Shortcuts

A paranormal superhero story with a supernatural twist

How to understand girls

Comments have been blocked for this story but kudos and private messages are always welcome. Even highly critical private messages are welcome. I don't mind criticism when it's private.

Shortcuts
by Terry Volkirch

Chapter 19

Work went well on Saturday. As Sarah did each day during the week, she broke her previous sales record. Erin and Stella seemed pleased, and Sarah simply endured it. She took Stella's advice to heart, trying to keep her quiet confidence turned to full. She even smiled at virtually all of her potential customers. Every little bit helped.

Lester used Sunday to rest and relax after his hectic week. He mostly stayed in his bedroom, checking on news about Golden Girl. He paid the fan website a visit and noticed Vanessa's photos. She was one happy girl, and she created a huge demand for further visits to other members. Envy and hope fought for equal ground in the chat room. It was hard for him to handle so he didn't stay long.

He moved on to Springfield news to see how his general visit to the city went. Overall, citizens of the city held a positive view of Golden Girl. They only wished that she'd stayed longer.

Dozens of hopeful mayors extended invitations to the superheroine, more to help boost their own public image than anything else. Lester did plan on visiting other cities, but he'd skip the ones that sent out the invitations. He figured once a week was often enough for visits. He needed rest more than anything else that day.

The boy had to fend off an aggressive series of text messages from Brian around noon but his friend finally had mercy and backed off. That only left Erin.

His red-haired friend showed up mid afternoon, looking for some time with Sarah. Lester's father worked in the garage at the time but the boy didn't want to chance it. He didn't want to be a girl that day anyway. He needed some boy time as well as rest. Erin ended up talking more with Susan and left after only an hour. That satisfied him well enough. He didn't feel like wrestling with unrequited love.

Sleep sneaked up on him that night. He started nodding off in his old chair while he was surfing the Internet. After prying his eyelids open long enough to clean his teeth and undress, he crawled into bed and had a good, long dreamless sleep.

* * *

Monday morning came too early, even after a good night's sleep. Nothing came easy. The boy had to drag himself out of bed and force himself to do everything, even eat.

The bus ride to school was nice. He didn't have to do anything except zone out the entire way. Brian helped him out by not talking or even looking at him. His friend still had an infatuation problem with a certain girl.

Lester sighed but left his friend alone. He didn't know what to say except that he could relate. Both boys had girls they liked, girls who wouldn't like them back. It had to be the strangest love triangle ever. He thought about the problem all of the rest of the way to school and all he could do was slowly shake his head. A solution seemed impossible.

As soon as he stepped off the bus, he felt something in the air. The weather suddenly grew colder. Clouds loomed lower. A stiff gust of wind hit a few scattered dry leaves, sending them skittering over the pavement. Lester shivered with cold and dread all of the way into the school and into his first class where Mister Guile sat, perched on the front of his desk like a vulture, waiting for him.

The man's dead, dark eyes stared into his own and he motioned to Lester to come over. The boy obeyed, leaning forward so the man could speak quietly in his ear. Lester was to remain after class for a little talk.

Amazingly enough, the class wasn't boring or chock-full of examples of government corruption. It was about the architecture of many of the buildings of the nation's capitol. The stark beauty of white marble filled much of Washington D.C. and Mister Guile presented a slide show to prove it. The students loved the change of subject, even those who didn't exactly appreciate architecture.

Lester completely forgot about the passage of time. It wasn't until the lights turned on and everyone filed out that he remembered the private talk after class. He stayed in his seat, waiting for it.

The door to classroom slowly shut on its own, sealing teacher and student inside, alone. Time had no meaning then. It was exactly the same as when Mister Guile had his private conferences with Erin. Now it was Lester's turn.

"What am I going to do with you, boy?" the man said, shaking his head. "It's come down to this. I'm endangering the wager for this, boy. I hope you appreciate it."

"I don't even know what your stupid wager is about! How can I appreciate it?!"

Mister Guile laughed. "Such passion," he muttered. "I have such high hopes for you."

"What is this about? Please tell me it's not about telepathy."

