In this magical romantic mystery, a teenage boy wakes up one morning to find himself afflicted with a strange musical curse. The boy tries to find the source of the curse to end it but finding magic in today's world isn't easy, especially when love is involved.

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This is a complete story of four parts and I'll post one part every Sunday.

Music Magic
by Terry Volkirch

Enchanting Crescendo in C Major

Neither Stephanie nor Cameron said anything on the short drive to the man's home. They both concerned themselves with thoughts of Amber, wondering and hoping that she was okay.

The car pulled up and Cameron had to fight himself not to run inside. He had to make sure Stephanie could get through the various wards that his wife had placed in all the doorways, using what amounted to magical keys to unlock his home. Otherwise, Stephanie would likely be paralyzed or sleeping or in some other state that wouldn't be very helpful in their search for Amber.

The two of them made their way through the kitchen and down a narrow stairway to the basement, finding Cameron's wife, Kate. Quick introductions were made and Cameron explained the girl's visit.

"That does sound promising," Kate said, turning to Stephanie. "But are you sure you're really a boy?"

"Not right now, obviously. But yes, I was born a boy."

"And you have no idea who cursed you?"

"No…," she trailed off, staring down at her feet and blushing.

"Stephanie?" Kate asked.

"I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "I thought it might have been you and your husband. You were the only two people that I knew who might be able to do it."

Kate offered a kindly smile. "That's understandable," she said. "I hope you realize now that it's not true. I'm not sure I could create a curse like yours even if I tried. I don't know anyone who could."

"Except maybe Morgan," Cameron added.

"Yes, except her."

Stephanie's eyes threatened tears. "Why would she do such a thing?" the girl asked.

"Because she's crazy," Kate told her as she gently stroked her hair. "She needs help and she'll get it… right after we get our daughter back."

Stephanie sniffed once and calmed herself. She was there to help Amber and she was anxious to start. They were all anxious to start but Kate explained that she needed to do some research and conduct a few tests first. They started work immediately.

~o~O~o~

Over three hours passed and Kate watched Stephanie turn back into Steve, still wearing the clothes that he'd worn as Stephanie. They didn't fit all that well but they were good enough for the moment. The boy was too focused on saving Amber to care about wearing a skirt. He did have to kick off his slingback heels though. They were too small for his feet. He got lucky that they had elastic bands so they had some give and didn't damage his toes. Or maybe it wasn't luck. His curse almost seemed to have an intelligence of sorts.

Steve shook his head and left his shoes under the glass coffee table that sat in front of a small brown couch, where he sat at one end and Kate at the other. Cameron had gone back upstairs to check with relatives who were out searching for Amber.

"How many times have you changed?" Kate asked.

"I'm not sure… a couple dozen maybe. I lost count."

"You must have quite a wardrobe." The woman smiled and Steve returned it.

"It's okay. I've outgrown some things though. I had to pick up several bras recently. Well… I didn't really have to. You know…," he felt a little embarrassed, but only a little.

"Yes, I know," Mrs. Jones told him.

"So what about the tests?" Steve asked.

"They're done. But I'm not sure you'll like the results."

"Try me," the boy said, setting his jaw.

Kate noticed the gesture and sighed, thinking that he still had a lot of boy left in him. She wasn't sure her idea would work but it was the only thing she could think of trying.

"I want you to wear this." She got up off the couch and walked over to a table where she picked up a simple gold amulet on a black silk cord and returned to the boy, placing it around his neck. "And I'm sorry but you'll need to change back into Stephanie."

"That's okay," he told her, his eyes shining with love. "I'll gladly do it for Amber."

'I know you will,' she thought. 'I can see the love you share. I've seen it in my daughter's eyes too, especially when she spoke of Stephanie.'

"There's one more thing I need you to do," Kate said. "We'll leave you alone so don't worry about that. You can do it privately. The amulet will take care of everything else."

"Do what, Mrs. Jones?"

"It's a sex magic ritual."

Steve's eyes widened in shock. "But… but…."

"I take it you've never explored your body in that way," Kate said.

"Not as a girl," he said, blushing.

"Good. That will make the ritual more likely to work. But you should know something," she said with a sad smile.

He beckoned to her to continue with his eyes.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to tell him the rest. "You'll likely end up staying a girl after the ritual." She had to tell him. She had to give him the opportunity to decline, though it greatly pained her to do so.

To his credit, Steve didn't look surprised or even the least bit upset. "I'll take that chance," he said.

Kate gave him a warm, grateful smile and suddenly had a thought. Stephanie might make a wonderful daughter-in-law, assuming she had some latent magic ability. Unfortunately, she still had some prejudice when it came to mundane humans.

"So then," she said, "would you like me to sing something?"

"What?!"

"Would you like me to sing to change you back into Stephanie? You said any woman or girl singing would change you."

"Oh! Right. Sorry, but I was thinking of moving things along as quickly as possible. You know… doing it during the music." He blushed furiously. His face felt like it was on fire.

Kate smiled. "Of course," she said. "Good idea. Let's get you set up on the couch then. I'll go upstairs and get a radio while you lie back and make yourself comfortable."

"Okay," he said in a quiet voice, watching her go up the stairs. Could his life possibly get any stranger? He doubted it.

In less than a minute, Mrs. Jones returned to the basement with a small clock radio. She set it down on the glass coffee table and plugged it into a socket on the wall by the couch.

"There you go," she told him. "Anything else before I go back upstairs?"

"Naw… I'm good," he said, looking away.

"Please don't touch anything on any of the tables," she said. "I'm not sure if the ritual would be disrupted if you did. Other than that, just go ahead and do what comes naturally. I don't think it matters but consider keeping your eyes closed when you reach your climax. You should have a vision that will lead us right to Amber." As she talked, she lit a large round candle on a small table in the far corner of the room before turning out the lights.

"Sure. Got it," he said quietly.

"I'll leave you to it now. Good luck… Stephanie."

"Thanks, Mrs. J."

~o~O~o~

Steve turned on the radio and set the tuner to a station with modern dance hits. He suffered only a few seconds of talking before the next song played. And once again, it happened to be a perfect fit.

He reclined diagonally against a corner of the couch and let the words caress his body. The tingling began almost immediately.

Tell me baby if it's wrong
To let my hands do what they want
Late at night I pretend we are
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing in the dark

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as a short form of the chorus started. The tingling hit hard, centering on his groin. The feeling never felt so strong, or so good.

Dancing in the dark,
ooh la la, ooh la la, ooh la la
dancing in the dark.

