“Hey Anton,” Eli said, sliding up to his best friend and giving him a fist bump. After talking to the guidance counselor the day before, he was feeling a lot more confident. April had been right; it felt good to let someone in.

Turning to Sue, he asked, “What did I miss? Why are we out of class early?”

“There’s an assembly just before lunch,” Sue told him.

Eli nodded, then leaned in to plant a kiss on Sue’s lips. She reeled back a little, but then smirked and crinkled her nose. Then she returned the kiss, a little more forcefully.

“You look better,” Anton said, but he was clearly looking between the two of them. Eli started to squirm and pulled away from Sue so his shorter height wasn’t as noticeable.

“I told you: everything is fine,” Eli reminded him, “Now, someone said something about an assembly. We’d better hurry if we’re going to get a good seat.”

Anton was by his side when Eli entered the gym. Sue would have been under his arm if he was a little taller, but as it was he still had his arm around her. They made their way up the steps toward the top of the bleachers with the other Boys and Girls.

Jimmy was already there. When he saw Eli, Jimmy smirked and flared his nostrils. He opened his mouth to say something, but Eli stomped on the bleachers hard and he recoiled a little, losing his balance and falling back. He even had to pick up his glasses off the bleachers. Eli snorted and grinned, flipping him off before sitting down with Sue.

“You show him, big guy,” Sue said, nuzzling him on the cheek.

“Glad things are back to normal,” Anton added, sitting down on the other side.

Eli grinned, but it was a strained smile. He couldn’t shake the memory of Anton hesitating from a few days before. Maybe Anton seemed a little too relieved that Eli was acting normal again.

“Attention, students.”

The principle—Mr. Waters—had pulled out a microphone and was standing at the foot of the bleachers. It looked like the rest of the staff was down there with him. Eli recognized all of his teachers, as well as Mr. Edwards the guidance counselor and the nurse. She looked unhappy to be there.

“The nurse gets that this a waste of time,” he whispered to Anton, who chuckled.

“Recently, something important came to our attention, that we felt was necessary to share with all of you.”

One of the Boys muttered, “Did your wife dump you for a stripper?”

Everyone in the group laughed. Eli did too, but he saw a few dark glares from the other students around them. He did his best not to cringe.

The principle continued, “It concerns the well-being of one of your fellow students, who is suffering from a magical affliction.”

Eli’s blood froze; next to him, Sue tensed up and looked at him with wide eyes. He locked his stare on the nurse, who was shuffling nervously but looking in his direction with a frown, and then the guidance counselor who wasn’t even looking at him. If Eli could, he would have screamed, but his mouth was dry.

“Eli?” Sue whispered, her voice shaking.

He had to do something. Anything. But he was stuck spinning his wheels. What was he supposed to do?

“Elias Moreno, a good friend to many of you, was recently placed under the effects of a magical spell. The effect of this is that his body is slowly changing to become more visibly feminine, eventually leading to him becoming physically female. Now, it is important that we understand the—”

Eli bolted. He took the steps of the bleachers four or five at a time, and managed to skirt by several teachers without them grabbing him. He bursts through the doors of the gym, blood pounding in his ears too loudly for him to hear anything else.

He was halfway across the school before he had come to his senses. He needed somewhere to hide. He slid into the nearest bathroom, wishing desperately that he had some kind of magic to protect himself like Victoria had used.

“Victoria?” he asked out loud.

He got no response. And he’d left her number at home, so he couldn’t call her. Dammit. What was he supposed to do?

Eli heard students in the hallway before too long, so he locked himself in the stall. Fortunately, nobody came in the bathroom. He heard a voice over the intercom calling for him to head to the front office, but he knew that people would be looking for him there.

Maybe if he could get to the nurse’s office, he’d be safe.

“Alright, El,” he told himself, “Just keep your head down. Most people will be in class.”

No sooner had he stepped out of bathroom, though, then he heard his name being called. Every fiber of his being told him to run, but he’d recognized the voice. He turned around just in time to see Anton running up to him.

“Eli,” he said, looking confused instead of angry, “What the Hell is—?”

“Eli!” came a booming voice.

Leon, Jimmy, and two more of the Boys were strolling up to them.

“Hey there, pussy-cat,” Leon cooed, “Of would you prefer I called you Ellie now? Tell me, did you even bother to tell your girlfriend? I mean, either way you’re a f—”

“I swear to God,” Anton said suddenly, moving toward Leon, “I will break your nose if you finish that thought.”

Eli shrunk a little and took a few steps back. Leon looked a little unnerved by Anton’s sudden outburst, but he glanced back at Eli and fixed him in place with a glare. Jimmy started circling around Anton to get toward Eli.

“I always thought you were a bit of a bitch,” he said, “But I never imagined.”

The other guys snickered. Anton cast a worried glance at Eli, but didn’t move to stop Jimmy. Eli whined a little and backed up to the wall, feeling pinned.

“So, Anton,” Leon said, “Are you gonna defend your little boyfriend? Maybe if you ask nicely he’ll show you how to do your makeup.”

