From: "The Professor" <professorw@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 21:32:41 PDT

The Former Boy's Club


						      By The Professor


	"Aren't you a little old to go trick or treating?"

	My mother's voice surprised me. I hadn't heard her come into
my room. I had been trying on my dad's old army fatigues. They fit
just about right. I was the same height as my dad - six feet - and the
same weight that he had been when he was in the army. Of course, he
had put on a few pounds since then, but he was as slender as I was
when he had been in the army.

	"Oh, Jack and Darren and I are just going to have a little
fun," I replied. As seniors in high school, I suppose we were a little
old to be making the rounds on Halloween, but it had sounded like a
lark. After all, this was the last Halloween the three of us would be
together, and we had been friends since elementary school, always
trick or treating together, except for the year Darren had the
chickenpox. Of course, by now, we weren't in it for the candy...

	"Well, just be home early," my mother cautioned. "Even though
you don't have school tomorrow, there are a lot of mischief makers out
there tonight."

	"I know." And I did, too. We planned to be some of
them. Halloween on a Saturday night was a prescription for fun. Fun
was something the three of us knew well. Jack and I had been friends
since kindergarten. Then Darren's family moved up from the south when
we were all in third grade.  We became instant friends. And even began
to call ourselves the Boy's Club. The nickname stuck, and people still
called us by that name.

	"Besides," she continued, "you're going to have to get up
bright and early tomorrow and study if you're ever going to get into
college like your sister."

	"That's right, Little Brother," my sister, Nancy, called from
her room.  She was home from college for the weekend - just in time to
make my life miserable. Her boyfriend, Brad Russell, had gone to high
school with her, but his parents had moved to St. Louis. Brad went to
the University of Missouri in Columbia while Nancy was a sophomore at
a small college not far from Millikin. His grandmother lived in
Millikin, so it was a good meeting point for them on weekends. It
seemed like they were always together every weekend.

	"Mind your own business," I called out to her.

	"Keeping you out of trouble is my business, Little Brother,"
she called out as I hurried down the stairs. The sad thing was that
she really believed that.

	Dad was more understanding. I think he sowed his share of wild
oats when he was my age, but he never talked about it. Actually, dad
and I weren't very close, but occasionally, I would get him to the
point where he would start to tell me about his presumed misspent
youth. Every time he started to, mom would give him the evil eye and
he'd shut up. Still, mom wasn't around, so dad was more loquacious
than usual.

	"I remember Halloween senior year like it was yesterday," he
told me.  "We soaped all the windows on Old Man Moore's car. You know
him, don't you?"

	I nodded. I knew him well. He was flunking me in
Algebra. Well, not flunking, but I was hovering between a C and a D.

	"Anyhow, we got into all kinds of mischief that night," he
continued, "finally stopping off at the old Bancroft mansion with a
couple of - well, that's another story," He had a sheepish look on his
face. He and mom had to get married when mom got pregnant with
Nancy. They dated the last year of high school, so I could imagine
that went on that night and a lot of other nights as well. I sort of
envied him. My sex life was nothing to talk about. In fact, my sex
life was pretty much nonexistent.

	"Well, I won't be at the Bancroft mansion tonight," I told
him. "It burned down last year.

	"Not all of it," he corrected. "Only the guesthouse and the
stable. The main house is still there. I understand one of the heirs
from back east retired and lives there now."

	"Well, the Stone mansion is the haunted house of choice now,"
I told him. Of course, we all called it the Stoner House now, since
most of the hardcore dopers hung out there. Millikin was too small a
town to have more than one good haunted house, so guys like me and my
friends would have to do without one.

	Actually, Millikin was pretty good sized. Only the old part
could be called small. It was a suburb of Kansas City, nestled in a
little river valley east of the city. Over the last twenty years, it
had grown from a tiny farm town of perhaps two thousand to a bonafide
suburb of twenty thousand or so. We even had our own mall. Of course,
most of the town consisted of new housing areas and strip shopping
centers. The old farm town was at its center, consisting of a small
business district of mostly craft and antique stores and a collection
of houses built before the time of Christ or so. The only reason my
friends and I had to go into the old part of town was to annoy the
local police.

	"Well, anyhow, have fun," my dad said with a grin, returning
to his paper. "Stay out of trouble. Your mom will be pissed if I have
to bail you out of jail tonight."

	There wasn't much chance of that, I thought as I heard Jack's
aging Chevy pull into the driveway. We planned to do a little tick or
treating, soap a few window and teepee a few houses, and have a couple
of brews - that is if Darren's older brother remembered to get us the
beer. It was an unusually warm fall evening, so we planned to have a
good old time.

	"Wait!"

	I was on my way to the car when Nancy called out to me.

	"What?"

	"Did I hear you saying something about the Bancroft property?"
she asked, an unusually serious expression on her face as she ran to
catch up with me.

	"What's it to you?"

	She thought for a moment, then said, "I just think you should
stay away from there. It's private property."

	I looked at her carefully. There was something she wasn't
telling me. I wondered if she and her boyfriend, Brad, were planning
on something up there. It made sense. They couldn't get too carried
away at our house or at Brad's grandmother's house. Maybe they planned
to do it out on the lawn of the mansion or something. Wouldn't that be
something, I thought, if we barged in on them.

	"Why would I go there?" I asked innocently.

	"Just don't, okay?"

	I shrugged. "Okay." I'd go there if I chose to, but there was
no sense in arguing with my sister. She could be a little weird
sometimes. I turned and ran to Jack's car, an aging Chevy, stopping at
attention in front of it.

	"Corporal Adam James, reporting for duty, sir!" I barked with
a salute as Jack rolled down the window of his car. Jack was dressed
in a black sweatshirt and had painted his face with white paint. He
had made dark circles around his eyes and painted a trail of red paint
down his chin.  He looked like an out of work vampire.

	"Get in!" he yelled. "Time's a'wastin."

	I plopped into the back seat. Darren was already at shotgun,
wearing his street clothes. But he did have a cheap Spiderman mask
propped up on the top of his head. "You look like General Jerkoff," he
laughed.

	There we were, three average guys. We all looked enough alike
to be brothers. We were all about the same build and height, and all
had brown hair cut fairly short. Darren was probably the best looking
of us, with a smooth southern manner he had picked up from being a
small child in the south. His parents had moved to Millikin when he
was in the third grade, but he had retained just a touch of southern
manners and accent.  Darren was also the best athlete of the group,
but still played second string. The coach was threatening to drop him
to third string - a real insult for a senior. He just didn't seem to
have the desire to excel in sports.

	Jack was our ladies' man. He could usually get a date whenever
he wanted to. Unfortunately for him, the knack he had for aggressively
getting dates failed him when he actually went out with girls. He came
across as the class clown, always looking to do something wild.  Jack
was the wildest of the three of us. As the only one with a car, he
tended to be a little more independent than Darren and me. I often
thought that without us, Jack would have been a real wild man. We
tended to keep him a little more legal than he would have been with
other friends.

	Don't get me wrong - we weren't bad guys. Although we drank a
little beer, we didn't do drugs and we never got beyond the malicious
mischief stage in our activities. We were just three average guys with
average prospects in life. We played a little sports, although
strictly second or third string, and got C's in our classes. Odds were
good that none of us would go on to college. Instead, we'd be
mechanics or truck drivers or retail clerks for the rest of our
lives. We just wanted to have a little fun before we graduated and had
to work for a living.

	"Let's get some candy before everybody runs out," Darren
suggested. "I got a pillow case here we can use to collect it."

	"I need a burger first," Jack replied, pulling into the
parking lot at Burger King. "I didn't get any dinner."

	"Shit!" I interjected. "It's already dark. Let's trick or
treat first."

	"After my burger," Jack said firmly.

	So, okay, I thought. It wouldn't hurt to get something else to
eat. Mom couldn't seem to understand that I was a growing boy. My
older sister, like most girls, ate sparingly, so my mother hadn't been
prepared for my ravenous appetite. Mom and dad were on a diet, too, so
as a result, she never fixed enough for dinner. I had to admit I could
use a Whopper myself.

	"Oh-oh," Darren said as we approached the door.

	"What?" Jack and I asked together.

	"Cindy Sellers is in there with Peggy and Denise," Darren told
us.

	I felt like running the other way. I had quite a crush on
Cindy, and over the summer, I finally worked up enough courage to ask
her to go with me to Brian Bailey's back to school party. Brian was a
first string fullback on the football team. He was the most popular
guy in the class, and every girl in the school had a thing for him. As
might be expected, his parties were always popular affairs, and the
back to school party was particularly popular because his parents were
out of town and there was going to be lots of beer.

	It turned out there was too much beer at the party. I got
thoroughly ripped and made a fool of myself in front of Cindy. At
least I didn't throw up on her. I did that in Brian's yard after Cindy
left in disgust with Peggy and her date. I had avoided Cindy ever
since, actually going so far as to duck into my counselor's office
when I saw her coming toward me in the hall. That cost me nearly half
an hour as my counselor lectured me for testing so smart and
performing so poorly.

	Well, I had to face her some time. The three of us strolled up
to the counter nonchalantly.  After ordering, Jack decided to play
with dynamite. "Why look," he exclaimed to Darren and me, "it's the
three most beautiful girls in the school."

	Cindy smiled a sarcastic smile. "Well, well. Adam James,
Darren Pool and Jack Haliburton. How are things with the Boy's Club
tonight?"

	I turned beet red. People had been calling the three of us by
that name whenever they wanted to deride us. It was okay when we
called ourselves by that name, but no one else should, we
thought. Darren and I said nothing, but Jack went on, ignoring her
cut. "I'm surprised to find the three of you here without dates
tonight. If you'd like, we could escort you to the party." He was
referring to the party the high school was putting on to keep
jokesters like us off the streets.

	"In your dreams," Cindy replied sweetly. "Now go along and
play, boys.  Our dates will be here any minute."

	"Stuck up bitch," Darren muttered when we were seated with our
food.

	"She is not!" I argued, embarrassed that I was still attracted
to her.

	"All girls are," Jack said sagely. "They treat us as if we
were children."

	"Yeah," I agreed. "They keep telling us to grow up." I belched
from a combination of Whopper and large Coke.

	"But we don't have to grow up," Darren pointed out with a
belch of his own. "We have girls to grow up for us."

	It was an old joke, but we all laughed in agreement.

	Cindy and the other girls finally left as their dates came to
claim them. Naturally, all three of them were dating our class studs -
football heroes with good grades and bright futures.

	"We need to teepee her house," Darren muttered.

	"We will," Jack told him. "I have a full twelve pack of toilet
paper in the trunk. We'll get all of their houses after we go get some
candy.

	We began our trick or treating in some of the best areas of
Millikin.  The take was excellent, and after an hour or so, we were
tired of our game.

	"It's time to drink beer," Jack declared, back behind the
wheel.

	"Right," Darren agreed. "Then our reign of terror can begin."

	"Give me one now," I suggested.

	"Not in the car!" Jack said.

	We both looked at him. "Why the hell not?" I asked.

	Jack looked a little embarrassed. "I didn't tell you guys, but
I got a hefty speeding ticket last week. If I get caught drinking in
the car, my license is in the toilet."

	"Just great," Darren grumbled.

	"Wait a minute!" I said with a sudden inspiration. "I know
where we can go to drink."

	"Where, genius?" Jack asked.

	"The grounds of the Bancroft Mansion," I declared.

	"Jesus, Adam," Darren broke in, "haven't you been paying
attention? The Bancroft Mansion burned to the ground."

	"Nope, just the guesthouse and stable," I said with a look
that told them that I knew something they didn't know. "The house is
still there, though. One of the heirs retired there. He's probably
just some half deaf old fart who won't even hear us."

	"Okay," Jack agreed, throwing the car in gear. Darren and I
whooped in agreement.

	Minutes later, we were disappointed. The house looked like
something the Addams Family would live in, but it was well lit,
including a spotlight aimed at the grounds.

	"It looks pretty lively," Darren muttered. "Whoever lives
there will probably hear us."

	"Look, I didn't know for sure," I said. I was as disappointed
as he was.

	Looking back on everything that happened, we should have just
quietly driven away and looked for another place to drink our beer,
but we didn't. After all, we were young and... stupid.

	"Maybe there's nobody home," Jack suggested.

	"Then why are the lights on?" Darren asked.

	"Hey, it's Halloween," Jack said as if that explained
everything.  Seeing our blank expressions, he continued, "A lot of
people leave the lights on on Halloween. That way, the house looks
occupied. It's supposed to keep people like us away.

	"People like us?" I asked.

	"People who are going to soap their windows," Jack explained,
pointing to several bars of soap on the seat beside him.

	It had sounded like fun a couple of days earlier when we
agreed to do pranks Halloween night, but as I approached the house
with my friends, it became less of a good idea. I could feel the hairs
on the back of my neck rising up, and deep within me, there was a
sense of foreboding.  Jack and Darren said nothing, but I could see
their faces in the darkness just enough to note that they weren't
comfortable either.

	"Maybe this place really is haunted," Darren suggested.

	"That story played well when it wasn't occupied. Somebody
lives there now," Jack reminded him. "Besides, there's no such thing
as ghosts."

	I had been trying to tell myself the same thing.

	

The house was completely quiet, and through the lighted windows, we
could see no sign of movement. Maybe Jack had been right, I thought.
Maybe whoever was living in the guest house had just left the lights
on before leaving. Still, they might be coming back any moment. I
wanted to just soap the windows and get away as quickly as possible. I
was thankful we had decided not to teepee the place, too. I just
wanted to get done with the soaping and find a nice quiet place to
drink a beer.

	"I'll take the back of the house," I said. Actually, the back
of the house looked dark. I wanted to soap the windows where there was
the least chance of my being seen. "You guys take the front and
sides."

	I made my way to the back of the house. It was very dark
there, and I nearly stumbled in some dark bushes, but at last I made
it. Thankfully, there weren't many windows on that side. I raised the
bar of soap to one of them and was ready to start when a voice said,
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

	I nearly jumped out of my skin. I had not heard anyone come
around behind me. The voice was that of a woman, young and sweet, but
it might as well have been the voice of Dracula. I could feel my heart
leaping through my fatigues as I dropped the soap to the ground.