Normally, the tingling would end and he'd be Stephanie by that point. But the tingling didn't end. It intensified. She became Stephanie and her body hummed as she fantasized about Amber. In her mind, the two girls stood in a small bedroom and slowly undressed each other next to a fluffy white canopy bed, surrounded by hundreds of candles. Both girls snuck in little kisses on the neck, upper arm, stomach, wherever their hungry lips could reach bare skin as they pulled and unwrapped one of several layers of sheer white cloth from each other.

Erotic images set the mood but Stephanie still needed something more. Her hands slipped under her skirt to help herself along as the song continued.

I wanna see who you are,
I got a sex drive just push to start
Push push push push to start
I got a sex drive just push to start.

The song continued with its blatant sexual innuendo but it barely registered. She totally focused on Amber as she pushed all of her own buttons, and her magic fingers sent herself over the edge. She shuddered in ecstasy… and a vision started.

In the vision, she felt so relaxed, and just a little cold. The sound of a small car engine buzzed in the background and a faint aroma of hot chocolate lingered in the air. The car fast forwarded several dozen miles in the span of only a few seconds and drove up a mile-long dirt road that led to a small house surrounded by a dense thicket of small trees and shrubs. The vision replayed the scene just slow enough that she could tell where she was going.

After the car stopped, she felt two arms wrap tightly around her and drag her into the house, where she ended up being locked in a small bathroom. It wasn't the worst jail cell. She was given food and she could use the toilet, take a bath and drink out of the faucet, but she lost her freedom. She cried often, thinking she might never see her family, or a wonderful girl named Stephanie ever again. It was horrible and the worst was yet to come.

The two arms returned several times, casting dark magic each time to pull magical energy from her body. It never lasted long and afterwards, she felt tired and empty. She sat on the toilet seat and leaned back against the tank, humming the same little tune that she favored when she was especially sad. It was the same tune that she hummed when she changed Steve into a girl in her geometry class, though she didn't realize it.

Stephanie slowly roused herself from the vision. She'd seen enough. She shook off the mental cobwebs and slipped on her shoes, in a hurry to get upstairs and direct Mr. and Mrs. Jones to Amber. They might prefer written directions and leave her behind but she wasn't going to be left behind. She'd insist on directing them as they drove because she had a little something that she wanted to say and do to a certain kidnapper.

~o~O~o~

After her third plea in the Jones' living room, Stephanie had enough. She couldn't believe her ears! Amber's parents wanted to wait at least a day to rescue their daughter. Their own daughter!

"I can't believe you two!" the girl cried. "We need to rescue Amber! Now!"

The man of the house shook his head. "I know it might look bad, but I keep telling you we have a good reason for not acting rashly. First, we need to contact the…," Cameron was interrupted by his wife's sharp elbow and a stern look. "We need to consult, strategize, get reinforcements. We can't just go rushing in."

"Why not?!" Stephanie countered. "She's your daughter and she's in trouble. How can you not go rushing in?"

"Because we'll get our asses kicked, that's why," said a male voice behind the girl. She whipped around to see a tall, dark haired young man with a serious look on his face. "Morgan is more powerful than all of us combined. There's no way we'd win if we tried to fight her with just our family."

"What about guns?" the girl asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"What about them?" countered the boy. "Morgan would easily block the bullets with magic. A gun would be useless."

"Who are you?!" Stephanie finally asked him. He'd been annoying her and she wanted a name that she could scream at him.

"I'm Max," he said. "I'm Amber's older, nice looking, unattached brother." His smile threatened to turn into a leer but he somehow restrained himself. "And you are?"

Stephanie felt nauseous. She knew what he was up to and she didn't appreciate it, especially during a time of crisis.

"Look, Stephanie," Kate said. "We shared your vision. We know Amber isn't in any real danger for the time being. She'll be okay until we can mount a rescue operation with a good chance of success."

The girl vaguely heard Max say that it was nice to meet her, since he heard her name, but disgust and embarrassment caused her to throw etiquette out the window. "I can't believe you people! You shared my vision?! You could've told me you were going to do that!"

"I didn't want to distract you from your task, Dear," Kate smiled.

Stephanie could tell that the woman meant well. But the whole business still upset her. "I want to go home. Please take me home now," she half said, half demanded. She couldn't take any more of Amber's family. Their cold logic drove her crazy.

"You shouldn't go after her by yourself, Dear," Kate warned, easily seeing through the girl's motivation for wanting to go home. "Don't forget that it's getting quite late. It's nearly ten o'clock."

"I'm going home. I'm asking you to take me home. That's all. If you shared my vision, you know where Amber is. You don't need me. You probably wouldn't want me to come anyway. I don't have any magic ability so I'd just get in the way."

Cameron smiled. "I'm glad you're seeing reason. You're a very smart girl."

Kate gave the girl a half smile. She wasn't fooled. "Go ahead, Dear," she said to her husband. "Take Stephanie home. She'll stay there if she knows what's good for her. Mundanes shouldn't concern themselves with magical affairs. They'll only get hurt."

Stephanie returned a grim smile. "You know what? Forget the ride. I'll walk." She started to leave the house but stopped to take off the magic amulet so she could give it back.

Kate noticed what she was doing. "Keep it," she said, sounding a little condescending. "You'll need it."

The girl wasn't sure how to take that. Her brain churned a million miles an hour as she started to leave. She kept going over and over what the Jones family said. She wanted to believe they were doing what's best for Amber, but she just couldn't accept it. She paused and turned at the front door for a parting shot, one last attempt to shock them into action. "I'm glad," she said. "I'm glad I don't have any magic, because if I did, I'd be afraid I'd turn out like all of you." She opened the door and gently shut it behind her. It wasn't until she made it to the street that she let out a tremendous scream, startling a black cat that watched her from the lowest branch of a nearby tree.

~o~O~o~

Walking two miles in heels hurt her feet but she kept going. She had to get home and change clothes. Amber needed her!

'Almost there,' she thought, having arrived one block down on the street that ran past her home. She stared up at the oak trees along the way, seeing their silhouettes against the low clouds that reflected the hundreds of city street lights. She noticed there were a lot fewer leaves than the last time she gave them a good look. They seemed to say that time was running out, dropping like sands through an hourglass.

As she turned to hurry up the path to her front door, she thought she saw a black blur race into a bush in the neighbor's yard. She shook her head, thinking she was seeing things, and searched in vain for a non-existent pocket that held her house key. She almost laughed at herself then. She didn't have a purse when she left the house and no purse meant no key.

The girl sighed. She saw that her mother moved her father's car, and she remembered that her father was magically put to sleep for the night. It would be safe to knock, or just walk right in if the door was unlocked. She was just about to try the knob when the door opened.

"Stephanie!" her mother cried. "Where have you been? It's been hours since you left!"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I got so involved in trying to find Amber that I lost track of time." She walked past her mother into the warm house and started for the stairs.