Anton stared at Leon, then turned to look at Eli. He had pulled his lips into a thin line, then sighed. Eli’s heart sank as Anton took a step out of the way to give Leon a direct line to Eli.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” Leon said, striding forward.

Eli tried to run, but Leon grabbed him by the shoulder and pinned him to the wall.

“Anton!” Eli squealed.

“Don’t hurt him,” Anton said, failing to be stern.

Jimmy took the opportunity to get up in Eli’s face. Eli flinched and shrank down further. Jimmy wasn’t even any taller than him, but he could look down on Eli now. There was a hungry look in his eye.

“Touch him and you’re dead,” someone whispered harshly.

Leon let go of Eli when someone started pulling at his collar. Jimmy took a few steps back as well, allowing Eli to see Carla behind Leon. With her free hand, she’d leveled her pocket knife right at his kidney.

“You bitch,” he growled.

“I’m taking my brother home,” Carla said, “And if any of you follow me I’ll find where you live.”

The two other Boys quickly retreated, turning their backs on the situation. Jimmy scowled, but spun around to walk away. Carla gave Anton an angry glare, and he started backing up too. He cast one last glance at Eli, who just flared his nostrils at him.

Anton started to walk away. Carla let go of Leon, who quickly ducked out of the way. Carla grabbed Eli by the arm and pulled him away from the wall, stopping only to spit in Leon’s face.

“Come on, Eli,” she said, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him toward the exit.

The ride home was quiet. Carla seemed to be looking for something to say, but every time she opened her mouth Eli would flinch and she’d just focus on the road instead. Their parents must have been informed of what had happened too, because both of them were home shortly after Carla had gotten Eli inside and wrapped up in a heavy blanket.

Eli’s father was on the phone, trying to reach Doctor Rackar. He seemed to be getting nowhere. Eli remembered that he had Victoria’s number, but right now he just wanted to sulk. In the other room, he could here his mother on the phone yelling at whoever she was talking too; it was most likely somebody from the school.

“How are you holding up, Eli?” Carla asked, sitting down next to him with a bowl of popcorn.

“I regret everything,” he said softly, “Every decision I ever made.”

“It’s not your fault,” she assured him, placing a warm hand on his arm.

He tried to smile, but just didn’t have it in him.

Their dad hung up the phone and pinched his nose in frustration.

“Carlota,” he said, “You have to go back to school.”

“What?” she asked.

“You can’t be missing class like this. You have to think about your future.”

“My future?” Carla was starting to fume. “What about my brother?”

Their mother appeared from the kitchen and told her, “Don’t talk back to your father. He’s right. You need to focus on your grades. Doubly so, as a woman.”

“I’m staying with Eli,” she insisted, squeezing his arm gently.

Eli grabbed her hand with his own. After a moment, Carla started to chuckle, so he let go.

“Sorry,” she said, pushing her hair out of her face, “It’s just that your skin is really soft.”

Eli blushed. Their parents were glaring at the both of them. He shrunk a little under their gaze, but Carla placed a protective arm around his neck.

“Carla,” he said, “You should go back to school. I’m fine now.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure,” he lied, “I need you to get my books from my locker anyway.”

In reality, he just didn’t want another blowout between her and their parents. But he seemed to convince her, because she smiled and nodded. Carla got up and started collecting her things, making a point not to interact with their parents before slamming the front door behind her.

Eli sat in front of the TV, not turning it on but occasionally grabbing a bite of popcorn. His parents left to stand in the other room for a while and mutter to themselves. That was fine. It gave Eli time to replay the day over and over in his head.

But eventually his parents returned, choosing to stand right in front of him. Neither seemed like they wanted to look at Eli, and that made his stomach too upset to continue eating. His mother was biting her lip. His father fidgeting with his hands.

“Elias,” his father said, sounding very tired, “We have to tell you something.”

His mother nodded along, but said nothing.

“Did… did the doctor say anything?” Eli asked, his heart sinking, “Is there no way to reverse it?”

“I wasn’t able to get in contact with the doctor,” his father said, shaking his head, “This is about you.”

Eli nodded, but failed to suppress a whine.

“You can’t stay here anymore, Elias,” his mother said.

“What?” he asked, sitting up straight and tipping the popcorn a little.

“You have to go,” his father said, nodding, “Once this is over, you can return and everything can go back to normal. But this has been a burden on our family, even more now that you’ve told everybody, and you have to take responsibility for it.”

“A burden?!” Eli cried, “What about me? And am I supposed to do?”

His mother covered her eyes with her hand, saying, “Please don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

Eli’s voice was small when he reminded them, “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“I’m sorry, Elias,” his father said, but he wouldn’t look at Eli.

It felt like his body was out of his own control. Eli took his backpack and filled it with his laptop and a few days clothes. He didn’t even protest when his parents told him to turn over his phone.

Before he even really knew what was happening, Eli was walking down the sidewalk with his backpack on. He could have been walking for fifteen minutes or forty-five, for all he knew. It wasn’t until a few raindrops started to hit him that he snapped back to reality and realized just how much he was shaking. He had nowhere to go. No one to turn to. He’d remembered to grab Victoria’s number, but didn’t have a phone.

Eli fell to the ground and began to cry.