	Turning slowly, I was greeted by a woman about my mother's
age. She was dressed casually in a long shirt dress which dropped down
to her ankles.  It was dark in color, appearing burgundy in the dim
starlight. Her hair was the color of copper, flowing long and neatly
over her shoulders.  There was a look of mild amusement on her
attractive face. I've never been attracted to older women, but I was
attracted to her.

	She smiled. "Why don't we go in the house and discuss this?"

	"Uh... yes, ma'am." I didn't want to go with her, but somehow,
her suggestion seemed to be interpreted by my body as a direct order
which had to be obeyed. I followed her into the house.

	Darren and Jack were already in the house, sitting together on
an overstuffed couch. I sat down between them while our hostess picked
a comfortable looking chair across from us. The furnishings looked old
fashioned, like a display from one of the antique stores in downtown
Millikin. But they also looked almost brand new and very
expensive. Our hostess might be a bit out of style, but she obviously
had money.

	"Now, what brought you boys out here tonight?" she asked
pleasantly.

	"Uh... it's Halloween," I tried to explain lamely. "You know,
trick or treat."

	She looked puzzled, but I could tell it was only an act. "I
don't seem to remember any of you asking for a treat," she
said. "Isn't that the way it works? You ask for a treat, and if I
don't give you one, you play a trick on me?"

	None of us answered.

	She leaned back in her chair. "Tell me about yourselves,
boys," she commanded.

	I looked at Darren and Jack, but neither seemed ready to
speak. "Well, ma'am," I began, "I'm Adam James. My dad runs the
Western Auto over in Liberty."

	"Are you a good student, Adam?"

	I turned red. "No, ma'am. Not really."

	"A good athlete?"

	I hesitantly shook my head.

	"A lover of great prowess, perhaps?"

	I didn't even bother shaking my head.

	"Well," she purred, "you aren't a scholar, you aren't an
athlete, and you aren't a lover. And you don't even appear to be very
good at pranks, either."

	She looked at the others. "How about you two?"

	"Uh... we're just like him, ma'am," Jack said, nodding at me.

	"Yes," she said in a low voice. "Of course you are."

	Was it my imagination, or was the room getting darker? The
lights were bright when we entered, but now they seemed dimmer. I
began to get the feeling we were in more trouble than I had ever
imagined.

	"Forgive me, boys," she said with a wave of her hand. "I'm
being a poor hostess. You must all be thirsty." She motioned at three
glasses sitting on a coffee table in front of us. I was sure the
glasses hadn't been there a moment before. In fact, I was sure the
coffee table hadn't been there, either. The glasses were normal eight
ounce tumblers, and the liquid in them was not bubbling angrily as I
would have expected. It was clear and appeared harmless.

	"Please, drink, boys," she said.

	None of us reached for his glass. "Ma'am, I don't think any of
us are thirsty," I managed, speaking for my friends. "Thank you
anyway, but - "

	"Drink!"

	As one, we reached for our glasses. I couldn't stop myself,
and I was sure the others had the same problem. I took a single
swallow of the liquid. It wasn't unpleasant. It tasted
like... flowers, sweet and succulent, with a slightly spicy
aftertaste.

	"Do you like your drinks?" she asked.

	Dumbly, we nodded.

	"Good," she said pleasantly.

	I began to feel an odd tingle all over my body. It was as if
my skin were crawling. I felt shorter, smaller, but at the same time,
my hips were now touching against my friends' hips. There was
something tickling the back of my neck, too. Then suddenly, auburn
tresses were draped over my shoulders.

	"Drink up," she ordered. Again, we lifted the glasses to our
mouths, drinking down the rest of the sweet liquid. "It's really very
nice, isn't it? It's sweet. There's a lot of sugar in it - as well as
spice.  In fact, it contains almost everything nice."

	I looked down at my chest. Two lumps were growing, as if to
cushion the violent beating of my heart. She didn't have to finish her
description.  I think we all knew what was coming next.

	"That's what little girls are made of," she finished in a
silky voice.

	I turned and looked first at Jack and then at Darren. The
strange changes that were engulfing my body were affecting them as
well. Jack's brown hair was now a golden blonde, flowing down over
newly narrowed shoulders. His breasts were as big if not bigger than
mine, prominent even through his baggy sweatshirt. Darren, too, was
changing, only his hair was getting darker. It was becoming long and
black, with prominent curls. His skin, too, was changing shade,
darkening to the color of milk chocolate. His breasts, although not as
large as mine or Jack's, were most definitely feminine.

	"What are you doing to us?" I managed to ask in a soft soprano
tinged with panic

	"I think that should be obvious," the she said. "I suppose I
should introduce myself while the magic finishes with you. My name is
Loretta Bancroft. You may call me Loretta if you'd like. I am the last
of a proud family to bear that name.  The women of my family have
practiced magic for longer than you can imagine. It is my intention to
retire here in Millikin - to spend my golden years away from the
crowds in the city." Then, her voice rising, she continued, "And I do
not intend to have my solitude interrupted by adolescent boys who
can't mind their own business!"

	"But we didn't mean any harm," Jack whined in a voice that was
as soft and feminine as any I had ever heard.

	"That is why you are not field mice right now," she
countered. "I realize you are basically good, but your boyish pranks
would eventually be your undoing. Look at yourselves, and I don't mean
the physical bodies I have given you."

	She looked directly at Jack. "Look at you, Jack
Haliburton. You have significant leadership and interpersonal
skills. Yet you waste them to play practical jokes and embarrass
people. Well, since you don't want to be taken seriously, you'll be
given a body to match. Your name is now Jackie Haliburton, and you are
the stereotypical blonde, but not really a dumb one. You have the same
fine mind for leadership you've always had, but you'll find it hard to
lead when you look like an extra on Baywatch."

	Jack - now Jackie - was crying softly, the tiny sobs sounding
so intensely feminine that it was difficult for me to realize that she
had ever been male.

	"And you, Darren Pool," she told the new black girl who sat
quaking with fear as she examined her now feminine hands with long,
slender fingers, "are you aware that you could have been an
outstanding athlete?  You could have played any sport you wanted."

	"But I've never been big enough," the new black girl said in a
sultry southern alto.

	Loretta snorted, "Size isn't everything. You were quick and
smart as a boy, but you never developed your talents. Well, Darla, now
you really have an excuse for not making first string on the football
team. I'll bet you throw just like a girl, too."

	"Oh my god..." Darren - now Darla - murmured softly to
herself.

	"And as for you, Adam James."

	Oh no, I thought. It was my turn. "Yes, ma'am?"

	"Do you have any idea how bright you are?" she asked me. "Your
IQ is in the low genius range, and yet you've never made over a B
minus in high school."

	"I did get an A in Auto Shop," I managed to correct her
meekly.

	"I mean in any academic subject!" she practically yelled at
me. I pushed myself into the back of the couch, feeling my large ass
sink lower into the cushions.

	"All you had to do was apply yourself and you'd be on your way
to college with a good scholarship," she lectured me.

	It was true, I knew. I could have gotten straight A's if I had
worked at it, but somehow, it didn't seem like a fun thing to do. So
here I was, facing a lifetime of low level jobs because I wouldn't be
able to get into any respectable college. I felt absolutely lower than
shark shit.

	"Well, maybe you'll have less distractions now that you and
your friends are the wrong sex for pulling all your practical
jokes. That should give you more time to study, Amanda."

	So that was to be my name. I was Amanda James now. Like my
friends, I felt a very unmasculine need to cry. I sniffed softly to
myself, my head down staring at my dainty and long fingernails.

	"There's just one more thing," our tormentor said to us with a
sweep of her hand. "You can't go back outside wearing those terrible
clothes."

	I felt a soft perfumed breeze flow past me and watched in
amazement as my friends' clothing began to shift and change
color. Darla's jeans fused and crawled up her legs, becoming a
fashionably short red plaid skirt. Her legs were made to look even
darker as black knit hose encased her legs. On her feet were patent
black slippers, with a tiny hint of a heel. Her shirt had become a
black turtleneck, set off with a gold necklace displaying a gold
heat-shaped pendant. Under her hair, I could see gold rings, each a
good two inches in diameter hanging from her ears. Her face had
changed subtly as well, and I realized it was because she was now
wearing makeup.

	I had been so stunned watching Darla that I hadn't been able
to keep up with Jackie's changes. She was now wearing a tight green
sweater dress which did nothing to hide her large breasts. Her jewelry
and makeup were as feminine as Darla's, and her smooth legs were
encased in tan nylon.  It's a good thin she was sitting down, because
her feet now sported green heels at least three inches high. She
looked at her hands, gasping at the bright red polish her long nails
were now painted with. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it
matched her lipstick perfectly.

	I was aware of my own changes as well. The perfumed breeze had
wafted around me, too, and I was treated to a slight buzzing sound,
almost as if small insects were swarming around my body. I was in a
skirt and heels as well, but thankfully, my skirt came down almost to
my knees and my heel was very small, only an inch or so. I was wearing
a rich brown silk blouse. My skirt complemented it in a tan color
which matched my shoes. My nails, I was relieved to see, were long but
not painted. A quick exploration of my lips with my tongue told me
that I, too, was wearing makeup. As I put my hand up to my ear to feel
what had been placed in my earlobes, I heard the tinkle of delicate
gold bracelets at my wrist.

	"Oh my god!" Darla said again. I didn't know what she was
complaining about. She looked incredible. Wait a minute! What was I
saying? We all looked incredible, but none of us wanted to be girls.

	"Look, ma'am," Jackie began in her sweet girlish voice, "we're
sorry if we bothered you, but surely we don't deserve this. Please,
change us back. We'll do anything you say, just change us back."

	"Why should I do that?" Loretta asked. "I know as girls you
will give me no further trouble. As girls, you will have other things
on your mind, such as clothes and makeup... and boys."

	Now there was a frightening thought. We might be boys changed
into girls, but there was no way in the world any of us would ever be
interested in boys. We were guys, no matter what our outer bodies
looked like. At the sound of the word "boys" Darla, Jackie and I
audibly groaned.

	Jackie continued, "Ma'am, please. There must be something we
can do to get our real lives back."

	"These are your real lives now," she told him.

	Jackie shook her head, her long blonde hair flowing over her
shoulders as she did so. "No, I mean our male lives. Isn't there
something we can do?"

	She appeared to be considering the proposal. For a moment, I
actually had a faint hope of returning to my masculine world. Then, as
if she had suddenly had a brilliant idea, she grinned. "Very well,
girls, I will give you a way back to masculinity. But the road will
not be an easy one. Each of you has failed to live up to his potential
as boys. As girls, you must show me that you are willing to work
hard. As the Army commercials say, you must be all that you can
be. Are you willing to try?"

	"Oh, yes!" we said as one. What did she have in mind for us? I
wondered. Whatever it was, I suspected it would be difficult to
accomplish. I was right.

	"All right," she said with a sly smile. "I believe I'll take a
chance on you. Let's see, Darla, as Darren, you had the talent to be a
fine athlete but wouldn't apply yourself. Now, as Darla, I want you to
make the girl's basketball team."

	Darla grinned. "That's no problem."

	"And," Loretta continued, "I expect you to be in the starting
lineup before the end of the semester."

	End of the semester? That meant Darren would be stuck as Darla
until nearly Christmas. I was sure she had a similar time line in mind
for all of us. How was I going to be a girl for the next seven weeks?

	"But that's impossible!" Darla complained. "Look at me. I'm -
what? - five foot five?"

	"Five foot six, dear," she clarified.

	"Then I'd be the shortest girl in the starting lineup."

	Loretta closed her eyes and smiled. "Yes, you would, dear."

	There was a moment of silence before Loretta asked, "Do you
understand what you must do, Darla?"

	"Yes, ma'am," Darla said with resignation. It was obvious from
her tone that she now expected to be a girl forever.

	
"And you, Jackie," Loretta continued, "you had terrific potential for
leadership, so that is what you must do to regain your manhood."

	"What?" Jackie asked, confused.

	"You must lead. In spite of the appearance I have given you,
you must find a way to be a leader in your class."

	"But... but class officers have already been selected for the
year," she nearly cried. "What can I do?"

	"That is up to you," Loretta said simply. "You must either
establish yourself as a leader by the end of the semester or get used
to high heels for the rest of your life."

	Jackie's peaches and cream complexion became pasty white at
the thought, but she said nothing.

	"And you, Amanda."

	Oh no - it was my turn. I knew what was coming.

	"You had in many ways the greatest potential of all. You
should have been an A student."

	She was beginning to sound like Mrs. Gibson, the Guidance
Counselor.  Unfortunately, both Loretta and Mrs. Gibson were right. I
just couldn't seem to get myself motivated. I did fine until high
school. By then, personal freedom had transformed into freedom to
fail. There was always something to do that was more interesting than
studying. That something usually involved Darren and Jack.

	"Did you hear me?" she snapped.

	"Huh?" I said stupidly, shocked out of my reverie.

	"I said if you want to regain your manhood, your task will be
to get straight A's this semester."

	"Straight A's?" I cried. "But I've got all C's. Well, maybe
even a D in Algebra."

	She scowled. "Don't flatter yourself. Your Algebra grade is
currently just above an F. But it doesn't matter. As Adam James, you
were a mediocre student, but as Amanda James, you are already a
straight A student. This semester, however, you will have high B's in
all of your classes. It is up to you to bring them up to A's by the
end of the semester."
	
	"But that means I'll have to get high A's from here on," I
protested.

	"It does, indeed," she agreed, "unless you find that you
really like wearing skirts."

	I blushed. I had only worn a skirt for a few minutes, and I
had decided I didn't like it one bit.

	"In addition, you will each live as if you had always been
girls. You will dress the way girls dress, speak the way girls speak,
and act the way girls act. If you do otherwise, I will know. Is that
clear?"

	Each of us nodded reluctantly.

