and she gets to be a guy I assume is not too popular?”

“That’s putting it mildly. I don’t know if she … he’s got it worse than you used to. But it’s definitely close.”

“I didn’t want that to happen to her. I really should have been more understanding and given more consideration to the wording of my wish.”

“At least yours was accidental. Tabby dicked me over on purpose.”

“Didn’t you try to reverse the wish? I mean, if your so-called friend got mad because you hadn’t worded the wish like she wanted, why not just make new wishes.”

“We tried that,” she said, sounding dejected. “I even made her go first so she couldn’t make things worse. As soon as she made the wish, the stone informed us that only one wish per person would be granted.”

“Oh.” Well, there went Plan A of getting my manhood back.

“I suggested seeing if we could convince two other people to make wishes for us. Tabby said it was crazy to think someone would voluntarily give up the ability to do whatever they wanted to help a couple of girls trapped by their own pettiness and stupidity.”

I suddenly reached out and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug. It just seemed like the right thing to do for someone whose life the wishing stone had destroyed. For a few seconds, she let me hold her. Her face was buried in the small of my neck and her hands gripped me around the waist. Then, she pulled away and wiped at her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Most days I feel like I’ve finally come to accept what’s happened. Then there are others when I wonder if I’ll ever truly be happy with the way things are now.” A tinge of red formed on her face. “Sorry about slapping you. In your basement that night.”

I nodded. “I remember.”

The redness deepened. “It had only been a week or so since the wish. For me, that is. For everyone else, I was already a fat dork. Having you and your friends treat me like I’d been one of the group for a while made me feel really good. Then, everyone left and you and I started … you know.”

“I remember that as well.”

“Well, it scared me. It felt good to be wanted again. Desired. Even if it was by a guy I wouldn’t have given the time of day to before my fall. I suddenly realized I was becoming too accepting of my new life. So, I panicked.”

I almost hugged her again, but settled for placing my hand lightly on her arm.

“It’s okay, Trace,” I said. “I was confused with the way it ended. I see the reason behind everything now.”

She smiled, wiping at her eyes again. “You really are a nice person, Sammy. I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“Thanks,” I said, giving her a grateful smile. “Why did Tabitha give the stone to Cindy?”

She shrugged. “Not sure. Unless she figured Cindy would use it in a way similar to what she did. It wasn’t a big secret among the cheer squad that Miss Mueller was getting tired of the pressure and attention. If Cindy made herself less popular, then that would be one less competitor.”

I rolled my eyes. “It seems that trying to be better than other people, or having what they have, is a common theme with that gorram stone.”

“Of course it is, Sam. After all, Invidia was the Goddess of Jealousy and Envy.”

Well … frack!

A Wish Unwanted – Part 4
by Limbo’s Mistress

Tracy and I talked for a little bit longer, though the topic of the stone was not the focus of the conversation.

Instead, it was a question and answer session where she did her best to walk me through how to act less like someone who used, as recently as that morning, had been a guy. In other words, she coached me on how to be Penny.

Impressively enough, I was able to follow along and grasp the basic concepts rather quickly. I’ve always been the kind of person to adapt to new things without too much problem. Though, the speed with which I learned girlie things was a little scary.

“It’s probably part of the magic,” she said when I mentioned it. “I mean, if you’re cursed to understand what being an attractive, popular girl is like, it only stands to reason the stone would make it so you had to be both attractive, which you are, and popular, which would require you to behave a certain way.”

A chill crawled up my spine at that. It was bad enough the wish had changed me on the outside. To think that it could also change mental things as well was a bit too close for comfort.

When the bell ending the period sounded, I left the library feeling like I might actually be able to pull off being Penelope. At least until I found a way to undo what had been done. Despite the fact Tracy seemed to believe my chances of succeeding were a great deal less than my catching an invisible snitch at night with a flying broom.

I headed toward the cafeteria, feeling my belly rumble a little as I remembered that I had totally skipped breakfast. The surprise at my new life had sort of overridden that primal instinct. I only hoped the famished feeling could be quelled without having to scarf down everything in my path. Penny’s toned figure suggested she was the kind of her girl who didn’t devour an entire medium-sized supreme pizza by herself.

Sam’s record for that particular task, by the way, was twenty-two minutes.

Just as I neared the cafeteria, Sarah appeared beside me and pulled me aside, out of the way of the multitudes flocking toward the smell of food.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey?” she responded. “Where were you?”

“Where was I when?”

“Third period. You didn’t come to the Clubhouse.”

I groaned inside, mentally wincing as I finally remembered to connect the dots.

The Clubhouse was a large room at the back of the Benson High sports complex. Once, long ago, it existed solely as a storeroom for discarded athletic equipment. Sometime in the early nineties, a wealthy alumnus donated the funds required to clean up the place and turn it into a lounge. This generous benefactor, who had once worn the blue and white uniform of a Raiderette, felt the girls responsible for keeping up school spirit deserved a private place of their own to relax and recharge. Unofficially dubbed the Clubhouse, it was off-limits to everyone who wasn’t a member of either one of the cheer squads.

I continued to mentally slap myself. How many times had Cindy bitched about being expected to waste her free period sitting around the Clubhouse, socializing and gossiping about stupid crap that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things? It had to be in the hundreds.

Hell, she even mentioned one time that she would rather spend the hour cleaning toilet bowls.

Now, I was one of the Raiderettes. With all the stupid expectations that came with it.

“Oh,” I said, giving my shoulders a shrug. “I had to meet someone in the library.”

A sly smirk appeared on Sarah’s face. “Oh? Perhaps a clandestine meeting with a certain football player in one of the darkened stacks? Maybe one whose initials are ‘L’ and ‘T’?” A little amused giggle came out from between her pink lips.

I rolled my eyes, trying not to gag aloud. This whole thing with Penny and Lee was starting to get out of hand. As far as I was aware, they had only been out on the one date. To the movies. Of course, it was possible they’d been on others, just without anyone else at the school being privy.

Ugh. Which meant I was going to have to discreetly grill Lee to find out.

Or, maybe Pee-Jay was the kind of girl to keep a diary. One could only hope.

“For your information, Miss Nosey,” I said, turning to resume my trek to the cafeteria. “That particular individual was not present for this meeting. I was actually talking with Tracy about some things.”

Sarah, walking beside me, looked my way as confusion swam across her face. “Tracy … Mallory?”

I nodded.

“Why?”

That stopped me in mid-stride. I turned to her, trying to keep my tone civil.

“Why what? Why as in, what was the purpose of my meeting Tracy in the library? Or why, as in why was I meeting with someone like Tracy?”

She held up one of her hands, defensively. “Easy, girlfriend. Definitely the first.” She looked away for a second, then back to me. “To be honest, I didn’t think you even knew who Tracy Mallory was. I should have remembered you two share a mutual friend.”

At first, I thought she meant Tabitha. Then I realized exactly to whom she was referring. The friend I still had yet to really meet.

“You mean Charlie?”

She nodded. “Speaking of, that’s what I wanted to tell you. He came to the Clubhouse, looking for you. Like, he just walked right inside without knocking. It was nearly a scandal.”

I rolled my eyes again. However, I couldn’t completely disagree with the comment. Just barging in on a group of girls actually was kind of rude.

“Did he say what he wanted?”

Other than to slap me across the face what my share of the wish had done to him?

Sarah shook her head. “No. He just walked in, looked around, then asked if anyone knew where you were. Tabitha nearly crapped her pants when she saw him standing there.”

Oh, I just bet she did.

“Candice told him that you weren’t there, she didn’t know where you were, and that he’d better get his ass gone before she called the football team to come show him the door.”

Of course. When a dork needs correcting, call in the jocks.

“So, he just left?”

She nodded. “Though he didn’t seem too happy about it. Actually, he seemed completely out of it. Like he had been hanging with Brock and the rest of those stoners, you know?” She lowered her voice even more, her features softening a little. “Look, Peej, I get it. You and Charlie were really close when you were younger. And I don’t have anything against him, personally, you know that. But he needs to watch himself. The others …”

I nodded. Yeah, I it was easy enough to figure out what the others might do to a nerd who overstepped his bounds.

Sarah resumed walking toward the cafeteria again. After a second, I sighed and followed her.

“Of course,” she said, looking over her shoulder at me. “Charlie barging in on us wasn’t the biggest drama of the hour. It was barely an appetizer.”

“Really? What could possibly top the spectacle of having one of the lower castes show up uninvited to the Clubhouse?”

“Well … apparently Jen’s grandmother died last night. So bright and early this morning, her folks dragged her all the way up to B.F.E., Michigan for the wake and funeral. She might not make it back until Friday afternoon.”

“Really?” I asked, feeling a ray of sunlight come streaming into my soul. If Jen the Tyrant was gone for a few days, then maybe whoever led the next few cheer practices would overlook the fact that I didn’t know a handspring from a backflip. At least until I could learn the difference.

I barely managed to rein in my smile as I shook my head and tried to sound somewhat sad at the tragic news. “That’s terrible. Poor Jen.” I wasn’t the kind of monster to be overjoyed at the loss of a family member, but not having Jen around for almost a week was something to be celebrated.

Sarah gave me a look that said my feigned despair was completely no-convincing.

“Whatever, Peej. It’s not like Jen’s really broken up over it. She was more pissed that she’s going to be gone for almost the whole week.”

I nodded. “And that’s terrible news as well.” This time, I didn’t even bother to sound distraught.

Sarah laughed. “Not really. Not in the least.”

A real smile appeared on my face. It was getting easier and easier to see why Penelope and Sarah were such good friends. There was a sense of camaraderie between them. Cindy and I had been friends, but it was always more around the basis of shared likes and dislikes. The connection had been there when we were kids, but had carried an undertone of tension, sexual tension, since puberty had had its way with us.

We reached the cafeteria doors and went inside to take our queue in the line.

“However,” I said, continuing our conversation. “I’m not getting the sense that Jen’s absence is worthy of any drama. She’s gone for a bit. We’ll manage in the meantime.” The look on Sarah’s face told me that I hadn’t heard the whole story. Just the opening act. I tilted my head to the side, looking at her. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

Sarah pressed her lips together tightly, then glanced around us. The students in front and behind were grossly engaged in their own conversations. Or had their attentions focused on the phone in their hands. After a moment, she lowered her voice as she moved even closer to me.

“The reason I know about Jen’s grandmother is because called Tabitha.”

“Okay?” I said, still sure where this was going. “Jen is going to be away for almost the whole week. Of course she would call her number one flunky to make sure everything goes ‘Jen-riffic’.”

Sarah’s expression shifted from secretive to confused. Like she was having trouble following my point.

“I mean,” I said, trying not to sound patronizing. “You know how anal Jen is with making sure everything with the squad is perfectly coordinated. Especially during football season.” I knew this because Cindy had ranted repeatedly about how obsessive the little blonde dictator could be about the routines. “Her calling Tabitha and reminding her of that isn’t exactly newsworthy.”

Now Sarah’s face moved to a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Peej,” she said, staring at me. “Tabs isn’t the co-captain. You are.”

Do what now? How in the hell did that happen?

“Oh.” Yeah, I’m quite the orator, I know. To be honest, I was lucky I even got that single syllable out. Cindy wasn’t the co-captain. Why was I … err, Penny?

Tabitha was supposed to be Jen’s second in command. She had been for two years.

Tabitha. Who had used the wishing stone.

“Unless,” Sarah said. “Was there some meeting between you, Tabs, and Jen? Did you resign as co-captain?”

“I’m …well, not really sure. Actually.”

A hurtful look came over her face. “You didn’t say anything to me.”

Seeing her face downcast like that made my stomach uneasy. I didn’t want the other girl to be sad.

“Well, nothing was really finalized or decided,” I hoped that would provide a semi-satisfactory explanation. “I was going to tell you. Promise.”

She sighed. “I guess that makes sense. Because when Jen called Tabs, she acted like she already had the position. Then it got weird. I couldn’t make out what Jen was saying, but it was really loud. Like, that time she found out Candice had a pool party while she was out of town. Practically screaming. Tabs kept looking like she was going to throw up. Or cry. Or both.”

I barely repressed a small smile. I remembered the incident between the Cheer Queen and her subject, the one who dared have a big social event without her. I’d stood with the rest of the crowd, watching the little blonde berate her friend. By the time it was over, Candice was in tears and Jen had re-cemented her position as the Alpha female of Benson High.

At the time, I’d thought it hilarious the way the two bimbos argued and sniped at each other. Now, I sort of felt bad for Candice. Though not for Tabitha.

“Anyways, Tabs apologized, like, a gazillion times and told Jen she would get to the bottom of it. Whatever that means.” She shrugged and turned around to grab one of the plastic trays from the stack.

Tracy had said her wish made Tabitha part of the in-crowd. But not the top dog. So she ended up being the top dog’s assistant. A job that now belonged to Penny. Having used the stone before me meant Tabitha knew something was different this morning. Did she know she had been magically demoted before Jen called her? Was she, even now, trying to figure out who this Pee-Jay person was? Or used to be?

Considering what the bitch did to poor Tracy, I felt a warm feeling of justification and pride in knowing that I had taken some of her artificial status away from her. Even if it was by accident.

Sarah and I moved along the line, both of us staying away from the gray blocks floating in a tray full of shimmering grease. The label on the glass barrier claimed it was “Meatloaf” but I was sure the lumps barely met that definition. The mac and cheese didn’t appear much better, looking like lumpy wads of soggy pasta in processed cheese sauce leftover from the dot-com era.

Instead, we both chose a grilled chicken sandwich and a bottle of water. Mainly due to the fact that it was the most appetizing thing being offered, rather than any sort of caloric measurement. As a guy, I hadn’t cared what I put in my body. I ate what I wanted.

Whether or not that would change, now that I had a “girlish figure” to keep an eye on, remained to be seen.

We exited the cafeteria, trays in hand, and headed across the quad to the three concrete picnic tables arranged in a U-shape. As we neared the group already feasting and talking, I noticed Lee sitting with his teammates. Our eyes locked and the warm smile that appeared on his face sent a wave of butterflies swimming through my stomach.

Okay, that’s not a good sign.

I broke eye contact with the handsome boy and veered slightly left, to the side of the U that contained most of the cheer squad. Several of the girls looked up and waved at Sarah and I, happy expressions on their faces.

All except one.

Tabitha’s eyes widened in complete and utter shock the second they landed on me. Unfortunately for her, she was in the process of taking a sip of her beverage at that exact moment. She gagged, coughed, and sprayed soda from her mouth in an arc that landed on Cody’s bare arm.

“Jesus, Tabs!” he yelled. “Watch what you’re doing!” He grabbed a couple of napkins from his tray and began wiping at his hairy, and cola-stained, limb while glaring at her.

The choking girl couldn’t immediately respond, however. She continued to cough and sputter, even as Candice patted her forcefully across the back. Through it all, her eyes never stopped staring at me.

I grinned, feeling like the cat that ate an entire pet store full of canaries. As I expected, the moment Tabitha saw me, the dominos fell into place. She suddenly understood that the Pee-Jay she had no memory of was actually Sam Davenport. Though, I would have bet a million dollars she didn’t know my name. To her, to most of the people like her, Sam Davenport was just a dorky nobody she and her friends enjoyed tormenting.

Actually learning my name would have been beneath her.

Part of me wondered if she’d spent the morning wondering who this Pee-Jay person was. And why she was the co-captain in her place. Had she woken up and discovered her uniform was changed? Did she make a comment to one of the other girls in homeroom, only to be informed that Pee-Jay has usurped her position?

I sat down at the table, slightly askew from Tabitha, next to a girl named Kara Warner. The freckle-faced redhead smiled up at me and then waved at Sarah, who plopped her bottom down next to me.

“You okay there, Tabs,” I said, leaning forward a bit. “Something get you all choked up?”

She coughed a couple more times. Then, realizing that more than one set of eyes was on her, shook her head. “I’m fine,” she muttered.

I nodded, taking a sip of my water while she looked at me like she wasn’t exactly sure what she was seeing. I didn’t know what it was like to try to reconcile two, equally valid, realities in one’s head, but it was more than apparent she wasn’t as good at it as Tracy had been.

“Oh, that reminds me,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “I heard Jen called for me earlier.” I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. “Must have accidently left it on silent and didn’t hear it ring. What did she want?”

Tabitha might have recovered from her bout of dry-land drowning, but she still stared at me as if trying to understand the ‘why’ of my existence. I was sure she already knew the ‘how’.

“Jen …” she said. Then her blue eyes darted back and forth to the people around us before she crinkled her nose in a disgusted fashion and stuck out her chin. “You know what? I’m not your secretary …uh, Pee-Jay. If you want to know what she wanted, answer your damned phone next time.

Her face was flush with apparent embarrassment and anger. She stood up, grabbed her half-eaten lunch, and stormed off back into the cafeteria.

She might have departed in a huff, but I had little doubt we would be running into each other soon. She would most certainly want to know why I was now both a cheerleader and better liked than her. As soon as she was sure she could get those answers, she would be back.

“Meow!” Chad said as he watched Tabitha vanish into the building. “Tabby Cat is pissed about something.”

“Maybe it’s that time of the month,” Candice said with a smirk.

Okay, so maybe girls really did harass each other about that subject. And here I just thought it was something guys did.

I shrugged, suddenly desiring to push the envelope a bit.

“Maybe she thought Jen was calling because she was finally going to let her have my spot on the squad. I mean, it’s no secret Tabitha wants to replace me.”

Tabitha. Because in my mind, Pee-Jay would never be as friendly with the blonde as to call her “Tabs”.

Kara rolled her eyes. “As if. Tabs is dreaming if she thinks she can replace you. Hell, half the time Jen can barely keep up with you.”

There was a collective, nearly soundless, gasp from the rest of the girls around me. All except Sarah, that is. Candice shook her head, staring at Kara. It was a look that said the other girl shouldn’t say such blasphemous things aloud about the head Raiderette.

Which was understandable. If Jen was willing to rip a fellow Raiderette to shreds over missing a party, the penalty for mutiny would be far worse.

I shrugged, pretending like I wasn’t concerned. Like I was just another “above the masses” snob. “No harm in her dreaming, right? I’m sure she’ll cool down when she remembers how things really are. Rather than how she thinks they should be.”

From there, the conversation took a much lighter turn. We discussed the latest gossip of who was dating who. Who had broken up with who. And a disturbingly detailed poll about this of the guys had the nicest ass.

By ‘we’, I mean the rest of the squad. I personally didn’t have much of a horse in the race. Though, to be perfectly, completely honest, I had to agree with those who thought Lee Taylor’s posterior was the best.

It was weird, having a conversation like that with a bunch of girls I wouldn’t have saved from drowning the day before. Actually, the more I experienced it, the more I realized it was pretty much like the conversations me and my friends had during our lunches. Though, concerning widely different topics.

A few minutes later, however, I felt Kara stiffen beside me.

Before I could look at what had startled her, I heard Candice say, in an annoyed voice, “Oh god, Upchuck’s back.”

I turned around and saw Cindy, now Charlie, slowly approaching our table.

“Candice!” hissed Sarah. “Behave.” Her stern tone was scolding.

I glanced from Charlie to Sarah, then over to Candice, who looked at me with an ashamed look on her face.

“Sorry, Pee-Jay,” she said, then broke eye contact.

Upchuck? What was that about?

Cindy made his way to our table, ignoring everyone in the quad but me. From the corner of my eye, I noticed several of the football players turn to watch the unexpected arrival. However, none of them moved to intercept him. I couldn’t help but speculate that it was because of my presence. From the way Candice had behaved after calling him what I was sure was a derogatory nickname, it wasn’t that hard to assume any harassment fostered upon the freshly minted boy was done out of Penelope’s sight.

As Charlie came closer, I took a moment to examine the effect of the wish on him.

From the photo affixed to Penny’s mirror, and the knowledge he was considered an outcast, I had some inkling of what to expect. Though, I had to admit it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.

His hair was still golden blonde and wavy, though not as shiny or well-coiffed as Cindy’s. It hung down into his face some, partially covering his left eye. It also stuck up at an angle near the back in what could only be describes as the Cowlick from Hell. His face had was a smattering of pimples dotting his forehead and cheeks, as well as two larger blemishes among the scruffy stubble poking out of his chin.

Far from the nearly clear complexion Cindy enjoyed, but nothing worse than what three-fifths of the school had to deal with.

He was skinnier than I had been, though not skeleton-thin, and wore a pair of faded black jeans which were ripped at the knees, red Converse trainers, and a TARDIS t-shirt beneath a windbreaker adorned with a Star Fleet logo patch on the front.

In summary, he was far less attractive than the pretty seventeen-year-old he’d been on Saturday, but still far better than I had ever looked. There was a tiny bit of comfort in that.

He stopped a few feet away from the table, looking more nervous about talking to me than worrying about the hulking dudes nearby.

“Uh, Pee-Jay?” he said, keeping this eyes squarely on me. “Do you think we can talk for a minute? Alone?”

Every head swiveled simultaneously from the boy to me. As if what I was about to do, or say, would be the most interesting thing they would see that day.

I didn’t even hesitate. Not even for a second.

Rising to my feet, I nodded. “Of course.” Leaving my tray, but grabbing my purse, I glanced over at Sarah. “See you later.”

She waved, then looked over at Charlie, giving him a tiny nod of acknowledgment. The gesture reinforced my opinion of the other girl. Had Sarah been this cool back when Cindy was her teammate? Or did she tolerate Charlie for the sake of her friendship with Penny?

Forget about the physical upheavals the Invidia Stone could cause. The philosophical ones were even more complex.

Charlie turned around and walked out of the quad, deciding to go around the corner of the building rather than back into the still-crowded cafeteria. I followed along, unable to glance back at my new associates. Most of them were watching me depart.

Lee Taylor among them. Though, his neutral expression about what was happening stood in stark contrast to the majority.

After a minute or so, we stopped next to a large rock a few dozen yards from the school. The boulder was about six feet high, shaped like a sideways egg, and painted blue and white. It bore several spirited slogans such as: “Raiders Rule!” and “BHS Class of 2017 Rocks!”

I glanced around, making sure we were far enough away from anyone else to keep from being overheard. Then I turned around to look at Cindy.

“I’m sorry,” we both said in unison. Then we both blinked a couple of times before bursting out laughing. Gallows humor.

Cindy recovered first. “Seriously, Sam,” he said, frowning. “I was so mad I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

I shrugged. “Well, I did call you ‘shallow’. You had every right to be pissed.”

“Still, I wanted to use to stone to make my life better. Not screw up yours.”

“It’s not all on you,” I said, reaching out to touch him on the arm. “I messed up my part of the wish, too.” As if to iterate, I gestured at his new appearance.

A small smile, completely genuine crossed his face. Then he shrugged. “It’s okay, Sammy. Really. I mean, yeah, waking up this morning with a penis, and a fracking stiff one at that, was a bit … disconcerting. Of all the ways I expected the wish to work, that wasn’t one of them. Didn’t think the thing was ever going to deflate enough for me to put on some pants.”

I felt my own cheeks warm a bit. It was one thing to talk bodily reflexes in an abstract way with a member of the opposite sex. It was completely another to discuss them with someone who was now the same sex.

“Yeah, I used to wake up like that all the time,” I said. “Cold showers will solve that issue in a second.” Then I planted my hand on my hip, smirking. “Although, I guess morning wood isn’t going to be a problem I have to deal with anymore.”

He rolled his eyes. “No, you’ll get to experience other stuff. I’ll be sure to rush over with some pads and a pint of mint chocolate chip sometime in the next twenty-eight days.”

I stuck my tongue out at her, though the thought behind her words sent a shiver up my spine. I’d already accepted that I was going to have periods. Accepted in theory, that is. However, I completely lacked the knowledge set required to deal with what every other girl had experienced since they were around thirteen.

As close as Sarah and Pee-Jay were, I doubted I could call her and ask for help.

“I’ll be sure to call you at the first sight of blood,” I said, meaning it. Then I sighed, feeling my mind turn to more serious matters. “How are you doing? Really?”

Another shrug. “Managing. I almost went to the wrong first period. Luckily, it seems that Charlie never got around to taking his schedule out of that packet they hand out at the start of the year. It was a lifesaver.”

I nodded. “I know what you mean. Thankfully Penelope is the type to keep a detailed calendar on her phone. Otherwise, I would have been completely lost.”

“I got the classes I couldn’t take before. AP Physics, Honors Calculus, Advanced Programming.” If she had still been Cindy, she would have squealed with happiness.

“I got a much lighter fare,” I said dejectedly. “As well as cheer, homecoming committee, and … ballet.”

His face fell. “Oh, wow. I … wow.”

“Yep. And I don’t know how to do any of them. Except maybe the committee. Since Pee-Jay’s in charge, I guess I’ll just order other people to do the work.”

“Welcome to being popular. Now you get to find out what it’s like when everyone wants some of your time. All the time.” She waggled a pair of slightly bushy eyebrows at me.

“Yay.” I said unenthusiastically. “Not to mention that the stone decided that, on top of everything else, I needed a boyfriend.”

His eyes widened dramatically. “No shit? Who?”

I sighed. “Lee Taylor.”

His jaw actually dropped open for a full three seconds of speechless gawking. Then, slowly, he recovered from the impromptu shutdown and rebooted, shaking her head.

“That’s crazy,” he said. “I mean, good for Pee-Jay. Lee deserves to be with a good girl after dealing with Jen’s crazy ass for so long.” The venom in her voice could have downed a Nazgul. The hate Cindy had for Jennifer Winters was known only to me.

“Well, I think we’re keeping it on the DL for now. Lucky for me, Jen went to Michigan for a funeral.”

“So I heard. I think half the school is happy to be free of her for a few days.” She smirked. “Hey, maybe you should take over. Be a kinder, more benevolent bitch.”

I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue. “Ha, ha. No chance of that happening. I can’t topple Miss Thang from her throne. Hell, I’m barely surviving as a girl as it is.”

“Puh-lease,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You look completely amazing. You definitely make a much better girl than I ever did.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Sure, Cindy had been pretty, and well-liked, and talented. But she never enjoyed any of it. Not really. Whenever she could get away and hang with our old friends, she shifted back into her tomboy persona.

As if Cindy the Cheerleader was a mask she felt she had to wear to make other people happy. One she only took off around those she felt comfortable. People like Sam.

Now, she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. She could be whomever she wanted.

“That might be true on the outside,” I said. “But inside, I’m a complete mess. I’m trying to walk a line between being natural and being … uh …”

“A dude in a hot girl’s body?”

“Exactly! I can bluff through most of it, but I’m going to be screwed when it comes time to actually cheer. Or, heaven forbid, put on a tutu.”

Charlie winced. “Now I really am sorry, hon. Cheering is a cakewalk next to dancing.”

“Well, I don’t know how to do either.”

He looked me over for a second, then snapped his fingers. “I’ll coach you.”

“Coach me? On how to dance?”

“Sure! I’ll come over this evening. We can go over the basics. Of both dancing and cheering. As well as how to put on makeup.” Then she leaned in and looked at my face. “Though, holy crap, your complexion is amaze-balls. The stone certainly didn’t skimp out on the bonus features.” As if on cue, his eyes drifted down to the swells of my generous bustline. “On any of the bonus features.”

“Hey! Eyes up here, Charlie.” Then I gave him a curious look. “Why did Candice call you ‘Upchuck’ back there?”

He sighed. “So, apparently back in freshman year, Charlie had a thing for Sarah Strand.”

I nodded. “Understandable. She’s really pretty. You guys would make great babies.”

“Oh frack off. Anyway, right before winter formal, he finally got the courage to ask her out.”

“She said no?” I phrased it as a question, but even I knew the story must not have a happy ending.

“She never got the chance to turn him down. Right as he walked up to her, he vomited all over the hallway floor. Guess he was too nervous or something.” He sighed. “Anyways, Chad Barrow thought it would be funny to start calling him ‘Upchuck’. You know, Chuck being short for Charles. It’s stuck around ever since. Especially among the jocks.”

“That sucks donkey balls,” I said.

“Eh, what can you do? You put up with far worse shit, Sammy. If you can survive it, so can I.”

He smiled, then nodded his head back in the direction of the quad.

“You might want to head back. Before Lee comes looking for you. Not sure how he’ll feel about you hanging out alone with Upchuck.”

I gritted my teeth. “Well, if he has any hopes at all about being with me, he better realize that picking on my friends is the best way to get on my bad side.”

He opened his mouth, then simply closed it and nodded. There was no reason to point out that Cindy had never had the same conviction.

“So, you’ll come over tonight? After six? I should be home by then.”

“Will do.” He started to walk off, away from the quad. Then he turned back and looked at me. “I know we aren’t as close now as we were before the wish. I don’t know if that distance is because of our feelings when we made the wish. Or if that’s just the way things went for Charlie and Penny.”

I smiled at him. “We can change that, right? Just because reality was twisted around us doesn’t mean we can’t make a few alterations of our own.”

He shrugged. “According to Tracy, the changes made by the stone are pretty difficult to mess with. If Penny’s popularity hinges on her not resuming her friendship with Charlie, then I think you’ll find our odds of us successfully changing it to be approximately 3,720 to 1.”

I felt my smile widen. “Never tell me the odds,” I replied.

Back in the quad, I discovered that everyone had departed to go to their next class. Everyone, that was, except Lee.

I rounded the corner and saw him standing by the table, my backpack in his hand. He smiled a little as I walked up, hefting the bag up and out toward me.

“I told Sarah I’d make sure you got this.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking it from him and slipping it over my shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He gave me a devilish smirk and shrugged. “Well, I figured since we were heading in the same direction, I could walk with you.” Then he tilted his head to look down at me. “Unless, that’s not okay.”

I didn’t need to access the Chick-Computer to decipher his meaning. He’d seen me walk off with Charlie and wasn’t completely sure if he wanted to know what that had been about. I did have to give him props, though. If he was jealous, he sure didn’t let it show through that smile.

“It’s okay,” I said, surprised that I actually meant it. “Since we’re going the same way, as you put it.” I gave him a little smirk and walked back into the school.

We made our way to British Lit. Along the way, I managed to glean a little insight as to what was currently going on in the class.

“Coleridge is a little long winded, don’t you think?” Lee asked as we climbed the steps to the second floor. “But The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of my favorite poems.”

Thankfully, I knew of the tale. More from a half-assed campaign Ronnie Boles tried to run last summer. The dude could play a rogue like nobody’s business, but when it came to actually DMing a game, he was worthless.

“I agree,” I said. “What about, uh, Bronte?” That was a British chick writer, right? Or was she an American?

Lee arched a brow. “Which one? There were three.”

Way to go, Sammy. Now he’s really going to think you’re a dimwit.

Not that I really cared what Lee thought about me. Nope. Negative. Nada. Nyet.

“Uh, the first one,” I said, feeling my cheeks warm.

“Charlotte. She’s not too bad. I prefer Emily’s stuff though.” He lowered his voice. “I have to keep it from the rest of the guys that I actually find literature interesting. The last time I mentioned a poem that wasn’t on the syllabus, I got razzed for a week.”

I stopped walking to look at him for a moment, then resumed my pace.

No, my heartbeat had not increased. And I definitely, absolutely, positively did not suddenly wonder if my hair looked okay.

Oh… this wasn’t good.

I stopped again, pointing at the restroom we were about to pass. “Do you mind going on without me? I need to make a detour.”

He followed my finger, then looked back at me, nodding. “Of course. I’ll see you in class.”

I forced a smile on my face, not that it was that hard to do. Then I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

“Frack! Frack! Frack!” I repeated in a slightly loud whisper. “What the frack is going on?”

I walked past the stalls, peering under the door of each to make sure I was completely alone in the room. Then I went over to the sinks, dropped my purse and backpack on the floor, and stared at the girl in the mirror.

Her face was flushed, from what I hoped was the panic attack I felt coming on. Part of me doubted it. I shook my head and turned on the faucet, filling my hands with water and splashing it on my face. It was a good thing I’d skipped the makeup, since I would have turned it into a soggy mess.

I grabbed a couple of paper towels from the holder and blotted my cheeks and forehead dry. The edges of my hair were damp, but not enough to really notice. I threw the towels away and leaned in toward the mirror, locking eyes with the beauty I saw there.

“What in the hell are you doing?” I asked her. “We cannot be … enticed … by Lee Taylor. He is a guy. We are a guy. We are not gay.”

The girl looking back at me mouthed the words in perfect synch with me. Though her breathy alto was the only voice that was audible. She also seemed to have a superior expression on her face. One that said that if we were gay, we’d be getting flushed being around Sarah.

“Oh, shut up,” I told her. “You went out on one freaking date with the guy. That’s not quite enough time for you to start getting all revved up in his company.” I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting at her. “I won’t have it.”

Just then, I heard a buzzing sound emanating from the purse at my feet. Leaning down, I reached inside and pulled out my phone. When I turned it over, the caller ID read “HBIC”.

I rolled my eyes. Of course Penny would consider Jen to be the Head Bitch in Charge.

The phone continued to ring as I stared at it. Should I answer? What if Jen asked me something that I couldn’t answer. Like what routines I was planning on putting the squad through in her absence. Or why I wasn’t at the Clubhouse earlier?

What if she was calling because she found out about me and Lee?

“Better answer it,” I told myself. “Tenacious bitch like that will just keep calling and calling, getting more pissed each time you don’t pick up.”

The good news was that her call had pumped some much-needed ice water into my motor.

Sighing, I swiped my thumb across the face of the screen and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello, Jen,” I said, trying to sound like I didn’t want to tell her to go for a swim in a Great Lake.

The voice that came through the earpiece dripped with malice and fury. It was the kind of voice one might imagine the monster under the bed possessed. Something that could incite fear with just a whisper.

“Hello, Penelope,” Jennifer Winters said. “Or, would you prefer Sam?”

A Wish Unwanted – Part 5
by Limbo’s Mistress

“Uh,” I said, fighting with the screaming alarms going off in my head. “What are you …”

“Look, Davenport,” Jen interrupted, sounding like she was having to rein in her outdoor voice. “I have enough shit on my plate at the moment. So I have neither the time, nor patience to figure out what the hell is going on between you and Stevens. I just know the two of you had better get it settled. Fast. If I come back to find all my hard work ruined, both of your asses are in deep trouble.”

Then she hung up before I could say anything else.

I stared at the phone in my hand for a moment, feeling my pulse slowly descend from somewhere around low-earth orbit.

She had called me Sam. Right? I hadn’t just misheard her.

Sam. Of course, the rest of the short, brutal call was exactly of the type a mega-bitch like Jennifer Winters would have with one of her subordinates. She’d talked to me (well, down to me, technically), just as I’d heard her talk to the rest of the cheer squad a hundred times before.

The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced my imagination had caused me to hear the wrong name.

Okay, maybe not actually convinced. More like, trying to talk myself into believing that I’d heard incorrectly.

By the time I got to class, a half-second before the bell, my heartbeat was back out of the red line and my spider-sense wasn’t going haywire. Lee’s eyes drifted over my way as I strolled up the middle of the aisle, trying to decide on a seat. Given the way the population of the class seemed to be distributed, people I knew to be friends sitting together, I hazarded a guess that the desks weren’t assigned.

There were four vacant seats, including one right behind Lee. Against my better judgment, I selected that one.

No sooner had my jean-clad bottom touched the wood, the football star turned around to look at me. The smile on his face was still beaming with the wattage of a warp core, but there was a note of concern in his eyes.

“Everything okay?” he asked in a soft voice.

No, actually. Things are definitely not okay. Because, not only did I wake up this morning to find out that I had become a crazy-popular hot girl who was co-captain of the school’s cheer team, but I think it’s possible a more-than-comfortable number of people around here have been messing with a really powerful magical talisman.

“Yeah,” I replied, cupping a hand over the irritated voice in my head. “Everything’s peachy.”

Lee’s smiled widened. “Good,” he said, then turned around to face the front of the room.

The class itself wasn’t bad. Mr. Eastman had quite the flair for the dramatic. Which wasn’t the least bit surprising, since he was also the faculty advisor for the drama club. As he went through the passages in Coleridge’s magnum opus, he changed his pitch and tone multiple times, creating multiple voices as he acted out the sad, slightly horrific, tale.

I might have even found myself enjoying it, had I been able to stop thinking about Jen. As well as Tabitha, Tracy, Cindy, and myself. I knew for a fact that four of us had used the wishing stone. I just wasn’t sure about Jen.

Sure, her current social standing could be a result of the magic. Maybe she had used it to become the queen bee of Benson High. After all, that’s what Tabitha had wanted the stone to give her. The issue was, being one of the newest players to the game, I wouldn’t know one way or the other. As far as my memories were concerned, Jen had always been a beautiful bitchy girl.

I also couldn’t rule out the remote possibility that Jen hadn’t used the stone. It was all too easy to imagine Tabitha making a phone call after the way she stormed off during lunch. What if she called to complain to Jen that I didn’t deserve to be the second in command of the squad?

Would she risk trying to convince the other girl that I wasn’t really who everyone thought I was? That I was actually a boy named Sam Davenport who had been magically transformed by a wishing stone. Maybe that’s why Jen called me “Sam” in her patented snarky tone before moving into berating both Tabitha and I for being disagreeable with each other.

It was possible. In the same way it was possible that Benjamin Sisko was a better captain than Jean-Luc Picard.

Which was to say, not very at all.

“Pee-Jay?” Mr. Eastman said, yanking me back to the world outside my paranoid brain. “Would you like to explain why She-Life-In-Death chose to make the Mariner hers?”

Do what? She who? Jesus, I really needed to stop crawling around inside my own brain and pay more attention in my classes. Or else Penelope was going to find herself on the wrong side of academic probation.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and scrambled to gather around me every bit of knowledge I could recall from those lame ass D&D sessions based on this poem.

Okay, I think I remembered something about two celestial beings wagering for the lives of some of the NPCs our party was helping. One of them won the life of a crooked village elder, and the deity turned him immortal. But the other otherworldly being killed all of the people he’d ever cheated. Including most of his friends and family. Our group was supposed to help the elder accept his losses and deal with the guilt of not being able to help them.

“Uh,” I said as I placed my hands in my lap and crossed my fingers. “She wanted him to stay alive to, uh, sort of a penance. For what he did?”

The rest of the class was turned to look at me, causing my already warm face to grow hotter. I’d never liked answering in class when I was Sam. Even when I knew I was right.

Mr. Eastman looked at me for another second or two before giving me a slight nod of his head.

“Close enough. Please try to pay closer attention to the lecture, okay?”

I nodded emphatically. “Yes, sir. I will.”

Shoving the conundrum of my brief phone call with Jen, I focused solely on the rest of the class, trying to follow along. Apparently I was going to be spending a good portion of my evening trying to catch up on some past-due reading.

Too bad the stone’s magic hadn’t given me all the knowledge Penelope was supposed to have. Things were hectic enough without fighting to catch up on her fracking studies.

Thankfully, the bell rung about fifteen minutes after my chastisement. I put my book into my backpack, zipped the flap closed, then looked up to see Lee leaning across my desk. His face was only about six inches from mine.

“Whoa!” I said, leaning back a bit.

He laughed, giving a shake of his head. His smile never faltered.

I did not like the way it made me feel inside. I accepted I would have to deal with new … sensations. Just didn’t expect giddy to be one of them.

“I was wondering,” he said as I stood up beside him. “Think I could convince you to go with me to the Coffee Café after school? You know, since it’s Monday. No cheer practice.”

Oh thank the gods! I had completely forgotten that Jen gave the squad Monday’s off. I think she knew if she tried to force them to practice five days a week, someone was going to rebel and shove a megaphone down her throat.

I looked up into Lee’s eyes, feeling a frown form on my face before I replied. It was only afterwards that I realized it was genuine. I actually felt a twinge of regret about having to turn down his offer.

“I can’t,” I said, shrugging. “I’ve got a Homecoming Committee meeting right after school. It’s the first one, and I’m apparently the chairperson.” Then, before the Sam portion of my brain could react, I placed my hand lightly on his arm. “Raincheck?”

Jesus Christ! The limb beneath the sleeve of his button-down shirt was solid as a lump of marble. I could feel the curves and muscles under my fingertips. It was an Endor-sized battle of willpower to take my hand away.

In the end, I managed to cool the little minx’s jets.

Lee smiled wider and nodded. “Of course. I can’t believe I forgot about Homecoming. You mentioned it a couple of times Saturday, after all.”

“Yeah, I did. So, next time, okay?” Dialing back the hormones a little more.

“Absolutely.”

I said my goodbyes to Lee, who seemed a little disappointed I didn’t ask him to walk me to my next class. As it were, several students that drifted past us in the hall turned to look. More than a few of them began whispering to each other the second they were out of earshot. I felt my face warming again.

Penny and Lee’s blossoming romance was going to be the talk of the school by the end of the day. If not, then at least by the first bell tomorrow.

Maybe I could convince Mom to let me call in dead tomorrow.

I made my way back to my locker. Inside, hanging near the back was a small athletic bag. I pulled it off the hook and placed it on the floor of the locker. When I unzipped it, I found Penelope’s gym clothes.

Glancing around to make sure I wasn’t being watched, I leaned in and sniffed the bag’s contents. I mean, after all, it was Monday. Chances were the garments had been marinating inside the locker for the whole weekend.

To my surprise, they smelled like they’d just come out of the dryer. There was an undertone of lilac to them.

Hey, go figure. The wishing stone not only took away my manhood, it managed to do my laundry at the same time.

Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I shut the locker and made my way to the sports complex. Along the way, I continuously reminded myself that I needed to go left after going through the building’s front doors. Not right. Left went into the girls’ locker rooms. Right went to the boys’.

Left. Left. Left. Left.

I pulled open the heavy glass door stenciled with the words, “Jacob Claxton Memorial Sports Complex” scrawled across the front in white block letters. Then, I promptly turned right.

“Pee-Jay?” Someone called from behind me.

I froze, blinking wildly as I realized my hand was in the process of reaching for the handle of the wrong door. I pulled the limb back as if from a roaring bonfire and spun around to see Sarah standing at the entrance to the girls’ area. She had a curious expression on her face.

“Hey!” I said, trying to sound casual. “I think my brain is having some serious crossed wires today.” I hooked my thumb at the door behind me. “Or something.”

Sarah smirked. “Maybe you were hoping to catch a sneak peek at the guys? Or a particular guy?”

“Lee doesn’t have gym this period,” I said, returning her smirk.

“Too bad,” she said. “Of course, I’m sure he would let you peek anytime you wanted.”

Yeah, really didn’t need the mental image that came with that statement. Nor the warmth that was flaring up more often when I thought about the studly football player.

“You are so bad,” I said, moving past her and into the correct locker room.

I’m ashamed to say, I did the thing. I skipped groping myself this morning. I also did my best to walk, talk, and sit like a proper young lady. However, I honestly could not stop myself from doing the other thing. The third thing.

After all, wasn’t really a guy who had just walked, unchallenged, into Nirvana?

The girl’s locker room in and of itself wasn’t all that different than the guys’. Rows of bright right metal units running in a set of four columns. Polished wood benches running the length of the spaces between them. Tile floor in a black and white checkerboard pattern. Pretty much the same at it was across the way.

There were differences, of course. For one, the layout was backwards from what I was used to. The narrow hallway, made of blue and white painted cinderblocks, that led out into the gym itself was on the left side of the room. The entrance to the showers was located on the right.

Another difference was it smelled a whole lot better in there than in the guys’ locker room. The slightly tangy aroma of sweat still hung in the air, but it was fresher. Feminine. It reminded me of an old commercial that insisted that only guys sweated. Girls perspire. Stupid marking bullshit, right?

Only, it wasn’t. Mainly because inhaling it didn’t make me crinkle my nose and want to gag.

Yet, none of those could be classified as anything close to earth-shattering.

However, it was the third difference between the two dressing rooms that caused me to screech to a halt the second I passed through the heavy wooden door. Rather than the usual spectacle of a noisy, bustling locker room filled with hairy assed guys farting and laughing while they changed their clothes, the room before me was filled with girls.

Girls in their underwear. Girls in just panties. And some girls who were completely and totally nude.

It was the golden ticket that went into every guy’s spank bank fantasy. The sort of thing that teenage comedies showed, but most guys felt was complete fiction. As I stood there, staring wide-eyed with oncoming brain overload, it suddenly felt like all the ridiculous crap I’d had to put up with since waking up as Penelope had been worth it. The reward for keeping my wits about me through the wish’s rollercoaster ride.

I was in Terra Incognito. The Forbidden Zone. The Delta Quadrant.

“Come on, Peej,” Sarah said as she walked past me, grabbing my arm. “We’re going to be late getting out on the floor. The Butcher will make us do pushups, or run a million laps, or something equally lame.”

I shook my head, trying to both clear my thoughts while I attempted cram all the mental snapshots I’d just collected into a secure location in my memory. To be analyzed and scrutinized later. You know, for research purposes.

Strictly scientific.

Sarah half-dragged me into the throngs of woman-flesh in motion. Most of the girls we passed waved or said hello. I tried to respond like I assumed Penny would. Which meant when Janie Jordan turned around to face me, with absolutely no support around her humongous breasts, I kept my eyes focused squarely on her face.

“Hey Pee-Jay,” she said, smiling. “I’m having a pool party this Saturday night. It’d be awesome if you were there.”

Eyes up! Eyes up! Eyes up!

“Cool,” I said, clenching my jaw as I felt my resolve start to falter. “I’ll try to come.”

She beamed and turned back to her locker to finish getting dressed. As she did, I gave in and glanced down at the massive mammaries that had been the subject of many a spirited debate between Sammy and his dorky pals. Mostly revolving around the topics of how real they might be and what one of us would do to them, should we find ourselves in the completely unlikely position of being allowed to do something with them.

However, as my gaze shifted down, I realized that something had changed. And it wasn’t Janie.

She was still well-stacked and shapely of bosom, something I found I could appreciate. The problem was, it didn’t do anything for me. Nada.

Sure, I didn’t really expect to pop a boner while looking at them. Not that I hadn’t many times in the past. I just currently didn’t have the proper equipment for that type of reaction. I had, though, expected to feel something. A swell of lust, perhaps? Or even a bit of an internal goggling at seeing, for the first time, a pair of luscious boobs that wasn’t on a digital screen.

Instead, I felt nothing. No rise in libido. No increase in my pulse. It was like looking at a really nice …comic. One in which the artwork was pretty good, but the story being told in the panels was pretty much just there. No passion to be found.

What the frack?

I quickly yanked open the drawer in my brain that was filled to overflowing with all the stored mental images of a thousands of female forms. From the slightly naughty catgirls from various anime shows, to the dozens of female cosplayers my friends and I drooled over constantly. Not to mention the roll of psychic photos I’d taken after entering the locker room.

Not a single one of them created so much as a flutter within me.

Sarah tugged on my arm again, and I allowed her to draw me along until we stopped in front of a pair of metal doors at the end of the row. The one before me was a full-length cage, rather than the half-length ones we’d just passed. A little metal plate affixed to the top of the door had a piece of white tape stuck to the front of it. “Pee-Jay”.

Oh look, a personalized locker. Thanks universe, but that doesn’t exactly make up for taking away my sex drive.

Wait. That wasn’t right, was it? I thought about how I’d reacted to Lee’s presence since that morning. Increased heartrate, nervous trembles in my stomach, the electricity that had passed between us when I touched his arm. Great Caesar’s Ghost! I’d behaved just like the lead in some syrupy rom-com.

I sighed and leaned forward to place my forehead against the cool, metal door of the locker.

“I’m a heterosexual girl with a crush on a football player,” I mumbled with defeat.

Sarah giggled and bumped me with her hip. “That you are, girlfriend. Lucky for you, he’s crushing back.”

I shook my head and pulled back from the locker. I almost turned to tell Sarah that the problem was that I shouldn’t be crushing on Lee Taylor because I was not a heterosexual girl. I was actually a heterosexual guy. Or at least I’d been one before that morning.

Instead, I stuck my tongue out at her and went about the process of getting changed.

Inside the little athletics bag, I found a pair of blue shorts with BHS stenciled in white on the left leg. Exactly like the pair I normally would wear for gym class. Only these were a little shorter in length. There was also a white t-shirt with blue trim around the neck and sleeves, as well as the word “Benson” in blue cursive script across the chest. Under the clothes were a pair of white ankle socks, a white sports bra, and a pair of black and pink Nikes.

At least I had one article of clothing that wasn’t just overflowing with “school spirit”.

Was that who I was now? Miss Rah-Rah, Benson High For-EVER!!!

If that was what my new reality entailed, someone just kill me now.

When I pushed my jeans down to my ankles, Sarah snickered and poked me in one of my butt cheeks with her finger.

“Nice granny panties, Peej,” she said. “Please tell me you wore something a little sexier on Saturday.”

I rolled my eyes, pulling the black denim free from my feet. “It’s laundry day, okay?” I huffed, standing up to hang my jeans in the locker. “These were the only ones that were clean.”

She giggled again, turning to hang her own pants up. Her shapely bottom was clad in a dark green thong that rode high on her hips and was trimmed in lace at the top. It drew the eye to an ass that had been born of thousands of hours of exercise and training. An ass I’d admired from afar since freshman year.

Now, I was within biting distance of it, and couldn’t care less.

“Tell me another one,” she said as she turned back to me and unfastened her bra. “I happen to know that you would have to skip laundry day for about six months before running out of underwear.”

“Can we drop it?” I asked, trying not to sound like a total bitch. “I was in a hurry this morning and grabbed the first thing I could from the drawer. It’s not like I’m wearing them with the intention of impressing anyone.”

She blinked, stopping in the middle of pulling on her t-shirt so that her head and one arm were through the holes, but the other was not. A small frown instantly replaced her amused smile.

“Sorry,” she said, sounding a little put out. “I was just teasing.” She pulled the shirt the rest of the way on and sat down to lace up her own sneakers.

I sighed, stepping into my shorts, pulling them up to my newly curved hips. The seat of the pants clung like a second skin to my bottom, and the legs felt way too short to be the proper length. I might have once enjoyed seeing how they looked on girls before I became one. Now, I just wished they were a few sizes larger.

“Sarah…” I said, grabbing my t-shirt.

She closed her locker and waved her hand. “It’s fine. See you in class.” With that, she walked off around the corner, heading toward the door.

I plopped down on the bench, gripping the white cotton tightly in my pretty manicured hands. Apparently Sarah and Penelope had a playfully antagonistic friendship. One where they picked at each other in a non-threatening manner, with each teasing the other without any trace of maliciousness.

Like … well, like a couple of dudes.

The revelation of that hit me like a gundam rocketing around a corner. I’d always assumed that girls spent most of their time sniping at each other. Bickering and comparing themselves in a constant battle for feminine supremacy. It had never even occurred to me that they might actually be friends. Real friends.

I mean, Cindy almost never hung around other girls at school unless it was with the rest of the squad. She had mentioned to me multiple times that, despite the fact she really didn’t care for being around them, she felt obligated to do so. She claimed she had a better time, and was more comfortable, hanging out with me and the guys from our gaming group.

Penny, though, seemed to have a real friendship with Sarah. Probably with a few others as well. Tabitha not included. Sarah might tease her friend, but it was clear she was loyal to her. There was no jealousy, or meanness, to their interaction. They really were BFFs.

And I’d let my manly self-esteem try to derail that.

I finished getting dressed and hurried through the door into the gym. The gaggle of girls standing in a loose clump on the far side of the floor gave me a direction in which to go. When I neared the group, I saw that Mrs. Burchett, aka The Butcher, was going over the day’s planned activity.

“The teams will be six versus six,” she said, walking back and forth in front of her class. “I expect you to work together with the others in your group. Volleyball is a team sport, so no superstar showing off. Matthews, I’m talking to you.”

Caitlin Matthews, power forward for the Benson High girls’ basketball team, smirked.

“Understood, Coach.”

“The score will be capped at six points. First team to get there wins. Winner of each round will play each other. The two losing teams will battle to see who is really the worst of the bunch.” She grinned harshly as she turned around to look at me. “You’re late, Davenport.”

A warmth ran onto my face and, though I’m not sure why, I reached down and tugged on the legs of my shorts. As if I could make them longer.

“Sorry, Coach. I was …”

“Don’t care,” she said with a little sneer. “Coach Ferguson and the other teachers might be willing to give the precious Raiderettes extra privileges. Not me.” She jerked her head up toward the indoor track that ran around the perimeter of the gym’s interior. “Twenty laps. Then you can join whichever team will have you.”

I opened my mouth to protest the unfairness of her order. But the look in her eyes told me that doing so would only make my punishment worse. When I glanced over The Butcher’s shoulder, I could see the look of surprise and disbelief on the faces of my classmates.

Apparently Penelope wasn’t the kind of girl who got into trouble with a teacher. Which meant she certainly didn’t talk back.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said as I turned around and jogged to the steps leading up to the track. Once at the top, I continued forward, keeping my pace steady as I began making my required circuits.

I tried to follow the course of the games taking place down below as I jogged around and around.

The guys’ class was playing basketball on the other end of the gym from where the girls were. Half of them had taken off their shirts, and the bright lights hanging down over them gave their sweaty bodies, taut with bulging muscles, a glimmering sheen.

More than once, I reached down and pinched myself in the side rather hard. It was bad enough that I reacted like a cat in heat around Lee. I didn’t need to be going full-nympho just because some rather hunky young men were dribbling, running, and jumping around shirtless.

As for the class I was supposed to be in, I was pretty sure Sarah’s team had won the first match. Not surprising, since that group was comprised of Sarah, Kara, Caitlin, Elle Jasper, Monica Keene, and Stephanie Smith. It had been a completely lop-sided affair. Sarah and Kara were Raiderettes, as was Stephanie. Elle was on the basketball team with Caitlin, and Monica was the captain of the fracking varsity volleyball team.

Their demolition of the opposing side, whose most athletic member was Tracy Mallory, was never in doubt.

I felt a flame of annoyance flicker to life in my chest. I might be Penelope on the outside, but inside I was Sam. Uh, mostly. I’d been on the receiving end of more than my share of gym class spankings by those who possessed talent and expertise that far eclipsed my own. Too many times of being picked last, being the alternate choice, or just plain getting beat down raged in my bouncing breasts.

Seriously, though, was this so-called sports bra actually supposed to hold my girls firmly in place? Because, if so, then I needed a refund or something from Victoria’s Secret.

As soon as I completed my twentieth trip around the track, I descended the stairs two at a time in my haste to get back to the class.

“Looking good, Pee-Jay,” one of the guys, Donny Something, said as I passed by them. “Taylor’s a lucky dude.”

I clenched my jaw and kept walking without bothering to reply. Looks like my attempt to keep whatever was going on between Lee and Penelope under wraps was useless. The question I didn’t really want to ask myself was whether or not I was going to continue to pursue it? This morning in my room, I would have adamantly insisted that getting turned into a girl didn’t mean I had to live my life like a girl. Magically changing my gender didn’t mean I wasn’t still the same person inside.

However, over the short expanse of a single day, I’d learned that there were some things I just wasn’t being allowed to control. Including my feelings.

When I returned to the group, Sarah’s team was currently ahead of the other winning team by a score of five to two. I stopped next to Tracy and watched the match play out.

“How’s everything?” she asked quietly, keeping her eyes focused on the game. If Coach Burchett saw us talking, it would be another round of laps.

“Fine, I guess.” I waited until The Butcher’s attention was centered on the students playing.

“It’s weird, isn’t it? How easily you find yourself falling into your new reality?”

“Weird isn’t the word I would use. More like … disturbing.”

“But you are getting acclimated, right? Not so much a fish out of water.”

I didn’t respond immediately. Not only because the hard eyes of the older woman swung over in our direction for a moment, but because I didn’t trust myself to answer honestly.

I wasn’t Penelope. I knew this to the core of my being. I still had all the memories and experiences that belonged to Sam Davenport. Yet, my emotions and thoughts were taking a decidedly different turn.

“I guess I am,” I said softly after we were no longer under teacher scrutiny. I sighed. The only people I could talk to about it was Tracy and Cindy. Mainly since I wasn’t sure what was going on with Tabitha. It was the sort of thing where you kind of had to be in the know to understand it.

“I saw you and Lee walking to fifth together,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I countered, trying to remain calm. “We’re both in the same class after lunch. He was just being, uh, a gentleman.”

From the corner of my eye, I could see her smirk. “Maybe I should clarify. I saw Lee and Pee-Jay walking to fifth together. Not Lee and Sam.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. Though I knew exactly the point she was making.

“I’ve been there, remember? I tried to fight what had been done to me. I was completely determined that I was going to remain true to who I’d been. Even if my body and social standing had changed.” A short, humorless laugh sounded from her mouth. “What I didn’t expect was that I would actually like all that nerdy, sci-fi stuff. Now, I toss on Dragonball Z for background noise while I do my math homework.”

I remembered how eagerly Tracy had agreed to joining our rpg group. Originally, I’d only thrown out the invitation as a curtesy. A favor for Cindy since she was tired of being the only girl in our circle, and she’d heard that Tracy was looking to play the latest edition.

Once she started hanging with us, though, we all realized just how much of a geek she really was. From there, our gatherings branched out from D&D into marathon sessions of Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and Firefly. Her coolness with what other would consider “stupid dork shit” was one of the reasons why I was attracted to her. To find out that it had all started with a messed up wish was a bit surreal.

Which made a cold chill slide down my back.

“Wait, does this mean I’m going to stop liking that stuff? I mean, Pee-Jay doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl to grab a handful of dice and roll up a half-elf battlemage.”

Tracy shrugged. “Hard to say. I mean, I didn’t lose everything I was interested in when Tabby dicked me over. I still enjoyed skiing and rollerblading. I just stopped doing those things because it’s not easy to maintain your balance when you’re carrying sixty pounds that you’re not used to.”

Coach Burchett’s shrill whistle prevented me from answering. She turned to look over at Tracy and I, as well as the four girls behind us.

“Okay, you six, on the court. Let’s see if watching has given you any better insight on how to play the game. Davenport, that includes you.”

Wow. I’d heard the occasional rumor that The Butcher really had a mad hatred of the cheer squad. Experiencing it first-hand, though, was truly something else.

I jogged to the other side of the volleyball net, taking up a spot in the back corner. As the rest of my less athletically inclined classmates followed, I dropped into a semi-squatting pose and rocked back and forth, stretching my hamstrings and calves. I didn’t even realize that I was doing it until Tracy and Chloe McDaniel started imitating me.

Blinking, I glanced down at myself, then over at Tracy. I hoped my facial expression adequately conveyed my confusion. It was as if my body was operating on its own. Like on autopilot.

“Muscle memory,” she said softly. “Don’t think about it, just go with it.”

I nodded, trying to blank out my mind and go with the flow. Which, as anyone can attest, it next to impossible. Nothing can fill your mind with useless clutter like trying to not think of anything at all.

The whistle sounded, and one of the girls on the back row of the other side, punched the ball with a closed-fist uppercut. The sphere arced up and came down right next to Chloe, who stood there like a deer in headlights. The ball hit the polished hardwood and bounced out of bounds.

“Point!” Coach Burchett yelled.

Chloe’s face was the color of a brand new fire engine. She glanced around at the rest of us, anxiety and embarrassment plastered all over her face.

I waited until her eyes met mine, then I nodded once as I gave her a half-cocked smile.

“Shake it off, Chloe,” I said. “You’ll get the next one.”

She returned my smile, a bit of her worry seeming to evaporate in an instant. Then she turned back to face the net, eyes focused on the ball.

The next serve came in my direction. As if being pulled by invisible strings, strings that were coming from inside me, I took two steps to the right, put my hands together, and bumped the ball with my forearms. The impact stung slightly, but the ball responded appropriately. It rose in a gentle arc toward the net.

“Sue!” I yelled. “Take it!”

Susan Johnson didn’t look back at me. Instead, she moved until she was under the ball, then used her fingertips to push the descending orb back upward. It rose in an almost perfectly straight line, just an inch or two from touching the net.

“Chloe!” I shouted.

The other girl, her body long and slender, stepped in and hopped. She only had about a foot’s vertical leap, but it was enough. She swung her arm down in a chopping motion, the flat part of her palm creating an audible slapping sound as she connected with the ball.

Our opponents, not expecting any real competition from us, stood there like guys at their first visit to a strip club. Eyes wide and mouths agape.

Chloe’s spike landed between two of them before bouncing out of bounds.

The whistle sounded again. “Point. One to one.”

For the remaining fifteen minutes, the six of us played as a unit. For the most part. If this were an eighties movie, there would be a nice rock-fueled montage that would show all our best moves and end with us leaping up and down in victory.

Alas, it was not to be. It was close, four to six, but in the end our side lost. The girls on the other side of the net cheered and did the winners’ leaps. The five girls on my side looked like they’d just had their puppies kicked by a team of construction workers.

Tracy walked over to me. “Thanks for trying,” she said. “I think it would have been a lot worse without your encouragement.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t really do anything, Trace. I mean, I took your advice and let my body just do its thing. I guess with all the changes, Pee-Jay’s body is geared toward being sporty and coordinated.”

Tracy smiled. “We got killed six to zero in the first game. We all expected a repeat performance. Instead, we got you and that nearly bought us the win.”

“Hit the showers, ladies!” the Butcher yelled.

Chloe and the others four who’d been on my team began to walk toward the locker room door, still looking a bit dejected. I rushed over to them.

Chloe had been in more than a couple of classes with Sam over the past few years. I’d always thought she was cute, in a Morticia Gomez sort of way. With her long, thin build and jet black hair, she was constantly mistaken for a goth girl.

“Hey,” I said, moving around to block their retreat. “Good job out there.”

“We lost, though,” Mary Hatling said. “Even with Pee-Jay Davenport on our side, we couldn’t win.”

I blinked. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did she think my being on their team would equate to an automatic victory? Sure, I was the most athletically inclined of the group, but I felt like they’d all contributed far more than me.

My skills hadn’t come from hard work or natural talent. They were from a stupid wishing stone.

“We played as a team,” I said, looking at them. “All of us, working together.” I smirked. “I think I might have missed more easy digs than anyone else. If anyone is to blame for our loss, it’s me.”

You would have thought I just suggested that we ambush the team that had just beat us and hog tie them to the net in preparation of roasting them over a bonfire. They looked at each other for a moment, then back to me.

Behind the rest, Tracy grinned.

“That doesn’t seem right,” Chloe said. “I mean, no offense, but you’re you. And we’re … us.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re a Raiderette,” Mary answered. “Not only that, you’re a member of the elite of the elite. If there’s fault to be found, it isn’t going to be with your group.”

I stood there, speechless, as they filed around me and into the locker room. Then I turned to look at Tracy.

“Is that what I am now? The elite? Just another stuck-up bitch of a snob who thinks she’s better than everyone?”

The other girl shook her head. “I don’t know. As I told you earlier, my memories of Pee-Jay aren’t fully clear. However,” she said, holding up a finger, “I do get the feeling that you are less of a bitch than some of the others.”

“Like Jennifer Winters.”

She nodded. “Precisely. In fact, it’s possible that you, meaning Pee-Jay, have been a countering influence. You know, an antimatter to her matter. Tempering her megalomania, as it were.”

I sighed. “Then I really hope she doesn’t know about the stone.”

Tracy arched a brow. “How would she know about the stone? Unless she’s used it.”

I recounted the brief phone call I’d had right after lunch.

“It’s possible,” Tracy said. “If she used it before Tabitha and I, then we wouldn’t have any memory of what she changed. The only flaw I see is that it takes two people to use the stone. Each of them casting a wish for the other. Do you really think Jen trusts anyone to make a wish for her?”

I thought about the girl who had been a terror to me and my friends since her stupid boobs came in during the summer between eighth and ninth grades. She’d never been a pleasant person to deal with, but suddenly being the only freshman sporting a pair of very noticeable breasts had only increased her disdain for others.

“Nope,” I said. “I don’t even think she would trust her mother that much.”

Back in the locker room, I grabbed the small tray of toiletries from inside my locker, stripped out of my sweaty gym clothes. After pulling off the sports bra, which was also rather damp, my fingers curled around the waistband of my panties and I froze.

I was going to get naked and take a shower. With a bunch of girls who were also naked.

Uncertainty slapped at me. Although I had the slowly cementing acceptance that I was no longer aroused by the sight of undressed females, I wasn’t sure I could pull of bathing with them.

For guys, showering together is a pretty simple affair. You went in, towel around your waist, turned on the water, removed towel, stepped under the spray, quickly soaped up, rinsed, then shut off the water as you grabbed your towel and wrapped it around you again.

You didn’t look at any of the other guys. You hardly talked to them. And you most certainly did not look at their junk. If even the slightest rumor emerged that you were scoping out the manhood on your fellow bathers, you would be branded a flaming pervert for the rest of your school days.

Back in freshman year, there was a guy named Ronnie Boles. He was showering with a bunch of guys from the soccer team. While washing his hair, he got shampoo in his eyes. Blinking and fighting against what had to be some serious pain, he had stumbled away from his own stream of water to that of the guy next to him.

By the time Ronnie realized his mistake and got the soap out of his face, he was staring right down at Johnathan Martin’s meatstick.

No amount of explaining could stem the taunts and teases that made their way through the school that day. Ronnie dealt with it for about a week before he finally convinced his parents to send him to live with his grandmother several states away.

I was pretty sure the rules weren’t as rigid about girls taking a shower together, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t any rules. In most anime series, girls not only bathed together, they washed each other’s backs and fronts and stuff. Surely that was just a Japanese thing, right?

Cocking my head to the side, I listened to the sounds coming from the other side of the locker room. Conversations, far too faint to make out, were taking place. As were a couple of genuine giggles. Definitely not the sort of noises I’d experienced on the guys’ side of the equation. If someone laughed over there, it was usually because another guy had just farted really loudly.

Wow, guys were actually kind of gross.

Being the only one still in the changing area, I quickly pulled down my panties, tossed them in the locker, then wrapped my towel around myself. I’d seen a million times, at least on television and movies, that girls wore their towels in such a way that their boobs and butt were completely covered.

Turns out it’s not such and easy look to achieve. It took me nearly two minutes before I finally figured out that the top corner of the rectangular cloth needed to be tucked down near my chest. Finally ready, I grabbed the plastic carrier and headed toward the showers.

My heartbeat went from slightly elevated to slamming in my chest as each step brought me closer to the sound of running water and female voices. Part of me wanted to just skip the whole thing. After all, the day was pretty much over, right? I could always clean up in the privacy of my own bathroom.

Ugh. Wait. That wouldn’t work. I had that stupid meeting after school. Not sure it would be very Penny-like to show up with dried sweat on my skin and in my hair.

A couple of girls emerged from around the corner, clad in their own towel dresses and laughing about something. When they saw me standing there, they both smiled and said hello. Then they were gone, moving back into the changing room.

I could do this. Just go in there, clean up, and get out. Laugh if someone says something funny. Respond if someone says something to you. Keep your eyes to yourself without making it seem like you’re deliberately keeping your eyes to yourself.

Piece of cake. Right? Unless, of course, the cake is a lie.

Another trio of girls emerged from the steamy room. Caitlin, Monica, and another girl who I think was named Leslie. Caitlin grinned down at me as she passed.

“Good job shaping those gimps into a semblance of a team, Pee-Jay,” she said. “If not for you, they would have gotten stomped again.” Monica and the other girl giggled.

I clenched my jaw for a second, but managed to force a demure smile on my face.

“They just needed inspiration and leadership. That’s all.”

The larger girl shrugged. “Still, you took the reins and kept them focused.”

Okay, so … Caitlin was actually complimenting me. Err, Pee-Jay. For what? Organizing a bunch of girls other people considered useless into an effective team? Was that not what anyone expected from her? That she would give a frack about anyone but herself?

It wasn’t until they were almost gone that I heard Monica say, in a lower voice, “I can’t believe she plays second string to that bitch, Winters. Pee-Jay’s the one who should really be head cheerleader.”

I spun around just in time to see the three of them vanish around the side of a row of lockers. However, it was more than enough time for me to observer that the other two were nodding their heads in agreement with Monica’s opinion.

Me? Head Cheerleader?

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love nothing more than to take Jen down from her pretty little perch. There wasn’t ever a person on the planet who deserved a comeuppance more. Supplanting the snobby tramp who’d turned making my academic life hell her personal goal had a delicious taste to it.

Not that I had any desire to rule the school. One of the reasons why I spent most of my gaming sessions as the DM was because I was crap at leading a party to riches and glory. More often than not, we ended up the lair of Lich King flanked by multiple Beholders. I might be able to buff and heal like nobody’s business, but bossing people around was just not in my nature.

I shook away the idle flights of fancy that swam around in my head and glanced back at the showers. It was time to bite the bullet. Time to face the music. Time to put my big girl panties on. Or, as my favorite zombie killer once said …

Time to nut up, or shut up.

Which, if you think about my current physical situation, was hilarious.

Gripping the plastic handle of the tray tighter, I drew in a breath, and walked into the swirling clouds of steam into the girls’ showers.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 6
by Limbo’s Mistress

Okay, so … showering as a girl turned out to be different, but not quite the intensity of weird I thought it was going to be. I guess putting soap and water on flesh is pretty much an ordinary occurrence across the universe.

Which would explain a lot about the newer model Cylons.

Anyway, I walked into the shower area, armed with my little tray of Pee-Jay’s toiletries and a can-do attitude. I mean, it wasn’t like I could just stop bathing because I now had, uh, other parts.

Sarah was still there, washing the shampoo out of her long hair. Kara had just turned off the water on her shower and was grabbing her towel down from a nearby hook. Both of them, of course, were stark naked and soaking wet.

What did the new me make of that? Well, I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure, but it seemed like one of Kara’s boobs might ride a slight higher on her chest than its companion. Other than that? Not a damned thing.

“Hey, Pee-Jay,” the redhead said as she finished securing her towel around her waist and picked up her own little basket of soaps. “Pretty good hustle out there. Too bad The Butcher made you run laps first.”

“Well, I was late,” I said, taking off my own towel to reveal I was just as nude as the rest of them. A part of me expected the other girl’s eyes to widen and for her to start screaming and pointing. You know, as she would probably do if a guy were to walk in here.

She laughed. “I think she was happy that you were. Since that meant she could finally be mean to a cheerleader. I mean, if you went and complained to Coach Ferguson, Burchett can say you deserved it.”

I blinked, finding myself scrambling to make sense of her statement. “Wait, you think Butcher jumped on me simply because I’m a cheerleader?”

Kara gave me a look that seemed to ask if I had suffered a brain embolism between the gym and the locker room. “Well … yeah. You know how she is. Always complaining that we get away with murder, and the school always seems to have the funds for the squad, but never enough for the rest of the girls’ activities.”

Actually, I didn’t know that. What self-respecting dork gamer would know anything about the internal struggle for resources that took place between the Raiderettes and everyone else? A/V club had to have garage sales to afford any new equipment they wanted.

“I guess,” I said, hanging up my towel and turning the knob on the front of the wall next to it. A spray of arctic water shot out and struck me right in the left ass cheek. I squealed and leapt out of the way, nearly knocking into Kara.

“Sorry,” I said. “Forgot that thing shoots concentrated liquid nitrogen.”

Now I really did get an odd look from the red-haired cheerleader. Guess Pee-Jay wasn’t one for tossing scientific jargon in her sentences. I was actually surprised more people didn’t question my utter lack of vapidity. Or the fact that Penny didn’t seem to say “like” or “totally” as much as she used to.

“See you tomorrow,” the girl said after another second. Then she was gone, leaving me and Sarah as the sole occupants.

I reached back and felt that the water was now a more acceptable lukewarm rather than something that might come out of the end of Mr. Freeze’s ice gun. Stepping back under the slowly heating stream, I dipped my head back and saturated my hair. Then I pushed the soaked strands out of my eyes and looked over at Sarah.

She was standing under her own spray, though it seemed as if she were finished with actual bathing. Her eyes regarded me with a mixture of concern and sadness.

I sighed. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I know you were just teasing, like we always do to each other. I shouldn’t have taken your head off.”

She stared at me for another couple of seconds before shrugging. “No biggie.”

“But it is,” I said. “You’re my best friend. I shouldn’t snap at you without at least an explanation for why I’m snapping.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.”

I smiled at her, then looked in the conglomeration of products nestled in the tray. Conditioner, detangling shampoo, citrus herb shampoo, lilac body wash with vitamin D and aloe, vanilla body wash with cocoa butter, exfoliating face wash, hydrating face wash with microbeads, and clearing face wash with tea tree extract.

What the ever-living frack? Jesus, this chick had almost a many types of cleanser as she did shoes. Who the hell needed this much stuff? I wasn’t even sure what half of the labels meant or what they were supposed to do. For all I knew, putting the wrong combination of products together would result in an acid worthy of a James Bond villain. Sorry Pee-Jay can’t run the Homecoming Committee meeting today on account of her face melting off her skull.

I picked up the detangling shampoo, squirted some into my palm, and began to massage it into my scalp.

“So,” Sarah said, still standing under her stream of water. “What was it?”

“What was what?” The shampoo was tingly, and smelled very … flowery.

“What got you upset enough to snap at me?”

Oh, that. Right. Quick, Sam, think of a reason for Pee-Jay to have been upset. You know, besides the stress of dealing with a magical sex change accompanied by a side-order of new reality.

“Lee,” I blurted out.

Her slightly put-out expression instantly changed to full-on concern. “What happened with Lee?”

“Nothing, really. I just …” I paused, grasping at the thought I was trying to convey.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Lee. While I didn’t even know the guy, there was no mistaking the way I reacted to his presence. Which sort of seemed of confirm that Penny did like him. Which mean that I must like him, too.

Frak! At this rate, I was seriously going to need a flowchart to keep up.

“You guys were trying to keep it on the down low, but now it seems that everyone either knows, or suspects, something is going on between you,” she answered, nodding her head in self-confirmation. “You’re just not ready to announce it to the world yet. Right?”

Sure, Sarah. Let’s go with that. It’s far less messy than the jumbled mess in my head.

I nodded. “Exactly. It’s been bugging me all day and, uh, when you made a comment about what I might have worn, underwear-wise, on Saturday …”

She nodded. “Gotcha. My bad, girlfriend. I should have known you were wigging out a bit about it. I mean, he and Jen have been broken up for a while. Though we all knew he was into you long before he and the Ice Bitch called it quits. You want to take it slow.”

“Exactly,” I said. Then I rinsed all the foamy suds from my hair. The strands suddenly felt a lot cleaner than they had. Almost squeaky. Guess that meant it was conditioner time.

Sarah turned around, flashing me that nearly-perfect bottom. Gah! If I was still a guy, I would have probably given a testicle or something to be this close to it. Stupid magic wish.

Grabbing her towel, she patted herself dry. I took a mental note of that. Guys are rubbers. We rub the towel over our bodies with all the care and concern of a pothead slacker drying down cars at the budget carwash. Apparently girls were a bit more careful with their flesh.

“Then I’m sorry I said anything, Peej. I shouldn’t have been so inconsiderate.”

“It’s all good,” I said, running my creamy fingers through my hair. “Mind waiting for me so we can go to the meeting together?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. Just don’t take forever like you normally do. You just got a little sweaty. It’s not like you’ve been crawling around the sewers over on Walker Street.”

Sarah walked out of the shower, and I rinsed the conditioner out. It left my hair smelling even more feminine and flowery. Not to mention super damned shiny. I’d had shiny hair as Sam, but that had been to an overabundance of oil production. This was the shiny that you saw in commercials with supermodels.

I grabbed a puffy white ball from the tray, as well as one of the bottles of body wash. I knew what a loofa was and what it was for. Come on, I’m a geeky dork, not a complete moron.

First I made sure there was enough of the body wash applied that I wouldn’t need to add an additional amount later. Then I squeezed the gooey loofa between my hands, creating enough suds to wash the equivalent of five Pennys.

I started with the more familiar areas. Feet, legs, arms neck, butt, and back. Those last two brought their own unique experiences.

Penny’s bottom was far more present than Sam’s. Not to mention rounder and more firm. Her superior flexibility also meant that instead of only being able to clean the small of my back and a narrow areas on the sides, I could pretty much scrub the whole thing. From top to bottom, hitting every square inch.

I paused, preparing myself for the remaining two bodily regions.

When I’d gotten dressed that morning, I’d seen my new chest ornaments. I’d even given them a couple of quick gropes for good measure. However, actually touching them, in a more personal manner, seemed a bit wrong. Like I was about to grope some girl who couldn’t protest it.

Yes, I know that I was having a moral quandary over touching my own self in a particular way. Even if that way was completely non-sexual. Personally, I think a debate such as that was far more amenable than freaking out because I’d discovered my dick had been replaced by a vagina.

Lathering up my hands until they were practically hidden by the pink suds, I reached up and began to run the loofa over my breasts. I stared with the outer portions, Then I moved to washing what Cindy had always referred to as “underboob”. When both of those areas and the cleft between them were sufficiently clean, I brought the soapy plastic sphere over the tops and down across the nipples.

Holy Tingly Jumpstart, Batman!

The rough fibers of the loofa scratched across the slightly-engorged nubs of flesh and sent a burst of sensations shooting from them in two directions. One stream rocked up into my brain, causing things to skew sideways for a moment. The other zoomed down to between my legs and drove the temperature in that area up by a dozen or so degrees.

I yanked the loofa away, gasping softly. Okay, that was … unexpected. I mean, I’d been able to tell from the moment I noticed they were there that Penny had sensitive boobs. The way they felt nestled in my bra had been plenty proof of that. I’d need to be a bit more careful in the future about how I went about cleaning them. Hands would probably create less of a reaction than the loofa.

It took a moment for me to get my sudden spike in pulse to drop back down to normal. Meanwhile, I turned around twice under the spray, making sure to get all of the soap off the freshly cleaned areas.

Only one thing left to wash.

When I’d gotten dressed, I’d pretty much been in such a hurry that I’d yanked off the thong Penny had slept in, and jammed my legs and ass into what Sarah had called my “granny panties”. I hadn’t had the time to go exploring around my new equipment.

I’d gone to the bathroom once since arriving at school. However, I’d been worried about not making it to class before the bell rang, so I’d sat down, did my business, then wiped and had my jeans pulled back up before I even realized I’d done it. Like taking a piss, even in a body I didn’t know much about, was some kind of automatic process.

Hell, I had even wiped twice without thinking about it.

Forgoing the loofa, I scooped a ton of soap onto my hand, then reached down to clean that most private of parts.

I wasn’t sure what I expected it to be like. Honestly, it really didn’t feel any different than when there used to be manly equipment down there. Sure, it was a little odd that there were folds instead of a dangling sack, but otherwise it was pretty much the same.

In the movies, okay in the pornos, a girl taking a bath or shower uses the nakedly wet time to do a little giving of self-joy. However, I decidedly avoided that route. First and foremost, because the last thing I wanted was to get caught jerking off, or whatever it’s called for girls, in the school showers. Not even Sam’s worthless reputation could survive that level of scandal.

Secondly, because I was a little bit worried about the things that would pop into my head during the act. As a guy, I’d kept a terabyte’s worth of mental material I could call upon when the urge to bust a nut made itself known. Memorized images of dozens of female celebrities, alongside a few girls I saw on a more in-person basis, were never more than a neuron’s spark away. ScarJo, Megan, and Ariana being some of the more frequent ones.

Now, though, I sincerely doubted those tried and true images would do anything other than give me body issues. Penny definitely had no attraction whatsoever to her own gender. Which meant that the moment I started exploring the mythical land of Multiple Female Orgasms, it was an assured bet that the first erotic thought that surfaced would be wearing Lee Taylor’s face. As well as his pecs, arms, … legs.

I quickly pulled my hand away before the heat that began to form could turn into an actual fire. I rinsed myself off completely, and when I reached for the knob to shut off the water, I noticed my hands were trembling a bit.

Get a grip, Sam. How about you make sure you know how to do the important girly things like put on makeup, walk in heels, and be able to tell the differences between the nine million shades of blue that supposedly existed?

I pulled my towel off the hook and patted myself dry as I’d seen Kara do. I had to admit, it did feel nicer than the way I used to dry off as a boy. Especially when I worked on my breasts and the still-perky nipples. Wrapping my towel around me, I grabbed my tray and padded back out of the showers and into the locker room.

Sarah was sitting on the bench in front of our lockers, mostly dressed. Her blouse was still in her hands, leaving her upper body clad only in a light green bra. I thought the color really looked good on her, especially the way it brought out the flecks of green in her eyes. As a guy with a bit of a crush, I’d considered Sarah’s eyes to be one of her best features. After her boobs, face, and ass, of course.

“I thought I was going to have to call in a search and rescue squad,” she said with a grin as I walked over to her.

I shook my head. “No, just enjoying the water.”

As I pulled my clothes back on, we discussed some ideas that we were going to present to the committee. I, well Penny actually, might have volunteered to head the thing up, but Sarah had agreed to be my co-chair. It was some of the others who Sarah felt might need a bit of additional persuasion and guidance.

“Well, you know Becki has been talking about how crappy the DJ was last year. I think she’s going to try to push for live music. Most like her brother’s crappy band.”

Becki Anderson was quite possibly the most annoying know-it-all girl at Benson High. She was one of those people who could not help but correct everyone’s mistakes. Factual or grammatical. A perpetual busybody, she always seemed to wind up a member of any afterschool activity. Whether she was actually qualified or not. Plus, she this nasally way of speaking that could make you actually want to beg to be eaten by a Mimic.

The rest of the committee, as I found out through Sarah, consisted of Tonya Michaels, Danny Rockman, Phoebe Nelson, and Kyle Johnson. I couldn’t say as the identities of the rest were that big of a surprise.

Danny and Kyler were football players, though both were also pretty inclined academically. Danny was actually a member of the Honor Society, much like Sam had been. Phoebe was a photography whiz who lived and breathed the Benson Herald, the school’s official newspaper. It was nearly impossible to flip through one of the monthly issues and not find the majority of the pictures had her name credited beneath.

Tonya had been a Raiderette until the prior year. Not being a member of the in-crowd before today, I didn’t know what had led to her no longer being counted among their skirt-shaking numbers. However, being as she was blonde, curvaceous, super sweet, and extremely friendly, I would be willing to bet that Jen had decided to cut out the competition.

Ironically, being kicked off the cheer squad, which would have likely been a death sentence to the social standing of anyone else, hadn’t phased Tonya in the least. She still sat with the popular group in the cafeteria, and was still invited to all the parties. Honestly, if the worst thing that came of her expulsion was not having to put up with Jennifer Winters’ shit anymore, I might have to consider taking Penny down that route.

Once I was appropriately decent, clothing wise, I quickly ran a brush through my still-damp hair. Inside the outer pocket of my backpack, I found a couple of hair-clippy things in various colors. You know, the ones that look like curved paperclips or something. I made a note to ask Cindy …err … Charlie, what they were called. Regardless of their official designation, I used two of them to secure my hair back on either side of my head, tucking the loose strands behind my ears.

Which were pierced in three places. Holy Handgrenades! How had I not noticed that before? I couldn’t resist turning my face to each side to admire the look. The bottom hole sported a little silver, or maybe platinum, hoop. The next up was beset with a gleaming diamond stone slightly smaller than a pencil eraser. The last had a tiny silver ball about the size of a grain of rice. The whole effect, coupled with the way I’d styled my hair, made the girl looking back at me about five times hotter.

If I still had a dick, I would have probably gotten a stiffie staring at her.

“Oh-Em-Gee, Peej,” Sarah said, moving into the reflection behind me. “You’re gorgeous. Standing there staring at yourself isn’t going to make you less so.”

I turned around, unable to repress a little laugh. Twenty-four hours ago, gorgeous would have been the last thing anyone would have said in regards to my appearance. Hell, “not super hideous” would have actually been a compliment. I found myself being instantly grateful that I’d said I didn’t understand what being a pretty and popular girl was like before Cindy uttered her wish.

We left the locker room and made our way back into the main building. The hallways were mostly deserted. Gym was our last class of the day, and with the length of time I’d spent in the shower and getting dressed, most of the other students had already gone. The few stragglers we passed were either on their way to their own after-school activities. Or detention.

Sarah grabbed the handle of the cafeteria door and pulled it open. We stepped through to find the rest of the committee gathered around one of the tables on the far side of the room. Five sets of eyes turned in our direction as we crossed the freshly mopped tile floor to them.

Danny and Kyle both waved at us, but then looked at each other with a barely hid look of amusement. It took me a second, but then I realized they were probably picturing me with Lee. Ugh! Becki looked a bit put out that we were late, Phoebe was looking at the images on the camera in her hands, and Tonya just sat there with her arms crossed over her generous chest.

“Hey, guys,” Sarah said, plopping down across from Danny. “Sorry we’re late.”

I took the spot next to Phoebe, directly across from Becki. “Totally my fault,” I added.

“I hope we can get started now,” Becki said, flipping open a spiral notebook. “I was thinking that …”

Kyle cleared his throat, cutting her off. “I think Pee-Jay is the chair. Maybe we should let her start the meeting.”

Becki let out a tiny huff and put the bright pink pen in her hand down onto the open notebook. Then she turned her attention toward me.

Crap! What the hell did I know about running a committee? For that matter, what the hell did I know about Homecoming? When you’re an unpopular dork who is a constant target all day at school, you tend to avoid deliberately going places where your tormentors are. Such as football games and dances.

Sarah, bless her, swooped in to save me.

“I was telling Peej this morning that I had a couple of good ideas for themes,” she said. “Of course, she said that we should ask the rest of you about what suggestions you had first.”

I could have kissed her. On the mouth even. It wouldn’t have done much for me, but that was the level of gratitude I felt for her rushing to my rescue.

“We could do a fifties thing,” Kyle said. “You know, with poodle skirts and pompadours. We could get an old timey juke box and play era-appropriate music.”

Phoebe nodded her head in response to the suggestion, while Becki looked like that was the dumbest idea she’d ever heard. Tonya remained impassive, and Danny reached over to high-five his teammate.

As for me, I was suddenly swept up in the image of myself in a long pink skirt, a white fuzzy sweater, and my brown hair held back by a strip of pink ribbon. I had my arm linked around Lee’s, who wore a black leather jacket over a white tee, black jeans, and black loafers.

Damn, it was totally hot.

I shook my head, snapping myself back to the present. Though, the mental picture didn’t completely dissipate.

“That’s good, Kyle,” I said, watching as Sarah typed the idea into her phone. “Anyone else got a suggestion?”

Becki immediately responded. “I thought we might go with a popular theme. Perhaps a Game of Thrones style event? We could have couples taking pictures in front of a throne made of swords. Or next to a dragon’s head. Everyone could wear gowns and furs and armor.”

“Sounds more like a recipe for a Red Wedding, if you ask me,” Tonya said amusedly. “Besides, that’s a lot of extra stuff for people to buy just to wear for one night. At least with the sock-hop idea, people don’t need to stress too much about attire. Most guys have a leather jacket and jeans, and poodle skirts aren’t that expensive.”

A couple of more thematic suggestions made their way to the pile. Including: an evening of superheroes (which sounded like fun to me), Over the Rainbow (Sarah’s suggestion), and Under the Sea. That last was thrown out by Danny as he scrolled through Google on his phone. We all groaned at the cliché.

“Maybe that one would work if we got someone to get up on stage and rock out to ‘Johnny B. Goode’.” I suggested.

A few blank looks were throw my way before Danny started laughing.

“That’s from that movie, right? Back to the Future? Classic!”

I clicked my tongue in the affirmative as I gave him a pair of “finger guns”.

In the end the sock-hop idea was the final winner. Becki tossed in the suggestion that her brother and his band could probably learn enough of the right songs to fit with the theme.

“I mean, people would rather hear a live band than a juke box,” she said with absolute conviction.

“I don’t know,” I said. “The jukebox itself adds to the atmosphere.” I shrugged. “But, in the spirit of democracy, we can take a vote.”

As expected, the jukebox won. What amazed me, though, was that everyone voted in agreement with me. Which made me think about the final decision on the theme. While it had been Kyle’s idea, it didn’t seem to gain overwhelming support until I threw my weight behind it. Then everyone readily agreed that it was the best of the lot.

Even the ones who had laid their own ideas out in exquisite detail fell immediately into concurrence. For a second, I had to wonder if I’d somehow accidentally pulled a Jedi Mind Trick on them.

No, a voice in my head whispered. It because you’re popular now. Everyone wants to be on your good side. They want to be liked by you.

I almost told the voice it was full of crap, but then I realized that it might not be. A perfect example was Becki. I would have fully expected her to argue and debate for her own suggestions. However, she had readily thrown in the towel, both on her theme and her brother’s participation, the very moment I spoke out against them. Something I was pretty sure she would never have done back in a world that contained Sam Davenport. The thought made me wonder if I could make completely outrageous suggestions and get support for them.

Easy there, Penny Parker. Remember that with great power, comes great responsibility.

We spent the remaining portion of the hour dividing up the required assignments in order to get the event rolling. When I asked how much we had in the Homecoming coffers, everyone looked at me like I’d just let loose with a pants-ripping fart.

“As much as we need,” Sarah said slowly. “I mean, you know how the Raiderette Alumni fund is.”

Before I could tell her that I didn’t have a clue how it was, since I hadn’t been a Raiderette for a full day yet, Tonya sighed.

“As long as a member of the Raiderettes is in charge of a school-sanctioned event, the esteemed alumnus of former Raiderettes will ensure there is enough funding available to make the event a resounding success.” She sounded bored. Like she was reciting a history fact or something.

Sarah nodded. “So, we can go whole-hog.” She shoved her phone into her backpack and then looked at me, arching a brow.

It took me a second to catch up, but I turned to the rest of them and smiled.

“Meeting adjourned,” I said. “Next Monday, show up with, uh, what you’ve done so far. Thanks all.”

They beamed back an array of smiles, then dispersed. Sarah went over to the light switches and turned them out one by one.

“I think that was a huge success,” she said as we exited the cafeteria and strolled down the completely empty hallway to the side exit. “This year’s homecoming is going to totally rock.”

Outside, we cut across the grass to the student parking lot. There were still a number of cars present. Including Sarah’s Prius. However, there was a classic Mustang convertible, cherry red, parked in the spot next to the little hybrid.

Leaning against the passenger side of the vintage car were Chad and Lee. The two of them glanced over as Sarah and I neared. I couldn’t help but notice the way Chad elbowed Lee in the side when they spotted us.

Sarah skipped ahead, giggling when Chad picked her up in his arms and planted a dozen kisses on the side of her neck before laying a long, deep one on her mouth. I stopped a foot or so away and watched, shaking my head with a grin on my face.

Chad might have been an utter dick to Sam, but it was obvious he was gaga for Sarah.

When he finally pulled his mouth off my friends, he set her down, keeping his arm around her waist.

“Hey babe, my dad came by earlier and borrowed my car. Apparently his Audi is having transmission trouble. Think you could give me a lift home?”

She glanced at Lee for a moment, then looked over her shoulder at me.

“What about Peej?” she asked in a tone that contained zero concern. “If you ride with me, then how will she get home?”

“I don’t mind giving her a ride,” Lee said immediately. A bit of red appeared on his cheeks and he gave me a small smile before looking over at Sarah.

“I don’t know,” she said, though it was obvious that she absolutely did know. “What do you think Peejie?” she asked. “Would it be okay with you if Lee takes you home? You know, so I can rescue my poor, stranded boyfriend?”

I almost asked why Chad couldn’t have gotten a ride from Lee. I mean, after all, it wasn’t like he was actually stranded anywhere. However, it was clear the two boys had made this elaborate plan to put me and Lee together. It would have been a complete bitch move to refuse. Or even call them out about it.

“I suppose,” I said, trying to sound like I was being reluctantly agreeable. Despite the fact that the moment I thought about being inside a vehicle with Lee, my pulse had shifted into a higher revolution. “As long as Lee doesn’t mind going out of his way.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Lee said nearly a millisecond after the words left my mouth. “It would be my pleasure.”

“Great!” Sarah said. Then she practically ran around the front of her car and jumped behind the wheel. Chad flashed me a sly smile and was barely able to get in himself before my bestie jammed on the pedal. The Prius lurched forward and was soon nothing more than a pair of rapidly fading taillights.

Lee chuckled, then opened the passenger side door of the Ford. I gave him a little smile before climbing into the leather seat, putting my backpack on the floor between my feet. He closed the door and went around to the driver’s side. When he turned the key, the engine fired up with a throaty purr. Like a mountain lion.

We pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the street running past the front of the school. Lee kept our speed right at the limit, as if trying to draw out the journey as long as he could.

“So, did Chad’s dad really come to take his car?” I asked, turning in the seat to look at Lee.

He nodded. “Yeah, that much is the truth.” He took his eyes off the road for a half-second to look over at me. Once again, he seemed to be embarrassed about something.

At this point, I was beginning to think that I might actually be making Lee “Touchdown” Taylor nervous. I was also starting to think that his blushing made him look even more handsome.

“I mean, I could have given him a lift,” he continued. “Coach just had us lifting this afternoon, so we were done at the same time.” He gave me another brief glance, then made a left turn through a moderately busy intersection. “He asked if I would be willing to give you a ride. So he could get a little time with Sarah.”

I shrugged. “He could have just asked to ride with us. I mean, they are a couple.”

“True. But …” he hesitated, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

“But … what?”

“I think he a little jealous. You know, of you and Sarah.”

“Jealous?” I turned a little more in my seat, so I was mostly facing him. “Jealous of what?”

“Well, you guys are always hanging out with each other. Ever since sophomore year. Pee-Jay and Sarah. It’s rare to see one without the other.”

I laughed. It came out probably a little meaner than I intended. So, Chad was worried that his girlfriend’s best friend might decide one day to be more than just a best friend. That I might decide I wanted to take a trip down to the other Raiderette’s honey pot. The laughter came from the discovery I’d made in the locker room which had cemented my sexual orientation.

“So, all the time Sarah and I spend together makes Chad nervous? What does he think, Lee? That when we have sleep overs, rather than eating popcorn and watching chick-flicks we’re getting busy with a little girl-on-girl action?”

Lee’s arm jerked, causing the Mustang to swerve a little. A VW bug in the next lane blew its horn in protest. When I stopped laughing again, his formerly pinkish cheeks were practically scarlet.

“Sorry,” I said, covering my mouth. “I couldn’t resist.” Then a shook my head. “Well, you can put your friend’s mind at ease. I love Sarah dearly, but I doubt we’ll be moving in together and getting Hers and Hers towels.”

He nodded. “He’s just being paranoid, you know. After what happened with him and Monique, I guess he’s worried about losing Sarah the same way.”

Monique Laurent. Foreign exchange student from Belgium. Rumor was, at least as it filtered down to the people in Sam’s circle, that she had presented herself as a straight girl, though it wasn’t the truth. She and Chad had dated for about three months the previous year. According to the scuttlebutt, she had cheated on him with a half dozen girls, all of them two years her junior.

Chad had apparently gone over to her house one Saturday afternoon to take Monique on a surprise date. The one to be surprised was Chad, when he supposedly walked around to the backyard to find his girlfriend in a very passionate tryst with a pair of skinny band geeks. The story claimed that the three of them were so focused on pleasuring each other that they didn’t notice the football player standing fifteen feet away with his mouth hanging open.

Monique moved back home at the end of the year, and neither she nor Chad ever revealed the identity of the other two girls.

