In the cafeteria, I see Phil sitting alone, but I'd be willing to bet if I waited ten minutes, he'd be swarmed by all the football players asking him to join the team. The way he was playing, he could have been captain of the team, I'd bet.
Dashing over to sit beside him, I sidle up to him grab the seat beside him. "Hey Phil. How's it going?"
"Oh no! Not you again! Can't you just leave me alone?" he asks.
"Come on, Phil, old buddy. Time for you to join us in the wonderful world of womanhood!" I tell him, smiling.
"Phil man, you have to change back. Remember our deal?" I remind him.
"But you don't understand. I am now a part of the football team, Mary is my girlfriend, and I am popular. What more could I ask for?" he answers, trying to avoid the inevitable.
"Phil! Dude! Let's get this day over with so that we can all change back after school. Then if you want to be on the football team, and date cheerleaders, you can do that tomorrow, after we are all normal again. Okay?"
"But I don't think I will be able to. Right now, I feel a hundred times stronger than I did on Friday, when we were both guys. I think my being a football player has to do with your being a girl."
"Phil - what are you saying? I'm sure once we are both guys again, you will be able to do all that you can do now. My being a girl couldn't have changed you physically. How could that be?" I ask him, not liking the direction Phil was steering the conversation.
"Maybe I hung out with different people, since you were a girl. Maybe I worked out a little more instead of playing video games with you. I don't know. All I know is I feel like a million bucks and my life is great right now."
"Phil - you owe me and James at least this afternoon as a girl. After all, this was your idea in the first place. Then after that, we'll experiment and see if it is my being a girl that makes you a football star. Okay? I really think that you are born with the skills you have, they are not dependent on others!" I say, trying to convince him to come back to the other side in the battle of the sexes.
"Okay. Fine! I'll do it. But only on the condition that after today, you agree to let me try and figure out why I am a cool guy now, and not when we are both guys. And that might mean your being a girl for a couple more days sometime in the future. Agreed?" he says, the look in his eyes not betraying the resolve in his voice.
"Agreed." I meekly state, unsure as to what Phil had planned for after today. It was odd that only after I became a girl, he became popular, but it was just a coincidence. Wasn't it?
We raced to Phil's locker, where he grabbed his water bottle, and then headed to someplace private where he could let the change take place. On the way, a couple of the other football players questioned him as to why he was hanging out with such a loser.
"Lay off, guys. I'm doing a favour for a friend. I'll meet you after school for practice," is all Phil said to them, pushing them out of the way and leading me by the arm. Looking left and right, he waited until the coast was clear, and then pulled me inside the janitor's closet.
Locking the door, he looked me up and down. "You know, some of the other guys were telling me stories of this very closet, and what they'd done with some girls. I could make your reputation skyrocket, if you wanted me to." he said with a wink.
"Just drink the water." I say, not liking this new side of Phil.
He squirted some of the water into his mouth, and I watched as he struggled to swallow it. I'm sure he was struggling with the fact that as he swallowed, his whole coolness shifted from being a popular football player to being a cool cheerleader. From where I was standing, either would have been preferable to being an uncool girl.
I watched as his body shrank and convulsed, his face writhing, not in pain but in pleasure. This brought back memories of my change, and I could see he was thoroughly enjoying the experience. As his body reshaped itself, so too did his clothing, again becoming the black outfit with the white vest. I had known this would occur, but watching it firsthand, I was amazed at the magic.
Within minutes, Phil regained consciousness, and I helped him to his feet.
"Are you happy now?" the newly feminine Phil asked, a little pointedly.
"Yes. Thanks Phil - I appreciate it." I answer, not sure if he was being serious in his rudeness, or just trying to be a prick.
Returning to the cafeteria, Phil and I grab some food and sit down to eat.
"Sorry man, I don't know why I was so rude before," Phil says, a little ashamed at his previous attitude. "I think it must have been some extra testosterone or something in my system. But I am still curious as to my coolness, and am going to hold you to your word."
"Those cheerleaders over there look like they want you to sit with them. How about you invite me over too?" I ask Phil, wanting to sit with the popular girls for once.