	"And there's one more condition I have for each of you,"
Loretta added.  "If any of you has sexual relations with a male before
we meet again, you will be stuck as a female for the rest of your
life."

	No danger of that, I thought. The last thing in the world I
wanted was one of my old friends playing hide the sausage with my new
anatomy.

	"That is all, girls," she said, emphasizing the word "girls."
She opened the front door for us. "Enjoy your new lives. We will meet
here again on the last day of your semester when your final fates will
be decided."

	We didn't say a word until we got into the car. At least that
hadn't changed. Jack's - or rather Jackie's - car was still an aging
Chevy, but it was now uncannily clean. Apparently Jackie was neater
than Jack had been.

	"Ouch!" Jackie yelled when she plopped down behind the
wheel. "What did I just sit on?"

	"A purse," I told her with a sigh, looking in the back seat
where I had been sitting before. "I've got one, too."

	"So do I," Darla chimed in.

	"Oh great," Jackie muttered, pulling the purse out from under
her expanded rear. "Just what I've always wanted. It looks like we're
the Former Boy's Club now."

	"What are we going to do?" Darla moaned.

	"Well, the first thing we're going to do is get something to
eat," Jackie said. Some things never changed.

	We were back at the Burger King once more, but things had
really changed. As boys, we had been pretty much ignored. Only our
friends would acknowledge our existence. But as good looking girls,
everyone wanted to be noticed by us. Fellow students who barely knew
our (old) names would cheerfully wave and try to chat with us. The guy
behind the counter even tried to make a date with Jackie. Failing
that, he tried with me. Fat chance, I thought, but I got him off my
case by telling him I was going steady with a karate black belt.

	"This isn't going to work," Darla said, hunching over a
Coke. She took a sip. "Ugh! This Coke is too sweet."

	"Try mine," Jackie said.

	"It's better," Darla replied after a sip. "What is it?"

	"It's Diet Coke," Jackie sighed. "I suspect our tastes have
changed, too."

	"You mean we'll have to eat like girls, too?" Darla asked,
shocked.  "Nothing but diet drinks and salad?"

	"Could be," I said. I was drinking iced tea. Coke hadn't
sounded good to me. In fact, nothing much on the menu had sounded very
good to me, but I suspected I was just upset at having my entire life
turned upside down. Then I noticed that none of us - even Jackie - had
bothered to get any food. "I thought you were hungry," I remarked to
Jackie.

	"I thought I was, too," she sighed, "but when we walked in,
nothing smelled right. It smelled... I don't know. Greasy, I guess."

	"This isn't starting out well," I concluded, looking around to
make sure there was no one within earshot. If the changes in our
bodies produced changes in our preferences, where would it all
end. Did it mean we would also prefer guys? I shuddered at the
thought. No way, man.

	"Oh my god!" Darla interjected. "Look at this."

	She had opened her purse. In her hand, she held two items. The
first was a driver's license made out to Darla Jean Pool. The picture
was the typical bad DMV photo, but it showed a photo of the girl
Darren had become, a bright happy smile on her face. The other item
was even more disturbing. It showed Darla standing next to her parents
and her older brother. At least I presumed that's who they were. They
looked something like Darren's family, but they were all black.

	"The bitch changed my whole family!" she cried.

	"Well what did you expect?" Jackie asked, examining her own
purse. "Did you figure you would be adopted by a white family?"

	"I didn't know what to expect," she cried. "But I didn't
expect this."

	"Look at your purse, Adam - I mean Amanda," Jackie suggested.

	I opened it as if it contained a bomb set to go off. I had no
idea what I looked like, except for the auburn hair. Maybe I was the
ugly duckling. It was bad enough to be a girl, but an ugly one...

	The picture on my driver's license didn't totally reassure
me. It showed a girl with eyes too big and a sort of buck toothed
grin.

	"Let me see," Jackie said, grabbing it out of my hand. She
stared at it for a moment and laughed.

	"What's so funny?" I demanded petulantly.

	"This picture!" Jackie laughed. "It's terrible."

	"Okay," I grumped. "So I'm not attractive. So what?"

	"Are you kidding?" Darla asked. "You're really very cute." She
looked at the picture. "Ooh, I see what you mean. Take it from me,
that's just a terrible picture. With that reddish brown hair of yours
and those emerald green eyes, you'll have to beat off boys with a
stick."

	"Do you really think so?" I asked to my own surprise. What
should I care about what boys thought about me?

	"Let's face it," Jackie said. "We're all dolls. Now look,
we've got to come up with a plan or we'll be in tit city for the rest
of our lives."

	She was right about that. Darla and I both gave her a nod of
agreement.

	"Okay," she said. "Now each of us has got to learn how to fit
in as girls for the next few weeks. I don't feel any magical knowledge
about makeup or periods, do you?"

	Darla and I shook our heads.

	"Then we've got to learn. I'll go buy a couple of books
tomorrow at the mall, and we can meet at... Amanda's house about
two. That will give us a chance to make sure we're acting the part."

	"But why should we act the part?" Darla wanted to know.

	"Because, my Nubian princess, if we don't act normal, we won't
have a chance at getting our real lives back. Don't you remember what
Loretta told us? Either we spend the next seven weeks acting like
girls or we'll be acting like them for the rest of our lives."

	"Okay," I agreed, "but I don't plan to start dating boys."

	"You may have to," Jackie said.

	"Why?" Darla and I demanded to know.

	"Look, we can't have sex, and I don't think any of us
particularly want to have sex as girls, but we're good looking girls
and good looking girls go on dates. It's part of being who we are
now. Got that?"

	Darla and I reluctantly agreed.

	"Okay," Jackie said when she realized she had us
convinced. "Now let's get out of here before some guys come in and try
to take us to the party."

	I never felt so alone in my life as I did when I saw my two
transformed best friends driving away from my house. In a matter of
seconds, I would have to face my family. Oh, I knew they would all
find nothing odd about me. To them, I would be Amanda Sue James, just
like it said on my driver's license. But when Jackie and Darla were
with me, we had each other. Misery really does love company. Now, I
was alone.

	"Hello, princess," my father called out cheerfully to me from
the den when I opened the front door. "It's only ten o'clock. Was the
party dull?"

	"Oh... uh... yes it was," I managed. "I'm a little tired,
too."

	"It's not time for your period yet, is it, dear?" my mother
asked.

	Oh dear god. "Uh... no, mom." At least I hoped it wasn't. I
hadn't even thought about that yet.

	"Well, I'm glad you got home early," she said. "You told me
you had a lot of studying to do tomorrow."

	Studying? Well, I had a History quiz, but I had been cruising
in that class with a solid C. I hadn't even brought my book home. And
as for Algebra, I had an open second period where I could go to the
library and get that done - if I could figure it out. I had really
planned to copy from Darren's paper. He was good at Algebra. But then
I remembered that I was now Amanda Sue James - Super Student. I was
sure I would find all of my books neatly stacked in my room. If I ever
planned to be Adam James again, I would have to start taking my
classes seriously.

	"Right, mom. I think I'll start on it now. The guy - girls are
coming over tomorrow afternoon."

	"Okay, dear."

	Apparently "the girls" were more popular around the house than
"the guys" were. Mom usually got uptight about having Darren and Jack
around all afternoon.

	There was no time like the present to turn over a new leaf, I
thought, mixing metaphors. I took a moment to examine my room. As I
had expected, it was now a girl's room, so feminine I could have
barfed. Plus it was neat and clean. Apparently Amanda was much neater
than Adam.

With trepidation, I looked at myself in the full-length mirror that
hadn't been there before. Jackie was right. I was a doll, just like
she and Darla. I fell short of true beauty, but I was well beyond
cute. Fair skin, auburn hair and an attractive figure combined to make
me a delicious dish of femininity. I had the look of an attractive
professional woman in training. My clothes were stylish but relatively
conservative, and my makeup enhanced my looks without making me look
cheap. I was the proverbial girl next door. Thank god the only boy who
really lived next door was only twelve. Even at that, I sighed, he
probably had a crush on me.

	I decided to get ready for bed and study for awhile. Of
course, that meant getting undressed, and I wasn't looking forward to
that. Still, I had to do it some time. It might as well be now, I
thought to myself.

	I locked myself in the bathroom with the least feminine pair
of pajamas I could find. They were pink, but didn't have the frills
that most of the other pajamas had. And as for night gowns... well, I
couldn't even bring myself to think about that. I carefully washed off
the makeup as I had seen my sister do so many times before. Then I
tried in vain to tie my long hair into something resembling a
ponytail. I would just have to go to bed with it loose. At least, I
thought, I would now be able to get even with my sister for hogging
the bathroom. Of course, she wouldn't realize the irony of the
situation.

	I had to examine my body - even touch it in a few sensitive
places.  Hey, I was a child of the nineties and we had a satellite
dish. I had seen all the soft porn stuff late at night after my
parents had gone to bed. I realized what I would need to do to get
myself off, but I had no intention of doing so. Loretta had said no
sex with guys, but I didn't want to get started down any road marked
"female sex." I was afraid today it would be masturbation, and
tomorrow it would be... No, don't go there. I just wanted to... well,
see if it was all real.

	I stood naked in front of the mirror, thinking sadly to myself
what I would have given to get this good a view of an attractive girl
just a few hours before. Well, be careful what you wish for. I was all
girl, and all attractive girl. Although not perfect, since I had the
small moles and other imperfections everyone has, my skin was soft and
smooth.  My figure was very nice, and I could see I had the sort of
hips which would sway provocatively in heels and a tight skirt. My
legs were firm without being too athletic, and there was no trace of
stubble on them.  Either I had just shaved them in this reality or I
didn't have much hair. Come to think of it, I didn't have an excessive
amount of hair on my legs when I was male.

	I tried not to look too much at my ample breasts, and the
bushy triangle between my legs merely gave me a feeling of great
loss. I wondered if Darla and Jackie were giving themselves similar
examinations. I was sure if they weren't, they soon would be.

	I tentatively touched my nipples. As promised, they were very
sensitive. I could see why the soft fabric of a bra was required for
them. I bashfully slipped a finger into my pubic area (I refused to
think of it as a cunt, box, pussy, or any of the other things I had
learned to call it in my male life) and felt the yielding lips of my
vagina. There was a clitoris buried in there, I realized. Did it
really work as advertised? I was too frightened to find out. I pulled
my hand away, remembering the prohibition on sex. I was determined to
get my male form back, and if that meant no sex, then there was no
sense in getting myself all worked up. I might find that I liked
it. Then where would I be? I'd save self-experimentation until I was
about ready to be changed back. Then, by the time I discovered that I
liked it, I would nearly be male again.

	Washed, teeth brushed, and pajamas on, I settled in for a
night of studying at my now feminized desk. As I pored over the
American History text, I mused over the fact that I had not expected
to spend my last Halloween in high school cracking the books. Well, I
suppose if I had spent the entire evening studying, I wouldn't be in
the fix I found myself in.

	"Hello, Little Sister."

	I looked up at the clock. I had been studying for almost two
hours.  Then I looked at Nancy. "Hi, I didn't hear you come in."

	"I tried to be quiet," she explained. "Mom and dad are in
bed. How's the studying going?"

	"Okay," I sighed, "but I'm getting a little tired of it. I
think I'll go to bed."

	"Aren't you going to do something about your hair? It will be
a mess in the morning if you go to bed that way."

	"Oh, sure," I lied. "I'll take care of it. Good night."

	Nancy didn't leave. Instead, she sat down on my bed and patted
the covers for me to sit beside her. "It's been a long time since we
had a sister to sister chat," she remarked.

	
It certainly had been a long time - like forever. In fact, we really
never had brother-sister chats. Like many siblings of the opposite
sex, we weren't terribly close. It wasn't that we didn't like each
other; it was just that we didn't have a lot in common. Nancy was an
industrious person and a good student. She was two years older than me
and was attending college partially on scholarships. I was, if the
truth be known, a little on the lazy side and would be lucky as Adam
to even be able to get into college.

	Obediently, I sat down beside her. I supposed that if I was to
succeed in winning back my masculinity, I would have to be more like
my sister.  At least as far as everyone was now concerned, I already
was. I would just have to continue doing what I supposedly had already
been doing.

	"What did you want to talk about?" I asked pleasantly.

	"Oh, all sorts of things," she said. "How are your classes
going?"

	"Fine," I replied noncommittally.

	"Any boyfriends?"
	
	"No, not right now." Where was she going with all of this?

	"Bought any new clothes lately? Tried any new makeup?"

	"No and no. What's this all about, Nancy?"

	Her benign look faded into more of a devilish grin. "Soaped
any good windows lately?"

	My heart stopped. "You know!"

	She gave me a wider grin. "Yes, I know. How does it feel to be
my little sister?"

	A hundred questions came into my mind at once, but none of
them passed my lips. I felt like such a fool. It was bad enough to
have the rest of the world see me as a girl, but the rest of the world
thought I had always been a girl. My sister knew who I really
was. "But... but how?"

	"How did I know?"

	I nodded my head.

	"Remember, I warned you not to go out to the Bancroft place?"
she asked.

	"Sure," I replied, "but how could you have known what was
going to happen to us out there?"

	"I didn't know exactly what would happen," she admitted. "I
just knew if you ticked Loretta off, you wouldn't be coming home as my
little brother, if you came home at all. What she did to you was
actually a pretty mild punishment. She is probably the greatest witch
in the country, if not in the world. You're lucky you and your friends
aren't out catching flies on a lily pad someplace."

	"You seem to know a lot about her," I said, my eyes narrowing.

	She was silent for a minute; then replied, "Of course I
do. She spoke to one of my college classes last year, and I'm one of
the members of her coven."

	I moved away from my sister. "You're a witch, too?"

	"In training," she clarified. I'm not much at doing spells yet
and probably won't be for years. Still, Loretta says I have a lot of
potential."

	"I thought she was retired."

	"She is," Nancy confirmed. "At least, from her business
career. She sold out and came out here to manage the family property
and do a little consulting and teaching. Of course, she's worth
millions. Wait a minute.  You don't have the foggiest idea who she is,
do you?"

	"Should I?"