Back when I’d first heard the tale, I’d laughed my ass off. More than once I had made the comment that he must have been a shitty lay to turn a hot girl like Monique into a lesbian. Now that I’d had a peek at a different side of the linebacker, I felt a little guilty about my joy at his cuckolding.

“So,” I said, changing the subject a little. “This attempted ruse was solely for the purpose of allowing Chad and Sarah a little alone time?”

He didn’t answer immediately. When we pulled to a stop at a red light, he shook his head.

“Not completely. It was also to provide us with a little alone time as well.”

“I see,” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral. Though I was pretty sure he could hear my beating heart over the ruh-ruh-ruh of the Mustang’s engine.

The light changed and we rolled on again. After a couple more seconds of silence, he drew in a deep breath and released it. As if psyching himself up.

“Pee-Jay? Did I … do something Saturday? Or not do something?”

I blinked, tilting my head to the side to look at him. “What are you talking about?”

He sighed. “We had a great time. At least, I thought we did. I know I did. Then we talked for, like, hours on Sunday. You sounded like you wanted to go out again.”

“Okay …” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“Then, today, you’re kind of … distant. Like you don’t really want to be around me, but you’re trying hard to not show it.”

In a million years, I never would have guessed I would do what I did. I reached out and placed my hand on his leg. Right above his knee. The contact sent another of those happy sparks flowing through me and make goosebumps form on my arms.

“Lee, I had a great time Saturday.” That had to be true, right? I might not have actually been there, but judging from the number of times he and Penny had talked on Sunday, as well as the length of the calls, if she thought he was a dud, she would have let him go to voicemail.

He smiled, then reached down to take my hand off his leg. He brought it up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it.

The gentle sparks turned into a full-blown blast of Force Lightning. This time, rather than goosebumps, the sensation sent a wave of pleasurable shivers rolling through me.

“Good,” he said. “Because I really like you, Pee-Jay. I want you to be happy, first and foremost. Although, a close second, I want you to be happy with me.”

Sam wanted to bend over and stick his finger down his throat at the level of saccharine in the comment. Penelope, though, found it to be sweet. I mean, it wasn’t like there were two people in my skull. I was a dude who had been magically transformed into a girl. Not a schizophrenic.

“I’m sorry if you thought I was trying to avoid you,” I said, despite it being partially true. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind today. What with Jen being gone and the Homecoming Committee stuff.”

He nodded. “I understand. I hope I didn’t come off as desperate or distrusting. Or anything with a ‘dis’ before it.”

“You’re fine,” I said, squeezing his hand. “I really like you, too.”

We continued on in silence for another few minutes before he glanced back over at me.

“Oh, how was the meeting, by the way?”

“Good. We decided on a fifties’ sock hop thing for a theme.”

“Really?” he asked, looking rather pleased. “That’s awesome.”

“You like that?”

He nodded. “Grease is one of my all-time favorite musicals.”

Wait. Lee Taylor liked musicals? That was a fact about the handsome football star that I would have never, ever guessed.

“Well, then,” I said with a grin. “Guess it’s your lucky day.”

He shook his head, then looked over at me. “It’ll only be lucky if you’ll agree to be my date for it.” He smiled, staring into my eyes. I never really noticed how deep a shade of blue they were. Like staring into a pair of sapphires. “How about it? Want to be Sandy to my Danny?”

Having never seen Grease, I wasn’t completely sure who those people were. However, it was easy enough to assume they were a couple. Which meant Lee was officially asking me to go to homecoming with him.

“Of course,” I said, knowing that would be the only answer I was going to give. “I’d really like that.”

“Awesome,” he said, sounding like he really meant it. “Thank you.”

He didn’t say much else during the last five minutes before pulling to a stop in front of my house. However, he did have a goofy, happy grin on his face that I was afraid was going to be permanent.

Before I could climb out of the car, he had jumped out of his side and jogged over to mine. He opened the door, reached inside, and took my hand to help me out. While I didn’t actually need the assist, I still smiled flirtatiously at him in gratitude.

With my backpack on my shoulder, I allowed Lee to walk me to the front door. As if we were coming to the end of an actual date, rather than just a ride home from school.

“Thanks for the lift,” I said, turning to face him. “And thanks for asking me to the dance.”

“Thanks for accepting,” he replied. His eyes held my own for a moment, then flickered down to my mouth. For a moment, I saw the conflict in his gaze. Should he kiss me. Or should he refrain.

What the frack? I quickly rose up onto my toes, grabbed the lapel of his jacket with one hand, and planted my mouth onto his. Our lips parted, but just the barest tips of our tongues touched. Two seconds later, I pulled away and dropped back down.

“Wow,” he said, blinking. “Okay. So … yeah. Wow.”

I giggled. Really. “Be safe driving home,” I said, giving him a little push toward the idling car. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He laughed and leaned down to give me a second kiss, this one a few seconds longer. Then he walked backward down the path, grinning like the cat who ate the canary.

“Bye, Pee-Jay.”

I waved and stood on the porch until he drove off before going inside.

“I’m home!” I announced as I hung my backpack on the bannister of the stairs and headed toward the kitchen.

Mom was inside, cutting up vegetables and glancing at a recipe book propped open before her. She glanced up when I came into the room, grinning widely.

“How was the meeting?”

“It was good. We got a lot of stuff planned out already. Now we just need to do the fine details.”

She nodded. However, the amused smile didn’t dim the least.

“What?” I asked, staring to feel self-conscious. Whenever she’d smiled at Sam like that, it usually meant bad news.

“That didn’t sound like Sarah’s car,” she said in a sing-song tone. “In fact, it sounded an awful lot like the car the boy you went out with on Saturday drives. What was his name again?”

Oh Jesus. Is this really happening? I thought those mother-daughter bonding things were just a bunch of television bullshit. Did moms actually have Gilmore Girl-type discussions with their female offspring? I mean, at least Klingons had to do battle before sharing their emotions.

“Lee Taylor,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Like you didn’t remember.”

“That’s right. Lee. Such a nice boy. I think even your father liked him.”

Oh god. This was getting worse by the second. Lee had met my father? Well, I guess that sort of made sense. While Roger Davenport hadn’t given much of a crap about who Sam hung out with, the man was kind of a traditionalist. Stands to reason he wouldn’t let his daughter go off with a boy he didn’t know.

Of course, a part of me suggested that I give Lee extra kudos. He’d met my father and still been willing to date me.

I rolled my eyes again. “How long until dinner? I have a little studying to do, but Charlie’s coming over for a bit.”

She stopped chopping and looked up at me. “Charlie …Mueller?”

I nodded, then noticed her expression. “Why?”

She shook her head and resumed her task. “No reason. You just haven’t had Charlie over in a while. I was under the impression you two had had a falling out or something.”

“Nope. Just, uh, different circles. I guess. Anyway, he’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

“Okay. Want me to send him up? Or would you prefer to come down?”

“You can send him up,” I said. “I promise to be decent.”

As I climbed the stairs to my room, I wondered about the question. Mom had never asked me to come down when Cindy visited. She just sent her straight up to my room. Was it because I was a girl now? Having a guy friend coming over to hang out? Such a double standard.

I changed out of my jeans and sweater into a pair of pink sweatpants with the word “Princess” scrawled in white letters down the left leg. I also put on a fresh sports bra beneath a black tank top. If I was going to break my neck learning how to cheer, I was going to at least be comfortable.

Then I plopped down at my desk and cracked open my Brit-Lit book. I was not going to get caught fumbling to answer a question again. The poem itself wasn’t too bad, if a bit wordy and confusing. The terms of the period requiring a bit of research to decipher.

It only felt like about ten minutes when I heard a gentle knock on the door. When I turned around, Charlie was already walking into the room. He stopped before fully entering, eyes widening as he swept them across the space with a look of utter shock.

“Holy crap,” he said, finally looking at me. “It’s so … girly.”

“Well, duh,” I said, standing and pointing at my chest. “Girl now, remember?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but my room was never this … feminine. Don’t you recall the movie posters all over the place?”

Cindy had, among other things, been a huge monster movie fan. The walls of her room had been nearly covered with reprints of the marquis ads for some of the better known flicks. The Lost Boys. Phantasm. A Nightmare on Elm Street. Friday the 13th. Warlock.

It had looked more like the inner sanctum of a serial killer, rather than a ballet prima donna.

“Yeah, I remember,” I said. “Did they vanish with the … changes?”

He nodded. “Now they’re more geeky than scary. A Brief History of Time. Star Wars. 2001. The Fifth Element. Albert Einstein. Stuff like that.”

I sighed. “At least that’s semi-familiar.” I gestured at the door. “Guess we better go ahead and get this over with.”

“Oh!” He said, grinning. “I think it’s not going to be as bad as we originally thought.”

“What do you mean?” What was he going to do? Offer to dress in drag and pull off all the moves I couldn’t?

“Come with me,” he said in his best Arnold voice as he held out his hand. “If you want to live.”

I took his hand. “Say that again and I’ll show you what getting kicked in the nuts really feels like.

We went downstairs and out into the back yard. The trampoline that I had begged for when I was twelve, then subsequently abandoned to a future of neglect and rust, was gone. Guess Penny wasn’t much of a bouncer. Given the size of my chest, though, I didn’t really blame her.

“So, I think what we need to do is work on getting you familiar with the actual routines. What the moves are called, when you’re supposed to do them. That sort of thing. You probably don’t have ballet practice until Saturday, so we’ll work on the cheer stuff first.”

“Oh, sure,” I said dryly. “All I need to do is know the names and I’ll be able to master the moves. Sorry, Grasshopper, but I don’t think that’s going to fly.”

He laughed. “Grasshopper was the student, doofus. However, I like the fact that you went there. It’s a great segue into what I want to show you.”

Charlie walked a few feet away. Then he launched into a barrage of kicks, punches, and turns. At one point, he even jumped into the air and spun around a full circle before snapping his leg out into a side kick. It was like watching a nerdy Jackie Chan.

“What the frack?” I asked, still trying to process what I’d just seen. “Where did you learn that?”

“Muscle memory.”

“You’re joking.”

He shook his head. “So, I guess Charlie kind of got tired of the teasing. He’s been taking Taekwondo for almost two years now.”

“That’s good for Charlie,” I said. “But how does that translate into Cindy being able to do that stuff?”

He grinned. “I had class after school. At first, I was freaking out. I mean, Charlie’s a green belt. That’s a pretty high rank. I knew there was no way to fake it.” He shrugged. “However, once we started going through the moves, it was like … automatic. Like my body knew what to do all on its own. All I had to do was get out of its way.”

I glanced from him to the spot where he’d just demonstrated that he could probably knock a few football players on their ass with little effort.

“And you think ….”

He nodded. “So, the first test is a back handspring. That’s where you flip backwards, putting your hands down halfway through the rotation before continuing around to land on your feet.”

“Or my neck.” I mumbled.

He shook his head. “Trust me. Just don’t think about doing it. Just do it.”

I nodded, taking several deep breaths. Then, hoping I wasn’t going to be going to homecoming in a wheelchair, I leapt backward.

How to describe it? As soon as my body went into motion, it happened. The world around me rotated as my arms when up, followed by my legs. Before I could even register what was going on, my palms were slapping the grass and my hips and legs were working in tandem to increase my momentum. A moment later, I was standing on my feet again, about a yard away from where I started, with my arms raised above my head.

“I … I …” my breathing was rapid, as was my pulse. I hadn’t even really tried, and still managed to make it work. “Was that …?”

Charlie clapped. “That was textbook, Sam. I mean, perfect. Arms straight. Legs straight. You moved backward in a completely straight line. It was absolutely perfect.”

I giggled, threw my arms around him, and kissed him on his stubble-laced cheek.

“That was awesome!”

He laughed and looked down at me. “You know Kung-Fu,” he said in his best Lawrence Fishburne voice.

I nodded, taking a step back.

“Show me.”

A Wish Unwanted – Part 7
by Limbo’s Mistress

Over the next forty-five minutes, Charlie ran me through a series of basic cheer maneuvers. Each one apparently had its own name, and a specific order, in the routine. In addition to a back handspring, I learned I could do a handstand, a round off, a forward flip, a hurdler, a toe-touch, and a pike without much more than simply thinking about it in my head.

“I’ll text you the routines tonight. You’ll just need to memorize which moves go with which numbers. Then it’s just a matter of making sure everyone is in synch and puts in maximum effort.”

“Maximum effort?” I asked, smirking. “You channeling Deadpool now?”

“More like channeling Jen. She’s a hard ass when it comes to everyone moving and performing perfectly. Though, I doubt Pee-Jay is the kind of co-captain that screams in Kara’s face when she gets confused and lags a half-second behind the rest.”

I blinked. “She did that?”

Charlie shook his head. “No. Not did. Does. She does that.”

I sighed. “I can’t believe you put up with that crap.” Then I shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m going to put up with that crap.”

“Well, she never really got pissy with Tabitha, strange as it may sound. As for me, I mean, Cindy, she only tried jumping down my throat once. But apologized afterwards. I guess because she knew I was better than her. And she knew I knew it.”

I nodded, then looked at him silently for a moment.

“What?” he asked, looking down at himself before running his hand around his mouth. “Do I have crap on my face?”

I shook my head. “No. Just … looking.”

A smirk formed on his face and he cocked his hip to the side, planting a hand there. It was eerily identical to how Cindy used to stand. Especially when she was about to be overly dramatic.

“Like what you’re looking at?”

I made an exaggerated show of looking him over. Then I walked around him in a circle, humming softly to myself. When I was back in front of him again, I shrugged.

“Well, you’re alright. I mean, you’re certainly no Lee Taylor.”

He snorted and shook his head. “Sorry,” he said. “As wacky as this all is, me like this and you like that. The thing between you and Lee … it blows my mind.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. As soon as I did, I realized it was another Cindy move.

“Why? The wish made me a girl. Why wouldn’t I be attracted to guys now?” I arched a brow. “Are you telling me that you haven’t had the least bit of stirring down below because of some girl?”

I took a step forward, letting my hips roll with the motion. Then I took another, really focusing on accenting my feminine curves.

His eyes dropped down to my waist, then came back up to my chest for a moment. After staring for more than a few seconds, he blinked several times, brought his gaze back up to my face, and held out his hand as he took a step back.

“Okay. Cut it out. You’ve proved your point.”

I giggled, dropping back into a more relaxed, less seductive pose. “We are prisoners of what the magic made us, my friend.”

He cleared his throat, then turned his back to me as he reached down and adjusted himself. I knew the move without having to see. Hell, I’d done it myself a thousand times. Probably more. When you’re a dateless dork, you tend to get spontaneous erections.

When he turned back around, his cheeks were red. “Not sure I will actually get used to that. Being aroused as a girl is a lot less … obvious.”

I nodded. “That’s the honest truth.”

I walked over to the patio set and grabbed one of the metal seats. Charlie walked over and took another.

“Thanks for helping me out tonight. I was starting to freak a little, no lie.” I shrugged. “I honestly had no idea how involved being a girl really was. I barely got by as a guy.”

He laughed. “You were a great guy, Sammy. I always thought so. Even when I didn’t act like it.” He frowned, glancing away. “I still feel bad for doing that to you.”

“Hey, it’s okay, Cin. Really.” When he turned back to me, I smiled a real smile at him. “I’ve been thinking of it as an adventure of sorts.”

“Of course you would,” he said with a grin.

“Now that I know I have the athletic skills as some sort of pre-installed software, I just need to work on the non-physical stuff. Like clothes and makeup and stuff.”

“That’s where the internet comes in handy. Pretty much everything you want to know about fashion or makeup is there. Just match something that compliments your skin and hair and you’ll be golden.”

“What about you?” I asked. “Anything a former guy can help you with?”

His face dropped into a neutral expression for a moment. Then he shrugged. “Physically, I think I’m okay. Except the new equipment sometimes behaves outside of established parameters.” His face reddened again. “Did you, you know, ever have to … oh god … take care of it?”

Take care of it? Like a pet? It took me a second, but then I realized what he was asking. Having had a similar train of thought in the showers earlier, I nearly laughed out loud. Which, I was sure, would have been a terrible thing to do.

I nodded. “Sometimes. Okay, quite a lot of times.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Teenage guys are pretty much perpetually horny. So, unless we’re getting regular sex, we’re handling it ourselves on an as-needed basis.”

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “I never had any clue. Did you, like, do it all the time?”

“Not all the time. Just most days that ended in ‘y’.”

“Perv!” he said, before breaking out into laugh.

I joined in. Why? Because the entire situation was absurd, if you stopped to think about it. Here I was, confessing to my former best friend that I’d masturbated on a daily basis while she was guiding me through a whole new world of being a girl. The reversal had provided us with the opportunity to see into the other’s life without the normal boy-girl barriers.

Honestly, if she had leaned sideways right then and ripped a loud one, I wouldn’t have been offended in the least.

The back door opened, and mom stuck her head out. She looked over to the patio and cleared her throat.

“Penelope, it’s time for dinner. It was nice seeing you again, Charles,” she said, sounding more sincere than not. “Tell your mother I said hello.”

“I will. Thanks.” Then he turned to look at me. “I’ll text you later. Tomorrow we can go over the ballet moves. Of course, if tonight is any indication, you’ll be able to pirouette, grande jeté, and plié like a seasoned pro.”

I laughed. “I have no idea what you even said. You know, other than the actual French translation.”

“No worries,” he said. “Save it for tomorrow. Night.” He walked out through the gate next to the house.

I started walking toward the house. Then, about twenty feet from the porch, I did two cartwheels and a round off. Jumping Catfish, Boy Wonder! I’m a cheerleader!

Dinner was a really strange affair.

Sam usually sat down, scooped a massive amount of food into his mouth, then retreated back to his Fortress of Solitude. However, I knew dinner with Penny’s family was going to be a completely different beast. Even before my father beamed at me and said, in a perfectly normal voice.

“How was your day, Pumpkin?”

Pumpkin? Was I round, orange, and stuffed with a candle? Nope. This was just one of those wonderful new things the wishing stone had added to my life.

A father who gave a damn.

“It was good,” I said, sitting down in my usual spot. “Uh, how was work?”

“Work was work. The Miller account came through splendidly. There’s a good chance they’ll bring the rest of their holdings on board.” He winked at me, then looked across the table at my mother. “I was thinking maybe we’d use my bonus to take a little vacation. How does Hawaii sound to my two favorite ladies?”

Okay, hold the phone. Normally dad only offered to take mom to new and exciting places. I mean, not that I really cared. Having the two of them gone for a long weekend meant I could log into the net and game around the clock. Without anyone opening my door at three in the morning to yell at me to go to bed.

“Sounds like heaven to me,” my mom said. Then she looked at me. “Guess that means we’ll need to go shopping for some new bikinis, huh?”

I was taking a drink of water when she said that. The next thing I knew, I was bent over choking on the liquid that had shot down into my lungs while my father pounded lightly on my back. It was freaking déjà vu from lunch. With me starring in Tabitha’s role.

“I’m okay,” I croaked. “Just went down the wrong pipe.”

“You need to be more careful, Pumpkin,” dad said, cutting into his chicken. “Anyway, I had such a good day that I thought perhaps I would show a little leniency.” He popped the piece of meat into his mouth, chewing slowly for a few minutes while looking at me. Then he swallowed and pointed at me with his fork.

“Do you understand why I was so angry about what you did?”

No, not a clue. About what I’d done or why you were angry. But, just for the heck of it, let’s pretend like I’ve always been your perfect little girl.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He stared at me for a moment, then went back to cutting his dinner. “I know that you have a big circle of friends, and that you don’t want to be that uncool girl. However, ‘home by ten’ means ‘home by ten’. Not eleven. Not midnight. And most certainly, not one in the morning.”

Okay, so that’s what it was. Precious Penelope had broken her curfew. Sam hadn’t had a real curfew since turning fifteen. So long as I didn’t make a ton of noise and wake anyone up when I came in, neither of them really cared what time I came home at night.

I nodded. “I know. I’m sorry …. Daddy.” I put a little extra sugar in my voice. I’m an adorable girl, sue me for using it to my advantage.

He sighed, glanced over at mom, then looked back at me. After a moment, he leaned sideways and put his hand into his pants pocket. When it reemerged, there was a car key held tightly in its fingers.

“I’m ending your punishment four days early.” He handed the key to me. “Just remember that we are tough on you because we care.”

Ugh. More Hallmark card stuff. I honestly believed I could handle being attracted to a guy easier than I could a set of parents who actually wanted to be a part of my life.

When dinner was over, I discovered the Penny was also the kind of daughter who helped out with cleanup. While dad went into his study for a post-meal relaxation session, mom and I cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher, and put the leftovers away.

Of course, she used it as an opportunity to get more detailed information on Lee without my father overhearing.

“Are you going to go out with him again? I mean, first a date on Saturday. Then you were practically glued to the phone on Sunday. Today it was a ride home from school.” She closed the fridge and gave me a sassy wink. “Sounds like it’s getting serious.”

I didn’t say anything at first. Sam and his mother had never had any conversations about his relationship with the opposite sex. Sure, she really liked Cindy, but even she knew the pretty cheerleader was out of her son’s league. I think her acceptance of Cindy was compensation for not having a daughter.

Something the wishing stone had rectified.

When I realized the Silent Treatment wasn’t going to fly, I sighed. “Mom, I don’t know yet. Yes, I like Lee. Yes, he said he likes me. But there is a whole ton of baggage and we’re trying to take it slow.”

“Slow is good,” she said. “I definitely think you two should take it slow.” She rinsed her hands and dried them on a towel. “What sort of baggage?”

I rolled my eyes. “He used to date Jen.”

She nodded. “I think you mentioned that on Saturday.”

“I did?”

“Yes. You also said something along the lines of ‘she was the dummy who broke up with him’ and ‘it’s not my fault he felt like a girlfriend upgrade’.”

Wow! So Penny really could be a clawed kitty when she wanted to be. I think my respect for my feminine side just doubled. Of course, it was likely that her mean side was reserved only for Jen. I could live with that.

I managed to shrug off most of the other motherly inquiries, then announced that I had more homework to finish before bed. Escaping upstairs, I grabbed the laptop off the desk, flopped on the bed, and pulled up YouTube.

Just for the record, typing in “makeup tutorial for beginners” in the search bar will come back with about a bazillion results. Super helpful. Luckily, halfway down the page I found a video done by a girl who didn’t look too differently than Penny. Same hair color, same complexion, and approximately the same age.

The video was around eighteen minutes long and was a step by step tutorial on how to apply foundation, blush, mascara, eye liner, eye shadow and lipstick. The end result was the highlighting of the girl’s already pretty face without turning her into a clown wannabe. I watched the video twice, then saved it in my favorites. The plan was to bring it back up in the morning and follow the instructions to the letter.

Hopefully that muscle memory trick would be of assistance with that as well.

My phone dinged with a text message from Charlie. In it, he listed the most recent routines Jen had devised and reminded me to focus on everyone being in step. I thanked him for helping me out and promised that I would do what I could to get him some relief from the teasing.

I spent the next hour standing in front of my closet, phone in hand. I was using the web to put names with all the different types of clothing jammed inside. To my absolute not-surprise, a skirt just wasn’t a “skirt”. There were A-lines, asymmetrical, pencil, mermaid, circle, pleated, box pleated, and mini. Shirts weren’t any better. Crop tops, blouses, tunics, peplums, tube tops, camis, off-shoulder, and wraps.

It was a logistical nightmare. I mean, as a guy I could just grab a t-shirt, pair it with some jeans, and I was dressed. As a girl, I needed a quantum computer capable of cracking a Pentagon-level security code just to know which items could be paired with which.

Once again, the interwebs was my friend. I punched in a couple of celebrities that had my hair color and skin tone, then scrolled through their Instagram feeds to see if they showcased anything that looked remotely similar to what I owned. Fortunately, I had moderate success and immediately pulled those items from my closet and put them on the bed in their suggested groups.

After a few minutes, I finally had my wardrobe picked out for the next three days. Friday was game day, so that meant I would go to school already dressed in the cheer outfit hanging on the inside of the closet door. If fate was truly kind, an asteroid would crash into the earth and kill everyone before I faced the music of actually having to wear the damned tiny thing.

As I was putting my clothing selections back into the closet, I heard a chirp come from the laptop on the bed. Bouncing over, I flopped down and pulled up Skype.

The username requesting a connection was “LT49”.

Lee Taylor. Jersey number forty-nine.

Unable to not smile, because of … things, I clicked to accept the call and turned the volume on the computer down low. A second later, the screen filled with Lee’s image. At least, the part of him above the waist, that is.

He was sitting at a desk, obviously in his bedroom. You know, based on the bed visible behind him. He had on a light gray t-shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide how well-defined his chest was. His hair looked a bit damp, like he’d just gotten out of the shower.

Stop it! You are totally not going to sit here and think about Lee being wet and naked in his shower. It’s humiliating.

“Hey,” he said as he leaned closer to the screen. “Is this a bad time?”

Of course it is. I don’t need you calling me and making me think about you and me during off-hours. What are you trying to do to me?

I shook my head. “Nope. Just deciding what to wear tomorrow before I get ready for bed. How about you?”

“Pretty much the same. Just got out of the shower.”

Oh, believe me, I noticed. Dammit! Down, girl! Behave!

“Cool,” I said. “Thanks again for the ride home. Oh, and the, uh, whole asking me to homecoming thing.”

His smile widened. “Thank you as well.”

We chatted for another fifteen minutes about nothing at all of importance. As much as I really didn’t want to admit it, just hearing him talk about anything was entertaining. He had this habit of looking off to the right whenever he was thinking about an answer to a question. When he laughed, he followed up by capturing his bottom lip with his teeth for a second after stopping.

A yawn, real and genuine, slipped out of my mouth. Almost immediately, I clamped my hand over my lips. Lee just laughed and did the teeth thing again.

“Why don’t you go to bed, Pee-Jay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he leaned closer to the camera. “If you want, I can pick you up. Save Sarah the trip.”

Now it was my turn to giggle. “Yeah, right. She texted me a little while ago and asked if I had a nice trip home. When I confirmed that I did, she warned me that she was going to pry all the juicy details from me on the way to school. As much as I would like to ride with you, I better not.”

He nodded. “Yeah, the last thing I want to have is Sarah mad at me.”

“You and me both.” I reached toward the disconnect button. “Good night, Lee.”

“Good night, Pee-Jay. Sweet dreams.” Then the feed on his end terminated.

I closed the app, then the laptop, and rolled over onto my back to stare up at the ceiling. The whirlwind inside my mind was fighting the urge to go to sleep. I had awakened that morning to find my whole life, as well as the lives of many others, completely changed from what I was used to. Changing gender was really just the tip of the iceberg. It wasn’t as if Sam had vanished, replaced by Penelope. The propagation waves branching out from that single point affected everything.

My parents were more involved with my life. Something that Penny apparently liked happening. It wasn’t that they cared more for their daughter than they had their son. It was more the fact that I’d put up a wall between us and they’d simply let me. I had the feeling they wouldn’t have been so complacent if Penny tried that.

Then there was the friendship between Penny and Sarah. It wasn’t a relationship that had simply transferred over with the wish. Since Cindy and Sarah hadn’t been closer than being on the same squad. Which begged the question: who was Sarah’s best friend before Pee-Jay existed? I had no idea, except to acknowledge that they were not in that particular position any longer.

Maybe Tracy would know.

Speaking of Tracy, there was Tabitha. She knew I’d used the stone. Knew I used to be a guy named Sam Davenport. Not that she could really do anything about it. The first person she tried to sell that story to would think she was off her rocker. However, until that morning, she had been the co-captain under Jen. Now she wasn’t. That particular wave also affected the rest of the squad. Tabitha was probably not as big a bitch as Jen, but from what Cindy used to say, she ran a really close second.

Now that Penny was the co-captain, I suspected the drills were a little more pleasant. The girl I was now did not seem to be the type to jump down someone’s throat for a simple mistake. I had the feeling that being a Raiderette was a more enjoyable experience now than it had been.

Not that the rest of the girls would know any different.

I planted my hands on either side of my head, forcing myself to abandon the quest to find the bottom of the rabbit hole. For that way lies madness. The only thing I needed to concentrate on was accepting the fact that I was going to be Penelope for the rest of my life, and doing my best to make it a good life.

It was like getting a second chance. Or maybe more like the opportunity to prove you could do the job better than the other guy. Or, in this case, girl. Cindy had made being a female out to be this big roadblock keeping her from doing the things she wanted and avoiding the things she didn’t. Now, she was finding out that being a male wasn’t all wine and roses.

As for me, I was going to show her that it was possible to be a beautiful girl and get what you wanted. I decided I was going to be the best version of Penelope Davenport I could possibly be.

I picked the laptop up and set it back on the desk, plugging it in. Then I went down the hall to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. As I cleaned the day’s meals from my molars, I studied the girl in the mirror. She looked, first and foremost, like she was ready to hit the sack. However, she also looked determined. Confident. Assured. Things Sam would have admitted to being, though he knew it was a lie.

Back in my room, I went ahead and put my books into my backpack. As well as a fresh pair of gym clothes in the smaller bag. Then I stripped out of the sweatpants, tossed them on the back of the chair, and climbed into bed.

I lay in the dark for a few minutes, just staring up at the posters barely illuminated by the streetlights outside. I worried that all the noise in my brain was going to end with me tossing and turning until dawn.

However, I was asleep before I even realized it.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

When the Batman theme dragged me back to consciousness, the first thing I thought was that it couldn’t possibly be time to get up. It was still dark outside my window, meaning it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet.

I fumbled around until my hand found the pointy ears of the Dark Knight’s cowl. Between them was a button that, when pressed, would buy me another fifteen minutes of blissful slumber. However, just as my fingers brushed the raised square of plastic (well, my fingernails, technically), a flood of memories surged into my half-awake brain.

I sat up, glancing around quickly to confirm that, yes, I was still in Penelope’s room. Which, de facto, meant that I was still Penelope. The previous day had been a totally real thing and not some weird-ass dream. Slapping my hand down on the superhero’s head to silence the alarm, I flopped back onto my pillow and sighed.

“You need to get up,” I said to myself. “You set the alarm super early because you knew you’d need the extra time to get ready.”

I allowed the fifteen minutes to pass. Then, when the alarm started again, I groaned, turned it off, and climbed out of bed.

After turning on the lights, I went down the hall to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Even though I still felt I was relatively clean from the bath I took after gym, I figured the water would help energize me. Plus, I could feel the stubble that had appeared on my legs and under my arms. Amazingly, I managed to remove the hair from both areas with not a single cut.

Muscle memory strikes again.

Of course, having put it off for nearly twenty-four hours, I finally took the time to inspect my new equipment. Funny enough, despite watching more than my share of porn, I wasn’t sure what constituted a normal vagina. To me, the little mound above my pelvis and the slightly puffy folds between my legs looked ordinary The hair just above the opening was trimmed into a little thin line.

Wonderful. Penny had a landing strip. I wondered if any guy’s fighter jet had ever made a touchdown? Sam had been a hopelessly pathetic virgin who wasn’t likely to get laid any time before he went off to college. If even then.

Of course, he also hadn’t been a really hot girl who was hella flexible. Penny didn’t seem like the kind of girl who might be quick to “put out” as it were. I was pretty sure she might have done other things, but not the Big One.

Realizing that the clock was ticking, I derailed that train of thought and got out of the bath. Wrapping my towel around me, I pulled a hairdryer from under the sink and used a round bush with a zillion hard spikes on it. I used them in concert to turn what little wave my hair had into a perfectly straight fall. Then I clipped the sides back as I’d done day before, this time using a pair that were peach in color.

Once I was back in my room, I plopped my booty in the chair in front of the desk. In my after-school exploration of the room, I had discovered Penny’s Makeup Warehouse.

The large bottom drawer of the desk contained a folding mirror on a tripod stand that had a light circle around the edge and a side with double magnification. It also was home to a freaking toolbox with what I could only assume was about fifty-thousand dollars’ worth of cosmetics.

I’d been smart enough to jot down the colors and products the girl in the video had used. I pulled these out, put everything else away, then fired up the laptop and navigated back to the tutorial.

The next thirty minutes were a tragedy worthy of a Greek chorus.

It was kind of my own fault, really. I’d been lulled into a false sense of ability by how easy performing the cheer moves had been. Apparently, putting on cosmetics correctly didn’t require muscle memory. It required actual practice. At least to get right the first time.

I had to pause and rewind the video nearly a hundred times. As well as stomp down the hall to wash three horrific disasters off my face. Fortunately, the fourth try was the charm and I was finally able to appear like a beautiful, fresh-faced high schooler. Rather than one of the less wholesome girls who worked the street corners in the seedier parts of downtown.

My success so far left me with a giddy feeling. Hopping up from the desk, I practically bounced (in more ways than one) across the room to the closet. I pulled out the ensemble I’d chosen for the day and placed it on the bed. Then I skipped over to the dresser and pulled out an off-white bra with little strips of lace around the tops of the cups, and a pair of peach thong panties.

Yeah, I know. However, considering the sheer number of them that Penny had, I figured they couldn’t be that uncomfortable, right? Besides, when in Rome and all that.

Funny enough, once I had them on, they weren’t really all that bad. At first, the sensation of something wedged between my butt cheeks was really noticeable. However, after walking around for about five minutes, I didn’t even register it anymore. Talk about weird.

I picked up the peach chiffon skirt and stepped into it. The zipper was conveniently placed on the side, and the soft pleated hem fell to just above my knee. As Cindy would have said, “Cute and flashy, without being trashy”. Then I slipped my arms into the short sleeved blue denim blouse with a scooped neck. Once the front was buttoned closed, the top fit snugly enough to show a tiny bit of cleavage. Just enough to be eye-catching.

To the delightful outfit I added a pearl bangle bracelet, slipped my feet into a pair of peach ankle socks, then topped it off with a pair of light tan ankle boots.

Once I was finished, I stood in front of the mirror for a good five minutes, turning back and forth as I stared at myself. Okay, so all my previous assessments were wrong. I wasn’t just cute. Or pretty. Or beautiful.

The girl looking back at me with the goofy smile was fracking gorgeous.

I grabbed my phone off the charger, shooting Sarah a quick text to tell her she could leave the Eco-Mobile at home. I would be picking her up today. Then I dropped the phone into a side pocket on the backpack, shoved my purse inside with my books, and pranced down the stairs.

Mom was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee and scrolling through her tablet. She glanced up as I came in, a little sly smile appearing when she saw my attire.

“Looks like someone was feeling especially pretty this morning.”

I paused for a second as I rolled that around in my head. Yeah, I guess I did feel pretty. Which was a thousand times better than feeling ordinary.

“It’s not a big deal,” I said, grabbing a piece of bacon from a platter next to the stove. “I just wanted to wear something nice. Before it gets so cold I’m stuck with sweaters and parkas.”

“Sweetie, you’d be beautiful in a burlap sack. Now, sit down and have a decent breakfast. I’ve made spinach and eggs to go with that bacon you’re munching.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall. “You have plenty of time.”

I grabbed a plate from the cabinet and scooped some of the eggs from the pan still sitting on one of the burners. I never really ate breakfast as Sam. More likely to grab a cold pastry, if anything. And I certainly didn’t eat with my mom.

When I sat down at the table across from her, a mug of coffee added to the meal, she turned off her tablet and peered at me.

“So, is this nice outfit you’re wearing designed to, perhaps, catch the attention of a certain guy?”

Warmth spread across my face, and I had to stop chewing before I sprayed my mother with half-eaten eggs. I swallowed the lump and chased it with a sip from the mug before daring to answer.

“Mom!” I shook my head. “For your information, I picked this out last night because I through it would really look good on me.” As well as really girly, which was the point. “I didn’t wear it in the hopes that Lee would think it looked good on me.

You know, I think it was the Bard who once said something about a chick protesting way too much.

“Well, if he doesn’t, then his coach needs to pull him off the team, because he would have to be blind.” She laughed and leaned back in her chair. “On a completely different note, you will be on your own for dinner tonight. Your father has to give a speech to the Board of Directors. Something about the second quarter earnings or something. Anyway, the whole event is a dinner and cocktail party.”

I nodded slowly, chewing another bite of eggs. There was something in her voice, like the tale she was telling wasn’t really the whole story. Or even the purpose of the story.

“O….kay?” I said, arching a brow.

“It’s at the country club over in Rockland. Lord only knows why they’re having it all the way over there, but they are. So, chances are that it’ll be at least eleven-thirty or later by the time we got home.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll manage to fend for myself.”

The little smile on her face widened a bit. “You do understand what I’m telling you. Don’t you, Penelope?”

I crinkled up my brow. Mom was definitely acting a little strange. Or maybe not. Perhaps she always talked in cryptic sentences.

“Uh … I guess?”

She laughed, gave me a little wink, then picked up her tablet again. “Just remember, we will be home at eleven-thirty at the earliest. Definitely not before then.”

I forked the last bit of eggs into my mouth, drained the coffee cup, then put everything in the dishwasher. Grabbing my backpack, I gave her a kiss on the cheek and grabbed my car keys from the peg on the wall.

“I gotta go, mom. Love you.”

She nodded. “I love you, too, dear. Don’t forget that your father and I won’t be home until …”

“Eleven-thirty,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “Got it.”

I went outside and over to the Jeep. It took a minute for me to get over my jealousy. Penny had obviously been better at cajoling dear old dad into getting her a relatively new, really nice, ride. The unfairness of it wanted to itch at my skin like a burr.

Duh, dummy. You are Penny now. Which means that’s your car.

Climbing in behind the wheel, I glanced over to see that it was a five-speed manual. Rather than an automatic.

“Bonus points to you, Pee-Jay,” I murmured. “You might be a bouncy bimbo, but you are woman enough to drive stick.”

I backed out of the driveway, shifted into first, and rolled off down the street. It wasn’t until I was two blocks from my house that I realized that I had absolutely, positively no fracking clue where Sarah’s house was. I’m sure Penny had been there so many times she could drive it blindfolded. Sam, however, could not.

I pulled over to the curb and shut off the engine. Pulling my phone out of the backpack, I started to dial Sarah’s number.

Slow down, genius. What are you going to say? Hey best friend, I can’t remember where you live so could you text me the address? Thanks!

I sighed and tapped on the screen impatiently. I could always call her and say that something had come up and ask her to drive herself to school. Though, that would only delay the problem. At some point, I was going to be expected to navigate between our two residences. Better to figure out the details now, before I try to do it with Sarah in the passenger seat.

Turning on my phone, I entered Sarah’s number into a Google search. Nada. Then I tried searching the name “Strand” along with our town’s name. Wow! Only ten results. Which would be easier to narrow down if I knew her parents’ names. Jesus, how could I be best friends with someone I didn’t really know?

Cindy! I pulled up Penny’s contact list, hoping Charlie’s number was still in the directory. There, among all the “M” entries was his name. I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear.

He answered on the third ring. “Well, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Knock it off. I need help,” I said, wincing at the annoyance in my voice. “Uh, sorry. Inner Bitch slipped out.”

There was a slight pause before he said anything. “No problem. What’s wrong?”

“I’m supposed to pick Sarah Strand up this morning and drive us both to school. However …”

He laughed. It was a kind of loud, barking thing. Not at all like the little musical laugh Cindy used to have. “You don’t know where she lives, do you?”

“Ha-ha. Please help me.” Then I grinned. “You’re my only hope.”

“Really, Pee-Jay? Star Wars quotes at seven-thirty in the morning?”

“I’m desperate.”

“I can imagine.” Then he sighed. “I didn’t hang out with Sarah a lot. She was cool and all, but I think she thought I was going to make a move on Chad or something. We had a Raiderette party at her house last summer.”

“Great story!” I said. “Do you remember the address?”

I drove off toward the neighborhood Charlie had told me Sarah lived in. He couldn’t remember the exact address, but he did remember the street name. He also said that he knew the Force would be with me and had no doubts I would find it.

When I turned down the alleged street, I began to sweep my gaze back and forth at the driveways on either side of the road, looking for her Prius. I wasn’t even about to entertain the possible notion she might be parked inside the garage that every one of the giant houses seemed to have.

Then, right when I feared I was going to have to bite the bullet and call her, I spotted the car. It was parked on the street in front of a large three-story brick house. I pulled the Jeep into the driveway and killed the engine.

Before I could climb out, Sarah came out the side door, waving as she pranced her way over to get in on the passenger side.

“Hey,” she said, closing the door and pulling on her seatbelt. “I thought you would have been here fifteen minutes ago. What’s the matter? Get lost?”

You have no idea, girlfriend. No idea at all.

“Just being fashionably tardy,” I said with a giggle as I reversed back into the road and drove off toward the school.

Sarah tilted her head, looking me up and down before whistling. “Fashionable is definitely the right word. You look smoking, Peej. Is that a new skirt?”

I had the feeling that Sarah was well aware of every article of clothing in Penny’s closet. Hell, she’d probably been with her for the purchase of most of the wardrobe. So, either she was being ironic, or this really was a new acquisition.

“Yeah. Felt like giving it a debut run today.”

“Well, Lee is going to love it.”

Ugh. What did it matter what Lee thought of my clothes? I mean, yeah, I wanted him to notice me. But that’s not the reason I picked this particular outfit.

Or was it? Did I subconsciously choose something super flirty to wear with the hope that he would like it? Surely my descent into girldom hadn’t dropped that far, right?

I turned the corner, slowing down a bit when I saw a police car coming the other way. A little nervous wave rolled through me, landed in my belly, and hung out until the cruiser vanished from my rear-view mirror.

“My mom was acting totally weird this morning,” I said to her before rehashing the entire conversation that had taken place at the breakfast table.

I felt like she’d been trying to convey some sort of secret message she fully expected her daughter to understand. However, the guy portion of my brain had disrupted the signal, and I optimistically hoped a real female would be able to solve it.

Turns out, I was right.

“That’s awesome,” she said, grinning. “You’re mom is the coolest.”

Great. So Sarah did understand what mom was trying to tell me. Problem was, she thought I already understood as well.

“You don’t think that was a bit weird?” I asked. “Maybe even cryptic?”

Objection, Your Honor. Leading the witness.

Sarah shook her head. “Well, she really couldn’t just come right out and tell you to be home before eleven-thirty, could she? Then she could be considered an accomplice.”

I blinked, nearly missing a rapidly approaching stop sign. I jammed on the brakes, decreasing our speed rapidly. Sarah threw her hand on the dash, her eyes wide.

“Sorry,” I said. “Take a couple of days off driving and you get totally rusty.”

So. Mom and Dad were going to be out late. Mom had been telling me that if I didn’t want to come home right after cheer practice, then I needed to at least be there before the two of them returned. Otherwise, I would likely be grounded again.

Sarah was right. My mother was pretty cool.

When we got to school, I pulled into the parking spot Sarah’s car had taken the previous day. Interestingly enough, there was a dark red Mustang parked five spaces down. Even more intriguing was the fellow in the blue and white letterman’s jacket leaning against the hood talking with Chad.

Lee’s face seemed to light up when he saw me climb out of the Jeep. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I strolled to him. Trying to come off as more casual than I felt. Each step made my pulse a little quicker. The decreasing distance only seeming to increase the pull of attraction.

Sarah, on the other hand, blew past me like it was the last lap in a race and practically tackled Chad against the side of Lee’s car. Their mouths met a half-second later, leading into a kiss so intense you would have thought they hadn’t seen each other in years. Rather than just last night.

When I stopped next to the car, Lee looked from me, to them, and shook his head.

“Alright, you two. Chill out or go get a room.”

Chad reluctantly pulled him tongue out of Sarah’s mouth. “I vote for the room.”

Sarah laughed and slapped him on the arm. “Behave.”

“Hey,” I said, looking up at Lee.

He turned back around, his eyes seeming to drink me in again. Funny thing was, it wasn’t a creepy stare. Or even a leering one. It wasn’t like he was sitting next to the stage at Hard Bodies ogling the stripper in front of him. It was more like a pensive, appreciative look. Like you might find on someone standing in front of a Monet at the Louvre.

It made my heart flutter wildly.

“Morning,” he said. “You look really nice.”

I smiled, feeling a bit of the determined boldness I’d thought about before bed surging to the forefront of my thoughts. “Nice enough to kiss, perhaps?”

He looked momentarily taken aback. Like he wasn’t sure what he’d just heard. Then he slipped his arm around me and leaned down to press his lips against mine. That electricity I’d come to expect from being in contact with him returned, tingling my toes.

Among other, more intimate, places.

My lips parted on their own and I felt his tongue slide between them, rolling around as it sought out my own. The heat of the moment rushed between us, my pulse throbbing in my ears. After what seemed to be far too short a time, he withdrew from my mouth and pulled his head back an inch or two.

“Wow,” he said in a slightly breathless tone. “That was … wow.”

Sarah, who had been watching the display of affection, giggled. “That was beautiful.”

Chad grinned, shaking his head. “I haven’t see my boy that stunned since the time that defensive end from Central clocked him from behind.”

I stuck my tongue out at the both of them before looking back at Lee His face was just as flushed and bright red as I was sure mine was. After a few seconds of silence, he smiled down at me.

“Good morning,” I said with a little giggle. Then I pulled back from him, looped my arm in around Sarah’s, and pulled her toward the door. “Come on, boys. We don’t want to be late.”

The four of us walked across the campus toward the school’s entrance. Along the way, it seemed that everyone we passed (or passed us) said hello. While we all generally received some type of greeting, I couldn’t help but notice that my name was called more than any of the other three’s. Once we were up the steps and inside, we had to split up.

Sarah and Lee went down one hallway, my best friend whispering something I was pretty sure could be considered “devious” to the boy whose mouth I could still taste. Chad and I went down another, but the rugged football player stopped to talk to some of his friends.

I went to my locker, pulled open the door, and tossed my little gym bag inside. Tilting the door a bit, I preened into the little mirror affixed there. Checking to make sure I still looked as fresh as I had when I left the house.

Satisfied with my reflection, I flicked the door closed … only to find Tabitha standing there glaring at me.

Before I could respond, she moved closer, until our chests were nearly touching.

“You’re a disgusting pervert,” she hissed, almost snarling. “I always knew you were some kind of creepy freak, but I never would have thought you to be so desperate to touch a woman you’d turn yourself into one.”

I leaned back, partially afraid she was going to follow up with fangs flashing as she buried them into my exposed neck.

“I didn’t do this to me,” I retorted, keeping my voice just as low as hers. “This wasn’t my wish.”

“Well, you seem to be getting along fabulously.” Her eyes narrowed with malicious glee. “Maybe you really wanted it, but just didn’t know.”

“Screw you,” I spat. “At least I can honestly claim my changes were accidental. How did it feel, dicking over your friend like a spiteful bitch?”

Her hard stare immediately widened as her cheeks went flush with obvious embarrassment. Was she ashamed about what she had done to Tracy? Or the fact that I knew about it? Regardless, she quickly recovered from her initial dismay and returned to her predatory mode.

“Don’t get too comfortable in your new position, Davenport. You might be the Bitch Princess now, but when the Queen gets back, she’s going to throw you out with the rest of the trash. When she’s done with you, you’ll be lucky if even those dorks you used to jerk off with will have anything to do with you.”

I smirked, cocking my hip to the side. “Color me scared. News flash, Tabby. I’m the second-most popular girl at Benson High. I could ruin you by the end of the day, if I was so inclined. Jennifer might not like me, but since she tapped Pee-Jay to be her co-captain, rather than you, I think it’s fair to say I think I’ll be okay.”

She laughed, a merciless bark that brought the momentary attention of more than one set of eyes. “You are so stupid. You’re only co-captain because of that wish. Jen’s going to throw you off the squad the second she returns.”

“Why would she?” I asked her, trying to sound bold. However, there was something in the blonde’s eyes. Something that I found worrisome. “What are you going to do, huh? Run to Jen and tell her I used to be some loser nerd guy she and her sycophants used to torment?” I gestured down at my adorable self. “Going to try to persuade her that Pee-Jay didn’t exist before yesterday? She’ll laugh in your face and say that you’ve lost your mind.”

She snorted softly, then leaned in again.

“I don’t have to tell her shit, doofus. She already knows who you really are.”

I felt my heart seize in mid-beat. “What?”

Tabitha rolled her eyes, grinning like a madwoman. “The wishing stone, Penelope.” She sounded out each syllable like it was a curse word. “Jennifer’s already used it.”

A Wish Unwanted – Part 8
by Limbo’s Mistress

I could only stare at Tabitha, momentarily struck speechless. The weight of what she had just revealed to me was like a blanket that was smothering me. A really heavy blanket. Made of solid concrete.

Noticing my surprised reaction, she smirked and reached out to lightly tap me on the tip of my new button nose.

“Didn’t expect to hear that, did you? The smugness in her tone dug at my nerves.

Finally able to break through the whirlwind thoughts and emotions rolling through me, my temporarily disabled cognitive functions returned. Which allowed me to being voicing coherent, albeit shaky, word stuffs again.

“How do you know that she used the stone?” I was pretty sure Tabitha wasn’t lying. Still, I held out hope she was lying. That the nasty blonde was only trying to mess with my head.

Tabitha shrugged. “Because, she told me. Duh!” She rolled her eyes in an over-exaggerated manner. “Come on, doofus. Think about it. She knew something had been changed, but not what. When I came bopping into the school in my new uniform…,” she giggled evilly, her blue eyes glimmering with amusement. “You really should have seen it. Poor girl nearly had a conniption fit.”

“I’ll bet she did,” I grumbled.

Granted, I did think the mental image my brain conjured of Jennifer Winters looking like she’d just sucked on a lemon was pretty hilarious. The issues was that, knowing what she’d done to Tracy, I couldn’t find myself rooting for Tabitha. At least Jennifer had the balls, figuratively-speaking, to stab you in the front.

Tabitha, on the other hand, was sneakier than a Predator and nastier than a Xenomorph.

I guess my trepidation showed on my face, because the smile slowly faded from the girl in front of me.

“Anyway,” she continued. “She immediately pulled me aside to have a little, friendly chat. She informed me that I could keep my newly found popularity, and my position as co-captain, so long as I pulled my weight keeping the squad in line and I didn’t even think about challenging her role in the school’s hierarchy.”

“Which changed yesterday,” I said, more to myself than to Tabitha.

“Yes,” she said with a sneer. “Imagine how I felt when I woke up and knew that someone had used the stone to make a wish. Of course, I didn’t even suspect the changes to have affected me, until I got that call from Jen.”

The attitude Tabitha had thrown at the lunch table came rushing back to me. As well as the phone call I received right before fifth period. The call from Jen.

When I’d answered it, she had called me Sam right off the bat. However, she immediately launched into warning me, and Tabitha by proxy, that whatever was going on between us better get fixed and not screw up all her hard work with the squad. At the time, I managed to convince myself that maybe I had simply misheard her. Now, I couldn’t pretend otherwise.

“You told her!” I said in my most accusing tone, pointing a finger at Tabitha. “Like you, Jen knew something had changed. You were the one who told Pee-Jay and how she used to be Sam Davenport.”

“You bet your pert new ass I did. She thought I was full of crap at first. It took her scrolling through the photos and contacts on her phone to realize I was telling the truth.” She smirked at me. “Imagine finding out the nerdy dork you hate more than anyone else in the world is now as popular as you as well as her co-captain. She was so freaking mad.”

I nodded, only hearing about half of what she was saying. “I wonder what Jen’s wish was,” I said.

She sighed, apparently irritated that I wasn’t acting as upset as she wanted.

“She probably asked to be pretty and popular,” she said, throwing a ton of snarky sarcasm into her voice as she poked me again. This time in my right boob. “After all, isn’t that what we all wished for?”

I slapped her hand away, glaring at her.

“Not me. I didn’t want, nor wish, to be pretty or popular. Shaking my butt in front of a crowded football stadium isn’t exactly my dream.”

She chuckled with a shrug. “Then quit.”

“What?” I tilted my head, staring as if I’d misheard her.

“Quit the squad. Be like Tonya. I mean, regardless of whether or not you’re a Raiderette, you’ll still probably be counted among the top tier, considering how you look.” She shrugged again. “I mean, you can always explain that you just couldn’t handle the rigorous requirements of being the co-captain.”

I balled my hands into tiny fists and planted them on my hips, my cheeks instantly igniting. “That’s utter crap,” I spat. “I’m twice the cheerleader you are.”

Tabitha laughed, her eyes widening in surprise. “Is that so? Aren’t you the guy who once busted his ass just walking through the cafeteria?” Then she shook her head. “You know what? Have it your way, Pee-Jay. You want to continue to pretend you have what it takes? Fine. That’ll make it all the more delicious when Jen kicks you out on Friday. Doesn’t matter to me either way.”

She blew me a sassy kiss as she turned around to walk away. Before she could get more than a couple of steps, I chased after her. Reaching out, I grabbed her upper arm and spun her back around to face me.

“Tell me something, Tabs,” I said in a low, angry voice as I leaned in so close to her that anyone passing by might think I was about to kiss her. “What you think about me doesn’t mean shit to me. But do you feel any guilt at all about what you did to Tracy? Any remorse about using the stone to make your friend’s life worse?”

“Not in the least,” she said, sticking her chin out defiantly.

Despite her words, I saw something flash across those blue eyes. A quick show of emotion that was there for the briefest of seconds. Regret. Which told me she wasn’t as convinced about her conscience as she liked to pretend. However, before I could press her further, she yanked free of my hold.

“Enjoy your newfound fame while it lasts, Pee-Jay. Tick-tock.” Then she giggled and sauntered away.

I stood there for a few moments after she was gone, willing myself to calm down. If not that, then to at least stop shaking with the myriad of feelings fighting within me. Sensing that my window for getting to class on time was closing rather quickly, I grabbed my backpack and headed off in the other direction. I kept my pace to a brisk walk, because running would only attract unwanted attention.

Somehow, I managed to make it both through the door and halfway down the aisle to my seat before the bell rang. I dropped my bag onto the desk and plopped into the seat. Leaning forward, I put my head on the smooth leather of the backpack and sighed. It must have been a lot louder than I intended, because a second later, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

I turned around to see Candice leaning forward over her own desk.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a low near-whisper.

I started to tell her the truth. Not about Sam, or the wishing stone, but the real answer to her question. Then I paused when I noticed she had was seemed to be genuine concern on her face. She wasn’t just asking to be nosy. Or out of some ass-kissing points. She had seen my entrance and actions and was actually worried for me.

Real empathy for a girl who hadn’t existed before yesterday.

But … she had. At least for Candice and everyone who hadn’t had a turn with the stone. I knew, from experience, that if I pulled out my phone, there would be dozens, if not hundreds, of photos with Candice in them. Events and instances she’d had with Penny that were as real to the anxious blonde as any without. Years’ worth of practices, lunches, parties, and other gatherings.

A shared history that firmly cemented the two of us in friends and teammates.

I forced a small smile on my face. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

She gave me a slightly dubious look, but didn’t challenge my statement. I’m sure she wanted to inquire further, but the beginning of the morning announcements, as well as the fact that Mrs. Thomas was only about five feet away, prevented any additional discourse.

My leg jangled up and down nervously as the boring broadcast droned on, with the hard-nosed teacher constantly looking my way, obviously trying to catch me not paying attention. Finally, after what seemed to be about a month and a half, the old battle axe moved closer to the front of the room.

I quickly grabbed my phone, kept it down near my lap, and fired a quick text to Charlie. In it, I informed him Jen had used the stone and also knew we had, too. A second later, the phone vibrated with his reply.

“Not good. Source?”

My thumbs flew across the virtual keyboard. “Tabs,” I wrote, then hit send.

His next reply was almost instantaneous. “I really h8 her.”

I nodded in agreement as I typed. “Same.”

Another nearly inaudible buzz. “Meet w/ Tracy in 3rd?”

I sighed as I transmitted my response. “Can’t. Clubhouse.”

“That sux.”

I couldn’t have put it better myself. The smart thing to do, at least from Sam’s point of view, would be to meet up with the two of them so figure out some kind of damage control. So far, I knew of five people who had made a wish. Two of them I considered to be enemies. The remaining three of us were like a party of adventurers, and the first rule of role-playing was to never, ever split the party.

Problem was, I had no doubt Tabitha would be more than eager to tell Jen I’d blown off the traditional daily gathering of Raiderettes for a second day in a row. For all I knew, that might be enough justification for Jen to convince the others I wasn’t fit to be a Raiderette. Then I’d be kicked off the squad.

That single thought sent an unexpected, icy chill rolling through me. The source of which I immediately recognized. Fear. Not of Tabitha, and not of Jen. At least, not directly. It was the idea of being thrown out of the Elite scared me something fierce. The frigid terror the two of them would decide to join forces and destroy everything that Penny had apparently worked to gain.

Part of me argued that I should be perfectly okay with that. I’d never cared much for the cheerleaders, or their moronic jock allies. Having the wish force me into a position of authority within the despised clique should have been torture. I mean, Sam had flippantly told Cindy that if she hated being on the squad so much, she should just quit.

If she were here now, would she laugh and point out my hypocrisy?

Like most people, by which I mean most teenage boys, I had mixed feelings about the girls who jumped up and down in short skirts at sports events. Yeah, they were great to look at, and there was no denying the energy they managed inspired in their audience. But they always seemed so superficial. Aloof. Untouchable. Better.

Sam’s issues, though, ran contrary to the rest. Under Jen’s direction, they had all looked down on him. Like he was something they had stepped in. Less than a person in their eyes. So he had taken to thinking of them as a bunch of vapid, bimbo slut who used all their brainpower to wiggle their asses and shake their boobs.

As time went on, he’d even started to lump Cindy in with them.

As Penny, however, I’d discovered them to be rather diverse in personality and character. Sarah, for one example, was really funny and extremely loyal to Penny. True, she might not think very highly of Charlie, but at least she didn’t openly despise or tease him.

Now that I gave it some thought, I seemed to recall she was also more tolerant of Sam than the rest of the squad.

Candice was the physical epitome of Sam’s opinion of the Raiderettes. She not only had the perfect proportions and exterior appearance of what the word “bimbo” might conjure mentally, but she also didn’t seem to be the brightest star, academically speaking. If the text messages between her and Penny were to be taken at face value.

However, I’d also discovered she had a caring heart and always seemed to inform Penny when she found out one of their mutual friends was having a hard time. Most of these messages also included suggestions for making those going through a rough time feel better.

She, too, never really attacked Sam directly herself. Simply guilty by association.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to realize that the only cheerleader who had personally attacked the former me was Jen. The rest of them were really only guilty of sitting idly by to let it happen. That didn’t exactly exonerate them, but knowing what I knew now, I could see why they would have been hesitant to cross her. Especially for the sake of some nerdy dork none of them actually knew.

The phone buzzed with another message from Charlie. “Call u l8tr.”

I sighed softly and put the phone back into my bag. There wasn’t much I could do about the situation. Dwelling on it was just going to turn me into a basket case. Which would make people notice and probably start bombarding me with questions about what had me upset. Best I could do was put on a happy face, pretending like everything was hunky dory, while waiting for my melancholy mood to burn off like a morning fog bank.

In other words, fake it until I make it.

When the bell ending homeroom sounded, I gathered up my things and turned to Candice.

“See you at the Clubhouse,” I said, pushing another super-iffic Pee-Jay smile on my face.

It must have seemed genuine, because she beamed an identically pleased one back at me.

“See you then!”

I left class and walked down the hall, continuing to act like my old self. Well, Penny’s old self, that is. Which meant a lot of waving, smiling, and walking with a joyous bounce. As I turned the corner, a couple of guys I thought might be on the lacrosse team approached and encircled me. My Jock Alert began to scream and I found myself tensing up, instinctively looking for an escape route.

“So … Pee-Jay,” the one right in front of me, blocking my way, began. “Since the parentals are in D.C. for the next two days, I’m going to have a little party tonight at my house. I was hoping you might consider making an appearance. Maybe bring the rest of the squad with you?”

I started to ask why he thought I would be able to convince anyone of anything. Then I mentally kicked myself as I remembered who I was now. Still playing my part, I smirked up at the boy … Jason? Jerome? Definitely something with a “J”.

“That all depends,” I said in an amused tone as a weird idea entered my head.

“Depends on?” he asked with a confused tone. The other two with him looked equally puzzled.

“On who all is invited to this gathering?”

This made the J-named boy relax. “Oh, well, pretty much everyone.”

I continued to smile up at him, pondering if I should include an eyelash batting.

“Including the dorks and nerds?” I asked.

There was a moment when something passed across his face. A wave of haughtiness or arrogance. His mouth opened for a second, then closed as he stared down at me. If I was a betting gal, I would say he was about to tell me that I didn’t need to worry, since there was no way he’d allow undesirables to attend.

But he must have seen something in my eyes, paired it with some better-known facts about Penny’s past, and made a completely different decision.

“Sure, I guess,” he said. “I’m not sending them an engraved invitation or anything, but if, uh, any of them show up, they won’t get tossed out.” The two behind him nodded their heads in agreement after a half a second.

I stared at him for a few more seconds, then flashed a pageant-winning smile.

“Well then, I shall do my best to have the Raiderettes attend.”

The boy on the left, David Something, grinned at me. “You’re the best, Pee-Jay,” he said, giving me a jaunty salute. Then the three of them broke away from blockading my way and went down one of side hallways, already plotting their plans for the coming evening.

I watched them disappear, then shook my head. If I accomplished nothing else in my life as Penny, I could enjoy the fact that I’d just convinced a boorish jock to include the less popular on his guest list. Granted, Jason/Jerome/James didn’t seem too thrilled about agreeing to my terms, but he’d obviously weighed and measured, deciding that having Charlie and his circle of friends hanging around was less damaging than having Pee-Jay Davenport turn down her invite.

Suddenly, a powerful observation came down on to me.

I’d changed the narrative. Until now, there probably wouldn’t have been a Raiderette alive who would have hinged her attending a party on whether or not the less prominent were invited. However, Pee-Jay did. At least, the Pee-Jay she was now.

However, before I could continue to ponder exactly what that meant in the whole school status pyramid, Sara walked up to me. Without so much as a break in step, she looped her arm through mine, and tugged me in the direction of Miss LaCroix’s classroom.

I looked down at our intertwined limbs, then grinned at her.

“You can’t just walk up and take someone, you know.”

She rolled her eyes, smirking at me. “Not entirely true. Besides, you’re already mine.”

“Oh, is that so?” I asked, sticking my tongue out at her.

A slow nod of the head. “I claimed you years ago. First day of freshman year.”

“So, if I’m yours …” I began, lowering my voice to a more sensual pitch.

She giggled. “I’m just loaning you to Lee. On a temporary basis, of course.”

“You’re horrible,” I said, meaning just the opposite.

In French, my mind began to wander back to my interaction with Tabitha in front of my locker and rolled forward through everything that had transpired since then. It seemed kind of surreal. Like I was in the middle of a movie or television show where the audience had more clues than me. There still seemed to be pieces of this puzzle that I hadn’t encountered yet. A clue I didn’t consider because it was staring me pretty much in the face.

Unfortunately, my brain didn’t seem to be able to do multiple things at the same time. Miss LaCroix actually had to reprimand me twice for answering a question “en Anglaise” rather than “en Français”. Flummoxed, I apologized profusely (in French, of course) and shoved my musings aside to pay better attention to the lecture.

It didn’t help when my phone buzzed with a teasing text from Sarah.

“Stop thinking about your hunky man during class.”

I shook my head. If only that was what had me all twisted up.

History wasn’t that much better. Mr. Andrews continued his lecture from the previous day, droning on and on until it seemed like the hour-long class lasted just shy of six months. I’d started off actually trying to pay attention, but then started thinking about Jen and the decisions I was going to have to make between now and Friday. From there, Mr. A’s monotone voice lulled me into a state of near-slumber.

When the bell sounded, it caught me so off-guard that I nearly jumped right out of my seat. As did about ninety percent of the class. I quickly scooped my belongings into my arms and bolted for the door. I’m pretty sure there was some mention of an upcoming quiz, but I wasn’t sticking around to hear the rest.

Halfway down the hall, I caught up with Candice. When she saw me coming, she slowed down until I managed to reach her. Then we walked together toward the exit. More than a couple of people who passed by spoke to me. Most were variations on the same theme.

“See you tonight, Pee-Jay.”

After the four one, Candice glanced over at me, a curious expression on her face.

“Something going on tonight?”

“One of the lacrosse guys is having a party tonight. He came up to me on my way to French to invite me to come. The invitation also includes the whole squad.”

“Oh?” Candice smirked. “This lacrosse guy? It wouldn’t happen to be Jacob Hayworth, would it?”

Jacob! That was his name. I have no idea where I got Jerome from.

I nodded. “The very same one.”

“That’s awesome. Did he say if it was a regular party or a pool party?”

Shooting her an incredulous look, I asked, “Why would he have a pool party in October?”

Now it was the blonde’s turn to look surprised. “Uh, because his pool is heated and they’ve got those standing sun lamps around it. You should remember that Pee-Jay. God, we’ve only been to his house like ten times already.”

I’m glad I didn’t do what I felt like doing. Which was slapping myself in the forehead.

Way to go, Sam. You’ve gotten so used to acting like Penelope, you forgot you don’t know everything about her life. I mean, remember the photos on your phone? In them you and Tabitha look liked pretty good friends. Pay better attention next time.

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Sorry, momentary brain fail. Must be a result of listening to Mr. A for an hour.”

Candice nodded. “I have him for American History. Never have I wanted to be from another country so badly. I mean, I’m sure it could be interesting, but the way he goes on and on, makes me want to claw my eyes out.”

“No eyes clawed today,” Sarah said as she dropped in on my other side, once again linking her arm within mine. “I’ve declared today to be an eye-claw-free day.”

“We were just talking about Mr. Andrews and his thrilling tales of historical adventure,” Candice said. “As well as Jacob Hayworth’s party tonight.”

Sarah laughed. “Brad Pollock said something earlier about Jacob’s parents being out of town.” Then she looked at me. “He asked if I knew if you were planning on being there. I told him that I wasn’t sure. Poor guy looked crestfallen.”

“I thought it might be fun to go,” I said. “For all of us to go.”

Candice smiled. “Then go, we shall.”

We exited the main building and walked down to the sports complex. Once inside, another set of steps took us down to the lower level of the structure. The door at the bottom was the entrance to No Man’s Land.

I couldn’t count how many times Sam and his friends had voiced a plot to sneak down to the room when they knew it’d be vacant, just so they could leave a bunch of condoms and a shitload of STD pamphlets?

Besides the fact that none of us knew how to pick a lock, we also agreed that the fifteen minutes of joy the prank would provide didn’t offset the beat-down we would get afterwards. Then there also the fact that Sam would never do anything like that to Cindy. No matter who she chose to be friends with.

I grabbed the door’s handle, pulled it open, and stepped inside as I tried to act like I’d been there a thousand times before. However, since I really hadn’t, some amount of gawking did take place.

The interior of the Clubhouse was a single huge room with ceilings about twelve feet high. The lights running over head seemed to be less harsh than the ones in the gym above. Closer to what would be considered natural lighting. Despite having no actual partitions, the area was divided into two sections.

One was obviously designed with relaxation and socializing in mind. A large, flat screen television hung on one wall. Currently, it was tuned to one of those mind-numbing reality shows. The kind that garner ratings by having manufactured drama between a group of people who have to deal with each other. Rather than simply walking away. Arranged in a semi-circle before the monitor were three comfortable-looking sofas. Spread out on the floor around them was about a half-dozen gigantic beanbags.

The whole place seemed to fit perfectly into the mental image one might have of a place devoted to nurturing the vapid musings of a bunch of cheerleaders.

The non-hangout other half sported several thick mats, arranged in a single row on the floor. Angled mirrors attached to the wall allowed anyone who stood on the mats to see themselves, but not anyone in the congregation portion. It didn’t take a massive amount of brainpower to realize that the matted area was for trying out, or practicing, routine moves.

Kara was sitting on one of the couches. Well lying on it, to be precise. Her legs were stretched out across the lap of a brunette named Jordan Patterson. Both of them had their phones in their hands, and, by the looks of it, were texting each other. A blonde haired girl, Melissa Inez, was draped across another couch. She currently had a textbook open in her lap and was making notes on a pad precariously balanced on the arm of the furniture next to her. Leaning against the front of Melissa’s couch, eating sliced apples from a dark blue container, was the only junior on the squad, Shelly Robinson.

They all looked over as the three of us entered the room. Candice sauntered over and dropped herself onto the other end of Melissa’s sofa, then helped herself to some of Shelly’s apples. Sarah and I both headed toward the one empty couch.

The only people not in attendance were Tabitha, Jen, and Melanie Shoals. Melanie had been in Sam’s chemistry class last year. From what I could remember, the cocoa-skinned girl had been, if not nice, at least cordial.

Kara looked up from her phone over to Sarah and I.

“Peej, are we putting in an appearance at Jacob’s soiree?” she asked. Then she turned her phone around to show me a string of text exchanges. “Mark Bullard said you said we would be there, but Ricky Jones said you said we might be there.”

I glanced at Sarah, then back to the redhead. “I said maybe. I didn’t want to actually commit until we decided as a group if we were going.”

“I’m down,” Shelly said. “So long as it doesn’t go all night long. I’m supposed to be home by eleven.”

The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

“Chad’s already texted me twice,” Sarah said. “Guess I’ll tell him that he can pick me up at seven.” Then she looked over at me. “Unless you’d rather us ride together.”

I shook my head. “No. Tell Chad I’ll let him escort you this time. But he’ll owe me one.”

She giggled and began typing on the screen in her hand.

The door opened and Melanie came through.

“Hey, skanks,” she said with a grin as she waved at us. Making her way to where we were all gathered, she sat down on the arm of Kara and Jordan’s sofa. “What’s the word on tonight?”

“Peej says yes,” Sarah replied, nudging my leg with her knee.

“You know Jen’s going to be pissed she’s out of town. She’ll be the only Raiderette not getting her groove on.”

Melanie shook her head. “Not just her. Tabs isn’t going either.”

That drew my attention. From what I knew, mostly from rumor and speculation, only death or hospitalization could keep the squad from making a unified appearance. I’d thought Cindy was being overly dramatic when she’d relayed that tidbit, but it was beginning to turn out the damned group really was like a cult.

“Oh?” I asked, looking at Melanie. “Any idea why?”

The other girl shook her head. “Not really. Though, I’m kind of glad she’s not. She’s had a freaking stick up her ass all day.”

Kara looked over at her. “Yeah, she seemed uber-pissy in homeroom this morning. Came in mumbling under her breath and slamming her books around.” Then the redhead went back to her phone, already moving on to another interest. Apparently either Tabitha was known for her tantrums among the rest of the squad or else none of them really cared if their former secondary leader was upset.

I managed to not smile. So, looks like I had managed to get under Tabitha’s skin with my comment. Even more than she had gotten under mine. After all, I was dealing with my worries internally. She was the one skipping what was slowly becoming a major social event.

Her absence was sure to raise questions among the rabble.

Sarah pulled out her phone and typed a quick message. Then she dropped her phone back into her bag and leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder.

“I don’t want to go to any more classes today,” she moaned. “Can I go home?”

I laughed and patted the side of her head. “Afraid not. We must suffer through the day with a smile on our faces and a wiggle in our step.”

“What about lunch?” Jordan asked. “You can handle lunch, right?”

Melanie snickered. “Lunch is just an extended free period. We hang out here, then we hang out there. It’s the same, but with some walking and food thrown in.”

Candice shook her head. “Not exactly the same, though. Lunch comes with boys.”

Sarah snickered. “Glad something comes with boys.”

Which brought a round of giggles and cackles from the rest of the squad. Just like that, the debate about attending Jacob’s party was over. As was the speculation about Tabitha’s attitude. Of course, I was the only one who had an inkling of a clue about the reason. Though, I had to wonder how much of my blonde antagonist’s emotional state had to do with the guilt trip I’d thrown in her face, and how much was her worry that Jen would accept Pee-Jay’s place as readily as she’d accepted the new Tabitha’s?

Melanie and Candice had both been right in their assessments about lunch.

Once again, we were outside at the tables in the middle of the quad with the football players. Surprisingly, a few minutes after I sat down with my tray (pasta alfredo with chicken), Tabitha emerged through the door and made her way to the table.

Of course, she refused to meet my gaze as I watched her carry her own lunch to an empty spot between Shelly and Melissa.

“Where were you?” the junior asked her a second after she sat down. “You totally missed the discussion about tonight.” Then she frowned. “Oh, that’s right. You weren’t planning on going, were you?” Funny enough, the other girl sounded sincere, but her word choices were an obvious stab at the angry blonde.

Tabitha’s face twisted into a grimace that made her look like she’d just been forced to lick a lollipop retrieved from a dirty ashtray.

“Yes, I will be at Jacob’s party.” She glanced over at me for a split second, still wearing her sourpuss expression, then looked away. “After all, we have to show how solid our team is, right? No dissension in the ranks.”

I bit down on my lip and made a point of turning my face away before I could laugh aloud. Tabitha must have talked with Jen. Hell, she probably called her the moment she heard about the party, hoping the Raiderette head honcho would tell her to put a stop to my evil machinations. If that was the case, then it would seem the call hadn’t gone in Tabitha’s favor.

Jen had told me that she didn’t have the time to figure out what the hell was going on between me and Tabitha. Just the we had better get it sorted out.

I would bet my tutu she’d given those same marching orders to Tabitha. Told her to suck it up for the good of the squad. If so, then perhaps Tabitha’s attitude stemmed from the fact that she was beginning to realize that Jen didn’t give a shit who I used to be.

So long as I could pull of being who I was now.

At the other end of the U-shaped table, Lee said something to Mark Byers which caused the two of them to laugh. Then he glanced over at me, flashing that dazzling smile in my direction. At first, I wondered why he didn’t just come over and sit beside me. I mean, after the rather passionate kiss we’d shared in the parking lot, it seemed a bit stand-offish of him. Then, as I glanced around, I realized that none of the guys were sitting with their girlfriends.

Chad was the closest player to our side, but Kara, Shelly, and Candice were between him and Sarah. Mark, who I was pretty sure was dating Tabitha, sat even further away. And so on.

Of course, not all of the girls were paired up with guys from the football team. In the course of my online information gathering from Penny’s phone, I had discovered that Melissa was seeing a guy who graduated last year and now attended State, and Shelly was on again/off again with a cute brunette who played the flute in the marching band.

It wasn’t that we didn’t talk to each other during the period. We just remained in our respective groups while doing it.

As the hour came to a close, those with their next classes all the way on the other side of campus excused themselves. Those that had a partner at the table left together. Eventually, only Sarah, Chad, Lee, and myself remained.

“Think Coach will cut practice short?” Chad asked Lee as he moved to sit on Sarah’s other side. “Otherwise, I’ll have to choose between not showering or being late to the party.”

Sarah crinkled up her nose and elbowed him in the ribs. “There is no choosing, babe. If you show up at my house all stinky, you will be going stag to Jacob’s. A smelly party of one.”

Chad plastered his hand over his heart, attempting to look like he was mortally wounded. “That hurts, babe” he said in a mock-crushed tone. “You would toss me aside over a little thing like body odor?”

My friend nodded. “In a hot second. I’ll leave you standing on my porch and steal Peej from Lee and make her my date.” She leaned over and took a deep sniff of my hair. “At least she smells nice.”

I started to giggle, but a second later, Lee’s nose swooped in from the opposite side and sniffed as well.

“I have to agree with your girlfriend, dude,” he said to Chad. “Pee-Jay definitely smells a thousand times better than you.”

Chad arched a brow. “That’s a mighty bold claim, Taylor,” he said. “Perhaps I should test your evidence.” He waggled his eyebrows at the three of us as he started to rise from his seat.

“Time-out!” I said, holding out my hand. “Can we just put a pin in the whole ‘smelling Pee-Jay’ thing? I’m not a damned scratch and sniff.”

This brought another round of laughter. I joined in, but didn’t really feel the humor. Yeah, Sarah’s actions had been, seemingly, for the benefit of busting Chad’s balls. Lee’s might have been some of the same, coupled with whatever was developing between us. But Chad? Surely he hadn’t really been about to walk over and smell me. Right?

Sarah finished her water, dropped the empty bottle onto her tray, and stood up.

“Come on, stud,” she said to Chad. “Walk me to class so I don’t get lost.”

The jock jumped up so fast it looked like he’d been shot out of a cannon. He grabbed both his and Sarah’s trays and balanced them perfectly as he walked over toward the trash cans. Sarah grabbed her backpack and looked down at me.

“See you in the locker room.” She gave me a flirty smile and sauntered off with Chad.

I shook my head and turned to see Lee staring right at me.

“Alone at last,” he said.

A flutter, which was not completely unpleasant, drifted across my mid-section. Stirring those new feelings. There was something about the way he stared at me, like he was looking at a priceless piece of art, or maybe a beautiful sunset, that kept tickling all of Penny’s special spots.

“That we are,” I said, trying to sound casual. Even though I could feel a pleasurable prickling running along the surface of my skin.

He smiled. “So, I was thinking …”

“Which is a good thing,” I interjected.

“I’m glad you approve. Anyway, since Chad is picking up Sarah tonight, would you do me the pleasure of allowing me to escort you to the party and back?”

I arched a brow at him. “Like … a date?”

He paused, seeming to mull my question over for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Yes. Like a date. An evening where I pick you up at your home, ferry you to a place of fun and entertainment, then return you safe and sound before your designated pumpkin time.”

I still had no clue what all had transpired over the first one. So far, I hadn’t been pop quizzed on any of the conversations we might have had. Or anything, intimacy-wise, we might have done. To make it even more difficult, I couldn’t ask Sarah for details. Nor had pre-Sam Penny been kind enough to make notes for me to study.

Smiling back at him, I gave my head a single nod. “Yes, you may,” I said. “You know, this will be our second date.”

“Yes, I know,” he said as he reached down and took one of my hands into his. “Hopefully you’ll be impressed enough to allow me a third ... and a fourth, and so on.

That electrical sensation jumped by about one point twenty-one gigawatts. A shudder, the good kind, ran through my body and caused certain areas to become more alert than others. I wasn’t aroused, per se. But I was definitely feeling a little swoony.

Over a cute boy. Of all the things I was trying to keep a handle on, it was the blatant attraction I felt toward Lee that threw me for the highest loop. I mean, I understood that Penny was straight. At least, mostly. I think. However, as attractive as a lot of the guys that crossed my path were, none of them seemed to pull me in like Lee did.

I honestly believe if Penny had been a lesbian, she still would have had the occasional fantasy about the football player. There was just something between he and I.

I glanced over at the clock visible through the cafeteria’s window, then gave the hand encircling mine a little squeeze. British Lit was going to be starting in just under ten minutes. Lee followed my gaze to where I was looking, nodding as he stood up.

“Can I also walk you to class again? I really enjoyed it yesterday.”

“So did I,” I admitted.

We disposed of our trash and made the trek inside and down the corridors to our shared classroom. As we moved through the throngs of students doing likewise, several people expressed their intentions of seeing me at that evening’s gathering. A lot of people, actually. Most of them male.

If the increased attention bothered Lee, he didn’t show it. Nor did he try to do that possessive thing of putting his arm around my waist. Claiming me as his and warning away any other suitors. Instead, he simply kept pace beside me, greeting and high-fiving any of his friends we encounter along the way.

Part of me wished he’d held my hand at least.

When we arrived in class, he slowed down a step, allowing me to enter the room first. Several people waved excitedly in my direction as I headed toward my seat. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was experiencing what a celebrity must have to deal with. Yesterday, I’d been too overwhelmed to really notice. However, it seemed like Pee-Jay was liked by just about everyone.

Not just the other cheerleaders and the jocks.

I sat down, cracked open my book, and prepared to answer any Ancient Mariner questions that Mr. Eastman might hurl my way. I guess he decided not to put me on the spot for a second day in a row. Total bummer.

Lee stopped me just outside the door when class was over, pulling us both out of the flow of traffic.

“So, what time do you want me?” he asked.

I blinked, staring up at him. “I’m sorry?”

He laughed. “To pick you up, I mean.”

I relaxed a bit, though my heart was still pounding. It hadn’t been his question that had thrown my emotions into disarray, it had been my interpretation of said question. For a second, I’d gone to a place that was a bit scarier. A place beyond soul-searing kisses and longing looks.

A place where a girl might do something huge with a boy she liked.

“Six-thirty?” I managed to say without stuttering. It was a pretty safe bet my folks would be gone by six.

He grinned a knee-wobbling grin. As in, it made my damned knees wobble.

“Six-thirty it is.” Then he quickly leaned in and brushed his lips lightly across mine. It was just the ghost of a kiss. Like the Ghost of Kisses Yet to Come.

I was surprised I didn’t moan in response.

Then he pulled back and walked off. Not with a cocky swagger or a boasting strut. Just a guy with a little spring in his step.

With my head still swimming, I made my way to the sports complex, once again fielding a dozen greetings from the people I passed. Right before I reached the exit to take me outside, Claire Bender and her boyfriend, Jonas Tate, saddled up beside me.

“Pee-Jay, you’re going to Jacob’s tonight, right?” Claire asked.

I nodded. “I am. How about you?”

“Yeah,” Jonas said. “At first we weren’t going to. But once we heard who was planning on going, we decided it might be a lot of fun.”

“Great,” I said, swatting at the slightly creepy vibe the pair was broadcasting my way. “I guess I’ll see you both there.”

“Definitely,” Claire said, smiling as if I were her best friend. “Later.” The two of them looked at each other, then peeled off, turning right while I went left.

“Well, that sure as hell set off my spider-sense,” I mumbled as I stepped through the door and headed to the gym.

As before, Sarah was arrived before me, although she was already inside the locker room this time. While we changed clothes, I mentioned to her my odd run-in with Claire and Jonas.

“That is weird,” she agreed as she laced her sneakers.

“I know. The way they just …latched onto me?”

The other girl gave me a knowing little smirk.

“Not that, Peej. Them going to Jacob’s party. I mean, seriously, when was the last time Claire Bender went to any sort of event that wasn’t officially school-sanctioned? Hell, the Chess Club has a more robust social life.” Then she stood up and lightly tapped me on my bottom with her palm. “Better get that booty in gear, Peej. You don’t want The Butcher to make you run laps again today.”

“No, I do not.” I agreed, grabbing my other shoe.

I managed to finish dressing and make it onto the floor with the rest of the class before Coach Burchett got started.

“Volleyball Day Two,” she barked. “Keene, Matthews, Lewis, and Davenport. You four are the captains. Pick your teams. Like yesterday, match ends at six points. Winners will play the winners. Losers play the losers. Go!”

The four of us in charge stepped away from the group, eyeing the twenty remaining girls who stood around in a disorganized clump. Some of them smirked, giving little nods in our direction. They already knew whose team they were going to be on. A few more looked slightly bored with the whole thing.

There were some, though, who wore worried expressions on their faces.

It was the look of people who knew they were going to be the last chosen for a team. I knew it all too well. In every gym class of my high school career, I’d been selected only because they had to be to even out the numbers, not because I was actually wanted.

I doubted that would be the same, even if Penny hadn’t been selected by The Butcher.

Monica went first, immediately choosing Stephanie. Caitlin’s first choice was Elle, and Tamara Lewis picked Kara. I, of course, chose Sarah. It didn’t fit in with what I had in mind, but I did it because: A) Sarah would be crestfallen if she wasn’t on my team, and B) the two of us working together might be able to pull it off.

“Mallory,” I said when it was time for my second choice. “Get over here.”

Tracy’s head popped up, her eyes wide with surprise. She wasn’t the only one. The rest of the girl standing on the sidelines looked like they couldn’t believe Pee-Jay had purposefully chosen the overweight girl.

Tracy jogged over to stand next to Sarah. Well, it was a bit more of a waddle, but there was some pep in her step. Funny enough, Sarah didn’t seem upset in the least. In fact, she reached out toward the other girl as she arrived and gave her a quick high-five.

Soon, all twenty-four members of the class were in one of four groups. Talent-wise, Caitlin’s team was probably the strongest. Besides Elle, she had selected two girls, Marjorie and Cristina, who played varsity soccer, and two others who ran track. Monica’s crowd was equally stacked, with Danielle, one of her volleyball teammates, two soccer players, and a girl named Jessica Hart, who wasn’t really athletic, but was a part of the semi-popular clique.

Tamara had Kara. She also had one of Caitlin’s fellow basketballers, a girl named Roxanne Little. The rest consisted of Sue, Wendy Shoop, and Gina Cable. Wendy was the captain of the debate team and Gina was the stereotypical computer nerd.

As for me, I’d rounded out my team with Chloe, Stacy Coltrane, and an exchange student from Bangladesh named Akhi. Akhi was more petite than the rest of us, and wore a pair of thick glasses that magnified her wide brown eyes to near-comical proportions.

However, I might have been the only one who noticed her thin legs were taut with muscle beneath the dusky flesh and her arms were equally defined. The girl might not be a traditional athlete, but she was definitely in great shape.

The first match, between Caitlin and Tamara, was closer than I’d expected. Roxanne got in two solid spikes right off the bat, with Tamara and Kara both adding to their side’s points. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t prevent Caitlin’s group from scoring the match-ending point.

The thing that stood out to me the most about the match was how Tamara, Kara, and Roxanne had pretty much dominated most the work. Sure, the other three girls tried to help, but every time they had the opportunity, they found themselves getting upstaged by the more popular girls.

Those three hadn’t even given their less-graceful teammates a chance to even participate.

When it was our turn, I glanced over at Sarah as we stepped onto the court.

“We’re do this as a team,” I said, tilting my head to indicate the other four arranging themselves on one side of the net. “Win or lose.”

She replied with a slightly arched brow, then tossed in a smile.

“Just as long as I get to spike one into Monica’s face.”

Coach Burchett blew her whistle and the match began.

Tracy served the ball, which got bounced into the air by Jessica, set up perfectly, but Jenny Fulton, then slammed home on our side by Monica. The tallish brunette high-fived her teammates, then looked over at me and waved.

Over the next fifteen minutes, our side took a pounding. We managed to score three points, two of them the courtesy of some really good teamwork between Akhi and Chloe. Sarah didn’t get her spike, but she did throw her weight behind my constant encouragement to the rest of our team. When Stacy missed two easy digs in a row, she made it a point to give the disheartened girl a couple of friendly pats on the back, and told her she’d get it next time.

When the last point was scored, we had lost six to three.

“That sucks,” Tracy said. “I was really hoping for a win.”

“Can’t win them all,” I said.

She glanced around to make sure no one else was in ear shot. “You could have totally saved a couple of points if you’d tried. I’m sure that body is a lot faster than you were using it.”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t going to knock Akhi or Chloe out of the way just to keep from losing a point.” I shrugged. “Maybe Before Pee-Jay would have, but not me”

Caitlin’s team won their second match as well, handily defeating Monica’s squad six to two.

I really would like to say that me and my girls staged an awesome comeback to win our second match. Having proven that everyone was a valued member of the team would have resulted in our scoring point after point after point. Probably in a series of montage-worthy snippets accompanied by a really intense rock song.

The reality though, was a lot less inspiring. We gave it our all, each of us encouraging the rest, and the four less sports savvy poured their all into the match. However, the sound of the whistle found us with a second “L” in our ledger. Soundly defeated six to one.

Chloe must have mistaken my less-than-pleased expression as a reflection of my feelings toward her, Stacy, and Akhi. She came over to me as Sarah and I walked back toward the locker room and frowned.

“Sorry we let you down, Pee-Jay.”

I stopped, staring at her. “What?”

Sarah paused as well, glancing between the two of us. She tilted her head to the side as she turned to face the other girl.

“Did you really try out there?” she asked her.

Chloe nodded emphatically. “I did. Honest. I mean, I pretty much hate this class as it is, but when we won yesterday, and then Pee-Jay picked me again today, I thought maybe something had changed. Like maybe I was going to get to be on a winning team from now on.”

I sighed. “Chloe, the fact that you went out there and tried means more than scoring the most points. It’s easy to look on the other side of the net, see people who you think are better than you, and give up. You didn’t. None of you did.” I glanced over at Sarah and grinned before looking back at Chloe. “That makes you a winner in my book.”

Ever watch those stupid awards shows? Where all the celebrities dress in thousand dollar outfits and parade up onto the stage to accept yet another statue for doing their job? There is a look some of them get, usually when they seem to only be there for contractual reasons, when the envelope is opened and their name called. It’s a look of unexpected pleasure mixed with gregarious surprise.

Chloe’s face lit up just like that. Like I’d opened a red envelope and named her the official MVP of my team.

“Really?” she asked in a low voice. Almost as if she expected me to immediately counter that I was joking.

“Really,” I said, still smiling. I nodded my head at Sarah. “We both think that, right?”

Sarah’s response was immediate and seemed as sincere as my own. “Right.”

“Thanks,” she said, beaming. Then she turned and headed toward the locker room door, practically skipping.

I turned to look at Sarah. “Thanks for backing me up. Not just with Chloe, but with the choices I made. I didn’t choose based on who would help us score.”

“Maybe not. But not a single one of them probably felt like you’d called their names because you were out of options. You made sure they knew you picked them because you wanted them.”

I shrugged, feeling a bit of my old self try to deflect the compliment. “Pretty dorky, huh?”

She grabbed me in a hug, squeezing tight. Then released me.

“You’re good people, Peej. That’s what I love about you.”

I thought about what she said as we left the gym floor ourselves. I, as Penny, was a good person. I’d thrown expectations aside and operated based on my experiences with a life that no longer existed. The questions, though, about my behavior bothered me.

Was Penny a good person now, because I was in the driver’s seat? Or had she always been far less snobby than her fellow Elite? According to what I’d learned, she had at one time been a friend of Charlie and his so-called dorks. Exactly as Cindy had. Did Penny cast them aside when her figure, and her corresponding social level, changed? Or had she remained more grounded?

Surely there was a way to find out without sounding like I was insane. I mean, I couldn’t just ask some random person if they thought I was behaving as less of a bitch recently. I likewise couldn’t grill anyone who’d used the stone, because their memories of Pee-Jay were as ethereal as mine.

In the locker room, I grabbed my shower kit and towel only to turn around to see Sarah and Kara, still in their gym shorts and tees standing there staring at me. Before I could ask why they weren’t getting their own stuff ready, I remembered that there was still one more activity that had to be completed before I could call an end to the school day.

Cheer practice.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 9
by Limbo’s Mistress

Cheer practice was always held in one of two locations.

If the weather was unpleasant, it would have taken place on the far side of the gym, opposite the location of where the volleyball matches from class had been held. A nearly opaque curtain could be drawn across the length of the room, effectively cutting off the area from distractions. As well as wandering eyes.

However, if the day was nice and warm, such as today, then the squad would assemble approximately fifteen minutes after the last bell of the day on the field behind the sports complex. According to Cindy, while the rest of the girls went through the routines multiple times, Jen or Tabitha would take up a position in the bleachers. This gave them a crowds-eye view of the entire squad.

All the better to spot those not pulling their fair share.

Inside my locker, I’d discovered a pair of black athletic pants with the word “Raiderette” emblazoned down the right leg in cursive script. I pulled them on, at first thankful that I wouldn’t have to lead the practice in a pair of short-shorts. Though, I already knew I’d have to deal with wearing the micro-skirt of the uniform before Friday.

However, once I had the pants pulled up, I realized that they fit like second skin, showing off the curves of my calves, thighs, and other rounded body parts. I felt more exposed than I thought I should. I even tried to look at my rear in one of the nearby mirrors, convinced the extremely tight material would highlight the cleft between my buttocks.

No wonder Cindy never wore her practice uniform around me. Part of me began to dread even leaving the locker room in it.

“Come on, Peej,” Sarah said, nodding her head toward the door. “Don’t want to be late when you’re the one in charge.”

I sighed. “Just temporarily filling in, remember?”

Kara cut her eyes over at Sarah for a second, then looked away.

My friend, though, simply smiled and mumbled a barely-audible, “For now.”

I almost asked what she meant by that, but decided to file it away for a later discussion. Because I really hoped she hadn’t meant what I was pretty sure she meant.

The three of us walked out of the building and down the curving pathway that led to the fields. Along the way, we picked up Candice, Jordan, and Melissa.

“My parents are such losers,” Melissa said in a contrite tone. “They wanted me to stay in and help reorganize the basement tonight. I told them that the girls were getting together later to brainstorm some new ideas for Homecoming.”

Kara turned around, walking backward so she could look at the other girl.

“What about your stuff? Won’t they think you leaving with a change of clothes just to hang out with us to be a little strange?”

Melissa shrugged. “I’ll tell them we’re meeting at Sarah’s and might sit around the hot tub.”

Sarah laughed. “So long as they don’t pop over anytime soon. The tub is currently non-functioning.”

“Well, we can always say it did work until Candice tried to adjust the controls.”

“Hey!” the blonde girl said indignantly. “That’s not funny. I’m not that bad with stuff. The only thing I ever really broke was Kara’s garage door.”

“My dad still can’t figure out how you mistook the light switch for the door switch.”

Candice looked a bit sheepish. “It was really dark.”

Sarah smirked. “You were also a little drunk.”

The rest of them giggled about that. I laughed along as well, though I had to push the chuckle out. Not because I didn’t think what they’d said wasn’t funny. It was more a small wave of sadness that, despite Penny having been there for it, I had not.

It was kind of like standing outside, peering in through the window at a party. Over the past two days, I’d gotten to experience little moments of sharing in friendships that, to everyone else, had existed for years. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, not having those memories actually hurt a little.

Like I’d been robbed of something that should have been mine.

When we made it to the field, we found the rest of the squad waiting for us on the soft grass next to the clearly marked lines of the gridiron. A couple of them were standing around, their attention focused on the phones in their hands. Upon seeing me approach, they stopped whatever they’d been doing and quickly joined in warming up with the others.

I took particular note that Tabitha was one of those.

Sarah gave me a little sly wink, which made me think she’d seen the blonde’s haste to accompany the rest of the squad in loosening up. Then she and the other three jogged on ahead to add themselves to the line.

As for me, I continued until I was facing them all.

“Okay,” I said, trying to sound like I’d done this a hundred times before and wasn’t about to have a panic attack. “Jen’s counting on me to make sure we are perfect for Friday’s game. So I’m counting on you to give it your all. Let’s show our captain that we are the best squad in the state.”

Several of the girls clapped, a few throwing in a quick backflip to show their support. Tabitha just smirked at me, obviously waiting for me to fall flat on my face in the leadership role. Her expression alone bashed through my trepidation and reignited my resolve.

I could do this. I just needed to believe in myself.

One ace up my sleeve was the fact that I was really good at memorization. When the mood struck me. If pressed, I could most likely recite on cue the stats of nearly every creature in the official Monster Manual. That alone had saved me dozens of hours over the course of a few years.

“Raiderettes!” I yelled as I dialed up the playlist on Penny’s phone entitled “Cheer Tunes”, and synched my phone with the Bluetooth speaker sitting on the edge of the stands. “Routine order is: one, seven, three, six!”

As soon as the music began to blast, the nine girls lined before me began to move. It took a few seconds of missteps, but in less than five minutes, they were flipping, jumping, and posing with near-perfect choreography. They formed a trio of three-girl pyramids, the top cheerleader being launched into a double backflip before being caught by the other two.

After about fifteen minutes, I glanced over and nearly fell down in shock.