"That's fine, Phil. I think those girls over there are a little shocked that you aren't sitting with them." I say, looking in the direction of Mary, Claire, and the rest of the cool girls.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm one of them now, aren't I?" he says with a giggle.
"Yes, you are. I wish I could have turned out to be one of them too." I answer back.
"Well... that's the way the cookie crumbles, I guess... I wonder..."
"You wonder what?"
"I wonder if I'd have been such a cool girl if you too weren't a girl. Think about it - if you were a guy and I was a girl, how much different would I have been? How much different would you have been? Maybe you'd be on the football team, and I'd be on the drama club! Wouldn't that have been a hoot!"
Thinking about it, I see his point. What if I was a guy now - maybe I'd be a cool guy ready to score with any of the multitude of cute girls. Heck, I might even have scored with Phil himself. Now that would be funny, and something I shall have to look into further, but later on, after all is said and done.
"Hey Phil... Can I ask you for a favour?"
"Sure dude, anything!"
"How about you bring me over with you and we'll eat together. That way, maybe I can be cool for the afternoon! Maybe the cool girls will see that I am cool too!"
"Umm... okay... let's go" he answers, leading the way to the cool table.
"Ladies, I'd like to introduce Sabrina - she wants to sit with us today," Phil says, bringing a smile to my face as I see how nice my friend is.
"Hey girls, how's it going?" Phil greets them.
"Why did you bring that troll over here?" asks Mary, thumbing her nose in my direction.
"Well - this is Sabrina, and she wanted to sit with us. She thinks it'll make her cool!"
At that, the whole table bursts into laughter. Phil turns to me, and tells me with his eyes to get out of there. I know if I stick around, I'd get nothing but ridicule, so I turn and see James and Charlene sitting at another table. I walk as fast as I can over to them, trying hard to look as if I wasn't rushing.
"Hey guys." I say, hoping they didn't just see what happened.
"Are you crazy? Why did you do that?" Charlene asks, obviously witnessing my embarrassment.
"What do you mean? You think those girls are too cool for us? You don't think we deserve to sit with them? Is that what you think?" I ask her, a little upset that we were not as cool as they were.
"That's exactly what I think. Sabrina - those are the cheerleaders over there - they're the most popular girls in school! We are nothing compared to them! They're all blonde and beautiful. What are we?"
"We may not be cheerleaders, and we may not be tall blondes, but we are also beautiful women!" I answer back, shocked at my own reaction. "Come with me, let's set them straight!"
"We are people too, you know," I tell the cool girls. "You can't judge people on hair colour, or gymnatic ability - that is so shallow!"
I lead James and Charlene over to the cheerleader's table, and start spewing obscenities at them. I tell them how uncool they are, and how it's shallow of them to treat others poorly based on hair colour, and not on personality. As I start to wind down, I notice that Charlene and James are both backing me up, and actually reinforcing the issue. As a result of our little tirade, the entire cafeteria joined the cheerleaders as they broke into hysteria, laughing it up at our expense.
What choice did we have? We ran.
A little angry at the cheerleaders, the three of us stormed our way down the hall, towards the girls' change room.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, we three knew that we were going to face the popular girls again in the change room for our gym class. Angry at the reaction we got, the three of us storm down the hall and enter the change room.
Entering the change room, we are greeted by three of the cheerleaders, one of which is Phil. We stare them down coldly.
Upon entering the change room, we notice that we are not alone. I couldn't help but also notice how similar the change room looked to the girl's washroom. The only difference being that there were plush couches, and pictures of female athletes on the walls.
Laughing at us are three of the cheerleaders from the lunch room scene. Mary and Claire are with Phil, laughing it up at our expense.
"What's so funny?" I ask, a little annoyed that they think they are better than us.
"Well... you three are!" Mary replies. It's hard to believe that just three days ago, I'd have done almost anything for this girl. After seeing her attitude, my attraction to her faded.
"Get off it. You three are no better than us three! And it's pathetic to think that you are, just because you are cheerleaders!" Charlene fires back.
"Whatever, fatty!" Claire retorts, obviously striking out at Charlene's weight problem. Charlene, though hurt by the comment, refuses to back down.