	"She was one of the top businesswomen in the country. She was
president of Luxuria Cosmetics. You've heard of them, of course."

	I shook my head. "Afraid not."

	"Well, you will now," she smiled ironically. "I'll bet half
your new cosmetics are Luxuria."

	"That's great," I muttered. "I get turned into a girl and my
sister is her partner."

	Nancy put an arm around me. "Look, tell me what
happened. Maybe I can help."

	I told her everything that had happened earlier that night. A
couple of times, I almost broke down and cried, which was odd, because
I hadn't cried since the fifth grade. I had a sneaky hunch it was my
new hormones rising to the surface.

	When I had finished, my sister looked at me
sympathetically. "She didn't make it easy for you guys, did she?"

	"No," I said, trying to keep my voice from quaking.

	"So you have to play your parts and excel at your tasks or
you're girls forever?"

	"That's right."

	She shrugged. "I don't know what you guys are upset about. I
like being a girl. You might, too. I don't think I'd want to be a
boy. It's too much work. You might decide you like it this way."

	I threw myself back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Oh,
sure, this is a lot of fun. I get to wear greasy makeup, spend hours
on my hair, dress in frilly clothes, have periods and maybe babies
someday, and put up with fending off guys I used to play baseball
with."

	"Well, at least I can make life a little easier for you and
your friends. When they come over here tomorrow, I'll teach you guys
all the things your mothers never taught you. At least I can help you
act like girls."

	I sat up, feeling a little hopeful for the first time since my
transformation. "You'd do that for us?"

	She smiled. "Of course, Little Sister. Now let's get that hair
of yours tied up so you can go to bed."

				***

	"Amanda, wake up!" Light filtered into my closed eyes. Who the
hell was Amanda? Oh, that's right, I realized. I'm Amanda. So it
hadn't been just a bad dream after all. Slowly, I sat up, disgusted
with the feeling of the shifting weight on my chest. To make it worse,
I had to go to the bathroom, but the feeling was more intense than I
had ever felt in my life. Rather than the insistent feeling I was used
to as a male, the entire area between my legs was insisting I go to
the bathroom. I now regretted going to bed the night before without
relieving myself. It just made the urge all the more insistent in the
morning, but I had been revolted at the need to squat to pee the night
before. I hoped I had good control of those muscles there, because it
felt like I was going to go in my pajamas. What seemed like a gallon
later, I was sitting on the edge of my bed again.

	Nancy popped in the door. "Come on, Little Sister, mom and dad
want us to go to church with them."

	I looked at the clock. It was only seven thirty. "But church
isn't until ten thirty," I argued.

	"That's right," she agreed, "but you're a girl now, remember?
That means you're going to need some extra time to get ready. Besides,
I'll have to help you with makeup and everything, so come on. Get
going!"

	"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I growled.

	"In a word - yes," she admitted with a smile. "But remember,
this is going to take a lot of time since it's your first time getting
ready as a girl."

	She was right. It took me at least twice as long to shower and
get ready. Of course, I had to get Nancy's advice a couple of times on
how to wash, and she taught me how to shave the stubble that was
already forming under my arms and on my legs. We both ended up eating
breakfast in our robes rather than chance getting something on our
dresses before church.

	It was very weird to have breakfast with my family. No one,
even Nancy, acted as if there were anything out of the ordinary. Of
course, Nancy did have to send me a couple of nonverbal signals when I
did something out of female character. It was extra hard because my
mother had always been determined that her daughter be a "young lady"
at all times - proper etiquette, no swearing, sitting right, and so
on. That hadn't applied to Adam, since I was my father's
responsibility, and dad had never had the world's best table
manners. But now as Amanda, I fell under my mother's influence.

	"Get your elbows off the table, young lady," she commanded as
I sat over my breakfast.

	"I tried to warn you," Nancy silently mouthed. So that's what
she meant when she made a circular motion with her elbow.

	I had heard enough of my mother's admonishments of Nancy
through the years to understand what was expected of me. Still, it was
hard not to act like Adam. I noticed wistfully that my father had his
elbows on the table and mother never said a word. I felt a momentary
pang of sympathy for Nancy who had been under mother's influence all
her life while I was able to do what I pleased - or so it must have
seemed to her.

	After breakfast, I found Nancy, although willing to help me
get through my ordeal, was not above playing a joke or two on
me. "Here, wear this," she said, handing me a dress which seemed to be
a silky pink material with white lace in every imaginable place.

	"I can't wear this," I told her. "It makes me look like
a... a..."

	"Girl?"

	"Well, yes."

	"But it's mom's favorite. It will get her off your back for
awhile."

	"Oh, all right," I agreed reluctantly. A short time later, I
was in the dress, complete with white nylons and pink one-inch
heels. Nancy was putting the finishing touches on me when mom came in.

	"Amanda, I'm surprised to see you wearing that dress that Aunt
Lynne got you. I thought we both agreed it was a little too frilly for
you.  You look as if you were twelve years old."

	When mom left, I shot Nancy an angry glance. "I thought you
said she would like this."

	"Well, I just thought you might like to revel in your new
girlhood," Nancy laughed. "Besides, it does look darling on you."

	"I just hope none of my old friends see me in this," I
muttered. I would have changed, but it was too late.

	Of course, all my old friends did see me in it. Girls that I
had lusted over all my high school life came up to me to tell me how
"cute" I looked. And the boys... well, let's just say that they acted
like boys around a cute girl and leave it at that. I was relieved when
services began.

	One oddly pleasant surprise was my singing voice. I had never
had much of a voice as a boy. For the most part, I had been a tenor
with a very limited range. My female persona had a very fine soprano
voice, though, and I found myself looking forward to the hymns.

	When services were over, I hoped my parents would hustle us
off to the car and I could get home and slip into a pair of jeans and
a sweatshirt.  It wouldn't exactly make me feel male again, but it
might make me feel less like a walking talking Barbie doll. No such
luck, though. My parents ran into some friends and my sister started
talking to an old friend she hadn't seen since high school. That left
me standing there looking like Little Girl Lost. I hoped that nobody
would notice me. Fat chance with my looks.

	"Hi, Amanda!"

	I recognized the voice and tried hard not to cringe as I
turned around to face Robbie Miller. Robbie occasionally chummed
around with Darren, Jack and me. He was on the football team with us,
but unlike the rest of us, he was a starting halfback. I guess even as
a guy I would have to say I knew he was good looking with short blonde
hair and a build that came from lifting weights for an hour every
night. What I wasn't prepared for was how my Amanda persona would size
him up. He was handsome. I'm sorry, but there's no better word for it.

	I felt like some sort of a pervert, smiling involuntarily at
his handsome face and feeling an odd sensation which in the depths of
my being I recognized as sexual attraction. I kept trying to tell
myself that it was just all the female hormones that filtered my
perception, but it did no good. Just my luck. I was becoming somehow
attracted to the first boy to really come up and talk to me.

	"You really look hot today," he told me.

	I'm sure I blushed a little in spite of myself. "Thanks,
Robbie. You look nice, too." He did, too, I had to admit. He was
wearing a nice Navy blue sport coat and looked like a high school
winner. It was a shame, I realized, that his grade point was even
lower than my old one had been.

	"Hey," he began, "some of us are going into Kansas City to
catch a movie. You want to come with?"

	I shook my head, remembering my meeting with my friends at
two. "Gee, I'm sorry, Robbie, but I've got a study date set up
today. Maybe next time, okay?"

	"It seems like you're always studying," he said, trying not to
sound disappointed. "Hey, I was just thinking. You know, we've got a
big Algebra test coming up next Friday. Could you give me a little
help?"

	"Well..."

	"Oh, come on," he pleaded. "You've got a good grade in
there. The coach said if I didn't get at least a C on that exam, he'd
bench me. The Raytown game is coming up. You wouldn't want me to miss
it, would you?"

	Actually, I was going to have to book it pretty hard to get my
A in Algebra. There's usually no better way to learn something than to
have to teach it. I supposed one study session with Robbie wouldn't
hurt. But just one. I wanted to stay as far away from boys as I
could. If my body was going to get turned on every time a good looking
guy said hello, I was going to have to be careful, and I had to admit,
staring at Robbie was stimulating in a disturbing sort of way.  It
figured that Loretta would have put a healthy dose of attraction to
the opposite sex in our makeup. That made the prohibition on sex a
little tougher than I would have liked.

	"Okay, Robbie. Come on over tomorrow after school. We can
study until dinner."

	He rewarded me with a wide grin. "Great! I'll see you then."

	Now what had I gotten myself into? I wondered. Well, Robbie
had always been a friend, if not a close one. I'd just help him with
Algebra and send him on his way. I couldn't afford any emotional
attachments to boys even if I wanted to, which of course I didn't.



Once home, I pulled off my dress and nylons and got into the jeans and
sweatshirt I had promised myself. The sweatshirt made me feel almost
normal, but the jeans did nothing to make me feel less feminine.
Granted, it was nice to not be showing off my legs, but I found to my
chagrin that girl's jeans aren't loose and comfortable. Instead,
they're uncomfortably tight over the ass and ride higher on the
waist. At least the tennis shoes felt right, even if the laces were
pink.

	I used the time after lunch to start studying Algebra. If I
was going to have to coach Robbie, I had a lot of catching up to do
since as Adam, I was practically flunking the course. To my amazement,
it wasn't too difficult. I was starting to realize that I had always
had the intelligence to get good grades, but had simply never applied
myself.  Maybe some good would come out of this after all. I wondered
if I could talk Loretta into leaving my grade point high if - when -
she changed me back. When, when, when - not if. I had to think
positively. I could do it. I could get my real life back.

	Darla and Jackie arrived together, right at two, dressed much
as I was.  They greeted my parents with a smile and some happy
talk. Then, they both came to me and to my surprise each gave me a big
hug. There were grins on their faces as they cheerfully said, "Hi,
Amanda!" I could see they had cooked up this girlish greeting just to
annoy me. It worked, but I didn't let on. I just played along.

	"Oh, your room is just so pretty!" Darla gasped theatrically
as the girls followed me into my room.

	"Okay," I growled, "knock it off, guys."

	Darla and Jackie laughed together. In a few seconds, I was
laughing with them. We told each other stories of our first few hours
as girls, but I told them nothing about Nancy's offer of help. I
wanted that to be a surprise. I did tell them about church, and with a
little prodding, I even told them about Robbie. This started the
girlish prattle again.

	"Oh, Amanda," Jackie said, "you're just so lucky. Robbie is
such a hunk!" For emphasis, she batted her considerable eyelashes,
then laughed loudly.

	"Laugh it up," I told her. "It's only a matter of time until
the guys are sniffing around the back of your skirt."

	Darla thought this was funny. "They already have. We stopped
off for lunch at that salad place, Greens, on the way over. Jason
Morley hit on her."

	That got a big laugh from me. Jason was starting quarterback
on the football team and thought he was God's gift to women.

	"Maybe I'll really go out with him" Jackie ventured. "I'll get
him all hot and then tell him I'm not that kind of a girl."

	"And maybe Jason will be too fast for you," I pointed
out. "Remember the old joke about the girl who talked so slowly that
before she could say she wasn't that kind of a girl, she was."

	Jackie grinned. "You know, I almost hate to admit it to you
guys, but it might be kind of fun to try. I had a lot of fun during my
shower this morning."

	I hadn't known a black person could be seen to blush, but
Darla did, and I found my face a little flushed, too. Jackie looked at
us with surprise. "You mean you guys didn't...?"

	Darla and I shook our heads. I don't know what had gone
through Darla's mind, but I had just been too overwhelmed by the whole
experience of becoming a girl. I hadn't had time to experiment, and
frankly, I was a little afraid to do so.. Was I curious? Of course I
was. I wasn't a virgin, but only barely. I knew Darla when she was
Darren had managed to get a little, too. But it was Jack who had been
the most sexually active of our trio. Apparently, there were some
traits that were passed through with the sex change.

	"No, I didn't," I admitted.

	"Me, too," Darla added.

	"Look, Jackie," I began, seeing the confused look on her face,
"I'm sure we'll get around to... experimenting eventually, but
remember what Loretta told us. If we have sex in these bodies, we're
stuck like this forever. Do you want to be a girl for the rest of your
life?"

	"Of course not!" she replied indignantly.

	"Then we'd better keep the conditions of our curse in mind," I
said.  Jackie and Darla nodded solemnly.

	Darla broke the dark mood with, "So who called this meeting
anyway?"

	"I guess I did," Jackie said, sitting in my desk chair while
Darla and I sat next to each other on the bed. "I thought we should
talk about what we can do to get our real lives back. I'm sure that
witch plans for us to fail. I for one don't want to fail. Do you guys
agree?"

	We nodded our heads.

	"Then we have to learn how to be girls before we do anything
else."

	I smiled. "I can help there. I have a secret weapon." My
friends looked at me in confusion. "Nancy!" I called sweetly.

	I told them briefly of Nancy's involvement with Loretta. They
listened with keen interest, even asking her a couple of
questions. When I had finished, Nancy spent over an hour with us,
critically examining our hair and makeup and telling us all the things
we would have learned from our mothers if we had actually been born
female. I could have kissed her for all of her help. In fact, I did
give her a very sisterly hug as she left to get ready for her date.

	When she was gone, Darla threw herself back on my bed and
groaned, "There's so much to keep track of. I never realized girls had
it so bad."

	"Tell me about it," Jackie said. "It took me an hour to get
ready to come over here today, and Nancy said I didn't do the makeup
or my hair right. I don't even want to think how long it would take to
really get dressed up."

	"A long time," I told her. "I had to go to church today in a
dress and I had Nancy helping me. It still took forever."

	"Look, guys, let's make a deal," Darla said. "We wear pants
all the time."

	Jackie and I voiced our agreement. Of course, we would still
have to do all the other stuff - makeup, hair, and accessories, but
somehow, the thought of being able to wear pants together made us feel
a little more comfortable.

	"Now how are we going to manage the rest of our requirements?"
Jackie asked.

	"Well, mine are pretty straightforward," I said.