Tabitha was at the pinnacle of a stack that consisted of Jordan and Melissa. The two of them held the mean blonde’s left leg in a tight embrace while the right one was thrust out to the side. Then the pair on the bottom lowered their arms and tossed Tabitha upward, allowing her to twist around in what I think was an axel. She came down, easily caught by the two before she could hit the ground.

The move itself wasn’t the source of my surprise. It was the beaming grin plastered on the face of the girl who’d pretty much called me a pretender not eight hours earlier. Though I was sure she’d deny it if I challenged her, there was no mistaking the truth.

Tabitha was having fun.

Practice lasted for about an hour, with a ten minute break in the middle. During the downtime after, I talked to the group as a whole about what I’d seen. While I did have to point out some of the few flaws I spotted, I kept my words positive overall.

“Just make sure when you take that step back before the round off in number eight, you don’t back any further than shoulder width. On the ground it might look like you’re still in line, but from up there,” I pointed to the rows of seats behind me. “It’s easy to see that you’re not.”

Kara looked around, then back at me. “Who was the worst?”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

She shrugged and gestured at the rest of the girls, all of whom were staring expectantly at me. “Which of us was the biggest screw-up?”

What? I hadn’t said that. I also certainly didn’t intend to convey that.

“None of you,” I said, trying to understand what the redhead was getting at. “I mean, there were a few times you guys got a little out of synch. But nothing so bad we can’t have it smoothed out before Friday.”

“So … no one is the Practice Idiot?” Shelly asked.

Practice Idiot? What the hell?

“No,” I said, trying to not get angry. “There is no Practice Idiot.”

Several of them seemed to be visibly relieved. Sarah looked at me with a rather pleased expression. Tabitha, however, regarded me with a stare of suspicion.

“Well, I guess that’s it for today,” I said. “I’ll see you all at Jacob’s this evening.”

Melanie grabbed the speaker and shoved it into her bag. “Bye, Peej,” she said. “Great practice!” Then she broke into a little jog to catch up with the rest.

Only Sarah, Tabitha, and I remained on the field. I gave my friend a little look, nodding my toward the parking lot before cutting my eyes at Tabitha. She glanced over at the blonde, gave me a single nod, then skipped off. I waited until she was out of earshot before turning to the still-smirking Raiderette.

“Something you want to say, Tabs?”

“I think it’s funny,” she said. “As a dorky guy, you should know jack shit about cheer routines, and even less about saying the right thing to motivate anyone.”

“I’m not a dorky guy anymore, remember?”

“Oh, believe me, I definitely remember. But that’s not what I find funny.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at her. It was about a second after I assumed the pose that I realized that I hadn’t thought about the increased girth of my chest. I mean, yeah, I knew those largish mounds were there. It was more like they’d simply faded into the background.

Tabitha sighed. “What amuses me is that it’s obvious you don’t have the slightest clue about how Jen runs her ship. After the display that was just shown, she would have torn Shelly to shreds for being a second behind the others on two back handsprings. Kara would have been destroyed for stepping to the left, rather than the right, on that number seven.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I’m not the kind of leader who thinks screaming at people for their mistakes is the best way to get results. I mean, it’s a cheer squad, not the damned Marines.”

The blonde’s mouth dropped open for a second, then that haughty smirk she’d been wearing for most of the day reappeared.

“Oh, that’s great,” she said. “Keep thinking along those lines, and I’ll be co-captain again before you know it. No magic required.”

“I suppose when you were the Jen’s Number One, you jumped the other girls’ shit just as hard?” I countered.

She hesitated for a second, then nodded. “If that’s what it took, then yes. As her second, it was up to me to make sure I backed her up. Not to undermine her.”

I shook my head. “Tell me, Tabs. Where you a total bitch back when you were a nobody? Because Tracy seems pretty cool, and I’m having a hard time believing the two of you were ever friends.”

Another shocked expression floated across the other girl’s face. Then she laughed.

“She’s only become ‘cool’ to you because she’s just another fat, ugly dork. Pretty much like you used to be. Before that, she was a much different person. Maybe not as bad as Jen, but certainly not the paragon she tries to pretend to be now.”

I didn’t want to give much credit to her words. However, a part of me had to admit that I knew nothing about what the two of them had been like before their wishes. It was possible that both of them had been horrible people in the beginning, and that Tracy had only reformed due to her circumstances.

Tabitha flipped her golden hair over her shoulder and arched a brow at me.

“Anything else you want to quiz me about, Sam?”

I glared at her for a moment, then shook my head. Then, just as she began to walk off, I changed my mind.

“Yes, actually. There was one other thing that’s been bothering me.”

She turned back, lips curled in arrogance. “Only the one? You are adapting, aren’t you?”

I waved my hand dismissively. This wasn’t the time, nor the person, to discuss how I was coping with my new reality.

“Whatever,” I said. “The thing I cannot seem to understand is why you would give the stone to Cindy. I mean, what if she had made a wish to be the head Raiderette? I mean, look at me. Just a slip of the lip has knocked you down a couple of places from the top.”

I watched her hands balls into tight, little fists. Obviously, she still smarted from her impromptu demotion. Especially when only a handful of people knew about it.

“I didn’t give Cindy Mueller the wishing stone,” she sneered. “Tracy did.”

“Really? Because she said you were the one who had it last. That you kept it after trying to get a second set of wishes.”

The fury in those blue eyes never dimmed. “Bullcrap! After we realized the stone wasn’t going to work a second time, I put it in my underwear drawer. I didn’t want to risk anyone else using it. When I found out Jen knew about it, I went home to find it was gone. Tracy must have went into my house and stolen it. She was the one who gave it to your friend and screwed up things for me.”

Without waiting for any additional comments from me, she grabbed her bag and stomped off, passing right by Sarah without so much as a look.

I watched her leave, pondering what she’d said. Why would Tracy have lied about giving the stone to Cindy? Was it because she didn’t want to explain her part in how I became one of Benson High’s Raiderettes? Or did she do it to foster some ill will between me and Tabitha?

Making a mental note to ask Tracy for a better explanation when I saw her, I grabbed my stuff and walked over to where Sarah was patiently waiting. As I reached her, she stood up, brushed off her bottom, and slipped her pack onto her shoulder.

“What was that all about?” she asked, nodding her head in the direction of Tabitha’s rapidly departing form.

Nothing major. Just a discussion about a magic stone and altered realities.

I shrugged. “She thought I was being too soft on you guys. She seems to think that Jen is going to come back and be angry that I wasn’t the hardass she is.”

Sarah gave me a confused expression. “If Jen hasn’t figured out that your style isn’t like her style by now, she should probably get her head examined. Peej, everyone on the squad knows that you build them up when she’s busy tearing them down. Honestly, if both of you were like that, being a cheerleader would suck tremendously. It might not be completely enough to make us quit, but we’d sure consider it a lot more.”

I continued walking beside her, trying not to look like I just swallowed a whole orange.

So, Penny was the yin to Jen’s yang. The light to her dark. The Batman to her Joker. If that was the case, then why had Kara expected to get yelled at by me? The more I tried to wrap my mind around the ins and outs of this new life, the more I was convinced the ground beneath my feet wasn’t as stable as it looked.

“You okay?” Sarah asked after another minute.

I nodded. “Yeah. Just thinking about things.”

“Things? Or people?” She smirked. “Or maybe a single person.”

I nudged her with my hip. “My thought process does not revolve around Lee Taylor.” When she arched a disbelieving brow, I amended my statement. “Okay, it doesn’t revolve around him continuously.”

She giggled. “Sorry. It’s just that you get this little reddish tinge, right across your cheekbones, every time I mention him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Which seems to be quite a bit.” Feeling the need for some behind the scenes info, I dangled a line before her. “Why is that? I mean, I’ve had guys I’ve been interested in before, right? What makes this thing with me and Lee so entertaining to you?”

She grinned wider. “Maybe because, after two years of you two circling each other like … fighters in a cage, you’re actually both making your move.”

Hmm, well that was a rather interesting way of putting it.

“It has so not been two years,” I countered, trying to push for more details.

Thankfully, Penny’s bestie was more than happy to dish out more of my unknown history. Even if she did it with in an amused tone and a giddy smirk.

“Seriously? Let’s take you back to sophomore year. Back when we were both stick figures with pretend cleavage. It was lunchtime, and into the crowded room strolled The New Guy.”

I could swear I heard the capital letters. In Arial Black even.

“I thought you were going to swallow your tongue, you little tramp. You just sat there, staring like a doofus, with your mouth hanging open and a spoonful of yogurt paused precariously in its trip from the cup in your hand to your face.”

Giving her a dubious look, as if I believed she was incorrect in her recounting, she cackled again.

“I remember thinking that the big glob was going to fall off the spoon and land in your oblivious lap. Girl, you had it bad for him in an instant.”

So, Penny had been drawn to Lee from the first moment she’d seen him. Which would certainly explain the overwhelming attraction that pulled at me when I was in his presence. Her desires and wants hadn’t completely vanished when I took over.

Though, it wasn’t exactly like I’d stolen someone else’s life, right?

I tried to imagine how it would have looked. Penny, who according to Sarah, wasn’t yet the knockout she was today, staring all gaga-like at Lee as he walked through the lunchroom on his first day at Benson High.

If he’d looked anything remotely close to his handsome self of present day, then Sarah’s description of my reaction was probably spot on. However, that was two years ago. Why hadn’t those two crazy kids hooked up before last weekend?

“I remember now,” I lied. “Tell me again why I didn’t go after him then and there?”

Another of those side-eyed looks. “Well, he was still dating that girl from Southwest Central for one. The second reason might have been the fact that you were with Derek at the time.”

Derek? There were only two guys named Derek who went to Benson that I knew of.

Derek Millhouse was the tuba player in the school’s marching band. He was also pretty much as big a nerd as Sam. I’d invited him to join in a session of our gaming group on afternoon. However, he turned into such an insufferable rules lawyer and meta-gamer that the rest of the players threatened to quit if he ever came to another session.

Something told me that Penny, even one who was friends with Charlie Mueller and didn’t yet have her curvaceous form, would not have been dating Derek Millhouse under any circumstances.

That meant that the “Derek” of which Sarah spoke could only be Derek Heath. Which really wasn’t much of an improvement.

Derek Heath, to put it mildly, was rich. Well, his family was rich. Multi-millionaire rich, even. For comparison’s sake, my folks were pretty well-off. My father was the CFO of a moderately successful data firm; my mother a pediatrician with her own practice.

We were practically paupers compared to the Heath Family.

Derek drove a red Ferrari Spider to school most days. When he wasn’t behind the wheel of his black Corvette Stingray, or the gray Audi TT, that is. He carried himself with what I always considered to be an arrogant swagger, and steadfastly refused to talk to people we considered beneath him. A constant swarm of sycophants continuously orbited around him, agreeing with what he said and jockeying constantly for the position of Number One Toady

As he refused to be involved in any school sports, he was not allowed to join the Elite clique. His membership in the second-tier crowd was based on his wealth alone. Especially since he was an insufferable douche canoe whose favorite subject was himself.

I found it incredibly hard to believe that Penny had dated him on purpose. Perhaps, now that I thought about it, she’d actually been swapping spit with the band dork.

“I claim momentary insanity,” I said, laughing mirthlessly. “Derek was not one of my better life choices.”

Sarah shrugged. “We’ve all had romantic entanglements we’ve regretted, Peej. However, you have to admit that Charlie started leaving you alone as soon as you and Derek began dating.”

How I didn’t stumble and fall on my face is beyond me. Chalk it up to the incredible sense of balance and exquisite muscle memory that came with the new curves and plumbing. Instead, I continued to walk toward the parking lot, keeping my gaze focused squarely on the Jeep waiting ahead.

Penny had decided the best way to get Charlie to leave her alone, which I interpreted as deflecting his amorous advances, was to date the most obnoxious guy in the whole school? Who in the world would even consider such a …

A memory, dusty with disuse, surfaced. Near the end of freshman year, I decided that I would finally going to tell Cindy how I felt about her. Explain to her that I wanted to be more than just friends. I started making weak excuses to be around her, without the rest of our friends. A couple of times, I even “accidentally” brushed my hand over her arm. Or tucked a loose strand of blonde behind one of her ears.

However, before I could actually summon the courage to say the words, she started dating Wayne Richards, effectively squashing my plans like Tiamat stomping on a gnome. Until that moment, I had never understood why she’d chosen Wayne as a romantic partner. The guy constantly laughed like a braying donkey, usually at his own jokes.

Now, after hearing about Penny’s decision to be with Derek just to get Charlie to back off, I fully understood. I’d been trying to change our relationship without talking to her about it. Instead, I’d gone all creepy-like, sending her rushing to the closest available guy who wasn’t Sam.

Seems I kept uncovering more and more of Cindy’s former life entwined with my new one. Sort of like an Occam’s’ Razor for the universe, so to speak.

“Plus,” Sarah continued, unaware of my epiphany. “Six months is a little long for something you call ‘temporary’. Thank god you eventually saw the light and dumped his ass. Otherwise you two would probably be engaged by now.”

Holy crap! Had Penny really dated that trust-fund jerk for half a year? It was a good thing the Girl I’d Never Been and the person I Was Now couldn’t communicate to each other. Otherwise, I’d give her a cussing out like she wouldn’t believe possible.

“We would not,” I argued, trying to sound like I believed it. Of course, I had no idea if Penny would have been that stupid. “Our relationship ran its merry course, and now I would like to forget it ever happened.” Reaching out, I poked her in the shoulder. “I would like you to forget it as well.”

“Fine,” she sighed, trying to cover up her glee at my discomfort and failing. “Consider Derek Heath stricken from the record. Nevermore shall we discuss the former love of your life, the guy who escorted you to the Fall Ball, and the pioneer who was the first to get his hands on that beautiful rack of yours.”

This time, I did stumble. Which made Sarah giggle again.

Did I really let Derek Heath cop a feel? Total yuck! The thought alone made me feel I might possibly be sick right there.

“I …” Words just wouldn’t form.

“Of course, I knew the thing with Derek was headed toward an expiration date the second I saw you notice Lee.” She sighed and shook her head. “Even after you’d kicked Mister Moneybags to the curb, it just seemed that neither you nor that hunky football player could make a connection.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“It’s true. The two of you would flirt, but not act like you were flirting. We all saw it happening. Knew you two were eventually going to get together.” She twirled her finger in the air. “It was like … like … watching a glass that’s precariously balanced on a serving tray. You see it tip and tilt and slide toward the edge. Over and over. Each time thinking that will be the time it finally goes over the edge and crashes onto the floor.” She grinned at me. “Took you long enough to crash, Peej.”

“Well, I don’t know if we’re together now. I mean, together together. Yeah, we went on a date. A single date. But that’s it.”

“That’s it?” she did not sound convinced.

Shrugging, I looked away. “I guess, you know, we’ve kissed … and stuff.”

An eyebrow arched at that last bit, but my friend, amazingly, didn’t comment.

Though I wouldn’t be able to prove it in a court of law, something in the way Lee had kissed me in the parking lot that morning, the way my body had reacted to it, hinted to me that Saturday night might have been more hands-on than I originally would have admitted.

“You two are together,” she said, as if stating a fact. “You can tell yourself differently all you like, Peej, but I know you. Probably better than you know yourself.”

And that, folks, is the fracking understatement of the year.

“Yeah, I guess you probably do.” Then I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. After tonight, when we show up at Jacob’s together, it won’t just be a rumor or idle speculation any longer. Everyone else will know.”

She nodded. “I’m sure that will make things abundantly clear for the ten or eleven people at school who weren’t sure before.”

I turned and gaped at her, stunned at her audacity. She, in return, cackled like a madwoman and took off running the last fifty feet to my Jeep. Shaking my head, I walked after her while continuing to try to scrub the knowledge that I’d let Derek Heath feel me up.

Double yuck!

On the drive to Sarah’s house, she tried to make me insane by going through the hundred or so bathing suits she apparently owned, hoping to get my honest opinion about which one she should wear to the party.

I attempted to point out, only once, that Jacob had never said he was having a pool party, and I felt she only inferred it to be so because he had a heated pool. For my attempt to present a rational argument, I’d been told that I was being an “old grannie” and that I’d better not “wuss out” on her.

Girls, it would seem, can be just as argumentative as guys.

I pulled the Jeep into Sarah’s drive, leaving it running while she grabbed her stuff and climbed out.

“Chad said he was going to pick me up around seven or so. I think the rest of the squad is planning on getting there between seven and seven-thirty.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”

She nodded, started to close her door, then stopped to look at me.

“Listen, Peej. I know I bust your hump a lot about Lee. But, you have to understand that I watched you lust after him from afar for almost a year. Then, when he started going out with Jen, I was there for all your moody ups and downs about it. Now he’s single and you’re single, so I think it’s time for you both to be un-single. With each other. Just relax and let things go where they go. Okay?”

I nodded, giving her a terse smile. “Okay.”

She beamed. “Awesome. Oh, I think you should wear that pink and white number you bought for our trip to Florida. It’ll definitely get Lee’s undivided attention.” She giggled, winked, and closed the door.

I waited until she was up the walkway to her front door before I backed out into the street and headed home.

Walking into my own back door, I was greeted with the sight of my father in the kitchen. One hand held his phone, thumb sliding continuously across the screen. The other held what I assumed to be a tumbler full of Scotch. A pre-cocktail party cocktail. He glanced up from the screen for a moment as I entered, then went back to monitoring the stock market.

“Hey, Pumpkin. Home from school?”

Inwardly, I groaned. The wish had changed so much in my life, why couldn’t it have also made it so that I didn’t still have a father who asked the most inane, redundant questions? Whenever he presented Sam with a rhetorical question, the response had always been the most sarcastic possible.

Home from school? No, dad. Just got paroled from prison.

However, I assumed Penny was more of a enabler than Sam. Freaking Daddy’s Girl.

“Yes,” I said as I slipped my backpack off my shoulder and hung it over the back of one of the chairs. “Finally home.”

He nodded, eyes still watching the electronic tickers. “I trust your mother informed you that we were going to be out this evening?”

Another difference between then and now. Dad wouldn’t have bothered to say anything. Probably because he knew Sam wouldn’t care if the two of them were in or not. So long as they didn’t bother him with stupid details.

“She did. She told me that you’d likely be out until late.”

“Well, the event is supposed to be over at ten. But knowing Corbin, it’ll be closer to eleven.”

I padded over to the fridge, examined the inside with a frown, and pulled out a bottle of flavored water. It would seem the Cheer Princess didn’t drink Mountain Dew.

“Sounds like fun,” I said, not meaning a word of it.

He glanced up again, his gaze going stern. “That is not an invitation to have a boy over here, though. Or a party. A couple of your friends, female friends, is fine. Just don’t make a mess and be sure you’ve done all your homework.”

I smiled, hoping I looked like his sweet, innocent daughter and not like a deranged maniac in a Penelope suit.

“Actually, I was going to go over to Sarah’s. We were going to work on the Homecoming stuff and prep for Friday’s French quiz.”

He kept looking at me, his gaze moving from stern to suspicious.

“Why doesn’t Sarah come over here?”

Before I could answer him, using an explanation I couldn’t begin to come up with, mom breezed into the room. She was wearing a forest green dress that sat off her shoulders and came down right to her knees. The heels on her feet clicked on the tile of the kitchen floor.

“Oh, Darrin,” she said, giving me a wink. “So badgering her so.” She plucked the glass from my father’s hand and took a sip before giving it back. The rim of the tumbler branded with a set of dark burgundy lips. “If she goes over to Sarah’s for a while, it’s no big deal.”

“I just don’t want her running around at all hours of the evening on a school night, Helen,” he said, trying to sound authoritative. Problem was, he was already acquiescing to my mother.

“I promise I wont be out too late, Daddy.” I reached up and made a cross sign over my left boob.

He sighed and shook his head. Then went back to looking at his phone.

“I shouldn’t even bother. Can’t win an argument with the way you two team up against me.”

I’m sure you won plenty of arguments when you had a son, Darrin. Now the power of estrogen overwhelms you.

I bounced on my heels and went over to him. Before I could psych myself out of it, I went up on my toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

“Thank you, Daddy. You’re the best.”

“So you say. Every time you need the credit card.”

“Darrin, behave.” Mom said teasingly.

I grabbed my water and my bag, then headed upstairs. Behind me, I heard mom tell dad that they should probably get going if they were going to make it there by six-thirty. By the time I’d dumped my stuff into my room, and kicked off my sneakers, the sound of the garage door opening drifted through my partially open window.

A moment after that, I heard my father’s car pull out and drive off, leaving me to my own devices for the next six or so hours.

I went back downstairs and heated up some leftover chicken lo mein and egg rolls. After eating quickly, I put the dirty bowl into the dishwasher and went back upstairs to start getting ready.

The first order of business was to find something suitable to wear to the party. I didn’t think a pair of jeans and a sweater would cut it, since I had little doubt I would be taking whatever I wore to Jacob’s off. You know, to get in the pool.

As I pulled various items out of the closet and held them up to my front while facing the mirror, I tried to focus on ease and cuteness. However, I also couldn’t stop wondering, with each top or bottom, if Lee would like me in it. A common problem among most girls, to be sure. Lucky for me, I had an advantage over them.

Being a former guy, I had a pretty good idea what a guy might like.

After about twenty minutes, I settled on a black skater skirt, whose hem stopped several inches above the knee, paired with powder blue v-neck sweater. Since I expected it to be cooler once the sun went down, I snagged a pair of black knee socks to round out the ensemble.

Tossing the selected clothing on the bed, I went and pulled my phone out of my backpack. The thing had dinged several times while I was trying to decide what to wear, indicating I had more than a few text messages awaiting my response.

None of them were from Lee, which made a little tinge of sadness roll through me. However, the ten I did have were all from Sarah. Each with an attachment. Shaking my head, I opened the first and began scrolling through them.

The first one bore the message, “How’s this?” The photo attached was a selfie taken in front of her bedroom mirror. In the image, Sarah’s hip was cocked to the side in a sassy pose while the rest of her body was adorned in a mint green string bikini that tied in little bows at the hips.

The following messages, language-wise, only said. “Or this.” The rest was another photo.

Sarah in a red bikini. Sarah in a black bikini. Sarah in a blue bikini. Variations on a theme. There was a single one-piece in the bunch. It was a royal purple color, rode high on her curvy hips, and contained a large cleavage window that instantly made me think of Power Girl.

Only Sarah wasn’t quite as well-endowed as the Earth Two Kryptonian.

Trying not to laugh at my friend’s antics, I quickly typed a response.

“The red one.”

A thumbs-up emoji was her reply.

I headed down the hall into the bathroom, stripping out of my sweaty gym clothes along the way. By the time the room was sufficiently steamy, I was completely naked and ready for the soothing spray to do its best to ease my slightly sore muscles.

As I washed, I tried to ponder what the evening would be like. Sam had never been invited to any parties in his entire school career that weren’t being hosted by one of his friends. Those events, for the most part, were pathetic affairs where a half dozen or so guys and girls would mill around, all wishing they were somewhere else.

The one popular party I’d attended was held at Cindy’s house a few weeks before the end of junior year. I hadn’t wanted to come, knowing I was going to be the only person there without some type of status. However, Cindy had insisted, vehemently, that I show up. For her sake.

When I walked through her door, nearly every eye turned in my direction. All but a few of them had this confused look on their faces. As if trying to figure out why one of the dorkiest guys at Benson High was at a gathering populated almost completely by members of the in-crowd.

My original plan had been to show up, hang for about thirty minutes, then tell Cindy I had to leave due to something having come up. Unfortunately, when I went to look for her, I ran into Jen instead.

The head Raiderette’s eyes widened to comical proportions when she turned around just as I was trying to get through a crowded hallway. We collided, her boob running into my bent elbow. For a second, neither of us said anything. Then a smile that would have given Emperor Palpatine the willies formed on her pretty face.

She immediately grabbed the first Neanderthal she saw, pointed in my direction, and claimed that I’d tried to grope her.

As expected, the dumb jock could only form the most rudimentary of brain processes. Rather than ask if I’d touched Miss Thing on purpose, or noticing that, due to the number of people in the hallway, if it was an accident, he decided a lesson was in order. He grabbed the front of my D20 shirt and slung me sideways into the wall.

The impact rattled my teeth, but I didn’t go down. So, he followed up with a punch to my gut.

The only reason I didn’t puke on Cindy’s parent’s floor was because I hadn’t eaten anything in over six hours. Regardless, the blow drove the air out of my lungs and sent me down on my knees. Gasping and wheezing.

Just as I started to get my breathing back under control, I looked up to see Jen had squatted down in front of me, glaring balefully.

“You really shouldn’t go where you’re not wanted. A loser nobody nerd like you should stick to living under rocks and hanging out with slime. You’re not worthy enough to be in the company of your betters.”

Then she actually patted me on the head, grimaced, and wiped her hand on the back of my t-shirt. By the time I managed to get back to my feet, she and the stupid jock who’d hit me had moved on.

When Cindy called me later that evening to ask why I didn’t come to her party, I didn’t tell her what had happened. The embarrassment of the scene still burned inside me. Instead, I told her that I’d decided that spending my time in the company of morons and bimbos was time better spent elsewhere. Then I hung up before she could reply.

Lathering up my hair, I was pretty positive that Jacob’s would not present a repeat performance. After all, Pee-Jay was one of the Elite. Beyond reproach. Secondly, Jen would not be in attendance. Though, even if she was, she would have a much harder time convincing some crap for brains jock to punch her fellow cheerleader.

Wasn’t. Going. To. Happen.

A smile appeared on my face as I rinsed out the shampoo and grabbed the conditioner.

This party might actually be fun.

Once I was thoroughly clean, I shut off the water, wrapped a towel around me, and headed back to my bedroom. Checking my phone, I saw a new text, this one from Lee.

“Be there @ 630.”

Glancing over at the clock, I saw I had about forty-five minutes to get ready before he was ringing my bell. My doorbell, I mean.

Opening my underwear drawer, I skipped over the logical choices and went straight to the pile of bathing suits crammed on the left side. I estimated there to be around thirty or so, the majority of which were two-piece. Why anyone needed that many bathing suits was beyond me.

There was a really cute navy blue one-piece, with narrow shoulder straps and a pink anchor on the front. However, I simply pushed it aside, knowing that Pee-Jay would never show up at a pool party in something that tame.

God knows I’d seen her Instagram feed.

I found the one Sarah had suggested. It was white, with thin pink stripes running in a vertical pattern. It also seemed to be made with the most minimal amount of material possible. The top would likely cover my areolas, maybe, and the bottom was close enough to a thong without actually being one.

Why didn’t Sarah just suggest I go skinny dipping instead?

Tossing that in the Big Ole Nope pile, I rooted around until I found a dark lavender one I thought might be cute and not indecent.

Dropping the towel, I pulled on the bottoms, pleased with the way they hugged my generous backside without feeling like they were exposing too much. Whatever the material was, it clung to the flesh and seemed to promise that it would stay in place.

The top was a bit more of a challenge. Rather than straps and clasps, like a bra, it sported strings that were supposed to go around the back of my neck and torso. Not wanting to fool around and waste time looking up “How to put on a bikini” on YouTube, I simply tied the damned thing in the front, turned it around, then pulled up the cups to fasten the tie behind my neck.

The thicker material of the suit covered everything well enough that I wouldn’t feel like I was preparing to take the main stage at the local strip club. It also provided a bit of support, so when I turned back and forth in front of the mirror, gaging my appearance, the swaying of the girls was kept to a minimum.

Score one for the former guy.

I sat down at the desk and pulled out my makeup pallet. If I was going to get wet, the clean kind, at Jacob’s party, I didn’t want to look like a drowned rat. I opted to only apply a little waterproof mascara and a light layer of plum-colored gloss. I could always take a small bag of supplies with me and perform a touch-up later. If needed.

Call me vain, but I honestly couldn’t help but stare at myself. The magic of the wish had made me beautiful, as expected by my careless wording. But it seemed to go beyond that. As Tracy had pointed out that first day, my skin was freaking flawless and seemed to have a natural glow that rivaled some of the best cosmetics out there.

I probably could have skipped the little bit I did altogether, had I wanted.

Back in the bathroom, I blow-dried my hair, choosing to leave it loose instead of clipping it back. The chestnut strands, like curtains of silk, only emphasized the attractiveness of the face they framed.

Turning my head to and fro, I wondered how I would look if I let my hair grow out longer. Don’t get me wrong, the shorter style was a lot easier for a newly-created girl to work with. Eventually, though, I would want a change. Longer hair might be the way to go.

By six twenty-five, I was completely dressed, having added a pair of black, wedge-heeled ankle boots to complete my look. Grabbing a small brown leather bag from the closet, I tossed in it a beige bra, a light pink thong, a small cosmetics bag, and a hairbrush. Then I grabbed my phone from its charging stand and bounced down the stairs.

No sooner had my adorable boots touched the tile in the foyer than I heard the rumble of a classic Mustang pulling into my driveway. My pulse instantly quickened, and I glanced into the large oval mirror hanging on the wall, to check for the tenth time, that I looked presentable.

The engine outside silenced, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. My palms dampened a bit as a nervous flutter ran through my belly. Should I go ahead outside, to meet him? Would it make more of an impact if I let him stand outside for a few moments, wondering if I was going to open the door?

The choices whirling around in my mind came to an abrupt stop as the chime over the front door sang its happy, visitor-announcing, tune.

I was proud of myself for not running to fling the door open. Instead, I settled for a brisk walk. As the heavy wooden slab swung open, my eyes drank in the sight of the attractive young man leaning against the frame with a sparkle in his eyes and a slightly pleased expression on his face.

The second he saw me, however, those eyes widened and his jaw became slightly unhinged.

“Oh… wow.” The level of stunned in his voice couldn’t be measured.

Almost as if someone else was pulling my strings, I jutted my hip out to the side, planted one hand on it, and peered up at him through my thick eyelashes.

“It take it you like something you see?” I’d thrown a purr into my voice on a whim, and was rewarded by seeing him shudder slightly.

“Yes,” he said, still looking at me in a way that was turning my insides all gooey. “Most definitely yes.”

I started to step back to let him come in, but he responded by taking a large step toward me. Before I could ask where he was going, his arms were around me and his mouth was on mine in a kiss overflowing with passion and desire.

I let myself fall into the display of affection. I’d been kissed more times as a girl in the past two days than I had as a guy my entire life. Though, even if Sam had tongue-wrestled with a dozen girls, I doubted they would have made him feel the way Lee’s lips made Penny feel.

My heart, already racing, picked up the pace as a warmth formed in my belly and radiated outward. It swam through my core, growing more intense in the area just below my navel and drew heat away from my extremities. My head grew giddy as gooseflesh appeared on my exposed flesh. Out tongues swirled around each other, and the strength in the arms that held me caused me to feel both small and safe.

After way too brief a time, Lee finally retracted his tongue from my mouth, though he continued to embrace me. Looking down into my eyes, he smiled.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since this morning.”

“Me, too,” I said in a hoarse whisper, still loopy from the delicious assault on my mouth and mind.

Lee laughed, then looked up and over my head for a moment before bringing his gaze back down. A note of concern fluttered across his face.

“Uh, your folks aren’t home, are they? Because I just realized that your dad might not be happy to walk past and find me making out with his daughter in the doorway.”

I smiled up at him and shook my head. “They left about an hour ago and won’t be back until late. We have the whole house to ourselves.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I realized just how many different ways they could be interpreted. From a statement of fact designed to put my paramour at ease to a sultry invitation of a more carnal nature.

“That’s good to know,” he said, visibly relaxing. “Your dad can be a pretty scary guy.”

I never thought of him that way. Then again, I’d never been his teenage daughter. Another subtle difference between being a male child and a female one.

If you’d asked me last week if I thought my parents and I had a good relationship, I probably would have answered with “what relationship”? Now, seeing the rapport Penny had with the two of them, I began to wonder if maybe the lack of connection between Sam and his folks had been strictly Sam’s fault.

I shrugged. “Well, he’s my dad. Of course he’s going to be all growly and snarly to any boy that I’m dating.”

An eyebrow arched. “Oh, are we dating now, Pee-Jay?”

My heart lurched. “Well, I mean … uh …date. Any guy I go out on a date with. He’s going to be protective. Like, with any guys that he meets … thing.”

This brought another round of chuckles from Lee. “I really like you. You know this. But maybe we should go out a few more times before we make it a solid ‘dating’. Okay?”

I nodded, feeling my face grow warm with embarrassment. To change the subject, I gestured to the doorway of the foyer.

“Would you like to see the rest of the house? Other than the foyer, I mean.”

He smiled. “I saw most of it Saturday.”

Frak! How could I have forgotten that he’d come inside when he met my dad.

“Unless,” he said in a low voice. “You were planning on showing me your bedroom.”

I froze, my jackrabbiting heart screeching to a halt like a kobald running into a lich.

“Uh, well …” I felt a cold sweat begin to break out under my arms and on the back of my neck.

He leaned down and kissed me lightly. “I’m teasing you, babe. Just giving back a little of what I got on Saturday.”

Oh. Well, then. That made me feel a lot less vulnerable. The problem wasn’t that I was worried about why Lee might do to me inside the walls of my sleeping area. I was afraid of what I might do. To him. With him. These feelings, which really should have been completely alien, felt so right, so natural, that I didn’t trust myself to not act upon them.

French kissing and heavy petting was one thing. Doing the actual dirty deed was something completely different. No matter how much I’d thought I’d wanted it as Sam, I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to take that plunge in my new life.

He leaned back down and planted another of those toe-curlers on me, sweeping away all my worries and doubts. When I was with him, I didn’t have to pretend to be Penelope.

I was Penelope.

The kiss lasted a little longer than the first, and when it was over, Lee tilted his head in the direction of the open door.

“Shall we be off?”

I wanted to tell him no. Explain that going to a party with a bunch of people wasn’t as high on my to-do list as staying here and kissing him over and over and over. Part of me wanted to drag him into the living room, push him down on the couch, then straddle him so I could taste his mouth until I couldn’t take any more.

Instead, I doused the fire raging inside me until it was back down to a more manageable level. Swallowing hard, I nodded.

Intertwining my fingers in with his, I allowed him to walk me out the door, pulling it closed behind me.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 10
by Limbo’s Mistress

Hand in hand, Lee escorted me over to the passenger side of the Mustang, opened the door, then closed it once I was seated inside. Jogging around the front of the car, he climbed in behind the wheel, and we were soon on our way to the party.

I was really thankful that he’d offered to pick me up. Penny might have been to Jacob’s house a dozen or more times, but Sam never had. All I knew was that he lived right on the edge of the city. I finally accepted the fact that I was going to need to start looking up people’s addresses ahead of time and put them in my phone’s mapping app.

“So, how was practice?” I asked, turning sideways in the seat to look at him. Not that I expected to understand anything he would say. Football had never been one of my interests. However, I figured it would be a likely Penny thing to ask.

He shrugged. “Not too bad. Mostly just running drills. Although, Coach Castanza heard about tonight’s party.”

“Oh no,” I said, trying to sound sufficiently worried. “What did he say?”

“Well, he didn’t exactly state that we weren’t allowed to go. I guess cause he knew most of us would anyway. However, he did promise we were going to have an extra intensive practice tomorrow. So if any of the guys overdo it and show up dragging ass, he’s not going to be a happy guy.”

I laughed at that. Coach Castanza was a burly guy with a thick red beard and wavy red hair. He reminded me of the King from those old burger franchise commercials.

“Well then,” I said, unable to not lace my words with a sultry tone. “I guess I better make sure you get into bed at a decent hour, huh?”

He cut his eyes over at me, a smile curled lazily on his face. For a second, I thought he might respond with his own innuendo.

“I can survive on minimal sleep, babe. So there’s no need to cut our time together this evening short.” He turned left onto a less busy street. “How was your practice? Are all the girls in perfect step?”

“For the most part. There were one or two little mistakes that I’m sure will be ironed out by Friday.” I sighed. “I just hate that they expected me to yell at them for every little mistake they made.”

“That’s to be expected, Pee-Jay. They’re used to it because that’s the only way Jen knows to motivate people. Fear and shame. Everyone knows you aren’t like that.”

I nodded, once again feeling superior to the currently-absent blonde tyrant. If Penny was a more empathetic and understanding leader, then perhaps it meant her bond with the rest of the squad might actually be stronger than Jen’s. You know, that more flies with honey thing.

Of course, I wasn’t completely sure I could have handled it if it turned out Penny had been the same level of hardcore bitch as Jen and Tabitha. Having been on the receiving end of years’ worth of putdowns, insults, and sneers, I honestly don’t think I could have even bluffed my way through it.

Which would probably make people wonder about Penny’s sudden personality change. I mean, if Jen showed up at school one day and smiled at everyone and started handing out compliments, I’d be the first person to stand up on the lunchroom table and scream “Pod person!”

Lee reached over to take my hand and give it a little squeeze. Glancing over, I saw his flashing that heart-stopping smile at me.

“You know, there is a tiny rumor floating around that Jen’s days as the top Raiderette are numbered. I’ve had more than one person comment around me that it’s strange that she’s the one in charge when you’re the one everyone likes.”

I forced myself not to stiffen, mainly because I knew he would wonder what was wrong.

“She’s a little rough, sure,” I said, picking my words carefully. “But she has the talent with designing the moves and choreography. I wouldn’t be able to whip them into shape the way she can.”

His mouth started to open, likely to disagree with my statement. However, before he could utter a single syllable, I took the hand I was holding and put it down on top of my leg. On the exposed flesh between the top of the knee sock and the hem of the skirt. His eyes widened a bit as that tingle passed between us, preemptively derailing the debate.

The warmth of his hand on my leg pulsed through me, sending a tiny wave of rippling heat travelling up to other parts. Parts that still smoldered from earlier.

A few seconds passed before he seemed to be able to speak again. Thankfully, the conversation didn’t return to a hypothetical change in the Raiderette hierarchy.

“So, my cousin is in this band. They’re playing in a little restaurant over in Sanford on Saturday. I wanted to know if you were interested in going to see them with me?”

I didn’t answer immediately. If my Saturday were as ballet-centric as Cindy’s had been, then I didn’t see how I would have the energy to go to a concert after spending six exhausting hours bouncing up and down in a tutu. Especially after jumping around cheering for three hours the previous evening. My poor little legs might not be able to handle it.

“Yes, I would be very interested,” I said, looking over at him without smiling.

“Okay,” he said with a note of caution. “I sense a ‘but’ somewhere in there.”

“It’s just … I have ballet practice on Saturday. I might be too worn out to be any fun at a show.”

He gave me a slightly perplexed look. “You’re starting back up again.”

“Again?” I asked, beginning to feel as lost as he looked. “You mean, my dancing?”

He nodded. “You mentioned last week that you’d decided to take a break from it for a while. Said it was too much on top of school, cheering, and other stuff, so your parents told you to take a break.” He grinned at me. “Don’t you remember how heartbroken I said I was that I was going to miss seeing you as Clara this Christmas? You laughed and said that if it would be of consolation, you’d be willing to show me the video from your performance last year.”

I didn’t have the slightest clue who Clara was, other than a character in a ballet. Swan Lake, maybe? Of course, that was a lesser mystery compared to the bigger picture. Penny had quit ballet.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling slightly numb as I turned to look out my window. “Just too much going on to keep it up. For now.”

Cindy had complained to me, multiple times, about how much of an imposition dance put in her schedule. She lamented that she felt like she was always scrambling to keep up. Ballet, on top of cheering, drama, and everything else. Unfortunately, her folks insisted that she could manage.

Penny’s parents, it seemed, felt differently. Thank god. Because that was one less thing I had to figure out. Memorizing all the cheer routines had been bad enough.

It was a few seconds of silence before I realized that Lee was still waiting on an answer from me.

“Yeah,” I said, then shook my head. “No, I mean. I’m not going back to it. Not yet.” Probably never, either. I looked over at him, making a derpy face. “It’s just been such a routine part of my Saturdays that I momentarily forgot.”

One of his brows arched hopefully. “So, that’s a yes on going to the show?”

“Definitely a yes,” I said, smiling.

It was nearly seven, and the evening was deep into twilight when we pulled off the main road to coast down a long driveway to the gigantic house at the end. The black ribbon was lined on both sides with cars, I could hear the music even through the Mustang’s closed windows.

Apparently most of the school had accepted Jacob’s invitation.

Lee parked us near a row of hedges close to the left side of the house. When I peered out my window at the massive shrubbery, I almost called out, “Ni!” But I didn’t think Lee would get the joke. Or, maybe he would. I was never sure if Monty Python easily crossed the dork/non-dork barrier.

Giving my hand another squeeze, Lee climbed out of the car. I figured he would probably be upset if I didn’t let him get my door (since he was really going all out being a gentleman), so I waited patiently for him to come around to my side.

I climbed out of the car, instantly realizing that the choice of heeled footwear had probably not been the wisest one. The grass beneath my feet was softer than I’d expected, causing me to wobble as I fought to remain upright.

Before I could either fully regain my balance, or fall on my butt, Lee scooped me effortlessly into his arms, closed the car door with one foot, than carried me the ten feet to the cobblestone path. There, he placed me gently back down on my feet, then gave me a little wry smile.

“Sorry,” he said, sounding nothing of the sort. “I just couldn’t resist.”

I gave him a stern look. “If you wanted get a feel, Taylor, you could have just asked for one.”

His mouth dropped open, but before he could say anything, I giggled, stuck my tongue out at him, and began prancing my way up the walk toward the house. He quickly caught up with me and slipped his arm around my waist, the palm close to the curve barely contained beneath my skirt. Incredibly close, even.

If he put his hand on my butt, would I slap it away? Or leave it there? I honestly didn’t know.

It’s scary, finding yourself having feelings and thoughts that would have been completely alien a few days before. The longer I lived this life, the more I explored Penny’s world, the more the life I had as Sam seemed to recede into the background. It wasn’t disappearing, I wasn’t losing myself to the girl I saw in every mirror.

It was more like my prior life had become more … ethereal. Less real, perhaps.

Sam would have never, ever had to consider if he wanted Lee Taylor’s hand on his ass. That would have been a hard no.

Lee didn’t bother to knock when we got to the front door. Which is just as well, since judging by the volume of the music, no one would have heard us anyway. It was a good thing Jacob’s house was isolated on a couple of acres, mostly surrounded by trees. Otherwise, his distant neighbors would have already called the cops.

As he placed his hand on the knob, I put mine on top of his, looking up at him.

“What?” he asked, a small note of concern in his voice. “Something wrong?”

I shook my head, the nodded at the closed door. “Right now, you and I are a rumor. However, once we go in there together, everyone’s going to know about us.”

He nodded. “I know.”

I swallowed the small lump in my throat. “Everyone includes Jennifer, Lee. Are you okay with that?”

To give the guy credit, he actually stopped to consider what I was saying. Rather than agreeing just to agree with me. After about three seconds, he nodded again.

“Pee-Jay, Jen is my past. I’m not going to say being with her was a horrible time, because that’s not fair to her. But you, I want you to be my future.” He leaned down, bringing his face close to mine. “The question is, are you okay with her knowing? You’re the one who will still have to be with her almost every day.”

To be honest, I didn’t give a frack what Jen thought about me and her ex dating. As far as I was concerned, she’d had her chance and blown it. Perhaps Penny had wanted to keep it on the down low until she could find a way to break the news to the head Raiderette. Smooth everything over.

However, Sam had no such concern. Let the Queen Bee get pissed over it. There wasn’t really much she could do to me. Or to Penny.

To answer, I leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the mouth, then pulled back to look into his eyes.

“I don’t care who knows,” I told him.

Lee nodded with a smirk, then opened the door.

The music seemed to triple in volume, becoming a physical force I was sure would blast us backward off the porch as effectively as one of Black Canary’s sonic screams. On the other side of the open portal, I could see nearly three dozen people milling around in the expansive space of the living room. Despite the room’s size, the furniture and décor made it seem crowded.

The moment Lee and I stepped inside, people started waving and smiling. They greeted both of us, though I noticed most of the enthusiasm was directed at me. As if the already joyous mood had doubled with just my presence.

Halfway into the crowd, I felt someone seemingly materialize beside me and slip their arm around my waist.

“What took you so long?’ Sarah said, leaning to place her mouth right next to my ear. Her breath was warm and sent a little shiver running through me. “I was about to text you to see if you’d gotten sidetracked with Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome.” She giggled, sounding like she’d already been into the booze.

I shook my head, turning my neck so that I could talk into her ear. “No sidetracking.”

She shot me a dubious glance, then nodded her head toward an archway on the other side of the room. “Everyone else is outside,” she shouted, grabbing the hand not holding Lee’s and dragging me toward the opening. “Around the pool.”

I grinned as the three of us weaved through the crowd. Sarah in the lead, then me, with Lee bringing up the rear and looking like he was just as confused as I felt.

The ornate archway led into a kitchen that would have made Gordon Ramsey jealous. There were probably another two dozen people in here, munching on the expansive bowls of snacks and chips spread out on the huge island in the center of the room.

When Sarah glanced back at me, I nodded at the fact she was still dressed in her non-swim clothes.

“I figured you’d be in the water already,” I said. “After the montage of pictures you sent earlier.”

She shrugged. “Didn’t want to get wet without you.” She tossed me a little wink before looking over my head at Lee. “Chad and the rest of the guys are outside as well. Beer ponging it.”

Lee shook his head, then looked down at me. “I guess we better get out there before things get out of hand. Mitch and Vance tend to let their competitiveness get physical.”

Still connected like a trio of monkeys, Sarah broke through the crowd (all of whom either said hello or yelled my name) and we emerged outside into what looked like a scene from any number of teen movies.

There were at least sixty people congregating on the expansive deck, clumped together in various groups. Another half-dozen or so were actually in the pool, trying to get a water volleyball match going. On the other side of the Olympic-sized structure, there sat a little cottage. Next to it was a banquet table surrounded by what looked to be half of the football team.

I didn’t need to get any closer to know there would be a trio of red Solo cups at each end. Every so often, a cheer or a groan would blast from the assembled jocks, followed by a round of laughter. I spotted Chad and Mark at one of the ends.

Before we could head in that direction, Jacob and two other lacrosse players glided over to us.

“Hey, Pee-jay,” Jacob said, smiling broadly at me as he stepped in closer. “I was worried you weren’t going to show.”

I shrugged one shoulder. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“Nonsense,” said the boy on Jacob’s left, his sandy hair cut in a shaggy style. “The party didn’t really start until you walked in.”

I tried to seem flattered, but the way the three of them hovered around caused me to tense up. It wasn’t like they were boxing us in. Or actually violating my personal space. Mainly because nearly all of said personal space was currently occupied by Sarah and Lee. It was like they were glad to see me.

Really, incredibly glad. To put a label on it.

“Hey Pee-Jay,” the remaining boy said. “Are you going to get into the pool?”

I glanced up at Lee, who didn’t seem to be all that concerned that I was practically drowning in attention from another group of males. Talk about being secure. Then I looked back at Jacob and his friends.

“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe in a little bit. Thought I’d mingle for a while first.”

“Awesome,” surfer dude said. “See you later then.”

Jacob remained in place while the other pair drifted off to talk to a couple of sophomore girls I recognized. The lacrosse captain shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to grin at me.

“I just wanted to say thanks again. For coming to my party. Anything you need, you just let me know.”

“Uh, okay,” I said, really not digging the creepy vibe rolling off him. “Thanks.”

He smiled, nodded, then slowly sauntered off to join his friends. Along the way, he looked back at me at least three times.

“Come on,” Sarah said once the way was clear. “The rest of the squad is over with the boys.”

Dragged once again, I let the other girl pull me, and by extension, Lee, along toward the rowdy table next to the pool house.

As inside, everyone we passed flashed me a smile and waved.

“Hey, Pee-Jay.”

“All right, Davenport’s here.”

“Looking good, Pee-Jay.”

“Oh-em-gee, Pee-Jay. Love your skirt.”

By the time we reached the table, I was feeling like Rod Serling would step out of the shadows at any moment and provide a little exposition to whatever the frack was going on here. I mean, it had been pretty obvious over the past two days that Penny was a pretty popular girl. Well-liked, with what seemed to be a lot of friends.

But this … was really bordering on ridiculous.

As Sarah had promised, nearly the entire squad was gathered around the table, watching the guys playing beer pong. The reason I’d not spotted when we first came outside was due to them being on the other side of the table.

The girls glanced up from the game, waving and smiling as Sarah continued to pull me toward them. When we stopped, gathered in a clump of cheerleaders, I instantly realized who was, not surprisingly, absent.

“Where’s Tabitha?” I asked Jordan.

The other girl looked around for a moment, then back to me with a shrug. “She was here a few seconds ago,” she said. “She was practically hanging off of Mark.”

I glanced over at Mark and Chad. Both guys noticed my attention and turned to look my way. Chad brought two fingers up and tossed me a jaunty salute.

“Hey, Peej,” he said, moving closer to slip his arm around Sarah’s waist. The motion put him between me and my best friend. Who, weirdly enough, still held onto my hand. Careful not to seem to direct, I managed to extradite my fingers from hers and turned to press myself against Lee.

“Hey, Chad,” I said, flashing him a quick smile. Then I nodded at the busy table behind him. “You’re not playing?”

Sam Davenport might not have been a regular at any of the popular parties, but that didn’t mean the stories and tales of what transpired at those shindigs hadn’t made their way down the clique ladder to him and his friends. Besides the constant posing, snide comments, and other assorted trivialities, there had been more than one recounting of Chad Barrow dominating every beer pong match he played.

“Nah. Not my turn yet. Right now, Vance and Turtle are current kicking everyone’s butt.

Vance Warner and Joel Tuttle, aka “Turtle”. Both of them were guilty of putting Sam into a locker multiple times back in freshman year. Of all the jerks on the football team, those two were part of what me and my friends had labeled, The Fubar Five.

“Once my baby gets started tossing that ball, it’s all over.” Sarah said with girlish glee. Then she leaned up on her toes and kissed Chad for what I swore was a solid three minutes before dropping back down and look over at me.

“So, Miss Acting Captain, when are we going to ditch these clothes and remind everyone why we’re called the Elite?”

I shrugged, still snuggled next to Lee. “Whenever you want, I guess.”

“Now?” The was a note of hopefulness in her voice and a little pleading look in her eyes.

I glanced over her head, seeing the rest of the squad watching me with that same expression. As if waiting on me to give the order. Sighing, I turned my face up to Lee’s.

“I guess I’m going swimming.”

He grinned. “Sounds like a great idea to me.” He took a half a step back, turning toward the cottage behind him.

Sarah shook her head as she disengaged from Chad and swooped in to link her arm through mine. As she’d done in the hall on the way to lunch.

“Sorry, Mr. Taylor. The changing room is for Raiderettes only.”

Almost as if on cue, the rest of the squad moved in and posed with their hands on their hips. Talk about female solidarity. Lee glanced from Sarah to the squad, then grinned as he leaned down to kiss me softly on the lips. His breath was warm and inviting.

“I’ll let your girls have you for fifteen minutes, babe. Then I’m coming in, and you’re all mine.”

I started to say that he could have me right then, if he wanted. However, Sarah dragged me away from the table, and my boyfriend, before I could do more than smile. With Kara in the lead, the entire squad strolled up to the front door of the pool house and went inside.

The pool house was like a little home. It had a small kitchen, a laundry room, two bathrooms, and an expansive living room furnished with two sofas around a big coffee table, a recliner, a huge flat-panel television, and a fireplace.

“Alright, Peej,” Candice said as she closed the door behind her and locked it. “Let’s see the goods.”

“The what?” I spun around to stare at her. The blonde simply shook her head in response and laughed.

“Sarah told us you were going to wear totally cute bikini you bought over the summer. I’m dying to see it.”

I glanced over at the rest of the squad. Many of them were in the process of removing their outer clothing. Tops, blouses, and sweaters being folded and stacked neatly on the large table. Skirts and jeans soon followed.

By the time I’d removed my own sweater and skirt, the rest of the room was a virtual pin-up calendar of Benson High’s most attractive girls parading around in skimpy swimming attire in a myriad of colors. They adjusted tops and pulled edges of tight bottoms more securely around curvaceous rear ends.

If, by some miracle of magic, I was ever Sam Davenport again, I’d have enough mental material stored away for a decade’s worth of nighttime self-pleasure. Especially when, growing impatient, Jordan smacked Melissa on her barely-covered butt and made the smaller girl squeal in a voice that seemed to be one-half surprise and one-half arousal.

“You didn’t wear the red and white one?” Sarah said, eyeing the dark purple covering my private bits. Mostly covering.

I shook my head. “Seemed a little too risqué for a weeknight party. Besides, I don’t want Lee to get more of a show than I’m willing to give him.”

A titter of amusement rang up all around me. Sarah, however, stepped closer and lowered her voice.

“If you want, we can give everyone a show.” Her words purred with a constrained hint of carnality.

I blinked, taking a small step backward as I scanned her face for any signs of teasing. Unfortunately, I didn’t actually know Sarah well enough to know if her jokes often crossed such inappropriate lines. Or even if they were inappropriate at all.

Any in-depth knowledge of how teenage girls interacted with each other in private was limited to romantic comedies and softcore porn. Maybe some of that had a little basis in fact?

“Are we ready?” Kara asked, pulling Sarah’s attention away from me.

The nine of us emerged from the pool house in a single file line, with me at the head.

The activity taking place around us screeched to a halt as every head swiveled in our direction. Eyes widened with appreciation and attention, causing a delicious thrill to run through me. As Sam, I’d wanted to be invisible.

As Penny, I found the spotlight to be a welcome change.

I led my girls to the edge of the pool, stopping right next to the undulating waters. With my foot, I stretched out and dragged it just below the liquid’s surface, discovering that the temperature was quite pleasant. As Sarah had insisted, the system responsible for heating the pool was working perfectly.

Turning around, I looked down the row of girls standing next to the water, awaiting my signal. Grinning, I took one step back, planted my hands on my hips with my legs slightly spread.

“Raiderettes!” I yelled in my stadium voice. “Into the pool!”

A chorus of cheers went up among the rest of the crowd as eight lovely, bikini-clad ladies dove off the side of the pool into the water. Seconds later, several other girls had shucked their clothes and joined in the fun.

I laughed and started toward the pool. However, a hand grabbed my arm before I could dive in behind the rest of the team. When I turned around, I found myself facing Charlie, Tracy, and …Tabitha.

“What are you doing?” Charlie hissed, closing to within a foot of me. His eyes darted from side to side for a second, already noticing that his actions were drawing interest. Unwanted interest, actually, from several members of the football team.

Including Lee.

“Let go,” I said in as quite a voice as I could. “Please let go before you get hurt.”

Tracy stepped in and put her hand over Charlie’s making him release me. She kept a firm grip on him, apparently afraid he was going to try something like that again.

Tabitha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. At the moment, we were the only two cheerleaders not splashing around in the pool. She was also the only one not in a bathing suit.

“We need to talk,” Charlie said, sounding either pissed or scared. I was going to go with scared, since some of the guys had started walking our way.

I tore my gaze from him to the approaching jocks, and held up my hand.

“It’s cool, guys. Just a little misunderstanding.” I turned to Tabitha, narrowing my eyes. “Right, Tabs?”

She sighed, rolled her eyes again, then looked over at Chad, Lee, and Mark as she nodded her head.

“Yeah,” she said in as bored a tone as humanly possible. “Just some squad stuff Upchuck and Dweebette here are helping us with. Technical crap.”

I seethed at her derogatory terms for the other two. However, the last thing I wanted to do was escalate the situation. Unlike everyone else, it seemed, Tabitha wasn’t swayed by my magical upgrade to social icon. Which meant she didn’t feel the need to be cautious about deriding my friends in front of others.

Basically allowing her to remain being a bitch.

I nodded, making sure that I caught Lee’s gaze. “Everything is fine,” I said. “Promise.”

He stopped coming our way, glanced from me to Charlie, then back before giving me a small smile and a single nod of his head. The meaning was more than clear. If I showed the slightest bit of distress about Charlie’s presence, my overprotective admirer was going to take issue with it.

Turning back to the other three, I ignored Tabitha and looked at Charlie.

“Okay, what is going on and why is it so important that you felt the need to bring it up right now?”

His mouth opened, then closed with an annoyed expression that was one hundred percent Cindy-like. I was surprised he didn’t do that hip-cocked stance that normally would have followed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding derisive, but at a low enough volume that he wouldn’t draw anymore unwanted attention. “Am I interfering with your evening out with the girls? You know, those arrogant bimbos who you think have more boobs than brains?”

Tabitha looked like she’d been slapped. Tracy, however, began to giggle so uncontrollably that she covered her mouth with both hands. As for me, my face turned into a supernova as my own prior assessment of the Raiderettes, which I’d declared to Cindy more than a few times, was thrown back in my face.

“That’s not what I meant,” I said, trying to remain calm.

Of course, she had a perfectly valid point. If you’d polled me a week ago and asked if I’d been born a girl, would I want to be one of Benson High’s Elite, I would have probably told you to go sit on a golf umbrella and open it. I considered the very idea that anyone would deliberately join that most-hated (by me, at least) of cliques completely repugnant. Now, as they say, the shoe was on the other foot.

Or, in my case, the bikini.

Tabitha rolled her eyes. “As much as I would love to stand here and watch the two of you dance around your petty problems, maybe we should discuss the bigger picture.”

“Fine,” I said, glaring at her. “What is the bigger picture?”

Tracy, who’d stopped giggling at this point, glanced around. “Maybe not here,” she said, nodding her head at the rest of the attendees.

Even though it seemed as if the party was continuing on as normal around us, it was obvious that whatever was transpiring between the four of us was being noticed. No one actually came our way, but more than a few sets of eyes glanced over before quickly moving elsewhere. Lee, in particular, kept looking over our way. His face set in an apprehensive expression.

“Well, I can’t very well go for a road trip,” I said, gesturing at my barely-covered body.

“Inside,” Tabitha suggested. “Surely Jacob’s house has one room where we won’t be disturbed or overheard.”

Charlie and Tracy nodded in agreement. Sighing, I glanced from them to the pool. The rest of the squad, like those on the pool deck, were trying to figure out what was going on between the pair of losers and two of their own. They were just being a little less secretive about it than the rest of the partiers.

“Fine,” I said again, wishing they’d just waited until tomorrow at school to bother me with this. Everything had been going just perfectly until Charlie appeared and threw my plans off the rails.

The four of us, Tabitha and I in the lead, crossed the crowded concrete patio to the side door of the massive house. Unlike the door Lee and I had used to venture outside, this one led to a less-crowded office. The half-dozen students in here glanced up as we drifted inside. The moment they looked past Tabitha to me, their eyes widened and their slightly annoyed expressions turned into pleased smiles.

“Hey, Pee-Jay,” one of the boys said, throwing his hand up in greeting.

“Cute suit, Pee-Jay,” a mousy brunette with a pair of round-framed glasses on the bridge of her nose added.

“Definitely,” said her friend, a petite redhead, her hair piled on top of her head and held in place with a green bow.

Tabitha turned and gave me a disgusted look, then strode off down a hallway to a set of carpeted steps that went up to the second floor. Charlie and Tracy watched her depart, glanced back at me with confused looks on their faces, then followed. I simply waved to those who’d greeted me before hurrying after the trio.

At the top of the steps, Tabitha marched to the first closed door she encountered. Her fist rapped on the front of the wooden slab twice before she grabbed the handle, turned it, and pushed it open.

The rest of us walked up behind the blonde, staring over her shoulder at what looked to be a spare bedroom. Given the amount of people present, I was honestly surprised we hadn’t interrupted someone’s naughty adventure.

Tabitha glanced back at us, then sighed as she ushered us in through the open door and closed it behind her. Tracy and Charlie walked over to go stand in front of a four-drawer dresser with a large, ornate mirror attached to it. Tabitha opted to stand in front of the door, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

I padded over to the large bed and sat down on the edge of it, pulling my legs under me.

“Is this sufficiently private?” I asked, looking at Tracy and Charlie. When they both nodded, I waved my hand around in the air. “So, spill. What’s got you all wigging out like LaForge during a warp core breach?”

Tabitha sighed, shaking her head. “You can take the girl out of the dork, but not the dork out of the girl. How in the hell did you manage to bump me down to the third most popular girl at school?”

“Fourth,” I corrected with a large smile. “I’m fairly certain that her being my best friend makes Sarah rank higher than you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlie’s face fall a little. Just for a fleeting second. Until that moment, I would have proclaimed that Cindy was my best friend. At least, before the wishing stone’s machinations. Unfortunately, the words were already out and there was no way to call them back.

“I hate you,” Tabitha said.

I shrugged at her then looked at the other two. “Well?”

Charlie nudged Tracy with his hip. “Go ahead. Might as well start at the beginning.”

The heavyset brunette nodded. “Okay, so we were talking about …uh … your text message from this morning. The one you sent Cindy. Er, Charlie.”

“Okay. And?”

“Well, when we got to the party, Tabitha came right over to us. Really angry. Demanded to know why I’d blamed you for passing the Stone of Invidia to Cindy.”

The bitchy blonde snorted. “Like I’d have done that tramp any favors.” Her eyes, however, remained locked onto mine.

“She said she didn’t,” I explained. “I asked her why she’d given it to Cindy, she said she hadn’t. She claimed you must have been the one. That you stole it from her house and gave it to Cindy with that note.”

“But I didn’t,” Tracy declared. “Hell, if I was going to steal it, I would have given it to someone I trusted. Someone like …” Her face grew a bright pink shade. “Well, someone other than another freaking Raiderette!”

I shook my head. “Okay, this doesn’t make any sense.” I looked at Tabitha. “If you didn’t put it in Cindy’s ballet bag …” Then I looked at Tracy. “And you didn’t either … then how the hell did she get the damned thing?”

“That’s the problem,” Charlie said, joining in on the discussion. “Neither one of them takes ballet. There’s no way they could have gotten into my locker during practice and left it there.”

“Well, someone did,” I insisted, refusing to go to that spot where my mind was attempting to travel. “If neither Tracy, nor Tabitha, had anything to do with it, then it must have been someone else.”

“Someone else broke into my house and stole the stone from its hiding spot? Someone who knew where the stone was, what the thing could do, and was willing to just hand it over to someone else?” Tabitha put enough derision in her tone that I had to agree with her suggestion of how absurd that whole scenario was.

“Maybe that person used it, then passed it on?” Charlie asked cautiously.

Tabitha and Tracy both shook their heads at the same time.

“We would have known,” Tracy said. “If someone had used a wish to alter reality, Tabs and I would have noticed.”

“Just like we did with you two,” her former best friend added. “No one made any wishes between ours and yours.”

“When did you notice it was gone?” I asked Tabitha.

She shrugged. “About a month ago. I figured Tracy had managed to get in my house somehow and swiped it. Since we already knew neither of us could use it again, I didn’t really care.”

“That’s kind of irresponsible of you,” I chided. “Remind me not to put you in charge of keeping up with any nuclear weapons.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. That still doesn’t change the fact that someone we don’t know took the stone and gave it to Upchuck.” She giggled. “Sorry, I meant to say ‘Cindy’.”

“Eff you, Tabby,” Charlie spat.

“You wish, nerd.”

I held my hands up. “Enough. Yes, there is some animosity going on here. With good reason. However, we are overlooking a possibility that, frankly, I have been resisting the urge to voice.”

“At least that’s one urge you’ve been resisting,” Tabitha muttered under her breath.

I gave her the finger, then looked at all three of them.

“The Stone of Invidia is a magical wishing stone. Apparently dedicated to the Goddess of Envy and Jealousy.”

“We already know that,” Tracy said, sounding annoyed. “I was the one who told you.”

I sighed. “So, riddle me this, Batgirl. What makes you think a powerful totem such as that couldn’t move around on its own? I mean, if I was a deity who unleashed a fraction of my power on the mortal world, I’d sure as hell make sure it did as much DPS as possible.”

“DPS?” Tabitha asked.

“Damage Per Second,” Charlie answered, looking rather pleased with himself for remembering that.

“Of course,” Tabitha said dryly.

“Exactly. So, if I was Invidia, I’d make sure that the stone could never be horded. I’d want it to get as much use as possible.” I glanced at Tracy. “You told me the stone just showed up in your locker, right? No idea who put it there?”

“Correct.”

“Then if it had been someone, they would have had to know the combination to your locker. But if it got there by less Muggle means …”

The two by the dresser looked at each other with obvious distress. Tabitha, however, proved to be made of slightly less excitable stuff.

“The stone’s bouncing around on its own,” she said, fixing her eyes on me. “That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

As much as I didn’t want to, I nodded in response.

“Where is it now?” Tracy asked.

I looked over at Charlie. “You were holding it when you made the wish,” I said. “Did you wake up with it on Monday morning?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I mean, I was a little bit thrown off. You know, with the whole turning into a guy and all. I didn’t think to look for it.” A bit of color crept onto his face. “Technically speaking, Captain, I was holding it when you made the wish.”

I waved my hand at my rather exposed bosom barely contained in the purple bikini top.

“Yeah,” I said. “Me and my big mouth.”

“One thing that I hate to admit bothers me,” Tabitha interrupted. “How did you two manage to end up like you are? I mean, Sam has insisted that he never wanted to be a girl. You know, despite how much she seems to be enjoying her new lot in life.” She looked over at Charlie. “Did you do it to him on purpose?”

Tracy answered before Charlie could. “No. Because true friends don’t screw each other over out of spite.”

Tabitha rolled her eyes. “This again. Just let it go, Tracy. I said I was sorry.”

“That doesn’t make it easier for me, now does it?”

I held up my hands again. The arguing was about to give me a headache.

“Can you two argue about this at another time?” I turned to Tabitha. “No, Cindy didn’t do this to me on purpose. We were arguing and I made an off-hand comment to which she said the words ‘I wish’ while holding the stone. The next thing I knew, I was waking up Monday morning as Pee-Jay.”

Tracy and Tabitha looked at each other, then back to me. It would have been funny if not for the confused expressions on both of their faces.

“What do you mean?” Tabitha asked. “When you say the wish was made then you woke up as Pee-Jay? When did you make the wishes?”

“Saturday,” both Charlie and I said in unison.

The other two girls looked at each other again, their puzzlement seeming to deepen.

“What?” Charlie asked, turning more to Tracy than Tabitha. “What are you two thinking?”

“You never told me you made the wish on Saturday,” Tracy said, focusing solely on me. “I just assumed you’d made it Monday morning.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t realize anything had been changed until Monday morning,” Tabitha answered. “Saturday and Sunday were perfectly normal to me.”

“Me, too,” Tracy added.

“I guess the effect wasn’t the same for you two?” Charlie inquired.

Tracy shook her head. “When Tabs made her … wish,” she said, glaring daggers at her former friend. “The magic instantly transported me home. In my new form.” The daggers turned into bat'leths. “It was still Friday afternoon. Same day. Same time. Just a whole new reality where Tabitha had everything we’d both ever wanted, and I had runaway acne and a plus-sized wardrobe.”

I glanced over at Tabitha. For a moment, I saw a trace of compassion flow across her face. Quickly, though, it vanished and the perpetually pissed-off bitch I recognized returned.

“For all the good it did.” She gestured at me. “Now Captain Dorkus gets my spot and has everyone fawning all over her.”

I ignored her jab. “But you still had the stone, right? You were holding it when you made your wish?”

She nodded. “Then I stuck it where I thought it’d be safe. I only took it out when Tons of Fun over there showed up at my house, practically kicking in the door, and demanded a do-over.”

“Which didn’t work,” Charlie added.

“Nope.”

“Were you planning on keeping it forever?” I asked. “I mean, even though you couldn’t use it anymore?”

“Of course,” she said in a tone that suggested I might be an idiot. “I’d seen how much that thing could make things worse. I sure as hell didn’t want it out there for someone else to use and ruin my fun.”

“Which it did anyway,” Tracy said in a sing-song tone.

“But you still had the stone,” Charlie said again. This time emphasizing every word. “You still had it because no time passed for you.” He pointed at me. “For Sam and I, we missed a whole day. And the stone wasn’t anywhere to be found when I woke up.”

“Shit,” Tabitha hissed. “If neither of you two screw ups have it, then it’s back out there. Waiting to be used.”

“If it hasn’t already,” Charlie mumbled.

“We would know, right?” I asked Tracy. “If someone made a wish.”

She shrugged. “We obviously didn’t know about your wish for a whole day. Someone else could have already used it and we wouldn’t know until tomorrow. If then.”

None of us said anything in response to that. However, I was pretty sure we were all feeling the same pit of fear in our guts. If history was any sort of indication, whoever used the stone next would likely do it to increase their own popularity or standing. Their desires made real through the power of Invidia’s magic.

Which might not be good for the four of us.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 11
by Limbo’s Mistress

We made our way back downstairs to the party, which was still going full-swing.

The group that had been in the office when we entered the house was gone. Likewise, when we got to the door, I noticed through the glass panes beset in the wood that the crowd outside had decreased by about twenty percent.

“What do we do now?” Charlie asked, looking at the rest of us.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, I can search my room for the stone,” he said. “But something tells me it’s not going to be there. I have the feeling the result will be the same with you, Sam.”

“What does it matter?” Tabitha asked in an annoyed, I’m-done-with-you-all tone. “Even if one of you does find it, you won’t be able to keep it. If Davenport’s theory is to be believed. At some point, another pair of people will get it, make a wish, and shit will change.” She shrugged, looking at me. “All we can do is hope it doesn’t affect us directly. Or, if it does, it doesn’t make things worse.”

“That’s a bleak outlook,” Charlie muttered.

“Sorry I’m not all Miss Sunshine and Roses.” Then she pointed at me. “That’s her job.”

I started to argue, but realized that, compared to her and Jen, I probably did have the sunniest disposition.

“So,” Tracy said in a cautious voice. “Should we plan on meeting tomorrow?”

“For what?” her former friend snapped. “To make stupid plans for something that’s completely out of our control?” She huffed and shook her head. “I’ve got better things to do.” Then she opened the door and stepped outside.

I glanced at the other two. “She’s a bitch, but she’s not wrong. There isn’t anything we can do to stop whoever gets the stone from using it.” I shrugged. “Like Tabitha said, the best we can do is hope their wishes don’t make things worse.”

As I started to venture outside, back to Lee and the party, I heard Charlie sigh.

“Now who’s the shallow one?” he muttered.

A bonfire of anger suddenly flared up within me, causing me to turn back around and point at him.

“Are you kidding me?” I fought to keep my voice from screeching. “If I’m acting like the perky, bouncy cheerleader you used to be, just remember that it was your loose lips that made it happen. I didn’t even want to use the stone, remember? It was your inability to take charge of your own life that caused this mess. So sue me if I’m making the best of it.”

His face dropped slightly, sliding into embarrassed horror. Not surprising, since I’d spent the past two days telling him that I didn’t blame him, or was mad at him, for uttering those words that had doomed my manhood to the history pile.

“I ..” he stammered, face growing flush.

Tracy held up her hand. “Let’s just take a step back,” she said, using an extremely calm tone. “You’ve both admitted that it was an accident. So, while I’m sure there are some residual feelings of animosity, you both know that neither one of you would turn on the other.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, turning to look out at the party. I knew I was just overreacting to everything that just been discussed. That, no matter what I might say, I knew in my heart that Cindy was beating herself up for her part in our changes more than I was.

Several of the people around the pool, both in and out of the water, kept turning their gazes in our direction and flashing little smiles.

No, not in our direction. In my direction.

As I stared out at them, it was as if they were waiting for me to return to the festivities. Simply biding their time until the one and only Pee-Jay Davenport had rejoined their company. At school, it was a bit overwhelming. Here at Jacob’s party, with me dressed in a very revealing bikini, it was downright disconcerting.

“I’m too popular,” I muttered, completely forgetting there was already a conversation in progress. “It’s freaky.”

Tracy, who had been talking in a low voice to Charlie, spoke up. “What?”

I sighed and turned away from the dozens of attentive eyes. “I don’t think that the wish just made me a part of the popular crowd. I think it made me … super popular. Or something.”

Charlie, who looked like he might not be ready to cry any longer, stepped forward and looked through the open door at the scene outside. Then he looked back at me, eyebrows crunched and lips pressed tightly together.

Cindy’s usual facial expression when she was doing some intense thinking. I’d seen her make that face more an a hundred times over the years. Mostly when she was trying to decide which spell she wanted her sorcerous character to cast.

Then his eyes widened and he covered his mouth with one hand. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh?” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

“You just remembered something, didn’t you?” Tracy said, looking from me to him. “About the wish?”

Charlie nodded, his eyes moving back to me full of apology. He lowered his hand. “Do you remember what it was you said before I said ‘I wish you did’?”

“I said I was sorry I didn’t know what it was like to be pretty and popular,” I answered. However, my brain, which was a bit slower than my mouth, piped up and reminded me that I was incorrect. “Pretty” and “popular” had not been the words I’d used at that moment.

“Oh … shit.” I breathed, now covering my mouth with my hand.

“What?” Tracy asked, sounding annoyed at being out of the loop.

“You didn’t say ‘pretty’, Sam,” Charlie said in a shaky voice. “You said ‘beautiful’.” As if to emphasize his point, he gestured at me.

I didn’t need a mirror at that moment to understand his point. Penny wasn’t just pretty, she was beautiful.

If I really thought about it objectively, without a lifetime’s worth of self-esteem baggage coloring my opinion, she was the most attractive girl at Benson High. Without question. What I’d thought of as pretty and shapely, was more than that.

Hell, I bet if I was subjected to whatever measurements the glamour and fashion industry used to determine beauty, Penelope would pass with flying colors.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the part of the wish that suddenly made me feel all wigged out. It was the other comment.

“I’m guessing that you also didn’t use the word ‘popular’, either?” Tracy said, looking at me.

I shook my head. “No. That wasn’t what I’d said.”

I glanced back at the expectant crowd not fifty feet away. From there, I thought about the way people in the hall seemed to brighten when they saw me. How anyone who stopped to talk to me seemed determined to invade my personal space as much as they felt they could get away with. The fact that nearly everyone, save those who had used the stone, openly flirted with me.

“I said ‘wanted’.” I turned back to the two of them. Tracy looked confused, but Charlie was nodding his head solemnly. “I said that I was sorry I didn’t understand what it was like to be a beautiful girl … who’s wanted by everyone.”

I had to go back outside to rejoin the party. What else could I do? Even though I had suddenly realized why everyone seemed to continually focus, I couldn’t very well run away and hide for the rest of my life. Besides the fact that I would likely die of terminal boredom, there was also the logistics involved.

“I can’t handle everyone trying to get into my skirt,” I complained to Tracy and Charlie. “I know it sounds like I’m being dramatic, but …” I gestured to the throng of teenagers outside the house.

Tracy looked past me for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think that it’s quite that dire, Sam.”

“Not that dire?” I nearly asked her if Tabitha’s malicious wish had made her obvious to reality.

“You specified ‘wanted’, not ‘desired’,” she said in a voice that revealed her growing lack of patience. “People want Pee-Jay, yes. But not necessarily for sex.”

I shrugged my shoulders, immediately conscious of the effect it had on my generous chest. Quickly glancing through the doorway, I noticed that a couple of people, mostly guys, had zeroed their focus on my upper torso. Crossing my arms protectively over myself, I turned back to Tracy.

“Okay, maybe some do,” she said, having obviously noticed the same thing I had. “But think about it. There are lots of ways to want someone. You can want their attention. Or want them to like you. Maybe want them to be your friends.”

She nodded her head toward the party. When I turned, I saw Jacob and surfer boy chatting up a couple of girls from the swim team. Surfer boy even had his arm around the waist of the cute brunette in the floral print one-piece. Jacob noticed me looking their way and he gave me a huge smile and a thumbs-up gesture before turning back to the girl standing before him.

The girl, Miranda, I think, also looked in my direction. She raised her hand and waved at me.

“Or want you to come to their party,” Tracy finished.

I looked back at her. “So, Pee-Jay is extraordinarily popular, to the point where everyone wants to be friendly with her?”

“At a minimum,” she replied.

Charlie nodded. “Now that I think about it, a lot of the guys have been making off-handed comments about the relationship between us. That they couldn’t believe we were such close friends for so long, and I never thought to break out of the Friend Zone.”

“Penny doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to stick Charlie in the Friend Zone,” I replied. Though I couldn’t honestly say what Before Penelope might or might not have done.

“I think Charlie did it to himself. Plus, there’s that whole past crush on Sarah Strand thing.”

I nodded. “So what do I do?” I asked him. “Surely you had to deal with something like this when you were Cindy. Maybe not with it magically cranked to eleven, but still.”

“I just smiled and tried to pay as much attention as I could to people,” he replied. “Jen and Tabitha did a splendid job of making people fear crossing the squad that I felt the need to counterbalance their attitudes.” He sighed. “It was exhausting.”

I shook my head. “I really don’t need that on top of everything else.”

Tracy laughed. “Yeah, but it should be easier for you. Cindy’s pleasant demeanor had to fight against Jen and Tab’s popularity. Which, one can only assume, was bolstered by the power of the stone. Now, you’re more well-liked than the two of them together.” She smirked at me. “I’ve already seen the ability you have.”

“What ability?” I asked, still not happy about this new development. “The power to make the entire freshman class drool by just shaking my hips?”

The smirk vanished. “No, Sam. The ability to use that super-charged popularity to change the entire dynamic at Benson High. You picked a bunch of losers to be on your team. Made them feel like they weren’t just a bunch of nobodies you got stuck with.”

I shrugged, fighting against the encouragement her words were stirring.

“When your side lost, you didn’t blame them or anything like that. You built them up. That’s what you should do with your newfound fame. Break the barriers between the cliques.”

“That’s a tall order,” I protested. “Not sure even the power of a demented celestial could do that.”

“You’ve already started,” she replied. Then she pointed at the two of us. “I know you both remember what it was like before your wish. The outcasts were afraid of the jocks. The nerds were segregated to the worst parts of the cafeteria. It was like every cliché you could find in a teen drama.”

“No doubt about that,” I said, glancing over at Cindy.

“From what I can tell,” Tracy continued. “It was like that in this new reality. Until Monday. Since the moment the ‘new’ Pee-Jay and ‘new’ Charlie arrived, the landscape has been shifting. As someone with experience examining multiple realities, I’ve noticed these changes.”

“So, I should go out there and be the defender of the oppressed? Tell all my admirers that being bullies and snobs is unacceptable?”

She shrugged. “Maybe not so directly. But you have been leading by example. Keep it up.”

I sighed. “You know Jen will have a fit if she comes back in three days to find the Elite are no longer the worshipped pinnacle of Benson High.”

Tracy laughed. “I think she’s going to have a fit anyways. When she comes back to find out that the former Sam Davenport is more popular than she ever was.”

Charlie nodded, then looked at me. I looked from him to Tracy. Tracy continued to hold my gaze for another few seconds, then turned to Charlie.

“We should probably go.”

I held up my hand. “Hold on. What about all that new world order stuff? You’re at an in-crowd party. Surely you’d want to stick around a bit longer.”

Tracy glanced down at her feet and a bit of a blush appeared on Charlie’s face. I looked between the two several times, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with them. Then it hit me, and I felt like an utter moron for not having seen it sooner.

So much for inheriting any of that fracking “woman’s intuition”.

“Oh,” I said, trying to not sound as amused as I felt. “Never mind. I’ll just go back out there and mingle so more. Maybe with Lee. I’m sure he’s probably beginning to wonder where I’ve gotten off to. He might worry that I’ve left without him.”

All they would have had to do was look across the pool to see the football player in question was watching the three of us.

Neither of them responded. Although, now Tracy was blushing as much as Charlie.

“See you at school tomorrow,” I said, turning around and exiting the house before I actually squealed loudly.

Tracy and Charlie liking each other. Who would have guessed it? What was it like?

I mean, Tracy had known Cindy. They’d gamed together dozens of times. Was Tracy actually a bisexual? Would that make it easier for her to find herself drawn to a guy that had really been a girl a few days ago? Or perhaps it didn’t matter.

From Charlie’s side, I could definitely understand. As far as I was aware, Cindy had harbored zero sexual interest in other females. Much like Sam, she had been one hundred percent straight. That hadn’t changed with her plumbing any more than it had with mine. Which more than explained why Lee’s presence made me all weak-kneed and gooey in my lady parts. I suppose Tracy did the same for Charlie.

The thought of Cindy experiencing her first boner because of the other girl made me giggle. That would have been a classic to watch.

As I made my way around the pool to where Lee and the rest of the football players were, I took specific notice of the people I could see. Nearly everyone noticed me as I moved into their field of vision. Mouths curled into smiles. Eyes tracked my steps, some of them simply noticing me as a whole person. Other focused on the bounce of my bust or the sway of my hips.

Holy crap, Tracy had been right. I wasn’t just favored, I was wanted. Desired. There was a longing in each of those gazes. Though thankfully not totally lustful in nature.

Except for Lee. The closer I got to him, the more his observance of me made him seem mesmerized. Lost in the vision before him.

No. Dammit. I didn’t want Lee to want me because of the stupid fine print of the spell. I wanted him to enjoy my company and affection completely au natural. Just a hormonal boy attracted to a hormonal girl. With whatever came along with that.

No some crude set-up due to errant magic.

“Hey,” he said as I got within a few feet of him. The single word strummed down my spine like a freshly-plucked guitar string.

“Hey yourself,” I replied, stopping as close as I could get without actually touching him. “Miss me?”

His eyes drifted down to my lips, then his head followed suit.

The contact was more than electric. It was a lightning bolt. I felt his arms move around my naked waist as his tongue forced its way past my lips and strove to taste every corner of my mouth. I lost myself in the passion of his greeting, curving my spine to press myself against him as I slipped my own arms around his broad torso.

His jeans rubbed against me with a pleasurable pain, sending additional waves of endorphins flowing through me. The music blasting from the speakers muted, dimming against the onslaught of sensations brought about by the passionate embrace. I was only aware of myself and the boy to whom I was attached. Nothing else mattered.

When Lee finally retracted his tongue back into his own mouth, leaving me swoony and breathless, the world around me began to return.

A sudden outbreak of applause erupted from all around us, followed by a rapid series of wolf-whistles and laughing. Panicked, due to years of peer abuse, I whipped my head around to look over my shoulder.

Nearly every one of the people in the pool area stared at the two of us. All of them looking entertained and amused. Several of them wore thinly-veiled masks of envy. None of the faces, however, contained a hint of malice toward me.

“I suppose we aren’t going to go for that swim,” Lee said, still keeping his arms around me.

“We can, if you want,” I answered. Then a delightfully naughty thought passed into my brain and I lowered my voice to a husky whisper. “After all,” I purred at the handsome boy holding me. “You’ve already made me wet.”

His mouth dropped open in surprise at the same moment his arms slackened. Taking advantage of the moment, I giggled and popped up onto my toes, kissed him quickly on the cheek, then turned and took five quick steps to the edge of the pool. With a momentarily backwards look over my shoulder at the stunned boy, I tossed him a wink before diving into the water.

When I surfaced and swept the soaked chestnut strands out of my face, I saw that Lee had managed to get his shirt off and was working on his jeans. The taut, well-defined muscles of his arms, chest, and abs were on full display, provoking another round of wolf whistles. This time from the gaggle of cheerleaders floating behind me.

Lee finally managed to get them down to his ankles, revealing a blue and white Hawaiian print swimsuit underneath. Shucking the pants the rest of the way free, he turned around and gave Chad a high-five, then sprinted the short distance to the pool and leapt into the air.

The roar of the party instantly silenced as the athlete arced up gracefully, then landed about two feet beside me. The splash threw water into my face, sending my hair falling back down into my eyes. A chorus of screams burst from the rest of the Raiderettes, who had received the majority of the Lee-based tsunami.

When he came back up, his hair was plastered to his skull, and his eyes glimmered with happiness. He reached out and curled his fingers around my wrist and pulled me next to him, increasing his treading so I didn’t have to.

I slipped an arm over his shoulders and smiled at him.

“Thanks for asking me to go to the party with you,” I murmured.

“Thanks for accepting,” he replied. “Thanks for agreeing to go out with me last Saturday.”

“Thanks for asking,” I countered.

For a couple who’d just tongue-wrestled to the amusement of the rest of our peers, our pool flirting was extremely polite and chaste. The hand he had around my waste remained firmly between the bottom of the bikini’s top and the top of my hips. The lights beneath the waves were only partially lit, but I doubted anyone could tell if he moved lower.

Biting down on my lower lip, I drew in a breath and released it with a contented sigh.

“Pee-Jay?” Lee asked in a soft voice. “Did you take care of whatever it was you needed to do with Tabby and Uh … Charlie?”

A tiny wave of annoyance rolled through me at the realization that Lee was about to use that fracking nickname in front of me. Surely Penny would have already set him straight about making fun of her oldest friend.

However, I tried to remind myself that it was possible that I was rewriting the social dynamic. Penny might have not cared what people said about Charlie. No one had any way of truly knowing.

A few of the other members of the football team stripped down as well, joining us in the warm water. As soon as Chad climbed in, Sarah swam over to him and practically straddled his back.

“About time,” she said, leaning down to nibble on his left ear. “Here I was, lost at sea. No boyfriend, no best friend. Nada” She glanced over at me and winked.

“Sorry, babe,” Chad said. “You know how I get when I play pong. I lose track of time.”

I gave her a small, apologetic smile. “Sorry I ditched you for a bit, girl. Had to clear up some stuff with Tabitha.”

“And Charlie and Tracy Malloy? What could the four of you possibly need to discuss so urgently?”

The fact that there is a magical wishing stone out there that could potentially alter reality without any of you knowing it?

“Tracy and Tabitha used to be friends,” I said. “A long time ago.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

I nodded. “I think they are possibly … maybe … trying to rekindle their friendship.”

“Tabitha? Rekindle a friendship with someone you know she wouldn’t be caught dead loaning a pencil to?” Sarah arched an eyebrow disbelievingly.

I nodded, keeping a serious look on my face. “Well, maybe not friends so much as decreasing their animosity.”

“What about Charlie?” Lee chimed in. “How does he figure into the whole Tabby and uh, Tracy thing?”

I turned to look into his eyes. “Charlie and I were friends. I mean, are friends. Besides, I think he might be interested in Tracy.”

“Like interested interested?” Sarah asked.

“Maybe. But let’s keep that on the side, okay?”

Chad snorted, drawing a slap on the back of the head from Sarah.

“Behave,” she said. “Or else, no good night kiss later.”

“I want more than just a kiss,” Chad declared.

“None of the other stuff either.”

The four of us splashed and swam around for about forty-five minutes. By that time, a few of the Raiderettes had come over to let me know that they were leaving to get home before their parents got annoyed.

The funny thing was, they all sounded as if they were actually asking permission to leave early. Rather than just being polite and letting me know.

Lee climbed out of the pool and sat on the edge, his powerful legs still beneath the surface. I climbed out to join him, only to get back into the warm liquid the second the cool October air struck my wet, nearly naked body.

Not only had the chilly breeze caused my exposed flesh to instantly pimple, it had immediately caused my high-beams to switch on. Painfully. It was all I could do to not whimper as the front of my bikini top became tented with hardened erasers. It took several seconds of remaining beneath the water for the sharp pain to subside.

I settled for sliding in between Lee’s legs, curling my arms beneath them to hold myself up with only the tops of my shoulders and head exposed. The coldness of the evening still sent a shiver through me, but at least the sensitive bits of my nubile body remained deliciously warm.

Jordan, along with the girl who might be called Miranda, drifted over to me.

“Thanks for showing up, Pee-Jay. Once again, you have brought life to another of my little gatherings.”

I felt my face flush. My embarrassment didn’t stem from any sense of false modesty or anything else quite so noble. I was ashamed because it was the magic that had made me the showcase to any event. Walking to class? Better say hi to Pee-Jay. Having a get-together? Invite Pee-Jay and it’ll be a big hit.

Dear god, what was going to happen at the football game Friday night? Would the crowd be more interested in watching me flip and jump and cheer than in watching Lee and the guys dominate Southwest? If I told them to stand up and scream, would they all do it?

The thought sent a non-temperature related shudder running through me. That level of popularity was scary. It was a form of power. Power that could corrupt, if I wasn’t careful about how I used it.

“Jacob,” I said, looking at him from my spot between Lee’s legs. “This party would have been awesome even if I hadn’t come. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a blast. However, you shouldn’t pin the success or failure of what you do on whether or not the ‘right’ people like it. Okay?”

Maybe Miranda nodded, then put her arm around Jacob’s shoulder. “See? Even Pee-Jay thinks you throw an awesome party yourself. Her and the Elite are just like … bonus points.”

I didn’t care for the girl’s analogy, but realized this wasn’t the time to argue semantics.

“Well, thanks again for coming Pee-Jay.” He raised his gaze. “And Lee.”

“Our pleasure,” Lee said, drawing a rewarding double thigh-squeeze from me.

Jacob and his date hung around for a while longer before moving off. They climbed out of the pool and toweled off, then headed into the house. Part of me felt their plan was to make a general sweep of the mini-mansion, looking for anything broken or anyone who might be passed out in one of the many rooms inside.

The other part of me, the part enjoying having my hands on Lee’s legs, suggested that they were probably looking for a spot where they could be a little more intimate. Not that I blamed them. Jacob was nearly as fit and attractive as any football player, and Miranda could have easily been a Raiderette.

I felt Lee shift behind me, and when I turned to look up at him, he was already leaning down toward me.

“Do you want to stay a little longer?” he asked softly. “Or are you ready to go?”

“What time is it?” I asked, not taking my eyes off of his.

“A little before ten,” he said. “What time do you need to be home?”

“Before eleven-thirty at the latest.”

He nodded. “So you want to stay?”

I bit down on my lower lip for a moment, then shook my head. “I think I’m about pooled out.”

Sarah and Chad were over to one side of the pool. Away from everyone else in a section that was most assuredly not lighted. From a distance, it might seem that the two of them were simply hanging out by themselves quietly.

However, as I climbed the ladder out of the water, my viewing angle changed and I realized that Sarah wasn’t looking up at Chad, she was looking up at the sky. Well, she would have been, you know, if her eyes had been open. They might have been closed tight, but her mouth wasn’t. I could hear the faintest traces of repeated gasps coming from between her parted lips.

I tried not to giggle as I realized what the two of them were doing over there. Glancing around, I noticed that the crowd from earlier had dwindled to only about twenty or thirty people. None of whom seemed to have noticed what was taking place less than ten yards away.

However, if my bestie turned out to be a screamer, they’d find out what Chad was doing to her in a nanosecond.

Lee handed me a thick towel from the pile stacked neatly on a nearby table and I cocooned my freezing body in its fuzzy warmth. He wrapped another around his waist, then curled his arms around me, rubbing lightly over the surface of my towel in an attempt to warm me up.

Funny enough, just the contact of his skin on mine was creating its own warmth.

I nodded my head toward the little cottage. “My clothes are in there.”

A wry smile formed on his face as his eyebrows slowly rose. “I see. Well, do you need any help putting them on? I’m really quite adept at it. I dress myself every day.”

I rolled my eyes and giggled. “That’s comforting to know.” Then I turned out of his embrace, feeling the sassy Penny rising to the top. “The true question is, how adept are you at undressing?”

Once again, I think I managed to shock him with my forwardness. Hell, I even shocked myself.

Sam had never, ever, been smooth with the lines. Anytime he attempted to talk to a girl he thought was pretty, Cindy not included, he’d become tongue-tied. Word salad, usually laced with super obscure anime references, would come tumbling out and only serve as an extra repellent.

As Pee-Jay, however, I found it far too easy to speak. Granted, I didn’t talk flirtatiously to everyone, but I was still able to talk to them. The other Raiderettes, the guys on the team, people I passed in the hall. Anytime I opened Penny’s mouth, I found I was never really at a loss for words.

Was it the “mask effect”?

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …

Well, actually last year at ComicCon, Sam spent the day walking around by himself. Dressed up as Deadpool. Over the course of those ten hours, I’d joked around with total strangers and even made a few humorous comments to not-unattractive girls who’d laughed right along with me. It was one of the most comfortable times I think Sam had ever had outside of his normal circle of friends.

When I thought about that day on the ride home, I chalked it up to the fact that I’d been wearing the Merc with a Mouth’s mask. My face had been completely covered. None of the people I’d interacted with had any clue about my race, age, or appearance. Subconsciously, I’d allowed that imagined protection to break me through the awkward part of being a comic book nerd to a more extroverted demeanor.

I wondered if that was what was happening now? Sam wearing Penelope’s face, using it as a buffer between the dork he had been and the popular hottie she was now.

Lee shook his head, recovering from my double-entendre. “I guess you’ll have to find out for yourself sometime.” He ran his hand through his mostly-dry hair. “Go get changed. I’ll wait right here.”

“Right there?” I said, pointing at the spot before his feet as I backed toward the pool house. “That spot there?”

He pointed down at his feet and nodded. “Right here.”

“Right there?” I asked again, smirking.

“Nothing short of the Patriots’ offensive line could move me until you return.”

I stopped, tilted my head, then laughed as I blew a kiss at him. “Good.”

Back in the pool house, I found my clothes and bag right where I’d left them. Pulling out my dry things, I went into the little bathroom just off from the main room of the tiny house.

I stripped out of the soaked bikini, placing the pieces of the garment on the edge of the sink. When I looked in the mirror, I noticed my lips had turned a dark shade of blue and my nipples had shriveled to hard nubs at the cold.

Quickly, I patted myself until I was completely dry, then got dressed as fast as possible. God, why didn’t I bring a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt? Or a parka? Or one of those suits the Navy uses for scuba divers working in the Arctic?

While Sam hadn’t really been fat, he’d not been in great shape, either. What he had possessed, though, was enough body fat to stave off the cold until the temperature got below forty. Penny, however, was lean and toned. My current body fat index had to be like fifteen percent.

No wonder I felt like my boobs were going to freeze solid.

I wrung my wet bathing suit out until it was as dry as it was going to get, then put it into my bag. Running a brush through my damp hair managed to put a fresh layer of sheen to the strands, though I knew I was going to have to shower before bed and condition the crap out of it to remove all the chlorine.

When I stepped back outside, I saw that Lee was in the same spot he’d promised to remain in. Good boy. Chad was standing next to him, one hand on his shoulder and a jovial expression on his face. Lee laughed at something Chad said and shook his head.

Maybe I’d misjudged Chad. Sure, he’d been a Plus-Ultra jerk to Sam. But he seemed to be one of Lee’s best friends. Surely someone that nice wouldn’t be so close to an asshole. Even if they were on the same team.

Sarah lounged in one of the chairs behind the boys, wrapped snugly in a towel. She lifted her head slightly as I neared, and gave me a half-wave while wearing a slightly disoriented smile on her face.

“Hey, Peej,” she said in a voice that was totally drained of energy. “Want to come over here and cuddle with me?”

Wow. Either all that swimming had taken the pep out of her. Or else Chad had seriously mad finger skills.

I walked over to sit down next to her on the chair before leaning against her, using the dry cloth between us to keep from getting my clothes wet.

Upon touching her, I noticed she was shivering rapidly. Her own lips were an even darker shade of purple than my bikini.

“You’re cold,” I said to her, feeling slightly concerned.

She grinned at me. “And you’re hot.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not. I’m freezing out here. And I’m wearing clothes.”

She rolled hers in return. “I wasn’t talking about your temperature, cutie.”