The man sighed. "That's exactly what it's about."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want it! Now can I go?"

"Not quite yet. Not until you've heard what you've done."

"What I've done? What are you talking about?"

"You try so hard. You humans all try so hard. And you fail so easily. I'm talking about your little chat room session on Saturday, Lester."

The boy blushed. "Yeah. The chat didn't go so well. That idiot in Florida had to get naked and spoil it for everyone else."

Mister Guile snorted. "You still don't get it. This isn't about some idiot nudist. It's about another idiot. Or couple of idiots who thought it would be a good idea to give away the fact that you possess clairvoyance as well as invisibility and telekinesis. Do you have any idea how much the government pays attention to such things?"

"So that's it. I don't pick up telepathy and you punish me with a private lecture about government corruption. Great. Thanks a lot. May I please go now?"

"No, you may not." The man's eyes fairly glowed with malice, causing Lester to get a little nervous and back away in his seat. "I'm not done yet. There are such things as shadow organizations in government, and those organizations don't like it when they're outgunned and outclassed. They can get very nervous and very dangerous."

"I suppose that's true. But I haven't done anything wrong. They can't do anything."

Mister Guile laughed. "I don't believe you sometimes. You're so naive." Then he turned serious, grim even. "They're coming after you, Lester, and they're not going to be playing around. I'm not sure you can fend them off, not without telepathy to read their thoughts so you can block or evade their attempts to capture you."

Lester didn't like being called naive, and he didn't like threats. He didn't take the news well so he didn't react as he should've. He thrust his lower lip out for a major pout, earning the man's scorn.

"You've been a girl too much, boy. It's making you soft."

"Fine then, Mister Guile. Tell me what I should do short of learning telepathy. Because I'm not going to learn it." He stubbornly held his ground.

The man leaned forward, emphasizing every word as he spoke. "If they can't capture you, they'll try to kill you, and I doubt even you could evade them if they try hard and long enough."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning. May I go now?"

"Fine. I think you'll be able to evade their first attempt, thanks to my warning. When you see how serious they are and how good they are, maybe then you'll be more receptive to telepathy."

The classroom door slowly opened and Lester bounced up out of his seat and practically ran through door. He almost ran into Erin, who waited for him out in the hall.

"Are you okay, Lester?" she asked him. "You look a little freaked."

"Freaked," he said with a nervous little laugh. "That's a good word for it. Great word. Let's get to our next class. I need some fine literature to wash the bad taste out of my mouth. Too bad we're done with Romeo and Juliet. I could use a little romantic tragedy to cheer me up about now."

They quickly walked down the hall, with Erin giving her friend a questioning look and Lester keeping his mouth firmly shut. 'Note to self,' he thought. 'Keep my telekinetic shield active and my danger sense on full whenever I go out as Golden Girl.'

* * *

Lester kept quiet about his private talk with Mister Guile, and to distract Erin and keep her from prying, he actually considered talking about clothes and makeup. By the time lunch rolled around, he ended up compromising by having a conversation about work.

"Can you give me some tips for working with customers?" he asked, giving her a faint smile.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, Lester. Be evasive. I suppose it's only fair."

The redhead launched into her personal sales philosophy, all the while wondering if she should ask Mister Guile about the private talk with Lester. She could guess what it was about, and she had her friends in high places who'd likely know, but she'd rather hear it from Lester. She didn't like him keeping her in the dark.

The two of them made it through lunch and spent the remaining school day off in their own little worlds. They played badminton in their P.E. class and didn't have to worry about showering. They didn't play hard enough to work up a sweat. That gave them plenty of time to catch the bus, change clothes at Lester's house and get to the mall in plenty of time for work. The day passed harmlessly with nary a secret agent in sight.

* * *

Monday afternoon skipped into Tuesday afternoon, with Erin again following Lester home. They had homework they could do together since they shared all the same classes and they had aikido class later that evening. The girl stayed for dinner, enchanting Matthew and Lester with more talk about some of her favorite things, including her newest favorite: She loved being passionate about her favorite things. Her logic left the men's heads spinning, but they loved listening to her talk. They loved her passion.