	"That's right," Darla agreed. "You just need to study your
pretty little ass off."

	"Well put," Jackie smiled. "And you, Darla just need to play
your pretty little ass off."

	"Basketball tryouts are next week," she explained. "I'll be
practicing until then. I know I can play good enough to make the
squad. As far as starting is concerned, I'll just have to work at
it. But what are you going to do, Jackie? Class officers have already
been decided. I mean, you're unofficial president of the Former Boy's
Club here, but I don't think that will count for much."

	"I agree," Jackie said. "However, I'll just have to figure
something else out."

	We talked for a few more minutes and then adjourned. Each of
us had tasks to perform if we were ever going to get our lives back to
normal.

				***

	I know we each dreaded going to school, so we agreed to go
together.  When we slipped out of Jackie's car in the high school
parking lot, we must have looked like Christians about to be devoured
by lions. Happily, we had nothing to worry about. Everyone greeted us
as if nothing was wrong. Still, I was relieved when we were finally
called to class so I could lose myself among the other students.

	In the very first class, though, I realized I was going to
have to participate if I was ever going to get my straight
A's. Fortunately, the class was American History, one of my favorites,
so I was pretty well up to speed. Still, I had taken an hour the night
before rereading our current assignment so I could be ready to
participate. I could see the teacher was pleased with my answers, and
strangely enough, I found I was feeling good about myself.

	I wasn't quite as good in Physics. I could see that class was
going to be a problem. Still, I was good enough in math (in spite of
my Algebra grade) that I was able to keep up. I made a mental note to
work on it more, though.

	By lunchtime, I had also breezed through English. I was in a
happy mood when I joined my fellow transformees for lunch. They didn't
look quite as happy. "What's the problem?" I asked cheerfully as I sat
down with my tray.

	"Remember when we were talking about what other curves our
witch friend could throw at us?" Jackie asked.

	"Sure," I answered, my brow furrowed. "Did you find one?"

	"Look at this," Darla said, producing her class schedule. She
was taking a couple of the same courses, but in different
sections. What caught my eye was her class right after lunch. All
three of us had that as a free hour as boys, often using the time to
leave the campus. There, at one o'clock, was...

	"Home Economics?" I practically shouted.

	"It's on my schedule, too," Jackie told me. "You better look
at yours."

	Fortunately, I had my schedule taped to my notebook. I looked
at it and sure enough - I had Home Ec, too. This was a disaster. Now,
I had one more class to worry about, and one that I would have to pick
up from scratch. I didn't know how to boil water. As a boy, my chores
had revolved around washing dishes and helping dad. I was sunk. To
make matters worse, I had been depending on that hour to review
Algebra before it met at two. My heart sunk to the bottom of my
stomach.

	The three of us had our tails between our legs when we entered
the class. We didn't know where to go or what to do. I wasn't even
sure if there was a textbook for the class. We slumped into the three
remaining seats.

	We knew who Ms Sherman, the Home Ec teacher, was, but none of
us had ever spoken a word to her. She was a stout, short woman of
about fifty.  She looked at Darla and me. "Ms James?"

	"Uh... yes ma'am?"

	Is there some reason why you and Ms Pool have chosen to change
seats?"

	"Oh... no, sorry." Darla and I gathered our things and traded
seats to the cold stone silence of Ms Sherman. This wasn't starting
out well.

	"Now that musical chairs is over, let's begin," she finally
said.

	It was an hour of pure, unadulterated hell. The class was
currently in the middle of learning to cook. Most of the class - all
girls, of course - had already learned from their mothers. We were
starting from ground zero. I made another mental note to volunteer to
help my mother with cooking and other chores. I would have to learn
from scratch all the domestic skills most girls my age had learned
over their entire lives.

	"Ms James," Ms Sherman called out as we were leaving class.

	I turned. "Yes, Ma'am?"

	"You seemed a bit distracted in class today. Is there
something wrong?"

	I wanted to say yes, there certainly is. I used to be a boy,
you see, and now I'm a girl and I don't know the first thing about how
to act.  Instead I said, "No, ma'am. Everything is fine. I just think
maybe I'm coming down with..." What? A cold? The flu?

	"Your period?"

	Gee, I hadn't thought of that one. I must have actually
blushed, because her gaze softened as she said, "I understand. Just
try to be better prepared next time. You have a high B in this course
right now, and I'd like to see that you get an A. Okay?"

	I gave her my sweetest smile and nodded. My god, I thought,
was that how bad a period was going to be? What was going to happen
when I actually did have a period? I was a real wimp about pain. Would
it hurt?  I could remember Nancy complaining about hers, but I didn't
pay a lot of attention. I'd have to think about that later, I
realized. Algebra was still ahead.

	I had planned on using the hour before Algebra to review, but
I had actually already studied, so I was fine in the class. There was
a pop quiz, and I actually got a low A on it. That made me feel pretty
good.

	As the class ended, Robbie came up to me. "Do you want to
study at your house? I have my car."

	"Sure," I said, happy that I would be on my own home turf
during my first (and hopefully only) study date.

	And study we did. I had worried that Robbie was making a move
on me. He wasn't, though, at least not yet. He genuinely need the help
in Algebra, and I found that by teaching him, I actually did learn it
better myself.  As he left just before dinner, I found myself agreeing
to another study date the next afternoon. I hadn't really wanted to
make the second date, but it seemed to be helping me as much as it was
helping him - and he really needed the help. Maybe I was developing a
maternal instinct and felt sorry for him. He was trying so hard, but
Algebra just wasn't his subject.

	"So it's you and Robbie, eh?" Darla grinned the next day.

	"No," I protested. "It's nothing like that. We're just
studying."

	Jackie looked concerned. "Just be careful, Amanda. We're all a
little new at this girl stuff. You could end up getting involved
before you know what's happening. Robbie's a nice looking
guy. Anything could happen."

	"Not to me!" I assured her, aghast that she would think I
would even consider anything like... like... that. I mean, Robbie was
nice looking, and from my new perspective as a girl, I had to admit he
was downright attractive, but I wasn't interested in him that way at
all.

	The three of us managed to get through the week okay. In fact,
as we met Saturday morning at my house, we each agreed that we were
becoming accustomed, if not exactly comfortable, with our new
identities. I was starting to crank out A's as if I had done it all my
life. I suppose in a way, I had done it all my life - all my Amanda
life anyway. School was actually getting easier for me. Of course, I
didn't see as much of my friends, but my grades were already starting
to inch up.

	The only problem class I had was Home Ec, but I had come up
with a solution for that class, too. I had volunteered to help my
mother more, learning from her the cooking and mending skills I would
be required to know in class. Even that was becoming easier. I must
say, I was quite proud of myself. Although I didn't mention it to my
friends, I silently kicked myself for having to be changed into a girl
before I was able to see what a mess I was starting to make of my real
life.

	Darla had good news, too. She had made the basketball
team. "Of course, I'm not a starter," she admitted, "but the coach
said I showed real hustle at practice. I think I'll get some playing
time in. When the coach sees what I can do out there, I'll be starting
before you know it."

	"How about your family?" Jackie asked.

	"Oh, they think it's great that I'm on the team," Darla said
glibly.

	Jackie shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I mean, are
things okay with your family changing race?"

	Darla was thoughtful for a minute before responding. "You
know, it's funny. I never told you guys this, but my family moved up
here from the Deep South partially to get away from all the blacks. I
mean, I know there's a big black population Missouri, but not like
Alabama. My great grandfather I understand was a member of the
Klan. Now, here we are - black! Of course I'm the only one who
remembers being white, but the rest of the family actually seems
happier. My brother is in a rap group and doing well. That's a lot
better than being night clerk at a Seven-Eleven like he was
before. And mom and dad seem content."

	"How about you?" I asked her.

	She smiled. "Look, I'd be plaid just to get an opportunity to
start on the team. You know, I've played sports with you guys all
through high school, and I've never been a starter. I think I'd be
pushing to be a starter on the team even if my manhood wasn't on the
line."

	"That leaves you," I said to Jackie. "Any luck on finding
something to show off your leadership skills?" I was most worried
about Jackie. In many ways, hers was the hardest task of all.

	But she smiled and said, "I've got it figured out. County
Government Day is coming up this month, and I'm going to run for
County Commissioner."

	County Government Day was a mock election where seniors were
elected by the student body to shadow their real counterparts for the
day. My only concern was that County Commissioner was the top
office. Only two students were elected to that job, and they were
usually the two most popular students. Loretta had made Jackie an
attractive girl, but not exactly the most popular girl. Hesitantly, I
told her so.

	To my surprise, she laughed, "Don't worry. I have that
covered."

	"How?" Darla and I chorused.





She gave us an enigmatic smile. "Wait until Monday and you'll see.
There's just one little thing. Are the two of you willing to help me
get elected?"

	"Of course," I said as Darla nodded.

	"Good. Then be sure and wear dresses to school Monday. And
make sure they're short and sexy."

	I frowned. "I thought we had agreed not to wear dresses."

	Jackie shrugged. "Sorry, but situations change. I really need
for the two of you to be particularly sexy girls on Monday. Now, will
you do it for me?"

	We reluctantly agreed. With that, the meeting of what we had
dubbed the Former Boy's Club came to an end. We each had a strategy to
achieve our goals, so we adjourned feeling pretty good about
ourselves.

	"What do we do now?" Darla asked.

	Jackie smiled again. "We might as well do what real girls do
on a Saturday morning."

We all realized what she meant. "To the mall!" we cried, laughing
together.

	I have to admit, I had fun at the mall - we all did. I had
never really seen what girls - or guys for that matter - got out of
mall crawling.  Girls always seemed to enjoy it most, sauntering from
store to store, trying on clothes, and generally socializing in large
groups. Guys on the other hand seemed to be there just to seek out
girls. It was a little like a herd of antelope looking for water while
the lions circled. It didn't take me long at the mall to realize I was
happier being a lion than an antelope.  After several boys, mostly our
old drinking buddies, approached us and were gently turned away, the
three of us sought refuge in a Dillard's Department Store.

	I have to admit that I hadn't been in the women's clothing
section of a department store since I was a little tyke, dragged there
by my mother on one of her shopping excursions. I was absolutely
dumfounded at the variety of clothing we found there. Women must have
twenty choices of outfits for every one men have. It seemed as if
women had different clothing for everything.

	I was just idly looking at the clothing with no particular
interest in them. I planned on spending as much time as possible
wearing only jeans and simple tops that didn't show off my new
boobs. Darla and Jackie had earlier expressed the same goal. So
imagine my surprise when I saw the two of them actually pulling
outfits off the rack and holding them up for each other, accompanied
by laughs and giggles.

	"Come on, guys," I said under my breath. "What do you think
you're doing?"

 	"Just blending in with the natives," Jackie laughed, nodding
at another group of girls across the aisle who were doing the same
thing.

	"Sure, Amanda, get in the spirit of all this, will you? If we
leave the stores, we're just going to get hit on by our old friends. I
know most of those guys, and there isn't one of them I want trying to
sniff up my rear."

	"Amen to that, sister," Jackie called while holding a
particularly feminine dress up to herself in front of a mirror. "How
do you think this would look on me?"

	I was beginning to think my two best friends had slipped a
gear or two.  I knew they were just playing a game, but they were
playing it far too well for my tastes. If I hadn't known better, I
would have thought they had been born female.

	Then I realized with a little envy that they were enjoying
themselves because they felt they had their required tasks well in
hand. Darla had made the basketball team, and with her athletic
abilities and mind for sports, she could do anything once she applied
herself. It would only take a game or two to establish her as a
starter.

	Jackie was confident, too. Maybe she was too confident. I
didn't know what she had in mind, but whatever it was, she felt she
had the situation under complete control. I hoped for her sake that
she was right.

	That left me. I was beginning to think I had the hardest task
of all. I had to get straight A's, which meant that every day, every
class, I had to be at the absolute top of my game. If I screwed around
as I had as a boy, I would end up with a grade point which would put
me in nylons and heels for the rest of my life. While that fate didn't
seem quite as dire as it would have seemed to me a couple of weeks
earlier, it was still something I wanted to avoid.

	Jackie actually ended up buying an outfit. It seemed that in
our new reality, her father had gotten her a credit card with a modest
credit limit. Of course, her parents were a little more affluent than
Darla's or mine, so Darla and I contented ourselves with just
watching.

	We decided to kill off the rest of the afternoon by taking in
a movie.  Here again, our new femininity seemed to dictate our
choice. A couple of movies were rejected because they were too
violent. It wasn't that we now abhorred violent movies; it was just
that we were afraid too many of our old friends would be in there
getting a testosterone rush.

	"How about a chick flick?" Darla asked.

	Jackie and I looked at her with alarm.

	"Hey," Darla said defensively, "I just thought it might be
interesting.  I mean, we are chicks now."

	We settled on a Sandra Bullock film called Practical
Magic. Sure, it was a little bit of a chick flick, but what really
drew us into it was the irony of the title. I actually found myself
enjoying the film, but I was a little disturbed to note that I was
getting into the female characters much more than the male. Natural, I
supposed, but disturbing none the less.

	When Monday, rolled around, good to our word, Darla and I wore
sexy outfits. We had both decided to wear short knit dresses with two
inch heels. Mine was emerald green and Darla's was a deep red, and
Jackie seemed happy with our choices. She was wearing the outfit she
had bought on Saturday. It consisted of a peach colored sheath dress
and matching jacket. The silky material accentuated all the right
parts of her body.  I noticed as we got to school all the guys were
looking at Darla and me appreciatively, but when they spotted Jackie,
the looks turned to longing gazes and heavy panting.

	Darla and I were very attractive - there was no arguing that -
but when she put her mind to it as she had that day, Jackie was
absolutely stunning.

	"What now?" I asked as we made our way into school. I was
beginning to feel very... exposed.

	Jackie only smiled. "Wait until assembly."

	Just before lunch, there was an assembly in the school
auditorium. This was to allow all of the seniors who would be running
for County Government Day offices to make a short announcement and a
generally humorous speech about what they would do if they were
elected to county office.