Sue grabbed her daughter's arm, stopping her for the moment. "What happened? Did you find Amber?"

"Oh, yeah. We found her. But her wonderful family would rather make zillions of plans than go rescue her. I couldn't take it so I walked home."

"You walked?! In those shoes?!"

"It was only a couple miles. But yeah, my feet are a little sore."

Sue just shook her head in disbelief.

"Please let me go," Stephanie said, looking down at where her mother still held her arm.

Sue let her go and watched as she went up the stairs. "Is that it then? Are you just going to bed?"

"Nope!" the girl said over her shoulder as she turned down the hall to her bedroom.

~o~O~o~

Making some plans did make sense. Stephanie realized that she'd be too suspicious if she wore all black like she first wanted. She ended up with black jeans and a royal purple sweater instead, and she wisely left the magic amulet hanging around her neck under the sweater. The amulet itself hung just between her newly enlarged breasts. After trying a different bra, she noticed that she had another growth spurt and now sported C cup breasts. Once again, she only had one bra that fit. Normally, she'd be upset and dwell on the larger breasts but she didn't have time that night.

After throwing on some loosely tied sneakers, grabbing her purse — with her female driver's license — and getting her long blue wool coat from the closet, she ran downstairs and started for the door when she felt a tug on her arm.

"Where do you think you're going at this time of night, young lady?" her mother asked.

"Out?"

"Not without me, you don't."

Stephanie turned and looked deep into her mother's eyes. "I would rather you stay here. I have a feeling that I'll be okay, but I can't say the same for you. Please stay here."

"But I'm your mother! I should go with you." Sue tried to get past her daughter to get her coat out of the coat closet but Stephanie wouldn't budge.

"Magic can be very dangerous, Mother, and Morgan, the woman who kidnapped Amber, is crazy. Please. Stay here."

"You'd rather I worry to death then?"

"I'd rather you worried at home and stayed alive. Yes."

"Steph!"

"I mean it, Mom! Please. I don't know how to explain it but I have to go alone. I'll be fine. Now please. Let me go! Amber needs me!"

Sue took one last look, marveling at how grown up her daughter seemed. She cried a mixture of happy and sad tears as she held up a finger to ask Stephanie to wait. She left to get her purse and came right back. Rummaging inside for several seconds, she found what she wanted and pulled it out, slapping it into the girl's hand. "You'll need the car keys."

"Thanks, Mom!" She kissed her mother on the cheek.

Sue turned to go back to the living room. "Good luck, Steph," she said quietly, though the girl didn't hear her, having already left the house.

~o~O~o~

Stephanie did have a feeling, a very strong feeling, that she'd be okay. It came with the magic vision she had. She wondered if there was anything else about the vision that might help her as she got in the car, and she was so distracted by her thoughts, she almost missed a little stowaway that zipped past her into the car.

"I saw you," she said, turning to look in the back seat.

She didn't see anything at first so she stretched up and looked behind the driver's seat. There, on the floor of the car, sat a black cat.

"You can't stay. Out. Get out. Shoo!" she said, holding the car door open.

The cat wasn't impressed. And she didn't budge.

"Okay. Fine!" She slammed the door closed and the cat suddenly jumped up into the front passenger seat for a better view. "I don't have time to fight with a strange cat. I don't know where you came from but I'll take you to the Humane Society tomorrow."

The cat suddenly hissed, not liking that idea at all.

Stephanie's eyes got wide. "Oh, my God!" she said to herself. "I wonder it if has rabies or something."

The cat meowed normally to let her know everything was fine.

"Are you sure?"

Another meow and Stephanie shook her head. "I can't believe I'm talking to a cat."

She drove off, following the same path that she'd seen in her vision earlier that night.

~o~O~o~

Stephanie drove mostly on autopilot, her thoughts all jumbled. She tried to focus on a plan of action but any plan eluded her.

'It's almost like I'm not supposed to have a plan,' she thought. 'Weird!'

She wondered if Morgan could read minds. If so, the old witch wouldn't get much out of her mind.

She giggled and noticed that her passenger seemed to relax suddenly, lying down and purring on the seat. They continued in silence for the next ten miles or so until the cat sat up and meowed.

"Stop? Here?" Stephanie asked.

"Meow!"

"Okay! I'm stopping."

The girl pulled over and parked a couple blocks from the witch's house. Few street lights and even fewer houses lined the road, being fairly far out of town. A wide gravel shoulder allowed for parking and bushes, trees and undergrowth had been trimmed a short distance beyond.

She opened the car door and both she and her passenger got out to walk the rest of the way. The cat led the way on the side of the road and Stephanie closely followed, concentrating on the memory of her vision to make sure they were going the right direction.

Just as the Jones family had done, several wards and shielding spells had been cast by Morgan to hide her house. The magic would've worked if Stephanie hadn't had her vision. As it was, she had to half close her eyes and mentally push herself to continue because of the strong urges she had to reverse her course. She tried distracting herself with something, anything to see if that helped.

'That cat,' she thought. 'What is it about that cat?'

She soon realized that thinking about the cat seemed to make it easier to walk through the protective spells. Then she began worrying that something was off about the cat and the magic shields seemed to dissipate. The more she worried about the cat, the easier she could move.

'Weird!'

Worrying about the cat naturally led her to start pretending that the cat was hers and she started calling out to it, like she was trying to catch it. "Here puss! Here puss puss!"

'What is its name?' she wondered and a name suddenly popped into her head. 'Tabitha? That's an odd name for a cat.' Then a nickname followed. 'Tabby? That's better I guess.'

"Here, Tabby! Here kitty!!" she called.

The cat suddenly veered off down a long driveway, away from the street lights and ran ahead. Stephanie followed while continuing to call out the cat's name. She was so focused on the cat, she almost didn't notice someone blocking her way until she almost ran into them.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. I'm trying to catch a cat. She ran this way but it's so dark I lost her. She's small and all black with yellow eyes. Have you seen her?"

"Enough!" the person bellowed, a woman by the sound of her. It was otherwise hard to tell her gender by the dark clothes she wore in the almost pitch black darkness. "You will come with me," the woman ordered. "Now."

The girl followed, knowing exactly who it was that she followed. She recognized the front of the house they approached by what little light leaked out through the windows.

"Tabby! Are you out here?" Stephanie called, trying to keep her mind off of her real goal.

"I know it's not your cat," the woman interrupted. "So stop that infernal shouting this instant."

"I never said it was my cat. It's my friend's cat."

The woman stopped abruptly and slowly turned. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is Stephanie," the girl said. "Pleased to meet you."