Okay, not what I expected. I turned to look at Chad. “Yo, Barrow?”

Both he and Lee turned to look at us.

“I should get a picture of that,” Chad said.

“What you should do convince Killer Frost here to get up and put on some clothes. Otherwise, you’ll be taking a Sarah-cicle home later.”

Chad arched an eyebrow. “Killer Who?”

Crap. Comic book references weren’t likely to be in Penny’s usual vocabulary. I’d need to be more careful about that. “Just do it, okay?” I said. “I think she’s getting hyperthermia.”

Lee cut his eyes over at Chad, who shrugged.

“She didn’t drink that much, dude,” Sarah’s boyfriend explained. Still, he did as I asked and ambled over to us. “Come on, babe. Why don’t you get out of those wet clothes and into something warmer?”

Sarah grinned evilly and winked at him. “I love it when you talk dirty, Chad.”

Oh brother.

I moved to my feet. “Come on, my frozen bestie. Let’s go.”

Pouting, Sarah climbed to her feet and began to walk toward the pool house. I followed her, with Chad and Lee in tow. I opened the door to let Sarah inside, since she still had the towel wrapped around her arms and torso. Chad smirked and started to follow, but I put my hand on his chest and shook my head.

“Girls only, cowboy,” I said. “You and Lee can keep each other company while you wait.” Then I smiled up my former tormentor and closed the door in his face.

Sarah plopped down on the sofa, the towel falling off her as she sighed. I walked over to the thermostat and cranked the heat up to ninety. It would take a while for it to get anywhere near that hot, but at least it would send plenty of warm air into the room in the meantime.

“Sarah?” I asked, squatting down in front of her. “Are you okay?”

She smiled down at me. Then, unfurling her arms, she reached out and beeped me on the tip of my nose. What was it with people doing that? Was Penny’s nose just that adorable?

“I’m fine,” she insisted, looking a bit put out. “Why?”

I shrugged. “How much did you drink earlier?”

“When you went off with Tabs and Charlie?”

Internally, I winced at the sharpness in her tone. She hadn’t sounded angry earlier in the pool. I didn’t know if she’d been merely holding it in since we weren’t alone or if her annoyance that I’d ditched her had just built over the intervening time.

“Sarah …” I tried to think of something to say to make her feel better. Problem was, everything but the truth was going to sound lame. And the truth would sound lame and insane.

“I get that you and Charlie are friends. Or were friends. I don’t know. But running off to do secrete stuff with Tabitha?” She shook her head. “If not for the fact that you’re both Raiderettes, I would have expected one of you to kill the other by now.”

“That’s a little harsh,” I said, taken aback. “I might not see eye to eye with her, but …”

“Peej, you told her at the beginning of the year that if she didn’t stop acting like, and I quote, ‘Assistant Queen Bitch of Cheer Mountain’, you were going to make sorry she ever put on the uniform.”

I didn’t know what to say about that. Mainly because it seemed like such a Sam thing to say. Not a Penny thing.

“I’m trying to be a better person,” I said softly. “Even if that means not being especially mean to Tabitha.”

“Or Jen?” Sarah asked, arching a brow.

“Or Jen.” I replied.

She shook her head. “She’s already on edge, you know.”

I opened my mouth to ask why the girl in charge of Benson High’s Elite would be on edge, but Sarah continued on before I could utter so much as a syllable.

“I know you’ve told her, multiple times, that you don’t want her position, Peej. And I know that you meant it every time. But Jennifer knows what the rest of the school knows. What you’re too damned nice to be willing to even consider it.”

“Consider what?” I asked, feeling I already knew the answer.

“Being the head cheerleader. Being the Queen Bee of Benson High.” She shook her head. “All you would have to do is snap your fingers and you could be the number one girl in the school. Officially. Because, let’s face it, unofficially you already are.”

I shook my head as I stood up and walked over to the black and pink Gucci bag I knew was hers. Inside I found a bra and a pair of panties, along with some really cute pink fuzzy socks. I tossed the garments at her.

“I don’t want to be the Queen Bee, Sarah. I just want to be me.” Whoever that really was.

She sighed again. “I know that. God knows you’ve said as much more than once.” She threw the towel off and stood up, reaching behind her to untie her top. “The thing is, Jen isn’t going to just accept your word on that. You’re far too well-liked for her to simply let it go.”

I turned around, looking out the window at the darkness.

Jen probably didn’t know, at least not right now, that Penny was more popular than her in this new reality. She hadn’t been around to see the way everyone gravitated toward the newly-created cheerleader. Tabitha might have mentioned it to her, but something told me that the absent squad leader might think she was simply exaggerating in order to get back at me for knocking her down a few pegs on the pole.

However, the moment she got back to school, she’d see it for herself. Then I didn’t know how she’d react. I mean, it was one thing to lose your status to another girl. One who’d put in the time and work to supplant you. It was something completely different to have an errant wish steal what was yours.

Unless it wasn’t. I was pretty much convinced that whoever Jennifer Winters had been before her own use of the stone, she hadn’t been the school’s alpha female. Not when you considered the power behind the magic and the ways it had been used recently.

That thought sent me travelling down another dark path. If Jen had wished herself to her current position, who had been the unlucky girl who got screwed? Was it someone currently on the squad? Jordan would make a good captain.

So would Sarah, come to think of it.

I glanced over my shoulder at the girl, currently naked, who was getting dressed. She definitely had the body of a head cheerleader. Plus the moves to match. Did Jen’s wish demote Sarah from her place as the leader of the Raiderettes?

My imagination, always running at triple speed, turned left and dropped down a sickening hole.

What if Jen didn’t just demote one of the girls to a lesser position? What if she’d removed them from the squad altogether? Was there a girl attending classes and going about her life obvious to the fact that she used to be one of the Elite? If that were the case, would Jen have simply wished that person wasn’t a cheerleader? Or had she done what Tabitha did to Tracy? Turn her poor, unsuspecting peer into an unattractive nobody?

A shudder ran through me. As well as Tracy seemed to be handling her lot now, I knew it had taken her at least six months to get to that point. If Jen had royally screwed someone over like that, I hoped they didn’t remember it.

“Are you going to stare out the window all night?” Sarah asked in annoyed tone. “Or are we going to get out of here?”

I turned around to see she’d finished getting dressed and was now looking at me expectantly.

“I don’t know,” I said, picking up her bag and handing it to her. “The view out the window is really nice.”

She rolled her eyes and then walked over to stand in front of me. She lifted her arms and placed both of them over my shoulders, moving in a little closer.

“Peej,” she said, staring at me. “I’m sorry for trying to push you. It’s just … you are a so much better person than Jennifer. Or anyone else, really. I just wanted you to have everything you deserve.”

I smiled. “I know. Right now, though, can I just be plain old Pee-Jay? Co-captain and your best friend?”

She nodded. “You know I love you, right? You’re the sister I never had.”

Boy, you could say that again.

A hard pounding came on the cottage door, drawing both of our attentions over to it.

“Are you guys done?” Chad called through the thick wood. “Or are you finally giving in to your lesbian tendencies? Because, you know, if it’s the latter, I want to watch.”

I giggled and turned back to Sarah. “We should probably leave. Before he breaks down the door.”

She smiled. “If he did, we could always give him a show.”

My heart froze. She was completely serious. Just by the look in her eyes and the tiny smirk on her face, I knew that if I said yes, she would kiss me. No hesitation at all.

Had she always been bi? Or did the spell making everyone “want” Penelope do it to her?

“Sarah,” I said softly, trying to sound calm. “I’m not sure …”

She moved one of her arms off my shoulder and placed a single finger against my lips, shushing me.

“It’s okay,” she said, sounding the tiniest bit sad. “You don’t have to say anything. We agreed it would just be the one time. An experiment.”

Do what? So all the touching and flirting and playful claims that I was hers wasn’t just some sort of girlfriends being girlfriends kind of thing? Crap, I really needed to talk to Charlie and find out if he’d ever experienced this when he was Cindy.

Before I could say anything, good or bad, Sarah flashed me another smile and dropped her arms to her sides.

“Sorry,” she said. “I think I might have had a little too much beer this evening.” Gathering up her bag, she walked toward the door, stopping when she reached it to look back at me. “Coming?”

I nodded and followed behind her.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 12
by Limbo’s Mistress

Lee was nice enough to wait until we were halfway back to my house before asking me if I was okay.

After being blindsided by Sarah’s actions and partial confession that something slightly more than platonic had happened between us (though, to be fair, the other Penny had been present), I didn’t say much as we exited the back gate near the pool and walked around the huge house to the Mustang.

Chad had scooped Sarah into his arms the moment we stepped out of the pool house, tossed her over his shoulder, and left in a slight hurry. My bestie, bouncing up and down on her boyfriend’s broad shoulder, gave me a wave and a cheery smile. Apparently she had recovered from my shooting her down, or else was still inebriated enough that her moods were in a constant state of flux.

As we turned onto one of the main roads, Lee’s hand, resting on my knee gave a tiny squeeze.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked in a soft voice, glancing over at me.

“Huh?” I responded, pulled out of my muddled thoughts about the stone, the multiple changes in reality, and Sarah.

“What’s bothering you? I wondered if you wanted to talk about it.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing, really. Girl stuff.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up into a tiny curl of a smile. “Sometimes I think you all use that as an excuse to keep from having to explain stuff to us stupid guys.”

I turned my head, regarding him carefully. “Is that so?”

He nodded. “I mean, sure there has to be stuff that guys totally wouldn’t understand. Then there’s stuff that we might, but girls neither want to spend the time, nor energy, talking to us about it. I guess because if we end up not understanding, then you’ve just been wasting your time.”

I couldn’t argue against his point. There had been at least a hundred times I knew something was bothering Cindy. But when I pressed, she had simply claimed it was “girl stuff” or “squad stuff” or “female problems”. Most of the time, I simply assumed she was just bitching about her period.

Of course, thinking more about it, especially now that I was the one wearing the panties, that way of thinking would have meant she was in a nearly constant state of menstrual flow. I’d never actually considered that she might have real, legitimate problems. Probably because I’d always thought she had this perfect, happy life.

I sighed. “Sarah said some stuff to me in the pool house. I think it only came out due to the beer. However, it’s got me a little twisted around and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

He nodded. “Is it anything you can share with me? Or something personal and private?”

“Personal and private,” I mumbled. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he replied, squeezing my knee again. “You two have been best friends for what seems like forever. Well, forever as measured by a guy who transferred to the school only a couple of years ago. There are bound to be minor issues that sometimes pop up. Particularly when alcohol is a factor.”

“I guess. I just don’t want things to start being weird between us because of her absent-minded words.”

“She probably won’t remember in the morning,” he offered helpfully. “So the quest is, can you forget as well?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. If I tell myself that she wasn’t serious about it.”

“Good idea. Heck, you’ll probably feel completely different about it in the morning.”

“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility.”

We pulled into my neighborhood, Lee slowing down to a crawl as we reached my house. Almost as if he was stretching out our remaining time together any way he could. I picked up my phone and looked at the display. Ten thirty-two. Fifty-eight minutes until my parents’ estimated arrival time.

I directed Lee to continue past my house, motioning him to stop next to the curb in front of the Marshalls’, four doors down. When he put the car into park, he turned to give me a confused glance.

“I don’t feel like being alone right now,” I said, using my index nail to trace a little figure 8 on the back of the hand on my leg. “Or ending our evening just yet. My folks are supposed to be out until eleven-thirty or so. I thought maybe, sort, you might want to come inside and stay with me a while?”

He smiled at me. Not the cocky, arrogant smirk of a guy planning on getting lucky. More of a kind, understanding grin of a guy who was perfectly happy to go along with his girlfriend’s crazy requests. Whether or not he was going to get lucky.

“Can I assume that, if your parents came home at that late hour to find me in the house, they would be none too pleased?”

“Mom might think it was cute. Daddy, not so much.”

He nodded. “So, parking here would allow me to sneak out without being seen and drawing their attention?”

I picked his hand off my leg, turned it over as I brought it to my lips, and placed a light kiss on the slightly-calloused palm. “Exactly.”

“As you wish,” he said, grin widening.

The houses between the Marshalls and mine were all dark. Lee and I walked, holding hands, down the sidewalk and up the driveway to my back door. Once inside, I flipped on the kitchen lights and gestured at the fridge.

“Can I get you anything?” I offered, turning around to face him.

Before I realized what was happening, Lee had me in his arms and was kissing me.

I melted into the embrace, letting the bag in my hand drop to the floor as I put my arms around his muscular back. My tongue battled against his, each trying to seek dominance. First in my mouth, then in his.

The delicious warmth from our contact spread though me, chasing away any remaining vestiges of the night’s chill from my body. Then it began to gather and pool in the area just slightly south of my metal-embossed navel. Without awareness, I moaned softly against his lips.

When Lee finally broke the kiss, sometime between a millisecond and an eternity, I thought I was going to explode into a conflagration worthy of Johnny Storm.

My heart was racing in my chest. So loudly I was sure he could hear it. I licked my lips, still tasting him on them. The pyroclastic flow rolling through me didn’t even start to diminish. If anything, it began to intensify.

I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and looked up at him, giving him a glance that was half-amused, half-serious.

“Want to see my bedroom?”

He arched a brow, as if to ask silently if I really meant it. Rather than answer, I took his hand in mine, grabbed my bag from the floor with the other, and started to lead him out of the kitchen toward the stairs.

As we ascended, neither of us speaking, I swore I could feel his gaze on my bottom. The skater skirt was short and flared, so it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that the handsome football player was getting a close-up view of my thong and exposed butt cheeks. The thought of him being mesmerized by the sway of my ass sent another ripple of lava through me.

I opened the door to my room, pulled him inside, then closed the door behind me. I turned around, putting my back to the wood as I watch him turn a slow circle, taking in everything.

I should have been embarrassed about the discarded clothes lying near the open closet. Or the fact that the dresser drawer that contained my bras was pulled out just far enough to showcase the rainbow selection of brassieres within. Instead, I felt a tingle when he paused on the disheveled sheets of the bed.

There was a good chance they were about to get a lot more disheveled soon.

“I like it,” he said, finally turning back around to look at me. “It’s you. Plus.”

“Plus?”

He smiled. “Yeah. Like, a lot of this is exactly what I expected to see. The posters and the décor. That’s the Pee-Jay that everyone at school knows.” Then he pointed to the clock and the slightly messy areas. “This is the Pee-Jay that very few people know. The real Pee-Jay.”

Boy, if you only knew.

I shrugged. “I used to be a bit of a …” I stopped, biting down on my lower lip. Had I really been about to say “nerd”?

“Eclectic soul?” he offered, still smiling. “I think you still are.”

“You do?” I pushed myself off the door, slowly walking in his direction.

Lee nodded. “You’re so completely different than any girl I’ve ever known. Not just the most beautiful, but also a truly unique person.” A little scarlet color appeared on his cheeks. “Sorry, I guess I’m laying it on a bit thick, huh?”

I stopped, placing one hand on my hip as I looked up at him. “That depends. Are you serious? Or are you just spouting off to woo me?”

“Did you really just use the word ‘woo’?” he asked, smirking a bit. “Someone must have decided to give Emily Bronte another go.”

I couldn’t have stopped myself from smiling if I’d even tried. I took the hand not resting on my curves and poked him in the chest. “Don’t change the subject, Mr. Touchdown Star.”

He grabbed the hand poking him and pulled me in closer. When my chest met his, he lowered his face until our noses touched.

“I meant ever single word of it, Penelope.” The way he seemed to purr my name caused another of those happy, enjoyable tingles to form in the womanly space between my thighs.

“Why didn’t we get together sooner?” I asked, losing myself in his penetrating gaze. “I’ve liked you for almost two whole years. From the moment I first saw you.”

At least, according to Sarah, that is. Speaking strictly for myself, though, I think it took a bit longer for my attraction to him to form. About four hours longer, to be honest.

“I really don’t know,” he said, brushing his lips against mine. “I guess I thought I was out of your league. When I called you last week to ask you to go to the movie with me, I was more nervous than I’d ever been on the field. I just knew you would say no.”

Pulling my hand off my hip, I reached around his back and pulled myself tighter against him.

“I don’t think it’s possible for me to say ‘no’ to you, Lee. For anything.”

His response was another of those soul-searing kisses that caused my toes to curl dramatically and my desire to shoot up into the stratosphere.

I pulled my captured hand free and placed it on his chest, savoring the feeling of the hard, taut pecs beneath his shirt. Pushing just the slightest bit, I directed him backwards, angling him toward the messy bed directly behind him. Our lips never ceased their feasting on each other.

When his legs bumped against the edge of the mattress, he paused. In motion, but not in the kissing. As if he were slowing the moment down to make sure I was aware of what was happening.

To be honest, the only things I were aware of at that moment were the burning desire taking place in between my legs and the knowledge that there was an Adonis in front of me that had the power to quench it.

I pushed harder, forcing him back so that his knees folded and he fell away from me to land on his back. The separation of our mouths didn’t do a damned thing to make me want to put on the brakes. Without hesitation, I scrambled forward, crawling on top of him until I straddled his midsection and bent down to re-attach our lips and tongues.

His hands found their way up to my back, fingers playing with the strap of the bra just beneath the surface of my sweater. Teasing me with the unspoken threat that those same nimble digits could easily unfasten the undergarment and release my breasts from their confinement.

My own hands were in his hair, stroking through the wavy strands. And on his face, enjoying the rough stubble that had formed on his cheeks over the course of the day. The prickly sensation only managed to fan the flames roiling within me. Testament that the body beneath me wasn’t that of a boy, but a man.

His fingers lost interest in my bra strap and began to dance their way down my spine until they reached the spot just slightly north of my tailbone. Toying with the waistband of my skirt. Then, with cautious optimism, they separated, gliding around the curvaceous hemispheres beneath the clothing. Stopping only when each had a firm grip on a bit of rounded ass.

I continued to try to sample every inch of his mouth as I wiggled my hips back and forth, working my way down Lee’s body until the prominent bulge straining against his jeans was directly below my molten core. Once over the target, I rolled my hips in a different direction and ground my yearning crotch against his.

The rough material of his jeans easily overcame any resistance the flimsy, and completely soaked, panties could have put up. The action sent a burst of pleasure radiating out from between my legs, causing me to gasp directly into Lee’s mouth.

He responded by tightening his grip on my ass, strong fingers kneading the soft flesh, making roll my body a second time against him. The result was even better than the first.

A third grinding followed, then a fourth. Then … a steady motion of back and forth as I rode the boy lying under me like an amateur cowgirl. It was as if my body, well Penny’s body, was operating completely on autopilot. Was this just a natural thing? Controlled by pure animal instinct? Or was it like the muscle memory which allowed me to do the coordinated athletic stuff without conscious thought?

I decided that, at least at the moment, I didn’t care. I figured introspection could be had a later date. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy the raw sexual emotions running rampant through me.

Lee pulled one of his hands off my butt and started to lazily trace his way beneath the bottom of my sweater, moving up my side in tiny increments toward the bottom of my bra. As if trying to stealth his way past a cache of orc guards to get into the dungeon’s treasure room.

I couldn’t help but smile at the subtlety of the attempt. Despite the fact that a rather randy, hot girl was grinding herself against him with all the abandon of a rock video vixen, he was still doing his best to remain calm. In control.

Tough break for Lee. I didn’t want control. Or serenity.

I removed one of my hands from playing with his hair and moved it up until I captured his wrist. Right at the moment his fingertips were brushing against the silky underside of the undergarment. He froze, stiffening (in another way) as the prospect of having possibly gone too far.

I broke the kiss and sat up, looking down at him with what I hoped was a completely legitimate femme fatale smile.

“I don’t think so,” I purred. Then I pushed his hand back down and reattached it to my ass.

Before he could follow the plan, I released his wrist, then grabbed the bottom of my sweater in both of my hands. I pulled it up slowly, revealing the smooth skin of my belly in tiny stages of temptation. All the while continuing to rock myself back and forth on his restrained manhood.

I thought I heard a little gasp when the sweater rose high enough to reveal my breasts, still molded and lifted by the bra. Regardless of whether or not the sound was real, the way his eyes widened to twice their normal size told me that I had the football player’s complete and undivided attention.

Smirking, I pulled the sweater the rest of the way off, tossing it somewhere behind me.

His jaw went slack, eyes focused on my chest. Amazingly, I didn’t take the least amount of offense to the gawking. After all, hadn’t I just deliberately done something to make sure his eyes would be where they currently were?

Funny thing? I think he was more enticed by the sight of me in the bra than he had in the bikini. Even though the current article was far more tame. Thinking back on my previous life, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I had been the same way. Girls in bathing suits were hot. However, girls in lingerie, or even just regular underwear, were smoking hot.

Was it the fact that bikinis and other risqué articles of clothing, such as leotards and gym shorts, were socially acceptable to wear in public? While a bra and panty set that was extremely tame in comparison was considered naughty?

“You’re so beautiful,” Lee breathed, finally pulling his eyes off the girls and sliding them up to my face.

The warmth that blossomed in my face was a small spark compared to the conflagration in my groin.

“Thank you,” I said. “That deserves a special surprise.”

Before he could ask what I was talking about, I reached behind me, twisted my fingers around each other, and popped the clasp resting against my spine. The taut elastic of the bra’s straps flapped open, sending the straps sliding down my shoulder and the cups dropping free.

Lee’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. But it was the sensation of the hard nob tucked away in his jeans seeming to get even larger and more rigid that got my attention.

“I … uh …” The boy beneath me stammered. “Wow.”

I giggled, harboring no naïve impression that mine were the first pair of boobs he’d ever seen in person. After all, Lee was a really attractive star football player and almost eighteen. Surely he’d gotten to second base with at least one other girl before, right?

Shrugging my arms free from the straps, I dropped the removed garment onto the floor with my discarded sweater. The air in the room, while not nearly as frigid as that outside, was cool enough to make my already achingly-hard nipples even harder. Lowering my hands I placed them on my hips, continuing to grind myself against him.

I tried to think of something flirty to say about me being half-naked on top of him. Something I hoped would fan his own arousal while it caused him a bit of embarrassment. Unfortunately for my witty repartee, two things happened to prevent my plan from coming to fruition.

The first was Lee’s hands coming off my ass to firmly cup my newly exposed breasts, a pair of rough thumbs stroking deliberately across those twin nubs of hardened flesh in the center of the dark areola. The second was the moment I shifted my hips just the tiniest bit on the downstroke. The action moved my extremely damp crotch to glide right along the seam of his jean’s zipper, culminating with my clit being caressed by the firm denim.

The moan that erupted from my mouth, instead of the sassy comment I wanted to make, would have done a porn star proud. Little fireworks exploded behind my eyeballs as the trifecta of erotic sensations nearly overloaded my brain. I stiffened for a moment, gasping again as the echo of the zipper continued to pulse down below.

When it subsided, I blinked away the stars and glanced down.

Lee was looking up at me, an amused grin on his face. His hands were still on my boobs, gently kneading and teasing. Stoke…stroke … squeeze …fingernail across the nipple. Happy little chills surged up and down my spine.

“You’re amazing,” he said, his eyes remaining locked onto mine even though there were a pair of very nice D’s not two feet from his nose.

I shook my head, reveling in the sensations of his body touching mine. I wanted more. So much more.

“What you’re doing is amazing,” I breathed, resuming my grinding against him. This time deliberately running myself at the right angle to send more euphoric waves crashing against me. “I’ve … never felt like this before.”

Which, technically, was true. Sam had been painfully virginal when he ceased to be. The only sexual release in his entire pathetic life was found in jerking off. Usually to some really messed up porn. Or some of the girls at school.

Cindy, in particular.

However, masturbation for him had been a series of really quick motions, followed by about five seconds of bliss, ending with a gooey mess that needed to be cleaned up.

As I continued to let Lee fondle me and kept riding him for all I was worth, the pressure for release was less like an explosion. Seeming more like a slow burn. Each time he pinched or caressed a nipple, the volume went up a notch. Every strike against that nearly hidden pearl between my legs pushed it a little more.

It was like climbing a hill. Not one that was particularly steep, but definitely a continual incline. It was going to take a while to get to the top, but it was going to be one hell of a view once I got there.

Suddenly, Lee’s hands vanished from my chest. I opened the eyes I hadn’t realized I’d closed and looked down at him.

There was a pensive expression on his face. As if he were conflicted with tying to make a decision about something. His eyes went from my chest to my exposed navel and back up again. Almost absentmindedly, his tongue dipped out from between his lips for a moment, lightly licking at them, before it was pulled back into his mouth.

“Lee, what’s wrong?” I asked, my upward rise to the top of O-Mountain starting to slow with concern.

“Nothing,” he said in a quiet voice. Then his eyes looked up at me. What I saw in them told me the conundrum he’d been wrestling with had been subdued. His hands moved to my hips, fingers curling to hold on tight. “I want to try something.”

I nodded, wondering what he was going to do.

He smiled, then lifted me off him just the slightest bit. Then, with the same power and speed he always brought to the gridiron, he rolled over on the bed, taking me with him. The world around me spun, and the next thing I knew, I was on my back on the twisted sheets with him on top of me.

His mouth sought mine again, kissing me with a ferocity and a passion I didn’t even know existed. As he did, he rolled his hips, turning himself into the grinder and pushing his still-contained bulge right into my honeypot.

Another gasp tore itself free, but was swallowed by the man sampling every centimeter of my mouth. Three more thrusts followed the first, each one succeeding in pushing me back on course toward the finish line. Plus a little extra.

A few seconds later, Lee pulled his mouth off of mine and looked down at me from above.

“I want you, Pee-Jay,” he said in a husky voice. “I want to make love to you.”

Want. He wanted me. Sexually. Part of me started to pipe up that it was likely the wish was making this happen. However, the part of me that was practically dying to come strangled that part without hesitation.

“Lee …”

He shook his head. “But not tonight. I want it to be completely and totally special. Not a quick romp in your bed with the clock ticking on us. I want it to be magical.”

Oh, believe you me, it already is, boyo.

I nodded. “I understand.”

Well girl, looks like you’re going to see if you can figure out how to self-drive that new equipment. Because there is no way you are going to be able to go to sleep tonight as horny as you are.

He smiled. “However, that just means I have more time for something else.”

“What?” I asked.

Instead of answering, he winked at me. Then he slid down my body, kissing and licking on my boobs and nipples for a few seconds. Before moving further south. He paused at my bellybutton, running his tongue over the silver adornment bisecting the flesh. When his lips grazed across my hipbone, just peeking out from the waist of the skirt, I couldn’t stop the girlish giggle that came out.

I reached down toward his head, intending on pulling him back up onto me. As much as I was enjoying the attention he was paying to other parts of my body, the part in charge was demanding satisfaction. Just when my fingers reached his hair, though, he slid further down and immediately buried his face between my legs.

My back arched as his nose brushed against my swollen and saturated lips. My ears clearly heard him inhale deeply, apparently filling his nose with the scent of my arousal.

“Lee,” I said softly, biting down on my lower lip.

He didn’t answer. Instead, I felt his fingers curl around the front of my panties, then pull them aside. The air was suddenly ripe with a musky, heady aroma. Eu de Penelope’s Lust. What a potent fragrance.

One of his fingers ran along the edge of my slit, dipping just inside to stoke the extremely sensitive flesh.

I gasped louder, yanking my hands back up to run them through my hair as I closed my eyes and lost myself in the sensation.

The finger vanished, almost immediately replaced by something firm, wet, and very, very rough. It made contact at the very bottom of my slickened folds and drifted its way north, dragging that wonderfully delightful pressure all the way up to that hardened nub nestled at the top.

This time, I didn’t gasp. I moaned. Loudly.

The sound was like a gunshot at a track meet, signaling to the young man currently licking my womanhood that it was time to get moving. His mouth was everywhere at once. Nibbling on my clit, licking the edges of my outer labia, tongue pushing inside me as deeply as it could go.

I threw my arms to the side, curling my fingers in the sheets as I held on and let the ride whisk me away. My back continued to leave the mattress, arching as he struck a particularly sensitive spot. Or slapped my aching clit with a flick of his tongue. My breathing came in short, gasping pants, and I think my ability to vocalize had been dialed back to a pre-civilized era. Nothing but moans, grunts, and sighs that I hoped his own brain could translate into just how much I was enjoying what he was doing.

Having never engaged in oral sex, either in receiving or in giving, I didn’t know what exactly I was supposed to do. What was my job in this? Did I even have a job? I tried to think about the porn I’d seen, attempting to see if I could recall what the person getting head had done. Other than simply sit there and enjoy it.

Nope. Coming up with a blank.

Lee’s ministrations increased, leading to him lapping and sucking at my dripping snatch like a man who had just crossed a desert and couldn’t seem to get enough of the water he’d been offered. A few times, he moaned himself. Right against my vaginal opening.

Like a perverted conch shell.

The hill I’d been climbing became a mountain. But that didn’t matter, since Lee was sending me ascending like he’d just engaged the hyperdrive.

“Lee…” I gasped, twisting my fists around in the sheets. It was like being on a runaway train, hurtling into the station toward a wall that marked “End of the Line”. The crescendo was approaching and there was no way short of a bucket of ice water to stop it.

“Lee …” I tried again, forcing the words out between breaths. “I … oh god … I’m gonna … gonna …”

That last word, the finale of my warning sentence, refused to be made. Instead, I drew in a lungful of musky air and released it with a squealing moan as my train broke through the barrier and every ounce of the pressure that had been building inside me burst all at once.

My back bowed as wave after wave of the greatest sensation of my entire life rolled over me. Logic and conscious thought were battered and smashed aside as raw, carnal release took over. My legs snapped back together, practically pinning the poor boy who’d just made me come between them.

“Ohgodgodohohohohohohohgoooooooooood!” I moaned, probably loud enough for Sarah to hear all the way over at her house.

The largest of the pleasure pulses, one that dwarfed the rest, broke over me. I froze in place, every nerve on fire as it washed away everything and left only euphoria in its destructive wake.

I dropped back onto the bed, panting as if I’d just finished multiple cheer practices in a row. My legs fell away from each other, trembling and shaking with the aftershocks of the orgasm. I’d heard the phrase “made my toes curl” more than once in my life. Until that moment, I’d never really understood what it meant.

I giggled, my head swimming with so many happy chemicals that I felt completely stoned. The boy who made me tingle with just a touch had just licked me like a damned lollipop until I creamed myself. I felt so good I think if I’d been allowed a second wish, I wouldn’t have returned to being Sam. I would have wished for Lee to do that to me every single day. Multiple times a day, in fact.

Orgasms as a guy were okay. I mean, if that’s all you’d ever known, you would think they were acceptable. Having gone down the big slide as a woman? There was no fracking comparison. Being female continued to have its perks.

I felt Lee shift his weight as he moved back up so that he was above me again. When I opened my eyes, he was grinning down at me with a mischievous smile and his chin, lips, and cheeks were damp and glistening.

From me.

“That was incredible,” I breathed, placing one hand over my heart. Jesus, my pulse was slamming harder than a Colonial Marine’s pulse rifle on full-auto.

He laughed, staring into my eyes. “I’ve been wanting to do that to you for a while now. I didn’t ask beforehand because I know some girls are kind of weird about letting a guy do that to them.”

I shook my head. “I’m weird in a lot of ways, Lee. However, that is not one of them.” I reached up and traced my finger around the surface of his lips. “That was the hardest I’ve ever come in my life.” Which was no lie in the least.

He leaned down and kissed me. The tangy taste of my own juices mixing with the familiar Lee-taste of his mouth. The mixture of our flavors stroked the slowly diminishing flames within me, trying to reignite the passion from earlier.

God, I was still horny. Or maybe I was just wishing I was still horny. If that was the response his mouth brought out of me, what would it be like when he actually shoved the thick rod in his pants inside me.

Our mouths parted and he smiled down at me.

“Still need more?” he asked in a slightly amused tone.

I didn’t understand what he meant until I realized that I’d hooked one of my legs around the back of his and had resumed grinding my wet and bare slit against him.

“Oh god,” I said, embarrassed. I reluctantly unfurled my leg and pulled back slightly from him. “I’m sorry. I just … wasn’t thinking.”

“You were thinking, babe. Just not with your brain.”

I giggled at that and lightly slapped his shoulder.

He kissed me again, then rolled off, propping himself up with his elbows. I followed suit, readjusting my completely soaked panties and pulling my skirt back down in a vain attempt to regain modesty.

“I think I’m still recovering from having my mind blown,” I murmured turning my gaze from his.

My eyes fell on the still obvious tent pushing against his zipper. Did he expect me to return the favor? I mean, that was only fair, right? He’d gone down on me until I gushed with happiness. I would be a pretty crappy girlfriend to not pay him back with an enthusiastic blow job.

Problem was, I didn’t have the slightest clue how to do it. Even with as many times as I’d seen the act performed in various media, the reality of it eluded me. Did I offer? Or just take the initiative and pounce. What would it taste like? Would I let him come in my mouth? Would I spit or swallow?

I decided to take it slowly. Reaching out, I placed my hand on the throbbing lump of manliness as I turned look at him.

“That looks a little swollen,” I said, trying to sound seductive and not cheesy. “Perhaps I should take a look at it.”

“Peej,” he said, placing his hand on top of mine. “You don’t have to do anything that ..”

“Shhh,” I said, shaking my head. “I know I don’t have to do anything. But any guy that can give head so good I see stars deserves a reward.” I licked my lips, slowly and sensually, grinning in response to the way his Adam’s apple bounced while he watched me. “Tell me you don’t want me to suck your dick.”

I noticed his own breathing had picked up to match mine from when I was on my back. Good. Now it was my turn to show him my oral skills. Hopefully Penny had some.

“I …” he started.

Of course, whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by the sound of the front door closing with a heavy thud.

My parents were home!

“Crap,” I hissed, climbing off the bed and spinning around three times like a headless chicken on meth. “Shit, Lee. My folks.”

He nodded, sliding off the bed himself. While he looked a bit worried, he expressed none of the fear-laced panic I was feeling. Didn’t he understand that if my father found him in my room, with me looking flush and disheveled, the shit would hit the proverbial fan?

“Want me to climb out the window?” he asked, pointing to the exit point in question.

“It’s a fifteen foot drop to the concrete patio,” I answered. “I don’t need you breaking your leg on top of getting me sent to a nunnery.”

The sound of feet coming up the steps sent my panic into a full-blow hysteria.

Under the bed? No, there was no way the massive bulk of the football star would fit under that tiny space. Behind the door? That would work, unless they came fully into the room and discovered him standing there.

The closet!

I pointed at the open closet door as the steps reached the second floor and seemed to advance in our direction.

“Quick!” I hissed.

Lee nodded and moved with the speed of a cheetah and the noise of a ninja. Once inside, he pulled the door until it was closed to a fraction of an inch.

I spun around again, looking at the floor. No time to seek out my bra and sweater, much less put them on. Instead, I grabbed the sleep tank from where I’d thrown it onto the desk that morning and slammed it over my head and body. Thankfully, I’d decided not to put the knee socks back on after swimming. Which left only the skater skirt, still damp from our romantic activities. It was hurriedly removed and thrown across the room, and a pair of sleep shorts, on the floor next to the desk, were pulled up my legs just as someone knocked on my door.

“Penelope?” my mother asked through the door. “May I come in?”

No. Go away.

“Sure,” I said, trying to sound calm and casual.

The door opened and my mother came in. She was still wearing the royal blue cocktail dress, and I actually took a moment to appreciate that, despite being forty-two, she still looked like a very attractive woman. Had she still been that pretty when she’d had a son? Or had the stress of raising an argumentative boy aged her more than a more agreeable daughter?

I hoped I looked as good when I got to her age.

“How was your evening?” she asked as she closed the door behind her.

I shrugged. “It was okay. Not much to tell. How was the reception?”

She smiled a little amused smile. “As well as expected.”

“Where’s Daddy?” I asked. I hoped the answer wasn’t going to be ‘going to get his gun to shoot your boyfriend’.

“Your father enjoyed the open bar a bit too much, I’m afraid.” She laughed softly. “He’s in our room attempting to get undressed. However, I think I might have to go help him in a minute.”

I nodded, not really listening. I was too busy doing everything in my power to not look over at the closet.

Mom walked over, coming upon me before I even realized she was there. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hug. Her mouth, right against my ear, murmured a single sentence.

“You have five minutes, sweetie.”

Then she pulled back, looked into my eyes, then turned around and walked back to the door.

“Good night, dear,” she said as she opened the door. “Sweet dreams.”

She stepped out into the hall and pulled the door closed. Right before she vanished from view, she held up her hand, finger splayed wide.

Five minutes.

I counted to ten, waiting until I heard the door at the end of the hall open and close. Then I rushed over to the closet and practically ripped its door off the hinges as I flung it open.

“Wow,” Lee whispered as he emerged back into he room. “That was close.”

I shook my head, taking his hand and dragging him to the door.

“She knew,” I said, opening my bedroom door and peeking out into the deserted hall.

“She knew … what we did?”

I shook my head again, looking back at him. “I don’t think so. But she definitely knew you were in the room. She told me I had about five minutes to get you gone. Probably before Daddy finds out.”

“Shit,” he breathed. “Guess I better jet, then.”

I nodded, stepping out into the hallway with my football lover in tow. We padded softly to the steps and crept downstairs, managing to avoid any of the really loud creaky ones. There was something to be said about the wish leaving me in the same family with the same house. Sam had learned which steps to avoid when he started coming home after curfew.

In the foyer, I noticed the alarm had not been set. Which seemed a bit off, since that was the first thing either of them did when they came home this late. Had my mom known about Lee being in my room before even stepping in? Or had she just been too busy wrangling my inebriated father up the steps and had planned on setting the security system afterwards?

I opened the door, shivering as the cool night air swept in and caressed my nearly naked form.

“I have a good time tonight, Pee-Jay,” Lee said in a soft voice, leaning in to brush his lips against mine. “The whole evening was fun. Not just the last thirty minutes.”

I felt my cheeks warm and I nodded. “Me too.”

Then, emboldened beyond reproach, I turned my hand and pressed it against the front of his jeans. The throbbing rod from earlier had apparently skedaddled when we realized my parents were back early. However, at my touch I felt it stiffen a little again.

“Next time,” I said, smirking at him. “It’ll me my turn to blow your … mind.”

He laughed in a quite manner and grinned. “If you insist.”

I nodded, rising up on my toes to give him a long, slow kiss that I hoped might tie us both over until tomorrow morning. When I finally forced myself to break away, I sighed with pleasure.

“I insist,” I said, meaning it with all my heart. “I want to be your perfect girlfriend.”

He tilted his head, giving me a puzzled look. “You already are, Pee-Jay. You already are.” He leaned down and placed a light kiss on my lips. “Good night.”

Then he stepped outside and cut across the grass, heading to where the Mustang waited.

I watched him until he was out of sight. Then I closed the door, set the alarm, and went back upstairs to brush my teeth. Even though my body still hummed with energy, I was too tired to take a shower before I slept. Which meant I was going to have to get up early again tomorrow.

I brushed my teeth, then went back into my room and picked out the perfect outfit for my mood. As I climbed into bed and was making sure the Dark Knight was going to prod me awake at the ass-crack of dawn, I heard my phone chime.

When I looked at the screen, I saw a text message from Lee.

“Sweet dreams, Peej. I love you.”

* * * * * * * * * * *

When the alarm went off, I complained more than I did after watching the fourth Star Wars movie. Which is saying a lot.

I threw back the covers, shivered, then pulled them back over me again and promptly passed out. Luckily, the alarm went off again ten minutes later.

“I’m up. I’m up,” I grumbled, forcing myself to get out of the bed.

After showering off the residual chlorine from my body and conditioning the living crap out of my hair, I got dressed, fixed my hair, put on a little makeup, grabbed my things, and went downstairs.

The outfit I’d chosen before turning in consisted of a ribbed, V-neck sweater in a burnt orange color, an A-line, black and white pleated miniskirt with a high waist, and a pair of black tights. The black ankle boots once again adorned my little feet.

When I entered the kitchen, mom was at her usual spot at the table, sipping on a cup of coffee. I grabbed a Danish from the covered dish next to the microwave and poured some java into a stylish, bright pink travel mug.

“Daddy already gone to work?” I asked, adding cream and sugar to the steaming brew.

Mom nodded. “With quite the hangover. However, you know your father. He wouldn’t call out even if he was dead.”

I giggled, nodded, then screwed the lid on the mug. “That’s so true.”

Mom took a sip of coffee as she glanced down at her phone. Then, without looking up, she asked, “I take it you and Lee had a good time last night?”

I paused, mouth full of raspberry filling and tried to look less shocked than I felt. I finished chewing slowly and then swallowed the heavy pastry.

“I figured you knew. When you gave me five minutes. How did you know?”

She smirked, looking over to me. “Well, I saw his car when I pulled into the neighborhood. Parked in front of the Eileen Marshall’s. So I figured that he was here.” One of her eyebrows arched. “But you two didn’t want it to seem like it.”

I nodded. No use denying it. “I just thought it might …”

She held up her hand, interrupting me. “Sweetie, you’re pretty much a grown woman. You’ll be eighteen in about six months and less than a year from now, you’ll be in college. I’d have to be a pretty obtuse doctor to believe that you’re still the innocent little girl who used to run to me when she skinned her knee.”

“Mom,” I said, actually reaching up to draw an X on my left breast. “We were just hanging out. We didn’t do anything.”

She shook her head. “Penelope, please don’t take me for a fool. You had a boy in your room. A boy that you like, and have liked for quite a while now. Your face was flushed when I came into your room. Your clothes were strewn about the floor. And the smell of sex practically saturated the room.”

“It’s not what …”

“I just want you to be careful, Penelope,” she’d shifted from ‘mom friend’ voice to her ‘lecture mom’ one. “Please tell me you two were using protection.”

Just like that, the warmth that had been growing in my cheeks ignited like a volcano. I held up both hands, waving them back and forth, sending bits of Danish flying off.

“No! No! I swear mom. We didn’t have sex. I promise you. No sex.”

Her eyes narrowed and I felt like I was being scrutinized. “Would you like to tell me what the two of you were doing then?”

I didn’t answer for a long few seconds. Then I set the pastry down, walked over to the table, and lowered myself into the chair opposite hers.

“I didn’t go to Sarah’s last night. I went to a party at a classmate’s house.”

She nodded. “I thought it was probably something like that. Did you drink?”

I shook my head. “Not a single drop. I just went to hang out and swim in Jacob’s pool.”

“Lee was your ride to and from this party?”

I nodded. “Yeah. So, we left about ten-thirty or so and came back here. We went up to my room and … uh … kind of just …”

“Fooled around?”

“Yeah. Touching and other … stuff.”

“But no vaginal intercourse?”

“Mom!” I said, looking appropriately surprised. “No!”

“Okay. I believe you.” She took a sip of her coffee, smirking just a bit as she lowered the cup. “Still, you seemed very wired for just a little heavy petting.”

Did I dare tell her the truth? Would she think less of me for it? She seemed to be mostly unphased by the idea that Lee and I might have gone all the way. More concerned about any potential aftermath more than the deed itself.

Sam would never have even come close to this type of conversation with his mother. Nor his father. It would have been far too awkward.

Penny, though, was much closer to her parents. Particularly with her mom. There was no denying that the astute pediatrician had known Lee was in my room, that we had been up to something sexual, and still proved mature and cool enough to keep Daddy busy so I could have the five minutes required to get Lee out of the house.

A woman like that deserved the truth.

“Lee went down on me.” I blurted, instantly averting my eyes.

There was a moment of silence, then a little amused chuckle. When I looked up, she had put her phone down and had her hands steeped together in a pose that immediately reminded me of Spock when he was being all logical.

“Really?” she said, leaning just the slightest bit forward. “Was he any good?”

Now I was sure my entire face was going to burst into flame and melt into a slag pile. Slowly I nodded just the slightest bit.

“Yeah,” I said, forcing the words out. “He was pretty good. Really good, in fact.”

She smiled, nodding her head once. “Well, that certainly explains why you looked like you’d just finished a whole dance recital. Good for you. Not very many boys will do that. Even fewer are any good at it.” Then she winked at me. “Now, your father though, that man can lick …”

“No!” I shouted, standing up. “No details. No confessions. I’ll never get the images out of my head.”

She laughed and picked up her phone again. “I’m just saying that if Lee is that kind of guy, he’s definitely a keeper.”

I shook my head and walked over to grab my bag and my coffee. “I have to go. Before I’m late.” I walked back over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for covering for us last night. Love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie. Have a good day.”

I picked up Sarah, who was doing her best to subtly nurse a hangover. When she climbed into the Jeep, the first thing she did was turn down the radio.

“Rough night,” I asked, pulling out of her driveway and onto the street.

“You can say that,” she said, leaning back in the seat still wearing sunglasses. “It was a bitch and a half to get Chad to not come inside to help ‘tuck me in’,” she used her fingers to make quotation marks in the air. “Then I had to sneak past my folks room. Thank god they were complaining about my uncle again, so they didn’t hear me.”

“Sounds like a truly horrible time,” I commented, turning a corner. “I guess this morning isn’t much better?”

“It will be once this headache goes away and I can take a nap in homeroom.” She lifted the glasses from her face and peered at me. “You seem pretty chipper this morning. What happened? Get laid last night?”

I dropped open my jaw and made a sound like I was totally insulted. Then I closed my mouth, straightened my shoulders, and looked straight ahead through the windshield.

“I did not. But if you really must pry into the state of my personal affairs …” I turned to look at her, grinning like a moron. “Lee’s got a fracking magical tongue.”

Her brows shot up. “Magical? How magical? Are we talking, ‘earth-shattering’ or ‘mind-blowing’?”

“I had a damned religious experience, girl.”

She cackled and reached over to squeeze my knee. “Alright, girl. Get you some. We’re going to have to start calling him Taylor the Tongue.”

“No, we aren’t. Bad enough everyone knows we’re dating now. I don’t want everyone to think that I’m some kind of slut.”

“Pshaw,” she said. “First of all, no one would say that about you. .Literally nobody. Second, you can’t be a slut if you just lay there and take a tongue bath. That’s like super woman shit right there. Hell, it took months of blow jobs before I convinced Chad to give me some head. He still isn’t any good at it.”

“Maybe I’ll tell Lee to give him some pointers.”

“Please,” she said, grinning. “My puss would be eternally grateful.”

We pulled into the Benson High parking lot, gliding to stop in an empty spot a few spaces down from Lee’s Mustang. I killed the engine and turned to her.

“Seriously, though. Please don’t say anything. I mean, Lee’s going to know I told you. Since we, like, share everything. But don’t call him out on it. I don’t want him getting all weird and stuff.”

“I promise,” she said, making the same crossed heart gesture I’d used with my mom. “Lee’s cunnilingus skills will be our secret.”

“Thanks,” I said, opening the door and climbing out of the Jeep.

I closed the door, and had just walked around the front to the sidewalk when the world went Bizzaro.

A wave of nausea slammed into me, shoving the air out of my lungs. At the same time, everything around me twisted and bent, like looking through some type of distortion lens. The sounds of the busy school parking lot went muted. Distant. I staggered, nearly losing my balance. My inner ear feeling like I was in a centrifuge turned on the highest setting.

Then, it abruptly ceased and everything was completely normal again. I turned around, staring at everything in sight. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Everything appeared to be exactly as it had been a moment before.

Sarah, who obviously didn’t suffer from the same event, just arched a brow at me.

“What are you looking for?”

Right then, my phone began to ring. I ignored Sarah’s question to dig the device out of my bag and look at the caller ID.

Charlie.

I went to answer his call when the screen changed. Now I had two incoming calls.

The second caller was Tabitha.

A cold chill formed in my gut. What were the odds of those two calling me at the same time? Before I could get even begin to formulate an answer. A third caller attempted to reach me.

Jen.

There was only one reason, one thing in the whole world, which would make the three of them try to reach me at the same time: Reality had been changed.

Someone, somewhere, had made a wish.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 13
by Limbo’s Mistress

“Peej?” Sarah asked again, moving a step closer to me to place her hand on my arm. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Oh, that? That was nothing at all to be alarmed about, Sarah. Just some idiot who thought it might be a good idea to rearrange the universe to satisfy their own selfish desires. That’s all. Certainly nothing that you’ll notice anyways.

I glanced up at her for a second, then went back to staring at the triple simultaneous calls. The obvious choice of which I was actually going to answer was never in any doubt. My thumb moved to the circle beneath Charlie’s name and swiped.

“Was that what I think it was?” he asked as soon as the connection completed. “I thought I was going to throw up.”

I put the phone next to my ear and took a step back from Sarah. The expression on her face bounced from concerned to slightly annoyed. I wasn’t sure if she’d seen who was trying to reach me. If she had, though, she was probably wondering why I picked the “dork” over two of my fellow Raiderettes. Even if one of them was Jen.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to sound casual despite my pulse pounding like a freight train. “I think so.”

A moment of silence. “What do you think changed?”

“I don’t know,” I said, giving Sarah a smile I’m sure she knew was totally fake. “I’m afraid we’re going to find out sooner rather than later.” I bit down on my lip for a second. “Are you … the same?”

“A pimple-faced, untouchable geek? That’s an affirmative.” He chuckled, weak and hollow. Gallows humor. “You?”

“Everything still seems normal. Well, normal for … you know.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. Maybe we can … Oh! Tracy is calling me. I’m going to see if she’s got a clue about what happened.”

“Good. Text me with the sitch.”

“I will. Promise.” Then he hung up.

I sighed and looked at Sarah. “Sorry, bit of an emergency.”

One slender brow arched in disbelief. “An emergency. With Charlie Mueller?” The suspicion in her voice was blatant. “With the same Charlie Mueller you disappeared with for about half an hour last night.”

I blinked, staring at her. There was an accusation in her words and it took me a second to make the same deductive leap she had. Wrong as it might be.

She thought I was cheating on Lee with Charlie.

“I was also with Tabitha,” I countered. “And Tracy Malloy.” I pointed at the phone in my hand. “I believe I mentioned to you last night that he and Tracy are sort of interested in each other. Well, he was calling to get some advice. For, uh, a date night idea.”

Wow. That sounded totally lame. No wonder Sam preferred to tell people the truth, no matter how rough it might seem. Keeping up with the falsehoods was exhausting. Still, I kept my face in full poker-mode, hoping Sarah would agree that my explanation was far more likely than hers.

After a couple of seconds, her skeptical expression softened. “I guess that makes sense. I mean, he probably doesn’t have any experience with girls. Romantically, I mean. So, of course, he would reach out to the one female who he knew would help him. I got it now. Sorry if I sounded like a total ‘b”.”

I smiled, shrugging one shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s understandable that you might think something was up. With Charlie and I having a bit more contact lately.” I glanced over toward the school as I held up my phone and shook it. “You might want to go on ahead. I better see what Uber Bitch One and Uber Bitch Two wanted.”

A sly grin formed on her face. “Better you than me, Peej. Too early in the morning to deal with either one of them. See you in a bit.” She headed off down the sidewalk toward the school’s entrance. I spotted Chad just leaving the parking lot, and my friend altered her course to intercept him.

I pressed my thumb on the missed call icon next to Tabitha’s picture. The phone rang once, then her haughty voice came through the speaker.

“I suppose it’s too much to hope you turned into a fat, smelly blimp who wears a triple extra-large cheer skirt.”

I rolled my eyes at the phone. “So sorry to dash your hopes and dreams, Tabby. It appears that I am still hotter than you.”

“Figures,” she said with a sigh. “Notice any changes yet?”

“No,” I said, taking the time to turn in a slow circle, my eyes passing over everyone within viewing range. “Neither did Charlie. He’s talking to Tracy right now. Maybe she knows.”

“I doubt it,” the girl on the other end of the line said with an audible sneer.

I sighed. “Stop being a total bitch, okay? We’re all kind of in the same boat here.”

“Yeah, the S.S. Titanic,” she replied. I could detect a note of fear beneath the arrogant bravado. Like me, she was probably worried about the changes she didn’t know about. “Oh shit,” she said. “Jen is calling me.”

“Yeah, she called me the same time you did, probably to find out what changed. I chose to ignore her.”

A pause. “Seriously? Wow, that’s a pretty big set of balls you’ve got there, Davenport. A lot bigger than the ones you used to have, for sure. Well, I’m not going to answer her, either. Until we know what changed, there’s nothing to tell her. And I don’t fancy getting yelled at again.”

I tapped my foot on the sidewalk for a second, wondering if I was making a mistake. Tabitha wasn’t a nice person. Considering what she’d done to Tracy, I didn’t know if she’d ever been one. However, she was just as tied to the stone as the rest of us. Which might not make her an ally, but it didn’t make her a total enemy, either.

“Tabs?”

“What?”

“If you find out what happened, will you text me? I’ll do the same. That way none of us are caught off-guard.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “But only if you swear that you will call Jen once we find out. I’ve already been screamed at for the stunt you and Mueller pulled.”

“Why were you yelled at?” I asked, completely confused. “Not like you made the wishes.”

“Try telling Super Bitch that. Later, Peej.”

I hung up the phone, put it back into my bag, and started walking down the sidewalk toward the school. Sarah and Chad were hanging by the front steps, having a rather animated discussion that didn’t look like it was romantic in nature. Especially the way Chad kept gesturing in the air and the way Sarah stood a foot back from him, arms crossed defiantly over her chest.

As they noticed my approach, the disagreement was placed on pause while the obviously distressed boy turned to me and smiled.

“Hey, Peej,” Chad said. “How’s it going?”

I arched a brow at him. I wasn’t sure if the two of them were having a fight. Or if they’d simply been arguing about whether or not pineapple belonged on pizza. Regardless, it was pretty clear they had no intention of continuing it in my presence.

Sarah, still standing with her arms folded over her, shot him a hard look. Then she turned to me. While not exactly saying anything verbally, I got the impression that she wanted me to keep moving. I guess she’d been winning and didn’t want my interruption to detract from that.

“Pretty good. By any chance have you seen my boyfriend this morning. I saw his car when we pulled in. I thought he’d be with you.”

“You mean you don’t automatically know where he is?” Chad asked, cracking a slight smile despite the fact that he still seemed pissed. “As tight as that leash you keep him on is, I figured you’d low-jacked his ass.”

I rolled my eyes. “There is no leash,” I countered. “Now, do you know where he is or not?”

He shrugged. “He said something last night about needing to talk to Coach C. this morning. Maybe he decided to do that before homeroom.”

I turned and glanced up the steps behind Chad to the front door of the school. Lee hadn’t said anything about not meeting me before homeroom when he left last night. Of course, between the amorous activities in my room and the haste with which he departed, I really wasn’t all that surprised.

Besides, I didn’t know if he usually talked football with Penny. Or if she said that much to him about cheering.

His unexpected absence this morning, especially after the alterations to reality, might have caused me alarm. Fortunately, Chad’s words helped put my mind at ease. For the most part.

I still needed to know what had been changed.

“Okay,” I said, looking at the two unhappy lovers. “I’m heading inside. See you in French, Sarah.”

She nodded, giving me a slightly-forced smile. “Oui. That you will.”

As I headed up the steps, I heard the two of them renew their previous disagreement.

“Seriously, though,” Chad said in a furious whisper. “McDonald?”

I tuned them out, choosing to focus my attention at the other students as they passed me to see if they looked … different. Or out of place. However, to be honest, I didn’t have the slightest clue what exactly to look for.

According to Tracy, when as soon as she saw Penny, something in her head simply told her who I’d used to be.

I could only hope it would be as obvious to me.

Walking down the hall to my locker, I felt like my head was on a swivel. Left. Right. Left. Right. Searching for someone who didn’t seem like they belonged. Maybe someone who used to be fat, but was now toned and shapely. Or possibly someone who used to be super short who now could be the star player on the basketball team.

Of course, my plight was further complicated by the fact that everyone who saw me had something to say to me.

“Hey, Pee-Jay.”

“Morning, Pee-Jay!”

“Love that skirt, Peej,”

“Great party last night, Pee-Jay. It was a blast!”

That last was one was said by Darius Jackson. Which threw me off because the shindig the previous evening hadn’t been my party. It had been Jacob’s. It didn’t make sense why I would get the congratulations on its success.

“Everyone wants you.” Tracy’s words came back to me. I wasn’t simply well-liked. I was wanted. Which probably meant that any social event from now on that I attended would be considered the “it” place to be.

Ugh. Me and my big fat mouth. Why couldn’t I have complained to Cindy that I didn’t understand what it was like to be a well-hung guy who was irresistible to women?

On second thought, that might cause just as much of a headache.

I got to my locker, then made it to homeroom without spotting a single thing out of place. I might have begun to believe that I’d only imagined that something had changed. Except for the part where Tracy, Tabitha, and Charlie all felt it too.

Oh, and Jen. Almost forgot about her. I bet she was about to blow her top. Twelve hours away with no clue as to what some unknown people had done to her world, and no way of finding out for herself.

When I sat down in my seat, Candice leaned over and whispered to me.

“That outfit is totes adorbs,” she said. “You’re the only person I know who can be all four seasons when she wants. So lucky.”

I shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed. Thanks to what I’d learned at Jacob’s party, I had the feeling I could throw on an old potato sack and a pair of muddy combat boots and people would still consider me to be the most desired person in the school.

Not that I had any plans on wearing a sack. The sweater and skirts were far more comfortable.

Seriously.

I mean, there’s something to be said for looking in the mirror and thinking that what you’re wearing is totally cute and very sassy. The fact that only three days of being in touch with my feminine side had allowed me the ability to pair and coordinate outfits should have been a touch disconcerting. Instead, it felt completely natural.

Just like all the other girlish experiences I’d had. Another week, and I probably would know more about being a girl than a boy.

Which didn’t seem to scare me that much either.

“Thanks,” I said to Candice. Then, because I felt it was deserved, I returned the compliment. “Though that bikini you had on last night was do die for. I mean, Envy City, girl.”

She giggled. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“I’m not,” I insisted, turning around to look at her. “It looked completely fab on you.”

She nodded. “Well, it should. You picked it out. Remember?”

And … screech to a halt. Of course Penny did. Why was I surprised? I bet if I asked, the entire squad, save Jen and Tabitha, took fashion advice from Penny.

Was there anything of me that wasn’t supported by that damned stone’s magic?

I almost asked Candice if she had seen anything unusual this morning, but then I realized that she wouldn’t have noticed. If she wasn’t making the wish, hadn’t already made one, then whatever this new reality was, it had always been that to her.

The bell rang and I departed homeroom for French. Once again, I found my attention being divided between searching for what was different and being polite to the dozen or so people adamant about saying something to me.

I walked into the class and slid into my seat, already feeling like I was going to have a massive migraine before lunch rolled around. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I texted Charlie.

“Anything yet?”

His reply was quick.

“Not yet. Tracy wants to meet during Free Period. Library?”

I figured that meeting to figure things out took precedent over another hangout session at the Clubhouse.

“I’ll be there.”

Sarah came in and plopped down, looking not any happier than she had before first bell. She grumbled as she pulled her textbook out of her bag and let it drop to her desk with a heavy thud.

I put my phone away and tapped her on the shoulder.

“You okay?” I asked. “Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “Chad is being a total ass. He’s pissed about last night.”

“About what you did?”

I’m sure the boy had planned on continuing the adventures he and Sarah had enjoyed in Jacob’s pool. However, he should have been over getting shut out by now. Maybe my original assessment of him being a clueless Neanderthal was right after all.

She nodded. “I mean, it’s not that big of a deal, right?” she asked, looking at me with pleading eyes. “You don’t think I was behaving like a slut, do you?”

Well, I probably would have had more discretion than to let Lee finger me to an orgasm in another boy’s swimming pool at a crowded party. However, since I did let mine do something similar in my bedroom, I decided to reserve judgment.

“No,” I said, nodding my head. “You were just … uh … enjoying yourself. Nothing wrong with that.”

She smiled as she used a tissue pulled from her purse to dab lightly at the corners of her eyes.

“Can you say something to Chad, then? Tell him that you don’t think I was doing anything wrong?”

I wasn’t sure why I had to tell her boyfriend that. It really should have been her job. Plus, she shouldn’t have to explain to Chad why she felt the need to end their evening of fun when they got back to her house.

However, I was her best friend. Not to mention I had the sneaking suspicion that my newfound powers would make it easier to smooth things over. With any luck, the pair of them would be back to PG-13 pre-class make-out sessions by the end of the day. Which was much better than the them fighting.

“I’ll talk to him at lunch,” I promised, reaching out to tuck some hair behind her ear. “Okay?”

She nodded and turned back around as a man in a slightly rumpled gray suit came into the room. He looked like he might be about forty-something, with a bit of a pot belly and dark reddish-orange hair that was thinning quite a bit. His face was clean shaven, but seemed to carry the weight of a person who has spent decades trying to educate high school students.

He crossed over to Miss LaCroix’s desk and put a scuffed, brown leather briefcase on top of it.

“Bonjour, class,” he said, turning to face us. “I trust everyone is ready for today’s quiz?”

Quiz? We had a quiz today? On what? Why did we have a quiz and I didn’t know about it?

The biggest, most important question running through my mind, though, was the one that practically screamed over the din of the others.

Who the hell was this guy?

Joan Shively, sitting all prim and proper in the front row with her long sleeved blouse and ankle-length matron skirt, raised her hand.

“Mr. Tate,” the moral monitor of Benson High asked. “Is the French Club meeting this afternoon?”

The teacher everyone but me seemed to know, nodded with a bored expression.

“Yes, Miss Shively. At four o’clock. Per usual.”

He opened his briefcase and began to remove several stacks of papers, placing them on the desk in neat little piles.

I leaned forward and tapped Sarah on the shoulder. When she turned to look at me, I nodded at the frumpy older man.

“Who is that guy? Where is Miss LaCroix?”

Her brow crinkled in confusion as she looked at me. “You’re joking, right?”

I shrugged. No, Sarah, I wasn’t joking. Believe it or not, the person who teaches our senior French class is a very pretty young woman from Paris. Not a rumpled, down-beaten guy who sounded like he was from Jersey.

“What if … I’m not?” I asked. Yeah, I was taking a huge risk here. But this was the first clue as to what was different. Hopefully this little nugget would lead to the bigger picture.

Sarah’s confusion turned to disgust. “That’s not funny, Peej. Especially not after what we just talked about.”

Okay, now I was the one who was completely confused. What did Sarah’s blue-balling Chad after Jacob’s party have to do with Miss LaCroix no longer being our French teacher? The two incidents couldn’t possibly be related.

“Davenport? Strand?” the man said, drawing our attention back to the front of the room. “Think we can skip the gossip session so we can get on with the quiz?”

Sarah and I both nodded, her turning back around in her seat, her back to me. There was a ton of tension in her posture. As if she were still upset about my inquiry. The wish from this morning had thrown a massive hiccup my way, and my lack of knowledge had caused me to accidentally rub my best friend’s fur the wrong way.

I took the quiz form from the strange teacher as he passed down my aisle, trying to ignore the broad smile he beamed at me. God, I hoped it was because I was one of the best students in the class, and not because he found me desirable. That would be totally gross!

The next twenty minutes were torture. The questions on the sheet in front of me should have been a breeze, but the constant wondering about what had happened to one of my favorite teachers kept rearing its ugly head. Why would she have been affected by the sudden change in reality?

When Mr. Tate finally announced that time was up, I felt positive that I had was no closer to figuring the mystery out than I’d been earlier.

I was also positive I’d completely failed the quiz.

For the rest of the class, Sarah refused to turn around and look at me. When I finally got enough of a chance, I texted her to ask if she was okay.

“Are you mad at me?”

She didn’t text me back, but did shrug her shoulders after reading it. A gesture I took as a confirmation that I’d crossed some line.

When the bell finally rang, I quickly gathered my stuff, moving to stand in front of her desk so she would have to look at me.

“I’m sorry, Sarah. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She shrugged again. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not the one who did anything wrong.”

Okay. However, someone obviously had. Had it been Miss LaCroix? Though that didn’t make much sense.

“I feel like I did,” I said, trying to sound more hurt than confused. “I shouldn’t have asked about her.”

She paused her actions to give me a little wide-eyed stare. “I don’t get it, though. You know as well as I do what happened to Miss LaCroix. Now you’re telling me that you weren’t comparing me to her?”

Wow! This was going downhill fast. I shook my head back and forth. “I wasn’t. I promise.”

I reached out and placed my hand on her arm. “You are my best friend. I would never do, or say, anything to deliberately hurt you.”

She studied my face for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Let’s just call it a brain fart on your part and forget it.”

I smiled. “One brain fart, duly noted.”

When we stepped out into the hall, she started to walk away without so much as a goodbye. Then she turned around, walked over, and gave me a one-armed hug.

“Sorry I got mad at you,” she whispered into my ear. “Please say you’re still going to talk to Chad at lunch.”

I nodded. “I promised, didn’t I?”

She looked at me and smiled. “Thanks.” Then she stepped back and shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, it’s not like I sucked off a whole line of guys, right? It was just Peter.”

Before I could even register what she’d said, she turned around and resumed her trek to her next class with a light bounce in her step. As if she hadn’t just dropped a serious fracking bomb on me.

That’s why Chad was so angry earlier? Why Sarah wanted me to talk to him to smooth things over? Because she had apparently given a hummer to Peter last night?

Peter Who?

I made my way to second period with my brain feeling like it was about to explode. I couldn’t think of a single Peter I knew. Especially not one who had the ability to convince Sarah to put her mouth on a dick that wasn’t Chad’s.

It didn’t make any sense at all. I mean, if this Peter had wished for Sarah to be his girlfriend, rather than being coupled with the football player, then he would be. Which would preclude Chad from even being concerned what the two of them had done.

Plus, how did the absent French teacher figure into it.

I planned to use to do some snooping on my phone, during Mr. Andrews’ boring lecture. See if I could find any reference at all to Miss LaCroix.

Unfortunately, Mr. Andrews decided that we needed to engage in an interactive recounting of the opening events of the Great War. So there was no chance for me to even glance at my phone. Much less perform in-depth investigations. Plus there was the ten minutes it took for him to partner me with someone. Due to everyone insisting that they get to be the lucky one.

When I finally got into the library, I was about fifteen minutes from being a total wreck due to the unrequited need to know what horrors the wish had wrought. I drifted past the front desk, where Mrs. Tobin greeted me with a wave and a smile. Along with the group of freshmen sitting nearby working on some type of group project.

I spotted Tracy and Charlie in the same spot where I’d spoken with Tracy on Monday. Strategically placed away from prying eyes and nosy observers. As I walked up to them, they looked at me expectantly. Charlie even arched an eyebrow.

“You found something, didn’t you?” he asked.

I nodded, but gestured at them. “You guys first. Any theories?”

They both shook their heads.

“I haven’t see anyone who didn’t look like they normally do,” Tracy said. “But I was lucky enough to only get told to stop staring like an idiot freakazoid only once.”

Charlie nodded. “Same here. The only thing that was odd was Harold Langham wasn’t in physics. But considering he was coughing and sneezing his head off yesterday, I’m not surprised he was absent.” Then he turned to me. “What did you discover? It must be big, since you look like you did that time in eighth grade when Trevor Langham threw your backpack into the lake.”

“It had a first edition print of Magnetic Man in it,” I grumbled.

Tracy sighed. “I can’t believe I got magically inducted into this group.”

“Anyways,” I said, steering us back on track. “Miss LaCroix isn’t my French teacher anymore. There’s some old guy named Tate there now.”

Charlie blinked. “The wish turned the hottest teacher in school into an older man?”

Tracy shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the case. Consider this, when the magic changed me and Tabitha, our names and families didn’t change with us. At least, not all that much. The only thing that changed with you two was your names, right? Your folks are still your folks.”

I shrugged. “For the most part. Our relationship changed.”

“But not the specifics. Last name, address, siblings. So, if someone had wished Miss LaCroix to be a guy, he’d be Mr. LaCroix.”

“That makes sense,” Charlie said.

I shook my head. “It’s more than that. I also just found out that Sarah gave a blowjob to a guy named Peter at Jacob’s party last night.”

“Peter who?” Tracy asked. “New boyfriend curtesy of Invidia?”

I shook my head. “No. But she’s pretending like it wasn’t a big deal. Like it was just a common enough thing. She wants me to talk to Chad and get him to see it that way.”

“How does Miss LaCroix fit into all of it?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But when I asked, casually, where she was, Sarah got real pissy. Like I was asking just to make fun of her.”

“Uh-oh,” Charlie said. “Let me check on something.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a web browser. He typed in the words “LaCroix and Benson High”, then hit search.

Tracy and I crowded around behind him, peering over his shoulders as the software sent out its net and brought back a slew of hits. Over ten thousand, to be exact. However, it was the first result, from the local news station, that made the three of us collectively draw in a gasping breath.

“Benson High School Teacher Convicted.”

Charlie hesitantly moved his thumb to the link and pressed it.

None of us spoke as we slowly read the text that appeared. I couldn’t speak for the rest, but each sentence made my stomach more unhappy and caused a spear of pain and anger to pierce my heart.

According to the story, Ms. Jeanette LaCroix had been found guilty of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of her students. The name of the Benson High School student involved was being kept confidential due to his being a minor. However, the report listed his age as being sixteen.”

“A sophomore?” Tracy asked.

I shook my head. “It says here that the affair took place at the end of last school year. So they would be a junior now.”

“Think it was this Peter person?” Charlie inquired.

“It’s as good a guess as any,” I replied, feeling a swell of anger rising in me. “We need to find out who he is and what he wished for.”

“And who his partner in magical crime was,” Tracy added.

“Well, we can do one of those now,” Charlie suggested, pointing toward the reference section. “I’m pretty sure there’s a year book or two on the shelf. Just look up all the Peters who were sophomores last year.”

He walked over to the shelves while Tracy and I sat down at one of the tables. A trio of younger girls, probably freshmen, walked past on their way to the checkout desk. When they looked our way, I absentmindedly threw up a hand in greeting.

The effect was instantaneous and extremely disturbing.

Six sets of eyes widened and stupid grins split their youthful faces. Giggling, they bunched together whispering animatedly. Most of what they said was undiscernible, but I did get the impression that the simple act had become the highlight of their day.

As if they couldn’t begin to believe that Pee-Jay Davenport would acknowledge their lowly existence.

Maybe a nunnery wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Tracy smirked. “It’s a lot more noticeable now that you know what to look for, isn’t it?”

I turned away from the star-struck teens and looked over at her. “It’s freaky. I feel like I’m being watched with anticipation from everyone.”

She nodded. “You are. And probably will be for the rest of your life. Better start getting used to it.”

On that depressing note, Charlie returned with last year’s photo album. Flipping open to the tenth grade portion, he began to run his fingers down the list of students’ names.

“Peter Baker. Peter Garland. Peter McDonald. Pet…”

“Stop,” I said, probably a little louder than intended. Glancing around to make sure my little outburst hadn’t drawn unwanted attention, I pointed at the book. “I overheard part of Sarah and Chad’s argument. He said the name ‘McDonald’. So that’s got to be the guy.”

We all leaned in to look at the picture associated with the name. The image showed a boy, definitely a little younger than us. He had shaggy, close-cropped hair, and braces adorning his teeth. While not completely unattractive, he was far from what I expected to find. Especially after managing to somehow seduce both the really hot French teacher and one of the Elite.

“I figured he would look like some kind of supermodel,” I said, shaking my head. “That maybe he’d upped his appearance to the point where girls would just fall over themselves for him.”

“Apparently not,” Charlie said. “He looks kind of like a moron, if you ask me.”

Tracy laughed softly. “If this is the guy, then he must have wished for some kind of power over females. Mind control, maybe?”

A chill ran through me and I looked over to find Charlie staring back at me with the same worried expression I knew was plastered on my face.

“What?” Tracy asked. Then she let out a little gasp. “Oh, that could be bad.”

“Think that’s possible?” I asked them. “I mean, it’s one thing for me to get turned into a hot girl, but I’m still bound by the laws of the universe otherwise.”

“No, you’re not,” Charlie said, glancing over at Tracy, who nodded. “You have this improbable power of super popularity. Beyond what just a pretty face could command.” He tapped on the photo. “If this guy made a wish to have mind control powers. Or telepathy. Or anything like that, we might find ourselves out-gunned.”

Tracy sighed. “If we confront him without knowing for sure, we could end up with our brains melted. Or worse.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I might have been willing to go the extra mile and reciprocate for Lee last night. But that didn’t mean I wanted to become some bimbo slut who would let Peter McDonald do things to me, or me to him, without any hesitation or regret.

“If he has that kind of power,” I mused. “Then why not keep Miss LaCroix from getting into trouble. I mean, he could have just caused the people who found out about them to forget it even happened.”

“That’s why we can’t just speculate,” Charlie said. “We need to know for sure what he wished before approaching him.”

For the next twenty minutes, we formulated a plan. We’d stick to our usual routines, but keep an ear out for any mention of Peter’s name. Or his actions. Since I could probably get away with inquiries without causing too much suspicion, I would see if I could find out who Peter was friends with. Which might allow us to identify his wishing partner.

“I’ve got to go,” I said, glancing up at the clock. The bell ending the period was going to ring in less than a minute. “Maybe I can stealthily grill some of the other cheerleaders about him without a crowd around. I have a feeling Sarah isn’t the only Raiderette to have sampled McDonald’s menu.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “No matter how popular or wanted you get, Sam, you’ll never quit making stupid puns at the worst times.”

I shrugged, managing a small grin. “Probably not. I’ll be in touch.”

When I pushed open the door of the library and stepped out into the hall, the bell began to ring. I quickly made my way down the hall, weaving in and around the students filing out of the classrooms. I kept my head down and ignored the sudden stream of greetings that hurled my way.

In the cafeteria, I skipped the lunch line since what I’d learned in the library had pretty much killed my appetite. Stepping outside into the quad, I found my regular table was occupied by Jordan, Melissa, David, and Mark. All four of them waved hello as I walked over to stand across from them.

“Not eating?” Jordan asked? “Grilled chicken salad with avocado today.”

“Not really hungry.”

She arched a slender brow at me. “You feeling okay?”

I nodded. “I’m fine.” Then I looked at all four of them. “Have you guys seen Lee?”

“Who?” Melissa asked, her mouth full of romaine and chicken.

“Very funny,” I said. “My boyfriend, doofus. Have you seen him?”

Mark smirked, shaking his head. “As a matter of fact, Pee-Jay, I have.”

I turned to him. “Where?”

The bulky jock nodded his head in my direction. “Right behind you.”

I began to turn around just as a powerful hand encircled my upper arm and pulled, speeding up my about-face and sending me into a rapid one-eighty. A second hand, located at the end of a thick, muscular arm, moved around my waist and planted itself securely on the curve of my ass beneath the pleated skirt. A pair of lips clamped down onto mine as a thick tongue snaked its way into my mouth. The lips were attached to a face that was only centimeters from mine.

A face that wasn’t Lee’s.

I was too shocked to respond immediately. Stunned that this virtual stranger was violating my mouth with his mouth and my ass with his hand. The fingers of which, by the way, continued to squeeze and fondle. I guess I should have been thankful his groping was taking place over top of the skirt, rather than reaching beneath it.

Behind me, I heard a chorus of giggles and a few whistles.

“You the man, Barnes!” I heard Mark shout.

Finally, just as my wits were starting to return to me, the boy removed his tongue from somewhere just shy of my epiglottis and pulled his head back to stare down at me.

His face was slightly oval, with an angled jawline and a pronounced chin. His nose was slightly larger than normal, with what looked to be a long-healed break across the bridge. The eyes on either side of it were a deep emerald green, flaked with bits of gold. His hair was a dirty blonde color, shaved close on the sides, but longer and thicker on top. When he smiled, I saw that his teeth were perfectly straight and extremely white.

Like, toothpaste commercial white.

While he had obviously had experienced enough minor facial injuries that he would likely never make a living as a GQ model, he was not unattractive. I’m sure a lot of girls would have responded with weak knees and vapid titters at having been practically swept off their feet into such a passionate kiss from the likes of him.

But for me, there was no spark. None of that electric surge I got when Lee and I touched.

The boy grinned, looking exactly like someone who’d just won the big pot in a poker tournament. Right after having cheated.

“Hey beautiful,” he said, trying to sound suave and romantic. “You been looking for me?”

A Wish Unwanted – Part 14
by Limbo’s Mistress

I wanted to slap him.

This boy I didn’t really know, who grinned down at me with a smarmy smile, a lecherous gleam in his green eyes, and his hand still planted on my ass.

“Come on, Barnes,” Mark said, sounding like he was thoroughly entertained. “Didn’t you get enough of that last night?”

Last night? Oh frack. If this overbearing douche was now my boyfriend, then I guess it was only safe to assume that everything Lee and I had done was now a point of history between me and this Barnes.

I put on hand on his chest as I reached around with the other and pried the grabby meat-paw off my pert little rear. Forcing a smile onto my face, which was starting to become easier with each passing day, I turned my head to look at the four faces behind us, then back to the boy towering over me.

“Let’s try to show a little restraint in public, sweetie,” I said, trying to sound far more sultry than I felt. Which was about zero, to be honest. “How about we go someplace a little more … secluded?”

Another round of whistles erupted from Mark and David, while Jordan and Melissa responded with little amused giggles. If they only knew just how funny I found the whole situation.

The new boy, for his part, agreed with an enthusiasm that was off the charts. The hand which had been fondling me grabbed my wrist in a light hold. His eyes swept back and forth across the quad, to the groundskeepers’ maintenance shed, then to the grove of trees at the edge of the cross-country track.

I, however, thought it better if we went someplace where we wouldn’t be seen or heard. Yet, someplace where I could also scream for help and get away should things take a turn for the disastrous.

A smile, real this time, slid onto my face as I pulled his fingers from my wrist, entwined them with mine, and began to walk toward the corner of the building behind me.

“I know just the place, stud.”

Ugh. Did I really just say that? I couldn’t imagine ever saying it to Lee, unless I was trying to be flirty or sarcastic. However, it seemed Barnes ate the compliment up with a spoon. Guess he was too stupid to know when a girl was just pandering to his ego.

I continued walking as I turned back to the quartet watching us. “We’ll be back in a minute.”

Barnes, though, decided to up the ante. “More than just a minute.” Then he winked at them.

Dear lord. Had the stone really replaced my Lee with this jabbering moron? It was like I was being punished for my wish actually being a good change for me. Remove great guy, add in mega-douche.

I led the hapless boy around the corner and across the schoolyard to the very same boulder Charlie and I had convened around not two days prior. It had the advantage of being able to shield us from onlookers and eavesdroppers, but should I start causing a loud enough ruckus, would immediately draw attention from the dozen or so students milling about a dozen yards away.

“Alright,” the boy said as I pulled him around behind the giant rock. His grin perfectly relayed what he expected to take place now that we were alone. “This is perfect.”

I released his arm and turned around, my mouth already in the process of beginning my opening argument. Unfortunately, my verbal onslaught was momentarily derailed by the fact that the hunky young man reached out and groped my breasts the second we were out of sight. And not even in a pleasurable way.

Holy Perverted Palms, Batman!

I quickly reached up and pulled his hands from my chest, holding both of them a foot or more away from the noticeable swells beneath my orange sweater. Looking up, I saw a bit of confusion pass through his features as he looked from his hands, to my boobs, then to my face. As if he couldn’t figure out what was going wrong. I’ll have to admit, it took me a second to catch up as well.

He expected me to go along passively.

I didn’t know the specifics yet, but given what I’d figured out and experienced so far, it wasn’t hard to guess that the burly young man’s wish was involved me and him in a relationship. I was, in his mind, supposed to be his. Which meant all of me. But I wasn’t dancing to his beat, and that seemed to confound him.

Time to make sure the air between us was crystal clear.

“Slow down,” I said as I released his arms. “You want something from me, and I want … something … from you.” I put a saucy purr in my voice, nearly laughing as his eyes doubled in width.

“Anything,” he breathed. He might as well have just handed me his soul. It was apparent that all he could think about at the moment was getting into my skirt.

I smiled as I reached out and ran my fingertips across the front of his jeans. From the bottom of the zipper to the top. The package beneath the denim, already partially at attention, snapped to like a private in boot camp. Despite my focus on the scheme I was enacting, I could not ignore the realization of the size of the lump.

Jesus, this dude was seriously hung. I mean, my experience with judging penis sizes was pretty much limited to my own and the few I’d seen that belonged to male porn stars. Which, something told me, Barnes was on par with.

He swallowed, his eyes dropping to half-lidded slits. “What is it you want, baby?”

Baby? Ugh! Here was a guy who had absolutely no idea how to talk to a girl. Not that I needed him to be able to, mind you. Not with what I had planned.

I brightened my smile, turned my hand upside down, then grabbed the tender spheres under that slab of man-meat in as tight a grip as my tiny hands could manage … and squeezed.

His eyes flew back open, even wider than they’d been a second earlier. Only instead of filled with lustful desire, they were saturated with pain and agony. A raspy gasp came from between his lips, and he started to reach down to remove my hand from where it clenched around his family jewels.

I shook my head, wagging the finger of my free hand in a scolding manner.

“I don’t think so, schmuck. I’ll decide when to let go. Unless you think you can remove my hand before I ruin you for life.” I gave his berries another squeeze.

He groaned again, pulling his defensive hand back and then held up both arms. Like he was being robbed at gunpoint. Good, now I was sure I had his complete and undivided attention.

“Now,” I said, easing off the pressure a bit while keeping my fingers in play. “What did you and Peter McDonald wish for?”

“What?” The pain in his eyes dulled, replaced by the return of his earlier confusion.

“The wishing stone,” I said through gritted teeth. “What did you and Peter wish for?”

“How … how do you know about the stone?”

I leaned closer as I applied a bit of pressure to his manly rocks. “If you answer my question with a question again, I’m going to turn you into the President of the Benson High Eunuchs Club. Understand?”

His head bobbed up and down so fast in the affirmative that I was momentarily afraid he was going to give himself whiplash and pass out.

“Good,” I said, releasing his balls a little. “Now, start answering. What did you two wish for?”

“I, uh, wished for you to be my girlfriend.” A swatch of crimson appeared on his face. “Well, we both originally were going to wish for that.”

“Both of you?” I shuddered, trying to imagine having romantic relations with both of the boys at the same time. It would be like those reverse harem books Cindy had enjoyed so much. Blech!

He nodded. “Then we realized that the magic might make the three of us into some polyamorous, bisexual trio. Peter said he didn’t care to be accidentally gayified just to sleep with you. So … we, uh, flipped a coin to see which of us got you.”

I was so stunned that I let my hand drop away from his crotch as I stared up at him, horrified.

“A coin toss? A coin toss? You have got to be shitting me.”

He shrugged. “Seemed like the fair thing to do.”

My face ignited. With an inferno of anger, rather than embarrassment.

“Fair?!” I yelled, shaking my head. “Fair!? So, you two agreed that a flip of a coin was the only fair way to decide which of you was going to be the one to magically replace Lee Taylor? To determine which of you was going to insert himself, completely uninvited, into my love life?”

Despite being three times my size, the boy took a step backward, his face growing instantly paler.

“Well, I mean … I didn’t really think of it that way.”

I turned away from him, anger and pain rolling through me as I attempted to process what I’d just learned. I shouldn’t have been completely taken by surprise, though. I was totally wanted, right? By every damned body. So it only stood to reason that if some dorks got their hands on a magic rock that could fulfill their dreams, one (or both) of them would want to use it to get with the most desired girl in the whole school.

That realization, however, brought very cold comfort. Images of Lee, far too few but oh so heartbreakingly clear, flooded into my addled brain. That budding relationship had been completely swept asunder before it even had a chance to grow into something more. Worse than that, actually.

The wish hadn’t just ended the connection between Lee and I, it had retroactively erased it from history.

I clenched my hands into tiny fists, and tightened my jaw. I was not going to cry. I was not. The last thing Lee texted me before I went to bed still burned in my memory.

I love you.

This asshole didn’t deserve to see how much he’d hurt me with his carelessness. That his lack of consideration had completely thrown my life into disarray. Stolen my heart.

“Pee-Jay?” the boy asked in a soft, hesitant tone. As if he were far too afraid to pull my attention back to him.

Turning back around, I drew in a breath and released it slowly, doing my best to keep the tears I felt hovering in the corners of my eyes from spilling over. I found glaring helped.

“What?” I sneered.

“How do you … know about the stone?”

I blinked at him, trying to discern if he was joking or serious. By the look on his face, I decided that it had to be the latter.

“Because I’ve used it.”

His brow crinkled. “You used it? Why?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean ‘why’?”

He shrugged. “I guess I’m just confused about why the girl who has it all would need to make a wish.”

Surely he wasn’t this thick-headed, right? Although, I guess from his point of view, Penny had always been like she was now. Which meant, of course, the idea that she would want any magical assistance was a bit absurd.

I shrugged. “It was a total accident. I made an off-hand comment and my friend countered with wishing it to happen. Not that she actually meant for that to be a real wish.” I sighed. “So, having already used it, I’m sort of immune to the changes it makes. Or, at least, I’m aware of them when they happen.”

He seemed to consider this for a second, then nodded. “That sort of makes a weird kind of sense.” Then he leaned back against the rock and ran his hand through his hair, sighing. “I guess I’m sorry, then.”

“For?”

“I didn’t expect you to know things were different. I mean, no one else I’ve seen since this morning has. They all just accepted me like this.” He gestured at his form. “Like it was completely normal. I guess I thought you would, too.”

“Like that? What do you mean?”

“A football player. You know, big and strong. Popular.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Though that last bit might be more because we’re dating. Or, you know, everyone thinks we are.”

I actually performed a face-palm. I didn’t want to deal with that little nugget at the moment. Sighing I waved my hand, letting our new romantic status have a temporary pass. Then I blinked, turning to look up at him.

“Wait a second. You didn’t wish to be a football player?”

He shook his head. “No. The only thing I wished for was you and I to be a couple.”

I took a step closer to him, causing him to try to push himself through the boulder behind him like some gridiron warrior version of Kitty Pryde.

“What did you wish for? Exactly, I mean. The exact, precise, words used.”

“Uh, technically I didn’t say anything, it was Peter who made …” he stopped when I started to reach for his balls again. “Right. Uh, the actual phrase was, ‘I wish Geoffrey Barnes was the boyfriend of Pee-Jay Davenport’.”

I stared at him for several long seconds. I’m sure he thought I was trying to decide if I was going to toss another Kung-Fu grip on his junk again. The truth was my thoughts had turned in a more cerebral direction than contemplation of the best way to neuter an annoying jock.

Running through a list of every fantasy story or television show or movie where wishes were twisted and perverted, I applied what I knew to be likely, based on actual experience. What I kept coming up with was, much like my own self-inflicted dilemma, the wording was the key.

Geoffrey … ugh! I was so going to have to start calling him Geoff, had wished to be my boyfriend. Pee-Jay Davenport’s boyfriend. Rather than wishing that Pee-Jay was his girlfriend. The distinction in semantics might not be enough to sway a potential jury, but it had certainly been enough to spark the amusement of the power behind the stone.

It had resulted in the magic changing him, rather than me.

Had it been worded the other way, then I think he would have stayed just as he was. Whoever that had been. The difference, though, would be that this nobody had somehow, beyond the odds, managed to convince the school’s “It-Girl” to be his girl.

However, the opposite result had happened.

The Geoffrey (Geoff!) Barnes who existed this morning had instantly been transformed into a member of the Benson High varsity football team. Why? Because it only stood to reason that Pee-Jay Davenport, uber-hot cheerleader, wouldn’t stoop to date someone who wasn’t an athlete.

Stupid, boring clichés.

“Congratulations,” I said in a snippy, irked tone. “You’re now a helmet-carrying member of the school’s football team. Thanks to your stupid wish, you’ve got the body…” I pointed at his not-unimpressive physique. “… and the cheerleader girlfriend …” I pointed this time to myself. “But tell me this, do you even know how to play the damned game? Because, and you can trust me on this, it’s one thing to look the part. It’s another thing altogether to know how to perform it.”

To his credit, he confidently nodded his head up and down a few times.

“Really?” I asked incredulously. “You’re serious?”

Had the magic also given him the skills and knowledge to pull off being a seasoned varsity football player? I mean, sure, it had provided me with the muscle memory to do basic gymnastics and dance, but didn’t provide me with the routines or steps. Those I had to memorize.

“I played JV my freshman year,” Geoff said in a slightly boasting tone. “Was actually pretty good at it, too.”

“But not good enough to make the varsity team?” I asked, smirking.

A dark shadow passed over his face. Something like pain that was not completely healed.

“No. I would have been good enough,” His voice was soft and somber. “Unfortunately, I hyper-extended my knee during the last game of the season during my sophomore year. Three surgeries later, the doctor told me that I could go back onto the field, but doing so was just asking to have to use a cane for the rest of my life.”

My jaw dropped, and I suddenly felt like a total bitch for my comment. I was still angry about what he and his friend had done to me. However, that didn’t excuse my crappy attitude toward his plight. There was no need to ignore his pain just because of my own.

“Now, it’s like my leg never got hurt,” he continued. “I can run and jump. Better than I ever could. All I really need to do is learn the plays. I already know the rules and the formations.”

I shrugged one shoulder, unable to not feel some sort of empathy toward him. His wish had inadvertently given him back what was obviously something important.

“You only have two days to do it, though. So you might want to get cracking on that.”

“I borrowed a copy of the playbook from Coach C this morning.”

I nodded, tapping my finger against my lips. “What about Peter?” I asked, thinking about the incidents with Miss LaCroix and Sarah. “What did he wish for?”

A fresh wave of color crept up Geoff’s neck and onto his cheeks.

“Uh, everyone else,” he said, unable to meet my eyes. “The girls, I mean.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and stuck out my chin. “What does that mean?”

He sighed, lowering his gaze to his feet. “When I won the … uh … you know. Well, he told me that if I got to hook up with hottest girl in school, he should at least get to be with all the others.”

“That’s a little messed up,” I said, not hiding my disgust. “Why not pick just one? Not that is any better than your request. Just more … ugh!”

Another shrug. “I don’t know. I suggested he just pick one, but it was the only way to get him to agree to my request.” He shook his head. “This having to put your trust in someone to make your wish for you without screwing it up is a pain. And dangerous. I mean, I knew Pete was a bit of a … sleaze, but …”

I nodded. “I know someone who feels just the same way. However, what else would you expect from the goddess of envy and jealousy.”

“Seriously? That thing is from a goddess?” He waved his hand before I could answer. “Anyway, what I said, exactly, was that I wished Peter McDonald could convince any girl, other than Penelope Davenport, to have sex with him in any fashion, at any time.”

My eyes widened. “That’s really, really specific,” I said. “Not to mention completely gross and tantamount to rape.”

The pinkish color in his cheeks turned a brilliant scarlet. “I know. It’s just … he said I had to word it exactly like that. Normally, I wouldn’t have agreed to something that perverse. Honest! I just … I mean, I just wanted you so badly.”

Dammit! God, sometimes I hated being right.

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. “Well, I guess I should be thankful that you had the foresight to make me the exception to his wish. Just in case I’m not immune to the scumbag’s charms.”

He nodded, frowning. “Yeah. He got more than a little pissed when I threw in that extra bit. I guess he hope that I could be your ‘official’ boyfriend, while he could have you on the side whenever he wanted.”

I shook my head, growling at him. “You both suck. I mean, seriously suck. Tell me, Geoff, do you remember Miss LaCroix?”

“You bet I do. I even considered switching from taking Spanish to taking French last year just so I could get to spend an hour each day with her. She is the hottest teacher I’ve ever seen.”

I gave him a malicious smile. “Well, thanks to you and Captain Asshole mucking around with forces beyond your understanding to screw up the space-time continuum, Miss LaCroix doesn’t teach at Benson High anymore. In fact, she doesn’t teach anywhere. Except maybe the prison library.”

“Prison library? What does that mean?”

“Apparently she and Pete the Perv were engaging in private study sessions at the end of last year. You know, the kind where clothing is optional. Someone found out and called the cops. Your jerk friend was a minor, so his punishment probably consisted of a strongly-worded lecture from his folks.”

“If even that,” Geoff mumbled.

I shook my head and continued. “However, Miss LaCroix got a sentence of three years in prison and her name on the sex offenders registry.” I pointed at him. “So, congratulations to you both on fulfilling your dreams. It only resulted in an innocent woman going to jail.”

Once again, the color drained from his face. At this rate, he was either going to explode like an overripe tomato, or pass out from the lack of oxygen to his brain.

“Wait,” he said, perking up with a furrowed brow. “This happened last year? How is that possible? We just made our wishes this morning.”

I nodded. “Well, turns out that changing reality can have a retroactive effect, Einstein. I guess the newly created Peter of Christmases Past probably decided it would be a good idea to use his uncanny seduction skills to charm the panties off the young, sexy French teacher.”

“That’s a possibility? I didn’t know that.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about that damned stone. It’s more than likely that, as of this morning, Pete’s always been able to get lucky whenever he wanted. Which means there are probably even more girls out there who’ve already given up their goods to him.” I clenched my jaw tightly for a second before signing. “The only comfort I can find in that fact is that he doesn’t have any actual memories of the experiences.”

Geoff seemed to pale further. Like, about to throw up kind of pale. “But that might mean …Susan and he …”

I arched a brow. “Susan? Old girlfriend?”

He shook his head. “Little sister. She’s a freshman this year, but she’s really, uh, developed. For her age. Pete likes to make lewd comments to me about her. Talking about her body and crap. I mean, it’s all just him being an ass, because Susan would never …” He stopped, lifting both hands to run them through his hair.

“She might never before this morning,” I said, fighting the urge to twist the knife. Sure, this doofus and his pal had put a massive screwed-up kink in several lives by their carelessness. However, that didn’t mean I wanted to get payback by throwing his own sister’s lost innocence back in his face.

Not only was that a total Jen-like thing to do, it was counterproductive. Like him or not, I wanted another ally, not another enemy.

“Hey,” I said in a calm voice. “It might not have happened. He might have been too busy going after cheerleaders and French teachers to bother with Susan.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter,” he said in a defeated tone. “If he hasn’t slept with her yet, it’s just a matter of time. She won’t be able to say no.”

I looked up at him, then thought about the picture of Peter McDonald I’d seen in the yearbook. If the magic had only given him some type of seduction power, but not altered him into some kind of physical Adonis, then I thought of a way to perhaps mitigate some of the future damages.

“You can help her say no,” I said.

“How? Tell her to stay away from him? Pee-Jay, Susan thinks she knows more than anyone else already.”

I shook my head. “No. Telling her isn’t going to work. What you need to do is tell Peter to stay away from her. And every other girl in school he just has a passing fancy with.”

He snorted. “Pete will listen to me even less than Susan. He’ll laugh in my face. Then he’ll probably video himself doing her and email it to me.”

I blinked, then started laughing. I couldn’t help it. My hand flew up to cover my mouth, but all that did was muffle the giggle.

“Okay, despite the fact I know you’re laughing at me, you look so damned beautiful doing it. Mind telling me what’s so funny about what I said?”

It was a struggle to get my sudden guffaws under control, but I managed after another ten seconds of hee-hawing.

“Geoff, describe yourself as you were at eight this morning.”

“Uh … kind of pudgy. After I quit playing football, I kind of lost interest in exercise and took up a habit of eating junk food all the time. All the muscles turned to flab and jelly.”