"Puh-leeze!" James answers, "Just because you are tall and blonde and can jump around making your tits jiggle for all the guys, you think that makes you better than us?"
"No. The fact that we are tall, blonde and beautiful, are dating the most attractive guys and are the leaders of the school make us think we are better than you," replies Mary. "We are dating the football team, whereas you don't even have boyfriends!"
"Maybe we don't want boyfriends!" James answers, reminding me of what happened between us the previous night.
Phil keeps quiet, even though he is now one of the enemy. Thankfully he doesn't bring up what happened between me and James the previous night.
"So what are you trying to say? Are you telling us you three are dykes?" Claire fires back. The irony of the situation was more than we could bear, and James and I start to laugh.
"What's so funny? I think you might be onto something Claire," Mary laughs. "Maybe that's why these two are always together!"
"Hey! I don't think you have any room to talk, Claire! Don't forget I saw you and Shelly in the shower that one time!" Charlene answers back, pulling out some unknown ammunition.
"I can't believe you'd bring that up!" shouts Claire, "That was all Shelly - that's why she isn't here anymore!"
"What?!" Claire sputters. "That was Shelly, the little bitch. She made a pass at me, and you know it! That's why she got suspended and transferred to a different school. I can't believe you'd accuse me of such a thing!"
"Whatever Claire - the way I saw it was completely different, and you know it. If anyone ever listened to me, your reputation would be ruined! Your just lucky I'm not some blonde bimbo that people pay attention to. Everyone just ignored me when I tried to let the truth be known!"
"Wasn't Shelly one of Jamie's best friends?" Mary asks, changing the focus. "I bet she learnt to be a dyke from Jamie. Isn't that right, Jamie?"
"You think I'm a lesbian?" James asks, "That's not what Shelly told me, Claire!"
"Shelly was no lesbian, and we all no it! If anyone in this room is, it's Claire! I talked to Shelly afterwards, and she said Claire promised to make her popular if she went along with her. Claire is the dyke, not me or Shelly!"
"Take that back, you bitch!" Claire screams. "I am no dyke! I'm going out with Richard, and we are madly in love! How could I like girls and go out with guys?"
The tension in the room was escalating beyond control, and I watched as James was ready to come to blows.
James was ready to hit Claire for spreading such lies about his friend Shelly.
"Tell me that it was your fault! Tell everybody what you did to Shelly!" James yells at Claire. "Tell them now!"
"I'm sorry! I don't know what you are talking about! She was coming onto me!" Claire repeats, tears in her eyes.
"Leave her alone," Mary demands, looking at James angrily.
"Shut up! ALL OF YOU! JUST SHUT UP!" Phil finally screams. "Now I don't know what happened between Shelly and Claire, and I don't really care. All I want to do is get out of here. Now Mary and Claire - just chill out. Don't let these losers get under your skin!"
"Don't let these losers get under your skin," Phil tells Mary, trying to defuse the situation.
"Watch who you are calling losers, bitch." I say, trying not to laugh as I see Phil's shock. It actually felt good striking out at those who oppress, even if they are attractive blonde women.
Before any more could be said, another fire alarm starts to sound. This was not going to be a good day for that, as it seemed that someone thought it was funny to pull the alarm.
"Umm... I think we are locked in..." says Claire, completely changing the subject.
"What do you mean? Quit fooling around," I say, trying to open the door myself.
Being stuck in the girl's change room wouldn't be so bad, if there were more girls in it. As it was, I was stuck.
Finding the door locked, I immediately call out for help, only to hear the sound of someone snickering from behind the door. Obviously this was some kind of prank being pulled.
This would have been great, had any of the other girl's from the gym class been trapped with us. As it was, we were in a hostile room with no chance of a group shower happening. I just wanted to go home and change back.
"Open the door you little pricks!" Phil yelled, but to no avail.
Phil, trying to use his influence as one of the more popular girls in the school, yelled at the pranksters who locked us in. "Do you know who I am? If you don't open this door right now, I'm going to have the entire football team hunt you down and kill you!" he screams.
