Shortcuts

A paranormal superhero story with a supernatural twist

How to get a job

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Shortcuts
by Terry Volkirch

Chapter 13

Advanced Literature started with an introduction of Shakespeare's historical play, King John, and the class dove in soon after by reading through and analyzing parts of it, just as they did with A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lester didn't exactly like the play but he dutifully paid attention and tried not to jump ahead to the next and last play that they'd be covering. He looked forward to it in a way, though he had to admit, Romeo and Juliet might prove to be too much for him. He already felt like he was well on his way to living a romantic tragedy.

The class passed by quickly, as did the next two, and the pair found themselves at their usual lunch table, thoughtfully eating their meals.

Erin took a break from her sweet corn to start the conversation. "I saw that Golden Girl stopped another crime yesterday."

"Hm? Yeah. Everyone loves Golden Girl," he said with a frown.

"Aw. You're not happy about it?"

Whisperings of Golden Girl could be heard all around the lunch room. It was all anyone wanted to talk about. Golden Girl with her golden blonde hair was a superheroine; the first in the world. How could one not be impressed by her? Except she wasn't Lester, not really. She was a girl named Crystal who had superpowers.

"I'm not sure what to feel. I found it exciting to stop a serious crime so easily, but it really is getting to be too much."

"Well, I don't think we should talk about it now. But I want to talk about it more after school. Until then, try not to think about it. Just concentrate on school. Maybe that'll help. Okay?"

"Sure. I'll try."

They talked about Advanced Literature, shopping and aikido, and Erin took pity on him and didn't include anything about menstruation. She started feeling better anyway and didn't really need Sarah that day. Her life became more and more comfortable as she got into a natural rhythm. Knowing that she could see Sarah fairly often eased her mind enough to get by, and even though it was getting to be a problem with Lester, she'd still politely ask for Sarah's company on the walk to Lester's house tomorrow. She definitely felt a lot more comfortable around Sarah than she did around Lester. The sexual tension between her and Lester was upsetting her more and more.

* * *

Lester and Erin had a mostly quiet walk for the few blocks they shared. As usual, they resolved nothing during their short walk and Lester didn't even turn around to watch his friend disappear into the mist. He marched all the way home and tried not to think of anything. Once he started thinking, he was doomed.

He got home, did his homework and helped his mother with dinner before his father got home. Cooking became a welcome distraction and something that would benefit him once he was out on his own, alone, with no one to cook for him.

He shook his head, ending that line of thinking. It was sexist anyway. He had two hands. He could cook for himself, just like any girl could.

"Mom?" He tried conversation. He still couldn't trust his thoughts.

"Yes, dear?"

"How did you and Dad meet? You've talked around the subject but you've never really said."

"There's not much to tell. We met in college, or really, he saw me in the cafeteria and tried asking me out. Like I already told you, I didn't say yes the first time. I lost count of the times he asked me before I finally agreed to go out with him."

"Yeah. That doesn't help."

"Well, excuse me!" Susan said, playfully swatting his arm.

"Sorry, Mom. You're helping just by talking with me. But I'm still having problems."

"Such is the life of a teenager."

Lester rolled his eyes. "It's more than that. You know it's much more than that."

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make light of it. I'm just trying to keep you from taking it all too seriously."

"Too seriously?! I've got two non-human beings who made some wager about me and are watching my every move. I can lift… I don't know… a lot…. I can fly, turn invisible, spy on anyone anywhere. And I've got major gender issues. How serious is that?!"

Susan sighed. "I didn't say not to take it seriously. I said, too seriously. Honestly, Sarah."

Lester gasped.

"Oh. Did I just call you…?"

Lester got a pained look on his face and ran off to his room, trying not to cry.

Susan followed after him, intending to barge into her son's room, but she found it blocked. Lester used telekinesis to hold it shut.

"Lester? Come on. Let me in."

"Go away."

"Please, Lester. I won't lie and say I haven't enjoyed having a daughter. Can you blame me after living in a house full of men for so long?"

No answer.

"Does it really kill you to be a girl?"

'No,' he thought, but he wasn't going to confess that out loud.

"I've been enjoying having you help me make dinner. Where did that come from? Has being a girl been having a good influence on you? Could it be expanding your horizons? Helping you to relate to girls?"

'Kind of,' he thought. 'Maybe.'

"Even now, as a boy, you've got those powerful abilities. You can still do everything that Golden Girl can do. Boy or girl, you're still the same person inside. Please, come out. Please? I'm sorry I called you Sarah. I'm sorry."

Susan started crying, loudly enough that Lester didn't need clairaudience to hear her. He relented, releasing the door, and when it didn't open, he used telekinesis to open it and saw his mother slumped on the floor, sobbing. He quickly got up and knelt down to gently hug her, adding tears of his own. He didn't think about how much he'd been crying lately or how good it felt afterward. He just wanted to comfort his mother and find some small comfort for himself by showing a little compassion.

