“Alright… Ester,” Mr. Stevens said, looking over the document she’d given him, “Please take your seat.”

Ester had to suppress a whine. Mr. Stevens was her favorite teacher. If he was struggling with the idea that she was a girl, then who did she have to turn to? Everyone’s eyes were on Ester as she walked to her seat. Maybe wearing her dress and heels had been a bad idea after all.

At least Cole was still sitting in the front, so she didn’t have to put up with him during class. But as class went on, it became clear that Mr. Stevens didn’t want to look in Ester’s direction, and wouldn’t call on her to answer questions. After a while, she stopped raising her hand. People kept muttering to each other and the normally very strict Mr. Stevens didn’t seem to notice. Ester couldn’t hear them very well, but she was certain that it was all about her.

Then the bell rang and she was finally free.

“Almost done for the day,” she muttered, picking up her bag, “I’m almost free. Maybe I can transfer to a different school next semester. Anything to get away from this.”

Ester was halfway to her next class when she heard something that made her heart sink.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Carla!” Ester squeaked, spinning around.

Carla was quivering, her nostrils flared and hands balled into fists.

“I didn’t believe them,” she said, “How could you do this?! I don’t understand…!”

She clenched her eyes shut tight to stop herself from crying.

“Carla,” Ester said slowly, stepping forward, “You don’t understand. It’s okay. I wanted this.”

“What the fuck, Eli?!” Carla cried out, throwing her arms up, “What were you thinking? How could you want this?”

“Because I like being a girl!” Ester cried.

Carla shook her head and turned around. Ester reached out to stop her, but Carla took off running, dodging around the people who had stopped to watch them. Swearing quietly, Ester took off after her.

Ester was able to catch up to Carla when she stopped to brace herself against the wall. A choking sob escaped her, and it made Ester’s heart ache. She stood back for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“Go away,” Carla told her, “You don’t need to rub it in.”

“Rub what in?” Ester demanded, “Carla, talk to me. Please try to understand that I’m doing this for myself. It’s what I want, really.”

“Don’t rub it in that my brother is gone,” Carla hissed, turning around to reveal tears streaming down her face.

“Carla…”

Ester stepped forward, reaching out her arms to comfort her sister, but Carla flared her nostrils and grit her teeth. She was angry, not just upset. There were tears in Ester’s eyes as well.

“I’m sorry,” she said weakly, “Carla, I didn’t do this to hurt you, I promise.”

“But it still hurts, Eli.”

Very quietly, Ester replied, “Estella, actually.”

Carla shook her head furiously.

“Although,” Ester continued, “I mostly just go by Ester. It would mean a lot to me if—”

“Shut up!” Carla cried, covering her ears, “This isn’t real. It can’t really be happening.”

Ester took another step forward and placed her hands on Carla’s quivering arms. Carla scowled at her, but Ester just smiled softly.

“It’s still me, Carla,” she insisted, “I haven’t gone anywhere.”

“No,” Carla snarled, “Elias wouldn’t want this.”

“How can you say that?” Ester demanded, “You and I almost never talked before now!”

“It’s my fault!” she replied, finally dropping her hands, “If I’d been there for you, been a better sister, none of this would be happening. I couldn’t protect you, Eli, and now I’m losing the person who matters most in the world to me. This can’t be what destroys us, not after everything we’ve been through.”

“No,” Ester said softly, “This isn’t your fault. There was nothing you could have done. And you can’t change the past. I’m asking you to be friends with me now. I don’t want to lose you either.”

But Carla shook her head.

“Stay away from me, Eli,” she said, “I can’t see you like this. It hurts too much.”

She walked away. Ester let her go this time. It was hard to see through her own tears, even though she kept wiping them away.

How had this happened to her? How did the best thing to ever happen to Ester destroy her relationship with her real sister? How much worse were things going to get because of this curse?

While she was sitting in her next class, Ester got a message from Sue. Her heart leapt, then plummeted. She had to read it now, and damn the consequences.

“We need to talk. Meet me around back after school. I’ll drive you home and we can talk on the way.”

Ester’s stomach flipped over, and she nearly threw up where she was sitting. This couldn’t be good, right? And there was no coincidence it was happening today of all days.

But she had to go. Ester owed it to Sue to see this through. After the struggles Sue was putting up with, having to deal with harassment over Ester’s curse and probably feeling very alone and isolated, Ester couldn’t ignore her.

When she got out of class and said goodbye to April, Ester found herself trudging toward the back of the school and the commuter parking lot. Sue was standing immediately outside the door. She didn’t look at Ester directly, just grunted and gestured for her to follow.

“How are you doing?” Ester asked, but Sue shook her head.

Her car was spotless, despite being a little old. Sue got into the line of commuter cars all trying to leave at once, and sighed. She still didn’t want to look at Ester.

“Um… I’m not staying with my parents right now,” Ester said.

“Tell me the address, then,” Sue replied, pulling out her phone.

Ester did so, and Sue let the GPS guide her. Sue didn’t ask any followup questions. Ester wished she’d just say something, already. There was so much tension in the car that it was a relief when Sue finally turned to look at Ester.

“What are you doing, Eli?” she asked.

“Ester,” she replied, a little more confidently than before. Her friends were right; she needed to stay firm. And she was going to make sure people respected her name.

Sue sighed and turned to face forward again.

They were driving for a while before Sue continued, “This isn’t going to work. You and I can’t be together if you’re telling people that you’re a girl, Ester. I’m not gay, so even if you weren’t just doing this because of magic I wouldn’t want a girlfriend anyway.”

“It’s not just magic,” Ester protested weakly.

She stared down at her hands in her lap. It felt like she was being torn in half. She was a girl, and that meant she and Sue couldn’t be together. But she really didn’t want to lose Susie. And if she broke the curse and went back to being a boy, they’d have broken up for nothing.

Then Ester scowled.

“Maybe this wouldn’t have come as such a surprise to you if you weren’t so distant all the time, Susan,” she snapped.

Ester immediately regretted it.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, “I don’t mean that. I know that you’re dealing with stuff too, and it’s not fair that you have to put up with shit because of me. If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here for you, Susie.”

She tried to place a supportive hand on Sue’s shoulder, but she just flinched and pulled away. They’d made it to April’s neighborhood, and Sue was looking around at the houses.

“Nice neighborhood,” she muttered, “You really traded up.”

“It’s not like that,” Ester insisted, “They just took me in, that’s all.”

“Whatever.”

Sue pulled up to the curb outside April’s house and turned off the car.

Ester asked, “Are you coming in?”

“No. Don’t get out yet.”

“Okay…”

There was a long silence. A car passed them. Sue sighed and pushed her dyed red hair from her eyes.

“I’m done, Eli,” she said, “I won’t wait on you anymore. This is me breaking up with you.”

Ester felt like she’d been shot. Her heart ached. A loud whine escaped her and she started to sob. Sue frowned and her expression fell, but she didn’t move to comfort Ester.

“When you get out of this car, that’s it,” she continued, “As far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist after this moment. I won’t talk to you, I won’t talk about you, and I won’t let you talk to me. Do you understand?”

Ester nodded and sniffed, tears and snot dripping from her nose.

“Good.” She lowered her voice and added, “There’s no rush.”

After a few minutes, Ester stopped crying. She released her seatbelt and opened the door. Sue nodded, but said nothing.

When Ester closed the door behind her, Sue started the car. Ester watched her drive away without sparing her another glance. And then Sue was out of her life for good.