The only response he got was some more snickering, and then the sound of scurrying feet, as the culprits made a clean getaway.
"Well, now what are we going to do?" I ask, trying to figure out a way out of the uncomfortable situation.
"We are just going to have to sit tight. You girls don't mind standing do you, as us cheerleaders need to sit and rest for the big game on Wednesday." Mary says, taking a seat on the couch. Claire and Phil follow suit.
Looking at the three cheerleaders, we were shocked that they expected us to stand while they lounged around.
"Now hold on a second - you three are supposed to be peak performance athletes. You shouldn't need to rest all the time, let alone two days before your big event!" I say, trying to make some sense.
"If you want to sit down, there are three stalls behind you. There are seats in there," Claire laughs.
"Umm.... Phyllis - can I talk to you for a second," I say, staring at Phil. Reluctantly he comes over, and we move to the farthest corner for some privacy.
"Just what are you doing, Phil?" I ask, trying to reason with him. "We can all be civil about this, without you losing any popularity!"
"What are you doing, buddy?" I ask him, trying to figure out why he is siding with the cheerleaders.
"What do you mean? Right now I am one of the cool cheerleaders. I don't want to lose that, so I can't really side with you guys!" he whispers back.
"Dude - we can at least be civil about this! Look - you are one of the most popular girls in this school... more popular than those two - if you tell them to act civil, they will... use your powers for good, my friend!" I answer back, trying to show him how popular he really was.
"I don't know - I'll try." he says, sounding very unsure of himself.
"Okay girls, look - I don't know how long we are going to be in here, so we might as well call a truce with them. I think the decent thing to do is to share the couches. Now if anyone has any problems with that..."
"But I don't want to!" cries Claire, shaking her hands and acting childish, even surprising Phil and Mary.
"Do we have to?" Claire cries, "I don't want to do the decent thing! They called me a dyke!"
"Claire! Shut up!" Phil cries, exerting his influence. "Now we all know what we have to do, so just do it."
At that, Mary and Claire move over to make room for Charlene, James and myself. I sit down besides James and think about what's happened, not just in the last ten minutes but the last three days.
As I sit there, locked in the change room, I reflect on the happenings of the last three days.
Not three days ago, I was a fairly happy, if not popular guy, with a group of friends and a somewhat normal life. That all changed when I became a pretty girl - even if I was still unpopular.
Phil, on the other hand, had quite the swing in luck. He went from being one of the loser dudes I hung out with to being a knockout blonde babe, who just happened to be one of the top cheerleaders. And then, when he did change back to his male self, he was a top football player.
James had gone from a fairly normal guy, to somewhat of an outcast when we became women. Upon his arrival into womanhood, which he seemed to accept quite readily, he seems almost happy again, even secure. He said that when he was a guy, and I was a girl, we had dated once. If he decided to stay a girl, as I thought he might, when I change back, I might be inclined to ask the cute little girl out sometime. That is, of course, if he'd have me.
As time passed, the fire marshal let everyone back into the school, as evidenced by the sound of students running through the halls again. We screamed for help again, but to no avail, as the door was not opening, and for some reason, none of the girl's in the gym class tried to come in to change.
As we sat around waiting to be released from our prison, Phil did James' nails and Charlene braided Claire's hair.
As time passed, the walls between the two groups fell. Phil started by commenting on, and then doing James' nails. For some reason, I didn't question how Phil had become such an expert in the field of manicures. It almost seemed right.
This was followed by Charlene offering up some advice to Claire in taking care of her beautiful blonde hair. She brushed it out for her, and then started braiding it, much to Claire's amusement.
I was beginning to think that we were bringing down the walls that were built between the popular and the unpopular, when all of a sudden the door unlocked and opened. It was the end of the gym class and all the girl's were making their way in.
This was our opportunity to see all the beautiful naked bodies that we wanted, but as soon as the door opened and the coach saw us, she marched us straight into her office. We weren't even given the chance to see the hot sweaty girls take off a top or anything. Even though I was wearing one, seeing one of those girls' bras would have almost been worth all the trouble. But alas, it was not to be.