	Jackie finally told us what our part was to be. "You're going
to escort my running mate to the podium," she said.

	Darla frowned. "Running mate? You don't have a running mate
when you're running for County Commissioner."

	"True," Jackie agreed, "but Brian Bailey and I have decided to
run together for the two commissioner spots. We've formed our own
party - the Party Party - and decided to run on a platform of
extending the Winter Formal for one more hour."

	I had to give it to her, it was a masterful plan. Many of the
students had been complaining that the Winter Formal was too
short. After all, it was at the end of the fall semester and just
before Christmas, so why not let it go a little longer? Now, she and
Brian would be bringing the problem to the school administration's
attention while making themselves very popular with the student
body. There was no doubt that Jackie was riding on Brian's coat tails,
but so what? That tactic had been used in elections for thousands of
years.

	The assembly was a big success. Jackie was escorted to the
podium by two of the biggest hunks on the football team, and Brian was
escorted by Darla and me, doing our best to look like two girls who
just couldn't get enough of Brian. It felt funny to be holding on to
his muscular arm, and realize that I was so much smaller and weaker
than him. I mean, even as Adam, I wasn't as big or as strong as him,
but I was really diminutive now. I also felt another feeling, holding
his arm, and that feeling bothered me.

	"What's wrong?" Darla asked me after the assembly was over.

	"I'm not sure," I told her, "but I felt funny holding on to
Brian."

	"Like maybe he's really big and attractive and I'm small and
weak, and I wonder what he thinks of me?" Darla asked.

	My heart skipped. "That's it exactly," I told her. "How did
you know?"

	Darla laughed, "Honey, you may be the smartest girl in the
class, but sometimes you can be downright dense. You think I didn't
feel the same way? It's all those female hormones kicking in. We're
girls now, remember? Boys are supposed to look good to us."

	"But inside, we're guys," I protested.

	"Yes," she agreed, "but our bodies don't know that. They just
react the way nature intended."

	"Then we've got to be extra careful," I said, looking back at
the podium where Jackie was getting a big kiss from Brian to the
cheers of the students still in the auditorium. I had a bad feeling
that Jackie was going to have to be extra careful.

	Another week slipped by. The Former Boy's Club didn't need any
formal meetings, for we met often to put together posters for Jackie
and Brian's campaign. Also, Jackie and I were in the stands for the
first girl's basketball game of the year. Darla came in off the bench
late in the third quarter and managed to score eight points - a
significant accomplishment in girl's basketball.

	Me? I kept plugging away at my schoolwork. I had found to my
pleasant surprise that class was actually a lot more fun when you were
prepared.  American History was a breeze, and I found myself reading
material outside class which related to the period we were
studying. Physics was still rough, but I had gotten the hang of it and
would be able to ace the course. Algebra had gotten particularly easy
since I had been tutoring Robbie. Yes, I was still meeting with him
after school if he didn't have football practice. He had been a
perfect gentleman, too. I had always thought him a bit wild when I was
a boy. I guessed he was just a little shy around girls.

	The class that threatened to be my Waterloo was still Home
Ec. I studied, I helped mom, and I paid attention in class, but
everything I did wasn't enough. Oh, I had actually raised my grade to
a higher B, but I calculated that I would need over one-hundred
percent on the final to ace the course. I had to work out an extra
credit project so I could get my A. I asked Ms Sherman what I could
do.

	"Amanda, your cooking skills are very good. If I had to grade
you on that alone, I would give you your A," she told me after
class. "It's your sewing skills that need improvement. Here."

	She handed me what I had come to realize was a dress
pattern. The drawing showed a cocktail dress with a very stylishly
short skirt and thin spaghetti straps. It seemed to shimmer in the
picture. I found myself wondering what it would look like on me.

	"I want you to make this dress," she told me. "Pick the
material and have it done by the last day of class. I'd like to see
you model the dress, too. Can you do this?"

	"Yes, ma'am," I said, more confidently than I actually felt.

	"Good. Then I will expect you to wear this dress for me the
last day of the semester. Bring appropriate accessories with you. Who
knows? If you do a good enough job on it, you can even wear it to the
Winter Formal."

	Yeah, right, I thought. Dressed in a dress like that, I would
be attacked by every boy at the party, assuming I went. I planned to
be my old self by then, though, so it wouldn't be a problem.

	Before I knew it, I was embarking on my third week as a
girl. It was a week I dreaded as well, for Robbie had finally worked
up the courage to ask me out on a date. Reluctantly, I agreed to go to
the movies with him. When I told Darla and Jackie, they both grinned.

	"Now look," I protested, "don't start laughing at me."

	"We just thought it was about time," Darla said. "Jackie and I
have already been dating guys."

	"What?"

	"That's right," Jackie agreed. "I started dating Brian last
weekend, and Darla had a date with Kyle Morgan last Saturday." Kyle
Morgan was a big first string tackle on the football team. He was a
handsome black guy, about six three or so. I imagined he and Darla
made the proverbial "cute couple."

	"But why didn't I know about this?" I asked.

	"Well," Darla explained, "we haven't had a meeting of the
Former Boy's Club in a few days, and you were busy studying all last
weekend, so we didn't have a good opportunity to tell you."

	"What... what was it like?" I asked cautiously.

	"A little strange at first," Darla admitted. Then, with a
smile, "I guess it was a lot strange. I felt like a queer at first, a
big guy like Kyle putting his arm around me and all. But after awhile,
it felt okay."

	"Did he...?"

	"Kiss me? He sure did, honey. And it felt good, too. Now, stop
worrying. That's all we did. I still want to get back to being
Darren. I was just a little curious. Besides, he bought me a pizza and
took me to the movies. It was all free for me."

	"Anyhow, enjoy yourself," Jackie told me. "When are you going
out - Saturday?"

	"No, Friday," I replied. Saturday was the other day I
dreaded. It was my eighteenth birthday, and I was going to have to
celebrate it as a girl. I could imagine what I was going to get for
presents. At least Nancy would be there.

	Friday night went okay. I tried to think of Robbie as just a
friend and tried to think of myself as being Adam again. I was in
jeans for our date, so I thought I could keep up my Adam fantasy a
little better than if I had worn a skirt. Dinner wasn't part of the
plan, so Robbie and I went straight to the movies.

	Several new adventure films were just starting to come out,
and I expected Robbie to choose one of them. To my dismay, he picked
one that had been out for a few weeks called What Dreams May Come. It
was a romance about life after death. I had to admit, it was a pretty
good movie. I even found myself a little teary in spots. Damned
hormones.

	We went out for a Coke after the movie.

	"You know," Robbie said to me over our Cokes, "I really have
to thank you for getting me through Algebra. That B on the last couple
of quizzes is saving my bacon. Coach couldn't believe it. He even
congratulated me in front of the team last night after the game."

	I smiled at him. I was actually starting to like Robbie. He
treated me... well, like a lady. "I'm glad I could help," I told
him. I was, too. By helping him, I had been helping myself. Robbie got
his B on the last two quizzes, but I got the highest A in the class on
them.

	"Look," he said hesitantly, "How would you like to go to the
Winter Formal with me?"

	I was too stunned to answer right away. What was I going to
do? Then, I remembered that the night of the formal was the night all
of us were due to see Loretta. I guessed it wouldn't hurt to tell him
yes. If everything went as I hoped, I would be Adam again by that
night, and Robbie wouldn't even remember that Amanda had ever
existed. If I failed to regain my manhood, well... Who could say?
Maybe Amanda Sue James would need a shoulder to cry on then. Robbie's
was a good a shoulder as any.

	"Sure, Robbie," I replied with a happy smile I didn't really
feel. "I'd love to go with you."

	We talked for a while longer, mostly about Robbie's ambition
to play college football and go on to the pros. I knew a lot of it was
male bravado. I had played football with Robbie. He might be able to
play for a small college team, but he wasn't good enough to make it to
the pros.

	When he dropped me off, I let him kiss me. I really couldn't
think of anything else to do. Was I attracted to Robbie? Not really, I
thought as I got ready for bed, the taste of Robbie's chaste kiss
still on my lips.  I was relieved that I didn't really feel
anything. I didn't want to think about being attracted to a boy. After
all, I planned to be one again in about a month.



I was a little worried about Darla and Jackie, though. They seemed to
be getting into this girl stuff a lot more than I was. Darla could
probably handle Kyle, I realized. He was a real gentleman anyway. Of
course, if Darla made the moves, Kyle was bound to respond. Still, I
couldn't see her doing that. She was having fun playing at being a
girl, but I didn't think she would endanger her chance to return to
being both male and white.

	Jackie was another story, though. I could see her getting
involved with Brian. I'm sure that at first, she just batted those
long, thick eyelashes at him to get him to run for office with
her. But Brian was a good looking guy, though. Even as Adam, I had
known that. As Amanda, I had to ruefully admit to myself that I got a
little sexual tingle every time he smiled and looked at me with his
big brown eyes. Jackie was risking her masculinity, and I knew it.

	"How was your date, Little Sister?" Nancy asked, poking her
head in my room.

	"Okay," I said noncommittally as I slipped on my pajamas. "Why
aren't you out with Brad?"

	She sat down next to me on the bed. "I wasn't feeling well, so
I came home early," she told me. "My period is a little rough this
month."

	I winced at the thought of that. I had been a girl now for -
what? - two weeks. Some time in the next couple of weeks, I would have
to suffer through one of... those. I wasn't looking forward to it.

	"You sound as if Robbie isn't exactly the boy of your dreams,"
she commented.

	"There is no boy of my dreams," I told her. "Wait, that's not
true.  Adam James is the boy of my dreams. I want to be him."

	Nancy made a sympathetic face. "Has it really been that bad
for you?"

	That was a question that had been nagging at me for several
days. It was time for me to be honest about it with the one person I
was starting to trust with my true feelings. It was funny how close I
had become to Nancy since my change. "No, Nancy, it hasn't been that
bad. I actually like being a good student. It's made school a lot more
fun. I feel like I could do anything - be anything I wanted. It's a
great feeling. If I get back to being Adam, I'm going to do my best to
keep my grades up.  Even with my first three years of mediocre grades,
I might be able to get into some college and make something of
myself. I'll always be grateful that this experience opened my eyes to
new opportunities."

	Nancy was silent as I caught my breath and continued, "But as
for being a girl, it's just hard to get used to it. I feel as if I'm a
transvestite every time I put on a dress and heels, and I feel as if
I'm gay every time I'm with Robbie, particularly when I let him kiss
me. I guess I'm just not cut out to be a girl."

	"Fair enough," Nancy said. She gave me a sisterly hug. "For
what it's worth, though, I loved you as Adam and I love you as
Amanda. It's been really fun to have a sister, even for a little
while."

	I lay awake in bed for some time, just thinking about my
situation. I had a good chance of making straight A's, but there was
no guarantee.  Physics was touch and go, and I still had to make a
dress for Home Ec - something I had never done before. I found myself
wishing I could accept the part of Amanda the way Jackie and Darla had
accepted their roles.  Darla had even changed race and was coping
better than I. I had no doubt they would both change back to male when
and if they had the chance, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves
now. I wondered if Loretta was aware that her punishment had fallen a
little flat, at least with two of the three members of the Former
Boy's Club. Well, I thought, drifting asleep, two weeks down and five
to go.

				***

	That night, I had a new and unsettling experience. I had a
dream, but in the dream, I was Amanda for the first time instead of
Adam. I was at a party, and there was a boy there. He was with me, I
realized, as he gently put his hand around my waist. Music was
playing, loud and slow, and the room was fairly dark, accented with
colored lights. I had never seen the boy before, but he looked a
little like Nancy's boyfriend, Brad. The boy pulled me to him,
crushing my breasts against his body, and we slowly drifted around as
the music played. Over his shoulder, I could see Darla dancing with
Kyle and Jackie dancing with Brian, but both of them were busy
watching me, sly little smiles on their faces. I felt myself beginning
to smile back...

	"Happy Birthday, sweetheart!"

	The voices were a chorus, made up of my mother, father, and
Nancy. They laughed when they saw my sleepy reaction. Damn, I thought
to myself. I was going to have to celebrate my eighteenth birthday in
the body of a girl. The only good to come out of it was that I
wouldn't have to register with Selective Service. It wasn't exactly an
even trade.

	"Hurry down," my mom said. "We'll give you your presents over
breakfast."

	I don't know what I had really wanted for my birthday as
Adam. I had asked for a couple of computer games and three or four
CD's, but nothing like that was in evidence when I sat down to
breakfast. All of the packages were either way too large or way too
small.

	My Aunt Lynne struck again. She got me a dress that would have
made me look like a twelve year old. Of course, she had never been
able to buy for me when I was Adam either. I guessed some things never
changed.

	Nancy gave me an engraved ankle bracelet. It had my initials -
or at least my new initials - engraved on the side on a tiny
charm. "Thanks, Nancy," I said with a smile I didn't feel.

	"I thought you'd like it," she replied smoothly. There was no
grin on her lips, but there was one in her eyes.

	"Oh, I do! I just love it!" I said, the irony subtle enough
that only Nancy and I understood it. We gave each other a genuinely
sisterly smile then.

	My parents had gotten me a new dress - one which mom thought I
had pined over three weeks before. Of course, I hadn't been a girl
three weeks before, but she didn't know it. She also got me a new
makeup assortment. Oh goody. Just what I needed.

	And that was it - clothes, makeup and an ankle bracelet. What
a winning combination that was. I could have just cried, but everyone
(except maybe Nancy) would have only thought they were tears of
joy. Fat chance there.

	The other two members of the Former Boy's Club made it
worse. They showed up about noon with a birthday card for me. It
showed a well-muscled guy with a flat stomach and nice ass with the
caption of "We were going to get you this for your birthday..." on the
front.  Inside, the message said, "... but we wanted to try it out
first just to make sure it's safe!"