The woman stared into her eyes in the dim light from the house. "No, you are definitely not pleased to meet me. But your name is Stephanie and you do seek a cat." She quickly turned around and resumed walking towards the house. "You are not welcome here, Stephanie. Go now while you still can."

"That's not very nice!" the girl fired back. "And you didn't even tell me your name! Are all people around here as rude as you are?"

The woman stood on her small porch and spun around on one heel to face the girl with a stern look. "You intrude on my property and dare to accuse me of being rude?! Perhaps you need a lesson… a very long lesson. Yes. I like that idea. My guest could use a companion, if only to keep her going. Come inside, Stephanie. I have someone I'd like you to meet."

The girl wisely hesitated, her heart beating a million beats a minute. Still, she had the presence of mind to keep the woman as off guard as she could. She needed the element of surprise to have any chance of succeeding. "What about Tabby? And what about your name?"

The old witch made some familiar looking hand gestures, temporarily deactivating some wards to allow them to enter the house. Then she spoke. "My name is Morgan. Now come inside and don't worry about the cat. Cats can take care of themselves."

"Okay." Stephanie walked up three steps and across the small wooden porch. Her intuition screamed at her to stop but she ignored it and followed the woman into the small house. As she passed through the door, a dark blur nearly tripped her up and disappeared inside. She quickly distracted herself from Tabby by taking a quick look around.

The plain, sparse decor inside spoke volumes about the owner. One plain wooden chair, one small dining table filled with candles and glass vials, and a bookshelf full of old looking books filled most of the visible living space. The air hung heavy with the scents of various herbs and a small knitted black pentacle hung above the mantle that practically screamed, "Witch!"

"Nice place you have here," the girl remarked. "It's a little plain but cozy."

"I'm glad you like it," Morgan said. "Because you'll be spending a lot of time here." With that, she moved to a shut door. The door flew open without her touching it and she made a sudden sharp gesture with her hand.

Stephanie shrieked as she felt giant unseen fingers grip her and half push, half throw her through the open doorway. She quickly stumbled inside and the door slammed shut behind her. She rushed back to try the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. She was trapped, and she wasn't the only one.

She looked around, noticing a sink, toilet and small bathtub, and slumped on the floor in front of the tub, sat Amber, who covered her face and trembled.

"Hey!" Stephanie said. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

Amber snapped her head up, her eyes wide as she recognized her friend.

Stephanie held a finger to her lips to warn against saying too much. Then she quickly moved to hug her distressed friend, who started sobbing. They stayed together like that for a long time before Stephanie finally released her friend and sat on the toilet lid to give them both a little space.

The two girls started talking with their eyes and body language. They knew better than to speak out loud and give themselves away. Their method of communication worked well to keep prying minds from reading their thoughts and true intentions.

It was going to be a long night.

~o~O~o~

Steve woke up on the bathroom floor with the beige shag floor rug bunched up behind him and a slight kink in his neck. After what Amber's mother told him, he wondered if he'd change back but he did. At least he thought he did. He reached up to feel an absence of breasts on his chest. His arms and hands felt stronger too. Something still felt off though.

He looked down to see Amber sleeping with her head in his lap. Such a sleeping arrangement should've had a strong effect on a certain sensitive part of his anatomy, but not that morning. He had a bad feeling.

"Amber?" he whispered. "Wake up, Amber."

She moaned a little and her eyelids fluttered a little before she fully opened her eyes. She looked up and gasped. "Steve?"

"Mostly… I think. I need to check something first. Please get up and turn away."

She understood and propped herself up on one elbow, watching the door and wondering what was happening.

The boy's canvas sneakers bothered him, being too small. Luckily, he remembered to untie the laces before he fell asleep as a girl so they didn't cramp his feet too much. He easily slipped off the shoes and got up to lift the toilet lid. Leaving the seat down, he pulled down his jeans and panties and sat, letting his body do what it needed to do. After he finished, he finally worked up the nerve to look down… and gasped.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked, not daring to look.

He quickly finished his business, stood up to pull up his pants and flushed the toilet. "It looks like your mother was right. I might look like a boy but technically, I'm still a girl."

"What?!"

He hoped the old witch was asleep because he didn't have the patience or skill to explain everything with body language. He still looked mostly like a boy, for the time being, so he used male pronouns to refer to himself. It would be too confusing otherwise. And using male pronouns, he finally told Amber all about his curse — when it started and how it kept progressing until it looked like he'd slowly transition into a real girl on a permanent basis. He couldn't escape it now. He ended with the last details of how he met her parents and how they all worked together to find her.

"I'm so sorry, Amber," he added. "I suspected your parents. I suspected a lot of people of cursing me. But it looks like Morgan is the one who did it."

"Oh, Steve. I'm sorry too." She really was sorry. She was sorry for suspecting her parents and Steve for conspiring to make her love him. Sometimes truth really is stranger and harder to believe than fiction. "But why would Morgan curse you?" she asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"I don't know. Maybe she did it to somehow use me to get to you. Who knows how crazy people think?"

"Are you sure she's crazy?" Amber asked, realizing that she knew the answer when she really thought about it. Hearing how the old witch muttered to herself left no doubt about her sanity.

"That's what your parents told me, and that's what my gut tells me."

"Yeah," Amber agreed. "She's crazy."

Just then the door flew open, startling both teens.

"Who's crazy?" Morgan bellowed. "And where did that… that… boy come from?" She pointed a gnarled finger at Steve. Her hands and voice trembled with barely restrained fury.

Steve didn't know what to say to that. It didn't make sense that Morgan didn't recognize him. If she cursed him, she should know his face at least. He wanted to think about it more. He wanted to know! The answer seemed so close. He couldn't though. He had to keep his thoughts shallow and continue to try to keep Morgan off balance.

"Amber's parents know where we are. You're surrounded so give up peacefully." He just kept saying the first thing that popped into his head.

Morgan laughed. She laughed hard for a dozen or more seconds and it wasn't pretty.

"You amuse me, child," the woman said after she settled down. "There are no witches around for many miles, other than Amber here. But she's impotent." She got a strange look on her face after she spoke about impotence. Her magic sensed something very odd about the boy, something that didn't make sense. "Wait a minute. What is wrong with your aura? It looks like a rainbow. How is that possible? What are you?!"

"I guess you know I'm not a witch. But isn't it interesting that you can't explain me or how I got here? You're not as powerful as you think you are, witch. I got past your magic to reach your house and I can guarantee that I'm not the only one who knows where you live. You're going down, witch."

Morgan nearly frothed at the mouth as she screamed. With her magic, she pulled both teens from her bathroom and deposited them roughly on the hardwood floor.

The witch's eyes literally danced with fire as she shouted. "Tell me what you know, boy! Tell me or I'll skin you both alive!"