* * *

Lester survived his Monday afternoon meltdown with his mother, absorbed a few new martial arts skills from the Akashic records after going to sleep, and drifted through school the next day. Again, he tried to avoid thinking about anything other than school and he survived.

He'd have more time to talk with Erin on the walk home since it was the day of their aikido class. She'd follow him home to continue the pattern of homework, dinner and martial arts class. Having that to look forward to had helped get him through the day.

As she remembered to do, Erin asked Lester to change into Sarah. They found an empty classroom after school and Lester changed into his normal, tall Sarah persona. His, now her, male clothes prevented a complete transformation but she was close enough for her friend. She kept her hair dark brown and her eyes gray-blue, and she didn't bother with a bra since she could just keep her breasts much smaller to prevent any serious bouncing. All that was left to do after changing her body was to pull her long, black woolen coat out of her backpack and stuff Lester's coat inside. She put on her coat and the two girls were soon walking down the road, deep in conversation.

"How's your period today?" Sarah asked. "I hope you're not going to have any problems in class tonight."

"Oh, no. It shouldn't be a problem. My flow is very light today. I expect it's the last day of my symptoms. I should be fine tonight. Thanks for asking."

"You're welcome."

"How are you doing? You don't sound very happy."

"I'm okay, Erin. I have my good moments and bad, but I'm okay."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure. I have a wonderful mother to help me. And you. Sometimes."

"Only sometimes? I guess that's fair. Remember I told you that I can't interfere too much in your life."

"Yeah yeah. Something about that wager you have with Mister Guile won't let you. That's fine. I can live with it."

After a brief pause, Erin spoke again, changing the subject. "How's your job hunting going? I remember you saying you wanted to get a job… to help pay for our shopping." She gave her friend a sheepish grin.

"Yeah. Not good. But I have to confess that I haven't been looking. I've been a little preoccupied."

"That's understandable. Do you want to look today at the mall? I remember seeing two…." Her eyes briefly glazed over. "No, three signs in stores at the mall that said they were hiring."

Sarah stopped to look at her friend. "I wish I could do that." She could've used her clairvoyance but it would've taken a lot longer to scan the whole mall. Erin seemed to have nearly instant access to everything.

"Do what?"

"Never mind." They continued walking. "Yeah. I'm not sure it's a good idea to get a job at the mall. I'd be afraid of spending all of my paycheck right away since it would be convenient."

"And easy."

"Yeah. But I should try. I said I would and that's like a promise to me."

"And you always keep your promises."

"Yep."

Erin smiled. "You're so special, Sarah."

"So are you, Erin. So are you."

The conversation paused for several blocks after that, until Sarah thought to ask. "As long as you can remember so well, what kind of jobs are available? Did it say on the signs?"

"No. But maybe you can sort of tell by the store that's hiring."

"Maybe. Please tell me that one of them is a book store. I'd love to work in a book store."

"No. One was in the food court and the other two were in clothing stores."

"Hm. The food court job sounds like minimum wage but the other two sound promising. What kind of clothing do they sell?"

Erin sighed.

"Don't tell me. Women's."

The redhead nodded and nothing was said for the rest of the walk.

* * *

"Mom! We're here!" Sarah called out as she took off her coat in the entry way. She didn't hang it up on the coat hook like Erin did hers though. She took Lester's coat out of his backpack and hung it up instead. She took her coat to her bedroom closet along with her backpack.

Erin followed along and the two girls soon ended up in the kitchen to get some water. Sarah wished she could have orange juice but her different taste buds didn't care for it.

Susan entered the kitchen just as the girls sat down at the dining room table to sip their water. "Hi girls." Then she gave Sarah a good look and had to comment. "You're looking a little flat up top, dear. You might want to change now so you don't forget. Oh, and don't forget to bring your gi and some boy clothes along for class later."

Sarah looked down at her chest and frowned. "Yeah. Right. Thanks for the reminder." She gulped the rest of her water. "I'll change my jeans too while I'm at it." She got up to go to her bedroom, leaving her mother with Erin.

"So," Susan said after her daughter left. "Did Lester tell you about last night? He was pretty upset."

"Not exactly. But I have noticed that he's been quite moody lately. I wish I could help."

"You can help. Why don't you just date him once?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mrs. McHenry."

"You don't have to do anything, except maybe a goodnight kiss. Where's the harm in that? You can try it and then tell him that there was no chemistry. No attraction."

"I don't want to give him false hope and then dash those hopes. That would be cruel."

Susan sighed. "I suppose so. But don't you feel anything for him?"

"Of course I do. Lester is a very special person, full of goodness and light. He's so pure and virtuous. How can I not feel anything for him?"