I nodded, expecting that answer. “How would you describe yourself now?”

He didn’t need to answer. I saw the realization in his eyes. His physique had been restored. No, it had been enhanced. Because Pee-Jay Davenport wouldn’t just be dating a football player. She would be dating the star of the team. Which was what the stone had made Geoff.

And, as Sam could easily attest, laughing in the face of a Benson High football player could really be hazardous to your health.

“Any ides where your friend might be right now? I think we should go have a little chat with him.”

“We both used to have lunch this period. So, unless his schedule has changed, that’s where he’ll be now.”

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

As we headed back toward the building, Geoff did his best to keep a bit of space between us. However, I noticed several times him lifting his hand, as if he were about to put it around my waist, before dropping it back to his side.

“How can you be sure?” he asked. “That there have been retroactive changes?”

I glanced over at him, then pointed at his front pocket. More precisely, to the rectangular shape nestled inside.

“I’m willing to bet that there are pictures of us on your phone. Pictures you don’t have any memory of being in. Pee-Jay and Geoff, being all disgustingly cute and adorable together. Not to mention the fact that everyone just accepted the new you without question. Which means they have memories and a past with Geoff, the football star. Rather than Geoff, the Assistant Pervert.”

He stopped in mid-stride, causing me to have to stop to turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry, Pee-Jay. I’m sorry that I didn’t think about what my wish was going to do to your life. I guess I just thought it would be easy to accept my actions because I’d be the only one who knew differently. I was wrong.” Then he shook his head, eyes narrowing slightly. “But I am not like Pete. If he had won the coin flip, I would have wished for some other girl. Or maybe just that my knee was healed. I wouldn’t have wanted to make every woman who caught my eye fall into lust with me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t want him to be sorry for what he’d done. I didn’t want him to be penitent and regretful. Because then I would feel obligated to forgive him. Something I wasn’t sure I would be able to do.

“No, but you allowed someone else to have that ability. So don’t pretend like your hands are completely clean.”

He sighed, then marched right past me without slowing.

“I never said they were,” he murmured.

The tension between us only increased when we rounded the corner back into the quad and saw that the rest of the regular lunch crowd had arrived. Chad was sitting as far away from Sarah as he could, still looking pretty put-out. For her part, my best friend also seemed annoyed, but not to the same degree. She glanced from where she’d been talking with Kara, smiling at me as I came into view.

The person who was the most angry, however, was Tabitha.

The second Geoff and I came into view, she glared in our direction. Then stood up and marched our way, intercepting us before we could get more than a few feet. Her blue eyes gleamed with fury as she crossed her arms over her chest, tapped one toe on the concrete, and looked from me to Geoff and back.

“What happened to our agreement to text each other?” Venom, laced with actual hurt, dripped from her voice. “Or was that just supposed to be on my end?”

I sighed. “Tabitha, I didn’t contact you because I just found out what changed. Just now.” I gestured the boy next to me.

“Hey, Tabs,” he said, smiling. “What’s up?”

I barely managed to not grin. Especially when Tabitha snorted, then looked my way.

“Who’s this?” she asked me. As if Geoff wasn’t even standing there.

“This is Geoffrey Barnes. He was one half of this morning’s duo and now, apparently, my new boyfriend.”

Her brows shot up. “What happened to Lee?”

I winced as another pang from my recent loss stabbed at me. “I don’t know,” I told her. “But he’s not who he used to be.”

“I said I was sorry,” Geoff mumbled.

Tabitha, however, giggled softly. “You wanted her, didn’t you?” she asked the boy. “That’s why you made a wish for her to be your girlfriend.”

“She knows too?” Geoff asked, looking to me.

I nodded, then shrugged as I turned back to Tabs. “Technically, his wish was to be my boyfriend. A subtle distinction, but one that bears noting.”

She waved her hand. “Whatever. I’m just glad to see someone’s wish biting you in the ass for a change.”

“You’re the one who accidentally made a wish for Pee-Jay?”

I held up my hand, shaking my head. “No. Tabitha and Tracy made their wishes before Cindy and I made ours.”

His eyes widened. “How many people have used that damned thing?”

“Eight,” Tabitha replied. “Counting you and your buddy.” She arched a brow. “Who was your other half, by the way?”

“Peter McDonald,” I answered before Geoff could. “And it’s eight that we know of. There could have been others before Jen.”

“Jen … nifer Winters?”

I nodded. “Yes. Welcome to the ever-growing Stone of Invidia Club.”

“Please try and keep up,” Tabitha snarked. Then she did a slight double-take. “Wait, Pete McDonald? That’s who you made a wish with?”

“You know him?” I asked.

“He’s a total pervert. Last year, he was in my geometry class. He was always leering at the cheerleaders and trying to peek down girls’ shirts. I heard a rumor that Coach C caught him hanging around the entrance to the locker room, trying to spy on the girls as the door opened and closed.”

Geoff frowned. “That’s Pete. I don’t invite him over if Susan’s home. He keeps trying to sneak looks at her.”

I gaped up at him. “And this is the guy you just gave super sexual powers to? What the hell were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t, okay?” he said, lowering his voice as he leaned down to put his face a few inches from mine. To anyone other than Tabitha, it would look like he was trying to kiss me. However, I was sure she could see the anger in his eyes. “The only thing I was thinking at the time was that I wanted you. Logic and common sense be damned.”

Tabitha smirked. “True romance.”

“Shut up,” I told her. “Look, Geoff. I’m sorry if it seems I’m dumping on you. But you have to admit you have unleashed a bomb on the girls at this school.”

“I’m curious about these super sex abilities you mentioned. Like, did he get increased size and staying power?”

“No, he got the ability to make girls have sex with him. Whether or not they would want to.”

“That’s rape,” she said, looking actually sickened. Then she shook her head. “She’s right, Geoffrey, you screwed up.”

“I got it,” he snarled. “Can we go and talk to him? Like we originally intended before forming this little sidebar?”

I nodded, turning to Tabitha. “We were going to confront Peter. Tell him that if he continues to use women as throwaway sexual playthings, he’s going to regret it.”

She seemed to perk up, her eyes glimmering with amusement. “Oh, this I want to see.”

The three of us walked toward the entrance of the cafeteria. Sarah arched a confused brow in our direction. I shrugged and then held my hand up to my ear, pantomiming a phone as I mouthed “call you later”. She frowned, cut her eyes over at Chad for a second, then looked back to me and gave a depressed little nod.

The noisy lunchroom sharply contrasted the relative quiet of the quad. As we weaved our way across the tile floor toward the tables at the back of the room, the chorus of Fans of Pee-Jay started up. I tried to not be a complete bitch and ignore them, since they really couldn’t help themselves.

Thanks to the stone.

I fought against that little whispering voice in the back of my mind. The one who sounded a lot like Sam. Particularly like Sam when he was trying to win a heated debate.

Just like the girls with Peter, right? Just can’t help themselves because of the magic. Are you any better than him?

I don’t use my mystical popularity on purpose, I shot back. I would turn it off, if I could.

Sam laughed. So you say. However, you still enjoy basking in it, don’t you? You complain about all the attention, but deep down you like it.

I don’t, I countered.

Can’t lie to me, he said. I always wanted to be liked, I merely hid it because I knew it would never happen. Since I wanted it, that means you do, too.

“There he is,” Geoff said, putting his hand on my elbow and yanking me out of my inner discourse.

I stopped walking and followed his gaze to a table in the corner. The boy from the yearbook sat on the edge of his seat, surrounded by about four other underclassmen. Each of them was hanging onto Peter’s every word. Like he was some old-time preacher at a tent revival.

When he cupped his hands in front of his chest, however, I realized he wasn’t spreading the Good Word. He was regaling them with a tale of carnal conquest. Since he couldn’t possibly remember the acts his past self had experienced with Sarah and Miss LaCroix, that could only mean he’d used his newfound talents on someone, or someones, since first bell.

“He would have to have used magic,” Tabitha snorted. “I don’t think even Tracy would stoop low enough to sleep with that.”

“Nice,” I chided, then looked at Geoff. “We need to get him alone. I don’t want to start accusing him of making magical wishes in front of witnesses.”

“Afraid your popularity will take the hit?” Tabitha teased.

A shudder ran through me at her words. Because I knew she was right. As was the Sam that still lived in my head. I was afraid that people might like me less if I started spouting crazy talk.

Peter stopped speaking and glanced our way. His face formed a slight frown as he looked from Geoff to me. However, it brightened greatly when his eyes fell onto Tabitha. The smile that appeared couldn’t have been greasier.

“Come on,” Geoff said, walking the remaining couple of yards to the side of the table.

“G-Man,” Peter said, smirking. His eyes never left the legs sticking out of Tabitha’s denim skirt. “How’s your day going? Better than this morning?” That lecherous gaze slid up to drink in the blonde’s breasts. “I know mine is.”

I nearly grabbed the half-empty plastic tray in front of him so I could beat him to a pulp with it. However, I simply forced myself to find patience, curling my fingernails into my palm to help ground me.

“Can we talk for a second,” Geoff said to his, hopefully former, friend. He tilted his head toward the exit. “Alone.”

“Alone?” Peter asked, tapping his chin with one finger. “Do you mean, ‘alone’ as just you and I? Or ‘alone’, as in the four of us.”

“The four of us,” I said in my sweetest, most-honeyed voice. Then I reached out and linked my arm through Geoff’s, pressing myself against him as I smiled.

I hoped the boy I’d plastered myself to was smart enough to follow my lead. As far as Peter knew, only he and Geoff had knowledge about the stone. I was betting that acting like the adoring girlfriend flirting with her man’s friend, along with the prospect of getting with another of the Raiderette’s would be enough to get the letch to drop his guard.

After a nanosecond of contemplation, Peter nodded and stood up. “Color me intrigued.” The glanced down at the quartet of sophomores. “The saga’s next chapter awaits. Later.”

We departed the room, Geoff and I leading the way while Tabitha and Peter brought up the rear. Turning down the first hall on the right, I used my arm to steer the boy next to in the direction of a classroom I knew to be empty.

Geoff pulled open the door as I released my hold on him. Then I pranced over to Tabitha, putting my arm around her tiny waist. She stiffened a bit at my touch, but then seemed to relax, obviously guessing my plan. The two of us giggled as we entered the room, putting a bit of extra shake in our behinds. Peter followed closely behind us, probably already dreaming up some sick, perverted fantasies behind those beady eyes.

As soon as the door was closed, and I heard Geoff engage the lock, I released Tabitha and spun on my heel, nearly causing the close-following pervert to crash into me.

“Hey!” he said, taking a half a step back. “What is …”

“Shut up,” I snarled. Then I closed my eyes for a second, drawing in a deep breath. I couldn’t afford to let my anger take control of the situation. I would try to use logic first.

But if that didn’t work …

I opened my eyes again, focusing them squarely on Peter

“First of all, let me save us all a lot of time. You and Geoff made a pair of wishes this morning. Wishes that have made some pretty serious changes around school.” I waved my hand. “So let’s skip the whole part where you deny it, okay?”

A look of annoyance appeared on Peter’s face as he turned to look at Geoff.

“You went and told her? How stupid can you be, dude?”

The larger boy shook his head. “I didn’t have to tell either of them. They knew because they’ve used the wishing stone, too.”

The expression on Peter’s face shifted to one of conspiratory glee. He nodded his head up and down, grinning widely.

“Oh, I get it now.” He pointed at Tabitha and me. “So you two were, what? Ugly chicks? So you used the stone to turn into hot cheerleaders. Excellent.”

Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest, sneering like a professional. “Wrong. That’s not it at all.”

I waved my hand. “Regardless. We got you alone to ask you to stop using your wish. It’s not right.”

The boy blinked at me, almost as if he were having trouble understanding what I was saying. Then he shook his head. “No.”

Now it was my turn to stare dumbly. “What?”

“Not going to happen. See, I’m finally no longer a loser. You’re looking at the new president of Stud City.” He pointed past me to the closed door. “Until this morning, the only girls I could ever hope to bang were about a ‘five’ or under. Now, I can have anyone I want. No buying expensive gifts or having to navigate through the fear of rejection. No more having to settle for some horse-faced blimp with body odor.”

“You’re pathetic,” I spat. “You think it’s fair to those girls? I mean, you’re right about your previous prospects. But I think that’s more because you’re a creep than anything dealing with your physical appearance or popularity. Girls rejected you because they could sense that you were trash.”

Peter glared at me. Then he looked over at Geoffrey. “You’re going to let your woman just talk like that to me, man? We’re supposed to be friends.”

Geoff shook his head. “She’s right,” he said, moving a little closer to me and Tabitha. “Making people be with you, the way we both did it, is wrong. We should have wished for something less selfish.”

I should have been grateful for Geoff’s words. Especially since I think he finally, completely, understood just how bad his wish really was. Unfortunately, the shift in Peter’s stance kept me from fully appreciating his friend’s statement.

“You’re such a pussy,” he said with a ton of disgust. “You finally get to date the hottest, most desired, girl in the whole school. And you’re going to just give all that up because she says it was unethical? Dude, they used the stone to make themselves better. Can you see how hypocritical that is?”

“I don’t care about what they did, Pete. I only care about what I’ve done.” He gestured at me. “I’ve imagined what it would be like to be Pee-Jay’s boyfriend for a long time. However, now that I am, I realize it’s hollow. Everyone thinks we’re a great couple, but we both know it’s fake.”

Peter shook his head again. “Only because you didn’t know she’d used the stone. Otherwise, I bet Miss High and Mighty wouldn’t even know the difference.”

“I’d know,” Geoff said. “Maybe I’d be happy at first. I mean, I certainly was for the first half of the day. Then Pee-Jay made me realize that my wish took something away from her. Something important. The fact that no one else would be the wiser doesn’t make it right.”

“Fine. If you want to be a complete wuss, have fun. As for me, I’m going to keep using what I got. Plenty of hot babes around to keep me busy for a while.”

“You really don’t care, do you?” I asked, feeling nauseous at the thought of all the unsuspecting girls who would be unable to resist debasing themselves for that asshole’s gratification. He would use them, then toss them aside for the next in line. Worst part? They wouldn’t care.

If Sarah was any indication of the nature of Peter’s power, they would simply consider the intimate event to be no more earth-shattering than overcooking a meal.

That made it more than just a physical act. It made it mental rape, too.

“Nope. As far as I’m concerned, they all deserve what they’re going to get.”

Before I could open my mouth to say anything further, Tabitha stepped forward and slapped Peter across the face. Hard. The sound of the impact echoed around the empty room.

“Pee-Jay’s right. You are pathetic.” She laughed spitefully. “I mean, you have to use magic to get laid? The wishing stone might have given you the power you craved, but it didn’t change your address.”

“Address?” Peter asked, cradling his reddening cheek with one hand. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Tabitha cocked her hip to the side and planted on hand on it. “You think you’ve moved to ‘Stud City’, but you’re still a resident of Loserville. Population: You.”

Wow! I’d forgotten just how deadly Tabitha could be with her barbs. I would have clapped and cheered, except for the fact that I had the feeling we weren’t quite done with the lecherous boy just yet. His little taste of power had only served to whet his appetite.

“Loserville, huh?” Still holding one hand against his face, his angry eyes looked toward me. “Count yourself lucky that lover boy made you the exception to my rule.” Then his gaze swung back to Tabitha and a smile formed on his face.

“It’s not going to work, Petey,” I said. “She’s used the stone. Which makes her immune to the effect of your wish.”

Of course, I didn’t have any definitive proof that was true. For all I knew, he could have the icy blonde on her knees, fighting to get his pants open, in less than a minute. I could only hope that he assumed that I understood more about how the stone worked than he did.

“Fine,” he said, turning back to me. He lowered his hand, revealing the red imprint of Tabitha’s hand. “I’ll just have fun with your friends. Apparently I had fun with Sarah Strand last night. However, since I can’t remember it, I’ll just have to get a repeat performance.” He winked at me. “Maybe I’ll record it this time.”

“You asshole,” I growled. “Leave her alone.”

Peter laughed. “Oh, I like your ferocity. Too bad you’re off-limits. I bet you’d be a real tiger in the sheets.”

“Peter…” Geoff warned. “I’m warning you.”

Peter turned to laugh at his former friend. “You know where you can take your warning and stick it? I think I’m going to do every single member of the Elite. In multiple ways. Then I’m going to see if Susan wants a little taste.”

I don’t know if Geoff would have hit him. I mean, the bigger boy had his hands curled into fists, but something about his posture and the vibe coming off him told me that he wouldn’t actually get physical. Not at that moment. Right now, it was likely that his mind was rationalizing Peter’s words. Telling himself that his friend couldn’t possibly be that callous.

By the time he finally accepted the truth, it would be too late for a lot of my friends.

And maybe even Geoff’s sister.

Before any of the other three could register my movement, I took three steps forward, brought my right leg back, and kicked Peter McDonald in the balls with every ounce of my ability. Considering that my new body was trained and toned for both ballet and cheering, there was a good amount of force behind it.

The boy let out a wheezing groan, that sounded like a ninety-year-old man trying to get out of bed. Both of his hands immediately surged to his ruined groin as his knees buckled, sending him crashing to the classroom floor. No sooner had he touched down than he gagged, coughed, then vomited up most of his undigested lunch.

“Oh god!” Tabitha yelled, taking several steps back. “That’s completely gross!”

Geoff stood there, looking down at his fallen cohort with a look of pure, unadulterated shock. His jaw hung slack and his eyes were wider than they’d been when I was putting the pressure on his own love sack.

Peter groaned, clutching his nuts as he wallowed on the floor, oblivious to the pile of bile and slime right next to his head.

Pre-Sam Penny might have been completely wicked out by the mess on the floor. But I was made of slightly sterner stuff. I walked around the prone boy to a spot on the floor that was clear of biological debris. Kneeling down, I put my hand on Peter’s shoulder. Not for any sort of comfort or reassurance.

I wanted his attention.

“I tried to be nice,” I said in a low voice devoid of emotion. “But it seems that nice doesn’t get through to someone like you.’ Then I gripped his arm, digging my fingernails into the soft flesh beneath the sleeve of his shirt. “However, it seems that you understand pain very, very well.”

“You … bitch,” he groaned, coughing again. “I’m going to …”

“Spare me the threats, Pete. You’re not going to do shit. Not to me, not to the Elite, and not to any other girl at this school.”

I felt my mouth spread into a smile. I’m sure it was terrifying to Tabitha and Geoffrey. I kept my own attention on Peter as I leaned down closer.

“You know how popular I am with everyone, right? Everyone loves Pee-Jay. Well, if I ever hear about you and some girl, and I think you’ve used your wish on her, I will likely become completely upset and distraught. So much that everyone is going to be concerned about me. They’ll all probably ask me what they can do to make me feel better.”

I removed my hand from his shoulder and patted him on the head. Perspiration had made the strands damp. Yuck!

“Know what I’m going to tell them, Pete? That seeing you get your ass kicked would go a long way to cheering me up. You might be able to bend the will of the girls at this school to your perversion, but how much sex do you think you’ll be having after the entire jock squad put you in traction? As long as I’m unhappy, they’ll be like a T-800 model Terminator. You won’t be able to bargain with them. Or reason with them. They won’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear.”

I saw a shudder roll through the prone boy, and his low groans instantly ceased. Guess the fresh injection of fear-induced adrenaline had temporarily overridden his pain receptors.

I lowered my voice to a whisper. “And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until I call them off. Here endeth the lesson.”

“Jesus,” Geoff breathed. When I looked up, his face was completely white. Oops! Might have overdone it a bit.

Tabitha, however, simply shook her head as she smirked down at me. Then she mouthed the words “ you’re still a nerd”. However, there didn’t seem to be any malice in them.

I stood up and walked back around the boy on the floor to stand next to my fellow Raiderette.

“Now that we’ve said our piece, and have given Peter some serious options to consider, I think it’s almost we left him to his thoughts.”

As if on cue, the bell signaling the end of the period began to ring.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 15
by Limbo’s Mistress

We stepped back out into the hall, Geoff pulling the door closed behind us.

“Wow,” he said, looking straight ahead. “That was, uh, eye-opening.”

I felt a rush of heat appear on my cheeks. The whole incident seemed surreal. I mean, the most violent Sam had ever gotten was the time he smacked Greg Dowdy in the back of the head with a Monster Manual for trying to meta-game a dungeon he’d spent the better part of a week designing.

“I’ll say,” Tabitha chimed in. Where Geoff sounded stunned and confused, the blonde cheerleader sounded amused. “I was right, Davenport. Your balls really did get bigger.”

I saw Geoff glance over at us out of the corner of my periphery, and I realized that he was probably lost about everything the rest of us knew and just took for granted. However, the hallway was quickly filling up with students. Which meant this wasn’t the best time for a heart to heart confessional.

“Any chance either of you can skip sixth period? I think we should all meet and share what we know and what we’ve learned.”

“I can,” Geoff said. “I have independent study that period.”

“If your schedule didn’t change with your reality,” I explained.

He shrugged. “It hasn’t so far. Classes, teachers, and my locker are all the same. Speaking of lockers, should I bring it with me?”

Tabitha arched a brow. “Your locker?”

I thought I might have to smack her, too. Lucky for her, I didn’t have my gaming guide on me.

“Uh, the stone?” Geoff asked.

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

He nodded. “Where should we meet?”

Tabitha sighed. “The Clubhouse.”

I don’t know who was the more shocked, Geoff or me. “The Clubhouse?” I asked, tilting my head to stare at her.

She sighed again. “It’s the most private location on the whole damned campus. No one but Raiderettes ever go in there. Which means it’ll be the best place for us to talk openly without being overheard or interrupted.”

I nodded as I both conceded her point and was amazed that she actually had a good idea for once. Perhaps she wasn’t as vapid as I’d once thought.

“I have to admit,” Geoff said, “as serious as this all is, I’m kind of excited. To get a peek into the Elites’ Fortress of Solitude. You wouldn’t believe the rumors that people spread about that room and what goes on in there.”

I smirked, shaking my head. “It’s a lot tamer than the stories make it out to be.”

By this time, the throngs moving past us had doubled, bringing with them the expected chorus of greetings and shout-outs that I was quickly growing tired of. If I had to be Benson High’s center of attention for the next eight months, I was going to lose my marbles.

Tabitha seemed just as annoyed by the attention, though for a different reason. Her nose crinkled in disgust and she shook her head. “I’m out, dorks. See you at the Clubhouse after next.” Then she turned around and sauntered off without so much as a backward glance.

“What stick got shoved up her butt?” Geoff murmured.

“My wish knocked her a few pegs down the social status ladder,” I commented as I waved to a pair of girls who both wanted to tell me just how much they loved my outfit. “All the attention directed at me only reminds her of what she lost.”

“I think I can understand that.”

Then I turned to look up at him. “That’s what I meant when I said wishes effect everyone. Sometimes detrimentally.”

He nodded again, looked away, then back to me. “What are we going to do. About us, I mean?”

“Us?” I asked, arching a brow.

Geoff shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. I know what you’re talking about. I also know what my use of the stone has done. To you, particularly. It’s just that they …” He gestured at the people walking past us.

I didn’t need to turn around to look. I saw exactly what he was trying to convey.

“They all remember Geoff Barnes and Pee-Jay Davenport being a couple.”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to make any assumptions. Or take advantage of a status I didn’t actually earn. It’s just that … I really like you.”

“It’s the magic,” I said, trying to keep my voice from sliding into a hurting tone. “Everyone wants me, Geoff. But only because of my big, fat mouth. If not for the stone, no one would want me. Trust me on that.”

“You never know,” he said softly. “Perhaps the real you isn’t as bad as you might think. Besides, I’m immune to the effects now, remember?”

I glanced up at him. “So, you’re saying you don’t want me anymore?”

His eyes widened and a sudden coughing fit overcame him for a few seconds. Then he recovered and shook his head. “No. That’s not it at all. I might not be, uh, as obsessed as I was this morning. You know, before my wish. However, that doesn’t change the fact that you are, to put it mildly, gorgeous. There isn’t a straight guy alive who wouldn’t desire to be your lover.”

My blush returned and I shrugged my shoulders. “Thank you, Geoff.”

He put his hand on my shoulder. “How about this? Let’s just try being friends. We can tell everyone that we … felt we were getting too serious, too fast. So we’re stepping back a bit. Reevaluating things.”

I nodded. “That sounds pretty good, actually. Sounds like something you might have used before.”

Now it was his turn to blush. “It’s a lot nicer than simply dumping someone publicly. Better for everyone all around.”

“Agreed,” I said. Then I pointed down the hallway. “I need to get going. Meet me at the rear of the sports complex right before sixth.”

He nodded, and I turned around and walked down the hallway toward my next class. British Literature. Despite the fact that my window for not being tardy was closing quickly, I had to force myself to move at any sort of decent pace.

I simply did not want to go.

Less than a week ago, I would have turned my nose up at the class itself. As far as Sam was concerned, the only British authors worth reading were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Even Dickens was a bit of a bore.

However, my opinion of the subject had been changed. By Lee. Not just because he was in the class, but because of the way talking about the authors and their works seemed to light up his face. I would have said it was as much his passion as playing football.

Now, the thought of sitting there, listening to Mr. Eastman talking about the things that used to bring him joy, was heart-aching.

My pain was exacerbated when I stepped into the class and saw he wasn’t there. The seat normally occupied by the boy who’d made me understand what love could really be was empty.

Did he not exist anymore? That seemed counterproductive to Tracy’s theory that the stone made the minimal amount of changes required to fulfill a wish. It was a more likely scenario that Lee Taylor, who apparently no longer played football, had a different class for fifth period now.

Probably with some other girls who all thought he was special.

Oh, god. What if he had a different girlfriend? I mean, the wish gave me a new boyfriend, didn’t it?

My heart seized, causing me to nearly collide with a lanky boy with bright red hair.

“Hey, Pee-Jay,” he said. “Sorry about that.”

Of course he was sorry. Because, heaven forbid, THE Pee-Jay be the one who bumped into him. Perish the thought.

I fought off my tears’ attempt to appear. I knew I couldn’t hold out forever, but I was not going to cry at school. My threat to Peter might have been mostly for effect, to strike the fear of a butt-load of beatings into his twisted mind. However, I knew that I hadn’t been completely bluffing.

A crying Pee-Jay would certainly be noticed. By everyone.

“It’s okay, Michael,” I said to the boy, flashing him my brightest smile. “Totally my fault. Wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Before the boy could refute my apology, I rushed past him and sat down in the seat located behind the hauntingly empty chair.

The tardy bell rang, and Mr. Eastman stood up from his desk. Straightening his tie, he looked out across the room.

“Good afternoon, class,” he said. “Today we will be finishing up with Coleridge’s opus. As previously pointed out by Mr. Franklin,” he gestured at the redhead I’d bowled into earlier. “the main message presented in the poem is that grievous sins can only be assuaged though the penance of humility and great suffering …”

“I suffered reading the thing,” mumbled a girl three seats ahead of me.

The rest of the class tittered, with even Mr. Eastman grinning. Unfortunately, I couldn’t summon the mirth to join in with their levity.

“Yes, Miss Black,” the teacher continued. “I’m sure many of your fellow classmates feel the same way. However, in regards to the work itself, it is not just physical or mental suffering the Mariner has to endure before his sins are wiped clean. There is also the spiritual suffering. Can anyone give me an example of what I mean?”

One boy raised his hand. “The Mariner has to see his dead shipmates lying around him. I mean, he is the reason they’re all dead, and he has to be reminded of that every time he looks at them.”

“Exactly. They are constant reminders that it was his sins that, indirectly, led to their lives ending.”

Georgina Black raised her hand. “That’s part of what I didn’t get. He made just a mistake, right? He only killed the albatross because he thought it was a bad bird. Why should he and all the rest be punished for a single mistake?”

Mr. Eastman smiled. “It wasn’t just a mistake, Miss Black. The Mariner killed the bird because it annoyed him. That was the sin of hate. However, when the fog cleared right after the Mariner’s deed, the crew immediately agreed with what he’d done. They made themselves guilty by association.” His eyes roamed across the faces before him. “Would any care to remind us of the Mariner’s other sin for which he had to serve penance?”

“Pride,” said a familiar voice that caused me to jerk in my seat and pop upright from where I’d been slouching.

Lee walked into the room, stopping to hand Mr. Eastman a folded slip of paper. The teacher took it, gave it a quick examination, then nodded to the boy next to him. Lee turned and made his way toward me, toward the empty seat I’d spent the past ten minute staring at.

He looked mostly the same as he had the previous evening.

His dirty blonde hair was a little longer in the back than before, and was styled in that messy way that only some guy could pull off naturally. He was smaller than his football player persona, though only by as much as could be expected from someone who didn’t constantly pump iron to maintain a physique designed to take gridiron hits. The build was closer to something you might see on a swimmer, actually.

His blue eyes were the same as those I’d enjoyed gazing into, though now they were tucked away behind a pair of round, wire-framed glasses. It took me a second of confusion as to why the magic would have bothered to alter Lee’s eyesight, then I remembered him commenting on his contacts during the drive home on Monday.

Guess non-athlete Lee preferred the lenses, and, honestly, so did I.

It wasn’t that they made him look smarter. I mean, Football Lee had been plenty smart. What they did, however, was make him look ‘studious’. One glance, and I knew the boy walking my way was the kind of person to be perfectly at home in a library or museum.

Not to say that he hadn’t enjoyed those things before. Maybe he had and we just never got around to talking about it.

He saw me staring at him and smiled, his face brightening significantly. For a second, my heart surged with the hope that, despite all odds, he remembered our lives before Geoffrey and Peter’s machinations.

Then I realized his expression was the same as the people I passed in the hall, and he slid causally into his seat, pulled his textbook from his bag, and turned his attention toward Mr. Eastman.

I … wanted … to … die.

Of course he didn’t remember anything about our relationship. Why would he? Now he was just another of the masses, liking me because I was Benson High’s darling. Not because of who I really was. Of who we’d been together.

The rest of the class was a blur of despair. I think Mr. Eastman called on me at one point, but I simply mumbled a half-hearted “I don’t know” and continued to lament the maliciousness of fickle fate.

When the bell finally rung, I didn’t even bother to move. I just sat there, staring at the closed book in front of me without really even seeing it. There was a part of me that actually began to despise having been turned into the girl I’d become. As miserable as I’d really been as Sam, it seemed better than what I was facing now.

Until the moment I saw him, I had tried to convince myself that I would be okay without Lee. I mean, think about it. I’d only known him for two days of real time. How could I possibly be this broken up over something so brief?

“Pee-Jay?”

I blinked and glanced up. Most of the class had filed out the door, but Lee stood in front of my desk, looking down at me. There was something soft and tender in his eyes.

“Huh?”

A small smile broke across his face like a spring sunrise. My heartbeat sped up automatically.

“I asked if you were planning on sitting through Mr. Eastman’s sixth period class too?”

It took a moment for his words to actually sink in. Then my face ignited as I scrambled to put my book back into my pack. “No. I, uh, was … thinking. About … stuff. Definitely stuff. Not you. I mean, not anyone actually. Just … stuff.”

I stood up, slinging the strap of my bag over my shoulder.

He arched a brow, continuing to stare at me. “Are you okay? You seemed a little distracted in class.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it and simply nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Well, see you tomorrow, I guess.” He turned around and walked to the front of the room. Right before stepping through the door, he glanced back one last time and gave me another warm smile.

Then he was gone. My heart went with him.

I departed the class and made my way to the nearest girls’ restroom, completely ignoring the people who spoke to me. There, I hid in one of the stalls until the bell for sixth period rang. Then I crept back out into the hall, checked for any roving teachers, and made my way to the exit.

Geoff was waiting for me behind the sports complex, per my instructions. As I approached, he flashed me a smile. I instantly compared it to the one I’d gotten from Lee, then kicked myself for doing so. Geoff already felt bad for breaking up me and Lee, no need to throw more guilt his way.

“Hey,” he said. “I thought maybe you weren’t going to show.”

I shook my head. “Mr. Eastman needed to see me for a few minutes after class,” I lied. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay, Pee-Jay,” he said. “I didn’t mind.”

God! Stop being so damned nice. Can’t you go back to being the smug, forward boy who met me for the first time with an ill-timed kiss and an ass groping? It would so much easier to dislike you that way.

I led him through the side door of the building and down the steps to the door of the Clubhouse. When I tried turning the knob, it rotated freely in my hand. I pulled it open and ushered the boy inside before following, locking the door behind me.

Charlie, Tabitha, and Tracy were already present. All of them look annoyed. Tabitha was probably pissed that we were late, and Charlie and Tracy were likely unhappy that they’d had to find out about Geoff and Peter from Tabitha. Rather than me.

Geoff looked from the three of them to me. “Those two used the stone?”

I sighed. I knew what his point was. If they’d used the wishing stone, why weren’t they attractive and popular?

“Don’t be rude,” I snapped, unable to keep my emotions under control.

Charlie rolled his eyes. “Not everyone wants to be an over-muscled jock.”

“That goes for you, too,” I said, cutting my glare in his direction. “If this is going to devolve into a snipe session, I’ll just go home and leave you four to play with each other.”

Tabitha smirked as she looked over at Tracy and Charlie. “I told you she was fired up. Maybe next time you’ll believe me.”

“Sorry,” Geoff said, more to me than to Charlie. “This day’s been completely different than what I expected.”

Before I could respond, Charlie nodded. “That’s the danger of playing with celestial magic,” he said, gesturing at the rest of us. “As we’ve all had the misfortune to discover.”

“Speak for yourself,” Tabitha said. “Other than getting replaced as co-captain, my experience with the stone has been just wonderful.”

Tracy started to take a step toward her former friend, hands balled into fists.

“What part of don’t be rude, did you not understand, Tabs?”

The blonde waved her hand dismissively. “Fine. I’ll keep my thoughts to myself, okay?”

“That would be a first,” Tracy mumbled.

I sighed, crossing over to one of the sofas and plopping down. “I give up,” I said. “I’m beginning to think that the damned stone specifically picked us as users. We’re exactly the petty, backstabbing, jealous type of people Invidia likes.”

Geoff cleared his throat. “So, uh, speaking of the stone…”

“It’s gone, isn’t it?” Charlie asked, looking completely unsurprised. “It’s not where you left it?”

Geoff shook his head. “It was in my locker. Wrapped up in an old towel. The towel is still there, but the stone …”

“It does that,” I added. “Moves around on its own. Apparently that she-bitch of a goddess doesn’t want it kept out of circulation for too long.”

“Easy with the deity-slamming,” Charlie said. “You don’t want to make things worse.”

I almost told him that things couldn’t get any worse. At least not for me. And if Invidia thought my blasphemy to be worthy of divine punishment, she’d be hard-pressed to find anything that could hurt me as badly as losing Lee.

“You said there were eight users,” Geoff said. “There are only five of us here. Peter’s in the infirmary, I think.”

“How hard did you kick him?” Charlie asked, glancing over at me with wide eyes. Guess it was a fair bet that he’d already discovered just how sensitive man-bits could be.

“Remember that time that Kara dared you to try kicking a football with a double-bounce high leg lift?” Tabitha asked him.

Charlie nodded. “The one where I nearly took off Jen’s head?”

Tabitha giggled evilly. “Yes. Well, about that hard.”

Geoff let his question drop as he looked over at me. “Did he …” he asked, pointing at Charlie. “Used to be a she?”

“It’s a long story,” I breathed.

Tracy shook her head. “Charlie used to be a cheerleader named Cindy. She and Sam made their wishes and it turned her into him.”

“Okay,” I said. “Maybe not that long.”

The larger boy nodded, still looking extremely lost. “And Sam would be …”

I raised my hand.

“It’s not short for Samantha, is it?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Geoffrey walked over and sat down on the sofa opposite mine. “So, wait … you’re telling me the hottest girl in the whole damned school used to be a guy? Is this what you meant when you said your wish was an accident?”

“Yep.”

“Who are the other wishers? What did they get?”

The four of us looked at each other for a moment, no one saying anything. Then Tabitha just shrugged and looked at Geoff.

“Jen Winters is one of the others. No clue who her partner was. Nor what she wished for, exactly.”

“However,” Charlie interrupted. “Since there seems to be some kind of twisted theme to the wishes, I believe she used the stone to make herself the head cheerleader. Though, you’d think someone who just got their wish granted wouldn’t be such a total pain in the tit.”

“Unless it didn’t work out the way they wanted,” Geoff said, glancing at me.

We spent the remaining portion of the hour bringing Geoff up to speed on everything we knew about the stone and its abilities. From him we learned that the stone had appeared in his backpack Tuesday afternoon. With a note attached that was similar to the one it had on it when Cindy brought it to my house.

Only, when we all scribbled down a few sentences, Geoff insisted that none of them matched the handwriting as he remembered it.

“It was blocky,” he said. “Like a guy’s writing.”

“How the hell can the thing keep vanishing and then showing up with a note taped to it?” Tabitha asked, exasperated. “Especially with different scripts. The words when I used it were written in cursive. Big, flowing letters.”

Charlie nodded. “Same here. Only not so fancy. A few of the I’s had little hearts over them.”

I stood up, grabbing my backpack. Over the course of the hour, my mood had continued to deteriorate. To the point where I’d attempted to remove each of the others heads at some point.

Geoff’s more than once.

“I’m going home,” I announced. Then I turned to look at Tabitha. “Congratulations, you’ve been reinstated as co-captain. For today, at least. Please try to not be a complete bitch to the whole squad.”

She shrugged on shoulder. “I’m not making any promises.” However, there was no trace of her usual sarcasm in her words. Perhaps she was just as confounded by recent events as the rest of us.

When I reached the door, Geoff hopped up and hurried over to me. “Pee-Jay? Or, do you prefer Sam?”

“Sam is gone, Geoffrey. Permanently. So, it’s just Pee-Jay.”

He nodded. “Look, I just wanted to …”

I held up my hand. “Please don’t say you’re sorry again. I can’t bear it.”

A frown formed on his face. “I mean, I just …”

“What part of don’t apologize again don’t you get?” My voice was louder than intended, bringing the attention of the other three our way.

I gave them a hard stare, then turned back to Geoff. “Look, I get it. You made a wish and now you see what it did. You’re feeling guilty. Good. You should be.” He opened his mouth and I put my hand over it, stopping him from speaking. “I’m trying to forgive you. I keep telling myself that, like what I did, you spoke your desire without thinking. Most of which was due to my own mangled wish. You with me so far?”

He nodded, looking a little ridiculous with my hand pressed against his lips.

“However … every time you tell me how sorry you are about it, I get slapped in the face with the reminder of what got changed. I can’t move on with that constantly happening. So please, please, please, please, stop it.” My vision blurred a bit as my tears tried, once again, to form. “Okay? Just … stop.”

Geoff’s face fell, his eyes growing morose and somber. Then he nodded his head, and reached up and pulled my hand from his mouth.

“Okay.” Was all he said.

I stepped through the door without looking back or saying anything to the others. I hurried up the steps and toward the building’s exit.

“Peej?” Sarah called from behind me.

I spun around, dabbing at my eyes as I did. She was standing a dozen or so feet away, still dressed in her gym attire.

“Sarah,” I said, fighting against the tremor in my voice. “I …”

“Are you okay?” she asked, glancing over at the stairs leading down to the Clubhouse for second before looking back to me.

I started to nod, then shook my head. “No. Not really.”

She took a couple of steps toward me. “Do you want to go somewhere and talk about it?”

I smiled, not because I felt better, but because she was willing to put the rest of her day on hold to be my confidant. It reminded me of how close Cindy and I had been once. Before all the popularity crap raised its ugly head.

“I would, but I think I’m going to just go home. I need some time by myself to think.”

She nodded, stopping her advance. “Okay. I completely understand. I’ll catch a ride home with Kara.”

Crap! I forgot to talk to Chad for her at lunch. I’d been too preoccupied with Geoff’s sudden appearance and my instantly overwhelming desire to put a stop to Peter.

“Sarah, about talking to Chad …”

She waved her hand. “It’s okay. He’ll calm down in a day or two.”

“I’m really sorry.” I felt even worse than before, having realized that I’d let my best friend down.

She smiled. “It’s okay, Peej. Honest. Go.” She said it with a note of compassion, not disappointment. “If you need to talk to someone after you think, please call me. No matter what time it is.”

I nodded. “I will.”

I almost walked over to hug her for being such a kind and understanding friend. I didn’t, though, because I knew the moment I did, the torrential downpour waiting in my eyes would break loose.

I exited the building and walked as fast as I could across the campus to my vehicle. I drove home, keeping my speed below the limit. Mainly due to the fact that my watering eyes couldn’t see more than a few hundred feet past the windshield.

Both of my parents’ cars were home. Guess Daddy decided to not stay late at the office. I climbed out of the Jeep and checked my appearance in the mirror. I didn’t look like my normally bright, chipper self. But I also didn’t look like I was next in line for the hangman’s noose. Drawing a deep breath, I strode to the back door and went into the house.

There were a couple of pots on the stove, giving off a delicious, savory aroma that made my stomach churn unhappily. I quickly crossed the room and out into the hallway, seeking to escape the nauseating smells of what I knew would be a wonderful dinner.

“Is that you, Pumpkin?” Daddy called from the small room down the hall that served as his home office.

“Yes,” I said, quickly poking my head in the doorway to see him sitting behind a desk staring at the triple row of monitors in front of him.

He nodded, giving me the briefest of glances before going back to reviewing multiple spreadsheets. “How was school?”

A complete and utter disaster that I’m seriously considering never experiencing again.

“It was fine,” I lied.

“That’s good.” He said, though his attention was already recaptured by the data.

I went upstairs to my room, not bothering to hang my bag on the back of my chair. Instead, I let it simply drop to the floor, kicked off my shoes, and threw myself face-down on the bed. The sheets beneath my nose smelled only of my body wash. Not even Lee’s musky aroma remained.

I didn’t know if that was good or bad.

I lay there for a long time, staring at the darkness before me. So wrapped up was I in my own misery, I didn’t notice that my mom had come into the room until I felt the bed next to me shift under her weight and her hand rest lightly on the small of my back.

“Hello, sweetie,” she said in a soft voice. “Bad day?”

I nodded, still pressing my forehead into the comforter.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

I paused, mulling her offer over. When Sarah had asked me, I had refused. Mostly because my nerves were far too raw to engage in any sort of meaningful conversation. Plus, if Sarah was the type of friend I figured she was, she would try to “fix” the problem. If for no other reason than to try to help me.

However, my mom … Penny’s mom … might be just the right sounding board I needed at the moment. So long as I could refrain from babbling about magic stones and altered realities.

Slowly, I rolled over and sat up, pulling my legs beneath me on the bed.

“I guess so,” I said, tentatively accepting her offer.

She reached down and took both of my hands into hers as she looked into my eyes.

“It’s a boy, isn’t it?” She asked, before I could say anything.

I nodded, looking down at our joined hands. “Yeah,” I said, my voice trembling on the edge of cracking.

She nodded. “Is it Geoffrey? Or someone else?”

I stiffened for a moment. Then realized that, thanks to that morning’s wish, Geoff was my boyfriend. He had been for a while. So, of course, my mother would know who he was. I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

“Both, actually. Things with Geoff are, uh, a little strained. Right now. But there’s this other boy. In one of my classes …” I trailed off, looking back up at her.

“Do you like this boy?”

I nodded. “A lot.”

“More than you like Geoffrey?”

“Yeah. He’s … I feel like he understands me. Or did. He might not anymore.”

She smiled, the expression I knew from past experience to mean that she was empathizing with my problem, but was going to only provide moral support. Any conclusions I came to would be all my own.

She’d done the same thing with Sam when he was younger.

“What makes you think he doesn’t get you anymore? If you believe that’s the case, surely you have some clue as to why he’s changed.”

I’ll take Stupid Magic Rocks for a thousand, Alex.

“He just has. I mean, he’s still nice and friendly. Plus, I can tell he’s still the caring and compassionate person he was yester … uh, before. I just don’t think he’s interested in me like that anymore. I mean, I should be grateful that he’s still as much of himself as he used to be. Right? I just wish …”

I stopped, feeling a splash of ice form in my blood stream and a lead weight drop into my stomach. How many times did I, or anyone for that matter, use that simple, throw-away phrase. With absolutely no regard for the havoc getting their desire could cause.

“I would just like things to be different.”

She nodded. “Fair enough, sweetie. Tell me about Geoffrey? Was there something he did, or didn’t do, that made you decide that you’d be with this other boy rather than him? I mean, you seemed so happy this morning.” Her lips parted into the type of wry, amused smile that only a mother could express. “During our discussion about the previous evening.”

Oh god. No! I hoped she was talking about something, anything, other than the morning’s “talk” that occurred in the prior reality. Surely Geoff and I hadn’t done the exact same thing as Lee and I. A different boy meant a different event. Right?

Although, I had to admit the stone seemed to make the minimal amount of changes.

“I was. Sort of. But today …” I pulled my hands free from hers and flopped backward onto the bed. I draped my arm across my face. “I feel like I’ve lost everything.”

“Penelope Jean, if you are going to be melodramatic, I’m going to leave.” She put her hand on my leg. “I’m simply trying to understand how you went from your claims of love for Geoffrey this morning to going totally Ophelia over this other boy.”

I sighed and pulled my arm away from my nose, turning my head to look at her. “Ophelia?”

She shook her head. “From Hamlet? Really! What is Mr. Eastman teaching in that class of his?”

“Rime of the Ancient Mariner at the moment,” I replied. Then I slowly sat back up. “I don’t know if I’m in love with Geoff. mom. I mean, maybe I did, once, but I sort of feel like he’s turned into this complete stranger I don’t even really know.”

If that wasn’t close to the truth of the matter, I didn’t know what else could be.

“I see,” she said, sounding just the slightest bit skeptical. Not that I blamed her. “Now you think you might be in love with this boy from your class?”

“Maybe. I don’t know that either. I mean, he said … sort of, that he loved me. Once. And it made me really happy.”

“Now he doesn’t love you?” She reached over and ran her fingers down the side of my head, stroking my hair.

I closed my eyes, savoring the sensation. Memories, distant and faint, bobbed beneath the surface of my thoughts. Mom doing this when I was younger and upset. Before Sam put up that wall of indifference and apathy. If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have said that our relationship, as it existed, was perfect. She stayed pretty much out of my life, and I liked it that way. Now, my emotions in turmoil and my heart on the verge of being a shattered mess, I craved that comfort that mom was all too happy to give me.

Just another realization that life as Penelope was preferable to a life as Sam.

“Sweetie,” she said as she continued to pet my head. “It’s not my place to tell you what to do. You’re a young woman now, which means the choices in your life are going to be harder than when you were a girl. What I will do, however, is give you some advice. Advice I hope will be helpful.”

I opened my eyes, looking into hers. “What advice?”

“You can rarely go wrong with listening to your heart. However, that doesn’t mean that your heart is right all of the time. So, if your brain and your heart are in conflict, especially when it comes to matters of romance, I advise you to take a step back from the situation and let things develop as they may.”

“So, just ignore the way I feel toward Lee? Or don’t feel toward Geoff?”

“Lee, huh?” Mom smiled slightly. “Thank goodness we don’t have to refer to him as ‘the boy’ any longer. That was getting exhausting.”

I couldn’t stop myself from returning her smile. It was infectious. “Sometimes I refer to him in my head as Hottie McTaylor. But we should probably stick to calling him ‘Lee’.”

Her smile turned into a little laugh. “I see. But, yes. Take a step back, ignore your feelings for a bit while you examine both young men and determine what it is, logically, that you find attractive about each of them. Then compare it with what your heart says. I promise you’ll find your answer that way.”

I sighed, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll try that. It’s just hard, you know? All these new emotions and attractions. Not really used to them.”

She stopped petting my head and lowered her hand to my arm. “This is where I tell you that you’ll eventually get used to the war that can form between your head and your heart. Unfortunately, you’ll never be completely used to it. Even when you get as old as I am.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are not old, mom. You’re beautiful and wise. Like Yoda, only less green and wrinkled.”

She laughed at that, covering her mouth with her other hand. “Well, thank goodness for that. I’d hate to see what Yoda would look like in one of my slinky dresses.”

Removing her hand, she unfurled her legs and stood up next to the bed. She rose onto her toes, stretching her calves to relieve the discomfort from having sat for so long. As she did, I took a moment to study her. Actually see her, for the first time in years.

She was still dressed in the gray wool business skirt she’d worn to the office. The light blue blouse was unbuttoned at the very top, revealing her throat and just the barest hint of womanly cleavage. Her legs were almost as toned as my own, due to her spending most of her day on her feet, moving from one examination room to the other. Despite being over forty, the years had been more than kind. With the right attire and makeup, she could easily be mistaken for a woman a decade younger.

As I looked at her, I realized that there was a lot of her in me. Penny me, that is. We had the same shade of chestnut brown hair, though hers was several inches longer. Our noses were nearly identical, and our chins. Her eyes, however, were a light hazel color. The green in my own were courtesy of my father.

She stopped stretching and looked over at me, arching a brow. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said, my cheeks growing warm.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Just wondering if I’m going to be as beautiful as you when I get your age.”

She laughed. “Sweetie, you are going to be far more lovely. You’re already so beautiful now.”

Yes. I’m beautiful now. Thanks to a goddess’ magic stone. But you should have seen me as a guy. None of your genes made it through to him. Then, of course, neither did any of dad’s. It was like it took me becoming a girl to stop looking like an ugly troll.

She walked toward the door. “Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes. If you feel up to eating.”

A sudden urge slammed into me, sending me scrambling off the bed and rushing over to catch her before she left the room. I threw my arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.

Caught off guard, she gave a little squeak of surprise, then wrapped her arms around my back, stroking down my spine.

“I love you, mom,” I said, actually meaning it this time. Not that I hadn’t loved her as Sam. Or in the past two days as Penelope. It was just that, after our girl talk, I realized that I’d let some of that love slip away from me.

“I love you too, Penelope.” She kissed the top of my head. “Now, let me go pry your father away from his financial reports so he can help me finish making dinner.”

I reluctantly released her, and when she’d stepped out into the hall, closed the door behind her. Returning to the bed, I grabbed my phone and flopped down on my back.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed my finger against the sensor on the back, unlocking the screen. The wallpaper that appeared was still the same image of Sarah and I that had been there since I’d awoken as a teenaged girl. I thumbed through the apps until I reached the photo gallery. I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them as I tapped on the icon.

The screen became a montage of thumbnailed photos, arranged in reverse chronological order. I selected the most recent, watching as the image jumped forward to fill up the screen.

It was a picture of Geoff and I at Jacob’s party. The pool in the background caught the light and created a starburst-like halo around our heads. Geoff’s arm was extending out of the frame, indicating that he’d been the one holding the phone. His other arm was around my waist, and we both had huge, happy smiles on our faces.

I also noticed that the lavender bikini had been replaced by the skimpier red and white one. I guess the Penny that Geoff’s wish had created was a bit more daring than I was.

To say it was a bit freaky was an understatement. I mean, when I’d perused my photos on Monday, it was odd to see all the things that Penny had done that I had absolutely no memory of. However, it paled with seeing an image from an event I had perfect clarity of, that showed a couple that hadn’t even existed.

Hell, no wonder Jen kept losing her shit whenever someone made a wish. I was thrown into a tizzy after a single reality change. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to deal with three. Or more.

I sighed and scrolled backward through time using the photo gallery. The earliest picture of Geoff and I together looked like it was taken at my birthday. Granted, there were pictures of us before that, but never looking like a couple. Just us hanging around the our friends. The birthday photo, however, left no doubt to the status of our relationship.

The person who’d taken the pictures was unknown. Though, if I had to guess, it had been Sarah, considering she wasn’t in very many of the three dozen or so shots. I scrolled through them, forming a jump-cut movie of the event.

We were at my house, downstairs in the dining room. The entire squad, including Jen, was there. All of us dressed like we were on our way out to go clubbing. Mom came in with a cake which read “Happy 17th, Penelope.”

Figures.

I blew out the candles. Everyone was laughing about something. Well, everyone but me. I had my hand over my face and I could see Daddy standing behind me in the doorway. Not hard to guess he’d said something rather embarrassing.

Then we were all filing out the door toward a huge, black, stretch limo parked at the curb. The driver as an older guy, probably in his earlier thirties of middle eastern descent wearing the stereotypical uniform of a chauffeur. There was one shot with Kara on one side of him and me on the other. Both of us making kissy faces at the camera.

A few shots of the ten of us crammed into the expansive interior. The only one who didn’t seem to be having the time of her life was Jen. Oh, she still smiled at the lens, but the shots where she wasn’t the focus showed her with her trademarked scowl.

The next several were us in front of a Japanese restaurant I recognized. One of those super expensive places where they cook the food in front of you. There were a pair of shots taken with us gathered around a gigantic jade lion. Sarah was next to me in this one, so I guess she’d asked someone else to snap the picture.

Then we were in a large, private room with half the football team, some guys I think played basketball, and five or six other people from school. All in all, there were nearly thirty people gathered there.

I froze on the next set of photos which showed me sitting at one of the cooking tables. The seat on my right was empty, but the next on over held Chad. On my left, though, sat Geoff. He had his arm draped across the back of my seat, leaning to the side so that our shoulders were only a few inches apart, smiling at the camera.

Then we were turned in our seats, looking at each other. There was a serious expression on both of our faces.

Next was us smiling widely at each other. Our eyes locked firmly on those of the other.

Then … bam! Geoff had his hand on one of my shoulders, the other cupping my chin. Our lips were pressed tightly together, and the curve of my jaw left no doubt to the intensity of the kiss.

The next two were of us holding hands, me turned to say something to Chad, who was grinning like the cat who ate the canary. Geoff, despite being turned in the same direction, wasn’t looking at Chad. Or the camera.

He was looking at me. In both of the photos, my attention was directed toward someone else. His was focused solely on me. I knew the look in his eyes in both of the pictures. I’d seen it before.

In Lee’s.

I closed the gallery, sighing as I tried to process the reality behind the memories I didn’t have. Geoff’s wish had turned us into a sickeningly sweet couple. Although neither of us had really been present, the Geoff and Penny everyone else knew had been together for the better part of five months.

There were a lot of other photos of us that I had only skimmed past. A whole lot. From what I’d glimpsed, we seemed to be really happy together. In love, even. The problem? It wasn’t us. I’d never gone to that restaurant for my seventeenth birthday. Never celebrated with the Raiderettes, nor shared a passionate kiss with Geoffrey Barnes.

Sam had actually spent the day in his room, alternating between playing WOW and watching The Empire Strikes Back for the umpteenth time.

The evidence to the contrary was immortalized by the phone in my hand. Creating my philosophical quandary. My existential dilemma.

Was that truly me in those pictures? Was it Geoff? Just because I hadn’t lived through them the first time didn’t mean they weren’t real. Like Morpheus told Neo, “How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”

I felt like Penny. I had her emotions and feelings and thoughts. Most of the time. So didn’t that make me truly her? And if we are the sum of what we’ve experienced, then the Penny I was now had to have been shaped somewhat by her past. Regardless of the source of that past.

I groaned, closing my eyes and pressing my hands against my temples. The logic loop was threatening to make my brain shut down. I didn’t want to have to ponder the validity of my existence. Or my romantic relationships.

You fell for Lee because he was there, Sam’s voice said in a tone one might take with a child. When you became Penny, the two of you had already been attracted to each other for years. You didn’t try fighting that reality then. So why are you rebelling so hard against this new one? Is it because, unlike Lee, Geoff knows you aren’t really the girl everyone else thinks you are?

Before I could scream at myself to shut up, the phone in my hand buzzed. Without hesitation, or bothering to look at the screen, I pressed my thumb instinctively on the green phone icon.

“Hello?” I said, putting the device next to my ear.

“It’s about damned time you answered,” Jen’s voice snarled into my ear. “I don’t appreciate being ignored. Especially by the likes of you."

A Wish Unwanted – Part 16
by Limbo’s Mistress.

I sat upright on the bed, my heart leaping into my throat as I cursed myself for not screening the call. While I harbored no delusions that I could avoid the Ice Queen forever, I was at least hoping to get another whole day of freedom before her return.

“Jen,” I said, trying to shake off the heavy thoughts that had been occupying my mind and get my head back into the game. “Uh, how’s Michigan?”

“Spare me the small talk, Davenport,” she snapped. “I’ve been calling you and Stevens all day. Neither of you obviously felt obligated to call me back. Fortunately, Melissa was more than happy to talk to me. Guess she’s hoping to garner a little extra credit with me.” She laughed. “Could be a new co-captain in the near future.”

“I don’t care about that, and you know it.”

“No, I guess you probably don’t. Isn’t stopping you from living it up, is it? Amazing how easily you fall back into your old habits.”

I arched a brow in response. “What old habits?”

She paused for a second, as if mulling over her response. “Being a completely worthless pain in my ass.”

I sighed. “Is this a social call, Jennifer? Or are you calling because you know someone used the stone and you want to know what changed?”

“That was the purpose of my call at eight this morning,” she said, sounding extremely pissed off. “However, I have already figured out most of what has been altered. Seems your little boy toy is not yours any more. Not that I would be complaining if I were you. Geoffrey seems to be more … rugged. I bet he could get a girl’s motor really running hot.”

I clenched my jaw. On top of everything else, I didn’t need to go down the imaginary yellow brick road leading to the place where I began to wonder if Geoff was as talented with his mouth as Lee.

“He’s yours if you want him,” I said, doing my best to sound disinterested in the topic.

“I’m good, thanks. It’s this Peter McDonald that has my curiosity piqued. Melissa mentioned Chad and Sarah were having a spat. When I inquired as to the nature of it, hoping it was over you, she mentioned that Strand had taken a break from Jacob’s party last night to gobble on this Peter’s knob.” She laughed that arrogant laugh again, making me want to kick her between the legs, too. “What did he do, wish her to be a total slut?”

“He made himself irresistible to the females at our school. All of them. The backwards effect is the reason why Miss LaCroix is in prison, rather than teaching French.”

“Really?” Another malicious giggle. “I mean, I’m sorry to hear about that.”

“I hate you,” I spat. “As bad as I thought you were before I used the stone, you’re actually so much worse.”

“Is that so? Well, let me clue you in on this little factoid, Samantha.” I could hear the sneer as she feminized my former self’s name. “I’m only what other people have made me.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“We are all products of our past. The stone doesn’t really change what we are.”

“Oh, so you were an evil, heartless bitch before you made your wish?” I laughed humorlessly. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Close. I became what I am because of other people. All the stone did was give me the ability to even the scales.”

I didn’t respond immediately. Instead, I tried to piece together her boasts. She obviously used the wishing stone to make herself better than everyone else. But, if I could take half of what she said at face value, she didn’t do it strictly to boost her popularity. She did it out of revenge. A shudder ran through me as that thought segued into another.

When she used her wish to lift herself up, it forced someone else down.

“Who did you wish with?” I asked. Perhaps if I knew with whom she’d made her pact, I could figure out exactly what they’d changed.

“None of your business,” she said, in a venomous tone.

“Then we have nothing further to discuss,” I said, making my own voice flat.

“That’s what you think. However, I’m more than happy to postpone our chat until we see each other on Friday.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but then decided that the best way to end the conversation, and piss her off to no end, was to simply move my thumb over the “end” button and hang up on her.

I honestly expected her to call right back. Either because she felt the need to rail at me about cutting her off or else was stupid enough to think that we’d accidentally been disconnected. Grumbling, I tossed the phone onto my pillow and flopped back onto the bed.

Even though I would have rated the conversation with Jen to be just short of a dumpster fire, I had to admit that it did wonders for breaking me out of my mental sudoku about what to do with Geoff and Lee. I would make the smart choice and listen to my mom.

By not overthinking it.

At dinner, I managed to field all of Daddy’s questions about my day without breaking down or turning into a mumbling mess. Mom tensed up at first, but I gave her a little smile and a nod to let her know I was feeling somewhat better since our talk. Fortunately, as soon as dinner was over, Daddy quickly helped mom clear the table, then retreated to the living room so he could catch the last half of the baseball playoff game.

While the two of us wrapped up leftovers and loaded the dishwasher, Mom cut her eyes over at me.

“Crisis averted?” she asked.

I nodded. “For the moment. I think you were right that I need to just step back, completely evaluate everything with regards to Lee and Geoff, then make a decision.”

She smiled. “Just as long as you remember that you have four choices in total.”

“Four?”

She held up a finger, the tip covered in soapy suds. “You can decide to stay with Geoff.” She raised another finger. “You can decide to go for Lee.” Another finger, this one less sudsy ascended. “You can decide to date someone who is neither of those two.” A final digit went up. “Or you can decide to date no one.”

I smirked. “I’m the co-captain of the cheer team, Mom. I have to be dating someone.”

She arched a brow. “Oh, is that a new rule for being a Raiderette? Because I certainly don’t remember it during my tenure in the red and black uniform.”

I blinked, suddenly remembering that my parents had both attended Benson High back in the day. Given how my mother looked now, I found it more than easy to assume she would have been one of the Elite during her final two years there.

Sam hadn’t given it a second thought. However, it was a fair bet that Penny and her mom would have talked about it. More than once, even.

Luckily, she had turned back to sink while speaking, which meant she didn’t get to see the shocked look on my face. Nor the recovery that turned it into a small grin.

“No? Then it’s probably just another one of Jen’s stupid made-up rules.”

She sighed. “Are you two fighting again? I swear, you and Jennifer Winters have been at each other’s throat since you were in middle school.”

I shrugged, turning around to put several plates into the lower rack of the dishwasher. Jen and Sam had attended the same middle school, true. However, I don’t think I even knew who she was back then. It wasn’t until we got to high school, and her relentless campaign against me started, that I noticed her. Guess both of us being girls now had resulted in our mutual dislike starting earlier.

“Not really fighting,” I said, looking over at her. “Just differing ideologies.”

She nodded skeptically. “Differing ideologies?” she asked, arching a brow.

I nodded with mock enthusiasm. “Yep. See, I think she’s a total bitch, but she doesn’t believe it.”

“Penelope Jean,” she said, shaking her head. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.” Then she smirked. “Even if it is true.”

After everything from dinner had been put away and cleaned, I returned to my room and worked on French and British Lit. Mr. Andrews almost never gave us any homework, and there was no such thing as homework for Phys. Ed.

I only managed about thirty minutes of French. Every time I tried memorizing, or translating, a phrase, the voice I kept hearing in my head was Miss LaCroix’s. Eventually I simply gave up and moved on to the assignment from Mr. Eastman.

Chapters one through four of “Emma” by Jane Austin.

I moved from the desk to my bed with the book. At first, I found the prose to be slightly tedious, but as I moved through the chapters, I began to feel a connection with the characters, particularly Jane.

Just as I was reaching the end of the assigned reading, my phone rang again. Putting the book aside, I picked it up and saw that it was Charlie.

“Hey,” I said as I answered. “Sorry about bailing on you guys today.”

“It’s fine,” he replied. “Really. I could tell you were really upset. I’m just surprised you didn’t take off sooner.”

“I should have just sucked it up and stuck around. Did you guys figure anything else out?”

“Not really,” he said, sighing. “After you bolted, Geoff sort of just moped. I guess because of what you said. Then Tabitha said something asinine to him, so he left. Which pissed Tracy off, so she took that moment to give Tabitha a world of shit about the effects of their wish.”

“Jesus,” I breathed. “And you stuck around for all of that?”

“Not by choice. I just had the feeling that, without me there to referee, those two would end up killing each other.”

“I’ll put my money on Tracy any day,” I said, unable to hold in a small laugh. “Jen called me this evening.”

“Oh? Let me guess. She’s all in a twist because things are happening here and she’s not around to be in charge?”

“Something like that,” I said. “I tried to get her to tell me about her wish. But she wasn’t having any of it. Oh! She also tried to blow off her bitchy nature by saying that she was only that way because of other people. Can you imagine being so vain that you can’t even take ownership of being a complete bitch?”

“Would you?” he asked.

“Well, first of all, I wouldn’t be so damned mean to people. However, if I was, I would definitely own it. If you’re going to act like the evil queen, you should at least have the stones to wear the crown.”

“I think I liked you better when you did all your cackling over grid maps and dice,” he said.

“Don’t worry,” I promised. “I plan to only use my abilities for good. Not evil.”

“Tell that to my halfling sorcerer you dropped a dragon on.”

The memory of that session made me giggle. “The warning on the tomb was perfectly clear. Not my fault you decided to open the door anyway.”

“It was clear to anyone who could read Primordial. Sansa the Majestic didn’t have that particular skill.”

We both laughed at his comment and then I heard him sigh.

“Can I say something without you freaking out?”

“No promises.” I replied.

“You seem to be really settled in. After just a couple of days. It’s a little scary.”

I laughed. “Me? What about you? Are you saying you’re not getting the hang of Charlie’s life?”

“Yes and no,” he said, the tone in his voice turning serious. “It’s slowly growing on me, but I keep having to remind myself that I’m now a guy. How I sit and move sometimes comes off as very effeminate. If not for the fact that people know it’d make you mad, I think they’d be spreading rumors that I was gay.”

“Well, take it from a former guy, you’re doing just fine. If I didn’t know you weren’t born that way, I’d swear you were.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

“Welcome, Cindy.”

We spoke for another ten minutes or so, then I heard Charlie’s mom call for him to come take out the trash. After we said our goodbyes, I went down the hall to take a shower and brush my teeth. When I was done, I spent a good ten minutes examining myself in the mirror. Well, smiling, actually.

I kept trying to duplicate the smile I’d seen plastered all over Penny’s face in those birthday photos. Especially the one she’d been wearing while holding Geoff’s hand. However, every attempt looked totally fake or forced. As if the expression had been one born of such complete happiness that it was impossible to replicate under different conditions.

There was no doubt that the girl in those pictures had really been ecstatic in Geoff’s presence. Had I worn that same smile when I had been with Lee? I wanted to say yes. Unequivocally. However, I couldn’t.

Lee had made me smile lots of times, no question about that fact. But without visual confirmation, I couldn’t be completely sure any of them had looked like the one Geoff brought out in that alternate Penny.

I shook the two boys from my thoughts. Or at least tried to. Back in my room, I slipped into a clean pair of sleep shorts, navy blue this time, and tossed on an oversized t-shirt with a faded Atari logo on the front.

My closet got a momentary glance, but the stress of the day had teamed up with the scalding spray of the shower to sap every ounce of my energy. I decided I’d make a decision about my wardrobe in the morning.

Climbing into bed, I flipped off the light, and promptly passed out.

I awoke feeling groggy and irritable. My dreams had been jumbled, absurd, and disturbing, but I really couldn’t remember a whole lot of the details. I knew Jen had played a big part in them. As had Geoff.

Seems I couldn’t get a break from either of them, even in sleep.

I debated just taking the day off. The idea of not having to deal with adoring masses, bickering stone-users, or my romantic entanglements was totally appealing. Unfortunately, mom wouldn’t go for it. She would know exactly why I was trying to avoid school, and would remind me that I was a big girl now. One who couldn’t just run away from her problems.

Oh, mom. If you only knew.

Sighing, I threw back the covers and forced myself to get up. For about fifteen minutes, I stood in the doorway of the open closet, mentally chastising myself for not having already picked something to wear. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned at the rows of clothing before me.

As if a stern enough look would make the right outfit magically leap off the hanger.

Part of me suggested that I totally dress down. Ratty jeans and a dorky t-shirt. Since I was currently wearing one featuring a vintage game company, surely Penny still had others. Left over from her more-nerdy days. If not, I knew I could simply call Charlie and have him either run one over or bring with him so I could change at school.

A grin formed on my face at the thought of the look on people’s faces as Pee-Jay Davenport strolled down the hall in ripped jeans and a faded Blue Sun tee. It would be a seriously marked change from her usual, ultra-stylish attire.

The grin quickly vanished, however, the second I realized that no one would care. No matter what I wore, or how I looked, everyone would still want me. Because, as Cinderella once discovered, magic trumps wardrobe.

I finally accepted the fact that I was going to have to finally make a decision or just go to school in my sleep clothes. Stomping my foot, I reached out and pulled down a dark burgundy sweater dress with a crew neck and long sleeves. Turning to the left, I held the outfit against my body and looked at my reflection.

The hem of the dress fell to just above my knees and the first thought that went through my still sleepy brain was that the dark red color really made my green eyes pop and paired well with my dark brown hair.

The second thought that popped in to replace the admiration of how the dress looked was the idle wonder if Lee would think it looked good on me. Or maybe Geoff?

I froze, staring incredulously at the girl looking back at me. Was she that confused about what she wanted? Really that torn between two boys? I mean, it was bad enough how quickly Penny’s feelings for Lee had overrun my former male sensibilities. Yeah, he was handsome and kind and funny. Not to mention that superior tongue action. When we’d been together, it had been all too easy to forget that I’d ever been that dorky, friendless guy.

As for Geoff, I kept telling myself that any appearance he made in my thoughts was only because of the wish he’d made. Adamant that whatever feelings I might experience weren’t real. They were just something the magic had done to me.

I stared at the dress in my hands again. Now I doubted if I really wanted to wear it. Despite the fact that I found it completely gorgeous and knew it would look great on me.

“Penelope!” Mom called from downstairs. “Are you awake?”

Sighing, I walked over to the bedroom door and opened it. “Yes! Just getting dressed.”

“Okay. I’m leaving early for a meeting before the office opens,” she replied. “I put some coffee in your thermos and baked fresh cinnamon rolls. Have a good day.”

“You too,” I said, waiting until I heard the front door open and close before shutting my own.

I resigned myself to just going with my original selection and styled my hair and did my makeup. I had just slipped into a pair of black panties when my phone rang. It was Sarah.

“Hey, Peej,” she said when I answered. “Are you almost ready? I wanted to get to school a bit earlier than usual today.”

“Still getting dressed,” I said, switching the phone to speaker mode so I could put it down and rummage around for a pair of tights. “I didn’t sleep too well last night so I’m running a bit slow this morning.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll pick you up then. See you in about ten.” Then she hung up before I could protest.

When the other Raiderette knocked on the back door and opened it to step inside, I was already in the kitchen, finishing one of the fresh pastries. In addition to the sweater dress and tights, I’d picked out a pair of knee-high black suede boots with a two-inch heel.

The funny thing was that I had put on the boots, bounced down the stair, and moved back and forth across the kitchen floor at least a dozen times before I suddenly became cognizant of the fact that I wasn’t stumbling or tottering in the elevated footwear at all.

I wondered if I could slap on a pair of stilettos and dance flawlessly. I was pretty sure Penny could. Which meant I could, too.

“Hey, girl,” Sarah said as she closed the door behind her.

“Hey,” I responded, gesturing at the steaming carafe and plate of rolls on the counter. “Help yourself.”

She shook her head, then walked over to sit down at the table. “I didn’t see your mom’s car. Has she already left for work?”

I nodded, plopping down across from her with a nearly finished mug of java in my hand.

“I think she was meeting with the P.A.s and other doctors before the office opened.”

She nodded, a small frown forming on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, reaching for her hand. “Is it Chad?”

She shook her head, drawing her hand back before I could touch it. “No. It’s not Chad.”

I put the mug down, then moved both of my hands down to my lap. Sam might be an almost completely idiot about girls and girlish feelings, but even a glass-less Velma could see the writing on my best friend’s face. She was hurting … because of me.

Who knew this body came with that infamous of superpowers, woman’s intuition.

“Sarah,” I said in a soft voice. “What did I do?” When she tilted her head, I shrugged. “You’re mad at me. Or disappointed, maybe. All I know is that you’re unhappy and it’s due to something I’ve done.”

She sighed. “You … .” Then she stopped bit down on her lower lip, as if arranging the words in her mind before continuing. “Am I still your best friend?”

I blinked, my mouth dropping open for a second. Then I closed it and nodded emphatically. “Yes, you are. Why?”

“You pretty much blew me off a Jacob’s party.” She held up her hand. “Yes, I know you claim it was because Charlie wanted your advice about how to get Tracy to like him. Or something. But that doesn’t explain why Tabitha was with you three.”

“Well,” I said as I scrambled for an explanation that didn’t make me sound like a candidate for one of those cute white jackets with sleeves that tied in the back. “Tabitha …”

She shook her head. “No. Please don’t lie. If you’d rather hang out with Tabs, Charlie, and Tracy, just say so.”

“What are you talking about? You’re my best friend,” I insisted. “I just needed to … talk to the three of them at the party. Alone. It was private stuff I really can’t share with anyone.”

She shrugged. “That might make sense. You know, if the four of you hadn’t also met yesterday in the Clubhouse. With Geoff.” She shook her head. “The same Geoff that, according to Mark, you broke up with at lunch yesterday.”

“I didn’t break up with Geoff,” I countered. “I … we … just decided to take a bit of a break. Cool things down a bit.”

“Cool things down? Give me a break, Pee-Jay.” She looked like she was about to roll her eyes, then changed her mind. “You’ve been drooling over Geoffrey Barnes since the beginning of junior year. If not for the fact that he was dating that skank from Central at the time, you would have jumped him then.”

Ever find yourself in an absurd situation and wonder “could this possibly get any more messed up”? That’s where I was the moment the words came out of Sarah’s mouth.

Thanks to Invidia’s magic rock, Penny hadn’t drooled over Lee for years, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Instead, her attraction had been directed at Geoff, with the two of them actually entering into a serious relationship several months ago. I suddenly found myself thankful that my new beau didn’t have any more memories about our being together than I did. There would be absolutely no chance of bluffing my way through that field of landmines.

“Are you really in love with Charlie?” she asked, staring me right in the face.

I started to laugh, then stopped when I saw she wasn’t joking. In love … with Charlie? No, I could honestly say I was not in love with my former female best friend who now sported face stubble and dangly man-bits.

Sam also hadn’t been in love with Cindy. Once upon a time, I thought I was. Now, having a more concrete frame of reference, I knew what I’d felt was infatuation. Cindy had been pretty, slightly nerdy, and enjoyed being around me. All the qualifications required to draw in the attraction of a dorky, unpopular boy.

“No,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I am not in love with Charlie.” I sat back in my chair.

“Then tell me what’s going on with you. I mean, sneaking off to be alone with Geoff, I totally understand. It’s not the first time you two have done that. But some stupid hush-hush rendezvous with Charlie and Tracy Mallory? Including Tabitha?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Throw in the fact that you’re not telling me anything makes me think you’re mad at me or something. You’ve never shut me out of anything, Peej.”

I tried to give her a conciliatory expression. Something to indicate that I understood why she was upset, but also indicate that she shouldn’t take it personally.

“I don’t tell you ever…”

“You called me thirty minutes after you lost your virginity.”

Oh. Okay. Uh, wow. Guess Penny and Sarah really are the best of friends. Like, seriously. I’m not a hundred percent sure Sam would have shared such news with Cindy. You know, if he’d actually managed to have sex. Hell, I’m not even twenty-five percent sure he would.

“Sarah,” I said, grasping for something. Anything.

I swallowed, wincing inside as I saw the look in her eyes. The pain in them. The hurt of believed betrayal. No matter what I tried to use as an excuse, she would see it exactly as that. An excuse. She might nod and agree with me, verbally. But then she would know that I was capable of lying right to her face. Our friendship would never recover from it.

I stared into her eyes, feeling my skin tingle with anxiety. Two second later, I crumbled.

“Okay,” I said, holding up both hands in mock surrender. “I’ll tell you everything. What’s going on with me and Geoff. As well as with Charlie, Tracy, and Jen.”

“Jen?” she asked, wrinkling her brow. “What does she have to do with it?”

“More than you would think,” I said. “However, I have two stipulations before I say anything.”

She nodded way too eagerly. If I asked for her pinkie finger as payment, she would probably leap up and rush to the ornate cutting block on the counter behind her.

“Of course. Name them.”

I sighed. “The first is that you’ll have to wait until after practice today.” When her face fell, I waved my hand in the air between us. “It’s a lot to discuss and take in. We don’t have time this morning, and I’m not about to try talking to you about it during third period. Once practice is over, we’ll come back here, and I’ll spill everything.”

“Why your house?” she asked, arching a brow. “Why not at school after practice? Or at a coffee shop? We could try that new one over off Kearny Drive.”

“Because, you’re my ride today. What I’m going to tell you is probably going to result in you thinking that I’m either completely insane, or being just a total cunt. Either way, I’d just as soon not have to call my mom or Uber home.”

“I wouldn’t ditch you, Peej. No matter what you said.”

The smile that formed on my face didn’t do a damned thing to lift my spirits. “Better hold off on making that solemn vow until you hear what I have to say.”

We left the house and went to school. Along the way, Sarah tried to get me to dish more information on the cooldown between me and Geoff. She kept couching the questions as being focused just on how sudden it all seemed. However, I knew she was actually trying to get me to provide her a bit more of a peek behind my mysterious curtain than I’d given her in my kitchen.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I glanced out my window just in time to see Lee climbing out of his Mustang. Despite having lost some of his bulk due to no longer being on the football team, he still managed to fill out a pair of jeans rather nicely. Especially in the rear.

“What?” Sarah asked, twisting her head around to try to see out of my side.

“What is what?” I asked.

“You just made a humming sound.”

“I did?” I hadn’t even been aware of having made any noise at all. “Like humming a song?”

She shook her head. “No, it was the CB hum.”

“CB?”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? The Cute Boy hum?”

I stared at her as if I wasn’t sure if she were teasing me or not. “Cute Boy hum?”

“Yes. Come on, Peej. I know you’ve only had eyes for Geoff for months, but I know you haven’t forgotten the Cute Boy hum. You were the one who named it.”

Of course I was. A special, identifiable sound to indicate when Penny, or any of her friends apparently, was looking at an attractive boy. How nice.

Except, I’d made it while ogling Lee.

“Yes, Sarah, I know the Cute Boy hum. However, that’s not the sound I made. Mine was more of a ‘I’m happy’ hum.”

“Say what you like, Peej. I know the CB Hum when I hear it.”

I conceded the point. Mainly because I knew there was a damned good possibility that I had made the CB Hum. While staring at Lee Taylor’s ass.

Sarah and I went inside together for once. Apparently Chad had a dentist appointment this morning and probably wouldn’t be at school until second period. We parted ways just after passing through the doors, and I headed toward my locker.

As I walked along, I noticed that the greetings and hellos I was becoming accustomed to were interlaced with the occasional hushed whisper and surprised stare. The first couple of times didn’t bother me. However, by the time I got to my locker and was on my way to homeroom, I was starting to get seriously annoyed.

Four doors down from Mrs. Thomas’s room, I paused and spun around to look at a pair of junior girls who had smiled at me as they passed, but immediately began to gossip at a barely conceivable level. When they discovered I’d stopped to face them, they both turned red and shot up, ramrod straight.

“Okay,” I said, trying to not scream at them. Because, you know, I wasn’t Jen Winters. “What’s going on? Everyone keeps looking at me and whispering to each other.” I looked down at myself, ran one hand across the front of the burgundy dress, then looked back up at them. “Is it what I’m wearing? Is my hair a mess? What?”

The both shook their heads in unison. “No, Pee-Jay. Nothing like that.”

“Then tell me what it is.”

The one on the left, a cute redhead with a long ponytail and a smattering of freckles across her nose, glanced at her friend for a second, then looked at me.

“Everyone is wondering what Geoff Barnes did to make you dump him.”

The pixie-cut blonde next to her nodded. “Did he cheat on you? I mean, I know that’s completely insane, but it’s all we can come up with. You two were so perfect together.”

I balled my hands into tiny fists. Dammit, Geoff! Thanks for the stupid wish.

Though, I knew I should be more angry with Invidia than with Geoff. It was her magic that was responsible for the seemingly ironclad relationship between me and the boy. The wishing stone had decreed that we were going to be romantically tied together, and it seemed as if it wasn’t going to just take my refusal lying down.

“Geoff and I did not break up,” I said, glowering a bit. This caused the two underclassmen to take a single step backward. “He did not cheat on me. I did not ‘dump’ him. So do me a favor and spread the word. I’d like to get off the Rumor Ride. Okay? Thanks.”

Then I whirled back around and marched to homeroom. Despite my best effort, okay my mediocre effort, I was unable to respond positively to anyone else I encountered.

When Candice saw me come into the room, she bolted upright in her seat and stared at me as if I’d entered the room while completely on fire. When I reached my desk, I looked down at her and shook my head.

“Geoff and I did not break up,” I said.

Her eyes softened and she nodded. “That’s what I told Tabs. But she insisted that the two of you had this big massive blowout and decided to end the fairy tale.” She beamed a happy smile at me. “I’m glad to know she was wrong.”

Tabitha. Of course. Just wait until practice, ma souer. That big mouth of yours is going to lead to a whole bunch of extra work for you.

As the morning announcements began, I pulled out my phone and tapped on the contact icon next to Geoff’s name. Well, not his name, per se. Because it would seem that the love-struck version of Penny Who Never Was had changed his contact identification to “My Heart”.

I thought I might throw up.

The messaging app opened, and I had just put my thumbs over the keyboard to send him a scathing text about the fact that his idiotic wish was still biting me in the ass, when I accidentally read the last one he sent. It was from the previous morning. The timestamp at the corner indicated that it had been sent around the time that reality was changed.

“Hey, babe. Gotta see Coach C this morning. Catch you at lunch. Love you.”

I probably should have rolled my eyes and snorted with derision at the lameness of the text. Or something like that. Instead, I read the one right above it.

“Had a great time tonight. Hope your mom wasn’t too mad. I love you!”

My mouth went dry. Like, Mongolian Desert level of dryness. No. No. No. Stop reading this! It’s fiction, all fiction. Geoff Barnes didn’t send you these texts. These sentiments. They were nothing more than the static creations of the wish. Just … props. Set dressing. Just something to fill in the fine details so the new reality could run smoother.

That’s all they were and nothing more. They certainly weren’t the emotions of the arrogant, very forward, boy who slobbered all over me while fondling my ass in front of our friends.

My friends!

Dammit, Penny’s friends!

I almost stood up in the middle of the quiet room with the intention of screaming at the top of my lungs as I hurled the traitorous device in my hand against the nearest wall.

Instead, I did the stupid thing. I continued to read.

There were thousands of them. Averaging about fifty a day. Everything you might think possible for two people to send in an electronic message outside of any face-to-face conversations that might arise between a couple who managed to spend several hours each day together.

Little jokes about something that had happened in one of his classes. Complaints about the coach acting like a tyrant. Random musings about which part of my body was his favorite that day. Or hour.

Interestingly enough, my ass and boobs didn’t get anywhere close to the top mentions. Though it seemed my eyes and my nose were vying for first place.

It wasn’t until I had rolled backward through time to the beginning of October that I noticed I was smiling. In a flash, I yanked the expression from my face, and turned off my phone.

As I stared at the screen at the far end of the room, I couldn’t hear a single word either of the people on it said. My heart was being way too fast.

When the bell rang, I took me a moment to shake off my stupor. Too many thoughts and arguments taking place between my ears. Candice tapped me on the shoulder when I stood up. I turned around to look at her.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I should have known better than to take Tabs’ claim at face value. It was just … you had ditched practice to go home without telling any of us. It was so out of character that believing you were upset about Geoff made a kind of sense.”

I shrugged, walking with her toward the door. “To be honest, Candice, things with Geoff and I are … strained. But it’s totally on me and we’re trying to work through it. You know?

She nodded. “Yeah. So people going around sharing that you two broke up isn’t really helping either of you, is it?”

I smiled. “No, it’s not.”

“I’ll start making sure that everyone knows the rumor is crap.”

Except, what if it isn’t?

“Thanks,” I said. “I really appreciated it. I’m sure Geoff will, too.”

When I got into French, Sarah spun around to look at me before my butt could even touch the seat. I held up my hand the second she opened her mouth and shook my head.

“No, I’m not going to tell you earlier than we agreed.” When her posture didn’t change, I continued. “Yes, I’ve heard that word is getting around that Geoff and I broke up. Candice is doing damage control and putting out fires.”

“So, you guys are back together?”

I shrugged. “Right now, as far as everyone else is concerned, we had a little couples’ spat, but are still together. I’d rather not have to deal with the buzz about the death of my love life until I actually put it into the ground.”

She nodded. “Good point. I’ll do what I can to help as well.”

Mr. Tate returned our quizzes from the previous day. Amazingly enough, I managed to squeak by with a C-minus. Far below my average, but at least it was still a passing grade. The note at the top caught my eye.

“You can do better than this. - Mr. T.”

History was actually not as bad as usual. Probably because Mr. Andrews was out sick and the sub sitting behind the desk didn’t really want to do much in the way of teaching. The second the bell had rung, she told us to work independently on whatever historical event we’d been studying. Then she plopped down in her chair and started scrolling across her phone.

I pulled “Emma” out and resumed reading from where I had paused the night before. The story tried to hold every ounce of my attention, but couldn’t quite snare it all. There was too much about my new beau that occupied my brain.

I nearly opened Geoff’s past messages again almost twenty or more times. Fortunately, I somehow found the willpower to resist. Unfortunately, I couldn’t scrub my memories of the ones I had already seen.

Geoff loved me. Sure, it was a fake Geoff that professed his love, repeatedly, to a fake Penny. However, that didn’t change the way the words tugged at my heart. If I’d been rendered oblivious to the changes, if previously using the stone hadn’t granted me mental immunity to the changes, I would very likely be an extremely happy girl.

Taking the myriad of messages from a purely non-subjective viewpoint, it would reveal a connection between two people that was of the depth and intensity as anything written by a poet. And it wasn’t just Geoff typing sweet nothings to Pee-Jay. She, too, had responded with just as much saccharine drivel as she received.

The girl was head over heels when it came to Geoff.

Maybe you would be, too, the voice in my head whispered. You gave Lee a chance based on a magically-birthed movie date, and a day’s worth of follow-up phone logs. The Geoff you saw in the palm of your hand seemed way more into you than Mr. Taylor.

I put my head down on my desk, trying not to groan. Why couldn’t mom have just told me what to do? Why did everything in this girl’s life have to be so damned difficult?

The device sitting in the bag next to my feet buzzed twice. A message.

I leaned down, retrieved the phone, and looked at the screen. Geoff. Why was I not surprised? Guess he’d got the third degree about our fractured romance, as well. Part of me felt like he completely and totally deserved it.

Sighing softly, I opened the app and scrolled back down the list to the most recently received.

“Can we meet next period? I really need to talk to you.”

I stared at the words for five or so minutes, reading them over and over until I was sure they were permanently etched into my visual cortex. Then I sent my reply.

“At the boulder from yesterday.”

A second later, he sent his reply. “So long as you don’t try crushing my nuts again.”

An unbidden smile formed on my face. Growling, I wiped it away and typed on the screen. “No promises.”

The bell rang and the sub was out the door before any of the students. I stuck Jane Austin back in my bag, slipped my phone into the side pocket, then headed out the door to see what had Geoff’s panties all in a twist.

Emerging into the hallway, I heard someone call my name. I turned around with a smile worthy of a pageant, and waved at them. When I turned back in the direction I was walking, I slammed into someone and my knees buckled.

A pair of arms, grabbed me at my elbows and managed to keep me from busting my ass in the middle of the crowded hallway. Releasing the breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I brought my gaze up to the person who’d save me.

“Thanks,” I began. “That was … ”

Lee Taylor’s blue eyes stared directly into my own. The look in them was pure relief.

“Close,” he finished for me. “Yeah, sorry about that, Pee-Jay. I’m just glad I was fast enough to catch you. Then gave me a smile that sent a bolt of lightning surging through my chest.

Just kill me now.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 17
by Limbo’s Mistress

“Lee,” I said, the words catching in my throat, making the single word sound more like a croaked accusation rather than an astonished greeting.

“Pee-Jay,” he replied, smiling as his eyes glimmered behind the lenses.

His hands continued to hold my arms. Not forcefully, but as if wanting to make sure I was going to remain upright if they let go. His touch brought with it that familiar, delightful, tingle that seemed to leap between us to shoot up and down my petite frame. If I were to have a chance for another wish, it would be that he would never let go.

Unfortunately, he seemed to be satisfied that I wasn’t going to bust my ass without his support, so release me he did. His fingers did linger for a second longer than what might have been necessary. Then his hands slipped into the front pocket of his jeans and vanished.

I continued to stare up at him for another moment or two before regaining a modicum of awareness.

“I wasn’t watching where I was going,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “Thanks for saving me.”

His grin widened. “It was completely my pleasure.” Then some of the mirth appeared to diminish and his eyes went from excited to serious. “So, uh, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry to hear about you and Geoff. I hope you two can work things out.”

My mouth dropped open. No! No! This wasn’t supposed to be the way things went. Lee was supposed to be secretly (or not so secretly) pleased to know that the Perfect Couple was having problems. That was to be his opportunity to swoop in and try to win me for himself.

Why couldn’t he just stop being a nice guy for one damned minute and take advantage of the situation?

Because he was Lee. That’s why.

I sighed, shrugging again. “Thanks,” I said, not meaning it in the least. “We’re … evaluating things. It’s kind of complicated.”

He laughed. “Love always is, Pee-Jay. Or have you not started your reading for Eastman’s class yet?”

I glared at him with mock anger and punched him in the upper arm lightly. “I’ll have you know, Mr. Taylor, that I’ve already surpassed the required chapters. I’m currently on number six.”

He smiled, nodding his head. “Impressive. What do you think so far?”

“I think Emma should stop mucking around in other people’s lives. She thinks she’s being helpful, but she’s really not.”

“That’s a pretty good assessment,” he said.

His compliment sent a flutter to my heart and a tingling much further south. I honestly wondered what would happen if I simply pushed him back against the lockers, pressed myself against him, and kissed him the way I had in my room the other night. Would he respond with the same passion? Would he freak out?

Regardless, the people on their way to class around us would probably be shocked beyond belief that Pee-Jay Davenport was lip-locked with someone who wasn’t Geoffrey Barnes. Hell, the mixture of the two wishes might result in a pitchfork and torches mob coming after Lee. Since my assault of his mouth would simply have to be his fault.

Already a few of them had slowed down, trying to observe and discern what the two of us were doing standing so close together in the middle of the corridor.

Sighing, I reeled back in my desires and crossed my arms over my chest. “So …”

Lee nodded. “Yeah. I need to get to Chem. See you in fifth?”

I smiled, though the expression didn’t reach my heart. “Save me a seat?”

“Always.” Then he pushed his glasses back up onto his nose with one finger, turned around, and walked away. Taking a little bit of my soul with him.

I remained where I was for another ten or fifteen seconds, ignoring the people who waved and spoke to me. I felt I could still detect where he had been standing while touching me. Could still sense his natural scent lingering in the air.

Eventually, however, I forced myself to turn around and walk down the hall toward the exit.

I cut across the grassy area leading toward the previously-arranged meeting spot. As I neared, I saw that Geoff was already there, partially obscured from view. I wondered if he was skipping class for this. Third was my Free Period, but that was a perk that came with being a senior. Underclassmen didn’t get time off other than lunch.

“Wow,” he said as I stopped in front of him. “Is fashionably late still a thing?”

My dour mood instantly soured further. “Rude much?” I asked, cocking my hip to the side as I crossed my arms over my chest.

I was beginning to find it hard to believe that the boy standing in front of my, looking extremely put-out, was the same one who’d sent hundreds of texts to tell me how much he loved me and adored me. Just went to show that Invidia’s magic might be able to create true love in the past, but was crap at it in the present.

He copied me by crossing his own muscular arms over a barrel chest. “This is going to be even harder if we can’t stop attacking each other.”

“Well,” I said, unable to pull my voice into a less-annoyed tone. “You were the one who started off the conversation by being sarcastic. I simply asked you a question.”

He shook his head, mumbling something under his breath.

“What was that?” I asked, arching a brow. “Go head and say what you feel, Geoffrey. I know you have the balls, I felt them yesterday.”

He sighed. “I said I wished I hadn’t made that … wish.” His mouth turned down into a frown. “I mean, that I had asked for something different. I didn’t realize dating you would be so perplexing.”

“Awesome!” I said, the frustrations of the past sixteen hours rushing out of me in a torrent. “I’m glad you’re having regrets about throwing my life in disarray. That makes me feel so much better.” Then I shook my head. “Just imagine, you could have been the one that’s hobbling around today with severely bruised testicles and Old Petey could be the one being perplexed by my feminine ways.”

He glared down at me for a second, then looked away. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Besides, how feminine are your ways? Weren’t you a guy a few days ago?”

“Two answers, Gee-Off.” I held up a finger. “Very.” I held up another finger. “Magic can work wonders.” Then I dropped my hand and arched a brow as a small grin formed on my face. “That’s why you’re so pissy, isn’t it? You wanted me, but now that you’ve learned what the stone did to me, you’re repulsed. Or you would be, except for the fact that you’re stuck in this relationship that you created.”

He looked back at me and shook his head. “I’ve been getting crap from people since I got home yesterday afternoon. Calls and texts, asking what I’d done to make you break up with me. Not a single person bothered to even entertain the notion that I might have been the one to call it quits.”

A sharp bark of amusement jumped out of my throat, and I quickly clamped my hand across my mouth to kill it before it could evolve into a detrimental bout of Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.

Geoff’s perturbed expression morphed into a more agitate state. He narrowed his eyes at me, his jaw visibly clenching.

“I fail to see the humor … Sam.”

Now it was my turn to be irked. “Don’t call me that,” I growled. “That’s not my name anymore.”

He shrugged. “Charlie called you that more than once while bringing me up to speed on all the ways everyone’s screwed over reality. I mean, you’re angry that I dared to change things so we were together. But I think that’s because just because you remember the way things used to be.”

“And?” I said, fighting to keep my temper under control. “Is there a point coming? Or are you just rehashing what we already know?”

“I just think it’s hypocritical. I mean, you don’t have any problem enjoying your new status. Yeah, I know it was a mistake that made you what you are now. But, it’s like you are perfectly okay with it, because none of them …” he pointed behind me at the building. “… know the truth. You’re fine with stringing them along blindly.” Then he smiled down at me. “Same as I would have been.”

I opened my mouth. Then I closed it and turned my back on him, crossing my arms back over my chest.

God! Why did he have to be so damned infuriating? Despite the fact that he hadn’t said a single thing that was incorrect, the smugness of his words tasted like bitter fruit in my mouth. What was the point in arguing the morality of what either of us had done? That ship had sailed and both of us were unable to get off it.

I could try to be the complete opposite of how Penny used to be, and people would still find me desirable and likeable. Additionally, everyone would completely insist that Geoff and I belonged together, regardless of our actions. Chances were, I could decide to be the school slut, and not only would everything think it wasn’t worth us breaking up over, any changes that did occur to our relationship would be considered his fault.

“Pee-Jay,” he said in a much softer tone. “I don’t really want to fight with you.”

“Then stop,” I said, not turning around as I ignored the way his voice, in its sincerity, sounded. It was like back in the Clubhouse. He’d been so honestly distraught over realizing what he’d done that it had thrown my feelings into shambles.

Quit kidding yourself, that annoying voice chimed. He didn’t feel guilty about making that wish. Nor about what it had done to your relationship with Lee. He was upset because you were upset. He felt bad because it had hurt your feelings.

“Please turn around and look at me,” he said. I felt the air around me disturbed as he moved closer. However, he didn’t touch me.

“I don’t want to,” I said in a voice so soft I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me.

“Please.”