"Who are you calling a boy?!" He shouted. "I'm no boy!" Then he turned to Amber. "Sing something!"

"What? Sing?" The confused girl asked.

"Anything… Mary Had a Little Lamb! Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! Anything!"

Amber did manage to start singing. She sang the song that kept her going for the past twenty four hours of hell, the song that kept her from losing hope. She closed her eyes and sang. The first verse didn't mean much to Steve but the chorus certainly seemed relevant.

Dreams last so long
even after you're gone
I know you love me
And soon you will see
You were meant for me
And I was meant for you.

A bemused Morgan rolled her eyes and let the song continue for the moment. Her life had been dull and dreary and she had to admit that Amber had a lovely singing voice.

After the chorus finished, Steve tingled all over. He teetered on the edge of changing and shouted out to the kidnapper. "Now watch this! Amber is a witch, a powerful witch. She's going to change me. You were wrong about her. You've lost it, witch, and it's all crumbling to dust around you. Watch!"

Amber continued to sing and Morgan kept her eyes glued to Steve as he started to change.

Steve's body tingled and hummed, and after Amber had finished the second verse and repeated the chorus, he changed completely into Stephanie. Amber stopped singing, awed and amazed at the change.

The old witch looked shocked. "Impossible," she muttered. "No one can break my seal. No one!" She lashed out with her magic, pinning Stephanie to the floor while the house trembled. The floor buckled and moaned as thick, woody vines forced their between the boards from deep underground and twisted around Stephanie, holding her on her back and allowing Morgan to turn and concentrate on Amber.

"You've caused me no end of humiliation, girl. I don't know you managed that transformation but I'm going to make sure you don't do it again." She advanced on the frightened girl, who slowly backed away until she backed into a wall with nowhere to go.

"No!" Stephanie shouted, struggling in vain to get free of the vines.

Things looked hopeless, with Stephanie trapped and Amber helpless. But then something very strange happened. A very large snarling ball of fur appeared from behind the long drapes that covered the large front window. Stephanie's first thought was of Tabby, and she was right, though she didn't realize it. The size and species didn't match up with her memory.

The black cat had transformed into an angry black panther at some recent point in time and Morgan only barely caught it in mid leap with her magic before it could shred her with huge claws and long fangs.

With the panther suspended a couple feet off the ground and flailing helplessly in place, the witch turned back to Amber. "How?!" she squealed. "How are you doing this?! Your magic is leaking out all over the place!" She implied that Amber had somehow changed the cat into a panther, and she was right. She could easily tell when she felt Amber's signature trace of magic. She'd certainly stolen enough of it for herself over the past day.

The poor girl could only shrug, being frightened out of her wits and totally confused left her speechless.

Morgan paused and the craziness continued. The front door suddenly bowed in, looking like it would splinter and impale everyone on shards of wood. But just as suddenly, the door bowed out and ripped out of its frame, flying out of sight in only a few seconds.

Kate stood in the doorway wearing all black and a grim look on her face. "Keep away from my daughter, bitch," she snarled.

"Mrs. Jones!" Morgan shouted. "How did you find me?!" She slowly turned to look at Stephanie, finally recognizing her as the girl from last night. "You did this! Everything was fine until you showed up!" She sent lightning from her fingertips, intending to electrocute the girl but the energy just seemed to get sucked into her with no ill effects.

"That tickles," Stephanie said, laughing.

"Amazing what you can do with magic items these days, isn't it?" Kate said as she started walking towards the crazy old witch. The amulet that she'd given to Stephanie worked to protect the girl.

"Where's your wimpy husband?" Morgan asked, only slightly off balance by the neutralization of her lightning. "Trying to sneak in the back?" She already knew the answer and she pulled him sharply into the room, not bothering to properly open the back door that Cameron had been trying to open for the past five minutes. The man stood in the center of the living room, a little stunned but otherwise okay.

Morgan forced Kate back with a magic shield and laughed as she began casting a complex spell on Cameron. "Thanks for the idea, Stephanie," she said.

Stephanie, Kate and Amber all watched, horrified to see Cameron shrink in height and weight, looking more and more feminine as the seconds ticked by. His body developed curves and his clothes changed to fit his new body. He became a woman in less than a minute and he screamed in frustration.

"What do you think?" Morgan asked with a definite lilt, sounding more insane than ever. "I think she turned out quite well."

Stephanie kept pushing Morgan farther over the edge of sanity, thinking that the old witch would implode or something. The girl really didn't have a workable plan. She just tried to be unpredictable and hoped for the best. So far, the plan, or lack of one, wasn't working out very well.

Kate and Cameron had their own plan. Laden with magic items and enchantments from the Witch's Council, they tried a frontal assault, and like Stephanie, hoped for the best. With Cameron at least temporarily taken out of the fight, Kate pressed her attack, trying all of the usual offensive magic of fire, ice and lightning, all of which was absorbed by Morgan's shields. The attack was a wasted effort.

"Are you through?" Morgan asked after Kate exhausted the magic items along with her own magical reserves.

Kate didn't respond. She just panted and watched as her husband struggled to come to grips with his new body.

Cameron felt odd. Who wouldn't after suddenly having their sex changed? It was more than just the different body though. He, now she, desperately tried to re-establish a connection to the magical energy around her. She could feel it just beyond her grasp but she kept trying. She had to for Amber and her family.

The new woman came from a long line of powerful witches. The men in the family always had weak powers but the women could, on average, surpass her wife's impressive power. If only she could tap into it, she thought she might rival Morgan's power. She had to stop the crazy witch.

After looking around the room, watching Morgan pause for a moment of quiet gloating, she focused on her wife, and then her daughter. She felt her love for them and a spark caught fire in her brain, a spark that she fanned with the hope of life and love. It burst into a large bonfire and kept increasing in size until she finally had it. She reached out and tapped into the magic, and she felt like a high-voltage wire full of current.

Morgan turned to watch her, sensing a change in the woman's power level. She threw up a shield just in time as a lightning bolt shot out towards her. The lightning encircled the spherical shield, passing all around it, looking for any openings. But there were none. Cameron opened a channel within her, increasing the flow of energy until the light was painfully bright. Everyone shielded their eyes and still Morgan stood unfazed. After a full five minutes, the electrical energy began to wane. Cameron exhausted herself and fell to her knees, ending her attack. That was it. The Jones family threw everything they had at Morgan and they failed.

The old witch laughed hysterically for a short time and lapsed into several giggle fits. It took her a couple minutes to compose herself, and while she did, Stephanie finally thought to speak.

"Why, Morgan? Why are you doing this? Look into my eyes. You can see the truth in my eyes. You must know deep down that this all started over a misunderstanding. It's gone too far. You've got to stop!"