The dinner conversation amused Susan. She kept silent and let their guest talk, simply enjoying the expressions on the faces of her husband and son.

Lester appreciated having his father home and gathering for a family dinner. It meant that he could stay a boy and have Erin's attention the whole evening. It worked well for his latest plan, a plan that he'd execute that very evening. He'd give it his all, and it would either work out or it wouldn't. He couldn't take another day of not knowing.

With dinner and a little after dinner conversation over, Susan drove Erin and Lester to their aikido class. They made it early for once and had plenty of time to put on their uniforms and warm up.

Lester performed exceptionally well that evening. All of his moves were perfect and very fast. With so many paranormal abilities in his hip pocket, he felt on top of the world. He felt invincible.

Sensei Wilson noticed the boy and couldn't take his eyes off of him. Imagine the man's surprise when the boy and girl were practicing a kata together and Lester seemed to stumble, sending Erin to the mat with him landing on top of her. The boy braced himself so he didn't hurt the girl, but he didn't get up right away. His face moved over hers and lingered there. His eyes bored into hers and he slowly lowered his lips to hers. She lightly flinched once and he paused, but he soon continued and pressed his lips against hers. They kissed, slowly and ever so gently, and Erin found her body responding against her wishes. Her hands moved to his shoulders and she firmly pushed him up.

"No, Lester," she said, gasping.

"Yes, Erin. Oh, yes." He tried to move in for another kiss but she pushed at his shoulders again.

"Just stop. It won't work. This won't work. It can't. We're from two different worlds. Please. Let it go."

"It didn't stop Romeo and Juliet."

"Yes, but look how that story ended," she said, giving him a sad little smile.

"We don't have to end that way."

"No. Instead, when my year is up I lose my humanity. When I say two different worlds, I mean two different worlds."

"So keep your humanity."

"I can't!"

"Why not?!"

"Because it's not my nature! Now let me up! Please."

"Fine." He got up, and as is practiced in martial arts dojos, he didn't offer her a hand to help her up. He wouldn't anyway. He was afraid he'd pull her to him and never let her go. Why was it so difficult to let her go?

"Aw. Please don't be that way, Lester. You should be happy. We are soul mates. I've realized that much."

"What do you mean? How can we be soul mates if we can't kiss?"

"We can't share a physical love. Not really. But we can share a spiritual love."

"I don't even know what that means," he said, walking away. He got dressed and walked out front without his coat, using the evening chill to cool his ardor for a girl that he couldn't have.

Erin had been paying her own way through class with the money that she made from work. She felt free enough to skip class and try to talk to Lester if she wanted, but she wisely left him alone to work things out. She'd already said enough. It was up to him now.

* * *

The next couple of weeks had Lester on edge. He kept waiting for the shadow agency to pounce on him as Golden Girl, work kept him drowning in an ocean of women's fashion, and he still had Erin around him, constantly reminding him of what he desired but couldn't have.

When Halloween arrived, he nearly had a mental breakdown. Seeing so many little girls dressed in Golden Girl costumes didn't help. Neither did Sarah's first period. It took Sarah longer to menstruate since she could only be a girl part of the time but her monthly cycle wouldn't be denied.

To get through it more quickly, she kept her female reproductive organs even when she appeared as a boy. Only her medication kept her sane, but just barely. She found herself always referring to herself with female pronouns and nearly cried.

Halloween was the worst. It fell on a Friday night so she had to work, and it just happened to coincide with some of her worst menstrual symptoms. It was all she could do not to bite the heads off the customers. She finally took Erin with her to the break room for a little girl talk.

"How can you stand this?!" she cried. "It's awful!"

Erin gave her a sympathetic smile. "My first wasn't easy. But I had a good friend to help me through it. Remember?"

Karma paid Sarah back in full that evening. Once again, a burden shared was much easier to bear and Sarah made it through her shift. If anything, her discomfort with her period distracted her from her general discomfort of working in an ultra feminine workplace. She thought she just might be starting to understand what a spiritual soul mate was all about and she almost smiled. Almost.