I closed my eyes, sighed, then slowly turned around as I opened them. He was less than a foot in front of me, so close that I had to tilt my head back to look up at him. The frown was still securely fastened to his face, but his eyes had lost their fury. Now they just looked remorseful.

“I really don’t care about what you were like before you made your wish,” he said, never taking his gaze off of mine. “Guy. Dork. Asshole. Whatever.”

“Gee,” I said, keeping my eyes focused where they were. “I’m amazed you didn’t already have a girlfriend. With that kind of smooth talking.”

My sarcastic barb slid right past him without drawing any response at all.

“The point is, I’ve only ever known you as Pee-Jay. That’s who I made the wish about. That’s who wanted to be with.”

He leaned closer, causing my body to freeze and my heart to start a rapid thumpity-thumping in my chest.

“You’re who I want to be with.”

“Geoff … I … but Lee ...”

He nodded, his eyes finally releasing mine so they could dip a bit lower to my lips. “I know.”

I don’t know which of us moved first. I’ll probably never really know. One second we were standing there staring at each other. The next, we were kissing. I mean, really kissing. Hot, heady, and overflowing with all the passion hinted at in the ungodly amount of messages we’d sent to each other.

Geoff’s arms wrapped around me and mine rested on his hips. I closed my eyes, losing myself in the sensation flooding my brain and washing away all the confusion and pretty much any conscious thoughts. Even though I didn’t feel that electric spark Lee’s kisses had always created within me, there was no denying that Geoffrey had seriously mad tongue skills.

I wondered, only for about a nanosecond, if he had been this good with his mouth before his wish, or if the magic of the stone had granted him the ability to curl a girl’s toes the way it had gifted me with the grace and abilities of a cheerleader.

When our lips finally broke apart, after what seemed to be about an hour and a half, I sighed and felt myself go slightly limp. A grin formed on my face, and I blinked a few times, waiting for my cortical neurons to reboot.

“Wow,” Geoff said, in a slightly breathless voice. “That was … something else.” He looked like he’d just been sucker punched. By King Kong.

I giggled. “You should have felt it from this end.”

He nodded, then swallowed. His Adam’s apple bounced with the motion. He still had his arms around me, but I could see the effect of our locking lips was starting to wear off. The first clue being the goofy smile fading away to a more serious expression.

“Pee-Jay …”

I sighed again. Only this one wasn’t the result of having my brain fried by a nuclear-powered kiss.

“I know,” I said, letting my hands slide off his waist and drop loosely at my sides. “This doesn’t help our situation.”

“You don’t want to be with me,” he said, sounding resolute. “And after what we both have done and learned, I don’t blame you. I shouldn’t try forcing myself on you, no matter what the rest of the school thinks.”

My mouth dropped open a bit. How could he possibly know what, or who, I did or did not want? Hadn’t the fact that I just swapped a ton of spit with him indicate that perhaps I might not find him as repulsive had he thought I did? Did he think I just kissed people like that for the hell of it.

The swooning euphoria filling my brain vaporized as quickly as a Cylon Raider in Starbuck’s targeting scope.

“I see,” I said, reaching up to peel his arms from around me. “Well, thank goodness you aren’t going to make me be yours. For a second there, I was worried.” I shrugged my shoulders. “For the record, I was the one who just kissed you. So if there was any forcing of anyone, I was doing it.”

His flat expression turned annoyed. “Hello there, Sarcastic Pee-Jay. I was wondering when you might return.

I took a step back, narrowing my eyes at him. “I really don’t like you. As in, at all.”

One of his eyebrows rose. “Want to try telling that to the guy who didn’t just see you all discombobulated from a single kiss?”

“Stay away from me, Geoff. I’m not your girlfriend.” I turned around and stomped off. It was hard, because I really wanted to have him kiss me like that again.

Instead, he simply laughed. “I keep telling myself that as well, Pee-Jay. Problem is, you are.”

When I got to the Clubhouse, I threw open the door so hard that it banged against the wall, making the rest of the squad, who had been gathered in a tight circle around the sofas, jump. Kara even actually squeaked with surprise.

I slammed the door behind me, marched over to the group, and pointed my finger at every one of them. “Boys are the most useless creatures!” I yelled.

Everyone but Tabitha looked like I’d just announced I was shaving my head and joining the Marines. The blonde, however, simply grinned. God, how I wanted to slap that smirk right off her face.

“Trouble in paradise?” she cooed.

“Shut it, Stevens,” I barked. “You know damned well what my problem is.”

She rolled a shoulder and turned her attention to her phone.

Sarah frowned. “I thought things were going better with you and Geoff. We sort of expected you to finally get here floating on a cloud of love-fueled happiness.”

“Not me,” Tabitha mumbled.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Fine. Everyone but Tabs thought that.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Why? What would have given you the idea that I’d show up with little hearts in my eyes?”

Jordan glanced at the others, then held up her phone toward me. The screen showed an aerial shot of an image. A recent picture of me and Geoff by the boulder. With our tongues jammed down each other’s throats.

“What the frack?” I said, taking the phone from her and staring at the image. Without thinking, I placed my thumb and index finger on the image and spread them apart, zooming in. There, immortalized in complete high-definition digital color was mine and Geoff’s kiss.

And, as much as I loathed to admit it, we did look really hot together.

“Sean Parrish happened to look out the window and see you two. At first, he thought you two were fighting. I guess because of the rumors flying around school today. However, then he noticed you two were …”

“Making out like a couple of horny rabbits?” Tabitha interrupted, not glancing up.

Jordan glared over at the blonde, then looked back to me. “He took the picture and sent it.”

I handed her back the phone. “Sent it to you? Why?”

Now all of them, save Tabitha, suddenly had bright red faces. Uh-oh. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what came next.

“He sent it to everyone. Like, the whole school.”

“What!?!?” I swept my gaze over all of them. “Why the hell would he do that?”

Kara shrugged. “I guess to let everyone know you two were back together. I mean, look at the photo. That right there is two people head over heels in love.”

I groaned and slapped a hand over my face, plopping down without looking. Thankfully, there was the soft cushion of a couch beneath me. Unfortunately, it was the same one Tabitha was sitting on.

She glanced up to look at me, that smug smile returning. “Is it love, Peej?” her honeyed words dripped with malicious humor. “Or are you just leading the poor boy along?”

“Go to hell, Tabby,” I sneered.

“Already been there, darling.” Her eyes glimmered. “Does he kiss as good as Lee?”

“Lee?” Jordan asked, turning our way. “Lee … Taylor?”

“You kissed Lee Taylor?” Kara chimed in. “Was this after your fight with Geoff yesterday?”

“Is that what the fight was about?” Candice asked.

Sarah gaped at me, seeming more hurt than surprised. I guess she believed what I was hiding from her was an illicit affair with a boy who wasn’t Geoff and couldn’t believe the her best friend hadn’t confided in her.

I waved my hands in the air as I shook my head back and forth. God, I was totally going to kill Tabitha. At least Jen was evil for evil’s sake. Tabitha was just plain old mean.

“It’s not like that,” I said. “I didn’t kiss Lee Taylor!”

Tabitha arched a brow, tapped on her lip and then shrugged. “I guess I was mistaken. I must have been thinking of a Pee-Jay from another life.” Her lips parted in a smile that showed just how much she’d enjoyed the instant chaos.

I narrowed my eyes, shooting Tabitha my deadliest glare. If I’d been born on Krypton, I would have heat-visioned her ass into a pile of cinders.

Though it wasn’t clear if the rest of the squad believed her. Or thought maybe she had recanted her accusation simply to appease me. Regardless, the room was eerily quiet for the next ten minutes. Everyone but Sarah and I decided to spend the awkward silence playing on the internet and social media.

None of them had the spine to actually say anything aloud, but I could tell by the shared looks, grins, and occasional giggle that the picture of the kiss was probably on just about everyone’s newsfeeds. Either that, or they were sharing another round of gossip. About me and Lee.

So much for a cooling off period. If Geoff and I announced some type of breakup now, there would be a riot and my boyfriend from another reality would get blamed.

When the bell rang, we all filed out of the Clubhouse and headed toward the cafeteria. I let everyone else get ahead of me, hanging back a bit as I tried to clear my brain of the memory of dueling kisses. Sarah slowed to walk alongside me, the expression on her face full of inquiry.

“No,” I said, taking a guess at her unspoken question. “I am not telling you anything early.”

She pouted at me, then arched a brow. “Can you at least give me a hint? Does it involve something to do with Lee Taylor?”

When I turned to look at her, she held up her hands.

“I’m only asking because you didn’t so much seem pissed off that Tabitha made the accusation. You seemed more … embarrassed. Guilty, even.”

I started to ask her how she could be sure what my expression meant. Then I realized that her being my best friend for who knew how long probably meant she could read me like a book. I made note to try to better guard my feelings in the future.

If our friendship had a future.

After we made it through the lunch line, trays loaded with taco salad in a crisp tortilla shell, we stepped out into the quad to find the rest of the in-crowd already there. A few of the football players cheered as they saw me, a couple of them reaching over to pound forcefully on Geoff’s back in a way that reminded me of cartoon cavemen.

Geoff, for his part, kept his eyes focused on his food, refusing to even glance in my direction.

Sarah and I took a seat at the furthest most spot from my magically-ordained lover. I turned slightly in the chair, placing most of my back in his direction.

“When does Jen get back?” Jordan asked a few seconds after my butt was planted.

“Tomorrow,” I said, not looking at her. Since, you know, that would put Geoff in my line of sight. “She said she would be here in time to make the game, but didn’t give me an exact time.”

“What if her plane gets delayed or something?” Kara weighed in. “Like, not until after dark?”

“Then I guess we’ll take the sidelines without her.”

There was a gasp from every Raiderette, except Tabitha, within earshot. Unable to resist, I brought my gaze up to look at them, deliberately ignoring the fact that Geoff was staring right at me.

“Is that a problem?”

Sarah looked at Jordan and Stephanie, then back to me. “Well, I mean, she’s the captain. If she’s not there, then …”

Tabitha rolled her eyes. “If Jen doesn’t show, then you’ll have to take the lead, Davenport.”

A few of the girls stared at me, nodding their heads in agreement.

“Again, the problem with this is?”

“She’ll freak out,” Candice said in a low voice. “I mean, seriously, completely, freak out.”

“Really?”

Sarah looked at Jordan, who then turned to me. “Remember, when Tonya suggested last year that the whole squad should take a vote on naming a captain? Jen completely lost her crap and started harassing her until she just up and quit?”

Ah, so that’s why Tonya Michaels was no longer a Benson High cheerleader.

Even though I didn’t remember the incident in question, I nodded anyway. “I still don’t see how the two are similar. I mean, I wouldn’t be taking over permanently from her. Just, filling in. Like I’ve been doing the past couple of days.”

Tabitha snorted. “Filling in at practice is one thing, Peej. But the minute you’re in charge at a game, in front of a ton of students and alumni …”

She didn’t need to elaborate. I found I could fill in the gaps and make the same leaps as she could.

It was all too easy to see the results of my standing in for Jennifer. The moment I started directing the rest of the girls, the effect of the wish would have everyone wondering why I wasn’t the captain of the squad. To them, it would probably seem sacrilegious to allow Jen to continue to lead the girls.

She’d be out of a job before the half-time whistle blew.

While I would be remiss if I said that the idea didn’t sound like a little slice of heaven to me, I knew the ramifications would be terrible. Particularly since the Ice Queen wasn’t influenced by the magic affecting everyone else. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, she might try to do as retribution, but I knew from experience it would be devastating.

“Then let’s hope she makes it back in time,” I said. “Otherwise, anything that happens will be on her.”

That being said, the subject changed to the Homecoming celebration. I told them that the committee had settled on a Grease-inspired, fifties themed event. Candice suggested we all go shopping for our poodle skirts and sweaters together.

“That way, we can make sure none of us are wearing the exact same color. There’s this place over on Elm that specializes in retro clothing. If they don’t have it in stock, they know where they can get it.”

“So long as I can call dibs on royal blue,” Sarah said with a grin. Then she nodded her head in my direction. “And how adorable would Peej be in a black sweater with a cherry red skirt?”

“Very,” Geoff answered as he leaned against the table next to me. “Though I think she’d look better in a pair of skintight leather pants and a black halter.”

I stiffened, glancing at him for a moment before turning my gaze toward the seat he’d formerly occupied.

“Football players each lunch over there,” I said. “This is the Raiderettes’ section of the table.”

Sarah’s jaw dropped, but Geoff simply chuckled.

“I’m through with lunch,” he said. Then his voice dropped to just above a whisper as he leaned closer to me. “Though, I might have room for dessert.”

I whirred around toward him, our noses nearly colliding.

“How dare you …”

His mouth stopped me in mid-protest.

I think the rest of the people around the table oohed in response. As for me, I lost myself in the moment. Once a freaking again. It was like I was unable to not respond to Geoff’s kissing me. My hands, once balled into angry fists, placed themselves on his back, fingers stroking the muscles hiding beneath his t-shirt.

My brain grew giddy and fuzzy. The sheer amount of oxytocin swarming through my gray matter must have been off the charts. All I could think of was how good he tasted and how much I never, ever, wanted it to stop.

When he finally pulled away, the table around us exploded into celebratory clapping and cheering. Everyone seemed to be ecstatic that the it-couple were still a pair bond, meaning all was right with the world.

As for me, I was stunned. Totally and completely stunned. I should have been furious, beyond even, that he’d just done that without asking. Instead, I could feel the stupid grin stretched across my face, and had a sneaking suspicion that my eyes were probably a bit glassy and unfocused.

Stupid wish.

He reached over to take one of my hands, curling his fingers around in mine. I looked down at our joined limbs, then brought my gaze up to his face.

There was a beaming smile there, showcasing his pride at having rendered his stubborn woman momentarily incoherent. However, the expression didn’t reach his eyes. Rather than elation, or lechery, those green orbs were full of guilt and embarrassment.

The fog in my brain was taking its sweet time dissipating. As we sat there staring silently at each other, the rest of the table began to break apart or resume their prior conversations.

Geoff scooted closer, resting his chin on my shoulder. For a second, I thought he was going to nibble flirtatiously on my ear, a prospect that I both feared and desired. Instead, he merely used the proximity to speak to me without being overheard.

“I’m sorry, Pee-Jay,” he said, sounding sufficiently contrite. “The guys were going on and on about our kiss by the rock. Apparently someone took a picture of it and sent it around. I tried to tell them that you and I were trying to figure some stuff out, but they just wouldn’t stop.”

“Uh-huh,” I murmured, railing against the happy tendrils still lingering in my noggin.

“I didn’t know what else to do. I took a chance that if I kissed you again, they’d simply shut up about it.” Then his apologetic tone grew a little haughtier. “Looks like I was right.”

“You can’t keep doing it,” I said, not really feeling much in agreement with my words. Despite knowing that the effect was a result of the stone’s power, I found it was starting to grow on me.

Not unlike what had transpired with Lee. At first, I’d rebelled against the feelings he brought out in my new, girlish, form. It hadn’t taken long, though, before I was giving myself over to them willingly.

Would the same thing happen with Geoff? I had automatically assumed that I would be immune to any new changes. Technically speaking, I was. At least mentally. But physically? My body still hummed a little bit from the latest romantic interlude, but it still lacked that … spark.

Lee.

I blinked, the last traces of euphoria clearing away. I almost yanked my hand out of Geoff’s, but stopped when I realized that would only make people notice us. Right now, everyone else seemed to have moved on to a topic that didn’t involve my love life.

“I’m sorry,” he said, then squeezed my hand when I stiffened. “Not about that other. The thing you told me not to apologize about.”

“Then what are you sorry for?”

“Not giving you the space, us the space, to figure things out. I still want you to be mine, Pee-Jay. No matter what. I feel it in my heart and soul. However, that doesn’t mean I’m happy with just being handed things on a platter. Not when I haven’t earned it.”

I sighed, closing my eyes for a second. Then I pulled my head back and looked at him. “That’s exactly what you did, though. You didn’t try to win me on your own. You purposefully used the stone to get me. Now, what? You regret that you used that crutch?”

“I just didn’t think,” he murmured. “I suddenly had in my hand something that would give me what I desired. You were the first thing that came to mind.”

He had a point. Knowing what I knew about Invidia, which really wasn’t much, I could easily see how getting their hands on the stone could make someone want to wish without any forethought. I’d seen the look in Cindy’s eyes that afternoon in my former bedroom. If not for my own, super skeptical nature, I might have been just as easily drawn in.

“Fine. Apology accepted. That still doesn’t change the fact that we don’t seem to be able to stay away from each other.”

He laughed softly, leaning in until his mouth was less than an inch from my ear. To any observers, we probably looked like we were professing promises of love to each other. If they only knew.

“We also really haven’t tried.”

I shrugged. “Maybe we should.”

Chad wandered over and tapped Geoff on the shoulder. “Dude, think you can put your hormones on the back burner? Lunch is almost over and your honey probably needs to get to class.”

Oh, that’s right. There was no Lee to walk me anymore.

Geoff nodded at his teammate, then looked at me. “Can I call you later? See how the conversation goes when we’re not in the same location?”

“Yeah. That’ll be okay.”

He smiled, his eyes flicking down to my lips for a moment. He was going to kiss me again. Against my better judgement, I wanted him to. Instead, he squeezed my hand again and stood up, reluctantly releasing me.

“See you later,” he said. Then added, “Love you.”

I stiffened, my eyes widening. Then I remembered we had an audience. The show had to go on. For now.

“Love you back,” I said.

He and Chad departed, leaving just me and Sarah sitting at the table. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, then looked at me.

“I should say how sickingly sweet you two are together,” she said. “But there was a whole lot of tension going on between you.”

I blanched. “You … noticed?”

She nodded. “Yep. But don’t worry, I don’t think anyone else did. The only reason it was clear to me was because I’ve known you for so long. Hard for you to hide your feelings from me, Peej.”

I climbed to my feet, slinging my bag over my shoulder as I picked up my tray. “Yeah, you could say things are not completely smooth with me and Geoff.”

“Is it because of Lee Taylor?”

I shook my head. “No. Because there is nothing going on with Lee Taylor. You know Tabitha was just being Tabitha. She’s not happy unless she’s pissing on someone’s parade.”

She shrugged. “I guess.”

I bumped her with my hip. “You guess?”

Nodding, she picked up her own tray and turned look at me. There was no amusement in her face. No mirth. Just a slightly disappointed expression.

“I guess it all depends on what this big secret is. Something tells me that I’m not really going to like what I hear.”

“But you want to hear it anyway?”

She nodded again. “At least then I will have all the information. I won’t feel like I’m outside of a shared joke anymore.”

“You’re not a joke, Sarah.” I said, staring into her eyes. “You’re my best friend.”

“We’ll see,” she said, then she walked back into the cafeteria.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where Sarah had stood. I had considered making up some sort of lame story to tell her about why I’d been so secretive with Charlie and the rest of the group. However, I was starting to believe that the girl would see through my ruse. She might not call me out on it, but it would certainly change our dynamic.

I wasn’t ready to give up Penny’s best friend just because the truth would make me sound insane. Better to keep a friend and be thought crazy, than to be thought rational and lose one. I’m sure some smart philosopher said that once. Maybe even a Vulcan.

I headed inside the building, ditched my dirty tray, then drifted down the hallway toward my fifth period. I smiled and waved to people, but my thoughts were bouncing around like a tiny ship in the middle of a violent storm. Hurricane Lee, to be exact.

When I passed through the door way, I paused. He was at his seat today, looking down at his phone. My breath hitched in my lungs and the memory of how Geoff’s lips had made me feel receded to a distant point in my mind and hid. It tore at me, knowing that as wonderful as they could be, they would never be on the level as those of the boy who looked up to see me in the entranceway of the classroom, and smiled.

I melted. Seriously melted.

“Trouble finding your seat, Miss Davenport?” Mr. Eastman said, looking over from the whiteboard, a black marker in one hand.

I shook my head, finding my voice. “No, sir,” I replied.

Journeying down the aisle, I looked everywhere except to the guy staring at me. As I passed his desk, I saw his smile widen in my periphery, and the music class next door started up with a drum solo.

Wait, the music room was at the other end of the building. Which meant the percussion sounding in my ears was due to the pounding in my chest. Increased from the norm in tempo, but not yet at the machine-gun beat I feared would be arriving soon.

I should have ditched class, knowing that I wouldn’t.

As I sat down, Lee turned to look at me, his eyes wide and inviting. “I hope there weren’t any further incidents,” he said, arching a brow.

“Incidents?” I asked, trying to follow the line of questioning. The way he was looking at me, though, made that damned near impossible.

“Stumbles,” he said softly. “I hope you didn’t have any more stumbling since the moment after second period.”

“Oh. Uh, no. I didn’t. Thanks.”

He nodded. Then the corner of his mouth curled up just the slightest bit. “That’s good. I would have been upset if there had and I hadn’t been there to catch you again.”

My jaw dropped open, but Mr. Eastman closing the door harder than expected robbed me of an adequate response. Lee’s eyes lingered on mine for just a second longer, then he turned around and faced the front of the class.

“I hope everyone at least completed their assignment,” Mr. Eastman said. “I know Austin can be a little dry in the beginning, but once you get into the work, I’m sure you found it to be rather entertaining.”

He moved to the whiteboard where he’d written two words. “Motivation” and “Result”. He underlined both of them with two quick strokes of the marker.

“Emma, as I’m sure you discovered is motivated by the wedding of her former governess to pursue a new interest. Matchmaking.” He smiled. “She’s decided to be the eHarmony of her little circle of friends.”

A few laughs rang out, making Mr. Eastman grin.

“I’m glad to see that I’m not as much of a dinosaur as my wife likes to tell me. This new hobby leads to a great many problems for Emma and her friends. Which, as you will soon discover, begin to overwhelm her.” He put the cap on the marker and gestured at the class. “I would like you all to pair up and think about how Emma’s actions might be construed or received in today’s society.”

More than a few heads swiveled in my direction at the idea of selecting a partner. However, I beat them all to the punch by reaching out to put my hand on Lee’s shoulder.

“Will you be mine?”

He nodded, grinning as he turned his chair around to face me across the top of my desk. A second later, the rest of the students began to form groups of two as well.

“How much of the book have you read so far?” he asked, glancing down at the text on the table between us.

I reached out and tapped my fingers on the closed cover. “I just started chapter six. It’s a really interesting read.”

He nodded. “It is, isn’t it? I’ve already read it a couple of times, myself. I’m glad Mr. Eastman decided to add it to the syllabus for this year.”

“So, I guess you don’t have to worry about keeping up with the reading assignments then, huh?’

He shrugged one shoulder, sending me a smile that made my heart start fluttering again. “Not really. But I figured I should at least skim it just to refresh my memory.”

I returned the smile, and kept my hand where it rested on top of the book. Just a few inches from his own. I wanted to take it into my own, bring it to my lips, and kiss it from the palm down to his wrist. However, I was pretty sure that would result in a lot of stammering and explaining. On my part.

It was just so easy to talk to him. Even though it had only been a couple of days, it felt like ages since we were together. I missed the way he crinkled his nose when he was thinking about something. The way his tilted his head ever so slightly to the right when he was actively listening to my rambling.

All those little nuances that I had never really noticed. Until they were gone.

Geoff wasn’t a bad guy, really. He’d screwed up and he owned that without shifting any blame. Plus, there was a passion that ignited when we were together. Not that I hadn’t experienced passion with Lee. It was just … different.

Lee was this energizing presence that seemed to plug into me and make me feel safe and secure and important. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I’d fallen for him so easily. Geoff, on the other hand, was a freaking force of nature. A storm that blew in, spun my heart and mind around until they were giddy and dizzy, then blew away. Leaving the wreckage of my psyche behind.

“You okay,” he asked, dipping his head a bit to look into my eyes. “Penny for your thoughts?”

I smiled. “Pun intended?”

He arched a brow, then let out a very soft laugh. “That’s right. Penelope. I guess I’ve heard you called ‘Pee-Jay’ for so long that I completely forgot.”

“It’s okay, I said. “I was just thinking about stuff.”

“Not Jane Austin, I assume?”

I shook my head. “Not this time. Nor Emily Bronte, either.”

“Emily Bronte?” He did that head-tilt thing. “Why her?”

I smiled. “She’s your favorite, right? Out of the three?” I was pretty sure Emily had been the one he mentioned a preference for.

His smile faltered as his eyes narrowed slightly. “How did you know I preferred Emily? I don’t think we’ve ever discussed that. Either in or out of class.”

Crap! Crap! I forgot New Lee didn’t remember the stuff I’d talked to with Old Lee. Now he was going to think I was some kind of creepy stalker chick.

“I … uh … you just seem like an Emily Bronte kind of guy, Lee.” I forced an innocent smile onto my face. “Which is totally understandable.”

His skeptical look never changed. “What does an Emily Bronte kind of guy look like?” he asked.

I opened my mouth. Then closed it. Glancing around, I could see that the others in the class were animatedly discussing the assignment. However, I felt positive that suggesting we do likewise wasn’t going to fly. I’d opened Pandora’s Box of Questions with my stupid non-thinking self. Nothing left to do but throw open the lock and hope it wasn’t a Mimic.

Sighing, I leaned forward. I already had one person who was going to think me a lunatic. Why not toss another log on the fire?

“Lee,” I said in a low whisper. “Do you believe in magic?”

A Wish Unwanted – Part 18
by Limbo’s Mistress

A tiny smirk formed on his face, and those blue eyes narrowed just the slightest bit.

“Magic?” Lee repeated in barely a whisper. “Are you talking magic, as in the wonder and mystery of life? Or more like … Hogwarts?”

My cheeks grew warmer, my heart thumping in my chest, as I suddenly felt like that coyote from that cartoon my parents watched as kids. More than once, the not-so-certifiable genius had allowed his haste to lead him into running off the edge of a high cliff. He would hang there in the air, looking down at the world below him, and knowing, without a doubt, that he’d just put himself out too far.

“The latter,” I replied, looking down for a moment. “Though, more goddess power and not so much bearded wizards.”

When I brought my gaze back up, I saw his amused smile was now a little more into the confused range.

“Religious stuff? Like miracles?”

I shook my head. God, this was getting totally off-track. Why had I opened my big mouth in the first place?

Gravity had reached up to snatch Wile E. Penelope out of the air and was pulling her down to a fiery crash waiting in the valley below.

“Not exactly. I mean, sort of.”

The smile returned. “You’re not exactly being clear here, Pee-Jay.”

I nodded. Of course I wasn’t being clear. I was trying to talk to the boy who made my insides turn to jelly with a smile about a magical stone put out into the world by a messed-up goddess. Not sure if there even was a clear point to be addressed.

I sighed. “What if you could have a wish? What would you wish for?”

Lee leaned back in his seat, rubbed his chin, then glanced over to make sure Mr. Eastman wasn’t looking our way. When he turned back around, he shrugged.

“Other than something like ending world hunger? Or senseless war? I suppose those big-ticket items are off the table, right?”

I didn’t answer immediately. Could the Stone of Invidia make such a drastic change in the whole world? I mean, yeah, it had seemed to shift my reality, and the reality of others, around without much effort. But did it really have any effect at all on the rest of the world if Sam Davenport no longer existed? Probably not.

Hell, it wouldn’t have had that much of a disruption at Benson High. To be honest.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “But, for simplicity’s sake, let’s say yes. Whatever you wish for has to be personal to you. One single wish. What do you choose?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Honestly? I guess I might wish that my younger cousin’s cancer would be cured permanently. She’s in remission at the moment, but the threat of recurrence is always there.”

My heart just stopped. The ability to change anything, I mean anything, about his life with magic power and he picks curing a family member of a horrible disease? Seriously?

Swallowing, I bit down on my lip for a moment, then arched a brow. “Nothing for yourself?”

“If I only had one wish to use, then I’d rather use it for someone who needs it.”

I didn’t deserve him. No one did, really. Not me, and certainly not Jen.

“Oh,” I said, frowning a bit. “I forgot that there are actually two wishes. But it takes two people. Each one making the other’s wish.”

“How does that work?” he asked.

“Well, say you and I were doing the wishing. I would make the wish that your cousin would be cured, since that’s technically your wish. Then you would make whatever wish I wanted.”

He leaned back in his chair again. “That would require an insane amount of trust, Pee-Jay. I mean, you would have to be sure that the person would be willing to carry through on their end.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that could be an issue if you did it with the wrong person.”

“What would you wish for?” he asked, leaning in again. “I mean, if the people making wishes were you and I?”

You. The thought leapt into my head, but thankfully went no further. Because that was completely wrong. Completely. Hadn’t I already had enough actual experience with what happens when you use magic to make someone be in a relationship? Despite the way I felt around Geoff, and particularly my state after one of those kisses, when I was away from him, I could see just how wrong it was.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’d have to give it some thought.”

He nodded. “You do that.” Then he smiled a huge grin. “I can’t wait to read it.”

I blinked at him. “Read what?”

“This story you’re writing.” He tilted his head to the side, fixing me with a look. “You were getting my opinion to help with writing a story, weren’t you?”

A story. He didn’t think I was a crazy person. Or a lunatic who needed some heavy medication and a padded room. He thought I was a fracking writer trying to get input on a tale. I wanted to slap my own face in embarrassment.

“Yeah,” I said, wincing at the defeat in my voice. “That’s it.”

He nodded. “Sounds intriguing. Of course, your prose in progress doesn’t explain how you knew I was a fan of Emily Bronte.”

“I, uh, might have asked around,” I said with a sigh. Looks like a Muggle explanation was going to have to do. “Just trying to know more about what you’re like.”

He laughed softly and put his hand on top of mine. The zap that shot up my arm nearly made me jump out of my seat.

“You could have just asked me directly, Pee-Jay,” he said softly. “I don’t think I could honestly say no to you. About anything.”

I opened my mouth, but the sound of Mr. Eastman clearing his throat yanked both of our attentions back to the world outside our little bubble. Glancing around, I noticed that everyone in the class was looking our way.

“Mr. Taylor, if you and Miss Davenport are ready to rejoin the discussion, could you please turn back around.”

Lee nodded, his face turning as red as mine felt. “Yes, sir. Sorry.” Without another glance at me, he faced forward again and left me with a heart that felt as if it had been sliced cleanly in two.

The rest of the class was thankfully short and mostly a blur. Even when Mr. Eastman put his back to us to write on the board, Lee refused to look back at me. And when the bell rang, he rose from his seat and departed the room before my rear could even rise off my chair.

What had just happened? I stood next to my desk, staring at the door. It had been as if he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Did the fact that I claimed I was asking about him put him off? Was he mad that I distracted him from what was going on in the classroom that the teacher had to publicly call him out on it?

I bit down on my lip, nearly hard enough to draw blood. I wanted to chase after him, make him stop and listen to me explain. Explain what? I couldn’t tell him about the old reality. Bad enough he probably thought I was weird for even bringing up magic and wishes.

Heading out of the class, I let myself move forward on autopilot down the hall. Each person who said hello to me was just another spike shoved into my soul.

It was my own fault, though. I’d scoffed at Cindy’s constantly complaint about the attention fostered on her. The oppressiveness of having everyone seemingly want you around them. My arrogance at thinking I knew better than her had come around to slap me in the face. The only reason these people felt any sort of way toward me at all was because of the stone.

I stepped out into the sunlight, making my way toward the gymnasium.

People are going to look to you as an example. An idol, of sorts. Sam’s voice was devoid of the mocking I’d come to expect from my former self. This time, he sounded like he was remorseful. There’s nothing you can do about it. However, you’ve already seen that you can use it to make other people’s lives better. Being the most popular girl in school means that you can break the rigid constraints of the clique cliché.

Sarah waited for me outside the sports complex. When she saw me, she tilted her head slightly to look at me. Her standoffish posture instantly changed into something more friendly.

“Are you okay, Peej?” she asked, concern filling her voice. “What’s wrong?”

I nodded, but didn’t answer. I didn’t know where to begin. With Lee? But that would require telling her about the past she didn’t know. In fact, everything that was wrong went back to that point.

“I’m okay,” I lied. Then I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly against me.

For a few seconds, we stayed like that. Then, when I was mostly sure I’d be able to speak without crying, I released her and stepped back.

“Uh, okay,” she said, hesitantly. “You haven’t done that in a while. Like, since freshman year when you tore the sleeve of your mom’s coat after she told you not to wear it to school.” She leaned over and looked into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Her last words to me had been distrustful. Because I was being secretive and shady. However, as a true friend, she’d thrown all that aside the moment she saw I was hurting.

This time I shrugged. “I will be. I think.”

She nodded. “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Or is it another big secret.”

“It’s a part of it. A big part.” I slowly brought my hand up and put it on her upper arm. “I swear, Sarah, I will tell you everything, answer every question you might have, this afternoon. Let’s just … get through the day. Okay?”

She didn’t even pause. “Okay. But only because you promised.”

Linking her arm through mine, we entered the building.

In the locker room, I was greeted with a number of good-natured catcalls from some of the other girls. Including more than a few shouts of, “you go, girl!”. Even Chloe gave me a big thumbs-up and a huge smile when I looked over her way.

Crap. I guess that damned picture really had gone viral. At least among the attendees of Benson High.

I sighed and set my backpack on the bench, pulling out the small bag containing my gym attire. As I shoved the unneeded items back into the metal cage, I glanced over at Sarah.

“I really hope The Butcher takes it easy on us today,” I said. “I could use a break.”

She turned to look at me, a small wave of confusion passing across her face. Apparently my words had pulled her out of her thoughts. Then her eyes widened comically and she jumped up from her bench.

“Oh crap!” She said, flailing her arms about like a drowning swimmer. Her unrestrained breasts bounced around like they were on pogo sticks. Sam would have immensely enjoyed the view. “Oh crap! I totally forgot to warn you. I was so focused on trying to figure out your mystery. Oh crap! Oh crap!”

I took a step back, glancing over to see several of the other girls, all in various stages of getting dressed, looking our way. Shrugging at them, I turned back to my panicking best friend. It would have been a little funny, if she didn’t actually look like she was going to start screaming.

“Deep breaths, girl,” I said in a lowered voice, stepping closer to her. “Take about thirty-percent off and tell me what you forgot to warn me about? The Butcher?”

She nodded, her cheeks, neck, and upper chest. “Yes. Uh, when you were absent yesterday, I told her you left because you weren’t feeling well. She had us start doing relay suicides while she went into her office. When she came back, she was really angry.” My friend swallowed hard and the reddish areas of her flesh turned to crimson. “I think she called the infirmary to see if you were there.”

I let out a dejected sigh and plopped down on the bench. “No, I didn’t go by to see the nurse. I guess I should have, though. At least to check in and get a dismissal note. I was just too upset about Geoff’s stupid wi … uh, self. I just went right home.”

Sarah nodded, slipping into a dark blue sports bra, then layering her gym shirt over top. “I didn’t even think, Peej. I’m sorry. I meant to call you last night and tell you, but …”

I reached out and put my hand on her arm. “You were upset about the whole secret meeting thing.”

She frowned. “Yeah.” Then she looked at me, shaking her head. “You have no idea how long this day has been for me. I just want to pin you down and shake the information out of you. Having to wait until after practice is just really cruel.”

I might have felt guiltier if she hadn’t followed up with a small grin. She stood up and closed her locker, leaning against it.

“So, you might want to speed up the changing clothes so you aren’t late. Again. That’s just going to make whatever punishment she gives you twice as bad.”

I knew she wasn’t joking. Even though I’d had an actual sample of the ire the gruff physical education teacher possessed, the stories Sam had been privy to were the stuff of nightmares. I quickly stripped down to my panties, threw on a bright pink sports bra and my own gym attire, laced up my sneakers, and departed the locker room.

Sarah and I emerged into the gym, walking at a hurried pace to the gaggle of girls lounging on the pull-out bleachers beneath one of the retractable basketball goals. Thankfully, Coach Burchett was nowhere in sight.

Monica grinned from her seat as her dark brown eyes drifted over to me. The slight incline of her head told me, before she even opened her mouth, that she was going to comment on Sean’s damning photo.

Was this nightmare ever going to end?

“I give you a ten out of ten for that kiss, Davenport,” she said, drawing a round of giggles from the girls on either side of her. “Barnes really is a lucky guy. Too bad you don’t switch hit. I bet that kiss alone would have put me over the top.”

I paused, blinked a few times, then managed to recover without falling over myself. I had no idea that Monica Keen liked girls. I mean, I hadn’t kept detailed notes on the romantic entanglements of every attractive girl at school, but more often than not, I’d at least noticed who hung onto who.

Settling down on a seat two rows in front of her, I turned my head to back in her direction. “Sorry, Monica,” I said, smiling. “Boys only.”

She nodded. “I know. Doesn’t stop a girl from dreaming though.” Then she winked at me.

Before I could respond, a shrill whistle cut through the chatter and background noise emanating from the other side of the gym. We all turned out heads to see The Butcher standing a few feet in front of the bleachers, the silver noisemaker swaying from a green cord slung around her neck.

“Okay, ladies,” she yelled in a voice that would make a drill sergeant pee his pants. “Off and on! That means off your lazy butts and on your feet. We’re going to do some serious sweating today.”

A collective groan came from the females around me as we all managed to get up from where we were sitting and form two rows of bodies in front of the barbaric gym teacher. Sarah moved into position on my left, while Tracy settled in on my right.

“At the other end of the room, you will find a set of bright orange cones and a bag full of soccer balls. I want the cones arranged in a line running diagonally from the top corner of the basketball court to the left side of the basket. Then you will divide into two groups. One group will start at each end of the line and dribble a ball down to the other side. At the same time, the other group will come from the opposite direction.”

A sadistic smirk formed on her weathered face.

“If you geniuses manage to do this correctly, you will pass the person from the other team on the other side of your cone. If not, then you two bimbos will probably run into each other. Hop to it!”

We all started to surge to the other side of the gym, no one wanting to be noticed as less than enthusiastic about The Butcher’s orders. However, I’d only managed a couple of steps before she held up her hand and shook her head.

“Not so fast, Davenport. You and I need to speak for a hot second.”

Sarah stopped in her tracks and looked back at me. I waved her on, not wanting her to get into trouble on my account. She hesitated, looking from me to the teacher. Then she frowned and ran off to catch up with the rest of the class.

“You seemed to have gotten lost on your way to my class yesterday,” the older woman said, turning her eyes away from Sarah and onto me. “Miss Strand said you were sick, but the nurse in the infirmary didn’t have a record of you stopping by.”

I shuffled from one foot to the other. “I, uh, sort of checked myself out, Coach. I know I should have gone by the office and got a note …”

She held up her hand. “Save the excuses, Davenport. You ditched and got caught.” She tapped her index finger, the light pink nail at the end of it trimmed short, against the top of the silver whistle. “Now, normally I would have a couple of options for punishing you.” Her frown deepened. “Well, for punishing others who ditch class.”

Uh-oh. Something told me that her segregation of me from the other students wasn’t a good thing. Or, at least, a distasteful thing to her.

“See, I could give you three days’ suspension. However, that would result in your being unable to cheer tomorrow. Since, I really don’t want to listen to Ferguson’s bitching about it, that idea’s out.”

“Coach …”

“Can it. Unless you want to dig your hole a little deeper.” She shook her head. “Detention is the same problem. If I give it to you today, you’ll miss practice, and we’re back to Ferguson jumping my crap. Keeping you after school on Friday is completely impossible, and scheduling it for Monday will give you and Winters far too much time to appeal to Principal Ader.”

She sighed, as if realizing she was defeated. Then she narrowed her eyes at me as she flashed me a grin that would give a Nazgul nightmares.

“So, the only way I can teach you a lesson about the importance of attending my class is to do what the program is designed to do. Make you sweat.” Her smile widened and she pointed upward.

For a second, I honestly thought she was either going to call down a bolt of lightning to fry me, or else ignite the tip of her finger like some sort of demon. Instead, she merely wiggled it back and forth, indicating the track over our heads.

“Start running, Raiderette. You can stop when the bells rings.”

There was no arguing with her. I’d dared snub The Butcher and now I was paying the price. I nodded and turned around, walking toward the stairs that led up to the track. Glancing over, I saw Sarah, Kara, and some of the others watching. All of them looked at me like I was heading to the gas chamber.

“I believe I said ‘run’, Davenport!”

Sighing, I broke into a light jog that carried me the rest of the way to the steps and up them. At the top, I continued my pace, focusing only on the white line bisecting the blue flooring and stretching off ahead.

I kept my pace steady, knowing that if I went too slow, Coach Burchett was going to start blowing her whistle and yelling. If I went too fast, then I’d need Sarah and Kara to carry me to cheer practice. Where the most I’d be able to do would be lie on a bleacher and try to give orders.

As the laps went by, I found my thoughts drifting from the track and the ambient sounds of the activates of the people below. Instead, I began to replay my interactions with Lee.

There had been a look in his eyes when he kept me from busting my butt in the hallway. Not so much desire, or need. More like, accepting. Like he saw me as a person long before he noticed me as a figurehead. Or idol. If I had to pick a tried and true moment to relive over and over, it would be the sensation of my fall being arrested by his arms.

It was one of those type of moments they make sure is in every romantic comedy.

The way he seemed to just … respond … to me was another point of interest. Our conversation in Mr. Eastman’s class had been a knee-jerk reflex on my part. I’d allowed my concentration to slip, uttering information I should not have possessed. Then I attempted to cover it up by testing the waters of his imagination.

And what had he done?

Taken the opportunity to let me know that, should he ever find himself in the position of using magic power to change the world, he would use it to help a family member. Completely and totally unselfish.

As I’d felt before, I didn’t deserve him. Not even when we’d been together in the first iteration of Penelope. Why? Because, even though I hadn’t used the stone on purpose, I’d still made sure to enjoy the benefits of the results. I’d basked in the adoration and loved it.

I was a fraud. Lee would be better off falling for some girl who actually warranted having a guy that great. What I truly deserved was to let Geoff’s wish overtake me. Bind me to him as punishment for my … pride?

It probably wouldn’t take much, really. I mean, another four or five of those kisses and I’d be hooked worse than a meth-head. I’d be more than okay with throwing away true, pure love for a relationship with someone who felt they could just make a wish and own me.

The sound of a whistle yanked me back to the present, and I glanced over the railing to see Coach Burchett standing on the gym floor looking up at me. The rest of the class were walking toward the locker room, Sarah bringing up the rear.

I stopped and bent over to place my hands on my knees as I looked down at the scowling instructor.

“You’re done, Davenport,” she called up to me. “Next time you skip my class, I won’t go so easy on you.”

I nodded and turned around to head back downstairs. I realized my hair was plastered to my scalp and my t-shirt clung to every curve, damp enough to showcase the outline of my bra through the thin material.

At the bottom of the steps, I navigated in the direction of the rest of my classmates, before spinning back around to approach the adult watching me.

“I’m sorry I ditched, Coach,” I said in my most apologetic voice. “It won’t happen again.”

She studied me for a moment, then gave a single nod of acceptance. “See that it doesn’t.” Her eyes locked onto mine for a moment, then over my shoulder as the barest hint of a grin formed on her normally angry face. “You better run along before Strand organizes a rescue party.”

I twisted around to see Sarah had stopped short of the locker room door and was watching me and The Butcher carefully. When I began to walk her way, I noticed some tension leave her body.

“She didn’t change her mind and give you detention,” she asked when I reached her. “Cause, you know Ferguson will flip out over that.”

I shook my head. “No. An hour of laps was the extent of the penality.” I nodded my head in the direction of the locker room. “Come on, I need to at least wring out this shirt before practice.”

She sniffed in my vicinity. “You might want to take a quick shower, too, Peej. You’re not getting into my car if you’re all stinky.” A tiny smile formed on her face.

I did as she suggested, keeping my bathing time limited to a mere fifteen minutes. Then I scrambled into a pair of black and green Lycra pants, a fresh sports bra, and a clean t-shirt. Stuffing my dirty clothes back into my bag, I exited the locker room.

Sarah was leaning against the far wall, texting on her phone. When I emerged into the hallway, she glanced up and quickly stuffed the phone into her backpack.

“Do I smell sufficiently appropriate now?” I asked, stepping next to her.

She made a big show of sniffing my hair, then leaned back and nodded slowly. “It’ll do.”

I giggled and looped my arm through hers. I really liked Sarah. She was, beyond a doubt, the best friend Penny could hope to have.

Too bad it was going to end once I told her the truth. Even if she did believe me, she probably wouldn’t feel comfortable being around me anymore. Though that thought did scare the crap out of me, I knew my conscience wouldn’t let me keep lying to her.

I’d just have to handle the rejection, when it came, like a big girl.

The rest of the squad, including Tabitha, were waiting on the side of the football field. Several of the girls were stretching and warming up. Tabitha was leaning against the railing of the steps that went up to the bleachers, and Melissa was looking at her phone.

I dropped my bag next to the low retaining wall running around the field and then stepped over to Melissa’s side.

“You can tell Jen that I didn’t miss practice again, Inez,” I said, flashing her a flat smile.

“Peej,” she said, startled. “I wasn’t … didn’t …”

“Save it. She ratted you out last night.” I shook my head. “I’m not mad, Melissa. Just disappointed.”

Her face fell and her shoulders slumped. Honestly, I thought the poor girl was about to start crying.

“I’m sorry, Pee-Jay. She texted me yesterday right after second period. Bitching about you and Tabs not answering your phones. Then she started in with asking all these questions. They were a little … weird, but she seemed so mad. I didn’t want her to be mad at me.”

I sighed. Of course. I might be the most desired girl on campus, but Jen was still a force to be feared. Especially if you were a Raiderette. Part of me wondered if that was a direct result of her particular wish. Or if being an overbearing bitch had always been in her nature.

“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “It’s hard to say no when Jen starts screaming at you for something. Go warm up with the others.”

She nodded and put her phone away. Then half-jogged to stand next to Candice.

I glanced over at Tabitha, who was watching me with a curious expression that was half-surprised, half-amused.

“You planning on cheering tomorrow, Stevens?”

“Of course.”

I nodded. “Then shag your little bottom over with the rest.” When she drifted past me, I lowered my voice so that only she could hear. “You keep forgetting you aren’t co-captain anymore.”

The blonde blinked, her head snapping around like she’d just been slapped. Then her lips curled into a smirk.

“Promotions and demotions can come at any time, Pee-Jay. Just remember that.”

I almost retorted, but decided to withhold my response. For now. Instead, I walked over to stand in front of the assembled girls.

“Okay, Raiderttes!” I said, looking up and down the line. “Jen will be back tomorrow. The boys are going to be going up against Southwest, so I don’t have to tell you that they’re going to need us rooting them to victory.”

Sarah, Kara, and Jordan all let out a little whoop, with Sarah doing a quick back handspring.

I couldn’t stop the small grin that formed on my face. Here I was, a former guy, giving a pep talk to the fracking Pep Squad. I should have been tongue-tied. However, looking at the pony-tailed posse I’d started to come to know, it felt natural to be the source of encouragement.

Of course, I’m sure the magic of the stone was playing a big part as well.

Over the next hour, I went through every single combination I could remember. And I didn’t just walk back and forth barking out orders or giving directions, I even joined in on the routines. I mean, I knew I could use the practice as well. Even Tabitha seemed to get into the action, and I caught her grinning wildly on a couple of occasions.

I still wasn’t completely sure about her. We’d had some moments since my wish where I thought she was sort of a decent person. Then that angry bitch side would rear its head and she tumble right back down to the bottom of my respect barrel. God only knew what sort of crap I would be in for when she and Jen were finally able to join forces.

Finally, I could see that the girls were starting to get worn out. When Shelly mis-stepped twice in a row, I decided it was time to call it quits.

“Okay!” I said, bouncing over to turn off the music. “Great job everyone! I think we’re totally going to blow it out of the water tomorrow night!”

That brought another round of cheers and yells. The girls all threw each other quick compliments, then began to gather up their things in preparation for going home. There was quite a bit of excited chatter taking place, but I wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said.

“Not too bad,” Tabitha said as she walked over to me. “Not great, mind you. But a lot better than that crappy performance you brought to the table on Tuesday.”

“Wow,” I said as I bent over to pick up my backpack. “Did that hurt? Because it sounded really painful for you to say.”

She crinkled her nose. “Don’t get used to it, Sam. Things are going to change when Jen gets back. We both know it.” She shrugged. “Though, the chances of her just kicking you off the squad are pretty much nil. Not when the entire student body believes you practically walk on water.”

“Wouldn’t do her popularity any good to do that, huh?”

“Probably not. But she can sure make your life a hell on earth, though. Wear you down until you quit.”

“Like she did with Tonya?”

“Yep. Only she’s not likely to be as nice about it with you.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I got the worst of her venom when I was a guy, Tabby. Now that I’m not a loser anymore, she’ll find I’m a tougher nut to crack.”

She responded with another of those one-shoulder shrugs. “She won’t come at you directly, you know. She’ll find the cracks in your armor and that’s where she’ll attack.”

A little amused smirk appeared on her face, then she turned around and started walking away.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t go after a certain ex-football player as her opening move. Night.”

As she left, I glared daggers at her back. She’d all but announced that Jen knew I was “officially” dating Geoff, that I still had my feelings for Lee. If the Ice Bitch rolled back into town and tried to steal him away from me, I was going to start re-thinking this kinder, gentler Penny.

“Hey,” Sarah said from right behind me, causing me to jump and let out a tiny, high-pitched squeak. “Sorry.”

I shook my head, got my heartbeat under control, then smiled. “It’s okay. I just didn’t see you there.” Then I gave her an inquiring look, gesturing to Tabitha’s departing form. “How much of that did you hear?”

She shrugged. “Not much. Just something about an ex-football player.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

She arched a brow. “Something to do with what we’re going to your house now to talk about?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

We crossed campus and climbed into Sarah’s Prius. As soon as my butt hit the seat, my phone began to chime with what had to sappiest love ballad I think I’ve ever heard. Grabbing it out of my bag, I knew who it was before I ever looked at the screen.

Sighing, I hit the answer button. “Yes?”

A moment’s pause. Then his voice drifted out of the phone’s earpiece. “Well, hello to you, too.”

I glanced over at Sarah and rolled my eyes. She shot me a weird look, but started the car anyways and pulled out of the lot.

“It’s been a day, Geoff. A long, tiring day.”

“Yeah, I heard The Butcher made you run laps through the entirety of sixth. That sucks.”

“That it does.” I sighed. “Is there something you need?”

“Just wanted to hear your voice,” he said, sounding like he was trying to sound hurt. “Didn’t you want to hear mine?”

“Not at the moment, no. I just want to go home and relax.”

“I could come over and help you relax.”

I closed my eyes, fighting against the memory of our lunchtime kiss. The image of Lee catching me swam to the forefront of my mind and I latched onto it like a drowning person on a life preserver.

“You don’t relax me,” I said through gritted teeth. “You make me tense and agitated.”

“Really?” He laughed. “Funny, you didn’t seem like either of those at lunch.”

“Bye, Geoff. See you tomorrow.” Then I hung up and tossed the phone back into my bag.

“Wow,” Sarah said, cutting her eyes over at me. “That was really … rude. I thought you two had made up. I mean, you certainly looked like you’d made up to me.” She sighed with a little dreamy noise. “Even I got a little wet watching you two.”

I snorted and shook my head. “If you only knew the truth.”

She shrugged. “I will, right? Know the truth.”

“You’ll hear the truth, Sarah. I’m pretty sure you won’t know it, though.”

When we got to my house, I noticed mom’s car was there, but dad’s wasn’t. Must be working late again. We walked inside, finding my mother in the living room on the phone. I didn’t smell anything delicious emanating from the direction of the kitchen, which usually meant leftovers. I paused in the entranceway and looked at the woman pacing back and forth.

“No,” she said. “I think the antibiotics are doing their job. It’s just going to take a couple of hours. Keep an eye on his temperature and call me back if it gets above one-oh-three.” She hung up and glanced over at the two of us. “Hello, sweetie. Sarah.” She pointed at the device in her hand. “New mother with a sick baby. He’s going to be fine, but I’m afraid she’s going to have nervous breakdown.”

I nodded. “Sarah and I are going upstairs to discuss … uh, homecoming.”

She waved her hand toward the steps. “Go. Discuss. I’ll throw something in the microwave. Sarah, you’re welcome to stay for dinner if you want.”

“Thanks, Mrs. D,” she said. “But I probably won’t be here long.”

“Suit yourself.”

We went up to my room. I closed the door behind Sarah and locked it before dropping my bag onto the floor.

She set hers on the desk, then sat down on the edge of the bed. We stared at each other for several long seconds before she finally sighed.

“So, are you going to start? Or do I need to begin just asking random questions?”

I glanced around the room. I’d known this conversation was coming the whole day long. But I really hadn’t given much thought to just how I was going to start telling Sarah about everything.

“Okay,” I said, wiping my sweating palms on my pants. “First of all, things aren’t really the way you think they are. Or even the way you remember them being.” I gestured around us. “For example, this isn’t my room.”

She arched a brow, looked around, then back to me. “Sure looks like it.”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, what I’m telling you is that, before Monday, it was a guy’s room. With science fiction posters and dirty clothes, and gaming stuff piled up everywhere. There weren’t any ballet posters or cute dressers or a closet full of girlie clothes.”

“I’m not sure what you …”

“This was a guy’s room because, before Monday, I was a guy.”

“A guy?” She shook her head. “Pee-Jay, I’m not sure what kind of game you’re playing …”

I held out my hands. “I’m not playing any games Sarah.” I sighed. “Before Monday, I was a guy named Samuel Davenport. Charlie? Charlie was a girl named Cindy. She was the Raiderette, not me.”

“Upchuck used to be a girl. Wait, no. You’re saying Upchuck was one of the Elite?”

“Yes.” Then I dropped my hands. “You don’t believe me, do you? Of course you don’t. Because I sound completely crazy.”

“So, explain to me how I couldn’t possibly have not noticed you were a boy all this time? We’ve showered together after gym for a couple of years now. We’ve shared the same bed during more sleepovers than I can count. Not to mention there is no amount of makeup, wigs, or tucking that would make anyone think Charlie was a Raiderette. Not even if they were legally blind.”

I swallowed, feeling the conversation begin to slip away from me. Why hadn’t I just made up some story? Anything that didn’t have to do with magic or malicious goddesses? I could have said Charlie, Tabitha, Tracy, and I were in some twisted polygamous relationship that we didn’t want to become publicly known. Or a group of devil worshippers. Anything sounded less insane than the truth.

“There was this stone,” the words just tumbled from my lips. “A magic stone that grants wishes. It takes two people to make a wish happen. One for each of them. Tabitha and Tracy used it. As did Cindy and I.”

“I suppose Geoff and Jen?”

I shook my head. “Geoff used it with Peter McDonald. I don’t know who Jen used it with. She refuses to tell me.”

“How does Lee Taylor fit into all this? Did he make a wish too?”

I paused, then shook my head. “I don’t think so. Because he doesn’t remember the other reality. Just the one we’re living in now.”

“Other … reality?”

I nodded. “Before Geoff made his wish. In the reality before that, Lee and I were dating.”

Her nose crinkled in a mixture of confusion and concern. “Lee and Pee-Jay? Or Lee and …”

“Pee-Jay,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “It’s complicated. When you make a wish, you can remember what things were like before you made it. But no one else does. Unless they’ve used the stone prior. Tabs and Tracy used it before Charlie and I, so they remember us being Sam and Cindy. Geoff and Peter used it afterwards, so they only remember Pee-Jay and Charlie.”

Sarah laughed, but there was no humor to be found in it. “A magic wishing stone? That rewrites reality for the people that make a wish, but that no one else remembers? Give me a break, Pee-Jay.” She held up her hands. “Oh, sorry, I mean ‘Sam’.”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Didn’t I tell you that you would think I was crazy.”

“Crazy?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think you’re crazy at all.”

I stared at her, terrified of the look in her eyes. It was like a rolling thunderhead of anger, hurt, pain, and embarrassment. As if someone had taken every negative emotion possible and shoved them all at once into her gaze. I saw her hands open and close several times as her teeth clenched silently.

“Sarah …”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you’re crazy. Or that there is a magic rock that grants wishes.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “I think you just don’t want to be my friend anymore. So you’re making up outrageous stories to cover the fact that you’ve moved on.”

I blinked, nearly falling backward. “Moving on. To whom?”

“Tabitha.” She spoke the words as if they were completely and utterly true.

“What? Now that’s just crazy.” I pointed at the window, as if the blonde in question were hanging around outside like some preppy vampire. “I can’t even stand Tabitha, Sarah. You know this.”

She mimicked me by crossing her arms over her own chest. “Really? Then why are you always sneaking off with her. Or whispering stuff to her.” Then her mouth dropped open. “You aren’t … with her, are you?”

It took me far longer to follow her train of thought than it should have. I blamed it on the stress of the day. “What? With her … like a couple? Sarah, I’m straight. Totally straight.”

“I thought so, but now I’m not too sure.” She stared at me. “I mean, it’s not totally insane. She’s really pretty. Prettier than me.” Her head canted slightly to one side. “Is that the reason you and Geoff have been fighting? Over Tabitha?”

“Oh. My. God!” I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. “I am not attracted to girls. Not anymore. And when I was, I was never attracted to Tabitha Stevens. Ever.” I walked toward her, holding out my hands. “Sarah, please believe me. I know I can’t offer any proof. Or convince you that I’m not making this up. You’re my best friend. Please believe me.”

She didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she walked around my room, looking at everything that screamed the resident of it was female. Then she turned back to me.

“I’m your best friend?”

I nodded, putting a smile on my face. The blurriness of my vision worsened.

“Yes,” I said, still holding my hands out to her. “My very best friend.”

She didn’t take my outstretched hands. Rather, she sighed and picked up her back from the desk.

“Funny, because according to what you’re trying to get me to believe, I wasn’t your best friend until a few days ago.”

“Sarah …”

She shook her head. “You can keep your secrets, Pee-Jay.”

The way she said my name was like a knife twisting in my heart. The tears brimming at the edges of my eyelids broke loose and streamed down my cheeks and over my lips. Hot, wet, salty. The flood increased as she put the bag across her slumped shoulders and walked toward the door.

“I don’t want to be your friend anymore,” she said as she put her hand on the knob. “No, that’s not right.” She turned to look at me. I could see her tears through my own. “I can’t be your friend anymore.”

Then she opened the door and walked out, leaving it ajar.

“Sarah …” I whispered weakly.

Then I sank to the floor in a blubbering heap of pain and anguish.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 19
by Limbo’s Mistress

I remained curled on the floor of my bedroom, sobbing, for almost half an hour. Eventually, I ran out of tears and pushed myself into a sitting position. My breathing came in shuddering gasps. I felt beat up. Physically. Almost like the time Chad slammed me into the lockers a few times before shoving me down onto the floor.

All because Jen had told him, falsely, that I had been flirting with Sarah in French class.

I groaned, putting my head in my hands, sniffling as my crying-induced runny nose threatened to get away from me.

How had everything gotten so twisted around and dark so quickly? I hadn’t expected to so easily fall into Penelope’s life, but I had. I’d thought it would be weeks of me stumbling around, doing my best to convince people that I really was the girl they saw when they looked at me. The girl they had firm and complete memories of existing.

Instead, it had been like trying on a new suit and finding everything just seemed to fit perfectly. I’d found a new cadre of friends who enjoyed being around me. Granted, part of that was likely due to my wish. I’d discovered what love could really be like. Not to mention how great it could be to help someone who needed it.

All gone now.

I wiped my eyes with the hem of my t-shirt, then climbed up onto shaky legs. I pulled my phone from my bag and sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the picture of me and Sarah, our arms around each other.

Unlocking the device, I scrolled though my call history list and pressed the phone icon next to Charlie’s name.

“Hey,” he said after the third ring. “What’s up?”

I could hear someone talking in the background. A female. Tracy, most likely. Unexpectedly, I felt a little wave of jealousy and nearly hung up on him. Instead, I fought against the negative emotion and swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Hey,” I said in return, my voice cracking a bit. “Are you busy?”

“Trace is over so we can study for a physics quiz tomorrow.” There was a slight pause, then he quickly added, “But I can talk if you need to.”

“That would be nice.”

Another moment of silence. “Are you okay, Sam?”

I shook my head, then chastised myself for doing it. “No,” I said. “Not really.”

“Okay. Hold on a second.” There was the sound of him putting his hand over the phone, and then I heard him saying something to Tracy.

“Cin?” I said. I repeated it louder. “Cin.”

“Yeah?”

“You can call me later. Don’t make her leave on my account.”

“Are you sure?”

I bit down on my lower lip. I really wanted someone to talk to about what had just happened between me and Sarah. Charlie made the obvious choice because he’d used the stone. Then again, so had Tracy.

“Actually, maybe it would help to talk to you both. If she doesn’t mind.”

I heard him ask her. A second later, the phone in my ear clicked loudly as the boy at the other end activated the speaker mode.

“Hey, Pee-Jay,” Tracy said. “What’s wrong?”

I sighed. “I told Sarah the truth.”

Dead silence for about five seconds. For a second, I thought we’d lost connection.

“About everything?” Charlie asked, sounding worried. “The stone? Us? The changes in reality?”

“Yeah,” I breathed, falling back onto the bed. “She found out about our meeting in the Clubhouse yesterday and sort of freaked out about it. Since she’s my best friend, she was really hurt by my keeping some big secret from her.”

“Well, sometimes best friends do that.”

I winced. Oh god. Was that directed at me? I mean, Cindy had been my best friend before the wishing stone screwed everything up. But it wasn’t like I’d just abandoned her willy-nilly. Reality had changed to make Sarah to be Penny’s best friend. Not Charlie. Which meant we couldn’t be as close as we used to be.

Or maybe you could, and you just let the thrill of being adored go to your head.

I physically slapped my forehead, as if that would actually silence Sam’s taunting voice.

“I guess she didn’t believe you.” Tracy said. “Probably thought you were just making it up to hide something else.”

“Yeah. Exactly.” Then I arched a brow at the phone. “Wait, did you do that? Try to tell someone the truth?”

“Unfortunately,” she said. “When the stone changed my life, I discovered my parents had enacted a strict diet routine in the hopes that it would help me lose weight.” She barked a sarcastic, unhappy, laugh. “Which was ludicrous, since before Tabs cursed me, I was actually kind of underweight. Skinny, even.”

“Did you say something to them?”

“Of course I did,” she said. “I mean, I was a little freaked out already because I’d gone from average-looking to … well, you know. I kept telling them that Tabitha had done this to me with a magic wish.” She sighed. “They thought I was making up crap in order to get out of fat camp. It took them threatening me with seeing a shrink before I stopped trying to convince them.”

I frowned. I could only imagine how my parents would have handled me rushing downstairs and trying to convince them that I used to be a boy. Rather than the daughter they knew, without a doubt, me to be. Considering that my mother was a doctor, I’m sure she would have immediately shipped me off for a psych evaluation. Or a full-screen drug testing.

“That sucks,” Charlie added. “I’m glad I was in too much shock to actually engage with my folks. They just thought I’d been up too late playing video games. By the time I got home Monday afternoon, I’d calmed down enough to act normal. Or at least relatively normal.”

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “I didn’t know what else to do. I mean, I knew I shouldn’t try telling her the truth. I mean, if someone began talking to me about magic stones and wishes, I’d think they were looney tunes.”

“But you didn’t,” Charlie said. “I mean, you didn’t really believe me at first. However, you were quick to change your mind.”

“That’s because I held the damned thing,” I said defensively. “The second I touched it, I knew what you said about it was real.”

“Too bad you don’t still have it,” Tracy added. “Then she could hold it and know you’re not lying.”

“I’ll be happy if that thing goes away and never comes back. I’m not sure I could handle another reality reset. Hard enough to keep things straight as it is.”

“Imagine how I feel,” Tracy said with an amused laugh. “I’m one reality up on you. I’m just glad this latest change didn’t really affect me that much. I didn’t know Geoff or Peter, and I’m ugly enough to avoid being one of Peter’s targets.”

“Peter is done with targets,” I said in a low, angry voice. “If he needs a ball-kick refresher to jog his memory, I’m more than in the mood to oblige.”

“Just be glad you’re immune,” Charlie said. “Who knows what he would have done with the most wanted girl in school.”

“Stop calling me that,” I said. “I don’t want to be the most desired. Or most wanted. Or any of that.” I sighed. “I just want to be me. I mean, Pee-Jay me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding extremely sympathetic. “Maybe Sarah will think you were just joking around.”

“I doubt it,” I said, letting out a pensive breath. “I was pretty adamant when trying to tell her. Though, looking back, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that she ran away from me and my crazy-talk. After what happened with Lee.”

Silence.

“Sam, did you say something to Lee as well?”

“Not exactly. I mean, not in the same way I tried to convince Sarah of the truth. I might have let something slip in class today. Something personal that he’d told me when we were a couple. He got really suspicious, so I started asking him what he thought about magic and wishes.”

“You didn’t.”

“Don’t judge me, Cindy,” I said. “I didn’t know what else to do. I miss him so much. I know it’s insane, since we weren’t actually dating, at least from my view, until a few days ago. I just feel this … connection with him.”

Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes. Then Charlie cleared his throat.

“Listen, I know this is going to sound really hard and heartless. But you have got to move on from this. Lee Taylor was Pee-Jay’s boyfriend in a world that doesn’t exist anymore. You’re not going to be able to force you two back together. I know you’re hurting, and I wouldn’t wish … sorry … want anyone to have to suffer that way.”

“I know that, Cin,” I said, feeling my eyes begin to water again. “I just … there was a moment today in the hall. I nearly fell down and he caught me and held me in his arms. I felt some kind of connection between us. Just like before.”

“Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?” Tracy asked.

I glared at the phone in my hand, but managed to refrain from screaming at her.

“Yes. I mean, pretty sure. It was like this … electricity. I felt it Monday when he kissed me for the first time. I mean, not me. But …”

“I understand what you mean,” she said. Then she sighed. “I don’t really know what to say to that. I still don’t know a lot about what the stone can do. Other than the obvious.”

“Why don’t we meet tomorrow?” Charlie asked. “Either before school or during third period?”

“It will have to be first thing in the morning,” I said. “Free period is booked with prepping for the pre-game pep rally. No way I can skip out on that. Not with Jen coming back.”

“Ugh,” Tracy and Charlie said in unison.

“I’ve enjoyed not seeing her scowling face or hearing her bitching voice since last Friday,” Charlie said. “I don’t envy you at all.”

“Thanks,” I said in a deadpan. “I’m already prepared for a serious cussing from her about my new station and involvement in her cheer squad.”

“Yeah, she’s going to be in a mood,” Tracy agreed. “She really climbed all over Tabs’ ass after we used the stone.”

“Well, that’s a little hypocritical, isn’t it?” Charlie asked her.

“It’s Jennifer Winters,” she replied. “Do you really need to ask?”

We made arrangements to meet in the library before first bell, then I ended the call. I wasn’t sure what the two of them were really doing together. I mean, I’m sure there might have been some studying, but there might have been other extra stuff taking place as well.

Just because my love life had gone down in flames didn’t mean that I wanted to screw up someone else’s.

I sat up, climbed off the bed, and went over to the closet. I pulled a bright pink sweatshirt from one of the shelves and pulled it on over the gym tee. I grabbed a hairband from one of the dresser drawers, tied my hair back in a ponytail, and went downstairs.

Daddy still wasn’t home, but mom was in the kitchen sipping on a glass of wine and flipping through a magazine. There was a plate turning slowly in the microwave and the smell of sauced meat wafted up my nose.

My stomach growled in response.

Glancing up, mom smiled for about a half a second, then frowned. “You’ve been crying,” she said. Not a question.

I sighed and nodded. “A little.”

She put her glass down, closed the magazine, and turned in her seat to face me. “Sarah didn’t stay very long,” she said, not taking her eyes off mine. “She also didn’t say goodbye when she ran past me out the door. Is it reasonably safe to assume your tears and her rapid departure are related?”

I nodded, breaking eye contact in order to turn around and open the fridge. From the shelf on the door, I retrieved a bottle of peach-flavored water. Cracking open the top, I took a long swallow, relishing the way the chilled liquid soothed my parched throat. When I turned back around, I saw that she was still in the exact same spot. Waiting on details.

“Sarah and I had a fight,” I said, leaning back against the fridge. “She thinks I’m keeping secrets from her and I tried to explain that I wasn’t. She doesn’t believe me.” I bit down on my lower lip for a moment before releasing it. “She … doesn’t want to be my friend anymore.”

She responded with a single nod, then gave me a little smile. “I’m sure it will work out.”

My mouth dropped open. I expected her to be more helpful than that. What happened to the woman who sat on my bed the previous night and discussed my problem with Geoff and Lee while soothing my pain?

“Don’t look at me like that, Penelope. It’s not as if you and Sarah haven’t been mad at each other before. Usually over the silliest issues.”

“What?”

She nodded. “Remember the blow up between you two last year? Over the shopping trip to the mall?”

I shook my head. I was too addled to try and pretend. “Not really.”

She laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Penelope, really. You, Sarah, and some of the other cheerleaders were going shopping for spring formal dresses. Sarah told you to meet them at four, but you misunderstood and showed up an hour late. By the time you got there, the dress you’d had your eye on for a week was already taken.” She shook her head. “You were so mad at Sarah, you wouldn’t take her calls or let her come over for a week.”

“Really?” I didn’t like that story. Mainly because it made me seem as shallow and vengeful as Jen.

“Then you realized how much you missed her and called her to apologize. She came over, you two cried about it, then had a sleepover that very evening.”

A small smile formed on my face. “I remember that,” I said. Even though I didn’t really, I felt like I could perfectly imagine the scene.

“I’m sure whatever has come between you two tonight won’t last. You girls are too good of friends for that to happen.” A small frown appeared on her face. “I just wish you’d been more forgiving when it came to Jennifer.”

I nodded, taking a swallow of water. Then I gasped, choked, and began to cough harshly.

“Penelope?”

I waved my hand, fighting against the burning in my lungs. When I finally got my coughing under control, I stared at her. “Jennifer … Winters?”

She shot me a confused look. “What other Jennifer would I be talking about? Yes, Jennifer Winters.” She shook her head and picked up her wine glass.

I drew in a breath and held it for a moment, gathering my thoughts. There was a history between Penny and Jen. Something that went beyond just being on the same cheer squad. If I read between the lines correctly, we had at one time been … friends.

“I …”

I what? Didn’t know what she was talking about? Hey, mom, guess I forgot about that incident, too. Know what else? I can’t really remember a whole lot of my life from before Monday of this week. I could tell you all about the life and times of a guy named Sam Davenport, but I’m sure you’d just think I’m on drugs.

I decided to go with the safe option. “The thing with me and Jen was different.”

She shrugged. “I know it was, sweetie. And I’m not saying it was your fault. Or even that you could have done anything differently.” She pursed her lips, as if remembering the incident in question. “Still, it was a bad enough falling out to kill a five-year friendship.”

Five years? Penny had been friends with Jen Winters for five years? You had to be kidding me! That would have been, like, sixth or seventh grade. I was pretty sure that Sam didn’t even know her back then. Neither had Cindy. Or, at least, she hadn’t been close friends with her.

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess so.”

“But you two moved past it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be such a good set of leaders for the other girls. Despite you’re no longer being good friends, you manage to work well together.”

I nearly snorted into my water bottle. I might not know a lot about pre-Sam Penny, but I had serious doubts that her and the Ice Bitch ever saw eye to eye on anything. Much less how to run the Raiderettes. It was a sure bet the only reason she made me co-captain in this reality was due to my influence on the rest of the student body.

I mean, if Geoff was catching serious hell over people just assuming that we broke up, I couldn’t imagine the result if people found out that Jen had kicked me off the team.

The microwave dinged behind me and I jumped. Then broke into a hysterical giggle when I realized I wasn’t being attacked. Mom started laughing as well, which only set me into cackling harder. I slid down the front of the fridge to the floor, laughing so hard my ribs started to hurt. Mom had her head in her hands, her own guffaws slightly muffled, but no less powerful.

For the next several minutes, we would slowly get ourselves under control. Then one of us would look at the other and the whole thing would start all over again. I couldn’t help it. With the way I’d been feeling for most of the day, the only thing left to do was laugh.

I was all out of tears for crying.

Dad came in the door about ten minutes after we’d finally managed to decrease the outbursts to a couple of random chuckles as we set the table and heated up the remaining leftovers. As he hung his coat on the rack in the hallway outside the kitchen, he kept looking in our direction, confusion running rampant across his face.

“I feel like I missed something,” he said, stepping back inside and pausing at the doorway. “Are you two okay?”

Mom nodded, glanced over at me, and grinned. “Yes, Darrin. We’re fine. Just a long day for both of us.”

I nodded in agreement, putting out the salt and pepper on the middle of the table. “A really long day.”

Dad walked in and gave me a hug, then moved to mom. He put his arms around her waist and gave her a warm, full kiss. It wasn’t like a precursor to making out, but there was love in it to be sure.

Had they kissed like that when I was Sam? I really couldn’t remember. I think they did. Hell, I hoped they did. Not that it mattered anymore. In this new reality, we were a loving, connected family. I should have felt it was stuffy or oppressive, but it was actually just the opposite.

Watching the two of them, the way they looked at each other, made me only that much more determined to find some way to win Lee back. I wanted what my parents had. Only with the handsome Bronte fan.

Dinner was quick and dotted with little bits of conversation. There was a new acquisition on the horizon for Daddy’s company, which was going to require a ton of financial projections and analyses from him. Hence the lateness of his arrival, and the announcement that it would probably be an ongoing thing for the next couple of weeks.

Mom shared a quick story about having to explain to a little boy that the shots he was about to get would make sure he remained strong and healthy. He’d responded by pointing at the S-shield on his chest and mimicking flying through the air. When he told his little sister about what he’d learned, she wanted superhero shots, too.

I couldn’t think of anything to share about my day. Since any story I would tell only had a crappy ending. So, I took the lame way out and said it was nothing special. Unfortunately, Daddy, who had no inkling of the stuff I’d confided to mom about, felt the need to start asking questions.

“So, tomorrow night’s the big game against Southwest,” he said, taking a roll from the basket and setting it down on his plate. “Geoff and the rest of the guys ready to take them down?”

Geoff. Right. New boyfriend.

I shrugged. “I guess. He, uh, didn’t say anything about the game to me. I suppose they’re ready.”

He nodded. “Well, if you two decide to go out to celebrate afterwards, remind him that you have to be home by midnight.” His eyes stared into mine. “Midnight. Understood?”

I swallowed and gave my head a slight nod. “Understood. We might not do anything afterwards, though. He might just go hang out with the guys.”

The look he gave me said that he believed that story about as much as he believed in the tooth fairy.

“Midnight.” Then he resumed eating.

I glanced over at mom, who gave me a supportive smile. “If you’re done, sweetie, why don’t you go ahead and get your homework done. Your father and I can clean up down here.”

“Thanks,” I said, sliding out of my chair and exiting the dining room.

Back upstairs, I dug “Emma” out of my bag and placed it on the bed. However, every time I tried to open it, I kept thinking about the scene earlier that day with Lee. Had I been reading him wrong? I mean, it seemed like he was into me. Like he really wanted to talk to me. At least until I scared him off by babbling about magic and wishes and the fact that I knew some of his secrets.

I sighed and tossed the book on the desk, rolling over to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling. I was going to have to find some way to get Sarah to forgive me. Even if I had to lie to her and tell her that … that … hell, I didn’t know. I just wanted to have my friend back.

Switching to French, I managed to complete most of the assigned work when I heard mom calling for me from downstairs. I jumped off the bed and bounced down the steps, wondering what was important enough for her to yell up at me.

I rounded the corner and froze at the entrance to the living room. My father was standing in the middle of the room, the television behind him tuned to one of the twenty-four hour news channels. He usually left it playing as background noise while he looked over the financial papers. It was something that I’d seen hundreds of times as Sam. However, it wasn’t the sight of my father that stopped me cold.

It was the boy standing in a casual pose next to him.

“Hey, Pumpkin,” Daddy said, glancing over at me with a little smirking smile. “Guess who decided to stop by.”

Geoff’s face was tinged with red and his shoulders were slightly hunched. He had his hands shoved deeply into the front pockets of his jeans. His hair was damp, and stuck up in a few places. I guess from his after practice shower.

“Hey, Pee-Jay,” he said in a slightly embarrassed voice. “Can we talk?”

I stared numbly at him. I was fairly certain I’d told him to stay away from me not three hours earlier. In fact, I was extremely sure about it. I cut my eyes over to my father, who was looking between us. Right now, he was still smiling. However, I was pretty sure if I made a scene or anything, Geoff would find himself being escorted roughly from the premises.

“Uh,” I stammered, looking back at Geoff. “I thought maybe you just, uh, call.”

He shrugged. “I might have. Been having a problem with my phone lately. Keeps dropping my calls to you.”

I sighed, then used Herculean effort to push a smile onto my face. “Fine, then. Let’s talk.”

Turning around, I exited the room, hearing Geoff follow behind me. I passed right by the stairs and continued down the hall. There was absolutely no way I was going to take him up to my bedroom. There was far too great a chance of getting sidelined by his mouth with that much privacy.

Instead, I led him to the empty kitchen. At least here there was always the chance one of my parents might just stroll in. Which would hopefully keep Hot Lips from making any moves.

I plopped down in one of the chairs, crossing my arms over my chest. While I hoped Geoff would get enough of the hint to sit across from me, with the table safely between us, he opted to take the seat right next to me. Forcing me to turn my back to the door in order to face him.

“I’m sorry if I …”

“Will you fracking stop apologizing already,” I said. I didn’t raise my voice, but there was power and anger behind them. “All it does is make me feel guilty.”

He blinked, leaning back. “Why are you feeling guilty?”

“Because, if not for my stupid wish, you wouldn’t have been so enamored of me that you made your stupid wish. Then I wouldn’t have made a fool of myself with Lee or made Sarah mad at me.”

One of his brows arched in inquiry, but his lips curled in a small expression of amusement.

“You really have been busy today,” he said. “Care to elaborate? Might do you good to talk about it.”

“I’ve already talked about it. To people who actually know me. If they didn’t make me feel better, I sincerely doubt you can.”

He shook his head. “You never know. I might surprise you.”

I snorted. “I doubt that.” Then I narrowed my eyes. “Wait … how did you find my house? Because I know you’ve never been here before.”

Now the wry smile widened. “Funny enough, it seems I programmed your address into my car’s GPS at some point. Probably on our first date. So I just pulled up your name on the screen, pushed the button, and voila!” He did this little flourish with his hands, as if he were pantomiming a stage magician.

“Congratulations,” I said. “You’ve taken crossing personal boundaries to a whole new level.”

The smile vanished from his face. “You do realize that you’re being a hypocrite, right? I mean, let’s look at this for real. Before this past Monday, you were a guy. I’m guessing one who had no romantic feelings for other dudes. Much less Lee Taylor.”

I shrugged, keeping my mouth shut in a hard, tight line.

“Then you become this totally beautiful babe and discover that, surprise, the new you is dating one of the best-looking, friendliest, guys in the whole school. One day, you’re not. The next day, instant relationship.”

“I trust you are getting to your point?”

“I am,” he said. “Which is the fact that you didn’t earn any of that relationship. It was custom-built for you by the stone. However, that didn’t stop you from leaping in and enjoying it, right? Or did you explain to Mr. Taylor that you weren’t really a girl named Pee-Jay until recently and none of the memories he had of you two being together were real?”

The heat rushed onto my face. I blinked, suddenly seeing where his logic train was going.

“That’s … I mean …”

He held up his hand. “Then, I find the stone and realize it will grant me anything that I want. Anything. What do I use it for? To be the boyfriend of the most desirable girl I know. Forget models and movie stars, the only girl I wanted was the one I could never have. Not without a magical wingman.”

“I didn’t wish to be with Lee, Geoff. I think you’re missing that distinction between our wishes.”

He nodded. “I realize that. But you still took advantage of it. Funny, though. From your point of view, it was a two-day relationship. Two days.” He held up two fingers. “By eight tomorrow morning, our relationship will have been two days.”

“We don’t have a relationship, Geoff. We’ve kissed a couple of times. But we haven’t been out on a date. Or sat and just … talked.”

“When have you given us the chance to? You get all freaked out because you realize that you’re attracted to me and run off. I’m here, now. So let’s talk.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t wish to be with you just for the physical connection. I do really want to know you.” He reached back and pulled his phone from his back pocket. “There are a ton of texts between Pee-Jay and Geoff on this thing. A dozens of pictures. They seemed to be a pretty happy couple.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know that is all fiction, right? Those messages, those moments, they’re all fake. Just stuff created by the stone to fill in the gaps. To make the wish run properly or something.”

He nodded. “Yes, I’m aware of that. But that doesn’t mean it has to remain fiction, though. Are you going to tell me the stone didn’t fill in some gaps for you and Lee? To put you two together.”

“Not six months’ worth.”

“Still,” he said, locking his eyes onto mine. “I don’t see why you were okay with jumping right into a relationship with Taylor, but find me offensive.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I didn’t think I needed to be lectured, or judged, by a guy who had tried to use magic to win the heart of a girl he didn’t even know. The bond between Lee and I might have been established by the stone, but I felt like there had been some actual work involved from my end. I’d opened myself up to the feelings Penny had for the boy, and in doing so, allowed my own to blossom.

“I don’t find you offensive,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “I mean, yeah, you were a little forward the first time we really met. Cause, hello! Ass grabbing.”

The red jumped onto his cheeks as quickly as if I’d thrown a gallon of paint in his direction. His lips parted slightly, then closed as he swiftly looked to the side, avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah,” he said in a low, slightly shaky, voice. “I was a little out of control there. I … well … I’d had a fantasy for a while now of dipping you back like that and kissing you so passionately that your breath would be taken away.”

I nodded, mainly because it really had been. Every time, actually.

“Was fondling my rear a part of this fantasy of yours?”

The crimson in his cheeks deepened. “Sometimes.”

I barked out a small laugh despite myself. Then I covered my mouth with both hands and felt my own face warm. Geoff’s eyes swung back to me and he gave me a curious look.

“Is that an amused laugh at what I said? Or an amused laugh at the thought of me actually putting that in my fantasy?”

I swallowed another chuckle and rolled my shoulders. “Both, I guess.”

He nodded, then reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, right next to the base of his hairline.

“What can I do to prove that I can be the guy who sent you all those texts? The guy who won Pee-Jay Davenport’s heart?” He left his hand on his neck, and his eyes remained focused on mine. “I really want to be that guy.”

I frowned, slowly pulling my gaze from his to look down at my Nikes.

“I don’t know,” I said in a near-whisper. “I … I can’t stop missing Lee. I’ve never been in love before. Before I was Pee-Jay, I mean. Well, I’d never been in love with someone who might love me back. Lee was the first person to make my heart flutter with his smile. Or my knees weak with his touch.”

I brought my eyes back up to see Geoff nodding. The look on his face was stoic hurt. My words wounded him, but he was trying to keep that to himself. To spare me from even more guilt.

“I saw you two at the pool party,” he said, lowering his hand to rub it on the leg of his jeans. “That purple bikini really looked incredible. I saw how you and Lee were in the water. Just hanging together. You guys weren’t even making out or anything, and I could see the connection there.” His mouth twisted into a tiny smile. “I guess I just wanted that for myself.”

“Geoff, I’m sorry,” I said. “I couldn’t handle being the … being changed by your wish. Which, as you said, was hypocritical of me. Since mine changed a lot of people. They just don’t know it.”

“Okay,” he said, grinning a bit. “We both suck. Question is, where do we go from here? Do you think you could give me a chance? Let me prove to you that I’m not the kind of guy who usually grabs a girl’s butt in public while trying to shove his tongue down her throat?’

I started to shake my head, then stopped. I thought about the way Lee had run away from me the second class was over. Because I’d made him concerned with being too interested in him. Because I had thought, idiotically, that telling him about the wishing stone and my memories of our relationship would make him mine again.

Foolish. Beyond measure.

“I … “

He held up his hand, cutting me off. “No. Don’t answer me right now. Think about it. I really want to prove that I’m a good guy. Someone worthy of you.” He smiled. “I’m not asking you to give your heart to me, Pee-Jay. I’m only asking for a chance to win it.”

I sighed, then returned his smile. “I suppose that’s a fair offer.”

He nodded and rose to his feet. “Thanks,” he said. “For listening to me and being willing to entertain my request.”

I climbed out of my chair. “No, Geoff. You don’t need to thank me. I’ve been behaving like I was better than you. I’m not. I promise to keep an open mind about you. About us.”

He smiled and turned around, walking toward the front door. I followed behind him, my hands clasped together behind my back.

“Good night, Mr. Davenport,” Geoff said as we passed the living room.

My dad looked up from his tablet and smiled. “Good night, Geoff. Good luck tomorrow night against Southwest.”

Geoff pulled open the door and stepped out onto the porch. I followed, shivering a bit at the chilly night air. Unclasping my hands, I wrapped my arms around me.

He turned around and looked down at me. “I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Sweet dreams.” He flashed me another smile, then walked down the steps and along the pathway to a blue and silver pickup truck parked behind my dad’s car.

When he opened the door and climbed inside the driver’s seat, I rushed down the steps and cut across the grass to get to the side of the truck before he could close the door. I put my hand on the inside panel and looked up at him.

“Pee-Jay?” he asked, arching a brow.

“Promise me something,” I said, biting down on my bottom lip. “Promise that if I give you the chance to win my heart, you won’t end up breaking it.”

He stared at me for a moment, his eyes slightly widened. As if I’d just suggested that he might suddenly sprout wings and fly away, leaving me alone and earthbound.

“I wouldn’t,” he said in a shockingly quiet voice. “I’m not even sure I could.”

“Okay,” I said, staring up at him. “That’s a little cryptic.”

He shrugged. “I just get the impression that the only one of us that could break the other’s heart would be you.”

“Me?”

He nodded. “Call it a wish intuition.”

“Now you’re just making things up, Geoff,” I said. “How about I promise to not break your heart either?”

“Better for you to promise to try. I have a feeling the same thing that binds me isn’t binding you.”

I stepped back and he closed the door. Then the truck backed out of the driveway and pulled off down the street. I watched it until the taillights vanished around the corner before heading back inside.

When I closed the front door, I spun around to find my mother standing in the hallway looking at me.

“So, did we decide on Geoffrey?”

I sighed, leaning back against the wooden door. “We decided to give it a try.”

“Give what a try?”

“A relationship.” Then I suddenly remembered who I was talking to and how my words must seem from her point of view. “I mean, try to work out our relationship. You know, be more understanding and patient.”

She nodded. “So I guess this means you’ve settled your feelings for … Lee?”

I sighed. “Not really. But I can’t just go around hurting people simply because I want my cake and to eat it, too. That’s not fair to either of them.”

“So what do you propose to do?”

“I’m going to work on burying my feelings for Lee and try to be a good girlfriend for Geoff. If there’s a chance we could be happy together … uh, again … then I owe it to him to try. Right?”

She smiled. “Penelope, that is the most mature thing I’ve heard you say in a while. Yes, I agree that it is wrong to lead two boys along if you have no desire to commit to either of them. However, if you truly have feelings for this Lee, then you shouldn’t bury them. You know, it is possible to evaluate them without actually acting on them. Then, if you decide that you might be happier with him, I think Geoffrey would understand.”

I shrugged. “I hope so.” Pushing off the door, I headed toward the stairs. “I’m going to go take a bath and soak. Maybe that will help my poor, little brain.”

She laughed. “Just don’t fall asleep in there.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t risked falling asleep in the bath since the first time I saw ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’.”

She reached over and squeezed my shoulder, then moved aside to let me pass. I went up the steps, down the hall, and into the bathroom. A few minutes later, I sat on the edge of the tub while hot water rushed from the spigot and billowing clouds of steam fogged up the mirror.

I peeled off my sweatshirt, t-shirt, and sports bra, dropping them into a neat pile in front of the sink. Reaching down, I trailed my fingers through the rising water, judging the temperature to be just shy of “too hot”. The Lycra pants were peeled down my legs, followed by my panties. I used my foot to push them back to the rest of my discarded clothing.

Stepping carefully, I put one foot, then the other, in the water. The heat threatened to burn my sensitive skin, but the sudden temperature change sent goosebumps rising over the flesh of my arms and legs and made my nipples harden instantly.

I shut off the water and lowered myself slowly into the steaming pool, letting out little gasps as I went. When my privates dipped below the surface, I let out a little whimper of pain, which was quickly followed by a sigh of pleasure. Eventually, I was lying in the bathtub, the water lapping gently at the swells of my breasts.

I closed my eyes and lost myself to the sensations, and let the stress of the day dissipate with the puffs of steam. My situation with the Lee and Geoff conundrum had reached a reasonable solution. Granted, there was a decision to be made, but at least I was at a point where I felt I could objectively assess the two boys and finally pick one without seriously hurting the other.

Sarah, however, was a completely different matter. Yeah, I had to acknowledge that I might have had a slight error in judgment when I tried to tell her about the wishing stone. However, I was also pretty sure that she and Penny had been friends long enough that each of them could tell when the other was lying.

If that was the case, then that meant that Sarah had, on at least some subconscious level, known that I was telling the truth. Had she run off because the prospect of accepting the fact that her past wasn’t actually real was too overwhelming? Or had she fled for a different reason?

All I knew for sure was, just like Lee, I felt her absence like a heavy weight in my stomach. The more I thought about it, the more I began to recognize its familiarity.

At the beginning of junior year, Cindy was invited to audition for the Elite. She’d been on the JV squad, but being a “baby cheerleader” didn’t automatically qualify one for the Raiderettes. However, one of the stipulations was that any social connections had to be sanctioned, at least in theory, by Jen.

Rather than simply tell me that she preferred the stuck-up bitches to hanging out with me, she just began to make excuse after excuse as to why she couldn’t come around. The rest of the group readily accepted that the beautiful swan had finally decided to ditch the weirdo dorks.

For six months, she ignored my phone calls, made excuses as to why she couldn’t come over, and generally pretended like I didn’t even exist at school.

I hadn’t realized how much I counted on her being around until she wasn’t.

That same feeling was running through me now. Even though I thought mom might be right about the two of us patching things up, a part of me worried that she was gone forever.

I climbed out of the tub, the water having since grown cold. After toweling off, I used the hairdryer to chase the wetness from the chestnut strands, then wrapped the thick terrycloth around my middle, gathered up my dirty clothes, and went back to my room.

Even though it was only around nine, I decided to turn in. I pulled on a pair of dark blue sleep shorts and a matching tank top. The word “Princess” was written in pink cursive letters across the chest, with the two letters on each end curving around the expansive swell of my chest.

From the closet, I pulled out the only outfit that would be acceptable to wear for Game Day: the blue and white cheer uniform of a Benson High Raiderette.

I draped the uniform over the back of the desk chair, then climbed into bed with my phone in my hand.

Turning off the light, I lay there in the dark, scrolling through the images stored on the device. The juxtaposition between the myriad of images and my own feelings was blatantly obvious. Penny seemed like a really happy girl. Always. There wasn’t a single picture where she wasn’t smiling. How could someone having that great a time in life be the same girl lying in the dark, wondering if the hole in her heart was ever going to heal.

Sighing, I closed the gallery and opened the messaging app. Tapping on Sarah’s name, I chewed on my lower lip before my fingers began to move on their own.

“I’m sorry I upset you earlier. I didn’t mean to.” Then I hit Send.

Less than thirty seconds later, she responded.

“Okay.” The single word had all the punch of a tenth-level barbarian.

“I miss you.” I responded. “Still BFFs?”

This time, her reply took almost two minutes.

“Truth? About you and the rest?”

What do I do? She already ran off because I’d tried telling her the truth. However, I didn’t feel right lying to her.

“Maybe tomorrow,” I typed, hoping that would buy me some time to come up with a suitable explanation that would appease her curiosity.

“Bye.”

My breath hitched in my lungs and I stared at the screen. This was as bad as trying to reconcile being torn between Lee and Geoff. Maybe I could get them, Tabitha included, to help me convince Sarah of the truth. Hell, if I could get the bitchy blonde to actually agree with me in public should be enough to convince anyone of anything.

I tapped on the side of the phone, then placed it on the nightstand. Rolling over, I stared into the darkness, my brain a mess of jumbled thoughts. When sleep finally overtook me, I hadn’t even realized I’d been crying.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 20
by Limbo’s Mistress

I awoke, blinking several times as I sat up and rubbed my sleepy, slightly crusty eyes, My cheeks felt tacky with the tears had dried on them and my stomach fluttered with a combination of fear and excitement.

Today was going to be a big day.

My first experience with cheering in front of a stadium full of people would be taking place in less than fourteen hours. Sometime between now and then Jen would be returning from her week-long exile and would more than likely want to have words with me. I still needed to smooth things over with Sarah, which I was still at a loss as to how I was going to accomplish that.

And the Chad/Lee Problem was going to have to be addressed. Sooner rather than later.

Of course, despite all that, I couldn’t avoid feeling a sense of nervous giddiness as I climbed out of the bed and my eyes fell on to the uniform draped across the chair nearby. I couldn’t explain why the thought of putting it on, and walking around the hallways wearing it, made tingles flow up and down my body.

Was this just another aspect of the magic? I was a cheerleader, so I should get a thrill out of dressing like it? Of course, from a logical standpoint, I hadn’t wished to be a Raiderette. It had just been a by-product of the parameters of the wish.

I seemed to glide on air as I moved over to the dresser and pulled open the drawer full of socks. Inside, I found several pairs of blue socks trimmed with a white stripe across the top. I snagged one from inside and tossed them on the bed. Then I pulled open the drawer above it and quickly located a pair of blue satin hot shorts and a matching sports bra. These two joined the socks. I selected a black thong from the drawer as well.

Stripping out of my sleepwear, I pulled the thong up onto my hips, then followed it with the shiny cheer pants and bra. Picking the skirt up, I stared at it for a few seconds, then unfastened the catch on the side, unzipped it, and stepped inside, pulling it up to my waist. As soon as it was secure, I couldn’t resist bouncing over to the mirror to see how it looked.

The skirt was pleated, with alternative panels of blue and white. The hem fell to mid-thigh and had a solid white band running along the bottom. The waist fit perfectly and the curve of my hips made the sides of the skirt hang off them. I actually giggled aloud as I twisted back and forth, making the garment flare out wildly. There was no doubt I would be flashing the skin-tight boy shorts beneath to nearly everyone who saw me.

The top part of the uniform was blue and white as well, with a sharp V-neck and long sleeves that came down to my wrists. The strip of white running horizontally across the chest was embroidered with the word “RAIDERS” in blocked letters across the front. The sleeves were tight against my arms, but seemed to have been designed with freedom of movement in mind.

I had no problem raising my arms and twirling them around without the cuffs riding up too much.

Just wearing the thing made me totally psyched. More than once, I attempted to convince myself to chill, but the Penny in me was having none of it.

I sat down at the desk, pulled out the mirror and my tray of beauty supplies. First I applied the slight bit of makeup I’d become accustomed to wearing each morning, then I pulled out a small box with a pallet of glittered eyeshadow. Dipping the wand into the square containing the blue pigment, I carefully coated my upper eyelids to almost match my uniform.

A bit of eyeliner extending past my natural lower lids gave my eyes a much-needed pop that made them look slightly larger than normal. When I was done, I turned my face back and forth, admiring my handiwork.