"What are you talking about?" the witch boomed as she walked over to look down at the girl, still held tight on the floor by vines. "I don't care. I don't care about any of this. I'm going to drain everyone's magic here and become the most powerful witch in history. No one will ever laugh at me again!"

"I think you need help," Stephanie said in a quiet voice. "This isn't right. It isn't nice. You're right that no one will laugh. Instead, they'll all pity you… or hate you."

"Shut up! Just… shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Nothing is more important than love. Who will love you if you keep this up? Please. Please stop."

Stephanie started crying, thinking of how awful it would be to live without love. No matter how much power or money or fame one had, it would never be enough without love.

"You have no magic to drain, pathetic girl," the old witch said. "And I can't fry you with magic. But I can get some small satisfaction of watching you suffer and die so I never have to listen to another word of your drivel." She twisted her fingers and watched as the vines tightened around Stephanie, slowly squeezing the life out of her.

Amber had watched everything up to that point, feeling completely paralyzed with fear. But when she saw the love of her life suffocating, something finally snapped inside. Stephanie's impassioned speech finally motivated her to action like nothing else. Her girlfriend's life would soon end, and with it, the chance for love. She had to act.

Desperate for a weapon of some sort, she looked everywhere, imagining all sorts of scenarios that never ended well. Trying to bash Morgan's head with a crystal ball, stabbing her with the wicked looking athame that lied on the mantel, everything she might use was too far away and required her to get too close. The powerful old witch would sense her if she got too close and the result would be the same. Amber would end up witnessing the death of her girlfriend.

She went around the room a second time and noticed something that she'd missed at first glance. Leaning against the lone chair in the room was a cane, a heavy wooden stick with a pewter handle. The chair and cane stood just a little out of line between her and Morgan. Perfect! She inched forward, holding her breath while watching Morgan's back. Closer and closer, she bent down and curled her fingers around the bottom end of the cane, slowly picking it up and preparing to swing it with both hands like a baseball bat. She inched forward again and when she got within range, she swung with all her might, and she surprised herself. She connected! The blunt, curved side of the handle hit the crazy old witch in the side of the neck, stunning her. The old woman slumped down, losing control of the strangling vine and losing consciousness.

Amber exhaled, after having held her breath the whole time. She felt a little light-headed but she smiled. She did it! She saved Stephanie! Then she looked down and saw her girlfriend's face turning blue. The vine still wrapped tightly around the girl's neck, choking her to death. She dropped down on her knees, clawing at the vine, but it was too strong. She couldn't break its hold! She cried out in anguish and her parents roused themselves.

Cameron felt too weak to use any magic on the vines. Instead, she joined her daughter, picking and clawing at the vine. Kate, also too drained of magic for the moment, tried a different tack. She went over to her daughter's large cat, still suspended in the air.

"Tabby?"

"Mrowww?"

"It is you! I thought so. I'm going to try pushing you down to Stephanie so you can chew through the vines. Hang on."

The woman pushed with all her might and got the panther close but she couldn't make it all the way. Her feet slipped, sending her to the floor and leaving Tabby to snap back twice as far and then swing back and forth as if held between two giant springs. That inspired an even better idea.

"Cam! Amber! Help me pull Tabby back!"

The three of them quickly pulled the black panther back as far as they could and let go, watching as Tabby shot forward and just managed to get her claws hooked into the woody vines. She held on and easily chewed into the vine that was strangling Stephanie, freeing the dying girl.

Stephanie coughed a few times as her face returned to its normal color.

Tabby continued chewing vines that held the girl's arms and legs and let go, zipping back and forth in the air to end up suspended in her original spot. Magic still held the panther but the girl was free and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Kate looked over to check on the old witch and spoke up first. "What do we do about Morgan? Tying her up won't stop her. Nothing will. Once she wakes up, we'll be right back where we started."

"I have an idea," Cameron said. "And I think Amber and Stephanie will like it. It starts with a kiss."

Stephanie sat up and the two girls smiled at each other. Following her father's direction, Amber walked over and kneeled by her girlfriend, planting a long, slow passionate kiss on her lips, and as the girls kissed, Cameron tweaked her daughter with magic, causing the girl to glow. Having the two teens kiss for the first time broke the seal on Amber's magic. When channeled properly, the power of love could overcome any dark magic.

"Now then, Honey," Cameron continued. "I need to borrow some of your magic. Since it's unsealed, I can access it and cast a certain spell that was recently cast on me. I paid close attention to how it worked on me. I should be able to reproduce it."

Amber agreed and the former man used her daughter's magic to cast the sex changing spell on the crazy witch, changing the old woman into an old man.

"I get it," Kate said. "Very clever, Husband. Morgan's magic should be considerably weakened now. We can manage her quite easily. I have just one question. How did Amber still have enough magic for you to cast the spell? I thought Morgan drained her."

"You need to study more and practice less, Dear," Cameron gently admonished, smiling. "Morgan handicapped herself by sealing Amber's magic. She made sure Amber couldn't use her magic, allowing a large amount to accumulate, but she could only drain it little by little through the seal. I'm sure she had it all planned out this whole time. She'd let our daughter store up a large amount of magic, kidnap her years later and use her like a magic battery to exact her revenge. She really is crazy."

~o~O~o~

With Morgan's power greatly weakened, it didn't take long to free Tabby. The black panther was held only by magic and the magic started dissipating right away after Morgan's sex change. Other changes weren't so easy to fix though. Physical changes were permanent unless reversed by more magic. That meant that Tabby and Cameron couldn't change back any time soon. Tabby couldn't change until Amber learned how to reverse it, and she wasn't sure how she did it in the first place so it wouldn't be reversed any time soon if at all. No one else could do it either, not without knowing how it was done. Cameron figured out the sex change spell but she didn't have enough power to overcome the amount of power that was used. That was another limitation. A spell could only be reversed if it was known how it worked and if enough power was used to overcome the original spell.

They called the Witch's Council in to take care of Morgan and his house. The Council wouldn't meddle directly in family affairs but they agreed to do that much, and it didn't take long, giving them all enough time to rest and recharge a little. They felt pretty good by the time they all left Morgan's house.

Stephanie and Amber held hands as the group walked back to their parked cars in the early afternoon sun. The two girls didn't say anything except with body language. They exchanged amused but silent reactions to the conversation between the two women walking behind them.

Cameron tried to keep a brave face as the occasional tear dribbled down her cheek. "Stupid hormones," she said, wiping her face with a sleeve.

"What's wrong, Dear?" Kate asked.

"Me! Us! How can we stay a couple now."

Kate smiled. "Oh. That," she said. "The subject never came up before, because it didn't have to, but I wouldn't worry too much."