	"Gee, thanks, guys," I growled in the safety of my room as
they both smirked. I don't know what upset me more - the fact that
they would think to get me such a card or the fact that my brain had
somehow labeled the guy on the front as having a nice ass. That was
starting to bother me. When I had first been changed, I continued to
gaze at the girls whenever I could. Now, though, I found myself
looking more clinically at girls to determine how they did their hair
and makeup and what they wore. Guys, on the other hand... No, I didn't
want to think about it. Whether I wanted to or not, I was starting to
look at guys in a different way.

	"Oh, loosen up, Amanda," Darla said, looking at the dress from
my aunt with a critical eye. "How old does your aunt think you are,
anyway?"

	"You should see how she dresses my cousins," I groaned.

	"Well, this one is nice," Jackie said, holding up the dress my
parents had gotten me in front of the mirror. I had to admit, it was a
nice dress. It was sort of a dark green velvet-like material, very
short, and on Jackie, it would look sensational.

	"Look, what's with you guys?" I said in exasperation. "I
thought we were going to fight this transformation. You both act like
you'd rather stay this way."

	Jackie laughed, "Well, not really, but it isn't as bad as I
thought it would be. It's actually kind of fun to tease the guys and
make them follow you around with their tongues hanging out. Remember
Jed Marshall?"

	"Yeah," I said. "He was the guy who threatened to beat the
crap out of you last fall for coming on to his sister."

	"Well you should have seen him coming on to me yesterday,"
Jackie continued. "I thought he was going to pull it out in the school
cafeteria. He even asked me out tonight."

	"Are you going out with him?" I asked, planning on not being
surprised if she said yes.

	"Nope. Brian and I are going to the movies tonight. You want
to go, too? You could go with Robbie."

	"No," I said, admitting reluctantly, "I went to the movies
with him last night."

	"So you're Dating, too!" Darla chuckled.

	"It wasn't a date!" I protested. "I mean, it was, but there's
nothing... serious about it."

	"Well, maybe there's nothing serious about Jackie going to the
movies with Brian, or me going out with Kyle," Darla pointed
out. "Look, none of us are Catholic, so there's no reason to act like
nuns. Besides, none of us are going to do anything serious with these
guys if we want to get back to our male bodies again."

	"And you still want to be male again?" I asked uncertainly.

	"Of course," Darla said seriously.

	"Sure," Jackie added. Why was it that I thought Jackie was a
little slow to respond?

	After they had gone, I spent most of the day studying. I had a
major paper due in History, and I had a lot of math to catch up
on. Mom and Nancy went out with me to select material for the dress. I
was happy to have them along, for they had a good idea of material
that would look soft and feminine without being too difficult to work
on. I knew if I was to get my A, the dress would have to look sexy and
professionally made.

	We went out as a family to celebrate my birthday. Dad took us
to a nice restaurant with a continental atmosphere. That meant dresses
and heels, so I wore my new dress to please my parents. I had to
admit, it looked really great with my auburn hair.

	We had eaten early because Nancy had a date with Brad. She was
going to bring him over to meet with the entire family. When I had
been Adam, my parents and I had discussed that this guy looked like
the real thing for Nancy. Brad was all she could talk about. So we
were all looking forward to seeing him again. I figured he was very
likely to end up being my future brother-in-law. I only wished that I
could talk with him as his future brother-in-law instead of as his
future sister-in-law.

	None of us changed clothes when we got home. Nancy and Brad
were going to a dance at the local country club, so they would be
dressed up. We wanted to be, too, or at least my parents wanted
to. Me? I would have been happy to get out of the dress, but when in
Rome...

	When Brad came in, he looked really great. Of course, I hadn't
seen him before as a girl. Even though I hadn't been a girl very long,
I could tell that Brad was just about the most handsome guy that had
ever walked in our front door. He was about six two with wavy brown
hair and blues eyes that sparkled when he smiled, which was often. His
suit was well tailored and showed off an impressive physique. He was
charming as well.  When he saw me, he shook hands warmly, looking me
straight in the eye without so much as a curious glance at my
breasts. I found myself thinking Nancy was a lucky girl.

	"Why don't you turn off your car and come in for a few
minutes?" my father asked, gesturing at Brad's car which was still
running in the driveway.

	"Thanks, but I can't," he said. "My brother, Steve, is out in
the car.  We had dinner with some old family friends tonight, and I'm
going to drop him off over at my grandmother's house on the way to the
party."

	"I think my family would love to meet Steve," my sister said
suddenly.  There was a twinkle in her eye. What was she up to? I
wondered.

	I knew what she was up to the minute I saw Steve. He was
wearing a suit like his brother's and nearly as good looking as Brad
and equally charming. He was also about my age. And he... Alarm bells
began going off in my head. My sister was matchmaking!

	"Say," she said offhandedly, "why don't Steve and Amanda both
come with us to the dance?"

	Things moved in slow motion for a moment. I was ready to
protest. I was about to tell them that I had a pile of studying to do
(and I did), but before I could say it, Steve looked at me and smiled,
his blue eyes as easy to get lost in as his brother's. "I'd be pleased
to escort you tonight, Amanda, if you'd allow me to."

	I had never considered myself a romantic, either male or
female, but I suddenly felt a warmth in my breasts. No one had ever
said anything so... so... charming to me in my entire life. I couldn't
say no. It just wouldn't be polite to say no.

	"Well, what do you say, Little Sister?"

	"Uh... sure, I'd love to go," I said more awkwardly than I
would have liked. "I just need a minute to... to... freshen up." I
gave him a smile which must have made me look like the village
idiot. I hoped my face wasn't turning red, but I was sure it was.

	Nancy followed me upstairs. "This is great!" she gushed. "We
get to go out as sisters on a double date. Wouldn't it be something if
you liked Steve as much as I like Brad? Can't you just imagine - "

	Nancy, slow down!" I ordered when we were in the bathroom.
Unconsciously, I pulled a lipstick out of my purse and freshened my
lips for the first time since dinner. "I'm not going to marry the
guy. I just met him. And besides, you and Brad set this up, didn't
you?"

	"Well..."

	"You did set this up!" I said triumphantly. "I told you I
wasn't interested in guys."

	"No, you just said there wasn't any boy of your dreams," she
pointed out. "And specifically, you said Robbie wasn't the boy of your
dreams. I just thought it was time you met someone who wasn't a
second-stringer in the game of life."

	"You mean Steve."

	She smiled. "He's really cute, isn't he?"

	I was silent.

	"Come on, Amanda," she coaxed. "Admit it now. He's cute, isn't
he?"

	"I guess so," I replied reluctantly. Okay, I said to myself,
he's cute.  He's really cute. He's really, really, really... oh, hell!

	"Then come on," she said, taking me by the arm. "Let's go have
some fun."
	
	It was fun, too - there was no denying that. Steve was
everything that Robbie wasn't. Robbie wasn't so bad, but he lacked
style. Steve had style. He was an accomplished conversationalist, a
great dancer, and cute as cute could be. All right, I had to admit to
myself. I was beginning to find boys attractive. I supposed it was
unavoidable. I had all the right hormones and plumbing to find boys
attractive. It had just taken a little time for it to seep through my
brain.

	Talking with Steve was easy. He seemed to be interested in
everything.  He was an A student and seemed genuinely pleased that I
was, too.  "Beauty and brains," he commented with a smile that could
melt lead.

	I blushed at the compliment. I had noticed since becoming a
girl that many boys were intimidated by smart girls. That had been
fine with me.  I wanted them intimidated. But for some reason, I
didn't want to intimidate Steve. I wanted him to like me. Apparently,
he did.

	I had never danced with a boy either, and I'm sure I must have
been awkward at first, but I got the hang of moving backward on high
heels. I was just glad he had his arm firmly around my waist - to keep
me from falling, that is. Well, that's not really true, I realized. I
just liked having his arm around me.

	When Brad and Steve dropped Nancy and me off at the house, I
found I was disappointed to find the evening at an end. Brad and Nancy
stopped by the front door and melded into a close embrace. That left
Steve and me a few paces behind, holding hands. I began to feel a
gentle tug from Steve. I suddenly realized the next move would be up
to me. I turned toward him, ready to give him the old sisterly kiss,
but I found in that instant that I wanted to give him more. I pressed
against him, kissing him warmly. There was a tingling in my nipples
that threatened to become intense, but I didn't care. I put my arms
around his neck and pressed him closer.

	The spell was broken when I heard Brad tell Nancy good night.
Reluctantly, I stepped back from Steve. "I had a terrific time," I
breathed softly.

	He gave me another award-winning smile. "So did I."

	And then, they drove away.

	"Well, Little Sister," Nancy said as we made our way to our
rooms, "I assume you liked Steve."

	"You assume correctly," I said with a smile. "I guess I
forgive you for setting that date up."

	I was still smiling as I got into bed. I wondered when Nancy
had come up with the plan to have me date Steve. My smile suddenly
disappeared.  Nancy had said she was part of a witch's coven, but I
had seen no evidence of any powers on her part, unless... Was it
possible that she had cast a spell on me to cause me to be attracted
to Steve?

	And what about my initial transformation? Now that I thought
of it, how did she know about it? She had walked into my room that
first night already knowing that I had been transformed. Wasn't it
terribly convenient that my sister was part of a coven led by a woman
who transformed me and my friends into girls? But no, that didn't make
sense. After all, Nancy had warned me not to go up to the Bancroft
place. Why would she warn me unless she wanted to keep me from getting
into trouble?

	I sighed. It was all so confusing. I would have to sort it all
out later. Now, it was time to sleep, so I drifted off to sleep
thinking pleasant thoughts about my wonderful evening with Steve.




The next week started out great. I went to school on Monday still
thinking about Steve. He had called me on Sunday and we had talked
about... well, about everything. When we finally hung up, I realized
we had talked for over an hour - yet it had seemed much shorter. The
great news was that he and his family were going to be at his
grandmother's for Thanksgiving. He wanted to see me again! We agreed
to get together on Friday after lunch and spend the afternoon (and
possibly the evening) together. That had me in a happy mood on
Monday. I had a short school week to look forward to, followed by
Thanksgiving, and then a day with Steve. What could be better? I
realized my thoughts about Steve were as girlish as girlish could be,
but I didn't care. Maybe Darla and Jackie were right. It was time for
me to loosen up a little and enjoy a brief girlhood. After all, if
things went well - and they seemed to be going well - I would be male
again shortly. Then, I would wonder what I ever saw in Steve, so I
might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

	Things were going well for Darla and Jackie as well. Darla's
performance off the bench had earned her a starting assignment in
Saturday's game. That meant she would officially meet the first
requirement Loretta had given her. As for the second - avoidance of
sex - she seemed to be able to hold Kyle at arm's length when she need
to. I had to say Darla was well on her way to being Darren again.

	As for Jackie, the election was the Tuesday before
Thanksgiving, and the Party Party rolled over its opponents. Brian and
Jackie both won their elections, with Jackie trailing Brian's total by
only a handful of votes. Jackie had become a very popular girl, and
there was already talk that she would be tapped to be the chairperson
for the Spring Formal.  Although there was no way of telling for
certain, I was sure Jackie had met the first requirement for her
re-conversion into Jack. My only worry was the second requirement. She
and Brian were practically inseparable.  They had become so close that
it was almost as if they were the same person. I was very concerned
that they would consummate their relationship before we had a chance
to change back. I didn't want to see the Former Boy's Club broken up
when it became the Boy's Club again.

	As for me, my grades continued to improve. I was beginning to
feel as if I would get those straight A's. All I needed to do was
continue to keep my nose to the grindstone and do a decent job on that
dress for Home Ec and I would be there. As for the second requirement,
no problem.  After an evening with Steve, Robbie was strictly second
rate. I spent the week avoiding him as much as possible. My tutoring
sessions with him had ended, as he seemed to have caught up in
Algebra. I spent most of the week lying low. Whenever, I would see
him, I'd either make sure I was in a larger group or duck into an
office or classroom.

	Wednesday morning, that was how I ended up in the counselor's
office again.

	"Amanda, I've been meaning to set up a meeting with you,"
Mrs. Gibson called cheerfully.

	The last time I had ducked into the counselor's office, it had
been to avoid Cindy Sellers when I was still Adam. Now, ironically, I
was in her office again, this time to avoid Robbie. Whoever said the
more things change, the more they stay the same may have been right.

	"I've been reviewing your transcript," she said with a
smile. "It looks like you have a great chance at being Valedictorian
this year."

	I did? I hadn't even thought of that possibility. This was
certainly a change from the last time I had ducked into Mrs. Gibson's
office, I told myself. Instead of being told I was the poster child
for underachievement, I was being touted as the top student in my
class.

	"Have you given any thought to where you'll be going to
college?"

	As Adam, she had recommended that I forget college and learn a
trade.  Now it seemed the sky was the limit. "Not really," I said
honestly.

	"Well, you should start thinking about it," she told me. "Many
of the best schools fill up fast."

	"I don't know that my parents could afford to send me to any
of the best schools," I replied honestly.

	"Well, they are expensive," she admitted, "and there are
always a lot more good athletic scholarships than scholastic ones, but
with your record, I think you can get a good one. For that matter,
there are several scholarships at the University of Missouri that
would pay a significant share of your costs. It's a state university,
but it's a very good one."

	We talked for awhile, and the more we talked, the more excited
I got. I had an opportunity to go to college and be anything I wanted
to be. What would I be? A doctor? A lawyer? I could be anything, I
realized as I walked proudly out of her office. I could...

	No, I couldn't, I realized sadly. When I returned to being
Adam, I would inherit my old grade point. Oh, I had learned my lesson,
and my grades senior year as Adam would be good, but not good enough
to get into the college of my choice, or good enough to earn a
valuable scholarship. No, the only way I could catch the brass ring
was to remain in skirts, and even the promise of an impressive
academic career wouldn't be enough to dissuade me from returning to my
male self.

	I felt a little sick by noon and thought that it was just my
realization that in a few weeks, the sky wouldn't be the limit
anymore, but it was more than that. I was really getting to be
physically sick.  As the day wore on, I began to feel worse, with
cramping and a throbbing pain in my right side. Fortunately, classes
were out early. Darla and Jackie were going to hang around with Kyle
and Brian, so I took the bus home. As I walked to my house, I began to
feel worse and worse.

	Fortunately, Nancy was in the living room when I walked
in. She looked at me with alarm. "My god, Amanda, what's wrong?"

	"I don't know," I replied. "I feel awful."

	She took me to the bathroom and told me to sit on the
toilet. As I weakly sat and peeled off my panties, I was suddenly
alarmed by a dark bloody stain on them. I nearly panicked until I
realized what it meant.  "Nancy," I called nearly crying. "You've got
to help me. I'm having my period!"

	"You're being such a baby," she commented as she entered the
bathroom with a box of Tampax. "I told you about periods."

	She had, too, but she hadn't mentioned that I would feel so
crappy. My abdomen was cramping, and I felt like I had a nasty case of
the flu. She went over again how to apply the "sanitary napkin." God,
what a terrible name for it.

	"Do I have to wear this?" I whined.

	"Well, I could get you a Tampon, but they're a little
evasive. I don't think you'd care much for one right now," she
explained. "By the way, there's a bottle of Midol in the medicine
cabinet. It might make you feel a little more human."

	She was right, it did. Still, I went to bed feeling
crummy. Nancy insisted I change the napkin since, in her words, I was
starting "the heaviest flow." If I had ever harbored any thoughts
about remaining as a girl, my first period was enough to change my
mind. I managed to fall into an uncomfortable sleep while praying for
a quick and merciful death.

	I was feeling considerably better by morning. I managed to
stumble down for a glass of juice and some cereal. Mom was already
starting the Thanksgiving turkey, and Nancy was helping.

	"You don't know how luck you are," Nancy said quietly while
mom was out of the room. "If she wasn't feeling sorry for you with
your period, you'd be in here helping, too."

	Oh yes, I realized. Making Thanksgiving dinner was women's
work while the men sat around the TV and watched football. That was
another good reason to run back to masculinity as quickly as my
shapely legs could carry me.

	"You'd better get dressed," mom told me. "The family will be
here shortly." Thanksgiving was one of those big family holidays at
our house. Aunt Lynne and Uncle Dan would be in from St Joe with their
two kids, and my grandparents would be there. "And, Amanda, wear that
dress your aunt got you for your birthday."

	The indignities seemed unending, I thought. First, I was
having my period. Next, I would have to help cook while all my male
relatives were having a good time. And now, I would have to wear that
horrible white dress with white lace that made me look like Alice in
Wonderland's best friend.

	"I can't wear this," I grumbled to Nancy.

	"You don't have a choice," she said. "Try it with white hose
and that pair of one inch winter white pumps in your closet. It won't
look too bad."

	She was right, it didn't, but I still felt like a twelve year
old in it.

	I had to admit, the day wasn't as bad as I thought it would
be. First, I started feeling better. With a little bit of Midol in my
system, my period was actually becoming tolerable. Next, I found the
skills I had gained in Home Ec actually made working in the kitchen
almost fun. I had never realized how creative cooking could
be. Besides, I remembered the old family tradition that the women
cooked, but the men cleaned up. I was looking forward to relaxing with
my female relatives while the men cleaned up.

	It was also the first time I had been required to interact
with many of my relatives as a girl. I found it wasn't so hard. Aunt
Lynne was actually fun to be around, in spite of her poor taste in
clothes. My grandmother proved to be a bit saltier than I had realized
when just we girls were around. The only negative side of the coin was
that my two cousins, one twelve and the other ten and both boys,
weren't intimidated by me as Amanda. As Adam, I had always had them
cowed.

	After all the relatives left, I dragged myself back to my
room. I thought maybe I could sleep through the rest of my period. It
wasn't to be, though. I got into my pajamas and was just getting ready
for bed when my phone rang. Yes, my phone. That was one of the
advantages of being a girl, I guessed. I got my own private phone.

	"Amanda?" a very tired Jackie asked.

	"Yeah. What's wrong?"

	"I'm dying." I knew the problem. It made sense. We all became
girls at the same time, so our cycles were probably about the same.

	"I know the feeling," I told her.

	"You know what's funny about it?"

	I didn't think there was anything funny about it, but I asked,
"What?"

	"I'm hornier than a hoot owl."

	"Jackie!"

	"Oh, don't be such a prude, Amanda. You weren't this prudish
when you were a guy."

	No, I wasn't, I realized. I think I had subconsciously decided
that getting my straight A's would take too much time and effort to be
diverted by an active social life. Of course, if I ever wanted to be
male again, sex in this body was out of the question. "I'm not a
prude.  I just don't want to... to get involved."

	"I don't blame you," she said. "Robbie's a putz. Why don't you
find another guy? Live a little before you go back to being Adam."

	We talked for a little longer, but I wasn't really
listening. I was too busy thinking about what she had said. We finally
agreed to meet Saturday morning, and I hung up.

	Come to think of it, Robbie really was a putz. He hadn't been
that good a friend when I was Adam, so why had I agreed to date him? I
supposed the real reason was that he made a good excuse. That's right,
Amanda, he's an excuse. When I was with Robbie, I appeared to be in a
normal boy-girl relationship. That meant all the other boys would stay
back.  Don't bother asking Amanda - she's going with Robbie. It was a
reasonable match, too. Robbie was athletic, made decent grades -
especially after my help in Algebra - and was probably considered a
pretty decent catch. When I was with him, he was always on his best
behavior. I had to admit, he wasn't a bad looking guy. The problem was
that there was just no spark. When I looked at Robbie, I saw just a
friend, and not a particularly good one at that.

	The phone rang again. I figured it was Darla. Jackie had said
that she was breezing through her period. She was probably calling up
to razz me about mine.

	"Yeah," I practically growled into the phone.

	There was a moment of silence - then, "Amanda?"

	Oh god, it was Steve! "Steve, I'm sorry. I thought it was
someone else.  Please forgive me." Why was I being so damned
obsequious? Please forgive me, master!

	"Oh, I'm sorry to be calling you this late."

	"It's not late," I said sweetly.

	"I just wanted to see what time you wanted to go out
tomorrow."

	I felt like hell and almost told him not to come over, but I
figured I would feel better after a full night's sleep. We finally
agreed on noon.  That would give me time to sleep in. Then, we talked
for another half hour. We talked about nothing in particular, but it
was fun. When I hung up, I felt better than I had felt all day.

	It was a good thing Steve wasn't in high school with me, I
realized soberly. I was really starting to like him. I guess part of
it was that I had never known him as Adam, so I didn't have that
baggage to carry around. I only saw him as a girl would see him, and I
had to describe him as cute and sweet.

	Nancy would probably marry his brother. That meant when I got
back to being Adam, Steve would be her brother-in-law, and I'd
probably have to know him as a male. That bothered me. I was really
attracted to Steve.  He was everything in my mind that Robbie
wasn't. I didn't have a gay bone in my body, so what was I going to do
when I knew him as Adam? It was going to be as difficult to see him
from the male perspective as it had been to see all my old high school
friends from the female one.
	
To hell with it, I though as I began to drift off to sleep. I'd solve
that problem when it happened. In the mean time, I would have a great
time as a girl with Steven. It might be the last time I had a chance.

				***

	"Going somewhere?"

	My sister was smirking at me as I was applying eyeliner
carefully to my eyes. I was dressed in a burgundy cropped pullover and
a pair of jeans that fit snuggly against my trim waist. I had on a
pair of low cut black boots with a two inch heel. The necklace I wore
seemed to draw the eye down to my considerable breasts. In short, I
looked hot.

	"Just going to hang out with Steve for the afternoon," I said
casually.

	"You've spent more time in this bathroom today than you do
getting ready for church," she commented. "So what do you think of
Steve?"

	"He's nice," I said as matter-of-factly as I could, putting
down the eyeliner and starting on my lips.

	"Just nice?"

	I turned to her. "Aren't we the little matchmaker today?"

	"If you like him enough to do all this for him, maybe you
should stay as Amanda," she said. "It wouldn't be that hard. Just
screw up that dress you've been working on and you'll get a B in Home
Ec. Then, you can have Steve forever."

	The thought had crossed my mind, and it wasn't an unpleasant
thought.  What would it be like, I wondered, to be a girl forever? I
mean, being Amanda and being with Steve sounded like a decent lifetime
plan. I could visualize the two of us, still together a decade in the
future. We would both be young professionals, our lives filled with
interesting work, a nice house, children, and - most importantly -
each other. When I thought of it like that, it didn't seem to be a bad
fate. What was the alternative? I could be Adam again with limited
prospects, no girl friend, and have to look at my sister's
brother-in-law and wonder what might have been. No, I had to stop
thinking of that. But I couldn't.

	Steve was right on time. He really looked sharp in jeans and a
leather bomber jacket. I promised myself that if I got back to being
Adam again, I'd get a jacket just like it. Adam thoughts took a back
seat, though, because the first thing he did when he saw me was put an
arm around me and pull me toward him into a strong kiss. I should have
objected; I should have pulled away. I didn't, though. My arms moved
almost involuntarily around him as I lost myself in the kiss.

	Would it be so bad to be Amanda forever? No, I thought
dreamily as we held each other. It wouldn't be bad at all. As we
embraced, I began to feel a nagging sensation in my nipples and
between my legs. I had never experienced anything quite like it, even
that first night as a girl when I experimentally touched myself. What
would it be like? I wondered in those moments. What would it be like
to be lying on my back, my legs spread, a wet, hot sensation between
them, waiting for someone like Steve... No, not just someone like
Steve. Waiting for Steve to plunge into me. What would it be like?

	"Where would you like to go?" he asked softly when we had
finished our kiss.

	"Well, we could go into Kansas City for the afternoon," I
suggested.  "It's a nice day. We could go over to the Plaza and see
all the Christmas decorations."

	"Great," he agreed. "You'll have to tell me how to get there."

	The Plaza bills itself as the oldest shopping center in the
country. I don't know about that, but it is one of the
prettiest. Unlike modern malls, it is actually several blocks of shops
whose appearance is very Mediterranean. Surrounded by fountains and
parks, it is a beautiful summer sight. In the winter, its Christmas
decorations are incredible.

	We spent the afternoon together, walking briskly in the cool
winter air from store to store, stopping occasionally to get something
to drink or to do a little Christmas shopping. It was a magical
afternoon, made more fantastic as the winter sun began to set and the
thousands of white lights around the Plaza came on. As we finished our
afternoon, we stopped at Annie Santa Fe's for dinner, then walked
slowly back to the car, holding each other closely - not so much for
warmth as for companionship. In that moment, I realized to myself, if
Loretta had appeared in front of me and said, "You must change back
now or remain Amanda forever," I would have gladly remained as I
was. I was content to be a girl - Steve's girl - forever.



"You're quiet," Steve observed as we drove home in the winter
darkness.

	"Just thinking," I said softly. And I was. I was thinking of
my life and what a hash I had made of it as Adam. I was thinking about
what Loretta would say if I told her I wanted to remain as Amanda. I
was thinking about what the other two members of the Former Boy's Club
would say. For that matter, would Loretta allow me to remain? She
hadn't meant for my transformation to be a reward - it was supposed to
be a punishment.

	Maybe if I... I... had sex with Steve, then I would have no
choice but to remain a girl. I would have failed one of the
conditions. No, I thought, even that wasn't possible. I was still
having my period.  Granted, it had slowed down to a trickle, but it
was still there. I remembered as Adam all the gross stories we told
each other about guys having sex with girls while they were still "on
the rag." It didn't sound pleasant, and as stupid as it seemed, I
wanted my first time as a girl to be very pleasant.

	We had agreed to go to a movie that evening, but Steve wanted
to drop by his grandmother's house first. "She lives alone," he
explained as we drove into Millikin, "and she really doesn't get along
with my dad. She says he's too much like his own father. My
grandparents have been divorced for years, so my grandmother doesn't
like to be reminded of him."

	"She sounds like a strong willed woman," I commented.

	"Oh, she is that," he agreed. "Wait until you meet her."

	I began to have a bad feeling - women's intuition? - as we
entered his grandmother's neighborhood. It was in an older part of
Millikin, but it was a part of town with which I had become recently
very familiar. It couldn't be, I told myself. There were a lot of old
houses in the neighborhood. It didn't have to be that one, but it was:
the Bancroft Mansion.

	Steve's grandmother was Loretta Bancroft.

	"Are you all right?" Steve asked as we stopped in front of the
large, looming house.

	"Oh... yes," I managed. I had to act normal. It was possible -
no probable - that Steve didn't know who I really was. Then again,
maybe he did. But if he did know, why had he brought me over to meet
her? My heart practically stopped as I looked at the house. Maybe he
did know she was a witch, and maybe he had brought me to see her so
she could lay an additional spell on me - maybe a love spell so I
would do anything he asked.

	"Then let's go," he said, getting out of the car. "I've told
her so much about you."

	I suspected she knew a lot more about me than Steve could ever
tell her. Reluctantly, I took his hand when he came around the car to
get me.  I felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter, but what
choice did I have? If I ran, Loretta could surely catch me. Besides,
what effect would running out on her grandson have on my chances of
returning to my old life.

	"Granny, it's me, Steve," he called, pulling me inside the
house. "I've got someone with me I'd like you to meet."

	"Hello, Steven." The voice came from a small study off the
main hall. I was sure there had been no one there a moment
earlier. The voice was older than the voice I remembered from
Halloween night. As she stepped out of the shadows, I could see it was
certainly Loretta, but she looked much older now. When I had met her
the night of my transformation, she had appeared to be about the age
of my mother. Now, she was perhaps twenty years older from all
appearances. Her hair was gray, and her skin bore small wrinkles. She
moved more slowly as well, but in spite of the addition of twenty
years, she still carried herself with the bearing of an important
woman.

	"Granny, this is Amanda James. She's Nancy's sister."

	Loretta smiled. "I'm Loretta Bancroft - Brad and Steve's
grandmother," she said in a friendly tone as if she had never seen me
before in her life. "I'm so pleased to meet you. I've heard so much
about you from your sister and Steve."

	I'll just bet she had. I had been set up. It was as simple as
that. It was Loretta who had transformed me into the girl I now was,
and she had pla