"What the hell were you girls doing in the change room all class? Why didn't you come out to play football with the rest of the class?" the coach asked, all in a huff.
"We were locked in!" I answer, trying to explain the situation quick enough so that we might see some of the girls at least towelling off.
"What do you mean you were locked in?" the coach asks. "All the other girl's got out okay. Are you trying to tell me that the six of you were coincidentally all locked in? And then you just decided to sit around and do each other's hair?"
At that, Claire started to blush, and Charlene looked at the floor. "Listen - I don't know who it was, but it was probably the same people who pulled the fire alarm! Do you really think that if we were going to skip gym class, we'd do it in the change room?"
"Uhh..." the coach stammered. "Well, you have a point there. But then why did you show up late? I had the class out of the change room in three minutes flat. None of you were even in the change room! How do explain that?"
"We were late?"
"Exactly! And tardiness is rewarded with pain. You six are going to have to come with me on my five mile run after school. No questions. Just meet me back here after next period, otherwise it will be ten miles tomorrow!"
"But coach!" Mary exclaims, "We three are cheerleaders, and we have a big game on Wednesday. A five mile run will give us aches and pains that will not be healed up by then. And then we won't be able to cheer proper. And then our team will lose. And it will all be your fault. You don't want that, do you?"
"Uhh..." the coach again is caught. "Well... okay - you three can go. But you others - you have no excuse for being late!"
At that, Phil, Mary, and Claire run off, too late for Phil to see anything in the change room, but free nonetheless.
"But coach! That's not fair! Why should we have to suffer just because we aren't blonde and choose not to bounce around showing off our tits in skimpy outfits? If we were on a team, I bet you'd let us go!" I shout, trying to get my point across to the dense woman.
"Listen, missy," the coach begins, "When I was your age, I wasn't all that popular either. You think I always was this big and strong? It took years to get into the physical condition I'm in!" The coach was a former body builder, and she was very proud of her body. Unfortunately, not too many men find bulky women all that attractive so she was still very single.
"Excuse me, coach?" Charlene pipes in. "I was wondering if you'd help me as I am trying to lose some weight. Now I will go with you on the run, but I can't guarantee that I'll make it all the way. But I really want to try!"
"Really? You really want to?" the coach replies, shocked that a student actually showed an interest in some out-of-school training with the big woman.
"If you don't mind. I'd like to hear about your diet regimen and fitness routines. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to be a big body builder, but I do want to try and slim down a little bit."
"That's great! I'll do whatever I can to help!" the coach replies. "Meet me back here after school and we'll get started. I'm going to have you in shape in no time. Here, take some of these vitamins too, they'll help." she says, passing Charlene a bottle.
"Cool! Thanks coach!" Charlene says, leading us out of her office.
James takes the bottle from Charlene, and after reading the label, starts going ballistic.
"What the hell? Why would a teacher do such a thing?? She can't do that!" James explodes into rage.
Looking at the bottle, I notice that the 'vitamins' that the coach gave Charlene are of the illegal variety.
Charlene grabs James as I grab the bottle from his hand. Looking it over, I see what got him in such a tizzy. The 'vitamins' that the coach had supplied Charlene with just happened to be the kind that are common in body building, but also tested for in body building competitions.
"Charlene, I wouldn't take these if I were you," I tell her, genuinely concerned for my friend's safety.
"Thanks Sabrina. Don't worry - I won't. I will talk to the coach after school, but I am not taking any kinds of drugs to make me thinner." she replies.
"I can't believe the coach would pull something like that!" James snaps. "We should report this to the school board!"
"NO!" Charlene exclaims. "At least I want to give a try for help before I turn her in. I think she can help me slim down, and I think I can help her get off the drugs. Don't do anything, okay?"
"Okay. Fine. But if I catch you taking any of these pills, I'll report you both myself," James says, very opposed to the drugs, and also very worried for his friend.
"Let's go, we have to get to English class," Charlene states, changing the subject and leading the way out of the change room. As we leave, I look back to see the thin traces of steam from the shower, from the scene I should have been a part of, but never was. As it fades, so too do my hopes of showering with all the other girls.