Then I exchanged the makeup tray for the one holding all my hair ties, bows, barrettes, and ribbons.

After parting my hair perfectly down the middle of my head, my fingers began to work almost effortlessly, creating two dangling braids that hung down to my shoulders and were secured with a small black rubber band. I placed two blue bows at the top of the braids, and wove a slender strand of white silk ribbon down from the bow to the tips.

The girl who smiled back at me looked like cheer perfection.

I jumped up from my chair and skipped over to the closet, coming back out with a pair of blue and white Nikes. Once they were on my feet, I grabbed my phone, purse, and backpack, and headed downstairs.

Mom was rushing around the kitchen, trying to button her blouse while gathering up her stuff. I swooped in and took the empty travel mug from her hands and filled it almost to the top with fresh coffee. A dollop of cream later, I put it on the table next to her car keys.

“Oh, thank you, sweetie,” she said gratefully as she tried to hop and put on her shoes. “I overslept this morning and my first patient is in less than an hour.”

I smiled and grabbed a to-go thermos for myself. “Plenty of time,” I said, pouring java into the container.

She laughed and straightened her skirt, glancing around for her jacket. I pointed to the item sitting next to her on one of the chairs. She rolled her eyes at herself, slipped into the jacket, then turned to me.

“How do I look? Manic Doctor or Disheveled Mother?”

Now I rolled my eyes. “You look as beautiful as ever,” I said smiling.

She pranced over and gave me a one-armed hug. Then she gathered up her keys, coffee, and purse before stopping to look at me. She stared for such a long time without saying anything, I began to worry that my enthusiasm had gotten the better of me. Causing me to go a little overboard with the school spirit.

“It’s a little too much?” I asked with a grimace. “Too much blue.”

She blinked, snapped out of her reverie by my statement. Then she shook her head back and forth rapidly.

“Not at all,” she said, beaming at me. “I was just thinking how grown up and pretty you are. It’s so hard to believe that the lovely young woman standing in front of me is really my daughter.”

I froze for a second, then managed a laugh. “Well, I really am.”

At least now, that is. A week ago you would have probably suggested that I start attending school with a paper bag over my head.

“Okay, sweetie, I really have to go.” Her heels clicked as she went toward the door. “Have a good day at school. Your father has promised to be home by seven so that we can come to the game.”

I wasn’t really sure why, but the thought of the two of them taking time to come to watch me cheer sent a wave of warmth running through my whole body. Sam’s parents never went to any of Benson High’s sporting events. Even though they were both former students there.

It’s possible that they might have, if Sam had ever shown the slightest interest in playing on any of the school’s teams. Of course, that would have required him to not be so anti-social.

Now, they had reason to spend their Friday nights in the chilly air watching the Raiders and Raiderettes do their thing.

“Okay,” I said. “See you then. Love you.”

“I love you, Penelope.” She blew me a kiss and then vanished out the door.

I grabbed a granola bar and a banana before I headed out after her. Sitting in the Jeep, I stared at my phone for a moment, reading the final exchange between Sarah and I the night before. Our friendship was on the edge of calamity, and I was determined to find some way to put it right.

I didn’t go to pick her up. Something told me that she was in a mood to drive herself to school this morning. Which I totally agreed with. It was very possible neither of us would be good company for the other right now.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I didn’t see her Prius. What I did see, however, was Lee’s Mustang and Geoff’s truck. Ironically, they were parked nose to nose in opposing slots.

If that wasn’t a metaphor for the current situation, I didn’t know what was.

Climbing out of the car, I slung my bag onto my shoulder and made my way toward the entrance.

“Hey, Pee-Jay,” a girl yelled from five cars away. “Raiderettes rule!”

I waved with a laugh and headed up the sidewalk with a spring in my step. My world might be about to crumble down on top of me if I wasn’t careful, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I was in too good of a mood.

I went up the steps and in through the doors. Lots of students were dressed in various amounts of blue and white, and someone had put up streamers in the school’s colors along the hallway. I walked down the corridor toward the library, grinning like a total idiot. The more people seemed excited to see me, the more confident I began to feel. Not just about the upcoming game, but about everything.

I guess when you allow yourself to experience something other than soul-crushing sarcasm, you discover that true emotions are a rollercoaster.

When I stepped through the doors into the Repository of Knowledge, Mrs. Rogan, the head librarian, gave me a slightly dubious look. As if the last person she expected to see waltzing into this place first thing in the morning would be a member of the Elite.

Fortunately, I spotted Tracy and Charlie at one of the far tables. Smiling at the gray-haired custodian of silence, I glided over their way and sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table from the pair.

Tracy arched a brow in my direction, but Charlie just stared at me, blinking slowly.

“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Do I have something on my face.”

He nodded. “Eye shadow.”

Tracy smirked and turned her face away. I, however, continued to lock eyes with the boy.

“Yes,” I said. “Is that a problem?”

He shook his head, still seeming as if he were not quite sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.

“I just … “ Then his eyes drifted away from my face to focus on my hair.
“Who braided your hair?”

“I didn’t realize we were meeting to play twenty questions of fashion. I did.”

The two of them looked at each other, then Charlie turned back to me. “Did you watch a video or something?”

I huffed. “No. I just thought it might look cute this way.” I reached up and tugged on one of the pigtails. “Why are you getting so wiggy about my appearance. I’ve been wearing makeup and styling my hair all week.”

“Not to this extent.”

“Duh, I went the extra mile because it’s Game Day.” For emphasis, I gestured at the uniform hugging my body. “I remember you looking about the same way when you were a cheerleader.”

“Yeah, but I’d been a girl my whole life.” He shook his head. “I’m just surprised, I guess. It didn’t really hit me until now just how much … Pee-Jay there was inside you.”

I crinkled up my nose and shrugged. “Anywho. What should we do about the stone? I mean, it’s probably going to turn up at some point. If it hasn’t already.”

Tracy nodded. “I really don’t want to have to learn a whole new reality.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a couple of folded pieces of paper. “So, after I got home last night, I pulled out all the stuff I’d managed to find about Invidia right after my own transformation.”

She put the papers on the table, Charlie picked them up and unfolded them.

I held out my hand toward him, but he responded with a single arched eyebrow. “All in good time, my dear.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. The line was something we’d often said to each other, usually when one of us was playing a single-player game and the other was not-so-patiently awaiting their turn. I huffed indignantly and crossed my arms over my chest.

“So, Invidia wasn’t just the goddess of envy and jealousy,” he said, finally handling the printed sheets toward me. “She was also in charge of retribution.”

‘Retribution?” I asked, taking them from his outstretched hand.

“Yeah,” Tracy said. “Which I thought was a little strange. I mean, if anyone should be given the chance for retribution, it should be me. After what Tabitha did.”

I nodded, then skimmed over the words before me.

“It was believed that Invidia’s desire was to spread hatred and jealousy throughout the world,” I said, reading a particularly interesting passage. “One soul at a time.”

Charlie frowned. “Then why the rule about wishes having to be made in pairs?”

Tracy shrugged. “Not sure. I mean, I guess the goal was actually to have the two people corrupt each other. Think about it. First, you’d have to completely trust the person you were wishing with. Otherwise …” She pointed at herself. “If that level of caring wasn’t there, it’s a good change the two wishers will screw each other over.”

“Even accidentally,” Charlie said, looking over at me.

I sighed. “We played right into Invidia’s scheme.”

Tracy arched a brow. “No you didn’t. Like you said, it was a mistake.”

“No,” I said, not taking my eyes off Charlie. “I was jealous of you. I have been for years.”

His mouth dropped open for a second, then he tilted his head slightly to the side. “Jealous … of me? You wanted to be, uh, a girl?”

“Not that part, you goofball,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him. “The popularity. The fact that everyone seemed to like having you around. Wanted you to be their friend.”

He frowned. “I didn’t ask for …”

I held up my hand, stopping him. “I know you didn’t ask for any of it, Cindy. It’s just … the more you became this hot, well-loved social icon, the more I realized I was not.”

“I never thought of you as anything other than my friend,” he said. “Of course, I made a really crappy friend, since I never bothered to actually stop Jen from tormenting you.”

I shrugged. “Water under Helms Deep. The thing is, now that I’m in your shoes…”

“And skirts,” Tracy added with a smirk.

“And skirts,” I continued. “I realize that you didn’t have it as easy as I thought you did. The fact that you had any time at all for me after the Boob Fairy visited is amazing.”

Charlie snorted. “They weren’t that big, Sammy. Not as big as yours are.”

I frowned. “I want us to be friends again. Like we were. Hanging out, watching bad sci-fi and making snarky comments.” Then I nodded at Tracy. “You can bring your girlfriend with you. I have it on good authority she’s a bit of a nerd.”

Both of their faces grew red. I laughed and shook my head. “I’m happy for you both. After the crap that damned wishing stone put you through, you deserve some happiness.”

“So do you,” Charlie said. “Have you talked to Sarah this morning?”

“What about Geoff and Lee?” Tracy added.

I sighed. “No, I decided to give Sarah a little space. She still thinks I was lying about the stone, but when she asked me to tell her the real truth, about what was really going on, I sort of blew her off. I don’t know what to do.”

“I guess we could all get together and try to convince her that what you told her was real,” Tracy offered. “If Tabitha and Jen would lend a hand, I know she’d believe you then.”

“Jennifer Winters isn’t going to help,” I said. “Especially not me. I’m really dreading her return.”

“She can’t belittle you in front of people anymore. Or convince one of the jocks to beat you up. You realize this, right?” Charlie had this superior smirk on his face. “Not with your wish still in effect. Oh, I’m sure she’ll be a total bitch to you in private, but she’ll have to be careful around other people. Badmouthing the school’s Most Wanted Girl could be social suicide.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I know. Still doesn’t mean she’ll help me convince anyone of the truth.”

Tracy inclined her head. “You mean Lee, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Geoff came over last night. After I spoke with you two. He was … nice. Polite, even. He wants me to give him a chance.”

“For what?” Charlie asked.

“To prove he can be a good boyfriend. That he can be the guy that has been dating Pee-Jay for the past six months.”

“Seriously?” he said, looking skeptical. “How is he planning on doing that?”

“By not kissing me?” I offered, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess he wants to go the whole route. Dates, conversations, things like that.”

“What about Lee?” Tracy asked.

“Geoff’s wish removed Lee from my past. At least in the romantic way. With the way I scared him off yesterday, I’d say any chance we had of rekindling that is gone.”

Charlie reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll live,” I said, smiling. “Maybe I’ll fall in love with Geoff someday.”

Before either of them could comment, the bell on the wall outside the library began to ring. I climbed to my feet and looked down at both of them.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “We are going to hang out. Maybe I can convince Sarah to join us.”

The both nodded.

“Good luck,” Charlie said.

I exited the library and headed down the hall to homeroom. When I stepped through the door, Candice waved from her seat. Like me, she was dressed in her cheer uniform. Her light blonde hair was styled into tight, spiraling curls that had streaks of blue running through them.

She looked like the epitome of a high school cheerleader.

“Wow,” she said as I sat down in front of her. “You look amazing.”

I smiled, shrugging one shoulder. “So do you.” I pointed at her hair. “Temporary?”

She laughed. “You know it. My dad would freak if I actually dyed part of my hair blue.”

“If my hair wasn’t so dark, I might have copied you.”

She blushed, shaking her head. “No need to copy me, Peej. You’re in a class all your own.”

Mrs. Thomas cleared her throat, signaling that it was time for the conversations flying around the room to cease.

Claire’s face beamed out at us from the screen. The first topic was the upcoming game that evening against our cross-town rivals, the Southwest Cowboys.

A chorus of boos sprang up around me, but, surprisingly enough, the normally stern Mrs. Thomas simply smiled. I guess even the hardest teacher can get a little giddy with school spirit.

Claire was sure to remind us that we were supposed to be on our best behavior, since we were the hosting school.

As she moved onto other announcements, I risked looking back at Candice.

“I wonder what time Jen will get here?”

She shrugged. “Melissa told me last night that her plane wasn’t leaving until sometime this morning. So, I would guess not until after lunch.”

I nodded. “Great.”

The other cheerleader giggled softly. “I know. I’ve really enjoyed having you be in charge this week. It’s actually been fun.”

“Well, hopefully Jen won’t be too mad that I changed things up.”

That Sam changed things up, actually.

When I walked through the door to French, I immediately noticed that Sarah’s seat was empty. I slid into my own and waited, unable to take my eyes off the door.

The rest of the class, including Mr. Tate, arrived before she did. In fact, the tardy bell rang a half a second after she came into the room. Her eyes barely glanced my way as she crossed over to her desk and sat down.

My heart sank.

I started to lean forward to tell her hello when Mr. Tate looked at me and asked me to read and translate the first three paragraphs on page three hundred forty-nine.

It wasn’t easy focusing on a foreign language when what I really wanted to do was talk to my best friend. However, I managed to muddle through and received a hearty congratulations from the teacher.

Once Mr. Tate’s attention was on someone else, I pulled out my phone, put it down in my lap, and sent a quick message to Sarah.

“Your hair looks awesome,” I typed. Yeah, kind of a lame message, but I thought testing the waters might be a good idea. Plus, her hair really did look pretty good.

I saw her stare down at her own phone, then tap out her reply.

“Truth?”

I sighed, realizing after I did it that it probably wasn’t a smart thing to do. Sarah stiffened, then turned her phone off, and dropped it into her backpack.

Well, crap.

When the bell rang, she bounced up out of her seat to take off, but I was ready for that. I stood up first and reached out to put my hand on her arm.

“Sarah, please. I can’t stand having you mad at me.”

She turned around, but didn’t look at me. Instead, she glanced to a spot over my left shoulder. “I just want you to be honest with me, Pee-Jay.” I didn’t know if she meant it, but her not calling me “Peej” sent a shard of ice into my heart.

“I was,” I said, then frowned. “I mean, look, can we talk later?”

“Are you going to try telling me about a magic rock?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, shrugging. “I know it sounds ….”

“Forget it,” she said, pulling her arm from my grip. “I never thought you’d keep a secret from me, but I never, ever, figured that you would sooner share one with Tabitha Stevens rather than me.”

“It’s not like that,” I said. “I didn’t share anything with Tabs. She was already a part of it.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag. “When you want to start treating me like your best friend again, let me know.” She started walking toward the door.

I grabbed my own stuff and ran to get in front of her. Several of the other students turned to stare at us. Probably wondering why I looked like I was about to fly into a panic.

Because, in all sincerity, I was.

“Look at me, Sarah,” I said, pushing my face close to hers. “After all these years, surely you know when I’m hiding something. When I’m not being completely honest.”

She sighed and looked into my eyes. “You would think, right?”

“I am not lying to you. There is a magic stone that is going around and it grants wishes. Jen, Tabitha, Tracy, Geoff, Peter McDonald, Charlie, and myself have all used it. Please, please believe me. That’s the secret I was keeping.”

I stared at her, desperate for her to finally see the truth in my words. Instead, she shook her head, and pushed past me.

“Don’t talk to me,” she said in a low, warning voice. “It’s killing me to know that you could just lie to me.”

As she walked away, with not so much as a backward glance, I knew that the issue wasn’t that my best friend didn’t believe me. It was more insidious than that.

She couldn’t believe me.

With the magic of my wish affecting the entire student body, she should have at least been semi-receptive to anything I said. With barely any effort, I’d managed to convince Jacob to invite the nerds to his private pool party. Geoff had been the recipient of not-so-thinly veiled accusations of infidelity. Simply because everyone thought we’d broken up.

Sarah should have at least been willing to hear me out. However, she hadn’t.

The stone was protecting itself.

The sobering thought occupied my mind as I roved to Mr. Andrews’ class on autopilot. While I’m sure that plenty of people waved and said hello, I wasn’t cognizant of any of them. I kept playing the scene with Sarah over and over in my memory. She had to know I was telling the truth, but nothing I said was going to override the power keeping her from believing it.

I mean, yeah, when Cindy popped into my room claiming to have found a wishing stone, I’d thought she was either crazy or messing with me. However, once I’d touched the damned thing, I knew she wasn’t guilty of either. I’d known instantly that there was something powerful emanating from the small slab of green rock.

So, if I could somehow get my hands on the stone again, I could show Sarah that I’d been telling the truth. Of course, that also meant she would most likely make a wish. Which would create yet another change in reality. Another change to have to acclimate to. Of course, the biggest problem in that plan was finding it.

In History, I completely ignored the lecture on the establishment of trench warfare in World War One and concentrated on Invidia’s little gift to the world.

It seemed that as soon as a pair of people made a wish, the stone vanished. Did it go to an alternate plane to recharge? Did it immediately leapt to the next set of users? It had gone to Geoff four days after Cindy and I made our wishes. Tabitha and Tracy had used it about six months before that. No one knew how long ago Jen had altered reality.

Why the big discrepancies in time?

When the bell rang, I headed to the Clubhouse. My original plan of convincing Tabitha to help me talk to Sarah was no longer viable. Not if the stone was preventing her from even contemplating its existence. The only thing it would do is drive her further away from me.

I ran into Kara along the way. The redhead had blue streaks in her crimson locks, much like Candice had done. She also had two pieces of blue lampblack tape under each eye with the words “Touch” and “Down” in white across them. She grinned as she looked me over and fell into step beside me.

“Girl, you are totally uber-hot looking today. I mean, not that you normally aren’t hot. But you are completely on fire.” She giggled and nodded her head up and down. “Has Geoff seen you yet today?”

I turned my head to look at her. “Geoff?”

She laughed. “Yes. Because if he hasn’t seen you looking like that, someone should probably send him a text giving him a head’s up. Don’t want him to have a lust-fueled heart attack before tonight’s game.”

“Oh.” Then I remembered that I was trying to be more open to the idea that Geoff was going to be my romantic partner. Or at least, more open to the idea that I was going to allow him a chance to be.

“You okay?” Kara asked, giving me a sideways glance.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. Just a little anxious about tonight.”

She laughed. “Anxious? Why are you feeling anxious? You’re the best cheerleader on the squad.”

I grinned. “Better not let Jen hear you say that.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Jen’s good, no question. But you’re better. And prettier. And nicer. If it were up to me, you’d be the captain. Not her.”

“Thanks, Kara. That means a lot to me.”

“Pee-Jay!”

The voice was slightly louder than the usual Penny Fandom used in the halls. It was also slightly more familiar.

I turned around to see Lee walking toward us, weaving his way through the crowded hallway.

“Wonder what he wants?” Kara mused, watching my former boyfriend close in.

“We have English together,” I said as an explanation.

She nodded, then took a single step back as the still-handsome boy stopped in front of me. Though I was sure she could hear my heart begin to hammer, even from several feet away.

“Hey,” he said, looking down at me. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

Yes. I had a minute to spend in your company, Lee. Or an hour. A day. A month. The rest of my life. I felt a little light-headed as I continued to look at him. Then the image of Geoff, acting so sincere and hopeful, reached up and slapped me out of my infatuation haze. I blinked a few times, bit down on my lower lip, then cut my eyes over at Kara for a second.

“Can it wait until fifth?” I asked. “I’m supposed to be meeting the rest of the squad at the Clubhouse and I’m … we’re … running late.” I nodded my head at the other cheerleader.

Lee opened his mouth, then closed it. He gave Kara a cursory glance. As if merely bothering to acknowledge her presence. No lie, the act made my already rapid pulse to quicken. Kara was a beautiful girl. The fact that Lee didn’t take three or four seconds to ogle her in the slightly risqué uniform made me adore him all the more.

Something told me that Geoff’s eyes wouldn’t have been so disciplined.

“Yeah,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “It can wait until Lit.” He smiled at me, nearly making my legs buckle. “See you then.”

He didn’t even look at Kara again as he turned around and headed back down the hallway. Against the tide of students going the opposite way.

When I spun back around, Kara was wearing a rather sassy little smile.

“Care to dish?” she asked.

“About?”

She giggled and nodded her head toward the back of the departing boy. “That totes hot guy. I mean, he’s a little smaller than I generally like my men. But, damn, did he ever have a look.”

“What look?” I glanced over Lee’s way, but he had already vanished around the corner.

“A smoldering one. Every moment he was looking at you.”

I blinked, turning around to stare at her. “He did not.”

She laughed and nodded. “He totally did. I could feel the heat of his eyes all the way over to where I was standing.”

I shook my head and began walking again. I was going to be good. I was going to be good. Geoff deserved a chance and I was going to give it to him. I was going to be good.

Then Lee’s smile popped into my head. However, if Geoff can’t make the grade ….

“… he might not be quite as amused.” Kara said.

“Huh?” I’d missed most of her comment in my chant of self-control.

“I said that it was a good thing Geoff wasn’t with you when that other boy walked up. Since he might not be quite as amused.”

“Yeah,” I said, pushing open the door to step outside. “Good thing.”

Everyone was in the Clubhouse but Sarah. The rest of the girls, all decked out in their uniforms, primped and posed in front of the rows of mirrors. When Kara and I arrived, Candice immediately walked over to me.

“Do you know where Sarah is?” she asked me.

I shrugged. “No clue. Haven’t seen her since first period.”

Tabitha smirked and shook her head, wisely keeping her mouth shut for once. Candice, however, wasn’t so easily swayed.

“I saw her on her way to second,” the voluptuous blonde said. “I’m not completely sure, but I think I saw her crying.”

My giddy mood evaporated in an instant. I’d known she was upset when she left French, but I didn’t think she was upset enough for tears.

Right, Sam’s voice snorted. Because you didn’t cry multiple times last night about your fight with her.

“Did you try texting her?”

Candice nodded. “But she didn’t text back. I even messaged Chad, but he said he hadn’t seen her at all today. She drove herself to school and didn’t meet him at their usual morning spot before homeroom.”

I frowned. “I don’t know what’s got her so upset,” I lied, feeling the blade of the falsehood puncture my chest. “Maybe she’ll show up in a little bit. When she’s feeling better.”

Candice gave me an very confused look. “Uh, aren’t you going to text her?” she asked. “I mean, you are her best friend.”

Former. Former best friend. Because I am a horrible person who didn’t do a better job of hiding the unspeakable truth from one of the few people on the planet I never would hurt in a million years.

“Good point.” I pulled out my phone and sent a quick message to the distraught girl. As expected, I got zero response. “I’m sure she’ll turn up,” I said.

She didn’t.

The hour ended and the whole gaggle of us departed the sports complex and headed toward lunch. As soon as we got into the building, Kara linked her left arm with my right one. Jordan swooped in from the left and linked her right one with me. Behind us, Melissa, Candice, and Shelly made a chain. Bringing up the rear was Tabitha and Melanie.

In nearly synchronized locked steps, we marched down the hallway toward the cafeteria. The students in the hallway parted like a wave before us, waving and cheering as the Elite passed them by.

One of the things that Cindy had confided in my swam back to the forefront of my mind. She confessed that she has always enjoyed Game Day. Because, for the Raiderettes, it was like being high school royalty.

A pair of guys I recognized from my … Sam’s … AP Chemistry class grinned at us, each of them grabbing a handle of the cafeteria’s double doors. They pulled them open and the eight of us entered to rounds of applause.

We stopped in the middle of the busy room, breaking apart to form two lines. The rest of the squad looked at the crowd around us, then all of them looked to me. I smiled at them, then gave a single nod.

“Raider stand up. Stand up and scream,” the squad’s voices rang out in perfect clarity.

“Let’s hear you yell for the number one team!”

The cafeteria erupted in a cacophony of energized screams.

“We are the Raiders. We can’t be beat!”

I glanced over to see Kara grinning at me.

“Because we got the power to knock Southwest off their feet!”

All eight of us did one bounce hop, then threw both arms in the air in a V formation while lifting our left legs off the floor in a bent knee stance.

The roar was deafening. The thrill of it, of being a part of it, was incredible. Like a drug. I felt as if my face might actually break from the intensity of my smile.

Sam always hated the Game Day cheer. In fact, I would do my damnedest to get my lunch, if I was buying, and get away before the Elite made it to the room. The thought of being in there, around that rowdy crowd with Jen’s smug face looking all happy, always made me nauseous.

Now, I was in heaven.

I nodded at the rest of the girls and we dropped our arms and legs back to a more relaxed pose. The throngs of onlookers began to break up as the moment passed and the room returned to normal.

The lot of us moved into the line, instantly being usher ahead of those waiting. Since I had never stuck around before , I wasn’t sure if allowing the Elite to cut ahead was a traditional thing, or if it was because of Penny and her magical cult of personality.

Outside, the table was deserted. Not a single one of the players was there.

I turned to Jordan. “Where are the guys?”

“The guys?” she asked, arching a brow.

I nodded, then gestured at the table. “The guys.”

She leaned back, staring at me. “They’re in the locker room. You know that Coach C has lunch catered for them on Game Day.”

“Catered?” Surely she was joking. Right?

Tabitha stepped up next to us, smirking. “Yeah, Peej. You should know that. Did you have memory lapse for breakfast?” She giggled maliciously and went to an empty seat.

I was so tempted to dump my tray on her head. Of course, that would set off another round of problems as the squad tried to figure out why I’d done it. I had too many plates up in the air as it were.

We sat down and ate. A couple of times, someone would comment that it was odd that Sarah was missing. The only text she responded to was the one Jordan sent informing her that we were in the quad.

“Not hungry,” was her response.

I didn’t have much of an appetite either. I poked at the stuff on my tray, trying to clear the jumble of emotions and thoughts scurrying around in my skull like a batch of rabid squirrels.

In fact, I was so wrapped up in my own quagmire that it took me a few seconds to realize that the conversation around me had ceased. When it did, I glanced up to see that the rest of the girls were staring over my shoulder.

I put my fork down on the tray and turned around. In half a second, my breath caught in my throat and my bladder suddenly felt like it urgently needed attention.

The all-too-familiar hazel eyes looking our way were squarely focused on me. Hair the color of spun gold was adorned with a pair of blue bows. Almost identical to the ones in my own chestnut locks. Full, ruby lips were set in a half-pout. One of those expressions that could either mean desire or fury.

The body in the blue and white uniform was curvy without being too much of a parody. The thighs visible beneath the hem of the pleated skirt were a bit thicker than my own, but no less shapely. Hands resting on generous hips had fingernails that were painted blue and white in an alternating pattern.

“Well, hello there.” Jennifer Winters said. It might have sounded like it was directed at us all, but I knew in my heart the greeting was meant for me. “I hate I missed the Game Day lunch cheer.” She shook her head, sending those luminous tresses swaying gently. “Thankfully, according to Miss Ferguson, it was accomplished with near perfection.”

Near perfection? I felt my ire rise. Almost autonomously. Near? I’d have considered our routine to be flawless.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, and kept my hands placed palm-down on the table.

“Welcome back, Jen,” I said, giving silent thanks that my voice hadn’t cracked. “How was your flight?”

Those eyes narrowed a bit more. “Just peachy. Of course, I did have to get dressed and prepped on the plane. As well as threaten my Uber driver with bodily harm if he didn’t step on the gas to get me here quickly.”

“Well, you look totes adorbs,” Melissa chimed in.

Jen flashed her a contrite smile. As if she found the compliment she’d just been paid to be wanting. Then she strolled toward the table, her eyes never leaving mine. When she was about two yards away, she stopped and raised her arm, pointing her finger at me.

“We need to have a little talk, Davenport.”

“We do?”

She nodded. “There are somethings I believe you and I need to discuss. Privately.” She smiled, and it made me think of a barracuda. “The Clubhouse. Now.”

I nodded, gathering up my things. No need to make a scene in front of the non-stone users.

Speaking of, while I was getting my stuff together, she turned to Tabitha.

“Stevens, you will be joining us.”

Tabitha responded with a sigh. “Must I?”

I palmed my phone and pulled up Charlie’s number. My thumbs flew over the virtual keyboard. “Jen’s back. Meeting at the Clubhouse.”

“Today, ladies,” the captain of the Elite said, snapping her fingers for emphasis. “The sooner we get this done, the happier I’ll be.”

The three of us left the quad to make our way to the sports complex building. Jen led the way, with me right behind her, and Tabitha bringing up the rear. None of us spoke as we marched.

Jen descended the steps to the Clubhouse door slowly, as if drawing out the moment to savor the tension I’m sure she could feel.

She opened the door and held it, ushering Tabitha and I inside. Then she followed behind us. Once we were all in the room, she slammed the door as hard as she could.

“This has got to be some kind of freaking cosmic, karmic, joke,” she said, brushing past us to turn around and glare. “I knew when I felt the world go tits-up while I was cruising at fifty-thousand feet that I wasn’t likely to be happy with whatever messed up wish had just been fulfilled.” She shook her head. “Of course, it only got worse when I talked to this moron,” she gestured at Tabitha, “to learn that Sam Davenport was now a Raiderette named Pee-Jay.”

Tabitha huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, obviously insulted.

“Look,” I said, pointing at her. “I didn’t ask for this, okay? And I would apologize for whatever disruption it put in your life. However, I’m not going to. Mainly because I think you’re the biggest bitch that ever walked these halls, and I’m ecstatic that my new life as a hot girl is screwing up yours.”

Her mouth dropped open in utter shock. Guess no one had ever talked to her that way before. Well, the joke was on her. If she thought she could just steamroll over me as she’d done for so long, she was in for a rude awakening.

“Oh? Is that so, Samantha?” She glared at me. “You say that you didn’t mean for this to happen. But, once again, you’re more than happy to dick me over.”

I snorted a laugh. “Me? Riiiiiight.” I shook my head. “You’re the one who’s made my life a living hell for years. The fact that I’m finally getting to muck with yours a bit is more than fair. At least, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Fair?” She cackled humorlessly. “Fair? You wouldn’t know the concept if it bit you in your big ass. Fair is a damned mystery to you.”

Tabitha shifted her stance and sighed. “Do I really need to be present just to listen to you two bitch at each other?”

Jen whirled around on her. “Your inability to keep possession of the stone is the fracking cause of this mess. So, yeah, Tabby, you’re going to stand there and listen to this bitch session. Unless you would prefer to be a participant?”

The other blonde shook her head. “No thanks.”

“I’m more than happy to be a part of it,” Charlie said, walking in through the door. Tracy was right behind him.

“Count me in, too,” she said.

Jen rolled her eyes. “Great, just want I needed. An impromptu meeting of the Stone of Invidia users.” She smirked at Charlie. “Well, Cin, you might not be Elite material anymore, but you’re a lot better looking than she used to be.” She hooked her thumb in my direction. “At least you don’t have an oil slick running down your head.”

“Shut up,” Charlie snapped, stopping to stand next to me. “I didn’t like you before I made my wish. I like you even less now.”

Jen crossed her arms over her chest. “You think I give a damn if you like me? If anyone likes me?” There was bravado in her words, but none of it reached her eyes.

“What did you wish for?” Tracy asked. “You know what ours was. Time to share with the group.”

Jen glanced at her and began to laugh. “Really? You think just because you all roll in here that you can order me around? I’m the fracking head of the Elite, dorkette. I don’t take orders from social rejects.” Her angry eyes moved to me. “Or even former ones.”

“Just tell them,” Tabitha said. “Otherwise, they’re not going to shut up about it.”

“No,” Jen replied.

“Then tell us who your partner was,” Charlie said.

“Again, no.”

The five of us stood there for a few moments, staring at each other. We were in a stalemate.

“What’s the big deal?” I asked. “It’s not like we can change your wish. Or even tell anyone about it.”

Jen giggled. “I know. You tried to tell Sarah Strand about the stone and the wishes that you and Tabitha and I had made. She thought you were lying to hide something from her.” That evil twinkle that I knew all too well appeared in her eyes. “Of course, I had to show my camaraderie to my fellow Raiderette. I told her that you did have a secret you were keeping from her. But that my conscience wouldn’t allow me to reveal.”

My mouth dropped open. “You bitch!”

She nodded. “Guilty as charged. From the way she was talking, it’s a safe bet that the long-time friendship between you two is over. Permanently.” She was practically floating.

My heart sank, and I almost let myself fall to the floor. Only sheer determination that I wasn’t going to collapse in front of my worst enemy kept me on my feet.

“Once again, Sam, I win. And you lose. You might have maxed your charisma with your wish, but you turned your wisdom into a dump stat.”

I felt my jaw drop. Do what? What had the Ice Queen just said to me?

Before I could ask her to repeat herself, a voice behind us derailed my train of thought and sent my hopes soaring again.

“You haven’t won just yet,” Lee said as he entered the Clubhouse. “So I wouldn’t try taking any victory laps.”

“Lee?” Jen said, her eyes widening as she looked him over. “Oh … my … god.”

It took me a second, but then I realized that she hadn’t seen him since Geoff’s wish had de-footballed him.

“You have always been a negative influence at this school, Jennifer,” the handsome boy said. “Belittling people. Making other miserable simply for the fun of it. Acting like you were better than everyone. And it turns out, it’s just a lie. A sham. You only pretend like you’re superior.” He shook his head. “When all you really are is a cheater.”

“Oh, Lee. I’m sorry to see what has become of you. But not so sorry that I’m not going to refrain from destroying your reputation.”

He simply smiled. “Save your breath. You should stop making threats and start telling Pee-Jay and the others what you did and who you did it with.”

Jen arched an eyebrow. “Is that so? Why should I? Because you’re asking so nicely.”

“No,” my former boyfriend said in a completely calm voice. “Because if you don’t, then I’m going to use this to make you.”

His right hand, which had been held slightly behind him since the moment he entered the Clubhouse, came into view.

In it was the wishing stone.

A Wish Unwanted – Part 21
by Limbo’s Mistress

We stood there, staring at Lee. Well, more like at the rock in his hand. A rock that everyone else in the room knew intimately. Managing to tear my eyes away from the wishing stone, I glanced around to see that everyone looked completely shocked and utterly speechless.

Even Jen’s face was a mask of surprise.

“Lee?” I asked as I turned back to my former boyfriend. Once again, my attention was drawn to the green block resting in his palm. I hadn’t seen that damned thing since the voice inside it announced that the wishes Cindy and I had made were granted.

Now, looking at it again, I felt cold and afraid.

“Where … where did you find it?” Tabitha asked, sounding just as terrified as me.

The boy turned to look at her. “It was sitting on the floor of my room when I woke up this morning. Right there on the carpet waiting for me.”

“You haven’t used it though?” I said, even though the question was rather moot. We’d all have already felt any changes to reality.

He glanced my way, smiling slightly. “No. Not yet. I think my curiosity overrode my urge to use it immediately.”

Jen took a step toward him, her eyes roving all around as if she were looking for a fast escape. A way to get gone before Lee used the stone. Though, she should have already known that there was nowhere to hide from the results of a wish. I guess suddenly finding yourself surrounded by enemies with no remaining spell slots was causing her to freak out.

“Lee,” she said in a calmness that was in complete contradiction with the expression on her face. “Don’t do anything rash. Please.”

Lee’s eyes darted up to her for only a second, then went back to looking at me.

“When I touched it, I suddenly realized what you were trying to ask me yesterday. What you were hoping to hear when we were speaking in Eastman’s class.” He frowned. “I’m sorry I ran off. You seemed so sincere in your words. At least until you said you had been asking people about me.” The frown turned into a smirk. “You are horrible at lying, Pee-Jay.”

Jen snorted, drawing our attention back to her. The panic that had been present a moment ago seemed to have evaporated. “That’s hilarious.”

“What’s hilarious?” Charlie asked her. His hands opened and closed repeatedly, as if to pump the agitation I heard in his voice. However, despite how much anger was in his tone, I doubted he would actually get physical with Jen.

“That ‘Pee-Jay’ is a horrible liar.” She lifted her hands and actually performed finger quotes around my name. “If you guys knew the truth …”

Lee shot her an annoyed look. “Shut up.” Then he stepped closer to me. “I came to school to talk to you, Peej. To let you that I finally understood what you were hinting at in class.” A bit of red appeared on his cheeks. “I saw you come into the building and, uh, followed you into the library.”

“You did?” I asked, glancing over at Charlie and Tracy, who both responded with a confused shrug.

Lee nodded. “When I watched you sit down with them and start talking in rather excited whispers, I sort of … snuck up on your table. You couldn’t see me because of the shelf, but I was close enough to hear your conversation.”

“So you heard us discussing the stone, and knew that we’d all made wishes?” Charlie asked.

Lee nodded. “Then I tried to talk to you about it before third period. But the other cheerleader wouldn’t leave us alone and I didn’t know if she was one of the wishers or not.”

Jen glanced over at me, arching a brow. “Strand?”

I shook my head. “Kara.”

“Oh,” she said, visibly relaxing. “Good.”

I let her comment slide then looked back to Lee. “I’m sorry I blew you off. It’s been a long couple of days.”

He nodded, smiling at me. “I can imagine. Must have been rough to go from being Sam to Pee-Jay.”

My face warmed, and I had to look away. “I didn’t know you overheard that part.”

Jen started giggling, pointing at me. “Are you fracking … embarrassed? Holy crap,” she said, shaking her head. “This is better than I could have hoped for. You acting all demure and shy. It’s even better than when you were a super dork.”

“What the hell did you do, Winters?” Tracy asked, turning to sneer at Jen. “Some of the comments you’ve been making, and the way you’re behaving tells me there’s a lot more going on here than you just being pissed that other people have upset your perfect by making wishes. And it’s more than the fact that the boy you used to torture is now one of your fellow cheerleaders. So spill.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “Once a loser, always a loser, Malloy. Surely you understand that, right?”

Lee held up the stone. “Then tell them what you wished for, Jennifer. Or else…”

Lee Taylor was a good guy. One of the best. However, the problem with good guys is people know they won’t actually do something bad to someone on purpose. I mean, sure, they might spout threats and promise retribution, but the will to follow through never materializes in their eyes.

People who know how to manipulate others, though, can see past the false threats.

Jen snorted, shaking her head. “Okay, Big Boy. Since you’re new to the club, let me provide you with a little insight about that rock you’re holding. First of all, you cannot use it to undo another wish. Or make an adjustment to someone else’s wish.” She gestured over at Tabitha. “Stevens here used to be a Plain Jane nobody. Then she wished to be pretty and popular. No amount of wishing can change that.”

“What do you mean?” Lee asked.

Jen shrugged. “Let’s say you decided to wish her to be ugly. Or vilified by the whole school. It wouldn’t take. You can’t use the magic of the stone to undo the magic of the stone.” She arched a brow. “It’s like a logic loop.”

“How do you know so much about the stone?” I asked.

“Because, unlike the rest of you morons, I did my research before I used the thing, Sammy.” She crossed her arms over her bountiful chest and smirked at me. “You losers are the ones who pull the lever first and check for traps later.”

I pointed at her. “That’s the second time you’ve done that.”

“Done what?” Lee asked me.

“Made a gaming reference,” Charlie answered before I could. Then he looked at me. “Since when does Jennifer Winters know anything about playing RPGs?”

Jen placed her hand over her mouth for a second, then lowered it and shrugged. “Oops. My bad. I guess being around you again, Samantha, brings out my Dork Side.”

Charlie shook his head. “Answer the question. Who were you before you used the stone?”

She shrugged. “Does it really matter? That person no longer exists. Actually, as far as everyone else is concerned, she never existed.” She spread her arms wide. “I’m the reigning queen of Benson High. True, I may not be loved and adored quite the same as our precious Pee-Jay, but I am feared. One word from me, and someone’s social life is over.”

“How does someone so vile become so popular?” Lee asked, frowning at Jen. “I can’t believe that anyone would want to be associated with someone as crass and heartless as you.”

“Lee, sweetie,” Jen cooed. “I know you don’t remember this, since everyone’s been fracking up reality lately, but once upon a time, you and I were a thing. At least for a little while. You liked me just fine back then.”

Lee visibly blanched. “That’s not true. I couldn’t possibly be attracted to someone like that.”

Jen nodded, grinning. “Of course it’s true. Why would I lie? I mean, granted, you were a football playing stud-muffin at the time. Athletic, powerful, and, dear god, the things you could do with that tongue …” she sighed loudly, as if remembering a happy moment.

My mouth dropped open as I looked between the two of them repeatedly. That magic Lee had performed with his mouth in my bedroom? He’d done the same thing for Jennifer Winters? My mortal enemy. Nausea rolled through me.

“Well, I can be thankful that now you and I have never been on so much as a date,” Lee said, though not with much conviction. I guess he was finally catching up to speed on the whole multiple reality aspect of the stone’s power. “I know that I would never, have never, done anything like that.” He glanced over at me, his eyes pleading for me to believe him. “With anyone like you.”

Jen shrugged. “Maybe not in this world. You played a completely different tune back before the more-recent changes were made. Right, Tabs?”

The other blonde cheerleader’s face paled slightly and she looked away from us, giving her head a slight nod.

“However,” Jen continued, still sounding rather happy. “Despite the fact that you were extremely talented in bed, I decided you weren’t quite the deliciously-won trophy I thought you were. So I kicked you to the curb for an older, more handsome guy.”

I drew in a deep breath, and began to walk toward the despicable cheerleader. My hands curled into fists, nails digging into the tender flesh of my palms. Charlie might not be willing to actually knock Jen’s teeth in, but I was more than happy to give it a shot.

Hell, with the power of my own wish, I thought it would be the height of hilarity for me to blacken the eye of the school’s queen, then watch as all of Pee-Jay’s fans tried to figure out what Jen had done to deserve it.

Before I could make it more than a few steps, Tabitha, of all people, moved forward and blocked my way. Stopping me from giving the smug bitch a severe slapping. She looked into my eyes, then turned her back on me to face Jen.

“Jennifer,” she said. “There’s no reason to keep playing this game. We all made wishes, we’ve all screwed with each other’s lives …”

I noticed her glance quickly over at Tracy, and her mouth turned down into a slight frown. Then she swallowed, and faced Jen again.

“I don’t know about you,” she continued, “but I’m tired of the constant changes that come from each wish. Just tell them what they want to know so Lee doesn’t use the stone and screw things up even more.”

Jen tilted her head to the side, smiling with a tiny smirk at our fellow Raiderette. Like Tabitha truly was the bimbo she appeared to be.

“Tabby, Tabby, Tabby.” Jen said with a sneer. “Don’t be such a wussy. Everyone else in here has already used the stone, and Lee can’t make a wish all by himself.”

The boy nodded, then shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, I know that it takes two people to make wishes. That’s why I brought a friend.” He took a step backward, grabbed the handle of the door, and opened it. “Come on in.”

We all stared at the door as Sarah walked into the Clubhouse.

When her eyes met mine, I immediately abandoned my quest to literally slap the smile off Jen’s face. Feeling hot tears starting to form in my eyes, I rushed over and threw my arms around my best friend. As I hugged her tightly against my chest, I felt her own limbs wrap around me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Peej,” she whispered into my ear. “I mean, I wanted to. I felt like I should. I just … couldn’t.”

“It’s okay,” I said, fighting the tears of happiness that continued their threat to appear. “It wasn’t you, girl. It was the stone.”

“Anyone want to clue me in on how the hell Strand figures into this scenario?” Jennifer asked, her voice sounding a little shaky.

Lee turned to look back at her. “When I was in the library, I heard the three of them talking about how they could convince Sarah about the truth of the stone. Since I’d not believed Pee-Jay until I touched the stone myself, I thought the same trick might work on her.” He looked over his shoulder at Sarah and I, our arms still around each other. “When Pee-Jay didn’t want to talk to me in the hallway, I waited outside for Sarah to show up. Figured I could use an ally.”

My friend nodded, sweeping her gaze around at the other faces staring at her. “Lee cornered me and practically shoved the rock in my hand. I didn’t know what he was doing, but as soon as I touched it, I knew Peej had been telling me the truth.”

“Why didn’t you two make a wish right then?” Tabitha asked her, in a voice that was unusually curious. “I mean, you could have asked for almost anything.” Her gaze moved from Sarah to me. “Anything your heart desired.”

Sarah drew in a slow breath, her cheeks reddening a bit, before answering.

“Lee suggested that we wait,” she answered. The tone of her voice hinted that she probably hadn’t agreed with him. At least, not right off the bat. “He said that being hasty was being reckless, and that we should first find out who has used it and for what reasons.”

I smiled at him. “I always knew you were more than a handsome face and a nice butt.”

Lee smiled back, shrugging a shoulder. “Just trying to be smarter than I was the day before.”

Jen sighed. “Whatever. Go ahead, make your wishes. Like I said, you can’t topple me. Until graduation, I rule this school.” She grinned. “Personally, I think the two of you should both wish for little Miss Pee-Jay. True, it would seem she already has a permanent boyfriend in Geoff Barnes. But that doesn’t mean she can’t be a little more … flexible in her relationships.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “A bi-sexual, polyamorous, promiscuous beauty like her? What’s not to like?”

Sarah’s eyes hardened and she reached out, snatching the wishing stone from Lee’s hands before he could even register her attempting it. She pulled away from me and clutched the rock tightly in her fist.

“Damn you, Jen.” Charlie said. “You would just use people and throw them away. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you would suggest something like that. God only knows how much you would enjoy watching Pee-Jay debase herself, completely aware that she was doing it.”

“Oh, get off your high-horse, Mueller. I swear, no matter how much reality gets re-shuffled, you being wedge up Sam’s ass is a damned constant. Like gravity.”

Sarah stepped forward. “Enough already, Jennifer. Start talking.”

“Or what, Strand? What do you think you could ask for that would convince me to play along?”

Sarah grinned. It wasn’t a pretty sight. No, it was like the grin one might expect a serial killer to flash, right before they sank a knife into their victim’s chest. It was the smile of someone who just figured out exactly where the soft spots in your armor were.

“Tossed Taylor aside for a new boy-toy? Despite how great he was in bed.” Sarah arched a brow. “Does the new guy give you multiple orgasms? After screwing him, are you sweaty and panting on twisted sheets, basking in the mind-blowing afterglow?”

Jen’s face faltered for a second, then returned to that dismissive, aloof superiority I knew all too well. “What if he does? If you change him, I’ll just find another. No shortage of guys around who might want a piece of this action.” She gestured at her well-developed body. “Or maybe you were going to turn me onto women? No big deal. I’ve already been on that side of the bed. Had a pretty good time with it, too.”

She giggled and looked at Tabitha, winking. The other girl’s face turned a light shade of crimson.

“No,” Sarah said, still holding that maniacal grin. “I figured a better way to ruin you. Permanently.” Holding the stone in one hand, she pointed at Jen with the other. “I wish that Jennifer Winters never, ever, has another orgasm so long as she lives.”

The rock in her hand pulsed once, but the voice inside remained silent.

As did the entire room. I don’t think any of us even bothered to breathe.

Jen’s face went beyond pale to a sickly shade of green.

“What did you do?” she asked in a cracking voice more suited to a little girl, rather than the infamous Ice Queen. “Take that back.” There was a whine to her words.

After a few more seconds of silence from the rest of us. Lee stepped forward and took the stone from Sarah’s hand. There was no smile on his face. In fact, the glance he gave Sarah was full of disappointment and regret. As if he suddenly considered that perhaps he shouldn’t have shared the truth about the stone with her.

Sarah, however, continued to look like she’d just scored a major victory.

Which I could completely understand. Despite us having the majority, as well as the stone, Jen had managed to keep the upper hand through this entire confrontation. If we were going to get any answers from her, we needed a nuclear option.

Sarah hadn’t exactly pushed the button, but she’d definitely brought us to Def-Con Two.

Lee shook his head. “Jennifer, you know that a wish cannot be undone. Nor can a wish be used to amend another wish.” He sighed. “If I make a wish now, what Sarah has done to you will become reality. I’m not sure what the effects of that wish might be on you. Psychologically. Though I can imagine it won’t be pleasant.”

“Lee …” Jen whined again. “Please don’t.”

He nodded. “If I refuse to make a wish, then nothing will happen to you. But, if you refuse to play along …” He pointed at the rock. “Consider it to be like the Sword of Damocles. Always waiting within a hair’s breath, to change your life forever.”

“Fine,” Jen said, still looking like she was going to be sick. She sat down on one of the sofas, her shoulders slumped. “Just don’t make any wishes. Or use the word ‘wish’. I’ll tell you … everything.”

“Who was your wish partner?” Charlie blurted out before Jen’s bottom had the chance to settle into the sofa’s cushion.

“What did you wish for?” Tabitha asked, lowering herself into the sofa across from Jen.

As for the currently-subjugated Queen of Benson High, she simply shook her head and held up both hands.

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves,” she said softly. “If I’m going to explain, I’m going to do it on my own terms.”

“Get on with it then,” Sarah grumbled.

Jen looked around at them. “While I’m sure you all consider me to be the worst possible person at this school. Well, except for Peter McDonald, of course.”

“Peter McDonald?” Sarah asked, glancing at me with a look that seemed to ask what the boy had done that was so bad.

“He used the stone, too,” I whispered. “To make it so any girl he wanted would have sex with him. Which is why you and he at the pool party kind of … you know.”

Now Sarah looked like she was going to throw up as well.

Jen cleared her throat. “Do you want to hear this, or not, Strand?”

We turned back around to look at Jennifer.

“As I was saying,” she resumed. “I’m not really the worst to walk these halls. I actually learned how to be the queen by observing and mimicking the true villain of this piece. Her.”

She pointed directly at me.

Charlie snorted. “Pee-Jay? Pee-Jay’s the villain here? Do you really think we’d believe the friendliest, most loved person in the whole school taught you how to be a malicious, manipulative skank?”

Jen shook her head, sighing. “No, Mueller, you idiot. Not this Pee-Jay person. Sam.” She pointed at me again. “Samantha Jane Davenport.” Her lips parted into a sardonic smile. “The most reviled and feared cheerleader in the history of Benson High School.”

Every head whipped around in my direction, causing me to reflexively take a step backward. The look on their faces made it seem like they fully expected me to suddenly rip off a mask and start laughing maniacally.

I would have gotten away with it, too. If it weren’t for you meddling kids and your dog!

“What?” I said, my voice shaking.

Tracy was the first to recover from the bomb Jen had dropped. She looked back to the head Raiderette and pointed at me. “Are you saying that Pee-Jay, who used to be a guy named Samuel Davenport, actually started off as a girl named Samantha?”

At that point, my legs decided that they’d done enough work for one day. Before Jen could begin to answer Tabitha’s question, my knees buckled, sending me down to the Clubhouse floor. I didn’t even register the impact of landing on the polished hardwood. My brain was too busy with flashbacks.

Samantha.

Jen had called me by that name over the phone more than a few times over the past few days. But those weren’t the only instances. There had been others, many actually, from times long before the evening Cindy burst into my room with the Stone of Invidia in her hand.

“What the matter, Samantha?” Jen cackled after Chad Burrow punched me in the gut for merely walking past him. “Can’t you walk like a normal person?”

“Hey everyone, Samantha peed her pants!” That was when she’d snuck up on me in the lunch line and sprayed the front of my jeans with a Capris Sun.

“You’re such a loser, Samantha. You should just kill yourself.” That particular nugget had been thrown my way on more than a single occasion. Along with equally endearing terms of “worthless”, “pathetic”, and “disgusting”.

“But …” I tried to speak, but my voice sounded distant. Like I was talking from the bottom of a really deep, metal-lined, hole. “I remember being …”

“Remember always being a boy?” Jen asked, still highly amused with herself. “Yes, I imagine that you do.”

“How is that possible?” Charlie asked, coming to stand next to me. “If Samantha made a wish with you, she shouldn’t have forgotten her real past.”

Jen stopped laughing to look at him. “I never said she was my wishing partner, Mueller.”

“You made the wish about her,” Tabitha said, looking from Jen down to me. “It’s just like what Sarah did to you. Samantha wasn’t in on the wish, she was the target of it.”

“But Jen knows that Sarah blasted her with a wish,” Tracy countered. “She’s not going to lose memory of that. So how did Sam forget he used to be Samantha.”

“Because I hadn’t used the stone before then, remember? She used her wish to change me. Made me completely forget about the person I used to be.”

I slowly brought my face up to look at Jen.

“If your wish turned me into a boy,” I said, feeling my heartbeat racing in my chest. “What did your partner wish for?”

Everyone looked to Jennifer. She shrugged, an almost bored expression on her pretty face.

“Simple,” she said. “She wished for her big sister to be the head cheerleader.”

“Hold up,” Tabitha said, waving her hands in the air. “You let your sister make a wish? Isn’t she, like, ten?”

“Eleven.”

“Why?” Charlie asked.

Jen shot him a look. “Because, I could trust her to say what I wanted her to say.”

“You got two wishes,” Lee said. “Yours that affected Samantha and your sister’s, which affected you.”

Jen clapped her hands. “Bravo.”

“No,” Charlie said, taking a step closer to Jennifer. “Why did you wish Samantha into being Sam?”

The queen of the school leaned back to cross her arms over her chest.

“Okay. I guess it’s story time. If you all can stop pestering me with asinine questions.” She looked around at all of us, then turned her attention to me. “You’re going to want to pay extra-close attention, Sammy. Since this wonderful tale mostly concerns you.” She nodded and tossed me a wink.

“Get on with it,” Sarah snapped, kneeling down to put her arm around me.

“Fine, fine,” Jen said, waving her hand. Then she looked at Sarah and gestured in our direction. “The irony of what you’re doing right now is absolutely hilarious. You’ll see what I mean soon.”

Then she tapped on her chin with one French-manicured finger, as if trying to decide where to begin her sordid, little story.

“Okay. So, once upon a time, there were three friends. Three best friends, actually. Their names were Jennifer …” She pointed at herself. “Samantha.” She pointed at me. “ … and Clark.”

With that, she extended her arm and aimed the tip of her finger directly at Charlie.

“What?” he said, glancing over at me, then back to her. “You changed me, too?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. Just shut up and listen. Anyways, these three friends were inseparable. At school, after school, on weekends. The times they were apart were far fewer than the times they were together. They had a lot of shared interests, including the love of science-fiction and role-playing games.”

Charlie shook his head. I thought maybe he was still dealing with the announcement that what he thought to be his true identity, wasn’t. Much like I was having trouble doing. Instead, his thought processes were running down another path.

“But you constantly harassed Sam for liking those things. Hell, you gave Cindy crap about it, too. Why?”

“Getting to that, Clark. Be patient.” She shook her head. “Three best friends, from the beginning of fifth grade. Then, in the summer before eighth, things began to change. Samantha’s parents decided that she needed an extra-curricular hobby. Something that would be marketable to college admissions boards.” Jennifer sighed, sounding almost apologetic. “The choices they gave her was piano lessons, singing lessons, or ballet. Being as athletic as she was, Sam chose dance.”

“Well,” I said in a dispassionate voice. “Now I know where that part of the history came from.”

“Not that big of a deal,” Jen continued. “Not at first. But there was more than just the thrice weekly practices that started chipping away at the foundation of that friendship. Nature also decided to add her own ingredients to the mix.”

“Puberty,” Tracy said in a near-whisper.

“Exactly. So, Samantha’s body is changing, well ahead of Jennifer’s. As is Clark’s. But, there are also all the snobby, stuck-up girls in that gorram dance class. They start to influence my friend, changing the way she thought about herself. The way she thought about her interests. The way she thought about her friends.”

Jen sighed, then looked at me with an expression I’d never seen on her face before. At least, not when it had been directed at me.

Hurt. Her eyes were filled with hurt at the memory she was recounting.

“Soon, Sam started to turn down offers of hanging out. Cancelling on going to see the latest Star Wars flick.” The blonde shook her head. “Demanding that Clark and I stop calling her ‘Sam’, because that was a dumb boy’s name. She insisted that we call her ‘Samantha’ at all times.”

“People change,” Lee said, moving to stand on my other side. “I mean, maybe your friend might have been a bit harsh, but it doesn’t sound like she was this terrible person you claim she was.”

Jen laughed. “I haven’t gotten to that part yet, Lee. I mean, it sucked that my friend no longer had as much time for me as she used to, but I still considered her my friend.” Her eyes lost their pain and turned hard. “At least, until high school.”

“I … she … became popular,” I said, looking down at my hands and legs.

“She did. Being as nice as she was, and possessing a body better than most girls older than her, she was a natural draw for the in-crowd. At first, it was simply annoying. The fact that our already decreased time together was cut even further. Then she started to change. Personality-wise.”

“Where was I?” Charlie interrupted. “I mean, Clark.”

Jen laughed. “Well, the hormone fairy didn’t forget you either. By freshman year, you’d packed on about forty pounds of muscle, six inches in height, and was drafted onto the JV football team before you could say ‘later losers’.” She shrugged. “Even though you and Samantha didn’t hang out as much as you used to, you both ran in the same circle of friends. Friends that didn’t include me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking at Jen. “Sam … I shouldn’t have treated you like that. Shouldn’t have dismissed you as a friend.”

Jen shook her head and jumped to her feet. “No! Save your damned apologies, Sammy. You aren’t sorry for what you did back then. Because you don’t remember doing it. What you’re feeling now is pity. Pity for me for the way my best friends, my only friends, treated me like something they’d stepped in. “

Lee shook his head. “By that same admission,” he said. “You’re punishing Pee-Jay for something she didn’t do.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “Please don’t try getting all moral on me, Taylor. I’m punishing her because I can.” She snorted. “Do you know that Samantha once invited me to come to a sleepover with the Raiderettes? Of course, when I got there, they spent the entire evening making fun of me. My hair, my complexion, my nearly flat chest. Everything about me, physically, was ridiculed. Then Sam started on my nerdy hobbies and it escalated from there. Notes in my locker. Catcalls from the football team. Every single day, I cried before I left the house and bawled when I got back home. Every. Single. Day.”

I felt my own tears slide down my cheeks. Jennifer was right, I had absolutely no memory of doing those things to her as the girl I apparently used to be. However, I did have plenty of memories of the way she had tortured me along those same lines and the thought that some part of me was capable of treating people like that caused my heart to hurt.

“I actually considered killing myself,” she said in a low voice. “Just to make the pain stop.”

The rest of the room was completely silent for several seconds before Charlie broke the stillness.

“Then you found the stone.”

Jen nodded. “Yes. In here, as a matter of fact.”

“In the Clubhouse?” Tabitha asked, glancing around. “Where?”

Jen pointed to a spot at the other end of the room. “I came in here with the intention of ending my life in this sacred spot. I wanted Samantha and every one of her flunkies to think about every time they stepped through the door.” Her hands balled into fists and she turned away from us. “There is a loose board in the floor. When I peeked beneath it, I found the stone sitting there.”

“And your revenge was at hand.” Tracy said.

Jen nodded. “I almost made a wish right then. But the fact that I needed a partner allowed me time to cool down. I started investigating the stone, slowly learning about who Invidia was and what I wanted to accomplish. When I was finally ready, I brought Caroline in. Told her it was a game we were playing.”

I frowned. “What did you wish for?” I had most of the picture, but still needed to hear the words.

“Well,” Jen said. “I made Caroline go first. Just in case she flubbed her lines. She announced that she wished her big sister, Jennifer, was the head cheerleader and everyone would be afraid to make her mad.”

Charlie shook his head. “Nice. Making an eleven year old alter reality to turn you into a tyrant.”

Jen shrugged. “Well, I was originally just going to make Samantha be my friend again. How pathetic, right? She’d crapped on me for years, driving me to the brink of suicide, and all I wanted to do was make her like me again.” Her jaw clenched. “Then I thought about all the times Caroline had cried because I was crying. It made me so angry that I decided to go a little further. I wished that Sam Davenport was a dorky, unattractive, and unpopular geek.” She laughed. “I didn’t expect the magic to turn her into a guy.”

“What about me?” Charlie asked. “How did Clark get changed into Cindy?”

Jen shrugged again. “Nature abhors a vacuum. I was the new head cheerleader, but I guess someone needed to fill Samantha’s ballet shoes. The only thing I know for certain is that Samantha turned into an oily-haired dork and you turned into a pretty cheerleader.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Tracy said. “I mean, sure people get changed a little along with the wish’s target. But not to that degree.”

I shook my head. “Geoff wished to be my boyfriend. The magic turned him into a football player and turned Lee into a non-jock. I mean, it could have just altered Geoff, but it didn’t.”

“There’s a lot about the stone we don’t know,” Charlie said. “But that does explain why Cindy never really enjoyed all the attention of being a cheerleader, or performing ballet.“

“Once you were in Sam’s spot, all the rage you’d been feeling came out, didn’t it?” I asked, looking at Jen. “Everything she’d done to you twisted around in your mind and made you just as bad as her.”

Jen nodded. “Yes. Of course I realized that as it was happening. But I was enjoying myself far too much to really care. I took the chance I’d been given and ran with it. I reorganized the cheer team, turning them from a pack of butt-shaking, mouth-watering jokes into the Elite. I was the queen of the school and they were my court. I was obeyed without question.”

“Until Tabitha’s wish,” Tracy said.

“Yes. That was the start of the screw up. Then Sam got his hands on the stone and fracked things up even more.” She sighed. “Now we’re here. Lee’s no longer a football player. I’ve got a cheerleader in my squad who’s more popular with the student body than me. And there is apparently a jerk running around who can make any girl he wants sleep with him.”

“I think, of all those, Peter is the more pressing issue,” Sarah said. There was no mistaking the disgust in her voice. True, before she’d held the stone, she hadn’t thought anything wrong with giving the letch a blowjob. Now? Well, let’s just say that I probably wasn’t the only one who was going to have had the pleasure of kicking him in the nuts.”

“Yeah,” I said. “His stupid wish has already screwed up Miss LaCroix’s life.”

Jen barked out a laugh, then quickly stifled it.

“Something funny about that?” Charlie growled.

The queen bee of Benson High waved her hand. “Actually, yes. See, in the reality before I got hold of the stone, Miss LaCroix had to resign. Seems someone, I’m sure you can all guess who, managed to convince one of the school’s A/V nerds to hack into her home computer and use its camera to record a bunch of high-definition videos of the pretty French teacher and her girlfriend in rather compromising, very adult, positions. Videos that were then uploaded to the internet.”

Everyone turned to look at me. Some of them wore expressions of contempt.

“Why?” I asked, looking up at Jen. “Why would I … she … do that?”

Jen smiled. “Because any attention paid to a hot teacher was attention not being paid to her. Especially in class.” She shook her head. “You think I’m bad, but I’m a fracking amateur compared to her.”

“What do we do now?” Tracy asked, looking around at us all. “I mean, I doubt Lee’s actually going to make a wish. Since Jen did tell us everything. What will happen if there is no complimenting wish?”

“I don’t think it will let you not make a wish,” I said. “I made Cindy’s wish for her, but refused to let her make one for me. The stone kept insisting that we complete the ritual.”

“Well, I’m not going to,” Lee said. “This thing has caused enough trouble.” He looked at me. “Yes, some might say it did a good thing by replacing Samantha with you. But I disagree.”

“You disagree?” Jen asked incredulously. “Did you not hear a word I said about how evil she was?”

“I did. But that’s not Samantha sitting there,” he responded, pointing at me. “That’s someone who is completely different from that other girl. She’s atoning for sins that aren’t hers. That’s not justice.”

“The other side must declare!” The stone spoke, making us all jump.

“You could make a little wish,” Tabitha suggested. “Nothing too major. Like, uh, maybe Sarah always has a good hair day?”

“No!” Jen screamed. “Regardless of the size of his wish, it will still trigger Sarah’s. If that happens, I might as well follow through on what I first stepped foot into this room to do.”

“No one is making any wishes,” I said, looking at Lee. “Maybe if you just refuse to make one, it will reset or something.”

“Probably not,” Tracy said. “I don’t think Invidia will let that happen.”

Jen nodded. “She’s right. From what I could learn, if Lee doesn’t make a wish, the stone will just vanish and move to someone else. And they’ll only need to make a wish for someone else.”

Lee shook his head. “This thing. Bouncing around, playing with people’s lives.” His jaw tightened and he looked at me. “Well, I’m not playing the game.”

Without warning, he spun around and hurled the green stone at the nearest wall. The block tumbled end over end until it met the smooth, unyielding surface of the painted cinderblocks. With a deafening roar, the stone shattered into thousands of shards that scattered away from the wall in a dazzling pattern that caught the light streaming down from above and formed a glittering globe of green.

Then, the pieces flashed brilliantly one time, and vanished without so much as a peep. The only evidence that they’d ever existed was a small chip in the wall’s paint.

Lee looked from the wall to us, as he did … he changed.

Muscles began to fill out his form across his chest, arms, and legs. At first, they pushed against the crew-neck tee and his faded jeans. But then the clothes changed as well, the legs of his jeans expanded to accommodate the increase in size and the long-sleeved t-shirt changed into a blue and white football jersey with the number “38” on the chest. The glasses perched on the end of his nose disappeared, causing him to blink a few times.

Less than five seconds after the stone shattered, the Lee I remembered stood before me.

“Oh shit,” Tabitha said from my left side.

Whirling around, I realized that Lee wasn’t the only one returning to normal.

I had missed the first part of Tabby’s change, but the rest of it captured my attention and didn’t let go. Her bouncy platinum hair darkened, becoming more of a brownish-blonde and fell in a straight line down onto her shoulders. Her height decreased about an inch or so, but her figure was a bit more drastic. Her breasts seemed to deflate. Not going completely flat, but definitely dropping from the large globes they’d been. Her hips lost some of their flair, though you could still see the curves that lived beneath the jean skirt and peach sweater that replaced her cheer uniform.

I spun around, looking at everyone around me. Only Sarah remained exactly the same.

The flab that Tabitha’s wish had saddled her with melted away, leaving behind a thin girl who, now that I was looking, had more on her chest than her former best friend. Her hair turned a reddish auburn and assumed a natural wave as it lost any excess oil. Her complexion cleared. Tiny blackheads and pimples vanishing as if being attacked by an invisible eraser. Her clothing changed from the leggings and oversized sweatshirt to a dark blue cardigan over a pair of jeans that were ripped at the knee.

I couldn’t understand why she’d bothered with making a wish. The real her was actually really pretty.

Tears began to stream down her face as she reached up and touched her cheeks and nose, then ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled her hands away and stared at them, turning them over several times as her mouth hung slightly open.

Charlie didn’t return to being Cindy before becoming Clark. As with Lee, he just started filling out, muscles expanding across his lanky frame. It was like watching Bruce Banner transform into the Incredible Hulk. Unlike Lee, Clark was several inches taller than Charlie. However, like the other boy, his clothing morphed from the typical casual attire of a high school senior to that of a Benson High football player.

When it was done, he looked down at himself, then over to me, grinning like a champ.

I spun around once more, searching the room. Then I spotted Jennifer, standing in front of the mirrors running along the far wall.

It was her transformation that struck me the hardest.

Her arms hung limply at her sides. Two thin limbs peeking out from the short sleeves of a peach blouse. Her legs, while not fat, were a little thicker than expected. The khaki pants she wore did showcase a rather admirable rear end, and the hair hanging down to the middle of her back was still the color of freshly spun gold. It was straight as a board, however, rather than arranged in the ringlets I was used to seeing.

“Jen?” I said softly, taking a couple of steps toward her.

Her shoulders slumped, then she turned around slowly.

Her hazel eyes were staring out behind a pair of thick lensed glasses, giving them a bit of an enlarged appearance. Her face was slightly longer than before, with an Aquiline nose. Her lips were thin and pale, rather than the pouty crimson ones that had haunted my nightmares for so long.

I walked over to her and stood there. She had shrunk several inches in her return to normal, and had to look up to meet my eyes.

We stared at each other for several long seconds. Neither of us spoke, and the room behind us had the stillness of a morgue. After everything that we had been through, before the stone and after, it was finally back down to the two of us.

Jennifer and Samantha.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I felt a hot wetness start sliding down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I said in a choked voice. “For everything.”

Then I leaned in and grabbed her, pulling her tightly against me as I hugged her and sobbed.

“I’m sorry. So sorry.” I mumbled again. Feeling the weight of the history between us pushing down on my soul.

Because I remembered it all. Every last thing. My memories of being Samantha, my time as Samuel, and the short period I’d been Penelope all meshed together in my mind.

How could I have treated anyone the way I had? Let alone someone who’s only transgression was trying to be my friend.

Soon I realized that my shoulder was damp, and knew that I wasn’t the only one bawling.

“I’m sorry, too,” Jen whispered, clutching at me like a drowning person. “I’m so sorry.”

A second later, I felt a set of strong arms wrap around us both.

“I was an ass,” Clark said, squeezing both Jen and me. “Please forgive me?”

As we stood there embracing each other, I lifted my head and looked back over my shoulder.

Tracy and Tabitha were hugging as well, both of them with tears running down their cheeks that glistened in the overhead lights. Lee and Sarah stood a little further back, watching the multiple reunions with large smiles on their faces.

When my eyes met Sarah’s, she inclined her head in my direction, then gave me a thumbs up. Lee looked down at her, following her line of sight until he too was looking at me. Then he shrugged and mouthed “so much for fifth period”.

I laughed through the tears, relishing the pain and the joy, of having my friends back with me.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Epilogue
(1 Month Later)

I stood in front of the doors to the gym, feeling like I was about to hyperventilate. My palms were sweating so badly that I was sure I would start dripping perspiration onto the floor at any second.

I can do this, I told myself over and over like some crazy mantra. I can do this. I can do this.

“You can do this,” Lee said as he stepped up beside me.

The black chinos made his butt look extra-delicious, and the white t-shirt beneath the black leather jacket showcased the hard, taut muscles beneath it. His dirty blonde hair had been swirled and saturated with product into a perfect replication of a pompadour.

“I don’t know,” I said, biting down on my lip. “It seems like a big step. What if, you know, …” I nodded at the doors. The music coming through from the other side sounded a lot like Buddy Holly.

“Babe,” Lee said, taking my hand into his. “You’re doing the best you can. Sure, some people are still going to be holding a grudge. But most have accepted your apologies and have seen that you’re a different person.”

I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and nodded.

The destruction of the stone returned our bodies and memories. Those of us would had actually used the stone remembered everything. All the various realities. Lee and Sarah, who had only held the thing, cleared remembered the world as it was before Jennifer's wish and after Geoff's. They did, however, have memories of the conversation in the Clubhouse.

Needless to say, it was a serious adjustment for us all.

When the tears we shed finally dried up, and I’d apologized to Jennifer and everyone for the way I’d behaved as Samantha, the first thing I did was quit the cheerleading team. That very day. The thought of standing out in front of the whole school, smiling and jumping around after learning the truth just seemed so … Sith.

I named Sarah as my replacement for the head cheerleader position and insisted that she accept Tracy and Tabitha both as new Raiderettes. When they both tried to decline, stating that they weren’t Elite material, I informed them that there was no more Elite. The Raiderettes were there to boost school spirit, not lord their popularity over others. Besides, Tabitha already knew all the routines and I had no doubt Tracy would be a quick study.

Clark and Lee joined the rest of the football team in delivering a beat-down on Southwest. Clark was even named the MVP of the evening. The celebration in the end zone after the final buzzer was incredible.

I watched it all as I sat by myself at the top of the bleachers.

Then, beginning on Saturday morning, I began to make amends. I invited Jennifer over to hang out for the day. It was a little awkward at first, but a couple of hours into it, we found ourselves arguing if a Force-wielder could defeat Professor X. Then we watched cheesy sit-coms until almost midnight.

When Monday rolled around, the school’s rumor mill was in full swing with dozens of theories as to why the Evil Queen of Benson High had abruptly abdicated her post and had splashed her social media presence with a slew of apologies and regrets.

My favorite was the one where I was trying to keep a low profile because someone had discovered I was secretly working in amateur porn.

I ignored them all and began to focus solely on making amends. Since Samantha didn’t have the benefit of supernatural popularity, and had been quite a complete bitch to nearly everyone at school, I had to do it the old-fashioned way. I walked up to people and told them how sorry I was for the way I had treated them.

Of course, most of them thought it was some elaborate set-up. That I was only pretending to be contrite because I either wanted something from them. Or they were players in some horrible scheme I was enacting. Others seemed to see the sincerity in my words and managed to forgive me. And, more than once, I got cussed at.

But I stood there and took it. Because that’s the least of what I deserved.

Jennifer, Sarah, Tracy, Clark, Lee, and Tabitha helped. Whenever the question came up as to the validity of my apologies, they would all whole-heartedly agree that, yes, Samantha Davenport was attempting to repent for her sins.

And, like the Mariner from Coleridge’s poem, I drifted from group to group, person to person, telling my tale of warning. Of course, I left out the supernatural elements. Getting medicated and spending time under a psych evaluation would only slow down my mission.

During my penance, I felt like a girl without a country. I kept to myself when I wasn’t helping someone or telling them I was sorry. I avoided wearing anything too flashy or risqué. Samantha had always made sure that she was the center of everyone’s attention. But I wasn’t her anymore. I ate lunch in a corner of the cafeteria by myself. Partially because no one wanted me at their table, and partially because I felt like being alone.

That ended at the beginning of the second week of my self-imposed exile of atonement.

I was finishing the final chapters of “Emma”, when I noticed someone move into my periphery. Placing my finger on the page to hold my place, I turned my head, fully expected to see yet another student with a past grievance to air.

Instead, I saw Lee standing there, his tray in his hands.

“Can I join you?” he asked, not taking his eyes off mine.

I paused for a moment, then nodded.

“You’re going to get a reputation,” I said, slowly closing the book and looking at him. “Hanging out with the most hated girl in the school might cost you popularity points.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care if I’m popular, Pee … uh, Sam. I’m going to be who I am and like who I like based on what I think. Not anyone else.”

I nodded. “And it didn’t even take you a magic stone to learn that lesson.”

His gaze held mine for a few moments, then he tapped one finger on the table. “So, I was wondering … would you like to be my date for the Homecoming Dance?”

My mouth dropped open as I stared at him. “Why?”

He arched a brow. “Because I think it would be fun to go and enjoy the evening.”

“No,” I said, lowering my voice as I glanced around us. “Why would you want to go with me? You never liked me.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “No, I didn’t. I always thought you were too snobby and mean to be worth spending any more time with than was absolutely necessary.” He leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. “However, I really liked Pee-Jay. Sure, some of it was due to the stone, but even looking back with clarity, I think she was a good person.”

I frowned. “She was an illusion, Lee.” I pointed at myself. “This is the reality.”

He shook his head. “Not anymore. I think the person you are now has more in common with who the stone turned you into than the girl who sowed chaos and discord through the school.”

I sighed. “You won’t take no for an answer, will you?”

He nodded. “Of course I will. If you really don’t want to go with me, I’m not going to pester you or harass you to change your mind.” He smiled. “But I sincerely hope you will.”

Then he got up and left, leaving me to ponder his words.

In the end, I accepted.

“Are you ready,” he asked, gesturing at the heavy double doors before us.

I drew in a breath and held it as I turned slightly to look at my semi-transparent reflection in the glass front of the huge trophy case.

Sam the boy had been physically altered to be unattractive. Penny had been physically altered to be exquisitely beautiful. Samantha, on the other hand, was just really pretty.

My hair was longer than it’d been as Pee-Jay, coming down to the middle of my back, and it was more auburn than chestnut. Currently, it was styled into spiraling curls that were held back by a red and white polka dot scarf tied in a side bow.

My eyes and face hadn’t changed that much between Pee-Jay and Samantha, though my nose wasn’t as pert as Penny’s and my cheekbones were now a bit higher. While far from being considered ugly, it wouldn’t be a face that magazines clamored over each other to showcase.

Likewise, my body hadn’t undergone any drastic changes. My hips were a bit smaller, my legs a little shorter, and my bust had lost two inches. Still, it could have been worse. The girl reflected back at me wore a fuzzy white button up sweater with short sleeves and a long, red and white polka dot skirt that came down to just below her knees. The image of a solid white dog graced the bottom of the skirt. The feet visible beneath were wearing a pair of red and white saddle shoes.

I turned back to Lee, my face feeling warmer than before.

“Think it’s too late to change our mind?” I asked. “We could always just go back to my house and watch something on Netflix.”

He smiled. “The last time we did that, which by the way, was yesterday, your parents almost walked in on us making out.”

The heat in my face increased. After I’d agreed to go to the dance with Lee, he immediately insisted that we needed to go on a date first. To get to know each other better. The evening itself had been tame; just a quick dinner at this little out-of-the-way pizza place he knew of and the latest Marvel movie. Imagine my surprise to find out that despite not being a total nerd, Lee enjoyed comic book cinema.

Personally, I think he just liked looking at ScarJo in black leather.

After that, we sat together at lunch every day and talked on the phone at night. It was nice to get to build a relationship with him, rather than have it pre-made by magic.

Speaking of, Geoff wasn’t thrilled to find himself back to his pre-stone life. I tried to explain to him what happened, but he simply said that Lee shouldn’t have made that decision on his own. Then he told me that Peter had tried to convince Shannon Martin, captain of the soccer team, to go down on him.

Apparently the crotch kick she delivered was way worse than the one I’d given him.

Lee took my hands in his. “We’ll go in, dance a bit, talk to our friends, then leave. Okay? I mean, you look so damned beautiful it would be a shame to not show you off.”

I sighed. “Wanting to be seen and liked was what started the whole mess.”

He shook his head. “No, the problem was that the Old Samantha wanted people to worship her, not simply like her.” He leaned down and lightly kissed my cherry red painted lips, then began to walk backward toward the door, pulling me with him. “Now, let’s go inside and have fun.”

I sighed again and resigned myself to being dragged through the doors and into the crowded gym. Greasers, Rockabillys, Pink Ladies, and Poodle Skirts were everywhere. Even some of the teachers had joined in, dressing in 50’s styles.

The only person I’d not been able to make amends to was Mademoiselle LaCroix. After resigning in disgrace, thanks to the video that Samantha had posted, she moved out of town. Clark, Jen, and Tracy tried helping me locate her, though I really didn’t know what I was going to say when we found her.

“Sorry I ruined your life and career because I was a selfish, malicious bitch” didn’t seem to begin to cover it.

However, we’d not had any luck finding out where she’d vanished. Jen figured she had probably changed her name and was living under an alias to avoid the humiliation.

Of all the people I felt indebted to, it was my former French teacher who weighed on me the most.

Lee led me across the room to where our group, affectionately named by Clark as the ‘Stoners’, were hanging around the steps leading up to the track.

When we reached them, Sarah let go of Chad’s hand and came over to hug me.

“I’m glad you came,” she said. “We all are.”

I shrugged. “Lee insisted.”

Clark stepped over to us, which earned me a slightly annoyed look from Kara. Samantha had ruled the Raiderettes more harshly than Jen had, with Kara being the near-constant target of her barbs. The redhead had said that she had forgiven me, but apparently the idea that her new boyfriend was one of my oldest friends still raised her hackles.

“It’s time for your stint in solitary to end, Sam. You can’t continue to hide from society and show people that you’ve changed. You’ve got to be out here. Visible.”

“That’s what I keep telling her,” Lee chimed in, slipping his arm around my waist.

I opened my mouth to explain how hard it was to reconcile what I’d done and what Pee-Jay had done in my head and heart. Until I had managed to achieve some sort of balance, it didn’t seem right to prance around like nothing had ever happened.

I didn’t get the chance to say that, however. Before a single syllable could pass through my lips, a wave of intensive nausea slammed into me. I clutched at my stomach, feeling the world around me twist and bend. Then, just as quickly, it stopped.

I straightened up, glancing around to see that Jen, Clark, and Tracy were also shaking off the effects of what had just happened. Sarah and Lee, though simply stared at us with confused looks on their faces.

Finally, Sarah put her hand on my arm, drawing my attention.

“What was that?” she asked.

I swallowed as I looked to her. Over her shoulder, I could see people getting jostled aside as Tabitha hurried to get over to us.

“The stone,” I said, my voice almost lost in the warbling of a young Elvis.

She put her hand over her mouth. “You mean…”

I nodded. “Someone just made a wish.”

Author’s Note: When I started this little project, I had no intention of rambling on for over 160,000 words. There are a lot of novels that aren’t that long, and they’ve got multiple plots threads and stuff. I only wanted to tell a story about an unpopular boy who becomes an insanely popular girl. It wasn’t until around chapter 4 that I came up with the idea that Pee-Jay actually used to be a girl named Samantha. From there, I chipped away at the words until the story you’ve just finished was the result. Of course, I fully expect that there’ll will be some (or many) who don’t like the ending. That’s fine. Personally, I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap it up.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed the story and offered their insight to the plot. You are the reason authors write. You are our audience.

The Stone of Invidia is still out there. Perhaps one day I’ll write a sequel, with different characters and their wishes. If anyone else would like to use it, I only ask that you follow the rules as presented here.

Thanks again for reading my insane ramblings. Comments and reviews, as always, are appreciated. Either here or at [email protected].

Yours in imagination,

Limbo’s Mistress

Is Late Better than Never?
by Lily Rasputin

Chapter Two

Author’s Note: TW: Suicide

It took me a moment to recover from the shock created by the voicemail bombshell.

I pointed at the phone as I glared at Namira. “What the hell was that all about?” The pause button was pressed on my earlier trepidation about angering a powerful, otherworldly being.

“Nanny? Why am I … I mean, why is Maddie, my family’s new nanny? For that matter, why is Kelly even hiring a nanny in the first place?”

“I suppose she needs the extra assistance with raising the children,” the Djinn said with a smile that I wanted to slap off her beautiful face. “I mean, it can’t be easy raising a fourteen-year-old and a ten-year-old by yourself. As for why you’re the new nanny? Well, now you get to be there to help raise them.” The smarmy grin widened. “Per your request.”

I took two steps toward her, determined that I was going to do something physical to her, consequences be damned. Then, the logical portion of my brain caught up with the emotional portion, and I stopped in my tracks.

“Why is Kelly having to do it alone?”

Namira sighed but didn’t remove the pleased expression from her face. “Because you’re dead.” She held up one hand. “I know all of this is a bit of a shock, Madeline, but try and think back to what was probably an hour ago for you. The storm? The oncoming headlights? Any of that ringing a bell?”

My legs immediately quit working, sending me crashing to the carpeted floor with a thud. I could already feel my heart collapsing in on itself.

“I’m dead?” The words clung to my throat like old moss on a willow tree. “I died in that crash?”

She nodded. “I mean, you had to go somewhere, right? Couldn’t turn you into the new her without getting rid of the old you. If it’s any consolation,though, you didn’t feel any pain. I just yanked that all-important soul out right at the moment of impact.” The Djinn seemed extremely pleased with her soul-yanking skills.

It took me several minutes of sitting there, tears rolling down my cheeks, before I could finally swallow the heavy lump lodged in my esophagus. I kept thinking about how devastated they all must have been. Sheila and Devon, standing next to my grave, crying and calling out for their dad. Kelly, dressed in black with a veil over her face. Probably blaming herself for the fight that sent me out into the rainy night to cool down.

I had promised her that my wanting to explore my femininity didn’t mean that she was losing the person that loved her. It just meant that he was going to become a her.

Now, she was all alone.

“This is all my fault,” I whispered. “If we hadn’t fought, if I hadn’t decided it was time to finally come clean about myself, I wouldn’t have left the house in that storm. I’d still be alive and in their lives.”

“Well, you are alive. And the phone call shows that you’re still going to have a place in their lives.” Namira slid to the edge of the bed, placed her hands in her lap, and peered down at me with a look of barely constrained giddiness. “Plus, so you can get on with your new life and stop beating yourself up about what happened before, this was going to happen regardless.”

I wiped my cheeks with the palms of my hands. “What was? Me dying?”

She nodded. “You made the wish. The bargain was sealed. Like I said, I don’t make the rules. I could finally clear your wish off my list, so … Mikey was going bye-bye. If not a car crash in a downpour, then an embolism while mowing the yard. Or a heart attack while watching TV. Once the soul is removed, fate steps in and does the rest.”

I clenched my jaw. “You were going to kill me just so you could grant my wish? How fucking evil is that?”

She shook her head. “I’ve already explained how the whole thing works. You wished to be a girl when you were nineteen. So, the only way to make that happen was to pull your soul out of your forty-nine year old male body and stick it into the body of a nineteen year-old girl.” One finger twirled around in the air next to her temple. “I didn’t run an IQ test on Maddie beforehand, but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t this airheaded.”

Whatever sarcastic comment I was about to make got knocked aside by the formation of a question I really didn’t want to ask. However, since the more I knew, the better off I’d likely be in the end, I knew I had to ask it.

“If you pulled my soul out of my body, my old body, and stuck it in this one,” I tapped my new, more buoyant chest, “what happened to Maddie’s soul?”

“Oh, I suppose it’s in the afterlife.”

“Heaven?”

Namira shrugged. “If that’s where she thought she was going to go. There are no definitive destinations when it comes to an afterlife. If people think they deserve an eternal paradise, then that’s where they go. If they feel they were worthy of damnation, then endless torture is what they get. If they believe they will be reincarnated, then they are. The soul is a pretty powerful thing when it’s freed from that sack of meat you call a body.”

I ignored the metaphysical philosophy in favor of the important part of the answer. Mike was dead, but the soul that had been in his body was now in the body of Maddie. Which meant …

“Did you kill her too?” I asked the Djinn, my narrowing eyes focused on those crimson orbs of hers. “Like you killed me, or whatever? Did you make it so her body would be available for you to use to complete the wish?”

Namira actually had the nerve to look insulted. She shook her head and stood up, towering over me with a scowl. “Most certainly not! We are not allowed to murder humans in the course of granting a wish. For the record, though, I didn’t kill your body. I merely pulled out the soul and let the accident you were already going to have do the job.”

“Sounds a lot like a suspicious circumstance if you ask me. You do the yanking and then nature cleans up the mess.”

“Take it up with the gods if you want. I just work with what I’ve got.”

I nodded, then pushed myself to my feet so that I no longer had to look up at her. Now that I was no longer in shock, or not as much as I had been, I noticed that I was slightly taller than the Djinn. Despite the heeled sandals on her feet.

I glanced back into the mirror, staring at the girl looking back at me. Her cheeks were now splotchy and those green eyes ringed with little red lines. “What happened to her?” I asked as I slowly pulled my gaze back to Namira. “Did you pull out her soul to make room for me?” I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I learned that my wish, cast decades ago, had been responsible for snuffing out Madeline’s life.

Namira shook her head. “No. She died by her own hand.”

Turning, she pointed at the floor next to the nightstand. When I’d jumped out of bed and struck it with my hip, I’d knocked off most of the items that had been on it. Now, looking at where the Djinn was pointing, I could see exactly what those items were.

Prescription medicine bottles. Six of them, in fact. And while I couldn’t be completely sure from my vantage point, it appeared that all of them were empty.

“Suicide?”

Namira nodded with a frown.

“Yes. That’s why there was such a delay in getting you situated. I had to wait for the right person, one that fit all of the necessary parameters to pass on. Well, most of them anyways. The nanny thing was all my doing, though. While it was easy enough to make the other candidates screw up their interviews, planting the memory of a fake applicant into your wife’s mind was a bit harder. Fortunately, by that point, she was at her wit’s end and much more agreeable to hiring you.”

Delay? By that point?

Those two phrases stood out in my mind like giant red flags. I forced myself to turn away from the empty pill bottles to look out the window again. My initial assessment of the foliage outside had been correct. The limbs of the tree outside were full of thick, vibrant green leaves. The sort of leaves that marked late spring. Or early summer.

The night of the fateful storm had been late November.

“How long?” I asked Namira without turning back around. I willed my knees into locking tight and continued to simply stare at the tree limbs waving innocently in the morning breeze. “How long has it been since …?”

“Since you died? Well, if you mean you, as in Mike, it’s been six months, four days, ten hours, and seventeen minutes,” she said. “Give or take. I’m not completely sure what the exact moment your body expired was. If you mean Madeline, she died about six hours ago.”

Six months. My family had been without me for six months. Since I didn’t want to ride that particular train at the moment, I forced myself thoughts toward the other deceased party. Apparently, I’d been sleeping just fine in the body of a young girl who died from a deliberate overdose in the middle of the night.

“Why?” I turned to face the Djinn. “Why did she do it?”

She shrugged. “Tired of living, I suppose. Probably something in her life made it seem like being dead was the better alternative.” She looked at me, arching one perfectly shaped brow. “You know what that’s like, don’t you?”

I felt my cheeks and face ignite with the fires of embarrassment and turned away from her. I honestly couldn’t count the number of times in my life I’d wished to die. But I could count the number of times I’d come close to making it happen.

Five. Five times I’d stood on the precipice of self-termination and stared longingly into the abyss of death. Somehow, I’d always managed to finally find the strength to step away from the edge. To force myself to continue living.

I had no idea how many times Madeline might have stood in that same spot. Once? Three times? Fifty? All I did know was that she finally took that step out into oblivion, into the release she felt she needed. Leaving her body empty and that life, the one she apparently didn’t want, for me.

“Look,” Namira said, drawing my thoughts back to the present. “I understand this is a lot to take in all at once. So, why don’t you just start with enjoying the fact that you’re finally able to be who you wanted to be? Sort of, that is.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll try to check in and see how you’re doing, but right now, I have someone else waiting for me to fulfill their wish.”

She waggled her fingers at me and sashayed out the door like she was on her way to the spa. Rather than abandoning me to go screw up some other poor chump’s life.

“Hey!” I shouted, marching after her. The bedroom door swung closed on its own behind her, and when I pulled it open a half a second later, she was gone.

I found myself in a living room decorated in a simple style that one might expect from being a college residence. A sofa and matching loveseat sat at perpendicular angles around a square, glass coffee table. The television on the wall was moderately sized and fit the room nicely without dominating the wall space. The prints on the walls were landscapes, mostly beach and ocean scenes. In fact, most of the knick-knacks I could see had a nautical theme to them.

The area behind the sofa consisted of a little alcove featuring a small, octagonal table with four chairs. I could also spot the entrance to what had to be a tiny kitchen.

There was a closed door on the other side of the living room from mine. A polished piece of driftwood hanging on it read, “Beth”, in flowing, bright yellow script. It seemed the unnamed blonde who’d absconded with my sweater did have a name.

However, I saw no trace of Namira or where she might have gone. Which meant any further information about my situation was going to have to come from plain old detective work. Shaking my head, I turned around and went back into the bedroom and closed the door, mentally preparing myself for the arduous task of figuring out who I was now.

Beyond more than a brunette teenager named Madeline who obviously had problems she couldn’t live with.

My first task was picking up the mess on the floor next to the nightstand. As I retrieved the half-dozen yellow bottles and put them back on the table, I read the labels. Diazepam, Xanax, and others I didn’t recognize.

Interestingly, the only one actually prescribed to a “Chambers, Madeline M.” was Xanax.

The rest all had other people’s names on them. Had they been stolen from the medicine cabinets of friends? Or possibly ordered online using fake scripts? Either scenario was likely, but finding out how my body’s former owner acquired the means to end her life wasn’t the task on which I needed to focus.

Once all the bottles were back on the nightstand, I climbed onto the bed and sat in a cross-legged position that was much easier to attain, and more comfortable to be in, than I was used to. Picking up the phone from where Namira tossed it, I used the facial recognition program to unlock it, and went right into the texting app.

The most recent ones had been sent to Beth the Blonde Roommate the previous evening. They started with a lengthy post about how Maddie’s planned evening had ended in a disastrous argument in which she had been called suspicious and untrusting. The twenty or so short messages read like a string of random outbursts of thought.

“She said I was acting too crazy to deal with. Can you believe that???”

“She said I’m not trusting. GMAFB!!!”

“She’s the one who’s always being secretive!!!”

“GMAFB!! One little crying fit and apparently I need to be put in a padded room or something.”

“She fucking broke up with me!! I hate her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I glanced over at the prescription sentries standing in silent formation nearby and frowned. It was a sobering reminder of how the whole depressing story ended.

Apparently the girl described in the messages, whom I was beginning to suspect was the Becki that Beth mentioned, couldn’t handle being around whatever Maddie’s issues were any longer. My body’s former owner had been dumped as unceremoniously as last week’s leftover meatloaf.

From there, the texts to Beth just got more and more distraught. Plenty of variations on “I’m such a mess” and “everyone would be happier if I wasn’t here anymore”.

After 12:30 a.m. or so, the texts became more punctuated with misspellings. By 1:30, there were ten in a row that I eventually deciphered to read, “I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me.” The last of these was sent around 2 a.m.

Given what Namira had said about Madeline’s time of death, she probably passed out right after sending it.

I wiped away the tear that had snuck out of my eye and was sliding down my cheek. I felt horrible and part of me wanted to curl back under those blankets and pretend that I was still in that car, waiting for the other vehicle to slam into me. As much as I wanted to be a female throughout my life, I never wanted it to come from the misery and death of someone else.

Someone who really did have their whole life ahead of them. A life that was, apparently and irrevocably, mine now.

I lifted my gaze from the screen documenting the last moments of the life of Madeline M. Chambers and glanced around the room. It was my room now, my life now, for better or worse. This might not have been the way I would have liked the wish I made all those years ago to be fulfilled, but since there was nothing to be done to change things, the only way to truly honor that sacrifice would be to try and be the best version of Maddie I could be.

Starting with learning all I could about what type of girl she was behind all the sadness and despair.

The rumbling of my stomach finally forced me to take a break in my exploration slash discovery slash cram session to venture out of my room to the kitchen and get something to eat. I didn’t know when there’d last been food in my belly but considering the text messages describing how the night before had gone, I was willing to bet it was going on twenty-four hours.

As I sat at the table, munching on a ham, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, I reviewed what I’d learned so far about who I was now. Who Maddie had been.

As Madeline Marie Chambers, I was a sophomore at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Major undeclared. An emailed transcript from the just-ended spring semester pegged me with a 2.4 GPA. Not a great average, but at least it wasn’t a failing one. All of the classes listed were the sort of core subjects all undergrads had to endure.

The only standout had been something called “The Fundamentals of Stage Performance”, which had an A listed as the final grade. The lone high grade in the otherwise mediocre report made me wonder if I was a theater nerd now. Or whatever they’re called these days.

The driver’s license in the wallet revealed that I was now a Gemini (June 19th) and listed a home address in the city but not on campus. When I mapped it, I discovered that it was only two miles or so from where I used to live. The idea that I might have driven past her multiple times, while she waited at the bus stop with the other students, gave me a surreal sense of irony.

Because that would mean that I had probably glanced over her way at least once, and wondered absentmindedly how great it would be to be her.

Also, to my wonder and appreciation, I found a notepad app on the phone that listed all of the passwords to her accounts. Including the one for her bank account, which showed a current balance of almost five thousand dollars. An impressive sum for a teenage college student, were it not for the fact that the address on the license was one of Greensboro’s nicer, more affluent, neighborhoods.

I’d also taken the opportunity to get dressed in something more than an oversized T-shirt and panties. Which led to finding that my inherited form wore a size 34C bra and had two tattoos: a swirling, intricately ornate rose vine pattern in green and red, that started on my side above my right hip and traveled down to the top of my thigh, and a small triquetra in black, positioned above my left breast.

Since I was “meeting” my former wife to finalize the process that would satisfy the remaining stipulations of my wish, I selected a nice pair of khaki shorts, rather than one of the many pairs of jeans that ran the gamut from classy to punk concert. I also put on a nice powder blue, short-sleeved blouse, and a pair of pink and white sneakers.

It had been almost twenty years since I’d had hair long enough to actually style in something other than a side part, so instead of using my limited time to fight with my new curls, I simply gathered them back in a ponytail and secured them in place with a white bow clip. It’d been an even longer period since I’d played with makeup, but I found I could still manage to work my way around a mascara wand, lipstick, and some eyeshadow.