"What do you mean?" Cameron looked at her with her eyes threatening a flood of tears.

Kate's heart nearly melted at her husband's display. She couldn't hold back the truth any longer. "I actually prefer you as you are, Dear. I'm sorry if that injures your male ego but it was your gentle, feminine nature that first caught my eye. That and the convenience for making children."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"No, I'm not just saying it. We have some shopping to do first. Then I'll show you just how much I still love you."

"Shopping?" Cameron looked worried.

"Yes, shopping. You might fit in some of my clothes but you're definitely going to need a bigger bra. I'd be envious if I didn't find you so attractive."

Cameron looked down at her breasts and blushed.

"Keep it up, Husband," she said with a wink. "You're driving me crazy."

"Kate! Not in front of the children."

Kate laughed. "Funny you should mention children, Husband. I was thinking that I'd like a fourth child, but now that isn't possible. At least it wouldn't be unless you cast a certain spell on me. I wouldn't mind seeing what it was like to be a man… for short periods of time… over and over and over if you catch my drift."

Cameron did catch her drift and the new woman's mouth hung open in shock.

Kate and the two girls laughed a short time until Amber spoke up. "The same goes for us, Dear," she told her girlfriend." You might not ever be able to change back to a male, but I'm sure I could change. I'd like a family — a family of witches — and it looks like there's only one way to make that happen."

Stephanie gulped and bravely gave her girlfriend a faint smile.

The couples split up between the two cars, with Amber riding with Stephanie. Tabby jumped in the back seat of the Hamblin's car and promptly fell asleep. Except for some exceptionally loud purring, the ride back to the Hamblin residence was quiet.

~o~O~o~

Everyone ended up at Stephanie's house and they all filed inside to find Sue asleep on the couch. Jack had gone off to work, not knowing what had been happening, but his wife stayed home to wait. She stirred when they came in but didn't wake up until Stephanie gently shook her shoulder

"Wake up, Mom," the girl said. "I'm back. We're back."

Sue woke up slowly at first. When she saw her daughter, she squealed with joy and bounced up for a hug. The hug turned into a group hug.

They all slowly drifted apart and sat on a chair or couch. Tabby headed for a sunny spot on the floor and curled up there, soon fast asleep. Sue noticed the panther and felt relieved when it fell asleep but she didn't say anything about its presence.

"Well?" Sue asked when they were all finally settled.

Stephanie filled her mother in on the events starting from the night before up until just before they left Morgan's house. She glossed over the part where Morgan very nearly killed her with the vines, not wanting to cause any more worry. She concluded her story with her inaccurate speculation about the source of her curse and watched for a reaction.

Sue smiled at first. Then she looked like she wanted to punish her daughter for worrying her. The look on her face subtly changed to direct her anger at Morgan and magic in general before ending with confusion. "So who cursed you?" she finally asked her daughter.

"Good question," Stephanie replied. "Who did curse me?" She turned to look at the Jones family.

Amber looked clueless. Kate looked pensive. But it was Cameron who spoke up.

"I believe I know the answer to that," the new woman said. She pointed to her daughter and said, "Amber."

"What?!" everyone except Cameron chorused.

"It was my amazing daughter," she continued. "Think about what Morgan said. Amber's magic was leaking out. She's the only one who could've changed Tabby from a house cat to a panther, she broke Morgan's magic seal and I'm certain that she caused Steve to change into a girl. Now that I've used her magic, I can see traces of it all over Stephanie."

"But how?! Why?!" Stephanie cried. "I don't understand!"

Amber started crying but didn't say anything. She just looked more and more confused and upset.

"My daughter's magic had been sealed but remember that there are always exceptions. With enough focus and enough love, anything is possible. I'm sure she didn't mean to do it," Cameron paused and looked at Amber, who shook her head to show that she didn't mean it, whatever it was. "But she is definitely capable of it. I'd guess that it was some sort of wish magic. Combined with love, wish magic is definitely the strongest there is. It's also the most unpredictable."

"My curse started like two years ago," Stephanie said. "Are you sure it was Amber?"

"Amber?" Cameron asked. "Can you remember making any serious wishes having to do with love?"

The girl blushed and nodded.

"Care to elaborate?" her feminine father pushed.

Amber kept looking at the floor as she spoke in a very quiet voice. "I did make a wish… about two years ago. I remember wishing that I could find a way that Steve and I could be together. It was soon after I admitted to myself that I only felt attracted to girls. I was sure that Steve would be perfect for me but I felt no physical attraction to him. So I made the wish." She looked up into Stephanie's eyes and added, "I'm so sorry!"

Stephanie looked back, her mind and emotions in turmoil. She felt Amber's love and tried to return it. But the look on her face only registered confusion and anger. She went through a lot of stress and anguish because of a selfish wish and it would take some time to come to terms with it.

Amber sensed the anger coming through loud and clear. She started crying again and leaped up out of Jack's recliner. She bolted for the front door and no one stopped her, though Tabby did wake up and trot after her through the open door. Sue got up and quietly shut the door to keep out the cold. She then turned and looked at her daughter who was already quickly on her way to her bedroom to cry in private.

~o~O~o~

Stephanie flopped down on her bed and had a good cry. She cried as she remembered all of the times she'd changed into a girl, all of the pain involved. It wasn't until she began to think about Amber that she stopped crying.

Her friend meant well. She wanted the two of them to be together so badly that she made a stupid wish, a wish that slowly got Steve used to being a girl. It took a long time — two years! — but she did get used to it. She even started enjoying it, as of late. She loved shopping. She loved trying on new clothes, girls clothes. She loved wearing girls clothing. Was being a girl so bad then? Could she be one permanently, for Amber? She didn't really have a choice about it being permanent, or at least having it last a very long time, assuming Amber could eventually learn how to undo it.

She still wasn't sure so she thought she'd see what her radio had to say on the matter. The songs that popped up always seemed relevant to her current situation. She sat up and slapped at the button to turn on her clock radio and listened as a song began to play.

I'm wide awake

The first line repeated several times, reinforcing the fact that she finally had all the answers. She just had to make sense of them all. The song continued with her hanging on every word. The first verse mentioned about being in the dark, not seeing everything for what it was, dreaming for so long. Those words pretty much summed up the past two years for her so she continued to listen.

I wish I knew then
What I know now
Wouldn't dive in
Wouldn't bow down

She wasn't sure that she did wish she knew then what she knew now, at least not all of it. It would make a big difference but she was sure that she would've confronted Amber and her family and tried to get the curse lifted. She decided that it might have been better — more bearable — if she'd only known that Amber had truly loved her but wasn't attracted to boys. It might have made her more likely to give girlhood a better chance.