Running down the hall, we make it to English class two seconds before the bell rings. Mr. Andrews is a very strict teacher, and like the coach, does not accept tardiness. Luckily we made it in time, otherwise we'd have had to serve detention.
"Well girls, looks like you made it just in time." he says, watching us as we take our seats.
"We did? In time for what?" I ask, a little worried at the grin on the teacher's face.
"Today there is going to be a pop quiz," he answers, and then looking out the door at the students who showed up late to find the door locked, "and you three made it just in time. Otherwise you'd have shared their fate, not only failing the test, but having to make it up after school."
After handing out the quiz papers, Mr. Andrews goes into the hall and explains to the students who missed the bell that they were going to have to take the test after class, which meant after school. It wasn't fair, but seeing as he was the only English teacher in the school, there wasn't much choice when it came to English classes.
Looking over the test, I see it covers material that I had no idea about. Who cares about Romeo and Juliet? Why should I have to read such drivel, written in some form of English that no one today understood.
As I looked over the questions, answers seemed to pop into my head. I wrote them down as soon as I thought of them, as I didn't want to lose them, and I finished the test quickly. Reviewing my answers, I figured they must be part of my feminine side showing through.
That realization filled me with horror. What if that were true? Was I slowly becoming the female I appeared to be? In this reality, I was born and raised to be the girl I now was, but my memories and life experiences were that of a normal boy. Was my female side starting to bubble up, slowly taking back the body that it rightfully owned?
These thoughts left me watching the clock, eagerly awaiting the bell to ring so that I could head back to Phil's and change back to my male self. I didn't want to be a girl, and I surely didn't want to act like one. If I was right, the longer I stayed in this reality, the more female I would become.
Time slowly ticked away as the class continued to write the test. I noticed that more than a couple other, mostly female, students had finished. At the sound of the bell, Mr. Andrews told the class to put their pencils down, and strictly enforced the rule, giving a zero to one stubborn boy who continued to write.
After collecting all the papers, Mr. Andrews let the class go, assigning three more chapters in some book to read for our next class. Ignoring him, James, Charlene and I headed towards our lockers.
Charlene put away her books, and said she'd see us tomorrow, as she had to go and meet the coach. She told us not to worry about the running we were told we had to do, as she would straighten out the coach. With that, she practically ran to the gym, eager to start her new diet and fitness regime.
That left James and I standing in front of the lockers. "So... are we going to wait for Phil? or should we meet him at his place?" James asks.
"I think we should probably meet him there. I don't think his royal highness would want to be seen with us out in public." I answer, tongue firmly planted in cheek. Maybe not as firmly as it once would have been, but there nonetheless.
"Cool. Let's go. This has been an experience I won't soon forget." James replies, as we walk out of the school and towards Phil's place.
"Neither will I, my friend, neither will I," I agree. "But this is definitely not something I want to repeat!"
"I don't know. Don't get me wrong, but I kind of like being a girl. I mean, Charlene is really nice, and even though we weren't the coolest chicks around, we did get our fair share of looks by the guys."
"Yeah, but I don't really want to be looked at by guys!" I say, laughing.
"There's always Claire," James answers with a wink and a smile.
"Yeah, what was up with that anyways? Who is that Shelly girl? What happened with her?" I ask, remembering the flare up in the change room.
"Well... I can't say for sure in this reality, but when I was a guy, I used to date Shelly. That was until she got propositioned by Claire in the shower. Claire threatened to make her life a living hell if she didn't kiss her, so Shelly did. Charlene, unfortunately, walked in on the two of them making out, and Claire turned it around so that Shelly was the one doing all the initiating. I tried to convince her to stay in town, but her reputation was ruined, so she convinced her folks to leave town, and I never heard from her again. That was the last time I actually cared about anyone, at least, until I met you guys and you changed me."
"Oh my goodness. So the same thing must have happened in this reality too. It's weird how some things remain in parallel, yet others change so dramatically," I say, explaining the differences between Phil's realities, and their correlation with my gender.
"That's so weird. Maybe there's more to it than that. I also changed over the weekend, remember? Maybe that had some effect too... anyways, we're here, so enough speculation - time to become men again!"