* * *

Sarah stayed her girl self Halloween night. She parked in the garage and went straight to her room, completely forgetting about her father, who camped out in the living room watching bad, late night television programs. Normally, the girl would use invisibility and some stealth to avoid her father, but not that night. She focused solely on the discomfort of her body and didn't feel like shapeshifting back into her boy self, not even partially like she'd been doing. She removed her makeup and changed into one of her longer boy tee shirts, using it as a sleep shirt. The dazed girl crawled into bed muttering about survival of the fittest and fell fast asleep. Luckily, her father didn't notice.

The Dark Librarian knew enough to leave her alone. He was happy to wait for the shadow agency to attempt to capture her as Golden Girl. Until that happened, he wasn't going to deal with her. Only Erin and Sarah's mother were brave enough to deal with Sarah over the weekend.

The girl woke up Saturday morning feeling, in her words, yucky. She did have the presence of mind to check for her father with clairvoyance. Seeing that he was gone to the shooting range as usual, she crept out of her bedroom for some water to wash down some medication. Just as she reached for a glass in the kitchen cupboard, her mother surprised her, though it was unintentional.

"Good morning, Sarah. How are you feeling?"

The girl let out a squeak and almost dropped her glass. "Don't do that!" she snarled.

"My. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Sorry, Mom. I'm not a happy camper without my meds." She filled the glass with water and slurped down two tablets. "Ah. I can almost feel them working already."

Susan laughed at the joke. "That's better."

"I wish," the girl said, giving her mother a wry smile.

"Well, it'll get better. Easier, I mean."

"I don't want it to get easier. I didn't mean for it to get this far. I didn't mean to be a girl, Mom!" She started crying.

Susan went to hug her daughter but the girl avoided her, moving to the living room and flopping down in the big, soft beige chair, making it difficult to be hugged. All the sympathetic mother could do was to sit on the couch across from the distraught girl and talk.

"You'll get through this, honey. And you'll be richer for the experience."

Sarah snorted.

"Hey. Remember that you wanted this. You wanted to relate to girls better and there's no better way than being one."

The girl corrected her. "I really only wanted to better understand Erin. I thought I was falling in love with her. But now I'm not so sure."

"Why do you say that?"

"My stupid plan. That's why. I faked some clumsiness in aikido class a couple weeks ago. I thought I was being clever."

"I don't understand. What happened?"

"I pretended to fall on top of Erin, and I took advantage of our positions to kiss her. I kissed her, Mom. I finally kissed her, and I'd swear she liked it. But she rejected me." Tears rolled down her face but she faced her mother. Her need for her mother's love outweighed any shame she felt from crying.

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. But we talked about this before. Remember? We can't help who we love and we can't control who loves us back."

"I know. I know all that, Mom. But it doesn't make it any less painful."

"No, dear. It doesn't. I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Mom. I guess it's better this way. I couldn't stand not knowing so I forced the issue. Now I know for sure it's never going to happen. I can move on." She bent her head down on her knees and balled her eyes out then.

Susan went over and kneeled on the floor next to the chair, stroking her daughter's back and offering quiet, soothing words to comfort the poor girl.

* * *

Erin came over a little later that day and she, along with Susan, dragged Sarah to the mall. They thought a little shopping might help. They meant well, but once again, they underestimated Sarah's discomfort. The reluctant girl still didn't understand the joys of shopping and she still felt yucky from her period in spite of her medication. The cranky girl's mood worsened until the other two finally conceded defeat and went out for a little dessert. Only chocolate could help the cranky girl.

"Thanks, you two," Sarah said after finishing her dessert. "I needed that."

"You're welcome, dear."

Erin smiled back at her friend. "Yes, Sarah. You're very welcome."

"As long as we're all out and about, is there anywhere you two want to go?"

"Shopping!" they both said at the same time.

The three of them laughed, and Sarah followed along behind them, trying to enjoy the experience through their eyes. She still didn't understand the attraction of shopping, at least not clothes shopping, but she could appreciate the gleam in their eye when they saw a good deal or the perfect accessory for an outfit.