"But you can't date him."

"I won't date him. There's a difference."

Susan frowned. She wasn't getting anywhere with the girl. It was time for more drastic measures. "What if I paid you?"

Erin gasped. "Mrs. McHenry!"

"Just kidding! It was a test. You passed. I'm sorry I mentioned it. Just forget it. Please."

The redhead looked sideways at the woman, still not too sure if she was joking or not.

"I'm sorry. Sheesh. But it's too bad, really."

"What's too bad?"

"Well. Just think of all the shopping you could do with the money."

"Mrs. McHenry!" Erin stood up and stormed off to look for Sarah, leaving the chagrined woman to reflect on the error of her ways.

* * *

An awkward drive to the mall followed. Susan tried some friendly conversation to make up with Erin but the redhead wasn't having it. A bewildered Sarah sat next to Erin in the back of the car, directly behind her mother, and tried to figure out the problem but couldn't. Neither Erin nor her mother told her what had happened so she just had to trust in her mother to fix things.

"Erin?" Susan said.

The girl didn't answer. That was a first.

"I'm very sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did. I was wrong. Please forgive me."

There was still no response from Erin and Sarah started fidgeting, making only the slightest of noises.

"Keep still a moment, Sarah. Erin and I are having an important conversation."

Erin still didn't say anything and Sarah wondered just what kind of conversation the two of them were having as her mother continued.

"Now, Erin. You must know a mother will do almost anything for her child." She purposely didn't say daughter. "Please understand. I had to try."

She still got nothing from the redhead. The tension thickened in the car and Sarah struggled to keep herself from fidgeting.

"You should keep in mind that I don't know how you'll react to a little human weakness. I don't know exactly who you are or where you're from. I can probably make a good guess but I don't. I respect your wishes in that regard. Shouldn't I get some credit for that?"

Erin briefly fidgeted a little but quickly stopped herself.

"Okay. I can see you're upset. You're human now, as you said. You're subject to some of our frailties and failings. You know we're not perfect. Please say something."

Erin started to speak. She wanted to speak. But she started crying instead. She leaned over into Sarah and bawled her eyes out.

"Mom? What's going on?"

"Erin and had a little falling out, dear. But don't worry. I think we're good now."

The rest of the drive was uneventful except for Erin having to fix her eye makeup. Susan and Erin had made peace with each other and Sarah remained bewildered about the whole situation.

* * *

The three of them walked up to the mall entrance when Erin finally spoke. "Thanks for bringing us, Mrs. McHenry."

"You're welcome, dear." Then the woman turned to her daughter. "Don't forget to text me around five thirty for dinner."

"Right. But what about Dad?"

"He's going to be late again." She sighed. "We're on our own. So I'll see you later. Have fun!" She wandered off in the direction of the nearest department store, leaving the two girls on their own.

Sarah spoke first. "We've only got about an hour before we meet for dinner and we don't have much money. What do you want to do?"

"Don't you want to know what happened between your mother and me?"

"Um, no. That's between you and her. I can only handle so much and we still have over two hours together as girls. Please be gentle." She smiled to show that she was joking and asked her question again. "So what do you want to do?"

"Get you a job. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, yeah. But I thought I'd get one as Lester."

"Lester had his chance and failed. He's not here now so it's up to you."

"Erin!"

The redhead took her friend to the nearest clothing store that was hiring. The store had loud, modern rock playing inside and sold nothing but designer lingerie. Stepping just inside the entrance almost gave Sarah a nervous breakdown. The poor girl trembled with fear until she was led away.

Erin gave her friend a curious look. "I think that's a little too advanced for you."

Sarah just gave her a nervous little laugh.

They went on to the only other store that was hiring. It was called Fashion Divinity and it didn't have any music playing inside, but it was filled with women's clothing, including lingerie. It also had makeup, perfume and all other manner of feminine accessories. Just the sheer size intimidated Sarah and she froze near the entrance.

"I don't know if I can go in there, Erin."

"Just try it, Sarah. Come on. You can do it."

"No, I can't."

"Should we make a wager then?" Erin teased.

That got Sarah's blood boiling a little. Erin noticed and kept going anyway.

"I bet you can get a job here," the redhead told her friend with a smile.

"You don't have any money!" Sarah hissed. "You can't bet."

"We don't have to use money for a wager."

"Aha!"

"Aha?"

"Yeah. I thought I figured something out about your wager with Mister Guile. Never mind."

Erin stared at Sarah for several awkward seconds until a familiar voice interrupted.

"Hey! Fancy meeting you two here," Susan said, coming out of the store.

"Mom!" Sarah looked a little shaken, as if she was caught doing something wrong.

"Hey. It's okay, honey. Calm down."

Erin sighed. "She was thinking about getting a job here but I think it might be too much for her."