The song continued with some of the words repeating before working more magic. She listened on to hear the last verse.

Thunder rumbling
Castles crumbling
I am trying to hold on
God knows that I tried
Seeing the bright side
But I'm not blind anymore…

The chorus and the words, "I'm wide awake" continued on, leaving her mind humming. She grasped for meaning in the last verse. She was trying to hold on, hold on to love by being a girl. And she had been trying to see the bright side to being a girl. Her increasingly longer times spent as a girl helped. She developed an appreciation for clothes and shopping. She liked romance novels and romantic comedy movies.

The last line of the verse shouted to her. It was true. She wasn't blind anymore. She knew the truth behind the curse. It was accidental but based purely on love. It was a cry for love.

Stephanie finally noticed her cheeks, wet with tears and she got up to delicately dab at her face with a tissue. She did like being a girl. She did. And she loved Amber. If only Amber were there to share the moment. She'd kiss Amber and everything would be perfect. If only….

~o~O~o~

A week later, Steve sat with Greg and Dan during their school lunch hour, trying to think of a way to tell them that he was starting to transition into a girl. Actually, he was already a girl where it counted and the rest of his body would follow suit with all the female hormones coursing through his body so he had to tell them eventually. But not yet, not until he started looking more feminine.

With Amber's parents' help, he was able to get doctor's note to get out of his physical education class. That made things much easier for him since he definitely no longer felt comfortable in the boys locker room. There was no way he could shower with the other boys. Getting out of P.E. might also be a good subject to help him bring up his transition to his friends. He'd already given half an answer to Dan, who missed playing volleyball with him in class. He mentioned the doctor's note, though he implied it was only a temporary situation.

It would be awkward and a little sad to say good bye to his male self, but he actually looked forward to it. It would be a nice way to end his curse and stop bouncing back and forth between two genders. He'd eventually be all girl, either with Cameron's sex change spell or with the end result of the curse, and as a girl, she'd be happy, or mostly happy. His girl self, Stephanie, still waited for one last, very important piece of the puzzle to slip into place. And that piece just happened to be approaching him.

"Hello Steve," Amber said, emphasizing his male name in a mocking way when she got close enough to be heard over the din of clinking plates and dozens of loud voices.

"Hey Amber," he responded, wondering what she was up to.

"Well? Are you going to avoid me the rest of the school year or what?"

"Avoid you?! What the f…!" He almost slipped up but his training kicked in and he caught himself.

Greg and Dan watched the two with great interest. They sensed something important was about to happen between them so they remained where they were for a ring side seat.

"I'll wait for you as long as I can but I can't promise you I'll wait forever." A faint smile played on her lips. She was definitely teasing and testing him. She'd been watching and waiting for him to approach her but he still had too much boy in him. He was still a little dense when it came to girls and she was tired of waiting.

"I'm… moving as fast as I can," he told her. "If you wait, I promise it'll be worth it." He meant his female mix of hormones and his slow feminization, of course, but he couldn't be explicit with his friends listening.

"Oh?" Amber said, raising one beautiful slender eyebrow. "Is that some kind of lame I.O.U.?"

"Nothing lame about it, my sweet. I promise you more than just the moon and the stars and I guarantee prompt delivery."

"I don't know. Sounds like all talk to me."

"Who else would agree to bear your children? Who else is man enough to do that?"

Amber nearly broke character then, barely stifling a giggle. She took a short moment to collect herself and dove back into it. "I'm sure I could find a surrogate mother somewhere if I had to. What else ya got?" She tried speaking with Jersey accent but failed miserably, causing Steve to stifle some giggles of his own.

Greg and Dan grinned as they watched the display. They didn't know exactly what any of the details meant but they knew flirting when they saw it, and they knew where it would lead.

"I've got a certain little magic trick that I know you like," Steve continued. "I know because you gave it to me." He waggled his eyebrows and Amber did lose it. Both of them did.

After a minute of trading giggles back and forth, Amber recovered first and spoke. "I accept your terms and I'll be paying you a visit at your house after school. Don't be late." She exaggerated the sway to her hips as she walked away, mesmerizing Steve and the two boys.

"I don't know what that was about," Dan said. "But I liked it. Congratulations, man. Way to finally get your girl."

"Oh," Steve said. "You don't know the half of it."

~o~O~o~

Steve packed his large red suitcase full of Stephanie's clothes, wondering what his mother and Amber were up to. He didn't plan on going all girl anytime soon. He wanted to enjoy what was left of his boyhood for the next few months at the very least. But he gave in to their request. He liked surprises after all.

As he walked downstairs, carrying the suitcase, his father, Jack, grunted good bye to him from the living room. The man was still clueless about his son's true gender but that was okay. Stephanie and her mother would make him understand, or not. It didn't really matter because nothing would stop Stephanie. Nothing could.

"Bye Dad," Steve said as he fought the large suitcase out the front door of the house. "Love you!"

Jack didn't respond to the last thing Steve said and didn't seem to notice. He was too busy watching a football game on television.

The suitcase occupied too much of Steve's attention so he didn't see Sue and Amber whispering to each other in a suspicious manner. They stopped whispering when he got close.

"The trunk is open," Sue told him. "Throw your suitcase in the back and hop in."

"Fine," he said. "Just a sec."

He opened the hatchback and hefted the suitcase in the trunk. Then he got in the back seat of his mother's car. "Are you ready to tell me what all of this is about?" he asked.

"Just as soon as we hit the freeway," Sue said.

Five minutes later, accelerating up the freeway onramp, Amber finally turned around holding a small cardboard sign. The sign was held with the words facing down so Steve couldn't read it. She handed it to him and told him, "Go ahead. Read the sign."

He flipped it around to see that it read, "Girls Only Road Trip."

He was about to protest when his mother fed a CD into the car's stereo and he heard a song start playing with a woman singing.

I come home in the morning light
My mother says when you gonna live your life right
Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones
And girls they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun

"Oh, come on!" Steve said. "This isn't fair!"

The second verse finished and Amber and Sue sang along with the chorus until the words started seeping into Steve's mind where they worked their magic.

That's all they really want
Some fun
When the working day is done
Girls - they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun

Steve silently sang along with his mother and girlfriend in his mind and the tingling began. By the time the chorus repeated, he changed completely and sang out loud in a clear soprano voice.

Stephanie smiled as she jammed the cardboard sign into the the corner of the window so it could be read from outside the car. It was going to be an interesting — and fun — road trip. Of that she had no doubt.

*** The End ***

Playlist for Part 4

10. In the Dark by Dev
11. You Were Meant for Me by Jewel
12. Wide Awake by Katy Perry
13. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper

~o~O~o~

 © 2012 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.