* * *

When the three of them got home, Matthew was already there, having lunch at the kitchen counter. There was no way Sarah could sneak by him to her room so Susan had to go inside on her own and smuggle some of Lester's clothes out to him in the car. He changed clothes and then shapeshifted in the garage while Erin and Susan stood guard, and when the boy came in, he stopped to say hello to his father. It was an innocent mistake.

Erin, Susan and Matthew all suddenly noticed that Lester wore makeup. Susan never let him leave the house without at least a little makeup as Sarah, and Lester still wore Sarah's makeup. His lashes were full with mascara. Eyeliner defined the outer corners of his eyes and his lips stood out in light pink. Never mind the foundation. It wasn't nearly as noticeable.

"Lester?" the man said, trying very hard to restrain himself.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Why are you wearing makeup?" Matthew spoke slowly to show his displeasure.

Lester's hand went up to his lips. He could feel the waxy texture of lipstick on his lips and he squeaked like he normally did as Sarah.

Susan, Erin and Lester all answered at once, saying different things and getting an angry growl from the man of the house. "Never mind! Just go take it off and we can discuss it later. No son of mine is wearing makeup in my house."

Lester gave him a nervous laugh and ran to his room to find some makeup remover in his purse. He was still a girl where it counted. He was still experiencing the monthly bleeding of a sexually mature girl, again so he could get through it as quickly as possible. He wasn't exactly his father's son, wearing makeup. But he got the gist of his father's message.

Susan stayed to talk with Matthew and silently motioned to Erin to go talk to Lester.

The redhead hurried out of the kitchen to find her friend in the bathroom, trying to remove his eye makeup before his tears could ruin it.

"I'm in for it now, Erin. You should probably go. Things could get ugly."

"He won't try to hurt you, will he?"

"Erin! He's not that bad. At least I'm fairly sure he isn't. But he's not the most tolerant. He's going to scream a bit I think. Lots of screaming, actually. I'd rather you didn't hear it. He isn't as careful with his language when he screams."

Erin looked down at the floor. "Oh. Okay. I'm sorry for all of this, Lester."

"It's not your fault."

"It is. In a way. Your mother and I dragged you out and we weren't careful about getting you changed when we got back."

"It was me who wasn't careful, Erin. And now I get to take the consequences."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"It might be best to just tell him everything. Don't you think?"

"Truth is always best."

"The truth shall set you free? Is that it?"

Erin gave a nervous laugh.

"Goodbye, Erin. I'll see you later at work. I'm assuming you can get there on your own."

"Yes, I can get to work. Goodbye, Lester, and good luck."

She gave him a quick one-armed hug and sneaked in the back bedroom of the house, going back to wherever she went when no one was looking.

Lester finished removing his makeup and went back to his bedroom. He made sure all of his girl clothes and accessories were put away where they couldn't be seen. Then he laid back on his bed.

He had to resist the urge to scan the city for trouble with his clairvoyance. He didn't have the time. He had to start getting ready for work in another hour. There was no telling how that would work out. His father had yet to know about his job, or that his job required him to wear makeup. At least he wouldn't be his father's son when he applied the makeup. He'd be all Sarah and he wondered how his father would react to suddenly having a daughter. Somehow, he didn't expect a warm welcome.

* * *

When Susan entered Lester's bedroom, it was Sarah who sat in the squeaky old chair at Lester's desk. The girl absently stared out the window towards the neighbor's house to see Angie, her former dream girl just coming out of the girl's house, holding hands with a college age man and then kissing him very passionately goodbye. The young man was tall, dark and handsome, everything a girl could want in a man, and Sarah just couldn't wrap her mind around it. She couldn't, not with a heterosexual boy's brain.

All of the stress that day finally made something snap inside Sarah's mind. Having a period, reopening the wound of Erin's rejection, getting dragged through the mall, work looming on the horizon, her father's discovery of her makeup, and then seeing Angie kiss her boyfriend all combined to trigger a subconscious restructuring of her brain. Her shapeshifting and advanced healing abilities thoughtfully gave her the brain structure of the average heterosexual teenage girl. They meant well.

Sarah collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Her mother would have to call in sick for her. She wouldn't be going to work that day.

* * *

© 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.