Sarah couldn't find her voice for the moment and simply nodded agreement.

"Nonsense," Her mother said. "I bet she'd do really well here. And I bet she'd get a decent wage too. She might even get an employees discount. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The daughter snorted and her eyes lit up. "No more betting please," she said, half growling.

"Goodness! It's just a figure of speech. Anyway, Sarah. You're tall and very pretty. You might even pass as a model if you wore some makeup."

Sarah's eyes widened with fear but the seed was planted. Erin and Susan wouldn't be denied. They insisted on getting a makeover for the tall girl and they half dragged her inside the store.

* * *

Sarah's makeover included clothes as well as makeup, and when everything was finished, the very tall girl stood in front of a full-length mirror, gaping at herself wearing a navy blazer, matching skirt and a white tank top with thin, horizontal blue stripes. She stood six feet tall in three inch heels, looking very sophisticated and very, very feminine.

The store manager was fairly tall herself, being only a couple inches shorter than Sarah's current height. The white-haired woman radiated an unearthly confidence and poise and wore a similar outfit in black with a name tag that read, "Stella Godwin." She seemed extremely pleased with the results. "Now all she needs is a little jewelry," she said. "You'll have to take care of that in another store. Later."

The older woman was very sharply dressed, as all of the store employees were, and she insisted that Sarah's clothes match her makeup. She orchestrated the clothing selection after being informed of a most spectacular transformation occurring while Sarah sat in a chair having her face made up. A butterfly was emerging.

"Have you ever considered modeling, my dear?" the manager crooned. "You're a natural. I love that surprised look." She turned to Susan. "Don't tell me this young lady has never modeled."

"She's been quite the tomboy, actually. This is her first real makeover."

The woman turned back to Sarah, giving the girl an appraising look. "Well, I saw her first, and I'd like her to work here."

The girl's eyes widened with surprise. She walked quickly over to her mother, taking short steps to keep from toppling over, and ushered her mother a short distance away for a private conversation.

The store manager watched her walk away and slowly nodded with approval.

"Mother!" she hissed. "This is insane. I can't work here. Look at me!"

Susan smiled. "You're a very beautiful young lady, Sarah. Why couldn't you work here? I bet you'd make a lot of money. You might even have a little fun if you'd just relax."

"Relax?!" She paused a moment, finally remembering one crucial little fact. "Hah! What about identification? I don't have any!"

Just then, Erin slowly approached, handing her friend a small, navy blue leather purse.

"What's this for?" Sarah asked.

"Look inside," the redhead told her.

Opening the purse, the tall girl saw a wallet inside. "So?"

"Take it out and look at it."

Sarah's free hand slowly reached for the wallet but stopped and started trembling.

"Go ahead," Erin urged her. "It won't bite."

The trembling girl placed her left forearm through the purse straps and reached inside to pull out the intimidating item, and when she opened it, she gasped. The wallet had a valid-looking drivers license with a photo of her as a girl. The name on the license read, "Sarah Ann McHenry."

"Open the other compartment," Erin told her. "Go on."

Sarah couldn't seem to move so Erin reached over and did it for her, showing her a social security card with her name and Lester's social security number.

The redhead smiled. "I've been researching what you'd need to get a job so I whipped these up just in case. Isn't that great?"

Sarah couldn't move or speak so Susan answered for her. "It's nice, Erin. But are you sure it's legal? We could get in a lot of trouble if it's not."

"Mrs. McHenry! I thought you knew me better than that. I assure you that it's legal."

The identification was not only legal, it superseded Lester's former identification, something they wouldn't find out until much later since it would be Sarah who would be driving and working.

"I'm sorry for doubting you, dear." The woman turned to her stunned daughter. "Well, Sarah? Ready to enter my world?"

Sarah recovered enough to fill out all of the paperwork, pleasing everybody except herself. She was following in her mother's footsteps, entering the retail job market selling feminine wares, and she was half in shock.

Susan paid for her daughter's new clothes and added a makeup kit. The girl would need them for her new job.

"Thanks, Stella," the proud mother said as they got ready to leave. "I'll be sure that she gets up to speed on clothing styles and makeup."

The older woman smiled and nodded. "And I'll be sure to mentor her on the job. I'm sure she'll do fine."

"You are so lucky," Susan told her daughter as they left the store. "Most jobs aren't handed out like that."

"Yeah," Sarah said, looking glum but still elegant in her new clothes and makeup. "Lucky me."

Susan carried the bags with Sarah's jeans, sweater, shoes and makeup kit. She insisted. She didn't want her daughter to be distracted by anything and she didn't want anything to obstruct the view of such a beautiful young lady.

* * *

© 2015 by Terry Volkirch. This work may not be replicated in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the Author (copyright holder). All Rights Reserved. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental.