“I don’t know man. I just don’t know how to talk to girls. I get so nervous,” Zach admitted.

“C’mon dude. Girls are easy. I don’t see how you can’t talk to them. You go up to them, tell them they’re pretty, and boom you got them hook line and sinker,” Liam stated. “You just have to be more confident.”

Zach and Liam were hanging out at Zach’s house on a lazy Saturday afternoon. The two were long time friends and fellow teammates on their school basketball team. They had just entered their third year of high school, so as with most conversations between guys their age, their talks had shifted to the topic of girls.

“I guess so,” Zach agreed quietly. Of course he had a reason for being nervous around girls. He knew some girls had magic like his mom, enchantresses. Not just that, but girls always seemed so mysterious with their whole feminine mystic. Maybe it was just him, but it always felt like all girls were in the know of some secret that they didn’t want to tell you.

“You guess so?” Liam asked sarcastically. He rubbed at the nearly translucent blonde stubble on his chin. He had bragged for weeks when he finally started to get facial hair growing in last year. Blonde headed guys always had it tough in the facial hair department. “Everyone knows girls love when guys show a lot of confidence.”

“So I just need to magically make myself more confident?”

“That would be nice…” he paused briefly, an odd look coming over his face. “I might have an idea. How about you practice?”

“Practice what?” Zach asked.

“Practice talking to a girl.”

Zach furrowed his brow, “Do you just happen to have a girl on standby I can practice with?”

“Um…” Liam hesitated, “You can just pretend that I’m a girl. How would you talk to me if I was one?”

“That’s not going to work man. You’re not a girl. You’re my friend.”

“Just try doofus. I’d only do something like this for you,” Liam said, standing in front of Zach sheepishly before clearing his throat, “Hi. I’m Leah. What’s your name?” Liam said, getting into character.

Zach rolled his eyes, “I’m Zach.”

“It’s nice to meet you Zach,” Liam smiled brightly and did the finger wave that girls always do. “So do you have a girlfriend?”

“No, and my friends never fail to remind me of that either,” Zach said sarcastically, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

Liam chuckled cutely, and ran his hand through his short blonde hair. As he did so, his hair miraculously grew longer until it fell just above his shoulders. His bangs fell in front of his face, all the way down to his mouth. He stood silently, confusion plastered on his face, “Uh… did something just happen to my hair?”

Zach’s eyes were wide with surprise. This could only be due to one thing. His mother. Where was she? Was she listening to their conversation? Zach glanced over at the closed door of his bedroom wondering if his mom was directly on the other side. If she was eavesdropping, then Zach had a guess as to what was happening, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“My hair just got longer. I’m not going crazy right? Do you see this Zach?” Liam asked again.

“Uh yeah,” Zach stated in a panic, unsure of what to say.

“Weird,” Liam said, tossing his hair out of his face, and brushing it over his ear. He looked at Zach meekly, “Does it look okay?”

“Sure. Yeah it looks good,” Zach said, half paying attention. His eyes were darting between his friend and the door to his room.

“That’s good at least,” Liam sighed with relief. “As long as it doesn’t look bad it should be fine. I guess my hair was just longer than I thought it was. I was going to get it cut tomorrow anyway. So where were we?” Liam questioned, scratching his head and resting his other hand firmly on the back of his hip. “Oh right! You don’t have a girlfriend. That’s actually really surprising to me. I totally would have thought you had one.”

Zach was drawn back into the conversation by his friend’s words, “Why would you think that?”

Liam blushed slightly, “Oh it’s just that you’re a really nice guy. You’re honest and sweet. Girls love that kind of stuff in a guy.” Without him realizing it, Liam’s t-shirt was shrinking and tightening around his upper body as the sleeves drew up to become the straps of a tank top.

“T-That’s really nice of you to say.” Zach said, trying not to focus on the changes. He knew they could be reversed, and maybe his mom wasn’t going to take things all the way. He knew she liked giving people the “female experience” as she called it. It was kind of her thing.

There was only one instance that Zach knew of where one of those changes had been permanent. Six years ago, his friend Matt, who had been a bit of a troublemaker (borderline delinquent), had been turned into a sixteen year old female babysitter named Mattie. Unfortunately, his mom had been so impressed with Mattie’s work as a babysitter, the change stuck. His mom paid a visit to Mattie’s parents to explain to them that their ten-year-old son was now their sixteen-year-old daughter. With a little of her magic and enchanting charisma, she easily convinced them that their new extremely responsible and well-behaved daughter was far better than the troublesome boy Matt had been. So Zach lost a friend and gained a new babysitter for two years until Mattie graduated from high school. Zach was friends with her on Facebook still. Apparently she was finishing up nursing school at a big university somewhere and had already gotten engaged to some guy. Zach winced at the thought of something similar happening to Liam.

“Earth to Zach,” Liam said, waving his hand in front of Zach’s face. “Man you really are bad at talking to girls. Do you space out like this all the time?”

“What? No. Not all the time. I only space out like this in very specific circumstances,” Zach said, exhaling deeply.

“Ooh. Very specific circumstances huh? How mysterious. Guys with mysterious sides are pretty popular with the ladies you know,” Liam said, twirling his hair around his finger absent-mindedly.

“I don’t know if I have a mysterious side, but things can definitely get weird around me sometimes.”

“Weird in what way?”

“Oh I don’t know,” Zach raised his voice so his mother could clearly hear it if she was standing outside his door. “Maybe it’s just my family? My mom likes to get all in my business and work her weird mom magic around everything all the time.”

Liam groaned, “I totally know what you mean.” He took on more feminine mannerisms as he spoke, gesturing flamboyantly with his hand. Zach quietly observed as a couple of Liam’s now manicured fingernails were magically being colored in with a purple polish. “My parents are such control freaks and they always try to embarrass me around my friends. Anytime I go on a date, they never stop teasing me,” Liam continued.

“How many dates have you been on?” Zach asked out of genuine curiosity.

“Six since the start of this year,” Liam beamed proudly.

“Six dates and you still don’t have a long term girlfriend?”

“Boyfriend,” Liam corrected before adding. “Remember, you’re talking to Leah right now.” He struck an impressively girly pose to prove the point, but immediately seemed to get embarrassed about it. He tried to shove his hands in his pockets awkwardly, but his fingers were forced to an abrupt halt partway in. “What the heck?”

They both looked down at Liam’s blue jeans, which had tightened considerably from the classic cut he had been wearing. The pockets were virtually non-existent, taking on the characteristics of the pockets found in girl’s jeans.

“W-wait a second,” Liam said slowly, just now noticing the swoop necked tank top he now wore in place of his t-shirt. “What is…”

“Who wants cookies?” Zach’s mom interrupted as she barged through the bedroom door, startling the both of them. The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted in with her. She sat down the plate of cookies on Zach’s desk and placed two glasses of milk next to it. “They just got out of the oven, so eat them while their hot.”

Liam blinked confusedly before finally finding his words, “O-Oh. Thanks Ms. Lindsay. Homemade chocolate chip cookies are my favorite.”

“I know. That’s why I made them. Any time you come over to spend time with Zach is my excuse to make them since I know they’ll get eaten up and I won’t eat all of them myself,” she said, taking one of the cookies off of the tray and taking a bite. She put on an expression of mock guilt.

Lindsay Sterling was a beautiful woman in her middling ages that never seemed to actually show it. She had the slim figure of someone half her age that filled out a simple yet sophisticated black sundress. Her wavy reddish-brown hair fell around her shoulders effortlessly.

Zach was glaring lasers at his mother. When she caught eye of him, she winked knowingly.

“Mom,” Zach said sternly. “Please stop.”

“Stop what sweetheart? I can’t make cookies for you and your friend?”

Zach shook his head, “You know what I mean,” he nodded toward Liam, who was looking between the two of them, obviously oblivious of what they were talking about.

Lindsay’s gaze drifted back over to Liam before her eyes went wide with realization, “Oh Leah! I’m so sorry. I should have said something. I love your hair. It’s so beautiful.”

Liam was taken aback, startled by being referred to as Leah by Zach’s mother outside of the context of the two friend’s little roleplay scenario. “Oh. Um, thanks? It’s long now,” he said dumbly, still baffled about the current length of his hair as he combed his fingers through it. “Zach said it looked good though,” he added shyly.

“Well it does. It seems my son has great taste,” she said with a mischievous smile. “But I think I know what would make it look really good.”

“What?” he asked tentatively.

“Sit down in front of me and let me show you. You can let me know if you like it or not," she said, motioning to the floor in front of her as she sat down in small chair in the corner of the room.

Liam looked apprehensive, but complied as he knelt down on his knees in front of Zach’s mother, presenting the length of his hair and the smooth skin of his bare shoulders.

“Mom I know what you’re doing. Can you please just be normal and let me hang out with my friend without doing something weird?” Zach pleaded.

“Oh hush. You’re just jealous because you don’t have long hair like us,” Lindsay said teasingly as she ran a brush through Liam’s hair.

Liam let out a small uncharacteristic giggle at the comment. His eyes were closed and his mouth was settled in a calm smile, for all intents and purposes, he seemed to be enjoying the scalp massage that Zach’s mother was providing.

“Besides, I just so happened to catch wind of what you two were talking about up here.”

“Yeah, I was trying to teach Zach how to talk to girls. He gets so nervous around them for some reason,” Liam said quietly, letting his head tilt back along with the soothing strokes of the brush.

“Oh I heard. I must admit I wasn’t too impressed with the initial advice that was given. There is far more to it than just simply telling a girl she is pretty.”

Liam blinked his eyes open lazily and looked up at Ms. Lindsay, “But that always worked to get me dates.”

Lindsay smiled down at the feminizing boy in front of her, “It may work to get dates now, but you’re young. You still have a lot to learn about women.” She continued to brush out his hair, causing his hair to grow out even further past his shoulders and cascade down to his mid back.

Zach for his part was kind of entranced by the bizarre seen in front of him. His mother had a strange way of soothing your senses, but he’d like to think he’d grown immune to her shenanigans over the years. His immunity still didn’t help how weird this all looked.

Liam was wearing a tight fitting yellow tank top that actually still seemed to be in the process of shrinking, now revealing a sliver of pale skin just above the waistline of his tightening jeans. The jeans themselves looked to be something more akin to skinny jeans now, providing less and less room for his friend’s poor family jewels. His hands rested gently on his thighs, showing every manicured nail now glinting with a purple glossy paint. The ring finger on each hand was painted differently with an intricate flower design.

The craziest looking thing were the long blonde locks that fell down his back. He seemed halfway oblivious and cognizant of the changes, which made the casual banter he was having with Zach’s mother while she brushed out his hair all the more outlandish. The worst part was there wasn’t anything that Zach could do about it. His mom seemed to have something in mind, and when she gets stuck on an idea, she doesn’t let it go. The only thing Zach could do now was wait it out and see where this all went. If he was being honest, he was kind of interested in what his mother was saying.

She continued smoothly, “So tell me. With how you feel right now as Leah, would you have a different approach in mind?”

“The things that guys always tell other guys to do is to be assertive and confident when,” he paused briefly, “they approach a girl.”

Lindsay nodded, “Being confident is a good thing, but of course there is far more to interactions than just coming on strong for a date. But I don’t believe I asked what other guys say to do, I asked what Leah thought.”

Liam closed his eyes again, considering his answer. “I think a casual approach would be best I guess,” he shrugged. “If a guy comes on too strong, it might feel abrasive. Most girls can probably sense false bravado so the boy might seem disingenuous. But if a guy is too timid like Zach, then girls will be more inclined to overlook them.”

“Hey!” Zach cut in. “I’m not too timid.”

“No. Leah has a point.” She patted Liam on the shoulder gently and set down the brush. “That was a much better answer. You’re learning,” she said softly in Liam’s ear.

Liam smiled at the compliment and let his head fall back into Lindsay’s hands as she pulled his hair to one side and over the front of his shoulder so that it lay against his right pectoral. She got a cookie from the plate and tapped Liam on the shoulder to offer it to him. “While they’re warm,” she said. He took it gratefully, his eyes still closed as he took a bite. She tossed one to her son as well which he caught. Their eyes locked in a staring contest of sorts. Zach’s a questioning look, his mother’s was mischievous yet wise.

She procured some lotion from out of nowhere and applied it to her slender hands before turning her attention back down to Liam. She began working it into his shoulders, massaging down his arms and around his neck. The scent of flowers wafted around the room, mixing with the sweet smell of the cookies. Liam moaned softly with pleasure. His shoulders slimmed as Lindsay’s warm hands rubbed over them, molding them into something more petite. He shivered visibly.

“Wow. That feels so good,” he slurred.

“Every girl deserves a little pampering now and then,” the magical matron said gently.

“Mmh Hmm,” Liam hummed, too lulled by the massage to respond to implicitly being called a girl. He leaned further back into Ms. Lindsay’s embrace as she ran her graceful hands up and down each arm. She massaged over the muscles that he had built up over the past couple of years, causing them to atrophy and soften. The sparse hair on his arms became even more elusive while the majority of it fell away onto the ground.

“Mom,” Zach said sternly, making sure she didn’t get too carried away.

His mother gave him her signature smug, overly sympathetic pouty face before finally continuing. “I’m going to give you both some advice, and I hope that you both take it to heart. There are many types of relationships in this world, but since we are on the topic of a certain sort, I shall not deviate from it. The relationship between men and women is a very simple and oh so complex thing. It’s fickle. It ebbs and flows. And it makes most people go absolutely crazy. It’s terrifying and beautiful.”

“I’m pretty sure we already know it’s complicated mom. You’re not doing anything to comfort my fears,” Zach pointed out.

“Shhhhh,” Liam and his mother hushed him in unison. Liam looked up at the woman massaging him and they shared an amused look with each other.

There was that girl thing Zach always noticed. That thing where girls seemed to know something boys didn’t. It was intimidating, and his best friend, who should be a guy, just did it. What was going on in Liam’s head right now? Was his mind being slowly opened to all the secrets of the cryptic female clan?

“Don’t interrupt your mother when I’m speaking,” Lindsay said, shifting in her seat. She started applying another coat of lotion to his friend’s body, rubbing it around his neck some more and working it further down his back.

“Now how can I explain this in a way you would understand?” she paused for a moment to think, before continuing. “Men and women are extremely similar and yet extraordinarily different at the same time. We are all human of course. We have the same types of thoughts and worries. We can relate to each other about this wonderful game we all play called life, but there is something extra. There is a gift that men have, but that gift comes with baggage. There is also a gift that women have, but that also comes with its own flaws. That is what makes relationships between men and women so exhilarating. Our gifts and our flaws complement each other. Now of course there are differences from individual to individual, and it is your task to solve the puzzle of that specific person. Unfortunately, because of that, I will have to paint broad strokes for you.”

She finished applying the lotion to Liam’s back and his spine shortened, causing his shoulders to be about an inch lower in relation to Lindsay’s hands. She rubbed the rest of the lotion on her own arms before taking his luscious hair in her hands again and began combing through it softly with her fingers.

“Again remember, broad strokes. In general, men are the vessels of masculinity. They are supposed to be strong for others. They are supposed to provide and lead. That doesn’t necessarily have to mean men have to be big and muscular, but their spirit should be sturdy in the face of adversity to protect the ones they care about. The inability to reach those ideals of course can lead to corruption as we have seen many men fall to. They become arrogant, and they abuse their power and strength. They hold anger in their hearts, and they view those who are weaker as beneath them. That is the folly of a man,” she looked to her son as she said this.

“Now women on the other hand,” she said, resting one hand gently on Liam’s head while she held his hair in the other, “are the vessels of the energy we refer to as femininity. We are supposed to be caring and thoughtful. We have to be resilient and steadfast, gentle yet firm. Others look to us for counsel, and the words we say should always bring value. This of course can lead us to become manipulative, which I am not immune to. We can use our value as ransom for others, but of course, that in and of itself is a double-edged sword, as that can lead us to be viewed as mere objects when that could not be further from the truth. The world that we navigate is a complicated one, and never makes it easy for us to do our duties for our communities. This leads most to become vain, conceited, and bitter towards others if we get wrapped up in our own devices.” She began to gently twist Liam's hair around itself.

Lindsay took a long breath before continuing. "Having said that, men and women can obviously share traits, which can often lead to the butting of heads. I like to think about it as a math problem. Three plus two equals five, but six minus one also equals five. That is to say women are strong, but it's a different kind of strength than what men have. Men are gentle, but it's a different kind of gentleness than what women possess. We take different paths to get to the same thing."

“But how does that relate to talking to girls?” Zach asked.

His mother’s eyes pierced him, causing him to immediately fall silent. She twirled Liam’s silky golden hair on the side of his head, wrapping it in and around itself until it was formed into an intricately woven, yet messily natural side bun. She reached behind her and procured a white ribbon that was shaped like a flower, and wrapped it neatly in with the bun.

“This is where we meet in the middle. It is like a dance. When a boy and a girl meet, sparks fly and magic happens. If those two can navigate their way through the complications of their differences and seek out what makes each other stronger, then the caring heart of a woman and the protective soul of a man sow a legacy. Leadership along with council becomes wisdom. Strength and resilience become perseverance. If male and female can speak candidly and treat each other as complementary equals, that is when the seeds of love and understanding blossom.”

Upon saying this, she gently reached both hands over Liam’s shoulders and down to his chest. She massaged his chest gently before forming small cups with her hands against each pectoral. Liam’s eyes were still closed, but he shivered at her touch. He let out a shaky breath as she slid her hands back up to reveal two very small protrusions pressing against the tight crop top he now wore. His nipples seemed swollen, as the shape of them was plainly visible poking behind the fabric.

Zach’s breath caught. His mom just gave his best friend breasts. Okay well to be fair, they were incredibly small, but it didn’t matter! He knew she had probably done this dozens of times in her life, but giving your son’s best friend little girl breasts was crossing a line. He was about to speak out when his mother gave him another cross look and a small shake of her head.

She slid her hands further up and around Liam’s shoulders, where a thin blue elastic band suddenly appeared. It somehow connected to something that had materialized beneath the tank top. Zach noticed that he could no longer see the imprint of nipples against his Liam’s shirt, but the slight protrusions were still there. He finally realized that his friend was now wearing a training bra of sorts. She snapped the elastic band against the bare skin of his back, setting the undergarment in place, and rousing him from his pleasant daze.

“Oof!” Liam exclaimed in an audibly higher pitch than normal. He felt back at the strap that he had been pinched with that was now fastened comfortably around his shoulders. “What the…” he voiced questioningly, looking down at himself and altered attire he found himself in.

His mouth went agape when he noticed the two out-of-place bumps on his chest, “W-What are these?” he asked as he poked at one of his budding breasts, causing him to wince.

“They’re trophies,” Ms. Lindsay said proudly. “You are well on your way to being one of the very few people in the world to see what it’s like to switch teams so to speak. That is a pretty incredible accomplishment.”

“But how did I get them?”

“By being a girl of course,” Lindsay hummed, rubbing her hands down Liam’s arms.

Zach sat awestruck. His mom had never done anything like this in front of him before. Usually when she played her games, the victim’s mind was entirely changed for her amusement or necessity, almost like they became another person. But Liam was still there… in a way.

Liam looked at Zach and blushed profusely, covering the swelling spots on his chest. “Don’t look at them perv!”

“I’m not!” Zach recoiled, his cheeks turning beet red in response as well.

Lindsay let out a motherly belly laugh, disturbing the awkward tension. The air in the room lightened, and the light itself became more vibrant. “Oh, boys and girls. Always at it.”

Liam withdrew into himself bashfully but didn’t protest her words. “How long have I been a girl?”

“You’re not entirely a girl yet, but your body and mind are currently on the fast track toward womanhood. If you keep following your new feminine instincts, you’ll be one in no time. From one girl to another, I recommend you seize the opportunity you’ve been granted,” the mother stated comfortingly as she held a mirror up to Liam’s face.

For the first time, Liam got to see his new hair and the flattering style it had been woven into. “Woah,” he said looking at every detail of it. “It’s so,” he paused momentarily as if trying to find the right word before settling on one, “pretty.”

To Zach it still looked awkward because of the strange hybrid state that his mom had left Liam in. His face was the same; it just had really girly hair sitting on top of it. Zach at least knew enough about girls to know he probably shouldn’t voice that opinion. He couldn’t deny however, his friend had taken on a feminine presence that seemed to be pervading his entire being.

“Well kiddos, with that I’ll let you both continue where you left off,” Lindsay said, standing and smoothing the skirts of her dress. “I’m making bean and ham soup for lunch if you want to come down in a bit to eat.”

“Wait!” Liam exclaimed. “I’m so confused, and my head feels all fuzzy. I don’t know what’s happening right now. Am I supposed to be a girl or a boy? I don’t remember being like this, but it also feels natural.”

“Well, it’s really quite simple sweetie. When all of this started you were a girl named Leah, correct?”

“Yeah. I think so. I was teaching Zach how to talk to girls…”

“Well Leah, my sweet young lady, that’s all you need to know then. The rest is up to you to figure out. Life has no easy button. Just don’t do anything naughty.” Lindsay said tersely before walking out the door.

“Wait, Mom!” Zach yelled after her. “You didn’t actually explain how to talk to girls.”

“Start with hello!” his mother yelled back at him, not delaying her exit.