I hoped the finished look seemed more “competent nanny” and less “clueless college student”. Still, some part of my mind whispered that I could probably show up in a toga smelling of beer and wouldn’t get turned down for the job.

Not if Namira had anything to say about it.

While I ate, I scrolled through some of the other text messages, as well as the photo gallery. From my limited review, it seemed that Maddie had seven or eight really close friends, including Beth, and a bunch of casual acquaintances that she either had classes with, or knew from high school.

She also seemed to have a contentious relationship with her parents, particularly her mother. According to some of the more recent messages, they wanted Maddie to spend the summer traveling on vacations with them and not wasting it taking care of a stranger’s ‘snot-nosed kids’. They even tried sweetening the pot by agreeing that her “girlfriend” could come along on some of the trips. Provided the two of them acted like platonic friends and not romantic partners.

“Stuck up and homophobic,” I said with a shake of my head. “Awesome parenting skills there, folks.”

Not that I cared. They might be the parents of this body, but I’d be damned if I was going to let them control my life. I was going to be there for my wife and kids, come hell or high society. Maddie’s parents could take all their passive aggressive attitudes, and their expensive vacations, and shove them right up their asses.

Plus, there was even less chance of taking the girlfriend that had demolished the relationship and sent Maddie into a spiral that led to her downing a ton of medication and slipping out of her mortal coil.

I rinsed the plate and put it in the dishwasher. Along with the coffee cup that Beth apparently left behind in her rush to depart. A glance up at the clock over the stove told me I had a little less than an hour before I needed to meet Kelly. I brushed my teeth, hoping that the pink, completely dry toothbrush was mine, and put on some deodorant.

The girl in the mirror had looked confused and angry earlier, when she’d been confronting the Djinn about her new circumstances. Now, she just looked really nervous. I pushed several attempted smiles onto my face until I found one that felt natural instead of forced. In fact, it actually made me look prettier.

“Okay. Day One as Maddie. You got this.”

I shoved the wallet back into the purse, tossed in the phone, and pulled the strap over my head so that it cut across my torso. A wooden peg board hanging next to the front door sported a single set of keys. When I pulled them off, I noticed that the largest one had the BMW logo embossed on it.

“Figures.”

Jingling the keys in my hand, I pulled open the door and nearly collided with a redheaded young woman standing right on the stoop. A redheaded young woman I recognized from dozens upon dozens of pictures in Maddie’s phone. It was the girl who had broken Maddie’s heart, leading to a downward slide into a fatal overdose.

The girl blocking the doorway let out a squeaky, “Eep!” of surprise and took a step backward. Then she flushed a crimson that nearly matched her long, straight hair and let out a little laugh of embarrassment. “Sorry. I didn’t expect you to open the door before I knocked.”

“You’re Becki,” I said in a breathless whisper that sounded equally surprised. “I mean what … what are you doing here?”

To be honest, I believed the events from the previous evening meant I would be spared having to try to navigate the perils and pitfalls of pretending to remember several months’ worth of dates and conversations. I already have enough on my plate without also trying to keep up with a romantic relationship I knew absolutely nothing about.

The other girl’s blush deepened, and she drew in a breath and let it out with a soft sigh, nodding her head as if agreeing that her presence wasn’t anticipated. From the bloodshot streaks around her light brown eyes and the still puffy nature of the soft flesh beneath them, it was abundantly clear she’d been crying recently.

Her gaze held my own for a second or two before moving up to look past my shoulder into the apartment.

“I know I’m probably the last person you want to see right now,” she said in a quiet, hopeful voice. “But can we talk about last night? Please?”

Is Late Better than Never?
by Lily Rasputin

Chapter Three

I glanced back at the open door behind me, then looked at Becki again, torn about what I should do.

On the one hand, there was no way I was schooled enough in Maddie’s life to even pretend that I could carry on a lengthy conversation with someone who knew her, intimately it seemed, without them catching on that something was wrong. One the other, it would be a fairly efficient way of obtaining valuable information that I likely wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.

Becki bit down on her lower lip, her gaze dipping down my body for a second before coming back up. The apprehensive expression turned into something more curious.

“Were you going out?”

If I’d been in a more relaxed mood, I might have responded with something sarcastic in nature. After all, I was dressed, had my purse and car keys, and practically ran her over attempting to leave the apartment. Obviously I was going somewhere. Instead, I simply nodded.

“I’m meeting Ke … uh … Mrs. Johnston. You know, the woman I applied to nanny for? I got the job.”

Surely Maddie had mentioned the job to her girlfriend, right? It seemed like something that definitely would have come up at least once in a conversation. Unless Namira’s meddling in getting me the job hadn’t included altering the memories of other people. However, Beth had known about it. Had even commented on it.

Becki nodded her head. “Right. The nanny thing. Well, congratulations then.” She smiled. Or tried to. The gesture didn’t quite make it up to her red-tinged eyes. “Do you have to go right now? Can you spare ten minutes? Please?”

I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time. In reality, I probably could have spared close to thirty before I risked being late to the appointment. Of course, the more time Becki and I talked, the greater the threat I would say something suspicious.

“Yeah. I can spare ten minutes. Uh, come in?” I turned around and walked back into the apartment stopping in the living room. I didn’t sit or take my bag off my shoulder.

Becki followed me in and closed the door. She crossed over to stand a few feet away from me, leaning her hip against the back of the sofa. For a few moments, she just stared at me, and I worried she was expecting me to open the conversation. Then she visibly swallowed and gave me another forced smile.

“So, how are you?”

Back from the dead, thanks. Don’t mind the new resident in my skull.

I shrugged. “I’m okay. Tired.”

She nodded. “I didn’t sleep at all last night. If not for the fact that all I had in the fridge was some of Craig’s shitty beer, I might have tried drinking myself unconscious.”

Try downing a bunch of sedatives. That works wonders for putting you to sleep.

“Sorry,” I said. Though I wasn’t sure what I was sorry about. I didn’t harbor any delusions that Maddie had been completely innocent in the argument that led to the breakup. I just didn’t know what blame belonged to my former body’s owner and what should be placed on the nervous redhead.

Becki nodded. “Me too. I said some things last night that I really, really regret. I was hurt and angry and worried,” she held up a hand to stop me from interrupting, “none of which excuses my comments at all.”

“I said some things I probably shouldn’t have as well,” I admitted. “I’m sure it was partially due to the heat of the moment.”

Becki nodded. “I’m sorry that I said sometimes you act so crazy that it’s impossible to love you.” She took a hesitant step toward me. “That’s not true and I didn’t mean it at all. I was just so mad that you didn’t trust me, that I said something I knew would hurt you.” Another step closer, hands held down at her sides. “But I didn’t mean it, Maddie. I swear.”

I forced myself to stay where I was. While I didn’t think the other girl, who had probably twenty pounds and four inches on me, meant to get physically violent, I mentally prepared myself to bolt back to my bedroom if need be.

“It’s okay, Becki. Like you said, you were angry and worried. Sometimes emotions run high, and we say things that we know are wrong, but can’t help saying them nonetheless.”

The look on her face at my comment made me realize that I’d spoken more like I was her dad. Rather than her girlfriend. It seemed that fourteen years of parenting experience couldn’t be erased as easily as the physical years had been. Fortunately, my brain, mostly reliable when it came to clutch plays, performed brilliantly.

I remembered that one of the Cs Maddie had received on her report card had been for a course called Intro to Psychology. And that’s what I ran with.

“At least, that’s what I remember from my Psych class,” I said, giving a little shrug. “Probably all that I can remember.”

Becki’s confused expression lessened but didn’t disappear altogether. “I don’t remember that little nugget of wisdom.” This time, the grin definitely appeared much less strained. “Then again, I was constantly distracted from Dr. Peterson’s lecture because I was busy paying attention to you.”

Crap! Why had I not even considered the possibility that Becki and Maddie might have had the same classes? If they were both sophomores at the same university, the odds were greater that they would want to take the same courses. Idiot!

“Oh, right. Maybe I read it in the textbook.” You can just shut up about classes you never attended now, Maddie.

Becki took another step, the distance between us shrinking to a little more than a foot. “I mean it, though. You aren’t too crazy to love. Because I love you.” She smiled again. “I love you so much, Maddie. I’m just scared, you know? You get in these uber dark moods, and it scares me.”

I nodded as if I understood. Better to keep quiet and let the other girl spell things out.

“I’m scared that you’re going to do something. Hurt yourself, or …” She didn’t say the rest aloud. And, frankly, she didn’t need to. “Then I’m going to be all alone with this huge hole ripped in my heart and that terrifies the shit out of me.” She bit down on her lip again for a moment. “I thought it would be, you know, better if I just ended it and saved myself the pain.”

I didn’t agree with her choice, but I could certainly understand it. It wasn’t hard to hear Kelly’s voice in her words, and I wondered how badly my death had affected her and the kids.

“When I realized I was wrong, I tried calling you to apologize but you never answered. Then when the calls started being dropped without going to voicemail, I figured you’d blocked me. I was going to text Beth to ask her to check on you, because I was worried that you might do something, but I thought she’d ignore me as well. Especially if she knew we’d been fighting again.”

I held out my hands to the side. “Well, I’m okay. I didn’t do anything other than cry myself to sleep.” Better the lie than the truth, right? “So, no worries, right?”

Becki took another step, this time taking one of my outstretched hands into both of hers. The move was so sudden and unexpected that I didn’t have time to flinch or pull away.

“Please don’t do this,” she said as she looked down into my eyes. “Don’t act like everything is fine when it’s not. You are allowed to feel how you feel.” She gave my captured hand a light squeeze. “I love you, Mads. When you make me laugh, make me frustrated, and even when you make me cry. I love you.”

I stared up at her, my brain wracking with panic. This wasn’t what was supposed to have happened. We were going to have a nice chat, I was going to get some information, and then we were going to part amicably. No longer girlfriends, but something much more than strangers.

Declarations of love were so not on the agenda.

“I … Becki, look…”

She shook her head. “No, you don’t have to say it back. I mean, I was the one who broke up with you, right? I just wanted you to know that I still love you and I want to try to make it up to you. Please? Will you let me try?”

“I … suppose?”

Part of me screamed at my refusal to steadfastly deny Becki’s request. To accept her offer was a sure-fire way to get myself into trouble. On the other hand, I had to sympathize with her on some level. My own explosive argument with Kelly, where things not meant had been said, was extremely fresh to me. If I hadn’t died, if Namira hadn’t shown up to grant my wish, I wouldn’t have wanted someone I loved to give up on me.

Another genuine smile, this one mixed with apparent relief, appeared on Becki’s face. She pulled on my arm as she completely removed the distance between us. The next thing I knew, my hand was free and both of Becki’s arms were around my waist. Our chests pressed together as she leaned down to place her cheek next to my ear.

“Thank you. I love you.”

Despite the fact that I was a nineteen year-old female in body, my brain was still decades older. Which meant the perceived age difference made having Becki pressed against me romantically feel like something perverse. However, my only options were to hug her back or stand there like a disgruntled child being hugged by an annoying family member. So, I put my arms around her and sighed.

“I’m going to need some time. I’m sort of trying out something new. Something that might help with the dark thoughts.”

She pulled back and looked into my eyes. Our noses were almost touching, and I feared she was going to kiss me. It wasn’t that she wasn’t pretty enough for me to want to kiss, despite the bags under her bloodshot eyes, Becki was a very pretty young woman. The sort of girl I remember staring at when I was in college while trying to decide which I wanted more: to bed her, or to be her.

The issue was that I hadn’t been affectionate with anyone other than Kelly for almost twenty years. The thought of kissing someone else, even if I was also someone else now, twisted the knife of guilt already shoved into my breast.

“I want to help you. If you’ll let me.”

I let a smile appear on my face at the same time that I pulled my arms back into my own space. “I would like that,” I said. The scary part was that I realized that I think I actually meant it.

After allowing her to talk me into at least calling her later to chat, I was able to get Becki out the door. I took a moment to compose myself, then departed as well. The shiny red BMW convertible was impossible to miss. Not only because it was so brightly colored, but also due to the fact that the lot itself was practically empty.

As I walked to the awaiting vehicle, I glanced around the complex, which was made up of six identical three-story-tall units. A quick count indicated that each building was made up of twelve apartments. The one Beth and Maddie lived in was on the second floor and had a balcony that overlooked the parking lot below.

I slipped behind the wheel of the luxury import and dropped my purse off on the passenger side seat. The engine started with the quiet purr of a well-maintained machine and the radio instantly connected to the phone in my bag, filling the car with the streaming music of one of the many pop stars I knew Sheila to be a fan of.

“Guess we’ve got the same taste in music now, kiddo,” I said with a note of chagrin.

It wasn’t that I disliked my daughter’s musical preferences. It was just that I didn’t see the appeal in a rotation of singers that seemed to be carbon copy cutouts of each other. It was next to impossible for me to tell the difference between Ariana and Demi. Or Taylor and Britney. However, I had to accept the fact that I was going to have to learn to like the genre. Or at least, pretend to.

There were bound to be plenty of changes I was going to make to the personality of Madeline Chambers, some of which I knew couldn’t be helped. Switching her preferred choice in music from modern pop to 80s classics would be just one more thing that might make people suspicious.

When I pulled out of the parking lot, I discovered that I was only a few blocks from the campus itself. I didn’t know if Maddie was the “walk to class” type of girl, but she was going to be when the semester started back up in a few months. I’d always enjoyed being able to walk to places and really had no desire to give up that portion of my old life.

The drive to my former residence was a bit different than I was used to. At the first stoplight I hit, barely a quarter of a mile from my apartment, I found myself idling next to a rather loud Mustang. When I glanced over at the driver absentmindedly, I realized he was staring at me. It took me a second to understand that he wasn’t looking because he wanted to race or anything. He was staring because I was a young woman alone in a vehicle.

I turned my attention forward again, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“You are a girl now, Mike,” I said to the empty car around me. “Which means that you’re going to have to pay attention to who’s around you. Welcome to the crappy side of being female.”

The light turned green, and I let the muscle car get a considerable lead before turning at an intersection to take an alternate route from the one I’d planned. I felt foolish for being so paranoid, but until I was more comfortable with the nuances of my current reality, I told myself it was better to be safe than sorry. Or worse.

I arrived about five minutes ahead of schedule and decided to park my car at the curb, rather than pull in behind Kelly’s Altima. When I got out, the first thing I noticed was that the grass needed a mow. It was something I’d always preferred to do myself, despite the fact that the rest of the neighborhood utilized the services of landscapers. The property itself was relatively flat and the job rarely took more than an hour of my time.

Plus, it was a chance to work up a sweat while mindlessly toiling and avoiding thoughts I didn’t really want to think.

I strolled up to the front porch, carefully avoiding the three loose pavers that I’d never gotten around to replacing, and bounced up the steps. I almost pulled open the door out of habit, catching myself right as my fingers curled around the handle. I yanked my hand back as if I’d just been about to grab a burning log.

“This isn’t your house anymore, dummy,” I quietly chided myself. “You’re a stranger here, remember?”

Instead, I pressed the button next to the handle and took a moment to stare at my nearly transparent reflection in the storm door. As I did, I repeated the same mantra over and over in my head.

You’re Maddie, not Mike. You’re Maddie, not Mike. You’re Maddie, not Mike.

A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway visible through the door and began to move closer. A second or two later, Kelly opened the door and fixed me with a smile.

“Hey, Madeline. Come on in.” She gestured with the hand not holding the door.

“Thanks, uh, Mrs. Johnston,” I said as I stepped into a foyer that didn’t seem to be all that changed since I last saw it. Which, for me, was a little more than sixteen hours ago.

Kelly closed the door and began to walk down the hallway. “Please, call me Kelly. I mean, I hope we’re going to become close friends while you’re here. Addressing me as Mrs. Johnston is going to get tiresome for us both.”

“Okay, then. Kelly. And you can call me Maddie. Apparently everyone else does.”

Kelly glanced back over her shoulder at me and nodded before turning left into the kitchen. “That’s right. You mentioned that in the interview. Want to grab a seat at the table while I get us something to drink. I’ve got water and soda in the fridge. Or I can brew some fresh coffee if you prefer.”

“Water is fine, thanks.” Did this body even like coffee?

As she rummaged around in the fridge for my beverage, I took a few deep breaths as I attempted to calm my jangling nerves. It wasn’t just the fact that I was here in my old house, trying to pretend to be someone else. It was that my death, Mike’s death, had obviously taken a toll on Kelly.

Don’t get me wrong. She was still as beautiful to me as the day I first saw her. But the intervening six months had changed her in little subtle ways that probably only seemed more drastic to me because of the time lag.

There were heavy circles under her eyes, and her blonde hair seemed less bouncy and more dulled. She’d lost weight. Not enough to be considered emaciated, but the wife I’d run away from the night before had been the right amount of curvy. Healthy. Now, I could see the way her shirt seemed looser, sort of draping across her torso. And the legs sticking out of the bottom of the black tennis skirt were thinner, with more defined muscles in the calves and thighs.

I looked away before she could catch me gawking, only turning back to her as she returned to the table and handed me the chilled bottle.

“Thanks,” I said, twisting off the cap and taking a swallow to soothe my parched throat. “You have a lovely home.”

“You said that during the interview,” she replied, tilting her head in suspicion.

Crap! Five minutes in and I’d already made my first mistake. I put on what I hoped was Maddie’s most charming smile. “And I meant it then, too. I really like this house. It’s definitely family friendly.”

I didn’t care for the little huff of amusement that Kelly released at my comment. It was a sound I knew intimately and understood it meant that she found what I said amusing. And not in a good way.

“I’m sorry?” I said, looking at her. “Was that not a good assessment?”

She stared at me for another couple of seconds, then waved her hand. “It used to be. Maybe it will be again someday.”

I nodded and took another sip of my water. I didn’t know if Kelly had revealed her husband’s fate during her first meeting with Maddie. Correction, the fake memory Namira had planted of her first meeting with Maddie. Best to just wait and see.

“So,” Kelly said as she gave me a terse smile. “As I originally said, the kids are in school for the next three and a half weeks. During the week, I’m going to need you to get them up, feed them breakfast, and make sure they get out the door in time to catch the bus to school. In the afternoons, they will need a snack when they get home and someone to make sure they do their homework. Devon has soccer practice on Mondays and Thursdays at six o’clock through the end of June and Sheila …”

She sighed and shook her head. “Sheila used to have gymnastics on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. However, she lost interest in her extracurriculars after The Accident.”

The Accident. I could practically hear the capitalization in Kelly’s voice. Not just any accident, The Accident.

The one that had left her a widow.

I frowned, clenching my jaw to keep from saying something. Sheila had insisted on taking up gymnastics when she was only eight years old. While she was better than some of the other kids in her classes, she was far from competing on an Olympic level. I remembered sitting and watching her tumble and flip on many a Saturday, cheering along with the rest of the parents. She knew she didn’t have a professional future in the sport, but that never stopped her from flashing a huge smile every single time she got onto the mat.

Now, that joy was something she apparently lost when she lost her dad. The thought of it made my heart ache terribly.

“You mentioned the weekdays while school is in,” I said as I steered the conversation back to the less emotional topic. “What about weekends and summer vacation?”

Kelly shrugged. “I’ll be home on the weekends. As long as I’m not locked in my room, buried underneath a case, you should be able to relax and take the day off. During the week, though, you’ll have to come up with things for them to do that’s more than simply staring at their tablets or watching TV. As for any vacations … that’s going to have to be played by ear. My husband used to plan our summer getaways.” She frowned and looked past me into the murky future. “Right now, I’m not even sure we’ll go anywhere.”

I frowned as well. Figuring out what we were going to do as a family was always a task I eagerly enjoyed. Maybe I’d be able to come up with something that would help the three of them take their minds off their loss.

Kelly stood up and went over to the counter, returning with a couple of sheets of paper that she slid across to me, along with a pen.

“This is a standard contract outlining the expectations of your duties and responsibilities, as well as the compensation for performance that I mentioned in the interview. Please look everything over and sign at the bottom. As for payment, I believe you said that you were fine with a weekly salary. Is that correct?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said with a nod as I pulled the papers closer and began to look them over.

The contract wasn’t too detailed or complicated. As Kelly had said, the majority of my duties revolved around helping care for Sheila and Devon. Which, I guess, was at least an adherence to the letter of my wish, even if it hadn’t been the intent.

I picked up the pen and started to sign my name on the line right below Kelly’s signature. As I did, I had to consciously remind myself that the name “Madeline M. Chambers” was the one I wanted to put down. Not “Michael S. Johnston”. I also did my best to make the swirling letters look more feminine, a big change from my former, nearly illegible scrawl.

Weirdly enough, I thought the results weren’t half bad. I felt like it would only take a bit of practice before the flowery signature came to me naturally. Which led to another thought. How long would it take before everything about being Maddie felt natural and the things that had made me Michael were barely remembered? Although I thought it unlikely that I would actually forget who I used to be, I had to concede that eventually my new life’s aspects would overshadow those of my old one.

Kelly smiled as she picked up the contract and blew out a relieved breath. Had she thought I wasn’t going to agree to the required stipulations of the job? Maybe she’d worried that a young college student wouldn’t actually be willing to give up a large portion of their time to care for a couple of kids. Even if they had been the one to apply for the job.

“So,” Kelly said as she waved one hand toward the doorway, “shall I give you the grand tour of the house and show you your bedroom?”

I followed her around as she led me out of the kitchen and down the short hallway to the living room, trying to ignore the whole oddness of being shown around my own house as if I were a stranger. However, once I started actually paying attention, I began to notice little things that were different than I remembered.

For one, there was a more disorderly appearance to the living room. Despite the fact that Kelly and I had worked long hours, she as an attorney and I as a financial analyst, we had always maintained a relatively tidy home. We worked together to keep things looking presentable and mostly chaos free.

Now, I spotted a couple of pairs of Devon’s shoes haphazardly discarded next to the sofa and an empty glass, with accompanying soda can, sitting in the chair that Sheila often favored.

“I know it’s a bit of a mess,” she said apologetically. “But I’ve just been so swamped with work lately that I’m too tired to do anything about it.”

I nodded. “It’s okay. I imagine it’s not easy being a single parent with two kids.”

Kelly snorted a little laugh in that cute way I always found adorable. “You have no idea.”

Smiling, I shrugged one shoulder. “Well, you won’t be doing it alone anymore.”

The tour took us from the living room through the dining room, past the laundry room (where I noticed two baskets of unwashed clothes), and back around into the foyer and the stairs leading up to the second floor.

“That’s Devon’s room,” she said as she pointed at the open doorway on the left.

The room inside looked like a tornado had hit a toy store. Action figures strewn about, along with two handheld gaming systems and a dozen or so costumes that included a NASA flight suit and a firefighter’s helmet, coat, and mask. The funny thing was that it didn’t really look all that different than I expected.

I grinned. “Looks like a fun place. His own personal Fortress of Solitude.”

Kelly gave me a strange look, but then pointed to a door across the hall from Devon’s. The door was not only closed, but there was a bright yellow handmade sign hanging from a hook that read, “Keep Out!! This means you, Devon!!!” The warning had not been there on Mike’s last night on earth. Sheila had always doted on her little brother. Much more than one might expect a freshly minted teenager to.

“That’s Sheila’s room,” Kelly said.

I simply nodded and continued following my wife down to the end of the hall. She stopped outside the closed door of the room that used to be my home office, located directly across from the master bedroom. She put her hand on the doorknob and turned to smile at me.

‘And this,” she said as she opened the door, “is your room.”

I stared in shocked silence at the scene before me.

My desk, a large cherry thing that I’d picked up from an estate sale and forced two of my friends to help me move, was gone. As was the matching table and bookshelf. Instead, a small double bed occupied the center of the far wall, the duvet a light teal color. The business awards that I had received over the course of my career no longer hung in various places on the walls. They had been replaced by a framed painting of a vast field of roses and another that showed a sea of waving corn stalks with a tiny farmhouse in the distance.

“I figured you could decorate the room as you want. You know, since it’s yours.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember that Kelly had had six months to clear out my stuff. When I opened them again, I realized I could still see the impressions of the former furniture in the beige carpeting. It wasn’t hard to assume that she hadn’t turned the space into a bedroom until recently. Probably when she started looking for a nanny.

“It’s perfect,” I said, waiting until I could pretend to be pleased that the spot where I’d spent most of my work career was now just another bedroom before turning around to look at her.

The pensive expression on her face turned into a pleased smile. “Really? Great. I was worried you would think it was too small or something.”

I shook my head. “It’s about the same size as my current bedroom.”

Kelly laughed. “My condolences, then. Oh, and since I figured you didn’t want to share a bath with the kids, you can use the one in the master.” She pointed at the closed door across the hall. “There’s a large garden tub and a separate shower.”

I laughed. “That would be great. Thanks.”

The slamming of the front door caused us both to look down the hallway. Kelly nodded her head in that direction.

“It sounds like Devon’s home.”

By the time we’d made it back downstairs to the kitchen, my son was already doing his best to demolish a bag of potato chips while watching something on his phone. He looked up as we entered, brown eyes widening when he saw me. Then he looked at Kelly and grinned.

“Yes! I knew you were going to pick her!” Salty crumbs flew out of his mouth and landed on the island’s countertop.

I smiled at the sight, happy that at least one thing hadn’t changed since November. Devon’s after school entertainment and snack was as familiar to me as the layout of the house. It was really the only time he ate junk food, and considering he was a pretty active kid, we allowed him that one indulgence.

“Hey, Devon,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Looks like we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. Hanging out and having adventures.”

He grinned even wider and nodded. “I’m glad Mom didn’t pick Mrs. Wilson. She didn’t seem to be a fun person at all. She reminded me of my teacher last year.”

Kelly’s cheeks reddened, but I merely laughed.

“Well, I’ll promise to try to be more fun than Mrs. Stevens.”

Devon nodded, his gaze dropping back to the screen. Kelly, however, threw a suspicious glance my way.

“How did you know he had Mrs. Stevens last year?”

Shit! I totally forgot that the whole debacle with the third-grade teacher wasn’t something Maddie would know about. I’d been so excited to see that Devon was handling my death so well that I let my guard drop. I put a smile that I hoped seemed genuine on my face and shrugged.

“He’s in fourth grade at Jesse Wharton, right? That’s where I went. All of the third graders were terrified of her.”

I mentally crossed my fingers that Mrs. Stevens had been a teacher at the school long enough to have had a ten year old Madeline as a student. Lord knows the old battle-ax was certainly old enough.

“Oh,” Kelly said, but something in her voice cast a shadow of doubt over my explanation. It was as if she didn’t completely believe me, but couldn’t think of a good reason to pursue the suspicion.

However, since she didn’t push the issue, I simply glanced back at Devon as if the matter was dropped. “What are you watching?”

“Spider-Man,” he said, shoving another handful of chips into his mouth. “He’s cool!”

“Spider-Man is cool,” I agreed, then turned back to Kelly. “When would you like me to start?”

She gave me a pained look. “Six months ago?” Then she laughed and shook her head. “Sorry. That was a bit depressing. How soon can you start?”

I ignored the stabbing sensation in my heart and made a point of tapping one finger against my lips. “I can go back home and pack a few things for now. Maybe a week’s worth of clothes and such. I could be back by eight tonight. Before the kids’ bedtime.”

Kelly smiled. “That would be great. I thought I might have to struggle through the rest of this week first. However, if you could be here tonight so we could go over a plan for your first full day that would be a lifesaver.”

I nodded. “Deal.”

The front door slammed again, signaling that Sheila was home, and I turned to look at the kitchen door. The young girl who walked into the room, though, was not the same little girl I had kissed goodnight on my last evening as a man.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, relative to my frame of reference, I gave a hug and a goodnight kiss to a fourteen year-old girl with long blonde hair that was often braided into pigtails and who enjoyed dancing around in brightly colored clothes to the most saccharine, upbeat pop music. She was a bountiful ray of optimism whom I had loved from the moment I held her tiny body in my arms.

The girl standing in the doorway was not that same girl. The golden tresses that used to hang halfway down her back were now hacked to just below her chin. There were dark purple streaks running through in various places. The makeup plastered onto her face added a year or two to her appearance, but also made it look like she was auditioning as an extra for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Her jeans were ripped across the knees and the black boots encasing her feet were a far cry from the bright pink sneakers she’d made me buy her right before Thanksgiving. The dark gray hoodie, which had to be stifling given the warm spring afternoon, was open enough to reveal that the black T-shirt beneath was far too small on her developing torso.

She stood in the doorway and looked from me to Kelly and back. Devon smiled at her as he pointed at me.

“Look! Mom picked her to watch us. Cool, huh?” Despite his enthusiasm, whatever the animated wall-crawler was doing on the screen was alluring enough that he didn’t wait for Sheila’s reaction to the news.

Which was probably a good thing. Because my daughter, my precious baby girl, looked at me with the same expression one might give to something they stepped in.

“Great. Just what I needed. A babysitter my own age.”

I’m not sure it would be possible to measure the amount of sarcasm and venom contained in those three short sentences.

Then she aimed that dejected, angry look at Kelly. “I’ve got homework,” she announced as she turned around and stomped away. Each footfall on the stairs was an exclamation point punctuating her displeasure and the force of the door to her room being slammed was a statement all on its own.

I looked over at Kelly, my stomach twisting as I saw the pain and embarrassment etched onto her face. She sighed as she leaned against the counter and looked my way.

“Sorry about that. She’s fourteen going on twenty-one.” Her shoulders lifted and fell in an almost helpless gesture. “Please don’t take what she said personally. She didn’t think I needed to hire you. Or anyone, to be honest.”

I nodded, still reeling from what I’d seen and heard. My Sheila, the one I’d left behind, would never have acted that way. Not to a total stranger, and certainly not to her mother.

“She’s hurting,” I said, almost as much to myself as to Kelly.

“Yes,” Kelly agreed. “Hurting and angry. Particularly with me.” When I looked back at her, she gave that same pitiful shrug. “She blames me for her father dying.”

Is Late Better than Never?
by Lily Rasputin

Chapter Four

“Honestly, Madeline. Could you possibly think about someone other than yourself for once?

The woman at the end of the connection, the one listed in the phone’s contacts as “Mother”, possessed an annoyingly superior tone of voice which made me instantly sympathetic for the former Maddie’s having to have dealt with it for her entire life.

A sympathy, I supposed, that I should now feel for myself.

“First, you insist on being … out.” She said it like she’d just tasted something unpleasant. “Now, you’ve hired yourself out as a maid for a family of strangers.” She sighed in what might well be the most melodramatic method possible. “I swear, you are no longer the girl I raised.”

Well, she definitely had that part right.

Lying on the bed in my apartment, I stared up at the ceiling as the woman droned on and on about what a disappointment I was to her and Maddie’s father. It had only taken less than five minutes before I realized Maddie had to have been a saint to not simply cut the woman out of her life permanently. Either that, or she’d been so browbeaten over the course of her life she couldn’t escape.

As the one-sided conversation continued, I thought about my own family and the problems I’d seen in just my quick visit earlier.

After Kelly’s disclosure of the reason for rift between her and our daughter, she suggested that I go back home and get my things just as I’d offered. She promised to have a detailed schedule of the kids’ activities, her parental preferences, and a list of important numbers prepared for me by the time I returned.

I attempted to get more definitive details on Sheila’s behavior but was waved off by Kelly.

“It’s not important,” she said, giving me a tight, sad smile. “To be honest, I don’t completely disagree with her.” The way her arms came up to cross over her abdomen told me that further discussion of the topic wasn’t going to happen.

Not right then, at least.

I nodded, telling her that it shouldn’t take longer than an hour, two at the most, before I returned.

“You know, I could pick up something for dinner on my way back,” I suggested, giving her a smile. “Then you wouldn’t have to worry about cooking anything.”

“I just hired you, Maddie. I don’t expect you to jump right into being…” Then she trailed off, shaking her head as her mouth curled down into a frown.

The aura of sadness rolling off her almost made me want to walk over and wrap her in my arms like I used to do. When I would press her face against my chest as I hugged her and told her that everything would be okay. Even when I knew it wouldn’t.

Especially when I knew it wouldn’t.

“It’s totally no problem at all,” I said with a smile that took a bit of effort to maintain. “I’ll pick up a couple of pizzas as a sort of celebration. On our new partnership. How does that sound?”

Kelly opened her mouth in what was likely the start of a protest, then threw up her hands in acquiescence as she smiled and nodded.

“Actually, that sounds like a great idea. Thanks, Maddie.”

I waved goodbye to Devon, informing him that I would be back in a couple of hours with some pizza. He let out another enthusiastic cheer that nearly burst my eardrums and waved back in reply. I cut my eyes up at the ceiling, but figured Sheila probably couldn’t care less that I was leaving.

I was halfway down the path to my car when I heard Kelly’s voice calling my name. Well, calling Maddie’s name.

Turning around, I saw her hurrying down the walk with my purse clutched in her hand. She held it out to me with a little grin. “You forgot this. Might need it to get back home.”

I felt my face ignite as I took the handbag from her, scolding myself for making such a stupid, completely male mistake.

“Thanks,” I said, slipping the strap over one shoulder. “Not used to carrying this thing yet.” When I realized I’d actually said that aloud, my cheeks grew even hotter. “I mean, I just got it. It’s new.”

Very new, actually.

Kelly laughed, obviously misunderstanding my faux pas. “Yeah, I’m the same way every time I get a new bag.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, happy to let the mistake slide. “Anyway, I’ll be back soon.”

I had no more than arrived back at my apartment, a feat which had required use of the BMW’s navigation system’s history, when my phone started to ring. Glancing at the caller’s information, I saw that it was Maddie’s mother. I let it go to voicemail while I went inside to search for a suitcase.

Less than two minutes later, it rang again. Again, I chose not to answer it. Until I knew more about the relationship between us, I thought it best to ignore her for now. All I had managed to glean from the texts I’d read was that Maddie couldn’t seem to do anything right, and her mother apparently had no faults.

At least, none that she seemed willing to admit to.

Five minutes later, as I began putting various articles of clothing into a black and teal suitcase I found in the closet, I received notification of a new text message. When I saw it was from “Mother”, I sighed and opened it.

“I know you are home, Madeline. Your car is in the parking lot, and your phone is inside the building. Either answer the phone, or I’m coming there myself.”

Wow. Talk about some massively overbearing apron strings. Was Maddie’s mom low-key stalking her daughter?

I certainly didn’t want her coming over here. It would be a lot harder bluffing my way through a conversation with her in person than over the phone. I picked up the stack of shorts I’d just finished neatly folding and put them in the suitcase, then flopped down next to it to call my “mother”.

She answered on the second ring. “Well, it certainly took you long enough. Were you ignoring my calls?” I didn’t think it was humanly possible to sound so put out about something. Did she talk that way to everyone? Or just Maddie?

“No. I was not ignoring your calls. I’m in the middle of doing something and figured I would call you back when I was done.” I tried to channel some of Maddie’s attitude I’d inferred from the text messages I’d read. While it seemed that her mother always got her way, eventually, Maddie never appeared to make it easy for her.

“Busy? Busy doing what?”

“Packing.”

“Packing?” her shrill voice went up another notch. “To go where?”

I sighed as loudly as I could on purpose., hoping it annoyed her. “I got the nanny job so I’m packing some stuff to take with me.”

There was a pause. “Madeline,” she said my name like it was an unwanted chore. “You know how I feel about you and this … job. But do you really need to actually move in with them when you have a perfectly good apartment? After all, it’s not like it’s all that far away.”

“It will be easier to do my job if I’m there than it will be having to drive back and forth all the time.”

Not to mention that being there for my kids only on a part-time basis is not what I signed up for. Or what Namira signed me up for.

She let out a sigh that sounded as if someone had punched her in the gut.

“Honestly, Madeline. I think you’re doing all of this just to punish me. Though I cannot for the life of me understand what I’ve done to deserve it.”

I actually stared at the phone in shocked silence. How in the hell did Maddie survive growing up with this woman? This five-minute conversation already had me ready to burn whatever bridges would be required to make it end.

My gaze drifted over to the nightstand where the empty pill bottles had been quietly stashed away from casual view. It would not surprise me in the least to know that this mother/daughter dynamic partially contributed to the poor girl’s decline into despair.

“Mother,” I said with a slightly clenched jaw to keep from screaming. “This has absolutely nothing to do with you. I’m doing it because I want to do it. Plus, I think it will be good for me. Maybe help get me out of the funk I’ve been in lately.”

Another sigh. “I fail to see how chasing around after a pair of precocious brats will help with your so-called depression, Madeline.” She gave another melodramatic sigh. “I give it a week. Two, at most. Before you will see that I was right. Trust me, darling, being a parent is not for someone who’s weak.”

My fingers curled tightly around the phone, squeezing. Had I still been a man with a man’s grip, I probably would have cracked the casing. I don’t know if Maddie had felt any hatred toward her mother, but I was already on the fast track to despising her. Did she actually think her child “weak”?

What kind of mother says that to her daughter?

I really wanted to tell her that she could fuck right off and enjoy her life without my presence in it. The problem with that idea is that I needed to fully understand enough about the previous Maddie in order to forge ahead as a new and different Maddie.

The last thing I wanted was for a “concerned parent” to get me locked in a psych ward for observation.

“Well,” I said with a calm I did not feel. “I suppose we will find out, won’t we, Mother? Regardless, I need to go. I was in the middle of packing and would like to finish. I told Kelly I would be back there in time for dinner.”

“Dinner?” The surprise in her voice caught me off guard. “It’s Tuesday, Madeline.”

I started to ask what the big deal was about Tuesday when I remembered the way Beth had reacted when I said we could hang out this evening. She’d seemed confused as to why I wasn’t going to dinner with my family.

“I’m sorry,” I said, not feeling the slightest morsel of regret. “I completely forgot.”

“You know your father is going to be disappointed you cancelled.”

“I …” Saying that I didn’t care how disappointed either of them was didn’t seem like a good idea. “Tell him that I’m sorry. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

From there, the call went into a gossip session about people I didn’t know and didn’t care about. Eventually, after wrangling from me a promise that I would meet her for brunch “at the club” tomorrow, Maddie’s mother finally allowed me to end our call.

“Now, I just need to find out what club she was talking about.” I said as I dropped the phone on the bed next to the half-stuffed bag. Greensboro had two country clubs and three private dining clubs that I knew of. I only hoped the GPS history would save my butt once again.

I resumed packing the suitcase, as well as a large duffle I’d found on the top shelf inside the closet. I hoped it would be enough clothing to get me through at least a week or so. My days of the masculine simplicity of jeans, shorts, T-shirts, and boxers had gone the way of the dodo. Now, it was jeans, shorts, T-shirts, skirts, leggings, summer dresses, blouses, bras, and panties.

Not to mention the other accessories, like the jewelry I found in a neatly organized silk pouch. While I’m not an appraiser, none of the items I pulled out to examine looked like they came from Target. Given the apparent social status of Maddie’s family, I couldn’t say I was surprised.

I zipped up both bags, actually having to lay on the suitcase to get it closed, then headed into the bathroom.

Much like with the toothbrush, which I still hoped had been the correct one, I didn’t have the slightest clue which of the products lining the edge of the tub belonged to Maddie. I didn’t want to guess only to have Beth call me later to ask why I had stolen her favorite conditioner. Or made off with her expensive body lotion.

In the end, I decided to take nothing and just stop on my way home to buy new stuff to use. Besides, I thought with a smile, it would be nice to go into Sephora and get the usual ‘Poor Clueless Man’ stare from the staff.

However pleasant that thought was, the reality of my new form’s limitations hit me the moment I pulled the overloaded suitcase off the bed, nearly dislocating my shoulder. As a guy, I’d not been the biggest or strongest man around, but my arms were now devoid of even that small amount of muscle. Bending down, I grabbed the handle and angled the bag back up onto its wheels.

“Well, Mikey, you always did want to be a member of the weaker sex,” I said to myself with a little laugh. “Hope you don’t also suddenly lose the ability to kill spiders.” I knew the use of those old tropes might sound self-defeatist, but I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Even if my new wardrobe had consisted entirely of fluffy pink attire, I don’t think I would be sad. I might not appreciate the manner in which Namira had fulfilled my wish, I did have to agree that being a female was far better experience.

Just as I rolled the bag into the living room, wondering how I was going to get it down the steps without killing myself, the front door unlocked and swung open. Beth, followed by a rather beefy-looking guy with a surfer haircut, walked into the apartment. She stopped and stared at me, at the suitcase, then back at me again.

“Uh, going on a trip?” she asked, stepping aside to let Mr. Tall, Dark, and Muscular room to come in and close the door.

“I got the nanny job,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “I’m supposed to start this evening.”

The confused expression on the blonde’s face shifted into a mask of disappointment. “I thought we were going to have a girl’s night. You know, and talk shit about your stupid ex.”

Crap! I’d forgotten about that. I consoled myself by remembering that I’d been super confused about what was going on, the whole ‘new life, new me’, thing.

“Raincheck?” I said, putting a note of hopefulness in my voice. “How about Saturday night?”

Beth nodded, but the guy shook his head and looked down at her. “Babe, Saturday is when we’re going to my Nan’s for dinner.”

“Friday?” Beth countered, then shrugged as she looked back at me. “It’s a two-hour drive to Jake’s Nan’s. By the time we got back, the evening would mostly be over.”

I nodded, turning my attention from the blonde to her boyfriend.
So, this was the Jake that had kept Beth preoccupied while her roommate took a permanent nap? While the strapping muscles visible under the thin material of his tank top and rugged jawline peppered with stubble didn’t get my own motor running, I did have to admit that he was a rather attractive specimen.

“Friday,” I agreed, looking back at Beth. “In the meantime, do you think you can get Captain Hunk to help me get this monstrosity down the stairs? I’d rather not end up with a hernia.”

Jake grinned and nodded his head as he glanced over at Beth and winked.

“Captain Hunk? I like that.” His grin swung back my way, his bright blue eyes full of youthful confidence. He seemed to be the kind of guy who could turn on the right amount of charm to win his way into the pants of just about any girl he wanted. A belief which seemed supported by the fact that he took immediately one of hands before I could react and lightly kissed the back of it.

“I’d be honored to service you, fair Madeline.”

The petite blonde rolled her eyes and snorted. Beth didn’t seem the least bit jealous about the apparent flirting between her boyfriend and her roommate.

“Knock it off, Casanova,” she said shaking her head. “All your sweet talk isn’t going to get you anywhere and you know it. You don’t have the right equipment, bozo.”

I almost pointed out that he had a tongue and fingers, then decided that might be a bit too bold. I didn’t want to potentially alienate one of the few people I knew by name because of overly flirtatious comment.

So, I agreed with Beth instead.

“Give me a call when you grow a pair of boobs and a vag. Then I’ll swoon.”

Jake grinned and released my hand to grab the handle of the suitcase. He reached out with the other and tapped the strap of the duffle resting on my shoulder. “Give me this one, too.”

When I relinquished the second bag, Beth walked over and stood next to me.

“It’s going to be weird not having you here at night. I mean, it’ll be different than when I’m over at Jake’s or you’re at Becki’s.” She gave me a slightly sad smile. “I’m going to miss you.”

Jake let out a little laugh. “Come on, Beth. Maddie’s just moving. It’s not like she’s dying.”

No. She already did that.

I promised Beth we would hang out Friday evening, and that I wasn’t permanently moving out of our apartment. Even though I knew that I would eventually, provided things went well in my new family role. In the meantime, the interactions would help provide a bit more insight into the life which I’d been thrust.

My phone began ringing just as I maneuvered into the almost nonexistent parking lot next to Ludo’s. The tiny restaurant was almost unnoticeable, sandwiched right in the middle of an ancient shopping center, between a Dollar Store and an out-of-business balloon shop that had moved past its glory days back in the late 90s.

I’d discovered the little pizzeria by accident while looking for a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift for Kelly. We’d only been dating a month, but I wanted to get her something to show that I was already falling for her. The balloon shop had been stripped bare by my fellow procrastinators, but I managed to find a card that I thought was cute and flirty.

The front had an image of a guy standing on a path that went off in multiple directions. There was a crumpled map in his hands and a bunch of bright red question marks over his head. On the inside, the man had ditched the map and was walking arm in arm with a blonde woman down one of the many paths. The text inside read, “I used to wonder where I was going. Now, I don’t care as long as it’s with you.”

The sort of thing I might have wanted to receive once upon a time.

When I emerged with my purchase, the allure of the delicious aromas from next door had pulled on my stomach as easily as Kelly had my heart. That evening, I arrived at her apartment with the card, a box of chocolates purchased at Walgreens, and a large Ludo’s pizza. I often credited Louie’s culinary talents with helping me win my wife’s love.

I shut off the engine and pulled out my phone. The unanswered call had been from Becki and there was an a new voicemail waiting to be heard. Reluctantly, I opened the app and pressed play.

“Hey, Maddie. I went by your place, but Beth said you weren’t there. She wouldn’t tell me where you were and pretty much acted like a total bitch. Call me back when you get the chance. Maybe we could grab a coffee or something at The Bean House. I think that band you like is playing tonight. Love you.”

Sighing, I deleted the message and climbed out of the car, mentally kicking myself for not simply telling the girl to go away earlier instead of letting her into the apartment. I’d let curiosity override common sense, leading to Becki thinking there was a chance for her and Maddie to get back together.

I went into Ludo’s and placed an order for one large pepperoni and a medium barbecue chicken and pineapple. If anything could get Sheila out of a foul mood, it was her favorite pizza. As I waited for the order to be ready, I scrolled through Maddie’s phone, reading text messages I’d skipped earlier and checking her social media connections.

Apparently, my new mother’s name was Meredith, and she had quite the internet presence. The more I discovered, the more I began to feel like simply cutting her out of my life was going to be a difficult task. Difficult, but hopefully not impossible.

Suddenly, the sensation of being watched sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

Glancing up from my phone, I spotted Louie’s oldest son, Georgie, leaning on the counter looking at me. When our eyes met, the corner of his mouth ticked up into an amused smirk. I thought for a moment that I must have something on my face, but when I saw his dark brown eyes dip down to examine my body, I realized that he was staring because I was now a cute female.

I waited until his gaze came back up and his smile widened before I rolled my eyes as obviously as I could, snorted, and went back to looking at the screen in my hands. Even still, I could feel the heat rise in my face at the blatant way he’d indicated his attraction to the new me.

It wasn’t like I reciprocated the interest, but the fact that he found me desirable made me feel … pretty. Like I’d always wanted to feel.

“Order’s ready,” Louie said after a few more minutes.

I put the phone back into my purse, pulled out my wallet, and walked over to the counter. As he tapped on the register’s screen, he glanced at the two boxes next to him and then back to me.

“Barbecue chicken and pineapple? Interesting combination there.”

I pulled out Maddie’s debit card and handed it to him, hoping that I wouldn’t be required to enter a PIN. “Oh? Not a popular selection?”

He shook his head as he swiped my card.

“The only other I know of was a family that used to order it all the time. At least two or three times a month.” He handed my card back to me and frowned. “Shame what happened to the dad. He was a good guy. Always tipped well and never complained about anything.” He made the sign of the cross over his chest, then handed me my receipt.

It felt like I’d popped a tennis ball into my mouth and attempted to swallow it whole. My vision burred with potential tears, and I nodded, turning my face down in pretense of needing to put the receipt and wallet back into my purse.

I don’t know how many evenings I’d chatted with Louie as my order baked in the large stone oven at the back of the restaurant. Conversations about the weather, our kids, the economy. Over fifteen years of steady contact had turned us into friends without me even realizing it.

Now, six months after dying, he still seemed saddened by the loss.

Finally getting the lump in my throat to partially dislodge, I looked back up at him and smiled. “The Johnstons, right?’ I asked. When he nodded with a surprised look, I smiled. “This is actually for them. I’m their new nanny.”

He blinked a few times as a grin formed on his face. He glanced over at Georgie, who seemed just as surprised, though I got the feeling it wasn’t exactly for the same reason.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Wonders never cease, eh?” Louie shook his head and began typing on the register again. “I’m refunding your money. You tell Kelly this meal is on me. You promise to take good care of those kids, okay? They’re good kids.”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to do that, Lou,” I said.”

His eyebrows shot up in curiosity for a moment when I called him by name, but the moment passed without comment, and he waved his hand dismissively.

“No argument. This is my way of showing a little appreciation to one of my most loyal customers.” He gave me a broad smile. “Be sure to tell them that Louie is thinking of them, okay?”

“I will,” I promised.

I put the pizzas on the passenger seat of the BMW and slid back behind the wheel. It felt like my whole body was buzzing and my hands trembled as if I were having a massive sugar drop. I knew that the camaraderie between me and Louie had been more than just a simple matter of business transactions, I just didn’t realize how much more. He’d actually cared about me and my family.

After about five minutes or so, I felt composed enough to drive without causing an accident. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward home, the tantalizing aroma of fresh baked pizza filling my nose and the pleasure of reconnecting with an old friend filling my heart.

Is Late Better Than Never?
by Lily Rasputin
Chapter Five

Dinner had not gone over as well as I’d hoped.

When I returned with the pizza, Kelly was upstairs in Sheila’s room. Thankfully, I noticed Devon was outside on the trampoline, so he wasn’t able to hear the screaming match taking place between my wife and daughter.

Sheila found it insulting that Kelly felt she needed someone to watch her. She kept insisting that she wasn’t a little child and could take care of herself. Kelly countered with the fact that she couldn’t keep taking time off work to be here when Devon got home. Or to start preparing dinner so they could have something to eat. Or the hundreds of other little things that needed to be done.

The argument came to a screeching halt when I clearly heard Sheila say, “You wouldn’t be doing it all by yourself if you hadn’t made Dad feel like he needed to get away from you!”

I slumped against the counter, hands over my mouth as tears formed in my eyes.

Did Sheila really think that Kelly was to blame for me dying in that car accident? That her mother drove me out into the storm?

If anyone was to blame, it was Namira for showing up thirty years late and ripping me out of the life that I’d built. I had no doubt that if she’d never showed up, I would have come back to the house much calmer and ready to discuss options that Kelly and I could both agree on.

Even if I decided that I couldn’t live without transitioning, and that led to a divorce, I would still be around as a parent.

Rather than a stranger.

I called Devon in and told him to wash up for dinner. His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the boxes sitting on the stove.

“Ludo’s! We haven’t had that in forever! Thanks, Maddie!”

Then he ran over and wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me tightly before rushing off toward the sink.

“Well, at least you have half of them on your side,” Kelly said from behind me.

I blinked rapidly to dispel the tears that were starting to form and turned around with a hopefully nonchalant smile.

“I take it Sheila is still less than thrilled about my being here?”

Kelly sighed and nodded. “She’ll come around. I hope.”

“I’m sure she will.” I gestured at the boxes. “Why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll get everything plated?”

She shook her head. “Maddie, I hired you to be a nanny. Not a maid.”

I laughed and waved my hand. “Just consider it an added perk of hiring me.”

I put two pieces of pizza on a plate for Devon, along with a glass of milk. Kelly also got two pieces, but hers was accompanied by a glass of Chardonnay from an open bottle I found in the fridge.

I put two pieces of the barbecue chicken and pineapple on a plate and set it at Sheila’s place. Kelly looked at the plate and then arched a brow at me.

“How did you know that was Sheila’s favorite?”

Oh, shit. Smart going, Mike.

“Uh, well. I went in and just happened to mention to … the guy behind the counter that I was picking up pizza for the Johnstons. And he told me about how it was a regular order for you.”

Once again, Kelly gave me a slightly incredulous look. I thought she was going to grill me further, but Sheila walked into the kitchen at that exact moment.

Our eyes met and I felt a surge of guilt and sadness tear through my chest like a tsunami of pain. For her part, Sheila’s eyes widened a bit at seeing me, and she paused in mid-stride on her journey toward the refrigerator.

We stared silently at each other for a few seconds before I finally recovered enough to smile and gesture at the table.

“Already have a plate set out for you, Sheila. What would you like to drink?”

She snorted in a remarkably sarcastic way and resumed walking.

“I think I’m old enough to get my own drink, thanks.” Her eyes cut over to Kelly, who was watching the exchange. “Unless my mother thinks I need a sippy cup.”

I saw Kelly’s face fall, and I clenched my jaw to keep from saying something that would have been extremely inappropriate coming from the new hired help. Instead, I merely smiled and nodded.

“Of course. Well, like I said, there’s food on the table for you. I was hoping that we could chat and get to know each other better.”

She grabbed a soda from the door of the refrigerator and then glanced over at the table. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw the slices of pizza. Then, she turned to Kelly and shook her head.

“Lame attempt there, Mother. Totally lame.”

Before her mother or I could explain that the pizza was my doing, she spun on her heel and left the room, slamming her door behind her a few seconds later.

As much as it pained me to see Sheila acting that way, it bothered me just as much that Devon didn’t seem to react to his sister’s outburst. He merely continued to chew on his pizza while watching something on his tablet.

Had he grown so accustomed to Sheila’s anger that it wasn’t anything more than normal to him by now? Or was it just another kid addicted to his electronics?

“Sorry about that,” Kelly said when I grabbed some pizza for myself and joined them at the table. “We haven’t ordered from Ludo’s since her father passed. The barbecue chicken and pineapple pizza was something they shared together.” She sighed. “One of the many things that connected them.”

I frowned, looking up at the ceiling in the direction of Sheila’s room. “What about your connection with her? What do the two of you share?”

“Sadness.”

The rest of the meal passed in silence until Devon pointed at his empty plate as he looked my way with a hopeful expression on his face.

“Can I have dessert? I ate all my dinner.”

I glanced over at Kelly and arched a brow before answering. When she gave me a little nod, I smiled at him.

“Sure. What would you like?”

“Can I have a popsicle?”

I stood up and walked over to the fridge, pulling open the bottom freezer drawer. “Hmmm, no purple. Sorry. How about a green one?”

He pouted about the unavailability of purple for a second or two, then nodded with a smile. “I guess green is okay.”

“Coming right up,” I said as I cut the top off the frozen treat and handed it to him. Then I began clearing the table while Kelly only nibbled at her pizza and looked between me and the doorway through which Sheila had departed.

“Do you need anything while I’m up?” I asked, before sitting back down across from her.

She looked back at me for a moment, not answering. Then she seemed to shake off whatever had been occupying her thoughts and smiled. “I’m good, Maddie. Thank you.” Putting the half-eaten slice of pizza back on her plate, she stood up.

“I’ve got briefs in the morning, so I think I’m going to go take a bath and go to bed.” She flashed me a hopeful smile. “I know it’s your first night, but…”

I nodded. “I’ll get Devon into bed with teeth brushed and everything.” I made a pretense of not knowing what the children’s bedtimes were. “How late can he and Sheila stay up?”

“Devon needs to be in bed by 8:30. Sheila is supposed to go to bed by 9, but I know she sits in there on her phone until much later. Just … let her be for tonight. Okay, Maddie?”

I nodded. “Okay. But she’s going to have to get used to me being here at some point.”

After Kelly went to her bedroom, I cleaned up the kitchen and then moved on to the living room. While I was straightening up, I saw Sheila out of the corner of my eye sneak into the kitchen. When I used the mirror on the wall in the foyer, I saw her standing at the counter eating a slice of pizza.

I quickly moved away and kept busy until I spotted her sneaking back out about fifteen minutes later. When I was sure she was securely behind her closed, and probably locked, door, I got Devon upstairs and ready for bed.

Even though the routine was something I could have done in my sleep, I had to remember not to know anything about the procedure. Or where anything was. He was a great teacher and made sure that I knew that he always wore his yellow SpongeBob pajamas on the weekends and the superhero ones during the week.

He asked me to read him a story. When I asked which one, he ran to the shelf and came back with a thin paperback book. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. I stared at the book in my hand for several minutes, confused as to why he chose this one.

However, before I could ask, he told me.

“My daddy used to read this to me when I was little. I know it’s more for little kids, but I … I just wanted to hear it again.”

I nodded, gesturing silently at his bed while I fought the urge to cry. True, I had read this book to Devon (and Sheila) so many times I could practically recite it word for word. But it had been more than two years since Devon had asked me to read it. The idea that it meant so much to him, much more than I thought it had, felt like a knife blade in my chest.

I had to read it twice before Devon was satisfied. I turned out the light and gave him a light pat on the head.

He smiled up at me, his cherubic face illuminated by the sliver of light coming in from the hallway.

“I’m glad you’re here, Maddie. I really like you.”

“I like you, too, kiddo. Sweet dreams.”

I pulled his door closed and stepped across the hall to Sheila’s room. Knocking gently, I placed my mouth close and said in a soft voice. “Good night, Sheila. See you in the morning.”

As expected, I received no response.

Returning to my room, I closed the door and sat on the bed, staring silently at the floor.
I was home. I was back with my family.

And I couldn’t tell them.

Even though she’d honored the letter of the agreement, she had completely trashed the intent. I shook my head, blew out a breath, and stood up.

“Fuck you, Namira.” The profanity sounded strange coming from my much more feminine voice. “I’m sure you think it’s hilarious, this situation you’ve stuck me in. Well, I’m going to make it work. No matter what I have to do.”

Deciding to leave the full chore of unpacking for tomorrow morning, I dug out my toothbrush and went down the hall to the kids’ bathroom. I know Kelly had said I could use the master, but I figured it would just be easier to use the closer one.

I got undressed, put on a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top, piled my hair on top of my head and wrapped a scrunchie around the lump. Then I climbed into the bed, turned off the light, and drifted off into a restless slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was behind the wheel of my car again, racing through the darkened, rain-slicked streets to try and run away from the pain and shame my confession had created. I turned into a particularly sharp curve and felt the back end of the sedan begin to hydroplane.

The car spun in a one-hundred eighty-degree arc and ceased all momentum. As did the torrential downpour. Time outside the vehicle was frozen as solid as a painting.

Including the pair of insanely bright headlights pointed in my direction.

Someone moved in my peripheral vision, and I turned to look at the passenger seat, expecting to see Namira sitting there wearing that smug grin that I detested.

Instead, I found myself looking at Madeline.

She glanced at me with a small, sad smile. Then she turned her gaze to look through the windshield at the danger coming our way.

“I hope you do a better job of being me than I did, Mike. Enjoy the life I couldn’t.”

I opened my mouth to respond, to tell her that she shouldn’t have thrown her life away, but the vertigo of the car’s momentum kicked back in before I could utter so much as a syllable.

The truck slammed into the car a heartbeat later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I jerked violently out of slumber to sit up in the bed, a terrified scream lodged in my throat. My chest rose and fell in deep gasping breaths as the cool, air-conditioned air of the small bedroom sent a chill through my shaking and sweating body.

After several long moments of sitting there in the dark, trying to get my heart to stop racing, I finally laid back down and curled up beneath the blankets. The clock on the nightstand read 5:49AM.

I had a little over ten minutes before I needed to actually start my first full day as the teenage nanny to my own children.

When I climbed out of the bed, I couldn’t help but notice how painless it was. The years and mileage I’d put on my old body had made getting up a bit of a slow-going adventure. However, my new body was young and limber. Curiosity struck, and I raised my arms over my head and bent down to place my palms on the floor effortlessly.

I guess if I had to be shoved into another body, at least it was one that was in relatively good shape.

I switched out the damp tank top for a bra and a dark blue UNC-G T-shirt. The sleep shorts were replaced by a pair of black athletic pants while pink fuzzy socks and matching slippers covered my feet. I pulled scrunchie off, regathered my bed-tosses curls back into a pineapple, and restrained them again.

I headed downstairs and got coffee started. As the brew began to drip, I reached up into the cupboard and pulled down Kelly’s green “Grumpy” mug and set it next to the maker. Then I grabbed the cinnamon from the pantry and set it next to the mug.

Heading back upstairs, I tapped lightly on Devon’s door as I opened it. “Hey, Devon? It’s time to wake up, sleepyhead.”

He rolled over, stretched, then blinked open his eyes. For a moment, he just stared at me with a confused look on his face. “Maddie.” A smile split his face when he said my name. “Is it time to get up?”

I nodded. “Yes. You need to get up, get dressed, and get your stuff for school. I’ll go down and make your breakfast. Let me guess, you want two eggs sunny side up and two sausages?”

He laughed. “I do! How did you know?”

Laughing back, I winked. “What kind of nanny would I be if I didn’t.”

I reached out and tousled his hair. As I did, I felt a swell of tears form, blurring my vision. I turned away before Devon could see and stood up. With my back to him, I quickly dried my eyes and then gave him a smile.

“See you downstairs, Champ.”

Satisfied that Devon wasn’t going to go back to sleep and require a second wakeup call, I walked out of his room and across the hall to Sheila’s. After last night’s drama, I was dreading this moment.

Back when I was Mike, which to me was only yesterday, I would have gone into the room, sat down on the edge of the bed, and stroked her hair until she was gently pulled from slumber. It was a habit I’d picked up when she was a toddler, and something that had just continued through until …

However, I was sure that having the nanny she didn’t feel she needed waking her up the same way her father did would go over horribly. And the last thing I wanted to do was start my morning with an angry Sheila. Or one angrier than I’d seen her since my return.

Instead, I tapped lightly on the door a couple of times before placing my mouth close to it.

“Sheila? It’s time to get up and start getting ready. The bus will be here in about an hour.” I paused. “Would you like anything in particular for breakfast?”

There was nothing but utter silence from the other side of the door. Sighing, I tapped lightly again.

“Sheila? You need to start waking up.”

“I’m awake.” The annoyed voice was absent any semblance of sleepiness or disorientation.

Which made me wonder how long she’d been awake.

“What would you like for breakfast?”

“For you to go away.”

I frowned. “I’m sorry, Sheila, but you know I can’t do that. So, do you want anything else?”

There was a pause of about five seconds before she responded.

“For my father to be alive again.”

A sharp lance of pain skewered me right through the chest, and I sighed as I turned and headed downstairs.

When I walked into the kitchen, I found Kelly rushing around back and forth, attempting to get a handful of files shoved into a small briefcase. The cup I’d set out for her was on the table, wisps of steam rising from it, but the travel mug next to the coffee pot was empty.

“Sorry,” she said, closing the briefcase and straightening her blouse. “I had a hard time falling asleep last night so I’m running around like a lunatic this morning. Zimmerman sent out an email at eleven-twenty last night requesting a meeting at eight.” She grabbed the cup off the table. “Are the kids awake yet?”

I nodded as I filled her thermos. “Devon is up and getting dressed. Sheila is … awake.”

“Wonderful.” Kelly flashed a sympathetic smile. “I want to apologize in advance for rushing off so early on your first day. I feel like I’m throwing you to the wolves. Or, at least, the wolf.”

I put two spoons of cinnamon into the mug, stirred it, and then screwed on the lid. Walking over, I put it down on the table and reached out to lightly place my hand on her arm.

“Kelly, you don’t have to worry about doing it all yourself anymore. I’m here now.” I grinned in a hopefully optimistic manner. “I’ve got this.”

She nodded, turning to grab the dark gray blazer from the chair next to her. As she shrugged into it, she looked at me. “How do I look?”

“Like the stars cannot hope to compare.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Kelly froze and stared at me, the color slightly vacating her cheeks. “What?”

“Morning, Mommy!”

Devon came into the room, dressed in a pair of jeans that looked relatively clean and a Blue Beetle T-shirt. Of course, he was only wearing one sock, the other still in his hand. He crossed the room and threw himself against Kelly, nearly knocking the mug from her hand.

“Guess what! Maddie’s gonna make me eggs and sausage for breakfast.”

Kelly slowly took her eyes off me to stare down at Devon. “Oh? Is that what you requested?”

He nodded. “I’m glad I don’t have to eat a Pop-Tart today.”

Kelly’s face reddened a bit and she smiled.

“Well, that’s why we hired Maddie, honey. So she can make sure you get a hot meal when Mommy has to rush off.”

He nodded and grinned at me as Kelly ruffled his hair and then leaned down to kiss the top of his head. Rising back up, she gave me another of those concerned looks. I pretended not to notice and smiled down at Devon before heading to the cabinet to get the sausage going.

“I don’t know exactly what time I’ll be home this evening. Hopefully the deposition scheduled for this afternoon goes quickly. If so, I should be here before dinner. If not, don’t wait on me to feed them.”

“Got it. Anything in particular I should make or are you leaving it up to me?”

“Leaving it completely up to you.”

She drained the rest of her coffee and set the cup in the sink before glancing at her watch and grumbling. “Okay, I have to go or I’m going to get stuck on 40. Good luck.”

I dropped a quartet of sausage links into the pan, then turned to look at her. “We’ll be fine. I promise. Just go be legal.”

A door slamming upstairs made us both jump. Kelly’s face flushed again and she mouthed ‘sorry’ before grabbing her briefcase and heading toward the door. Pausing at the bottom of the steps, she called up to Sheila.

“Sheila, I’m leaving for work. Maddie’s making breakfast and will be here when you get home this afternoon. Behave, okay?”

When she received no response, she sighed and left.

I fried up Devon’s eggs and sausage, put them on a plate, and served them to him with a glass of chocolate milk.

“Thanks, Maddie. These look great! Just like my Daddy used to make.”

It would have been a touching, tear-forming statement if it hadn’t come at the same moment that Sheila walked into the kitchen.

When she heard Devon’s declaration, she snorted and shook her head. “Doubtful. Daddy’s breakfast is one of those things that’s just as gone as he is, Dev. Get used to it.”

My hands curled into tiny fists all on their own. “Sheila, that wasn’t a nice thing to say.”

Until that moment, I didn’t know my daughter could sneer. The thought of Sheila’s upper lip curling back in an act of defiant hostility was a totally alien thing. But sneer, she did.

“Sorry if the truth hurts his feelings. The sooner he deals with the fact that our dad is dead, because our mom is a heartless bitch, the better off he’ll be.”

“Sheila! Your mother is not a heartless …” I paused and looked over at Devon, who had abandoned his tablet to look at his sister and me. “She is not heartless. She’s hurting just as bad as you two.”

Maybe worse.

The teenaged bundle of angst and anger shrugged, pulling open the fridge to grab the container with her leftover pizza. Setting it on the counter, she pulled down a mug and filled it nearly to the brim with coffee.

“Since when did you start drinking coffee?”

She shot me a confused look that quickly morphed into one that said I was better off minding my own business. Picking up the container and her cup of java, she walked over to the table. She put them down, splashing a bit of coffee onto the table as she stared balefully at me.

“Look, Maddie, let’s be clear, okay? I don’t want you here. I don’t think we need you here. But since my mom and Devon have overruled me, as usual, I’m stuck with you being here. So, do us both a favor and take care of Devon, do all the shit my mom asks you to do, and stay the hell out of my room and my business. Got it?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it with a nod. “Got it.”

She took her coffee and departed the room without so much as a backward glance. Sighing, I packed Devon’s lunch and made sure he had all his books and supplies in his backpack. While he waited at the door for me, I went to the bottom of the steps and called out to Sheila.

“I’m taking Devon to the bus stop. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Don’t care,” came the acidic response.

As we walked the block and a half to where the bus would pick him up, Devon seemed to be particularly sullen. Which was a far cry from how he’d been acting earlier.

“What’s going on, D? Why so mopey?”

He shrugged. “I thought when you got hired that Sheila would stop being so mad about everything. But it just seems like she’s even more mad now that you’re here.”

I nodded. “I think it’s just a big change to her. She’s a creature of routine and habit. Throwing a new person into her life, especially one she didn’t feel like was needed, has got her a bit wound up. She’ll come around.”

He shrugged again. “What if she doesn’t? What if she convinces Mom to fire you? I don’t want you to go.”

I stopped and looked down at him. The high color in his face and the gleaming wetness hovering in his eyes nearly ripped my heart in half. I knelt down and placed my hands on his shoulders. I really wanted to pull him in and squeeze him with all the love I felt, but reminded myself I was still a relative stranger in his life.

“Listen to me, Devon. I’m not going anywhere, okay? Your mom picked me, out of all the others, to take care of you and your sister.” Well, it was actually a mediocre genie that picked me, but that’s not the point. “Sheila will eventually accept that I’m here and we’re all going to get along. Okay?”

He nodded, sniffled, and wiped his eyes with his palms. Then he nodded again.

I stood up and took his hand, resuming our trek to the corner. When we got there, I could see the dark yellow school bus trudging slowly up the street. Devon released my hand and sighed.

“Sheila doesn’t think I miss Daddy as much as she does, but she’s wrong,” he said softly. “I think I miss him more because he never spent as much time with me as he did with her.”

I could only stare speechlessly as the bus stopped in front of us, and Devon hopped onboard, waving bye to me through the window as he was carried off to school.

The walk back to the house seemed five times longer, since my brain was a bag full of cats struggling to get out. Had I really paid more attention to Sheila than Devon? I didn’t think so, but obviously I had. At least enough for him to be a bit jealous of her.

It hadn’t been a deliberate thing. Sheila was the first child. The one that turned me from a husband into a father. A little favoritism was bound to be expected, right? Wasn’t that always the way? You love both your children equally, but is it wrong to have a little, tiny bit more love for one?

When I walked into the house, I found Sheila sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through her phone. Before I could say a word, she held up her hand.

“No, I don’t need an escort to the bus. No, I don’t need a reminder that it will be here in forty minutes. No, I don’t need you to pack my lunch. Yes, I have all of my books and supplies packed.” Her eyes slowly rose to look at me with more malice than I believed possible from her. “Just so you know, I’ve been taking care of Devon and myself almost every morning for months. We didn’t need a nanny then and we don’t need one now. Why don’t you go clean or something.”

I stood there, staring at her. If you’d asked me two days ago if I ever thought my daughter would be capable of speaking to another person, much less someone in authority, in such a fashion, I would have vehemently argued its impossibility.

Was this what my death had done to the eternally optimistic Sheila? Had losing me crushed her beyond repair? I refused to believe that. She was just still in pain and would return to her old self with time and healing.

They all would.

Forcing myself to smile, I merely nodded. “As you wish. Though, to be fair, I never doubted your ability to take care of yourself. As much as I know you didn’t want your mother to hire me, I think you’ll eventually see that it was a good idea.”

“Doubtful.” Her attention drifted back down to her phone.

“Sheila, I think…”

“Don’t care.” She stood up, shoved her phone into her back pocket, grabbed her backpack, and walked outside to sit on the porch steps.

“Wow, she is so your daughter.”

I spun around to find Namira sitting on the counter next to the stove. She was dressed in a simple white shift with a side split that went all the way up to her hip. Grinning at me, she nodded toward the door.

“Such anger. Reminds me of you when you found out I’d granted your wish.”

I stalked across the room to her, not caring that it was probably not a good idea to threaten a powerful entity capable of rewriting reality.

“This is your fault, you know.” I held up my hand. “Yes, I know that I made a wish and that you were required to grant it. But you didn’t have to keep me away for six damned months. If you’d brought me back sooner, I could have done some damage control before things got this bad.”

She shook her head. “I told you that I had to wait until all the proper pieces were in place before I could fulfill your wish. Be glad it was just six months and not six years.”

My retort froze in my throat as my brain leapt ahead to imagine what Kelly, Sheila, and Devon would be like six years after my death. The picture that came to mind was not even remotely pleasant. It was all too easy to see Sheila on her own, keeping zero contact with Kelly. Kelly being depressed and sullen. Devon being a shell of himself after years of being abused by his sister.

“Fine.” I said, slumping against the fridge. “I concede your point. Isn’t there anything you can do to help?”

Her smug smile faded a little and she shook her head, reaching out to pat me on the cheek. “No, sorry. You made a wish to ‘be a girl’, so a girl is what you became. If you’d wished to be ‘female’, then I could have put you in an older, more adult body.”

“I don’t think that would have helped a lot. Sheila’s not in a place to accept any sort of authority. She might hate that Maddie is only a few years older, but I think it would be worse if I was in my twenties or thirties.”

“Probably.” She hopped down off the counter and stared at me for a moment. “For what it’s worth, I am a little sorry I took so long to get to your wish. However, I think you’re going to be just fine in the end.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

That arrogant grin returned. “Trust me, Maddie. I have a one hundred percent satisfaction rate. It’ll just take some time, and it probably won’t be smooth, but I think you’re going to eventually enjoy living that life you always felt denied.”

“I hope so.”

Her hand came up to rest on my shoulder. “I really shouldn’t do this. It’s technically against the rules. However, I will make you a special offer. One time only.”

“What offer?”

“I can release Maddie’s memories.”

I blinked. “Release them? You mean they’re still in my head?”

She nodded. “Deep down, locked away. I can release them. The flip side is that Mike’s memories will fade. Not immediately, mind you. But they will.”

“So, I’ll be two people at once? Maddie and Mike?” The idea seemed dangerous. Given how Maddie’s emotional instability led to her demise.

“For a little while.” Namira held up both hands at even levels. Slowly she lowered one and raised the other. “As time goes by, you will be more Maddie than Mike. To the point where Mike will disappear entirely. Only Maddie will be left.”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, it might make it easier on me in a lot of ways, but I don’t exactly trust Maddie, the old Maddie, with my kids. I’ll keep my own memories, thanks.”

She smiled in a manner that made me instantly suspicious. “You know, I had a feeling that you would say that. And while I would really like to stick around and see how this all plays out, my time with you is at an end.” Before I could respond, she stepped forward, grabbed me in a tight hug, and blew softly into my ear, sending a strange shudder running through me.

Then she stepped back and gave me a wink.

“Good luck, Maddie. Enjoy your new life.”

I stood there and watched silently as Namira faded away, leaving me alone.

Is Late Better than Never? Chapter 6
by Lily Rasputin

I honestly wasn’t the least bit surprised to learn that the club Maddie’s parents belonged to happened to be the ritziest, most expensive, and most exclusive one in Greensboro.

Pulling the Beemer into an empty spot not too far from the oversized putting green, I stared at the massive structure that was a living testament to wealth and privilege. As Mike, I had only been here once, at a gala charity fundraiser that one of the senior partners of Kelly’s firm was hosting.

I’d been forced to put on a constraining, boring black and white monkey suit while Kelly had wowed in a royal blue, off-the-shoulder, mermaid dress and matching heels.

The evening of smiling and pretending I wasn’t completely envious of her resulted in far too many glasses of champagne and a horrible next-day hangover.

Of course, tuxedos were now a thing of the past for me.

I climbed out of the car and smoothed the peach tennis skirt, the pleated panels brushing against the tops of my thighs. I found it, and several others in various colors, in Maddie’s closet. Their existence, along with the racket I also discovered, hinted that the former owner of my body must have played regularly.

If I was going to keep up with some parts of the Maddie Charade, I probably needed to learn the game.

In addition to the skirt, I had selected an off-white blouse and a peach-colored bow that held my hair back in a thick ponytail. I freely admit that I spent several long minutes staring at my reflection, marveling at the wonder and joy of actually being able to wear the outfits I’d long been denied. And looking cute in them to boot!

Grabbing my purse off the passenger seat, I slung it over my shoulder and headed into the club. The foyer was just as large and pretentious as I recalled, and the two women standing behind an ornate marble podium glanced up as I approached.

The younger, a blonde close to my own age smiled with an expression of glee at seeing me. She was dressed in a white tuxedo shirt and a pair of black slacks. The gold, oval pin affixed over her left breast identified her as “Stephanie”.

Her companion, a matronly looking woman in a black and gray skirt suit, only gave me a cursory glance before returning her attention to the paperwork on the hostess stand. When she lifted her face again, the aura of professional decorum whirled around her.

“Good morning, Miss Chambers. Your mother is awaiting you at her usual table.”

Usual table? From what I could recall, the country club had five dining rooms. Where the hell was Meredith’s “usual table”?

“Oh,” I said, trying to squeeze a clue out of the word. “Uh, she mentioned to me that she was thinking about sitting someplace new today. Weird.”

The older woman’s brow scrunched. “I can assure you, Miss Chambers, that she did not indicate such a preference to me.

“Carol,” the blonde said, looking at her colleague, “I was about to check with the chef about the menu for the Langham party. I will escort Miss Chambers to her mother.”

“Very well, Stephanie,” Carol replied, sounding like it wasn’t anywhere close to well in her mind. “Enjoy your lunch, Miss Chambers.”

“Thanks,” I said. Though it was directed more at the blonde than her haughty coworker.

Stephanie walked out from behind the desk and started down the left side hallway.

I walked beside Stephanie, trying not to gawk at the décor like someone who’d never been there before. Occasionally, I glanced over to see my escort looking at me with a weird, apprehensive expression on her face.

Was she waiting for me to say something? Did Maddie normally have casual banter with the Club’s staff?

Given what I knew of her mother, it was likely that chit-chatting with the “help” was probably not something that was condoned.

Right before we reached the ornate, oak double doors of the dining room, Stephanie stopped and looked at me with a pinched brow.

“Maddie, are you mad at me?”
I stopped as well and looked at her, blinking a few times before shaking my head. I mean, I wasn’t mad at her. Had Other Maddie been?

“I’m not mad at you, Stephanie. Honest.”

The pinched expression deepened, and her mouth formed a tiny pout.

“Stephanie? Really?”

I quickly glanced down at her nametag, confirming that I hadn’t heard the other woman incorrectly. When I glanced back up, the pout had worsened.

“Uh, really. I’m not mad or upset with you. Should I be?”

Please say no. Pretty please. I have enough drama to deal with as it is.

She shrugged. “I called you the other night to see if you were okay. But when you answered, all you said was that you didn’t want to talk to me. Then I found out from your mom that you did get the nanny job, but you said if you did we’d go out to celebrate.”

She sighed and shook her head. “It was bad enough you ghosted me. Now you’re back to calling me ‘Stephanie’.”

Uh-oh.

“I just … the other night was a really bad night for me. I thought my life was over.” Which to be honest, it was. “Then I got the job and got so busy trying to get everything settled at the Johnston’s that I completely forgot. I really didn’t mean to, uh, ghost you.”

Ghost meant ignore, right? I seemed to recall Sheila using the phrase multiple times in that context. God, I was not only going to have to learn to like mindless pop music, but I was also going to have to learn a whole new lexicon of slang.

Stephanie shrugged again. “So, do you want to get together later and talk about it?”

I nodded, though I really didn’t. “Sure. When and where?”

“I’m off at two. We could meet at the Shake Shack around three. Does that fit in your schedule?”

I thought about the kids’ bus schedule. Devon would be dropped off between 3:30 and 3:45, depending upon who was driving. Sheila wouldn’t be home until 4:30 or so. I didn’t want to not be there on my first day to greet Devon when he got home.

“Can we do two-thirty? I want to be back at the Johnston’s before the kids get home from school.”

She seemed to consider it a moment and nodded. “That’s doable.” Then she smiled in a most salacious manner. “Unless … you want to wait and meet up later after you put them to bed.”

Before I realized what she was doing, she reached out and ran her finger lightly down my bare arm. I shuddered and pulled my limb away as I stared at her. Almost immediately, a hurtful expression formed on her face.

“I’m sorry. I just …” She looked at my face, which still wore a shocked expression and sighed. “You know what, just never mind.”

“Steph,” I said, hoping that the shortened form of her name was the one that Maddie normally used, “don’t be mad.”

She moved past me and pulled open the door, gesturing for me to enter ahead of her.

Inside, there were several tables of diners seated around the room. Some were finished eating, some in the process, and some still waiting for their meals to arrive. No one was in jeans or anything that looked like it might have been purchased at Target.

The ability to spot designer attire was one of the few things about wanting to be a woman most of my life I could easily acquire.

Stephanie nodded her head toward the large bay windows on the other side of the room. On the terrace outside, I spotted Meredith sitting at a small table, her profile angled toward the interior while her gaze loomed across the manicured golf course located behind the clubhouse.

“Your mother is on the veranda awaiting you, Miss Chambers. Enjoy your lunch.”

“Steph,” I said again, but she simply turned and walked away without as much as a backward glance.

“What the hell was that all about,” I mumbled to myself before heading through the glass doors that led to the outside dining area.

Meredith wasn’t the only diner seated on the veranda, but the tables on either side of hers were empty. For some reason, I believed it was due more to other people not wanting to be near her than her not wanting to be near other people.

I walked over to the table, noticing the way that Meredith pretended to not notice my arrival, though the shift in her posture gave her away. However, since I was pretty much winging it, I decided to behave in a manner I suspected Maddie would have.

Cautious deference.

“Mother,” I said as I got to the table, drawing her attention slowly toward me. “You look lovelytoday.”

She glanced down at her attire, a dark green sleeveless dress, and then back to me. “Thank you, Madeline. I see you decided to dress a little closer to your station.” One perfectly plucked brow arched as she looked at my chest. “No Pride pins today?”

I frowned, pulling out the chair opposite hers to sit. It put me directly in the way of her inspection of the links. “I didn’t come here to start a fight.”

“That would be a first,” she replied.

I almost stood back up and walked away. This woman had obviously made her daughter’s life a living hell and I saw no reason why I should have to deal with her now that Maddie’s life was mine. However, given their dynamic, leaving would have likely made Meredith feel justified and superior.

The very least I could do for Maddie was refuse to cower to her mother’s attacks.

Apparently my motion, brief as it was, caught her attention. “Sit down, Madeline. Let’s try to at least have a civilized meal, shall we?” The arched brow rose higher. “Or do you need to get back to dirty diapers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?”

I drew in a breath and clenched my fists tightly beneath the table. Meredith was attempting to get a rise out of me. Something that, judging by the texts and emails I’d read on Maddie’s phone, she enjoyed doing to her only child. The problem now was that I was not a brow-beaten nineteen-year-old.

Even if I did look like one.

“No, Mother, I do not. Devon and Sheila are currently in school. And given that they are ten and fourteen, there are no diapers. Dirty or otherwise.” I smiled as sweetly as I could and picked up the glass of ice water sitting in front of me and took a sip. “Plus, I happen to think that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are delicious.”

Meredith’s mouth puckered as if she’d just bitten into a rotten lemon. Apparently she was not expecting a Madeline that would give her sass back. I momentarily hoped she would be able to adjust to this change in her child, then decided that I really didn’t care.

“Well. I think you’re doing this just to spite me. Do you know that Margret Collingswood came up to me at Bridge this morning and told me that Caroline was spending her summer interning at her husband’s law firm. My daughter, however, has decided to become a daycare worker.”

I shrugged. “Well, you know what they say, Mother. Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I set the glass down and picked up the menu, bound in a thick genuine leather binder. “Now, what shall I have today? Do you think the chef will make a PB&J, if I request it?”

It didn’t require looking up to know I’d gotten to her. The huff of annoyance told me enough.

As it turned out, I did not order the threatened PB&J. I actually ordered a cup of lobster bisque and a half of a club sandwich. Meredith ordered a cobb salad and a glass of Chablis.

As she sipped on her wine and waited for our food, she went on and on about this person and that person. Who was likely to get nominated for the Board, who was spotted with whose wife, and other assorted strands of sordid gossip that I sincerely doubted the former Maddie enjoyed hearing any more than I did.

When the waiter arrived with our plates, he was accompanied by an older gentleman in an expensive three-piece suit.

“Mademoiselles Chambers,” he said in a snooty French accent. “How good it is to have you dining with us again. Miss Madeline, it has been far too long since I have seen your lovely face.” He reached out and took my hand, placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. Releasing me, he stepped back and looked between us. “I trust everything so far has been to your satisfaction?”

Meredith nodded, some color rising into her cheeks. “Of course, Marcel. Impeccable as usual.”

Marcel smiled at her. The look was meant to be flirtatiously flattering and seemed to do its intended job on the woman across from me. Meredith’s flush became a blush, and I focused on eating my soup to keep from making an observational comment.

When he departed our table to schmooze with another, I glanced up from my appetizer and smirked at Meredith. “You know, you look just like I did the first time Becki kissed me. All crimson-faced nervous excitement. Something I should know about you and Monsieur Marcel?”

Meredith wrinkled her nose and glared at me. “Let’s not be crass while we’re trying to eat, Madeline. There’s nothing wrong with feeling appreciated by a handsome man. Lord knows your father doesn’t appreciate me the way he used to.”

“Sounds dire. Maybe you two should get divorced.” I set the spoon down in the empty cup. “If I get a choice, can I live with Dad?”

She set the wine glass down so hard I thought it was going to snap the stem off.

“That is enough. I do not know what has gotten into you today, Madeline, but it is going to stop right now. It is bad enough that you embarrass me in front of my friends with your lesbian experiments and decision to be a glorified servant, but you will not speak to me as if we are equals. You are my daughter, and you will afford me the respect that I am due as your mother.”

I gaped at her. The audacity was absolutely palatable. It was clear from what I’d discovered that Meredith expected the Mother-Daughter Respect Road to be a one-way street. No wonder Maddie had been so screwed up. Living with that for nineteen years must have been hell.

I mean, my parents hadn’t been saints, but if I’d had to grow up listening to Meredith arrogantly nitpick at every aspect of me, I probably would have swallowed a bunch of pills, too.

Sighing, I looked away from her. “As you wish.”

Luckily, our food kept our mouths mostly occupied for the rest of the lunch. When we were done, Meredith dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin, then pulled a small, silver compact from her purse and checked her appearance.

I almost asked if she was primping for Marcel but decided reigniting the argument wasn’t conducive to the reason I’d agreed to this brunch in the first place. It had given me an even closer understanding of Maddie’s home life, at least when it came to dealing with her mother. I couldn’t place any bets that her father was any better, though I suspected that being attacked from two angles would have caused the teen to check out earlier than she did.

“Well, this has been delightful, Mother. However, I must be off. I have things to do before I resume my babysitting duties.”

She stared at me as if I’d reached over the table and slapped her. Something I was really, really eager to do.

“You aren’t going to have dessert?”

“No thanks,” I said with a smile I didn’t attempt to make less fake. If I had to spend another twenty to thirty minutes at the table with this woman, I was going to throw her over the railing.

The compact snapped closed. “Very well. If you must rush off.”

I nodded and stood. “See you on, uh, Tuesday.”

She frowned. “Tuesday?”

I frowned in response. “Tuesday … for dinner.” That was a weekly thing, right? Or had I just assumed based on Beth’s comment.

“I know what night our traditional family dinner is on, Madeline. But aren’t you forgetting Saturday? You agreed to come with us.”

“Where?”

Meredith sighed and shook her head. “I really do not know what has gotten into you lately. We are going shopping for Georgina’s dress.”

“Oh,” I said with a small nod. “I forgot that was this Saturday. I, uh, might have plans.”

Her already disappointed look dropped to an Arctic temperature. “You promised her that you would come. I swear, Madeline, you are really starting to worry me.” She arched a brow. “Are you still taking your medication? Maybe we should schedule an appointment with Dr. Barrow.”

Fuck.

I shook my head. “I’m fine, Mother. Yes, I’m still taking my medication. I just forgot that Georgina’s dress thing was this week. Uh, can you text me the time and place so I don’t forget again?”

Meredith pulled out her phone and began to type, shaking her head. “I swear, you are getting more and more like your father every day. I hope you’ll be lucky enough one day to find a man who knows how to keep you on track.”

Given that I finally saw an exit point to this whole rendezvous approaching, I didn’t think it was wise to remind her that I was a lesbian. Nor her daughter.

“Thank you, Mother. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

I stopped by the front desk on my way out but found only Carol working there. When I asked about Stephanie, the older woman merely shook her head. “She’s gone on break, Miss Chambers. Is there something I can do for you?”

“No, thanks,” I said. “I just wanted to say goodbye.”

She gave me a strange look, then nodded. “I will pass that on to her, Miss Chambers. Have a nice day.”

I glanced at my phone and deduced that I had plenty of time to swing by Maddie’s apartment and get some more things to bring to the house before Devon’s bus arrived.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I received a text from a number identified as “The Club”. Opening it, I read the message.

Sorry I was a bitch. I just don’t know what’s going on with us. Still meet this afternoon?

Stephanie.

I sighed and responded, letting her know that I could still join her at the Shake Shack as originally suggested. While I had zero interest in resuming whatever relationship she and Maddie had, I figured it might be a good idea to know exactly what that relationship was. To keep from getting blindsided again.

In the apartment, I found Beth sitting on the sofa watching a movie. She glanced over as I came through the door, then grinned.

“Good thing Jake and I weren’t in the middle of getting busy. That would have been embarrassing.”

I wanted to comment that she and the helpful and hunky Jake weren’t old enough to be “getting busy” on the living room sofa, then remembered my own forays in the Heing and Sheing during my first trip through life as a college freshman.

“Ew, don’t,” I said with a laugh. “I still live here on occasion, you know.”

Though, if things worked out, I would be at my former home on a completely permanent basis.

“You do?” Beth asked, her face attempting to be serious but failing miserably. “Guess I shouldn’t have turned your room into a sex dungeon then, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been gone a day, Beth. Even Stud Boy can’t remodel that fast.”

“He’s fast in other areas, though,” she said with a wink.

I shook my head. “You poor girl. No wonder you’re sexually frustrated.”

I dodged the pillow she threw at me and went into my bedroom.

I picked out another two weeks’ worth of clothing and the rest of my toiletries from the bathroom. However, since I hadn’t thought of bringing my suitcase back with me, I asked Beth if she had one I could borrow.

I didn’t understand the sheepish look on her face until she came out of her own room with a piece of luggage that looked exactly like the one I’d used, only slightly smaller.

“I meant to give this back to you after that trip to Cabo, but I forgot.”

I waved my hand. “It’s okay.” Then I gave her a little smirk. “Unless you and Jake were using it for salacious purposes. In that case, I suggest burning it.”

She handed me the bag and stuck her tongue out at me. “Don’t act like you and Becki never got up to freaky shit all of the …” She stopped speaking and looked at me with a guilty and apprehensive expression. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring her up.”

Shrugging, I gave her a slight smile. “It’s okay. We did what we did. As far as I’m concerned, that was a totally different Maddie. A fresh start would be good, right?”

“Absolutely.”

I went back into my room and stuffed as much as I could into the suitcase, then had to grab a cardboard box from the back of the closet to contain the rest. When I was ready to go, I took everything down to my car in two trips, then came back up to say goodbye to Beth.

“Remember, you promised that we were still going to hang out on the regular. I’m gonna hold you to that.”

I nodded. “I promised we’d get together on Friday, didn’t I?”

“You did.” She stepped forward and gave me a hug. “See you on Friday, Mads.”

When I got down to my car, I realized I’d left my phone on the passenger seat. Picking it up, I saw I had one missed call and one missed text.

The text was from Stephanie.

Running @ 10 min late. Wait 4 me?

The voicemail was from Becki.

“Hey, Mads. Just calling to see what you’re doing and how your first night as a nanny went. Give me a call when you can. Love you.”

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I started to fear that extricating myself from Becki was going to be harder than I originally hoped. I could only imagine how turbulent the relationship between her and Maddie had been, especially when I factored in the recently discovered knowledge that my body’s former owner had been carrying on an affair with Stephanie.

I pulled into the Shake Shack around ten after two, parking next to a white Jeep. When I got out and walked around it toward the building, I noticed it had a pink vanity plate on the front. “STEFFIE.”

Okay, it looks like Stephanie preferred Steffie over Steph. If Maddie knew that, it would explain why I’d gotten such a response at the club. When I stepped inside the air-conditioned shop, I let out a tiny gasp as the cold air easily slipped through the thin material of the blouse and the bra beneath.

Who knew nipples could turn instantly painful.

Stephanie (Steffie) was standing at the counter, facing me. Behind her, a guy who looked to be in his late 20s leaned forward, his dark brown eyes sliding off her onto me.

Well, onto my boobs, to be exact.

I brought my arms up in a partial blockade of his leer and that seemed to change his focus to a part of my body further north.

“I ordered you a cookies and cream with chocolate syrup,” Steffie said as I closed the distance between us. “That’s still your favorite, right?”

For the record, I’ve never been a fan of cookies and cream. Hopefully I could pretend otherwise in order to keep the facade going.

“Most definitely,” I replied, reaching into my purse for my debit card and handing it to the guy. “But this is my treat. Since I wasn’t the most receptive earlier.”

She gave me a weird look, then shook her head. “No, it was my fault. I should have considered the fact that if you were meeting your mom, you weren’t going to be in the best of moods. I guess I was just a little paranoid that you’d decided not to break up with your girlfriend.”

I squeezed my jaw shut and fought against the surprised expression aching to dance across my face. If Maddie had already planned to break up with Becki, then why the whole downward spiral to suicide when it actually happened? Was there something I didn’t know that happened that night, or had Maddie just been lying to Steffie? Stringing her along with the hope that the two of them could be an official couple?

The more I learned about Maddie’s former life, the less I was beginning to understand. It was far more convoluted and complex than I initially realized. The girl should have been more focused on dealing with the problems in her life before rushing out to add to them.

Of course, that was pretty rich coming from someone who used a wishing coin to try and fix their life.

“No,” I said. ‘We broke up the other night. It just hit me a little harder than I expected. I’m going to need a little time to get my head on straight.”

Stephanie nodded. “Understandable. Just …” She smiled sadly at me. “Don’t take too much time.”

“I won’t.” I’ll just take as much time as it takes for you to latch onto someone else and forget about me.

We sat in a booth with our desserts. She had her back to the guy at the counter, so she wasn’t privy to the way he hung around the end closest to us, cleaning and re-cleaning the display case. I couldn’t tell if he was an ordinary creeper or not, but I gave him a hard glare the one time our eyes met. After that, he moved a few feet further down and stopped looking our way.

“What’s it like being a nanny?”

I shrugged. “Like being a surrogate parent, I guess. I just started yesterday, so I’m still trying to figure out where I fit into the family dynamic.”

“God, you’re so lucky. I would love to have a job where I could work with a loving family. Rather than all the rich, spoiled assholes that I deal with daily.” Frowning, she looked at me. “Present company accepted.”

“Surely they’re not all bad.”

She shook her head. “No. But the ones that are overshadow the ones that are nice.”

“Like my mother?” I had no doubts Meredith Chambers was one of the most unpleasant people to have to provide service to.

“She’s pretty bad, yeah. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. She’s a grade-A bitch.”

Stephanie laughed and reached out to place her hand onto mine. While I didn’t really care for the physical contact from a girl I barely knew, I didn’t want to cause another scene like in the hallway at the country club. When she started stroking her thumb over the back of my hand, I merely sucked on my straw and tried to look comfortable.

“Joan’s team is playing Saturday afternoon at the Special Events Center. Wanna go with me?”

“Uh, I don’t know if I can.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“I’ve got this dress shopping thing with my mom on Saturday.”

“What time?”

I pulled out my phone and looked at the text Meredith had sent. It merely read: Georgina.11:00am. 1304 Lawndale Avenue.

“Eleven.”

“Well, it doesn’t start until three. You’ll be done by then, right?”

I sincerely hoped so. Not that I wanted to spend any more time with Stephanie, but if I had to endure Meredith’s barbs and arrows for four hours, I wasn’t going to be in any condition to do much more than get really stinking drunk.

“Probably, but I don’t know if Mrs. Johnston is going to need me to watch the kids. She said something this morning about working on a really big case, so I might have to keep the kids busy.”

Stephanie shrugged. “So, bring ‘em. They’ll have a blast. I mean, what kid doesn’t like roller derby?”

I felt my eyes widen in surprise. “Roller derby?”

Comments and thoughts accepted at [email protected]